Chapter 12

So warm. Whoever invented beds, I bless you with all my heart and soul. Also that pillow is very comfortable to hug. I wonder what material it's made off...

I stir a little as I hug that 'pillow' a little tighter, rubbing my face on it. I hear a little whimper as I do that.

It almost feels like soft skin... Didn't know they could make sounds though. Wait what? Soft skin? Sounds?

My eyes snap open and I'm greeted by the sleeping face of my dear twin Sister Anna. The 'soft skin' I just rubbed my face on was her shoulder.

Oh right. After the bath and dinner I gave some blood to Anna. She wanted to sleep together again. I didn't see why not. But why do I feel something soft and warm behind too?

I twist my head as much as I can and see Eliza, her arms draped around my waist, sleeping here. She has her face between my shoulder blade, a gentle smile gracing her lips.

I don't remember Eliza being here when I fell asleep yesterday... Wait. That's what I felt at some point? I had a feeling it wasn't a dream that I got scritches!

She must have sneaked in the night. She even put my tail around her waist.

Well now I don't know how to extract myself out of that human sandwich. I'm not too keen in waking them up. They deserve that rest after yesterday's events.

Ah woe is me, I guess we'll sleep in a little longer...

Except that I can't continue sleeping now that I feel their warmth against me. Or I should say now that I noticed it.

I'll just go through that stupid information I got as I touched that portal yesterday I guess. Really that headache was terrifying. Isn't there a better way to do this? Or at least a way to reduce the pain?...

I close my eyes with a quiet sigh. Can't dwell on that.

It's a slow and hard process. I have a feeling the amount of information is way more than I initially thought. But most of it seems locked away. It's here but something prevent me from knowing.

But what I learned is... I don't know how to describe that.

We all know there's gods. It's common knowledge. The thing we don't know are their names. At least nobody told us. And I'm almost sure very very few people know that.

Maybe kings and presidents. Well, the director of Euclydia Academy should know too. He can be considered an important figure.

There's two gods. Well, two Goddesses.

The domains of the first one are the Night and Day, Life and Death, Time and Fate. Her name is Seishi Sadame.

The second one's domain is a bit more simple, but maybe not. I'm not sure yet. It's the Elements. All of them. Even if there is weird or unusual elements she control it.

Her name is Miyabi Sora.

They seem to have other names too. And that's the reason they have a surname. But that information is blocked and I can't access it. I'll still ask around about those names. Maybe I'm wrong and everyone knows it...

Knowledge about the Goddesses may be important, but I admit that I'm more interested in something else.

It's about my space element. It feels like how to use it in a certain way got stuffed in my head. Something like how those last Gobelins appeared. At that moment I thought they teleported from a very long distance, with how space wrapped. But apparently that's not how it happened.

That, uh, spell? Technique? I don't know what to call it. Is what is in my head right now. But scaled down though.

Basically I have to tear open space with my magical energy. Then I could store things in that. It's like having an inventory from those games I played over the years. The problem is that I need to use my dagger each time. Well, I could do it by manipulating space directly. But some training is required first.

I'm quite eager to try it. Something like that will be pretty convenient. If I can master that before the Academy, maybe I can show off a little. And the most important part: for diving into dungeon that ability will be game changer. I have no idea what you need to prepare and bring inside. But it shouldn't be a problem with that technique.

Anna stirring in my arms broke me out of my thoughts. Her eyes open slowly, still full of sleep. When she sees me a little smile form on her lips and she put her arms around my neck as she scoot a little bit closer. She nuzzle my cheek with hers for a second.

"Morning Jane.." She says, her voice languid.

"Morning sleepyhead. Slept well?" I answer as my lips curve into a smile. "And you Eliza?"

"You knew?" Eliza's voice comes out from behind me as she nuzzle my back again.

"Well, you did nuzzle more aggressively all of a sudden so it was easy to guess." I answer, my voice full of amusement. "But do you mind letting go now please? I'd like to get up. There's something I want to try today."

She whines a little and, after a last nuzzle, finally let me go and get up. She stretches with a yawn and make way to my room's door as she tells us to come eat breakfast. Her mom certainly made it already.

I glance at my phone screen, it's 8am right now. We are not too late to get up so it's fine.

A few minutes later, after washing our faces a bit, we're sitting at the table to eat breakfast.

"Are you three really alright? What about your injuries girls?" Eliza's mom ask us with concern on her face.

At those words I start slightly. I forgot about those. I put my hand under my pyjamas. As I trace where I remember I got injured yesterday. I don't feel any cuts anymore, but there's still some pain. I lift my head with a smile.

"I'm fine, there should be nothing left." I answer her.

My gaze go to the girl's necks next to me. It's difficult to see but I can make out the little wounds. It mostly healed since it's not that deep. But it still make me clench my hands on the table, my claws coming out to scratch the wood. Both girls noticed my gaze and sent me gentle smiles. They each reach with their hands and pry my fingers one by one from the table.

"Don't get worked up, Jane. We're fine now. You made sure of it." Anna says, massaging the back of my hand with her thumb while Eliza nods and do the same.

I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding. I can't react that much each time they get hurt. It would be exhausting. And if I'm exhausted I won't be able to protect them. I look up again to smile at Eliza's mom, reassuring her that everything was fine.

After breakfast I went to the backyard of the house, Anna and Eliza said they had something to do though. So they aren't with me. I'm very eager to try that ability out.

[Anna's POV]

As I watch my dear twin sister go to the backyard with her tail wagging with excitement I smile fondly.

Damn. Too cute.

"She's illegally cute." Eliza quips next to me, her smile gentle.

"My thoughts exactly." I nod before sighing. "Let's go to your room?"

She glances at me, nods, turns around and start to walk toward her room. We have some things to discuss. Mostly about the person we both love. I can feel my wings stiff out of nervousness. But my mother's words are echoing in my head.

The click of Eliza's door behind me shake me out of my thoughts. I take in her room. It didn't change much over the years. There's still a gaming setup in a corner for our sessions. It suits her well, everything is in various blue and white tones, reminding people of a calm sea. I'm even quite surprised she didn't become a water mage. It may be cliché but it would suit her.

Manipulating barriers is still cool. And also fits. She has always been someone we could rely on.

Her bed occupy another corner of the room. It looks soft and comfortable to sleep in and since it's pretty big I bet we could all lie on it and still have room.

The walls are white, surprising right, but covered with pictures. Most are of the three of us. I never noticed before but each pictures where Jane is, Jake at that time, show her with girl's clothes on.

Interesting...

Eliza sits on her chair, gesturing for me to take place on her bed so we can talk face-to-face.

"So... You finally decided to pursue her?" She starts, her tone slow and mesured.

"Uh. Yes. I mean..." I answer, taking a deep breath before I continue. "Someone recently told me to go for it. She gave me, us, her blessing. So why not?"

"But why hesitate until now? Except the siblings part." She tilt her head slightly, looking a bit confused.

"Hm. It may comes out as pretty dumb you see." I start, hesitating a little. "Well, I've always loved her. But she always hated herself. Way too much if I might add. So I knew she wouldn't understand my feelings. When she changed though? It's like my mind exploded. She's so cute! I love her for herself, of course. She's gentle, protective, caring, attentive. And now the cuteness is added to that. She's also pretty sexy when she gets all serious."

I whispered that last part, a little ashamed to say that as my cheeks burned red. Nobody can blame me though. First watching her overcome our sperm donor, threatening him, then getting that angry for a simple spilled drop of our blood... Yeah, I'm pretty far gone. But I'm fine with it.

"Okay, I see. Eh. Seems like we are the same right? Then now we have to make her understand her charm." Eliza says as she nod her head with understanding. "But now there's something else we need to discuss right?"

Eliza looks at me as she says that, her expression getting more serious.

"You know I won't abandon wooing her. And I know you won't too. So what are we going to do?"

"Remember the person that gave her blessing. There's something else she said... She told me to be more open about others getting close to Jane. She saw her charm and guessed she would attract plenty of people." I answer as I shrug my shoulders.

I'm still a little hesitant about that. But my mother is right. Jane is too charming, too likable to not attract anyone else. Hells she did capture Eliza's heart a long time ago.

"So... You are fine with it?" Eliza's voice is hesitant and scared.

"I... I guess so. I mean... Aah... At least the first one is you."

I see Eliza's shoulders relax considerably at my confirmation and I send her a reassuring smile. She's still our best friend. Well, she's Jane's soon-to-be-girlfriend-like-me-I-hope.

A thought suddenly hit me. We both know we won't be the only charmed girls. But what if some random boy try to hit on her? But as I think about it, it's impossible for her to accept any man. She never showed interest in them, even after her gender change.

I wonder if it's my fault? Since she was identifying as a girl since a long time ago. Is it because of me she also likes girls? Did I corrupt her?

If that's the case I'm pretty proud of myself. At least it means Eliza and me have a good chance. But we need to do something about her denseness.

A few hours pass by as we discuss how much we love her, and how we'll tease her the next time there's an opportunity.

A knock on the door stops us though and we hear Jane sweet voice beyond it. She's sounding pretty excited.

"Eliza? Sis? Are you in here? Come I want to show you something!"

We exchange a glance, both our lips curve into a fond smile as we make way to get out of the room.

[Jane's POV]

I guide my dear twin and my best friend toward the backyard, my tail swaying with pride behind me. I can hear them swoon slightly but I ignore that. It's the usual reaction recently.

After a few hours of trying out that new ability, I finally reached some okay-ish success. And I can't wait to show them.

"So. Remember the Gobelin's dungeon that disappeared when I touched it? Well. I got a bunch of knowledge out of it. Don't ask how it works... I have no idea. But it gave me information on something very cool and useful." I start, my voice full of excitement. "It's... You know what? Just watch!"

I summon my dagger with a flick of my wrist. I make sure they are watching and then slash at the air right besides me. A tear manifest itself on the trajectory of the slash I just made, and stay right here hovering. I lift my other arm and wiggle my fingers to show that I have nothing in my hand.

Then I shove my whole arm in that little rift. My limb disappear immediately and they gasp in surprise and worry.

I just look at them with a smile to reassure them. A few seconds later I pull back my arm. In my hand is a small pebble.

"Tadaaa! It's an inventory! You know, like in games!" I exclaim, my hand on my hips and my face screaming 'please praise me'.

They both stare at me for a few seconds, stunned by what they just witnessed. Then they giggle at my antics.

"That's a neat ability to have, Jane. It'll be very useful to dive dungeons. But do you always need your dagger to open it?" Eliza ask, tilting her head with curiosity.

As expected of Eliza. Always thinking of the practical side like the responsible girl she is. It makes me wilt a little though and my ears droop slightly on my head.

"Well... Yeah... For now! I mean, I need to train it. But I'm sure I'll be able to open it without using the dagger." I answer.

There's also something I noticed with that 'inventory'. Inside there's a few spots where I can't put anything. Like it's waiting for something special to be placed inside. I tried looking at the information stuffed into my head... Without progress. I feel it is here. Impossible to get access thought.

I also explain this to them, I trust them too much to hide that. Of course they have no idea what would fit in those spaces.

Speaking of trust, I should tell them about the rest of the knowledge I got. Even if it's not a lot.

"Right, there's something else I gained. Do any of you know the name of the gods?" I ask as I look at them seriously.

"Their names? Do they have one?" Anna answer, confusion in her voice.

"Apparently. They are two Goddess. Miyabi Sora and Seishi Sadame. But I have a feeling it's not their only names. There's no proofs though."

Both of them hum slightly. They frown in thought.

"Are you sure you should tell us? It seems like a big secret." Anna says worriedly. "Shouldn't you avoid talking about that?"

"Secret? So what? Aren't you both my closest people? It never crossed my mind to keep secrets to you two." I shrug, my voice casual and certain sounding. "Besides, we'll stick together for a long time right? So you will know sooner or later."

They both smile softly at my words.

The days pass slowly like this as I train to perfect that ability. It takes me another two days before I can do it without summoning my dagger. And it's only the day before our departure for the Academy that I manage to use it while moving.

It's now the day when we take the high-speed train for Euclydia Academy.

I'm nervous, terribly so. Who wouldn't be? After all we are going to the best Academy around. Over there the concept of 'genius' is almost non-existant. Everyone is one in their own right. I'm not sure I belong though. Yes my race is never seen before. But is that really enough?

Couldn't I just send reports of the quirks even if I attend somewhere worse?

Well, of course I will still go. Eliza and Anna are going, so I'll go.

We're standing in front of the train. Because of the monsters in the Wilderness the tracks, and so the train, are protected by a cylinder version of the Dome that protect the cities.

I heard this week that the events a few days earlier happened all over the world. Nobody knows why all the Domes shattered at the same time though. Maybe some important people do know. But not the common populace.

Whatever happened, it alarmed the authorities. That's why we can see dozen of soldiers everywhere in the station, standing at attention or patrolling. Always keeping an eye to everything they can see.

I can finally see the train after I give our tickets, that Virina delivered to us yesterday, to the gate line assistant.

It's a massive and sleek machine. It looks like a normal train you could find anywhere. But this one seems heavier while also feeling lighter. It's a weird feeling. It just seems to be made for pure speed.

As Euclydia Academy's prospect student, we are allocated to a luxurious car. The seats are fluffy but very red, the walls are covered in fancy wood and there's a wooden bar. Behind it are row of bottles and snacks.

We take our seats, our luggage tucked into my space.

Here we go I guess..