“What’s the point in me trying it if we have the same face anyways?”

“It was made for you, Lady Nora.” Amira spoke with a deadpan tone, the twins looked at each other before chuckling. “Fine, I’ll try it then.” 

Soon enough they began to talk amongst themselves with the help of Amira, and Amélie was glad to know they were comfortable in her presence at least, but now she wasn’t sure what to ask, or better yet, do. Her eyes moved down to her phone, and she wondered how her own twin was doing alone at home. Turning her phone on out of curiosity, she let out a gasp as she realised she missed a message from her a while ago.

“Oh no…” She spoke under her breath, giving Amy a call as she placed her phone to her ear. I hope she’s okay, she thought, maybe she got a little too focused on her work.

Amélie was right, not too long ago Amy was stuck laying on the couch lazily with nothing to do but pout as she scrolled through her messages with her sister. It had been a while since Amélie had read her messages, and Amy was starting to worry. With a groan she slouched down further onto the seat, her face sinking right in as she chucked her phone far away to the other end of the couch in the process. “What’s taking that loser so long?” She wondered as she turned to face the wall the couch rested against, she then jumped up from her spot as her phone suddenly played out a familiar ringtone, deciding to hastily crawl over to reach her phone to pick it up.

“A-Amy? I just saw your message right now, I-I’m so, so sorry! Are you okay?” Amy let out a relieved sigh before she responded, “Yeah I’m fine, just watchin’ stuff and all.” Amélie exhaled and giggled, making noise through the phone as she shuffled around, “You won’t believe this,” Amélie began excitedly, “I got to meet the rest of the Jacks of Suits! The Jacks of Suits!” Amy’s brow raised as she gave the phone a look of confusion, “What, like… The guardians?” She moved her ear away from her phone as Amélie squealed, “THE ROYAL GUARDIANS! O-Oh, gotta be quiet, s-sorry!” Amy brought her phone back as Amélie finished, “I gotta go now but I’ll text you back alright? Love you!” 

“Love yuh too, bye.” Amy clawed at her face groaning as she tossed her phone away and stood up from the couch. If her sister was going to be busy then she should keep herself busy too, but what to do… She thought, pacing around the coffee table before settling on just sitting down and watching a few shows. Maybe a silly few kids cartoons should do the trick.

She sat there for a few hours bingeing the same show, eating snacks as she did, but overtime something felt off. She could’ve sworn the funny dog show was entertaining until the dog’s sister was nowhere to be found after a long day, and the dog seemed super worried. It felt all too familiar to the poor girl as she reached for her phone, scrambling to put her password in to look at the messages.

She stared at the screen for a moment with narrowed eyes before turning it off and sighing in distress, she pulled at her hair quietly and mumbled to herself, letting out a long whine right after. “Come on Mills… What’s up with ya,” Amy mumbled to herself, “It’s almost bloody midnight…” With a groan the short demihuman stumbled her way over to the kitchen, maybe cooking something might get her mind off of things, yeah, that could work. She left her phone on the counter, running over to the pantry to grab some ingredients out to make… something. But every time she walked back and forth between the kitchen and the pantry she couldn’t help but stare absentmindedly at her phone.

She knew she was waiting for a call, a text, anything that could let her know that her twin was alright. She should have asked Amélie if she could have come with her, but unfortunately that was Murphy's law. The one time she didn’t come with Amélie was the day she was out late. “Mm, probably sucked into her demon junk.” Was what Amy had hoped, but Amy found herself pacing around the apartment, and as worry turned into deeper concern, she found herself flicking back over to her texts between her and her sister.

Amy had received nothing since she texted her at about 11pm, which was… close to an hour… 

Shoot.

Amy felt her hands get clammy, and her mind started to spin as a sense of dread washed over her. “S-Shit what if she got hurt? I let her hang out with a bunch of random strangers!” Amy got up off of the couch to hop on the spot and click her fingers, hoping to get her energy out to no avail, finally as she felt her breath begin to spiral out of control she remembered something she should do.

“Shit… Shit, okay what was it? Five senses… Yeah… Yeah, okay! Easy as!” Amy spoke to herself, “Okay… Five things I can see… Let’s go, uhhhh…” Amy looked around the room, taking in as many details as she could. “I can see the couch, the TV… My feet!” Amy chuckled to herself, she probably sounded stupid, but, she could feel herself slowly calming down, she took a deep breath in as she continued. “The lightbulb… And the—”

Amy froze, across the room she noticed an old photo. She thought Amélie took it down months ago, it was a photo of the two of them when they were just kids. Amy frowned as she studied the photo, her eyes finally caught on to the girl on the left, her hair was a choppy mess, it had grown to about her shoulders, and there was a large band aid across her right cheek, Amy remembered the stitches, they always made her squeamish. She looked towards the front door as she shook, gulping as her surroundings suddenly began to devolve into unintelligible swirls and colours. “What if she— shit! What if she got hurt and I didn’t do anything!” Amy turned to where she left her hoodie on the couch and grabbed it, she tied it around her waist and rushed over to the door, halting in her tracks as it began to rattle.

“Am… Amélie?”

Amy stood still as the doorknob twisted and remained frozen as a nurse opened the door, the nurse's face covered in cotton, with two twin girls following right behind. One of the girls was bruised and her hair was cut short, the other seeming protective over her as she held the bruised girl’s hand tightly. Amy was taken aback, she watched as the nurse took the two girls over to the couch, now replaced with a realistic replica, the nurse then walked over to the kitchen to make a phone call. Amy closed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief, and once she opened them she gasped at the sight of the world as it turned abstract and bizarre, normal objects replaced with paper cutouts,  her own pair of glasses replaced with a cutout as well.

She stepped towards the young twins and simply watched, unable to process what was going on as her legs suddenly almost gave out, and with quick panicked breaths she balanced herself on the smaller couch and breathed in deep, only to recoil as the nurse sat down. 

“Your parents will be over in a couple minutes, would you like some water in the meantime?”

Amy turned to look at the bruised girl as she nodded and leaned into her twin slightly, her hair parted, revealing a gash on her jaw. Amy teared up and reached her arm out to put a hand on the younger Amélie’s head, only for the young girl’s form to freak out, turning into flowers and bandaids before vanishing right in front of Amy’s eyes. Amy fell to the ground and let out a wail as she broke down, missing the couch as she tried to punch it and instead hit the leg, letting out another scream so deep that she ended up dry heaving. Amy eventually calmed down, and with an exhausted sigh she rested her forehead on the ground for a moment, her breaths ragged and unsteady.

But her pathetic attempt at an escape from her fears left her exposed to more, her eyes widening as she noticed a pair of legs dangling from the couch, a voice arising from above.

“Do you blame yourself for what happened to her?”

Amy swallowed, her throat itchy and dry to her displeasure as she desperately gasped for more air. Her ears slowly went down as she heard the voice of a small girl reply.

“Uhhh no? Pfft, why would I- I mean… Can we talk about somethin’ else? I didn’t come here to talk about some stupid stuff that happened in my childhood.”

“Then what did you come here for?”

“I-I dunno! So I wouldn’t be so miserable? So my… So I wouldn’t be a screw up! A-And maybe I’d be able to look my sister- I’d be able to look her in the eye without feeling like I failed h—”

“Stop, please.” Amy croaked desperately, she stayed still as she felt something wet fall on her face, shivering as it ran down onto the floor. Her eyes remained fixated on the girl’s legs, her face numb as she listened to the voices talk to each other.

“That’s something we’ll have to cover next session, I’m sorry Amy but it appears we’re out of time, would you like to schedule another appointment now?”

“You idiot.” Amy whispered, reaching a hand out to the pair of legs in front of her. 

“Ah… N-No thanks uh— thank you for the offer though.”

The pair of legs then turned into flowers and vanished, leaving Amy alone as she inhaled slowly and let out a shaky exhale, and after what felt like hours passing, she eventually found the courage to get back up. She crawled onto the couch and grabbed her phone to check the time, it read 1:07am, and she noticed that she got a notification.

Amélie: Sorry Amy! I’ll be heading home pretty soon, got super distracted when I was talking to the Wimmersons! :P (sent at 12:10am) 

Amy stared at the message with a sombre expression, uncertain how to respond, she rested her cheek on the couch with a slow exhale as she finally managed to muster something up.

Amy: oh sorry for the late rreply, got distracetd! See you soon! (sent at 1:08am)

The small demihuman climbed onto the couch and curled into herself, groaning as she cursed herself for worrying too much, but Amy didn’t have to suffer alone with her thoughts as she heard the keypad beep, and she chose to lay still, facing away from the door as her older sister made her way in and locked it behind her. She flicked the lights on and looked up at the hallway with a smile, expecting to see Amy waiting for her. “A-Amyyy, I’m home!” She spoke in a cheerful though quiet tone, she felt cold as the chill of complete silence filled the apartment, and she felt her stomach drop as she got nothing in return. Something isn’t right, she thought, Amy would’ve started calling her a loser or— something, by now. She called her name again, staying quiet as she gave her sister a moment to speak. Yet, still nothing.

 “...Amy?” She looked over at the long couch in the living room, her ears perking up as she noticed a lump under a blanket. Quietly, Amélie made her way to the couch and pinched an end of the blanket, lifting it up slowly and watching as it revealed the back of a small framed figure underneath, her phone lying screen down on the side of the couch. “...A-Amy?” She whispered, letting go of the corner of the blanket. Amy turned her head to look at her sister with a subtle gloomy look on her face, shuffling her body around to face her.

“Ji…?” Amy kept looking up at her for a moment, breaking eye contact with a childish pout as tears started to well up. As Amy noticed the wetness of her eyes, she was quick to wrap her arms around Amélie’s neck, bringing her close for a hug in a desperate attempt to hide her stupid, stupid face. “H-Hey—!” Her sister stammered, quick to balance herself as she bent forward towards the couch, clawing right into it. She huffed in relief as Amy held her close. “W-What’s up with you?” Amélie faltered, her twin whimpering into her shoulder. Amélie tried to loosen herself from Amy’s hug, sighing as her sister clung onto her, with a hand she patted her back softly. “Ji… Hey, hey…” Amélie whispered softly, “I-I’m alright, see?” She lifted herself up to look Amy in the eyes and whispered. “I’m okay.” 

Amy sniffled and blinked as she looked up at Amélie, then focusing on the ceiling for a minute, and with closed eyes she finally let go of her sister, listening closely to the sigh Amélie made as she sat herself down on the couch and held her sister’s arms. She brought her up to sit with her, pulling her in as she patted her back once more. “T-There we go… You okay?” She asked softly, Amy stayed silent as she let out a nervous giggle. “S-Sorry for— for taking so long, you know how I am with my assignments.”

“...It’s 1:13.” Amy grumbled, her sister laughed lightly as she pulled away, looking the shorter girl in the eyes as hers were glued to the floor. “I’m sorry… Guess I am a huge fan of resonance after all.” Amy looked down at her sister’s hands and frowned, “...The hell happened to your hands?” 

Amélie sighed, “I had a little too much fun at the festival today, they’re okay though I promise.” Amy grumbled in disapproval, her ears perking up as Amélie placed her hands on her shoulders. “Ji… T-They’re not bad, I promise.” She reassured her, Amy shook her head, “They’re the royal family,” She spoke coldly, “What if they try to kill you?”

“They won’t kill me, Amy, t-they made a promise to make sure that we and mom and dad are safe, a-and we’re demons anyway, s-so that—” Amélie stopped herself before she could go any further, she could feel sharp nails dig lightly into her arms, the weight of the pleading eyes in front of her that begged her not to say another word, the clammy hands of her sister that tried to lift her arms off of her shoulders. Amélie could only look to the side in shame as she let go of her, her voice low, “...W-We should go to bed,” She whispered ever so softly, “It’s— It’s late, Amy.” 

She frowned over the lack of shared words that were obviously clear, so she decided to change the subject, desperate to get her sister to speak. “H-How about this, hey? I-I’ll let you have any sweet you want later if you get some sleep now. Sounds good?” Amélie poked her sister’s palm as she waited for her to reply. “I guess…” Amélie figured that was more than enough, and she shuffled closer, playing with Amy’s hair to soothe her. “Sooo, what kind of sweet do you want?” Amy turned away and looked down at the phone, “Mnnnlollipop.” She mumbled, picking up her phone to bring it close to her. Amélie took a peek at her screen and spotted Amy looking at a picture of the two of them hanging out as kids, and she frowned, unsure if she did miss out on something. Amélie looked away quickly as her sister turned her phone off, and she was quick to shoot Amy a smile, but the concern over Amy being upset at her made it come off more wonky than it should have.

“Ah, tired of the gummies?” She asked, receiving a nod from the younger demihuman, “Kinda yeah.” Amélie’s smile turned sad and small as she stood back up, grabbing her tote bag before heading to her room, “I-I’ll see what I can do, don’t you worry about a thing.”