Scarlet and Chains

Memories of Onii-chan (Part 3)

    *Onii-chan's POV*

    I wake up the next morning with Rosie in bed with me. Again. I know we fell asleep in our own rooms, but I guess she crawled in with me at some point during the night. This is the third time that she's done this and, while I don't mind, I think mother is starting to get annoyed with Rosie's need to snuggle in her sleep.

    "Rosie, time to wake up." I say, as I gently shake her awake. She stirs, then looks up at me with a slightly annoyed, and very sleepy, expression on her face. I smile, and then we go downstairs for breakfast.

    "Good morning children. Let me guess, you both want waffles, correct?" Mother asks, as we enter the dining room. We both nod and sit down. It doesn't take long for us to finish eating. Once we are done, we go to our own rooms and get dressed.

    "I have to work today. Will you two be okay on your own?" Mother calls to us. "We'll be fine!" we both reply/ shout back. Mother leaves and we go out to the garden for the day.

    We are there for a little less than three hours, when I find a rather interesting spider. Rosie enjoys when I show her animals, so I decide to show her the spider.

    "Rosie, do you want to see an interesting insect?" I call out. "Sure! I'll be right over!" She replies.

    "So, where is this interesting bug?" She asks. "Well, it isn't a bug. It's right here." I say, while pointing to the spider. She looks to where I am pointing and suddenly, her blue eyes go a deep and vibrant shade of scarlet. Then she starts to shake.

    Without any warning, every animal form that she has explodes out of her and pushes me aside. I didn't know she could do that, but she is worrying me.

    "Rosie, what's wrong?" I ask her. She doesn't reply. So I try again, but she still doesn't reply. I try to push my way to her, but her wolf form nips at me. Which causes one of her two fox forms to growl at it, before it comes and curls its tail around my legs.

    Rosie, answer me! I think at her. This fails as well. So I try her actual name, instead of a nickname. She twitches, but doesn't reply.

    "Rosaria Kurasagi, what in Heaven's name is wrong!" I call out. She turns to look at me and, thankfully, her eyes have returned to normal. She still has this glazed look in her eyes, but she starts walking towards me.

    The fox form at my feet walks up to her and re-merges with her. The other animals follow suit. Once the last one rejoins her, she passes out.

    *Rose's POV*

    I wake up in my bed, with a major headache. I sit up, then start replaying events in my mind. I don't remember leaving the garden and going to bed. The last thing I remember is Onii-chan calling me over to show me some bug. Only, it wasn't a bug, but a spider...

    "Good, you're awake. Mind explaining what happened to you?" Onii-chan asks, as he enters the room. I look at him and scowl.

    "What? Did I do something wrong?" He asks, when he registers my scowl. He looks genuinely worried, then I remember that I never explained how much I hate spiders. I sigh, then explain the situation.

    "I really don't like spiders. I don't know why, I just do. Whenever I see one, my vision goes red and all I want to do is kill. All of my animal forms come out of me and they are supposed to assist with the intended massacre." I pause, unable to think of how to phrase the next part in a good way. So I decide to just tell it as it is.