When school let out, the twins took their usual path home, walking side by side beneath the rows of tall trees that lined their neighborhood. Emma chatted about a weird dream she’d had involving flying sheep. Ava mostly listened, silent except for the occasional eye roll.

  But her mind was elsewhere. Her hands itched at her sides as she walked.

  Her abilities were a little more mysterious than those of her sisters. While Emma could technically be seen as more powerful, there were just some things Ava could do that Emma could never achieve. For instance, Emma has never died and come back in time to a point where she wasn't, and she never will, unless Ava says otherwise.

  Although they are more mysterious, they are also considerably more energy-intensive. Ava couldn't have considered doing what she pns to before maturing a bit, or she'd have disintegrated on the spot.

  Ava’s boots scuffed the sidewalk as she walked, her eyes narrowing at nothing in particur. She could feel the exact point in time she wanted to age herself to forming in the back of her mind.

  Emma talked beside her, completely unfazed. “And then the sheep exploded, like boom, but instead of guts it was just glitter. I think my subconscious is trying to tell me I’m not eating enough sugar.”

  Ava blinked at her. “We ate cookies for breakfast.”

  “Exactly,” Emma said cheerfully. “Only three. Tragic.”

  The front door of the house creaked as they stepped inside.

  Rachel’s voice echoed immediately from the living room. “You're te. Again."

  Ava sighed as she dropped her bag by the door.

  Daniel’s voice followed a moment ter from the kitchen. “We’ve talked about this, girls. You need to start respecting schedules. You can’t just wander in whenever you feel like it.”

  Emma gave a soft, polite, “Sorry,” out of habit, already halfway toward the stairs.

  But Ava stayed frozen in the entryway.

  She didn’t answer. Her jaw flexed. The comments weren’t cruel, not even close. But it pissed her off that these people thought they had authority over her still. She no longer felt the need to maintain this facade. She wasn't angry at what they said, just that they believed they mattered.

  Rachel peeked her head around the corner. “Ava? You hear us?”

  Ava gnced back at her. “Yeah. I heard.”

  Then she turned, brushing gently past Emma. Her hand came to rest briefly on her sister’s shoulder, and in that instant, something shifted. A silent flicker in the air, barely noticeable. And then they began to change.

  It wasn’t a dramatic burst or violent transformation, just a slow ripple, like time melting down the outlines of their bodies. Limbs stretched, features sharpened. The softness of childhood peeled away, repced by the forms of young adults- eighteen, maybe nineteen. Their eyes still held the same light, but everything else had matured by roughly eight years.

  Emma inhaled softly, blinking as she adjusted to the sudden height. Her long hair tumbled down her back like ink on paper. She ran a hand through it, frowning slightly. “Oh. Right,” she murmured.

  With a quick gesture, she sliced the length down to about shoulder length once more. The space around her buzzed slightly after the fact. The strands dissolved like mist, leaving it clean and short again. Just the way she liked it.

  Meanwhile, Ava rolled her shoulders, testing the weight of her body. Her shirt clung too tightly across her chest, the hem resting just above her belly button like a crop top, while her jeans were splitting at the knees and waist.

  Rachel gasped behind them, hand flying to her mouth. Daniel stepped out of the kitchen, eyes wide. “What the hell?"

  “We’re not staying,” Ava said quietly. “So fuck off."

  Rachel stumbled forward like she hadn’t heard her right. “What are you saying? What is this? What happened to you?!”

  Ava turned slowly, her expression rather excited. “What does it look like?”

  “You’re my daughters,” Rachel said, voice cracking. “You're ten. This isn’t- this isn’t right!”

  Emma tilted her head, looking down at herself, then back at Rachel. “Actually, no. We’re not ten."

  “Emma,” Daniel said carefully, like he was trying to keep her from bolting. “Sweetheart, whatever’s going on, we can fix it. You’re not thinking straight.”

  Ava ughed.

  A very loud one.

  “Thinking straight? What do you think is happening right now? I'm sure it's a lot for your brains to grasp, but we aren't your children. " She gestured vaguely toward the house. “You pyed pretend. We let you."

  Rachel flinched like she’d been spped. “How can you say that? We raised you-"

  "You didn't raise shit, get off your high horse. Emma might've let you dress her up like a doll, but you didn't teach us anything."

  Daniel moved instinctively, stepping forward in a protective manner. “Now you lower your voice when you speak to my wi-"

  Time stopped.

  It wasn’t subtle, either. The air shimmered, and everything around them froze. Dust halted midair, the noise of the fridge ceased, and Rachel and Daniel stopped breathing, locked in pce like statues.

  Ava exhaled slowly and then walked over to Daniel first. She stared into his wide, frozen eyes for a second, then smacked him across the face. The crack didn't echo. She did the same to Rachel, a simple, open-handed sp that twisted her head to the side.

  Then time resumed.

  Both of them stumbled, wobbling, their hands flying to their faces. Emma stayed where she was, calm and mostly disinterested, watching the scene unfold with the kind of detachment you’d expect from someone watching a rerun. Ava's shirt tore from the movement, her C-cup companions nearly exposed. She caught Daniel looking, and her face twisted into a creepy smile.

  "You like what you see, huh?" She asked him while cupping her breasts with her hands. "Aren't we your daughters?"

  Daniel’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. His face was pale, caught somewhere between fear and shame. He looked like he wanted to vanish. To deny what just happened. To unsee her. But Ava didn’t give him that mercy. She tilted her head slightly, eyes glowing red. “What’s the matter?” she cooed. “You looked.”

  Rachel gasped, horrified, eyes snapping toward her husband. “Daniel…?”

  He didn’t answer.

  Ava took a step closer. Her hands dropped to her sides, the grin bleeding off her face. "You know, I've never liked you."

  Daniel backed up until his heel hit the baseboard.

  Ava followed at a slow pace. She loved getting into people's heads. He raised a hand like he was about to beg, perhaps to apologize. Without looking, Ava swatted it aside. Rachel was sobbing now, panic shaking her whole body. "Please. Please stop this. Whatever this is."

  “Call it a punishment,” Ava whispered.

  Then she reached out with her right arm, her gauntlet manifesting around her hand for the first time in what felt like forever, and grabbed Daniel by the face. She threw him against the wall before skewering that same hand through his midsection.

  Daniel didn’t even have time to scream. The gauntlet pierced through his torso with a sick squelch, smming him against the drywall hard enough to leave a crater behind his spine. Blood spilled down in thick pools, steaming faintly where it met Ava’s gauntlet. His legs kicked once. They twitched.

  Ava’s eyes bored into his, her expression that of enjoyment. “Good riddance.”

  Then she twisted her hand.

  The life drained from Daniel’s eyes before his body slumped lifelessly, the weight of him hanging like a ragdoll from her arm. Ava yanked her gauntlet free with a wet sound and let him fall to the floor in a heap.

  Rachel’s scream was animalistic. She colpsed beside him, hands scrambling uselessly at the gaping wound in his body, blood soaking her sleeves. “No. No. No!"

  Upstairs, a soft creak came from the hallway.

  Ava’s head snapped up, her expression sharpening. For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then the faint sound of retreating footsteps. Emma was already on it. Her hand lifted with a rexed flick, and glowing spatial barriers formed around every window and door, sealing them in like a dome of invisible gss.

  “No exits,” she said softly. “We’re done here anyway.”

  Ava stepped over Daniel’s corpse and Rachel’s trembling form. She didn’t even spare them another gnce. Her bare feet left bloody prints across the hardwood floor as she moved to the base of the stairs.

  “Ethan,” she called up.

  There was no response, just the muffled sound of a door smming shut somewhere above.

  Ava smiled. Not the kind you’d want to see.

  “Let’s go,” she said.

  She didn’t need to chase him. There was no need for drama. Instead, she turned to Emma. “Light it up.”

  Emma raised one hand, palm open, and a swirling fme blossomed above it, a pale blue. With a snap of her fingers, she sent it sailing down the hallway. Then another. And another. Fire caught instantly, spreading unnaturally fast, fueled by Emma’s magic. Curtains ignited, wood bckened, and paint blistered off the walls.

  Smoke billowed almost instantly.

  This wasn’t necessarily the pn, but Ava had at least enjoyed herself. What was part of the pn, though, was the burning of this sweet family home. If they wanted a clean ste, they couldn’t be tied back to some random family in Oregon. So, all five individuals who lived in this house would be listed as victims of a tragic house fire.

  Rachel screamed something hoarse, clutching onto her recently deceased husband even as the fmes devoured the space around her. Her sobs were lost to the crackle of fire and the colpsing walls.

  And just like that, the twins vanished.

  A few blocks away, two girls strolled down a quiet street lit by orange mplight. They looked like just another pair of teens out too te on a summer night, as their outfits had been swapped for some better-fitting grey jumpsuits courtesy of Emma. The ash, blood, and soot had all but vanished.

  Ava walked with her hands in her pockets, lips curled in a smile. “You know,” she said, gncing sideways, “I think now’s as good a time as any.”

  Emma gave her a look. “For what?”

  Ava threw both arms in the air. “To debut. Duh. We're already National-Level hunters, based solely on strength, but we should still get a license.

  Emma's lips twitched. “Say no more.”

  In the blink of an eye, the sleepy neighborhood around them disappeared.

  A pulse of mana shot through the air, and in the next instant, they stood on a busy walkway with people flowing in all directions at the foot of a towering skyscraper, its windows gleaming like teeth under the moonlight. The logo, a very unappealing, zombie-looking wolf creature, was highly visible. The heart of the world's strongest guild: Scavenger.

  Spoiler

  [colpse]