I stood still for a few monts, letting Althea’s words echo in my mind. She was stopping from going because... she didn’t want to see hurt? Was that it? I tried to summarize what she said, trying to find so logic behind her concern. Honestly, it didn’t seem to that thing out there was as dangerous as Althea wanted it to be.
There was sothing exaggerated in her tone, almost desperate. Yet, even though my suspicion kept trying to show itself, I couldn’t imagine any reasonable reason for her to lie to . Althea had always been straightforward, transparent — sotis even too much.
With that thought, I turned my gaze back to Althea, studying her expression carefully before asking, with a tone between curiosity and disbelief: “Are you being sarcastic? Because honestly, I don’t see how that could pose any threat to ”
I paused briefly, letting out a light sigh before continuing: “Besides... I’ve faced anomalies much worse than this one”
As soon as my words echoed in Althea’s mind, her bright eyes locked onto mine for a few monts, intense and inquisitive. The wings attached to the base of her spine moved subtly, as if reacting on their own to the emotion she was trying to contain. In that delicate movent, they brushed lightly against mine, causing an unexpected shiver.
Strangely enough, those wings — so beautiful and ethereal — are incredibly sensitive to touch. The involuntary caress awakened an almost childlike ticklish sensation in , making stifle a laugh as my body filled with a strange mix of nervousness and enchantnt.
Just as that fleeting thought crossed my mind, Althea’s voice ca softly — gentle like the whisper of a light breeze: “Ah... sorry if it sounded that way, dear sister,” she said, looking at with a strange, almost lancholic gaze, as if searching for so spark of recognition in my eyes.
There was a brief pause before she continued, now with a more cautious, almost fearful tone: “Sister... forgive if this question seems disrespectful, but... you still don’t rember, do you? Your mories... seem to be coming back incredibly slowly... and painfully selectively”
When Althea said that, my first thought was: what exactly does she expect to rember? Honestly, so far, I believe I’ve rembered what really matters. After all, what could be more important than family? Every mory I recover — faces, voices, gestures — is like a lost fragnt of myself fitting back into place.
Knowing that I will rember them as I et them again gives so relief, like I’m on the right path. Still, sothing in Althea’s tone, or maybe the subtle gleam of expectation in her eyes, tells this isn’t the answer she was hoping for.
Maybe noticing the confusion on my face, Althea hurried to speak, her voice soft but urgent: “Sister... you... we, your sisters, are all Virtues. We were born from fundantal principles — pure ideas that took form, even though they were never ant to have bodies. We are the materialization of what should be just essence”
She paused briefly, as if searching for the right words, then continued with a more serious look: “I know this might not make sense to you yet. I know it’s a lot to take in... But you are special, sister. Extrely important. Your existence is essential to maintain balance — to ensure everything stays on the right path, even when everything around threatens to fall apart”
As Althea spoke, her expression grew increasingly serious — which, honestly, was rare for her. She was the type to joke even in the most inappropriate situations, as if humor were her armor against chaos. Seeing her so solemn made realize how serious everything really was.
Instinctively, my eyes turned to the windowpane — the only fragile barrier separating the visitors from that thing outside. That anomaly with the grotesquely stretched, distorted face, as if pulled by invisible hands, kept staring at us intently.
The pressure against the glass increased by the second, and the first cracks were already crawling across the surface, cracking in an unsettling way. There was no doubt: even the glass wouldn’t hold much longer.
The thin, continuous sound of the cracks growing was like a silent countdown. The face — or whatever it was — pressed itself against the glass with increasing violent insistence. In other words, our ti was running out.
So, in the end, I found myself returning once again to the heart of the matter — the question that kept echoing in my mind: (So, what other choice do we have?)
Hearing my words, Althea slowly turned her gaze back, fixing it on Nekra, who stood apart, with a calm, almost indifferent expression to what was unfolding around her. The contrast between Nekra’s relaxed posture and the tension in the air was clear. Althea, with a calm but firm voice, asked: “Nekra, could you handle this for us?”
Upon hearing her na called, Nekra slowly raised her eyes. Her gaze t Althea’s for a brief mont, and her expression tightened into an almost automatic scowl, as if a shadow had crossed her face. Then she turned to , and when she looked at , her face softened visibly, a flicker of recognition and maybe sothing more subtle.
Without saying a word, Nekra then turned to the windowpane in front of us, where the anomaly persisted in its persistent attempt to force entry, making the glass surface tremble lightly under invisible pressure. The air seed charged with tension. Finally, she looked back at Althea, who watched her with a subtle, almost challenging smile, curling the corners of her mouth like soone holding a secret.
Nekra’s face hardened again, clearly annoyed, while her voice, always tinged with a lancholic weariness, broke the silence: “I don’t want to... Why don’t you do it yourself?”
Upon hearing those words, Althea kept a sweet, almost angelic smile playing at the corners of her lips. Gently, she brought one hand to her face, stroking her skin softly while making a gesture half innocent, half mischievous, which made her even more charming.
In a light tone, almost like a joke, she said, “You know I can’t go against my nature. I give life, not take it. That job is yours, as far as I rember”
Nekra didn’t answer Althea’s words. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed, piercing her with a deep scowl that showed genuine irritation. Her eyes narrowed, almost burning with a mix of disapproval and frustration.
After a few seconds of tense silence, her voice sounded again, firm and dry, like an unexpected blow: “No”
The answer was simple and direct, almost curt. I confess that personally, I also preferred that Nekra didn’t have to act that way. After all, after performing that act, she would have to go through the absorption process — sothing that clearly bothers her, even if she still doesn’t fully understand what that word ans.
For Nekra, that’s just her duty, the reason she was born, a mission engraved so deeply in her that, for her, there is no choice or question, just the need to fulfill her destiny.
Anyway, faced with Nekra’s fervent refusal, Althea just sighed, long and silently, as if gathering patience. Then her face hardened slightly and, with a more serious and firm tone, she asked: “Are you sure about that?”
Althea’s words cut through the silence, catching Nekra’s attention again, who diverted her dark gaze to face her. There was an almost palpable tension in the air, like ti hesitated to move forward.
Having gained her sister’s attention, Althea continued in a firm but serene voice: “Our dear sister wants to face... that” she said, making a subtle gesture with her head toward the windowpane.
On the other side of the foggy, cracked glass, a grotesque figure pressed its misshapen face against the surface, empty and hungry eyes trying to break through the barrier between worlds. The creature seed to feel the fear and conflict on the other side, like a predator savoring its prey’s hesitation.
“Nekra” Althea continued, now in a softer, almost reverent voice: “rember the reason for our creation. You haven’t forgotten, right? It’s in us since the mont “She” shaped us. Etched into every fiber, printed on every breath... a purpose that cannot be ignored”
From the corner of my eye, I just watched the two of them. To be honest, the conversation had already taken a turn I couldn’t follow anymore. The words intertwined with references and secrets I was clearly excluded from. Even if I asked, I knew I wouldn’t get an answer — not this ti, nor any other.
I had tried before, even with Nyara, who despite her shyness, shut down like a tomb as soon as I ntioned “her” — that mysterious figure everyone occasionally comnts on in whispers, as if even the na carried so kind of weight.
Anyway, back to my dear sisters — Nekra, upon hearing Althea’s words, puffed her cheeks in a visibly childish protest, crossing her arms with indignation. Her eyes sparkled with a mix of embarrassnt and stubbornness as she muttered between clenched teeth: “D-don’t mock... ... there’s no... forgetting...”
Upon hearing that, Althea let her playful smile — the one that always seed to hide a secret — return to her face. With a mischievous look and a slight raise of her eyebrows, she said in an almost musical tone: “Great. So you must rember the rule we set about our dear sister, right?”
The mont Althea’s words echoed through the room, an inexplicable chill ran down my spine — a feeling I hadn’t experienced in a long ti. It was as if the very air around had grown denser, colder. Instinctively, I turned my face toward Nekra. Her expression was shrouded in shadows, much darker than I’d ever seen.
There was sothing disturbing in her expression — a darkness beyond the natural, as if an ancient shadow had awakened inside her. Her eyes, always marked by that peculiar purple hue, now shone with an almost unnatural intensity, like living flas cutting through the night’s darkness.
But that wasn’t happening only to Nekra — Nyara and even Althea displayed the sa enigmatic expression, as if sharing a silent secret. Seeing the three like that only sharpened my curiosity. What exactly did they an by “rule”? The word seed heavy with aning, as if there was sothing important behind it.
Besides, why, after all, would that include ? The way they spoke made it clear it was sothing external to , like a decision or imposition involving only my sisters. There was an implied tone, almost ritualistic, sothing ancient and unquestionable.
The room plunged into a dense and prolonged silence, as if Althea, Nekra, and Nyara needed ti to absorb the weight of Althea’s words — words whose true aning only the three of them understood. It was a heavy silence, almost tangible, full of unspoken mories and buried feelings.
Finally, it was Nekra who broke that suspended mont in ti. She let out a long, resigned sigh, as if accepting sothing inevitable, then slowly stood up, her eyes still fixed on sothing distant, invisible to the others.
Then, with a faint fla burning in her gaze — a mix of stubbornness and resignation — she finally spoke. Her voice ca low, drawn-out, carrying an ancient weariness and a lancholy that seed to follow her for years: “Alright... you win... I’ll do it... for my sister”
After those words, Nekra simply moved. Not hurriedly, nor rigidly — just walked. One step at a ti, calm, serene, almost graceful. Her movents were smooth, almost ethereal, and yet — or maybe because of that — her steps echoed strangely loud in the room, as if the sound refused to be ignored.
There was sothing about her presence in that mont. Sothing subtle but undeniable. Sothing... present. So present it was impossible not to notice. Even the thing outside, the one trying to force its way in, seed to hesitate. It felt it.
Everyone felt it. In a few seconds, the gazes turned, one by one, as if guided by instinct, toward Nekra. As if the very space around had shifted. As if ti held its breath. Suddenly, the air grew heavy, thick, suffocating.
And then, a thought ford in my mind — silent, primal, almost whispered — and I’m sure it passed through everyone there at once: (Sothing... sothing is here)
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