Peak of Winter, Week 3, Day 5

  “Hey, runts,” Raphael greeted his younger siblings, rubbing his knuckles over the top of their heads.

  Leo and Leah had their Affirmation just the day before—while their elder brother joined his most recent squad on a monster extermination.

  He’d heard about it, though. Their Lights of Dawn, sparkling and shimmering—but not enough to overpower his. Yet even his Affirmation was nothing compared to their sister’s. Nora had long since changed in his mind from when he thought her useless. When she’d left, she’d been an incompetent. A fool. A girl unable to so much as talk back.

  Raph ran into her semi-regularly in Twilight, though he almost suspected she was avoiding him. His access to Twilight had expanded over the past years, thanks to Eve’s Slumber and Theo’s pilgrimage to the Callistan Empire. Both of which had taken some pressure off his shoulders and also given him access to their usual time slots in the training space.

  It meant more trips from Adeline to the main estate—the townhouse in the Capital of the West had been built long after the Dawns built Twilight—but it was worth it. His Skills were reaching their middling levels, and it helped that his bottlenecks were shorter with Twilight guiding him. He’d still been stuck on Level 39 of his main Skill for months, though. But he was sure he would break through soon.

  “Raph,” Leo complained, fixing the short curls atop his head. Meanwhile, Leah just beamed up at him.

  “It’s time?” She asked, her eyes alight.

  Raph gave a crooked grin, kneeling down to be eye level with the girl.

  Was Nora this small back then? When she Awakened? Raph couldn’t remember. All he remembered was the anger.

  Leah had short hair, her dark curls barely passing her chin, and she held her hair back with clips of crystal butterflies. She was in the usual pale purple that children of the Dawn were confined to. Raph himself was in a deep red-violet set of armor that had the occasional streak of burnt orange. It was all leather, because Twilight wasn’t the kind of place they needed to wear chainmail or plate, but that didn’t make it safe.

  Fortunately, neither of the children before the young man had Skills that would be too dangerous to train. They weren’t aiming for Combat evolutions of their Classes—every time Leah or Leo spoke about what they wanted to learn, it was more artistic and creative.

  That worked all the better for Raph.

  “Yeah, I’m going to show you around Twilight. Help you work through some questions. Then, you’re on your own.” Raph whistled, a high-pitched thing. “I’m jealous, though. You twins get double training access because your schedules align.”

  That was the trick with Twilight. Each door held only a single key. That meant you had to be present at the same time. Eve and Raph were hardly close enough to be willing to adjust their schedules for each other—and Theo? That brat would steal the key at every opportunity the season before he left.

  Raph had once held an anger so hot it burned everything around him, and it was made worse at the knowledge that one of his siblings was able to monopolize a key to Twilight. But then Nora had appeared that first time, waiting for Theo and kicking Raph in the shin. It was more strength than she should have been capable of wielding—the power to bruise his flesh black.

  When he realized she was a monster, Raphael simply decided not to bother himself with thoughts of inadequacy. It wasn’t easy, and at first, he couldn’t help but antagonize his younger sister. Then the years passed.

  Every day, he grew closer to the age of culpability. Grew closer to adulthood. Grew away from the hot-headed boy he had been. But still, there was nothing quite like a younger sibling getting under his skin. Fortunately, without Eve or Theo, the only ones around were the twins—and they were a decade younger than him. Too young. They were mere toys to entertain.

  Leo was rolling on the balls of his feet, clearly holding himself back from running off. Leah wasn’t so contained, and she pulled on Raph’s hand with all the strength she could muster—which wasn’t much. Yet again, he was reminded of the Strength that Nora should never have had. But instead of festering at the thought, he gave the twins a smile.

  “All right, let’s go,” he said, standing up straight and grabbing each of the kids by the shoulder and pushing them along. It was a controlled movement, barely enough to cause them to stumble, and once they caught themselves, the two of them followed along at the pace Raph set with his long legs. Were their father around the manor, Raphael would stand equal to him in height—and he knew Nora was slowly shooting up. She was already much taller than Eve had been before her Slumber.

  Leading the twins down to the basement, Raph passed the usual entrance—golden stairs that would lead to an underground training hall. Instead, he slid behind a wall decorated with a family portrait. As his body passed through the false wall, he waved for the twins to follow.

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  Looking excitedly at each other, they rushed through the magical barrier, their hands clasped and binding them together.

  On the other side of the wall was a decorative hallway, with golden vines lining the stairwell as a bannister and etchings of brilliant battles on the walls.

  As they descended, the two of them looked on in awe. It wasn’t until Raph cleared his throat that they realized that they’d come to a stop before what could only be described as a piece of art masquerading as a door. Suns and branches and swirls of light were etched into the stone, all painted in dazzling shades of sunrise.

  Leah reached out and traced the imagery with his fingers, only to jump back at the pulse of power that hit her.

  “Are those—“ she started, awe filling her voice and causing her words to drift away.

  “Runes? Yeah. But don’t [Inspect] them, it can get dangerous.” Raphael said, his brow furrowed and his eyes boring into the twins. They both nodded severely.

  Satisfied that they took him at his word, he pulled out a thin, rectangular box from his bag. It was a deep purple wood, and embedded with the symbol of the Dawn. Popping it open, he held up the golden key to the main estate’s entry to Twilight.

  “I have the key today, but usually you’ll get it from your Governess, or on occasion Emerson will send a runner. Under no circumstances will you hold onto the key outside of your allowed time in Twilight. If you find yourself with free time, you can request access from Mother or Emerson.” Raphael wasn’t speaking particularly gently, or slow, or kindly, but Leo and Leah still looked at him as if he hung the moon.

  That was the joy of being the only sibling who had stuck around after they turned six.

  “Am I understood?” He asked the twins.

  “Of course,” Leo said quietly, his nose twitching in anticipation.

  “Yes, yes! Please, Raph, let’s go!” Leah said, practically jumping up and down. It was still early morning, the sun hadn’t even risen, so Raphael had no idea where all the energy was coming from.

  “Yeah, yeah, okay—I’m opening the door,” he grumbled, turning around and doing just that before sliding the key back into its case and pocketing it.

  As he opened the door, the two children went slack-jawed. The whole of it was an internal sunrise—even the floor! The thin lining of water on the ground reflected Twilight beautifully, and Leah found herself wishing she’d brought her easel. Leo wished he could have carved the moment out of wood—but he knew the futility in such a thing.

  They ran inside, darting towards the far distant pillars—the only structures within the space. Raph followed leisurely behind them.

  It was such that, when the three of them entered the circle of pillars, and Raphael was just beginning his lecture of how to use them, the twins were too busy looking around to be listening.

  “Six…” Leah said under her breath, and Leo nodded reluctantly.

  Raphael narrowed his gaze at the two of them and quirked a malicious smile. “If you aren’t going to listen, I’m leaving you to fend for yourselves.”

  Leo looked nervously from the pillars to Raphael before swallowing thickly. Leah had the decency to look properly scolded. Thus, Raphael continued his speech. Saying how they each got a pillar—and it would list their Skills. The first time they tested their Skills, they would have to go through the whole list before being able to choose whichever Skill they wanted—though they would once again have to test everything again.

  “And what Skill are you two starting with?” Raphael said, stretching his words leadingly.

  “[Inspect]!” Both of them chirped.

  Raphael nodded. “Good, now, put your—“

  Between one moment and the next, Leo and Leah went from staring excitedly at Raph to staring behind him. Knowing what he would likely see, Raphael swore to himself before turning around to watch as a disheveled girl stepped out of a pillar.

  The clearly once intricate braids were loose, with curls popping free, and her outfit was riddled with tears. Her dark purple tights were ripped over her calves and knees—going up to her thighs. Her pitch black shorts were pristine, though. As was the dark cardigan she wore. The sheer iridescent layer of her shirt was ripped right down the middle, leaving her black undershirt on display. The girl’s eyes were a brilliant cobalt blue, and she stood just a head and a half shorter than Raphael—and the same amount taller than Leo and Leah.

  “Oh,” the girl said, before bringing her hand up to her ear and snapping her fingers.

  At once, the fabric of her clothes mended itself, her hair tightening into a new braid, and no longer was she a mess.

  “Hello,” Nora said curiously, looking down at Leo and Leah before turning her gaze up to Raphael.

  Her gaze wasn’t malicious, not like Eve’s always had been. Or angry, like Raph’s own gaze. It wasn’t indifferent like Theo, either. It was… what it was, Raphael supposed. Mildly intrigued, and a little pained—though that only appeared when she met Raph’s gaze.

  “Nora.” Raphael nodded in greeting, but Leo and Leah were stock still and staring at their elder sister.

  Years, Raphael reminded himself, formative years she’s been gone, only known through her portraits at the manor.

  “Look at you two,” Nora said gently, her hand falling back to her side. For the first time, Raphael noticed the black piece of fabric floating behind Nora. It was small, a dark pouch. But it looked full to the brim. “You’ve gotten so tall.”

  Leah was the first to move, and when she did, she rushed forward. Nora didn’t move, didn’t jolt away, not even as Leah got in her personal space and forced her arms around the older girl's midsection, squeezing with all her might.

  Leo wasn’t far behind, though, and when he rushed up, he occupied Nora’s other side.

  Raphael, however, was shocked. He’d never seen the twins clutch onto someone so viciously. He even heard the hiccup of Leah’s strangled cry. The twins had never greeted him like that.

  He thought it would make him angry, that clearly the twins remembered their sister as more than a portrait. That they knew her enough to cling to her so. But it didn’t. It just made him sad.

  But what made it worse was when Nora ran one hand over each of the twins' heads and looked to Raphael in confusion, mouthing the words, “What’s the matter with them?”

  With a regretful smile, he shrugged. “They missed you.”

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