Chapter Text
Cyra
Two young girls ran through the hall. They screamed and giggled, barely even looking where they were going. So oblivious were they that both fell to the ground with a thud. They looked up to see tall, adult legs, a wall before them, and a stern glare from above.
“Lyra, Cyra…” Their mom sighed. “I told you to not run around in the halls. “Don’t bother other people.”
Cyra and Lyra hung their heads.
“Sorry…”
“Yeah, sorry…”
Their mom sighed again, then shook her head. “Girls… I’ll be home for dinner, so go back for now. I’ll be home this evening, okay? It won’t be long.” She glanced at her watch, then frowned. “I need to go. Please go home, okay?”
She turned and hurried off, muttering under her breath as she did. The two girls turned and looked at each other.
“So what should we do, Cyra?”
“I don’t know, Lyra.”
“I don’t want to go home…”
“Neither do I…”
The twins stood up and started walking in the direction they came from. They were more careful this time, and more quiet. However, they passed by the turn they should have taken to return to their cabin and instead kept walking. They didn't have a destination in mind, but they didn't want to go home yet.
They passed by a door they hadn't seen before. Cyra stopped, then turned around. She stared at it for a few seconds. When Lyra realized her sister wasn't following her, she turned around and joined her.
Cyra tried to press the button, but couldn't reach it, even after she tried jumping.
“Here!” Lyra tried lifting up Cyra. She was unsuccessful, but it gave her sister enough height to reach the button.
The door slid open. The girls hurried inside.
The room was large. The entrance was at the top of a staircase, which led down to the rest of the room. Along one wall, a number of large metal colossi stood against the wall. A number of adults walked back and forth on the floor below.
The girls had the good sense to realize they shouldn't be there, but their curiosity was too strong to keep them back.
Cyra turned around and shushed Lyra with a finger over her mouth. Then, both crept down the stairs, doing their best to stay out of sight.
From below, the metal figures seemed even bigger than before. They were terrifying and absolute. Still, Lyra couldn't help but go further forward, even while Cyra stayed behind at the staircase.
There was one figure in particular that called out to her. She started walking towards it, almost entranced, just wanting to see more of it.
It was a hulking monstrosity. Hints of chitin screamed from the cracks between every piece of metal. It was hunched over, making it shorter than the other figures, but more imposing. One of its pairs of arms was wrapped around itself in a twisted embrace, while the other hung loosely at its side. A pair of wings sat on its shoulders, calling to Lyra’s mind the image of a knight from Earth centuries ago. The vulturous head only served to make its slump more overbearing. Lyra could only make out the shadow of its body, but it seemed elongated and unnatural.
Lyra felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and in that instant, sound returned to the room. The loud hum of unknown machinery, the chatter of technicians beyond view, and a screaming. A screaming with no end and no beginning.
“-lo? Hello, Lyra?”
Lyra finally turned around to see an adult she vaguely recognized as one of her mom's coworkers.
By the staircase, Cyra was being chewed out by another technician.
The man nearby Lyra sighed. “We can't have children here.” He grabbed her hand and started pulling her away. Lyra let herself be pulled away, but kept staring at that hideous and wonderful creature which had completely stolen her attention.
Lyra
Lyra rolled over in bed, to the edge, and peeked down at the bed below her.
“Hey, Cyra, are you awake?”
There was a quiet rustling below. Then, a whispered response. “Sort of. Why?”
Lyra leaned further over until she was fully hanging off the edge. “I'm bored. And chatty. And not particularly sleepy. And I have some stuff on my mind.”
Cyra turned around in bed until she was looking up. “What do you want to talk about?”
Lyra leaned over until she flipped over the edge of her bed, then dropped down to the mattress below. After collecting herself, leaned against the wall and looked at Cyra.
Lyra thought for a few moments. “Hey Cyra…” Do you ever think about, um, sexuality and stuff?”
Cyra sat up in bed and leaned against the headboard. “What, like sex and stuff?” She shuddered, then laughed. “No, that stuff is icky.”
Lyra frowned. “No, not like that. I've been reading about this on the weavenet, and…” She looked down and thought for a few moments, chewing on her lip as she did. “I think I like girls.”
“What do you mean?”
“I… like like girls. Like I find them cute. I think I'm a lesbian.”
“Oh.”
Cyra didn't respond further and Lyra didn't know what else to say. Very suddenly, the mood in the room had changed.
“I'm not.”
Lyra swallowed. “Oh.” She turned away. “You don't find girls cute? Not even a little.”
“No.” Cyra’s response was quick. “That's not normal.”
“Are you sure you're normal?”
That gave Cyra pause. Then she nodded. “I'm normal.”
Lyra thought for a moment. “You find boys cute?” Her voice dropped to a low whisper. “You… want to have sex with them.”
Cyra’s face twisted into a look of disgust. “Lyra, I don’t want to talk about anything like that. If this is all you wanted to talk about…”
Lyra wrapped her hands around her legs and pulled herself into a ball. “Well…” She sighed. “Okay.” She crawled over to the edge of the bed and swung over to the ladder up to her bed. Before she climbed up, she turned back to Cyra. “I think you’re cute. I… I wish you felt the same way about me.”
Cyra tensed up. “I… Lyra, you’re my sister.”
“I know, but…”
“That’s not normal. I can accept that you like other girls, but this…” She groaned, then buried her head in her hands. “I don’t want to talk to you anymore tonight. We’re not going to talk about this in the morning. This makes me uncomfortable.”
Lyra stood still, staring at her twin. “Do you hate me now?”
Cyra was silent for several minutes. Lyra sat there on the ladder, unmoving, until she responded.
“You’re my sister. You’re my twin. I couldn’t hate you. This is disgusting, but I still can’t bring myself to hate you. So please, stop talking about this. Let me pretend it’s just a bad dream…”
Lyra stared, uncertain, then nodded. “Okay. Goodnight, Cyra…” She climbed up the ladder and returned to her bed.