Some time prior, Effie returned home… the home of her counterpart, which felt both familiar and strange.
It was different from her own family home in Bastion, but shared the same feeling of coziness with it. The nature of life in Mirage City was vastly different from the real world, of course… but Effie vaguely remembered how her counterpart had lived, which was why she did not feel particularly alien to this fantastical place.
If anything, she felt a little bit too at home here.
The people quietly following her in the shadows were troublesome…
It was the people inside, however, who were the problem.
Opening the door, Effie took off her coat and shook off the drops of water from her hair. By the time she was done with that, the sound of little feet drumming excitedly on the floor was already drawing near.
"Mommy!"
She put on a smile.
Her children… her counterpart's children… were upon her a moment later. She crouched to hug them, burying her face in their soft hair.
