Chapter 52. Feats.

Everly kicked the door down and stepped inside the room.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" snapped the bedroom's inhabitant, a young blonde woman around her own age, who shared the facial features that Marcel and Everly possessed, with a slightly rounder frame. She was also notably shorter.

"Making my introductions, duh?" Everly replied as she stepped further into the room. "Oh, wow, you're adorable! You look like a little doll."

"What kind of a knuckle-dragging thug are you?" The other girl, Claudia, snapped back. "Do you often find yourself smashing your way into the bedrooms of other people? Reconsider your lifestyle!"

"If my life didn't involve kicking doors open like I owned the place, I wouldn't want to live it," Everly said with a smirk. "Man, I thought I had a nice room back home, but this is practically palatial. What do you do with all of this open space?"

"Whatever the hell I feel like," Claudia said. "Why did you break down my door?"

"To talk to you?" Everly said. "You didn't really expect me to go chasing your maids around, did you? I mean, you're right here. That would just be silly."

"What would we possibly have to discuss?" Claudia demanded to know.

"I dunno," Everly said. "Do you like boys? Girls? Sword fights? Ponies?"

"None of the above and especially not ponies!" Claudia said dismissively. "You feeble commoner! I am a kingdom unto myself! I reign godlike over the meager lives of my subjects! My every whim is an unbroachable commandment to them, which they are unable to refuse! Tell me why a sacred existence such as myself should waste even a moment of her time conversing with a nobody like you?"

"God damn, you are adorable," Everly said. "Seriously, I just want to grab you up right now and snuggle until you die."

"Don't get impetuous with me!" Claudia warned her. "I wield dominion over the soul itself! Why, if I wanted to, I could break your mind like an eggshell! Crush your very will and reduce you to a—what are you DOING?!"

"Ahhh, it's too much!" Everly said happily. Before the other girl realized what had happened, she'd been snatched from her bed and given a devastating hug that nearly squeezed the very life from her body. "Special attack! GLOMP STORM! Gloooooomp!"

Everly began joyfully rubbing her cheek against Claudia's face, refusing to let go, and spinning her around in her arms until the other girl was too dizzy to resist. When she'd temporarily passed out, Everly spotted a nearby chair and sat down on it with her sister on her lap. Then she began blissfully playing with the other girl's hair.

Claudia regained consciousness a few moments later and was alarmed to discover her hair being brushed.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I cannot resist messing with such gorgeous hair," Everly confessed. "God, it's so soft! Like running my fingers through silk. You are just a perfect little thing! I could do this forever."

"I'm definitely going to kill you for this intrusion into my personal space," Claudia vowed. "I'm serious, you're so dead."

"Really?"

"Yep. Hey! I didn't say stop brushing."

"You got it."

"Why are you being so forceful, anyway?" Claudia wondered. "You're a lot weirder than any of my old man's other plunge-buddies. "

"Do you really think I'm weird?" Everly asked her.

"Who wouldn't? And how are you this damn strong anyway? You look as much like a doll as I do, but you have the brawn of a gorilla."

"That's insulting, Claudia. I have the strength of a thousand gorillas," said the displeased Everly. "A nation of them, in fact."

"Don't use my first name so casually, girl. I'm the daughter of a Count!"

"Yeah? Well, so am I!"

"What? Which one?"

"Van Belsar."

Claudia's head snapped back in surprise. She then suddenly stood up and pushed Everly back against the chair, while she stared at her. With their faces inches apart, she looked at the other girl with large eyes.

"Boo!" Everly suddenly said, then giggled when her sister sprang back in alarm.

"Why can't I hear your thoughts?" Claudia asked. "Are you a spirit user too?"

"You guessed it!" Everly said. She then jumped from her seat and embraced the other girl again. "This is so amazing! The perfect gift I never even knew I wanted! An adorable little sister who's also a complete monster. The dichotomy is beyond delightful. I never wanna let you go!"

"Shut UP!" Claudia shouted as she helplessly tried to pry herself free. "And unhand me! You can't expect me to go along with this! I refuse to acknowledge you!"

"Why not? I'm right here," Everly asked her.

"Your location has nothing to do with it, fool! The Van Belsars need only one daughter in their household!"

"Okay. I'll have my name changed, then," Everly said as she put the other girl down. "I don't mind going by my mother's last name. Skolder's good enough for her so it's good enough for her."

"What?" Claudia asked in confusion. "Why would you do that?"

"To make you happy," Everly replied. "If my cute sister wants to be the only Van Belsar daughter, then that's what she'll be."

Claudia stared at her suspiciously. "Okay, what's the catch?"

"No catch."

"There's always a catch!"

"Usually, yes, but not today!" Everly declared. She grabbed the other girl by her hands and stared merrily into her eyes. "I like you, Claudia. I really, really like you. I can tell just by that look in your eyes that we have so much in common beyond dear old daddy. I look at you and I see…"

"What?" Claudia asked, now curious despite herself. "What do you see?"

"A collaborator," Everly said gleefully. "A willing participant in so many fun things to come! And I'm so glad of it, too! Until this moment, I've never even realized I wanted a sister as badly as I now do."

"Is your skull cracked or something?" Claudia asked after a few moments had passed.

"Nope!"

"I don't even know your name, stupid," Claudia said.

"I'm Everly! Everly Skolder," Everly said enthusiastically. "I'm your sister."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Claudia said, flicking her hand dismissively. "I get that already. Listen, Everly, you seem…interesting for a provincial girl. I get that you'd want to be around me, I am a sterling example of what it means to be a noble. But there are things about me you just don't know, kid. I'm dangerous."

"I figured. The way you can control a whole mob of people at once is impressive!"

"I'm not just talking about my powers, sis. I'm talking about the company I keep," Claudia said airily. "My name is known and feared even among demonkind. I've associated with some extremely dangerous beings in my time…even one of the Cardinal Sins themselves."

"No!" Everly said, with widened eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Only Lady Anne knows the full extent of the dark circles in which I've dallied," Claudia said smugly. "It might be pretty dangerous for you to associate with me."

"Which one of them was it?" Everly asked.

"Which one?"

"Which one of the Cardinals was it?"

"Oh! Well, it was none other than Acedia himself. The King of Sloth incarnate!"

"No way," Everly said breathily.

"Yes, way," Claudia said proudly. "So, as you can see, I'm not certain you're quite at the level necessary to—"

"Yeah, I totally killed that guy," Everly said, cutting her off.

"WHAT?!"