Chapter 66: Not Willing to Accept Part 2
The Roses searched the caravan for Silvana. When they couldn't find her they reasoned she was outside. But… They wouldn't know where to look. She could be hiding in any of the other spacious caravans, the big top. Maybe she's ran all the way to the more wanted love of her boyfriend.
"I wanna check around Circus Square!" Amitie said putting on a brave face.
"Kiddo!"
"You sure about that, Sweetie?"
"Yeah!"
*Distant thunder*
"Eeee! I-I'll still do it!" She said as she put on some rubber boots. She was very insistent on doing it.
"Okay, Sweetie. But be careful out there. Sil can take care of herself. If you get too scared just come back, okay?"
"Y-Yessir!"
Took a deep breath. Amitie ran around Circus Square.
Arle,
I don't like you. You don't like me, I get it. I'm not excusing any of this. But please, I need your advice.
It has come to my attention that we have something in common… We're both far away from home, and well. Far away from our family. I don't know mine… I don't like talking about being an orphan… But I think I may have some memories of my mommy. But I wanna know how you deal with homesickness. Can you even remember mommy? Do you! You better!
Hate you, Treasure your mom,
Silvana Pierrot
Doppel stared at the letter she'd written. Her heart threatened to rip and tear itself apart. She burned the paper. Why did she think that would work? Arle wouldn't be able to help her even she wanted to help her evil clone. Arle had a full childhood with their mom. Doppel spied from a distance… All she saw was herself having a good life while not experiencing it herself.
Silvana wanted to get over it already. But Doppel couldn't let it go.
"Sis! Are you there?"
'Ammy?' Doppel thought. She noticed how scared she sounded. 'What's she doing here? She should be home where she feels safe.'
"Over here." Sil called.
"Sis! There yo-" Doppel cast the Go Home on Amitie. Just like that. She did the same when Mr. Amitie's Dad, Mrs. Rose and Amitie twice more came to her. She didn't want any of them near them. She didn't give herself to admire Amitie's bravery.
Doppel pondered why all of this was happening. And her thoughts traced it back to the day that she saved Amitie from the posthumously christened Vibitia.
If Doppel could only travel back in time to prevent change what happened in any way. She wouldn't. With the assumption, Vibitia would someday to cope, as Doppel tried.
But now she's stuck with a mother who tried to replace Mrs. Nadja in her heart and her scary husband.
Doppel tried listening to the rain bouncing off the tent and perhaps find some sleep. Her thoughts drifted away.
It drifted so far off she began wondering if she and Sig got married. Would she make a good mother? Not that it would matter… Sil didn't want to have kids. They'll have her as a mother, a crazy person and murderer. And who wants that? And Sig as a father… As much as she loves the boy. She honestly didn't think he'd make a good parent. Didn't have enough evidence to support that he would. He might be too much of a space cadet.
"Silvana?" Mrs. Rose softly spoke.
"Go away!"
"If you want me to go away, then you need to get up from that corner so you can get me into casting range." They were separated between Circus walls and a bunch of Circus equipment.
Doppel wasn't the mood to get up.
"Sil, I've come to apologise. I've also come on my husband's behalf. We're sorry for inserting ourselves into your life like that… I'm sure you know how very infectious Amitie is. If she's happy, we're happy. She's very precious to us. We wanted to share her happiness. She was so happy to have a sister. She always wanted a sibling. But we couldn't give. We were scared. So we were happy you were so willing to be sister… It helped you were so friendly to us prior. We should've seen the signs that you didn't want us to your parents. I guess the stories about your childhood made us think you really want parental figures. That blinded us a bit..."
"…"
"Amitie got her shortsightedness from somewhere… It's really embarrassing for me, I'm a novelist, I try to think of everything. I feel really guilty myself. And that's nothing to say about Amitie. You know how emotional she is."
Doppel winced.
"Though, I can't say that's all of it… The Copy Amitie, Vibitia also factored in… Your father an… My husband and I felt really guilty shoving her off, knowing what you did, the fact she's still my daughter at the core, the fact she's in hell. The very fact there is a hell… It hurts when Lidelle shows us how angry she is with her letters. It's just really heartbreaking. We would've cared for her too if she wasn't a danger to our first Amitie."
Doppel found this oddly familiar. 'Does Mommy think the same?'
"We don't fault you for the record. It needed to be done. But she doesn't believe it's us when we mail her through Lidelle's thingy. She really thinks we hate her. When that's not the case. We can't just allow the two to co-exist... I just want to be there in person to give her a hug. More than a hug, but neither of us are keen to die a decades earlier to cheer Vibitia up while we still have Amitie to take care of and watch her grow…" The mother had bawled for a while now. "There is just no easy answer. You met her… I'm sure you feel the same…"
'Us Doppelgangers should never be made…'
"So when we learned you absorbed some of her essences… We had the chance to atone for what we had done to Vibby. That's when we came to saw you as part of our family even if we never discussed it with you, or even ourselves."
"Mel." The mother was finally happy to hear her speak. "I have literally none of the memories or personality. Just a few opinions reshaped, at worst, and some unnoticeable physical traits, at best. I am not your daughter. Not even close."
"…We know, Sil. But we want you to be happy regardless. We won't call you our daughter if you don't want us to. But you've got to admit it's hard not to be sympathetic to a sad clown who'd been orphaned her whole life and tortured by a Doppelganger of Arle, and who still makes everyone around her laugh. And that's not to mention saving our real daughter and make her very happy in turn. It's hard for me not to have my maternal instincts kick in you know… And I know my husband feels the same."
"…"
"What I wanna say is… We're not some evil people who wanna unmask you and make you uncomfortable in your home. If you're not our daughter, then you're our hero. We'd be proud of you regardless. Proud but concerned. We'll stop bugging about it. Okay?"
"…'kay."
"Good." Melody smiled.
Doppel wanted a hug, but she wouldn't allow herself. Instead, she stayed where she was.
"Care to join us? We could make some warm coffee, or do you like tea?"
"I'd like to stay here for a bit longer."
"You'll catch a cold"
"I got a blanket." Doppel lied.
"…Okay, but don't complain to me when you get sick."
"Deal. Tell Ammy that her Big Sis doesn't hate her."
"Of course."
Mrs. Rose left the tent.
"Mommy…"
The rains had stopped, Silvana decided to come home.
"I'm back." She didn't have it in her to announce it loud.
No one heard her.
She decided to walk to her room.
"Hey, Sport!" Mr. Amitie's dad said coming around the corner with a broom. He was happy to see her all right. "You missed lunch, It's in the fridge. You look tired…"
'More like drained.' "That's why I'm taking a nap." Sil pointed to her door with a thumb. "Please don't disturb me. I need to go maskless." 'What happened to that sleeping mask?'
"Alrighty, Silvana. Don't let the bed bugs bite."
Sil shivered as she entered her room.
Next, to her bed, she saw neatly folded blankets with new sheets. Ditto for her pillows, a fitted sheet. All of them looked fresh? "What did you do?" She asked the father. Where are my mattresses?
"You zapped us to your room with muddy shoes. We wouldn't be good guests if we didn't clean it up." The man explained. And we don't know where you keep spare mattresses.
"Oh, thank you. Follow me. I'll show you where I keep them."
Sil carried one mattress overhead with ease and took the other off Mr. Amitie's Dad. She made her bed. And after dinner which happened to be done. Took a bath to wash off the sweat and to make sleeping in fresh bedding even sweeter.
"Army? Army? Where are you, Army? Army!" Silvana panicked, where could he be?
"Something wrong, Sil?" Mrs. Rose asked from outside the door.
Sil put on her mask and allowed the woman to enter. She explained Arms to her.
"Oh, ehehe…"
"What?"
"Oh, I just remember when was a little girl with my stuffed animal."
"I'm seventeen…" Sil let out an insecure moan. "I think Amitie gave you a warped perception of age, Mel…"
"I'm sorry. I think my husband has put the long-armed girl in the washing machine."
"The… THE"
*WASHING MACHINE!?*
*Monkey is anguish*
"Hang in there, Army! I'm sorry, Mommy would never do it this to you." Sil pressed her mask against the machine's window. She positively quivered. "How could you, guys! Arms shouldn't be subjected to the washing machine! He needs baths when he's dirty followed by a hairdryer spell! Just like everyone else! Stay strong, Army!"
"He's gonna be fine, he's in-"
"Don't talk to me…"
"Hedidn'tknow!" 'She must really love that toy…' She took note for future reference.
Silvana stormed angerly off to her room, she used a pillow to substitute for Arms. But it was just not the same…
Despite all the odds, she managed to fall asleep.
"Wakey-Wakey, Silvie." Mr. Amitie's dad said sinisterly.
"No! You can't make me!"
"Yes I can, young lady, you will go to bed when we want to, you will eat when we want to, and you will do the chores when we don't want to!"
"Nooo! This is my caravan!"
"MWUHAHAHAHAHAHA! Foolish fool! It stopped being your caravan as soon as you accepted us into your heart."
"I have done no such thing! You're not my dad!"
"Whether or not I am doesn't matter! I won't let you enjoy yourself without making you… Self-conscious! MUHAHAHA-HA! We'll never leave you alone!"
"Uhuhuhuhu~" A feminine voice laughed. Doppel turned to see Arm held at knifepoint by Melody.
Doppel gasped. "ARMY! Let him go!"
"I will as soon as you admit you've accepted an be our little house helper!"
Doppel didn't know what to say. Mrs. Rose edged the knife closer to one of Arms' armpits… And to make things worse, she was surrounded by washing machines.
*Monkeys scream in agony, why Sil, why?*
"Just admit that I already replaced your awful mother already in your heart."
"Hgnnnnnnnnn…"
*Knock Knock* "Ammy? Can I come in?"
"C'min. Did something happen, Sis? You sound so sad."
Doppel entered the room. She was in her pajamas, threw off her mask, Amitie could see the light reflections off of the tears. With her, she had a bedsheet with a pillow wrapped in and nothing else. She was Arms-less. Her voice was very choked up. "C-Can I sleep with you, Li'l Sis? No reason."
Amitie wouldn't say no to her. Sil hugged her very tight all night.
Arms turned up the next morning unharmed. He was safe in a pillow sheet with a zipper. All was forgiven.
Author's Notes:
The Roses will stick around for a while. But won't always be the focus.
Next up: Weapon tryouts at Primp Magic School
