Few days had passed since the ‘arrival’ of the twins and they learned to adjust to their unique environment during this time. What surprised Alicia the most was their outstanding capability to learn and at the speed at which they grasped concepts. For example, in just a day of active conversation they could form basic three word sentences, mispronounced and slow as they may be. And by now… two ‘Elven girls’ were able to speak at a much higher level than before. Running around chasing each other without footwear. They often refer to each other with shortened nicknames; Goldie and Annie. Remembering that an onlooker might mistake them for a djinn, while the chance of such an event happening was low as long as it wasn’t zero Alicia drilled the necessities of Stealth and Mimicry to the two.

Their rapid growth although surprising wasn’t something out of place as they were born with already well developed bodies which included their mind as well. By appearance alone, they were nigh impossible to tell apart with the exception of their eye color and the way they behave. Through her observation Alicia profiled Anna to be a very active, outgoing and mischievous troublemaker whereas Goldia is soft-spoken, laconic, lonesome introvert. Despite their polarizing personalities the twins seemed to share a strong bond.

Their favorite game to play was hide and seek with both each other and with the Elven rangers. Apparently both the elves and Llynbel seems to dote on them. Though much bitterness to the water spirit, their favorite playmate was Dryssia. Their use of Stealth makes it hard for Elves to find them but Tree nymph had nearly a hundred percent win rate as the seeker. Two had yet to wisen up to the fact that where there are trees, a tree nymph has eyes and ears. And in a forest, nothing goes by unnoticed to a tree nymph. Although Dryssia, no matter how much she tried, couldn't find Alicia or Alice when they went low profile. Needing to be in her direct vicinity to be detected. Apparently their stealth skill level was far better than the twins expectedly.

However what was interesting was the fact that the skill wasn’t at it’s most effective due to their… souls being separated according to Alma. Although not shown as such, it wasn’t just their statistical parameters but their skills’ effectiveness were also lowered while Gemini was in use.

While initially worried with their growth which turned out to be less of a concern. What was most distressing for Alicia was Alice’s method of upbringing which included hunting sessions. She learned of this one day when Alice came back along with the twins dragging in the still bleeding body of a warboar paralyzed and covered with deep wounds. After failing to persuade Alicia from taking them on potentially dangerous trips, and with the twins too excited to quit she took it to herself to come along and make sure there weren't any major accidents much to Alice’s joy.

From following them Alicia concluded that the sisters thought it as some sort of game. Anna was much more up close and personal and confrontational whilst Goldia prefered to get into a better position and sneak up on her prey. Stalking them for a long time until either she or her victim got into a position that was favourable to her. Their natural instincts - already sharp making them excellent hunters from a young age.  Yet still both of them had their flaws. Anna could get too reckless and put herself in danger while Goldia was poor at making on the fly decisions, often panicking or getting flustered when unknown variables are introduced to her plans.

The reason for Alice’s happiness was because she noticed these issues immediately but due to the limit on the use of Telepathy agreed upon and her lack of ‘social skills’ to properly tutor them had turned into a especially painful thorn on her side. Which is where Alicia comes in to help. Assessing what she knew of them so far she came up with a plan for two to follow. The measures she thought up was for Anna to be more aware of her surroundings and the situation but that was a difficult thing to judge for someone right in the middle of the fight and as such that role was given to Goldia who had the tendency and the aptitude to observe from a vantage point until she had an opening.

As for Goldia, she needed a little bit of her sister’s impulsiveness to make a decision. Even if it wasn’t the best course of action, going along with a ‘good enough’ decision from Anna was all she needed to regain her composure and think up a new approach to either retreat or press on. Normally strategy like this would require active communication and a sense of camaraderie to trust one and another, but with the siblings joined in Telepathy those concerns are a non-factor. And all that was left was to test the effectiveness of this system…

Today their target was a lone wilderkin¹Wɪldərkin. My attempt at spelling it in IPA pls no bully. You can use this site to have it pronounced. Moving forwards I will try to include the IPA for any new words or names included. near its nest. Wilderkins are often confused with Owlbears for their similar appearance but few things set them apart. While the owlbears usually have heads like that of an horned owl, wilderkins had real horns, branching out like that of deer’s and it used it to deadly extents. The bears had special feathers on their feet that made them virtually silent when it was stalking, bearing that in mind wilderkin only had large feathers on their first two limbs and it is said that you can feel its footsteps before you can hear it’s hellish screeching. And lastly wilderkins preferred to stand tall on two legs reaching heights of over 3 meters, unlike the owlbears that prowled on all four. While not as agile as the bears, they show great feats of strength and ferocity when threatened.

It’s nest with a structure similar to that of common bird’s was located on the ground made from limbs of trees picked from the nearby woods, as the branches still had their green leaves on them. Although a mature wilderkin was a formidable foe this younger one seemed to be the perfect practice target for the siblings to gain experience for their first hunt without either Alice or Alicia. Both of them were hidden from view on nearby treetops.

After picking clean the bone of a indigenious prey, the wilderkin was tidying its crude nest of the remains and grooming its wings under the dimming light of the leaning sun. Everything went quiet as the wind died out and the swishing of the leaves stopped. It felt as if something was off, as it raised its head attentively. Behind nearby undergrowths something was rustling. It’s attention focused on the shrubbery; it creeped closer on its ursine feet with subdued steps. Eventually it’s shadow cast over it as the creature loomed above, rustling seemed to pause just for a moment until a wood mouse jumped out of the bush and scurried away squeaking.

Huffing out a peculiar avian breath, apparently satisfied with its investigation it turned to its nest to rest. It was then it felt a brief sense of dread followed by sharp pain from its back. It was uselessly swiping at the air above and around it’s back, spinning on its feet trying to shake off whatever’s on it. After some effort it felt the assailant jump off, leaving a perforated wound where hot off color fluids mixed with rosy blood poured out and flowed down the mull wine²RBG 84/68/95 fur.

Facing its foe retreating behind trees, a bizarre being of a webspinner that seems to have a morsel attached to it on top of it. A webspinner attacking it directly was odd but not incomprehensible but yet it’s instincts told it that the morsel was the one in control of the body below. An unacceptable disgrace it is, to be wounded by a paltry snack that couldn’t even count as an appetizer. With a screeching cry that felt more like a roar, it got down on all its legs and charged forwards, horns ready to gore.

After passing a few trees it noticed the web in between it and the morsel, unfortunately it was far too late to stop for its momentum caused it to crash into it, tangling its beaks and horns. Trying to stand and pull its head up it yanked at the silk even so that wasn’t just enough to set it free. Using its claws it tore at the web, little by little. Before it was able to release itself the strange webspinner crawled around and bit its stout legs and numbing pain set in.

Furious at being repeatedly bitten, its boiling rage tipped over the threshold and started to lash out all over in a frenzy kicking away the irksome nuisance to send it rolling away. With immense strength it shredded the webbing and set its piercing gaze upon the insect. Bellowing in hysteric fury rushed through all the obstructions in its paths, smashing through trees. Now it would only focus on annihilating its foe making sure not to leave a single trace of it.

• “Noooo!”

Again something had landed on its back, once more the vexing ache of being bitten was reminded. After managing to throw it off its body, it was revealed to be another strange webspinner. Raising up its claws to bring down its wrath on the new target for the simple reason of it being closer…

• “Stop it!-”

Observing the hunt from a distance Alicia was evaluating their performance… It all seemed to be going well until:

• ‘I don’t like where this is going. Alice I’m going down there!’

Despite being envenomed the beast was still able to move about without much trouble. The twins having failed to take into account that having a large body meant the venom spread slowly and Wilderkin’s strength to force itself out of their web. Resulting in the current situation. But none of that mattered to her, right now she needed to protect the siblings.

• “Stop it!-”
• ‘Anna stay where you are!’

Seeing that her sister was in danger she was about to blindly run in. Commanding her to stop was enough to prevent her from also being caught in the fight. But Alicia herself was some distance away and judged that couldn’t make it in time.

｢ Sunder ｣

Winds oddly shifted their course and rushed somewhere, and before it could know what was happening savage squalls smashed against it. It’s limb ready to attack dangled down limply, as the winds mercilessly shredded the muscles leaving the layers of fat and bone exposed. It stepped away from Goldia in a howl of pain. While she was stupefied Alice lassoed her in a silk line and dragged her up and away.

With one of the siblings taken care of, she stood in front of Anna examining her for injuries.

• “Are you hurt?”
• “Nuh uh…”
• “Great, I’ll deal with this quickly just obediently stay behind me alright? You two are going to get a hell of an earful from me afterwards, get ready for it.”

Turning away from the nodding girl she faced the wilderkin. Having recovered from the pain it was visibly confused. And although the ominous aura of the blade she was holding had it hesitate for a second, soon it started to charge at her.

• “So your tiny little bird brain thought nothing of me? Well you’re in for a big surprise.”

Taking in deep breath to calm herself she closed her eyes and thought about the recent things that happened to her… When she learned about Parthenogenesis and the egg sacs, she was terrified and tried to not think about it. It came all too suddenly that her mind wanted to deny everything, she was afraid of the future, afraid of what it would mean to be a parent, she thought herself to be a weak, craven fool. And when they were born she was awash with inexplicable feelings. And the time she spent, however short, was so dear she wouldn’t dare trade it even for another lifetime.

Wilderkin’s horns invoke a certain feeling of dread. For when she was impaled by a certain warboar the emotions and feelings she experienced were just so horrifying and it did it no justice to compare it to anything else but to death. Standing front of those horns, facing them again those same feelings are creeping up again. Except even so she is overtaken by strange calm. It was true that she developed a PTSD like response to horns being brandished at her. But that was dwarfed by another fear, the fear of losing the siblings. And now standing in front Anna…

‘No it’s all wrong, becoming a parent didn’t make me scared or weak, it made me stronger than I ever could have hoped for…’

  Exhaling and opening her eyes the branching horns with sharp tips were only a few inches in front of her. Pulling her head back…

⟨ Surge ⟩

« Hardened Cranial Cushion »

forcefully bringing her head crashing against the horns, the outcome should’ve been anything but Alicia being thrown away. But in reality it was the horns that were broken and shattered in pieces.

Stunned and dazed from the impact the beast drunkenly staggered to side and back falling down to push itself up with its remaining functional ‘arm’. Briefly dusting her hair and shaking off scraps of horn she approached the downed wilderkin. After realizing Alicia was coming close, without another option to defend itself it relied on its beak. Moment it opened she thrust Dauntless into the depths of its gorge.

｢ Elfshot ｣

Spiraling winds bore into the soft innards of the beast drilling out organs, flesh and blood as it blew it back spinning in the air. After it landed with a loud thud, she walked over to it and drove her blade deep into its head straight through its still open eyes to finish it off.

After a long evening of lecture directed at the twins they had become tired and were dozing off. Curiously though they were technically a spirit free from hunger and sleep, currently they were too young to enjoy these benefits of being a spirit…

• “♫~Hmm…↝hmm…↗hmm…→hmm…↘mm…↘~♫”

Alicia’s soft humming lullaby she was singing echoed out the burrow.

• “Ah they’re out cold… Now how am I going to get out without disturbing them…”
• “that song… your mother’s?”
• “My gran’s actually.”

Gently stroking their hair she continued.

• “Used to sing it to pops who taught mum. Then mom would sing it to us but after she needed to work till late, I had to learn it from her to sing to my younger sister, kind of a family thing I guess.”
• “i will try to sing…”
• “Oh then you’ll need the last two stanzas… It’s funny because I didn’t know there was more to the song since both me and my sister went to sleep before it finished. And even now… I think they went to sleep after the first 2… Well here goes continuing where we left off…”

Love imposes impossible tasks

Every rose grows merry with time

But none more than any heart would ask

I must know you're a true love of mine

Are you going to Scarborough fair?

Yesterday holds memories in time

Remember me to one who lives there

For you're the only true loves of mine…

Auratic

Henlo, I am finally caught up, I make another chapter this week. This took longer than expected.

Alicia's lullaby full version here.

Spoiler

Are you going to Scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme,
Without any seam or needlework,
And then she shall be a true love of mine.

Tell her to wash it in yonder dry well,
Parsley sage, rosemary, and thyme,
Where no water sprung, nor a drop of rain fell,
And then she shall be a true love of mine

Tell her to find me an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the salt water and the sea strand
Then she'll be a true love of mine

If you say that you can't, then I shall reply
Savoury sage rosemary and thyme
Oh, Let me know that at least you will try
Or you'll never be a true love of mine

Love imposes impossible tasks
Every rose grows merry with time
But none more than any heart would ask
I must know you're a true love of mine

Are you going to Scarborough fair?
Yesterday holds memories in time
Remember me to one who lives there
For you're the only true loves of mine...

[collapse]

I'm bit tired right now to remember all things I added and referenced into this chapter. If you catch it ask, I'll tell you if you're right or wrong.

No one found the reference so here's the meanings of names Anastasia and Goldia.

Anastasia is a name best known for being the name of a Russian princess who allegedly died when the nobility fell but seems to survived spreading the rumor that she resurrected. And as such Name Anastasia is reference to resurrection or more specifically, REINCARNATION WHOOO META REFERENCES. Yes I do know the difference between resurrection and reincarnation you don't need to remind me. As for Goldia it's a bit tricky if you don't know the rationale behind it. It simply comes from the word Gold from the English language AT A SURFACE LEVEL. If you've played the game Pocket mirror Spoilers, you already know what the name means. From Ancient European origin Goldia means "good life". If you take only the meanings behind it and the order which the sisters were introduces they assemble the sentence: Resurrected/Reincarnated good life.

Here's some other references you might have missed. In the game Pocket mirror Goldia is younger of the twins, just like here. (Unlike here, Goldia has a older brother not sister. No Enjel doesn't count, canonically.)

Twins' behaviour is a mirroring of Alice and Alicia personality. They're also reference to Quelaag and Quelaan. (Because Fromsoft did ma girls dirty. Quelaag didn't do anything wrong. Quelaan shouldn't have died.)

The twins were originally planned to have heterochromia of red and blue eyes. As Alicia had blue and Alice had red. This was later scrapped and syncretized into Anna having Purple = Red+Blue and Goldia having golden eyes.

The title has more meanings than you may think, the meaning of it relation to it's meaning in the lullaby is the primary meaning.

Trivia, This is long.