Chapitre 78: Three Little Sisters
The little girl hid behind her brother, only the top of her head peeking behind his shoulders. However, that was enough for me to see her big green eyes, shining like starlight, looking at me curiously. We made eye contact, and she hid herself immediately.
"Don't be shy, Aletta," the boy said, "those people won't harm you, I think."
He then placed her before me. The girl in question stared away, playing with her stubby litttle fingers while fidgeting.
"How cute!" I shouted and went towards her. She was frightened by my loud voice and returned behind her brothers back. "Raya, Raya, isn't she cute," I said while pulling her sleeves.
Raya simply rolled her eyes, as if familiar with my little antics and told me, "sure, whatever you say."
"Don't be such a debby downer," I complained and stomped my feet, "little sisters are the best after all."
Raya who had been drifting away with her spirits returned and said, "do you really mean that?"
"Of course, nothing is purer than a little sister," I replied and went towards the kid. "Come to big sister, I swear I won't harm you." I opened my arms to welcome her, but she just shied away.
"You are scaring her," Raya said, "let me do it."
She shoved me away (by grabbing my face no less) and stood before the girl, kneeling to reach the same height as her. "Hello, little lady, what is your name, would you tell your big sis?" Raya then smiled, and with her gentle eyes she looked just like a caricature of Mother Theresa. Really, her face was such a scam.
The girl peeked through her brothers arm and answered, "Aletta."
"I see, my name is Raya," she said and then nudged me, "this scary woman, hers is Agnes, I urge you to not get close to her, she is more frightening than she looks."
"You," I involuntarily opened my eyes wide as I reacted to Rayas words and exclaimed, "you think this is funny?" I reached out to slap her big butt. A loud, dull sound resounded and Raya jumped forward.
"Ouch," she yelled and rubbed the sore spot, "stop doing that!"
"No, it is you who needs to stop doing that." I clasped her shoulders and moved really close to her. "Don't humiliate me in front of that girl."
"I'm pretty sure that's on you."
I moved even closer and my lips touched Rayas ear. "How much more punishment do you need?" I whispered. "Don't ruin this for me."
"I've never seen you so serious. You must love your 'little sister' a lot," Raya told me and she turned weirdly sheepish, "so girls that call 'big sis', you must really like them, no?"
"Now, don't self-insert your likeness into my characters, that is embarrassing," I corrected her sensibly.
"Tha-tha-that's not what I meant," Raya stuttered and she even bit me in all her excitement.
Feeling the grip of her teeth that came due to her embarrassment, I quickly corrected myself and shouted, "Ow, ow, ow, I am sorry, I was wrong! I love you, I love you!"
"Too late you hateful wench, repent in your death." Rayas bite turned stronger and I saw her brows creasing as they moved downward, while her eyes formed cute little tears.
Aletta, the boys little sister, observed us the whole time and started to giggle. "You two are funny."
"The world is full of jokes," I told her, "for example how about the coincidence of us meeting again?"
The girl slipped through her brother and stared at me, her long eyelashes fluttering. She tilted her head.
"Don't you remember," I asked her, "yesterday, you told me about the man Albert as I was watching the scene in the streets. If I remember correctly you were stalk-"
"Ah!" The child shouted loudly and her mouth opened wide. Flustered, she shoved her small hands into my face and closed my mouth.
"Umph," I let out and could do nothing more, because her tight grip ensured I would not be able to.
"I remember, I remember," her shrill voice resounded in everyone's ears as she smiled awkwardly. "No need to repeat it!"
Oh, got it. I nodded as I understood. I grabbed her arms an asked her, "do you want to go out?"
Aletta looked at me, her hands in mine, she replied, "where to?"
"Anywhere! It's a tryst. I will buy you whatever you want!"
"Really?" She gasped and her eyes glimmered. "Really, really?"
The boy too asked skeptically, "really?"
"Yes, of course, I promise." And as I said so, Aletta happily jumped into my arms and I picked her up. "Woah, you are heavier than you look."
She nestled into my bosom and told me, "let's go then!"
"Aletta," the boy interjected, "stop being so willful, we can't just take what belongs to them without giving back." I would have trusted his words a lot more if he hadn't tried to steal from me.
"Stupid brother, go away," his sister complained and kicked him with her small feet. "You are ruining my moment."
"Hey, that is dirty, you imp!" The boy swatted away her bare feet in disgust, but there was already a dirty imprint on his face. "Don't be so selfish!"
"It's alright. I like selfish people." I smiled and walked out the inn. I stared into the sky and I saw that dark clouds were starting to form, as they gloomily watched over this town and its residents. I also saw the people slowly removing themselves from the bustling scene and returning into their abodes, in hopes of shielding themselves from a possible storm. "We should move soon, it looks like it might rain."
Aletta in my arms laughed innocently while swaying her legs. "It's high, it's high-,wait, it's not that high," she said.
The boy followed right behind us, his face shrouded by its own cloud. Raya meanwhile looked at me, suspicious of what I may be planning, before she too joined our little adventure.
"Where do you want to go?"
"I will guide you," the girl said, "just follow my directions."
She pointed me through the market, and once again, I waded through the stands, but the people had noticeably thinned. The sunshine was slowly being covered as we walked and the scenery turned bleaker and bleaker. Still, these points did not stop the merchants from continuing their business.
"Are we going to talk about it," I whispered into Aletta's ear.
"Talk about what?"
I watched the ground so I would not step into any trash. "Talk about you stopping me from talking."
"Ah." She blinked twice. "My brother doesn't know that I am following that Chase and his group, don't tell him. He always gets mad at me." She then pouted and swung her arms around.
These two kids, so young and already these many secrets.
We arrived add a junction in a street and she swerved me to the right. On our way, we passed a thin black cat, with an unknown wailing child running behind it. The place she wanted to be was a house, high yet humble. A sign hung above its window showing a red cross.
"This is. . . An apothecary?"
The girl didn't say anything, she only urged me to enter. And so we did.
"Welcome, oh, a very big group today," a man said from the inside. He had a big belly and brown hair, his shoulders were broad but he was not very tall. He wore around him, a leather apron.
"Uncle Sir," Aletta shouted, "give me the best medicine for mum!"
The mans eyebrows shot up. "It's you?" He then had a gentle, yet guilty smile on his face. "Aletta, dear, I do wish to help your mother too, but you know my hands are bound on this matter. They aren't my wares. I only sell them."
"I know, I know, I have the money," Aletta replied.
That sounded like my cue. I placed the big money bag on the counter and the mans attention was immediately caught by the jingling sound. "I am paying."
The man gulped as he saw the silvery coins meekly peeking through the bag. He then sighed in relief and said, "I am more than happy to help." He soon disappeared into another room. After a while he came back and in his hands he held a bundle of herbs, tied together with a string. "So, what you have to do with it is soak it in wa-"
"I know what it does," the girl yelled and showed her cute little fangs, "just give me three."
Her brother shouted from behind, "Aletta! Don't go overboard. One is more than enough."
"You don't know that, stupid brother," the girl said, "why not take their goodwill when they already offer it?"
"You," her brother stared at her, speechless. He continued, "why are you like that?"
Raya patted his shoulders. She had a faint smile, and reflected in her eyes was a knowing pity, as if she could understand what life was like with an egoistic sibling. Huh, yes, she must be thinking about Anne.
I paid while they were bickering. The thing wasn't really that expensive, in comparison to the money I had. We then left the apothecary, with the merchant happily seeing us out.
Aletta looked at me, and while still in my arms, she kissed my chin from below. It was a "thank you".
I—not expecting such a sneaky attack—jumped back in surprise. I had to compose myself from that sugar punch and hid my face behind my palm. "Eh, no need. Is there nothing more you want?"
"No, that is it. Big sister." She smiled radiantly.
I quickly glanced at the looming clouds. The dark shade had turned deeper, but there was still time. As it had gotten considerably colder, Aletta snuggled into my arms and I reciprocated by hugging her tighter.
I went back into the market with her and there I bought some skewers of lamb, glistening brown on the outside and red in the middle. There was a golden sauce slathered on the white fat and the smell of roasted meat wetted everybody's appetite. As the merchant was about to close his shop anyway, he offered me a discount. I placed the skewers in her hands and she waved them around in excitement.
"Are you sure," the child asked me, her round eyes already staring a hole into the meat while her mouth salivated. "I've never smelled something this good."
She didn't wait for an answer when she bit into the skewers and soon, sticky brown sauce coated her small mouth. As she was occupied with eating, I gave her a small kiss on her left cheek and tasted the sweet lamb. Aletta fell back from my abrupt actions and with red ears tried to jump out my arms. Having gotten my revenge, I grinned silently.
I finally placed her down again and went towards the boy to hand him a skewer too, and as I was doing that, I reached out for my bag.
"Are you sure," he asked, but just like his sister, his senses were already bewitched by the aroma.
I patted his head and told him, "take care of your sister." Afterwards, the money I took from him, he received back.
He stared at the coins in his hands, and I thought he was overwhelmed with gratitude, before he said, "that's less than before."
"Don't get greedy now. It's not charity."
The duo, with money and skewers, soon left thereafter. While Aletta wanted to stay, her brother could not wait to disappear, so they bickered on the way back again.
"What are you concocting," Raya asked me from the sides. Her voice emotionless as ever.
I waved the children away. "Nothing. Can't I be nice for once?"
"You don't expect me to answer seriously, do you? Is it fun to play your mind games all the time?" She squinted her eyes and her brows creased, as she chewed her lips.
"You are way too pessimistic," I joked, "the boy reminded me of my old self, that's all."
"How so?"
"Well," I grabbed Rayas head and put her on my chest, "we both have very willful little sisters." Raya promptly tugged my hair and was about to pull, but I continued, "however, we still love them." I then stroked her head.
She twitched, and her grip loosened from my words, and very slowly, her arms fell, and she wrapped them around my waist. There was a short pause between us. The road was devoid of any movements, as all went into hiding from the imminent storm, leaving it only for the two of us. She hugged me tightly while silently burying her face into my breasts. Her hands ran up and down my back.
Soon, it started raining, cleansing the town of all dirt.
I should—at that time—maybe have known what bad omen that was.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone