onizel

Faust walked down the ancient hallway, his well-tailored robes billowing behind him, almost whipping into the face of the young girl that followed him. Almost, but not quite. Faust prided himself on his precise calculations. At the large oaken door embellished with a white rose, he stopped, turned to the girl and regarded her coolly. He did not approve of this. Rubbish should be disposed of. "You must not speak unless you are spoken to by the young madam. When you do speak to her, you will use English, and nothing but English. You are to address her as mistress or my lady. At ten o'clock tonight, I will return here and then you are to come with me." Faust rattled off the instructions in a carefully regulated voice. "Do you understand?" The young girl nodded, her pink bob bouncing with the movement of her head. With that out of the way, Faust rapped on the door with a hand covered in white cloth.
"What is it, Herr Faust?" the precocious ten year-old asked from behind the door. Her voice carried a haughtiness beyond her years.
The butler allowed himself a brief smirk before drawing himself up into a perfect posture, hands folded behind his back. One day, that girl will be thrown down to the earth, too. "Your esteemed grandfather wishes you to meet someone. May we enter your room, young madam?"
A click signalled the unlocking of the old door. "I suppose it cannot be helped,"Alessa answered from behind the door. As the door swung open, pulled by tiny strings of glowing air magic. Unnecessarily showy, Faust noted, but he'd come to expect as much from her just as much as the overpowering scent of roses from her room.
The room was neatly kept, though that was due more to the work of servants than the granddaughter of the castle's lord. White lace covered practically every surface. The piano, the bedside table, the coffee table in the room; even the carpets were woven to emulate the look of lace. Placed around the room were vases in the same shade of white with white roses. For a man such as Faust who prefers darker colours, the room was an eyesore. The young madam sat with her back to the visitors, her blonde hair cascading down over her black robe. She was hunched over a large, old book. Faust could only guess what the topic of this one was. He'd prefer her to be limited to books on magic, but his master insisted that the girl have a broader worldview. Faust questioned the reasons for that. She didn't need that at all. Better to-ah, his mind was wandering. Faust was sure that had something to do with his age.
"Did you come to stare at mein back, Herr Faust?" the blonde haired acolyte asked without raising her head an inch.
In reply, Faust bowed. "It is the nature of the servant to remain silent until spoken to." He hoped that piece of advice had reached the mind of the girl following him. "Furthermore, it is my master's wish that you speak in English, young madam," he added, raising his head with his back still bent. "The Council of Shadows will have trouble understanding you if you appear to them talking like that."
Alessa clapped the book she was reading shut. "He-Mister Faust, I am a busy lady," she began, rising from her chair. "If you haff nothink of importance to... Who is zat vith you? A new servant, perhaps? Vhy is she not curtsyink?"
"Why indeed?" Faust murmured as he straightened his posture. "Forgive my young friend's rudeness, my young lady. She was merely so anxious and excited to meet you that it slipped her mind, I'm sure. Is that not true, Alma?"
The girl started as she was addressed. "Ah! Um, y-yes, sir!" She quickly curtsied clumsily, spreading her black skirts and twisting her ankle at the same time. Alessa raised the back of her right hand to her mouth, covering it as she chuckled. "It's a p-pleasure to make your acquaintance, m-mistress."
Alessa's eyebrows shot up. "Mistress? You make it seem as zough I em an old voman! Come, I am only fourteen, and you seem to be only a year or two younger, er, Alma, vas it?"
"Yes, that's right..." she mumbled, scuffing a food as she avoided Alessa's eyes studiously.
That mumbling would have to stop, noted Faust. Whatever she was subjected to away from the young madam was... Extracurricular. It was imperative that she behave as a model servant, not some tremulous milksop. But Faust forced a smile--at which Alessa did a double-take--and folded his hands together. "It seems as if you two require some time to become acquainted with one another. Unless you need anything else, young madam...?"
Alessa waved a hand at him in dismissal. "Please sendt a serfant up vith some refreshments for myself and Alma. Zat vill be all." And with a bow, he disappeared through the door. As soon as the door closed, a scowl appeared on his face. Fate was quickening. He only had to hold on a little longer...

  Days seep into weeks, weeks trickle into months, months flow into years. No matter how much you wish or try, you can never go against time's current.

That is... Destiny gone awry, a tale of twin sisters seperated by the hand of man.

In Clophill, England, a woman gave birth to twin girls during a total lunar eclipse. The prophesized time had arrived. The Golden Witch had been born. The twins grandfather had been waiting for this exact moment, planning for this exact moment. This exact moment was the culmination of centuries of careful, precise manipulation of humans, global affairs and fate. The babies openened their eyes, strangely silent for new borns. One had eyes of an aqua blue, the other a violet purple. Destiny had use for but one of the girls. Which one would be the one to survive?
Their grandfather departed, heading back to his ancient castle in Germany, and the girls grew up normally. Alessa had her father's blond hair and light eyes, a stubborn attitude she could have inherited from either of her parents, an inquisitive mind her father insisted she got from him and a sharp tongue that he insisted she got from her mother. She was very much an inside girl. Her favourite pastimes in her early childhood were drawing and looking at picture books, which turned into reading by the age of five. Despite her apparent intellect, Alessa was a clutz. If she could fall over something, she would. Black and blue bruises marred her pale skin from falls down steps, up steps and over mats and tiles. Despite her stubborn nature, she was quick to cry when she was hurt.
Brigitte's face looked similar to Alessa's, heart-shaped with a sloped nose, but her mother's dark hair and dark blue eyes were passed on to her. Like her sister, she was stubborn, but that's where the likeness ended. Brigitte was a tomboy. Athletic, loud and energetic, she would rather be kicking a ball around outside with the boys than stuck inside doing something boring like looking at a book. Brigitte was not a girl to take things standing down. If a boy teased her or said something about Alessa, she'd beat them up; most of the time the boy would come out the worse. The sisters argued the way all siblings do. Bouts of hair pulling, name calling, pinching and punching happened once every few days, but they cared about eachother, and were very close through their younger years.
Underneath the azure sky, surrounded by the verdant countryside, those days seemed like they could last forever.