The Advent of Madness: My Twin Sister And I

The warm glow of a flickering oil-lit lamp hazily glazed over my sleepy face, rousing me from deep sleep. Feeling my fingers over the soft fabric of my bed, I yawned softly and sat up from my blissful rest.

...That should have been 3 and a half hours of sleep.

Give or take, that's why my internal clock told me. It was even less sleep than I initially predicted I needed, thanks to my status as a Profaned-

Squish.

-but then I felt something squishy bump into my forearm as I groggily wiped my eyes.

My eyes darted to my side, but nothing...?

I saw no one and nothing there that was even remotely close to the sensation of softness for my arm to have touched.

A vague sense of alarm slid down my spine, but I kept it at bay for the moment.

I hadn't felt any form of wariness just now, meaning whatever it was that I'd touched wasn't a danger towards me. Also, I'm not delusional enough to believe that that wasn't a real sensation I'd felt.

I've spent years being delusional.

Years of seeing what others can't see.

I'm confident enough in my senses to know that I'd touched something soft.

Sighing, I wiped my eyes once more and opened up my Book of Heresy with my right hand to double-check the time.

Reading my most recent Orders:

Another 20 minutes before the time on the 4 hours runs out.

Scratching my chin, I put the worries over our predicaments aside and focused on the squishy feeling instead. If anything had gone horribly wrong, I'd have been informed by now, so...

It means nothing has gone wrong.

And it also means they have free time.

Hildekar, Elden, Jill, and Nemora are all up on deck.

Vanessa, Yulei, and Lily are all by each other's side in the Captain's Cabin.

Meaning...

Unless Vanessa the stalker has somehow snuck out of the Captain's Cabin, it's between Hilda and Esme on who was by my side just now and snuck out in time before I'd even turned my eyes.

Both are strong enough to do something like that as well...

Not Hilda.

That immediate subconscious thought arose immediately.

Hilda wouldn't sneak about; she'd be direct. We've both confessed each other's love to one another; she has no reason to be sneaky.

Meaning:

Esme. Esme is being her cute, adorable self around me.

She's testing her feelings towards me.

Walking around the corridors of The Canary for so long must have brought up her hidden worries to the surface to ponder over while nothing was going on.

She came to me just now.

She was watching over me.

That, for some reason, brought a piping hot volume of heat to my heart. It wasn't a heart-pounding type of heat, but a lovely type.

Esme's speed is absurd. I didn't even get to turn my eyes before she was gone. Is it her Manifestation? Or just raw speed because of her lightning prowess?

Either way, I don't think I could ever beat her in a fight.

Nor could I beat anyone other than the wheelchair-bound Yulei and the non-combatant Hildekar.

The rest would destroy me.

But, never mind all of that, I had to get back to the deck and see what was up for the moment; mainly to give Jill, Elden, Hildekar, and Nemora a chance to rest.

Unlike them, my main use is my support capabilities. The rest of the cohort sitting at full capacity is my priority.

Getting up from my bed, I went over to the corner of the room, pulled out a towel from one of the storage crates sitting there, and dipped it into an enclosed bucket for a moment to wet it.

I then wiped myself down for the sake of the feeling, not really for actually washing myself. My Cursed Flames took care of dirt and grime, then I made my way into the corridors of The Canary.

After a few short minutes of uneventful walking, I arrived at the junction connecting the staircase I'd just come up from, the Captain's Cabin, and the entrance/exit.

Glancing over in the direction of the Captain's Cabin for a brief second, I instead faced the exit walked outwards-

.....

...

I lifted my pen from my book.

This is when it started.

This is when I began to overlook a crucial factor.

I planted the pen back onto the book with despairing weight.

.....

...

-scribbling a new order into my Book of Heresy on the way out, I applied the intermediate darkness resistance onto myself and stepped out onto the deck, into the cacophony of crashing waves.

Splatters of cold, black liquid squelched onto my face. I felt the 'water' vividly on my skin, but the Cloak of Verdansk that had been active on me the whole time fought back against the invasive liquid.

Or, it might not be invasive; there's no way to know for the moment.

Ahead of me, two handsome young men sat back to back, one with vivid emerald hair and the other with luscious black locks. Both were hidden beneath the veil of Curses, the outline of the Cloak of Verdansk, but not even that could fog up their looks.

"Awake?"

Nemora's soothing voice came from above. Twisting my head upwards, I met eye-to-eye with those frigid green eyes. Her brown hair cascaded over the railing, draping like a well-woven cloak.

I nodded.

"Good, Jill, Elden, head inside, get some sleep. Alora will be taking over momentarily. Hildekar, your turn will come after those two wake up."

The two young men before me stretched with relief as they got up. Waving casually over at Nemora, they nodded at me as they passed by me and into the belly of The Canary.

"Don't worry, Alora, Elden's Manifestation will remain running till the moment it breaks. So far, we've been smashed by this black liquid relentlessly, but it has yet to break. Odds are, the liquid is safe to touch. Not sure about drinking, though. Will require more tests."

I put a thumbs-up and then walked towards the bow of the ship. Nemora would remain by Hildekar's side and could overlook the main deck, so I decided to take care of the tip and watch for anything hidden behind the bow of the ship.

The Canary swayed gently beneath my feet as I stuck myself to it; Hildekar did a good job.

This was his first time manoeuvring a ship, yet he did a fantastic job.

Only that the incessant pounding of waves did vaguely annoy me with the thundering noise, but it wasn't something I couldn't deal with for an extended period.

I've had a finger poked into my heart before, I've had my body be torn apart till only my skeleton and vital organs remained-

I can handle this much at least.

Stretching my limbs again to accustom myself to movement, I stepped up to the small deck by the bow of the ship and leaned over the railing; not that I ever want to experience those punishments again.

Gazing down at the waves smashing into the hull of The Canary, I poked my hand outwards and allowed the black liquid to splash it.

It's cold.

And that was about it.

It didn't feel special.

I expected more from the Sunless Skies, but there is also this question:

Are these waves even a part of the Sunless Skies?

And are we even experiencing the real horrors of the Sunless Skies?

I had a not-so-sneaking suspicion that we weren't. I'm also sure that the others think the same by now; at least, the smart ones of the cohort.

Ahem. Hilda. Ahem.

Curling my elbows on the railing, my right hand lifted lazily onto my chin as I relaxed myself over it. The stream of thunderous waves crashed continuously like a thrumming guitar shrieking with broken strings.

Unpleasant, but after a few minutes...

Soothing?

Not in a soothing manner, but in a meditative one. It focused my brain on the present, on what I should be putting all my efforts towards.

Enjoying this brief calm, I pulled out my Book of Heresy and extended the Orders for the others, but this time I excluded Jill and Elden—no point in wasting more of my reserves on two sleepyheads.

Gently rocking with the ship, my eyes swept over to the side, towards the distance.

Staring silently, I hummed a familiar tune that Hilda habitually hummed in front of me when she carried me around everywhere.

Unlike her, though, my voice was surely much worse.

She has a talent.

Her voice is so pretty.

Iwonderwhatshe'llsoundlikeinbed-

Smack.

I patted my cheeks.

Naughty thoughts could come later...

Huh?

...just then...

What is that?

A silhouette flickered at the edge of my vision.

No.

Not a silhouette.

My Book of Heresy opened up instantly as I hurriedly scratched a new Order to allow me to communicate with Nemora for just a few seconds-

"Stop the ship! Something is up ahead!"

-the backlash came immediately, but my message was carried across in time.

The swaying Canary creaked and shuddered at the abrupt change in speed; a rattling set of chains loud enough to break past the waves ripped into my ears with a grating sound—multiple anchors were being dropped into the water.

Not to hold the ship down, but to add resistance and slow the ship down.

Simultaneously, I spotted the door leading inside swing open, revealing two grumpy faces peering out as they each ran towards a different mast in preparation to change the direction of the sails.

"Give Hildekar a connection to Jill and Elden for just 10 minutes."

I followed through with it immediately.

But the majority of my attention was placed on the rapidly approaching silhouette.

I wonder...

Is it a threat or a haven?