This chapter... It's going to be on the long side so get comfy :)

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Esau dreamt of an angel. She was beautiful, with glowing white skin and soft blue eyes that seemed otherworldly. And on her cheeks were strange circles cut into her skin that made her face look smaller than it actually was and her eyes larger than they actually were.

The nine year old was drawn to the serene figure as she floated in front of him, her arms outstretched as though beckoning him to come closer.

"Who are you?" He asked, his gaze tracing the blue jewel embedded in the girl's forehead and finally stopping at the gaping holes in her stretched earlobes. He had never seen anything like it before.

"I am Maeg." She answered, her voice as soothing as the quiet tinkle of a bell. Her smile was slow and gentle, and for a moment Esau was reminded of spring.

"I'm Esau." The boy said, feeling the need to introduce himself.

"I know." Her soft smile remained as put her arms down to her sides.

The glow around her receded and Esau now saw that she wore a long white dress. It's flowing tresses merged effortlessly with the space around them.

He gaped at her and titled his head, trying to get a closer look at the thin, wisp like material that covered her body. "Are you an angel?"

Her quiet laugh echoed out, pleasant as a wind chime as she mirrored his action. "Do you believe in angels?"

"No. But I always thought my Ma was one." Esau said, an uncomfortable feeling brewing in his chest. Something was wrong.

"I always thought she was an angel too." The girl said, her eyes dimming for a second before the glow in them increased in intensity.

"You know my mother?"

". . . I met her, once."

"Oh." For some reason, Esau felt disappointed. Why did he feel like he was forgetting something?

"Do I look like your Ma?" Maeg asked suddenly, blending a little with the white space she floated in.

Esau shook his head.

"Then I don't think I'm an angel." She smiled widely and light reflected off her teeth and into his eyes.

"Where am I?" He asked, squinting against the sudden brightness.

"You don't remember?" Maeg slowly approached him, gliding in the whiteness to float right by his face, a hint of barely detectable surprise flitting over her features. "No, that's not good. Your sister needs you."

"Edythe?" Esau's eyes automatically snapped to his side but he was only met with white space. He was floating in it too, but where was Edythe? She had to be with him. They never left each other's side. Where did she go to?

"Oh dear," Maeg reached out and held his face in both hands, a conflicted expression on her small face, "you really need to go back."

Esau felt a burst of pain in his chest, his heart aching for the strange girl with the bright smile. "But you'll be all alone."

Maeg laughed. "Thanks for the concern, Esau. I'll be fine," her features shifted into one of solemnity, "but you're not supposed to be here without your sister. You need to wake up."

"But I'm not sleeping," Esau protested, suddenly feeling tired.

He yawned.

"I know." She gave him a motherly kiss on the forehead, her features seeming to age in that moment, ". . . you children are such dear things."

"You knew . . . my sister?" Esau asked, barely able to talk through his exhaustion as Maeg slowly floated out from his reach.

"She's been here before," the angelic girl said, her hand stretched out to Esau's, "and I told her the same thing back then too. . . I can't have one without the other."

She tapped him on the forehead. "Goodbye Esau."

"Bye Maeg." The nine year old managed, before his eyelids shut and he too began to drift aimlessly into the white void.

†

When Esau opened his eyes again, he had a hollow feeling in his chest, like he had lost something important. But for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was. He sat up and scratched at his hair, combing through his memories for the source of the bitter emotion.

His hand froze when he heard a sharp intake of breath come from behind him. Where exactly was he? Why couldn't he remember?

Before he could expand on the thought he was tackled to the ground. He tried to struggle, but whoever held him down seemed to have no intention of letting him go.

"Hey," Esau took in a deep breath when he recognized the familiar warmth of his attacker, unconsciously leaning into his sister's arms. "Edythe?"

He didn't need to see her face to know that she was crying. Immediately, without really knowing why, Esau felt bad.

"You're alive." Her voice broke off into hiccups and her shoulders shuddered continuously but her hold on him only tightened.

"Not for long if you keep pining me down like this." He wheezed, but started to feel uncomfortable when Edythe let go of him. Now he wished he had kept his mouth shut.

"Sorry." She pulled back, not bothering to wipe her tears away as she hugged herself instead.

"Hey," Esau crawled to his sister, not really aware of the mud on the ground or the broken trees around him as he stared at her in confusion, "why are you crying?"

"You died!" She answered, biting hard on her trembling lower lip.

"You died, Esau," she repeated, her voice much quieter, "your chest wasn't moving, your heart had stopped, your skin was so pale. And now. . . and now-"

"Oh," Esau leaned back on his heels, his brows furrowed in thought as he slowly stood up. "I died?"

The words felt heavy on his tongue but another emotion was churning in the pit of his stomach. What am I forgetting?

It was a feeling he had never felt before, the longing to know. It was almost as bad as the heartache he felt when Edythe had died.

Esau didn't think he had ever forgotten anything before. The empty spot in his memory seemed to taunt him.

He let out a breath as he looked around and finally took in the destruction around him, memories that he paid no heed to before now coming to the forefront of his mind.

The monster's destructive roar flashed in his mind and suddenly he felt like throwing up. How long had it been since then?

He turned on his heel, eyes scanning the forest floor in search of his bow. They couldn't just be standing in the middle of the forest. A beast could be passing by and they could be attacked! How would they fight it off then?

When Edythe made no move to help him look for his weapons, Esau turned back, just in time to catch the storm brewing in his twin's eyes.

Suddenly, another image snapped into his mind. Him lifeless on the forest floor, surrounded by broken trees and any beast unfortunate enough to be caught in the attack that had killed him. His mind reinvented Edythe's sobs from the day he told her about her death and played it on repeat over and over again as he visualized her kneeling over his body.

This time the imagined memory was enough to make Esau nauseous. He doubled over, hands on his knees, and heaved the remains of his dinner into the mud.

He watched, numb, as the bile and stomach acid splashed by his boots.

I died. . . the nine year old stood up shakily and stumbled away from the mess he made, somehow coming to terms with those two words and their implications.

"I'm so sorry," the words burst out of him, a new pain surfacing in his heart as he thought about how his sister must have felt with him gone, "for leaving you."

Edythe didn't say anything, letting the apology float into the air, unacknowledged.

The silence too overbearing, Esau looked away. His eyes found his hands, the mud covering them ample distraction from the bitter taste in his mouth, before he shifted his gaze back to Edythe's distraught expression.

"What's wrong?"

A part of him dreaded her answer.

"You died," she repeated as though she couldn't accept what was happening, "how are you talking to me right now?"

"About that," Esau squinted at her for a moment and took in her distress, "you could be hallucinating."

He shrugged, hiding a frown as he examined her expression, trying to gauge her thoughts. "Delusion stemming from grief isn't uncommon."

"Esau!" All Edythe's previous concern seemed to evaporate into anger and Esau laughed.

"Good," he said, somewhat dully, "that expression didn't suit you."

"You're different." Edythe said, her voice hollow. Esau had never heard it that empty before. His heart broke a bit but he hid his worry.

I'll fix that soon. He met her gaze and searched her eyes carefully, looking for the words that would make her understand what was going on in his head.

Unlike other times they had argued, this time he found nothing. He looked away, the pain in his chest increasing steadily. He wished he could just hug her, but something told him she would push him away.

"Dying does that to someone." He said instead, and she hit him on the arm. It was almost too light for him to feel, almost as if she was afraid of breaking him.

"Stop playing around!" Edythe screamed, her head hung low and her tears returning. "Just stop. None of this is funny!"

Esau's immediately sobered up, watching tears stream down his sister's cheeks and drip down to the forest floor. "Sorry Eddy, I was. . . trying to lighten the mood."

How could he not know that they were still in the forest? That they could die any moment now? That somehow they had both died already in this cursed town? That they were still alive regardless?

He just wanted his sister to stop crying . . . he hated it. He only ever wanted to see her smiling. And yet he was always the reason she looked so weak. . . so vulnerable. Why was he the one that always made her cry?

"Since when did you lighten up the mood?" She said, her voice feeble as her arms fell to her sides. Esau noticed how she avoided looking directly at him.

"Since before the fog." He answered quietly and sighed. "Things were much simpler then don't you think?"

"Esau, what going on with you?"

"I don't know," Esau wiped his hands on his shirt and looked away, not wanting to see her eyes brimming with unshed tears, "but for the first time in months, I feel calm."

"Wh-"

An echoing roar echoed from behind them and the twins turned in it's direction. Edythe shifted uncomfortably in the spot she stood.

"Don't tell me Issac and Philip are still out there?" Esau asked.

Edythe raised her guilty eyes to meet his. "I asked them to distract the beast while I looked for you."

Esau looked at her in surprise. "You carried me all the way here?"

Normally that wouldn't concern him. When Edythe's eye color changed she was capable of almost anything, but right now there was not one hint of gold in his sister's eyes.

"I was taking a break when you woke up." She answered, her tone defensive.

Esau held up both his hands in surrender, glad that some of the previous tension had dissipated. "I wasn't complaining."

His sister wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt and glared at him with slightly reddened eyes. "Are you going to tell me how you came back from the dead or not?"

"You did it once." He countered and waited for her reaction.

"Esau, one more joke out of you . . ."

At her reply, Esau felt all his worry being replaced with relief. The Edythe he knew like the back of his hand was back. It had frightened him to the core when he looked into her eyes and only saw his reflection, not the many thoughts weaving about in her head.

For those few minutes, he had felt completely lost. It was then that he realized that there was something much worse than missing a memory. Not having the slightest clue to the words Edythe never said felt like having a part of himself vanish right before his eyes.

"I think it's because you were still alive." Esau winced as he shifted his shoulder and now that his mind was alert he realized that his chest also hurt, but not as bad as it once did. "The reason why Pa could bring you back last time was because I was still alive, so I think that's what happened this time."

"You mean. . ."

"I'm not really sure, but considering everything that has happened, it seems like we both need to die to stay dead." Esau said, walking to his sister. "Satisfied?"

Edythe didn't answer him immediately, her eyes fixed on his pained expression. "Can you run?"

"I'll try." He said in a gasp as she moved to his side and put an arm around him. "But I can't make any promises, I did just die."

Edythe laughed, the worry in her eyes slowly retreating. "I've laughed, are you happy now?"

"No," Esau shook his head, "because you still haven't realized that even if we die we'll still have to be together."

At his words Edythe froze and suddenly she felt lightheaded. The dagger she held fell to the ground.

"Esau?" She called out to him quietly.

"Hm?" He looked at her.

"Thank you."

"No problem, Eddy." Her twin smiled widely. "We're leaving tonight."

Edythe smiled back, because Esau was right. They were leaving tonight with Issac and Philip, and with each other.

For the first time in three months, she felt at peace with however their tomorrow would start, either with them stepping onto the capital's new soil or with them getting stranded in the past forever.

She held onto Esau a little tighter.

†〰†

When Philip saw Edythe and Esau staggering out of the forest, his heart almost exploded with relief.

"Issac," he turned to his friend, an elated expression scrawled on his features, "they're back."

"Good," Issac grunted as he pushed himself off the muddy floor and patted the stains on his uniform. "I'm tired of playing tag with this thing."

Philip pretended not to hear the liss in the captain's voice as he limped towards him, using a rifle as his walking stick. "That thing hasn't been interested in us for a while now. . ." he reminded the frowning Issac.

"And it's not interested in the flares either." Issac watched another white disc of light soar into the sky above the forest and explode.

Philip snorted despite himself. "How could it be interested in those with all the blue lights floating in the sky?"

The plan had been to lure the beast into the forest with the flares while they rushed into the house and teleported away.

It sounded easy enough, but first it had rained, and then the sky was lit up with strange lights, chasing away the darkness of the night. The tree line of the forest were they stood had already been transformed into flat land, albeit speckled with uprooted trees. The monster had attacked them from where it sat. It seemed to have no intention of moving from that spot.

When the sound of slushy footsteps reached the pair, the two soldiers looked up to see a grinning Esau and expressionless Edythe.

"What happened?" Philip asked, noticing the way Esau used his sister as a crutch.

"He . . . hurt his shoulder and his chest." Edythe answered, her eyes falling to the messenger's limp leg. "What happened to you?"

"It's broken."

They shared a grimace.

"Alright," Issac turned away from the beast that for some reason, religiously guarded the house, his expression dark. "Two of us can't run and we still have an unconscious hostage, how in hell are we getting past that thing?"

"How many rounds do you have left?" Edythe asked.

"Three, give or take."

"Give it to me." She stretched out her hand.

Issac sighed and looked at Philip, Edythe followed his gaze.

The messenger got the hint and eased his weight onto his good leg before handing the rifle to the girl. "Sorry, I lost mine."

Seeing that Issac hadn't bothered arguing with the girl, Philip immediately realized how much of a bind they were in. It would be a miracle if they made it out in one piece.

"It's okay," Edythe shrugged and stared at the rifle she held. "It would have been useless anyway. No one would have been able to shoot it."

"I can shoot." Esau interjected, his eyes fixed on the barrel of the gun.

"I know how you feel about guns, Esau," Edythe narrowed her eyes at him, and seeing that he was going to start arguing again, continued, "and you can't shoot with your shoulder in that condition."

"I don't know where the teleportation pad is."

"Just get to the basement first."

Esau stared at his sister for a moment before relenting. "Fine," he took a shaky step away from her. "What's the plan?"

"It's simple," she said, turning to the massive canine and hoisting up the rifle, "I shoot this thing in the eye and you three take the hostage and start running like death is charging at you. . . because it will be."

For a moment there was a stunned silence, before Issac cleared his throat and asked, "have you ever used a gun before?"

At his words, Edythe deadpanned. "You clearly have no idea who you're talking to."

And it's true, Esau took in his sister's expression.

After all, his Pa had once told him that he'd never dare get her angry when she had access to a weapon. And right now, Edythe looked pretty pissed off by Issac's question. . .

†〰†

The chapter after this should be the last one. I'm so glad to have reached this point. After chapter 53 will be the epilogue. We get to see how everybody ended up!

Thank you all for the support. I'm glad to have you as readers.