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empires-fine · 3 years ago

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Identical (Empires SMP)

summary: identical twins, gem and fwhip, are closer than close. then, on their tenth birthday, gem finds out she's a wizard which changes their relationship forever.

ao3 link

word count: 3174

written for the @empires-fine. thank you to all the mods for organizing this event! i've really enjoyed it!

warnings: angst

~~~

Gem could hear the Crystal Cliffs clock tower ring eleven times in the distance. She should have been in bed like the rest of her peers, snuggled under their blankets in the Academy of Wizardry. She even had a test tomorrow.

But no matter how much Gem tried to squeeze her eyes shut, no matter how much she tried to silence her racing thoughts, sleep wouldn't come.

And now here she was: in the girls bathroom with a pair of shears balancing on the side of the sink. She ran her hands through her hair to rid it of its knots before slowly beginning to twist her hair into its signature braid. From the day she was born to present day, her hair had not been cut—save a couple of trims here and there. It was fifteen years of near pure growth.

When Gem was done and tied her braid off, she looked at herself in the mirror. fWhip's face stared back at her.

And that was the issue. Every reflective surface Gem looked at, she saw her twin brother staring back at her. She'd be walking to class, pass a mirror, and jolt in surprise so violently that students and teachers alike in the hallway would give her odd stares.

Just yesterday the group of students that had adopted Gem into their friend group had gone swimming and, as Gem stood at the top of the diving board, she saw fWhip's face within the gentle waves and was so frozen by the sight of him that the lifeguard had to forcibly remove her from the diving board so the others could have their turn.

Gem needed to stop caring about fWhip. He had obviously already replaced her with someone better. It had only been a year away from the Grimlands and fWhip already had a new best friend.

Gem slowly picked up the pair of shears and chopped off her braid.

~~~

fWhip was a pretty heavy sleeper except when it came to Gem. Their parents could ride an elephant down his and Gem's hallway and he'd still sleep like a baby. But the moment his door was cracked open and Gem gently padded into his room, his eyes would flash open.

And that was exactly what happened on his and Gem's tenth birthday. But not his parents riding an elephant.

fWhip slowly sat up in his bed and saw Gem in her black and red pajamas. Her long hair was slightly frizzy and she was holding a rectangular box wrapped in wrapping paper. As she crawled onto fWhip's bed, she grinned and said, "happy birthday."

fWhip flung his torso off the side of the mattress in order to quickly dig under his bed and grab the little box he had placed there the night before. He exchanged his box for Gem’s. “Happy birthday to us.”

fWhip began to tear into his box while Gem carefully peeled back the tape so as not to tear anything.

“A scarf!” fWhip exclaimed, pulling a red scarf that was soft to the touch. He took one and wrapped it around his neck. “I love it!” It would surely keep him warm in the chilly Grimlands climate.

Gem finished opening her gift and pulled the necklace out by the chain. Her eyes grew wide as she noticed the pendant. “Wow! Amethyst! Where’d you find an amethyst shard?”

“I was talking to one of the Grimlands miner’s and she told me that they found a geode. Can you believe it? The Grimlands only own one other geode that was discovered nearly 70 years ago! So, when she told me that, I asked if she’d snag a shard for me.”

“fWhip, you shouldn’t get other people to steal for you.”

“I mean, technically I’m stealing it from our family. It’s no biggie. Other clusters will form.”

“Yeah! In five years!” Gem rolled her eyes but she was smiling. fWhip just managed to catch himself and Gem in the mirror. They were completely matching. Both fWhip and Gem had their matching long hair tied back in a braid and the same pajamas. The only difference was that fWhip was wearing his new red scarf.

“Try on the necklace!” fWhip then exclaimed. "I’ll clasp it up for you.” fWhip picked up the amethyst necklace. Gem turned her back to him and fWhip began fiddling with the length. Once he thought it was good, he asked, “how’s this?”

Gem didn’t respond right away. fWhip assumed maybe she was doing that thing where she pretended not to hear him. “Gem?”

“Uh…fWhip…the crystal’s not supposed to glow, isn’t it?”

“What—?” fWhip began but Gem turned around and fWhip’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. A dull, purple, light was emitting from the pendant around Gem’s neck. It seemed to grow in saturation as fWhip and Gem stared at it. Soon, it was a bright purple that lit up the entirety of fWhip’s bedroom.

Everything happened in quick succession after the bright purple light flooded the castle and woke nearly the whole castle. Gem was enrolled in the Crystal Cliffs Academy for Wizardry. Their parents bought her a bunch of books and a tutor to learn the basics before she started school in a month. She was revealed to Eastvale to be a wizard which skyrocketed her popularity and Grimland’s pride.

Everyday Gem was whisked away in the morning and didn't return until supper where their parents talked to her about her studies and what she learned that day. fWhip slowly felt like he was becoming part of the furniture. He hardly saw his sister anymore.

When he did try to talk to Gem when her tutor wasn't around, it was like Gem was too busy studying to hang out with her brother.

"Gem!" fWhip had burst into Gem's room one day, the sun bright and reflecting off the snowy peaks out the window. "Eastvale has been decorated for winter! We could go down and get some ice pops. It shouldn't take too long."

Gem turned around at her desk which was better than her usual "mmm" and ignore tactic. She glanced out the window and sighed. fWhip wasn't sure if that was an "oh! How I wish to go outside with my dear brother" sigh or a "my brother is so annoying sigh".

"I guess that's a no?" fWhip said, exhaling a sigh of his own. "Surely you deserve a break? The last time we hung out was the morning of our birthday before…in any case," he hurried along, "we should hang out before you go to the Crystal Cliffs."

Gem's eyebrows drew down and she looked like she was about to relent before her tutor bustled in. Gem's mouth turned into a thin line and she shook her head sadly. "Sorry, fWhip. I should stay here. Bring me back an ice pop?"

"Out! Out!" She told fWhip in that nasally tone of hers. "Your sister does not need any kind of distractions. She is going to be a very important wizard one day, you know."

"Sure!" fWhip exclaimed as he was practically pushed out of Gem's bedroom by her tutor. Perhaps he could bring it to her at night and they'd sneak out of the castle like old times.

On his way down to Eastvale, fWhip noticed a large horse drawn carriage. The horses were pitch black and the carriage had the familiar insignia of Mythland—his father's sister's empire.

"fWhip!" Sausage barreled towards fWhip, a tiny ball of pure energy. fWhip didn't want to know how his parents dealt with him when he ate any kind of sugary sweet. "I've heard all about Gem and her wizard powers. Do you think I could be a wizard too? I've tried waving sticks around Mythland, hoping for something to happen but nothing ever does. It's too bad you aren't a wizard. I would have thought you would be since you're twins and all."

fWhip took in a deep breath. Sausage was fWhip's only cousin and quite hard to ignore. Usually during holidays and such when the two empires were together, fWhip and Gem made it a game to find someplace to hide and have fun without Sausage there. Eventually, they were always found out and they'd have to find a new spot. It was kind of a sort of game between the three of them.

Not that Sausage was all that bad of a person. Only three years younger than fWhip and Gem, he acted like most seven year old boys who felt trapped in his castle. But he was just a lot to deal with. fWhip and Gem often compared him to a piece of too-sugary chocolate. Fine for the first couple of bites, but way too much after that.

"Uh, hey, Sausage," fWhip greeted, avoiding answering anything Sausage had just said. "What are you doing over here in the Grimlands?"

"It's the Winter Festival, isn't it? The Grimlands do winter way better than Mythland. "Come on, let's go look at all the stuff in the markets!" And before fWhip could protest, Sausage took hold of his arm and dragged him away.

fWhip had to admit, it was fun. He had missed running through Eastvale and interacting with the people who lived in his kingdom. Sausage wasn't as bad as he remembered, either. They had fun buying little trinkets and building snowmen. They stayed outside until their fingers were stiff and the sun went down. The day didn't end when the sun went down, and fWhip and Sausage made their way into a cafe where they drank hot chocolates until the worker had to cut them off.

It was only after fWhip managed to drag himself to bed, Sausage telling him that they should hang out more often—and fWhip agreeing!—that he realized that he had forgotten to bring home an ice pop for Gem.

fWhip knew he should've felt bad about it. He had promised to bring one home to her. But he didn't. She probably wouldn't remember, anyways. She had clearly found something more important than her brother. And fWhip had to deal with that.

~~~

Gem was panicking. There was so much to learn. So many things to do in preparation for her first year at the Crystal Cliff's Academy of Wizardry.

She wished there was time for breaks in her new busy schedule but there just wasn’t. At supper, she worried that she was taking too long to eat. While brushing her teeth, she went over spells and pronunciations in her head. When she laid in bed at night, she guilted herself until she read her stacks of textbooks until she fell asleep, cheek to the paper.

And through it all, she could hear her parents’ and her tutor’s voice: “never before has there been a wizard who reacts to amethyst like that. You have a lot of power and potential within you. The last person like you was the last Grand Wizard. And they died over 100 years ago.”

Gem didn’t know much about becoming Grand Wizard. Apparently there was some kind of test. Gem avoided thinking about that. First she had to pass all her classes and graduate from the Academy.

Her tutor was constantly telling her that she was years behind Crystal Cliffs locals who were taught their magic basics the same time as their ABC's.

She felt bad about blowing off fWhip whenever he offered to hang out but she just couldn't allow herself to not study when she knew how many more books, spells, and potions she had to learn before starting school.

Besides, there was another reason she couldn't bear hanging out with fWhip for longer than supper or the occasional conversation before bed. The issue of the Grimlands succession.

Technically, Gem was the eldest (by only six minutes), but Gem and fWhip's parents decreed after their birth that they'd rule together once they were of age and decide amongst themselves afterwards.

That had always been the plan: rule together for a couple of years and then get down to business after that.

But there had always been an understanding between her and fWhip that she'd eventually be the ruler of the Grimlands. fWhip didn't want the responsibility of being in charge of an entire empire (even though Gem knew he'd do spectacularly). Furthermore, fWhip wanted to focus on becoming an inventor. And, as he told Gem once at the ripe age of seven: "there's too much work to being a ruler when your brain is already constantly running through possible inventions."

Gem had never really been bothered by fWhip not wanting to become the future ruler of the Grimlands. She knew she was a good, fair, leader and she cared about the people of Eastvale—she had grown up with them, afterall. She would've made a fine ruler of the Grimlands.

But when Gem's magic talents became realized, everyone and their mother from the Grimlands and the Crystal Cliffs were talking to her as if she'd be the next Grand Wizard. And she hadn't even started school yet.

Gem had never really thought that she could really become the next Grand Wizard. She had started her schooling too late, she wasn't even from the Crystal Cliffs.

But as she got deeper and deeper into her studies, no longer learning the basics that were boring but nonetheless important, she found that she really loved learning about magic. There was so much about magic that wasn't understood yet. It was temperamental and powerful and beautiful. There were no rules saying Grand Wizards had to be from the Crystal Cliffs. All they had to do was pass a test. A mysterious test that no one who had previously done it was allowed to talk about.

As Gem's time in the Grimlands grew shorter, she realized she wanted to become Grand Wizard. Or, at least try to.

But that meant fWhip would become the ruler of the Grimlands, a title he had not wanted in the first place.

How could Gem do that to her own brother? They were supposed to be there for each other and tell each other everything. Yet she was too afraid to tell fWhip that he would have to become the next ruler of the Grimlands. He had no other siblings to pass the title off to.

Gem was really planning on telling fWhip the news, really. Her parents were tight lipped as always and Gem knew that, if she didn't tell fWhip, he'd find out when their parents deemed necessary. AKA, the day of his coronation.

A week before leaving for the Crystal Cliffs and when Gem's tutor left to prepare back at the Academy, Gem finally found it in herself to take a day off. After months of non-stop studying, it felt weird to not be holed up in her room. The guilt still clung to her, but Gem tried to ignore the feeling and her tutor's voice in her head telling her to study.

Gem made her way to fWhip's room. They had a lot to talk about. She worried about how fWhip was holding up. He had never been one to start new friendships. He was friendly with everyone he met, yes, but he often wasn't the one to initiate a friendship.

fWhip's bedroom was empty. Odd.

"Are you looking for Prince fWhip?" A passing maid asked, holding a mop and a bucket of water. "He's out with Prince Sausage of Mythland. He should be back for supper."

"Sausage?" Gem repeated, wrinkling her nose. She had never thought fWhip would willingly hang out with their younger cousin. "Since when?"

The maid thought for a moment. "Mmmm, since the Winter Festival?"

All through that week, Gem tried to find fWhip alone to talk to him about the future of the Grimlands. But each time, he was either talking to their parents excitedly over supper about his excursions with Sausage or out on said excursions with Sausage.

Sneaking out of bed was nearly impossible with the increased security in the castle (who knew housing a maybe-future-Grand-Wizard was a risk).

On Gem's last day in the Grimlands, fWhip didn't even show up to wish her goodbye. He and Sausage were apparently too busy froliking through the nearby forest having the time of their lives.

Gem managed to hold her tears until she was in the carriage. Halfway to the Crystal Cliffs, she realized she could have written a letter to fWhip detailing everything. But now it was too late. The Academy had a no distractions policy while school was in session—no letters were allowed to go in or out.

Gem probably should’ve felt bad that she hadn’t tried harder or earlier to talk to fWhip but she didn’t, not really. fWhip had obviously found something more important to do than hang out with her. And Gem just had to deal with that.

~~~

fWhip couldn’t fall asleep. So he was sitting by his window, staring at his reflection in the window that only reminded him of Gem.

He glanced at the red scarf hanging from the back of his door and sighed. He missed his sister even though she had just gone back a week ago ahead of schedule. Throughout the year, she was at the Crystal Cliffs and during the summers, she was holed up in her room studying. Even on their fifteenth birthday this year, she was hardly around for the festivities.

But missing his sister wasn't the only thing that was keeping him awake. He had been walking around Eastvale this afternoon when someone stopped him in the streets, mistaking him for Gem. It wasn't an odd occurrence by any means but it was the topic of conversation that was.

"I heard you're planning on becoming Grand Wizard—I wish you all the best!" That was what the villager had told him.

fWhip didn't even know what that meant. After doing some asking around, he figured out that it was like being a ruler. Which only meant one thing: fWhip would become the ruler of the Grimlands. Why hadn't Gem told him about this? Why did the people of Eastvale know this before him? It only made him spiral throughout the entire day and now here he was, thinking about Gem when she probably was too busy to wonder about her poor baby brother.

And that was when fWhip snapped. He couldn't stand looking like his soon-to-be Grand Wizard sister (fWip had no doubt she would become the next Grand Wizard because he knew that when Gem put her mind to something, she could do practically anything).

People would constantly be mistaking him for her and it would only remind him of everything he wasn't. She was ruler material, he wasn't. She was hard-working, he wasn't. She was a wizard, he wasn't.

fWhip bounded out of his bedroom and to the bathroom where he took the nearest pair of shears and took his braid into his free hand. He would look like Gem no longer. And so fWhip chopped off his braid.

#muuum-am-i-adohhhpted #empiresblr #empires fine 2022

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