My hand clutched the left hand of the girl running after me from behind; we went into the pub and the customers greeted me with waves and smiles on their faces—most of them were Fables taking a break. "Oh? Red! Nice hairdo!" said one of the men, raising the beer glass in his hand.
"I'm not Red—" I pulled her along and led her up the stairs to where Mother lived. "Could you not be so rough? You're pretty, but you're rude, aren't you?" she muttered after pulling her hand free from my grip. I simply apologised before knocking on the door in front of me.
"Wait a moment!" The sound of footsteps grew closer, and the door began to swing open—revealing a woman with thick, shoulder-length green hair. "Alice… And Red?!"
"Juliet, ma'am—I'm her twin," the girl behind me corrected, and this caused Mother's expression to turn shocked and disbelieving at what she'd heard. "I had no idea my sister was that famous"
Mother composed herself before smiling at the girl again—the same smile she had given her sister. "Sorry, I've got the wrong person—please come in," she said, stepping aside to let us in.
Once inside, we sat down straight away on the sofa—on the table in front of us were three cups of hot tea already served; the woman in front of us was gently stroking the goose beside her. "You want me to tell you about my older sister, don't you?" asked the girl sitting to my right.
"Yes, please, she's a precious person to us too," Mother replied. I still hadn't told Mother that she was on the team we were up against; I didn't want things to get any more complicated—I hoped Juliet wouldn't give any information that was too convoluted and might make me lose my head again.
Juliet took the cup of tea from her hand before blowing on it and sipping it. "…Almost a month ago," she began; the room was silent, filled only by her voice and the ticking of the clock.
Juliet, who was watching television that night—a daily habit she'd had before joining The Seven Sins team—was enjoying her favourite talk show when the sound of a knock at the door made her jump in surprise.
"Ugh… Who on earth is disturbing my happy time?" Juliet grumbled; her father was still out at work, leaving her as the only one who could open the door.
She got up from her chair and walked towards the front door, her hand gripping the handle—she was curious to know who was on the other side, because if it was her father, he should have opened the door straight away without needing to knock.
She pulled the door open, and when she saw what was behind it—she saw herself; it was as if she were standing in front of a mirror. There was a long silence as Juliet tried to process this. "I… I'm home?" The reflection in front of her suddenly spoke, causing Juliet to jump back when she realised it was a real person.
"Sorry to startle you—you haven't forgotten me, have you?" she said, stepping inside—a faint smile playing on her face. "Redelle Woods—or rather, we used to share the same surname."
Long ago, Juliet and Red had lived with their families, their childhoods filled with happiness and unforgettable joy—yet no happiness lasts forever.
Their parents were embroiled in arguments over mounting debts; from a young age, they had been forced to witness violence between the two people they loved. "Calm down, Juliet," her older sister said, gently stroking her hair to try and soothe her crying younger sister.
However, they were separated by their parents; Juliet went with their father whilst Red went with their mother. They didn't meet for years; life was filled with loneliness—the loss of the person who understood her so well had made it difficult for Juliet to open up to others.
However, when she reached her teenage years, she ran away from home in search of her beloved older sister—she ran and asked many people about the whereabouts of a girl named "Redelle Woods", but few were familiar with that name.
Her feet touched the damp ground; she looked around and realised she was surrounded by towering, lush trees—Juliet glanced behind her and saw that the path she had taken was already a distant memory; she forced herself to keep walking, knowing that Red lived with their grandmother deep within the forest.
The sound of an owl's hoot immediately sent a shiver down Juliet's spine; the sky was dark and studded with stars—the forest was utterly silent, broken only by the sound of her footsteps on the muddy ground. Her feet stopped abruptly; she could not believe what she was seeing—a girl with physical features exactly like her own.
She was lying on the muddy ground with a man lying before her, his chest riddled with holes as if he'd been shot by a rifle. "S-Sis?!" She rushed over and touched his wrist to feel for a pulse.
Her pulse was still beating—Juliet immediately lifted her sister's body and wrapped her arms around her neck before walking back in the direction she had come from. "I… will save you." Juliet tried to remember the way she had come; her steps felt heavy as she carried her sister's body.
As the moon hung directly overhead, Juliet breathed in the fresh air as she caught sight of town. "Finally…" She continued walking; now she had a clear sense of where she was heading.
As their feet touched down in Canterbury, Juliet, without a word of complaint, continued to lead her older sister right into the town centre—where she found a modest clinic which, luckily, was still open.
The door opened to reveal a woman whose appearance immediately reminded Juliet of her father—which made Juliet both curious and nervous about how her father would react upon seeing her, having run away from home.
The red-haired woman in the green coat then immediately led her brother into the examination room, whilst Juliet chatted with the woman's assistant outside—the man was wearing sunglasses, even indoors and at night—they were truly eccentric, Juliet thought.
The woman then informed her that Red had lost both his eyes; Juliet couldn't believe what she was hearing—her heart was pounding and a cold sweat began to break out; Juliet gazed at her reflection in the mirror nearby.
She stared deeply into her own eyes; a moment of reflection that yielded an answer in less than a minute.
"Then what happened?" I couldn't help but ask. Juliet turned to look at me for a moment before reaching into the pocket of her trench coat and handing me a piece of paper with a picture on it.
In the picture, Juliet and Red were standing side by side, both with only their right eyes open and happy smiles on their faces. "I gave my left eye to her… And it only took a few days for our father to find out where we were," replied Juliet.
"During those few days, we stayed at that clinic, and when our father found out that I'd sacrificed my eye—he was furious," she added, my eyes still fixed on the photograph—they really were two completely different people. "He then dragged me home and even though I begged him, he still wouldn't let Red come with us"
I looked up at Mother; she'd never tried to use her abilities to check what Red had sacrificed to become a Fable—because it was all too obvious—but she'd never imagined that he'd sacrificed both his eyes. No wonder Red's other senses were so extraordinary.
Because if your weapon is a shotgun but you're blind and have only ordinary hearing, you'd certainly be dead on the first day.
Juliet snatched the photo back and slipped it back into her pocket. "This photo was taken at my house whilst we were having quite a long chat before… Red was kicked out again by my father after he got home from work." her voice grew heavier.
"…So do you know where she is now?" I asked straight away without beating about the bush; hearing the question made Juliet smile amusedly, as if she'd been waiting for it all along.
"She said…"
"She'd follow the sun wherever it led her and would return when she was as strong as the earth that has sustained life all this time."