Estonia StarrIt was the middle of the night when Latvia rapped on her sister’s door. She was clutching the small mahogany box tightly in her left hand. “Estonia!” she yelled. “Open up!” She rapped vigorously again.
“What the hell?!” roared Estonia, swinging the door open. Her eyes still half-closed, her metallic red hair a veritable bird’s nest on her head, Estonia had evidently been most abruptly awakened. “It’s like three in the morning, what the hell is your problem?!”
“I’m happy to see you too,” said Latvia, stepping past her sister and into the apartment. “You might wanna tie your little…” Latvia gestured to her sister’s half open bathrobe. Estonia looked down at her partially exposed boob and grunted, pulling the bathrobe tightly around her body.
“What do you want?” Latvia whipped out the mahogany box and looked at Estonia as if she should know what it was all about. Estonia rolled her eyes and dismissively started making her way back towards the bedroom of her one-person apartment. “And you brought that thing why?”
“I need your help,” Latvia said. “Lithuania’s in trouble.” Estonia stopped at the doorway to her room and turned around, narrowing her eyes. “And I think it’s because of this,” said Latvia, jiggling the box.
Estonia’s expression grew serious. As the oldest sister, she felt it her responsibility to take care of her siblings, even though they weren’t always on the best of terms. She clashed with Latvia—often. But she had a soft spot for Lithuania, the youngest of the three. Estonia was five years old when Lithuania was born. Latvia was three. And though it had all been over twenty years ago, Estonia remembered everything as vividly as if it were yesterday... Her mother asking her if she wanted to hold her baby sister… Estonia looking into Lithuania’s surprisingly intent, dark-eyed stare… the swirl of black hair… even the spittle drizzling down the baby’s clumsy lips. It was a connection that formed immediately, unlike anything she had ever experienced with Latvia.
“What’s wrong with her?” Estonia asked, concerned. Latvia’s tense expression eased up, now that Estonia was listening.
“Just a few hours ago, I woke up with a terrible feeling… A feeling that something had gone horribly wrong with Lithuania’s mission.”
“Latvia,” Estonia said annoyed. “You came over here because of a feeling?”
“Shut up and listen,” Latvia snapped. “Please.” Estonia crossed her arms, her gaze fixed on her sister. Latvia continued, “I used the dice—they indicated death in the past, then a threatened life in the future, every time. The oracle cards showed the same. So I used the crystal orb—”
“Now that’s just asking for trouble,” Estonia said.
“I saw something. I went up into the black room… I used the orb… and I saw her. I saw Lithuania. She seemed fine at first… but then something started chasing her, and she fell in a hole, and…” Latvia paused, trying to find the correct words to express what she thought she had seen.
“AND?”
Latvia shook her head, annoyed. “Come here,” she said, grabbing her sister’s arm and pulling her to the living room couch. Sitting down, Latvia turned the mahogany box and pointed at the golden inscriptions on its underside. “Remember this?” Estonia nodded. “Remember how one moment we couldn’t understand a thing it said—and then after I—well, you know—after I did it, we could understand everything?”
“I’m waiting for you to get to the point.”
“Space. Time. Infinity. That’s what this box says,” said Latvia.
“I can read,” Estonia snapped.
“I think that after I… after I did what I did… it affected more than just you and me.”
Estonia studied her sister carefully. “What are you talking about?”
“Space—and time. We know what happened with those two,” said Latvia, unwilling to elaborate upon a subject she and her sister mutually understood. “But remember how we were always perplexed about infinity being written on the box too?” Estonia nodded. “I think what mom and dad did… I think what we did… I think it reached Lithuania too.”
Estonia’s eyes flared. “No. Don’t you give me that crap. So you didn’t just drag me into this mess— you dragged Lithuania into it too?!”
“We’re not in a mess!” retorted Latvia, unphased by her sister’s sudden fury. “But Lithuania is. When I looked into the crystal orb, I saw her bounce between life and death. She was dead, then alive, then dead again, and she could feel it. She was screaming like it was the greatest pain she had ever felt. You have no idea how vivid I saw it—I could basically feel what she was going through.” Estonia stared at her sister, her expression venomous. “Listen,” said Latvia, setting the mahogany box on the glass coffee table before her, then looking at Estonia straight in the eyes, “For the hundredth time, I’m sorry. I never meant for you to get caught up in this mess. I never meant for any of our lives to be affected the way they have been—but it happened. We have to accept that, and move on.”
Estonia abruptly broke eye contact with her sister and sat back in the couch, arms crossed and eyes fixed on the mahogany box. “Easy for you to say,” she said. “You’re not the one who’s had to deal with going to sleep in your boyfriend’s arms, then waking up in the middle of the nilbmahian countryside.”
Latvia looked away in frustration, resting her eyes on the small glass doorknob to Estonia’s bedroom. She took a deep breath, then turned her eyes back to her sister. “What do you want me to say? Huh? What can I say to make things better?”
Estonia’s arms remained crossed, her eyes still glued to the box in front of her. “Nothing. Whatever.” She looked away, trying at all costs to avoid Latvia’s eyes. She didn’t feel like going over her issues at the moment. “So Lithuania’s in trouble. What’s your plan?”
“First,” began Latvia. “We need to acknowledge that, for better or for worse, we’re all in this together.” Estonia rolled her eyes. “Whether the purpose of all this happening to us is to make it possible for us to further our mission on Coralende—or for us to save innocent children—or whether it’s just fluke luck—the point is, it happened. We don’t know where it came from, we don’t know how it happened, but the point is, our family’s life has been tied to the Foggistani mission for over two centuries now, and we can probably use our—circumstances—to our advantage. Now at the moment, Lithuania is in danger. Her mission could very well be the most important one of all. And it should be our mission, right now, to save her.”
“So what do you propose we do?” said Estonia, finally meeting her sister’s gaze.
Latvia took a deep breath. “I say we go get her.”
“What the hell?!” roared Estonia, swinging the door open. Her eyes still half-closed, her metallic red hair a veritable bird’s nest on her head, Estonia had evidently been most abruptly awakened. “It’s like three in the morning, what the hell is your problem?!”
“I’m happy to see you too,” said Latvia, stepping past her sister and into the apartment. “You might wanna tie your little…” Latvia gestured to her sister’s half open bathrobe. Estonia looked down at her partially exposed boob and grunted, pulling the bathrobe tightly around her body.
“What do you want?” Latvia whipped out the mahogany box and looked at Estonia as if she should know what it was all about. Estonia rolled her eyes and dismissively started making her way back towards the bedroom of her one-person apartment. “And you brought that thing why?”
“I need your help,” Latvia said. “Lithuania’s in trouble.” Estonia stopped at the doorway to her room and turned around, narrowing her eyes. “And I think it’s because of this,” said Latvia, jiggling the box.
Estonia’s expression grew serious. As the oldest sister, she felt it her responsibility to take care of her siblings, even though they weren’t always on the best of terms. She clashed with Latvia—often. But she had a soft spot for Lithuania, the youngest of the three. Estonia was five years old when Lithuania was born. Latvia was three. And though it had all been over twenty years ago, Estonia remembered everything as vividly as if it were yesterday... Her mother asking her if she wanted to hold her baby sister… Estonia looking into Lithuania’s surprisingly intent, dark-eyed stare… the swirl of black hair… even the spittle drizzling down the baby’s clumsy lips. It was a connection that formed immediately, unlike anything she had ever experienced with Latvia.
“What’s wrong with her?” Estonia asked, concerned. Latvia’s tense expression eased up, now that Estonia was listening.
“Just a few hours ago, I woke up with a terrible feeling… A feeling that something had gone horribly wrong with Lithuania’s mission.”
“Latvia,” Estonia said annoyed. “You came over here because of a feeling?”
“Shut up and listen,” Latvia snapped. “Please.” Estonia crossed her arms, her gaze fixed on her sister. Latvia continued, “I used the dice—they indicated death in the past, then a threatened life in the future, every time. The oracle cards showed the same. So I used the crystal orb—”
“Now that’s just asking for trouble,” Estonia said.
“I saw something. I went up into the black room… I used the orb… and I saw her. I saw Lithuania. She seemed fine at first… but then something started chasing her, and she fell in a hole, and…” Latvia paused, trying to find the correct words to express what she thought she had seen.
“AND?”
Latvia shook her head, annoyed. “Come here,” she said, grabbing her sister’s arm and pulling her to the living room couch. Sitting down, Latvia turned the mahogany box and pointed at the golden inscriptions on its underside. “Remember this?” Estonia nodded. “Remember how one moment we couldn’t understand a thing it said—and then after I—well, you know—after I did it, we could understand everything?”
“I’m waiting for you to get to the point.”
“Space. Time. Infinity. That’s what this box says,” said Latvia.
“I can read,” Estonia snapped.
“I think that after I… after I did what I did… it affected more than just you and me.”
Estonia studied her sister carefully. “What are you talking about?”
“Space—and time. We know what happened with those two,” said Latvia, unwilling to elaborate upon a subject she and her sister mutually understood. “But remember how we were always perplexed about infinity being written on the box too?” Estonia nodded. “I think what mom and dad did… I think what we did… I think it reached Lithuania too.”
Estonia’s eyes flared. “No. Don’t you give me that crap. So you didn’t just drag me into this mess— you dragged Lithuania into it too?!”
“We’re not in a mess!” retorted Latvia, unphased by her sister’s sudden fury. “But Lithuania is. When I looked into the crystal orb, I saw her bounce between life and death. She was dead, then alive, then dead again, and she could feel it. She was screaming like it was the greatest pain she had ever felt. You have no idea how vivid I saw it—I could basically feel what she was going through.” Estonia stared at her sister, her expression venomous. “Listen,” said Latvia, setting the mahogany box on the glass coffee table before her, then looking at Estonia straight in the eyes, “For the hundredth time, I’m sorry. I never meant for you to get caught up in this mess. I never meant for any of our lives to be affected the way they have been—but it happened. We have to accept that, and move on.”
Estonia abruptly broke eye contact with her sister and sat back in the couch, arms crossed and eyes fixed on the mahogany box. “Easy for you to say,” she said. “You’re not the one who’s had to deal with going to sleep in your boyfriend’s arms, then waking up in the middle of the nilbmahian countryside.”
Latvia looked away in frustration, resting her eyes on the small glass doorknob to Estonia’s bedroom. She took a deep breath, then turned her eyes back to her sister. “What do you want me to say? Huh? What can I say to make things better?”
Estonia’s arms remained crossed, her eyes still glued to the box in front of her. “Nothing. Whatever.” She looked away, trying at all costs to avoid Latvia’s eyes. She didn’t feel like going over her issues at the moment. “So Lithuania’s in trouble. What’s your plan?”
“First,” began Latvia. “We need to acknowledge that, for better or for worse, we’re all in this together.” Estonia rolled her eyes. “Whether the purpose of all this happening to us is to make it possible for us to further our mission on Coralende—or for us to save innocent children—or whether it’s just fluke luck—the point is, it happened. We don’t know where it came from, we don’t know how it happened, but the point is, our family’s life has been tied to the Foggistani mission for over two centuries now, and we can probably use our—circumstances—to our advantage. Now at the moment, Lithuania is in danger. Her mission could very well be the most important one of all. And it should be our mission, right now, to save her.”
“So what do you propose we do?” said Estonia, finally meeting her sister’s gaze.
Latvia took a deep breath. “I say we go get her.”
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