[Jaden Wolf]

Annabelle Shay - Clarabel Shay

To think she had a twin.

Annabelle squinted down at the paper. It had taken her a month - a month - just to figure out that her sister lived in Medicai. It wasn't very far from the place where they were born, the small city on the edge of Wilt'no where that Starlight guy had found her birth record. Up to that moment, she'd had no clue she was a twin.

Weren't twins supposed to have some kind of mystical connection? Clearly that was just bunk. I mean, Annabelle had powers, but never sensed anything off. No 'missing piece of herself' or whatever junk people said about this stuff.

Anyway, here she was, standing in front of some medical facility. She'd already checked a bunch of places where people by the name of 'Clarabel' lived, but none checked out. I mean, the last one was a 5 year old, and the one before that was an old lady who kept trying to tell her all about some cat she saw that ate the souls of the dead. Right.

[Jaden Wolf]

Well, there were two other places left on her list if this one didn't check out. It would probably be just her luck if her sister were the last one on the list. Hell, she might not even be in this city at all. Her lead came from a kind of sketchy source anyway.

Isabel was nice and all, she wasn't the problem. It was the fact she said she heard it from some prophet cat holed up in the Basantha shrine. Like, honestly, what is it with people and stories of mystical cats? Sure, some people would probably scoff if they heard about a girl who could copy any sound with her voice, but this was pushing it.

Annabelle realized she had lingered in front of the doors too long and was gaining some attention. The security guard inside was starting to peer at her suspiciously too.

[Jaden Wolf]

Shaking her head, she pushed open the glass doors. The place was really modern and advanced both in architecture and tech. It was also huge - this lobby was 3 stories tall, open concept, with a domed glass ceiling somehow laced with vines. A huge female hologram stood just ahead of her, looking at no one in particular as it smiled and recited, "Hello, and welcome to Summers Inc. Medical Division." It went on to list a bunch of floor designations and directions that Annabelle tuned out.

Her gaze slid over the automated gates for employees, the round, glass-encased elevators, and the stream of people heading in and out of the attached clinic next door. The place was super busy. Finally, she spotted a sleek desk in the corner with ASSISTANCE across the front, just as the automated hologram gestured to it. Wow, so helpful, she thought at it as it restarted.

There was a bunch of information flicking across the screens behind the desk as she approached, but she didn't try to read it. It really sucked that Annabelle didn't know if Clarabel was here as an employee or a patient. All she could find associated with the name was the address.

[Jaden Wolf]

A woman looked over from the desk and smiled Annabelle in a way that seemed to be genuine. She wasn't sure if it was a reflection of the woman's personality or the company itself for making its employees happy. "How may I help you today?" the woman asked politely.

Bringing her attention to the woman, Annabelle stepped up to the desk. "Uh, yeah, hi. I'm uh, looking for someone named Clarabel," she said, feeling very awkward. The lady nodded and turned to the angled touch screens in front of her. "Employee or patient?" she asked. When Annabelle didn't respond right away, the lady looked back up.

"Uh, sorry," Annabelle said awkwardly, "I was only told I could find her here, not why she was here." The lady tilted her head slightly, but smiled after a second and nodded. "That's ok, I'll search both. Last name?" she asked. Annabelle winced. "Well, uh, I'm not sure."

[Jaden Wolf]

"I'm sorry?" the woman asked, clearly and understandably confused. Perhaps Annabelle should have tried a little harder to find some kind of information before she came. "I mean, I don't know if it got changed, it used to be 'Shay'," she said, trying to be a little helpful and sound less like a freak.

Instead of searching for it, though, the woman squinted at her. "I'm sorry, but may I ask how you know this person?" she asked. Great, now she was suspicious. Annabelle shook her head and tried to smile in a friendly way. It didn't come very naturally to her. "Oh, it's ok, I'm actually her sister," she said. Thankfully, it didn't matter that they'd never actually met, just that they were sisters. The woman looked a little suspicious still, but turned to the computer.

After a couple taps, she nodded and smiled. "Yes, I have a Clarabel Shay here, would you like me to contact her?"

[Jaden Wolf]

Annabelle was so relieved. There may have been other 'Clarabel's around, but none with the last name 'Shay' too. This was definitely her sister, she was certain.

That relief was short-lived, however, as she almost told the woman to go ahead and call her. Clarabel most likely didn't know she had a sister. Or perhaps she had some other sister, like, adopted or something, and would be shocked to see Annabelle and possibly call security on her for impersonation or something.

...that probably wasn't very likely. Annabelle admittedly tended to have a rather negative outlook on things. Most people probably would if they'd had her life.

Instead, she smiled at the woman. "Actually, I'd hate to make her come all the way here. Could you tell me where I could find her?" she asked. The woman frowned at her, once again suspicious, if she had ever stopped. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that, Ma'am, for security reasons," she told Annabelle, not sounding very apologetic.

[Jaden Wolf]

For gods' sake. Well, it was better to call up to her and hope for the best than not see her at all. Well, she supposed she could just wait for her to come out of the building, but that was a last resort - she'd probably get arrested for stalking.

"Oh," she intoned, trying to keep calm under the woman's stare, "that's fine then. Would you call her for me, please?" She was even being uncharacteristically polite, hoping the lady wouldn't call security on her.

The woman tapped something on the desk and raised a hand to her ear, where she'd apparently been wearing an earpiece. "Hello, this is the Assistance Desk. I have someone asking for Clarabel Shay. She claims to be her sister." Annabelle winced. The 'claims to be' didn't slip by her.

[Jaden Wolf]

"She'll be right down," the lady informed her, eyes tight though her smile had returned. It was almost like she was saying 'well, since she's coming, maybe you're telling the truth but I'm still watching you'.

The waiting was actually the worst part, fidgeting in place under the woman's indirect gaze. Even when she moved to help someone else, Annabelle could feel the woman's gaze on her. It was very unsettling.

She saw Clarabel before the girl reached her. Sure, she hadn't known what she'd look like, but there was just something about her. Perhaps it was that 'twin connection' thing. A paler version of Annabelle in every way but with a grace Annabelle couldn't achieve if she tried. There was no doubt from looking at this girl that Clarabel was a gentle soul.

[Jaden Wolf]

The girl spotted Annabelle and walked up to her with a soft smile. If she was confused by Annabelle's presence, she didn't show it. "Hello," she greeted her, her voice as soft as her appearance. Annabelle nodded in greeting, "Hey."

There was a brief pause, when Annabelle realized that Clarabel was waiting for her to say something. She practically jumped to talk, hyperaware of the desk lady staring at them. Well, at her. "Um, could I speak with you a moment?" she asked, really hoping to get away from this lady before she called security on her.

Clarabel's gaze shifted over to the desk, and she seemed to understand the problem. With a nod, she gestured to the direction she'd come from. "There's a lovely courtyard in the back wings," she said. Annabelle nodded, probably a little too enthusiastically. Clarabel's smile seemed a little amused for a moment, but then she turned and led the way, Annabelle falling into step beside her.

[Jaden Wolf]

Annabelle didn't really say anything until they had gone down a hall and left the desk lady's line of sight. Sighing in relief, she finally took in Clarabel. The girl's hair was a pale blonde, straight and cut to frame her face. Her eyes were actually pink instead of Annabelle's blue, and stared straight ahead. Her expression was not so much calm as tranquil. Given that she didn't seem particularly stressed about being called by some stranger claiming to be her sister, she was probably a very relaxed person.

This was her twin.

Not identical, obviously.

How was she supposed to break conversation anyway? It occurred to Annabelle that she hadn't really thought past 'find Clarabel'. It's not like she could just go 'hey, I'm Annabelle and I'm your superpowered twin.'

[Jaden Wolf]

"The lady at the desk seemed to be rather suspicious of you," Clarabel finally spoke, "I hope that didn't stress you out too much." Annabelle started a bit, then felt badly since she'd made Clarabel walk alongside a stranger while offering no explanation.

"Uh, no, I uh," Annabelle scrambled for an appropriate response. "It was pretty understandable when someone just marches up like 'hey find somebody named Clarabel, who's my sister though I apparently know nothing about her.' Uh, I hope I'm not stressing you out, by the way," she blurted, "for calling you out all of a sudden and saying I'm your sister and all."

Oh my gods Annabelle, chill. Since when was she the type who could even get rattled? She took a deep breath and centered herself before she said or did something stupid. Thankfully, her powers hadn't decided to show themselves.

[Jaden Wolf]

Clarabel finally looked over at Annabelle, smiling softly. "It's alright, I'm not upset," she said. Man, this was such a sweet girl. "Are you, by the way?" she asked. At Annabelle's confused look, she clarified, "Are you my sister?"

Oh.

"Well," Annabelle started, trying to think of some lovely thing to say, but simply wound up at, "yeah. I'm your sister." After a second, she blinked and added, "Well, to be more accurate, I'm your twin."
Clarabel had only nodded at the answer, but raised her eyebrows when she heard that. Somehow it seemed to surprise her more that she had a twin than the fact she had a sister in general. Perhaps she was thinking about all that 'twin connection' mumbo-jumbo.

[Jaden Wolf]

She didn't respond, but that was probably because they had arrived at the courtyard. It was almost like a hole in the building, completely surrounded by towering glass. Somehow, there were patches of sunlight making it down to their level, though Annabelle didn't care to figure out how.

The courtyard itself was typical of a green space for relaxation. Wandering paths among a bunch of plants and some benches. The only unique thing were beams along the window frames which had vines wrapping around them. They extended the whole way up the building, as far as she could tell. She could actually hear some birds. They had birds in here?

"Would you like to sit?" Clarabel's voice caught her attention. She realized she had gotten absorbed in looking around. This was such a nice building. And expensive.

"Uh, yeah sure," she responded lamely but dutifully perched herself next to Clarabel on a nearby bench.

[Jaden Wolf]

Clarabel folded her hands neatly and crossed her ankles. She had perfect posture, dammit. Clarabel was practically a proper lady. Clearly she had a good upbringing and here Annabelle was, trying to throw a wrench in the whole thing. She tried not to scowl.

After a moment, she realized Clarabel was just sitting there. Waiting.

"Oh, um," Annabelle stuttered. "I...um."

Clarabel smiled. "Take your time, it's ok."

"What, don't you have somewhere-" Annabelle blurted, realizing where exactly they were, "do you have to work or..."

She looked back at the doors they came through, as though someone would come crashing through looking for Clarabel. "Do you even work here?"