The white-haired, red-eyed stranger standing on the ledge stepped forward and raised his sword.  Thallios trembled and stepped backward.  He reached for the dagger at his waist and unsheathed it, extending the blade into a sword. 

“Didi, wait!” a woman’s voice called.  The white-haired man paused.  Thallios turned toward the sound of the voice.  A woman with similar flowing white hair and red eyes approached them.  Turning to the man, she said, “He seems to mean no harm.  You’re probably scaring him.”  

She then turned to Thallios.  “Don’t worry, we won’t hurt you.  We heard a noise out here, so my younger brother went out to see who it was.”  She took a closer look at Thallios.  “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Thallios kept his sword raised but was shaking from being drenched and cold.

“Didi, put your sword away,” the woman said to the man.  The man lowered his sword and sheathed it, although he kept his hand on the hilt.  She turned to Thallios.  “Do you want to come in for tea?  You can dry off too.” Thallios hesitated, but then lowered his sword and sheathed it.

***

Inside a small cottage by the marsh, Thallios’ cloak and robes were drying by the fireplace.  Thallios was wearing loose white robes that the woman had lent to him.  She poured tea into a cup and handed it over.  He accepted it but hesitated.

“Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned,” she reassured him.  She poured a cup for herself and drank it.  Thallios finally sipped from his cup.

“My name is Luli,” said the woman.  She gestured to the man,   “This is my twin brother Lutian.”

Twins? Thallios thought.  I guess they do look similar.

“What’s your name and where are you from?”

“My name is Thallios.  I am from the Western Region.”

“Ah, that’s so far away!  How did you end up here?”

“I…don’t know.”

Luli and Lutian looked at each other in confusion.

“I was with my…friend when we were attacked,” said Thallios.  “My friend fought to defend me and got injured.  The person attacking us was going to harm my friend, so I tried to defend him.”

“Oh…”

“After that, it was a blur.  The next thing I knew, I was here.”

Lutian eyed him silently.

Thallios stood up.  “My friend’s still in danger!  I have to go back!”

“But do you know where your friend is?” asked Luli.

Thallios frowned and sat back down.  “No, I have no idea…”

Luli looked at him more closely.  “There’s something interesting about you.”

“Hm?”

“You’re the first person I’ve encountered…that has two auras…”

“Two…auras?”

“Yes, one of your auras is like a cool blue flame and the other one is like a glowing ember.  Though it feels like the glowing one is being constrained somehow…”

Lutian, who had been silent the whole time, stood up and walked behind Thallios.  “There is a trace of a spell on your back…”

Thallios almost jumped.  Then he remembered what Astatine had said after he threw the silver net at him earlier.

“Suppression spell.  Can’t have him turning into the Fire Goddess.  Would be an unfair fight.”

“Who are you two really?” Thallios asked.  “How are you seeing these things?  Auras…spells…”

“Ah, I guess we haven’t fully introduced ourselves yet,” said Luli.

Thallios looked at her quizzically.

“We didn’t pick this name ourselves,” she continued, “but people call us…the Ghost Twins!”

***

Leiyu slowly awakened to the sound of a rushing river nearby.  He tried to move but realized that he was tied up by silver threads.  He suddenly remembered what had happened right before he passed out.

“Thallios!” he shouted.

“Your little prince is not here,” a voice from behind him said coldly.

Leiyu turned around and faced Astatine.  “You!”

Astatine grinned.  “Yes, me.”

“What did you do with Thallios?”

“What did I do?  Do you not remember that you were the one who sent him away?”

“I sent him away?”

“Yes, with that neat little teleportation spell.  I was quite impressed.  That is a very advanced technique.  Who taught that to you?”

“No one…”

“Eh?”

“I don’t even know what I did…”

“Huh…”

Leiyu tried to twist against the silver threads that were tied around him.

“Ah, don’t bother,” said Astatine.  “You won’t get out of those.  Although come to think of it, your little prince was able to break through the netting made out of the same material.  And he put himself in danger trying to shield you…I already said I wasn’t going to harm him.  Rather pointless as well, since you ended up getting hurt anyway.”

Leiyu shuddered at the thought of Thallios almost getting injured.  “What do you want with him anyway?”

“As I told you before, my lady has a score to settle.”

Leiyu stared at Astatine as he recalled what he had said before.

“My lady Samarian, priestess of the Goddess of Earth.”

“Goddess of Earth?” Leiyu uttered.

Astatine smiled.

“What is she going to do?” asked Leiyu.

“Not sure.”

“Why would she have a score to settle?  Thallios never did anything to her.”

“Not the little prince himself.  My lady has a score to settle with the Goddess of Fire.”

“But…Thallios’ mother already passed away years ago.”

“But the Goddess of Fire didn’t pass away.”

“...”

Astatine looked at him grimly.  “Why are you involved anyway?”

“Huh?”

“This is a conflict between the goddess of the Southern and Western Regions.  You are not from either of those places.”

“I made a promise…”

“Promise?”

“I promised Thallios’ father that I’d protect Thallios.”

Astatine frowned and furrowed his eyebrows.  “His father?”

“King Xenon of the Western Region…”

Astatine clenched his fists and snarled.  “King Xenon!”

Leiyu looked up at him, unsure of the reason behind this drastic change in demeanor.

Astatine’s eyes were full of rage.  “King Xenon sent the soldiers that killed my family!”

---

Author’s Note

Although Luli and Lutian are twins, Luli refers to Lutian as didi (younger brother).  Presumably, she entered the world before he did.