"Their names will be Arien, Arjen and...Aries."
The first memory the three siblings had of their father wasn't a good one.
The man was going to kill them, snapping their necks and ending their life there and then. But instead, he decided to give each of them a name. With his voice as cold as ice and a glare piercing into their skulls.
The babies did not cry after being birthed. They slept quietly in soft blankets with no reaction to their surroundings and dangers they'd be facing.
Well actually, one of them did get to see the outside world that day and react to the danger that was their own father.
'Where the hell...'
She had no idea where she was, but something she did know was the sight of the blond strands of hair shimmered above her like spun threads of precious gold.
Trying to use her hands to shield her eyes from the blinding radiance emanating from the stranger's hair was useless as her body felt as if it were on the brink of collapse and her limbs stayed glued down. Her body was depleted of all energy to even move, not like it was strange or out of place for her to feel utterly lifeless, but she couldn't even move a fucking muscle...!
'Rapunzel..? Wait a second...Oh, are you fucking kidding me'
The girl swiftly adapted to her new circumstances, seeing that her once built up figure was replaced with that of a weak infant's body. Squinting her eyes against the radiant glow of the hair, she came to accept the possibility that she may have been re-born. Or as her sister would call it, Reincarnation?
Despite her uncertainty and lists of questions, she remained calm and observant, taking in every detail of her surroundings and the peculiar sensations in her new body.
'My name... my name's now Aries..? Isn't that a fucking Zodiac sign? Hell nah, that's never happening'
And that was five years ago...
A small child sat perched by the window, the summer heat radiating through the glass, making even her gesture feel like a sweat-inducing endeavor. Yet, her face bore no hint of delight, only a heavy sigh escaping her lips.
"It's our birthday today..."
"And?" a boy called out, leaning casually against the worn wooden bedframe, he fixed his gaze upon the girl sitting by the window.
Arjen Ysilven Yuriana, the fourth prince of the empire, and is also the only brother to the two girls. Maybe the only reasonable one out of the three.
"Arjen..." The little girl turned her gaze towards her brother and their eyes met. They were the exact copy of one another, with matching blond hair and eyes that transitioned from a deep red to a warm orange hue.
"No one cares and we don't really care, so there's not really a point," Arjen shrugged nonchalantly.
While she did indeed care about celebrating their birthday, the prospect of doing so felt like too much of a hassle, and she found herself in agreement with Arjen. "You're right."
Just as the weight of their shared disillusionment settled, a third voice piped up from the bed, where another blonde-headed girl laid close beside Arjen, burying her face deep within the folds of her blankets. "Can you guys shut up? It's like...three am, and I'm trying to take a nap..."
Aries Sora Yuriana, a princess of the empire, and, well—you'll find out what kind of person she is very soon. She spoke slowly and with a slur, almost as if she never slept before and was thirteen bottles drunk.
"But it's the afternoon, Sora. And it's not three am, more like three pm," Arien retorted, glancing back out the window and staring at the blazing sun up in the sky.
"Let's just lower our voices then," Arjen said in a hushed tone barely above a whisper. Gently, he reached out and brushed some strands of Sora's blonde hair behind her ear, revealing a slimmer of her pale cheek. As he did so, the light from the window accentuated her fair complexion, casting a glow on her features. "Is this okay, Sora?"
Sora buried her face deeper into the blankets, evading the light and grumbling a few unclear words into the fabric. Arien strained to catch her words as all she could discern was a few muffled curses. Arjen responded to the action with a light chuckle, seemingly to perfectly understand Sora's gibberish.
"We're good."
The little girl let out a deep sigh before turning her head back to face the window once more. Arien Beatrice Yuriana, the first princess of this empire, and the eldest among the three siblings.
She folded her arms on the window frame and rested her head against her arm, her eyes filled with longing as she continued to gaze outside.
No one, not a single soul had ever cared or batted an eye at the three. They were illegitimate children, unwanted and useless by the gaze of the outsider. Even their own birth mother had no interest in them, if you could even call her a "mother" in the first place. She only took them under her roof to torture and let out her fustrations on them. And even when she wasn't beating and yelling at them, she locked them away in a small room with nothing.
"So you guys are going to sleep the day off?" Arien asks, glancing back at her two siblings who were laying next to each other on the single bed that was provided for them.
Arjen nodded. "Yeah."
Sora didn't bother responding, and Arjen continued to gently run his fingers through her hair
Arjen went back to gaze longingly out the window, yearning to join the cheerful chirping of the birds and run in the overgrown fields of swaying grass, bathed in the warm embrace of the summer sunlight.
"Well...we're twenty now, huh?" she mumbled.
"And I'm supposed to be twenty-three. But of course that whore, decided to fucking push me out last," Sora huffed out, finally deciding to say something.
Sora was technically older than Arien and Arjen, mentally. But since she was born just a few minutes after the two, she counted as the youngest in this life, and she has been salty ever since. Arien and Arjen had learned not to bring up the topic of their ages in front of Sora, or even bring it up at all.
"Arien, excluding our past lives, how old are we?" Arjen questioned.
"Um...uh...One moment!"
Arien began fiddling around with her fingers in hopes of doing something that would give her the answer, but she was clearly struggling. She was never the best at maths, even with simple addition and subtraction. That's why she was the least favourite student in all her classes, getting low scores that barely passed and have teachers often scold and yell at her
Seeing his sister struggle this badly, Arjen decided to help a bit. "How old were we when we died, Arien?"
Arien's shoulders tensed up a little when he brought up the topic of their death, but she answered, "Fifteen?"
"And how old did you say we were just then?"
"...twenty?"
"So what is twenty minus fifteen?"
Arien's eyes dilated from her hands to Arjen's face, and soon, her eyes lit up and called out, "We're five!"
"That's right." Arjen gave Arien a smile. He decided to ask her sister to test if she had improved on her calculation skills over the years. Arien was getting there, but seemed like she needed a bit more practice.
"Holy...we actually survived that long?"
"Yeah..."
Inside the body of five year olds, Arien and Arjen had the mentality of twenty year olds. Twenty-three for Sora.
Arien and Arjen were once normal fifteen year old Korean high school students, and Sora was...something? She wouldn't tell her siblings anything of what she did in the past - or anything about her really - but they knew she must have had some kind of job to provide income.
For reasons, they all died.
When the siblings regained consciousness, they were still siblings like before, just this time, royalty.
Arien thought that she and her siblings would get lavishly pampered, finally living a half-decent life as the children of an emperor.
But that was all but fantasy.
"Do you think we could, maybe, get some lunch today?" Arien meekly suggested. "It's our birthday, so I think we at least deserve some food!"
"I don't know Arien...I don't want to risk it," Arjen said.
"But you said the exact same thing last year!"
"And last year we didn't get beat for a day."
Their birthday last year was quiet. They didn't go out or anything, heck, they couldn't even leave their room without getting beaten. So it was just them staying in the stuffy room, like every other day.
Arjen sighed, he knew that the past five years weren't the best and that Arien wanted to leave the room that they spent their whole new life in, but it was too risky.
"Since Rurahel isn't here, we might not be able to have anything for a while."
Arien's expression turned sour.
"We only had a few pieces of bread yesterday, nothing for breakfast, and now she wants us to have no lunch?" she complained, raising her voice to make sure that Arjen got her message. "Hell, Sora hasn't had anything for god knows how long!"
It was actually a regular occurrence for them to not receive any food or water for long periods of time, especially whenever Rurahel left to do whatever she does. None of the servants bothered to give them anything, only until Rurahel was back. But even that was rare.
If Rurahel was in a bad mood, forgot about them, or simply didn't bother, no servants would deliver food and water to the siblings.
Suddenly, Sora got up from the comfort of her blanket's embrace, sitting upright before resting her head onto Arjen's shoulder. She turned her head slightly, gently nuzzling against the nape of his neck and mumbled, "I'll just go and get something, the kitchen is probably empty anyway."
Sora shifted her head slightly to the left and faced Arien with hooded eyes.
"There's no need, Sora. Just take a break and we'll deal with the food situation later, okay?" Arjen smiled at Sora, who closed her eyes and leaned back, resting her head gently against the curve of his neck, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
"Whatever."
Walking over to the bed where Arjen and Sora were lying, she settled herself beside Arjen and buried her face into the pillow beside him.
"I really wanted something to eat today...cake..." Arien mumbled into the pillow while kicking her feet up and down. She was acting like a little kid throwing a tantrum. She knows that whining wouldn't get her anywhere, but Arien hadn't had any sweets in ages, and she has a sweet tooth.
Arien let out a muffled murmur into the pillow as she kicked her feet up and down. She knew she was acting like an annoying little kid, and that whining and crying wouldn't get her anywhere, but she hasn't had any sweets, or even decent food, in ages.
Rurahel was, somehow, smart enough to hide all things the siblings could use to survive, like food and water, but stupid enough to leave the kitchen open. So when they were desperately in need of something, Sora would sneak out the room to the kitchen and wherever else and bring back what they needed.
Sora's gaze drifted over to the whining Arien without moving an inch of her body and, with a quiet yet stable voice, said a simple phrase, "I know."
She wasn't blind to Arien's cravings and how she deliberately suppressed them in situations like these, where there was little to nothing. How Arien's mouth would subtly water, and her eyes would momentarily sparkle upon catching sight of anything delectably sweet.
As Arien parted her lips to speak, Sora's eyes snapped towards the wooden door and glared it down with disdain in her gaze.
"Drunko's back."
Before Arjen and Arien could react to Sora's words, the sudden sound of the door being ruthlessly slammed echoed through the room, as if someone outside was trying to force their way in.
BANG—!
SLAM—!
SLAM!
As the loud banging noise reverberated through the room and Arien flinched involuntarily, her body tensed in natural response to the commotion, but Sora didn't let her have the time to have a panic attack.
Sora firmly grasped her sister's hand, pulling them both off the bed and dragged her over to a painting nailed to the wall. It was one of the few decoration items that added a dash of color in the bleak and washed out room. Arjen followed right behind them with his fingers wrapped firmly around Sora's wrist, who responded to the gesture by tightening her grip.
Sora released her hold on Arien's hand, allowing her to push the painting aside, revealing a small space within the wall.
Arien wasted no time and crawled into the opening and moved aside, creating space for Arjen and Sora to fit.
"Hurry the fuck up..!" Sora said in telepathy while helping Arjen get inside.
"I'm trying here..."
After a brief struggle, Arjen settled down beside Arien, adjusting himself to make room for Sora, who made her way inside without much trouble or help. Still, Arjen instinctively extended his hand towards her, and Sora accepted his hand, allowing him to give her a final tug that brought her fully into the small space.
Sora turned around and moved the painting back in its original position, making sure that there weren't any gaps that the outsider could see through.
"Was I asking for too much? I only wished for one peaceful day...No food, more beatings...great," Arien grumbled into her arms as she pulled her legs closer to her chest. She looked down at her stomach, grumbling, telling her to feed it. She suppressed the feeling away and peeked an eye out to look at her siblings, only for an ephemeral trail of crimson being caught in the corner of her eye. The wispy red trail seemed to linger in the air for a fleeting moment only for Arien to blink and the allure to completely disappear.
'...am I starting to hallucinate from hunger?'
Arien shook her head to clear her mind, taking the time to instead catch her breath. She was already panting a little from when Sora had pulled her off the bed. It wasn't that off for Arien to suddenly falter from sudden movements, she had a weak and malnourished body. But at least her condition was better than her sister's.
Arjen glanced over at Arien with worry painted over all his expression and he went to pat her on the shoulder, giving her some reassurance. Arien looked up at her brother, noticing his expression, and gave him a toothy smile.
"Are you alright?" Arjen asked.
"I think so...Thanks for asking, Arjen," Arien responded.
After being reborn into the new world, the siblings discovered that they had gained some abilities. One of them being telepathy. As long as they were close enough to each other, they could still communicate with one another mentally.
Arjen's attention then went onto Sora, who had her gaze on a corner of the painting. Her body and facial expression was relaxed, tired limbs slouched against Arjen's shoulder and drooping eyelids that would occasionally flutter closed before opening again.
Arjen would almost have been fooled for Sora taking this situation without a care if he didn't know she was currently poisoned - and that's just Sora being herself. Hazy and dilated pupils that would shake every so often and her gaze seemed unfocused and distant, yet, she continued to stare at the side of the painting.
He slowly encircled his arm around Sora's shoulders - who took a glance back at him briefly before returning her attention - and Arjen gently pulled her in and allowed her head to drop on his shoulder, gaze unmoving as he began to run his fingers through her hair.
"Let's see if she's drunk enough to pass out today," Sora says nonchalantly while peeking through the narrow gap between the wall and the painting she had shifted slightly. A sliver of light streamed into the dark space, casting the faintest glow on Sora's face.
"WHERE ARE YOU BRATS!?" A drunk, purple haired woman barked as she staggered through the busted door and following her was the pungent stench of alcohol as it flooded the room.
Rurahel's face was flushed in a deep shade of red, clearly had no idea what she was doing as her eyes raced all over the place, and her movements were uncoordinated and sluggish. She was like a rabid dog searching for something, something like a ball that she would never find.
Sora covered her nose with a hand. "Jeeze, what an entrance..! It seems like the whore was extra lively today," she chuckles lightheartedly.
Arien shot a look at Sora with worry rushing over her features as she called out, "Sora!"
'In these types of situations, how could Sora always be so calm and act like nothing has happened..!? Every single time! '
It was one of the many surprises that Sora has, and one that Arien could never fully grasp or comprehend.
"Lady Rurahel, there is no one in this room!" one of the maids exclaimed, trying to calm Rurahel down.
"Ah...where are you three..?" Rurahel ignored the maid and pushed her along with the other maids aside and continued to search the room.
Rurahel stumbled with each step she took while her head twisted in all directions. It was almost as if she had the limbs of a spider, cracking sharply with each turn of her neck.
"Mummy's here...her to find you...Come out, come out, come out!"
Before Rurahel could cause any more disruption, one of the maids swiftly grasped Rurahel's arm and forcefully pulled her out of the room with the help of other maids. The sound of the doors clicking shut resonated through the room.
"Finally..." Sora mumbled, rolling her eyes. "The whore left."
"She was back early," Arjen remarked, looking back at all the times when Rurahel didn't come back for a whole week. He wondered what she could even do for that long outside..?
As Sora pushed the painting aside, the thick layers of dust swirled in the air, momentarily obscuring her view before a golden ray of sunlight streamed in through. It illuminated the dust particles suspended in the air and the sunbeams found their way onto the siblings' faces. The light gently caressed their features, casting soft, warm hues upon their skin.
Sora pushed the painting aside, allowing the sunlight to envelop Arien as she struggled to crawl out, but with some assistance from Sora, Arien landed safely on the ground and dusted her dress. Arjen followed suit.
Arjen extended his hand towards Sora to use as a support rail while getting down. Sora looked down at his palm with a raised brow but accepted it anyway, placing her hand in his.
Arjen's fingers wrapped tightly around Sora's hand as she maintained her grasp on the painting. Leaned slightly on Arjen, she placed a fraction of her weight on his outstretched hand before landing on the floor with a small leap.
Arien didn't bother waiting for her siblings and walked over to the small bed before planting her face into the blankets.
"I'm so tired...and hungry." Arien grabbed onto a blanket that was beside her and pulled it to her chest, snuggling close for comfort.
"I was using that, Arien," Sora's voice was tinged with a hint of exasperation as she spoke, before reaching to pull the blanket out of Arien's grasp, but a hand stopped her.
Sora's gaze flickered from the blanket to Arjen.
"Just let Arien have it for now," Arjen said while twirling a stray strand of Sora's hair, the silken threads intertwining with the pads of his fingertips before he tucked the stray strand behind her ear.
"Whatever..."
Arien's triumphant smile spread across her face as she gazed into the depths of the blanket, relishing in her small victory before flipping her body over, back against the bed with her face turned towards the ceiling. She shielded her eyes from the gentle cascade of light that beamed down from the ceiling with her arm.
As she lay there, cocooned in the embrace of the soft rays filtering through the room, a sense of serene contentment washed over her features.
'If I didn't have Sora and Arjen here with me... I don't know if I'd survive..!'
Arjen sat beside Arien on a corner of the bed and crossed his legs. He softly patted his leg and Sora, with a barely perceptible huff, got onto the bed and laid her head in Arjen's lap.
Arien slowly withdrew her arm from shielding her eyes, allowing the light from above to blind her and subtle wince danced across her features. She extended her body, spreading herself in a sprawl across the bed and muttered, "When we grow older, we won't be able to fit behind the painting anymore..."
Arjen's touch danced across Sora's face as he played with her hair, and Sora kept her eyes closed as she felt the tender caress of his fingers softly grazing against her eyelids.
"By then," Sora began, "We'll be already out of this shit stain of a place."
Arien's gaze shifted to Sora, and seeing her sister's relaxed and carefree demeanor despite the events thrown at her - though it wasn't an unfamiliar sight - Arien couldn't help but to beam brightly. It made Arien bubble with warmth knowing that Sora was still here with her and Arjen after all this time. If Sora was fine, Arien was fine.
But before the siblings could take a break, the door once again was slammed open with a loud BANG!
"I knew it..! You three were hiding here!"
It was Rurahel. Again.
She erupted into peals of laughter, her mirth echoing through the air as if consumed by a delightful madness. Her gaze fixated on the three siblings, brimming with energy that wanted to tear them down like prey. Her violet eyes seemed to radiate with a gleam as she narrowed them.
Upon hearing her voice, Arien and Arjen both involuntarily flinched, but Sora refused to waste time on needless panic. Instead, she pulled Arien and Arjen off the bed and positioned them closer to a wall to ensure their backs were shielded.
"My darlings... Mummy was searching for you!" Rurahel slurred in a drunken voice, causing the room to once again be enveloped in the pungent scent of alcohol.
The maids stationed outside the room, who had previously attempted to get their lady away, now let out resigned sighs and exchanged knowing glances, murmuring, "It's starting again..."
A maid grabbed the door handle. "Let's just go." And she closed the door shut.
Sora glanced back at the door, feeling a pang of frustration as she realized it was now completely closed off, shutting her out from the outside world. She couldn't help but notice the expressions of the maids as they closed the door without a second thought. The impulse to be angry at them surged within her, but that was stupid. She didn't have the time to be angry at something or someone, especially when it came to something that everyone would likely have done in the same situation.
Rurahel's hand shot out at a vase by its neck, and with a swift, furious motion, she hurled it to the ground beside Sora. The impact shattered the vase into countless glittering shards, sending them splaying across the room in all directions. Arien, startled by the explosive sound, instinctively retreated behind Sora, gripping her shirt as if it were her lifeline and squeezing her eyes tightly shut.
A tiny, shimmering shard grazed Sora's cheek, leaving a faint trail of crimson in its wake. Sora remained eerily composed without a wince or flinch, her steely gaze fixed on the shattered remnants strewn around her as a bead of red traced a silent path down her cheek.
"That vase..." Rurahel hiccupped, looking down at the scattered fragments of the shattered vase. She clutched the remains of the vase's neck in her trembling hand. "It wasn't a pretty color... Mummy will replace it."
Rurahel looked down at the three siblings. For a good second, Arien thought that she would go back to her room and throw her tantrum there, but all of a sudden, she grabbed Sora's arm with a harsh tug.
Disregarding the remnants of the shattered vase, Rurahel yanked Sora's chin, forcing Sora to look directly at her.
"Baby...Mummy's talking to you! You should look me in the eye!" Rurahel's voice quivered with an almost desperate plea, her tone laden with an unspoken longing for attention, imploring Sora to acknowledge her.
Sora stared up at Rurahel with an unsettling emptiness, devoid of warmth or compassion, as she observed the tears welling up in Rurahel's eyes. She remained impassive, unmoved by the sight of Rurahel breaking down into tears. Rurahel released her grip on Sora, she rubbed her chin slightly, as Rurahel's grip had left a faint soreness.
Sora absently rubbed her wrist, her gaze drifting downward to where Rurahel was sobbing uncontrollably on the floor. Rurahel's tear-streaked face betrayed a deep sense of anguish as she muttered the reason "His Majesty" abandoned her was because of the birth of the siblings.
But in Sora's perspective, she was just incredibly stupid.
Who would trust a man in the first place? Especially if he had promised you eternal happiness and love.
Stupid.
Rurahel shot her head up, looking into her own violet gaze, stared back at her with nothing but empty and hollow light and she clutched onto Sora's shoulders tightly. It was like she was begging,
Rurahel's head shot up, her tear-stained face locking eyes with her own reflection within a violet gaze. She sought a semblance of solace, but found only a haunting emptiness, a void devoid of any flicker of hope or warmth. She clutched onto Sora's shoulders tightly while she exclaimed, "You...YOU! WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT LOOK!?"
Rurahel was talking about the blank stare that Sora directed toward her, a gaze devoid of any discernible interest or emotion.
It was almost as if The Emperor was looking at Rurahel once again. It was the same aloof and indifferent expression that had greeted Sora when she first peered into his emerald eyes, a gaze that failed to reflect any hint of warmth or connection.
"I-I'm a good mother...RIGHT!? IT's just all YOUR fault! If..If you weren't born like this, I would have been loved by His Majesty! It's your fault! IT'S YOUR FAULT!"
Rurahel persisted in blaming the children, but Sora wasn't even listening to her yapping. It was as if a relentless stream of words flowed from Rurahel's lips, yet Sora's attention had already drifted elsewhere.
'Well I'm not interested in whatever the fuck you have going on'
Sora slapped Rurahel's hand away from her shoulders, allowing it to gradually slip off and leaving Rurahel to slump to the floor. Stepping back, Sora gently nudged Arien and Arjen, signaling that they should get going.
Arjen understood what Sora meant by her gesture and grasped onto Arien's hand firmly, letting her know that they had to leave before things got messy. His hold on Sora's hand got tighter as they slowly began creeping past the sobbing Rurahel.
Arien hoped that Rurahel was drunk enough to not notice them sneaking out, even passing out right there and then would be even better. But Rurahel was sharp enough to notice the three sneaking away, prompting her to lash out and deliver a sharp slap to Sora.
"Shit," Sora inwardly cursed as Rurahel's hand made contact with her cheek, yet she stood her ground without flinching. As she gingerly touched the spot where Rurahel's hand had struck, she noticed a crimson stain on her fingers, it looked like she was bleeding.
Casting her gaze downward, her eyes appeared vacant at the red stain.
"Sora!" Arien called out.
Arjen instinctively pulled Sora closer to his chest, his arm encircled her torso protectively and cradled her head against his chest as Arien held onto Sora's shoulder with a tight grip, sending a glare at Rurahel with watering eyes.
Rurahel was not in the right mind, even when she was sober, She was a woman who drowned herself in alcohol and possibly drugs, letting her be considered a "good parent" was psychopathic.
"Might wanna let go, Arjen," Sora lightly tapped his shoulder, "It's gonna stain your shirt." She looked up and gave him a grin.
Arjen gazed down at Sora with a sour expression, his eyes fixed on the faint trickle of blood starting to reach Sora's chin - a single tear with a stoic face.
"It's fine. I don't mind."
He moved his thumb over Sora's face to wipe away the bead of red before it had a chance to drip, but Sora stopped him, pushing his hand away.
"Leave it."
"...Alright."
Arjen's gaze narrowed as he looked up at Rurahel, who in turn was glaring at Sora with an intense and unsettling focus that wanted to kill. The palpable sense of bloodlust emanating just from her gaze and five years of hidden abuse behind closed doors were more than proof.
Rurahel stood there silent for a moment before stammering, "I should have just gorged those eyes out back then...then, gift them to The Emperor..! Ha...HA! I SHOULD HAVE DROWNED YOU IN THAT BOTTLE OF POISON! GIFT YOUR BODY TO THE EMPEROR! BWAHAHA!" She pointed her nail directly at Sora and no one else, she gritted her teeth and her words dripped with a chilling and venomous intent, "Be ready...I'll kill you, I'll kill you..."
She turned her back on the three siblings, her footsteps echoing through the hallway as she walked away, slamming the door behind her.
As soon as Rurahel left, Arjen's hands instinctively cupped Sora's face and examined her whole face up and down. His scrutiny extended to the entirety of her face, with particular emphasis on the area where Rurahel had left a mark. A crimson trail now adorned Sora's cheek.
Arjen covered one of Sora's ears and he bitterly muttered, "Sora, are you alright..?"
Sora looked at the smeared blood on her fingertips and chuckled with amusement. She looked up at Arjen and grinned, "Yeah, I'm good."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! I'm fine, no ringing, no dizziness, nothing. Promise."
For once Arjen was grateful that they had imperial blood, as one of the abilities they had was healing. This unique trait allowed them to mend the physical toll of Rurahel's abuse, ensuring that the evidence of harm would typically vanish without leaving a lasting scar - although there were, many, exceptions.
The restorative capability, while potent, was limited to minor injuries, proving insufficient for the majority of the wounds the siblings would receive, particularly Sora. Adding onto the fact that had comparatively weaker regenerative prowess, the scars etched into her porcelain skin were like messy strokes of black ink on a white canvas.
Arien looked at Sora with pain in her eyes, "Sora, are you really okay?"
The sensation of being the recipient of such genuine worry was nearly foreign to Sora. Yet, she found herself drawn to the comforting embrace of their collective concern, relishing the unfamiliar warmth that enveloped her. She wanted to always feel this warm.
But she was asking for too much.
Sora held her hands over Arjen's and gave him a cheeky smirk.
"Of course! You think I'd let a drunken whore harm me?"
She wasn't lying. How could a drunko like Rurahel hurt her?
With Sora acting like her usual arrogant self was good to see, she was fine.
Arien found herself unable to contain her tears as they streamed down her face uncontrollably. Arjen grappled with his own welling emotions, wanting to let it all out, but he didn't, he didn't want to be weaker then he already was.
Sora gently cradled Arien as tears dampened her shoulder. Sora then drew Arjen into an embrace, who gladly accepted and hugged her back.
"Don't cry..." Sora said in a low tone, "You guys look ugly when you do."
Arien began to sob harder as Arjen slowly rested his head on Sora's shoulder.
Sora sat still on the floor with her two siblings on either side of her shoulder. She was fine, in fact, despite the ordeal they had endured at the hands of Rurahel. It was just child's play in her eyes with all the bullshit she had to endure.
But Sora couldn't say that to her siblings. So letting Arien sob her heart out on her shoulder and Arjen resting on the other was just fine.
Seeing his sister not hold back on the tears, Arjen wanted to cry too, but he just shut his eyes, silently resting his head on Sora's shoulder.
"Stop it with the tears." Sora lifted Arien's head off her shoulder and when she saw what her sister looked like, she chuckled, "You look like shit, Arien."
Arien used her hands to cover her face. No way does she want Sora to see her ugly cry, even though she has already seen it more than once.
"I know..!"
"You too, Arjen."
"Shut up. Let me be sad for once."
[]
So, I finally finished editing one of the chapters..! Yay 🤡 (After posting ch 19 after 1864 years)
God that took me a century to get through
Why was my writing such dogshit? How tf did you guys read that 🙁
Everything was fucked up 😥
"✔" means edited, like, literally this time
Well, until I find my writing to be shit and re-write it again...
The storyline is still fucked up with the edited and non-edited, but just ignore that😃
Wonder how long it's gonna take me to publish ch 20 and edit ch 2 lol (Take a guess)