The Chuuni and His Lackey

[Jean's POV]

"Confess at once, young lady. Who are you? Which kingdom did you come from, and why are you dressed so weirdly?" the chuuni asked in rapid succession. I couldn't help but cringe at how into the character he was. I would have applauded had we been in a cosplay convention, but reality demanded that I take things seriously.

He was holding a real sword. I couldn't tell if he was just so immersed in his roleplaying or actually threatening us.

'Should I call the police?'

Well, it wouldn't have mattered if I did.

I couldn't see my sister's reaction as she had her back on me. 'Do you know the guy? Are you acquaintances? Is this one of the silly pranks you used to pull off when we were kids?'

I had a lot of questions but prank or not, I decided to play along.

"Um, mister from, uh… respected kingdom. Would you mind it if you put down your sword for a moment and talk? I think there is a misunderstanding."

The chuuni looked at me as though he found me interesting and was about to put down his sword when…

"Who are you?" my sister asked as she shifted her weight to her other foot. She was now slightly facing towards me, which was why I could clearly see it. She was looking him directly in the eyes. Something that shook me. She had refused to make eye contact with anyone other than me and Kyle for the past three years, as it gave her severe anxiety and sometimes even made her puked. It was that severe. She even refused to make eye contact with father.

If only. Really, if only I could go back to this point in time. I will say it over and over again. I don't care if she ended up hating me. But had I known what this encounter would lead to, I would have grabbed her by the neck and dragged her to the furthest place away from this guy. This remains to be my greatest regret to this day. And if only I could go back, I would try and make an effort to listen to her. Shove it down her throat that she could depend on me too. I would have even sold my soul just to make her stop what she was planning.

He aimed his sword back at her neck. The atmosphere grew cold. And I became nervous.

"Just now, your eyes," the chuuni mumbled. My sister tilted her head to the side, causing the sharp edge of the sword to graze her skin, drawing out blood.

That was the moment I began to panic.

"Shit, this is bad. Kyle! Kyle, wake up!" I yelled to the youngest as I ran to pull my sister away from him. But before I could do that...

"Richard, restrain him."

"Yes, sir."

The chuuni called out to someone, and a presence walked out from behind me. A hand then landed on my shoulder, and I suddenly couldn't move anymore.

It felt exactly like when I was having sleep paralysis, where I was seeing these grotesque, violently gruesome things while fully conscious but unable to move or speak. It felt exactly like that. I could only move my eyeballs, and through my peripheral, I could see Kyle crawling out of his tent and freezing as he realized what the commotion was all about.

'Kyle, call the police!' I wanted to tell him, but my mouth wouldn't move.

"Just now, your eyes turned purple," the chuuni continued to chat with my sister. "It was only for a split second, but it did turn purple. I saw it." As he was saying this, his grip on the sword became tighter, and the blade sank a bit deeper into her skin. The blood continued to trickle faster.

'What are you doing? Move away already! Are you out of your mind?' I continued to scream inside my head. Her T-shirt was slowly getting wet with blood.

It was then that I saw her grin. For a moment, I thought I was seeing things, but my eyes were perfectly fine, and she was indeed grinning.

"I don't know what you're talking about but could you please take away your sword? At this point, you'd slice through my vocal chords before I could answer you."

She didn't sound like my sister when she said this. I mean, the tone and the pitch were still the same, but it felt like she was a different person entirely.

The chuuni seemed to hesitate for a moment but actually withdrew his sword. He stared at it for a while, grew pale, and looked back at my sister.

"You… A-Are you a mage?" he asked.

I didn't understand why he was stuttering all of a sudden.

He then continued to mumble to himself.

"Yes. Yes, indeed. This could be fate as well."

He also mumbled something about a prophecy and saving the world or something that I didn't manage to catch but I could only be sure of one thing, his hostility vanished instantly and I didn't even know how or why.

'This should be good, right?'

"Richard, treat her wound and take care of her companions. I have the need to chat with the young lady after I calm myself. I'll be back."

And with that, he walked off. A cloaked individual then approached my sister and put his hand over her still bleeding neck. His palm emitted green light and after a few seconds, the wound was completely gone.

'What was that? Magic?'