Dawn opened her eyes and found rays of sunlight filtering in through the window shutters and curtains. Her head was spinning and she took a few deep breaths to center herself. She found Aidan's arm and leg draped over her naked body and sent the command to wake up through their tether. Nothing happened. Shocked, she looked at him and found him breathing. Just what was going on?
She decided to physically wake the boy up. Shaking him until he groaned and opened an eye. Damn Aidan sleepyhead. At least now she was sure it was not the fault of the boy's bad habits.
"Oww. Good morning, Dawn. What a night." She got a kiss on the cheek that caught the corner of her lips. Dawn flinched. "Are you okay?" Dusk asked.
She felt the boy's joy at being next to her and everything came back to her. Lumina was still in control of Aidan's body. And the identity of Dusk. And everything that happened in between. Her wildest night ever.
"I'm sorry, Dusk. I need a pause." Dawn gave him a peck on the cheek, "Time out. See you in a few moments."
Dawn canceled the spell. She was afraid the length of the possession could have some detrimental effect on Aidan. She felt the tether numbness fade and they recovered control of their bodies. And it hit them. All the recovered, stolen, pent-up and new memories Lumina brought up or created while using their male body for almost a whole day came up, including Dusk's point of view of last night.
The Otherworlder Summoning Ritual. The lessons with the Archmage that came to teach her. The diagrams. The materials.
Some memories of Lumina and her family. Mostly of Claire and how it pained Lumina to keep the secret from her sister and treat her as a handmaid. Lucien.
Baron Yoshida and the private lessons. A tri-Element Soot mage.
And the G-rated adventures of six years old Dawn and Dusk. How brief they were.
A long time passed before they adapted to the influx of memories. It was like they were forced to re-live everything again in fast forward.
"What did I do?" Aidan put a hand over his pounding heart.
"The sort of thing you can't think too much of." Dawn poked his nose. "What is done is done and I don't regret a thing."
"Yeah. Good for you, girl." Aidan slipped out of bed and checked the devastation wrought last night. "We will have to destroy the bedding."
"Nope. Leave no evidence behind." Dawn replied as she got out on the other side. "I'm getting rid of the whole bed. Care to help here?"
The good old one-two combo of Ash and Fire magic and a golf ball sized black pellet rested on the middle of the bed.
"Done and done. Let's wash and get ready. It will be a busy day."
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In the common room of the royal wing of the dorm, they were welcomed by Lola and Deb. The maids told them that the Headmaster called Pearl, Cythrel, and Sora to a special training session. All day long, probably to give them time to do what they needed to do with Lumina. They skipped breakfast and Pearl's maids brought their lunch. After eating, they were ready to bring Lumina up again. Aidan sat on the couch as Dawn used the spell once more.
"Back so soon?" Dusk asked ironically as she took over control of Aidan's body. "At least I am not a dog... yet."
"I wouldn't do that, your Highness," Dawn answered politely. "That was just a joke. Lumina, I need to ask you one thing."
"I see. I guess Dusk is that kind of guy, to show up and vanish just as suddenly," Lumina crossed her legs and sat straight, composed, "Yes, what is it?"
"I'm going to be honest," Dawn opened with a prepared speech. "We are going to transfer you back to your body in a few days. There is a small chance it goes wrong and we lose you. There is a chance I die as well. I'd like to ask you to write some letters for your family in case things go wrong."
Lumina could tell the concern in Dawn's voice was real. It was her own voice after all and the boy inside her clone was bad at dissimulation. She pondered for a while and decided.
"I'll write them. However, I have a request of mine I want you to fulfill."
"Yes, what is it?"
"I want to talk to Claire. Face to face. In private."
It was dishonest but inevitable. Aidan would recall everything Lumina did while using his body when the spell was canceled. Dawn remembered the Princess of that little fact.
"I gave up on withholding any secrets from you. I just want to see my sister and have a chat."
"If you are okay with it, I'll arrange that. You know where your calligraphy materials are better than me. Please start writing while I send for her."
Lumina went for her vanity and tried to open the secret compartment with her diary. Dawn frowned as the Princess turned to face her.
"Can you get my diary for me? I want to write on it."
Dawn approached and channeled Sky mana into the vanity. Nothing happened.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"I'm sorry. I can't open it anymore after I've got my own body. My mana signature is no longer the same as yours."
Lumina breathed relieved, "At least something we are different at. I guess I'll just write myself a letter. I like to keep my memories fresh." Lumina bit her fingernail and glanced at Dawn as she commented under her breath, "And I have a lot of new memories to keep fresh."
Dawn clapped Lumina on the shoulder, "I'll leave you to your memories then. I'll go send a messenger to summon Claire here."
"Here, let me straighten your uniform." Lumina pulled her blouse taut, adjusted the skirt, and tightened the knot of her ribbon. "You are standing in for me, better be perfect."
Dawn left the bedchamber as Lumina started to write her letters.
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She sent a rider from the academy guard station to call Princess Claire and stood idle by the academy gates watching the students come and go. All of them showed proper deference for the Princess and none dared approach. Her countenance and Lumina's reputation made her unapproachable by the common student.
Dawn idly thought of their horrendous attendance score. Attending classes became a big burden because of the bullying and now they were socializing with the bully mastermind as if nothing happened. She glanced at the Spring clouds frolicking in the wind through the blue sky. It was early fall when the rhinorses attacked them in the square, not a hundred meters from where she stood. They were close to ending that circle and restoring themselves to normal. Or at least as normal as they could get. She was doomed to live as a dual-bodied existence.
It was not bad but Dawn feared what role she would fill after Lumina came back. She would become a pariah. Someone that should not exist. There was another complication. Right now she had no access to the perks Aidan had, like his magic sight, the familiar link with Skippy or the God-Slayer family power, Rise to the Challenge. The current theory was that Lumina's interference stopped these abilities from being shared through their tether. If it was right, the world would have two God-Slayers in the same generation. Something that never happened in forever.
That could cause ripples in the power balance of the world. And the world powers disliked ripples with a passion.
Those fears were only exacerbated by the lack of the comforting feeling of Aidan through their tether. It was completely numb because of the spell to grant control to Lumina. It made Dawn feel alone and small.
"Lumina?"
Even after restoring Lumina, it was not the end of their woes. They would have to travel back to Gohar, to bring Pearl home. Who would've imagined kidnapping princesses was such hard work? And Cythrel. They needed to go to Gohar for Cythrel as well. Only master Gaemon the smith would have the expertise to craft the mithril. Speaking of which, they needed to visit the Duke to see if he was able to trade the rice and buy their mithril.
"Princess Lumina!"
And after solving Cythrel's problems, it would be good to try and search for any survivors of her home village. And any signs of the slavers. They neglected it, but the slave collar was in Aidan's bedroom safely stored in a chest. They had to investigate it and develop a countermeasure. And speaking of visiting home, they would also need to visit the squirrel-kin tribe and also search for Aidan's parents.
Goddamned S-rank battle maniacs. Always running to save the world. The hunters guild guildmaster has probably seen Aidan's parents more than the boy himself.
Something shook Dawn. She looked around and saw Claire holding her. Eh?
"Claire?" Asked Dawn.
Taking in her surroundings, she was still at the academy gate. A carriage from the castle bearing the Crown coat of arms was parked inside and four guards were around her in a diamond pattern. Claire had her hands on her shoulders and had a worried face.
"Sister!" Claire sighed with relief. "What are you doing out here and why you called for me? Is there something wrong? Where is Aidan?"
Right. Dawn was supposed to be Lumina right now. She was still supposed to pretend to be Lumina.
"Claire. We need to talk. Please come to my chambers." Dawn took the other princess' hand and they boarded the carriage.
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Dawn was afraid of not finding Lumina or Aidan's body right before she opened the door to the Princess' bedroom. She breathed out in relief as she opened and found the boy sitting down by a perfectly arranged tea set with two extra chairs. Behind him were Lola and Deb, waiting.
"Claire!" Lumina shouted with joy and dashed to hug the Princess.
The way she ran was too girly and completely different from Aidan's normal body language. Dawn caught Deb covering her mouth, trying to hide her mirth. She smiled at the maid and shrugged behind Claire's back, putting the tip of her tongue out.
Lumina kept hugging and brushing her face against the cheek of the paralyzed Princess. "Claire, Claire! Oh, Claire, how glad I am you are safe." Lumina wept.
Dawn nudged her head in the direction of the door, pointing them out. In their credit, the maids slinked out of the room silently like assassins.
After shaking the uncanny feeling of Aidan's strange behavior, Claire figured out what was happening. "Lumina? Lumina, is it you?" She hugged back.
Dawn reactivated the wards of the room and locked the door. "Yes, Claire. We developed a spell to grant temporary control of Aidan's body to Lumina."
The two sisters hugged each other and cried their hearts out. Dawn went out of their way and tried to not overthink too much about the scene of Aidan bawling while latched to Claire. She went near the tea set. There were some pastries, including raisin-free scones. The stunt she pulled during that dinner was stupid.
"Dawn!" Lumina called her out.
"Yes!" Startled, the girl jumped to attention.
"Leave us, please." Lumina's words were as much a command as a request but her tone left no room for arguing. "I wish to speak to Claire, alone."
"Yes, your Highness." Dawn reached the door asking why she was treating her hostage that way. There was something in Lumina way of presenting herself, something in her countenance that demanded deference.
Outside she was bombarded by questions by the two maids. Why Aidan was acting like that, what was he doing with Claire, etc. Dawn fought to remember but she was sure Pearl's maids knew of her secret. Better ask Pearl later. At least the room had no bed. It helped quell the speculation about what a healthy man was doing with a Princess under closed doors. Dawn sat with the maids in the common room and chatted with them until a bell rang.
"What is that?" She asked about the bell.
"It is a bell to call for us. There is one in each Princess room. This one is from Lumina's room."
'How have I never heard of such a thing?' Dawn almost asked out loud. While she was racking her brain trying to find out, Deb went inside and returned.
"Princess Claire is calling for you, Dawn." She reported.
Dawn went inside. Claire and Lumina were sitting by the tea table. Claire pointed to the empty seat and Deb helped her sit. The maid left after pouring the three-ish Princesses more tea. Nevermind the fact that one of them was fake and another was wearing a male body.
"Why did you call me, Claire?" Dawn finally asked.
"Brody is arriving tomorrow by his reported schedule. We need to know what will you do to counter him. Lumina and I, we are worried about you, Dawn."
"I am grateful for your concerns," Dawn bowed with her head. "But Brody is not arriving tomorrow. He is currently delayed by several days."
"What? How do you know that, and why would he be delayed?"
Dawn cackled. With a big grin, she looked at the two sisters. "I sent Skippy to sabotage his carriage days before we separated Lumina's body. I told him to return if he was found, hurt, or after Brody crossed the five-day marker in the road. The little dragon isn't wounded and didn't come back. We have at least that many days before he arrives."