[83.3] Two Twins that will Never Change

Astra appeared behind me with a smile, "Mama! Mama! Guess what!"

I caught her as she jumped into my arms, "What is it?"

"Tomorrow is a new year!"

"You're right." I looked up at the darkening sky and thought, "I forget because the weather is so nice here."

Astra wrapped her arms around me, "This year with Mama was so fun. I can't wait for next year!"

"..."

I wonder…

How many years do I have left?

"..Mama?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and smiled back at her, "How about we celebrate this year with something special?"

Lene's face lit up at the same time Zephyr sat up. They both simultaneously shouted in glee, "Special!?"

I laughed at their reactions, "Let's have a celebration. Maybe have a little campfire and fireworks.."

They both jumped to my side simultaneously, "Really?!"

Asmonious gave me a nervous glance, "Will it be safe?"

I glanced up at the sky, "Yeah, I won't break my own barrier and it's not like anyone else can enter. It's fine as long as we do it outside the courtyard."

Zephyr and Lene jumped up and down, "LET'S BURN THINGS!"

I watched them both sprint out of the courtyard and shook my head with a chuckle. I held Astra as I stood up, "Are the rest of you coming?"

The rest of the group all jumped up and ran out of the courtyard after the other two. I glanced at Koale's bedroom door and spoke, "Rose… If you want to join us, you'll know where to find us."

After waiting a few more moments, I let out a sigh and walked out of the courtyard.

Once we got to a large opening, I picked up a few sticks and created a small fire.

Finding a log, I sat down on it to enjoy the warmth.

Lene hurried to sit beside it, looking in my direction with anticipation, "Are we going to get a story?"

I paused, "...What do you want to hear? A story about a murderous clown?"

Her face lit up, "I WANT TO HEAR IT!"

"..."

Zephyr cried out and jumped into Alora's arms, "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!"

Astra laughed at him with a mocking look in her eyes, "You're such a scardey-cat."

"I-I I am not!"

"Are too. You're a little baby~"

Zephyr twisted his face in irritation before relaxing and giving a toothy grin, "You're the baby. You haven't aged in years."

Astra turned bright red, "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

I tried to interrupt, "You two-"

Zephyr leaned toward her and made a gesture with his fingers, "You're so short you look more like a toddler than a teenager."

Worried that Astra was about to attack him, I stood up to prepare to pull them apart. However, to my surprise, Astra took a deep breath to calm herself down. She looked at Zephyr with a smile resembling Asmonious's, "I may have not aged, but what's your excuse? You're shorter than Alora."

Zephyr exploded, "WELL AT LEAST I'M NOT SINGLE AND FOREVER ALONE LIKE YOU!"

"TAKE THAT BACK!"

"MAKE ME!"

"AAAAARGHHH!"

Astra pounced on Zephyr and the two rolled around on the ground. Astra slapped his face while he cried out, "MAMAAA! HELP!"

Lene giggled, clapping with excitement while Alora looked ready to stab Astra to protect Zephyr. Realizing that Alora was about to go on a murderous fighting spree, I pulled them apart, "Enough fighting you two. I'm tired of listening to you always argue. You are both twins, you're supposed to be very close to each other."

They both crossed their arms and turned away from each other with a hmph.

I pushed both of their faces to look at each other, "I want you both to compliment each other."

"..."

"Go on."

Astra unwillingly glanced at Zephyr, "You're dumb, but you aren't the dumbest in the world."

My face twitched.

Zephyr retorted, "And you aren't ugly since you look like me when I was 12."

"AAAAAAAARRRRRGHHH!"

Astra jumped back on Zephyr, this time using her claws to scratch up his face. He cried out for help and I quickly pulled her off, "Astra, down girl."

She went limp in my arms and pouted, "...He started it."

Zephyr sniffed and turned into a fox to lay on Alora's lap, "No, she did when she called me a baby for not wanting to hear a scary story."

"It doesn't matter." I let out an exhausted sigh, "Zephyr, you can relax. I won't tell the scary story…. How about an interactive story instead?"

"What's that?"

"Well… I don't know if it will work since I don't have my wand-"

In fact, even the pieces went mysteriously missing…

"-So it may not be fun for you."