The room went silent. Neither sister said a single thing for a long time. Zee just stood there staring at her twin, her mind trying to catch up to what she had just heard, as if repeating it over and over would eventually make it make sense. It did not. It could not. Her not going after Xain? And Mae going instead? The thought kept looping, refusing to settle into anything real. She had to have misheard her, hallucinated it, or still been unconscious, and this was a nightmare. *I need to wake up, that's it. I have to wake myself up from this nightmare,* Zee thought as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force reality to shift.
Seeing this, Mae let out a small sigh and stepped closer, bringing her hand near Zee's elven ear before snapping her fingers sharply beside it. The sound made Zee flinch, her eyes snapping open again. "What are you doing?" Mae asked, crossing her arms. "Did you think this was a dream or something?" Zee shook her head quickly and stepped back a few paces, her breathing already uneven. "I-I-I'm sorry Mae, it's just that… I think me going unconscious did more damage than I thought, be-because just now I-I just hallucinated that you told me that I won't go after Xain, and that you would instead," she stammered, letting out a nervous laugh that failed to sound convincing. "But th-that wouldn't make any sense would it? Y-yeah I just hallucinated that, o—"
"No." Mae cut her off immediately.
The single word stopped Zee in place. Mae's expression did not change as she continued, calm and firm. "You didn't hallucinate anything. I did say that. You won't be going. I will be instead." She repeated it without hesitation, her eyes fixed on her twin.
Zee stared back at her, wide-eyed and frozen for a moment before her expression cracked into disbelief. "Wha-what are you talking about? T-that doesn't make any sense! You're telling me I can't go after the person I love but you can instead?" she nearly raised her voice, forcing it down at the last second as her hands trembled.
Mae gave a small nod. "Yes. That's exactly right. You can't go, but I will. And right now, you are proving exactly why." She lifted a hand and pointed directly at Zee.
"What reason?" Zee demanded, fists clenching tightly.
Mae exhaled through her nose and shook her head slightly. "If you can't see it, then it's worse than I thought." Her hand shifted, gesturing toward Zee as a whole. "This reason, Zee. Look at how you're behaving. How bluntly speaking, unstable you are right now."
Zee's breathing grew heavier as she looked down at herself. Only then did it register clearly. Her fists were clenched so tight her knuckles ached. Her body was shaking. Sweat clung to her skin. Her thoughts felt scattered, frayed at the edges. A strand of hair had fallen across one eye and she had not even noticed.
She looked unsteady in a way she could not deny.
"That's because of you!" she snapped, voice breaking as she pointed at Mae. "That's because of what you're saying! That's why I'm like this right now!"
She was yelling now, her voice rising through the medical room as she stood there in front of her older twin sister, the same one whose chest she had been crying into only minutes ago. The shift was so sudden it felt like it should not even belong to the same moment, yet it was real, raw, and breaking through everything she had just managed to calm down.
"Is that what you think?" Mae asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.
Her tone stayed controlled, but it carried weight.
"Let's say that's the case. Let's say it is because of what I said," she continued, not letting Zee interrupt. "Even if that was the reason, the fact that something as simple as my words pushed you into this state means that without them you were already at the edge of snapping like this."
Zee tried to respond immediately, but the words would not come out properly.
"I-it's because I'm worried for him!" she forced out instead. "I'm worried for Xain! You have to—"
"Enough, Zee." Mae cut her off sharply.
Her voice dropped, firmer now.
"I am not going to argue with you. You are not going to go. That is final."
Zee shook her head violently. "No! And you can't make me not go! You can't just be the older twin and tell me no anymore! Not when we're not home! Not when it comes to him!" she shouted, her voice cracking under the pressure of it all.
Mae's jaw tightened.
For a moment, she said nothing.
Then she stepped forward.
Before Zee could react properly, Mae grabbed her by both shoulders and pulled her in tight enough to stop her movement entirely.
"Is that what you think?" Mae said, her voice low now. "Is that how you're going to do this? You won't listen to me? Fine." Her grip tightened slightly. "I won't just tell you to stay then. I will make you stay."
Zee's eyes widened.
For a split second, she thought Mae was going to hit her.
But instead, Mae suddenly forced her body to turn.
Zee stumbled, her feet barely catching her balance as she was redirected toward the bed on the opposite side of the room.
Nori.
Mae kept one hand on her shoulder, holding her in place as she made sure she was looking directly at him.
"If you go," Mae said quietly, "then he's gone."