Emily decided, almost automatically and with deliberate brevity, to ignore the thing that looked exactly like her younger sister. Deep down, she knew it was the best option left to her.
It was either that, or attempt to strangle the thing using her sister’s face and body, which, aside from being disturbing, would have been strange at best. And, in any case, pointless.
The thing didn’t seem to truly exist on the physical plane. Unless it chose to initiate contact, it remained almost completely intangible, like a shadow trapped in the wrong reality.
Shaking her head and pushing her wandering thoughts aside, Emily redirected her attention to the anomaly that had appeared so abruptly, floating silently at the center of the room.
Before doing so, however, her eyes swept cautiously across the space, assessing the humans around her. All of them were frozen, staring at the strange presence with uncertain expressions, unsure how to react.
“Don’t worry. Everything’s fine. You can go back to work” Emily said, making an effort to keep her voice calm and neutral.
Though a few faces still bore traces of skepticism, most exchanged glances and, almost as if they had reached a silent, telepathic agreent, began acting as though nothing had been seen or heard.
One by one, they simply returned to their tasks. Still, the tension was unmistakable: wary glances drifted back to the anomaly every few minutes, fingers hesitated over tools and paperwork, and hands trembled ever so slightly, nearly imperceptibly, as if the body betrayed a fear the mind stubbornly refused to acknowledge.
“So...” Emily began after a few seconds of silence. Her steady gaze shifted to Althea, who hovered a few inches above the floor, her posture relaxed, her expression marked by an almost irritating indifference, as if nothing around her was worthy of attention: “What exactly did you co here for?” she continued, her voice laced with suspicion: “I seriously doubt it’s because you missed ”
After her words, Emily watched in silence as the angelic-looking being stretched languidly in midair, with a lazy grace, as though ti itself bent to her will.
Her beautiful golden eyes, soft, deep, and radiant, emanated a warmth that felt nearly tangible. They locked onto Emily’s with a hypnotic serenity, conveying a strange sense of peace.
A mocking smile spread across the being’s face as she savored every word she spoke: “Wow. That really hurts, you know?” she said, her tone almost theatrical.
Her body drifted lazily through the air, as if gravity were nothing more than a suggestion, until she stopped directly in front of Emily. There was sothing srizing about her movents, an unsettling calm.
Slowly, her fingers extended, brushing Emily’s cheek with a surprisingly gentle, almost affectionate touch: “Does a mother really need a reason to visit her beautiful children?” the being continued, wearing a smile that was disturbingly warm.
Emily rely narrowed her eyes at that strange, almost artificial display of maternal affection. A restrained, ironic smile curved her lips as she silently reviewed everything she knew about the anomaly so far. After a brief mont, she spoke calmly: “I’m not sure a real mother would be as indifferent as you are. In my experience, mothers tend to be present in their children’s lives, not distant spectators”
Emily watched silently as the being let out a short, amused laugh, low, casual, as if her words were a particularly clever joke. Her eyes, far too ancient to be human, glead for a mont before she tilted her head slightly.
“Applying human logic to isn’t very wise, my dear Emily” the being said, with a sideways smile that carried a peculiar mix of affection and condescension.
She paused briefly, as though choosing each word with care, before continuing in a soft, unsettlingly calm voice: “Even if I wasn’t there physically, that doesn’t an, ever, that I wasn’t watching you. Each and every one of you... my beautiful children”
Her gaze seed to pierce through ti itself: “I have always watched you. Your births, your fragile childhoods, your adult lives. I saw you fall in love, get married, have children of your own. I witnessed every one of those monts, never once looking away”
The wings attached to the being’s coccyx beat once more, displacing the air around her and carrying with them a strangely familiar scent. Emily was certain she had never slled it before, and yet it enveloped her intimately, warm, softly fragrant, and deeply comforting.
There was sothing within it that felt ancient and reassuring, almost forgotten, like the sensation of resting in one’s mother’s arms, sheltered from the world. A sudden wave of nostalgia washed over Emily. It wasn’t a clear mory, nor sothing she could na, but a diffuse emotion that spread through her chest. Fragile and fleeting, yet undeniably heavy with aning.
The being, perhaps sensing the unspoken doubts stirring within Emily, tilted her head slightly and smiled faintly. It was a strange smile for soone like her, gentle, almost human, imbued with an unexpected maternal affection. Her presence seed to still the room for a mont before she spoke: “Those tis were my favorites. Even without my sister by my side, I still had you. Watching you... it brought such pleasure. Following every step, every mistake and every triumph, seeing you grow little by little... it beca one of my most cherished pastis”
Emily blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected words. For a mont, she remained motionless, silently observing as the being moved the wings attached to her coccyx in a deliberately slow rhythm, as if savoring every passing second.
With a soft flutter of wings, she glided through the air, circling around until she positioned herself behind Emily, so close that her presence brushed the edge of intimacy, stopping just a few inches from her ear.
“Of course, that includes you and your younger sister as well” the being said, her tone strangely maternal and welcoming, almost too comforting for sothing that wasn’t human: “You two were incredibly close... such adorable children”
She then let out a slow sigh, as if a distant mory, both sweet and painful, had surfaced from so forgotten corner of her mind. Her eyes drifted for a mont before she continued: “It’s a sha sothing like that had to happen. You humans are so... fragile” There was a brief pause, and then a faint smile appeared on her lips: “But also so curious. I love watching you, especially the light in your eyes when you finally achieve sothing you desire. It’s so... beautiful”
The being sighed once more, this ti with a quiet, almost intimate pleasure, as though a dazzling and deeply beautiful mory had suddenly risen in her thoughts, one she refused to let fade.
The room fell into silence again after those words. Emily, like everyone else present, wore a strange, indefinable expression, as if they had all felt the sa thing at once, a shared sensation no one quite knew how to na.
That silence was broken when the tal door began to open, releasing a soft, faint creak, a sound that under normal circumstances would have gone unnoticed, but now rang out with absurd clarity.
“Boss, I...” Laura rushed in, holding a tallic, high-tech-looking object that blinked with a faint blue light and emitted an almost imperceptible hum.
Her words died the instant her eyes swept across the room. Laura froze. Her lips moved soundlessly, as if she wanted to say sothing, anything, but didn’t know what.
After a few awkward seconds, she finally managed to force the words out. As soon as she did, a light blush spread across her face, struck by sudden embarrassnt: “I... did I walk in at a bad ti?”
Emily watched Laura standing in the doorway, motionless, as if unsure whether she should step inside or simply turn back. Laura brought her hands to her temples and took a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts.
Emily then looked up at her, her expression softer than she had intended: “No... it’s fine. Did you get what I asked for?”
Still confused, Laura nodded slowly and walked toward Emily. Her steps were cautious, almost hesitant. For a mont, her eyes drifted to the being floating just a few steps away, moving lazily, as if utterly unconcerned by their presence. Curiosity burned in her mind, and several questions nearly escaped her lips, but Laura held back and chose to remain silent.
Emily, anwhile, turned back to face the being. Her expression was now completely serious, her eyes steady and alert, as if weighing every possibility before speaking. After a brief pause, she asked in a low, controlled voice: “You ca looking for news about your sister... or sothing like that, didn’t you?”
Hearing Emily’s words, the being simply stuck out her tongue playfully and, with a small smile of feigned innocence, replied: “Ah! Caught ?”
Emily shrugged indifferently, the gesture light and casual, as if the subject barely deserved attention. A half-smile appeared on her lips as she added calmly: “It was obvious from the start. That little speech of yours... it really doesn’t hold up, you know?”
Of course, Emily chose to remain silent about the fact that, in so hard-to-explain way, she could feel that the anomaly was telling the truth. It wasn’t just a guess or a vague intuition, every word felt genuine, carried with raw honesty, spoken exactly as it needed to be. No hesitation. No embellishnt. No lies.
“Honestly, you don’t need to worry so much. Your sister’s been through worse, I’ve seen it myself. Besides, she’s smart. She knows how to take care of herself. I’m sure she’ll be fine” Emily said.
Emily expected so exaggerated response from the anomaly, perhaps a grand declaration reinforcing her words. Instead, she was t with silence.
She shifted her gaze back to the being. The anomaly was still staring straight at her, wearing the sa fixed smile. Yet sothing about it had changed, there was an almost imperceptible tension, as if the smile were being held in place by force. It seed... uneasy.
Before Emily could ask anything, the being finally spoke, her voice low and heavy with an unfamiliar weight: “Normally, I would agree with you. After all, nothing can defeat my sister, at least not physically. But I can’t say the sa when it cos to the spirit. My sister is no longer who she used to be. She’s beco far more... human” There was a brief pause, and the smile curved slightly: “And that is exactly what makes her vulnerable”
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