The Twins

Chapter 5: Truth

Part three: Purple

  Matthew led his sister back into their hut where she collapsed onto her bed. Her breathing had stabilized but she still looked weary and drained. Every once in a while she coughed wetly, blood trickling out of her lips. Sweat still coated her forehead and a few cuts that Matthew hadn't seen before were bleeding quite a bit. If it wasn't for his feeling that she would be alright, he would be convinced that she was dying.

  "What if she is dying?" Matthew thought in worry,"How do I even know that she's going to be ok?" He remembered Ms. Mortal's comment. Was he a Saru Tokai? If so, what was his token? He stood, heading over to the corner where the washing supplies had appeared. They had come through a compartment in the communicator. Two towels, a facecloth, and a bar of soap, each wrapped in plastic to keep them clean.

  Matthew brought the face cloth over to Marie and wiped her face gently. She didn't respond or otherwise show that she knew he was there. He sighed and bit his lip, running his hand through his hair, causing  a cloud of dust to take flight in the air around his face. He waved his hand to disperse the cloud and coughed.

  He didn't know where the water was. If he could wet the cloth he could properly wipe Marie's face. Matthew started to pace. He felt like he knew she would be fine, but she looked so weak, and fragile. His anxiety spiked. "How can I be sure of anything now? Ms. Mortal, Tiana, thinks I'm an actual Saru Tokai, my sister is sick, and I'm so far away from home right now...what do I do?" His silent thoughts turned to soft mutters laced with curse words and sighs.

  Matthew turned to look at the communicator. Its reflective surface shone back the light from inside the hut and the lights from outside seemed to hit it just right. A faint rainbow hovered over to the side and he advanced to look at the surface. Slowly he looked at his reflection. Shadows hid his features and made him look ghostly, like he was a shadow himself. Yet there on his face he saw his eyes.

  They were definitely purple.

  Matthew took a few steps back. A few days ago they were green! A bright forest green, and now they were a completely different colour. He shook his head. So it was true. He was a Saru Tokai.

   Marie began to stir in her bed and in an instant Matthew was beside her. She opened her eyes and sat up rubbing her temples. The cuts were gone, she wasn't coughing, and the beads of sweat on her forehead had all but disappeared. Matthew smiled, relieved and Marie smiled back.

   "You good little bro?"

   "We're twins Marie I'm not your little brother."

   "I was a few minutes early you harlot!"

   "I don't think you realize what that means."

   "I don't think you realize that I DON'T CARE!"

   The twins stared at each other then burst out laughing at the same time. They may have had a tendency to annoy the hell out of each other, but they still loved each other. Neither would ever admit that though.

  Matthew paused. A lot was happening and he needed to go figure some things out, specifically about being a Saru Tokai.

  "I'm going to go outside for a bit...I need to think."

   Marie laughed at her brother incredulously,"Are you sure your four brain calls can handle that?"

  Matthew simply stuck his tounge out at her and headed out the door.

  Marie laid back down on the bed. She still felt a little bit tired but no longer was she sure that she was dead. After healing the boy she had felt unbalanced, like something important was drained out of her body. She sat in silence for a while felling air rushing in and out of her lungs.

  A head poked in the door and Tiana Mortal's face appeared, her slightly unsettling smile beaming.

  "Hello Marie darling! I was wondering if I could borrow something from you?"

  Marie sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed,"What would you like?"

  Tiana grinned again,"Just a bar of soap and a few blankets. I'm getting old you know and there is no heat down here."

  "And the soap?"

  "What?"

  "What do you need the soap for?"

  "Oh well dear a woman needs to feel her best, and for me that would be getting properly cleaned. It is awfully dirty down here too."

  Marie frowned. It was the only bar of soap they had, and they only had the one extra blanket.

  "Oh please dear? Help out an old teacher?"

  Marie sighed and handed over the blanket and soap. Tiana rewarded her with another smile and a kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you so much dear! I better be off now."

With a flourish, Ms. Mortal left closing the door behind her.

"Guess I'm easier to manipulate then I thought." Marie thought once Tiana had dissapeared.