Anomaly

Inside a room with pale white walls, bathed in cold white lights fastened to the ceiling, five entities remained in complete silence.
Each one occupied a different corner of the room, absorbed in their own habits, gestures, and private little worlds. Nyara sat at the edge of the bed, completely still. The silence wasn’t just hers—it seemed to shape itself around her presence.
Her beautiful golden eyes—glimmering faintly under the light—held vertical pupils that rotated in slow, almost hypnotic movements. She watched the atmosphere carefully, sensing the tension that, like a thick fog, began to gather in the air and weigh down on everyone within that narrow space.
It wasn’t exactly new to her. Nyara was already used to it—truthfully, she almost expected it. The entities known as Conceptual Virtues rarely gathered together.
They knew of each other’s existence, recognized one another as sisters, but their paths seldom crossed. Most of the time, each quietly fought for the attention of their older sister, an old habit that created a constant breeze of distrust among them.
Never enough to separate them, but always enough to keep them alert—watching one another, wondering who would be chosen by the firstborn this time.
Unlike Nyara, Nekra wore, as always, an expression that bordered on complete indifference. Her golden eyes—marked by pupils tinted in a deep shade of purple—carefully observed the dolls wandering back and forth in front of her.
Nekra wasn’t exactly obsessed with dolls; far from it. In the end, it was merely a coincidence that those delicate figures vaguely reminded her of her older sister. But from that moment on, something inside her shifted.
Since then, Nekra had begun asking for more dolls, filling her surroundings with them as if trying to build a small, silent world just for herself. Showing emotions was never her strength, and besides, she didn’t want to take up her older sister’s precious time.
So, in her shy and awkward way of dealing with affection, she found in those dolls a substitute—imperfect, yet comforting—for the presence she missed so much.
At the same time, Althea drifted gently through the air, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. Her golden eyes—just as intense as their older sister’s—roamed across each of the sisters gathered there. They finally settled on Eryanis.
As usual, Eryanis sat in her chair with impeccably elegant posture, entirely immersed in an open book resting on the table. Althea slowly floated closer, her movements so light they barely made a sound.
She leaned over her sister’s shoulder, her curious gaze lingering for a moment on the pages filled with delicate symbols before returning to Eryanis’s serene face. Althea’s mischievous smile widened, betraying her intent to cause trouble.
“Hey, heeey!” Althea called, her voice carrying a bright, playful tone: “What are you doing over there?”
Eryanis, completely absorbed in her reading up until that moment, lifted her eyes just enough to see Althea’s side profile—hovering next to her with that incorrigible grin. A barely audible sigh escaped Eryanis’s lips; in that instant, she knew her brief moments of peace had undeniably come to an end.
“Reading” Eryanis replied, her voice flat and indifferent: “A curious pastime among humans. I’ve heard that, long ago, they devoted far more time to it than they do now, though it’s still a fairly popular hobby. Why don’t you try it? You might actually like it”
Althea floated around Eryanis in complete silence, circling her while casting curious glances at both the girl and the book in her hands. After a few seconds, she flipped onto her back in midair, hands resting behind her head as if lying on the wind itself.
With a drawn-out voice full of exaggerated boredom, she commented: “Spending all that time just sitting there, staring at words some humans wrote?”
When she finished, she tilted forward and slowly rotated until she was facing Eryanis head-on. A mischievous smile spread across her face, lighting up her eyes: “Boooooring! I’d definitely die of boredom if I had to sit still for that long!”
Hearing exactly the answer she expected, Eryanis let out a resigned sigh and slowly closed the book resting open on the table: “What do you want, Althea?” she asked, her voice devoid of any emotion. Her eyes—cold and sharp as blades—fixed on Althea with the clear irritation of someone who had no patience for distractions.
Seeing this, Althea smiled. Her body lifted slightly higher from the ground, floating with a feline kind of grace. She spun around until she was upside down, yet still kept her gaze locked on Eryanis, who watched her in silence.
“Wow, you’re just as impatient as ever” she said lightly, almost amused: “I’m bored. Since our sister isn’t here, I keep wondering how she’s dealing with Tenebrya. That authority is... complicated. I bet she’s having a hard time, especially since she still hasn’t fully recovered her powers”
Eryanis didn’t show the slightest reaction. Her eyes remained fixed on Althea, who waited patiently for a response—even though her own tone made it clear she didn’t fully believe what she’d just said.
Eryanis knew her sister well: Althea was restless, impatient, easily bored—but that didn’t mean Eryanis had any intention of serving as her temporary source of entertainment: “Our older sister will handle it, as she always does. There’s nothing for us to worry about. You, of all people, should know that”
Althea grinned, and a soft, playful laugh escaped her lips before her next words drifted through the air: “Loyal as always, from what I can tell”
With that, Althea floated away again, gliding just a few inches above the floor until she settled into a comfortable, almost lazy position suspended in the air. Then she murmured, amusement gleaming in her eyes: “Well, it’s not like I don’t know where that confidence of yours comes from. I guess even if all of us fought our sister at the same time... we’d still lose to her”
Althea’s words echoed throughout the room, reaching every entity present. Still, none of them dared to respond. Althea wasn’t surprised. Despite the disagreements between them, all shared a deep, unshakable conviction: None of them could surpass their older sister.
That certainty had been instilled in them since birth — a dogma as old as they were themselves. The older sister was unmatched, a colossus among deities, the standard against which none of them dared compare themselves. But beyond reverence or fear, there was something stronger within Althea: love.
A love so absolute it eclipsed every other bond. She loved her older sister more than her own creations, more than the children she had watched emerge with such care. If she were ever forced to choose between her children and her sister, she wouldn’t hesitate for even a heartbeat — her older sister would always come first.
Eryanis, who had listened to every one of Althea’s ramblings, simply crossed her arms with a smug look: “Hmph!” she scoffed, wearing an expression of complete disinterest: “That’s just obvious when it comes to the older sister” she declared proudly, lifting her chin slightly, almost as if she were talking about herself and expecting praise for it.
Seeing her sister’s reaction, Althea let out a mischievous smile. A second later, her lips moved, and she spoke in her usual tone — light and teasing: “And the fact that you keep bragging about it, even after I technically put us down, is still... impressive”
Eryanis shot Althea an indifferent look before replying: “And why shouldn’t I brag? Losing to your own sister is an honor” Eryanis declared with a conviction so firm it bordered on provocation.
(Well, she definitely hasn’t changed one bit since last time...) Althea thought, a nostalgic smile forming on her face. For a moment, her mind drifted to her older sister — her image as vivid as ever: (... Well, she’s probably not dealing with any problems. As always) Althea shrugged, letting out a soft sigh before settling back in the air, allowing herself to relax as she floated.
I really didn’t want to admit it... but I’m in some serious trouble here. The storm, the sea, and that colossal thing in the sky were all growing more violent by the minute. No matter which angle I looked from, everything about that sight screamed danger — something deadly in every sense.
What bothered me the most was how it had simply appeared. How could an entity that huge just show up out of nowhere without me noticing? Does that even make sense? Not even Victor — who’s usually absurdly perceptive about this kind of thing — showed any sign of sensing anything before everything started falling apart. Something is seriously wrong... And I’m not just talking about the storm.
Since there wasn’t much else I could do outside, I dove back into the shadowy world and, in the blink of an eye, emerged inside the vehicle again. Arthur, Rupert, and Victor noticed my presence almost instantly — their eyes shifted toward me naturally, as if they had already been expecting my return.
The other members, however, remained tense, staring fixedly out the windows as if any movement outside could spell danger. The atmosphere inside the vehicle was dense, filled with uneasy silence and the occasional quickened breaths of each person.
Yet strangely, they were calmer than I expected at first glance. Were they terrified? Absolutely — the fear was written all over their faces, in their tightened muscles, in the way they breathed short and fast. But even so, they didn’t seem exactly panicked — just extremely alert.
Even in their desperation, they kept their eyes locked on the outside, analyzing everything with meticulous focus: the creature’s position, the angle of the last attack, the points from which it could strike again, and even the possibility that a fatal blow was already on its way.
I had to admit, it was pretty impressive. Considering they could die at any moment, the composure they were showing in the current situation was truly remarkable.
Ignoring them, I turned my attention back to the three who were watching me and explained the situation quietly, still trying to process what I had seen: (There’s... something huge above us. I couldn’t fully make out its shape, but it looks like its tentacles are holding onto the vehicle — stuck to the underside like suction cups... or tentacles)
Victor let out a heavy sigh at the news. When he spoke, his voice carried a tone of deep seriousness: “That’s definitely bad news. I’m not sure our current weapons could even scratch that thing... assuming we could hit it at all. And on top of that, Emily and Laura still aren’t responding from the other side. We’re completely blind to what’s going on around us”
Rupert nodded, his expression serious as he organized his thoughts before speaking: “The pilots are worried about the vehicle too. Whatever’s holding us doesn’t seem like it’s going to let go, no matter the speed. They think the hull might not handle it — the vehicle could just fall apart if we try forcing it with the thrusters”
Well, the news definitely sounded hopeless. One way or another, we’d all end up dead if things kept going like this for much longer. As for me, honestly, I wasn’t worried.
I couldn’t feel pain, and even if something did hit me, I’d probably regenerate before taking any real damage. In simple terms, the real danger didn’t fall on me — it was on the humans inside the vehicle, fragile and vulnerable.