No Sleep for the Uninvited

The twins had a deceptively innocuous aura, only feeling its true weight if caught in their crosshairs. Azu could see the intent lurking behind their gaze. Their faces as innocent as ever, hiding the simmering menace buried beneath that veneer.

“The old man up at the pasture made the request,” Iddak replied as he drew scribbles in the dirt with is feet. “He said he needed to keep her out of the Empire’s hands.”

“That doesn’t make sense, Norin could have just told me.”

“He’s a Scytale, ya know! They’re obsessed with being the only ones who know what’s going on. He didn’t even tell us why she’s so important.”

Azu’s expression fell tired. “So, you expect me to believe that you took the job anyways? Is the Mu clan that transactional?”

“Why we choose to accept a job is none of your business, Ayur.” Saba’s pointed injection jolted the back and forth. Her emotionless glare irritating Azu, finding the sibling’s deflecting answers to be unnerving. Emphasizing his already teetering suspicions.

“I stand out to you, don’t I?”

Akari’s voice drew everyone’s attention. Having managed to regain her composure, it appeared that the side effects of Sir Didacts script had finally calmed. She eased herself up straight leaning forward with her eyes focused on Iddak and Saba. “If I told you I’ve learned a script that not even you could defend against, would you believe me?” she added to a rainfall of laughter from Iddak.

“How could someone as chakra inept as you ever be able to use scripts?”

Though annoyed by his blunt reaction, Akari thought back to her first interaction with the twins at the village cafeteria. She had just been convinced by Steia to finally head into town, hoping to expose her to more than the uneventful plains of green outside her window.

“With the upcoming event in the capital and all the people traveling through the village on their trek there, the Community Hall has opened up the kitchen to the public. Vendors are surrounding the area looking to sell all kinds of food.”

It would have been the first time Akari traveled away from the home at the pasture, and a part of her was a bit excited to see the world. Before she knew it she found herself seated at the town cafeteria where she was greeted by the pair of twins, Iddak and Saba. They both had hair a shade of burgundy, the brother, Iddak’s, slightly darker than his sister’s. Their eye colors, however, differed. His was a rich blue, while Saba’s was a striking yellow.

With the twins believing her to be another traveler passing through, Akari decided to lead them on and play the part. However, after hearing her name the twins’ faces stoned over. “There was a messenger at the town over who also used a word that sounded like your name.”

It was the first time she heard anyone refer to her name as somehow uncommon, and the acquiescing nod by Steia only confirmed that perhaps she did stand out more than she’d thought. But unfortunately, when Akari asked about it, the twins simply shook their head, claiming not to know much.

A drunkard suddenly putting on a performance in the middle of the kitchen drove a wedge between their conversation, with Akari fascinated with the ethereal strings of colorful markings that he whipped around like ropes from the palms of his hands. Another use of magic, she presumed as the kitchen manager heckled the drunkard to settle down.

Having lost her train of thought, she was startled by Iddak leaning in only inches away from her face. “Your latent chakra is weak,” he disclosed as he inquisitively stared upon her. Akari wasn’t sure what he was referring to, but figured she’d say anything to get him to back off.

“Is that so?” she uttered while shifting her chair away from him.

“Yeah. I can tell things like that. Most people can only tell if you’re using chakra or not, but I can sense latent chakra, and yours is almost nonexistent. Even nonusers have higher latent chakra than you.”

Steia jumped into the conversation, heckling the twins on if whether that was their only reason for sitting at their table. To which Saba blatantly replied, “Yes,” further adding in her usual soft-spoken and straightlaced tone, “Iddak also likes Akari’s face.”

Akari huffed and rolled her eyes, while an embarrassed Iddak quickly stuffed his mouth, nearly choking on his food.

Shifting the conversation, Steia asked the twins if they’d brought Toro along. Saba suddenly lit up with enthusiastic, “Yes!”, but the joy quickly faded as her shoulders slumped. “It’s not allowed inside anymore.”

Talking about Toro was the only time that Saba seemed emotionally responsive to anything, Akari wondered if Toro was possibly a pet of hers. As Saba pitied how the thought of leaving such an “innocent little thing alone” pained her, Akari couldn’t help but imagine a cute cat like animal desperately awaiting its owner’s return. Catching the look on Akari’s face, Saba began to bubble with excitement, chanting with an unusually eager grin, “Do you want to meet Toro?”

Heading just outside the cafeteria, Akari’s hopes of meeting a cuddly creature were dashed when a glob like monstrosity flooded her with nothing but terror. A scream jumping out of her unexpectedly, Akari was blindsided yet again as it too began to scream with her.

Despite the trauma she was made to endure, Akari was utterly at a loss as she watched the twins inexplicably treating the thing like it was actually a pet. With the worst of it still to come, Saba shoved Toro directly into Akari’s face, offering for her to try holding it.

Akari was repulsed by what she saw as nothing short of a monstrosity, but worried how the twins would react if she were to reject the offer, she figured she had no choice but to say yes.

Fighting to build up the courage to take the creature into her arms, the group was abruptly interrupted by a group of men marching down the road. Suddenly the whole neighborhood was on alert, with Steia quickly turning to Akari and urging her to kneel. “I didn’t expect them to pass through the town.”

The group, eight men in total with four on either side, drudged down the road in a two-line formation. At the center was a man dressed in a notably pompous attire. He wore a forehead guard and a facemask both of a gun metal material and carved with an intricate design. He rode atop an animal that resembled that of a horse, although fiercer looking and slim, its physique resembling that of a greyhound on steroids. His presence hovered over the rest. It being clear the he was the authority of the group, and the person that likely had the townsfolk in a flurry.

As the group marched by, Steia placed her hand gently onto Akari’s neck, a sign for her to keep her head firmly down. But Akari’s intrigue would get the best of her. Peeking up through the corner of her eyes she caught the eye of the leader’s stare, who was looking directly down upon Akari as he passed by. She quickly diverted her gaze, but a feeling that she’d somehow made a mistake suddenly latched itself deep in the pit of her stomach.

Once the group cleared the area, the town returned to normal with everyone going back to minding their own business. Akari, however, was eager to know just who it was that had her rifled so.

“How don’t you know?” Iddak pestered. Steia then cut in to the conversation and urged for Iddak to stop answering questions with more questions. “It’s rude.”

Iddak shrugged his shoulders as he and Saba headed back to the table. Steia would then explain that who she witnessed was the Coordinator General of the Royal Guard. The Sovereign’s top military official. “With the war raging in the north, he’s been stationed outside of the capital for the past few years. However, he returns for the anniversary of the Royal Concord each year. This is the first time he’s passed through this village to get there, though.”

Believing Iddak and Saba to have returned to their seats, Akari was startled by Saba’s sudden interjection. “You really are strange.”

Steia fanned her off, urging that they all get their meals over with before the cafeteria closed. The twins, however, were already on their way out, bidding Akari and Steia a farewell before soon vanishing among the rest of the townsfolk.

That was the first and last time Akari had met with the twins. But now with them standing before her, she no longer saw the innocent children that they once were. Instead recognizing them for what they truly were. Another element about the world not to trust.

“My lack of chakra is the reason they’re so interested in following me,” Akari informed Azu, “If what they claim about Norin’s request is even true, then it was nothing more than a useful excuse for them to use if they were ever caught.”

Akari stood shakingly to her feet, yet her mind as focused as ever. “I’ll ask you again. The name that you heard the messenger say, what was it?”