December 2024

  ***

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  The sound of an alarm rang through the bedroom for quite a long time before a hand groggily reached out for the clock and hit it. The girl lying in bed let out a long, tired yawn and simply kept sleeping, for about five minutes before the door to her room swung open and an adult pulled away the blanket.

  “No oversleeping on my watch!” the woman said with a grin, accompanied by a loud complaining groan coming from the young girl lying in bed.

  “Mooom! Just a little bit longer!”

  “Get ready for school, come on, Mana!”

  “Mhh…”

  Mana crawled out of her bed and walked towards the bathroom, brushing her teeth. She looked at herself in the mirror. Oddly colored hair and just as weird eyes stared back at her. Mutations resulting from the Kawaguchi Incident, which happened two years before her birthday. She was born into a world that was being subtly flooded with magical energies from other dimensions, and her entire being was doused in them, resulting in her abnormalities. However, aside from her strange looks, she was an ordinary middle school girl.

  She got into her school uniform and joined her parents for an uneventful breakfast while watching the morning news. Apparently, there were strange apparitions in town: ghostly shapes resembling people or objects, which were quickly defeated by Magical Girls.

  Nothing that concerns me.

  She grabbed her schoolbag and left the house to go to school.

  Mana Kanno was a regular, 14-year-old girl living in Tokyo. She went to a Girls’ Junior and Senior High school to attend her final year of middle school and would graduate without having to go to another part of town for high school. Her parents were a somewhat nerdy-looking man with glasses working in IT and a mother who was a seamstress who owned her own shop in a well-visited shopping street. Their apartment was right above said shop, in fact, so Mana always walked past the windows of the various stores on her way to and from the school, getting to see all the new games the electronics store was stocking and whatever new confection the bakery was trying out this month.

  On the way to school she met her friends, Makoto and Ami, two girls her age who were in the same class as her.

  “Did you catch the episode last night, Mana?” Ami asked her with an excited expression.

  “I did! It was pretty scary! I was up until two in the morning to watch it and then it ended on that cliffhanger! What do you mean we have to wait six months to see if Momo survives the attack in the hot spring?”

  “You could always just read the manga, you know?”

  “Ehh, too lazy!”

  Mana talked with the two of them about more of the anime that aired recently. They passed by a side street, which had a barrier set up; a simple one from wood to deter people from passing through, with a small depiction of a construction worker bowing and asking for patience and consideration.

  “There has been construction for a while now, hasn’t there?” Mana asked as she looked down the street; it was torn open, with exposed pipes and wires, but there were no construction workers.

  “I’ve never seen anyone work there, either.”

  Her friends exchanged a look and shrugged.

  “It’s some stupid adult stuff.”

  “Yeah, it’s probably, like, paperwork that hasn’t been filled out, so stuff is on hold.”

  Mana had a very strange feeling about all of this, but for now she let it go.

  ***

  A few minutes later they walked through the school gates. Maki from the disciplinary committee was at the gate again, eyeing them up and down as she tapped a finger on her wristwatch.

  “Sheesh, calm down, Maki. We’re two minutes early!” Makoto answered her as the group passed.

  “A good student would be at least five early!” Maki shouted after the trio, who simply laughed her off.

  “Oh right, Mana…” Ami spoke up as they switched from outdoor to indoor shoes next to each other.

  “Didn’t you mention once that you have a twin sister?”

  Mana stopped a moment before she nodded.

  “How come you’re not going to the same school?”

  How come indeed? It’s because she’s not your sister.

  The strange thought invaded Mana’s head and she put a finger on her temple, scrunching up her face for a moment.

  “Hmm, it’s because she’s…” Mana had to think for a moment. What was the reason again? Her friends looked at her, patiently, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was some kind of test, and after some more thinking the reason came back to her.

  “She just goes to a different school. That’s all. She didn’t want to visit one that’s only for girls; she’s a bit of a tomboy. She even lives in a small room closer to her school, but she still comes over all the time.”

  The other girls exchanged a look and shrugged.

  “I don’t get tomboys.”

  “Me neither.”

  School was over, and with that, the winter break officially started. Mana walked home on her own, with Makoto and Ami walking together in a different direction. This was part of her routine: every week she had to see her doctor, to get a full checkup on a condition she suffered from. She wasn’t entirely sure what she suffered from exactly, but her parents told her it was a mental thing she had from her early childhood, which started before she could even remember anything. Sometimes she would get violent for no apparent reason and have no memory of those incidents, so they got her into therapy. And since she started this therapy, it didn’t happen anymore, so she kept going, for her parents’ and her own sake.

  In the doctor’s office she was getting more than just a mental checkup; every time she had to walk through a strange device, which was apparently a full-body scanner. She had never seen a device like this before, but she wasn’t exactly knowledgeable about medical technology anyway.

  It was a large, chrome-colored cylinder, its interior meanwhile was lit in a gentle neon blue. After stepping inside, the cylinder closed completely, and what looked like a layer of light descended from the roof of the contraption and down her body before it vanished, then the door opened again.

  “Very good. Everything looks normal to me, Mana. You can proceed to the usual room.”

  Her doctor poked his head into the cylinder as he instructed her, and she nodded. She walked out of the scanner and into the doctor’s consultation room and took a seat.

  Whenever she was there, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this part of town was slightly different from the rest, even though it was as she always knew it. The scanner, the metallic hues in the counseling room – it looked familiar, but different at the same time.

  Like an imitation with foreign elements.

  Mana shook off her odd thoughts again. She was here for her consultation, not to get paranoid.

  ***

  “So, we’ve done this a few times before, so I don’t have to explain it to you, hm?” Her doctor was a friendly-looking large man with round glasses, sitting opposite her with a clipboard. ‘Stevyn Grendel’ his nameplate read. A foreigner, but one who managed to become a doctor in Tokyo.

  “Tell me, did you hear voices again recently?”

  Mana blinked and thought back to the start of the day, and the thought she had only recently.

  “Sometimes it’s like I’m doubting the things I know. Something tells me that Marisa isn’t really my sister.”

  “Is that so?” The doctor looked at his clipboard and made a few notes.

  “And how do you feel about this?” He pierced Mana with his friendly, but inquisitive eyes and she felt a little bit uneasy.

  Still, as she remembered, this was the one place where she could open up; nothing she told this man was told to her parents or anyone else. She could be fully honest, only here.

  “I want it to be true,” she admitted.

  “And why is that?” her doctor asked. She expected him to ask this follow-up question, but she still hesitated.

  “I…” she fought for the words to say, biting her lower lip as she looked to the side.

  “I’m attracted to her.”

  She didn’t dare to look at her doctor. She was certain he would be disgusted by her statement, but as he made a quiet ‘Hmm’ and scratched something down on his clipboard, she looked back and found no judgment in his eyes.

  “It’s wrong, isn’t it?” Mana asked quietly.

  He shook his head.

  “Nothing wrong with having feelings and desires. What defines us as humans is what we act upon, Mana.”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  He chuckled and leaned closer.

  “Sometimes I want to strangle my annoying neighbor. But I don’t do it. I simply keep going as a respectable member of society, and no one in our neighborhood could even guess that I think that way.”

  Mana nodded and looked at her hands.

  “I know she’s my sister, so I won’t act on it. But I still wish she wasn’t… if that makes sense.”

  Her doctor nodded again.

  “You weren’t raised together, right?”

  Mana looked at him and nodded.

  “My parents had a small falling out shortly after we were born, and they took one of us each… only a year ago we were reunited when they got together again. But Marisa… well, she goes to another school.”

  Her doctor nodded again and spoke.

  “That would explain a few things. I can’t claim to know what it’s like for you, but what I can tell you is this: don’t think you are a ‘freak’ or whatever for feeling this way. You didn’t know her before. She came into your life as a stranger, who is very similar to you without experiencing a childhood together that would have mentally prepared you for seeing her as nothing but your sister.”

  “Right… thank you.” Mana felt relieved by his words, then she furrowed her brow. “I’m also getting weird feelings when I look at the streets that are closed for construction.”

  This time she noticed a slight shift in her doctor’s attitude, though he tried his best to not let it show.

  “Oh? What about them? Is it because the construction work has been on hold for so long? It’s just paperwork that’s being held up forever by the town hall.”

  Mana looked at her doctor for a long time before she gathered her thoughts.

  “Isn’t it a bother for the people living there? Being unable to use the roads?”

  “Rest assured Mana, they have ways to get around it and get back to their homes.”

  “It’s blocking the whole street. No one can get through!”

  “Those aren’t the only roads in Tokyo, Mana. It’s a bother, for sure, but the people find a way around.”

  Mana pondered his words for a while, then she nodded, agreeing to let it go.

  “Do you still have that nightmare from time to time?” her doctor asked now.

  “I do.” Mana confirmed, clenching her hands into fists.

  “Describe it for me, again. Maybe there are new details?”

  Mana closed her eyes and let out a sigh, then she told him, once again.

  “I dream that I am a book. I gain awareness just as my sister walks into the library I’m stored in and picks me up. I am happy to see her, but there’s something in me. Something evil. After helping her I become obsessed with the thought of merging with her and taking over her body. My love for her is turned into an obsession to become the same person…”

  “Good, that’s quite enough. You don’t have to keep talking, I can see the toll it's taking on you.”

  Mana nodded gratefully, and the two continued their session like usual. Doctor Grendel would ask various questions, she would answer, and he would offer advice and some things she could try to make herself feel better, to have an outlet for her thoughts. He suggested that she could try writing, drawing or simply enjoying art that dealt with the subject matter that troubled her in a safe and controlled manner. Before she knew it, the hour was over.

  “Next week again?” she asked, and her doctor nodded.

  “Next week again,” he confirmed.

  ***

  Mana walked back home, staring at the road as she made her way through the familiar streets. She noticed more and more of the strange construction sites, with the roads torn open and access being denied. People were supposed to find a way around to get to their homes? She doubted it heavily.

  She stopped in front of one of the side alleys which were blocked off that way. Something was there, in the distance, she had a feeling.

  She quickly glanced around and confirmed that no one was watching her, and to her relief no one was there with her, making the street feel eerily quiet.

  Mana stepped closer to the barrier and was almost close enough to touch it as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “What are you doing? It’s dangerous to go there.”

  Mana turned around quickly, with her heart jumping into her throat as she stared at the man who caught her. It was a police officer who gave her a little smile.

  “It’s normal to be curious around your age, but don’t get hurt, alright? Better go home, now.”

  Mana nodded timidly and hurried along, feeling the policeman’s eyes on her back. She couldn’t help but notice more and more of the construction sites and barriers around her part of town, and it almost felt like she was boxed in a small area containing her house, her school and the doctor’s office.

  After arriving home she immediately headed for the bath, washing away her anxious feelings with hot water.

  “I just need to ignore this voice.” She whispered to herself.

  Mana stared into the mirror and looked at her reflection. Sunkissed skin, red hair, silver eyes. She was Mana Kanno, a regular girl, with a somewhat different look, thanks to the strange energies flowing through her world.

  Month 9, Year 34 of Chief Technocrat Castor’s Rule

  ***

  Stevyn left the doctor’s office through the ‘staff toilet’ door after the young girl left. There was no toilet here, only a long corridor. His footsteps rang through the metallic hallways as he walked straight for what felt like a whole minute, then took a turn left, ascended a few stairs, and turned left again. He entered a small room through a door and was greeted by an array of large displays, all of them showing various angles of ‘Tokyo’, as they called this containment facility.

  All the main streets were visible on the feeds, as well as various angles of ‘Mana’s classroom, the doctor’s office in which they just sat recently, and the girl’s home as well, in every single room. Stevyn did not want to see the girl bathe, so he covered the screen with his hand and instead focused his attention on the footage the other researcher kept replaying over and over on another screen. There she was, young ‘Mana’, approaching one of the fake construction sites meant to block off the way to where the containment area ended and the horizon was a simple mirage projected by screen-covered walls.

  “Good timing, Stevyn. Look at her, she almost approached the boundary again.”

  Stevyn let out a long sigh and took off his glasses, rubbing his tired eyes.

  “What did the scan show?” he managed to ask. The person talking to him was the young woman called Claudia, their newest hire. In the past few months since the containment breach, she proved to be a brilliant woman, and just recently became one of their full-fledged researchers, which right now meant looking at the daily life of a fourteen-year-old girl from another world, who was in truth a magical construct, erected around a magic book fueled by a soul.

  “The book is stirring again. It’s trying to break free by talking to her mind, like intrusive thoughts. It's a tenacious bastard; I’ll have to give it that.”

  “Well, that explains why her memories are coming back more vividly as nightmares. And why she realizes that her and her girlfriend aren’t actually sisters.”

  Claudia grimaced and turned towards Stevyn.

  “I still think that’s entirely in poor taste. That, and swapping their names.”

  Stevyn could only shrug in response as he approached a thermos on the nearby filing cabinet and poured himself a cup of coffee.

  “We didn’t have much of a choice. We built a copy of a city from another world without any knowledge of what their place is like, so we had to rely on the memories we extracted from the ‘Witch Queen’. If we were already using Mana’s memories to do that, we might as well implant them into the subject to make sure that as many things line up as possible. And how would you explain them looking the same? ‘Oh, by the way, this is your girlfriend, don’t mind her being your exact replica, happens all the time’? Don’t make me laugh.”

  Claudia sighed and looked at the ceiling.

  “I’m just afraid that her love for her ‘sister’ will blow this whole thing wide open. Love can do scarily impressive things.”

  Stevyn exhaled noisily.

  “Unusually unscientific of you, Claudia.”

  The young woman shrugged and looked at the camera feed.

  “Do you think it’s smart to keep the cameras in the bath and bedroom? You heard the girl last time, she was not happy with us, at all.”

  “Yeah and Meryl threatened to kick our asses if we have even a single blind spot in the containment field. I get her, this girl indirectly killed a bunch of us.”

  He turned around and enjoyed a long sip from his coffee, looking at the array of monitors.

  “Those two should fight it out, not us.”

  “If you say so…” Claudia said with a sigh, looking at the screens again.

  “I just hope we’ll find a way to separate that book’s will from her, soon. I can’t bear to watch this.”

  A few days later Mana, the real, blue-haired one, stepped through one of her portals, carrying a large package with her. She furrowed her brow as she looked around in the room. The glasses woman, Meryl, and the younger researcher, Claudia, were present in the observation room. Mana’s eyes immediately focused on the screens showing the bath, the toilet and the bedroom and anger boiled up in her. She stepped towards Meryl after carefully putting her package down and poked a finger into her stomach; she was too short to effortlessly reach her chest for that gesture.

  “I told you to give her some privacy!”

  “And I told you that we will not leave this girl who’s responsible for five deaths and nine lost limbs out of sight for even a second!”

  “She’s not that girl right now!”

  “She could become her at any moment, and I will not let her slip back into that state while we’re not watching!” Meryl shouted back at Mana, who looked at her with pure rage in her eyes. Their fight broke up as Claudia noisily cleared her throat.

  “Let’s just have only women in this room after a certain time, alright?”

  “Hmph… if it calms our ‘Witch Queen’ down?” Meryl cast Mana a sharp glance who still stared daggers at her in response.

  “Fine! No men in here when she’s home! That’s it!” Mana let out a loud huff and turned around to grab the package.

  “What’s that, anyway?” Meryl asked.

  “It’s Christmas back home, it’s a gift for her,” Mana replied, cradling the box.

  “Ah, right, the decorations we had to put up due to your memories…” Meryl sighed. “Did you buy that yourself? You know we have a budget to make things more believable for her.”

  Mana shook her head. “That defeats the purpose of a gift.”

  Meryl rolled her eyes and dismissed Mana with a wave. “Alright then, go and have some fun with your… ‘sister’. Don’t forget to leave today’s news broadcasts and other data, though.”

  Claudia gave Mana a friendlier wave than Meryl, forming ‘I’m rooting for you!’ with her mouth.

  Mana gave the younger researcher a little smile in return as she walked over to her and handed her an external hard drive, containing recordings of yesterday’s entire TV program, which would play tomorrow in the simulated world Marisa lived in. Marisa’s containment field lagged one day behind the real Tokyo to allow for this system.

  “Thank you. And here’s the empty drive from yesterday. I’m counting on you!”

  “Thank you, Claudia.”

  ***

  Mana turned the key in the door of the house which was an exact replica of her home. It still felt weird; to come ‘home’ to a pale imitation of the place she grew up in. Still, she greeted her fake father and mother like they were real. Actors; trained personnel of the containment facility. Ami and Makoto, random passersby, everyone Marisa met in this facility was an actor, all for the purpose of keeping her mental state stable to prevent her from breaking out of the effects of ‘Alter Memory’, the spell Mana and Marisa were affected by together, once.

  Mana ascended the stairs to Marisa’s room and knocked on the door, waiting for her ‘Yes?’ before entered and smiled at her.

  Marisa was lying on the bed, reading a light novel, and as she saw Mana she immediately had a large smile on her face, hopping off the bed and hugging her ‘sister’.

  “Sis!”

  “Hey, sis!” Mana smiled as she returned the hug, running her hands through Marisa’s hair and enjoying her scent.

  I want to kiss her… but the researchers decided that we have to be ‘sisters’ for as long as she’s in here, so…

  Mana restrained herself and instead gently pulled away before she remembered what she brought with her.

  “I got you a present!” Mana exclaimed and handed Marisa the large box. Her eyes went wide, and she smiled at Mana.

  “For me?” Mana nodded. “Can I open it?” Mana nodded again.

  Marisa’s eyes sparkled with joy as she grabbed the box and pulled off the wrapping paper; she uncovered a gaming console, bundled together with a few games.

  “You shouldn’t have!”

  “But I did! Please accept it… Mana.” Mana almost called Marisa by her actual name and shattered the illusion, but she corrected herself quickly.

  Marisa gave her a big hug again, while Mana enjoyed her warmth, even as frustration built up inside her due to the charade they were playing.

  They set up the console on the TV in Marisa’s room, and before long Marisa sat on Mana’s lap, hugged by her from behind as she played a game. They simply enjoyed each other’s company while Mana contemplated their situation.

  She called in a favor for saving the facility by asking them to build a containment field in which Marisa’s memories were temporarily altered, just like in the mountain monastery they both visited. The scientists would get valuable data from analyzing the properties of the magic book inside her and would hopefully find a way to eliminate its hold over Marisa, which rendered her violent. Of course, there was still the issue of the revulsion she felt towards Arisu, who apparently was Seika Hitoishi’s daughter. A hybrid between whatever Minerva was and a human. She was convinced that she could not be alive at the same time as this girl, as they shared the same, reincarnated soul, and thus tried to prevent her birth altogether. And one day Marisa would break out of this facility to enact her plan of preventing Arisu’s birth; it was the day Mana feared the most.

  But for now, she enjoyed the little time with Marisa she was blessed with.

  Marisa switched to a multiplayer game before long and grinned as she handed Mana a second controller.

  “Fair warning, I’m pretty good at this one!” Mana announced.

  “I can do everything you can do, sis!” Marisa declared.

  Their time together continued until deep into the night, and as Marisa fell asleep, she slept with her back to Mana, who held her in an embrace.

  It's not quite the relationship I want to have with her… but it is nice enough.