Replaying what had happened in my head, it became clear that they had simply seen her and panicked. They didn’t see a humanoid figure dressed in black from head to toe, what they saw was their worst nightmares given form, standing right in front of them.
With the tension hanging thick in the air, I decided the best course of action was to try talking to them first. I hoped that would be enough to settle them down. I wasn’t entirely sure why, but most of the time, it worked: (Guys... first things first, take a deep breath. Calm down)
I finished, carefully raising my hand as I spoke. I had no idea what they were seeing or how they were interpreting the chaos unfolding around us, but I needed to clear things up.
I then pointed in the direction where Tenebrya stood motionless, her head still slightly tilted to the side, wearing a strangely cute and confused expression, as if she couldn’t understand the reason for all the hostility.
(I don’t know what you think is going on) I said, pausing for a moment to make sure everyone was looking at her: (but that right there... that’s my little sister. And she’s our objective)
I watched the reaction team members closely. Despite the lingering tension, the sweat rolling down their exposed foreheads, since none of them were wearing helmets anymore, it was clear they were beginning to calm down.
Shoulders that had been stiff slowly relaxed, and the hands gripping their weapons no longer looked quite so ready to fire. Still, distrust remained, reflected in the cautious glances they kept throwing in my sister’s direction. Even so, it didn’t feel like an accidental shot was about to happen... and that, by the way, was an extremely important point.
While I was doing everything I could to maintain peace and calm, Arthur watched Tenebrya with an almost reverent focus. His eyes were wide, shining with a mix of fascination and apprehension. Swallowing hard, he finally broke the silence: “Fascinating... assuming this really is the Virtue we came here to retrieve...”
The words lingered in the air for a moment. Arthur hesitated, as if afraid to give shape to the thought crossing his mind. He swallowed again, took a deep breath, and then finished in a lower voice: “Her form...”
Taking Arthur’s words into account, along with the visibly shaken reaction of everyone around us, I realized that what I was seeing, my little sister’s form, might not be the same thing each of us was seeing.
There was no way to know what image presented itself to their eyes to leave them so alarmed, but one look at their tense faces was enough to tell it wasn’t something simple. I also suspected none of them had any intention of revealing exactly what they were seeing.
As I drifted deeper into thought, Arthur, as if reaching the same conclusion I had, spoke again, a curious gleam in his eyes: “Now that is interesting” He then shifted his attention to a specific member of the reaction team.
“Hey, Frank!” he called out, catching the man’s attention almost immediately. It was only then, actually, that I realized that was his name.
Arthur tilted his head slightly, as if piecing together a puzzle before speaking: “Correct me if I’m wrong” he said: “but you have severe arachnophobia, don’t you?”
The mere mention of the word arachno put Frank on edge instantly. His eyes, almost by reflex, darted toward my sister, and that’s when I noticed the sweat pouring down his forehead.
The next moment, he looked up at the sky, pretending it held the most fascinating thing in the world. With a small, restrained nod, he silently answered Arthur’s question.
Arthur gave a crooked smile, tense and uneasy, one of those smiles that betrays discomfort far more than confidence.
“If that’s the case...” he said, slowly turning back toward my little sister. His gaze lingered a moment longer than necessary: “Then that thing is probably your worst nightmare”
Setting aside the fact that they were being incredibly rude, calling my little sister “that thing”, “your worst nightmare” and a not-at-all creative collection of other unpleasant nicknames, I could at least grasp the basics of the situation.
Apparently, my adorable little sister assumed different forms depending on who was looking at her, something that likely had a direct connection to her being the Virtue of Fear.
Still, while everyone else seemed focused on that disturbing detail, another question kept pounding in my mind. A question that, if I’m being honest, felt far more urgent than the current problem... How, exactly, were we supposed to get back home?
***
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
(POV – Emily Parker)
Emily was still trapped in a completely bizarre situation. Several members of the organization scattered around the room were visibly shaking, some breaking out in cold sweat, others clenching their fists so tightly their knuckles had turned white.
Everyone avoided the monitor at all costs, as if their lives depended on it... and judging by the almost desperate way they looked away, maybe they actually did. The fear was so palpable that Emily started to believe they would die if they looked at the screen a second time. She, on the other hand, still hadn’t seen what was there.
The moment she noticed a hand emerging from behind the tree displayed on the monitor, she instinctively turned her face away, her heart pounding in her chest. If she looked, she’d end up like the others, wouldn’t she? Emily knew it was dangerous.
Intellectually, with cold, rational clarity, she understood that the best decision, the only sensible decision, was not to look. Even so, that certainty did nothing to silence the suffocating weight of her curiosity, nor the unsettling feeling that something on the other side of the screen was staring back at her.
And yet: (I’m so, incredibly curious!) The thought sent a shiver down Emily’s spine. Her body trembled slightly, betraying her anxiety, as she fought with everything she had not to look directly at the monitor, its glow seeming to call to her in an almost taunting way.
In the end, no matter how hard she tried to resist, curiosity won out. Before she even realized it, Emily began making excuses for herself: (I need to look. I need to know what everyone is seeing to leave them like this) she thought, feeling a faint tightness in her chest: (Without understanding the source of this collective reaction, it’ll be impossible to come up with any kind of strategic plan against it)
Leaning on those justifications, far too flimsy to fool anyone but herself, Emily didn’t notice the exact moment when the decision had already been made. When she realized it, she pivoted on her heels, heart racing, and headed straight toward the unknown.
Her body turned slightly, and her eyes finally settled on the monitors lined up in front of her. Emily’s first reaction, once she saw what was on the other side, was to raise an eyebrow in silent confusion.
To be honest, she had expected anything, some bizarre, grotesque monster, covered in twisted limbs, dripping some kind of viscous slime while staring back at her with bulging eyes. Or something even worse, something as disturbing as the most horrifying image her imagination could come up with of what true trauma might look like.
But none of that appeared. Instead of nameless horrors or distorted shapes, what showed up on the screen was something far more unexpected. Simply... herself.
“What?...” Emily murmured, eyes wide and mind completely blank as she stared at her own image on the other side of the monitor. Her heart sped up, a chill sliding down her spine: “Why... why am I there?” she whispered, her voice confused.
Just as Emily had pointed out, what she found on the other side of the screen wasn’t some bizarre form that would’ve scared her into calling for her mother. There were no twisted monsters, no extra eyes, nothing that screamed danger. In fact, what she saw was... herself.
For a moment, Emily felt her mind stall. Confusion came before any other emotion. Did that mean she was supposed to be afraid of herself? The idea echoed strangely in her head, unsettling in a way she couldn’t quite explain.
Emily was smart, very smart. Her mind was always ready to spin unlikely theories, elaborate plans, and complex explanations for absurd situations. But being afraid of herself? No. That just didn’t make sense. It sounded... stupid.
She drifted into thought as she watched her own image reflected on the other side of the monitor, trying to find some explanation for why she was seeing herself there, when the angel anomaly’s familiar voice echoed beside her, soft and oddly enthusiastic: “Oh! You didn’t react like the others... So that means you managed to overcome your greatest fear! Fantastic. You did wonderfully”
The voice was strangely sing-song, far too cheerful for the situation, carrying a bizarre hint of warmth. For some reason she couldn’t quite explain, Emily felt as if she were being praised by her own mother, a comforting and deeply unsettling sensation all at once.
She frowned, discomfort growing, and then turned around. The shock was immediate. Her heart slammed against her chest, and she took a hurried step back when she realized the anomaly was absurdly close.
As always, the anomaly’s body floated in the air, suspended upside down, defying all logic, but now there was no distance between them at all.
Its face was practically pressed up against Emily’s, so close she could feel its suffocating presence. Golden eyes stared into her with unmistakable intensity, vivid, deep, shining.
It was the first time Emily had seen them up close, and the sensation was like being observed not just from the outside, but from within, as if those eyes could see straight through her. They were so... beautiful.
The gold surrounding them was warm and comforting, like the soft light of an eternal sunset. Emily felt a quiet tightening in her chest, a strange and profound urge to spend eternity just staring into them, forgetting everything else.
However, as the enchantment lingered, a sharp pain began to spread, first in her eyes, then in her head, burning with growing intensity, as if something were warning her to look away.
Then, in a sudden instant, the anomaly vanished right in front of her, shattering the spell and yanking Emily out of the trance she’d fallen into.
“Whoa... that was dangerous!” the anomaly said suddenly, concern clear in its tone: “What did I say about staring too long, sweetheart? Way too dangerous!”
Emily shook her head one last time and quietly drew in a breath, forcing herself to pull back together. When she lifted her gaze again, it landed on the anomaly once more, still floating in the air, legs crossed as if sitting on an invisible chair.
The playful smile on its face hadn’t faded, if anything, it seemed to grow as it watched the screens in front of it. For a brief moment, Emily felt the urge to ask how and why simply looking at it had nearly made her eyes burn and her mind short-circuit. The sensation still echoed, unpleasantly, at the back of her skull.
But she swallowed her curiosity. There were more pressing matters to deal with. Straightening her posture, she decided to start with what truly mattered: “Do you know why I’m... there?” she asked, raising her hand and pointing toward the other side of the monitor.
On the other side of the screen, she saw herself observing the dispatched personnel, head slightly tilted in a way that mixed confusion with something oddly cute, an image that only made the situation even more disturbing.
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