Once again, I was outside, the red sun peeking its head over the tops of the trees, when I noticed two figures running towards me.

“H-Heey~! Wait up!”

I stopped, letting the two girls catch up and rest by my side. June was out of breath, her arms on her knees and panting. May, on the other hand, seemed relatively unfazed by the very short run. While I was observing them, a few things entered my mind, which surprised me. May had blue, short and straight hair that came to her shoulders and June had pink long hair, voluminous and bounding on the way to the middle of her back. Did they dye their hair? Or had I just failed to notice? It was a strange feeling, a sense of discomfort that you might get when you start to question your own observations. But I paid it no further heed.

“We tried to catch up to you… But you were too fast! How are you running? That just shouldn’t be possible…” June stammered out words in between her heavy breaths. What did they mean, though? Why shouldn’t it be possible?

Before I could gather my thoughts and hone in on this increasing feeling of misalignment fogging my head, May walked up to me. She had a frilly red dress which looked soft. Was she wearing that yesterday? When she got to just a couple of steps away from me, I could tell she was trying to investigate what it was that I was holding.

“Sis… the dictionary…”

“So that’s where it went! I couldn’t find it in the mess of other books in the living room… You’ve been reading them, huh?”

June, whose mind was still trying to process things, made a strange puzzled face as she looked at me and then the book, going back and forth between the two. I wasn’t sure why she’d find it weird for me to be holding this book, though. It was the perfect weight for something to carry while I ran to make it harder.

May beckoned to June who had walked up to her and started whispering in her ear. Then, she turned around and spoke to me.

“Can you point to the Wise?”

It was a strange question that would normally not make sense, that is, unless you knew the common name for the special type of large tree that sat next to the house, Wise Generals, as they are commonly referred to. I pointed at the tree in response. May, who seemed to be genuinely impressed, clapped softly.

Next, it was June’s turn to test me. “Okay then… what about, mmm, what about Celana?”

After squinting at the sky for a bit, I pointed to one of the moons overhead, specifically one that had a blue tint and a sizable crater.

“Whoaa…” June was very clearly impressed, letting out a stupefied sound. She happened to be making a bit of a rare expression on her face, which to me was a bit funny.

“Okay, I’d be surprised if you can get this one.”

From May, who still remained fairly expressionless, I sensed an undeniable competitive spirit, as if she wanted to win entirely and utterly, as if me identifying basic things had somehow turned into a fierce competition. But I resolved myself, determined to see for myself that the past 11 hours of information gathering was truly effective.

May stood still and closed her eyes. As she did so, though, I felt the strange sensation of things moving in the air, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t see anything moving. Was the air moving? No, that couldn’t be, because our clothes should’ve moved in the wind if that was the case, especially May’s dress. But the air was calm. Completely mystified, all I could do was wait and see what would happen. But when May opened her eyes again and the strange sensations stopped, nothing seemed to have changed.

“...Can you point to the leyline I just opened up?”

I figured I had to grasp on some metaphysical level what could’ve changed and where, but no matter how hard I tried… I just couldn’t, so I gave up, admitting defeat.

“Heh.” May put her arms on her waist, closed her eyes, and looked up and to the side, radiating an incredible amount of smugness with only the slightest of movements. The feeling of defeat sunk even further into my stomach.

“H-Hey, it’s okay, my sister went way too overboard, that was pretty unfair.”

June tried to comfort me, patting me on the shoulder whilst sighing and shrugging as she gestured to her sister, still in her victory pose.

“Well, I’ll be honest. You just seem to be doing these things naturally, but you’ve come incredibly far in just two days. You work really hard, don’t you?”

June flashed me a genuine smile. I was being praised. To be honest, for some reason, I really didn’t know how to feel about this. A distant part of me felt quite uncomfortable for some reason at being acknowledged and praised, as if I if was preferable to just make endeavors alone and in seclusion, but… Seeing June’s smile, and seeing that it was genuine, it dispelled that feeling, and I just felt… happy. I was fairly certain, according to the dictionary, that that was how I felt.

June, seeing me smile, smiled as well.

“Hey, how about we go inside? If you really know all these words and if you really, seriously, read a whole dictionary… then shouldn’t we try again?” June looked at May, who seemed to realize something. She darted back into the house and June followed, pulling me along by the hand.

When we got inside, I looked around. A Weltian style chandelier, a bookshelf made of distinct Elven wood, a mount of the head of a Faron Hellcat, all manner of things I, for some reason, don’t remember having seen. Perhaps now that I could actually somewhat identify these things they registered clearer in my head, but I also felt that wasn’t entirely the whole case. I noticed the place was clean and organized, yet no matter where one looked there was truly an awe-inspiring array of trinkets and curios, some of which I knew of and others which I failed to even form a meaningful guess as to what they could possibly be used for. But while I was enamored with my surroundings, I felt a tug on my hand. June led me excitedly to the rather large table that had a mess of books surrounding it. Ah. I didn’t get a chance to clean it up, I remembered, but June didn’t seem to mind. I noticed that the table bore various engravings and ornaments. Recognizing that such an intricate and artistic table was used for our barbaric rituals of eating, I felt somewhat bad. Well, we had to eat somewhere, I guess…

May, who I could see swaying very slightly side to side, sat at this table, a familiar slate in her hand. June led me to the seat across from her before walking around the large table to sit by her sister. Not wasting any time, June spoke.

“Can you write now?”

I nodded, reaching out for the slate which May had leaned forward to hand to me. I wrote quickly on the slate, using the Tyraellian system of characters that I was now quite comfortable with. It wasn’t surprising it didn’t take long to learn though, since they weren’t too far from the letters I felt I was already familiar with. I decided I would try and write the sentence that I tried to write two days prior.

Hello. Thanks for taking care of me.

I held up the board.

“Oh, of course, you’re welcome! It’s because of us that you’re here, so… Hehe.” June bubbled with glee, as if this exchange of words was, for some reason, meaningful to her. Quite odd. After all, she and May have been talking to me and I’ve been understanding them this whole time. Maybe the confirmation of my understanding was meaningful to her? I wasn’t sure.

June didn’t waste much time to fill the silence, anticipation showing not just on her face but her sister as well, both their minds clearly thinking about what kinds of things to say to me.

“Oh yeah! Um, this whole time, we haven’t really called you by anything, but… do you, maybe, have a name?”

I thought about it. Before I realized it, a name had surfaced in my mind, but strangely enough, I was pushing it down entirely unwittingly, as if on some instinctive level. Why was I doing that? Why didn’t I want to tell them this name? I got frustrated with myself as I was starting to realize it was I, myself, that was trying to impede my own efforts in trying to understand my psyche. How utterly ridiculous.

At some point, my internal struggles must have seen by June and May, who were now both showing faces of concern.

“It-It’s okay! You don’t force yourself, it’s okay!”

Slight panic could be heard in June’s voice. Panic and worry. I felt bad, making her feel these two things, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to get to the bottom of things, now, and rid myself of this strange estrangement from my own consciousness, my own ego. What was it I was avoiding? What was it that I was averting my own gaze from? I ignored the two panicking voices as well as the pain in my head as I plunged deeper into my subconsciousness in search of the answers to these questions…

—

My eyes shot open. I remembered. I realized. Who I was. What had happened to me. As light flooded my vision, I was met with two worried faces that filled my vision. I looked around and saw I was still sitting at the table. I could feel the cold sweat that had accumulated on my body. I saw the slate on the table. I picked it up and debated what it was I was going to write.

I decided I wasn’t going to tell them. I've now realized why I had placed that strange fog in my head. What I had really wanted was a change, and by repressing my memories, I must’ve subconsciously figured that I wouldn’t follow the same patterns. By now, I realized what I really wanted: to be free, adrift, doing what I pleased, far away from the things that I should do, things predetermined for me without my input. So I would be free. To some, this is just running away. But by now, at this point, I really don’t care if people think that. I’ve thrown the part of me that cares about what other people might think away. Right now, I am someone who just does what they want, and who enjoys themselves. Nothing else matters, I told myself.

With such thoughts in my mind, I wrote quickly to assuage the two worried people by my sides.

I’m okay, my head just hurt for a bit

“Are you sure you’re okay? Does it still hurt?”

I’m alright, it feels better now, thanks

June and May simultaneously exhaled large, emphatic sighs of relief, the two slumping down in chairs. They really were synchronized, like true sisters. Before the two said anything else, I started writing, and they patiently waited, reading as I wrote.

There’s a lot of things I’d like to ask about now that I can talk with you two, but before any of that, I have to say some things. Thank you for cooking for me June, you’re cooking is truly amazing

June let out an Aww, of course! as she took the compliment with an unexpected amount of glee, as if she wasn’t used to getting complimented.

And thank you, May, for helping me when I still couldn’t walk or run, and spending time with me.

“Of course. Think nothing of it.”

May averted her gaze and crossed her shoulders.

Thank you, you two, for taking care of me and letting me stay with you.

I normally hated formalities, but now, I realized why they exist. To show sincerity. I stood up and bowed to the two sisters, who were a bit dumbfounded.

“Wha-, I-I-It’s okay! Really! You already thanked us, we’re happy to have you!” The two were surprised by my sudden action and shifted in their seats in discomfort, before eventually trying and succeeding in getting me to stop bowing to them.

I sat back down across from the two girls, whose gazes looked everywhere except at me, and I went to thinking about what I should write before settling on one major thing out of the many.

I don’t have a name

I looked at the two sisters and showed the slate, grabbing their attention.

“It’s true, we were actually thinking yesterday that you needed a name.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

As I continued staring at the two, June realized what it was I wanted.

“Are you… Do you want us to give you a name?”

I looked at June and May and nodded sincerely, showing them I was serious.

“There’s nothing you want to be called by, right?”

I think a name given by you two would be a great name. Please give me a name.

“W-Wow, this is, kind of, a lot, huh, right, May? Hahah…”

June, a bit uneasy, stood up and resolved herself before eventually trying to come up with a name. She rubbed her head and paced around the table, time passing as various words and reasonings spilled out of her mouth. May, who had been silent in thought, spoke up.

“Is there anything you like in particular?”

I wrote with no hesitation.

June and May

The two were caught off guard by my blunt response.

“O-Other than that, you know what I mean!”

It was funny seeing May get rattled.

I’m sorry, there’s really not much to go off of. June’s cooking?

The two, seeing that this line of reasoning wouldn’t get them anywhere, went back to immersing themselves in their thoughts. Eventually, June approached May and started discussing with her directly.

I did feel kind of bad. I knew how hard it could be to come up with a name for something on the spot, especially when it was for a person you didn’t really know anything about. It is a sort of big responsibility, after all. Eventually, though, the two turned towards me, speaking in unison.

“Crimson. ‘Cause of your hair.”

“Crimson!”

I unwittingly looked down and grabbed at a few strands of my hair. I somehow never noticed my hair until now. Long, disheveled layers of hair blanketed my shoulders and ran down my back, hair that was even longer than June’s. I liked it. I liked the name.

June, who had just been showing a lot of excitement, suddenly looked back down as if remembering something had doused the fire that roused her. “That is, um, if you’re okay with it, of course…” She muttered, playing with her hands, looking at her sides and fidgeting side to side.

I didn’t want to keep her waiting any longer than necessary, so I wrote quickly on my slate, excitedly, before turning it over and showing them a huge grin.

I love it

The two clapped their hands to each other and literally jumped, startling me, before rushing over to me and hugging me. I was honestly quite startled at the unusual behavior from the two. But, well, this kind of thing, while pretty discomforting, once in a while, isn’t too bad, I guess... My face felt hot, alerting me that it must have become quite red, so I covered my face in embarrassment. I peeked out from my hands and saw that the other two girls were also surprised at their sudden willingness to initiate so much bodily contact, so they too were clearly embarrassed. I couldn’t help but laugh at the two, and quickly, they too were laughing.

After the bubbly atmosphere had faded, it was replaced by a bit of an awkward silence, as if everyone was thinking Well, what do we do now? I wrote quickly to help bring the stiff, socially awkward girls out of their discomfort.

I was wondering, who are you two?

June read my writing and a realization seemed to have clicked in her head.

“Oh, you don’t know anything about us at all, huh? That’s right… that should be obvious, huh? Where should we start, May?”

May gave her a shrug, not saying a word.

“Well that’s super helpful!” June exclaimed, pouting, before resigning herself and continuing. “Well… now that I think about it, our situation isn’t exactly normal, huh… I’ve gotten so used to that nowadays I never really give it much thought. Now, trying to explain it, it’s kind of weird…”

While the two weren’t normal by most standards, there was one thing that definitely was off.

So you two don’t see anyone?

June, hearing this, was suddenly dispirited. “Yeah… yeah…” She said it twice, as if saying it again reassured her, making it true. How odd, I thought.

I felt bad seeing the usually cheerful June so down. June must’ve picked up on how I was feeling as she reacted, saying, “It’s not that bad! At least I have May here, even if she’s off doing her own thing most of the time.”

“What do you mean, I’m the most caring younger sister there is.” May said, putting on a very convincing display of emotion that somehow failed to gain June’s sympathy, instead eliciting just the rolling of her eyes.

Confused by the two’s awkwardness, I asked another question. Why are you two out here, all alone?

“Oh, it’s a bit complicated, I guess…”

It seemed to be a bit of a touchy topic for June, so I stopped pushing it. It hurt me to see her so down and visibly depressed.

It’s okay, we don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to.

June and even May fidgeted, before June spoke up, looking to change the topic.

“You know, Crimson, I was wondering, what have you been up to? You seem pretty mysterious, and I can’t help what goes through your head, sometimes.”

It was a good question. What have I been doing?

I don’t really know

I paused, before continuing to write.

I just have this feeling like I have to do certain things, so I do them.

Writing out this bizarre answer really showed me that my modus operandi thus far was truly quite strange. But I really did feel strongly that if I didn’t learn more about the world and didn’t become physically capable very soon, I would regret it. I don’t know why it was the case, but I did.

“Huh. Well, it’s true I was really surprised to see so many books sprawled out here and there in the living room, I mean, it’s surprising to be having a whole conversation with you, Chris–”

May shot an abrupt glance at June, cutting her sentence short as if June had picked up on some secret meaning hidden in her gaze. Now hesitating, June continued, as if compelled to fill the gap in her words.

“It really is fun speaking to you!” June stammered, awkwardly. “I, yeah, well…”

The conversation dwindled and died as June started doubting the words she was saying. I was no better as I twiddled the chalk in between my fingers, trying to think of what to say that wouldn’t discomfort June. However, all I could think of were questions. All this while, May just pretended to ignore her sister’s flailing, staring into space as if neither of us existed. Then, in a time of dire straits, we were saved by a certain noise.

Grumble…

“Ah! It’s eleven already, huh? I bet you two are real hungry, how about I whip up something real quick?”

May and I simultaneously looked up at June, a look of eager anticipation coming from our faces, no doubt strong enough to pierce through June. She smiled, seeing the two of us be so honest, before going off into the kitchen. As she did that, May went over to the bookshelf and pulled out a book with a blue bookmark in it which was no doubt hers. I did the same, finding the book I was in the middle of reading off the ground and opening it to where I left off.

“Oh yeah, why are there so many books on the ground?”

I don’t know where to return them. Sorry

“Ah, that makes sense. Well, we can just let June put them away, she knows the library better than I do, anyway.”

I let out an internal apology to June before quickly immersing myself in the book I was reading, joining May who had already started.

All too quickly, delicious smelling aromas entered our noses. It was clear that the two of us were struggling to maintain our concentrations with such a tempting distraction surrounding us, but we tried our best. Eventually, though, just as it was getting unbearable, the excruciating wait came to an end.

“It’s ready~! Carbonara, Dwarven-style!”

“Ooooh, Crimson, it’s griffon eggs!” May was beaming with overflowing excitement. To be honest, I must have been, as well.

Creamy, buttery, delightful goodness. Paired with such a sauce was a meat that pierced the palette, one that oozed with juices that had a hypnotizing, outright mesmerizing flavor. This is the essence of meat, I thought to myself. The noodles that were the foundation of this piece of art were of a texture not too chewy yet not soggy, a firm kind that was satisfying just to bite into.

Both me and May literally licked our bowls clean. It was heavy and our stomachs were satisfied, but our minds weren’t. Such addictions must never touch the tongues of mortals lest they fall and become corrupted, slaves to their tongues.

I picked up the slate to write before showing it to May.

I envy you for getting to eat this stuff all the time.

May made a strange face I wasn’t expecting, though.

“Oh, these past few days were actually the first time I’ve eaten her cooking. She’s truly a wicked cook, isn’t she?”

I was confused. June chimed into our conversation.

“Yeah, normally we just study and mind our own business. We’ve actually talked more in the past few days than in the past few years, I’m pretty sure.”

At this point, my shock and confusion only grew. My mind automatically parsed and derived speculations based on the information I was being given, but I tried to stop myself. I was undeniably baffled, though, as the strange reality of these two just seemed to get stranger.

“When I first met May, I actually thought she was like you, unable to speak. You can’t imagine how surprised I was the first time she spoke to me.”

“That’s just ‘cause I didn’t have anything to ask you about.”

The two sisters, who seemed to dig up memories, crossed their arms and shook their heads at the other, as if the other one was in the wrong for not speaking more to the other. Well, at least now, they seem to me to be pretty friendly. A thought bubbled up, one which I tried not to think about. Are they not real sisters?

“Anyways, you two help me clean up, alright? Then after, we can study, how does that sound?”

No one made any complaints and we seemed to be in agreement with how we wanted to spend our time. For today, I wanted to pay particular respect to the esteemed chef who completely blew me away today, so, without hesitation, I set my mind to cleaning the kitchen more thoroughly than ever. June even showed me where the pots and pans went, allowing me to put them away.

Shortly thereafter, the three of us moved to the dining table where all of us immediately focused. Well, to be honest, at times I let my mind wander a bit, since I felt some things were worth devoting some more thought into. In particular, my mental condition. With the fog gone, I felt like I had many parts of my mind. It was like night and day. I felt happy to have confronted my past and achieve more clarity within my mind.

One detail stuck out to me. I remembered clearly the feeling I felt when I first walked out and saw the forest. I never smelled such wild grass and woods. I was stunned. So, how could I have been found in the forest? That was most likely a lie. After getting that far along this line of reasoning, though, I thought a couple things. One, I don’t like doubting these people. Two, I realized I’m not too interested in the details behind my existence. As long as I can live my life freely, I don’t care. So I decided not to pursue the obvious questions dangling in the air. I just want us three to enjoy ourselves.

Thoughts concerning one more thing popped into my head, later on into our study session. Magic. I knew nothing of it. Could I use it? What was it like? What kind of magic can these two girls use? Before long, such thoughts flooded my head as I wrapped up the fifth book for the day.

Closing the book softly, I looked up and saw a few large candles lit throughout the room. June and May were sitting next to each other, and June seemed to be explaining a particular concept to May, who sat and listened attentively to her sister. June spoke softly and surprisingly quite composed and fluidly. It was as if the two girls were different people, now in their element, in their own little world. A nice thought popped into my mind. Me, who had been reading and absorbing information intently, was also in this little world. A nice thought, until I realized it didn’t count since I wasn’t actively communicating with them while I was reading. I now had this desire to talk about what I was learning about and what they were learning about in the back of my mind, but I decided that absorbing as much information as I could was my highest priority at the moment.

When June finished explaining the apparently complicated concept to her little sister, she moved to sit back down into her own chair. As she did so, I approached her, my message for her already written out on the board.

Is there a book on the basics of magic here?

She showed a look of understanding, and without speaking, went to the shelf and pulled out a series of large books, nearly as thick as the dictionary I had read the previous day. It was quite the endeavor, but eventually the two of us hauled the books back over to the side of the table before depositing them on the ground.

“Magic is a multi-faceted thing. To be honest… To be completely honest, I’m not even sure if you can use it. Well, if you can generate it, to be exact, but any living creature should probably be able to manipulate it. Well it’s too complicated to even give you a rundown on, since me and May specialize in only one small part of the whole thing, Distortion, but start with this book. It did a great job at showing me the broad picture, something which is easy to lose if you dive first into other branches of Magic. After that, these two books over here go over the fundamentals of elementary unactivated ether particles, the most fundamental building block of most magic phenomena, and then these three books here are a bit more specialized, covering Structures, Synthesis, and Diffraction. These books should help situate you and introduce you to the theoretical aspects in a fairly consummate yet concise fashion.”

As if completely unfazed by the things she was saying, after finishing her small spiel, she quickly sat down and dove back into her own studies. I similarly wasted little time, starting my read of the book June had advised me to start with, titled Magic – An Introductory Analysis – Strev Bronswick.

Time passed. I stopped my reading. I looked up and noticed I was alone at the table. It was dark out. The candles oddly, though, didn’t seem to have burned off much. While the books I had read thus far were dense and filled with information, the content of the books pertaining to magic seemed to be mere allusions to deeper topics, despite still being extremely meticulous and detailed. The other books I had read last night were primarily information focused. I chose a couple encyclopedias to be familiar with creatures and plantlife, which surprisingly had sections devoted to intelligent life, of which there was a lot. I also picked a book on geology, one on astronomy, a work of fiction, a biography, and a couple history books on major nations. There was one I particularly liked which listed the most prominent figures of all of history that contained speculative notes on what portions of their stories were embellished and how much was real. This was something hard to figure out since in this world, truly amazing things that boggled the imagination were apparently not that rare to see throughout history.

The books I was tackling now reminded me of science textbooks. I noticed that if I tried to read a book about magic without a sufficient understanding of the prerequisite fundamental principles outlined in that book’s preface, I would just be lost and get nowhere. So right now, it was a matter of building said fundamental principles. But large parts of it seemed to be rather counterintuitive. The introductory book spoke of certain fundamental shapes and symbols that seemed to be recurring in not just the structures of ether but in nature itself, but the reason why this is the case is apparently a very complicated debate, involving discourse between various circles and schools of thought. Such facts, I simply had to accept and memorize, however the problem I was running into was that if I didn’t understand the various reasons and applications behind a certain principle, learning and utilizing it was exponentially harder for me. I was essentially forced to brute force the acquisition of a great deal of knowledge which was hard for me to learn. So, frustrated with the lack of progress I was making, I was here, making the hard decision to stop, losing myself in this recapitulative train of thought.

After blowing out the candles on the table and around the room, I went over to my room. On the way, as I passed by the sisters’ bedroom, I thought I heard faint crying. I was tempted to listen more closely but I chastised myself, reminding myself that I had no desire to pursue answers. I ignored the many doors in the house, as well as the stairs leading up to the second floor. I ignored the door that most likely led to the basement. I ignored the strange suspicion in the back of my head that I was being watched and I made my way into bed.

The only thing I had room for in my mind was magic. I was determined to make sense of the vast quantity of knowledge that had entered my brain by the end of this short nap. Thinking of nothing but the strange and unusual concepts surrounding magic, parsing through thousands of keywords and concepts, I shut my eyes, and slept.