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Chapter Text

❝𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮?❞

❝𝘿𝙤 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚?❞

❝𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩, 𝘼𝙡𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙇𝙚𝙩'𝙨 𝙜𝙤 𝙞𝙣❞

And he entered his key.
Since the Foundation discovered this "Portal" that supposedly leads to another doomed universe, Of course the staff are assigned to help.
Why couldn't they hire MTF for this? I'll be damned, But either way, This is what poor Lieutenant Tori is doomed to: Having to stay with Kondraki for more than four minutes, Great, Absolutely lovely.

Kondraki scanned his clearance card against the screen, And entered the passcode assigned to the portal's entrance identification, Selecting his kission among the nine ones that popped up "Fides-Idolatria".
He turned the key and the door opened, Inside was a portal, Inside, Was a void that lay completely black, Pure abyss, Neither of the two knew what they'd see, All they knew was that they needed to go in.

Kondraki took the initiative, Walking inside the darkness and feeling himself fade into it, The Lieutenant followed behind him, Though hesitantly.

...

The two opened their eyes to find themselves in a shipwreck under a night sky, Scientists running back and forth, Discussing things about "Deities" and "Children", Kondraki almost laughed at the irony — This was the exact shit that went down at the Foundation.
That was till both agents looked down at themselves: They weren't the same anymore.
Kondraki was wearing a forest green robe, With brown edges and a matching scarf, And Tori was wearing the same thing.

It made them look like priests, And was also somewhat out of Tori's style, But they'd ignore that for now, Walking along the crashed spacecraft when they caught sight of a room through a window — A woman with long, Turquoise hair, Wearing a long white dress with a blue corset, Being tested on by a few doctors.
"That's Eve Moonlit."
Kondraki remarked, While the Lieutenant just rolled her eyes.
"I read the damn file, Asshole."
"This is why I hate you."
Kondraki retorted, Finding himself increasingly annoyed by the young woman's antics, And to his surprise, She actually stopped talking.

They observed her being tested on for a while, And caught sight of a man with dark blue hair and wearing white robes, The leader of this whole project: Adam Moonlit.
A pair of long lost twins who were to unexpectedly fall in love, Incest is a common thing in this world — Not really, It's only happened three times, But this needs to be stopped.

This was "Project Ma", A project made to birth eligible twins for the Twin Dragon Deity Levia-Behemo, And also to select the next queen of Magic Kingdom Levianta, A project that would end in failure, Failure that didn't have to happen.

For a time, Kondraki and Tori, Under their disguises Toku and Tsumi, Had managed to pretend to belong here, And eventually, After a few days of evaluation, Eve Moonlit was soon to be injected with the Seed for Project 'Ma', One night, Kondraki arranged to meet with Eve and Adam, Soon before Eve would request Adam to marry her.

The two arrived in a less crowded part of the Millennium Tree Forest, Kondraki was leaning dormant against a tree, Waiting for Adam to arrive, And Eve was standing quietly next to him.
"Greetings, What was the purpose of this meeting?"
Adam asked, Kondraki looked up from the patch of grass beneath his feet, And adjusted his obi belt.
"I want to talk to you and Eve about something."

Eve seemed somewhat curious, She perked up ever so slightly, But Adam seemed less than amused.
"I know that much, Talk about what?"
"About your relationship with eachother."
Kondraki retorted, Adam looked somewhat confused, Eve stayed quiet as usual.
"You see, You two are connected, You just don't know it yet."

"Maria Moonlit, Publicly known as Queen Alice Merry-Go-Round, Became impregnated through allegedly virgin means, You know that, Right?"
Adam was growing even more perplexed and irritated by the second, Who was this man and why was he beating around the bush so much with historical knowledge?
"I know that."
He responded shortly, While Kondraki prepared himself to speak yet again.

"She became a fugitive to protect her children and disposed of them in a lake to prevent potential public scandal, One of which was found by Raiou Zvezda and Horus Sointse."
For the first time in this whole conversation, Eve actually showed emotion, Expressing shock at mention of her father, Adam didn't seem to mind mention of his, Though he didn't particularly appreciate it, Due to his treatment of him, Adam didn't have a particular liking for Set—

...

Horus.
"What are you proposing?"
Eve finally spoke, Her voice somewhat small with a questioning lilt to it.
"You both are fraternal twins born from Alice Merry-Go-Round."
Adam gave a scoff and looked Kondraki up and down for a moment, As if visibly wondering who the fuck he thought he was talking to.
"You can't be serious, You're lying."

"You were a foster child, Weren't you, Adam? Have you ever wondered who your real parents were?"
Adam went quiet, The realization slowly setting in, Though with a hint of doubt still in his thoughts.
"And Eve, Have you ever wondered why you don't look like your supposed 'father'?"
Eve averted her eyes, Suddenly finding the trees very interesting, Thinking about the low resemblance between her and her father.

"Exactly, What are the chances you both couldn't be related to Madam Merry-Go-Round?"
"I-.. I still don't believe you."
Adam stuttered out, Narrowing his eyes at Kondraki.
"You have to be spreading rumors, We can't.. Actually be long lost twins, Right?"
"I'm afraid you are."
Kondraki replied bluntly, Adam certainly didn't approve the other just saying that and keeping him in the dark about it.

"Prove it."
Adam challenged, Maybe he'd finally get this back-talker to shut the fu—
Kondraki pulled something out from his bag, Two folded, Somewhat tainted baskets.
"These are the baskets Maria sent you both away in as babies."
Adam was silenced for the second time today, Damn, Seems like he did have proof, Eve bent closer, Examining the baskets as if they were the most important things to ever exist.

"I-.."
Adam stuttered, And suddenly brought Eve close into a gentle embrace, Truth is — He'd been desperate for another family member after being heavily mistreated by his "father", Horus Sointse, And he'd always had a feeling he had a twin somewhere, Someone who'd understand him, Someone who'd.. Care.

Eve felt the same way, Partially, Despite being surrounded by people due to being the mayor's "daughter", She'd always felt alone, Raiou was a decent amount of comfort, But she felt like she needed someone who'd actually know what it felt like.
"If you're telling the truth, Then.. Thank you, Sir, I promise I won't separate from her here on."
Kondraki gave a smile and bowed to them.
"No problem, That's all I wanted to talk to you about."

No actually, There's more, Like how the Seed injected into Eve wouls be contaminated and result in failure, But no, That would change too much history.
"Could we talk in private?"
Adam suggested while Eve nodded, Kondraki nodded in return.
"I'll leave."
He turned around and walked back into Central Levianta, Looking for the small place given to him and Tori.

He found the latter in the kitchen, Drinking a cup of water, It didn't taste so good considering the BT era had no runnihg water and they had to drink from the rain, Sea and rivers, To which this was rainwater, But you've to do what you must to survive, Right?
"Hey."
"Hi."
Tori responded shortly, Putting away her cup after she finished her water.
"Have you got them to meet?"
"I sure did, And I told them about their origins and about Maria Moonlit."
Kondraki announced, Sitting down on a nearby chair and looking somewhat satisfied.

"Anything else?"
"No."
"Good, You're finally being sensible."
Tori responded, To which Kondraki just rolled his eyes.
"Shut up."

"No."

Chapter Text

"Go on without me, Meta.. I can't-.. Move..."

"No! What will I do without you?!"

"Please! Meta!"

Meta flinched as Pale exclaimed to her, Looking behind her and dashing away from the scene, Holding the two twin babies in her hands while coughing and holding the babies close so that they wouldn't inhale the gas, It was the same kind used to imprison her back when she was that bastard of a researcher's test subject, No, Never again was she going back there, And neither were her kids.

Racing through the vast forest, She wandered far, Losing her path in the trees, But in the rush of adrenaline, She didn't seem to care, Her heart stung, It really did, She knew she'd resent herself once she was in her right mind, She'd made yet another mistake, She let her husband, Probably the only one who genuinely cared about her to possibly die to the hands of her former abuser, But she was too panicked to care — She needed to free her children first.

With the two twin babies clutched to her shoulders, She continued to run, She'd always ran, Ever since she was a child, I suppose that's what you have to do when you're stuck in a place where you can't trust anyone or anything, But it was for her, Running was the rule, She never had the privilege, The happiness of resting in one spot for a long period, She always had to eventually leave whatever comfort she was in, Sadly, That means Pale too.

And so, She ran, Ran and ran with every ounce of energy she had, It was only when her legs ached so bad she felt like she could barely stand that she finally collapsed to the floor, Sitting on her legs before falling sideways, Resting her babies next to herself, She wanted to get back on her feet and keep running, Her motherly instinct screaming at her to bring her children to safety first before she could rest, But her eyelids were already feeling heavy, Her hold on the two infants slowly loosened as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep...

...

Tsumi wandered the Millennium Tree Forest, Brushing through the vines and the low tree branches, It was a lovely moonlit night, The sky was clear, The stars were shining, The moon in full view — Exactly like the night Eve stole the twins.

Except it wasn't Eve anymore.

Finally, The research staff member came across a woman with brown hair wearing red and black clothing, Collapsed on the green grass along with two babies resting beside her, Tsumi picked up the pair of twins and tried to get away, Though she wasn't as gentle as she thought she was, Or Meta just developed better instinct due to her imprisonment in Lunaca Labora.

"What are you doing to my children?!"
The witch exclaimed, To which Tsumi begun to run, Meta brought herself to her feet and chased after the other woman, Trying desperately to get her son and daughter back, Though Tsumi was a little bit too fast.
Fate seemed to be working in her favor, Meta was slowly closing the distance between Tsumi and herself, Just a few more inches and she can reunite with her children!

Tsumi quickly turned around and ripped off a particularly sharp branch while placing the son on the grass of the forest, Aiming and throwing the branch at Meta, The latter, Still somewhat disoriented from both sleep and adrenaline, Couldn't react fast enough to the sharp piece of bark rushing towards her at full speed, Landing a brutal stab directly where her heart should be, She fell to the floor, Watching as the disguised agent ran off with her children, Extending a hand out towards the gradually disappearing silhouette, As if it'd bring them back to her.

In the quiet of the night, Save for the rustling of grass blades and trees, Meta muttered a quiet "No.." to herself upon the realization that — She'd failed as a test subject, Failed as a leader, Failed as a wife, And now had failed as a mother, Her hand slowly went limp and landed on the grass, She didn't know whether it was her own tears or the feeling of death nearing her at a tantalizing pace, But her vision went blurry, The blood from her chest dyed the grass a velvet red as her pulse and breathing slowly diminished, Everything went dark, She went limp.

Meanwhile at the Moonlit household, Both Adam and Eve having discovered their familial relationship to eachother and accepted it with joy, Now lived together with the desire to bond more after being separated for so long, The pair of twins were sitting at the fireplace, Adam on his wooden armchair while Eve sat directly in front of it, A knock was heard at the door, And Eve perked up.

"Coming!" The sister explained, Getting up to her feet and walking to the door, It opened with a creak and Eve saw nothing there when she opened it, She looked left, Right and down, And at her doorstep were.. Two babies?
"Huh..? What is this?"
Eve mused, Adam approached her, Confused on her self-questioning, He was about to ask her what was wrong before he saw what was at the doorstep, He was as confused as his sister.

"Are those.. Two children?"
Adam questioned, Kneeling beside her and picking up the sister, Examining the two babies hidden within layers of cloth
"We can't just leave them outside, Can we?"
Eve looked towards him and picked up the brother, Adam nodded and smiled at them, A question popped up in his head about whether he and Eve looked like that when they were babies.

"Let's keep them, Someone probably left them here for a reason."
Eve nodded, They picked up the twins individually and shut the door to the small cottage they lived in.

Oh boy, This was going to be a ride.

Chapter Text

It's been a few failed Ma candidates, And now the final four most eligible subjects have been selected for evaluation: Ly Li, An aristocrat native to Levianta, Milky Eights, A prostitute from there, Elluka Clockworker, Kiril Clockworker's fiancée, And Irina Clockworker, Kiril Clockworker's younger adoptive sister.

Since being taken in for evaluation, Irina has grown somewhat distant from Ly, Milky and even Elluka, Her brother's fiancée she used to be so close with, Both Elluka and Kiril wondered why, But just figured she was stressed about Project Ma — Which she was.

The girls had been given dormitories in the Leviantan royal institute and their own space, Irina had made herself comfortable in her room and so had the other candidates, But she couldn't erase the thought from her head, The "Ma" title, She wanted it, She wanted it bad, But the other three were in her way.

She had to find a way to get rid of them, She'd never get the title of queen otherwise, These girls were too successful, Too lucky, She needed them gone, And begun to plot, Carefully constructing a plan to have Ly, Milky and Elluka killed without anyone suspecting it could've been her, And after days of careful consideration, She decided how things would go.

Ly Li would be pushed of a cliff, Milky Eights hung, And Elluka..
...
She'll cross that bridge when she gets there.
But for now, Irina had everything planned out in mind, She knew what she had to do, The Ma title is only for one person, Irina was scared she wouldn't be so lucky, Not as lucky as those three.

She knew the backgrounds they came from, They always got what they want, Everything they needed, While Irina was just.. An oddball, A stick in the mud, A needle in the hay, She never felt like she belonged, No — Not even with her brother Kiril, And she couldn't lie, She was somewhat jealous about how they always fit into the crowd when she doesn't.

Amidst her murderous thoughts, She heard a knock at her dormitory door, Curious, She got out of her bed and walked the regal flooring to the door, No one ever talked to her, Who would be knocking at her door?

When she opened it, She locked eyes with a brown haired man with brown eyes, Wearing a green kimono with brown edges and lughter green butterfly designs, She recognized it as one of the most recently assigned overseers of Project Ma — Toku Shinjitsu, He probably needed some sample or something...

"Hello? What do you need?"
Irina questioned, Curiously looking the man up and down as he gave a response to her question
"I've nothing necessary to talk about, But I'd quite like it if you let me in, I want to speak to you."
Irina hesitated, Somewhat skeptical of the man, But she caved in and stepped aside so thr latter could enter her dormitory, He made his way in while she closed the door.

He sat down at the small table Irina had in the corner of her room, A sort of tea table she had to eat when she didn't want to dine with the other girls, Irina sat in the seat adjacent to his, Toku looked around the dormitory, Scanning it with his eyes.
"You've decorated your dormitory nicely, Irina."
Huh, A compliment, She's never had one of those before, A few from Kiril, But that was her brother.
"Thank you, Overseer Shinjitsu."
"Please call me Toku."

The man replied, Irina was quite surprised at the informal permission to refer to him with his first name, But didn't protest to it.
"So, Why did you request to be let in?"
Irina asked, Toku stayed silent for a bit, Contemplating how to word this question in a totally not suspicious manner.
"The other Ma candidates."
Toku started, Continuing his sentence after a few seconds of silence.
"I've noticed you seem very distant from them, Even that Elluka Chirclatia you seemed so fond of, Why is that?"

Irina bristled at the question, Scoffing at him, How nosy could a man be?
"It's none if your business, You have nothing to do with my personal life."
Toku sighed, Knowing this wouldn't be easy, Irina is somewhat of a stubborn girl, Getting answers out of her isn't too easy, Especially because Toku can't give her D-Class treatment to get her to say something.

"Okay, I'll be a bit blunt now — You are envious of Ly Li, Milky Eights and Elluka Chirclatia, You want them gone, You want the title of Mem Aleph, Is it not?"
Irina was taken aback for a moment, How could he possibly have known? She never vented to anyone about her struggles, Not even talked to herself or written down her feelings, In vain, She tried denying it.

"How could you accuse me of such a thing?"
Irina questioned, Putting on an expression of bewilderment, Toku wasn't too fooled, So to say.
"Irina, You do not need to hide it, Envy is a natural part of human emotions I understand if you'd want the title."
Toku reached into the pocket of his Hakama and pulled out something — A red, Beaded bracelet, And put it around her wrist.

"This will give you good luck, Keep it on your wrist at all times, With this, You won't need to kill anyone."
Irina was somewhat baffled at Toku's understanding of her envy towards the other girls, She eyed the bracelet skeptically before looking up at him.
"...Okay."
She responded, Still confused but grateful nonetheless.

Toku stood up to leave, Irina stood up from her chair aswell, Bowing to the man before he exited the room, Getting back into her bed and staring out at the vast window view, She shifted her vision from the bracelet to the scenery outside, She couldn't help but contemplate whether what Toku said was true or not, And was perplexed on why the hell he even bothered with her, But she'd give it a shot.

Maybe, Murder isn't always the solution for everything.

Chapter Text

"You sure you want to try this? You might get found out."

"I'll be fine, Twiright."

"Why do you want to do this anyway? What do you have against those ladies? Not that I'm rejecting you, I'm just curious."

"I have my reasons, Now please, Hand it over."

"Right, Fine, Here you go."

It's been a few days since Irina, Elluka, Ly and Milky were first brought for evaluation as Ma candidates, Since Toku gave Irina the red beaded bracelet, Nothing has really been changing, Or not so drastically, She wonders if he was lying about it, She couldn't lie she expected it but the thought hurt.

First up was Ly Li, She was injected with the seed by Tsumi Shinjitsu who oversaw the event.
She knew little about what Tsumi had planned, However.
Seth Twiright, By request of Tsumi herself, Had given her a contaminated version of the seed for injecting in all the subjects save for Irina, And Tsumi had done so, Injecting a contaminated version into the aristocrat woman's body.

Alas, As expected, Ly Li's twins had died in her womb, Resulting in her failure of Project Ma, Surely, Milky Eights wouldn't do too bad..
Milky, Too, Was injected with the contaminated seed, A few days after she was released, Milky Eight's twins had died aswell, Another failure.
Irina watched from the sidelines as one by one, The Ma candidates failed each day, Maybe Toku was right about the luck bracelet, But what would happen to her if all went wrong for all of them?

And lastly was Elluka Chirclatia, Injected with the contaminated seed, Her twins died aswell, Irina was crowned Levianta's queen as she was the only project that didn't fail, At her coronation, Toku, Tsumi, Elluka and Kiril were present along with many other citizens of Levianta, Other than Ly Li spouting snide comments about the celebration and Irina herself out of jealousy, Things went smoothly.

Elluka and Kiril both congratulated her, Irina felt somewhat guilty seeing Elluka's proud and enthusiastic face when she became queen for ruining the elder priestess' moment, But at least she didn't kill her, She didn't want Kiril to be upset, And certainly didn't want him to find out it was her.
Some time after Irina became Levianta's queen, She scheduled a meeting with Elluka, Whom arrived to the Leviantan royal institute in the most lavish black gown she could find in her cottage.

"You wanted to speak with me, Your Highness?"
Elluka bowed, Earning a shake of the head from Irina.
"No need for the formalities, Sister, Please call me Irina or sister."
Elluka smiled at her, Since her marriage with Kiril, Irina and her have been playfully calling eachother "sister", Which wasn't too far off, Considering they were sisters in law.

"Of course, Sister, What did you want to speak to me about?"
Elluka sat down on the chair adjacent to Irina's at the small rounded coffee table they were sitting at, A small hint of shame was seen in Irina's eyes.
"Elluka, I'm sorry."
Irina started, Leaving Elluka somewhat perplexed as she pressed her on further.

"What do you mean 'I'm sorry'? What are you apologizing for?"
Elluka asked, Gently grasping Irina's hand from across the table, A kind look in her blue eyes which Irina's red ones refused to look at.
"I-.. I used luck to win the Project Ma competition."
Irina rolled up her sleeve to show the red bracelet that she (believed) granted her luck, Elluka looked at it curiously.

"One of the overseers, Toku Shinjitsu gave me this bracelet and said it'd give me good luck.. I really wanted to be queen so I accepted it, But seeing how happy you were for me on my coronation.. I couldn't help but feel guilty..."
Irina averted her eyes to the floor below her, Elluka got up from her chair, Tucking it into the legspace and approaching Irina's chair, Pulling her up into a warm and soft embrace, Irina hadn't expected it, Though it wasn't unwelcome.

"Irina.."
Elluka began, Gently running a hand across the queen's back.
"It's okay.. I only want the best for you.. But please don't do that again..."
Irina felt herself break a little at the comforting touches on her body from her sister in law, A few tears welled up in her eyes as she felt a lump in her throat that she couldn't quite swallow.

"I'm sorry.. I just-.. You all have been so spoiled and-.. And I just wanted to be in the spotlight for once—"
"It's okay, I'm not mad at you."
That was it, Irina burst into tears in Elluka's arms, Staining the shoulder of her silky robe with salty tears, The latter didn't seem to mind, However, And simply kept comforting her.
"It's okay.. You can cry.. You can cry..."

"I'm so sorry..! I ruined everything for you...!"
"Hey.. I'm fine..! I'm not mad at you, I'm fine not getting the title..."
Elluka reassured, Though Irina seemed less than so, Still bawling her eyes out into the priestess' robe.
"S-.. Still.. You deserved so much better.."
"I'm fine with this life.. I have the queen as my sister-in-law, I'm married to the man of my dreams..."

Elluka gave a chuckle, Pulling back from the hug to wipe away Irina's tears and give her a reassuring smile.
"And I'm not really sure if Kiril would want to be a king."
Irina couldn't help but crack a smile at that, Kiril was never really the talkative type, Even as a child, While Irina strived for attention, But never got it.
"...I guess you're right..."
She responded meekly, Letting her sister-in-law sit her down on her chair and watching her sit in her own.

"Now, You're tea's going to get cold if you keep waiting like that..."
Irina shifted her attention to the cup of chamomile tea in front of her, Picking up a napkin and wiping her tears.
"Yeah..."
She replied, Before taking a sip of the bittersweet tea now only a little hotter than lukewarm.

Chapter Text

It hasn't been too long since Irina had been selected as the new Leviantan queen, The kingdom grew anxious, Those who believed Queen Alice Merry-Go-Round's prophecy were hoarding food and water and trying to find shelter before it could happen, Those who didn't simply lived out their ordinary lives.

And the thing is, It wasn't even particularly on a bad day too, Just your average morning and boom — Levianta is on fire.
Men, Women and children ran for safety, Crowding the once peaceful Leviantan streets, Irina, However, Had unfortunately been caught in the blast while trying to run and had only halfway been able to exit the royal institute.

The injured queen writhed on the floor, Having lost all her limbs save for her head, She couldn't find herself able to navigate her body anywhere, She let her head fall to the floor, Giving up on trying to run away and accepting her demise.
So, This is how she's going to go, Huh? This is how she's going to leave this world? Alone? Not even with her brother or sister-in-law by her side like she'd always wished?

Among her thoughts and her slow death, She heard a grunt to her side, There was a man wearing white robes, Though she couldn't see his face, She could tell he was kneeling next to her, She saw that he was carrying a red cat plush toy under his arm, And his other one wasn't visible to her, Though she couldn't find it in herself to ask him why he's here or give him one of her dirty looks, She was too incapacitated to.

Suddenly, She felt.. Tired? At first, She thought it was her death, Her final moments, But this type of fatigue felt too quick to be mere death, She decided to give into it, Letting her eyelids grow heavy and let her body relax amidst the screams of her people, As she was falling asleep, She felt herself being elevated by that same man, Though everything went black before she even realized where he was taking her.

...

And yet again, The machinery will start to whir again, The laboratory experiments will continue, All in a secret laboratory hidden deep into the Millennium Tree Forest, The pink-haired woman's body, Or lack thereof, Sat enclosed in a test tube chamber as Seth tinkered with his technologies.

And after a while, He'd finally got it, Irina's soul trapped into the cat plush toy, As the red feline got on her paws, Still adjusting to the new body, She backed up from Seth, Tail arching defensively, The researcher couldn't stop himself from cracking a small smile at the pathetic gesture of self-defense.

"Relax, Little one."
Seth whispered, Bringing the paper soaked in memory-loss medicine to the little cat's nose, Causing it's ears to twitch and it's eyes to momentarily stop blinking.
"I don't mean to hurt you, I mean to help you."

"I want you to get rid of Elluka Clockworker, This woman has wronged you relentlessly in your past life and she needs to be stopped."
Irina's tail drooped down, She lowered her new feline body to a bow-like position and dashed from Lunaca Labora, Seth simply watched with a smile, After days of research, He was sure this wouldn't go wrong.

...

Right?

Chapter Text

"Hänsel? What's taking you so long?"
Gretel knocked impatiently on her brother's door, Their foster caretakers, Adam and Eve Moonlit had made plans to take them on a picnic this evening, Unfortunately, Hänsel is taking an almost painful amount of time to get ready for a kid who only wears a white button-up, Overalls shorts, White kneehighs and a yellow scarf and calls it a day.

She wasn't really one to talk, Gretel had somewhat of a simple taste in clothing too, She was wearing a white dress with a yellow bow tied under her collar, Aswell as white kneehighs like Hänsel did.
"Coming!"
The boy replied, The truth is — He's already dressed and ready to go, He's been trying to detangle his frizzy blonde hair for the past 15 minutes he's been in his room.

Finally, Hänsel got that final, Painful knot out of his hair and put down his hair brush which was made of bamboo because these are the medieval times, And finally unlocked the door to their bedroom.
"What took you so long? Hurry, Sister Eve and Brother Adam are waiting for us."
Gretel tugged at Hänsel's hand, Dragging him to the sitting room, Where Eve was sitting on the armchair.

"Good afternoon, Sister."
Hänsel greeted, Eve smiled and waved at the twins.
"Good afternoon, Twins!"
She greeted with an enthusiastic expression on her face as Gretel begun to speak.
"Where is Brother Adam?"
Gretel queried.
"Oh, He's still getting ready."

Eve replied, Gretel perked up at the coincidence.
"What a coincidence.. Hänsel was just now taking a long time to get ready."
Eve chuckled, Doing a "come hither" sign at Gretel whom also gave a giggle, They both spoke in unison what they always said when Adam and Hänsel would coincidentally do the same thing.

"Boys."

The girls gave a laugh, Adam emerged from his quarters wearing his signature white button-up with the top button left open with blue overalls and white socks, Eve facepalmed.
"Adam, Do you ever make effort to look decently nice?"
"Hey! I'll have you know that these clothes suit me the most!"
Adam gave a playful flex of his arm at the three of them, Eve scoffed while the irregular twins facepalmed, Surprisingly — Even Hänsel doesn't find Adam amusing, And he probably has the worst humor among all of them.

"Let's get going.. I'm hungry!"
Gretel opened the door and put on her brown shoes marked with an orange bow, Since both Hänsel and Gretel's shoes were the same, They had to mark theirs with bows of different colours, Hänsel had yellow bows on his pair.
"Calm down, Don't devour everything while we're on the way."
Eve warned teasingly, Slipping into her pair of white flats.

"Come on, Eve, Don't insult poor little Gretel."
Adam replied, Putting on his knee-length brown boots while Hänsel put on his brown shoes, Adam closed the door to the house as Eve lifted the picnic bag, The family of four walked to the campsite they'd set up — Adam, While cutting down trees, Had discovered what is apparently a perfect forest clearing for a picnic that has a nice view of the rest of Levianta.

When they reached the spot, Eve put down her picnic bag and unfolded the handmade mat, Sitting on top of it alongside Adam, Hänsel and Gretel gazed at the view below the lengthy hill, Getting a nice sight of the town beneath them as their guardians prepared the meals.

"Let's see.. Tarts, Pie, Bread, Ja—"
Eve paused — Did it seriously have to be on a picnic that she forgets to bring the jam?
"What's wrong?"
Adam questioned, Eve looked at him with a look of frustration in her eyes.
"I forgot the jam...!"
She complained, Adam begun to think.
"Well.. We were running out anyways, No point in going back to get it.."

"Hm.. This part of the forest has lots of raspberries, Why not go get some and crush them to make jam?"
Adam tilted his head after questioning, Eve considered his idea, Which she always had to do in order to verify that it isn't downright idiotic.
"But an animal might take our tarts.. I worked hard on that pie!"
"We can leave Hänsel and Gretel to it!"

...There's that familiar idiocy.
"No! Are you crazy? They might get taken!"
"It's fine, They're smart kids."
Eve sighed, She didn't want to endanger the kids, But without jam, What do they eat with the bread?
"Fine, Let's tell them."
Eve and Adam called the twins over, The duo, Whom were talking about stars at the moment, Were alerted and looked towards their guardians, Running towards them.
"Yes, Sister and Brother?"
Hänsel and Gretel questioned.

"We have bad news and good news, The bad news is that we forgot the jam, But the good news is that we can go into the forest and find raspberries to crush and make jam, Only if you two promised to look after the food."
Hänsel and Gretel looked somewhat upset at the mention of forgetting the jam, But perked up with the responsibility given to them, They nodded vigorously.

"Mhm! We promise!"
They exclaimed, Eve and Adam nodded.
"Right, So look after the picnic basket and don't let any birds or flies get a bite, Okay?"
"Okay!"
Eve and Adam left to the forest, Leaving Hänsel and Gretel alone, They begun to talk about how excited they were to get a bite of Eve's strawberry pie that she'd strictly forbidden any of them from eating, She said it was specifically for the picnic."

After a while, They saw something approach them — It was a man(1) whom was wearing black robes and a hood, His face wasn't visible.
"Good evening, Children."
The man greeted, Alerting both the twins, Gretel looked somewhat skeptical while Hänsel looked downright annoyed.
"Good.. Evening? Do we know you, Sir?"
The man chuckled, His tone having a somewhat sinister air to it.

"No, But I'm here to tell you something about those guardians of yours, Eve and Adam Moonlit."
Hänsel and Gretel both tilted their heads, What was it about Adam and Eve that they weren't aware of?
"You see.. They're hiding a dirty secret from you, You two were the children conceived in Project 'Ma', The competition held for the lucky lady whom gets to be crowned the Leviantan queen."

"But, Your mother, Whom was a different person, Ran away with you two, So her projecf was deemed a failure, Adam and Eve abducted you and killed your rightful mother because they wanted a good reputation in the eyes of the Twin Dragon Deity Levia-Behemo."
Gretel was shocked, Almost seeming like she believed the strangers words, But Hänsel narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of her protectively, Reminding her that not everything told could be true.

"You're lying, Aren't you, You're the one trying to abduct us!"
"They told you they're your foster parents and found you on their doorstep, Right?"
The man queried, Silencing Hänsel as he processed the thought further.
"What if they were lying about how they randomly found two twin babies at their house, Unattended and alone?"
Both Hänsel and Gretel's shoulders slumped, Thinking over all the fun they'd had with Adam and Eve.

All the pies Eve had baked, All the toys Adam had knitted for them with the freshly picked cotton he'd bring home after cutting down trees, All a lie to coax themselves into a good reputation? The twins felt almost ashamed to be associated with such people.
"You're right.."
"But.. What do we do?"
Gretel questioned, Hänsel stepping back a little more.
"I'll let you two do anything you'd like, Though I advise you — Those two need to be dead, They killed,They stole, And they lied."

"Have a fair evening, You two, I'll be off now."
The man turned away and walked off, Leaving the twins still shocked at the revelation, Soon after, Adam and Eve returned with a basket of raspberries in both their hands.
"We're back! Now, Let's get crushing these things!"
Eve exclaimed, A smile on her face as she placed both baskets on the floor.

"...Yeah..."
Hänsel spoke for both him and Gretel, Sitting on the floor as Adam begun to crush the raspberries with a spoon while Eve wrung it into a jar with her cheesecloth that she conveniently carried around.

The four begun to eat, Adam and Eve ate happily, Though what was once delicious food now tasted like cardboard in the mouths of the pair of blonde twins — How could they have donw this? Abducted them and killed their true mother, All for a good repute in the eyes of the Divine?
After they were done, They wrapped up the picnic mat and picked up the baskets, Eve carried the ones covered in raspberry juice while Adam carried the one with the picnic mat, They went home, Took off their shoes and retreated to their rooms.

That night, While Eve was reheating the leftover pie in the oven, Hänsel and Gretel had devised a plan beforehand, Gretel approached Eve from behind.
"Ah!"
Eve exclaimed, Startled by the sudden and unexpected appearance of the blonde girl behind her.
"Oh, Hello Gretel, I was just about to reheat the strawberry pie, Would you like a slice before bed?"
Eve asked as Gretel nodded, Though it wasn't sincere.
"Yeah.. Sure..."

Eve noticed the slight pause between her words, But figured Gretel had just woken up from a nap or something while she was hungry, She picked up the pie, Putting it in a tray and walking towards the oven, About to put it in when she felt a very harsh push to her back..

"Wh-.. Huh..?!"
"AAAAAAHHH!!!"

Adam, Whom was sitting on the armchair in the sitting room, Was alerted by Eve's scream and stood up immediately, Running to the kitchen to see what caused the noise.
"Eve?!"
Adam yelled, However, Found no one but Gretel in the kitchen, Next to the fire of the oven that was burning even hotter than usual..
"Gretel?! Was that you?! I've told you not to play with fire!"
Adam rushed towards her, Putting a hand on her shoulder and examining her body to see if she was okay.

Gretel, However, Had her attention on Hänsel, Whom was directly behind him, She gave him an encouraging tilt of the head, To which Adam felt a sudden, Sharp pain to his chest, He looked down at himself and realized — He was bleeding, But when he turned to look behind him, He saw Hänsel, Whom had stabbed Eve's cooking knife into his back
"H-.. Hänsel...?!"
Adam croaked out, His voice shaky from the bleeding stab wound in his chest.
"What.. How.. Could you...?"

"No, How could 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
Hänsel replied, That was all Adam saw before his vision went black, After successfully killing both of their "captors", The twins looked at eachother.
"Let's get out of here?"
"Let's get out of here."

They held hands and ran out of that home.

Chapter Text

They ran.
And ran.
And ran.
Until their legs couldn't physically go on any longer.

Hänsel and Gretel came to a stop in front of a strange shrine built up in the middle of the forest, Until they were approached by a strange man with brown hair, Brown eyes, Wearing black glasses and boots with white robes and a matching lab coat
"Children? Are you lost?"
The man questioned, The twins, Still huffing, Hänsel stepped in front of Gretel in a protective stance.

He gave a deceptively sweet smile at the twins, Particularly at Hänsel.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you two."
Hänsel looked him up and down, Wrapping an arm around Gretel's waist and pulling her close to him.
"I live nearby here and went out to pick apples, Would you two like to come inside?"
Hänsel was about to harshly decline, But Gretel tugged on his shirt, She looked dehydrated, She needed water and there were no streams nearby.

Hesitantly, Hänsel nodded, Letting the stranger take them into hospitality, They had no guardians to worry about making paranoid anymore.
...
As they sat down on the couch next to a warm fireplace, Gretel was given a cup of water, The brunette male sat next to them on a chair.

"Now, What are you kids' names?"
The man asked, Hänsel looked up at him, Wondering if he should even say it, But this was the man who took them in.
"...Hänsel, My sister is Gretel."
The man smiled at the names, Replying to him.
"You both have nice names, My name is Seth Twiright, And I'm a researcher."

"I heard quite some commotion at the Moonlit household before I came out here, What was that about?"
Gretel went pale, She didn't know Eve's scream was that loud, The twins didn't elaborate, And it took a bit of pressing from Seth to get them to admit, Seth expressed a small, Nonetheless false frown on his face at mention of the "man who told them".

"Oh children.. You've been victimized..."
The children tilted their heads, Victimized, What?
"A woman named Tsumi Shinjitsu, A user of black magic is the one who did that to you, She stole you both from your true mother and gave you to Adam and Eve, She was using magic to pretend to be a man and tell you that false story you've heard."

Hänsel rested his arm on his knee which was bent upwards, And rested his head on his elbow, Lied to? Twice? How gullible were they, Really.
"How do we know you're telling the truth, We've been lied to three times for goodness sakes!"
"Adam and Eve's care for you was genuine, But I promise, Tsumi is the real cruel one here."

"I'll even help you get rid of her if you want me to."
Gretel raised an eyebrow, Scrutinizing him before responding.
"No, No, We can handle it ourselves, Just tell us where she lives and what she looks like."
Seth scoffed, Giving an amused bark of laughter before giving Gretel the information she asked for.

If this, Truly, Was the woman whom ruined their lives, They'd fight her on their own.

...

The next night, The twins left the house of the "kind" stranger whom let them stay, Through Seth, They discovered that this woman lives in Central Levianta, Near the wishing well, And they could see the black haired girl standing by the well, Holding a coin in her wretched hands and wearing a green kimono.

Perfect timing, The woman was alone, It was the dead of the night, No one would hear her scream.

The twin siblings approached her carefully, Placing their hands on her lap and using all the might in their tiny little bodies to push the woman down the well, Like Eve, The woman had fallen deep into the depths of the stone water source, They stared down at their masterpiece deep in the well, The corpse laying lifeless on the floor of it, Before walking together to their new residence.

...

Tsumi knew this would happen, She planned it to happen, But even so, She felt somewhat afraid, Clutching the key like her life depended on it, Toku had already gone back to their home dimension, And now it was her turn, The amount of sweat from her hand on the small key felt somewhat uncomfortable and made it a little hard to hold it, Though she managed to.

She felt the push, And a harder push to her back when Hänsel pushed on her, She readied herself, Holding her hand out to open the portal when she fell, And she begun falling, She felt the harsh force of gravity pulling her down and stabbed the key into the floor of the well, A portal of light opened in it, And she was brought back home.

...

*THUD!*

"Ow!"
Tori grunted, Getting up from the floor, She was no longer in a kimono, Now in her MTF uniform, She rubbed her head which had hit the floor when she fell, Looking up, She saw Kondraki staring down at her and making a "come hither" hand gesture at her.

"Come on, We have to go to the O5 now."
He told her, Giving a hand for her to get up, Which she took and walked alongside him.

Chapter Text

File number: SCP 9444

Object Class:
P̶e̶n̶d̶i̶n̶g̶
Esoteric
Gödel

Special Containment Procedures:

SCP 9444 is to be kept in a 5x5x5 standard humanoid containment cell and guarded by one (1) MTF personnel to detain any unauthorized entry or operation of SCP 9444

Description:

SCP 9444 appeares to be a large portal with a golden plate approximately 3x6 perimeter surrounding a void-like portal with an arched door shape, Anyone whom enters this portal is taken into a ruined world called "Third Period", Also known as "Second Period", This co-existing world follows it's own calendar known as the "EC Calendar".

The EC Calendar stretches from before BT 528 to EC 1001, Formerly, This newly opened portal would take the traveler anywhere between these times randomly, However the SCP Foundation has discovered a way to manipulate it in order to take it to any timeline the traveler pleases through a Third Period Time Control System (TPTCS) in which is approximately 8 centimeters away from the portal itself.

The Third Period appears to be a world which has fallen into ruin, A twisted world that consists of sin, Crime, Injustice and punishment, 9 periods of time have been recognized by the SCP Foundation in which cause the most chaos throughout the Third Period, These have been divided into 9 missions: SCP 9444-1, SCP 9444-2, SCP 9444-3, SCP 9444-4, SCP 9444-5, SCP 9444-6, SCP 9444-7, SCP 9444-8, And SCP 9444-9.

Seven keys were given to the assigned personnel for each mission which possessed the ability to open a portal into the real world when stabbed into a solid surface, The following will proclude the aftermath of all 9 missions:

SCP 9444-1
Assigned researcher(s): Dr. Benjamin Kondraki and Lt. Tori ■■■■■.

SCP 9444-1, Also known as "The Original Sin Story", Occurs when Adam Moonlit and Eve Zvezda, A pair of separated twins fall in love unaware of their familial relationship, And when they are killed by foster twins Hänsel and Gretel, Are divided into seven (7) Vessels of Deadly Sin and spread across the world.

The Original Sin Story begins soon after Climb One crashed into Third Period and Queen Alice Merry-Go-Round I, Also known as Maria Moonlit predicts the destruction of Levianta, Soon after Maria was banished from her position as queen for choosing to keep her children, Adam and Eve Moonlit born from supposedly virgin means, Project "Ma" was started to birth a pair of twins from both genders to become a vessel for Third Period's worship deity, The Twin Dragon Deity Levia-Behemo.

Eve Zvezda was a subject of Project "Ma" and Adam Sointse was an overseer of Project "Ma", After both of them met and got along, Eve expressed her desire to marry Adam after Project "Ma" was completed, Adam accepted this, Though originally only to use Eve, Eve's children had died in her womb, Even so, Adam married her and soon came to genuinely love her, Though Eve had already fallen into insanity due to the loss of her children.

This insanity soon coaxed Eve to kidnap the successful Ma candidates twins Hänsel and Gretel, Hallucinating and thinking they were fruits, After killing their rightful mother Meta Salmhofer, Adam was astonished to find that Eve had abducted two babies and told her to go give them back to their rightful mother, Though Eve confessed to have already killed her, Adam was unhappy, Though unwillingly looked after the twins.

After the destruction of Levianta and the mass famine that had befallen both Heldogort and Levianta itself, Adam and Eve made the decision to abandon the now older Hänsel and Gretel in the Forest of Held, Though they found their way back home utilizing moonlight and killed Adam and Eve.

This murder divided sin into seven parts: Lust, Gluttony, Pride, Sloth, Envy, Greed and Wrath (Chronological order), Which possessed the following: Lust-Sword, Gluttony-Wine glass, Pride-Four mirrors, Sloth Clockworker's doll (Also known as Eve Moonlit), Envy-Twin blades (Later turned into scissors by Chartette Langley in EC 499), Greed-Spoon and Wrath-Key (Also known as Grim The End), And the twins spread them across the world.

Before this, Irina Clockworker, Elluka Clockworker, Ly Li, And Milky Eights were also selected as Project "Ma" candidates, Though this was followed by Irina murdering them all out of jealousy, Starting rivalry between Irina and Elluka when they were revived

In SCP 9444-1, Dr. Kondraki convinced Irina Clockworker not to kill her fellow Ma candidates — Elluka Clockworker, Milky Eights and Ly Li by handing her a red bracelet which he lied about saying it possessed luck magic, Followed by Elluka, Ly and Milky all losing their children in their wombs due to Lt. Tori injecting a contaminated version of the seed into them.

On Adam and Eve's side, Dr. Kondraki introduced Adam and Eve to eachother as siblings, The two developing familial love for eachother instead of romantic, And starting to live together in attempt to catch up on lost time, Lt. Tori was the one who stole Meta Salmhofer's children instead of Eve since Eve would not have lost her sanity, And after then, Left Third Period through his key.

Hänsel and Gretel were lied to by a disguised Seth Twiright that Eve and Adam were the ones whom stole them due to wanting a high reputation in the eyes of The Twin Dragon Deity Levia-Behemo, Convincing the children to murder both, Though Seth Twiright entered their lives without his disguise and admitted that it was Lt. Tori who has stole them, Hänsel and Gretel later pushed her into a well which Lt. Tori slowed her fall using the key.

To a conclusion, Lt. Tori and Dr. Kondraki ended up safely in the real world and Mission 9444-1 was deemed a success.

Chapter Text

Amongst the three (1,2,3) pairs of twins born into Dimension 3, There was one famed for their differences, Allow me(4) to introduce to you Tsumi and Toku Shinjitsu.

Toku Shinjitsu was a saint, He guided a spiritually sickly girl(5) back to the holy path and helped two separated siblings(1) find their way back to eachother, Thus preventing all three from committing grave mistakes, Tsumi Shinjitsu on the other hand was a savage, She abducted a pair of twins, Killed their mothee, Sabotaged a divine ritual(6) and lied relentlessly and shamefully whilst her brother spoke the truth.

Toku Shinjitsu had died peacefully in his sleep one night, Being brought into the Heavenly Yard after death, Whilst Tsumi Shinjitsu was shoved down a vessel of water from the Twins of The Dragon Deity(3), And brought into the Hellish Yard for her actions, Facing the ever-burning wrath of The Twin Dragon Deity Levia-Behemo

Because of a mix of Toku Shinjitsu and Tsumi Shinjitsu's actions, Their bloodline is blessed by Levia-Behemo to forever be of hardworking, Humble-minded men and beautiful, Kind and chaste women, Both being devoted worshippers and relentless gooddoers, Their women to be veiled at all times and promised only to the most religious and loyal men.

However, If any of them are to have caused a great virtue in which has changed and twisted the entirety of history, They are cursed to be destined to die not very soon afterwards with a heavy virtue on their backs, Lo! Burdened will be their peers at the tragic end to their life, But for them it will be a blessed, Divine death.

For them is reserved — The highest status of the Heavenly Yard, As they are the blessed ones, But their Sister(7) is that whom was sinful, And her punishment is brought uponst her whole bloodline.

O' People of the Shinjitsu blood! Take your ancestor's story as a lesson for yourselves! Do not drown in sin no matter how tempting it may seem to you! For this is the temptation of the Master of The Hellish Yard and the punishment on your bloodline is to be heavier should you fall into sin.