'Tell me, Gabranth: do you have siblings?'

'I have a twin brother.'

The response freely ventured out of my mouth before I could even think. As we were walking towards a lone Ninth Division hangar, Vitu's innocent curiosity made me too reckless once again. Now he would certainly ask where he is – as he was perfectly aware I was only living with my mother.

Basch. His sole name was bringing a bitter taste up my stomach and making me want to scream his name in anger, like I did the day we had to leave home. However, if I could still save what cautiousness was left to me, I had to do it; so I took a deep breath and didn't show any of my inner turmoil. Thankfully, Vitu didn't insist:

'That is astonishing! I also have a twin brother.'

Intrigued, I turned to him in surprise.

'Sergi and I are like two faces of the same coin', he explained. 'We grew up as two exploding orbs of energy that couldn't stay in place, and we followed completely different paths. However, we know we can always count on each other and there are no secrets between us!'

I tried to conceal my jealousy as well as I could. For I had been, at best, Basch's shadow during all our common time.

'As for the people you're going to meet… They are also twin siblings. Here we are! You shall find them inside the hangar. Come join me for lunch after you finish!'

And he left me, as cheerily as he had greeted me.

I looked at the huge wooden door and blinked in discomfort. Who were the twin siblings Vitu was referring to? Were they members of the army as well? Or perhaps unauthorized visitors – which is why they were hidden inside an isolated hangar?

I swallowed and pushed the door. The place was incredibly more spacious inside than it looked from outside. There was enough room for an airship or two, but I didn't see any. Some old machinery was thrown on the left, while on the right forgotten bundles of straw gave evidence of former chocobo herds. The smell was ashy and the rest of the view was clouded by oppressive wreaths of Mist.

Not expecting such a distressing environment coming from Vitu, I thought for a moment and decided to trust my friend and take a few paces forward. That's when I sensed them – two domineering presences with faultless Vitality and high Defense. One had peak Strength, while the other's Magick Power seemed otherworldly. Cautiously advancing next to those unknown presences, I looked left and right trying to locate them other than through their battle statistics. However, the Mist and overwhelming darkness of the hangar – which door closed after I entered – hindered my observation capabilities a lot.

Groping for them in that sinister setting, I had begun to lose hope of any positive outcome when I heard a pungent feminine voice rise as distinctly as black ink on white paper:

'Grüße dich, Gefährte!'

Struck by her lightning voice, I immediately stopped and held my breath. Only my eyes were moving – but I still could not see anything. Finally, a jovial face appeared from the clouds, as drawn by celestial gods, and I distinguished incisive but warm green eyes as I sighed in alleviation. But… What did I hear? That could not be true. That could not happen. Not in Archadia! Not in the enemy's shacks! Nevertheless, the clouds' presence continued to weaken, as the face, initially bent on me, lifted back on a solidly-built female Hume body, almost as tall as mine. The woman was not wearing the usual heavy armor, bearing instead a boiled leather breastplate and poleyns. Almost all of her legs were covered by leather boots with small heels. Her attire was completed by a silky gambeson and a flounced skirt. Most of her clothing was the same color as her straight, slightly tied hair: shamrock green. Her bright face was turning towards the other presence: a second woman that looked exactly like her, except all the green – including the eyes – was replaced by lilac purple. Unsure of the situation, I chose to reply to the salutation with a shaky:

'Grüße.'

The two women, who looked quite young – perhaps in their late twenties, a few years older than I was – glanced at each other for a moment.

'Do you think he's dumb?' the green twin asked.

'Well', the purple twin answered, 'what else did you expect from an acquaintance of Vitu's ? The man's speech does not make much sense either.'

Were they deaf, or did they ignore my greeting on purpose ?

'Too bad we have to respect him for what he does for the Division!' the green one said with a little laugh.

That sound… that accent…

'This is getting more ridiculous everyday', the purple woman concluded. Are you in the Sixth, Fremder?'

The purple one had a long ponytail and was leaning on the wall. All the darkness had eventually vanished. A small but clear ray of light slowly illuminated the giant space, making the old machines, the old straw, and the two ladies even scarier. More confident with the additional lighting, I set foot one meter away from the last one who talked, who was looking away with an utterly jaded expression on her face. On the contrary, the green lady was looking at me with shining assertiveness, and lots of questions in the eyes. She exclaimed:

'Irmhild asked you a question, Fremder.'

'I am Gabranth', I replied immediately in a loud voice, annoyed by Landisites calling me a stranger.

After giving that name, I realized it was an Archadian one and my confidence vanished. Who was I trying to convince? I absolutely did not expect Vitu willing to put me in a situation where I would have to justify of my Landisite origins to warriors able to knock down a person with both our strengths combined. By the way, who could have warned Vitu of my nationality? Despite our continuous friendship, I had never gone as far as to inform him of my roots, nor had I given him – or anyone in the army – my actual name. I swallowed again and felt a drop of sweat going down my right temple. However, to my greatest surprise, the green twin raised her shamrock eyebrows, let out a sigh and smiled at me:

'My name is Brünhild. And this is my twin sister, Irmhild.'

The lilac lady nodded as a response, without bothering to turn towards me.

'They call us the Zodiac Sisters, as we are apparently representing the Virgo sign quite well. Just don't call us Pink Zodiac and Green Zodiac, and you'll be fine!'

Brünhild's laugh was plain, serene, and somehow felt like home.

'Vitu told us you were from Landis as well', she softly added.

Confirming my suspicion, her sentence gave me a raw feeling of cold and warmth simultaneously. Seeing two persons from my home country, so far away from the destruction I witnessed, was heart-warming, but something… probably the fact that the three of us were working to defend Archadia, was wrong.

'Where are you from, Bruder?' Brünhild asked.

'Uwielbinie Village', I replied, unsure that anyone – even Landisites – would know its location.

'Oh', Irmhild suddenly intervened. 'Waldgott area.'

'Exactly!' I nodded, impressed and full of hope. 'What about you?'

The twins exchanged a brief look of gloom before Irmhild answered:

'Kalthof.'

The capital!

'Our parents were working in the government', Brünhild added – which made perfect sense. I was basically campaigning for their opponent with the late Nareszcie ten years ago, but wisely kept that fact for myself.

'We were working ourselves. Brün was an evening class teacher', Irmhild explained.

'And Irm was a leather craftswoman. Guess who made these wonderful boots?' Brünhild exclaimed, rising her legs one after the other while Irmhild was completely turning her back from both her sister and me.

Brünhild laughed and continued:

'Like everyone in Landis, we had to flee during the invasion. We agreed to remain together, but to stray from our parents so they wouldn't have to worry about us. We were not trained to combat but we joined a group of mercenaries to defend what could still be saved in the Republic.'

That sentence alone shot a huge blow in my heart. Two girls managed to find a way to fight for Landis, and chose the safest approach for their parents; while all I had done was sticking to my mother until we could hide in the enemy's lands. Without her – and the viera – I would have been dead long ago. I did not know what to say.

'So…' I ventured. 'Are your parents… still alive?'

'Of course', Brünhild proudly answered.

'Both of them?'

'Both of them', Irmhild confirmed.

I could not help feeling jealous once again.

'The four of us are living together again – although not in Landis, alas', the green Brünhild added. 'After realizing that the effort our parents put into searching our trace would put them much more in danger than our reunion, we chose to seek them and protect them inside the Empire'.

'The Palace's eighth floor is much too masculine for us', Irmhild let out in an annoyed tone.

Amused at my doubtful face, her twin explained:

'The eighth floor is basically the Ninth Division's home – including our Judge Magister himself. All those who have a room there are men. Wait, isn't there Amanda in the south wing?'

'She's still there indeed', the lilac twin answered with a nod. 'But she goes to her fiancé's place every two weeks.'

'Ah, fiancé…' Brünhild grumbled with a grimace. 'Disgusting. She will not last long in the Eighth.'

For once, it was Irmhild that came to rescue my thoughts:

'Neither of us is interested in getting close to men – unlike some women who join the army solely for this purpose. The only man we respect in this whole hodgepodge is Lord Zargabaath.'

Despite their unusual profile, they seemed to have a common point with Vitu.

'Therefore', I asked, 'did you join the Ninth solely because of Judge Zargabaath?'

'You must be aware that new recruits cannot choose their division of assignment. We only happened to have been both placed in the Ninth and chose to stay here', Irmhild answered.

'We are both generals – which means we earned the right to be transferred to another division', Brünhild explained. 'I lead a brigade of Imperial Uhlans, while Irm takes charge of the magic brigade – for which our Judge Magister has been wonderfully supportive due to his stunning green magic skills.'

The green twin stopped and, like her sister, shifted her eyes away. I was beginning to believe they were embarrassed before hearing the answer to my next question:

'I understand you found a good position as generals in the Ninth and are satisfied with it. But could it not have been the case in another division? Why did you not try to move if you are allowed to?'

'For the money!' Irmhild exclaimed.

'For the money, of course!' Brünhild said in chorus, and at that moment, their four eyes were shining with starry voracity.

'For the money?' I repeated, confused. 'I believe that all wages across the army are equal for a given rank, by decree.'

'Not in the Ninth!'

'Not in the Ninth!'

They couldn't have been more twins than at that moment.

'The equal wage rule only applies to Ministry budget', Brünhild proudly explained. 'Here, we have fixed monthly bonuses that come from another source.'

'The other source is called: Lord Zargabaath's personal funds', Irmhild clarified.

Personal funds? Every month?

'Does that apply only to generals?' I asked.

'No, it applies to every soldier in the Ninth Division – and even for eighth floor personnel', said the lilac twin.

I was very curious to know how such funds could exist, but I chose not to ask – the twins probably being unaware of the reply themselves. Now that explains the regular Vitu gifts to everyone in his acquaintance – me included, despite my protests.

'You should go back to Vitu', Irmhild said, pulling me out of my dreamy state.

'Oh, that Vitu…', Brünhild added with an angered voice. 'Not looking forward to him being my superior. Do you think we are allowed to rebel against one of our leaders if he never looks like leading anything?'

'I don't believe this is tolerated in the army – but I do believe he'll learn fast and you should also learn to respect him, as it's only a matter of time before he becomes dömavän.'

'Dömavän? What is it?'

The twins turned to me and blinked at the same rhythm.

'It means that Vitu is going to lead the division together with Lord Zargabaath. He will therefore become a judge – as the rank is required for this role. Why do you look surprised? Did nobody tell you? I saw you at lunch with our comrades several times.'

I was speechless.

'N…No. I never heard so.'

'The dömavän is the right-hand man of a Judge Magister', Brünhild continued. 'The Magister needs him to do daily tasks, gather information, and prepare all important operations and trials. Additionally, the vän is – more than anyone else in the division – willing to give their life for the Magister, and protect them at all cost. Ours resigned about two months ago; the position is free, and a new vän is to be appointed. But Vitu…! Vitu out of everyone… That should have been me!'

'You would bother Lord Zargabaath too much', Irmhild commented. 'I would make a better vän instead. But neither of us will have the role because we never studied law. Remember?'

'You don't have the heart and soul for that, Irm! And yes… we did not study law. But Vitu is no match for us in combat, and he would fail admirably at major or general examinations. We only respect strong men here.'

'He got much stronger than the first day he arrived, and he still makes incredible progress. The decision is not ours to make anyway. Lord Zargabaath must have other criteria in mind, to say what he said at the last generals meeting.'

So what the Ninth people said was true. Even a strong general such as Irmhild acknowledged Vitu's fighting abilities. I just was the unaware friend.

'Talking about dömavänner', Brünhild added with a wink to my direction, 'I have heard that the Sixth's one was not very happy at her role.'

'Well', Irmhild shrugged, 'she has to deal with Judge Drace after all. Understandable.'

'Is Judge Drace hard to deal with?' I asked, slightly afraid.

The strange Mist had become translucid, and the sky's colors brighter. The weather was getting colder. The Zodiac Sisters exchanged an embarrassed look before the green one ventured a reply:

'The closest definition I can find to Lady Drace is : painstaking paranoid old lady. And if you have to remove an adjective from this sentence once you talk to her, remember to remove 'old'. Just trust me on this one.'

'She has enormous difficulty trusting anyone', Irmhild explained in a more diplomatic tone. 'All her generals are struggling with this issue. I've never heard anyone claim to be her friend. Lady Goldan must have provoked an unfortunate situation one way or another.'

I had definitely heard that 'Goldan' name before. Most likely from General Cinna.

'We still have some work to do here. Bis bald, Bruder!' the green twin exclaimed, waving at me before turning back.

Despite all the answers I got from talking to my fellow Landisites, I had more questions than ever.