Spectral Radian: Strife of Altered Souls (Chapters 1-10)

Eight: Shard

There was a girl sitting in a chair. They had silver hair with black accents mixed in, and they were wearing a black long sleeved turtleneck with a white stripe running asymmetrically across the front. They wore a black skirt with shimmering gray leggings that disappeared into a pair of reflective grayish-blue platform boots. They were, for all intents and purposes, a doll.

Ruuka, on-edge and cautiously eyeing the girl, opened with the expected: "Who are you, and why are you in my house?"
"Your house?"
"Yes, my house."
"You live here?"
"Yes -- well...lived..."
"Ah. Lived."
Ruuka's eyes started to brighten, and in response, the girl's eyes flashed a beautiful silver-white and Ruuka was instantly blown out of the room, colliding with the balcony and nearly falling over it. Fuck, she thought.
Ruuka stood up straight and walked back into her room, her temper flaring. "Try that shit again, you piece of-"
Before she could finish, she was laying flat on her back, the girl on top of her, breathing cold air into her face.
"They said you'd come back here."
"What? Who? Get off me!"
"I don't think so. Not after what you did."
"What??? I don't even know you!!"
"Of course you wouldn't -- you were too busy killing my family to notice me, you sadistic witch."
"Wha- I didn't kill your family, what the fuck! I've literally been a free woman for less than a DAY. I DON'T KNOW YOUR FUCKING FAMILY."

As Ruuka yelled into the girl's face, their expression softened and they stared into her eyes, whispering softly, "How is this possible...?" They leaned close to Ruuka's face and whispered, "You look identical to her. But... something's off." After thinking about it for a moment, the girl spoke.
"The other one didn't have a mouth."
"Wh- YOU'RE JUST NOW NOTICING THIS???"
"Stop yelling."
"YOU WERE FULLY INTENT ON LITERALLY KILLING ME OVER SOMETHING I DIDN'T DO."
"I was operating under erroneous knowledge."
"Oh for fucks-"

The girl jumped onto her again. "Help me find her." Ruuka, confused and still reeling from the force of the girl's attacks, sputtered, "This is all way too much...I know you're probably not in your best mind right now but...can you please tell me everything that happened that led you to believe I killed your family?"

"My name is Tsuki. I was with my family when someone looking exactly like you walked in. She didn't have a mouth but somehow she still spoke. She tried to take me but my family protected me, and she killed them."
"Tsuki..."
Ruuka found herself holding Tsuki, brushing through their hair with her fingertips. "I'm sorry, Tsuki..."

Ruuka and Tsuki walked outside to find a slightly dejected Shiren. He nodded towards Tsuki and asked, "Who's she?"
Tsuki clung to Ruuka's arm and looked Shiren directly in the eye. "I am a Synth Shard. I am not a 'she'!" Shiren stared at the ground and mumbled an embarrassed apology, though Tsuki's declaration caught Ruuka's attention and she turned to the doll. "Did you say 'Synth Shard'?"
Tsuki snuggled themselves up to Ruuka. "Yes. I am a Synth Shard, a shard of Eden." Ruuka, unable to control herself, brushed her hand accross Tsuki's head.

"Shiren, we have to help them."
"What happened to them?"
"My family was murdered by an imposter of Ruuka."
"Yeah... that."
"Oh... I'm sorry for your loss."
"What does that mean?"
"Shiren here is offering condolences because you've lost your family, and, I'm sorry too, even if I wasn't responsible."
"I see...I apologize for attacking you. It was within my best interest in that moment."
"Its...its okay sweetie, I understand --"

Ruuka started to cry , holding Tsuki and whispering to them over and over that she'd be there for them. For all their strength, Tsuki was still fragile, hurting, and alone.

Ruuka wiped away her tears and spoke more confidently: "We're going to find the person who killed your family, and we'll drive a knife through her heart, not for vengeance, but for closure, okay?"

Tsuki nodded wordlessly, nestling themselves in Ruuka's arms as they sat on the porch of Ruuka's lifeless house, silently sharing each other's trauma, both wanting an answer for why the world took everything from them.