Prologue

“...This sucks.”

I continued staring up at the ceiling. I lay flat on my bed, arms sprawled out, unmoving, as I had been for who knows how long. I was experiencing a lapse of consciousness, a brief period of respite between daydreams, where I could hear myself think. Clearly. I remarked in my head that I was thinking. That I was alive. I tried making various sounds and voices in my head. I sang melodies and songs, in my head. At some point, words became feelings and feelings became concepts, and then I was once again adrift in the open ocean of the sea of thought.

“...What am I doing?”

I twist and turn, trying to find a position slightly more comfortable, but it was to no avail. I stretched. I yawned. That blanket that smothers your consciousness as you wake up from deep sleep, I was wrapped up in it, hundreds of feet under. As I sank further into the depths of my dreams, there was a brief period of remembrance. Glimpses of long forgotten memories, experiences, tragedies, adventures. 

“Why isn’t life like that, adventures surrounded by sworn companions.”

Awake. I suddenly feel every part of my body. I try to move, but I can’t, because I’m not trying to move. My fingertips tingle. I move them vast distances, imperceivable to the naked eye. Surely if one took a microscope and looked at my fingers, they’d be moving such vast distances, faster than anything else. 

Strange. I began to suspect that in fact, I wasn’t actually moving. My stomach, which had stopped growling a week ago, never felt more empty. But that emptiness was supposed to be there, I told myself. This tiredness and this lethargy was the way it was supposed to be, I told myself. 

I thought about all that had happened, or lack thereof. I don’t know. I had things, once upon a time, but for some reason I just threw it all away. Everytime. The people around me collect things and build themselves up into tall buildings, decorated with many sparkling unique things, but I just never felt the desire to build anything. When I went to build, I would never get very far. It was too easy, and therefore not fun. Why should I subject myself to something I don’t enjoy?

My mind felt damp, dampened by some mist, aware that it was disappearing, that it was dying. But it wasn’t me. My mind cried, begged for help from something, anyone. It regretted. But it wasn’t me. I watched as my mind diminished, further and further. This was just its destiny, its inevitable course, so I felt no obligation to intervene, much less any feeling associated with it. It was just reality. And then once the last embers of my mind dissolved, so did I.

—

I felt groggy, like waking up from a very deep sleep. I tried to form thoughts, but when I would get to the end of a sentence, I would forget what the sentence was originally supposed to mean. It was like trying to grasp at sand with open hands. So, as I would normally do, I just let myself sink deeper into the grogginess, into the depths of my consciousness, until I’d lose myself, adrift.

I felt something touch my hand. So startled by this, I pulled my hand back. This action was accompanied by the inexplicable feeling of being taken from the very depths of deep sleep and suddenly thrust out into the open air, all in a split second. I couldn’t help but gasp. Light assaulted my eyes, waves of sound sieged my eardrums, it was just too much. I covered the front of my face with my hands, as if it would help protect me from this attack.

“Sh-Sh-She’s awake!”

In the cacophony of sound, I could make out a distinct female voice. It was definitely real, yet simultaneously perplexing. Questions arose, but before I could articulate them in my head, I would lose my train of thought and another half-formed question would replace it. While I struggled to get my thoughts together, I heard sounds, like people were moving around me. I then heard voices. I wanted to go back. To retreat back into my safe space where I could continue drifting at peace, once more. But I couldn’t anymore, and I knew it. I was lifted far above and away from my ocean of thoughts. Like a fish on land, simply waiting would grant me no reprieve. Reluctantly, I had no choice but to accept my fate and confront the wall of stimuli that assaulted me head on.

I opened my eyes. Despite taking quite awhile to adjust to the light, eventually I could make out two figures. One was close to me while the other stood right behind them, also fixated on me. I seemed to be on a bed, and the close one stooped down to touch my forehead with her index finger. We were in a small room, lightly furnished. A desk underneath a picture by a window. The two seemed to react when they saw me look around.

“H-Hello? Are you awake?” The close one had muttered.

At this, I tried to think of how to respond, but when I tried, words wouldn’t come out. I didn’t know why. I first confirmed that I was able to open my mouth, and then I tried the next step and tried to say something. But no matter how hard I tried, nothing would come out except air. The girl closest to me reached over to a nearby table, poured a glass of water from a pitcher, and gave it to me. I, remembering what I should do with it in this scenario, drank it. With my throat now feeling better, I tried to speak…but still, no sound would come out. None whatsoever.

At this point, I was a bit saddened by being unable to speak, but I quickly accepted it. This was new fact. Something I wouldn’t be able to do anything about. This was the new normal, and I would have to get used to it.

Seeing me struggle and somewhat confused, the girl closest to me spoke.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to force yourself. Um, my name is June, and this is my sister May.”

I continued looking at the two, trying to signal that I was listening and understanding what they were saying. The girl, the taller of the two, continued speaking.

“We saw you collapsed in the forest and brought you back to our family’s house. Um…” The girl looked to the side, twiddling her fingers and trying to find the words she wanted to say.

“...um, do you know where you’re from? Do you have a place to return to?” The girl said, looking up at me with her head tilted down.

In my mind, I immediately turned towards the answer no, but I ran the question over in my head because I felt I might have been missing something. Something bugged me about the question but no amount of thinking helped me figure out why. In the end, I figured I was still pretty groggy and confused so I just shrugged it off.

Not wanting to let the girls wait too much longer, I shook my head. When I did so, the two seemed visibly happy, as if some worry was taken off their shoulders. They also seemed to be shy about it, though, but they did a poor job concealing it, the tips of their mouths pointing up and their expressions easing up. Quickly, the two recomposed themselves, and the girl continued speaking.

“So you don’t remember anything?” I nodded my head. “I’m sorry to hear that. But don’t worry, you can live with us, it’s been pretty empty in our house since our parents left.” Her cheeks slowly reddened further, and she quickly spat out, “Um, that is, if you’re okay with it!” 

I was a bit unsure about how to respond to the sudden developments, and while I was still trying to work out my response, the smaller of the two girls left the room abruptly. Shortly thereafter, while the two of us waited in anticipation for her return, she came back with a small board in her hand. It was a slate of some kind which she handed to me, along with a small piece of white chalk. After handing me the two items, the girl darted back behind the other girl, returning to her original stance of peeking behind her at me.

“Aaah, you’re so smart, May! It’s okay if you can’t, but can you write?”

Wordlessly, I didn’t bother to make any gestures and just started to write on the board with the piece of chalk. Letters poured out from my hands. That was when I realized I made a mistake. I had started to write without first figuring out what I wanted to write. I erased the letters with my hands and put together a sentence, which I then wrote.

Hello, thanks for taking care of me.

I showed them the board. But for some reason, they looked very puzzled. After a few long seconds, June opened her mouth.

“Uuummm… huh, that’s weird, right, May?” The little girl nodded. “I’ve… never seen this language before, in my whole life. Even in any of our parents’ books… huh.”

The two of them looked down, a bit dejected, or puzzled, but June, despite still being unable to conceal her shyness, in a small voice she continued to try her best to lift their spirits and brighten the situation.

“That’s okay! I’m sure someone out there will recognize your writing! And at the very least, it seems you understand our words, which is great!”

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It had been decided that I would stay and live in this house with the two girls. I felt a definite sensation that this was weird and strange, but to the two, rather than thinking that the sensation warranted any suspicion, they accepted it rather happily. Perhaps their sense of values was simply different from the ones I was used to. Either way, after they let me rest a bit longer, I found I couldn’t go back to sleep and enter the drifting sensation that I longed for. So, with little else to do, I got up. My bones creaked and my muscles tried with all their might to move my body, despite it being quite thin. I tried and struggled, even to move just a few steps, when my knees gave out from under me and I fell to the ground. Quickly, I heard steps coming up, and June and May were both shocked to see me on the floor.

“What are you doing! You’ll hurt yourself, trying to walk on your own after so long!”

June moved me back onto the bed, despite my efforts to stay upright on the ground. It was as if my wholehearted struggles were as light as the air to her, as if she couldn’t even feel it. 

“Just stay here for a bit longer, okay? I’m making lunch. When you eat some, you’ll feel better, I’m certain!” It was pretty endearing, the way June made small arms pumps in the air whenever she tried to cheer people up. As if she was trying to psyche herself up with the small gestures. 

“May, you stay here and watch her while I cook, okay?”

June left downstairs while May, who seemed to be a few years younger than her sister, sat on a chair and continued to watch me. I thought she would be uncomfortable, given that she was hiding behind her sister before, but she surprisingly seemed pretty relaxed around me.

After less than a minute, I felt at ease and just looked up at the ceiling, shooting glances at May occasionally. She seemed like a really composed kid for her age that spoke quite little, something the two of us had in common, I suppose. It was a nice feeling to be around someone who seemed similar to oneself.

After a few more minutes went by, I found myself, like last time, unable to rest. This urge to move and exit this room filled me. I guess I was just a bit tired of the room, although this was just me trying to make a rationalization for how I felt. I knew May was in the room, but I still wanted to try and walk, even if I might fall. To me, it didn’t matter that I might fall, I just felt it was important that I walk. So I did. Slowly, I moved out from under the covers, and slowly inch my legs off the bed and further off, towards the ground. May just continued to sit, watching me. Slowly, inch by inch, I slid myself off the bed until at last, my feet once again touched the hardwood floor. I transferred more and more of my weight off the bed and onto my feet, this time focusing on my knees, using my arms to push on the bed to ensure that the weight on my legs is very controlled. Despite now being fully off of the bed, May didn’t make any apparent reaction. 

With all my attention on my right foot, I slowly lifted it and placed it in front of me, extremely delicately transferring weight in a slow and methodical manner. Confident that my right foot could sustain my weight, I lifted my left leg and placed that in front of me too, the same way I did for my right leg. Step, by step, by step, I made my way closer and closer to the door. Getting more and more confident, I sped up the process just a little bit, but again, one of my knees crumpled. Expecting to fall and hit the ground, I was surprised when no such thing occurred. I felt two hands around me, keeping me up. It was May. I looked at her, the two of us just staring at each other for a bit, not a word uttered, and then I kept going. She removed her hands, but she remained right by my side, ready to catch me if I stumbled. It was a bit strange relying on someone two-thirds my height to catch me, but I guess I truly was just that light. With May by my side, I ventured my way out the door.

I assessed how I was feeling but I didn’t really register much of anything, at least as far as I could tell. I wasn’t delighted or anything, it was just as if I was doing something entirely natural, like breathing.

Now into a hallway of sorts, to my left was a dead end and a window and to my right was what seemed to be an opening into a more open area, like a living room of sorts. With May, still by my side, I slowly made my way over, occasionally being caught by May. 

Eventually, now out of the hallway, the open space was like a merging of a living room, a kitchen, and a dining area, all arranged in an open room with no walls. It was a nice, cozy place. I could see June cooking out of this sizable pot, out of which enticing aromas came out. She hummed a tune to herself whilst making strange movements, like a sort of dance. Then, when she turned around to reach for something on the opposite counter, she let out a small scream.

“Aah! W-What are y-you doing down here! May, why’d you let her come down here?”

In a small, almost inaudible voice, May said, “You only said to watch her, not to keep her up there, right?”

And then, as if in defeat, June sunk her shoulders, letting out a sigh. “I guess you’re right… But what if she fell! She could’ve hurt herself!”

“I made sure she didn’t.”

June looked at May a bit longer, as if the two were in some sort of staring contest for a bit (a contest in which May seemed to be infallible), but after only a short period of time, June sighed once more before turning back to her cooking. 

“As long as you’re very careful, okay?”

May, having resolved the issue with her sister, looked up at me blankly, seemingly in anticipation to continue our walk. And so I did, step by step. June would shoot constant nervous glances, but despite that I continued. Trudging on and on, I made my way over to the front of the house, towards the front door, with May right by my side. The front door, which took a while to get to, was now within my reach. Before I could open it, May stepped forward and opened it for me. The smell of the forest and the wilds hit me. This was almost entirely new to me, and was in reality quite shocking. But despite this new sensation, I trudged forward nonetheless, going through the door. 

May looked concernedly at me, the first instance of what can be called an expression appearing on her face. Still, she spoke no words, and didn’t stare for long. I couldn’t explain it. I don’t know why. But I was crying. Tears rolled down my face as I took in the forest line, the air, and the clear skies. I felt something, but I didn’t know what it was. My gut constricted, and my heart shook. Breathing got harder as my throat pushed to the back. This was all inexplicable. I didn’t dwell on it, instead just observing and experiencing this wilderness. But it was still strange nonetheless. Part of me wanted to delve into the forest. To get lost. To drift, in the ocean of the trees. But I reluctantly refrained. It would only force May to stop me, and who knew just how dangerous this forest was. I certainly didn’t want to endanger May. So I headed back inside, not quite satisfied. I made my way to their dining table and sat down, smelling the soup which only seemed to gain a deeper fragrance the longer I waited. Eventually, June brought the pot over to the table, with May and I both waiting eagerly. 

“Eat up! Hehehe.”

June lifted the pot and served us bowls. I was physically weak, but not too weak to handle a spoon, thankfully, so I took a bite. It was a thick soup with vegetables and roots I didn’t recognize. It was a flavor I was similarly unfamiliar with, reminiscent of a curry or a beef stew but less salty. It was great, and all three of us were too occupied with what was in front of us to bother to try and communicate with the others. 

In what unfortunately felt like a very quick time, the entirety of the large pot of soup was all depleted, and after letting out a very satisfied sigh and asking me if I enjoyed it, to which I vigorously nodded, June got up and cleaned the kitchen, with the assistance of May. Although May probably could’ve helped a bit more if she wasn’t so preoccupied with licking clean the ladle and the pot. But I understood. I was actually a bit jealous of her. Just a bit.

At some point, while June was wrapping up the last of her cleanup, May trotted over to the dining table, where I still sat, as if conveying that she was ready to walk me anywhere if I wanted to. So I walked back to the room I had come from, back to the bed, got in, and got under the sheets, and slowly began to drift, overcome with a sense of tiredness that had previously not been there.

As my mind wandered, getting ready to start sleeping, I thought about a great deal of things. The delicious soup I had just eaten, the nice people who took me in, the situation I found myself in… Who am I? Where am I? I was told I was found in a forest, but I’ve never been in a forest my whole life. Am I forgetting anything? What’s going on? 

But before I could pursue such questions further, long forgotten memories of distant times flashed and filtered through my head. Glimpses of treasured memories, experiences, tragedies, and adventures. It puzzled me, only serving to further confuse me. As the last of my consciousness began to give out, only one thought remained out of the waning torrent: 

I want to eat that soup again.

—

May, who left the room after confirming that the young lady had fallen asleep, went to her sister June who, after cleaning up, had opened up a book and began reading on the dining table. She sat by her side, peering curiously at the book’s contents. But with a glance she could tell it was complicated. Long paragraphs regarding theoretical proofs and speculations under the chapter Displacement of 2nd Stage Complex Material Structures. A bit irritated that she couldn’t grasp its contents easily, she interrupted her sister’s focus.

“She’s sleeping in her bed.”

Or so she had thought, but her sister was far too engrossed, flipping the page. May didn’t mind, and picked out her own book and laid it next to her sister’s, and the two read in silence.

“Oh, it’s already nightfall.”

June got up, prompting May to do the same, and the both of them put in bookmarks and set aside their books. After doing this, they quickly went to check on the young lady, who still remained fast asleep in her bed, then they went to their own room to get ready to go to bed.

The two sisters got in their own beds which sat close to each other in their bedroom. Normally, the two wouldn’t talk much throughout the day, engrossed in their own work, but the past few days were different. When they blew out the candle, one of them spoke out quietly, in the night.

“You were surprisingly talkative today. Is that a new record?”

“H-Hey, you can’t blame me, okay? It’s been so long since I’ve talked with someone else. You should be praising me instead.”

“Oh, praise be to June the Exalted, to be in thine presence–.”

“Muuu, don’t tease me! Hehehe.”

“Hehe.”

For a while, it was just silence between the two girls.

“...I didn’t think it would work. That thing was the real deal.

“...”

“Hey, how long do we have left, again?”

“...Seven days.”

“Geh, already? Ugh, I don’t even wanna think about what’ll happen if Mom finds out what we’ve been up to.”

“Castor isn’t too far away.”

“How would they make it in society? That just seems impossible. I’m worried about them.”

“They’ll be okay. They seemed strong.”

“Huh? Strong? Really? How?”

“I could see it in their eyes.”

“Their eyes? For real?”

“...”

“You’re not making fun of me right?” A sigh was let out. “Well, we’ll figure something out in a week. We have to. I’m not just gonna abandon them, now.”

After this, no more words could be made out. After quite a long while, the two were not awake to hear quiet creaks on the floor outside their door.