Lu still sounded angry, but she wasn’t being rash, it seemed more like she was being careful, analyzing an opponent before a match. ‘Is she seriously only 12?’

She sighed, her face relaxing again as she lowered her fists. “Whatever, I’ll just ask Mom if I can fight the demon with her, she knows how strong I am.”

‘She’s still thinking about that? I wonder if she would regret saying those words if she did end up facing it like I did.’

I swept my hair back with one of my hands. “As strong as you are… I think we should let Mom take care of this one.” I patted her on the head. It felt strange since she was taller than me. Maybe it was because I could literally remember her birth, but for some reason, I couldn’t stop seeing her as my baby sister.

My sister from Earth used to always pat my head in the same way. I used to hate it… at least I thought I did until she passed. With how much I missed it though I guess I didn’t actually mind it that much…

I had a feeling Lu would react the same way, so out of curiosity I reached out and did it without thinking, almost like it was only natural.

“What kind of attack is that?” She suddenly backed away, putting up her guard again.

I just stood still, trying not to laugh. ‘She really thought I was attacking her?’

Before I could respond Airsidh burst into a laugh himself, his calm face crumbling as he started to show his other side. “Lu calm down, she wasn’t attacking you.”

She looked even more confused. “Wh-what? Then what was she doing?”

I sighed. ‘I’m standing right here you guys.’

“Clearly she’s just giving you a warning. She was trying to tell you she could crush your skull with one hand.”

Her face turned pale.

“She fought with a demon you know, She’s stronger than she used to be.”

She slowly turned back to me, looking like she was about to cry. “I-I didn’t want to fight to the death or anything.”

Normally I would have gone along with it, thinking it was funny. Teasing a little girl felt wrong though, even if she did look incredibly cute in that moment. I reached out and gave her a hug instead.

“Airsidh help! I don't wanna get my skull crushed!” She shouted, paralyzed with fear before she realized what was happening.

Airsidh laughed again.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Lu. I would never do something like that.” ‘Even if I could…’

She suddenly stopped, her heart rate starting to calm down. ‘She's still young enough that maybe… Maybe if I give her all the love that My parents didn’t show to me… She can still turn out alright…’

“You’re so weird…” She mumbled, returning the hug. “Siblings are supposed to hurt each other, Iron sharpens iron.”

I let go, giving her some space after she calmed down. “That’s just with brothers. Sisters are different ok. We only fight to protect each other.” I said, boldly raising my finger.

I knew full well what I was saying was just a bit of Idealism, but I didn’t care. In my mind, that was how it should be. Maybe… If she really wanted to… We could spar sometimes, but even then in my mind drawing blood would go too far, so we would just use wooden swords.

She froze stiff before giving off the warmest smile I had ever seen. “Seriously… I don’t understand you at all…”

I gave off a smile of my own. ‘I know that feeling.’ I laughed. “I guess, we’ll have to get to know each other better then.”

She looked down and to the side, too embarrassed to keep up her confidence. “I… wouldn’t hate that you know… But you have to survive first…”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

My smile dimmed but didn’t fully fade, finally getting a glimpse of how she really felt about me… “Right…”

‘One thing at a time. Beat the monster, learn magic, pass my father's tests, and then I go to the academy. Then I can find out if there's any chance for me and Lu to be like real sisters.’

‘First on the list… Keep fighting the monster.’ I looked down at my hands, feeling my hard callouses, imagining the ratling of the greatsword in my palms as I tried to block.

“Are you afraid of the dark Lu?” The words echoed in my head. I couldn’t forget them. I don’t even know why I asked, they just slipped out.

“I'm not afraid of anything.”

‘Figures she’d say that.’

“Well…” She continued. “No never mind. Not afraid of nothing”

Somehow the second time was less convincing. ‘I guess even she has something she doesn't like to talk about.’

I sighed, scratching my head. “Yea… me either….” She seemed confused by my sudden question, not understanding why I would ask it, of course, I couldn't blame her.

“Hey Siya… You killed a giant monster and even fought a demon, but… You’re weak aren’t you…”

At that moment, the only thing I saw in her was loneliness. In a way, it reminded me of myself. “Yeah…” I mumbled, wishing I could give her a different answer.

“I should have known Air was just messing with me again…There's no way someone like you could crush a person's head with one hand like Dad.”

The image of him doing it vividly appeared in my mind, sending a shiver down my spine. ‘That has to just be like an urban legend right.’

“I’m sorry, but until you prove that you’re strong I can’t call you my sister. I don’t have any respect for someone destined to die a nameless death.”

I paused. If she had said it with a cold face those words might have leveled me, but she still looked like she was about to cry at any moment. ‘Destined to die a nameless death…’

A long silence hung in the air as her words slowly ate away at me… Then it all stopped. Of course, it hurt… How could it not hurt, herring something like that from a little sister… But, in some ways, it was a challenge. She never said I wasn’t her sister, just that it was a title I had to earn.

The silence chilled the air between us, until finally she rubbed her eyes, unable to keep up her stare. ‘I won’t give up on you that easy… I smirked. “What about someone destined to be the greatest ruler in 600 years?”

She looked confused again. “Yeah, I would respect that person for sure wouldn’t you?”

She clearly didn’t understand… And all I got from my brother was a raised eyebrow and a glance. ‘I guess I shouldn’t expect too much from a 12-year-old muscle head.’

I let out a sigh, hoping for a bigger reaction from the first person I declared my intent to. “Whatever. I don't care if you respect me. I'll still be there for you when you need me ok.”

I had no idea where those words suddenly came from, or why I said them. She was my sister, but I hardly knew her. This whole conversation felt so familiar. Only last time… the roles were reversed. There were so many feelings I had bottled up inside me I almost felt like I was going to burst.

‘Maybe I’m just projecting…’

After that though, she decided to stay around for a while and we all gathered by the fireplace in the main room. We talked about meaningless things like our favorite colors, her favorite hairstyle, and even how one time she apparently tried to ride Fritz and got bucked off.

As we sat by fire the time seemed to fade away, and even though I was tired out by it all, I was happy. I laid my head on her shoulder and rested my eyes, making her jump and tense up.

“You sure are flustered easily,” I mumbled, starting to doze off. ‘Am I hoping for too much? No, I’m not expecting anything from her. I’m not hoping she suddenly starts to love and cherish me or anything, I’m just hoping she turns out to be a good kid.’

“Siya, hey.”

I slowly rubbed my eyes wondering if I really fell asleep or if I had just rested a little.

“What is it Air?” I yawned looking over at Lu who was out like a light. Confirming I had in fact fallen asleep. I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle ‘All this after saying you can’t call me you’re sister? She’s still a child in the weirdest ways.’

“Hey, I got something for you.” He snapped his fingers in front of my face.

Looking back at him he was holding the massive tome on magic. ‘Right, now that I can use magic, I should be able to start working on real magic now.’ “It wasn't damaged at all, was it?”

“He hesitated in handing it to me, No It was alright somehow. Catherine found it under some torn-up boards.” He stared at me blankly, his eyes tracing my body. “Your not… hiding your injuries are you? I saw you’re room earlier, it was interesting.”

I yawned again “Yeah I’m fine, it did all that to scare me but it only really managed to scrape me a few times. Well…” I thought back to when it slammed me against the walls and shattered my bones. “Maybe I am a LITLE beat up.”

“If you say so.” He squatted down, setting the book in front of me and patting me on the head. Copying what he saw me do to Lu. “Seeing you so carefree as to both fall asleep when being hunted by a demon, oh dear. Maybe I’m a bad influence after all. Well, it's better than being afraid and feeding it I suppose.”

I tensed up. ‘He was totally right… I was careless. Well, there's nothing I can do about it now.’ “I guess it’s still recovering, it got hurt pretty bad from the lightning strike. We’re next to the fire too, so the light probably helps.” ‘Wait but…’ “Hey, isn’t that why you’re here though?” I scowled at him. “You didn’t leave did you?”

He raised his hands, leaning back. “Hey hey Don’t worry. Disobeying orders is too much of a hassle. Besides, leaving my baby sisters to get eaten by demons? That thought doesn’t sit well with me at all. Catherine recovered the book, she brought it by while you were asleep.”

I looked back at it. ‘How long was I asleep?’ “Do you think that my wounds being cursed have anything to do with me being so tired?”

“Well I would have woken you up but you two were so cute together.”

“Thats… Not what I asked.”

He rolled his eyes. “Would it kill you to stop trying to bring down the mood? Look, the fires warm, you got our sister off my back for once, and you looked like you were having a good time, just be happy for a bit longer.”

“Uh… Sorry?”

He sighed. “Whatever, it’s fine. Mom will be back soon anyway. It probably took her all day to find the ancient artifact. I bet it was buried in the back of the storage room.”

‘Ancient artifact? I guess I’ll find out soon enough.’