(Talia POV)
"he..why...a.."(???)
what?...
"o...tw...three? hello? can you hear me?"(????)
what? who?
"So you can hear me! finally! I thought I would be forever ignored."(????)
eh?
"Can you make a more thoughtful answer? damn it, I forgot you are still muddleheaded. Let's see... ok, hopefully, this will help."(????)
a light.. this light... it feels very comfortable... I haven't felt like this in a long time. Wait a second... I'm not dead!? A flying cat!?
"Nyahahaha at least you realize! that's right, you little girl, you are still alive! I'm very curious how you managed to get that abomination on your side. If it wasn't for that thing then everyone should be dead by now"(????)
Abomination? Are you talking about-!
"Yep, your guess is right on the spot, you were saved by the most hated being of your friends: "the messiah". Nyahahahahahaha, who said life wasn't interesting?"(????)
The messiah!? How was he there!? Or more importantly, Why did he save me!?
"I don't kno~w, my knowledge is limited to what you know, so if you don't know anything then I'm clueless too. By the way, I'm Nyan, nice to meet you."(?????)
You are going at your own pace...
"That's ri~ght. here, even though you almost died... yeah I know the "I almost died, you don't understand me blah blah blah" so don't look at me like that. Ehem, look on the bright side, at least you didn't return from the gates of heaven with empty hands. Thanks to what happened you finally awakened your true nature!"(Nyan)
True nature?
"Yeah! That abomination has an energy that shouldn't exist, so f̵̥̍d̴̓͜o̷̩͑f̵͚͊v̶̥̕o̶̮̍i̸͚͌ǹ̴̞e̴̱̾d̷͚͗v̶̝͝"(Nyan)
Excuse me... What did you say?
"Oh my, it seems we are out of time."(Nyan)
Wait wh--
(Talia POV)
"--at?"(Talia)
What happened, just moments ago I was about to ask Nyan what did he mean and suddenly I'm sitting... on a bed?
Wasn't I awake? or that was just a dream? Why talk with a flying cat?
"Alice!!"(???)
With so many questions without answers in my head made me unable to react when someone suddenly hugged me. This was the first time I received a hug from anyone besides my brother. My surprise was even bigger when I realized who was hugging me, after all, I wasn't expecting that it would be the blue-haired maid from before. If my memory is correct she should be the personal maid of miss Fayna and her name should be Orie.
And if this wasn't enough moments after the maid shouted that girl's name the door was blasted off and literally flew across the room while Rine, Lapis, Fari, and even miss Fayna entered with big black circles under their eyes.
"Alice!"(Fari, Rine, Lapis)
Realizing this wasn't the palace I wanted an explanation but before I was able to articulate it they hugged me tightly. It's a shame to point this out, but this would have been one of the happiest days of my life if it wasn't for one simple fact, they didn't call me "Talia", instead, they called me "Alice".
It didn't take long before the hug loosened up and I was able to breathe again. It seemed that they were waiting for a long time as the three of them immediately fell asleep. Seeing this the blue-haired maid hugged me one last time before picking them up with an amused smile.
"Alice? what happened?"(Orie)
"Wha-"(Talia)
What did I do? where is she looking...at!? Why am I grabbing her clothes!?
I couldn't explain why I did that, maybe it was a subconscious action. With the feeling of my cheeks burning in embarrassment, I withdrew my hand while looking down. It seems that the blue-haired maid enjoyed my reaction as she smiled happily and kissed me on the forehead before carrying my sleeping friends outside of the room.
This was a big shock for me, I wasn't used to this kind of interaction so I couldn't help to look at her in shock while she was leaving the room. Seemingly annoyed by this interaction miss Fayna looked at me with resentment in her eyes and lay down on the bed without caring about her usual grace and elegance.
Her actions helped me to recover a little, but this was still a surprise for me, after all the image I had of miss Fayna was one of a powerful and talented woman with the grace and elegance of a commander.
"Here I am worried about you for the last three days and the only thing on your mind is your mother. Why did I expect something different you spoiled brat... mother-con"(Fayna)
B-Brat!? Mother-con?! This was the first time I have been insulted like this! I don't know what is the meaning of the second word but I don't think I have done something to be called a spoiled brat, especially from miss Fayna.
"N? Where is your usual sharp tongue? Did that fight finally fix your bratty attitude?"(Fayna)
How do I respond to that? It seems that they are confusing me with that Alice girl. Why are they mistaking me for her? I'm very confused, I can tell her I'm Talia, but...
"I-I don't remember a lot... my memory is a little blurry..."(Talia)
"Mm... well, I should have expected this. After all, you fought against that man head-on and managed to survive."(Fayna)
Forgive me for this miss Fayna, but I had the truth right in front of me. I can't wait any longer...
"So? My little amnesic brat. What is the last thing you remember?"(Fayna)
"The last thing I'm able to recall is... being pierced by a black spear after saving my- ehem, the princess. There is also an instance where the lea-, a man with a missing arm said the word messiah-"(Talia)
I didn't manage to finish the entire story when miss Fayna immediately looked at me in panic and fear. She ignored my confused reaction and proceeded to grab my shoulders and cover me with her flames.
This was quite unusual, as the flames she was using were her concept flames. After moments that felt like an eternity the flames extinguished and miss Fayna breathed in relief.
"Erm... what happened?"(Talia)
"Nothing, just a little paranoia of mine"(Fayna)
"I-I see, Can I ask you something? How is the princess's condition? I'm a little worried"(Talia)
This may be the perfect time to ask about it, I'm repeating myself a lot but I won't let such oportu- W-Why is miss Fayna looking at me with a huge grin?
"Oh look at you, I can't believe this brat finally awakened her sisterly love."(Fayna)
Eh?....... Sis... ter...?
"Why are you looking so surprised? oh right, your memories are still blurry. My bad, can you remember the look of the princess?"(Fayna)
"Ye-Yes?"(Talia)
"Perfect, in this case, it's faster to show you rather than a sloppy explanation. By sloppy explanation I mean I'm very tired from not sleeping for three days."(Fayna)
Why is she reaching her storage room? I- Is that...a mirror? Why am I in the mirror!? Wait!? Why are my eyes and hair of different colors!? Wait... Why?! Wha-
"This is refreshing. Finally I can pay you back all the surprises you gave me over the years."(Fayna)
"I-I don't understand!? Why do I look exactly like her!? Sister!?"(Talia)
"Don't scream Alice, your identity has to remain in secret... It's what I want to say, but for some reason, it gets exposed a lot. I *yawn* haven't slept for three days so I'm going to sleep here... in short, your name should be Alice Hol, and you are the twin sister of Talia Hol*yawn*. I will explain everything later..."(Fayna)
She... is she, my sister?...
"A... twin?"(Talia)
She is... my twin?... Is this why... dear father? oh...
"Damn it, it seems I'm late."(???)
Aunt Athena? Why.. are you here? When did she arrive? Did...
"Talia, you need to calm down, you are hyperventilating. You need to breath in and out slowly."(Athena)
"Aunt Athena... Since when...?"(Talia)
"As I feared, that idiot wasn't able to recognize you... but simultaneously I blame her, this is also my first time seeing a case of body change."(Athena)
Body change? but I don't feel different... Miss Fayna mentioned I had a twin...That's right! This explains everything!
"Aunt Athena, please tell me everything"(Talia)
"... Fine. I can explain it to you now that you calmed down."(Athena)
"Oya? When did you get here Athe.... wait, Where is your mask!?"(Fayna)
I was too focused on the words of aunt Athena that I didn't pay attention to miss Fayna, as she jumped off the bed while covering aunt Athena's face with a pillow. However aunt Athena didn't receive this approach happily as she teleported to my side, and now with an empty space instead of aunt Athena miss, Fayna fell to the floor.
"Athena! Why aren't you we--"(Fayna)
"The princess woke up moments ago... it was a sight to behold."(Athena)
I didn't expect that girl to wake up almost at the same time and, for some reason, a bad omen fell upon me.
"You know what were her first words after waking up... her words were "Shut the fuck up"."(Athena)
"Why!? I'm not that kind of person!"(Talia)
The pure shock of hearing that girl yelling something so vulgar while everyone was thinking it was me made me do an involuntarily reply. Aunt Athena looked like she was expecting this reaction from me, but miss Fayna's face immediately paled as she realized the truth.
"No way... princess Talia?"(Fayna)
"You are right... this will be a long story"(Athena)
I went without saying aunt Athena told us everything that happened in the palace while also including the news about the ceremony of this night and even about the danger that girl and I were facing.
"... and that's all I managed to hear before Alice was taken to the dressing room."(Athena)
"That stupid brat, always making light of the situation even if she is in mortal danger. I'll deal with her later, so in the meantime Talia, don't try to use your element unless it's necessary, otherwise, I can't reassure you what is going to happen."(Fayna)
I can't do anything except agree, and now with the full picture, we formulated a plan for tonight's party. We still didn't have a plan to return to my body, but if we manage to reunite with that girl then everything else will go smoothly.
Sadly Rine, Lapis, and Fari won't be able to assist to the party. While we were making the plan miss Fayna left them out, she mentioned that they were very frustrated with what happened and as soon as they woke up they began intense training without caring about their injuries. I wanted to ask why she didn't stop them, but she only said she had her reasons.
"Anil will be here soon... I forgot, Anil is Alice's personal maid. Talia, go and search for my maid Orie and her tell everything. Also, tell her to inform Anil as well, they are the closest people to Alice, so they will be able to help in this operation, at least to some extent."(Fayna)
With nothing else to discuss I left the room while giving one last glance at miss Fayna and my aunt.
(Fayna POV)
"This is worse than we thought."(Fayna)
After Talia left the room I immediately spoke to Athena. Ever since the Prophets were repelled they ceased any activity near the Holy kingdom, if it wasn't for a rat that we managed to catch we would be completely defenseless against the assault that would take place at tonight's party. Originally I wanted to warn Alice about her powers and if it was possible to take her outside of the kingdom, but with this situation, I'm unable to take her far from here.
It also didn't help that Talia learned the truth too, I hope she is the last to know it, but I can't guarantee. And now...
"Yes... They found Alice, their messiah.."(Athena)
"The good news is that Talia and the leader of the prophets aren't aware of the real identity of the messiah. If they discover it then everything will turn for the worse very fast, especially if we take into account the circumstances surrounding the other girls."(Fayna)
This is what I fear the most. Currently, only I, Chris, and Athena know that Alice is the messiah. We haven't told her yet as this would certainly weigh on her mind, besides that she is stupidly naive and honest when it comes to her family and friends. With the other girls' hate for the messiah we need to wait until we find the right time, otherwise, their relationship would be scarred.
"Now that we are talking about those girls, why did you allow them to train if they haven't recovered from their heavy injuries?"(Athena)
"Don't look at me like I'm some kind of sadist, I was against it at the beginning. But after sensing something I had seen before I thought it was worth giving it a shot. This is the other reason why I haven't slept yet, as I had to supervise their condition in case something went wrong. This is related to what I told you before.
Although my theory isn't complete yet because I haven't found a way to make it permanent without any secondary effects at least I can test my theory with Alice later."(Fayna)
"Fayna, are you still thinking that after what we have seen?"(Athena)
This is what you would expect from the strongest spiritualist, before I was able to react she had a sword pressing against my neck. Ready to send it flying at any moment.
"I don't know what you are trying to accomplish, but this unknown power is dangerous, even for me. I was fine with it at the beginning, but after seeing the power of the new leader and the current condition of Alice and Talia I changed my mind. We were foolish to think we could control a power that is far from our comprehension. I'll also have to refrain Alice from using that power, I don't want to imagine what will happen to her in the future."(Athena)
"You won't be able to stop her, Alice is a stubborn brat with only one goal, save her mom, so even if you tell her she won't stop. Don't worry, If my experiments bring any harm to anyone else besides me I will stop them immediately."(Fayna)
"You are right, I can't do anything with Alice, but at least I do something with you. If your experiments endanger your safety too then you have to stop, otherwise, I'll personally stop you, even if it means taking your life."(Athena)
Hearing this threat together with her expressionless face is enough to make anyone shiver in fear. I know the risks, but I have to do it, I can't allow another tragedy to take place... but... what tragedy am I talking about... it has something to do with an idiot but... what was it?
"You are thinking about that imaginary person again?"(Athena)
"Don't you dare to say that! He is real!"(Fayna)
"I allowed you to place a grave for him because I had the hope it would help you. But if your decisions are driven by a hallucination then I'll take Alice away from you."(Athena)
Her words were enough to cool me down. Although I feel like he is real and I'm not crazy I won't be stubborn with this kind of threat in front of me, as I don't want Alice to be taken away.
"... Fine, I'll have you stop me if I get too hooked. I don't want to wound Alice with my problems."(Fayna)
Hearing me compromise Athena withdrew her blade from my neck and hugged me tightly for a second before teleporting to another place. She really fits the description Alice told me about before, an inexpressive tsundere.
With time tickling I resigned myself to see the conditions of the three sleeping beauties, as their progress could bring a whole new world of possibilities. I-It's not like I'm leaving Orie and Anil to Talia... I blame that brat for giving me the habit of speaking to myself.
