Scene 2 - The twins

As night time came around, the twins and Len sat out on the balcony gazing out over the city, watching moonlight cascading over the slum district and making it seem like ruins of some forgotten city. Torches flickered in the silent night like little beacons guiding the souls onwards to the afterlife.

Covered by a large blanket, Len sat between the twins with her arms wrapped around them as they gazed at the stars above and below, “How are you feeling…?

The twins couldn’t sleep from all the recent events, so Len went out with them and watched the stars till the little ones grew tired. She didn’t speak much, usually preferring to let her actions do the talking, so the twins were surprised to see their big sister start a conversation.

Luna moved closer to her sister, “I just can’t believe mom is gone you know… I miss her and how she would make us potato stew. She would comb our hair, tell us stories...”

Holding his head down, Sol’s wild golden hair kept his pained expression hidden, “I miss her so much… Sis… What do I do with this heartache within me?”

Tilting her head a tad, Len gazed at Sol’s lonely demeanor for a bit before pulling him in close ruffling his hair, “Time… Heals all wounds… Little brother… Don’t worry… I don’t plan on going anywhere… If you need to cry anymore... I’ll be here…”

The three sat there in silence, gazing at the stars and the torches in the night, the three moons passing by ever so closely, the air around them smelling apple sweet. They couldn’t tell where it came from until one of the black robed men told them it originated from the formations embedded inside the tavern that blocked out the rotting stench from the city. It made the siblings confused as they had never heard the term ‘Formation’ before, though they enjoyed the change after smelling trash for years on end.

Not able to take the silence anymore Luna gazed up at her big sister, “Can you tell us a story, big sister? Like mom told us when we went to bed?”

Len fidgeted, her eyes wandering up towards the stars. She had never told a story before, so she was unsure what to say. She grew quiet as she started piecing ideas together from Saren's usual storytelling. Slowly, she began with the words, “Once upon a time…”

She fumbled along the story, taking long pauses as she desperately tried to come up with something interesting. The story started off with a Fairy Queen and a Demon King meeting in the underworld. The two crossed paths along a road of spirits and ghosts as they searched for a purpose of existing after living for so long.

At first, they distrusted each other, not knowing what the other’s thoughts where. That is until the Demon King saved the Fairy Queen from the ghost princess who wanted the Queen’s body for her own. The story went on for an hour, and the longer she spoke, the more rhythmical Len's words became.

From the shadows, Saren began smiling as he watched the scene unfold, having appeared at an unknown point in time. He saw many plot holes in her story, such as: why wouldn't the ghosts attack the Demon King because of his aura, and how the spirits would never attack a being such as the Fairy Queen. Nonetheless, his grin widened as he leaned on a corner, enjoying the story and watching his siblings under the starlight.

Eventually, Len finished the tale and found out that the twins had unknowingly fallen asleep. While she was distressed how to take both of them to bed, a familiar voice appeared.

“That was a good story sis. Though I’ll give you some lessons on how to tell a better one later haha~. It had too many plot holes for full marks; I think 59 points seems good for your first time.”

Len’s eyes opened wide under her shaggy brown hair, “How long… were you…”

Saren moved a finger over his lips, motioning her to be silent, “Let's get them to bed before we talk anymore.”

He moved over without making a sound and picked up Sol, carrying him to bed. Len followed, taking Luna to hers. After covering them up, Saren motioned Len back outside.

Closing the door behind them, Saren sat down on the bench and began to talk, “I was listening since the beginning. You truly need to work on your speech skill Len, I almost laughed at the part where the Fairy Queen and Demon King embraced each other in a hug when they found what they were searching for. You were blushing up a storm with that, haha~. How are you going to find a good husband if you act like that!”

Len pouted and pushed Saren with enough force to make him fall, “How dare you… Little brother make fun of… Your Elder sister… Do you want to play… The punishment game… again?”

Saren’s smiling face instantly turned pale, “Elder sister I jest! I was trying to lighten the mood, that's all!” Clearing his throat he changed the subject, “The main reason I came to find you was to talk about Xue. We need to watch out for her. She’s taken mother’s death far worse than imaginable, you know that she is already unstable after what happened to her before… with… if Vince wasn’t there… You know what I mean, the point is we need to be there for each other alright?”

Len nodded, the pain of her mother's passing was still there, like a knife stabbing into her heart. But she knew her brother Saren well enough to know that he could easily see the bigger picture of their family’s current status and thus trusted his words.

“I will... Keep an eye on her…”

Saren smiled, happy that Len was going to help look out for Xue, he had already asked Vince, Ren, and Rune as well to make sure their sister didn’t do something crazy, “Great! Thank you, sis! I’m going to head to bed now, and you should as well. We have a long day ahead of us!”

Without another word Saren headed back to the room, while Len lingered there for a bit longer, staring at the slums before turning around and following him back to their room.

Laying in bed, her last thoughts before drifting to sleep were, ‘I wonder what tomorrow will bring?’