Chapter Text
Sunny pulled the last ingredient from his list from where it was rooted into the ground. He delicately placed the plant in his satchel as he made his way home, listening to the small pitter-patter of the feet behind him. His boots sunk slightly into the mud below him while he trudged his way through the forest while his tunic battered snagged on the branches nearby.
When Sunny came across stubborn vines that refused to move despite him asking politely, he could feel the anger begin bubbling right underneath his skin. He could feel the small creature behind him reacting to his anger, hissing and becoming more irritated. Sunny pulled out his wand, whispering a spell into it before throwing it into the air. When it fell back into his hand, it was no longer a wand. It had grown and separated into two pieces. A violin and bow.
The young boy readied his grip, holding his violin on his shoulder with the bow poised above it. Then, he began to play. It was a hateful song, filled with as much anger and malice he could muster. Magic emanated from him, coiling around him tightly, like an angry snake ready to attack. When his magic finally struck, it severed the vines, causing them to let out an ugly wail.
Sunny shrunk his wand back down as he waited for them to stop screaming. It didn't take long for the vines to quiet, and when they did, he made his way past them, slipping his wand into his pocket. Pulling the list from his pocket, he double checked everything on his list. Parsley, check. Sage, check. Ginger, check … On and on until he was certain he'd gathered every item.
He continued on a little further until Sunny had arrived at the small cottage he called home. Sunny let out a groan, the thatch roof needed to be repaired, along with one of the wooden walls. ...He'd do it later, was what he told himself as Sunny pushed open the door, leaving it open long enough for the small thing to enter. Everything was exactly as he left it. All the bottles neatly sat on their shelf, every artifact was secured in their case.
Sunny grabbed his mortar and pestle off the counter top and began dropping things into it. Spices, herbs, and even a few flower petals. He grinded it all into a fine powder and set it down. He grabbed a bowl and began mushing fruits and vegetables into liquid. While apples, lemons, strawberries, carrots and celery might not taste very good together, it didn't matter what it tasted like. Sunny poured the powder into the bowl of liquefied fruits and stirred it thoroughly. Once it was mixed into a disgusting goop, he took a spoon and scooped some out.
Getting on his knees, he offered some of his concoction to the small creature, his familiar, which took the form of a small black cat. Sunny had to stifle a laugh as the small form gagged as soon as the liquid hit its tongue. The familiar scratched him with its sharp claws. Standing up again, Sunny poured the liquid from the bowl into a bottle, and made his way to the door of one of the rooms. His familiar sat by the door as he entered. It wasn't allowed in the room. Sunny didn't want it anywhere near her.
Sunny shut the door behind him softly, clutching the bottle in his hand tightly. Walking over to the dresser he picked up an incense and placed it in a small hole in the wall. Sunny hummed a short tune, his magic lighting the tip of the incense easily. He walked over to the bed figure lying in the bed. They were waddled in the blankets, you could only tell they were alive from the steady movement of them breathing.
Sunny lightly tapped the lying figure. "Ma..i..." He rasped out, struggling on the pronunciation. Gently, he removed the covers from her. She was lying still, her hair a mess and her eyes still closed. Sunny wasn't too worried, she was still breathing after all. Sunny sat her up against the bedpost and tapped her again. After a moment of tapping, her eyes finally fluttered open. Mari didn't say good morning, didn't give him a morning hug, but that was fine. He didn't expect her to. Sunny walked over to her closet and searched through it. Pushing aside outfit after outfit, he found a nice dress for her to wear today. It was a simple yellow gown with a white ribbon wrapped around the waist.
Sunny pulled out his wand and began humming a new tune. This was a simple spell, one he had performed many times. He knew he didn't need to, but he closed his eyes tightly. Sunny could hear the sound of fabric rustling, the sounds of clothes dropping to the floor. When he felt like the spell was done, he opened one eye to see. Sunny let out a sigh of relief when he saw Mari dressed in the lovely dress he'd picked out. Moving her old clothes off to the side, Sunny grabbed the comb sitting on the bedside, Mari's eyes lazily tracking his every movement. He knew she would hate it if her hair was unkempt.
He ran the comb through Mari's long inky black hair. Sunny made sure there were no stray hairs sticking up nor were there any knots. As he removed any imperfections, he couldn't help but touch the scar on the back of Mari's neck. It went around the circumference of her neck, like a noose ready to hang her.
"She'll never be the same. Are you okay with that?" A memory snuck into his head. As soon as it came, it vanished. His familiar, Omori, was likely responsible for that. Omori didn’t like it when he thought of the past. Omori preferred it when he was perfectly monotone, when he couldn’t feel sad. It was Omori’s way of protecting him. Or, at least, that’s what Omori had claimed.
Sunny shook the thought from his head. He was spending time with Mari now, it wasn't time to think about those sorts of things. Setting the comb down, Sunny picked up the bottle he had set aside. Tilting her head back and raising the bottle to her lips, he let it spill into her mouth. Thankfully, she didn't choke this time and managed to drink all of it. Happy that his sister had eaten, Sunny pulled out a book to read. He wouldn't read it to her, he couldn't even if he wanted to, but he'd like to read a little before he took Mari outside. Sunny settled on a book with a faded, worn out cover, titled "Familiars." It was a book he had read many times.
It talked of, obviously, familiars. They were creatures that were linked to witches. Some were ordinary animals that became familiars, while others were created specifically for the witch they were linked to. Then there were those who tricked witches, those who merely wanted the power being a familiar gave them. The power of their witch, who would never be able to get rid of them, forever being forced to have to share their magic. Demons. Sunny pushed those thoughts out of his head, it wasn’t the time for those thoughts.
When a creature became a familiar, their form changed to a reflection of their witch. A reflection of their personality, magic, family history, and even occasionally their appearance. All familiars were interesting creatures, with such a variety of powers and utilities that there were essentially endless possibilities of what a familiar could do.
Some could shape-shift at will, others could move at higher speeds than the eyes could view. Sunny's eyes traveled over to the window. It would be sundown soon, he should take Mari out now. Pulling her up, he steadied her onto her feet. Sunny gently tugged Mari to the door and guided her out. Omori tried to follow them outside, but one stern look from Sunny made the familiar sit and sulk by the door.
As a gust of wind blew through the siblings' hair, Sunny led Mari to the side of the cottage and sat her on her knees, to which Mari passively followed. The boy pulled out his wand, which transformed into his violin. Mari had been the one who helped him decide what he wanted his instrument to look like, deciding it should be a deep brown with intricate carvings along the sides. Taking a deep breath, he began to play a melody for his sister. This particular solo didn't have any emotions driving it. Even still, the young witch's magic radiated off of him in waves. With every stroke of his bow across the strings of his violin, another burst of his energy was sent out into the forest surrounding him. The trees and flowers sang a lovely melody, harmonizing with the notes he played. Mari's magic even reacted to his, sending out waves of her own. That, however, was not something she was doing consciously, despite how desperately he wanted her to. Magic from one relative tended to bind to the magic of another.
Sunny was lost within the music, within his own magic. It was pleasant, having not a fear or problem to worry about. But he made a mistake. He opened his eyes. When the boy's eyes met with his sister's, he faltered. It didn't matter how beautiful the music was, how nice the weather was, the fact that he was playing her favorite song, it didn't mean anything. Her eyes were as hollow and soulless as always. Mari's pale skin contrasted with her deep black hair, those empty eyes, the dress that he had given her, she looked like a doll. An empty husk. She was his sister in all but feeling.
Sunny flinched when his bow struck the strings and produced the wrong note. The mystical atmosphere was ruined, the magic disappearing in mere seconds. The trees and flowers stopped singing, their beautiful notes turning into pitiful whimpers. He couldn't help but feel frustrated. At himself, at Mari, at everything. Sunny threw his violin on the ground, his mind focused on one single thing. Mari. The feeling of his boots sinking into the soil, which would usually make him feel at home, only made everything feel even more wrong.
He stood in front of her. Mari hadn't moved an inch from where he sat her. Even as he grabbed the sides of her head in a bruising grip, she didn't so much as flinch. Even as he yelled cruel words toward her, she didn't say a thing. 'Why?!" Sunny had tried to shout at her. 'Why don't you say anything?!' Sunny tried to make himself say. 'Why is your face so lifeless?!' He tried to question her. 'You- You don't do anything any more!' Sunny tried to complain to her. He couldn't, of course. All that was coming out was complete gibberish. His mouth was incapable of saying the syllables, or pronouncing the words, but he tried.
When Mari didn't respond to any of his questions, he threw her head against the grass below, watching as it bounced slightly before staying down. Sunny stared down at her, at her still-blinking, but lifeless eyes. He couldn't help himself as he stepped on her, getting mud on her dress. With every bruise he gave her, every scratch on her skin, she looked the smallest bit more alive. More like his sister. It made him feel better, if only slightly, so he kept stomping on her.
Sunny kept hurting her until he felt the calm settle over him. Realization came slowly to him. His eyes widened, looking at what he'd done to his sister. He yelled, rushing down to her. Oh God, what had he done? Why… Why would he do that to her? What was wrong with him? He loved her. Why would he do that to someone he loves? He pressed her forehead against his.
He blubbering out his apology. He begged for her forgiveness. She couldn't give it to him, even if he wanted her desperately to. Even if he wanted her to reassuringly pat his head and say, 'It's okay little brother.' To tell him how much she loved him and how nothing in the world could ever rival the love she felt for him. But she couldn't. He shoved his face into her dress, hoping that she'd wrap her arms around him and whisper comforting words in his ears. But she wouldn't. And she never will.
○○°○○
"Come on, little brother." Mari ran her fingers through his hair. "Hero, Aubrey, Basil and Kel are all waiting for us." Her magic gathered their things into a neat bag, which she rested on her shoulder. Mari looked beautiful, as she always did. She was wearing a white dress with a yellow ribbon, a dress she bought specifically for this occasion. Sunny never knew how she managed to look so amazing. Despite Mari having spent one hundred dollars on the materials for the outfit, and who knows how long making the suit itself, he didn't like how he looked in it. The suit itself looked spectacular and was incredibly comfortable, despite overall being a pretty generic black suit. When Sunny wore it, it looked so out of place on his small frame. "Ah, there's a stray thread." Mari grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped the nearly invisible piece of fabric off, setting them on the end table.
Sunny couldn’t help but feel nervous. Mari had signed the two of them up to participate at the town festival along with the rest of their friends. Aubrey was in charge of gathering meat in the forest, Kel was a part of the heavy lifting guys, Basil was involved in gathering herbs to be cooked, and Hero was the medic in case anybody got hurt. And, of course, Mari and Sunny were the music. Initially, Sunny had been pretty apathetic about the whole deal. In the few months before the festival, that apathy had melted away into fear and nervousness after taking the brunt of Mari's perfectionist nitpicks.
"Hm…" Mari let out. "Okay, how about we practice one more time. We have a little bit of time anyway. I'll play my part on the flute, and you practice on your violin, okay?" She suggested, reaching into her satchel and pulling out her flute. Sunny took a moment before giving in and agreeing. He threw his wand up, and it came back down as his violin and bow. Sunny rested his violin on his shoulder, his bow poised and ready for when Mari was ready to start. Pressing her flute against her lips, Mari began counting down, "3… 2… 1… " And they began.
This particular piece was around six minutes long, calling for a lot of precise movements and shifts to make sure the sound comes out correctly. Within the first two minutes, Sunny’s fingers were already feeling stiff and it didn't take much longer for them to begin cramping up. The pain hurt so much, but as he glanced over at Mari, he tried his hardest to work through it.
That was a bad choice, as the cramping only grew more intense, to the point where he ended up dropping the violin. Mewo, Mari's kitten who was sleeping nearby, jumped at the loud thud. Mari planned to make Mewo her familiar, but Mewo was a bit too young at the moment.
Mari watched as the violin clattered and fell onto the floor. She rubbed her temple, saying, "Sunny… We've been practicing for months. Let's try this again." She readied her flute against her lips, and was about to start the countdown again when-
"I don't want to play at the festival."
Mari's head snapped up, pulling the flute away from her mouth. "What?" She ran over to him, resting her hands on his shoulders. Sunny looked up at her, staring at her face. While there was obviously the sisterly concern that was almost always present, it was buried underneath the annoyance, stress, and utter disbelief plastered all over her form. "What do you mean? We've… We've been practicing for five months, we can't quit now! Not when we're so close!" She yelled at him, droplets of her saliva landing on his cheeks from the intensity of her complaints. Mewo walked close to the two siblings, meowing loudly, but was being ignored.
Sunny slapped her hands off of him. He rubbed his sleeve over his face. "I don't want to go." He stated firmly, taking a step back. He could feel it, his magic waiting right beneath the surface, just waiting until he called upon it. "I hated every moment practicing for this stupid festival!" Sunny screamed at her, watching as her face of anger turned into one of confusion. "But you really wanted to do it, so I sucked it up."
Mari's face hardened. "If you didn't want to do it, you should have told me! What's the point of letting me get my hopes up if you're gonna bail at the last second?" She retorted, getting closer to him.
"If you hadn't been so…" Sunny pulled at his hair. "So frustrating, critiquing my every move, I would have liked it better!" No, stop… "But because you're you, you wouldn't let it be anything less than perfection." Why can't I shut my mouth? "You wouldn't even let me enjoy something I was genuinely looking forward to because of your selfish mentality!" His magic was beginning to swirl things around the room, as though it was looking for something. "You're such a… A selfish, arrogant, egotistical sister!" Stop! "I- I HATE YOU!" SHUT UP!
SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP.
...
…
…
It didn't feel like anything for a moment. All he could focus on was the sound of metal slicing through flesh. Even as he felt blood pooling in his mouth, overflowing from his lips like a riveting waterfall, splattering on the floor, he still didn't feel anything. He looked around the room. His magic had found what it was looking for, as there was a pair of scissors dripping blood all over the floor. What did he do? It wasn't until he heard the wet splat of something wet and fleshy hitting the wood flooring when he began to realize. Sunny dragged his eyes down to stare at it. It was matted with blood, but underneath it, the thing was pink. It took a few moments for it to click. Sunny brought a hand up to his mouth, trying to stop himself from choking on all the blood. The room was beginning to spin, his legs feeling unsteady.
It was his tongue. His tongue was lying on the floor, completely detached from him.
Sunny couldn’t even pinpoint the exact feeling he was feeling. The anger was still there, but it was muted by the overwhelming feeling of numbness. Mari was saying something, rushing over to try and use her magic to… heal him? Was that what she was doing? She was just angry at him, so why…? His head was cloudy, he didn't know what he was doing. Mari was yelling something to him. Or was she yelling at him? There was something touching him. Why was it touching him? Get off! He pushed at whatever was touching him, but it kept coming back. "Geh- ack!" Sunny choked on the blood in his throat. "Ge-h off me!" He yelled, his mouth slowly filling with pain. Why wasn't it getting off? As he struggled against the figure, a figure he wasn't able to recognize but felt familiar to him, his magic reacted accordingly. Sunny's magic lashed out wildly, harming any and everything nearby. It didn't matter whether they were nearby or not, the magic reached every nook and cranny of the house, like it was a heat-seeking missile searching for its prey.
It didn't take long for Sunny to wake up. He was still drowsy, but he was more put together than he was previously. The house was absolutely wrecked, the books were strewn across the floor, the chairs and tables were flipped over. But among all the chaos, there was one irrevocable truth. One that, no matter what, he couldn't run from. It was evident from the pooling blood, by her unmoving body and her head, severed and rolling along the floor.
Mari was dead.