As I finished dressing in the clothes that Jack got for me, I heard 2 knocks on the door.

Even though I knew of course that it was Zeph, it would probably look really bad when he would just walk into the room where a girl was staying. Even if it was his sister.

"Come in, I'm almost done," I said as I buttoned up the final part of my shirt.

The door opened and Zeph came in. "Hey sis, time to get a move on." He had a smile on his face. That is when I saw my new clothes from his perspective. Which felt almost like looking in a full-length mirror. Well, it is hard to describe how I see myself from his eyes.

"You look stunning sis," Zeph said as he sat down on a chair near the window.

It is so weird to say that to myself. Even though we have been like this for 15 years now, I still can't get used to complimenting myself this way. I wish I could've said it to Aria.

It was quiet as my mind lost focus for a moment. I was realizing that even though we were forced out of our home by the disaster, now that we were 18 we could finally go out and find the bastard that did this to us. Or rather, that did this to Aria.

After a few minutes, we came back to reality. I turned around to get some accessories gifted by Jack from the desk. 2 earrings and a necklace. From Zeph's perspective, I saw how cute my sister looked right now.

Not in a weird way though. In my previous life, I never had a sister but do remember always wondering how it would be to have had one. Would I be that protective big brother who would always stand between her and danger in time of need? Or would I have been the little brother looking up to her?

Well, it could just as well have been a war between us. I suddenly thought to myself while letting out a chuckle.

Jack had prepared, what you could describe as, a trumpet sleeve dress with a corset/skirt combo at the waist. The shirt was white and the skirt was light turquoise. It fits beautifully with my long silver hair that stopped at my waist. A skin-colored legging of sorts and a pair of, what looked like, leather boots that came halfway to her knees.

"Jack really shouldn't have done this. How can we even repay him for these clothes?" I said with a guilty feeling. "They look so expensive"

Zeph stood up and went towards the door.

"If we see Jack we can always ask him. And I think we won't be leaving this village for a couple of days anyway. We can always come back and ask him later."

We agreed and left the room and went to the front desk. There was just one issue that I did not take into account as I left the room. Something making me feel uncomfortable I have never worn a skirt of any kind before as my sister. I never got myself to that in the past 15 years. But now I don't really have any choice in the matter. The further we walked the more I became aware of the skirt and the gaze of some people. It took me quite a lot of courage and self-control to pull myself through and not start punching people as Zeph, for looking at my sister.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

We reached the front desk and there was an elven woman with short brown hair and the default pointy ears you see in all the fantasy stories. The woman rustled through some papers on her desk and pulled out 2 pieces with a bunch of text written on them.

"Ok, so Zeph and Zephyria, right?" she asked while looking at the papers.

"That's right," Zeph answered.

"Well, I am happy to see you 2 have recovered fully." She looked up when she said that, carrying a gentle smile and a hint of relief that we survived.

"When you two were brought in, you were on the verge of death. You are lucky that your Ingisari. Any other race would not have survived."

"Do you have any place to stay? or better yet do you have any money in general?" She asked as she signed the 2 documents.

"No, not really. But we were going to visit the guard's house after this. Maybe they can help us?" I said, not sure of it myself.

"Hmmm." she looked around trying to think of something. "I wouldn't bet on getting anything fancy from them though. they might have a bed to spare somewhere but I wouldn't put it past them to let you sleep on the floor." She snapped. "Though, you would at least have a roof over your heads" she followed doubtfully.

Remembering how we lived the last 6 months, instinctively Zeph was on the point of replying that it wouldn't even be a problem if we slept outside. But I felt I had to keep Zeph from commenting on that. Could this be that female intuition everybody always talked about at home?

I realized that a man saying he would be "ok" with sleeping on the floor with his sister, would not really go over well with a lot of people and cause us more trouble than it would solve.

Before the silence became too long, I leaned on the counter a little.

"Well, a roof is better than nothing I guess," I said with full confidence.

My female gut was telling me it would be better to hear that coming from me than from Zeph. I hoped anyway.

Funny enough it did have the effect I hoped for and I saved myself, or rather Zeph, a lot of trouble now and possibly in the future.

"No, no, no. You are not sleeping on the ground. If they don't have a bed for you please come back here. I know someone at the local Inn. She might be willing to help you guys out."

Zeph and I looked at each other and accepted her invitation with a nod and I replied.

"Thank you, we will return to you if that happens."

"Good girl." She nodded a few times and gave us a smile.

"You are free to go now. And Zeph!" she looked at Zeph intently.

"You be sure to protect her this time, ok? If she gets in here with wounds again, I will personally make sure you won't leave this hospital alive."

I could see the gaze on Zeph and it felt like she could kill him with it right here and now if she wanted to.

I reached out to Zeph and gave him a hug, putting my head on his shoulder while looking at the receptionist.

"Don't worry, He promised he would protect me better from now on. Didn't you?" I said as I looked at myself with a big smile.

This is soooo weird. For years I never had to really deal with any of this but now, with all these other people around me... I was lost in my thoughts for a split second when Zeph found time to answer.

"Yeah, I will do everything in my power to make sure she won't get hurt anymore." He said while looking at the receptionist. I was thinking of making us look at each other but that felt too awkward for me right now. There were so many new situations that I never had to deal with before. This feels overwhelming right now.

The receptionist sat back down and looked at us. "Good," she said. "But I WILL hold you to that." she continued with a stern voice.

Jack walked past us and apparently overheard her warn Zeph.

"Now now, Lyra. You don't need to scare these 2. They have been through enough recently. Don't want them back here because you went on a new rampage again." he said jokingly.

"You 2, go!. I need to have a good long talk with him!" She said as she forcefully pushed her chair back and started walking after Jack. Though, he was already running away through the hallway while laughing.

I started laughing as well as we turned around and left the hospital.