“Hey Lucy! Lucy? LUUUCY!” I was sitting on the packed carriage and let my legs dangle downwards while looking at the clouded sky as the twins started another loud clamour.
“Huh?” I asked quietly.
“Look!” Clara presented me a small fish in her hand, still flapping wildly to escape the unfamiliar environment. The twins were pretty cruel in that regard, and really couldn’t be bothered to take care of the little fish. But hey, everything coming out of water must have been a monster anyways.
“Why the heck do you have a fish in your hands?” I asked a bit tired from their shit. I wanted to put a bit of distance between me and the twins, but they certainly wouldn’t allow that.
“Because we wanted to show it to you!” And like this, Clara flung the fish towards my face. In the air, I swiped it away with the back on my hand and stared down on these two.
“Go somewhere else, I´m not feeling well.” And yet again, I was lying to these two. I was feeling rather good in all actuality. Since Lucy managed to hold back from destroying me from the inside, my wounds had all healed completely.
But that wasn’t the only lie I served them on a daily basis. I hadn’t told them I basically knew what would happen when we inevitably arrived, nor did I reveal anything else. Having my secrets kept hidden was definitely more important than their feelings.
“We want to play with you.” Clara demanded loudly and put her hands on her hips.
“Okay. Let’s play who can stay quiet the longest.” I was being mean to them, I knew that. And I hated myself for being that way but I had to keep an emotional distance, otherwise Aska would succeed inevitably.
“No? Why don’t we play connect four?” Clarice proposed obnoxiously loud, waking up Hannah from her slumber which she definitely did not take well.
“It’s a game for two …” I mumbled, leaned back again and looked at the stars barely visible thanks to the cloud coverage.
‘Go play with them.’ And once again, Lucy did say something which got on my nerves. We were kind of stuck in the same body, but I dearly wished we weren’t and I could punch her until she stopped talking.
‘Why? They are going to die anyways.’ But violence wasn’t an option at this point, even though she felt exactly what I did.
‘That’s what you claim will happen. But first of all, we don’t know that for certain. And second of all, they are still your friends. You claimed you wanted to save them and even though that seems impossible right now, at least you can make them feel loved during their last days.’ That was true … but I also wanted to limit the impact their deaths had on me as much as possible.
‘What are you? A psychologist?’ I grumbled silently.
‘Lucinda, please. I know you like them, so don’t be like that.’ Finally, I rolled my eyes and jumped off the carriage to look at the twins.
“Fine. Let’s play connect four.” Smiles appeared on their faces instantly and Clara directly rushed towards their luggage to get the game.
‘And please don’t crush them.’ Well, let’s say I was already kind enough to listen to her first request and thus promptly ignored her second request. Obviously, I thus played the centre pieces each time I had the chance and crushed them this way, even though they were playing together the whole time. But the twins being the twins, they made the same mistakes and had the same strategy anyways, so it was basically the same as playing against either of them.
At least they had enough after several rounds of that game and didn’t pester me afterwards. Instead, they had do so what I couldn’t do and Hannah was too tired for. They had to teach Bob how to use basic magic. And that always started the same way.
“Boooob! Wake up!” Clara shouted at the man who was rolled into his attire to sleep near a tree.
“Huh … what is …” Bob mumbled and fell asleep shortly afterwards again, at least until the twins shook him awake and forced him to stand up.
“Okay, today we are trying something different. As Lucy said, you need to be able to use basic magic, so tonight we will train you in using fireballs.” Clarice told him while Clara was laughing with a hand in front of her mouth.
“Oh, okay. I’m all on board.” Bob explained, determined not to make me regret my choice of picking him for that fabulous weapon.
“Perfect. Imagine you are below an apple tree. Close your eyes and relax … feel the wind rustling quietly, feel the sun on your skin … can you do that?” Clara asked from behind him.
“Yeah … I think I feel it.” Did he? It was the end of the night, so how could he feel the sun?
“Great. And now reach out to these apples … grab them with your hand and imagine them turning into fireballs in your hands. Do you feel the heat on your skin?” Okay, I understood that they wanted him to imagine fire so that he wouldn’t get suspicious, but that was honestly a bit too much, even for me. They were basically bullying him in front of everyone at this point.
“I … I do?” Bob said which honestly just made us have a lot of fun.
“Now, continue plucking these apples and remember to chant in your mind. It’s important that you do that, otherwise this training is useless.” After Clara said that, he really started picking imaginary apples as if he would learn to throw a fireball this way. Let me tell you … he would not.
‘I’m not an expert at human magic but … that’s pretty bogus, isn’t it?’ Lucy asked bewildered about Bob’s movements which could also be a therapeutic way of dealing with back pain.
‘What? No, nooo. That’s a legit way of having fun.’ I told her right away.
‘Why aren’t you stepping in?’ Well, first of all, it was me she was taking about. Why the heck would I stop something immoral from happening? And second of all …
‘You told me they should have fun. And besides, al that excuse of a human being needs to be capable off is to push his mana into the staff.’ Finally, the twins decided they had enough fun and patted his shoulders. Apparently, he did very well in that task and was praised accordingly which somehow made him rather shy.
‘… do we really need to kill him? He doesn’t seem like a bad guy and I … I don’t get why he needs to blow everything up.’ Lucy asked, probably not entirely convinced about this part of my plan. But she already agreed to it, so she wasn’t in an position to complain at all.
‘The more chaos the better.’ I told her and stretched my arms as well in preparation for the next hours. The sun was mere minutes short of rising and we had tiring day of travelling in front of us.
‘There is no helping you, is there?’ She asked, knowing full well that I wouldn’t change, no matter what. I had my personality gifted to me since my birth after all and I didn’t change much during the time I was alive.
‘Do you have a better plan?’ I asked sarcastically. It was obvious she didn’t, otherwise she wouldn’t have chosen suicide as her only way out when she still had her own body.
She didn’t answer my question at all, but rather chose to remain silent while the twins hopped in the sun proof carriage while waving at me to get inside. Without thinking, I shook my head and went over to Bob and Hannah who prepared the rest for our travels.
“Here you go.” Like always, Hannah threw me a compass over which directly pointed eastwards. Using triangulation, it wasn’t that hard to figure out the heroes were still stationary which meant we were actually a bit too early. But they were capable of cheating in that regard as they could teleport over long distances and we had … horses.
“Hmm … I’m going on the roof. Wake me up if something happens … maybe I should specify that a little bit more. Don’t wake me up when you see a squirrel, okay?” They did that last time … suffice to say I was not amused.
“Kay.” Hannah mumbled while I climbed onto the roof. Soon, the rumbling of the carriage enveloped me and I yawned loudly.
‘How are you going to explain your newfound distance with the twins to Aska?’ Lucy did indeed present me with a valid question but I didn’t even need to think about any reason.
‘That I’m fed up with them. After all, they are pretty useless are they not?’ Even though they now belonged to my bloodline, that didn’t matter all that much to me. They still had to work for their place in my life after all and so far, the twins really hadn’t done anything of this sort. They were more of an … emotional support dog for me as they tried to fill the void Luna left behind.
‘… but you are sad that … that they might die?’ I didn’t answer … because I just couldn’t. I did spent a lot of time with the twins in the last weeks but did that make me attached to them? Heck, I had just murdered the person which got closest to be my mother and … and all I felt was emptiness after the initial crushing sadness of losing her. I had accepted that Mary wasn’t the Mary I knew anymore … but my cold heart surprised even me.
“Hey Lucy! Lucy? LUUUCY!” I was sitting on the packed carriage and let my legs dangle downwards while looking at the clouded sky as the twins started another loud clamour.
“Huh?” I asked quietly.
“Look!” Clara presented me a small fish in her hand, still flapping wildly to escape the unfamiliar environment. The twins were pretty cruel in that regard, and really couldn’t be bothered to take care of the little fish. But hey, everything coming out of water must have been a monster anyways.
“Why the heck do you have a fish in your hands?” I asked a bit tired from their shit. I wanted to put a bit of distance between me and the twins, but they certainly wouldn’t allow that.
“Because we wanted to show it to you!” And like this, Clara flung the fish towards my face. In the air, I swiped it away with the back on my hand and stared down on these two.
“Go somewhere else, I´m not feeling well.” And yet again, I was lying to these two. I was feeling rather good in all actuality. Since Lucy managed to hold back from destroying me from the inside, my wounds had all healed completely.
But that wasn’t the only lie I served them on a daily basis. I hadn’t told them I basically knew what would happen when we inevitably arrived, nor did I reveal anything else. Having my secrets kept hidden was definitely more important than their feelings.
“We want to play with you.” Clara demanded loudly and put her hands on her hips.
“Okay. Let’s play who can stay quiet the longest.” I was being mean to them, I knew that. And I hated myself for being that way but I had to keep an emotional distance, otherwise Aska would succeed inevitably.
“No? Why don’t we play connect four?” Clarice proposed obnoxiously loud, waking up Hannah from her slumber which she definitely did not take well.
“It’s a game for two …” I mumbled, leaned back again and looked at the stars barely visible thanks to the cloud coverage.
‘Go play with them.’ And once again, Lucy did say something which got on my nerves. We were kind of stuck in the same body, but I dearly wished we weren’t and I could punch her until she stopped talking.
‘Why? They are going to die anyways.’ But violence wasn’t an option at this point, even though she felt exactly what I did.
‘That’s what you claim will happen. But first of all, we don’t know that for certain. And second of all, they are still your friends. You claimed you wanted to save them and even though that seems impossible right now, at least you can make them feel loved during their last days.’ That was true … but I also wanted to limit the impact their deaths had on me as much as possible.
‘What are you? A psychologist?’ I grumbled silently.
‘Lucinda, please. I know you like them, so don’t be like that.’ Finally, I rolled my eyes and jumped off the carriage to look at the twins.
“Fine. Let’s play connect four.” Smiles appeared on their faces instantly and Clara directly rushed towards their luggage to get the game.
‘And please don’t crush them.’ Well, let’s say I was already kind enough to listen to her first request and thus promptly ignored her second request. Obviously, I thus played the centre pieces each time I had the chance and crushed them this way, even though they were playing together the whole time. But the twins being the twins, they made the same mistakes and had the same strategy anyways, so it was basically the same as playing against either of them.
At least they had enough after several rounds of that game and didn’t pester me afterwards. Instead, they had do so what I couldn’t do and Hannah was too tired for. They had to teach Bob how to use basic magic. And that always started the same way.
“Boooob! Wake up!” Clara shouted at the man who was rolled into his attire to sleep near a tree.
“Huh … what is …” Bob mumbled and fell asleep shortly afterwards again, at least until the twins shook him awake and forced him to stand up.
“Okay, today we are trying something different. As Lucy said, you need to be able to use basic magic, so tonight we will train you in using fireballs.” Clarice told him while Clara was laughing with a hand in front of her mouth.
“Oh, okay. I’m all on board.” Bob explained, determined not to make me regret my choice of picking him for that fabulous weapon.
“Perfect. Imagine you are below an apple tree. Close your eyes and relax … feel the wind rustling quietly, feel the sun on your skin … can you do that?” Clara asked from behind him.
“Yeah … I think I feel it.” Did he? It was the end of the night, so how could he feel the sun?
“Great. And now reach out to these apples … grab them with your hand and imagine them turning into fireballs in your hands. Do you feel the heat on your skin?” Okay, I understood that they wanted him to imagine fire so that he wouldn’t get suspicious, but that was honestly a bit too much, even for me. They were basically bullying him in front of everyone at this point.
“I … I do?” Bob said which honestly just made us have a lot of fun.
“Now, continue plucking these apples and remember to chant in your mind. It’s important that you do that, otherwise this training is useless.” After Clara said that, he really started picking imaginary apples as if he would learn to throw a fireball this way. Let me tell you … he would not.
‘I’m not an expert at human magic but … that’s pretty bogus, isn’t it?’ Lucy asked bewildered about Bob’s movements which could also be a therapeutic way of dealing with back pain.
‘What? No, nooo. That’s a legit way of having fun.’ I told her right away.
‘Why aren’t you stepping in?’ Well, first of all, it was me she was taking about. Why the heck would I stop something immoral from happening? And second of all …
‘You told me they should have fun. And besides, al that excuse of a human being needs to be capable off is to push his mana into the staff.’ Finally, the twins decided they had enough fun and patted his shoulders. Apparently, he did very well in that task and was praised accordingly which somehow made him rather shy.
‘… do we really need to kill him? He doesn’t seem like a bad guy and I … I don’t get why he needs to blow everything up.’ Lucy asked, probably not entirely convinced about this part of my plan. But she already agreed to it, so she wasn’t in an position to complain at all.
‘The more chaos the better.’ I told her and stretched my arms as well in preparation for the next hours. The sun was mere minutes short of rising and we had tiring day of travelling in front of us.
‘There is no helping you, is there?’ She asked, knowing full well that I wouldn’t change, no matter what. I had my personality gifted to me since my birth after all and I didn’t change much during the time I was alive.
‘Do you have a better plan?’ I asked sarcastically. It was obvious she didn’t, otherwise she wouldn’t have chosen suicide as her only way out when she still had her own body.
She didn’t answer my question at all, but rather chose to remain silent while the twins hopped in the sun proof carriage while waving at me to get inside. Without thinking, I shook my head and went over to Bob and Hannah who prepared the rest for our travels.
“Here you go.” Like always, Hannah threw me a compass over which directly pointed eastwards. Using triangulation, it wasn’t that hard to figure out the heroes were still stationary which meant we were actually a bit too early. But they were capable of cheating in that regard as they could teleport over long distances and we had … horses.
“Hmm … I’m going on the roof. Wake me up if something happens … maybe I should specify that a little bit more. Don’t wake me up when you see a squirrel, okay?” They did that last time … suffice to say I was not amused.
“Kay.” Hannah mumbled while I climbed onto the roof. Soon, the rumbling of the carriage enveloped me and I yawned loudly.
‘How are you going to explain your newfound distance with the twins to Aska?’ Lucy did indeed present me with a valid question but I didn’t even need to think about any reason.
‘That I’m fed up with them. After all, they are pretty useless are they not?’ Even though they now belonged to my bloodline, that didn’t matter all that much to me. They still had to work for their place in my life after all and so far, the twins really hadn’t done anything of this sort. They were more of an … emotional support dog for me as they tried to fill the void Luna left behind.
‘… but you are sad that … that they might die?’ I didn’t answer … because I just couldn’t. I did spent a lot of time with the twins in the last weeks but did that make me attached to them? Heck, I had just murdered the person which got closest to be my mother and … and all I felt was emptiness after the initial crushing sadness of losing her. I had accepted that Mary wasn’t the Mary I knew anymore … but my cold heart surprised even me.
