Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Distant Steps

It wasn’t just my imagination.

Father had been growing more insistent lately—constantly trying to train me, teach me how to fight, push me toward the path he carved for my sister.

Every morning, he would ask again.

Every evening, I would say no.

At first, he would sigh and try again later. But lately... his sighs had become heavier. Longer. He stopped smiling as much when he looked at me. His voice, once warm, now sounded strained whenever he said my name—if he said it at all.

I thought maybe he was just tired.

But deep down, I knew.

He was starting to doubt if I was truly his child.

And honestly? I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t look like him, or Mom. I didn’t act like Aspher. I didn’t fight. I didn’t want to fight. I wasn’t brave, or strong, or anything like the person he probably dreamed his second daughter would be.

I wanted to help out around the house. I wanted to learn to cook, to clean, to make people smile in quieter ways. But that just seemed to make the gap between us wider.

Aspher, on the other hand, was everything Father could’ve wanted. She was strong, decisive, and fierce—even more so than some of the boys in the village. She had become a force of nature with a spear, and she trained every single day with a passion that left no room for doubt.

Even the village kids, who usually didn’t care much about anything outside of their own circles, respected her. They knew better than to challenge Aspher.

All of them… except for one.

Deoh.

Golden-haired and stubborn beyond reason, Deoh was the self-proclaimed “future strongest warrior of the village.” Unfortunately for him, the present belonged to Aspher—and he learned that the hard way. Over and over again.

But even after being knocked down for the fifth or tenth time, he’d just get up, brush off the dirt, and smile like he’d learned something new.

And after every sparring session, he’d follow Aspher around like a loyal puppy.

Or worse… like someone with a crush.

Honestly, I was starting to suspect his spear wasn’t the only thing that was enchanted.

I A V A I

It happened after one of their usual matches.

Aspher had barely broken a sweat. Deoh, meanwhile, was on the ground again, staring up at the sky like it had personally offended him. Still, the boy stood up, dusted himself off, and—just like always—came trotting over.

Not to Aspher this time.

To me.

Why?

Why me?

I was perfectly positioned in the shade, quietly sipping water and practicing the ancient art of “please-don’t-notice-me,” and yet here he came. Marching toward me with purpose in his step and a bandage peeling off his cheek.

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“Hey, Ar’cen,” he said, a little breathless. “Your sister’s really something.”

Okay. That wasn’t suspicious. Yet.

I blinked at him, unsure how to respond. Praise Aspher? Make small talk? Throw sand and run?

“She’s the only girl in the village who fights like that,” he continued. “It’s kind of amazing.”

Something in me snapped. Not in a bad way—in a devoted cultist receiving a holy signal kind of way.

“Oh, I know, right?”

My eyes lit up. “She’s the best! She’s faster than anyone. Stronger, too. One time, I saw her split a training dummy in half, and she didn’t even try! And she can cook! Did you know she can cook?! And she makes little hairpins out of grass and sticks and—”

Deoh had this expression. That very specific what have I unleashed expression.

He slowly nodded, like someone trying not to spook a very loud squirrel.

“Yeah,” he said, “she’s… cool.”

“You don’t get it,” I said, leaning forward like I was about to reveal an ancient conspiracy. “She’s perfect.”

And then.

Then.

Deoh, poor, clueless Deoh, tilted his head and said:

“…Are you sure you two are actually related?”

I stared at him.

He stared back.

My brain did not compute.

“I mean,” he added casually, “you don’t really look alike.”

My vision went red.

Literally. I think I forgot how to blink.

“We’re sisters,” I said, very calmly.

“Sure, sure,” he said, holding up his hands. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just wondering, you know, like—”

I stood up.

“I said. We’re sisters.”

“Oka—”

“And if you say anything like that again, I will personally make sure your training weapons start attacking you back.”

“…That’s not how—”

“MAGIC EXISTS, DEOH!”

And then I ran. Because I was crying. And mad. And confused. And deeply unsure about how genetics work.

Behind me, I heard Deoh sigh in defeat.

“…That could’ve gone better.”

And then—

THWACK.

A very familiar voice.

“You don’t need to try so hard to imagine what I’ll do to you,” Aspher said.

I didn't see it, but I heard it.

The KICK in the head™. Deoh’s trademark lesson in “Think Before You Speak.”

I A V A I

I didn’t know where I was running. I just ran.

Away from the village square, away from Deoh and his words, away from my own confusion. My legs took me to the small pond at the edge of the woods—the one Aspher sometimes used to nap beside when training got too loud.

The air was still. The surface of the water rippled gently, catching the gold of the setting sun. I sat down beside it, hugging my knees, trying to wipe the tears before they could stain anything permanent.

And then I heard them.

Footsteps.

Not loud. Not hurried. Confident. Familiar.

I didn’t turn.

“I wonder how you always know it’s me,” said the voice, warm and calm like the afternoon breeze.

I blinked, surprised that she had said exactly what I was thinking. How did I always know?

Maybe it was her pace. Or the way the wind shifted slightly before she spoke. Or maybe… it was just her.

She sat beside me. Close, but not too close. We stared at the water together for a while.

I expected her to ask. About what Deoh said. About why I ran.

But she didn’t.

She simply exhaled and muttered, “Deoh’s an idiot.”

I laughed, a tiny sound that barely left my throat.

We sat in silence. Not an awkward one—something quieter. Gentler. She didn’t need to say anything. And I didn’t feel like I had to explain.

Eventually, the sky began to darken.

“Hey, Aspher?”

“Hmm?”

“Even if we weren’t… related. You’d still be my sister, right?”

She looked at me, serious for a moment, then smirked.

“You think you can get rid of me that easily?”

I gave a watery smile.

“Thought so.”

And then I froze.

There was a sound—so faint it could’ve been mistaken for the breeze through the trees. But it wasn’t.

It was a hum.

Low and steady.

It wasn’t coming from around us. No—it echoed somewhere deeper. From inside.

My chest felt tight. My breath caught.

I knew that hum.

I don’t know how, but I did. It was like a ghost brushing my spine. Something ancient, something buried—awakening.

My eyes widened as I turned toward the village.

I saw it.

Not the source of the hum—never the source—but the consequence.

Rising slowly above the rooftops: a lazy swirl of black smoke. It twisted upward like fingers reaching for the sky.

That’s when Aspher noticed.

“...Do you smell that?”

I didn’t answer.

Because I already knew.

Something had begun.