Twins

11. Lukas

How do you react when your sister grows cat ears?

In my day, that kind of thing was a fetish. I'd seen some pretty weird books about wimpy teenage boys with no appeal waking up to a half naked cat eared girl in their bed. Half of those books were panty shots. However, being 4 and having little to no interest in both my sister and a little girl, this was nothing but odd.

Sitting upon the top of my sister's head were two paper thin cat ears that twitched ever so slightly as she slept. Her nose was now more triangular while just above her lip sat almost translucent white whiskers. Thumping at her side, was a dexterous, heavy looking tail. On her bare arms I could see that her once thin arm hair was now thick and coated most of the flat, open surfaces quite thickly.

Her legs were, thank god, normal with knee and ankle. However, her nails were elongated and sharp while her finger tips were raised and plush. 

...

My cat like sister has turned into a rare beast-man... 

Sorry, I need a moment to process. The reason I woke up was the sharp gasp of the morning maid who came in to ring the bell. She had run out a couple minutes ago, probably to go get father and maybe a guard.

You would react the same if you thought a demon had stolen the body of your employer and was now feasting on the body of the brother. Or at least, I think that's what the maid thought she saw.

Let me explain. Beast-men are a rare species of demon beast who, after 1000 years of life, can transform into humans. Most of the time they aren't completely human, having animal legs, ears, tails, fur/scales, etc. Some even sport massive wings that make them extremely powerful in battle.

First off, I can tell it's my sister. In whatever form she might have, I will always be able to feel that connection we have formed with our blood. All she's done is morphed a bit. I suppose, in this day in age, they would call her a shifter. Luka shifted in her sleep, now her whiskers were twitching and her tails was flicking back and forth.

Adorable!! <3 <3

Morphing or Shifting is quite a rare genetic ability passed down from family lines. It's not surprising in higher level demon families but when found in humans it's known to be far more precise. Demons have a hierarchy in both power and intelligence. Only a Demon King will have an IQ higher then a human. In short, demons aren't smart enough to be very precise. 

Shifted demons are easy to spot, for they just don't look quite right. However, human shifters are extremely clever. Most have to study an animal or species for a long time to achieve a perfect result, but... Here she is. My perfect cat-eared sister who behaves just like a cat and human combination.

This was destined, wasn't it.

Soon our father barges into the room, half clothed in official attire, probably almost ready to go to his job. This wakes up Luka, who jolts and hisses behind two pointy teeth. I realize both of their panic and step in to hold Luka. "You're a shifter!!" I hope this will wake up our father from assuming a demon has replaced his daughter.

"Huh?!" She stares dumbly. Then, every new body part twitches once violent and her eyes just light up. "MY EARS!" Her hands fly up tp her head where she grabs her ears. "My tail!" Her tail is caught between her hands. She rubs her arm against her face. "My fur- my whiskers!!" She looks absolutely delighted.

"They're back! They're back!" She cheers. At this I am confused. 

It takes quite a while for us to calm her down. We have to call her back and ask her what she means by back. Had she done this before and not told me? "No," she says. "In my past life I was a cat. It's been so long!" 

I'll say this once more. My sister does not understand normal human behavioral patterns. Any other person would never let slip the fact they had their own soul transmigrated for fear they would be hated. Yet, now I understand, my dumb sister was a cat. Of course she wouldn't understand that kind of stuff. She'd probably think this was normal after death.

Meanwhile, our father in trying not to gape. Probably thinking this is some demonic possession. These kinds of times were not forgiving to the strange. Luka tilted her head. "It's probably because of  that unknown ability. That one that shines white with grey sparks were awakened."

Then, I had to explain to father and her that it's called 'time' magic. This is going to be troublesome, isn't it?

My dumb sister, tsk, tsk. Her clueless tilted face is adorable, though.

After some explanations and talking through the confusion, it was finally settled that my sister was not in fact replaced by a demon. She earned past and future memories of different lives. Apparently, before, she was a cat. My smart little sister her one of her abilities awakened when I transferred my soul into our mother's womb. All I needed to do was say she was born with it.

Sigh. Troublesome. This explains her amazing learning ability. It's most likely she'd uncovered a new factor of time magic. I should have caught on to her ability once she told me her visions after she fainted. I thought maybe she was profit or something.

I was forced to tell father quietly about what she told me after she fainted, knowing Luka would most likely be too scared. Her blurting out about her abilities was most likely because she was still half asleep, too excited, or didn't realize our father was there.

I imagine Luka will be admired as a prodigy. Time, Animal, and Shifting. All awakened before 5.

He looked extremely troubled, most likely going over his own actions as well as the lack of me in her first life. Because Time is unknown element, I'm betting he won't realize there's no possibility to interrupt fate unless altered with, hoping that he won't question me as well. Fortunately, he was too bothered by Luka at the moment.

I kind of hope the guilt over ignoring the original Luka will guilt trip him into not questioning my presence. That will cause the least amount of trouble. 

Eventually we shuffled down to have breakfast where Luka was the one who talked the most. She was exclaiming about the sights, the smells, touch, sound, all of it. Although she did have one complaint. Her tastes had dulled and she could barely taste over the rough hooks on her tongue. 

Looking at her fanged mouth and rough tongue, I'm kind of glad she'd gotten over her biting phase. I also hope she doesn't start licking herself. 

Another thing I just have to point out is that whenever she talks, her whiskers lift upwards and it is just the cutest darn thing. They're stiff and extremely long, about as long as her hand - fingers and palm. They kind of curl as well, making me want to touch them. She's commented about her balance and senses lots of time, elated by the increase in awareness.

Most likely she was feeling clumsy and limited in her own body. In all her talking, she didn't notice the odd, unease glances from the staff or the stiff, dazed look our father had. He'd most likely have to write a letter to the king, informing him of my sister's update. My sister would probably also be grilled for upcoming disasters and events.

Sigh... Hopefully the King would keep this discreet. 

  { Author's Note }

Lukas does not have much feelings on his sister's change. He's just admiring her new additions and abilities, while the emotions at knowing she's like that are little to none. She's his sister, his anchor in this world. He's mostly impressed by her expansion on the Time Ability with her clueless remarks.

He'll definitely try and research this. That's why, I didn't have him say much of his feelings. Also, Lukas is a person who is pretty apathetic and unsurprised at most things. Their father, however, is troubled beyond belief at his daughter. Should I write a pov for him? 

Unedited. 1200 words.