Big sis was…weird.

Not in a bad way! Never in a bad way. Grace would knock him to the moon if he ever thought that way. But, it’s just-, the more time he spent with her, the weirder she was. In a concerning way.

She spaced out a lot. Especially when they were fighting. Her eyes would get this…glint? Shine? He wasn’t all that sure how to explain, but one moment the big sis he knew would be there, and the next the Hunter. It’s like she was flipping a switch every time she went into battle.

Was it multiple personalities? Probably not. Was it a healthy thing? Maybe not? He didn’t really know. He wasn’t a psychologist.

But it was still concerning.

He liked big sis. She reminded him of Grace. Just with more confidence and had the strength to punch you straight through a building. Not that he’d ever seen her do the latter. Grace had asked big sis if she could. She’d stared for a few seconds before she shrugged and told them that she could.

Honestly? He wouldn’t mention it to anyone but…he was somewhat glad the apocalypse had happened. Grace would probably kill him if she heard this, but it was true. There was nothing waiting for them. Grace believed her parents were on a work trip outside. That was wrong. Beyond wrong. They left.

She didn’t need to know that.

He could tell big sis knew though. It’s probably why she never mentioned anything about their parents.

This new life of theirs? He wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

That, and he didn’t want big sis to be lonely. Because she was. And still is, despite what she told them. He could tell from the way her eyes would go dull at times. How she’d often stare out the windows, as if she was waiting for something to come. He could tell from the way she was terrified of letting them go on their own. How the air would turn heavy whenever she thought they were even in the slightest of danger.

“So she’s like a dog?” Grace had asked him. It was the night before they left the apartment, and they’d been trading ideas over who big sis was. “I mean, I guess I can see it? She likes to stick around us a lot.”

He smiled for a moment before it fell. “Yeah.” He sighed. “Remember that dog we found when we were ten?”

“Oh, you mean Grubby?”

“You remember what happened to her?”

She blinked. “Well, she-” Her words froze. Her eyes went wide. “Oh.” She said, voice low with anger and pity. “Oh. You mean she’s…?”

He nodded. “Like an abandoned dog? Pretty much.” He made a small shrug. “I mean-, not exactly, I guess, but something similar? It’s just-” He sighed harshly. “No one becomes like that on their own. No one becomes strong like that for no reason.” He shut his eyes. “Something happened. Something big.”

“...you think it was her brother?”

He grimaced. “Maybe. She didn’t like talking about him.” He rubbed his eyes. He was getting a little sleepy. “We should sleep soon.”

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“Yeah.” She smiled. It wasn’t a friendly one. “Hey, if we find this brother of hers-”

“-wanna punt him to the moon?”

She grinned. “You know me so well!”

He returned her grin with his own.

Barring that promise to make someone an astronaut, they’d made a small compilation of things about big sis. Or, Grace had been the one to make it. He only helped correct some minor spelling errors. He made sure to give her all the snark he had every time he corrected something. It did earn him a smack to head, but he’d say it was worth it.

One, big sis liked sweets. A lot. Grace thought it was cute. He thought it was somewhat concerning. She seemed to eat a lot more of that magical strawberry jam of hers when she looked particularly sad. Grace thought he was just overthinking. He just shrugged and told her it was a possibility.

Two, big sis liked the stars. It was honestly really cool to learn all about the stars as they sat under the night sky. It had that rustic charm. And more than anything, she’d have this smile as she talked.

Three, bis sis hated being underground. It was something big sis had told them herself. She’d just told them that it was something she always felt about being underground. He’d shared a glance with his sister and swiftly decided that it was utter bull. Something happened. Something bad. Bad enough that big sis looked faint when they asked.

Four, big sis had a brother, and he was prime material to become earth’s first unwilling astronaut.

Five, big sis had their backs. Always. She’d help them when they needed anything, and she’d throw them to the wolves if they were being lazy. She’d teach them what was important and direct them away from what wasn’t. She’d shown them that life still had a way, despite everything else.

They didn’t know much else. They wanted to, but he could tell big sis was uncomfortable. Even Grace could tell. She didn’t like talking about her past. She didn’t like talking about the past in general.

But that was fine. The past was the past. And right now?

They lived in the present.

…

“Damn, when did you get so good at writing?” He could see the clear smug smile on her lips. “You wrote fanfictions or something?”

He quickly snapped the book shut and snarled. “Shut up. I did not. Don’t ever suggest that.”

“Denial paints agreement.”

“That is wrong on so many levels.”

Their laughter soon fell as they turned to the far corner of the cottage. Big sis was sleeping there, her head leaning against the wall and her knees pulled up against her chest. There was a strange sword placed just by her right, carved with runes he couldn’t read. A thin mist was slowly escaping from it, and it spun around big sis like a blanket.

She looked small then. Smaller than she ever had. Young.

“I heard her crying.” Grace muttered. Her hands were clenched tight. “She was crying in her sleep.” She turned to him with murder in her eyes. “You think someone did something to her last night?”

He remained silent for a second before he shook his head. “I…don’t think so.” He glanced at the strange sword. “She was being all weird yesterday, and she returned with that sword.” He took a breath. “I…think that sword was important to her. Or to someone she knew. I don’t know.”

“Mm.” She took a breath and sighed. “Man, I still wanna kill something.”

“You’re starting to sound like a psychopath.”

“Anything for big sis.”

“I cement my statement.”

They shared a quick laugh. He glanced at the window. It was bright outside. It wasn’t raining today. Which was good. He hated being stuck indoors.

“Hey, wanna fight?” Grace suddenly offered. “Kinda bored, and…I don’t feel like leaving.”

He nodded. “Sure.” He grabbed his sword, and stopped. “Oh, and we’re not using our weapons.” Grace stared at him. He shrugged. “I’m not letting us get hurt. A graze from our weapons can kill us.”

His sister coughed. She’d clearly forgotten that.

He smiled. “I’ll make blunt ones from the wood big sis brought here.”

“You do that.”

His smile fell. “You’re not helping?”

She smiled. “You’re my brother, right?”

He sighed. He should’ve expected that. “Right, right.” He smiled wryly. “I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“Okay!”

He huffed as he left the cottage.