On a prairie braided with green grass, two little girls dashed through the blades, their laughter rippling outward like circles on a pond.

Thump!

One tiny girl tackled the other, and the soft, springy earth held her like a quilt. Grass whispered past her ears, tickling, and her laughter kept spilling.

The smaller one grinned at the sister she’d toppled. “Got you, sis.”

Remi stroked Flan’s hair, gentle as a breeze. “You did, but look at your hair—stuffed with grass and all grubby. Keep this up and maybe your sister won’t want you.”

Panic first, then motion—Flan squeezed Remi tight. “No! Flan’s so cute. You said you wouldn’t leave Flan when you went out! You’re a big—li—ar!”

Her little hands skittered over Remi’s belly, scratching.

“Ha-ha-ha! I’m wrong, I’m wrong—stop—no—stop tickling!”

Seeing Remi go red beneath her, Flan lifted her chin, proud as a sparrow on a fence. “Hmph! See if you dare abandon Flan!”

“Forgive me, Lady Flan. Remi admits defeat.”

Flan’s gaze hooked on a far slope. Curiosity sparked; she pointed. “Hey, sis, want to go look over there?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

At the crest, the wind brushed their cheeks like cool silk. From below rose the sweet-earth smell of damp soil.

Flan opened her little mouth as if inviting the wind in for a tour. The wind obliged—whoosh—and slipped inside.

“Ah~ ah~~ ah~ ah~~~”

She sang odd vowels at the breeze, and Remi couldn’t help covering her mouth as giggles bubbled out.

Seeing her sister laugh, Flan blushed. She stopped the silliness, sat beside Remi, and watched clouds drift like slow ships.

“Flan, what do you think the world is like?” Remi asked, tossing a stone of a question into a child’s pond.

It was heavy for five, but Flan at four answered without flinching. “Isn’t it just blue and green, with a bit of white now and then?”

Remi blinked, her plan to stump Flan and parade elder wisdom crumbling like sugar. She still marveled at Flan’s bright innocence. “Yeah. The world is probably just blue and green, with a touch of white. Flan, you’re so clever. You’ll be outstanding one day.”

Flan scratched her little head, shy as a kitten. “It’s not that big a deal.”

“No, really. To me, Flan is the smartest, cutest person under heaven. You’re my favorite.”

“Flan loves sis most, too.”

They hugged and watched clouds sail by. A lamb’s thin bleat, like a tin bell, sent their thoughts wandering.

Cloud after cloud passed. The sun stained the sky like a brush dipped in orange. The once-blue turned honey-gold.

“Sis, is the sun doing bad things again?”

“How many times have I told you, little dummy? That’s just sunset. Don’t paint your Sun Grandpa as a villain.”

“Eh~ but when Flan knocked over that strange tray and turned Mom’s white thing another color, Mom said Flan was a big bad girl.”

“Emm… that’s different.”

“Why different? Why?”

“This… this…”

Remi had to admit it—the little Daemon’s question stumped her. Elder-sister dignity got stomped again. But an elder sister doesn’t fall that easy.

“Flan, listen. Not everything in this world has a reason. I like you for no reason. I just like you. Don’t ask why.”

“Eh~ really?”

Seeing Flan’s face, Remi knew she’d salvaged a shred of dignity.

“But you used that reason last time, sis~”

Strike that. Whether this is the Mystic Realm or some other world, if there’s a pair of sisters named Remi and Flan, elder-sister authority simply doesn’t exist.

Remi surrendered and folded forward, dejected, onto the grass.

Flan claimed victory. Her conquest score went up by 9.

She let her sister lie in melodramatic defeat and kept her eyes on clouds drifting overhead.

Then the sky changed. She spotted something different and turned to Remi. “Sis, sis, does sunset ever make a black thing appear?”

Remi rose out of her slump. “It shouldn’t.”

Flan pointed. “Then… what’s that?”

Remi lifted her head. Where Flan pointed, a massive black “cloud” was rolling in, drifting slowly toward them…