When was the last time they felt trapped?
Gem wakes her sister as she prepares the clumsy girl for their next class. The evening cool air slips through their balcony door.
The half conscious Mini sneezes before turning to Gem, "Why is it so cold in here?" The thirteen year old girl wraps her blanket tightly around herself.
Gem didn't say anything, but walks over to close the door and turns the lock. Through the door, she can see the stars and a familiar aligning into her favorite shape. Gemini, a constellation in the the night sky, a symbol of safe travel or an omen.
The same shape that was the key to escape the cramp spaces and dark times.
"You weren't doing alchemy on our break were you?" Mini yawns as she dresses back into her blue robe. "We're going to alchemy for our next class, right? Is there a point of doing something we already mastered?"
That wasn't the point.
The first hobby Gem did after they escaped that desert facility was alchemy. After she mastered it, she felt that alchemy was hers alone. She felt alive knowing she had something she truly owned. She never had anything that was hers, but the blood of children that were used to make the twins—
With a soft thud, a warm body falls on her back, interlocking long, childish fingers.
"Don't think about it." Mini says.
"But—"
"It wasn't our fault." Mini wraps her thin arms around her sister's shoulders and rest her chin on Gem's head.
"It's because of us—"
"If we didn't exist, do you think they would not find a replacement?" Mini argues back, calmly watching her sister's ever-changing face.
The silence and stuffy room only made Gem suffer more. The scattered bodies of twisted, bury children haunts her mind. As their unrecognizable faces scream at her, "It's your fault!"
"Let's go," Mini softly says as she drags her sister out the room. Hands still interlocked, as long as they are always together, Mini didn't mind the bodies haunting her dreams.
Gem and Mini finds the hall eerie in the evening. The lights flickering. Faints footstep echoes from afar. And a demonic looking-door with a skeleton head as a knob facing them.
"Prof. Hannibal Class" is carved elegantly above the door. Mini unconsciously pushes Gem behind her before touching the jewel encrusted knob.
Pssst— smoke escapes from the door, blocking their vision. The twins use their arms to block the gust of wind from whatever they unleashed, but not before seeing a shady figure by the door.
The silhouette slowly moves closer making Gem reach for her pocket. Getting closer to them, Gem ducks pass her sister and over to the creature. She pulls out her knife and thrust it into the monster's side, but—
"What in Hell!" A man's voice screams in pain.
—the monster was actually a student. Gem takes out her knife and moves back behind her sister. The twins look at each other, as the voice sound some-what familiar, but who?
"Who the heck randomly stabs people in the hallway!" The voice continues in hysteria.
The twins just looks at the tall figure. Then, the smoke finally disappears.
"Look Gem, it's the con-man!" Mini points.
X stands there disoriented with a green nest call a hair and crumpled clothes. His soot covered face twisted into a look of pain, his bloody hand covering his wound.
"Mini, I think you're right."
"Hey Mr. Con-man, what did you do to Gem's and Mini's new friend!" Mini waves her arm angrily at the injured man, but Gem pulls her back.
X just glares at those annoying brat. There is a special place in Hell for people like them!
Gem calms her older sister by patting her head like a doting parent. Seeing her sister finally quiet down, she gently instructs her sister. "Everything is alright, Mini. Why don't you heal him?" She points at the man's wound
Mini finally register what her sister did, and rushes over to X, but the victim was not having it. It soon becomes a Mexican standoff: one trying to find a way to reach the other, the other trying to find a way to escape, and Gem wondering why the two dimwits were facing each other while walking in a circle.
While the two idiots are too busy doing... whatever they were doing, Gem notice the door open to reveal a scrawny child with curly hair. Gem smiles, not the knowing carnivorous looks she gives Dahlia.
On the other hand, Dahlia sticks one foot out the door just to see a little pervert looking at her like she wants to eat her. An alarm screams "danger" in her mind, and that was enough for Dahlia to straighten herself. With a blank look, she steps back and slams the door in the other girl's face.
The door closing alarms the two idiots, who were still try to outdo the other, only to see the creepy smile on Gem's round face. They step back, while Mini uses X as a shield.
"Gem. Are you alright... you're not broken, right?" Mini peeks from behind, a little taken back at her sister's face. Gem does not answer and just stares at the door. This worries her even more.
"Hey, is your sister always like this," X whispers to the girl.
Mini shakes her head. Her sister would never smile like this, always the cool and collected one of the two. Was she ever like this before? Only... only with him, but he's dead. Right?
Gem turns around to her sister, not noticing anything off about her surroundings. "Mini, our desert friend is here."
"Really! Let's go then." Mini cheers, but her heart was not in peace.
She realizes that girl had the same effect on them, like Dr. Omar. The feeling of drunken ecstatic, irregular heartbeats, and the scent of something sickeningly sweet. Who is she? What does she have to do with Dr. Omar, with the facility, with them?
"Come on Mini," Gem drags her inside. A very angry X chasing them while cursing at his bad luck.
Mini didn't understand what was going on around her even more than she thought, but she knows that's she going to have to keep her eyes on her new friend.
For the sake of Gem and herself, all potential obstacles must die.