Chapter 4: Suika / Elizabeth

They sat down in a small gazebo overlooking a pond full of koi and turtles. Water lilies bloomed on the surface. The sun was warm, and the breeze was cool.

Suika tucked a lock of beautiful red hair back behind her ear, and started to talk.

“I know about magic because of my family. There are a lot more people who know about magic than you would probably expect. Though we don’t really try to let just anyone know about it. Also...... You two are siblings, right?” Suika asked

“Yeah, we’re twins.” Lime said.

“Huh. I see. I don’t know how I feel about the way you guys interact. Is that normal for twins?” Suika asked

“It really isn’t. These two are a special case. Either way, how are you all? Evan, Suika, other Evan, it’s nice to see you guys.” A girl said

“Ah! Lizzy! Where have you been!?” Suika yelled, hugging the girl

“Oh, hey Liz. How are ya?" Evan asked

“If I didn’t know you better, I would seriously question why you’re talking like that to the person you’re betrothed to. Still as hopeless as ever, huh Evan?” Lizzy said, grinning

“Ah! You’re Elizabeth, right? It’s nice to meet you, I’m lime!” Lime said excitedly

“Oh? So this is lime? You’re the lime Evan never shuts up about? You guys do look pretty similar. Well, you are twins.” Lizzy said, smiling brightly

“Oh! Wait, you know about me? When has my brother had a chance to talk to you like that? I’m usually by his side.” Lime asked

“There are days when you’re too weak, so Evan puts you to sleep. I’m surprised you never noticed it go from being Tuesday straight to Thursday. Anyway, he visits my house to hang out or learn manners on some of those days, because your father orders him to. Oh! Don’t worry. We’re only friends. We just hang out and play games.” Lizzy said

“I’m not worried about that. Evan would never cheat on me. He’s mine. Not exactly mine alone, but mine.” Lime said confidently

“Oh, so they really are…?” Suika asked

“Yup. I had a hard time processing it at first too. Then Evan proved that the most headache-inducing part of him is not, in fact, his massive sister complex…... So I gave up thinking about it.” Lizzy said

“You mean his zoning out?” Lime asked

“Argh, it’s not even just that! Zoning out, lecturing about weird subjects, rambling, losing focus, losing interest, making machines that are honestly unbelievable, and more that I honestly can't even remember. He always acts like he’s just in a dream. That, and he always floats whenever he relaxes.” Lizzy said, poking evan

He floated off and into a pillar, bouncing gently

“See!? You can tell, because whenever he sits cross legged he’s floating. It’s actually pretty entertaining to watch.” Lizzy said

“Liz, I may or may not be floating away.” Evan said, his voice trailing off.

“Oh. That isn’t good.” Lizzy said

“I’ll get him.” Lime said, starting to get up

“Lime, just sit. I’ll go get him.” Lizzy said

“...fine.” Lime said, sitting back down

“Hey, lime. Are you able to use magic?” Suika asked

“Huh? Oh… I know how to, but I can’t do much more than this.” Lime said

She put her finger in the air, and a small flame appeared. It flickered erratically. It seemed to be surrounded with chains.

“What are those chains?” Suika asked

“A sealing chain. It seals my mana. That’s why I can’t use any more than a tiny flame.” Lime said

“How awful! Why would someone do that?” Suika asked

“To save her life.” Evan said, floating above lime, arms and legs crossed, upside down.

“Save her life? I’m sorry, but why would sealing her mana save her life? She can’t use healing spells otherwise.” Suika said

“We’re vampires, and I’m the only vampire that can use healing magic. As for why it saved her life, the amount of mana me and lime have is so immense that it’s able to actually weigh us down if we don’t control it. I’m fine, and my body works almost perfectly, so there aren't any issues for me. Limes' body is extremely fragile, though. If The amount of weight that the mana she has comes back to her, she would probably become crippled. Or worse. That’s why I sealed it.” Evan said, frowning

“Weight? That’s impossible.” Suika said

“I’ll show you a little bit I guess.” Evan said

He let a tiny amount of his mana crash down on her.

She fell to her knees, the wood beneath her creaking from the stress of so much weight.

Evan pulled back his mana almost instantly.

“Was that a bit much? Sorry! Err... as I said, that’s a tiny fraction of it. If all of it were to come back in full, it would kill her and cause mana to spread out in quite a large area, flattening everything due to the sheer amount of it. It would be enough to have the destructive ability of… well, the entire dimension would get flattened. No more 3D for us.” Evan said, making a circle with his hands. He proceeded to clap his hands together, flattening the circle.

“That’s.. the most mana I’ve ever felt. That’s even more monstrous than the head of our three families. It’s incredible! Evan, can you teach me how to use magic? I’ve already gone through the basics, so you don't have to worry about that!” Suika asked

“Actually, I’d like to join in, too.” Lizzy said, raising her hand

“Well, my husband has gotten better at explaining things, and teaching. But if we have a class, I’ll be the one teaching. Evan will be there for giving examples, or showing anything that I can’t do. Mostly magic.” Lime said

“I’m going to ignore the fact that you just called your brother your husband. But we will have to talk to our family first, I guess. I’m pretty sure mine will be fine with it.” Lizzy said

“Yeah, I’ll ask too.” Suika said

“The main family is letting us be for the moment according to father, so we already have permission for something like this.” Lime said

“Lime, isn’t it better to learn magic at around 11? Before that we should train the body, physical fitness is a requirement for being a good mage. Other than that, just messing around with basic magic in the meantime.” Evan said

“That’s true. We should be attending a public school for middle school, so we won’t be free all the time, either.” Lime said

“Then we just need to join you at school, right? What school?” Lizzy asked

“Uh, I forgot the name, it’s … this one.” Lime said, pulling up a map.

“Got it. I’ll let my family know. This sounds like a fun mission.” Lizzy said

“Yeah! I’ll let my family know too.” Suika said, pulling out her phone.

“Hey mom, so, this this and that happened blah blah blah, okay got it. Hey guys, they said yes.” Suika said

“I didn’t even think of just calling them.” Lizzy said, staring blankly

“Truly a simple minded genius.” Lime said

Elizabeth called her family as well

“So, that’s a yes. They are figuring out a way to arrange it now.” Lizzy said, after hanging up.

“Cool.” Evan said

“Oh, but my brother is going to be attending school with us. Apparently he already asked to attend there previously. I don’t think you've ever met my brother, have you Evan?” Lizzy asked

“Huh? Uh, no. I don’t know much about him, either. Just his name. James.” Evan said

“Figured. He’s not the type to stand out or come up in conversation much. He’s also pretty weak, even for a normal person. I’ll introduce you two sometime. I have to go right now, though. There’s some people that my parents wanted me to meet, and it seems like the tea party settled down. All of the guests we sent invitations to have arrived already. I’ll see you guys later.” Lizzy said, waving as she walked away

“Seeya Liz.” Evan said

“Bye Lizzy!” Lime said

“Good luck trying not to get pissed off and hitting anyone who bothers you, Lizzy.” Suika said