The Twins - NaNoWriMo '07

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Ana Maria and her brother Stefan were on a school trip to an archaeological site. They sat apart, each with their own friends. Ana was squished with her two best friends, Emily and Sarah on two seats, and they were chatting animatedly, while looking at CosmoGirl magazine. Stefan was next to his friend Nick and they both had their iPods on and listened silently to too loud music.

“Oh my gosh, isn’t he gorgeous?” Ana exclaimed, pointing at a Calvin Klein model. Emily squealed as she took in the hard abs and smooth chest.

“I’d do him in a heartbeat,” she said, grinning as Ana blushed furiously under her tan. Emily had had more boyfriends then Ana could count, and boasted of her experience. Sarah pinched her, “Ooh look Ana’s gone all red!!” This, of course, prompted Ana to blush even more. The bus rumbled on as the chaperones sat at the front, sternly correcting papers and occasionally glancing back at the high school seniors en masse at the back. The road stretched on straight, flat, and long ahead.


A mere sixty miles away, a man in an immaculate white suit stood in the sweltering heat of the Arizona desert, overlooking the excavations. Pulling a large gold pocket watch out, which glinted brilliantly in the sun, he looked at the time before putting it back in the pocket. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his face and bald head of the sweat, careful not to displace the very dark sunglasses. He put the piece of cloth away and turned away, walking towards the small box-like structure. Stepping into the air-conditioned office, he sat at a desk and observed the security screens.


A little more than an hour later, the bus pulled into the impromptu parking lot. Ana was glad to have arrived, but dreaded leaving the air-conditioned bus. Having lived in Arizona all her life, she knew what kind of heat awaited them outside. Shouldering her backpack, which contained a couple bottles of water, her iPod, phone, pencil case, and notebook, she followed her fellow students outside. Mrs MacMillan was trying to silence the group of forty students, while Mr Nepo was knocking on the small office building, which looked out of place in the desert. He re-emerged with a tall man in a white suit, which struck Ana as strange, because of the heat.

Stefan hastily took the earbuds out of his ears as Mrs MacMillan rounded up the students to meet the supervisor of the archaeological site. He half listened to the teacher as he looked around. He could only see the desert stretch from end to end, except for the pit which was nearly at his feet. Glancing down, he noticed several men working, although it seemed that they hardly moved.


“I can show you around, but you must touch absolutely nothing,” a baritone voice surprised Stefan out of his reverie. Snapping his eyes up, he realized it was the supervisor who was now speaking. Though his eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses, Stefan could feel them upon him, and he knew that the man knew he had not been paying attention. Not wishing to draw more attention to himself, Stefan blinked a couple times and let his eyes flicker to the heads of his classmates. The supervisor went on.

“My name is Mr Allyón. Follow me.” He abruptly turned, the dust at his feet neatly avoiding his immaculate suit. Like a herd of cattle, the class followed Mr Allyón to the first depression in the earth. A single rackety wooden ladder led down to the small pit where two men in shorts and white lab coats were meticulously polishing away the earth.

“These two archaeologists have been working in this area for over six months. They are now reaching the point where they must be very careful in their digging, for fear of damaging the artefact.”

Ana raised her hand. With a nod, Mr Allyón acknowledged her.

“How do they know at what point to start digging so carefully?” she asked.

“There are special electronic devices which have detected an object in the earth. With a program, it is possible to determine its approximate depth, enabling our men to remove a certain amount of earth without damaging the object of interest.”

Ana nodded, “Thank you”; she made a note in her book. She was a studious girl and was very interested in archaeology and history.

They walked around to another, deeper, pit and Mr Allyón pointed out to them the tip of an object that was beginning to emerge. There were more archaeologists working here, trying to determine the size of the object. To Stefan, it glinted dully in blinding sunlight.

Suddenly, a flash of dark lightning broke open the sky, with a deafening rumble of thunder. The sun paled as the sky, bare of clouds, darkened. Stefan thought he saw a man-shaped object hurtle towards the ground, before the full sunlight of Arizona returned, as though nothing had happened.

Stefan looked around, and caught his sisters’ eye over the heads of the other students who had ducked. Only Mr Allyón had remained as still as a statue. Ana, who had been closer, thought she had seen him glow faintly in the darkened environment. Moments later, as things returned to normal, she dismissed it as being the after effect of the sun on her eyes. Mrs MacMillan and Mr Nepo prompted Mr Allyón to continue the tour, and everything went on as though the strange lightning and thunder hadn’t occurred. Ana knew, however, that it would be the main topic of discussion on the bus back to the school.


The rest of the tour passed uneventfully. Ana and Stefan found themselves the last ones in line to get on the bus. They turned to look at the pit one last time. Mr Allyón stood defiantly and looked at them. A cold chill over came the twins as they looked at the man and, though they could not see it, they knew they had looked straight in his eyes. The sky seemed to darken again, though not a cloud in sight. This time, Ana definitely saw a glow surrounding Mr Allyón.

“Come on you two, don’t make us late!” Mrs MacMillan called. Stefan and Ana turned and climbed the steps.

“We need to talk when we get home,” she whispered to her brother, before they split to sit with their friends. He nodded back shortly.


There was still an empty stretch of land when the lightning struck, and the smell of burning rubber and decomposition insinuated itself in the air. The bus skidded as the driver desperately tried to righten them on the road, before it teetered off and came to a halt in a cloud of dust. The students were screaming and holding onto each other, hoping that the bus wouldn’t turn over. Mr Nepo, Mrs MacMillan, and the bus driver hustled the younger people off and away from the bus. Ana saw smoke and black fire from the front left and back right tires. ‘Black fire?’ she wondered, ‘what is going on?’

“One, two, three, four…,” Mrs MacMillan began a headcount, “I’ve got twenty!” she called to Mr Nepo.

“Are you sure? I’ve only got nineteen.”

Ana began counting again, trying to remember everyone who had been on the trip. Stefan wasn’t in her group. She began counting the others, looking for her brother. He wasn’t there.

“Stefan’s not here!” she yelled to Mrs MacMillan, before breaking away from her friends into a run back to the bus.

“Ana, no!” she heard the chaperone shriek, but she was already at the steps. The doors were open and the tire was producing acrid smoke which her throat choked on. Quickly climbing the steps, she peered inside the bus, looking for her brother’s shoulder-length black hair. Her vision blurred from tears as she began looking down the rows, trying to remember where he was sitting. A small explosion caused the bus to shake dangerously, and Ana clung to the overhead railing to keep from falling. A couple seats had black flames dancing on them too. She tripped and nearly fell, before catching herself on a seat. She looked at what had worried her: a dusty black sneaker, connected to a leg. She followed the leg up, and found Stefan, lying slumped across the two seats.

“Oh my gosh,” she breathed, “please please Stefan, please be alive!” She fumbled for his neck and felt a pulse. A trickle of blood shined at his temple and down his face.

“Stefan…” She tried to haul him across her back, the way she’d seen them do in movies, but he was too heavy and she nearly fell again under his weight. She put him on the seat again, and began to knock on the window, trying to get attention. A man’s shadow appeared at the bus’s entrance, while a white light began to shine on the other side of the window.

“Mr Nepo! I’ve found him, come help me!” Ana yelled towards the entrance. The light at the window grew stronger, almost blinding. Then, with confusion, Ana shrank back from the bus’s entrance. It wasn’t Mr Nepo who was coming on. It was Mr Allyón.

The light began to swirl across the window of the bus, and down the side, enveloping the seat where Ana and Stefan were sprawled. She saw Mr Allyón hurry towards them and, just before everything went black, she saw his eyes flare yellow as a burst of anger scowled his face.

* * *

Stefan woke with a throbbing headache. He opened his eyes a fraction and saw nothing but bright light so he closed them again. He was in a bed, with soft sheets. Lifting his hand to his head, he encountered a bandage. He frowned – what had happened?

In a neighboring bed, Ana slowly returned to consciousness, and inhaled. She expected to smell antiseptic and cleanliness, but only smelt a light flowery fragrance. Her nose twitched, and she sneezed loudly. She rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them. The light hurt at first, but as her eyes got used to it, she realized it wasn’t as bright as she thought. She looked around, taking in the room: it was medium-sized, with a high arching ceiling and long windows with lightly billowing curtains. To her right was another bed, where Stefan lay. Ana sat up, noting the soft sheets. Swinging her legs over the side, she was surprised to find herself still in her shorts and tank top. She stood on the rug that covered the stone floor and took the few tentative steps needed to sit beside her brother. Looking at him, she took in the bandage and the relatively peaceful look on his face.

“Stefan?” she shook him gently, “Stefan, are you awake?”

“Mmm,” he mumbled, “Izit time to go?”

“Stefan, we’re not at home…” Ana was beginning to feel a little afraid. She didn’t know who had brought them here, or where ‘here’ was, or what they intended to do with them. Stefan sat up, rubbing his eyes. Like Ana, he was still wearing his shorts and t-shirt. Squinting, he looked at his sister, finding her worried grey-green eyes.

“What happened?”

“What do you remember?”

“Not much… getting on the bus, and then some kind of explosion? I got thrown sideways I think…”

Ana grimaced, “That’s about it. The bus went off-road and two tires caught on fire… black fire. And then MacMillan and Nepo did a head count but you weren’t there, so I ran back into the bus to find you.” Stefan smiled.

“And you tripped me! But at least I found you, but you were unconscious, and I was so worried and I couldn’t carry you. And then this man walked into the bus and I thought it was Nepo so I yelled that I’d found you and he came closer, only it turns out it wasn’t him, it was Mr Allyón from the archaeological site, and then the wall of the bus did this weird thing where it glowed shiny white. Mr Allyón was almost next to us and I swear I saw his eyes go yellow. And then the next thing I know is waking up here.” Ana looked hopelessly at her brother, “I’m scared Stefan; I don’t know what’s going on.”

“I don’t know either,” he replied, “But wherever we are, we’ve got to find out, and we’ve got to get back home.” He sat up and hugged her.

At that moment, the door swung open.

“Don’t turn around yet, but the door’s just opened and some kind of maid has just walked in with a tray,” Stefan murmured in his sister’s hair. Trying to act normal, Ana pulled away, and stood next to Stefan’s bed, holding his hand tightly. She turned around. A young woman was setting down a tray on a low table which Ana had previously not noticed. She turned around, and Ana gasped: the young woman’s eyes were entirely white, save for a pinprick of black in the center.

“N’ya S’yar, please, do not mind me. I have brought you some water and stew. I will tell the Mistress that you have awoken.” The young woman bowed, and exited the room silently, pulling the door closed behind her.

“What was that all about?” Ana asked her brother.

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty hungry. I wonder when the last time we ate was.”

“Sandwiches on the bus,” Ana answered absentmindedly. Stefan swung his legs out of the bed and stood. He felt dizzy for a moment, and the room swerved on its axis before righting itself again. Blinking a couple times, he made his way to the low table with his sister. They noticed plush cushions dispersed around it, and sat down. Ana took one of the bowls and placed it in front of Stefan. He reached for a spoon, and handed her hers. He tentatively scooped some of the steaming meat stew and put it to his mouth. Besides being very hot, it was good. Ana also served them both a cup of crystal clear water, which they eagerly drank. The water tasted like nothing else.

“I wonder where we are?” Stefan asked.

“In a place where Allyón cannot reach you,” said an imposing voice by the door. The twins whirled around to face the newcomer. She wore a floor-length dark blue velvet dress, with a white skirt beneath it. Her sleeves were long and close to the skin, edged with a thin band of white lace. Another band of white lace surrounded the collar, which was wide and circular. A thin belt of gold was tied just beneath her bosom, allowing the skirt of the dress to softly widen from there. Her hair was simply held back by two combs, and tumbled down her back in a shower of gold. Her clear blue eyes sparkled at them amid pale rosy skin. All in all, neither Ana nor Stefan had ever seen anyone quite like her.

“I am Elena, servant to the Goddess. I have been watching you for a long time now, but it was luck and the will of the Goddess that I was there and able to pull you from Allyón’s grasp. A minute later and you would’ve been lost to us… along with any hope for the prophecy’s rightful fulfilment.”

“Prophecy?” Stefan said incredulously.

“Yes Stefan. A prophecy made about twins many years ago. Hybrid twins, belonging to both the Land of the Goddess and the Godless. Though there have been others, neither have attracted Allyón’s, and the Dark Forces of whom he is employed, attention. This and a couple other potential clues have led me to believe that you are the Twins of the prophecy.”

“I don’t understand,” said Ana, “We’re just ordinary twins, we’re not even identical!”

“No, but that is of no importance. You grew in your mother’s womb for nine months together, and were born not far apart. That is twins enough. Your mother was from the Land of the Godless, but your father… Ah he was a wonderful man.” Elena looked away from them, as her eyes misted slightly at the memory.

“Did… did you know him?” Ana asked timidly.

“Did I know him?” Elena repeated, “Ah yes, I knew him very well. He was my younger brother.”

“But… so that makes you our aunt.” Stefan stated, “Wow.”

“Yes, I suppose that does.”

Ana looked at Stefan. They had been raised by their mother until the age of three, at which point she died, and left them in the care of her sister Louise, who was incapable of having children with her husband Joe. They had always had a loving family, and knew that their mother had died: nothing had been kept a secret, until this astonishing new discovery. However, neither Louise nor Joe had ever had any information about the twins’ father to give them. Now they were discovering a whole other family.

“We will have time to discuss our family at a later time, right now, it is important for your hybrid powers to be awakened. They would normally reveal themselves to you on your twenty-first birthday anyway, but the fact that Allyón is already on your tail makes this all the more pressing. If only he had waited another four years!” Elena sighed, and then was all bustles again. “Have you finished your stew? Yes? Good, Shanah will come and collect the tray. Follow me.”

Ana and Stefan scrambled up to follow their newly found aunt down the hallway. She walked briskly, occasionally glancing behind her to make sure the two dark haired, grey-green eyed adolescents were following. They were tanned and toned from regular exercise and organic food; this she approved silently. Louise had done well in their upbringing. She made a mental note to thank her somehow.

Elena led the twins through a myriad of hallways, always with high arching ceilings and plenty of light. They reached a circular stairwell, and she led them up. Ana began to count the steps until she got herself mixed up just past five hundred, and still they wound upwards. At long last, they alighted on a platform with a single wooden door. Elena raised the silver knocker and banged it twice then paused, then three times more. She took half a step back, and the door silently swung open inwards.

“Come,” she said, and stepped into the room. Ana and Stefan followed carefully, hovering near each other.

“Cael, this is Ana and Stefan; Ana, Stefan, this is Cael.” Elena introduced them to the tall black-haired man with dark blue eyes, wrapped in a long white robe, over dusty blue tunic and pants.

“Pleased to meet you,” he said warmly, “I apologize for the mess.” He gestured his desk, which was littered with …was it parchment? And ink bottles and quills?

“Pleased to meet you too,” Ana replied, answering for herself and her brother, “but if I may ask, what is going on?”

“Elena, you didn’t tell them?” Cael turned incredulous to the woman.

“I did summarize the prophecy and the need to awaken their powers, but no further than that. Remember Cael, they were not raised in our world.”

“Huh.” He said, and turned to the twins again, “Well, as Elena told you, she believes you are the Twins mentioned in the prophecy. What month were you born in?” he asked.

Ana and Stefan were startled. Stefan stammered, “J…June seventh.”

“Yes… the middle of the Rose moon… Born beneath a strong Gemini sign, combined with their being actual twins…” “But we’re not identical!” interjected Stefan, but Cael continued, unfazed, “Born on the night of the full Rose moon as well, a rare occurrence… Also Allyón’s obvious interest and careful scheming to bring you within his sight so that he himself could ascertain his suspicions… Born of a Goddess father and a Godless mother… Yes Elena, these all seem to point to the idea that they are the Twins of the prophecy. There is one issue however.”

Elena, who had been nodding along, froze, and looked at him, “What issue?”

“They must be not only of two different Landed parentages, but of two different Bloods. This is what will set them apart from the other twins which have been suspected of being the Twins long-awaited.”

“But… what can we do to find out their Bloods?”

“Wait a minute!” Stefan said, “What is this business about blood?” Ana frowned too.

“The Lands are united by nations. There are, however different nations in each Land, although they have all evolved the same, and in certain cases different Bloods. This does not refer to a visual difference, such as the black Men and white Men of your world. Different Bloods refer to two species which evolved to the point of being able to mate with each other and resemble each other extraordinarily, as though they were of the same species. The Twins of the prophecy are not only hybrid twins of two worlds, but hybrid twins of Blood, which will only heighten their power,” said Elena.

“And it is important to know of what Blood or Bloods you might be before awakening your powers. If you are the Twins – as Elena believes, and as I am starting to believe – the awakening will be more dangerous to you and to us, because your gifts will be extraordinarily powerful,” continued Cael.

“And what does this awakening entail?” asked Ana. Elena and Cael looked at each other.

“Well… it’s different for everyone, but basically, the danger is that you will be unable to control your powers from the start. When they awaken naturally at age twenty one, they reveal themselves slowly, and you learn to control one part at a time. Here though, it is a forced awakening, which means that your full potential will released,” Elena said.

“And the problem with all magic is that it is alive and, like living things, does not want to be controlled by another being. There is magic present in everything, and it is all part of the same force, whether or not it is born within a person,” Cael continued.

“So what you’re saying is that you don’t really know how this is going to happen, or what is going to happen afterwards?” said Stefan, “And you’re just going to make us go through it?”

“We can’t force you, but it would be a great help to your world and ours if you did.” Cael said dryly.

“I’ll do it.”

“Ana, you can’t be serious!” exclaimed Stefan, “We don’t know what’s going to happen, and especially not if it’s beneficial to us.” He pulled her away from Elena and Cael and continued in a furious whisper, “How do we know if we can trust them? How do we know if they’re not actually on Allyón’s side or on some third side we don’t even know about? I haven’t seen any evidence of this magic they’re talking about. And they keep mentioning this prophecy, but how do we know it’s not made up?”

“Look, I know there’s a lot of ambiguity in this, but I feel that it’s right. They’ve been nothing but hospitable to us, and they’ve given us information.”

“Yeah, but look at what kind of information. Prophecies that we’ve never heard of, magic! Of all things! The vague idea that Allyón is a bad man, and this possibly fishy fact of Elena being our aunt. Granted, something wasn’t quite right with Allyón when we saw him at the archaeological pit, but you can’t base a life-changing act – if it’s even legit’ – on stuff like that! It’s simply irresponsible.”

Ana looked at her brother incredulously, “Since when do you know about responsibility?! Gosh Stefan, I don’t know where we are but I want to go home. And if awakening these powers we have and getting rid of Allyón and his Dark Forces or whatever will allow me to get home, then I’ll do it. It feels like an age and a half since we were on the bus and I was talking with Sarah and Emily,” Her eyes teared up, “I just want to go home.”

Stefan hugged her, “I know. I want to go home too. But let’s stall for time, please. They need to show us solid proof before we’ll agree to go through this, okay?” Ana nodded and wiped her eyes. They walked back to where Elena and Cael were standing.

“We’ve decided that you need to give us more solid proof about what you’re claiming,” said Stefan.

“Anything you want,” said Cael, “Ask away.”

Both the twins’ minds went blank. All the things they had wanted to magically wish for were gone from their minds, and all they could think of was Aladdin and the Genie.

“There is no restriction?” asked Stefan, “No particular powers in which you are more accomplished?”

“Well Elena is skilled at passing from a world to another, and observing without being seen, but I would attribute that more to skill than magical power,” said Cael.

“And what about you? You’re obviously someone important since Elena brought us up to you,” said Ana.

Cael’s eyes darkened, “My specialty lies in the darker arts of the Goddess; those which are incredibly dangerous in the hands of the wrong people. I would rather not have to demonstrate my research or energy to you.” A chill passed over the twins as he said this. Ana began to slightly doubt the man’s honesty towards them.

Elena distracted them and relieved the tension by snapping her fingers, and a small blue white flame appeared at her fingertips.

“This isn’t very useful magic unless you need to light a fire or whatnot, but it’s a fun little trick,” she said. Ana watched the fire dance, entranced. Elena snapped her fingers again and it disappeared.

“I can make various potions to mend small injuries but nothing major, since I did not go into the Healing branch of magic.”

“What did you go into then?” Stefan asked.

“Why I would’ve thought it was obvious by now: International Relations!” The twins gaped, while Elena and Cael chuckled, “They are more secret than your idea of International Relations, but my work involves looking into different Lands and keeping – forcing in some cases – peace between the nations. What the populations of the Lands don’t realize, is that their actions have consequences not only in their own Lands, but potentially in others, because of stray and accidental travelling. Part of my job is to keep that in check.”

“So… where does the magic come in?” Ana asked.

“My dear, keeping the peace in warring lands is not the easiest thing to do. Small bouts of magic, notably memory or thought modification, are used. It’s a very tricky job to instil change and so-called revolutionary ideas into leaders’ minds.”

“So basically you control their minds.” Stefan stated.

“Not at all. I introduce a nagging little voice at the back of their brain that vaguely questions their current actions. After that, usually, human nature and doubt takes over, and my job is done. Rarely, the leader has absolutely no inhibitions, and the repeated introduction of straying thoughts will drive him or her mad. That was the case with Hitler. Why else would he kill his wife before committing suicide, at a point when the war still could’ve, with desperate measures, be turned to his favor? Not to say that I support his ideas, far from it. But his actions were starting to slip into other Lands, causing plagues and extreme weather problems. The man had to be stopped.” Elena paused, then spoke again.

“I will not demonstrate that power of mine to you, but I can tell you easily what you are thinking. Stefan, you are trying to scientifically reason the information I have just given you and you are having trouble. My advice is to stop right now, because you will get nowhere,” she smiled as Stefan’s face morphed into shock, “Ana, you are wondering if I really did just read your brother’s thoughts, and, judging from his face, you are now believing that I have.” Ana’s face mirrored her brothers’.

“But… I don’t understand… there is no scientific explanation…” stammered Stefan.

“You forget,” Cael said, “That you are no longer in your own world.”