Chapter 5
Last Evening
Rell was sitting on the couch. She was looking better than she should have, after what she'd been through.
"Oh brother, would you stop staring?"
"Can you blame me? You looked normal yesterday, and now you look like you got a makeover from a banshee."
"Ha! Thanks. Just what every girl wants to hear."
"You know what I mean. So what are you doing now? More tiny yous?" I said, flopping down beside her.
The silver mist between her palms began to form a perfect replica of our neighbor's yappy little dog. The tiny dog pranced in midair, then did a backflip the real version definitely couldn't.
"God damn, you can do animals too?"
"Yeah… Pretty much anything I've touched."
"And they can act independently?" Dad said from the kitchen.
"To an extent. I set rules, and they operate within them." Rell flicked her wrist, and the mini-Hoffman she had been playing with burst into mist. "It's like... they're fragments of myself."
"And the doppelganger element? You know the skill you used to take Fischer's form yesterday?"
"That's… It’s more complete. I don't just look like the person, I become them."
"The perfect infiltration ability, not that you'd use it that way, of course."
"Oh really?" Rell's eyes gleamed mischievously. "Because I was thinking of all the possibilities..."
I grinned. "Like sneaking into House Azul's private treasury? Or maybe the SDC armory?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of getting into concerts for free, but sure, let's jump straight to major felonies."
Dad laughed.
"Why don't you show us more while we eat? Food is almost ready."
◆◆◆
"It's a special occasion. It's not every day your daughter returns from her Trial with a Legendary Origin." Dad said, as he poured three glasses of a fragrant wine.
"You're making it sound like I did something amazing. I just... survived."
"Survival is the first skill of any Sacred, to survival, and to family."
We clinked glasses. The wine tasted expensive, rich, and complex.
"So, tell me more about the Trial itself. What was it like?"
Rell's face darkened. "It was... I don't know if I can explain it right."
"Try your best, dear… details matter with Origins."
"It was like being trapped in one of those fun-houses. You know the kind with all of the mirrors. Except every reflection showed a different version of myself… different lives I could have lived, choices I could have made."
"And you had to choose one?"
She shook her head. "Not exactly. I had to... understand them all. Accept that they were all me, in some way. And then..." She shivered. "Then I had to break the mirrors."
Dad leaned forward slightly. "Break them?"
"Shatter them. And absorb all of the fragments. It hurt… it hurt so much." Rell's voice had gone distant. "With each broken mirror, I could feel myself changing."
"And the ability to create those independent duplicates?"
"There was this moment, when I understood that identity isn't... as solid as we think it is." She looked up, her copper-crimson eyes intense. "I can split pieces of myself off, Dad. They can latch onto other people, see through their eyes, hear their thoughts."
Dad's fork paused halfway to his mouth. "You can read minds?"
"Not exactly, emotions. And only if I've implanted a piece of my consciousness in them." She bit her lip. "That sounds awful, doesn't it?"
"Sounds useful as hell, imagine what you could do with that."
"That's what scares me." Rell set down her fork. "In the Trial, I saw versions of myself who used this power to control people. To manipulate them. To build networks of puppets."
"...But you wouldn't do that."
"Not intentionally. But power changes people, Fish."
"How many of these... puppets can you maintain simultaneously?"
"Right now? Three, maybe four. But it feels like something I could improve with practice."
"And they're undetectable?"
"As far as I can tell."
"Remarkable. Truly remarkable."
"Enough Origin talk, tell me what I missed. It felt like years in there for me."
"It was less than a day here, not much to report except Dad's old friend from the SDC showing up."
"Inspector Hoffman is hardly a friend."
"Speaking of, you never did explain how you went from SDC scientist to research consultant."
Dad took a long sip of wine. "Another time, perhaps."
"Come on, you've been dodging these questions our entire lives. Don't you think we deserve to know who you really are?"
"Fischer," he said gently, "there are parts of my past that wouldn't help you to know. Some things are better left behind."
"Like Mom?"
"Your mother made her choices, as I made mine."
"Which were what, exactly?"
"To give you both the best life I could. To protect you from the things that would harm you. To prepare you for the world as it is, not as we wish it were."
I was about to push further when Rell suddenly clapped her hands.
"Enough serious talk! want to see something cool?"
Mist poured from her fingertips, splitting into a dozen tiny duplicates of herself. They scattered across the table, dancing between plates and glasses.
"Watch this," she said, and the mini-Rells began to transform, one became a tiny version of me, another took Dad's form, others shifted into people from the neighborhood.
The mini-duplicates began an elaborate parody of our daily lives. Mini-me dropped things and cursed. Mini-Dad lectured while wagging his finger. Mini-Rell wove invisible flowers into her hair.
"But wait, there's more," Rell said, eyes twinkling.
She closed her eyes in concentration, and her features began to shift. It wasn't the silver mist transformation of yesterday. Her hair darkened, her face reshaped, her entire body shifted until...
Inspector Hoffman sat across from us, perfectly mimicking her stern expression.
"Sacred Origins are not toys, Marrell, the SDC monitors all registered abilities for potential misuse." She said in her exact voice.
Dad burst out laughing.
"That's uncanny."
Hoffman's face melted away, replaced by mine. "I'm Fish, and I think I'm so tough because I unload crates at the Harbor," Rell said in my voice.
"I do not sound like that!" I protested, though I was laughing too.
Rell shifted again, becoming Dad. "Children, let me tell you about the complex nature of Sacred Origins while deliberately avoiding any questions about my mysterious past."
"Is that really how I sound?"
"Pretty much."
"I've been thinking about how my Origin works." She said, waving her hand to create mist that swirled into a small translucent sphere hovering above the table.
"The way I understand it, masquerade operates on three principles."
The sphere split into three interconnected sections.
"First, identity theft, which allows me to take someone else's form completely.
" One section glowed brighter. "Second is infiltration, I am able to implant fragments of myself in others.
" The second section brightened. "And third, autonomous duplication…
creating independent extensions of myself. " The third section lit up.
"And you learned all this from your Trial?"
Rell nodded. "It's like the Trial showed me the blueprint of what I can become. I just need to fill in the details through practice."
"Legendary tier Origins are extraordinary," Dad said softly. "The potential for growth is... remarkable."
I watched them both, trying to make sense of the warning from mini-Rell as the warm family moment unfolded before me. Dad seemed genuinely proud, genuinely happy. Whatever secrets he kept, whatever planning he'd been doing, could it really be that bad?
It got late; Dad decided to bring out some kind of herbal tea. The rich aroma filled our small apartment as he brewed it on the ancient stove.
"To think, a week ago I was terrified of what was happening to me. Now look." She said, creating three mini-duplicates, each taking a theatrical bow.
"You've adapted remarkably well; most newly Awakened struggle for months to control their Origins."
"I had good preparation, all those lessons about Sacred mechanics over breakfast? They helped more than you know."
"I always hoped they would."
Rell yawned widely.
"Sorry, still recovering, I guess."
"Yes, of course… You should rest. Your Sacred Soul is still stabilizing. Sleep will help."
"I suppose that's my cue. Thank you both. For everything. For being here when I came back."
She hugged me tightly, and I felt something small press into my palm—another mini-Rell—invisible to Dad from his angle. It climbed up my sleeve, disappearing under my collar.
"Goodnight, Dad," she said, hugging him next.
"Sleep well, Rell, I'm so proud of you."
After she left, Dad and I sat in comfortable silence for a while, finishing our tea.
"She's extraordinary, even among Legendary tier Origins, Masquerade is... exceptional."
"You sound like you've seen a lot of Origins."
Dad smiled. "I've studied them extensively, yes."
"At the SDC?"
"Among other places." He stood, collecting our cups. "It's getting late. We should both get some rest."
I nodded, not pushing further. Whatever secrets Dad was keeping, tonight wasn't the night to uncover them. Not when everything felt so fragile, so precious.
"Goodnight, Dad."
"Goodnight, Fischer… whatever comes next, remember that everything I've done has been for our family. Everything."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh. Nothing. Just a figure of speech. Sleep well, son."
I headed to my room, the mini-Rell still hidden against my neck. Once inside with the door closed, I cupped my hand, and the tiny duplicate of my sister crawled onto my palm.
"What did you mean yesterday?"
The mini-Rell looked up at me with miniature versions of those copper-crimson eyes. Its voice was barely audible:
"He's watching us even now. His eyes and ears are everywhere, and be careful what you say, even when you think you're alone."