PART 1
As I woke from my nap later that evening, my body felt sore, as if I had done an intense workout. "Why do short naps usually make you feel this way?" I wondered, touching the ground and stretching my small body.
Then I heard talking from downstairs, specifically the gentle tone of a man. "Father is back?" I thought. I glanced at Astraya, who was still sound asleep.
I then moved toward the source of the noise. As I stepped gently down the stairs, I could hear Mother sobbing. It wasn't a pretty sound. What could have made Mother feel this way? Did Father do something to her?
She was sobbing while saying, "They aren't ready... why do they have to be exposed so early?"
More sobs.
But Father kept comforting her. "I know, but if we don't do this now, you know they won't have a fighting chance."
As I carefully stepped down the stairs to listen in, I missed a step, making a loud, staggered noise that even the capital of Manyblood could have heard.
"Astraga, you're awake... good," Father said. "I was just about to wake you and your sister up."
Regaining my composure, I walked toward Mother,who was in a haste to wipe her tears and pretend as if she wasn't just repeatedly sobbing.
"Mother, are you okay? Why do you seem sad?" I asked with concern etched on my face.
"Nothing, dear, just tired, that's all," she said, sniffing. She replied.
"Astraga, go wake up your sister. It's time you knew what was really going on."
Of course, I had an idea of what was going on, but I had to play ignorant. They were clearly going to say something about the authority thingy coming after us, right? What else could they want to tell us? I wondered.
As I went up to call Astraya, whose sleeping position was the definition of chaos itself, with her arms and legs stretched with reckless abandon, I gently shook her. "Hey, Astraya."
Jolting her awake, she mumbled, still wanting to sleep more. "Let me sleep more, Astraga. Why do you hate sleep?"
"No, wake up. Dad wants to talk to us, and I don't think it's good news."
Astraya, now realizing the seriousness in my tone, awoke, clearing all remnants of sleep from her vision. "What? Are you serious?" she asked again.
"Yes, Astraya, and Mom seems to be in tears because of what he's about to tell us."
PART 2
As we both stood in front of Mother, who was now using a soft cloth to absorb the tears from her eyes, and Father, who was now facing us with a small chest box behind him, I wondered what could be inside that chest. Curious as ever, I raised my hands.
"Whats that box behind you." I asked curiously.
Father, still obviously doubting if he should tell us about the news or delay a bit until we were much older, followed my hand.
"Oh, that?" he said, realizing what I was curious about. "Well, inside are the things I will use to find out what type of core you have."
"I believe it's about time we figured that out, don't you think?"
This was what I had wanted to hear, but I had no way of knowing what or how that would work. But what really could be inside the box? This piqued my interest a lot.
Father then asked us, "The books I gave you, did you read anything on mana types and cores, especially my own?"
Astraya spoke out, "Yeah, Astraga read them to me. We went through it."
Dad smiled. "Great. Some of the information there may be a bit difficult to understand at your age, but at least you could get a few things right?" he asked.
Astraya nodded. "But why does Mother seem so sad? Mommy, are you okay?" Astraya showed concern.
Mother again played it cool, saying she was just happy we would be mana users soon.
"Honey, kindly get the purification water you have prepared for this day," Father asked softly as Mother nodded, heading to the basement. Father then stared at us, clearly ready to tell us everything.
"As you two are well aware, you both always carry around that necklace of a fish," he said. I gripped my black koi fish pendant, as did Astraya.
He further explained that those pendants were a gift from the grand midwife, as there existed certain powers that didn't want us to exist simultaneously. This was information I had already known…that bastard "drogan" was behind it. I still wasn't able to understand the whole "Twin discrimination" thing yet. I turned to Astraya, who seemed to be having a hard time processing it.
Father, now coming closer and holding our hands, continued. He said the necklace acts as a protective shield against drogan's authority, which is a shadow-like being that follows its master's will, wishes or ambitions regardless. Its sole purpose as a shadow was to exterminate all twins. But there was a weak point to this power: the shadow would never attack anyone stronger than it. So the grand midwife had told him and Mother to go far away and get us to a point where we would be strong enough to face this amoral entity. Only then would my sister and I be truly free.
He then threw a curveball, saying unfortunately, Anaya had sent a message saying the protective properties wouldn't hold as long as they thought. The expected year was when we turned 16, as by then we would have been well ahead and ready to protect ourselves.
PART 3
Mother, finally back from the basement, brought in her hands two transparent glass bowls. She dropped them close to the chest box, which resided on the table. "Bowls?" I wondered. Perhaps, as the name suggested, "purification water" was going to be poured into them.
As I was right, she then carried a metal jug in her arms that appeared to have nothing in it. Mother stood in front of the bowls, ready to pour them. As she tilted the jug's edge where water would flow outwards, nothing seemed to happen at first. She had definitely flipped it to a point where even if a tiny drop was hidden, it would have no choice but to succumb to gravity. Still nothing.
Astraya then stated the obvious, "Mommy, it's empty."
Mother replied, "I know dear. I will have to cast a spell first, sweetie."
Father nodded, encouraging us to watch. "Do it now, dear."
As Mother's grip tightened on the jug, she said the spell:
"Clear as the moon, pure as the stream, Water of truth, unveil your dream. Element sleeping, awaken and rise, Show me my nature through the naked eyes. Am I of fire, water, earth, or air? Through this rite, make my spirit bare. In a pleading tone, my essence speak, For water's purity is what I seek."
To my surprise, the empty-looking jug poured out a smooth, silky water as it made no sound when she poured it from a respectable height above the bowls. I had never seen such a liquid before. It showed no resistance to the bowl, as not even a single bubble was visible to my eyes as it poured down.
Then, as both bowls were now at a respectful level of her choosing, she said to Father, "All done, you may begin."
Father was now heading to his chest box, and as he stretched his hands inside, I tried to make out what was inside, only to see that he had brought out eight slips of white-looking paper.