Mudan

"Killing, you say?" Chu cracked her knuckles and smirked. "Don't even have to ask twice."

Bhen broke into a run at the demon, only to have her mouldy arms stretch out like giant vines and smack him back the way he came. Chu dashed forward at the same time, jumping over the form of her rolling brother and shifting into the form of her black mist. With the speed of bullets she zipped through the demon omnidirectionally, until it's arms caught her in a lock.

The demon rolled Chu up like a snake would to their prey, squeezing her body till she was red. Her groans filled up the room, making my stomach drop. I held my breath for a second. "Oh Hells, is she going to die?" Hana shouted at Sage Maisu, who blankly watched the screen.

"Don't underestimate the twins," Shen said. "They always bounce back."

Bhen got up from the floor and growled as he charged at the demon again. Her free arm shot out to grab him, Bhen somersaulted over it into a shadow and completely sliced through her limb. Black sprayed from the severed arm as the demon shrieked, abruptly releasing Chu as well. Chu rolled out of the demon's grip, a maddened look on her face as she eyed her brother.

"Ready?" She cracked a smile. Bhen surprisingly did the same.

The twins ran at each other, both leaping into the air above the demon. It twitched and flailed its remaining arm wildly, trying to catch one of the twins.

They collided above its head, interlocking arms and merging to form a sharp shadow boomerang that spun in through the demon. They whipped from all directions until the demon was nothing but a pile of black goo on the pristine white floor.

The twins broke out of their Shadow Boomerang Fusion...thing and landed perfectly on their feet, like cats. I failed to keep the smile off my face, these two were really something.

"Shortest battle ever," It actually sounded like Chu was complaining."Is it just me, brother or are we getting too good?"

"It could be just you," Bhen said, then smiling to himself. "But I have to admit, I think we've outdone ourselves."

Chu slapped her brother's shoulder and sighed. "Sometimes I'm happy you were born alongside me."

Bhen's face brightened for a moment. "Really?"

Chu burst into laughter, shoving him away. "No." She snickered, shaking her head.

Bhen sighed to himself, then as if remembering we were watching, looked up to the ceiling. "Alright...Sage, which door do we open?"

There were a total of three doors. "These are all the original memories, in the state they were in before they were altered. You may go into whichever you want to see first."

"Let's both check different doors," Bhen said to Chu. She mock-saluted and they did exactly that before Bhen called his sister again. "Chu, come look at this," he beckoned her over. Both their faces went pale when they peered into the gap in the door.

"Isn't that..." Chu trailed off in shock.

"The road in the forest..." Bhen finished for her, bleak. "Where we lost them."

With deep breaths, the twins both walked in.

***

"Good Lord, how far are we yet?" Lanis asked her husband, peering nervously out of the window of the carriage. "This place is giving me the urge to boak."

"We still have about an hour before we reach Cyprus, the boat isn't going anywhere, sweetheart," Curadh brought his wife close to him so he could kiss her forehead, and hopefully, her nervousness away.

Like it wasn't eating at him too.

Milo and Mila were both fast asleep in their parents laps. Milo had his thumb in his mouth, a habit he couldn't shake off despite being eight years old. Mila was releasing a river of drool onto her father's lap, snoring like she spent a night shift in the mines herself.

Curadh rubbed his daughter's brown hair, tucking it behind her ear as he chuckled to himself, wiping the drool with his thumb. A sudden sliver of fear crept through his chest as he remembered the black lotus flowers that appeared at his doorstep. He thought nothing of it at the time...until he actually decided to do research on the temple they so carelessly detonated.

They were a legend, right? Fiction. Ghosts.

Curadh wanted to think that, until the black lotus flowers showed up for another three days. Seven days, the legends said. You had seven days before your life came to an end. And that was back when they were still patient, when they still waited before tearing you from existence.

Curadh didn't want to know what would happen when he reached seven days. So he lied.

To his wife, to his children. He knew they were always busy, too busy with work to often be there. "I'm taking you on a cruise, sweetheart," he had told his wife, trying hard to make it sound magical and romantic. Lanis had always loved his gestures when they were younger. "You, me and the kids. We're all going out as a family."

"Oh! A family?" Lanis laughed. "I forgot we still had one."

Curadh chuckled to himself. Mila had definetely gotten her smart mouth from her mother.

"What are you laughing about, dear?" Lanis asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Please tell me too, so I can ignore the faces these trees are giving me."

"Are you losing it, woman?" Curadh chuckled at his wife, who then glared in return.

"I'll lose it on your face," she threatened, before whining again. "Why did we have to ride at night?"

Curadh smiled. "Still scared of the dark, I see."

Lanis shrugged. "It's easier to bear when you're laying beside me."

"Well, I'm with you right now, so you don't have to be afraid of anything. Alright?"

Then horrifically, at that moment, the carriage shook harshly before stopping, throwing the children off their parents laps. They both groaned in unison. Milo's thumb burned, because he had accidently bitten it with the abrupt motion and Mila's drool had found it's way into her hair.

"What is going on?" Lanis screamed at the driver, pulling the curtain that separated the two classes apart. There was no one in the driver's seat, and the door was wide open. Cold air sat where he once was.

"Stay here," Curadh ordered, swallowing the lump in his throat. He opened the door and got out, the darkness of the forest lit up with only few lanterns that hung on the trees to light the way.

The road was secluded. Completely quiet and abandoned of life. There was no sign of the driver anywhere. Curadh's chest was burning up. He pulled the hankerchief from his breastpocker, wiping the sweat off his face.

"Da?" Mila called. "Da, why are we stopping?"

"I'm scared," Milo said in a small voice.

"Curadh, where is the driver?" Lanis hissed at him. Curadh looked at his wife in fear.

"I don't know...he was here and then he wasn't..." he whispered. "He must have rolled out or something." Sure, that was it.

Something awful had clicked in his mind at that moment. He had taken three days to plan the trip. A carriage ride to Cyprus, a boat touring the Northern coast booked. All in three days.

It had been seven days since Curadh received those flowers.

"I'll take us," he blurted suddenly, slamming the carriage door shut before walking to the horses. His family's muted screams were heard inside. "It's going to be fine. Everything will be-"

An arrowhead poked right through Curadh's skull. He fell to the floor, crimson oozing from his head.

"Curadh!" Lanis screamed hysterically, holding her children tight in her arms. They were both sobbing uncontrollably now, shaking with fear.

"Curadh!" Lanis shouted again with desperation. "Whoever is doing this! Please stop! We-I have children!"

The door opened beside Lanis, making the entire carriage scream again. A man stood infront of them, completely clad in black. There was a pink flower printed on his chest, so odd for such a menacing outfit. Lanis shivered under his dark gaze, the man's hairknot making her realize he was Yuyangan.

"W-Who are you!"

"Stop?" The man asked. "You want me to stop? Did you stop?"

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Lanis stammered, eyes leaking with tears. "I haven't done anything!"

"So you are not the co-owner of Manserion?" The man frowned, tilting his head. "You're not the one that has been blowing up sacred temples, where people pray? You're not the one ordering that for a hefty sum of money? My mistake then. Have a good night."

The door shut right in her face. Lanis held her children tighter one last time, before the door flew open again and she was dragged by her hair.

She struggled and fought, but the man was strong. She felt herself bend to his will. He spun her around by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him.

"Run," he ordered.

Lanis looked at him in confusion as she was pushed away. "Run!" The man shouted at her. "Don't you want to live?"

Lanis looked at the carriage. Milo and Mila were still in there. She couldn't-

-breathe. She couldn't breathe.

She looked down at her chest, where a red stain blossomed where the arrow struck her. Lanis fell to her knees, just in time for another arrow to slice through her skull. It jerked her backward, her body folding over in the middle of the road.

Yei turned his head to the carriage, where both the children were still crying. He opened the door to see them hugging each other tightly, saying prayers.

"Fear not, little Dragons," he whispered to them, reaching out with his hand. Mila immediately bit him and Milo moved her back, shaking his head at his sister.

Yei shook his hand as it burned, smiling at the children. "You're strong," he told the girl. "I know a place perfect for you. You'd fit in just nicely, tell me, do you know the legend of the Iron Dragon?"

"Dragons don't exist!" Mila shouted at him, her green eyes wet with tears but hard with rage. "Da says it's a myth. A religion for weirdos like you!"

"Go to Hell!" Milo cursed at him as well. Yei simply chuckled to himself. They were shouting at him now...a few months down the line, they'd be bowing to him. Worshipping him. Serving him.

"Go to sleep, little Dragons," Yei waved his hand and silver Energy zapped the twins right in the foreheads. They were out cold, slumped over each other in a way that would make waking up quite painful.

That was nothing compared to how they would wake up in a few months.

He slammed the door shut and strolled to the driver's side of the carriage, slipping in place. He woke the horses and they galloped away.

***

Chu and Bhen nearly broke the door down when they came rushing out, tears in their eyes as they registered what they just saw. It made my stomach clench.

"Holy shit," Bavejo whispered. He came in just seconds after the twins entered their memory.

"And there's still two doors left?" Hana shook her head. "I can't believe this."

The twins split up for the last two doors, saying nothing about what they saw.

They were at the temple, in the same room, but different times. Master Yei would ask questions they would answer wrong. In turn, black vines would sprout from his back and lift them from their feet. The end of the vines would slither into their ears of the twins, prying into their brains until they were breathing black smoke. Their eyes would turn obsidian, like possessed little children taken over by creatures from Hell.

When they woke up, they would remember nothing. Only that their parents were dead and that Old Master, the man who saved them, was now their father.

"I've had enough!" Bhen kicked off the door, screaming up at the ceiling. "I've had enough, get me out of this place! I can't stay here a moment longer!"

Chu walked out of her door, her face drained of colour besides the red from her crying. She looked at her brother and simply shook her head before running at him with a hug.

"Fuck this," Chu sobbed. "I thought it would be easy...seeing for a second time. But they're dead. They're really gone."

"Let them out of this, Sage," Hana ordered. "They're done."

"Walk down the hallway you came from," Sage Maisu instructed. "And wait till you reach the end. You'll be pulled from the Void."

When the twins reached the end of the hallway, the doors, everything, the screen, disappeared. It shut down right infront of us. Chu and Bhen stirred in their sleep, suddenly shooting up in their beds. Their eyes flew open and they glanced around the room in disbelief.

"I-I can't be here right now," Chu said, throwing her feet off the bed and bolting out of the room. The door slammed behind her.

We all looked at Bhen in worry. Shen stared blankly at him, like he couldn't believe what he just saw.

Bhen froze on the spot, unable to drag himself out of the room like Chu did. A ghostly tear ran down his face, a haunted look in his eyes.

"Do you want to leave, Bhen?" Hana asked cautiously. "Do you want water, anything?"

"I-I want my parents," Bhen said, his eyes pooling. "I want what I can never have again. I-I remember everything. Our house, our family, what we did for fun. I-I'm not...Bhen. I'm Milo. My name is Milo."

"Do you want us to call you that from now on?" Hana's voice was strangely delicate.

"No," Bhen shook his head. "Milo is dead. I'll never be him again."

Without another word, Bhen stood up from his bed and walked out of the room.