The Advent of Madness: My Twin Sister And I

Twisting the broken doorknob open, I stepped into the information brokerage once again after quite a few years.

The hustle of drunken clamour, gamblers sweating their balls out as they risked their lives on one more hand, and the dancers clinging to their poles dressed scantily; all of their eyes drifted to me again.

They recognise me.

And by that, I meant that they recognise that I'm the wealthy patron from a few years ago. Not that they recognise that I'm Alora of Light.

Within seconds-

Ring~

-an anklet adorned with bells, gracefully wrapped around erotically tanned skin, stepped down from the dance stage.

Stepping towards me with both arms held behind her back, and her exposed cleavage pressed out at me, the white-haired owner of the bar revealed herself once more.

"Oh my my... The little lass is here again...?" Revealing her hands from behind her back, the side of her lips rose as she licked her lips, "But you've-" She placed her palms facing each other horizontally, as though motioning a gap in height, "-grown quite a bit, little lady."

Taking one more step closer to me, she lowered herself to my level and planted her face right by my mask, "So."

Whispering in my ear with a husky voice, "What are you here for today, you should know that this place isn't too kind to strangers~"

Suddenly, the lady took a step back.

Clap.

Slapping her hands together, "Luckily, you're not a stranger, you're a guest!"

I stared quietly throughout her theatrical performance, then said, "Can we get to business already? I'm not here for these 'amusing' games of yours." My voice came out nasally, a shift in tone.

Even though it wasn't necessary, as those who know me likely know I'm here. There's no point in hiding it, plus-

We'll be leaving this damned Crucible of Light soon.

-so who cares even if these people did know who I am?

"Fine." Shrugging her shoulders, the scantily clad owner beckoned me in deeper into the establishment.

Arriving at her office again, the lady sat prim and proper in her chair this time around.

At least she remembered, I'm surprised.

"So, what would you like to purchase from us this time around? I'm assuming you were satisfied with your previous request to have returned. My heart almost broke after you hadn't revisited us."

"The Domain of Light."

I spoke those four words and observed her face; no reaction.

"What about it?"

Here goes nothing.

"When was it established? How long ago? And how exactly did His Majesty become the ruler?"

The scantily clad lady's eyes glazed over instantly.

Then, they reignited, she tapped her chin, and-

"What about it?"

-she repeated.

Cluelessly.

"...Nothing. I've changed my mind. I'll be taking my leave." Shaking my head, I quickly checked her reaction to my decision to leave-

She's just disappointed, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Well, that's disappointing, little lady. Do come back sometime soon." She shrugged her exposed shoulders and shoo'd me off.

I wasn't expecting her to walk me out, especially not after wasting her time; it was a good experiment, though. I was suspicious of her white hair.

Nevermind.

I promptly took my leave from the den of filth.

Ugh, Esme is going to question me now.

That's annoying.

...

.....

...

Resting one leg over the other, Helen tapped her cheek with a subtle smile, "You've grown suspicious of me, cutie."

"The Domain of Light~"

"Its creation date~"

"And the test to see how much I know~"

Plopping her legs down, she swung them playfully for a moment, "What do you think? Good acting, right?"

Her words trickled through the air, into the empty office.

Then-

Flicker.

Crackles spread like erronous waves before her, cracks in the fabric of reality; not tears in space, but glitches.

It spasmed and flashed for a solid second, then dissipated into nothing.

The room returned to quiet.

"I know~"

...Nonetheless, Helen seemed to respond to someone.

"I can tell you everything~ But this..."

Helen chuckled.

"...this I can't."

-----

Exiting the staircase, I breathed in the fresh, clean air; much better. For origınal chapters go to novel⁂fire.net

Standing inside Sparkles, I gazed around at the glistening fashion trends popping with soft, feminine hues-

Ahem, I kind of want to...

-these colours dripped into my brain with a subtle urge.

The urge to dress in something that wasn't the white, frilly shirt and long, dark pants. I wanted to, after 7 years of wearing these monotonous clothes, try something new.

Plus, I did need to buy clothing before we left the Domain of Light, so this is just a trial of sorts to prepare!

That's right!

I totally didn't want to put on nice, comfy clothes!

Or impress Hilda!

Or impress my cute sister!

...Ahem, totally not.

Pulling off my hood, I exposed my sun-kissed, glamorous golden hair. Then, I blended into the slightly busy store; my movement speed was fast enough to remain hidden in plain sight until I arrived by one of the store workers.

Stopping by her, I walked into her field of view and waved, "Hello."

"Hello miss!" Her cheerful voice broke down my hesitant boundaries.

"Can you help me find fitting clothes...? Clothes of all types, cold weather, warm weather, mild weather, and clothes, ahem, fit for... You know..."

"Oh! Certainly, I can help you." Smiling sweetly, she winked at me suggestively; look, miss worker, it's not like that, I'm not going on a date!

...Well, honestly, I wish I were.

But that's besides the point!

Ignoring the heat plastering my face, I followed the worker to a changing room with a skip to my step. I didn't even notice how many different pieces of clothing she had picked up, and by the time I reached the changing room...

"Let's get started then miss!"

...the lady's arms were piled to the ceiling with clothing.

Gulp.

Is it too late to go back now...?

-----

I escaped Esme's scolding by the skin of my teeth.

If not for the hoard of clothing that I had inadverdently purchased, and had modified to fit a couple more centimetres of growth, I would have received a fist of justice ploughing down onto my head.

I was-

Pinching my fingers together.

-this close to experiencing what Hilda's suffering under Lily's wrath was like.

Anyways-

"Little dummy."

-I won't be surviving her wrath.

"...Yes?"

Planting her hands on her hips, Hilda stared me down with flickering ruby red eyes. Splashes of gold and emerald blazed through, before eventually relenting to the original hue of her eyes; lucky me, no lustful Hilda.

"You used your Manifestation."

"...Yes I did."

"How long do you have left before the repercussions?"

"9 minutes."

Hilda released one of the hands that had been locked at her waist and rubbed her face with a sigh, "Why did you do it? There's no reason, is there? At least, not one important enough to risk the detrimental outcome of your power."

Scratching my face, I tilted my head away from her slightly, "Um, there was a reason. But it's not one I can talk about."

Hilda slammed her teeth down together with a vein popping out of her forehead, her emotions switched up instantly, "That again, 'can't talk about it', 'can't tell you'-! I get it, I believe you, but it still pisses me off."

A finger of hers vanished like the wind then. Squeeze, it poked uncomfortably at my forehead and pushed my head to face her again, "Do you know what you should say in moments like this?"

Hilda forced the words through her teeth.

"S, sorry?"

"No!"

She released the finger and, Pomf~ She slammed my head into her chest and leaned over me as she pulled me into a hug.

Huh?

"You should ask for help! Ask for comfort! Ask me to take care of you! Are you a dummy or what?!"

...Oh.

My lips trickled up, and, alongside it, a single piece of salty liquid trickled down from my eyes, "...Hilda, can you take care of me? Comfort me?"

Wrapping my arms around Hilda, I returned her hug.

"Can you help me?"

I'm crying too easily these days. Is that the power of the hormones I believed to be ineffective on me?

Chuckling inwardly, I promptly received the words I'd once longed for for hours in despair and mania; words I once believed I didn't deserve, words that shouldn't be associated with this fucked creature.

"Of course. I'll take care of you, the girl I love the most."

---

"What's wrong?"

"I'm frustrated."

"Over what?"

"I want to ask that adorably dumb sister of mine so many questions, but I can't."

"What happened to that straightforward personality of yours?"

Esme blankly sighed, "Do you think it has gone away?"

Parting a section of Esme's snow-white hair to the side, Lily braided it while responding with, "Not in the slightest, Lady Esme."

"Exactly. But there are situations where you can't be straightforward even if you want to be. I'd lose my relationship with my sister if I were to be hard-headed, plus, she's already promised to tell me everything before we leave..."

Lily warmly responded to that point, "Then, why are you so frustrated? You have nothing to worry about; everything will be cleared up in less than 2 years."

"But-!"

"But what?" Lily pinched Esme's earlobe, "Is our Lady Esme finally growing up into a lady? No more of that boyish personality?"

"Tsk. What 'boyish' personality? I've always been a lovely lady. The perfect fit for my perfect sister."

Those words seemed to come out with innocence, but for a split second, something abruptly spiked in Esme's heart. A steaming hot shot that drowned her heart for a brief moment with deafening heat.

Lily, unaware, continued, "Perfect fit? How so?"

She asked, normally, casually-

But-

Esme, she-

"U, uh... I don't know. Don't ask me again."

-she deflected with a vaguely flushed face.

But, more importantly, more vivid than the pink colour staining her cheeks was the dilation of her pupils. Those golden eyes shifted with faint horror.

She didn't know why.

She didn't know how.

But something, somehow-

Felt inherently erroneous.