Kaiden stopped in the center of the stone path, his gaze softening at the sight of the girl.
A faint smile curved his lips.
"Long time no see, Alice."
The twin-tailed girl audibly gasped with both delicate hands of hers shooting up to cover her mouth as if Kaiden had just confessed to a horrible crime instead of merely greeting her.
Her crimson eyes trembled harder than ever, shimmering with a mad cocktail of affection, obsession, and deranged glee. The moment hung still... until it shattered.
She took in a breath that sounded far too hungry for air.
"Big brother... called my name...!" she whispered, and then...
Her knees buckled. She clutched the pillar as if it were the only thing keeping her from fainting, her twin-tails flipping upward dramatically as her entire body twitched like she’d just received divine enlightenment. A high-pitched giggle broke from her throat, one that quickly devolved into a squealing whine as her emotions overloaded like a broken circuit board.
The Valkyries stood behind Kaiden, watching.
Luna tilted her head. "Uh..."
Aria leaned over to her, whispering. "And I thought I might be just a tiny bit unstable from time to time..."
Nyx just giggled, finding the sight adorable.
Kaiden, meanwhile, let out a chuckle of his own, shaking his head.
"You’re not gonna come give your big brother a hug?" he asked, parting his arms wide apart.
The effect was instant.
Alice jolted as if she had suddenly been electrocuted, every ounce of hesitation melting into one singular thought.
"!!!"
With a crazed expression, she shattered the marble pillar in front of her into a storm of white debris, sending shards flying as if they were glitter from a grenade. Next, a burst of radiant light magic enveloped her body, igniting with a pop as her form vanished in a golden flash...
And reappeared right in front of Kaiden a heartbeat later.
*WHAM!*
She tackled him with the force of a magical freight train, slamming him to the stone path with such wild strength that his breath flooded out on impact. His head hit the grass just off the path, eyes blinking up at the sky as his younger sister latched onto his chest as if she was currently busy cosplaying a heat-seeking missile.
"KaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKaiKai!!"
Her voice was a rapid-fire mantra of pure madness, her face nuzzling into his chest, arms squeezing tightly around his torso as she buried her entire existence into the warmth of her beloved big brother.
Kaiden wheezed, not just out of pain but also from the sheer disbelief at how freakishly strong she’d gotten. They hadn’t seen each other since he left for college years ago, and in that time, his sister was most certainly not slacking from grinding stats.
"Easy, Alice... you’re a... very big girl now..." he groaned, managing a weak chuckle even as she continued chanting his name and rubbing her cheek against his chest while wrestling the breath out of him.
Her twin-tails flopped back and forth with each nuzzle, and though her eyes were hidden from his sight, her delighted, muffled giggling echoed off the marble ruins around them. It sounded a lot like how the girls imagined the laughter of an unhinged cupid to be.
All three Valkyries looked at each other.
No words were exchanged. No signals. Just a long, silent glance between them—Aria’s eyes flicking from Luna to Nyx, Luna’s lips twitching with realization, Nyx giving a confident nod.
And in that instant, they knew.
This was her.
The Original Fangirl.
The one the system had credited Kaiden with the moment it first activated, the mysterious "foundational viewer" who somehow, impossibly, followed him before he’d even uploaded a single video. They’d all been wondering who the hell it was supposed to be, and honestly... they didn’t have a single doubt anymore.
This unhinged, crimson-eyed missile of obsession practically had "#1 FAN" carved into her soul.
Luna let out a sigh, one that was a bit confused on whether it should just be amused or concerned as well. "Yup. That’s her. The little sis has been the OG all along."
As if on cue, Alice let out another delighted squeal, her hands reaching for Kaiden’s lush black hair with obsessive energy as she chanted his name without even pausing to take a breath.
The Valkyries all stepped back to give the little sister space. Not out of mere politeness, but also self-preservation.
And yet, the girl’s rather concerning attitude didn’t bother her big brother one bit as he just chuckled, rubbing her back and petting her head, perfectly at ease with being the recipient of her madness.
"You took so long to greet me," Kaiden spoke up suddenly. "I was starting to wonder... Are you ashamed of your brother now? Because of the career path he’d chosen for himself?"
The effect was instantaneous and nuclear. As things often were when it came to Alice Ashborn.
"WHAT!?"
Her head launched upright, her eyes wide and horrified, pupils shrinking to tiny little dots. Her mouth opened in a shocked, horrified gasp before she began violently shaking her head left and right, side to side, fast enough to generate wind pressure.
"No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no!"
Her twin-tails became a blur behind her, swiping the air like helicopter blades about to summon a hailstorm.
"I would NEVER! I could NEVER! How CAN you even-!!"
Her voice cracked under the weight of her dismay. She grabbed his shirt in a panic with tears of distress forming in her eyes, looking like she was two seconds away from begging for forgiveness over an accusation he clearly didn’t mean seriously.
Kaiden chuckled again and slowly reached up, placing one hand gently against her cheek.
The moment his palm made contact, her body went dead still, ceasing her head’s fervent back and forth shaking. Not because of any strength he exerted, but because she was afraid that moving too fervently might somehow hurt him. Even her breath seemed to pause mid-inhale.
She blinked down at him, mouth agape, eyes shimmering.