Aunt Sepia[]
One night, Ichi was awoken by the sounds of muffled crying. He stood up from his bed and tried to find the source of the crying, which eventually led to his sister's bed, where she lied, covered in tears. He shook Gomi awake, which seemed to calm her a bit. She lit a candle on her night stand and wiped the sleep, and tears, from her eyes. [Gomi, what's wrong?] Ichi signed.
“Bad... Dream..." she attempted to say. Recently, Gomi decided to try to speak with the help of Aiden. She's shown progress, but not much.
[What was it about?] Ichi asked.
[Someone bad. They looked familiar, but I don't know who it was.]
[Do you think you can go back to sleep?] Ichi asked, slowly moving his hands. Gomi shook her head, and she stood awake for the rest of the night. Something about that person in her dream seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on who it was, The next morning, as they made their way to the guild hall, a tall woman approached them. She was dressed in black and blue with clear, pale skin. Her eyes were a dark blue, and her black, curly hair stretched down to her hips. This was the woman Gomi saw in her dream. As she came close, Gomi felt a sudden sense of fear swell in her chest, as if she were about to scream, but she didn't, and noticed an aura around the stranger from her dream. She tapped Ichi's shoulder, catching his attention. [What's wrong?] He asked. [There is a person ahead, and they look exactly like the person from my dream.] She said, moving her hands along his palms frantically. [So? It might just be a coincidence.] [She's walking towards us, Ichi!] [Maybe she's heading towards a shop, we're on the main street, you know.] [Ichi, she's staring at us!] Gomi signed, as the woman grabbed Ichi's shoulders. “Woah, stop! Who are you?" Ichi yelled, waving his cane in the air, trying to hit the stranger. “Ichi, stop. You look like and idiot." The woman said. Her voice was smooth and comforting, and Ichi stopped immediately. “How do you know my name?” Ichi yelled at her. “Because, kid, I'm your aunt Sepia." She answered, a bit annoyed. “Aunt?” Gomi said after a long pause. “Ah, so you can read lips now, Gomi. When you were a toddler, you tried to and got so frustrated when you tried to talk and people would laugh..." Sepia began, but trailed off, as if the memory brought pain to her. [I thought all of our family members were.., gone.] Gomi signed slowly. “Well, they aren't. You two ran away before I could gain custody of you, which broke my heart because I was looking forward to raising you two." Sepia said slowly, making sure Gomi could read her lips. “How did you find us?" Ichi asked, ignoring her conversation with Gomi. “I asked around, and found out you two were in a guild. It's kind of funny how you went from being juvenile delinquents to guild members." Sepia said, laughing a bit. [Why are you here?] Gomi signed with a worried look on her face. “Good question. This guild you two are in, Koma Inu, isn't safe for two kids. If I recall, you two are probably the youngest ones there. And who has been talking care of you? I'm here to gain custody of you two, and raise you better than these guild mates can."
Ichi's eyes widened as he listened to what she was saying. “But… we're fully capable of taking care of ourselves. We have been for years."
She turned to face him, her eyes shooting daggers. “You two have been living like street scum for the past four years. I am a better parent to you two than those guildmates of yours ever will be. You two hardly do anything in the guild, so it's not like you'll miss it or anything."
Gomi, feeling her blood boil with rage as the read Sepia's lips, glared at her. [We are happy where we are, even if we have trouble making friends with our guildmates, they've been he closest thing to a family we've had in years! So, leave. We don't need you.] She signed furiously.
"Yes, you do need me. Can't you see that I'm the only person you have left?" Sepia yelled at her, drawing attention from people passing by. Gomi felt a sense of dread wash over her at the realization that this woman, her Aunt Sepia, really was all the family her and her brother had left. Surely she had an uncle or cousin they could locate, right? No, they couldn't... they didn't know anyone in their family except for their parents and grandparents.
Ichi, full of fury, picked up his cane and slashed it through the air, trying to hit Sepia. Unfortunately, she stepped aside and twisted the cane out of his hand. "Also, you won't be allowed to have this anymore. It's dangerous to have this around." She tossed it to the side, outside of Ichi's reach. He dropped to the ground and tried to search for it, feeling tears trying to escape his eyes.
"Why did you do that?!" He yelled at her.
"Because you need to rely on someone else for a change, not a piece of wood."
Gomi clenched her fists and felt her face turn red from anger. Her arms started to burn, but her fingers were seeming to get colder. She raised her hand to hit Sepia for upsetting her brother, but a short burst of fire came from her fingers and latched onto Sepia. She watched her Aunt try to put out the fire with one hand and even trying to roll on the ground, but it didn't go away. Gomi started to laugh while watching her aunt struggle, waiting for the realization that the fire did no damage.
A crowd of people formed around them and watched as Sepia struggled to put the fire out. Eventually, she realized that the fire didn't burn or sting or even seem to tear through her dress. She glared at Gomi and the fire went away. People were laughing and walking away already, someone even made a remark about how stupid could she be to have never witnessed illusion magic before.
"You know what, Ichi, Gomi? Have it your way. If you want to turn down this opportunity, then go ahead. Go be with your guildmates and never have a family. I'll be on my way." Sepia said with a grave voice. She turned away from the both of them and walked away, fading into the crowd of strangers.
Gomi helped Ichi find his cane and brought him to his feet.
[Thanks, Gomi.] He signed to her.
[She wasn't really family. She looked nothing like mom or dad. I have a feeling she was trying to kidnap us.] She signed to him. They both stared out into the crowd and sighed, making their way to the guild hall, never talking about Sepia again.