NOVEL SIMPLE Ch.60 – Sisterly Divide
POV: Dyenna
It was clear that Darren wasn't happy about being ruled out of whatever plan he had in mind, but that didn't matter to Dyenna: now that she had gained the power needed to rebuild the ancient Heliolite empire, she just needed a cause to push the other kingdoms of the Eastern Continent to join her behind the external threat of Nightmare Tyrant, and to do this, it was necessary to find that monster... or to create it.
Dyenna had positive feelings about that monster, the few people who had arrived in the city had told conflicting stories and the information she had managed to obtain was, at best, second or third hand accounts. However, there was some information that she believed to be correct given that it remained constant from rumor to rumor: the monster had appeared, had only shown interest in the most powerful opponent among those present and broke open the cells in which the prisoners were held.
'I have no idea what's going on, but I'm sure I can turn it in my favor,' she thought with a hint of a smile, 'mostly…' Dyenna's eyes moved to her sister.
It was clear that Rosalia had something, she wasn't stupid and she had understood immediately that it wasn't illness or tiredness, but she had decided to leave her alone, to find the right moment to investigate and understand if by chance there was a risk that her sister could become a threat to her. Dyenna waited for the hour to get later before making her visit: she showed up at Rosalia's door with the inn which had now become silent and dark, with barely any distant noise coming mostly from outside the building.
“Big sis? What…what are you doing here?” Rosalia asked her after opening the door very, very slowly. Darren had left a guard, but that didn't mean she could abandon all caution.
“Is this the way to welcome me?” Dyenna replied by wrinkling her nose and clenching her fists on her sides, "this is the second time you've treated me like this, as if I'd become a monster!"
“Ah-ah…” Rosalia giggled nervously, moving her eyes away and pulling a lock of hair behind her ear, “do you… do you want to come in?”
“Of course, I didn't come to talk in front of the door…”
Rosalia moved to let Dyenna enter her room; the room was spacious and decorated appropriately for a rich merchant or some minor noble, with a large window from which it was possible to glimpse part of the city's rooftops. Rosalia remained near the door, while Dyenna, Nightmare Tyrant, approached the window to contemplate the landscape below illuminated here and there by some magical light.
“What's going on, little sis?” Dyenna asked, clasping her hands behind her back and stretching, “I don't think you're just tired or not feeling well. What is bothering you?”
“N-nothing,” Rosalia replied, hinting at a smile that expressed courtesy rather than affection, “it's just that… I can't describe it, you've changed since I left the castle.”
“It could be the Second Awakening, some things in me have changed, I admit,” Dyenna said, turning to meet her sister's eyes, “but I'm still me, I'm still your big sister.”
There was more that Rosalia wasn't telling her, it was clear that whatever had happened was more than just an external change.
“You… you're right! You're still you, right?" Rosalia said in a hopeful tone, “you're still my lovely big sis,” she looked down at Dyenna's feet, “don't worry, don't mind me.”
“Oh, Rosalia,” Dyenna smiled slightly and came closer, opening her arms so she could hug her younger sister, “you know I can't help but pay attention to you. You are my precious little sister.”
Rosalia accepted the hug and did not hesitate to return it, even though in the position in which the two found themselves it was impossible for them to see each other's faces and understand what was going on in the other's mind and vice versa. They remained in that pose for only a few seconds, the time it took for Dyenna to understand that something was truly going beyond her control.
- - -
POV: Rosalia
She hugged her sister; those arms were the same ones that had cuddled her since they were children and the scent she had was hers, but that overwhelming feeling of power that her Class had allowed her to perceive was similar to the one she had perceived for the first time inside the Sleepy Swamp dungeon. Somehow, the Second Awakening hadn't just made Dyenna even more powerful, it had made her something like a dungeon core… perhaps she had received her powers through a dungeon? Rosalia dismissed the idea because she had never heard of anyone gaining power like that, she had never even heard of dungeon cores doing anything other than standing still in their dungeon rooms either.
'I have a very bad feeling, as if Dyenna might break my neck at any moment,' thought Rosalia, 'I would really like to ask you what is going on, where my sweet sister has gone, but I have the impression that not even you know what happened to yourself...'
Rosalia loosened her grip and Dyenna let her go, “please don't make me worry,” Dyenna told her.
'I have to try to keep a low profile and not draw attention to myself,' she thought with a slight smile, "yeah, sorry... I overreacted, that's all!" Rosalia raised a hand to make a delicate caress on her sister's cheek, "I hope I have reassured you!"
“Sort of,” Dyenna replied, “hey, I have an idea! How about I call Shalotte and we all sleep together tonight? It seems like a good idea to make up for lost time!”
Rosalia inadvertently hesitated for a moment, 'calm down, calm down Rosie, it's unlikely that if Dyenna wants to hurt you she'll do it in an inn,' she thought, ashamed of the distrust she couldn't help but have for her sister, but she couldn't silence the voice of her survival instinct. "Yes! Of course! A girls' night, but we shouldn't stay up too late since we're leaving tomorrow!”
“Don't worry, at most the worry will be squeezing us all together in bed!” Dyenna replied giggling and placing her lips on her younger sister's forehead, "I'll go call her and be back, prepare the pillows!"
Rosalia had no idea if she had been able to convince Dyenna of her harmlessness, she wasn't even sure that her sister realized that what she had done, whatever she had done, was clearly evident to her. Caution advised her not to mention it and while Dyenna went to wake up Shalotte to take her to sleep there with them, she began to add pillows... from then on she would have to be extremely careful when around Dyenna, at least until she understood what had happened to her and how she could help her.
