Moonspear by a route obscure and lonely

The girl's heartbeat spiked and then slowed as Cypress draped a foreleg over her shoulders - or made to. Alya found her voice absent, and in lieu of verbal response, pressed herself closer against his chest, like she would Hydra or Lyra during Rescue the Princess. But Cypress was bigger than her, instead of exactly the same size, and there was something about him that felt very different from anyone she'd ever known. She likened his presence most closely to that of her father's, but it was different even from that.

Well, duh, she thought when asked if she looked like her sisters, but she wouldn't say that to Cypress. He probably felt bad enough without her telling him he asked dumb questions. Either way, the question was forgotten quickly when the boy delved into a short description of his family. The way he spoke of his mother struck her most of all. Selfishly, all she gleaned from the conversation was that she wanted him to call her beautiful. Thoughts for his brother and father were quickly filtered down the drain that was her attention span. His new question was more than enough to fill her mind.

"It's the same as being me," she said after a moment, not really understanding the question. "Me and my sisters are... we're just the same. We look the same and we think the same - mostly - and we were born together." It was as simple as that. He probably wouldn't even notice if she dashed away and another head of the Cerberus took her place. They could both take up her mein so easily, there would be almost no difference.

A familiar swell of dissatisfaction rose up in her chest, and this time, Alya made no effort to tamp it down. Sometimes, she wished she could be like Korei. No one ever thought she was someone else. No one ever took her place. "We need a password," she blurted, and a moment after she said it, she glanced wildly around, waiting for one of her mirror sisters to jump out and accuse her. To her knowledge, they'd never given someone this power before. The power to tell them apart. "If you see me, or someone who looks like me, and they tell you it is me, you can't believe me until I..." It had to be secret - something not even clever Hydra would recognize as a password. Something that neither of her sisters would be able to guess. "I'll bring you a leaf. When it's me, I'll pick up a leaf and bring it to you."

There. What reason would her sisters have to give Cypress a leaf? It wouldn't happen organically, that was for certain. As long as she never told them about this part of the conversation (for she didn't fool herself into thinking she wouldn't tell them the rest), they would be okay.

"I will see you again, won't I?" she asked, suddenly worried that he would disappear without a trace. "Do you live nearby?" Near enough to visit?