Pent

There were only a few minutes before the casino mission would end. Claire made way for the penthouse party's address, located in the center of the Pisces District in Aries. The skyscraper's neon-lit beams sliced through each story until it reached heaven's horizon where the top was barely visible. Claire passed by several pedestrians on a busy picturesque city street, rushing toward the entrance at an increased pace. Each floor became more visible the closer she came, and she noticed the first-floor lobby lit up with dim iridescent lightbulbs.

Claire pulled the door open and entered the establishment. The first-floor lobby was a spacious waiting area with luxurious royal furniture glossed in varnish. The walls inside drowned out the sounds of the nightlife echoing outside with its audio wall padding. The first floor had a railway hanging on another separate floor for sightseeing from its spectacular viewpoint.

Claire took a single step forward and realized she needed to head to a private penthouse area from the first-floor elevator. She entered the elevator and scanned her eyes through the interactive elevator touchpad. In the search bar, she typed the word "penthouse" and entered the elevator's destination with the push of a button.

As the elevator rose, Claire's concern for the mission in Kathuz was highlighted through how tense she appeared. She clenched her teeth with his mouth closed, and her shoulders were tense. Her fists were clenched, and she found himself tapping her black heel on the floor. Jinrai, above all, concerned her the most for how invested he was in her life. As much as she wanted to stay and support him at the canal, she knew that it was best for her to work alone.

The elevator paused after an entire minute of riding, leading her to the penthouse destination. She twisted the gears on her robotic arm and wore sleeves over both of them to hide her unusual appearance. As the elevator completely halted, the ambient sound of jazz music caught Claire off guard. Despite her knowing that a party was taking place, every single move counted if she was to find her twin sibling. She was further inquired about its mysterious presence as the elevator doors opened, leaving the music's volume increasing by a large margin.

She stepped into the marble-glossed floors with his shoes clacking against the surface. The long floor architecture led her toward the wide penthouse, where the VIP scanner remained. She tapped her card on the scanner, displaying a completely different name from someone else whose pass was stolen.

The penthouse had almost everything one would find in a dream mansion; a luxurious leather-crafted sofa with an antique coffee table in between, a massive wall-mounted television with an entire sound system prepared, and even a built-in neon-lit bar station for drinks and comfort. The walls were decorated with golden-framed watercolor and oil paintings that felt expensive to even view with the human eye. The stars even glistened through the glass windows and rooftop, leading to the awe-striking view of Pisces.

The guests at the penthouse were filled with suited and dressed Polycyclone Industries employees and higher-ups, conversing with one another about the future of their company. One of the elevators beside Claire's position as she entered opened, revealing two Seething Viper guards exiting and blocking restricted areas around the penthouse. Claire held her breath and moved back, blending in the establishment as cleanly as possible.

She moved to the bar station and sat beside one of the guests, who drank to his delight. She ordered bourbon whiskey and relaxed her arms on the table, hoping that her machine arm would not reveal itself through her sleeves.

"The Jester will be here tonight," The guest told Claire as he placed his shot glass on the table. "I hope that she will be here to approve of our company's decisions. Her word is obsolete when it comes to that pitiful trash that they call Kathuz."

"Definitely," Claire whispered, blending in with her agreement. "I look forward to meeting her as well. She and I go way back."

"You're a friend of the Jester?" The guest asked, piquing his interest. "Oh, stop it! I know you're joking. The next thing you'll tell me is that you know her real name."

"Yes," Claire replied, staring aimlessly at the bar station in front of her. The bartender placed the bourbon whisky in front of her, and she rotated the glass to split apart the ice cubes. "I do."

"What...?" The guest's loud voice caught the attention of the other guests, who settled down in groups. They both watched the guest's astonishment at Claire's sudden admittance. "Then, it would be nice if you could share it with the rest of us. We all love secrets, right?" He said.

"It wouldn't be a secret if I told you," Claire said, activating the communicator on her left ear. Jinrai could hear everything on the opposite line. "If she were to show tonight, what would she think of all of you who know her true name? Would she be satisfied? Or would you be, only for a brief period before she kills you?"

"Kills... us?" One of the female guests repeated after her. "That's impossible. She would never kill us! We're members of Polycyclone Industries! She knows that it's forbidden!"

"Her name is forbidden," Claire whispered into the communicator and to the others around her. "To presume that you all know her, who she is, what she will do... is very foolish. But no matter. I will tell you."

Jinrai, on the opposite line, was reluctant to invade the Kathuz Canal as she was about to drop her unexpected bombshell. It was beyond what they had planned, and Jinrai convinced himself that she had done it out of pent-up guilt and regret. As he held his tongue, Jinrai vanished into the shadows away from the canal.

"Her name... is Edelweiss Tianne Waters. Nicknamed Weiss," Claire revealed. "And... I know she's not here tonight."

The entire crowd at the penthouse party gasped, muttering to each other to question whether or not Claire was telling the truth. Little did they know that she was her twin sibling.

"She was a human who lived in poverty; she was described as a frequent bombastic troublemaker with a big undying heart. Her family thrived on attention in their poor community; her brothers and sisters were very well known to be intelligent, gifted, and talented in multiple aspects of life. Unlike her. She had no skills, no talents, or any dreams. And often, society would shun her for being the odd one out."

"Poverty?" The guest slammed his shot glass against the table, cracking it into mini pieces. The jazz music halted entirely. "How dare you accuse our Jester of such lowly standards! She is part of our saviors that will restore Aries to its rightful state! Polycyclone would be nothing without her!"

"Nothing, without her?" Claire repeated, glaring at the crowd menacingly. "She was nothing without anyone. She would always want to be on the very top of it all, crushing those who dared stand beneath her feet. There was a brief moment when she was sympathetic to those around her, but her family denied that chance. In reality, kind sir, your Jester is nothing but a drug-snorting narcissistic crybaby that would rather ruin the lives of all of you for what she wants."

"And what does she exactly want?" An elderly employee asked, cocking his head back.

"Attention," Claire continued. "She seeks it. Thrives on it. It is the source of her life. All the years that she has been living in our world, she had no role model, no family figure, no father, no mother... and all she wanted was to feel alive. Her nickname, the Jester, is a representation of the fool that was for trusting my family, and it is embedded in her forever. She joined the crime lord syndicates, hoping to raise her rank to have a better name around the globe. It worked, to an extent, but at the cost of her sanity. All she wants... is to be loved and valued by all."

"But that's a good thing! How is that considered a negative value?" A female employee asked.

"Because..." Claire said, lowering her eyelids. "She will never be satisfied. Even if she is the most powerful woman in the world, it will never be enough, for each second that she is awake, her demons scream and shout at her. Her demons ask her to change the world, wanting more, more, and more. But she can never do so even if she tries. And that is who you put your faith in for this company. This... vermin." Her voice lowered dramatically.

The Seething Vipers took notice of Claire's monologue, approaching her from a distance hoping to understand her motives. However, the guest who slammed his glass on the table had already done so. "How... how do you know all of this about her?" He asked.

Claire took a sip of her bourbon whiskey, aware of the Seething Vipers approaching her from behind. She placed her glass on the table and looked back at the guests. "Well, it's simple," She said. "I'm her twin sister."

The word 'sister' immediately triggered a warning from the two Seething Vipers that stood behind her. The word alone caused a chain-reaction of events that led to the destruction of the party in the penthouse. The guests began rushing out of the penthouse, hoping to spare their lives.

One of the Seething Vipers dove toward Claire with a razor-sharp gauntlet blade edged out from their wrists, piercing through Claire's body. She pulled herself back as the blade collided with her machine arm, catching it between a gear to crush the blade in half. Claire stole the shattered half of the blade from the viper and jammed it in its throat.

Another viper charged at Claire with a serrated blade, prompting her to pull herself out of the seat and onto the bartending table. She split her legs down toward the table and dodged a direct blow to the head. Her metal arm snatched the serrated blade and pushed it back toward the viper to kill it immediately.

As the bartender sped off the scene, Claire rushed upstairs to the penthouse, being cautious of her twin sister's traps. Yet she never anticipated what she would find inside the upstairs master bedroom. Framed pictures of young Claire's family, including Weiss, were posted across the walls and nightstands. She entered the bedroom and picked up one of the framed pictures, examining it closely. Her four sisters and five brothers were standing beside her deceased mother and father, who were both murdered by Weiss.

The picture melded both good and bad memories into Claire's mind. The smiles of her brothers and sisters gave her memories of their valiant travels together, but Weiss's smile toppled it like a house of cards. The chance to witness her mother and father's existence came o light when she smiled back at them, but knowing the harsh punishment that they endowed upon Weiss only removed her respect for them.

"Weiss..." Claire whispered, pressing her left hand on her heart. "Is there truly no way... that you can forgive them? Or do I have to end you... to be satisfied?"

"There has to be another way," Jinrai's voice came through the communicator.

"W-What?" Claire gasped, pressing against her ear. "No! We planned this from the start, Rai. We have to follow through!"

"But you love her," Jinrai pointed out. "You pitied her. Yo wanted to defend her and change her, because you care about her."

"It's too late-"

"Is it?" Jinrai interrupted. "Something else came up while I was researching about Weiss. Was it her parents that pushed her over the edge, or was it something else?"

"What are you trying to say?" Claire asked.

"Don't you think that her insanity came out of nowhere?" Jinrai explained. "It is true that Weiss craved attention, but was it all for fame and fortune, or was it for love? Or are you telling yourself that the reason for her insanity is to enact vengeance on you... or was it all programmed and planned from the start?"

"How would I know what Weiss thinks?!" Claire shouted. "I've lost her for many years now. She's been nothing but a pawn to... to..." She paused, realizing the error of her thinking. "Polycyclone Industries."

"Genesis Laboratories was a subsidiary of their company," Jinrai said. "The ones who focused on replicating memories stolen from the people of Sagittarius. They could have easily experimented on Weiss without your knowledge. She gave her life to the crime syndicate that she joined, and perhaps they took her and changed her personality to fit their goals. She sold weapons across the world. Even to one of the traitors of Sagittarius, Lucine Vicio Melodia."

"That's absurd," Claire said. "How can it be possible to change-"

"The power of these memory fragments is beyond our comprehension," Jinrai said. "The girl that Ryo Nakai was interested in... has one of her own. Granting them powers beyond the supernatural. Evidence surfaced of this. This is why your twin sister Weiss is alive. She is an experiment, Claire."

"No..." Claire stressed, placing her hands on her temples. "How could I have not realized this myself?"

"Because you want her to live," Jinrai said. "You were blinded by your love for Weiss that you wanted to hold back on finding her. You didn't want the truth. You wanted her. And we can change this, Claire. But we will need Ryo Nakai and Natia for this."

Claire hugged the framed picture of her and Weiss, nestled in between two other pictures of their family vacations. She closed her eyes and whimpered, basking in the truth of her mind. "Weiss..."

"Let me in," Weiss's voice played through a worn-out speaker next to her mattress. It was a prerecording. She approached it slowly, letting her vulnerable side take over. "Let me in, let me in, all the bullshit lies about everything. Daddy didn't do a good job of taking care of me. Mommy only made it worse. I gave my life for everyone around me, but none of it was worth the wait. But there was no one else I despised in this world more than Claire. Not because she was the center of attention, but because I wanted to be exactly, exactly like her."

"Weiss?" Claire breathed out, shocked to hear her twin sister's true voice.

"Claire protected me from those... those moronic freaks," Weiss's voice continued. "To ride the list, make me feel worth... it was all her doing. But I don't blame her for everything. I don't blame her one bit. She has a life to live of her own. What good would knowing what I've done... do for her?"

"You're wrong, Weiss..." Claire spoke.

"We make it our goal to live a successful life, and the only way out was to seek the strongest," Weiss continued. "I have people around me who give a great share of care to me, so Claire... if you're listening, I hope you realize that I don't need you anymore. Someday, you'll see how good I am. Because that's all I wanted... was to impress you. I don't give a shit about any snot-nosed father and her braggart mother. It was just you."

Claire could not contain her emotions as she sobbed joyfully at the truth about Weiss, the Jester. She clutched the framed photo as if it was her invisible spirit, guiding her to that exact spot.

"So, Claire... tomorrow, is the time I seek someone else's help. Polycyclone. They'll help me and I wish myself the best. They've got this... procedure that they use that's really sciencey and interesting. They contacted me and I can't wait to be done with this."

Claire gasped, piecing Jinrai's words together into the puzzle.

"Once I'm done, I hope you'll see me soon," Weiss's voice breathed heavily in affection for her. "I love you. Stay safe. Weiss Tianne Waters, out." The speaker ended abruptly, and silence filled the solemn air once more.

Jinrai gave Claire time and space to think about what she had heard, for he had heard everything as well. After a minute passed, Jinrai sighed, determining that the best course of action was to relay the truth. "So I was right," He began. "Polycyclone is behind this. They used her, and in return, they used you too."

"She..." Claire sniffled, clenching her teeth as the truth enraged her. "She was the only one who gave a damn about me! She loved me! And they used her as a toy!" She spat out saliva that scorched the ground beneath her in fiery passion as her puffy swollen eyes ringed her face. "And they're going to pay for this. They're going to pay for all of this until the day that I die. I want my sister back!"

"I'll make you feel my pain," Another voice rang through the speaker unexpectedly. It was the voice of an unknown male, followed by the sounds of screws and bolts fastening and drilling toward one another. Weiss's panged and agonizing screams were heard clearly. She yelled her lungs out as torture commenced. "For Genesis."

"Rion Stormfield!" Claire screamed.

A metronome ticking sound began faintly playing in the background of the penthouse bedroom. By the time the ticks had reached a total of five, Claire snatched the photo of herself and Weiss and bolted out the stairs. The communicator on her ear fell as she swept her head back, dropping on the wooden floors. The faint sound of Jinrai's pleads and calls for Claire's name was only temporary until it happened.

The detonation. The penthouse collapsed as an implosion destroyed the base of the infrastructure, blasting it inward and off of the cliffs in Pisces. Claire leaped out the glass windows as they shattered into pieces. Shards of glass sliced through her skin while she held onto a sturdy brass pole on the balcony. Her metal arm held onto the framed photo of her dearest life. She closed her eyes as she lost her grip on the brass pole and plummeted toward Aries. The penthouse collapsed with her, toppling on her as a shockwave emitted in a mile radius.

"It was you..." Claire whispered, envisioning the mind of Rion Stormfield. "I'll kill you..."