Hiraeth: Awakening

39

Lir finds himself faced with two individuals hunched over a cauldron. They both resemble each other in the eerie manner that twins do. He starts wondering if this curious little trip of his was not a mistake after all.

However, before Lir can trace his steps and leave this place, one of the two shadows turn his way. The young man, whose grey eyes almost merge with the whites of his gaze, parts his lips in an exaggerated show of surprise. "Ah." He taps the arm attached to the young woman, who had yet to notice, for she was too enthralled by the contents of their cauldron. "Someone's here," the young man mutters. "You're supposed to stop."

"And you're supposed to keep going," she snaps.

"But I don't want to!" The young man whines. He tugs on her sleeve again in a most childish way. "Come on, talk to him with me! Let's make a friend! Please, please, please?"

She glances up at him for an instance. "You're very annoying." And then, it is back to the cauldron.

"That means you're annoying, too."

"Beck..." The young woman shuts her eyes and sighs. "I am sick of you."

"Then," he chuckles. "You are sick of yourself, too?"

"Be quiet."

"No! I won't—"

Lir raises a fist to his lips. He clears his throat, then steps forth, into the fog that has lifts itself into the air, before it settles for dwelling at his feet. "E-excuse me..." Lir pinches the hems of his shirt. "Are you with Archie?" The question is a silly one. If they were burglars, or delinquents, surely, they would not tell him. Yet, Lir has a lingering hunch that they will not lie, and that he will finally receive answers—though, which kind remains a mystery to him.

"Oh!" The young man—Beck, apparently—coos. "Look, Beck! It's the Halloran boy!"

The young woman—who is also, somehow, apparently Beck—rolls her eyes. "And?" she asks. "It's not like we can cook him. He isn't useful."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't be like that!" He motions at Lir, who stares, dumbfounded by the scene unfolding before him, and the mystery that this pair make. "Didn't you hear that he was trying to become human again? We could give him something," Beck-One whispers. "He would make a marvelous test subject!"

Give him something? Lir frowns. What exactly?

Had Archie been lying to them?

Is there a cure after all?

These people are probably crazy. Maybe they'll stab him in a minute or two—they sure look like the type who'd do so, if the prospect seemed interesting enough. But Lir must know. He'll be a dead man soon anyway, with the way things are going. He might as well die while being a tad less ignorant than before about his case, if that is even possible.

Lir coughs again, then mutters the words, "I'm still here, you know..."

They both freeze, tilt their heads toward him and say, "Ah, yes, that is true. Very true." Their coordination is sinister. Lir wonders if there might not be more going on with the duo than he'd initially thought, aside from their strange perception of the world.

"Wow!" Beck-One whistles. "It's amazing how your skin really turned blue though!"

The other Beck cringes, and rearranges the dark bangs that hang over her brows. "Do you have to be so loud?"

"How much you know about me?" Lir blurts, before they lose themselves to another one of their arguments.

Again, they reply in unison. "We heard everything." There is a difference in their tones, however. The young man is over-enthusiastic, whilst the young woman sounds like her soul has faced death a million times and did not make it back.