Grian looked at False, who seemed to be internally panicking. He'd never really known False to panic; the hermit had always been at least somewhat calm and collected even during a crisis. But now, at the news that she might have to deal with her rogue clone again, she looked like she was reliving a nightmare.
Grian gently touched her shoulder and patted it reassuringly. "Don't worry, False, maybe the other you didn't mean anything by what she said." Inside he knew that what he said probably wasn't true but False needed some reassurance. She didn't seem too keen on accepting it, though.
"No, she definitely meant something bad when she said it." False said firmly. She looked at the other hermits surrounding her. "Can you guys come with me and double check on my clone?" "Why not? Sounds like fun." Gem said easily. Grian and Cub nodded as well. "Thanks," False smiled. "Now come on, if we hurry we can get to Cogsmeade before she wakes up."
They all grabbed their elytras and flew toward the mountainous empire, making sure to stay out of sight as well as they could. Soon they reached False's surveillance tower and they got inside after False used her keycard to unlock the door.
"Do we just sit around and wait now?" Grian asked, twitching slightly and already feeling bored. "You can take first watch if you want, Grian," False said. "Just use the telescope and spy on her." "For the record spying seemed cooler in the movies." Grian grumbled after an hour or two of nothing happening.
"How about we play I Spy?" Gem suggested. "I'll go first. I spy something red and fishy." Everyone glanced at each other for a second, and then glanced at Grian. "What?" He asked, then he looked down at his sweater and his reflection in the window. "Oh."
Everyone laughed. "Who won that time?" Grian asked. "Definitely not you; you were the last one to figure it out," Gem said with a wry grin. "Hey, no fair, I'm the one you were I Spying!" Grian protested. "That doesn't mean you win!" Gem said, and she laughed even harder.
"Well, fine, I go next." Grian said, unable to stay mad at Gem for too long. "I spy something murdery wearing white." False immediately ran to the window and craned to see through her clone's house's window. "Other desensitized murderer," Grian snorted, and Gem laughed. "I spy me." She said. "I win."
"Hey, no fair, you said I couldn't spy myself!"
"That time you were the last to find out!"
"That doesn't count!"
"Of course it doesn't count; it doesn't count as a win for you. Glad we agree."
"Wha- hey, no way! Gem!" Grian protested again once his muddled mind wrapped around what the elf had said. Everyone laughed at the interactions between the two hermits.
"Grian, are you still spying on my clone or are you just playing I Spy?" False asked irritatedly. "Way to ruin the mood, False," Grian grumbled, putting his eye against the telescope again. "We were just having fun," Gem said. "We were supposed to be watching my clone." False sighed.
"Isn't she technically your twin? Sort of?" Cub asked, frowning. "Off topic tangent, Cub." False said sternly. "Well, can't they have a little fun?" Cub asked, gesturing at Gem and Grian. They both instantly nodded innocently, batting their eyes cutely like baby dolls.
"What are you two doing?" False asked sharply, staring at their eyes. "Stop that; it's creepy." "We'll stop if you let us play," Grian said teasingly. "I mean, the other False is still asleep; I don't see any problem with cutting some slack while she's not doing anything wrong." Cub said slowly and convincingly.
False hesitated, considering. She looked like she was on the verge of letting them have a little fun. Grian honestly thought that False getting tied up in this evil twin business was making her too serious and not letting her spend enough time just having fun and playing with friends.
"Okay, I guess we can play some I Spy." False conceded, and Grian and Gem burst into placid applause. False rolled her eyes. "Just I Spy something already, Gem." Gem smiled and looked around for something interesting to spy.
Then she glanced out the window and her expression darkened somewhat. "I spy a desensitized murderer waking up." Everyone swiveled around to see the other False getting up and out of bed and leaving her house by climbing out through the window.
---
Jimena yawned and got out of bed, stretching. Her legs felt sore from walking and running around literally all night last night. I don't think I like Halloween as much anymore if this happens every year. Ah, nevermind. She yawned again and put on some fresh clothes and went to see False about breakfast.
False wasn't in the kitchen when Jimena went inside, and she wasn't in still asleep her bedroom either when the girl checked there. Where did she go? "Do you know where False went, Ginny?" Jimena asked the cat rubbing against her ankles. The cat purred in disappointment and shook her head.
Jimena didn't even realize that the cat was apparently smart enough to know what 'no' meant. She walked back to the kitchen, cat in tow, and checked the microwave for breakfast. It was empty. Wherever False was, she'd left early and probably expected to be back before Jimena even woke up, with enough time to cook a meal for the two of them without the girl realizing anything was amiss.
Jimena frowned. Why did I immediately jump to the bad conclusion that False is hiding something from me? For all I know she's doing early morning chores or is just out there sleepwalking. She paused, realizing. Sleepwalking! Oh no, what if she sleepwalks off a cliff again?!
It had happened once before and False had been lucky to merely fall into a pond and wake up sputtering and drenched in waterweed. Jimena was not ready for that to happen again, or for False to walk off a more dangerous cliff with no water waiting st the bottom. In a hurry she picked up Ginny, precariously balanced the cat on her shoulder, and flew up into the sky to get a bird's eye view.
She flew several laps around the little empire of Cogsmeade, checking every nook and cranny I'm the craggy mountains that the town was seated in, but no. Jimena couldn't see False anywhere, no matter how much she looked, and it worried her.
From her perch on Jimena's shoulder, Ginny meowed urgently, digging her claws deep into the girl and repeatedly making clear her want to get back on safe and firm ground. Jimena obliged and landed; the cat immediately jumped painfully off of her shoulder and began to sniff the ground eagerly.
"What is it? Can you smell False's scent? Can you track her?" Jimena asked, crouching down next to the cat. Ginny meowed her affirmation and began to walk away at a brisk trot, nose pressed to the dirt, sniffing constantly. Jimena eagerly followed, not even worried about how she possibly looked like to other people; a winged girl following a cat around.
Sooner or later Ginny led her to a rich field of flowers with still no False in sight. Then the cat stopped and sniffed the air confusedly. She'd lost the scent. Jimena sighed and flopped down onto the grassy hill, her emotions a mix of worried and disappointed. "Where are you, False?" Jimena asked aloud, feeling empty.
"Uh, hello?" A voice asked from above her, sporting a very distinct accent. Jimena curious turned her head to see Scott of Chromia awkwardly glancing at her, a bouquet of poppies in his hand. "Uh, hi," Jimena said, sitting up straight and feeling a tad bit embarrassed. Ginny immediately jumped into her lap and curled up there comfortably, purring.
Scott watched the Siamese cat amusedly. "That's your cat?" He asked. "Well, mine and False's." Jimena said. "By the way, have you seen her? I think she sleepwalked all the way here earlier and I'm worried she'll hurt herself." Scott made a strange face. "Yeah, she was here earlier, but she left again. Put her elytra on and flew back in the direction of Cogsmeade."
Jimena felt relief flood through her whole body. "Oh, phew," She sighed, petting Ginny. Then she frowned. "Wait, elytra? Did she sleepwalk here or sleepfly here?" "Well, she didn't fly," Scott said, still with the weird expression on his face, "But she wasn't asleep either. She was-"
"Scott!" A voice called out with rising panic and urgency in her voice. The lady who'd spoken soon came into view. It was hermit Gem. Jimena watched her warily. What's she doing here? "Hi, Gem." She said with a hint of suspicion in her voice. Gem nodded with a mutual mood back at her.
"Anyway, what were you saying?" Jimena turned back to Scott, maybe being a little rude by sort of excluding Gem, but she didn't care. "About False not sleepwalking here?" "No, she was definitely sleepwalking," Gem said quickly. "She just did it with her eyes open." "That's possible?" Jimena and Scott asked at the same time. "Yes." Gem said firmly.
"Now, Scott, I have something important to talk to you about." She shot a significant glance at the girl and Scott caught it. "I'm going to go now," He said, leaving and heading back to a nearby town just visible over the hill, which Jimena realized must be his empire of Chromia. Gem followed him and the two of them soon vanished.
Jimena stared back at them suspiciously. They seemed rather shady to her. And what was Gem doing here? How did she know about False sleepwalking? Well, she was here, I guess. So it's apparently a thing to sleep with your eyes open. Wait, why was Gem so quick to correct that bit? Wait, was she... lying?
People only lied when they had something to hide. And whatever it was, Jimena wanted to find out what it was. She got up, to Ginny's annoyance, and scooped the cat up in her arms as she took off at a brisk pace to Chromia. "You up for some spying, Ginny?"
As she looked for Scott and Gem, with Ginny attempting to help with her nose, Jimena couldn't help but admire Chromia. The whole place was splashed with colors, just like Sanctuary, but had color-coded rooves just like Animalia. She liked the look of this empire.
Jimena soon came to a house that she was pretty sure was Scott's. It was so big and colorful, it surely could only belong to the ruler of this color kingdom. And then she heard Scott and Gem's voices from inside. Without a single twinge of guilt, Jimena used her Watcher magic to break the lock on the door and went inside.
She and Ginny, walking on tiptoes, slowly approached the sound of the voices. Soon they found themselves standing outside a door with Scott and Gem on the other side. Jimena peeped through the keyhole and was surprised to see that it wasn't hermit Gem that Scott was talking to. It was Princess Gem. How did she get here? And where's the hermit?
"Gem, explain to me what's going on. First False comes here looking all deranged and tries to kill my llamas, and then some hermits come here, including hermit False, and then they tell me to not ask questions?! What is going on?!"
"False has desensitized murderer for a twin and we were trying to stop her."
"That- that actually provides a lot of context. But what?!"
Jimena didn't know what to think. False just tried to kill Scott? She stumbled away from the keyhole, but then her foot caught on a creaky floorboard and gave her away. "Someone's spying on us!"
The door shot open and hermit Gem was standing there, with Princess Gem nowhere in sight. "What did you hear?!" She demanded, pulling out an ax. "Everything!" Jimena blurted without thinking. Gem's face hardened and the next thing Jimena knew she'd shot a burst of green light at her head and all went black.