Twins

15. Lukas

Parties are a mess. Honestly, where is the fun in this? Greeting people, showing off, evading tricky words, all of it is a mess. The only real entertainment were a few scuffles between disagreeing guests, seeing Luka trip up a bunch of fake nobles, and then there was show.

Luka can't do very flashy magic. The most she can really show off is the magical waves and her transformation magic. Father and her had went over possible ways to make a show of her other magic. It had eventually boiled down to asking a few animals to find a few secrets and maybe predict a few births as she couldn't really do much with Time yet.

All the guests had been moved out to the courtyard after a large dinner in which no one said a word. With the Princes sitting at the table, no one dared break royal custom for a silent meal. A large grassy field was cleared to make a spectacle, with Luka first up at the bat to show off.

Sitting upon a table and cushion was a normal cat (as Luka had an affinity for cats). There were introductions and flowery words before proceeding, of course. First Luka held out her hands for the cat, whispering something the crowd couldn't hear. It lifted itself off the table and into her hands.

"This is Yhil. He's a common short hair tabby that one can find on any street or in any household. Not a demon, nor beast." She lifted him high to show him off. He meowed peacefully. "He'll be helping me in this example. Are you ready Yhil? You know what to do." He meowed, then jumped from her hands, disappearing into the crowd.

"I'll be putting this blindfold on. Once Yhil has found a person in the crowd, I'll lift off three things. Insignia on their clothes, gender, and hair color. Yhil hasn't really memorized names, so I can't really help with that." She shrugged. I assisted her in tying on the blindfold, adjusted it, then put up my thumb to show that everything was so.

We'd practiced this multiple times. Original it was gonna be smell but Father figured that if Yhil said something accidentally insulting, we might not be able to get off. Yhil was one of the cats in the barn that had been born two years ago. He was amiable and had grown a bond with Luka even before she could speak to him. Unfortunately, he didn't like me much.

Once Yhil found someone, there was one long yowl, followed by Luka listing off insignia, gender and hair color.  It was someone from a minor baron's house. He laughed, surprised, and waved off the cat as it went into the crowd which had already started to murmur in appreciation. Animal was a rare ability that had many real world applications that wasn't just 'attack'. It was stepping into another world, that of animals.

This continued on for two more times, and after she was done, the crowd clapped, impressed. Luka took off her blindfold as she curtsied. Then she thanked Yhil for his help before facing the crowd once more. "I would like to ask those who were called up to step forward." 

A minor baron, Sir. Arthur. The second son of an Viscount, Sir. Ophell. A little girl, first daughter of one of Eddigton's Knights, Raya. 

"Lady Raya," The 4 year old girl giggled as Luka politely called to her. "I have looked in your future and seen far. " The crowd gasp at that sentence, looking wildly as with every word, magical waves gave off tells of a direct fortune. This is as much as Luka can do, minor but effective fortunes. It always starts off with a saying. "When you have reached the age of 17, your fall shall be the start of your adventure. Travel far and you may achieve the happy ending you have searched for." Raya looked confused, while her parents, who were behind her, looked like they wanted to beg Luka for more knowledge.

However, Luka had already moved on to Sir. Ophell who was grinning like an idiot. They greeted each other then proceeded. 

"Sir Ophell, joy shall greet you soon. Watch for small interactions so that the best result may overcome." She said vaguely, clearly satisfied with herself despite the slight sweat that popped up on her skin.

In my day, the value of fortune telling was severely undercut by fake scientific papers that stated about how unlikely the fortune was to come true. This was mostly from people who were unsatisfied or from those who doubted their authenticity. Only a few can change their own fate. Vague fortunes are given so that those who seek to change their own fate do not end up worse then before.

This is what concerns me about the fate of Luka. We have already changed her fate I this life, but is it enough? Luka has told me that everything in this life had an unsteady and unpredictable fate, all the more reason to believe that I might have done something horrible in my transmigration here.

I can only hope.

Luka walked up to the last man who looked both nervous and excited. Sir Arthur stood on unsteady feet before the calculating gaze of my sister who had suddenly turned less then happy. Her eyes sharpened like a predator in hunt, reminding me of a cat that had crouched down in the grass. 

She probably scared the poor man.  Her stare had even made the crowd begin to fear for the man's life.

"Sir Arthur, watch for stares." I wanted to facepalm. Too direct! Now everyone is gonna be staring at him, waiting for him to mess up or something. Say something more mystical at least, sound a little bit more dignified. Like 'watchful eyes' or something.

Sigh...

Next, it would be the final show of her power. While the crowd was staring straight into the back of poor Sir Arthur, she was perfectly fine walking over to center stage for her act.

She clapped twice, drawing the once again silent crowd to her figure. Piercing stares were already depicting what they thought she would next pull off. Some were planning how to get closer to the my little sister. Those of which I had already marked on my black list.

Pulling in one big breath, causing her cheeks to puff out, she closed her eyes in concentration. Anticipation swirled through the crowd. They'd already gotten a show of two of her abilities, what would the third one be. Only the king had prior knowledge to all three of her abilities and he wasn't here to give spoilers.

From the inquisitive look of the two Princes, I doubt he had told them either. Slowly, Luka's body began to twist and grow. Bigger and bigger until she stood on four legs and was as big as the trees. Her eyes opened to show silted blue circles that seemed to glow brightly in the ever setting sun.

A scaly tail whipped around behind her back, showing off pearly white spikes that went all the way to her shoulder blades. Her fur was white with black paws. Her pink nose twitched and she sneezed once, violently as the crowd stood in awe. There was screaming, wowing, even crying. Some hands went to swords while others sparked their own magic in surprise.

Luka had turned into demon cat. 

{ Author's Note }

Actually, I'm not very happy with this chapter. It was more suited to be a third person view. I need to work on this kind of thing. However, I do appreciate the kind of descriptions I got in here. 

I've started reading over some other works to gauge how I should put in dialogue so if it comes out a bit clunky, bare with me. Also, Luka, Luka, Luka! What the hell!

Unedited. 1200 words.