After our chat both Sidolphus and Veanya teleport out of our house, deciding on meeting up in Hofudstadr this evening. Apparently it won’t be too hard for them to show up there. With them gone it is time to break the news to our friends and family, especially my girlfriend. 

Just a minute after I sent a message to Sam, my phone starts ringing to the amusement of my sister. 

When I pick up, Sam immediately starts talking. “Ami, what the heck do you mean? I’m not about to let you just go alone with them?!” 

“Sam…”

“No, Ami. I am going to go with you. And I will not be debating this.” 

“But it’s risky.” 

“Yes, I know, you’ve said so in your message. But I don’t care. If you are going to be risking your life, I will be as well. Simple as that.” 

I sigh. “Alright… I’ll let them know you’ll be coming too then…. Thanks Sam… For caring that much about me.” 

“Of course. That’s only a given.” 

“Hey Sam.” My sister calls out to her. 

“Yes?” 

“Aren’t you supposed to be in class now?” My sister asks, semi-jokingly. 

“I said I had to go to the bathroom.” She replies instantly. “This wasn’t a message I could just ignore.” 

“Yeah, that’s fair.” My sister walks closer to me, gesturing to me to hold my phone a bit closer so speaking into it is a bit easier. 

“Are you going to go with her too, Élise?” Sam asks. “From Ami’s message it looked like you weren’t going to join.” 

“No, sorry. I… I got scared a bit too much. I said this earlier to Ami as well, but you really don’t want your tank to be scared to take hits… They couldn’t offer me full reassurance so… yeah.” 

Sam stays silent for just a few seconds. “I understand that. It’s not like I’m completely void of fear either. But I just can’t let Ami go there alone. I totally understand why you wouldn’t, and I really respect that, but letting Ami go by herself…. Yeah, I’m not going to let that happen.” 

“It’s not like I’m going completely alone.” I reply. 

“Ami, I wouldn’t really call the other Gods your support squad…” Sam replies. 

My sister nods. “That’s true.” 

“Hmmm.” 

“If you get into an emotional tough spot for example.” Lise starts to explain. “I’m way more willing to trust Sam on talking you down or cheering you up, depending on the situation. Especially when you are in your vengeance form. While you know Veanya, Gamma and now Sidolphus… It’s not the same having their emotional support…” 

“I suppose so.” I admit, thinking about it for a bit longer. “It would definitely not have the same impact…”  

“Besides that, I’m an archer. I’m way less likely to be close to the action too.” 

“Sam, you really don’t need to convince me any further.” I chuckle softly. “I already said I was going to be letting them know you’ll come as well.” 

“But we did manage to reassure you a bit more, didn’t we?” My sister gives me a wink. 

“Yes, yes you did.” I smile back. 

 

“Okay, then wait for me to head into Haurchefaud. I’ll not be happy if you already went without me.”

“Don’t worry, we agreed to meet up this evening. So you have plenty of time.” 

“Alright.” Sam sounds content with that answer. “Now that everything's arranged, are you going to come back to uni then?” 

“No, I think I’ll stay with my sister for the rest of the day.” 

“If you want to, you can go, Ami. I can take care of myself.” 

I shake my head. “No, I’ll stay.” 

“Okido.” Sam replies. “Take care and see you when I get back.” 

“See you in a bit, Sam.” I hang up the phone afterwards so she can get back to class. 

“Are you 100% sure you don’t want to go?” Lise asks. 

I nod. “Sis, I’m going to be here for you. Just like Sam won’t let go of me, I won’t let go of you either.” 

She smiles and puts her hand on my head. “Thanks.” She then looks around the house. “That said, what should we do for the rest of the day then? I don’t think Nikki will like it if we just play games all day.” 

“Hmmm.” I think for a couple of seconds. “Do you mind if I work on my manga a bit more? I’ve been neglecting it a bit lately and I kinda do want to progress on it. That way I can do a bit of work while being with you at the same time.” 

“Sure, go ahead.” My sister crosses her arms and gives me an affirmative nod. “Maybe I’ll draw a bit with you. You have some extra paper, right?” 

“I do.” I nod in return and head to my drawer where I put most of my drawing utensils. “If you want any tips on drawing, don’t be afraid to ask.” 

My sister crosses her arms. “Who told you I can’t draw, little sis?” 

“Oh? You can?” I take out a pile of paper and a couple of sets of pencils. “I didn’t know that.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t really say I can draw very well, but I don’t like you just assuming so!” 

I chuckle. “Well, let’s see what you have in you then.” I then proceed to place the equipment on the table and put myself on one end of the table while Lise sits down on the other so we give each other some room to work with.  

 

While we draw my sister puts on a bit of music in the background to break the silence in the room. It wasn’t really an uncomfortable silence, but we both tend to be rather silent when we focus. Having some music while working is also a pleasant addition, at least when it’s rather calm music like this. If it were power metal or any kind of fast paced tune, the music would probably pull me out of the flow more than it keeps me in it. 

Our cozy hangtime quickly draws the attention of both of our cats who decide this is the best time to come and lay down on the paper that we both are using. Luckily for me though, I speak cat, and quickly tell them it’s way more fun to go and sleep near my sister’s papers rather than on mine. I also may or may not have promised them some sardines later as a bit of a bribe, just to seal the deal. 

They both understand the task and go and annoy my sister a little bit who resolves the issue by taking both cats and laying them both on her lap while she draws. “Sis, we’ll talk about this later when I’m finished with my drawing.” She speaks to me sternly but she can’t hide the smile on her face. 

“I thought you might enjoy their presence.” 

“Hmmm, and that’s why I specifically heard the word ‘annoy’ coming out of your mouth?” 

“Drat, I forgot that when I talk to the cats I still do so in human language…” 

My sister rolls her eyes and continues drawing, now with two purring machines to keep her company. 

During the entire time we are drawing, the cats stay in their cozy lap position, occasionally getting pet by my sister while she is thinking for a bit. The amount of focus she’s putting into her drawing actually makes me rather curious as to what exactly my sister is drawing. When we were little I had never seen her draw either so it will be interesting to see what kind of subject she finds interesting to draw. 

Then around 13:00 my sister finally decides that she has had enough of drawing and that she wants to make us some dinner as we’ve only had breakfast up until now. Pulling two unwilling-to-move cats from her lap and getting up from her seat. 

“What would you like to eat, little sister of mine?” She walks over to me. 

“Pff, I’m not sure.” I lean back in the seat. 

“Hmm, dilemma’s, dilemma’s.” She stands behind me and pets me on the head. From there she gets a great view of the manga page I’m drawing. “That’s really good.” She compliments. 

I smile. “Thanks. I’m not finished yet though. I want to do the next page as well. Anyway, how did your drawing go?”

“I think I managed to make something decent.” She smiles back. “Feel free to go and take a look while I figure out what to prepare for us.

I nod and rise from my own seat, walking towards the side of the table where my sister had been seated and where our cats were still in the proximity. As I look at the piece of paper Élise had been scribbling on, I start to chuckle, not because what she drew was bad, but because it is genuinely funny. During her time drawing, she had managed to make a rather funny little comic about a pair of very familiar looking cats, on a quest to steal sardines out of the kitchen cabinet. She had aptly named her little comic ‘The Great Sardine Heist’. 

“Wow. Sis, you could definitely make a webcomic of sorts. You sure have talent for this.” 

When I look over to my sister she is smiling but she shakes her head nonetheless. “Nah, I’ll leave the drawing to you. It was fun though and I might do so again in the future. It’s very calming.”

Well, I for one would like to see what my sister comes up with in the future. We should definitely frame this comic too…