The Cursed Blessing

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Hero thought that her brother, Nico, was possibly the most annoying brat to have ever set foot on earth. She couldn't think of any other NORMAL human being who was as obnoxious as Nico . Others would say 'They were such close friends, it's a shame that they've grown to dislike each other so much' or 'This animosity between them will pass soon enough'. Personally, Hero thought that these kind of people should just mind their own business.

Since birth Hero and Nico were supposedly 'tight nit buddies', but in their teenage years they had gradually begun to drift apart. Though Hero was older than Nico - by a few seconds - Nico didn't show enough respect for his older sister for her to be satisfied. They were twins born from, of course, the same womb. Yes, they looked very similar, as twins ought to, especially their raven-like, ebony hair and long slender fingers. These characteristics of the two siblings, were most likely the only somewhat beautiful features that they held. They both equally thought that it was almost like a curse for them to look so alike and they absolutely hated it when any one of their relatives commented on how nearly identical they looked. 

Hero was fairly pretty, as was Nico, both had enough beauty - or good looks in Nico's case - for a normal individual to be satisfied. So they were neither extremely beautiful or handsome or very ugly; they were quite normal really, in terms of looks. Hero had a rather bushy mass of hair, though it was only like that when she woke up - generally it was only to some extent that it was bushy. When she wanted to look the best it would be moderately silky-looking (or sleek); for Nico their godparents would have to force him to pat his hair down in desperation of keeping it down. Nico had glasses and his hair was short but messy, very like Hero's was some of the time. Some people mused that if Nico took his glasses off and lengthened his hair, waist-length, that he would look perfectly like his sister. Not one difference. Every one would get confused at which one is which.

They looked much alike but kept, unrevealed, a specific part of their appearance.

Hidden underneath the layers of their clothes a halved birthmark , that was all it could have been, of a strange looking fox lies across their arm. This birthmark was something that no one knew about, not even their godparents, only they themselves. For some reason no one but them saw this peculiar mark. It was like some kind of hidden magic! It was a secret that they both held dear for it was one of the only things nonidentical about them. 

If they put their arms side-by-side (which usually they chose not to) a full picture of the fox (or whatever animal it was) would be seen. Together, it would look like it had been drawn; it was so elaborate you could the small words that spread out over the two arms - you would only be able to make out the words if they were beside each other. 

The birthmark was in the shape of a fox, as said previously, but had the eyes of a wise owl and a tail of snake with a forked tongue in it's mouth (the fox's). All of these animal parts made out the creature to be all of the following: wise and intelligent, cunning and sly, evil and untrustworthy. But how did they connect? How did these contrasting stereotypes link? These were questions that both Hero and Nico would ponder about, though unbeknownst to the other's thoughts.

  •••  

"What time is it?" Hero yawned. 

"Uh, why should I tell you?" replied Nico. He had been awake ages ago, why couldn't Hero be as efficient as he was? Despite the fact she always yapped away about being older than him, she wasn't really much of an older sister

By a few seconds.

If she really was proud of being the 'oldest', then why didn't she use that 'power' more wisely? 

"Oh come on!"exclaimed Hero. "It's not that hard is it? You can just look at the clock and BAM!" She clicked her fingers, no doubt demonstrating the 'BAM!'. "No one will get irritated or annoyed for no reason. You have your glasses on; can't even spare a second for your dear old sister?" she carried on, with a sarcastic air around her.

"Uh huh, yeah...as if you couldn't just as easily look at it. S'not like you have a problem with your eyes or your neck, is it? You can turn your head just fine."

She grumbled, annoyed. 

She just knew that I was right. Ha! See! She doesn't even have a comeback!

A long silence stretched out between them. They weren't used to long conversations - more commonly they just didn't talk at all, despite their godparents urges to 'strengthen family bonds'.

Oh yes, their godparents.

You might be thinking now, why are they living with their godparents instead of their parents? No doubt you have already figured it out already; their parents were dead. The twins didn't really put much thought into who their family was because they already had first hand experience with family. And they really didn't like it. I mean they were twins. 

Also, their godparents were kind enough, they wouldn't want to go looking for their parents even if they were alive. They were very happy with the guardians they had presently, thank you very much.

They might sometimes pass that subject when talking with friends, though the ones that were really close to them wouldn't dare touch on the topic, but they would just vaguely say something about not really caring or say that their godparents made up for their parents.

How they said it would put off these distant friends. They would talk in an offhand voice, quite curtly and brusquely as if they really wanted to change discussion quickly to something - anything - else.

So, they were happy with their normal lives, excepting the fact that they had to endure each other's enjoyable presence. Ha. Enjoyable.

Yes they very much loved each other.