Some children may look the same, but strange upbringings shape their character until they reach an age where their minds go stagnant
They discover their identities yet bound to change like sibling relationships
twins born in a household full of abundance, feel a certain connection towards one another. A bond if you will
sensing a need protection, to put it bluntly to look out for each other
but sometimes tragedies are simply unavoidable-
a house fire.
Worst part is they didn't even get to know their name just their faces and the memory of comfort
firefighters surrendered them to an orphanage for the city already burdens them with their families,
they can't simply take care of a child, especially one with 3rd degree burns in spots of their skin.
Taken in custody of the Lady Augusta School of Welfare, Claire and Clarice Phoenix, known to be twin sisters with seemingly inseparable bond, despite their interests being vastly different they look, speak and act the same. Most people will even mistake which is which.
"Yo Reece, what's taking you so long? You've been in there for 30 minutes!" Claire yells as she knocks on the bathroom door
"Hold on a second I'm conditioning my hair!" her voice echoed off the the porcelain walls
"Conditioning them for what? Sister Gertrude's scolding?"
Hair dryer whirls
"Are you drying your hair?! In the bathroom?!" Claire asks annoyed
"You want me to be faster, right? Then I'm drying this faster!"
"I know you're already done bathing, just get out of the bathroom!" she yells as she stuck her ear to the door.
*SLAM*
"OW! Freakin' dyke" Claire murmurs
"A simple thanks would've sufficed" said Clarice
Claire immediately gets in the bathroom
"We're outta soap, could you get me some on the cabinet?" she said as she peeked out from the bathroom door, Clarice unwraps the soap and hands it to Claire, a plop sound coming from the bathroom is heard
"Oh COME ON!" the soap fell on the toilet bowl
they dress up their uniforms, a mandatory white button up shirt, black leggings, a neck tie, and black frilled skirts. "They're allowed personal variations, though: Claire's skirt is shorter and she wears a powder blue turtle-neck sweater, which accentuates her outfit with star shaped stainless steel earrings and a pair of white legwarmers.
While Claire has a few pieces that will catch your attention, Clarice dresses more like a grandma. Over her shirt is a full blown blazer that she got as a present from Claire, despite being a millimeter taller than her sister she wears platform shoes instead of the black basketball shoes that her sister wears, on top of all that is a plaid scarf. Both of their uniforms are equipped with a hood, they keep their skin covered not because it's a fairly religious school, but to keep them protected from the occasional sandstorms, which actually happens right now.
The students are already used to this environment, so are the school officials, most cities in Mars are surrounded by deserts, so instead of having windows, rooms here are equipped with steel mesh, just tight enough to block sand but wide enough for wind to pass through
a smack of a ruler is heard in the room, it's the nuns- they are responsible for educating the children. That smack silenced the lollygagging; all eyes focused on the nun.
"alright class, I think it's pretty much obvious to you all of all the studying and rushing lessons so… pop quiz!" The class acts shocked in unison "How are you still shocked? I made it really obvious!"
the twins took a good look at each other as if they can read each other's facial cues
"Especially you Phoenix sisters, I expect the both of you to be in your best behavior" the nun said as she smacked the ruler onto Clair's armchair.
Uses the ruler to force Claire to face her "and YOU need to stop influencing your sister from your delinquent behavior" she starts shaking of fear, fear of getting hurt in front of the class, which she will likely be humiliated.
But there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, her sister stood up and put her hands on her shoulders. "Sister Gertrude please, me and my sister have been studying past midnight because we understood that you were about to drop a quiz. I mean look at us, our eyes have been sunken this past week."
The nun rolls her eyes and steps back to the front of the class. "Whatever, regardless your quiz will be resumed" the students groaned in unison
"SILENCE!" said the nun
Claire looks at her sister and slips out a sheet of paper that's been sewn on the tag from the back of her sweater, while Clarice kicks a pen containing cheat sheets. Both of these sheets contain definitions of terms- they do this like a walk in the park because they're seasoned test cheaters- their teachers have already tried separating them by different sections still and they still get away with it.
The thing is Clarice has already memorized which students are the ones likely to teach, this Claire is already familiar with. Every time sister Gertrude stares down near these students Claire clicks her push pen since she's already in front of her sister in which she's memorized this probability.
But every time Claire is accused or stared at due to cheating she hit's them with "Hmmmmmm…" Deadass taps her finger on her chin, Clarice can't help but hold her laugh every time she does this, most teachers can't help but get trolled by her. After swiping away her paper and checking it, it has equations that look like she had studied, they would give back her papers; she can't help but let out a shit faced smile- quietly mocking her discriminators.
after a 10 minutes passed
"Just a quick reminder, once the lunch bell rings its finished or not finished pass your papers" Literally after she said that the speakers chime the lunch bells. The students scoff in utter shock that the quiz was that short "If you don't wanna go to lunch then so be it, nobody's stopping you". They all stood up and went one their way.
The twins were about to arrive at their favorite convenience store.
"You know I'm really glad we did extra overtime on stitching duty Mr. Mailer even gave us a little bit more than just 100 chips"
She notices her sister looking a bit concerned, looking down like she just got beat up.
"Yo pixie, you feeling alright?" said Clarice with a comforting tone
"Reese, do you think I have a future?" Claire said with a shaky voice
"Hoe what are you onto? We've barely even hit sophomore year and you're already thinking about what you should do with your life!" implied Clarice
"Ah I dunno maybe I'm just dwelling on sister Gert's words a little too much" Claire sniffled
Clarice exclaimed "Who cares if they act like that, they're just dusty old hags that don't know better"
"He he yeah, besides they're already at an age where their beliefs are set in stone" Claire giggled
As they arrived at the convenience store, they saw a group of girls, by looks of their uniforms they live in the same orphanage that the twins live in. They gossip on the sides while the twins pay no attention to them as they pick out their food from the shelves. Claire picks a rice bowl complete with fish eggs and some veggies inside the pack, the bowl is almost a half the size of her head. Clarice on the other hand picks out two club sandwiches and a piece of blueberry pie.
They place their food on the oven, and while waiting they couldn't help but listen to the gossip that the trio of girls were murmuring about.
A girl with blond hair and glasses holding a bag of Doritos said after giggling "Almost forgot, did you hear? The Headmistress seems to be too sick to be Headmistress anymore"
the other girl with a pink varsity jacket eating a bag of Cheetos said while chewing "Oh dang really? Ah well good riddance that bitch was mad ugly anyway"
girl wearing a blue suit holding a blue smoothie smacked the girl in the back whispered loudly "girl don't say that out loud other students might hear and snitch on us"
Cheeto girl then said "bitch I don't care, even if they send us to student counseling they don't give a shit because of the nuns will keep treating us like shit, so yeah I'm glad she finna get replaced"
Doritos girl also loudly whispered "hey isn't that the girl that sister Uniqua said would be perfect for headmistress?"
After she said that they gossiped a lot quieter
Claire looks at Clarice and nudges her "Reese you alright?"
"er… Yeah just got lost in my thoughts a little-" she was immediately cut off by her sister
"Hey if these girls are bothering you, just ask away, I was itching for a little workout anyway"
"no it's fine, it's just-" The oven suddenly let out a loud *ding*
"Oh right we ordered food, come on let's hit the tables near the aircons"
The school bell rang as the students scuffled down to their respective seats- after the scuffle a deafening silence was felt across the room. The students discretely looked at each other with side eyes and head nods. The same nun: sister Gertrude walking in with her big heavy boots, stands at the back of the desk eyeballing every student. She taps the quiz papers on the desk lining them up
A/N: girl what's with the attitude? The quiz is done already you're just hating at this point
"Looking at your quiz results, 'surprising' is the least I can say, I will dictate your scores out of 50, and I WILL NOT CARE what you think about your score, my decision is final"
As she dictates their scores students either roll their eyes, groan in despair, and other reactions that you can think of that's a synonym with pain. But when it came to the twins.
"Claire Phoenix" sister Gertrude looks Claire in the eyes, as Claire gulps nervously "13 out of 50"
literally the lowest score
Claire in a moment of shock her eyes widen, her jaw dropped, she placed her hand on the back of her head, and sister Gertrude just smiled deviously, she moved her eyes looking at Clarice as her smile turned into a frown
sighed sister Gertrude- "Clarice Phoenix, 50 out of 50" whole class looking at Clarice in utter shock, a mix of admiration and envy spread throughout the class; Claire looked behind her in disbelief.
"Please remember class, that will be your final quiz for this quarter. Tomorrow will be your final exams, so I expect the most of you to do your best, even if some of you clearly can't"
the class uniformly got out of the class one by one, as the twins were about to exit the classroom
"Ms. Phoenix!"
The twins naturally have their attentions caught
"No the smart one"
"hey c'mon that was uncalled for!" yelled Claire as she points her finger towards sister Gertrude's face.
"What? Was I lying? I am simply stating the facts that you are not able to level the standards of what this institution strives to be. Just by the look of your eyes you're already scheming something barbaric to me" Gertrude said condescendingly
"I've just had enough of you miserable-" Clarice stops Claire from continuing what she's about to say as she looks at Clair
"I can do this" she switches her eyes towards sister Gertrude "it's me you want right, what can I do?
"Meet me at the student counseling office with the headmistress, we will be expecting you after sundown"
The twins looked at each other for a few seconds and went one their way back to their rooms.
Claire punches the wall as her knuckles bled "ARGH! I'm so fucking sick of that rotting bitch. When I get out of this disgusting place I'm gonna make sure she eats through a straw for the rest of her miserable life!"
"Pretty sure she gets off by punishing kids" Clarice replied
"I'm so tired man" Claire wept as she drops her bag and lies on her bed like a dried vegetable, she let's out a groan "I just don't get it…"
"Hey we can get it next time, I could just give you the answers tomorrow's exam" said Clarice as she takes off her suit to hang it on the wall
Claire with a shaky voice "It's not the exam, it's me… am I barbaric like she said? Am I just naturally dumb?"
"Of course not, I mean you earn more money than me; you get along with everybody better than me, and you think faster than me. Y'know like how you noticed the trio from lunch were bothering me; it took me 20 minutes before I noticed what sister Gertrude said got into your head during the time walking" said Clarice while she's stripping down to bathe.
She wears her towel and notices Claire is hiding her face with a duck plushie lying on her back on the bed. Clarice joined Claire and lied beside her, she pries Clair's pillow open just to see her teary eyes.
Claire faces the opposite side of Clarice, Clarice hugs her sister to comfort her. As her arms tighten even more Claire touched her sister's arms, the harsh cold air in the room turned warm with ease. Claire's voice which is still shaky said
"I need a bath"
"You can go first if you like" said Clarice
A sudden ring on Claire's phone was sound. Claire got up the bed and picked it up in a hurry, as she stood up she wiped her face aggressively
"Uh yeah Hello?"
"uh huh"
"yeah, yeah I'll be there"
Claire put her phone on the nightstand "yeah I'll bathe 1st"
"Don't forget the towel" Clarice yelled
As Claire got in to bathe, Clarice shakes her head, though she saw Claire's phone still unlocked, and her messages exposed. In her thoughts Clarice hesitated, but she couldn't help but read her messages.
'Jesse' was the contact name
"Dominika Burgozi, I'll pay you double"
"I'll take it"
"Easy, she's naturally born to kick your ass"
"I don't care, then I'll train to kick her ass"
"I ain't fuckin' around Phoenix!
last time you took against someone
twice your size you almost lost your head"
"-still don't care, she was literally sweating
tren. Even so I still gassed her out and kicked her ass"
"whatever, you still taking it?
everybody's bets double or nothing"
"I'm locked in"
Claire finished bathing as she get's out of the shower butt naked and rubbing her hair dry. "Hoo! I knew I needed that bath"
Clarice hastily places the phone back on the nightstand
"well that was fast" said Clarice
"Well yeah, I gotta go, boss is calling me." Said Claire as she's scouring through her wardrobe.
"Your boss, Jesse right?" Asked Clarice as she stood up and prepared her clothes.
"Uh no, his name is Ferdie" said Claire as she's wearing her tracksuit.
"What do you do in your job again?" asked Clarice as she was about to enter the shower.
Claire paused for a brief moment and she stopped packing her bag with ropes and other clothes "Don't you have a meeting with the headmistress? Like today? You gotta shower cause I can still see some sand on your neck"
"O-hh right, c-could you hand me my toothbrush please?" Clarice stuttered.
Claire tossed the toothbrush at Clarice as loud honk came from outside the orphanage.
"That's them, don't you touch my chocolate sandwiches Reese! Gotta go!" Claire yelled as she left in a hurry
Half an hour passed and Clarice just got done showering, she notices on the nightstand that Claire forgot her phone. It's got an address
Golden Palace Casino
23rd Alexios Avenue
Romanville
Cydonia
"Cydonia, I hope she's fine" Clarice whispered
Reason as to why said that, Cydonia is a glittering Martian metropolis that rivals Earth's Dubai— its skyline dominated by sleek towers of glass and titanium, wrapped in neon and hubris. Below its engineered beauty lies a harsh truth: the city runs on the backs of slaves, not clones, and the illusion of utopia is enforced by militarized, over-armed police.
Law and order are clean on the surface, but desperation brews in the undercity. Slaves who dare escape are labeled Exiles—fugitives in a place where freedom only buys more suffering. Cydonia is a city where futures are bought, sold, or stolen—and some people were never meant to have one.
Clarice heads to the headmistress' office; in front of the door was sister Gertrude and other nuns. They're lined up like soldiers and bowed in her presence as they said eerily in unison "Good evening the headmistress is waiting for you"
as Clarice opened the door se hears a distinct beeping, it was a lifeline. She looks at the head mistress- multiple cables and hoses are connected to her body, a respirator hisses as the air pumps her lungs, the smell of dextrose lingers within the room all the while she's undergoing hemodialysis. A striking image of a pale old woman glued to her chair as medical equipment drowns the walls of the office.
The headmistress raises her hand slowly and points at the sofa in front of her as she says in a hazy voice "please have a seat".
before the headmistress could talk, Clarice held her hand out to ask a question
"headmistress if I may ask why have you called me specifically? I get that I'm excelling in my academics but why me specifically?"
The slowly headmistress puts her hand on her chest as she replies "please in this room, call me Song. I've been quietly observing you and Claire ever since the both of you came onto my care, from the start it always has been clear which one of you is fit for a position of leadership and a position of a follower"
Clarice raises her hand again and said "Ms. Song if I may ask, aren't I a little too young to be in the position of power?"
Ms. Song's smile turned into a stern glare even as though she is borderline bedridden she had managed to stand up to lean forward against her "You dare question my decision child? I am offering you a chance to prove yourself that you are more than what you perceive yourself, especially at your age when you will make the most of your period to rule! If don't pipe down and listen I will not hesitate to throw you into the desert!" She slammed her ass down on the chair sitting down aggressively, she takes a deep breath and sighs
"The real reason why we have to groom you at this age is to be prepared by the hardships that will come your way. Being trained when your body is past its prime neither a mind that's already filled with concerns within your comprehension is difficult for everyone whom will be responsible for your growth"
Meanwhile, the Golden Palace Casino in Cydonia Claire is in the bathrooms rubbing Vaseline on her face, sweat drips on her body as she stretches her arms and waves them around. She reaches her toes as her back creaks due to her muscles stretching- she flattens her palms on the floor to maximize the stretch- she swings her legs laterally and perpendicularly over and over again as she counts. She glances the mirror as she stops her warm-up, she takes a good look on her face covered in Vaseline as she stares down at her eyes she thinks to herself
"Lock in pixie, you wanted this right? You bit down the steak; don't swallow right away, chew it or you might choke.
Remember what you trained for, after this you'll get a better chance at getting away from that trust fund hell hole"
Her manager Jesse slams the girls' bathroom door "The devil's knockin' pixie! I hope you know what you signed up for!"
"Jess, I just wanna make sure if that double or nothing is real?" said Claire as she's still looking at the mirror, yet her eyes are directed at Jessie
"As real as the dinosaurs roaming outside the city walls! Matter of fact almost everybody betted against you, I mean I don't blame them the girl looks HUGE! Shit I don't even know if she is a girl, I mean look at this mustache!" He shows the picture on his phone to Claire, but she's still staring dead at the mirror
"Hey, hey, hey! I've seen that look before, you plannin' to put that bitch in a casket! Just knock her out, bitin' the dust won't help you get that fight money" Jessie smirked as he lays her hand on Claire's shoulder
She closes her fists tight as it makes a cracking sound "Let's cook!"
They've entered the arena, as she looks into the crowd, most of them are booing at her, most of the people in the crowd are dressed in fancy dapper clothing. Upper class, Celebrities, Philanthropists, CEOs, and many more, like a can of sardines tightly packed in this arena. She glances in the arena and she sees a hulking woman about 6 feet tall, with braided hair running down to the hips as her back was faced against her. Yet still outside of the arena Claire looks down.
During the meeting with Ms. Song she stands up with all of the tubes still attached as she says "You see, a headmistress should feel most alive when in between life and death"
As they face off, looks up as she realizes her opponent is a head taller than her, while the referee was explaining the rules.
Dominika head butted her, the crowd's reaction was initially a shock. A sharp pain was felt in Claire's nose, she wipes the blood off her nostrils as it still leaks out; she looks at it for a brief moment and licks her lips.
The crowd roared in excitement. The referee begs Claire "Kid you can't fight like this, you might bleed out!"
She chuckles "Ref don't sweat it! Your early break is in 30 seconds tops"
They face off each other once more; the referee explains one more time after that- bell rings, match starts.
"A leader in this institution must embody intelligence — but not just in grades. She must be able to read people, sense tension, and disarm it."
Dominika's right pecs clench as she throws a mean haymaker, Claire eyes locked in; spots this from a mile away and ducks under it. Dominika throws another one from the left this time Claire leans back as their bodies were inches against each other, She throws a bolo punch smacking Dominika right in the chin leaving her wobbly by the second.
"She must display discipline under pressure. Not just strike — but know when not to, especially when your adversary slips up, you simply watch and learn."
Dominika tries to throw a feint roundhouse kick; Claire is not falling for it. She mocks Dominika by spamming the same feint, this time Claire throws a low kick and Dominika dodges it by stepping her left leg back, in this split second she can't make another step. Turns out Claire's low kick was a feint- her leg bent and ready to kick - throws out a donkey kick right to Dominika's stomach.
"But most of all a leader finishes the job ahead of everyone else's expectation"
She folded as soon as she felt that kick. Claire throws a teep but Dominika catches it within her arm. She tries to hit Claire with her own low kick, but she jumps away from it and throws a roundhouse right into Dominika's head as blood and sweat sprayed all over the canvas, a bright neon green mouth guard flies from the side of her head, and her face smushed against Claire's shin looking as if like her soul left her body. Her neck was stretching so far it looked like she was about to get decapitated.
In 29 seconds
The crowd goes silent after they see their champion felled by a runt. A loud thud was heard as Dominika's body convulses on the ground; the referee stops the fight immediately
The crowd roars even louder, even the staff was enthralled by the fight. Food, booze and even barmaids went flying. Claire climbs up the cage and sits on the edge she celebrates screaming "I AM THE GREATEST! I WILL ALWAYS BE THE GREATEST!" blood and saliva sprays the crowd as she shouted
"One more thing; yet it is often forgotten: A leader must learn to forgive, yet never forget in order to progress forward you must have compassion"
Dominika's eyes stabilize once more as she sees the referee and a few paramedics waking her up. Claire who's face still bloody from the headbutt, walks up to her as she realizes Dominika is back to her senses- reaches out for her hand to help her up, the referee sees this and tells them to walk to their corners, paramedics also rushed towards her as they try to heal her bloody nose.
"That is why we the faculty council have selected you and a few other candidates to be under a watchful eye. 4th quarter exams will be held tomorrow. I am not expecting your scores to be impressive, but it is your methods that I will be watching" says Ms. Song.
Clarice raised her hand as she asked "B-but what about my sister? I mean she has her methods but the quiz earlier was just a mishap, surely there has been a mistake because we've been studying together these past quarters"
"Yes, I have noticed as well, your sisters scores have been impressive but it's the methods I yearn for. I was impressed by your cheating fiasco. Maybe this exam she will not slip and I may consider my choice, yet it was your method- yes?" Ms. Song points her finger onto Clarice as she implied smugly.
Clarice with a shaky voice exclaims "I understand but you-"
Ms. Song slams her fist on the desk "Do you not want to be headmistress? I am already handing it to you and this is your response? I may start actually reconsider my decision" she says as she points her finger up towards Clarice
Clarice tilts her head down in embarrassment "I understand Ms. Song"
Ms. Song sighs "this discussion has come to a close, you may leave"
As Clarice leaves the room the nuns are still standing, positioned like welcoming soldiers, they bow as another candidate approaches; her eyes gleaming purple like amethysts, her blonde hair bounces as she walks. She locks eyes with Clarice but the girl looks at her with killing intent. As she passes, she flicks her hair at Clarice. One of the hairs got into her eyes as she tries to rub the pain away, while Clarice looks towards the girl slowly entering the meeting room, looking straight into her soul with a shit-faced grin.
Clarice clicks her tongue while she heading back to their room.
As she headed inside the room, Claire was nowhere to be seen. Not in the bathroom, nor in the wardrobe. But then she sees Claire's nightstand and it seems she had left her phone, as she held it the phone automatically scans her face, since they're identical twins it immediately unlocked thus the 1st thing she sees in the screen was the same message that was sent to her.
Golden Palace Casino
23rd Alexios Avenue
Romanville
Cydonia
Since it was already past 10pm and she's still not home Clarice immediately changed into her casual clothes and grabbed her phone and messenger bag. She heads onto a train stop, the conductor yells "LAST STOP! Teeth of Cydonia!"
Clarice swiftly asked the conductor "Is the next stop gonna pass Romanville?"
"Just read at the cards on the window miss" said the conductor as he waves his lightsticks as a train approaches. The jet engines whirring as it approached, you hear the wind gusting around it. The conductor yells "Please stay inside the yellow line or the pressure of the brake will push you down" breaks hiss as the tank engine makes its stop, Clarice and a handful of passengers' clothes rile up as the high-pressure winds from the brakes blow aggressively.
Clarice and the passengers hurried inside, she rarely takes train rides this late; a handful of passengers pushes her by as they hurried to get their seats, Clarice the last among to enter had no seat left to stay on thus she's forced to stand for the rest of the trip.
As the train zooms away at breakneck speed as she witnesses the breath-taking sky of stars overlooking the Augusta Desert. After a few minutes she sees a guy holding a portable speaker. It started playing a rap song, the song was good but the speaker was making it sound bad, and then another guy pops-out from behind wearing a superhero suit and started breakdancing. Guy in the costume was going nuts, he was dropping spits from mid-air, he was going head spin after head spin and does a little bit sturdy.
Another guy walks in coming from Clarice's back, this time he was wearing a suit and tie - he went crazy too. He was doing the robot like Michael Jackson. He moonwalked towards the due, and then he jumped over his own leg and the crowd in the train was going nuts, it was about to be a dance battle.
But then Clarice and the passengers heard a woman's scream from behind, everybody expected she was being harassed, but she wasn't. While eating her fries she yelled "I feel the triplets coming!" The whole carriage was in utter shock. One of the lady passengers stripped down her pants, and when they finally stripped her panties off the baby's head was already peeking out.
The dancer in a superhero costume came in to help, telling the pregnant lady to push while the baby's face was already out, she pulled a fistful of fries; she shoved it inside her mouth while she was screaming and the whole baby popped out.
Clarice in utter shock was just spectating the whole thing throughout the 30 minute trip and the 3rd baby wasn't even out yet! The train conductor yelled "Now approaching Cydo-" He stops in shock of what he's seeing "NEXT STOP CYDONIA! I am not cleaning that shit up!" He yelled even louder.
The train's brakes hisses as it arrives the Cydonia train stop, the crowd of passengers slowly squeeze out from the train as Clarice was about to get out the conductor stops her and says "missy you're going to Romanville right?" Clarice nods yes thus the conductor asks "you're new to this place aren't ya? Don't worry crazy things happen all the time during graveyard shifts" He glances on the woman giving birth and it's actually the 3rd baby "But this is certainly the 1st time"
The guy with the speaker and the guy wearing a superhero suit, got out of the carriage as well. The woman was still screaming as she's already finished her fries.
A few minutes passed and she finally arrived at Romanville. As she got out of the carriage her face was pale, as if the mental scars inflicted upon her was visible on her face. Alas after a few blocks away from the stop she sees the golden palace. She sees the hundreds of guests bustling about, as loud cheers and screams were heard outside the establishment. Loud music thumping inside the casino like a nauseating version of a paradise.