Second Chance

“… wow. It really has been a long time since we’ve come here, huh?”

Malachi chuckled softly, shaking his head to his twins words, as he too had the exact same thought. “Yeeeah… 20 years would do it.”

Saying that this town, Twilight Town, had changed a lot would be the understatement of the century. It used to be a cute little town that has a perfect combination of modern tech- aka the Music Tower- and beautiful wilderness. The only problem being that this place was at risk of supernatural attacks. But now… after years of not coming to this town… it was thriving with Monsters walking along side the humans. No one was afraid of the other, and it wasn’t uncommon to see a monster holding hands with a human.

So much had changed in 20 years…

“Huh. Looks like we’re the only ones who didn’t change in the end~” Grigori chuckled, and Malachi couldn’t help but chuckle mildly too. Just at the sheer irony of what his twin said. To say they hadn’t changed would be a lie after all. If nothing else, Grigori definitely wasn’t the same. The sass and sarcasm was still there, but to a much gentler extent now. Perhaps he’d simply gotten tired of constantly being “angry”, or he’d simply gotten enough hugs out of him to finally be normal. Either way, he wasn’t quite the same.

As for himself, maybe he didn’t change as much. He still got dragged around by his twin, and was not much for touch or talking. At the most, he was getting better at… accepting or giving Grigori hugs, maybe?

Regardless, it was still interesting coming back here after so many years. Grigori finally conquering the fact he’d been terrified of coming here after so long… and returning because of a rumor no less. A rumor that everything in existence nearly ended… because of this town. Or a town connected to it… the rumor got a bit twisted as, again, it was a rumor.

But the main fact about that rumor remained; that the God of Gods and his family, had finally fallen, and been replaced. Malachi didn’t remember a lot of details about Sterling or his family, but he remembered Grigori mentioning in the beginning that Sterling was a part of that family. As such, there was no threat to them being in this town anymore.

Grigori was eager to go back to that cafe after learning Sterling was no longer a threat, swearing up and down it was the best coffee he’d ever had. And with no more worry of being here, he could finally visit it again. Guess that was enough cause for celebration in Grigori’s eyes. “Shall we go inside then Mal?” Grigori spoke up, smirking to the other.

Malachi really couldn’t care less about coffee, buuuut he supposed he should be encouraging Grigori to do these sort of things too. “Sure. Let’s go.”

The pair turned and started to walk down the side walk towards the cafe. Malachi wondering if he could remember the coffee’s taste after 20 years, and if it was actually as pleasant as his twin remembered. Though, he found himself stopping at the door, when he realized the twin in question wasn’t with him. He turned quickly out of reflex, finding Grigori staring at the empty outdoor seating area. He… had a small shake to him, and a far off look.

That’s right… he met Sterling here. This was where it all started. Of course, they both knew this before coming here, but the reality of that fact had probably finally set in for Grigori. Even with 20 years between when that happened, it was still a traumatic event… “… you ok there?” Malachi asked gently, turning to face him fully.

“… yeah.” Grigori answered softly, taking a breath and sighing as he turned to face him. “Yeah I’m ok. Sorry.”

Chuckling a bit himself, he held his hand out to his twin and gave a teasing smirk. “What, do you want to hold my hand~?”

Now Grigori was laughing as well, and swatted his hand away. “Oh come on! Be serious Mal! I’m not a baby~!”

“Yeah yeah.” Malachi rolled his eyes to his brother- who was now walking inside- yet he couldn’t help the smile on his face. Honestly… no amount of time would ever completely change the fact that Grigori was just a sarcastic little shit.

At least there was some constant in this world.