"...wake.."

"..wake up!"

You blinked a few times as the familiar voice continued to nag away, shaking your body quite violently. Grumbleing, you shifted your eyes to the side and behold it was the ugly image of your little sister parched on your bed with a shit-eating grin plastered on her face.

You instantly pulled the covers over your head, blocking her voice and trying to go back to your dreamland.

But, alas it wasn't your day.

Abruptly you found yourself pushed out of your bed. Your body met the carpeted floor with a thud.

Oh, no. No, she didn't just do that?!

Shooting up, you glared at her, ready to launch yourself for revenge.

"Happy Birthday, sis!"

Your body froze up in mid-attack. You processed the words. Oh, it's your day. The one that you had completely forgotten.

Amber was still grinning at you. Her words, were sincere and genuine.

Though you still felt like punching her, you held yourself back. After all, it's your birthday. The only day when your Sweet yet scary Mom won't tolerate violence.

"Thanks" you mumbled as you pick yourself up, rotating your muscles for fractures.

Amber's grin widened, "Oh, you don't have to thank me. I'm just reminding you that you are one step close to getting old"

Now you were offended. Old, old. Heck, you had just turned 18. 18! How dare she call you old?!

You scowled at her, "Get out, you brainless idiot. I don't have the energy to deal with your annoying antics this early in the morning"

"Oh, come on!" She whined as she watched you tidy up your bed before heading towards the bathroom to freshen up.

"You do remember our deal, right" She narrowed her eyes at the fake innocent blink you gave her.

"Hmm, what deal..?" You gave her a small smile. You didn't wait for her to explode on you. You just closed the door behind you blocking off her complaints and whines.

Ah, the pain of having a sibling.

When you return you were greeted with a dreadful sight. There in her hand was your fake ID. She smirked at you.

"Hm. I wonder what Dad would say."

"No, you don't!" You launched yourself at her. Being the cheeky brat she was, she dodged at the right moment all the while taunting you.

Thinking of different tactics. You narrowed your eyes at her before a slow smirk formed on your lips making the smirk on your sister's lip vanish.

"Amber" you drawled out eyeing her stiffened form. "Does Papa dearest know you failed the Math exam..?"

You pretended to think tapping your chin, "I don't know, does he...?"

She screeched, "What, you fraud! You were traitor! You promised you won't tell Dad! You can't go back on it?!"

"Oh, did I?" You raised an eyebrow before beckoning her to give you the ID. With a glare, she tossed the ID which, ahem you caught, though with a bit of trouble.

Hearing the snickers of your sister you flushed slightly.

You looked at the fake ID. You remember making it on impulse. Trying to be a rebellious teenager. Now you look back, you couldn't remember ever using it. You sighed. Just a waste.

Now that you were almost an adult, you doubted you'd ever use it.

As you hid it away in the confines of darkness where your blackmailer of a sister wouldn't be able to find it, you saw her pout.

"Sis...."

You almost choked at the teary voice. You turned around to find her on the verge of busting out in tears.

"Oh, come on" you mumbled to yourself. You knew she was acting. Playing on your weakness. Still, you cringed when she started sniffling.

"Fine! Go get ready, you overdramatic brat" you huffed at her. She brightens up, smiling at you.

Hopping up to you she gave you a bone-crushing hug, "You are the best sis ever!!"

Yeah, right...

You sighed when she was out of sight. You swear you wouldn't fall for your little sister's antics. But you failed miserably.

Changing into a more comfortable outfit, you walked into your sister's room which was direct across from yours.

Mom probably went to take care of sick Grandma since she told you yesterday. You so wanted to go but the lame reasoning of your Mom had you holding back.

'School's important, she said.

Yeah, right.

You scoffed. Even your Dad took her side, supporting her on it. Though he did give you pocket money to spend on your birthday. So you weren't mad at him.

On entering you almost jumped at the poster of an anime guy in loincloth leaning directly towards you. You cringed.

All around you were posters of anime guys. Even the pillowcase too. And the bedsheet. God, help my sister's obsession.

You sighed.

Amber was a hundred steps ahead of you when it came to anime crushes.

You couldn't blame her. All anime guys are hot, sexy, dilf materials, all that and more. Who would even be interested in real ones when you have them?

You plopped on the bed, trying to ignore the red eyes of a blonde guy glaring at your very soul. Feeling a bit creeped out.

God, you could never get used to these. No matter how many times you have been here even if you had your collection. You were more into softies while your sister was into hardcore ones.

You looked around. Before your eyes fell on a book on the corner of the bed, lodged between the bed and wall. Huh? Since when did Amber read books?

Picking it up you read the title.

'The lovely Princess'

It was a light novel. You blinked, not believing your sister was interested in reading novels. All you ever saw her read was Mangas so she could catch up with her friends.

"Sis, I'm ready!" Amber announced. She raised an eyebrow when she saw you holding the novel.

"You can keep it if you want." Amber plopped beside you. Taking the novel she started flipping the pages. "I had brought it months ago because it was in the hype. All my friends recommended it. Though I lost my interest halfway."

"Why?"

"Well you see, the story is garbage, to be honest. And I don't like the storyline either."

"Huh?" You were taken aback by the disdain your sister showed.

"Well, it's a story about an unfortunate princess who got executed by her cold-hearted father on false accusations of poisoning her half-sister - the lead female. And I don't like it. I hate how stupid the female lead killed is. She even got her sister executed! She was innocent. That stupid princess didn't even know that she was being used. What the heck?! It makes me so mad!"

You swallowed hard. Feeling sick all of a sudden. Cold-hearted father? Unfortunate Princess?

There was a sinking feeling, pooling in your stomach. You couldn't pinpoint the source from where it was originating. But it left you rattled for a moment.

You shook your head to get rid of the unwanted feeling."Not your type of thing."

Amber huffed, looking at you deadpanned. "I do read, sis. Just because I like Mangas and animes didn't mean I'm not interested in other things."

You smirked, "Could've fooled me"

She punched you playfully, "You're mean." She looks at her wristwatch before yelping."We need to get going! Or else we'd miss the exhibit. No, no it's once in a lifetime opportunity we can't afford to miss it! Come on, we don't have time to waste on useless things!"

"Yeah, yeah." You rolled your eyes before following your sister's hurried steps.

***

You finally arrived at your destination. A exhibit for anime lovers. An anime exhibition.

You stretched your muscles, hearing the satisfying cracks. Cramped on the seat for nearly one hour made your legs numb. You had almost face-planted if it wasn't for your sister.

The hustle and bustle of the mob moving around left you in awe. People had decided to cosplay their favourite anime character so the moving mob looked like a colourful river following. Stalls were selling small figurines of anime characters, along with other accessories.

Beside you, Amber squealed in excitement. "A heaven!!"

She ran forward, each step a bounce of excitement. You couldn't help but be excited too. You never liked crowded places but for once you didn't mind as you looked at your sister's grinning face, her chocolate eyes lit up in happiness.

You checked every stall. Your sister dragging you to every corner. Her excitement never dwindled. You let yourself get drugged as you too found yourself amazed at the big event. Taking in every play, cosplayer and poster.

Halfway through the day, you found yourself lost. Your sister is nowhere to be found.

Oh, no.

You couldn't think over the panic consuming you. Your sister was just here, standing beside you enjoying the famous apple candy. You hadn't even got the time to blink when your sister vanished when she heard about the 'My hero academia' special figurine sale.

Worry gnawed at you. You walked around looking for any traces of your sister to no avail. You retraced the way, questioning people. Still, you couldn't find her. She wasn't even picking up her phone?!

A whirlwind of emotions slammed onto you. Worry, panic, fear.

You dialled her phone. Once she picked up, you felt relief course through you.

"You stupid brat, where are you?!" You asked in a hushed voice so as not to disturb others.

"Sorry, sis. I was so excited about the figurine that I forgot I was with you"

Gee, thanks. I feel so much nice about myself

"But don't worry, I found some of my friends. So I will be with them. Why don't you enjoy yourself? Since it's your birthday and all" Before you could protest, she hung up.

You huffed, staring at your phone in disbelief. What the hell? Did she ditch me for her friends?

You stood there frozen. Before shrugging off. She's a big girl. Sixteen years old. She could take care of herself. You assured yourself. At least tried to.

You still felt kinda bad that your sister ditched you on your birthday for her friends. You tried not to read too much into it.

It was only normal. You weren't children anymore. She won't follow you like a lost puppy like she used to. It makes sense that she would rather spend her time with her friends than with her introverted sister.

This only made you wish that you could stay kids for a little longer.

So lost in thoughts, you didn't realise that you had walked away from the hustle and bustle of the mob into a secluded area. Once you noticed, you halted. Taking in our surroundings with confusion.

You were in an isolated corner that was connected by two adjacent alleys. The air was damp and cold. A chill went down your spine.

Feeling like a moron for getting lost you turn to leave only to find yourself face-to-face with a wall.

You blinked. What?

You swore under your breath. Touching the cemented wall, you were convinced that you weren't hallucinating. But then where did the exit vanish to? It was an open area and suddenly you were confined between walls with no other way out.

"You've come to the right place, dear"

You jumped, startled by the sudden feminine voice. You spun around to find a small stall attached to the wall with a person concealed within a black cloak sitting behind a table. A transparent crystal ball was in front of her. Considering the voice, the person was a woman.

"Who are you?" you asked. You suddenly didn't feel so safe. The air was charged with ominous energy that had hairs on your neck standing up straight. Mist rolled up from out of nowhere. Darkening the already dim setting.

She smiled, her bright red lips curling up slowly into a coy smile from within her cloak that covered her half face. You took a step back, wary.

"The time has come to rewrite the tragedy.."

"Huh?"

You were confused. Slowly you took the details in. You see indigo-coloured strands streaming out from her cloak. What a strange colour, you thought warily. Red alarms blare in your head.

"To return to your rightful place"

Is she talking to me..?

"Yes, dear it's you. The one who rejected the written fate and stomped on its glory."

Who the hell is she? What the hell is she even talking about? What Fate..?

"An opaque peril in time had left a profound effect on the world once painted red..."

All of a sudden pain crashed onto you. You stumbled, almost losing your balance. What the? With lightning speed, it charged every cell with unadulterated agony. You cried out in pain.

What's going on?!

You felt like your whole being was tearing itself. You never felt anything like this before. This soul-consuming agony.

"...Your world is calling back. An encore of past shall relapse and repeat."

Please, stop. It hurts, it hurts so much. Please make it stop!!

Your mind went foggy. You couldn't focus on anything but the words uttered by the strange being.

"..You're to go back to your rightful place... Change what you couldn't. Save the lost one... Protect the one you failed."

Sweats formed on your forehead as you tried to control the shaking of your limbs. But it was impossible as every jolt of pain had your body crying out in agony.

"..Conquer the foes that haunt you..."

"...Concur with the fate that sustains that world. Then you shall repel the encore.."

Your vision blacked. Darkness overcoming you. Slowly consuming every thought.

"...Conceal within will be you. Buried deep within.."

You felt a soft touch on your burning forehead. The pain amplified. You cried out in agony curling up into a ball.

"....When the right time comes you shall exhume and give birth to a new tale..."

You felt yourself fading away. You couldn't tell what was happening but you welcomed the numbness that the darkness brought. Letting yourself float into the black void you could see in your subconscious.

"..The eternal cycle of woes shall shatter and give way to a new beginning..."

".. Happy shall be the days to come.."