I sat down for a second. And they linked their mind to mine and began to explain. Most people don't begin using their special ability until they are well into adolescence. But the twins began using their abilities from the moment they were born. Except it was just the one sister who linked their minds who was using an ability. The other sister was actually clinically braindead from the moment she was born.
She shouldn't have been able to think but the baby girl linked her mind directly to her sisters and the two became one from the moment they were born. They have been a hivemind this entire time. Even though it was more of a schizophrenic break than a hivemind. Somehow by implanting her own mind into both bodies at once the baby's mind was able to run two bodies at once by simply using her special ability. The doctors didn't understand how it was possible for the infant's body to move and function despite her brain not sending any signals.
Eventually, they called in a skilled necromancer to revive the brain-dead sister's unresponsive grey matter, which though successful didn't stop the link between the sisters. They told me their minds have been connected for as long as they can remember and though they know it's possible for them to exist on their own they have no idea if they ever switched bodies while connected which brought about an interesting question. "you can swap bodies?"
"I did say the connection can go as deep as you want it to"
"We could switch bodies?" the twins began blushing. "what would you do in a girl's body?"
"honestly I'm curious to see how a day without having to worry about a certain part of the male anatomy acting on its own, as it tends to do, would be like."
"would you want to trade bodies?"
"does it also trade abilities?"
"your ability is unique to your body, not your mind"
"ah then no, I don't feel safe without my ability." I check book. "maybe in the future if I see a possible time when we can swap bodies in a completely safe way."
"so that's a no on the body-swapping?"
"if I did you two would probably fight over who gets it first or for longer and it'd probably be a while to get it back."
"wh-what do you mean?"
"don't act like you weren't disappointed when you didn't get to watch me change." The twins turned to the side blushing with their eyes a bit downcast as if they were children caught in a lie. The two in unison turned back to face me and gave a smile that seemed to say 'I won't admit it out loud'. I began frantically looking through book. "will you be able to see everything in my mind if I join your hive mind?"
"no, we're still separate people you'll just share with us your every unguarded thought."
"you'll essentially have to learn how to think without an inner monologue"
"We won't peek at the things you'd rather keep secret" I could feel them looking me up and down like predators hungering for a bite of lamb. Book seems to want me to make a choice now. If I join their hive mind, I'll have to date them and while my chances of survival right now sit at around 70%, I'm worried about that 30%. "Do you mind giving me some time to think about this? It's a lot to drop on a person so suddenly."
"what if we gave you a bit of a trial run?"
"what do you mean?"
"I give you like a minor connection, the kind a regular telepathy spell gives you where you have to think louder for the person on the other end of the telepathy spell to hear you?"
"that's certainly an interesting proposal."
"just like a little test run so you can see how convenient it is to be connected to us."
"we'll even let you adjust the depth of the connection as we go."
"that's not really been within your control much though has it? You can force a connection through, but it can still be cut from the other side just like a regular telepathy spell, elst you guys would have kept peeping while I was changing."
"you watched us change!"
"I thought you wanted me to." The two twitched at my rebuttal. From the looks of them, I could tell I hit the nail on the head. "I'll agree to the trial run on the condition you guys don't get your hopes up on me actually keeping it, it's just until I make my decision ok?"
"ok" she held out her pinky to me as if expecting me to do the same. When I did instead of her making me, pinky promise like I thought she would I saw a red thread manifest from the aether which then connected my pinky to theirs. After a few seconds, it faded away as if it were never there, but I could feel the connection between them now faint as it was as if it were ever-present. This is a bit eerie.
I briefly mentioned to them over the connection that it was probably better if I didn't stay at my parents' house tonight as they'd be gone a while and my predictions say it's not safe to spend the night alone. Essentially asking if they could connect me to the club president so I could sleep in the school, particularly the clubroom as there is a sofa in there somewhere. When the twins mentioned something, I was dreading to head over our new connection.
They told me they know of an abandoned mansion that even bandits don't go near because it's said to be haunted and they've turned it into their own house where they scare away would-be squatters every now and again by covering themselves in the whitest make-up they can find, dressing themselves in white rags and making the intruders think they teleported across the house when they run away.
It's like a form of entertainment to them. The house is haunted but the ghosts like the girls because one of them was dead from the moment she was born and they all like messing with people. They introduced me to some of the spectres and spirits that wander those halls and asked them if they could spare a room for me as it wasn't safe at my house that night.
I managed to get a place to sleep on one of the couches in the pool hall even though I'd have to sleep through the endless clattering of balls on a felt table as the phantoms kept betting the night away. A couple of hours into the night the girls pulled me into their bed with them and whispered into my mind that their father was asleep and would probably stay asleep long enough for them to return me to where I was.
I don't particularly like that I can feel when the girls are awake. It makes me feel like they know when I'm awake now too. Their room was not what I was expecting though. I know I think of them as a bit creepy as my future for the longest time has been a collage of these two dismembering me in new and creative ways, but this?
I was lying in bed between two fairly pretty girls in a room filled with bookshelves but instead of knowledge covering those slightly dusty wooden slabs, it was dolls. Imagine trying to sleep with a thousand eyes staring at you while the eyes of two doll-like girls are peering into your mind wondering why you're not asleep yet.
I get the feeling this will be the hardest sleep I'll ever achieve. I managed to get some sleep and I got teleported into the second sister's subspace when their father's weighty footsteps approached. I could hear through the link their father was curious as to why they were sharing a bed and they responded that they were feeling a bit lonely and wanted to share their favourite doll's company before pulling up a rather sizeable bear from beneath the sheets.
Their father seemed a bit unnerved by the actions of his daughters, but he elected not to pry and left after shutting the door informing them that breakfast would be ready soon. I was pulled out of the pocket dimension after the door was shut securely and the twins told me that they expected to see me change today.
They grabbed their clothes and teleported us back to my room the three of us together. Future book warned me that there were a couple of bandits who'd hidden throughout the house and where they were. I made the subspace twin aware of them and had her toss them into the void of her subspace, in much the same way the rest of the bandits hidden in the house were disposed of and I was still forced to change in front of them.
They didn't see, what it was I'm sure they wanted to see because I took a shower yesterday after the spell was cast like the day before to get the smell of rot out as a simple cleaning spell wouldn't get such a deathly smell out.
Either way, since I didn't need a shower today and felt no need to change my underwear, they didn't get to see what they wanted and were a bit upset about it. I don't like that I can feel their emotions through our connection. It feels like I can have no privacy with this. But it's also like a no secrets type of thing, so I'll know in advance if they feel murdery. It's simultaneously comforting and discomforting.
I'll always know how they feel, but they'll always know how I feel. This is quite distressing. After we changed together the twins teleported us over to a police station where the twins skillfully deposited the bandits into jail cells via a box she threw into an empty cell. After explaining why we'd done what we did the town's local militia was sent to my house and my path to school to see if there were any bandits lying in wait for me outside my own home.
We were asked how we knew they were in my house and I explained that I was a bit paranoid after the last bandit attack on my home and so I slept at a friend's house for the night and when I realized I neglected to bring clothes I called up my friend with the subspace teleportation ability to take me back to get my clothes but as I was still paranoid I had her check everywhere in the house I used to play hide and seek with my parents as a kid in that house so any bandits that would have been hiding would have been found and restrained.
My acting skill must be pretty high that or my charisma is improving by just the sheer amount of effort I'm putting into living the life I'm living at the moment because he believed me. We ended up going to school and the bandits were given the option to be hanged for endangering the life of a schoolboy and two schoolgirls or to be sold as crime slaves. Before you even ask yes slaves are treated fairly in this world, no you can't have any.
There are occasions where thieves end up being sold back to thieves and they just go straight back to thieving, but most of the time the people they are sold to are vetted extensively and they are chosen based on who will give them a job that'd make them regret their actions.
My parents were at home at the time, but their door is locked with a deadbolt skeleton key. Most doors use locks that can be easily picked but not in our house, if you lose a key you have to go to the locksmith and have him cast you a new one with the mould of the key you lost.
They actually left their room as the last bandit came out from hiding in fear of the fate of the bandits that were disappearing into cracks in the tile and tears in the old worn rug. My parents would have taken him out if not for the fact the last bandit was a she and the twins had no remorse.
After the morning's… "festivities" we went to class. My parents didn't need any advice from me today it seems they're planning on staying home and setting up alarms and things in case this happens again. And occasionally killing any would-be invaders.
My classes went rather smoothly even though I was ignoring them to read my grandfather's grimoire. The twins kept trying to talk to me in the middle of class and I kept reading my spells, it's not that I was ignoring them it's just that I hadn't gotten a chance to read it and I really wanted to.
"attention class we have a new student joining us today." Aw, why did this have to happen now? My childhood friend arrived in my class. She is a short girl a day younger than me with glasses. The school uniform seems to fit her well enough. It's not mandatory to wear the uniform but enough students do wear it to the point it's not entirely unusual, but she seems a bit disappointed by the fact I'm wearing my mages robes and therefore don't match with her.
She was actually scanning the room when she walked in, no doubt looking for a familiar face. Looks like I have a problem. The twins are too close to me right now and I don't want them killing my childhood friend… actually, if she was allowed to come over here from her peaceful little village by her paranoid parents, she must have done something to prove herself strong enough to survive on her own because I know her parents didn't come with her.
I used to spend a lot of time with her, but my family moved after the adventuring work for them thinned in that tiny village where nothing bad ever happens. So, we moved to a more… exciting town. And I certainly am fighting for my life every day here. Probably why book said it was a fair bet. I very subtly wave to my old friend and she quickly hides her dejection and smiles back.
"Hello, my name is [best girl] nice to meet you"
"[best girl] here went to great lengths to come here. What did you do to convince your parents you'd be alright on your own?"
"I killed an infant dragon all by myself." Now that is quite the accomplishment. Even a baby dragon could effortlessly kill an untrained average man. The fact she said infant and not baby implies the dragon had at least a year or two experience even if it was probably lost and or confused.
Still, it's best to kill them when they're found or else, they're liable to start destroying nearby towns when they're bored or upset. The adults at least know if they don't mess with us, we won't mess with them. I relaxed back in my chair; my worry had abated slightly. The rest of the class sat forward and began their little chorus of "really"
"no way"
"This little girl killed a dragon" and so on. She seemed fairly proud of herself. The teacher asked if there were any volunteers to show her around the school and I raised my hand. "it'll get me out of class, right?" my fellow students laughed at my reply, she just smiled. I've missed my old friend. Our teacher didn't want to let me show her around both because she is a girl and I am a guy, but also because the teachers are mostly upset that I can learn whatever I want in an evening and they had to actively study to know what they do.
My old friend told the teacher that she was fine with it and explained that we already knew each other from before I moved to this town. There were a couple of jeers and snide remarks from my classmates, but her glare put them all in their place. She can be real scary when she wants to be.
As we wandered the halls I explained where everything in the school is including the magic club where I spend most of my after-school hours that aren't spent at home. She began talking to me as we walked. "it's been a while hasn't it"
"Yeah, how long has it been? 4? 5 years now?"
"I stopped counting at 2247 days 14 hours 3 minutes and 12 seconds"
"wow, do you have perfect recall or do I?"
"I'm sorry?"
"it's a spell I learned since coming here"
"Oh. Maybe you could teach it to me sometime."
"I'd love to" after I finished showing her around, I looked at her schedule and saw that though we shared a few classes it wasn't all of them and she wouldn't be able to cheat off my homework like when we were younger.
She didn't end up joining the magic club, but she did say she'd be popping over to my house when I got the chance. I accepted her proposal and told her I was free this evening. The twins checked in on me via our temporary link to ask where I was as the tour was dragging a bit; we had a fair amount of catching up to do.
We ended up just skipping that class. Who needs gender studies anyway? After that, I told her I'd be busy with magic club, like usual and that she should probably check out a club she would be interested in. she ended up joining the breakfast club… for some reason.
I told the twins I was taking a bit of time to catch up with an old friend and that we were reminiscing. She told me about a few trivial things opting to save the longer stories for when she'd be coming over later. I could sense a bit of jealousy coming through the connection, so I asked them what the problem was.
They told me there was no problem, but I could tell this was a lie. It's incredibly difficult to hide your tone in your own thoughts. Unless of course, you're extremely good at lying to yourself. I looked to book again. Seems the twins won't do anything because they know how strong my friend is but they don't know about her special ability.
Come to think of it I moved before we could tell each other… I'll ask over dinner. That day in magic club I sat in my seat reading my grandfather's grimoire looking for the other spells book said I had to learn this week.
Against my better judgement, I pulled a bottle of absinthe from my bag and took a couple of swigs as I read. When students crowded me to ask me why I began an incantation for one of the minor necromancy spells in the book. Damage Reverse the problem is that one of the components is blood mixed with alcohol and the other is fat cells. So, I had to drink until it hit me and sacrifice some of the squish from my belly. This is a strange passive spell; I'm guessing there's some horrible side effect to it but book told me to cast it immediately. I asked our resident healer if she could punch me in the face to test the effectiveness.
She walked right up and struck me hard enough to knock me over. I definitely felt that. As I was lying on the ground the pain receded far quicker than usual and I could see her suffering as though she took the damage for me. An eerie violet flame burned on her face where she struck me and, on my face, too. It seems this is a spell that heals you at the expense of the person who attacked you. That being said I still felt it so there's a chance I could die before the spell has a chance to heal me.
Maybe necromancy spells are just really powerful in general. After I was completely healed the violet flame disappeared and her auto-heal spell kicked in. "so that's how it works."
"you knew, didn't you?"
"I knew it would reflect the damage I just didn't know how well it would work it only has two components"
"That was a really long chant though… someone get a mirror"
"why what happened?" they showed me my own reflection. In the mirror was the appearing of lines on my face as if tattoos what's stranger still is that they almost looked like a top tier magic circle was drawn all over my body. It wasn't something we were expecting to come after just casting my third necromancy spell. I quickly remembered the third spell I was meant to learn and went to the front of the grimoire.
After reading the conclusion and learning the spell I sent a message to the twins through the link and not out loud. 'now, I know this is a lot to ask from a friend, but I need a kiss for this spell I just learned'
'really?'
'yeah, just one though. If you don't want to that's cool, I can find someone else to help me cast it'
'kiss both of us'
'no that will ruin it I need for this spell to work the saliva of two people and no more… or at least that's what it says in the book'
'wait what kind of spell is it?'
'a disguise spell that specifically hides tattoos, it's an active spell that hides them until I cast the spell again to reveal them.'
'so, you'll need to kiss both of us eventually'
'if you want me to kiss you both today, I don't mind I just need to cast this spell in-between'
They immediately began a race to try and kiss me first and with no context, the club watched in horror as these two began their catfight over me. I chuckled a bit. The club vice president spat in my face knowing she couldn't hurt me physically and knowing this was probably my fault. I blinked a couple of times trying to decide how to feel about this before deciding to be sassy.
"…thanks actually, girls it's ok your services are no longer needed." I watched them look up dejectedly as I licked my cheek and cast the spell. The vice president was a bit confused at what transpired next as the tattoos began receding from view and were no longer visible… also the twins stopped fighting and looked fairly dejected on the ground. Their standard-issue mage robes were all dishevelled and their hair a mess. I could tell they weren't happy so I said, "another time then" and prepared to take my childhood friend back home to speak to my parents.