"Is it delicious?" Tukare gives me a very familiar sweet smile as she waits for my answer, her cheek resting flat on her palm.
Now this is what I'm used to. Unfortunately, you can't easily override your other newly discovered personality, sister.
Even the audience watching couldn't comprehend what they're currently seeing—
"Pinch me—quick! I think I'm dreaming."
"Is Girtro starving? I think I'm having the same dream as you."
Although Girtro is a Djinn, he's more inclined with prophetic dreaming rather than dream domination. But that doesn't mean he doesn't do so every now and then whenever he feels hungry or dissatisfied with the food at camp. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case this time.
"Eh? But isn't he peacefully eating right there?"
"Is it an attack? Are we under attack? Why is there a hallucination spell?"
"Maybe Tukare got kidnapped?"
"Then who's she?"
"An undercover agent?"
"We're really under attack??? But I didn't see any Sorcerers earlier…"
"Someone kidnapped Tukare and replaced her? Is that even possible? Wouldn't the agent have been long hacked into pieces by her?"
"Maybe Tukare's just practicing how to be two-face—"
Tukare's angry hum and piercing glare immediately shut the audience up, frightened enough that the last person to speak had choked on his words before excusing himself in the name walking off his 'indigestion'.
Stress is one of the things that can cause indigestion. Unknowingly, Tukare has now been equated to stress. If one wanted to cure indigestion caused by stress, sure enough, you'd need to distance yourself away from the stress source.
With him gone, Tukare flashes me and everyone else a smile as if nothing happened. As if she's nothing but the purest breeze here to give a person life in the hottest of summer days. It's only that, the people here were clearly experiencing winter, so when the breeze called Tukare blew, they trembled instead of finding relief.
"What are you all talking about? It's just me. I've always been like this, haven't I?" Tukare laughs shyly, successfully raising goosebumps and scaring everyone around within hearing range. Everyone who heard her and saw her like this did a double take before showing a face full of disbelief. She turns back to me and continues to feed me another spoon, "Come on, eat a lot, okay? Tell big sister if you want some more and big sister will get you more~"
"...Thanks... Tukare, but this is enough for me."
She makes a sound of agreement as she starts to eat her from her own bowl. I give a side glance at everyone. I've been doubting about it since the very start and my suspicions have rooted ever since Girtro's story. Although he didn't outwardly say it, the actions and responses of the people around in regards to Tukare, coupled with how she acted when we first met again outside their main fort's gate; they're all enough to tell anyone that she might be quite the character here.
Surprisingly, I'm not uncomfortable knowing that there's a part of her I don't know anymore. Must one have a reason to hide a part of them from the person they care about the most? Haven't I done the same? I have no right to be angry at her. That'd be hypocritical of me.
When dinner had finished, everyone had an unspoken understanding of leaving Tukare and I to talk. The clueless Theo was dragged away though, and Girtro simply went to haggle the stingy cook for seconds.
The fire flickers and in the background. I can many soft voices chatting and enjoying themselves, much to the opposing quietness on ours, save for the occasional crackling of the firewood.
"You're not angry anymore?" I decide to break the silence first.
"I wasn't angry to begin with." She gives me a helpless smile.
Oh right, she got 'shy' about meeting after so long.
"I've been thinking about it ever since that time", she says while throwing the wooden spoon into the fire, making me wonder if she'll get in trouble for it if someone finds out. It was a good spoon. "I want to hear the reason from you directly—why did you go?"
I take a few seconds of silence before answering, "I thought you died back then. I blamed Laris even though I know it was unjust. After my recent cultivation, I learned that I could control my connections. That made me think of how you might've done that when you asked Laris to—" The word 'leave' gets stuck at my throat. "At first it was just a baseless hope I tried to dash many times though." I pause and then complain, "You really don't make it easy for me not to misunderstand you sometimes."
"That's not my fault", she stubbornly insists. "Besides, didn't Mother tell you not to go near Nymphs? Why did you choose to go with them? There were so many places you could've gone into. This is totally your fault, not mine." She pouts like a child.
"...Mm."
Always agreeing to whatever the girls in the family say and want, maybe I should blame Father's upbringing for this.
"I kept coming back to look for you but I just couldn't find any trace of you. I almost thought you were dead. Maybe you got turned into tree that I passed by, and I always thought that I wouldn't have known." She looks down, trying to hide her emotions. "That was the only reason I didn't burn the whole forest down", she whispers.
"What?" I wasn't able to hear the last sentence she mumbled out.
"Nothing", she smiles lovingly.
"...You said 'almost'. What made you think otherwise?"
She gave me a knowing smile before looking down at the necklace I was wearing. Realizing that it was a different necklace, she begins to frown at it.
Necklace? Ah—!
I raise my hand and a shadow rose up and revealed Father's mask. This distracts her instantly.
"Woah, I didn't know we could do that. That reminds me, since when have you been able to use your shadow like that?"
"..."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to", she says after seeing my reluctance.
"..." It's not that I don't want to tell you, but that I don't know how to say it without telling you about Obrecht.
"Tell me how you can store stuff in your shadow instead", she urges when she sees my discomfort.
"I'm not really storing them. It's like making extra limbs inside my shadow domain and using them to hold on to the things I need. I cover them in the darkness so they aren't seen and then bring them along with me."
"That's an interesting way to use your shadow control, but doesn't that mean you're constantly concentrating? Maybe I should have tried practicing shadow control a little bit too. But it's really hard, ah", she grumbles while untying the necklace she purposely left behind back in the rebel camp. She hums satisfactorily after wearing it on her own neck.
"You can't control it", I question, surprised.
"I can't. I tried various ways but maybe I'm just more suitable with moving things with my mind rather than using shadows." She shrugs.
Telekinesis? This is the first time I'm hearing it. I didn't know she can do what Mother was able to do.
She perks up at my curious look and gives a big sister smile, patting my head. It doesn't seem like she'll tell me how she was able to practice her powers anytime soon.
I guess I reap what I sow.
"How did you heal your arm?" I glance at it, making her raise it and flex her biceps.
She laughs, "By the look on your face, shouldn't your question be 'how did you gain so much muscle' instead?"
Although I've sported a dull look since the beginning, it still amuses Tukare when I aim such a face at her.
Before I can answer, a shout interrupts our conversation. We turn to the origin and see a few people running to the doctor's tent, with Laris at the lead.
Not removing my eyes from until he finishes his talk with the doctor and enters the tent, I ask, "Why did you stay with them?"
Didn't you hate the wolves as much as I did?
No matter how much I try to wrap my head around it, I can't understand.
Was it because you had a higher chance of finding me if you stayed with them? Or did they have something against you that's why you can't leave?
I clench my fist. Yet Tukare doesn't even bat an eye when she answers, almost unbothered.
"Because of that Djinn."
"...Girtro?"
"Yes. Why am I not surprised you know him." She smirks. "Girtro is one of Letitia's close friends and Laris' confidants. He's the only Djinn-kind on the twins' side but he's really powerful. He can see the immediate and distant futures of the people he's met even when he's awake. When I woke up after you left, of course I wanted to leave and look for you, but Girtro persuaded me to stay."
"Did he tell you about meeting me at Barred Forest?"
"He did. But that's not the only thing that made me stay." She turns to me and I stare back at her. "I want revenge, Videre. For someone like me, I can't rest until I've sliced Vaughn's head off, cracked it open, and see for myself what faex his brain contains."
There is bloodthirst in her eyes.
"Laris talked you into joining their rebellion?" I ask with a matter-of-fact tone. Tukare didn't need to answer for me to know the answer. It's unacceptable how Laris can just use my sister like this.
"Don't get angry on your own." She gives me a side-long glance. "You think Laris manipulated me into staying? That's where you're wrong. To be honest, I'd rather you didn't know more than you need to know."
I swallow my question back down my throat at her last statement.
She stands up, takes my hand and halts abruptly. When she comes to herself, she glances around before pulling me along when nobody was giving us attention. We walk for a few minutes until we reach a secluded part of the small village. She leans on a tree, holding my left hand with both hands. She starts to frown deeper.
"Videre, why are your emotions fragmented?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Videre", she emphasizes my name in a scolding tone after immediately finding the denial in my question.
"I'd rather you didn't know more than you need to know." I counter using her own words.
With our stares locked, we fight using our eyes. If I wasn't so concerned with keeping my secret to keep her from worrying, I might've felt a bit nostalgic at our antics. Not wanting her to worry—I suppose old habits die hard.
Staring and staring; eventually, our eyes reveal a glint of coldness that we know was there, but never thought would be aimed at each other.
Tukare admits defeat, huffing angrily while looking away.
She cusses under her breath and says, "We don't meet for a couple of years and suddenly, you're so rebellious? Between the two of us, aren't you more qualified to be in this camp than I am?" Her dissatisfied tone carried a thick tone of sarcasm.
"..."
"You lazy talker." She unhappily looks at me when she fails at getting me angry. "Fine. I stayed not because I wasn't confident at getting revenge on my own. I stayed with the twins because...well, they're supposed to be family."
"...Family?"
"Yes, family. That's why, you should be nicer to Laris from now on. Don't attack him for no reason anymore."
A thousand scenarios flicker in my head, until it focuses on a memory of Laris gently placing a hand on Tukare's when she aimed her sword at me.
Is that what she meant by 'family'?!
Fueled by anger, the shadows beneath my feet rise higher as I turn around to find that little irrumator that can't keep his hands to himself!