The Vagus siblings

“Just stay here, please.”

“No, you can’t leave me here with this idiot!”

“He’s your twin, you can handle him, and someone needs to watch the little ones.”

“Come on, Meaupha, you can’t just go out alone!”

“I won’t be alone, Laca is out there as well.”

“You know that’s not what I meant. Please, I don’t want to lose you too.”

“She’s not dead!” Meaupha yelled. She usually kept her calm, but all this worry and vague premonitions scared. Her sister was out there, that she knew, yet no one believed her. Not even her siblings.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. What will we do without your premonitions? How will we survive? If you have an answer, a good one, I’ll let you go.”

“I don’t need your permission,” and with that, she slipped out the door. Peroeso, knew better than to go after her, he turned around and saw Cabro in the doorway.

“You could be a bit more subtle when eavesdropping.”

“Not everyone has superhearing, some of us have to actually come close to hear.”

“She’s gone.” He replied, stating the obvious. Slowly walked up to his brother and hugged him. Another one of them is lost to the abyss.

“She’ll come back.”

“Like Laca?”

“Just try to be a bit more positive, won’t you? The triplets will worry if you don’t calm your emotions.”

“I’m calm!”

“Yeah, P, even I can tell you aren’t. Maybe just stay here for a while, I look after them.” With that, he left his twin in the hallway. Peroeso’s emotions calmed down after some time, motivated to get away from the freezing wind that blew through the many cracks in the wooden walls. He rushed to the living room, where the fireplace was lit. That was the only light in the whole room, probably the whole house. It was their house, but not their home. Home wasn’t a word they used often, since it held no meaning to them. Their home town? Reported them, put them on the blacklist. Their home country? The ones who created the blacklist, and now wants to capture them. Smaller, then? Their family home? Occupied by those with a more fortunate lineage. Their family? Never knew them. Don’t even know if they’re alive. Looking for them seemed a waste of time, they must have had a reason to abandon their children, but none of them cared to hear it. There wasn’t any resentment in their hearts for the two, but there wasn’t anything else either, for how could you have any feeling towards people you don’t know, never met? All they knew was their name, the Vagus siblings. There were seven of them, two older sisters, Meaupha and Lacacala, then a pair of twin boys, Peroeso and Cabro, finally the triplets Gahe, Gacoe and Re.

“Oeso!” The triplets cheered when he came in. “You stayed!”

“Of course, how could I leave you? Alone with Cabro? Are you kidding, it would’ve been worse than a death sentence.”

“Very funny. You act like I haven’t been their babysitter for the last few years. They love me.” He said proudly, to prove him the three little girls cuddled up to him, like kittens.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”

“Where is Mea?” Gahe asked.

“She went out for a bit.” She cocked her head, asking for an explanation. “You said we can’t go out.”

“Well, she’s older than me, so she can do as she wants. She doesn’t need my permission.” Peroeso echoed her voice. Bad idea.

“You’re mad at her,” Re stated. Great all that calming down and freezing was for nothing. Ca looked at his twin, shaking his head. Oeso hated how easily his brother controlled himself, that bastard. Re, must’ve sensed something cause he whispered into his ears, which cause him to laugh.

“You don’t have to be jealous, bro, I’ve had years of practice with them, while you didn’t.”

“I was doing something else, and you know that! It’s not my fault that your powers are useless!” Where did that come from?

“Okay, I’ll pretend to not have heard that, but I think you should go out and try calming down again.” He said sternly as if he could boss his twin around. They both hated when the other did that, however at times it was necessary, and so they learned to listen to each other rather than always be mad. As Peroeso was walking out he heard Cabro whisper to Gahe: “Don’t worry, he loves me just the same, he’s just a bit tense.” After that, he shut off his powers and tried to sedate his anger. He stared at the door, where a moment ago his sister was. Where she walked out on them. On him. He needed her. How was he supposed to be the head of the family? He was a right-hand man at best, but not a leader. Never a leader. All these thoughts just spiralled in his head, surfacing then being pushed down and resurfacing again. He felt his body heat up, he was either gonna cry or shout or… run after her. The moment the thought occurred, he felt his twins hands on his shoulders.

“Don’t.”

“But she will need help, she’s all alone out there. I can help.”

“And who will keep us safe? You said my powers are useless, yet you would leave me here with three young children?”

“Ca, you know I can’t… I can’t do anything without thinking of her, I can’t stop worrying! I need to do something! I can’t just sit around and wait for another one of my sisters to die!” He yelled, tears running down his cheeks.

“Keep your voice down!” He warned me. “Do you think I’m not worried, do you think I’m okay with all of this? You treat me like one of the triplets, never letting me in on the plans, the secrets, shutting me out. Protecting me.” The words were soaking with anger and annoyance. “I have to keep all my emotions hidden, while also being in the dark, not knowing where all my siblings are disappearing. You think I’m okay? Your protection is driving me crazy! Just tell me where the hell did Laca go? Who took her? And why does Mea think she’s alive?!”

“She says she feels her presence. Don’t ask me how or why. I tried reasoning with her, nothing took.”

“How are you so sure she’s dead?”

“I saw her get captured, no one survives that.”

“So you give up that easily?”

“That’s what she kept repeating to me too. I don’t. I just want to keep us alive. Keep those I can see and feel alive, not risking their well-being for someone who might be dead.”

“What has this running done to you? When did you become so… cold?”

“If I weren’t this cold, we would all be dead!”

“What?”

“Remember that night a week ago, when Mea and I didn’t say a word to each other and told you to keep the three inside the other tent, cause they would sense our tension?”

“Sure, yeah, I was then instructed to stay inside the tent while you two stood guard.”

“That was when I convinced Mea that we should stay at the camp for one more day, instead of moving closer to the path. The path that Laca could have been on. She insisted we need to get as close as we could, that maybe we could track down the party that took her. I told her that we can’t risk getting caught by a patrol. She didn’t want to hear of it, so I set out for proof. I brought back some dirt from the road for her, barely touched it and a premonition hit her. I was right, patrol was only a day away, we most likely would’ve met them, and would’ve shared Laca’s fate. That’s how cold I am. How cold I need to be, to keep her from doing something irreversible. She’s not herself, she lost all touch with reality, all she can see is our sister’s face. I couldn’t understand her, how could she think of risking all our lives for her. Till now. I’m sorry, I can’t stay. I’ll go insane if I do.”

“How can you expect me to let you leave, when you just confessed you lost your grip on reality?”

“I don’t. Fortunately, I don’t need your permission.”