Anomaly

(POV: Protagonist)

Personally, I'd given up months ago trying to understand exactly how my anomalous senses worked. Sometimes, they felt practically omniscient, allowing me to know exactly what I wanted to know. Other times, though, they were about as useful as a rock tossed to the bottom of a lake.

A perfect example was the fact that my youngest sister was still out there somewhere, and my senses simply refused to help me find her. No matter how many times I tried to reach out through that abnormal perception of mine, all I got in return was frustrating silence. At least... until a few seconds ago.

I wasn't sure exactly when it happened. I was sitting beneath the shade of a tree, leaning against its rough trunk while enjoying the gentle breeze drifting through the area. Above me, the artificial sky stretched overhead in an almost flawless imitation of the real thing.

Then, without warning, my senses suddenly "went off" The feeling washed over me so abruptly that my body reacted before I could even gather my thoughts. My gaze automatically snapped toward the massive entrance gate leading into the place where my sisters and I were currently living. The sensation wasn't unfamiliar.

It was exactly the same feeling I experienced whenever one of my sisters mysteriously appeared somewhere in the world: that strange, irresistible compulsion urging me to go after them as quickly as possible, as if something deep inside me understood that the distance separating us was a mistake that needed to be corrected.

Whenever we were finally reunited, the feeling was always the same. It was like fitting together pieces of a puzzle that should never have been taken apart in the first place. There was no hesitation. No genuine sense of unfamiliarity. Only a deep, inexplicable sense of belonging, as though we were returning to where we'd always been meant to be.

Which brought me to one question... Why was I sensing my last little sister's presence coming from beyond the gate? My eyes remained fixed on the structure as an uncomfortable feeling gradually spread through my chest. Maybe it was something similar to what had happened with Eryanis, maybe she'd simply come here on her own.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, a cold sweat nearly broke out across my skin. After all, Eryanis hadn't exactly displayed the friendliest behavior when we'd first met. If my last sister had inherited that same tendency... then our reunion probably wouldn't be the warmest one.

(... Well, taking a quick look won't hurt anyone) Firm in that line of reasoning, I cast one final glance around me. Then, without another moment of hesitation, I relaxed my body and allowed it to sink slowly downward. The shadows wrapped around my skin in a cold, silent embrace, muffling every distant sound until nothing remained but the steady rhythm of my own breathing.

Then I began to swim. I moved toward the exact source of that strange familiarity, guided purely by instinct. The farther I went, the clearer the sensation became, pulling me forward like an invisible thread tied around my chest. It didn't take long before I recognized my surroundings.

I had arrived at the area outside the place where my sisters and I were staying. I noticed Emily, Laura, Victor, and Rupert among the gathered crowd, but my attention barely lingered on them. Every one of my senses was completely focused on the girl standing beside two adults. She was... Human? I was certain of it.

There were no anomalous traits. No peculiar characteristics hinting at another origin. Her appearance was almost painfully ordinary, the kind of person who would pass unnoticed in the middle of a crowd. And yet, no matter how insistently my eyes told me she was nothing more than a human girl, something inside me refused to accept that conclusion so easily.

There was something strange about her. It was a feeling that was difficult to describe, yet familiar enough to make my heart falter for a brief moment. It was the very same sensation I always felt whenever I looked at my little sisters: a strange sense of recognition, as though an invisible bond connected our very existences, drawing us toward one another regardless of distance, appearance, or circumstance.

And that feeling was coming from her. No matter how desperately I searched for a logical explanation, none of them made any sense. I didn't know what was happening, nor why one of my sisters had taken the form of a human. Maybe I was interpreting everything wrong. Maybe there was still some detail escaping my notice.

But in the end, there was only one thing I knew with absolute certainty. The girl standing before me was one of my sisters. And I would never mistake that feeling. Surprisingly, while I was watching the girl with a careful, curious gaze, she turned in my direction as well. The movement was so natural that, for a brief moment, I completely froze.

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It caught me entirely off guard. Maybe she had just happened to glance around by chance? That explanation seemed far more plausible than accepting that an ordinary human could actually see me while I remained within the Shadow World. Even so, I discarded that possibility the instant I felt her eyes meet mine. There was no hesitation.

No uncertainty. She was, without a doubt, looking directly at me. Yeah... she could definitely see me. How exactly? Honestly, that's the million-dollar question, and I don't have the slightest clue what the answer is. Still, the fact remained unchanged.

Since she'd already seen me anyway, there didn't seem to be much point in staying hidden. Besides, now that I was ninety-nine percent certain she was the last of my missing little sisters, maybe this was finally the right time to introduce myself.

***

(POV - Charlotte Whitmore)

Charlotte honestly wasn't sure what she was looking at. A shadow on the wall? No... more than that. It was a shadow on the wall with eyes. Golden eyes, to be precise. They remained fixed on her, glowing faintly within the dimness, motionless and silent, like two tiny embers watching from the heart of the darkness itself.

The figure had no clear outline. It was simply a black stain clinging to the wall. And strangely enough, it didn't frighten her. Perhaps that was the most unsettling part of the entire situation. Charlotte didn't understand why. For as long as she could remember herself as a person, she had never truly felt fear.

Not because she believed she was invincible, or because she thought nothing could hurt her. She was human. Humans were fragile. Their bodies broke, bled, and died. Charlotte had always understood that better than most. Even so, fear never came. There was no tightening in her chest. No desperate urge to run.

Faced with danger, her mind could rationally acknowledge the risks, but her heart remained strangely calm. The truth was that Charlotte had never feared death itself. And it wasn't because she believed she couldn't die. It was something much harder to explain. Deep down, in a place even she couldn't fully reach or understand, Charlotte carried the strange conviction that death wouldn't be the end.

Not for her. As though the end of one life wouldn't mean absolute disappearance, but rather the silent opening of a long-forgotten door. A release. It was an irrational feeling, impossible to justify through logic or experience. And yet, it felt as natural as breathing.

So ancient that she couldn't even remember when she'd first begun to feel it. That being said, Charlotte was genuinely surprised by what happened next. The "shadow" or whatever it was, began to waver. Its surface rippled unnaturally, shimmering like the air above scorching asphalt on a summer day.

Its edges lost their shape for brief moments before settling back into place. Then, without any warning, a pale foot emerged from the darkness. Shortly afterward, another followed. Charlotte simply stood there. Her eyes blinked a few times, unable to hide the pure surprise and curiosity shining within them.

The scene before her felt far too absurd to be real. Unless she'd somehow developed schizophrenia overnight, there was no doubt about it. A humanoid figure was stepping out of the wall. No. Out of the shadow stuck to the wall, to be more precise. The figure moved slowly, passing through the dark surface like someone emerging from water.

Pale limbs appeared one after another, accompanied by the gentle undulation of the black mass, which seemed to stretch itself to accommodate an existence that shouldn't have been able to fit within it... Wasn't this dangerous? Most normal people probably would've turned around and run in the opposite direction the moment they witnessed something like this.

Seeing a humanoid creature crawl out of a shadow was exactly the kind of experience that justified throwing curiosity aside in favor of self-preservation. But Charlotte wasn't afraid. Her muscles remained relaxed. Her breathing never quickened. Her heart didn't pound against her ribs the way it should have.

If there was any emotion dominating her at that moment, it was fascination. Actually, what confused her most was something else entirely. This scene felt... strangely familiar. Not the figure itself. The feeling. In any case, Charlotte was even more surprised when a girl emerged from the shadow cast upon the wall.

There had been no warning. No sign of what was about to happen. One moment, it had been nothing more than a dark stain resting quietly in the corner of the room. The next, the darkness itself seemed to stir, rippling like the tranquil surface of a lake touched by the wind. From within it, a girl stepped forward.

She was extraordinarily beautiful, a little taller than Charlotte, appearing to be around fifteen or sixteen years old. Her body was predominantly white, almost too pale to belong to someone alive, but that wasn't all. Her form was slightly transparent. The edges of her silhouette seemed to dissolve into faint particles of light and shadow, as though she wasn't entirely present within this world.

It gave her an oddly enigmatic and mysterious appearance. Her long hair flowed with an unreal grace, following her movements as if untouched by ordinary rules, while the golden eyes softly shining upon her delicate face added a charm that was difficult to describe. There was something ancient and supernatural about her.

But at the same time... Cute. Charlotte blinked, caught off guard by her own thoughts. She... was supposed to find this cute? I mean, yeah, it was cute. Really cute, actually. But shouldn't it also be terrifying? A complete stranger had just stepped out of a shadow.

Normal people would probably scream, run away, or at the very least go into shock. Charlotte, however, merely stared at the newcomer with wide eyes. No matter how hard she searched for the fear she should have been feeling, all she could think was: A cute girl just came out of the wall after a shadow appeared.

"..." Tilting her head slightly, Charlotte reconsidered. Come to think of it, this felt a lot more like the beginning of a strange story than the start of a nightmare.