Rising Shards

Shortly before the prom, I stood outside my older sister Lyla's study, where she spent much of her time when she was home. I was feeling troubled for a lot of reasons, and she tended to provide sound advice when I needed it. I couldn't quite bring myself to knock on the door yet.

Everything still felt foggy, and I told myself if just one of the entanglements in my daily life would clear up that I could manage. I didn't need things to get greatly better, and felt it selfish to even desire so. If I could just have some clarity to the confusion, I could handle the rest. I'd take figuring out what Caeda and Chickadee were up to, what the imp situation was, or just Kalei finally telling us what was wrong, but I doubted I could get all of those at once.

"Whatcha doing?"

My contemplation before entering my older sister's room was interrupted by my younger sister Lilith jabbing me in the side.

"Stop that," I said.

"Tell me what you're doing and I'll stop," Lilith said.

"I want to just talk to Lyla," I said. "Without you."

"Why? Maybe I'll have good advice too!"

"You won't," I said.

"You don't know that," Lilith said. "I have lots of good advice."

"Sure you do," I said.

"I do!" Lilith said. "Like, here, look at this." She reached into her pockets and pulled out handfuls of spinning top toys, from a toy line called Robo-Spinners that was popular at the moment. "If you're feeling down, just borrow a Robo-Spinner from me."

"Terrific," I said. "Aren't you too old for these?"

"One can never be too old for Robo-Spinners, that's like the first rule of Robo-Spinners," Lilith said. "It says so right on the box, next to the 'Ages 7-99' label."

Before I could knock, Lyla opened the door.

"Can you two keep it down?" Lyla said.

"No," Lilith said.

"I'm serious, I'm in the middle of studying for—" Lyla started.

"No, because Lillia wanted to ask you something!" Lilith said.

Lyla didn't seem to convinced until she saw my expression. "I can take a break for a few minutes."

She invited me into her study. Our parents had made sure each family member had a room in our home just for study separate from a bedroom. Lyla's was filled with medical textbooks, and was the coziest of them, as it was the only one with a fireplace in it, an electric one that warmed the room, casting everything in orange hues. Lyla sat down at her desk, shutting her laptop and closing the various textbooks she had up. She set up a timer, one with a big dial on it that made soft ticking noises each second.

"I'm really sorry, this paper's due tonight so I can only chat for a bit," Lyla said.

"It's fine," I sat down across from her, and Lilith moved some stuff around on the desk so she could spin one of her Robo tops.

"I told Lilith I wanted to talk to you alone," I said.

"Thus guaranteeing she'd find some way to butt in," Lyla said. "Better to just let her have this."

"Yeah!" Lilith said. "Plus, I'm sure it's just gonna be girl problems again so it's not like I haven't heard about this."

I rolled my eyes. It wasn't necessarily just that, but it was on my mind.

"Have you asked Mom and Dad about it if it's just relationship woes?" Lyla asked.

"Our parents' advice on the matter always ends up being a quiz on how much I understand the themes of Voltinar's Seven Stone Epics." I said.

"True," Lyla said. "How well do you understand Voltinar's Epics?"

"I haven't worked up the nerve to read the most direct translation, but the junior translation is still fairly dense, I like to think I understand the general premise and its themes," I said.

"Fair, fair," Lyla said. "Alright, I've teased you enough, what's up?"

"I guess there's just a lot going on right now," I said. "And with the prom this week, I'm just wondering...should I even bother? I'm not going with anyone, well, my friends will be along."

"I didn't even go to my prom," Lyla said. "But I already knew my field, so I knew that extra time spent studying for a Cani med school was a better bet than a dance. If you're thinking med school, I just say skip it."

Lyla was a nurse on campus, but she was still taking college classes. Whenever she finished that, I assumed she'd try for a better position. It was nice to know she was on campus, but I saw her so infrequently that I wouldn't be mad if she pursued her passion to a much cushier job.

"I don't know what I'm thinking for higher education," I said. "I think that's just what's wrong, I don't know. I don't like not knowing, and there's so much I don't know right now. And when I try to figure things out, it just seems to make it worse."

"I say you just stop thinking, you think too much," Lilith helpfully suggested. "Get into a hobby like Robo-Spinners. Stress free, cool lore, and awesome stuff to collect!" She spun another one of the tops, crashing into the one she already had going, sending one sailing over right at Lyla's face. Lyla caught it just in time, handing the top back to Lilith.

"Well, that's one thing you could do," Lyla said. "If you skip the prom, I'd say spend the night researching something that isn't so mysterious like whatever you have going on. Even just studying some lore from one of your games might clear your mind a bit."

"I suppose," I said. "If I do go to the dance, though, would it be alright if it's just my friends?"

"Obviously," Lyla said. "If that's something that's got you concerned, either you're having major issues with your friends, or you're overthinking. And I've met your friends so...I'd assume the latter."

"Well, most of my friends I'm fine with," I didn't know if I should bring up the Kalei situation. I just had to trust that Kalei would finally tell us. That she said what she did in her ominous talk at least suggested she still wanted to be friends.

"You'll probably have a good time if you go, and if not no one's gonna stop you if you leave early," Lyla said.

"True..." I said. "Wouldn't it be strange to go without a partner, though?"

"Eh," Lyla said. "Again, you're asking someone who skipped all her dances. Anyone you'd want to go with last minute, maybe?"

No one came to mind. After all the matchmaker games done in the void or hosted by my friends on a bus, I wasn't really seeing anyone leap out as a candidate even just as a dance partner.

"You liked Ko, and Ko's an idiot and mean, so maybe ask someone else who's an idiot and is mean?" Lilith said.

"Alright simmer down there," Lyla took out a squirt bottle that she had behind her desk specifically for Lilith annoyances and sent a mist of water at my sister. But a spritz of water wasn't enough to slow her down much.

"Aw, hey!" Lilith said. "I'm giving good advice here! Lillia, if you miss Ko so much, maybe ask her?"

I can't ask Ko. She broke up with me, we're fine, she's going with...with Roxana.

"No, I don't think that'd be good," I said.

"Just go by yourself then," Lilith said. "Y'see, it's just like I'm saying! You think wayyyy too much."

"I think she may have a point," Lyla said. Her timer started to ding. "Drat. I can talk a bit longer if you'd like, but only a bit."

"No, I've kept you long enough," I rose to my feet. "Come on, Lilith."

"Nah, I'm gonna stay here," Lilith said.

"The hell you are," Lyla said. "Lillia?"

"On it," I said. I grabbed Lyla's tops from the desk.

"Hey!" Lilith said.

"You said I could borrow them, right?" I asked. "Or...show me how they work, away from Lyla's studies."

"Fiiiine," Lilith said.

"Thanks," Lyla said. "Good luck on all that, we're here if you need anything."

"Right," I said. "Good luck on the paper."

I spent a while after that playing tops with Lilith as she explained the surprisingly in-depth lore of the toys. It didn't really fix anything, and I wasn't any closer to answers, but a break from my buzzing thoughts was nice.

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