Not long after Ms. Tamashi's strange visit, Aegis had once again returned to her usual routine. With no other patron in sight and no hopes of anyone else coming in after the sunset on the New Year's eve, the shop was going to close early. It was then, no wonder that Aegis would be wipping the tables after placing a closed sign in the front door.
"I suppose it could have been worse, at least it wasn't--" she said to herself, cutting her thoughts short when she accidentally dropped a glass, shattering it in a tiny million pieces.
"Great, and now I have to clean broken glass too. Really amazing," she said as she bent down to pick the fragments with a piece of clothes.
"What's the matter sister? You look as if you've seen a ghost."Palis' voice came from the cafe's entrance and she stood there with a hand on her hip. Still transformed, she was invisible to the human eye; if anyone looked upon the scene from the outside, they might have guessed it was a strong gust of wind that had opened the door.
"What kind of bar closes just before the dark of night? Or maybe you've just grown soft. Trying to spare these humans from staying out at night when there are creatures and Nightmares running about? Spare me the rabble..." Palis near-hissed the words out as she strode in without invitation, sitting at the first table she saw.
"Ahh, yes. Maybe I did," Aegis said, immeadiately forgetting the glass and turning around to face none other than her own sister.
"At least, I'm not the one that got twisted to the point of throwing the nightmares at them," she added as she stared at Palis with an icy -- or perhaps was it a burning -- gaze.
"Do you have any idea of how many suffered because of your games?""Didn't I tell you to spare me the rabble? As if you hold any real sympathy towards these humans." Palis waved a hand to her side as if to point to the cafe's windows. Outside, the usual bustle of people could be seen scampering about on New Year's Eve in Miso City.
"Don't try to act like you have the moral high ground sister. You and I both know the only real fun around here are Magical Girls."Aegis glared back. She knew that some of what her sister said was true, since she didn't have a high enough opinon of humanity to care that deeply about them, but...
"That doesn't mean that I would go that far. Having a low opinion of them and genocide for the sake of it are different things," Aegis said as she approached her sister.
"Either way, if you are so interested in these 'magical girls' why are you going out of your way to harm them? If there's one thing I know is that you may be selfsih but you never break the toys you really like. Furthermore," Aegis made a pause, removing her apron and other frily adornments from her uniform before continuing,
"There's something else bugging me about this city and I'm sure you noticed it as well, right?""Hmpf. Look at you being clever and observant." Palis watched as her sister dignified her appearance some more before latching onto her proposed words.
"Yes, I can admit, the Magical Girls are more of a...one-trick pony, so to say. They're entertaining enough, but if they're all like that blonde and gutted mutt then I have no real need for them. No, there's something else in this city like you said. And from what I can tell, it's drawn the attention of the Magical Girls. And whatever attracts them must be fun, right?" she said with a dark smirk.
"So it really was you..." Aegis said with a somber tone taking over her voice as she sat across from Palis.
"Not that it matters anymore, though.""Either way, your idea of fun and mine are totally different," the angel added in a bitter remark.
"I don't know about you, but I'm none too fond of random lunatics binding me with Mother's power. It's not one of my kinks at all," Aegis finsihed saying, whipping her hair.
"So that's what happened. I could have sworn I felt a shimmer of Mother's power being flaunted..." Palis said, more to herself as she gazed back to the window.
"It must be that trapped little canary. I'm sure you must have sensed her by now, hmm? It seems Mother still has some things kept secret away from us. How annoying....""She probably does but that's something to be expected. Why would she tell us about her work from eons ago?" Aegis said, agreeing with her sister's words for once.
"Of course I felt something as soon as I stepped in this place but it wasn't why I came here so I just ignored it. Neither these magical girls nor whoever else lives in this place is really of my interest. Why should I give them more thought than necessary?""I came here to know why you came to this world of all places. And that's still my intention, but now I feel like I should bring you back home whether you want it or not, after seeing all that's happening. We are sisters, so if we could resolve this without fighting, it would be the best case scenario."
"But, if you insist, I'll have no other option," Aegis said in a serious manner. She wasn't threatening her sister, but was also fully intent on backing up her words if she needed to.
"Are you threatening me?" Palis' eyes flared up into an unearthly glow, the cat-like slits of her pupils expanding in rage. A miasma of darkness flared behind her and she almost stood up with how enraged she felt. But she managed to only scoot forward, the desire to tear into her sister's face evident and clear. Where she was once calm, now a moment later she was near-berserk.
"As if you think you have any power over me sister. I came to this world because there was something of interest here, as if it was drawing me. And I won't be leaving until I discover it for myself."Palis stared down the other girl, very much wanting to cause a fight here and now. But even she had some semblance of restraint and figured it would do no good to cause attraction to herself. Especially from any meandering Magical Girls, several of which she could feel even here. Pure lights wandering through the endless night, meeting another Demon...but that was beyond her scope at the moment.
"Stay out of my way and I won't have to send you to Mother in pieces, Aegis," Palis warned darkly.
"Hmph! As easy to trigger as ever. You really never change, sister," Aegis said as her sister almost exploded in a fit of sudden rage.
"I'll leave you be for the time being since I have something to look forward to as well, so don't worry. But I wouldn't underestimate these humans if I were you. Their spirit is a really interesting thing, even if they themselves aren't. You may as well find out that you've bitten more than you can chew very soon," she added in a serious voice, looking stright into Palis' enraged eyes.
"Is that so."Palis' glare didn't back down from Aegis' stare; rather, it soon devolved into a dark gaze of its one, one almost devoid of emotion. After she had taken a moment to calm herself of course.
"The same could be said for you, sister. That presence that's drawn me in...hasn't it ever ocurred to you it wants to you too? Why else would you be here with me, you and I. Forces of darkness and light. Food for thought, Aegis." "Look at you," Aegus replied in a mocking sweet tone.
"I never thought that my sister would be the type to listen to so many bedtime stories. That's actually very cute of you, you know?" Even though she was aware that there may be something bigger in the works, seeing Palis believe that all of this was much more than a coincidence so earnestly made it almost impossible for Aegis to resist teasing her sister. And, as a follow up, she would reach forward and pet Palis's head like a child finding this more entertaining she should.
"Look at you," Palis snarled in annoyance.
"Acting so nonchalant in the face of conspiracy. Fine then, don't come crying when the least of my warnings go over your thick head." Palis glared dangerously upon the hand on her head but Aegis removed it before she could bite it off.
"Hmmpf. Do what you will then sister, but I have my own plans to attend to. This meeting was irritating, annoying at best," Palis said, already conjuring a portal of darkness and moving to slip inside it.
"Very well, then. I'll be aware of it. You don't need to be all hissy," Aegis said as she pulled her her hand away from her sister.
"Anyway, at least take this with you. I don't want my own sister to go cold on the last day of the year," she said as she produced a paper bag. If Palis cared to look inside she would find a cup of coffee and a pair of doughnuts, a New Year's gift of her beloved sister to make their parting a little less bitter.
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