The Princess and the Pauper [Closed]

Hey me,
Can we talk for a bit? It's just about some stupid, hurtful habits, but it's just a short tale that's guaranteed to make you la---

Lying is my forte, you know that right?
But I've never been good at being honest...
My truest stories always sound the most fal----

Doesn't the truth seem a little uncanny? Are we the same person?

Tabitha crumpled the paper with a sigh, holding it out in her palm before stuffing it into her pockets. Her fingers played at the edges, tearing off bits and shreds of the sheet as the remnants were blown away over the shallows, her darkened gray eyes watching them fly off like struggling chicks using their wings for the first time. Finally, it reached and gazed out towards the lake, her mind hundreds and hundreds of miles away as it stared distantly to outskirts that couldn't even be seen.

Bathing sunlight reflected and shifted off the water's surface, and the air was crisp and cool and tainted with the pines and earth and flowers. Splotches of light danced in the shadows of swaying trees and whispering leaves as birds sang from unseen nests, the forest filled with a symphony that the dragonflies waltzed to.

This piece of the forest seemed half-drowned, swept away by a tsunami that seemed to destroy everything in its wake. Soil gave way to water, its weak grasp tugged each time the current pulled, and the trees growing in the shallows had roots that were thicker than normal logs. Clumps of tall grass peeked out from the water, and Tabitha thought she could see quick flashes of silver darting through the blue urn in groups, the small fish nibbling on the greenery.

From her spot on top of the rugged, gray rocks, she slowly dipped one foot into the waters, disturbing the peace as the cold bitterness traveled up her toes to her head, her hand grasping on the slippery stones beside her. Skipping rocks? What a cliche. Tabitha thought, tossing the rock and allowing it to skid across the surface with a satisfying plop!

She felt like she was being watched - it was a weird feeling. Narrowing her eyes to shot daggers at whoever decided to get close, the Autumn looked behind her at the corner of her eyes, only seeing a rustle in the bushes.

Just my imagination...

A similar looking girl wondered through the treeline of the lake, her dark eyes watching a small ivory stone she ruthlessly kicked along the edge of the trees. Aleta's face was twisted into a frown. Her brother was beginning to annoy her. His continuous nagging of 'Go out and make friends' or 'Don't sit in your dorm all day' caused the younger to storm out of the dorm and into the forest. She had heard that there was a lake nearby, and decided to head there in order to stay away from the student body. Sure Leo had told her to go talk to people, but honestly, he was annoying her so much, that she couldn't handle being near anyone.

So here she was, dark strands of hair which had made it's way outside of her pigtails, hanging in her face as she stared down at the rock. She had been feeling more annoyed at Leo than ever since she got to Beata. Once he had gone off, her annoyance with him had faded. Thus allowing Aleta to look over she and Leo's relationship. She had been rude towards him, and could only place that toward her power. That and the fact that the Spring always compared herself to Leo. She was a flawed person, with no drive to do anything. In Aleta's perspective, he was a good student, child and all around person. He had dive to work out and practice his power. She was jealous of that. Aleta had promised him she'd try and treat him better. Although, that hasn't come into play yet.

The sound of a rock falling into the water brought the Spring out of her thoughts. Her dark eyes tore their way from the stone toward the direction of the sound. What she saw didn't make her feel any better. There stood a girl who looked almost exactly like herself. The glare shot toward her, caused the girl to send an equally sharp one back. Her right hand was clenched tight in a fist. What a way to bring down any self esteem she had. Someone to look exactly like her. "Who the hell are you?"

Are we the same person, indeed. Tabitha swiftly turned her head back, looking at the other person out of the corner of her eyes with a cold glint. They were wearing different clothes, and her hair wasn't tied like it was normally behind her hood, but from the shade of their eye to their face shape to their body shape and proportions, they were exactly the same. The main difference was that she was ridiculously  shorter, but by how many inches, she didn't know. It was so tempting to just sock the other person and hit that glare off of her face just to determine how real this was. Staff wasn't around, so she wouldn't get in trouble. But she just sat there, skipping another rock across the surface roughly. Her free hand curled up into a fist, her knuckles white as ash blown away from a cigar, and she had to resist every urge to get up and beat the other person up.

My powers aren't working... Hell. Calm down and keep your emotions in check.

A bitter laugh escaped her mouth, and she murmured dryly, "Who the hell yourself." It really was a first time where she hadn't stolen someone else's appearance. And turns out, oh! There was someone with that exact same physical description. What did fate want now? "What's the point in introductions when we might as well be the same person?"

Aleata had always known she wasn't that special. There was always someone better than her. Most of the time, it was her brother, who's wings where pure white. Then there were her wings, which to her looked akin to a pidgin. But hell! Aleta had never thought someone would share her own appearance. The one thing the Spring thought she had to herself. But apparently she had a twin. Of course, she didn't seem to appreciate it. Well, neither of them did. With a frown on her face, Aleta took a few steps forward, her hands still clenched tightly. It took all of her will power to keep herself from launching a fist at the girl. Be the same person? Like hell she was the same person as her!

Cheeks puffed out, Aleta spoke with harsh anger. "I'll stick with being me. I'm not you." As much as Aleta wasn't satisfied with herself, she didn't ever want to share the same thing with other people. That being appearance. Fuck! Someone looked exactly like her. Normal people would think it was cool. However, all Aleta found herself wanting to do is stick the other girl's head in the water. Gentle persuasion as it was called, even if there was nothing gentle about it. But she wasn't trying to persuade the girl, she just wanted to dunk her into the water.

"I never said we were, did I?" It was really cruel of her, she knew. Tabitha always liked seeing other people get mad and break down at their exposed weaknesses because they were terrible at not caring about what others thought. Why bother? Their life, no one else's. Of course, there was nothing more fun than thinking about shoving her mirror image into the lake simply because she hated not being unique. Her power made it impossible already, so when she actually stopped faking a look, this is what happened? Good gods, the world was terrible.

Sticking her tongue out, Tabitha couldn't help but provoke her lookalike further. How similar could two people be? That's what she wanted to know. All these stupid studies about people having almost identical personalities and interests were starting to kill her. If that was the case, no one was unique. And she did not want to be in that situation.

"I dare you - push me in."

Face screwed up in a form of anger. Dare? She dared Aleta to push her in the lake? Well. If she wanted to, Aleta would be more than happy to oblige. Her dark eyes seemed to stare holes into her counterpart, ready to fight. As you, The girl lurched forward through the bushes, her heart in her throat as she utilized the anger she felt to keep her going in this movement. "wish!" She finished with a yell, her hands out to push her twin by the shoulders and into the water of the lake.

Tabitha hadn't expected Aleta to actually do it, and couldn't brace herself in time to do anything. Her body lurched backward and her dark gray eyes widened in surprise as she opened her mouth to say something. There was a loud splash! and everything felt cold, the water's clear surface being interrupted with a ripple. Flashes of fish swam by, and she quickly used her feet to boost herself up to the surface. Her entire body was soaked, and she felt drenched. But that was alright.

A small smile formed on her lips as she grabbed her mirror image's wrist and promptly pulled her in. There was enough satisfaction with that, and the momentum she needed was fueled from her own rage and betrayal. Why couldn't she ever be unique? Tabitha's eyes narrowed into a harsh glare as she stared at her twin, she spoke up with a subdued tone, "The water's as bitter as you are."

"Satisfied yet? Or do you want to beat me up because neither of us have actual value?"

Aleta yelped in shock as she too fell into the river, dark eyes widening in shock. Drenched as well, she pulled herself up to the surface, her anger fueled by the other girl pulling her into the water, then her snarky comment. She bristled once more as she mentioned that they don't have any value. Aleta found herself wanting to argue, however didn't have enough proof of her own value. Lips pressed together, she leaped to her feet, touching the bottom of the lake. Her sneakers didn't do her well for gripping the ground. Not that she cared a the moment. All she wanted to do was shut the girl up. And to do that, Aleta sent a fist at her twin's jaw.

Tabitha knew that she had gone a little too far and was prepared for her reflection to try and attack her again, especially after provoking Aleta. The punch had almost made contact but was swiftly deflected when she brought her arm up and moved it to the side, changing the attack's line of direction. Her eyes stared coldly back into the same pool of color in front of her. "Hit a sensitive nerve?" she spat, voice laced within a sneer. "What's the point when people could easily replace one of us with the other?"

Aleta brought her fist back to her chest, dark eyes sending a heated glare towards the other girl. She was the embrodiment of her worst fear. Someone exactly like her. 'We're not worth anything.I'm not worth anything.' The thought repeated in her head endlessly, her eyes turning to glare down at the water beneith them. Suddenly, as if all her anger seemed to explode, Aleta launched herself at her twin, fists flying. "Shut up! What do you know about me?" After a few swings, she backed off again, tears building in the back of her eyes. "Nothing!" She yelled at the other girl. "You know nothing" Aleta wanted nothing more than to prove she was worth something. How could she do that? There was always someone better than her.

Tabitha quickly raised her arms to block a few, stumbling slightly from lack of grip on the ground. Damn, she was too short. As if reflex, she sent a glare with just as much power right back at her twin. Hissing a bit as a punch managed to get past her blocks, she was about to counterattack until the other girl had backed off. Seriously? "Oh yeah, because you know what it's like to  always be second to someone else," she shouted back. "Someone is always better than you because you're just a fucking copy." Curling her fingers into a fist, Tabitha took a deep breath, trying to ease her own anger in the case that her power went off.

I won't get the chance to be anything else, huh? My 'gift' is a curse.

Quivering in anger, the young girl took a few steps forward and grabbed Tabitha by the front of her clothes, pulling her up so they were face to face. Dark eyes seethed as they met equally dark eyes. "I will tell you one more time to shut your mouth before I shut it for you." It wasn't an empty threat. She was ready to send a fist toward her jaw, but held back. Aleta had already landed a few hits on the other girl, so she took it as warning shots. This girl didn't have a hard time making her angry. The sheer fact that she exists caused her enough anger. However, her words put it on another level. How dare she pick on her fears? What was her problem?

She wasn't focused. She couldn't - after all, how could she? Tabitha suddenly felt her feet get dragged off the stones from the bottom of the lake, and her shirt was tugged to a point where she couldn't breath. Going into a hacking fit, her hands searched for her twin's, trying to loosen the grip they had. A painful smile flashed on her features, and Tabitha replied, "Because I have that problem." It definitely wasn't a threat she should ignore, but at this point, she didn't care what happened. If it hurt, sure, it'd hurt physically. It's better than mental pain anyway. "So what the hell do you know about always being compared to someone else and never being at the top?"

Twins. Always. Were. Compared. She might not be related to her by blood, but the whole fact that she existed was enough to know that she had no chance, no absolute chance, to ever be of any worth.

The girl's dark eyes lowered to stare at the rippling water below her, her own fist holding tight to the other girl's clothing. "My brother..." She started, eyes sending her glare to the cool water she stood in. "My brother has the power of Angel Physiology. He was a perfect child. His wings are bright white and pretty. People are naturally drawn to him he's always so nice to people. He's always trusting them. Leo always has the drive to become better at his power." Her voice trailed off as she looked back up at the girl, tears swimming in her eyes. How unfair the world was. Why did it make her flawed? Once she spoke up again, her voice held edge to it.

"My power is Fallen Angel Physiology." Lips pressed together, she held back the water in her eyes. "Everything about me is flawed. Everything about me is second to my brother. I live in a constant shadow of him!"  Her last sentence sent tremors through her body, a tear drop fell out of  both eyes. Dropping her twin, she took a few more steps back, and allowed her wings to appear. They were rather small in size, just enough to perhaps lift the dark haired girl out of the water. The color of her wings held no white to them, just a grey speckled with black. The pattern of a pidgin. "My wings are ugly compared to my brother's! I can't make friends easily, and I never have a drive to do anything with my self!"

Putting her wings away, she took a step forward before finishing quietly. "I am never seen for myself. Only for being my brother's sister. Everyone constantly compares me to him, and they view him higher than me." Aleta found herself leaving out her lying powers. As far as she knew, neither of them had lied in their entire exchange. Do they both feel this way?

Holding a hand to her throat as she struggled for breath, Tabitha coughed a few times before blinking in surprise at her mirror. Fallen Angel? Her mouth gaped open to say something, but no words left and she found herself stunned by the other girl's story. No, she was not expecting an explanation or an answer. Or for their situations to be similar. Like a deer frozen in headlights, for the first time this entire conversation, she couldn't find a comeback. Hissing in annoyance as her eyes tried to reveal any emotion, Tabitha managed to maintain a hard, emotionless mask on her face.

"Illusive Appearance." she started softly, debating whether she was supposed to pour out her side and start sobbing like a weakling. Tabitha didn't want to show weakness in front of someone else,  much less someone who looked exactly like her. "I can change how I look depending on me knowing another's personality, appearance, and voice. Or even mask my current actions or how I act." A dry laugh could be heard from her with a rather raspy tone as if the sound was so unnatural. It probably was. "God plays with me when my natural appearance is someone else's.

Who the hell decided to make life complicated? "Figure out the rest when you can't control this curse. You seem bright enough for that."