Work Text:
Has Pearl’s stare always been this piercing?
Iris fidgets in her seat. It’s strange enough in the small room, with one of the eerily-silent guards always looming over her shoulder. Now, it feels like there are two, with Pearl hovering some distance from the visitor’s chair. She tries her best to keep her eyes on Sister Bikini sitting across her instead, chattering away about the temple goings-on.
“You know, I’ve had such a hard time keeping up with the rush of visitors! Everyone wanted to see the bridge for themselves. I’ve missed you terribly, Iris… I didn’t realize how much work I had you doing all this time!” Bikini chortles heartily.
“I’m sorry, but I’m stuck here now… how’s your back, by the way? Did you have trouble getting here?”
“The warmer weather’s been kinder to it. Oh, but don’t worry about me.” Bikini giggles some more, and then her expression softens. “I’m so glad I could see you, dear. Even with this glass between us. Your handsome lawyer friend recommended me some heat patches and helped me travel down here… And this little one even offered to escort me!”
Iris glances over to Pearl again. Still staring, but poutier now, perhaps at the mention of Phoenix. It’s kind of cute, even if last time they had visited, Pearl slapped him hard for gawking. What was that all about, anyway?
After some more chitchat, Bikini gets up and nudges Pearl over, “Right, right, enough about me! Pearl here—your sister —said she wanted to talk to you too.”
The word seems to jolt them both. Iris takes a deep breath. Though she’s known for a while now, the fact that they’re sisters still slips her mind. After all, they were never raised together. Instead, the word only makes her imagine a different person sitting across from her, impossible as it is now.
Already, Bikini’s heading for the door, taking with her any potential reprieve from what’s sure to be a very awkward conversation. “You two have fun! I’ll pop back in before visiting time’s up. There’s a beautiful man outside making chocolates for all the inmates and I must watch.” Bikini smirks one more time.
And then, it’s just the two of them.
Pearl settles into the visitor’s chair, and Iris prays this doesn’t become a standoff of silence. But Pearl speaks up soon enough—eyes now averted, so timid suddenly.
“Uhh… I was going to ask Mr. Nick, but… how long will you be here, again?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be out by next year. They gave me a lot of community service, too, but I’m good with that sort of thing.”
Pearl nods. Frowns. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault…”
“What? No, no.” Iris leans in, brows knitted. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m here because I wanted to cover up for Mr. Armando. That’s all on me.” She offers Pearl a smile. “I’ll be out before we know it. And we Feys are no stranger to meditation, are we? We’re very patient.”
Pearl nods again, though it isn’t too convincing. Iris sighs deeply. It’s difficult enough, with that terrible Hazakura winter still fresh on her mind, but to talk about it with a child, a sister she barely knows… Why did Pearl have to get caught up in this mess, too? All she can do is watch Pearl as best as she can and gauge her feelings… though it doesn’t take much looking, with the weight of the world upon that bowed head. She must be delicate.
Even talking with Dahlia felt easier, sometimes, despite all her bad spells.
“Sooo…” Iris bites her lip. “How have you been, Pearl?”
“Uhm. I’m okaaay. It’s been very busy at Kurain, so I’m helping Mystic Maya out a lot.”
With the aftermath of the case and the succession of the Kurain Master… Yes, it made sense. “That’s very sweet of you, Pearl. And even so, you still visited me. I appreciate it.”
Pearl blushes sheepishly. “When Sister Bikini asked for help seeing you, I decided to go too... err, since everyone went last time, we weren’t able to talk. But I wanted to see you, and uhm, Mother, too.”
Iris’ hand clenches. She has only been incarcerated for a short while, and the layout of the detention center is a blur to her, and yet—she feels her gaze pulled towards where she knows their mother is, somewhere amongst the cells. Perhaps spiritual power hasn’t abandoned her completely; her gut tended to be right with malevolent intentions. Despite that, when she first entered through these gates, she had wanted the same thing: to see Morgan, after so long apart.
“They didn’t let me see her. Not like last time.” Pearl frowns. “Not after what happened.”
Iris nods sadly. “I heard they limited visits for her. I would have myself, if only…”
“I don’t understand it all yet, but…” Pearl looks down at her fidgeting hands. “Mother did some terrible things, didn’t she?”
All Iris can do is let her mouth hang dumbly. What can she even say to that? All her pains with Morgan, she had accepted l ong ago, in the reverie of daily life at Hazakura. But for little Pearl, it’s all still so raw. How could she possibly explain?
Pearl continues, “I really thought she wanted the best for the clan. I didn’t know… I don’t know how she could…” She blinks hard, and then puts on a determined look, balling her hands. “C-can you tell me what she was really like? I must know, you knew her too!”
“Pearl…” Iris’ eyes go wide, and then her shoulders fall, seeing the smallest of tears in those eyes. All that resolute face does is make Iris wish the glass between them wasn’t there.
She then claps her hand to the barrier, making Pearl start. “I think—I think she wanted the best for you.”
It’s a cruel comfort that it technically isn’t a lie. Their mother had always been selfish. Morgan… and Dahlia too. But how could Iris blame the two of them, when they got the short end of the stick? When Morgan was abandoned, when Dahlia—for the life of luxury she lived—hated being with her father? So it was selfishly how they loved as well, for their own gain. Iris was sent away too soon to truly know, to give Pearl all the right answers. That, or it’s her own stubbornness that has her clinging to the best versions of her mother and twin, guised as saving the only sister she has left.
“No, Pearl, Mother wasn’t perfect. But… didn’t you enjoy your time with her?”
“I…” Pearl’s voice grows quiet. “Mother was always very nice to me. She was a little strict, but uhm… She always praised me. And protected me. And made sure I ate a lot.”
It’s a passing feeling, the faintest tinge of jealousy. She never had that. “Then don’t feel bad if you trusted her. It’s nice that she was kind to you, Pearl. And, whatever I say, whatever other people say… You should still remember that side of Mother.” Iris straightens herself, and breathes deeply. For who else will spare Morgan that kindness, the way Iris believed in Dahlia? The way Phoenix’s faith saved her?
“I think having faith in other people is good for the soul. But I’m sure you’re the expert on the spiritual side of things, Pearl.”
Iris giggles, and hopes the targeted turn of phrase lightens the mood. Sure enough, Pearl puts her hands bashfully over her face, “No, no, Mystic Maya knows so much more than me… She even finished the Special Course!”
Pearl’s unbearably cute when not staring her down, and the way she talks about Maya… it feels like genuine adoration. Somehow, the long wait feels a little bit longer, knowing more and more what she’s missing out on. But for her family’s sake, she’s always taken it in stride. In the meantime, she can cling to that sweet smile. At least until poor Pearl’s curiosity gets the better of her again.
“Still…” Pearl bows her head. “I know Mother was good to me. But… I still really want to know. It must have been different. I don’t understand why she never talked about…”
Pearl’s eyes meet hers, and Iris inhales. “The truth is, I don’t remember much of Mother, back when I lived in Kurain. She was always working back when she was the Master, and I was quite young when I was sent to Hazakura. After that, Sister Bikini raised me. She’s always been very warm to me.” Iris’ brows knit. “Yes, I missed Mother. I still get very sad, thinking of her, but… I don’t mind how my life turned out.”
“Okay.” Pearl pouts, obviously thinking hard. “I don’t get that either. Why couldn’t you have just stayed with Mother? Then we could’ve…” Pearl pauses. “Mystic Maya has always been like my sister, and I didn’t even know—” Pearl’s face is red, and she swats at her cheeks. Perhaps embarrassed, even angry at what she wants to say.
So Iris raises a hand and helps. “We could’ve been raised like sisters too, yes.” She knows, of course, how Morgan cast her and Dahlia by the wayside once it was obvious they had no worthy spiritual power. “But maybe it was for the best, Pearl. A lot was going on at the time.”
Iris’ early memories of her mother are full of bargaining. Of appeasing a status seeking father, of watching Morgan wail to a higher power—and when that didn’t work, the words stabbed at her aunt Misty instead, bawling at her to give back the gifts rightfully hers. She was too young to fully comprehend the family politics, nor the importance they would play in her life. But she remembers listening through the slivers of open doorways with Dahlia, or catching their expressions through weathered reed screens and paper walls freshly torn after tantrums thrown.
Mystic Misty always spoke gently to her mother, even in response to Morgan’s rages, but Iris can never forget the tiredness in her eyes, nor the slightest tone of resentment. Iris remembers vividly—glancing at Dahlia eavesdropping alongside her—how she had hoped her twin would never look at her that way, too.
“Mother didn’t always… feel well. So she couldn’t take care of us all the time.”
After Mystic Misty became a lauded Master, the mother she witnessed was but a shell. Staring off to space, combing her long hair for hours on end. Dahlia would never complain, though— “It’s better than seeing her mad.”
Then, Mother’s spirits lifted for a brief spell—after DL-6, when Mystic Misty disappeared. To the harassment of police and reporters, Morgan mourned her sister, but in private she was her old self again, with not a single tear to be shed for the family’s loss. Morgan doled out empty promises to restore the family’s reputation to its former glory.
“I saw Father packing up his bags,” Dahlia told Iris, the day before it all fell apart, as Iris put butterfly clips on her sister's braids.
Iris rests her cheek on her hand and sighs, “Eventually, it was decided that we’d be better off elsewhere. And after that, I never got to see Mother again.”
The frosted gardens and snow-covered archways of Fey Manor are but a faint memory to her now. She still wonders why Dahlia didn’t fight for them to be together. Did she dare believe her words from that harrowing trial, that she hated them all to the bitter end?
She looks over Pearl. Poor, loyal, and brave Pearl. There was a time when Iris prayed for powers like hers, too, as if it could’ve fixed their family. She knows better now, knowing the hand her little sister was dealt. Yet… her own feelings remain so unwise. The whole time, trying to endear herself to Pearl, knowing the possibilities within her power—she has had someone else at the back of her mind. She has only wanted Dahlia back.
Funny, isn’t it? The reason she’s here in the first place is because she’d stopped Pearl from doing just that. Perhaps she loves selfishly too.
Iris feels her eyes water, and blinks quickly—but she doesn’t get away with it. Pearl leans forward, frowning. “A-are you okay?”
“I-I am…” No. No more dancing around. “Sorry. Talking about all this… I can’t help but remember Dahlia. I know, I know what she did. But we went through all of this together.” Iris reaches up, sweeping under her eyes with her fingertips. “I miss her, still.”
“Oh.” Pearl knits her brows. “M-Mystic Maya explained it a little. So she’s… your sister.”
Her heart squeezes. And then she sighs and smiles. “She was our big sister.”
Pearl arrived here practically too eager to confront the truth, so much more strong-minded than her. She could keep on mourning, and making excuses for the dead, but it really isn’t fair to have her mind elsewhere. Not when the visiting minutes are counting down. For now… she could focus on the future, and her new family.
Iris chuckles. “It’s strange to think that I’m the older sister for once,” and then she presses her hand to the glass again.
Pearl’s eyes widen, and she smiles before pressing back, voice wavering. “Uhm… I’m still glad, you know. That I found out about you!”
“Me too.” She smirks. “I was thinking… When I get out, I’d really like to see Kurain Village again.” She tilts her head. “And seeing as you helped Sister Bikini get here… “
Pearl practically jumps to her feet. “I-I can do it! I know where the best tea houses are—”
Iris gasps. She did love wandering around the village as a child and fashioning herself into a sort of cultural expert. “And the bakeries? The clothes shops?”
“Yes! There must be a lot of new ones that have opened since you left…” Pearl twiddles her fingers cutely. “I’d really like to start experimenting with fashion, actually, but it’s a little embarrassing to ask Mystic Maya.”
“Oh, well, you’re growing up, after all…”
Thankfully, Iris isn’t going to miss it. “Then it’s settled. Let’s go together.”
*************
Kurain has always been beautiful in the winters, but when she steps down from the bus, Iris gasps seeing the snow-capped trees and the golden glow of lanterns against ice.
She scarcely has a moment to admire everything, with Pearl soon tugging at her sleeve, “Come on, you must be so cold! I know exactly where to get some tea leaves, and then we can go to the manor, Mystic Maya’s prepared a surpris-” Pearl claps her hand over her mouth, and Iris snorts.
“Did you say something? Sorry, I just wanted to take it all in, first…” she holds out her hand, and after a moment staring, Pearl takes it, and pulls her towards the shops.
By the time they’re walking through the Fey Manor’s snowy arches again, their hands are warm, and Iris will never forget it.
