Accusing... then Collaborating

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Erika had been missing for days now. That wasn't what alarmed Elsa: Erika had been missing off and on for most of her teenage years, often running off with someone. She'd been on something of a "shame spiral" for the past few months as it was, so this could very well just be one more version of her acting out. what worried Elsa was that she hadn't been able to get a good read on her sister in some time. She'd always been able to do so before, so for that to suddenly become blank was... suspicious.

Suspicious enough that Elsa knew she had to confront someone. There was only one person in the entire school that Elsa knew had a motive and a reason for doing this to her sister. One person who could possibly have hunted down Erika and put her somewhere beyond Elsa's reach. That is, assuming that anyone in Bellefonte had anything to do with this at all.... unless one of Elsa's many admirers had something to do with this. But wouldn't Erika have told Elsa?

It didn't matter what the real reason was: Elsa still had to do this anyway. Even she couldn't quite define what the relationship between Ellen Banks and Erika Bellefonte actually was, but she knew enough to know that it was the kind of relationship that meant that each knew each other and kept tabs. She'd heard the expression "frenemy" before, and she'd figured that whomever used it had clearly known these two.

When Elsa arrived in the dorm, she didn't wait. When she was mad, truly emotionally mad and upset, she became even blunter than usual. Elsa could be tactful, bitchy, yes, cruel and downright "Lannister" as someone had once flung in her face, but she knew how to wield bluntness. And in this case, she wielded it like a battle-ax, heading straight for Ellen's door and knocking, her mind already extended to read the other girl, digging deep enough that Ellen would have no doubt not only that her mind was being read but that someone very much in particular was doing it.

"Ellen, we need to talk about Erika," said Elsa, her voice flat, dangerously, emotionally flat, the kind of flat made of slick ice that led to a lethal fall off a precipice.

[Ellen Banks]

Ellen prided herself on being a logically person, not one quick to panic needlessly if she panic she losses focus and if she looses focus that’ll just make whatever the problem happens to be ten times worse, she knew that keeping a cold head under pressure was the perfect way of getting past it, and when ever she finds herself in a not very favorite situation, she simply pauses, closes her eyes, takes two or three measured breaths and resumes the activity, however in recent days, this approach didn’t have the effect that she would have liked. No amount of deep breaths in the whole can alter the cold hard fact that Erika after telling Ellen she would be back after the weekend had now been missing for quite a few days longer, she tried to keep herself calm, she tried not make herself worry tried to convince herself that things were fine, but the more time passed the more hard it was to stay like this.



As usual she was curled up on top of her bed reading through finally finish this chapter she was stuck on, when the door slammed open and Elsa Bellefonte stood there and it didn’t take a genius to figure out she wasn’t in the best mood.



God, the school really didn’t want her to finish this book did they?



Elsa and Ellen had a strained relationship it was fair to say, obviously given that Ellen was Erika’s best friend she spend more then ample time in the company of her twin sister, even though she was Erika’s sister by birth over the years, Ellen couldn’t help but note that the two shared some similar approaches to dealing with problems, She was conformation, uncompromising just like Ellen and she can remember in their youth when ever she had a disagreement with Elsa she could end up arguing for hours on end. Secretly Ellen enjoyed the rare challenge, given that thanks to Elsa’s irritating mind-reading power, she could always tell when Ellen was trying to use her power on her and therefore repel it.



Of course she was worried about Ellen, in truth she really should have seen this coming, Elsa was Erika's twin sister, so it was only naturally for her to be somewhat alarmed by her sisters vanishing act and of course Ellen had a history of causing mischief with and without Erika, so Ellen was always going to be the number one suspect.



Sill Ellen didn’t practically enjoy the way in which she choose to make her presents known, honestly was the art of good manners lost on everyone in this school. At first Ellen didn’t acknowledge her instantly, she kept her eyes glued to her book insisting on finishing the page she was on first, before closing it reluctantly and turning to Ellen “You know traditionally people say hello.” Ellen softly noted not letting the Bellefonte twin call the shots here. Ellen let her feet swing loosely around into they were on the floor and she was looking at Elsa, Ellen tutted annoyed when she felt the old familiar sensation of Elsa looking through her mind, it was understandable, but she still had no business reading through her mind like a book “Before I answer anything, I would prefer if you didn’t do that, kindly keep out of my private affairs. Thank you” Ellen said trying to keep her mind off, intensely private issues and secrets and generally trying to fight her off

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"Traditionally people aren't accusing someone of kidnapping,' said Elsa, again throwing tact to the wind. She watched Ellen carefully, wishing that the other girl gave something, anything away with her body language. But Ellen was a closed book, and even though Elsa could read the pages through the cover, that didn't make it any easier to do so. Especially given that this was Ellen Banks, who had likely gotten training since birth to deal with intrusions like Elsa's, and, well, they'd known each other since both had manifested, since before, even, which left Ellen as probably one of the best people on the planet at blocking out Elsa if she wanted to.

That didn't stop Elsa from purposefully searching Ellen's thoughts, trying to dig into information about her sister. It would be about the equivalent of attempting to read over someone's shoulder when they knew you were doing so and kept wiggling in response. Didn't help that Ellen's mouth could practically keep up with her words, meaning that instead of the repeat that Elsa was used to, she got something like an echo.

"Yes, because clearly I should take the word of Ellen Banks at face value and believe everything she would say," said Elsa. She locked eyes with Ellen for only a few moments before purposefully pulling her eyes away. Technically Elsa could attempt to block Ellen's power herself, but, well, Elsa didn't want to piss off the Banks girl more than she already had. Just because she knew that only a blunt attack like this would give her anything didn't mean that Elsa wasn't aware of the repercussions. "Erika's missing; you're... close to her," she said, speaking flatly. "And we both know that you're one of the few people at this location that is capable of removing someone if they truly bothered you," Elsa again flicked her eyes to Ellen, diving deeper into her brain, clicking on everything remotely related to Erika. The colder twin knew that this would undoubtedly piss Ellen off, and that Elsa was about to get that book slammed shut and possibly flung into her face.

She just didn't care.

[Ellen Banks]

Kidnapping….Now that one single simple word gave Ellen pause to think, it seemed to echo somewhere in her head, she was trying to stay calm about the situation, it would do neither her nor Erika any good if she jumped to conclusions and preferred to imagine that Erika was ok and she was just in the mists of relaxing a little TOO hard, but relatively fine, she didn’t want to entertain the horrifying notion that something might has happened to her. Ellen was quite proud of the fact that she mastered the skill of never outwardly showing her emotions, it was a necessary skill for Ellen’s constant manipulation, she wouldn’t get very far if Ellen wore her heart on her sleeve, and her emotions being apparent just by looking at her, Ellen was quite proud of this, in other life she could have been quite the actress, when she needed to be sad she played sad, when she needed to play little miss goody-too-shoes you couldn’t possibly find a sweeter girl, friendly to staff and peers alike, doing all she can to earn their trust. It was all apart of the game, and Ellen had b playing for quite a long time.



If this was the first time Elsa tried to read her mind then Ellen would have no doubt she would sweep into her mind like a knife through butter, however they had been around each other for most of their lives and they had what you could call a “Anything, you can do I can do better” relationship, constantly trying to out do the other and as a result Ellen had been a victim of having her inner most thoughts exposed which as one could easily imagine was a great indignantly for Ellen so over the years she had taken great steps to close off her mind to defend against such assaults. She had locked the door, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel Elsa trying to kick it down with all of her might, she couldn’t prevent Elsa hearing surface thoughts but Ellen wouldn’t let her go any deeper then that.



Of course Ellen had another reason for making sure Elsa didn’t gain access to her personal thoughts…..





If the mind was indeed something like a computer and Elsa choose to view the file marked: Erika Bellefonte then Elsa would be practically overwhelmed by not only cherished childhood memories, but also certain thoughts about her and Erika. Certain thoughts and desires that if Ellen could would lock up with chains never to see the light of day, if anyone knew about her feelings towards Erika, she was convinced it would bring about her downfall. She would lose her aura of power, her family would disown her and if those things were taken away from her, what did she have left?



“You never did trust a word I say did you?” Even though she had some help with her powers Ellen could always get the sense that even before her powers manifested, that Elsa always had her eyes on Ellen eternally suspicious of her and her motives even before Ellen Banks became. THE Ellen banks and her subspecies were confirmed as the years went by. Ellen stayed silence for a moment tilting her head and pursed her lips and looked at her with a almost good natured show of interest as if legitimately curious by this idea “So, according to you just because I had one public argument with Erika. Erika who you just noted is my closest friend by the way, I hashed some kind of elaborate scheme to have her drop off the planet. All because we had just one disagreement. Do I have that straight?” Elsa clearly didn’t understand how Ellen operated as much as she thought she did. Ellen had thought about “Getting rid” of a few irritating elements in her life certainly (A certain Miss. Cox springs to mind) But then again who didn’t? In theory it was fun but it would be quite harder to pull off (Even though if Ellen really tried, she could possibly do it) If she was to make someone vanish, she wouldn’t do it right after her and Ellen’s victim had a well publicised spat with, if one day Ellen and her were screaming at each other and the next day her foe disappeared, Ellen would naturally enough be asked some very awkward questions. Clearly the way to go about it was to pretend to make up with the person and then simply wait, Ellen was a patient woman and she could pretend to be the victims best friend for six or nine months, to shake hands with one hand and sharpening the knife with the other and then when the opportune moment arrived when their argument was just a foggy memory, Ellen would strike and then turn on the waterworks when necessary. “Clearly you’ve begun to panic and created a story in your head in order to make sense of what happened, it’s only natural. I just happen to fit the narrative.” Ellen stated matter of fact, remaining calm on the outside but inside her blood was boiling, so Erika goes missing for a short time and Elsa treated her like a common criminal? Has she not proven time and time again that she considered Elsa almost like a sister? That the thought of hurting her was repulsive to Ellen Ellen was insulted by Elsa’s implication



“Besides..” Ellen began effortlessly began to speak in a soft velvety soothing voice that was full with hypnotic suggestion while she herself focused on locking eyes with Elsa. It was true that Elsa would no doubt know what Ellen was trying to hypnotize her, but that didn’t mean hypnosis was out of the question. All that meant was Ellen needed to focus all the more and put a little bit more effort into it that she was used to. Really it was for Elsa’s own good. If Elsa didn’t leave soon then Ellen might be forced to do something that they both would regret. “You don’t really believe I’m capable of that do you? In fact as you begin to relax and allow yourself to become nice and warm and pleasantly sleepy, you feel embarrassed you ever implied something like that. Apologizing would be sensible thing to do wouldn’t it Elsa?” It was just a matter of Elsa’s will power and if she could concentrate on reading Ellen’s mind while resisting Ellen’s hypnosis…and if Ellen could focus on hypnotizing her while repelling her advances on her mind. It was no doubt a strain on both of them. But Ellen wasn’t going to be the first one to crack.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"Not always, no," argued Elsa. She didn't believe Ellen all the time because she wasn't a fool. Ellen said and did whatever would be best for Ellen; as soon as you realized that, the better. Right now, that meant attempting to confuse Elsa. The various thoughts were a bit  confusing, since Ellen did seem to be making some attempt at having them be so. Elsa though she read something about her sister, but it was an old memory, one that had nothing to do with the current situation. Elsa didn't touch it; what was between Ellen and her sister was between the two of them; if they wanted to share, they could do so willingly. Elsa respected Ellen; she just didn't like her.

That respect led her to pulling back slightly as Ellen laid out a very logical argument for not suspecting her. Elsa did have to admit to having panicked slightly and just thought of the first possible suspect. She also knew that her outright attack had produced results. If Ellen had done this, she would have been a little more subtle about finding it, and less logical in the argument, or more logical, for that matter. The fact that Ellen then threw out, at least mentally, a few more people she wouldn't mind disappearing nearly had Elsa chuckling.

"You're right; you wouldn't have a very public fight first; you're too good for that,' agreed Elsa, addressing the thoughts and nodding. She clicked her tongue at the word panic though: "It's not panic. You and I both know that subtlety would have put you on your guard and---" and Ellen's thoughts were shifting. That repulsion almost felt physical, but Elsa saw Ellen's next move coming.

Sometimes she wondered why people didn't seem to realize that. When you read minds, you knew what someone was thinking, which meant you knew when they were going to do something like this. Elsa knew that Ellen was about to start attempting hypnosis moments before she began. Of course, she couldn't quite marshal her complete defenses in time to stop the first few words. It helped that Elsa already believed Ellen was innocent; she didn't mind relaxing a little either. She did arch her brows as Ellen continued.

"Oh, I am so sorry I ever accused you, Ellen. It's not that you're sadistic or powerhungry or anything else that I respect in a person or anything. It was so wrong of me to assume that one of the people with power and motive would do it," Elsa met Ellen's eyes, purposefully pulling back to just scanning thoughts to better prepare her static. "Really, Ellen, I'm almost insulted. I read minds; that means I know when you're trying to hypnotize me," she wasn't going to admit that if she hadn't been actively delving into Ellen's mind she would've been fooled for the first, or that she'd started to succumb until her willpower kicked in. "So let's make a deal: you don't try that with me; I won't mindrape you, and you won't insult us both by attempting your most blatant hypnotism on me?" She smiled a tight smile then, hoping that this didn't devolve into a battle of wills...

...because Elsa wasn't positive she'd win against a fully pissed off Ellen Banks.

[Ellen Banks]

There's one thing Ellen Banks was good at was thinking with her head as oppose to her heart. She found emotions just clouded her judgment as it was clearly clouding Elsa’s. Ellen always wondered why people seemed to disapprove of the fact that every decision she made benefited her in some way and she had a ruthless survivalist way of conducting herself. After all if she wasn’t looking after herself who was? It might not be particularly nice but the world was a selfish place with no time for sentiment, divided into winners and losers. Sentiment and helping selfless good deals were on the losing side and Ellen would rather die then be a loser, she was born and bred a winner and she proved that every day. She was a Banks. And a Banks never lose.



She was glad to see that her words were getting through to Elsa, she was a tad bit concerned that in Elsa’s clear panicked she was devoid of seeing reason in her quest to learn the whereabouts of her sister. Ellen was already mentally preparing herself for some kind of long lasting argument, in fact Ellen almost hoped that she would, Elsa over the years had proven herself to be quite the formidable opponent and she always enjoyed the challenge she presented her, there were cut from the same cloth Ellen and Elsa at times Ellen considered her a more suitable Banks then a Bellefonte, she certainly had the stubborn streak that most of Ellen’s family seemed to have, Ellen had some potential who knows? Maybe if she allowed Ellen to take her under her wing and work out a few of her kinks she could even be on Ellen’s level (MAYBE)



“I’m the best for a reason Elsa” She felt a twing of irritation when Elsa made it apparent that she was still turned in to Ellen’s thought process but after years of it Ellen was used to it by this point and in a round about way it somehow convinced Elsa of her innocents. Ellen Banks innocent. Ellen almost smirked at the thought that was certainly rare.



Ellen knew from the moment Elsa opened her mouth that she had fought against Ellen’s enchantment. She’s been hypnotizing people long enough to recognize when someone was in trance and when they were faking, there was certain attributes a tranced out victim always showcased for a moment it seemed to be working as Ellen noticed that Elsa’s eyes were beginning to glaze over and her body was relaxing, but Ellen knew it wouldn’t be long before she snapped herself back to attention and her eyes regained focus. It was fair to say that Elsa had an unfair advantage, Ellen’s power worked best on the unsuspecting mind slowly lulling and relaxing them without them even realizing it was happening, they could be listening to Ellen take about homework and before they knew what was going on they were under her spell, for obvious reasons this couldn’t possibly work on Elsa as she would always see it coming, Ellen had practically a book of various tricks and ploys to hypnotize someone but it wouldn’t matter because even before Ellen opened her mouth Elsa’s guard would be up.



Of course Ellen could always try brute force and simply overwhelm Elsa’s resistant and mind with her hypnosis, it was crude but it certainly was effective, the problem was if she tried to go that route by the time Elsa was under her spell, Ellen would be far to drained and tired to follow up on it, as that took a lot of energy. Of course Ellen didn’t expect it to work, but it was more to deliver a message then anything else. “I think we both know that it wasn’t exactly ineffective” Ellen stated calmly “Consider it a warning shot” If Elsa wanted to duel then Ellen was more then willing to do just that, Ellen’s will was more then up to the task, recently she’s been dying for a challenge and striking a humiliating blow against a long time foe was more then appealing, her eyes narrowed as she considered Elsa’s peace offering, could she be trusted to stay out of her mind? One thing about the Bellefonte was that their word was their bond if it was the other way around Ellen would consider this the perfect moment to strike, but Ellen realized that if she refused Elsa offer and went ahead with teaching her something about manners that she clearly needed to be taught she knew that there would be no holding back from Elsa’s end either and even though Ellen was even remotely intimidated by her and she believed totally that she would be able to best Elsa in a battle of wills, she would be foolish to ignore the obvious threat she posed to her innermost thoughts and secrets and Ellen wasn’t going to risk those for an argument over a mild understanding



A true warrior knew what battles were worth fighting for, and this wasn’t worth fighting “I see no problem with that? We certainly don’t want things to turn ugly from a mild understanding do we?” Ellen said with a predatory false friendly smile on her face. The implication was clear. Ugly for you. “So I assume you wanted to talk about Erika. Even though there isn’t much to talk about. She probably told you the same thing she told me, but I wouldn’t worry. If Erika needs a few more days to blow off steam then I see no problem with that

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa fought back a snort as Ellen declared herself the best. The best wouldn't completely alienate everyone around her. Elsa had several people that she could call upon for various reasons, whether through blackmail or through actual relationships. She was tempted to knock down Ellen's confidence, but that was the appeal; it was what made Ellen a more useful ally. Destroying it would therefore be counterproductive. Best to pretend like the other girl had more of the upper hand, for now. As if Ellen didn't realize that the Bellefonte twins had the ability to fuzz her hypnotism enough to make it difficult even without taking into account Elsa's formidable willpower.

A warning shot? "Warning heeded, and you should consider mine the same," she replied, keeping her voice even. She kept scanning too, her lips twitching. Ellen thought, thought far more than the average person. Sure, her thoughts were a little curvy and muddled, but Elsa knew how Ellen thought. It was like trailing a fox through a path in the woods: you both knew the path somewhat; the fox knew it better. But the hunter knew what a fox would do and how it would move. The question was just who would end up winning in the end, and this fox had teeth.

"You won't strike," said Elsa, rolling her eyes. "There's no reason for you to waste your effort over something so petty. Besides, we've a common goal here. Like you say: I'm interested in what happened to Erika. She," Elsa bit her lip, but she needed to say this much to Ellen at least. Not like the Banks girl wouldn't already know. "She'd been talking about leaving, dropping hints that this was getting to her and that she wanted to run away, possibly with Everett. Far away. Did she tell you anything about leaving? She packed some, but I don't think it was enough." Elsa paused, wondering if she'd just told Ellen too much. But she needed an ally, and letting a Banks in was better than waiting for one to crawl up behind you and attempt to stab you in the back.

[Ellen Banks]

Alienate? On the contrary, Ellen was quite skilled at working with people. What would she do without her pawns dotted across her chessboard or her puppets dancing to her tune. Elsa should really know That Ellen could be the sweetest girl in the world, when she needed something from someone. Only a few people knew her true nature to the general population of the school, if people had no concept who she was they would see this pretty girl walking down the corridors with a smile on her face ex with manners on par with royalist, and maybe even pausing to help a younger student. It’s only after it was too late did people know Ellen’s true nature. She was a manipulative con artist of the highest order and if need be she could be persuasive as the devil himself. Elsa was making the fundamental mistake of trying to out think her but she knew for a fact that Elsa wouldn’t try anything. They both knew that if Ellen REALLY tried she could have Elsa wrapped around her finger. So Elsa should be careful,



“Likewise” Ellen said simply she wondered how dangerous Elsa would be, she would ruthless no doubt about it. But Ellen always considered her Ruthless yet to an extent, The evidence suggested that she had her limitations, in all the years she had known her she never delved far enough and exposed her secrets. So she had some form or mercy, this was why Ellen thought she had an edge over her. She had some small form of mercy. Ellen didn’t. If you had your foe in a weak state, you don’t back off you press against any advantage you have. If Ellen had her powers, the idea of discovering the entire schools personal secrets for her own personal gain was enough to make her salivate. By right Elsa should be the most feared person in the school and Ellen should be rumble beneath her feet a long time ago. The fact that wasn’t showed Ellen that she had far too much, true she was ruthless and true Ellen heard she dabbled in blackmail, but not to the extent which she COULD and that was her downfall. A Fox showed no mercy. A Bank showed no weakness and no body could predict the movement of a wild animal.



But Ellen was momentarily taken by surprised by this new revelation, this information was new to her. Leaving? Running away? Erika had failed to mention anything like that, the way she was talking it she had lead Ellen to believe she was just going on a short break for the weekend. Was there anything that Ellen had missed? Why didn’t she looked for any sign of desist? Ellen was always good at detecting those type of things and then it occurred to her….Her guard was off, she had let her defenses down for a moment and Erika took advantage of it. It made sense, Erika knew about Ellens….feelings and used that information to her advantage. She knew she was one of the few people that Ellen felt emotionally attached to and Ellen’s judgement was clouded by sentiment. Ellen was almost impressed but more so irritated, but she wasn’t going to dwell on that. It was a learning experience, she didn’t dwell on mistakes, She learned and she adapted and made sure it would never happen again



Ellen actually stood up at this with a raised eyebrow. “She told me she was going back to the bellefonte house for the weekend, She didn’t tell me anything about Running away or leaving or Everett” Ellen’s eyes flashed dangerous for a moment as you can practically feel her distaste for Everett in her voice. Everett of course, she should have known he had something to do with it, he was nothing but trouble. almost everything that has gone wrong for Ellen this year could be traced back to him. “Do you have any idea where she might be? You’re her sister Does she have any secret place she like to go or anything like that? If she did run away with Everett we might be in luck. Erika would have no doubt prepared for us following her, but Everett on the other hand is a moron, if there’s a lead we can follow it'll be him,he must have left some kind of bread crumbtrail, maybe told some friends. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was still working in the kitchens.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

The information was new to Ellen; Elsa didn't need to really read her mind to see as much. Ellen's facial expression didn't change all that much, but the two of them had grown up together. The Banks girl was going to take it all in stride, of course. Ellen even brought more information to the table: stating that Erika had mentioned leaving to head to the Bellefonte house. "Well, obviously she didn't head there," replied Elsa, though with only the barest minimum amount of malice. It wasn't as though Ellen wasn't attempting to share and work with her, and Ellen had likely already come to the same conclusion.

Nothing about leaving or running away or... well, Elsa had heard that Ellen didn't care for Everett, but people said Hitler's name with less hate in her eyes. The Bellefonte couldn't help but raise her brows slightly in response to that, momentarily taken aback. Not enough to miss Ellen's question, and she shook her head. "So it sounds like we actually need to look for Everett," Elsa sighed. She generally avoided Everett for... reasons. The last thing Erika needed was her twin making moon eyes at the man she genuinely loved, who genuinely loved her in return.

Elsa pursed her lips for a few moments. "Everett will be easy to track, assuming she's with him. There's Felix too, but, well, the radio's still working..." so Felix was likely still around. Elsa let out a deep, slow breath, considering. "We may have to cover for her..." it wouldn't be the first time that they had, though it had been several years since they'd managed as much. This wasn't Erika rolling around in the mud or something, but her actually having disappeared. "It's just..." Elsa hesitated, but she figured she had to trust someone. Ellen Banks was a fox, or maybe a hunter, but she was still, technically in alliance with them. "I haven't been able to read her, and you know our range is impressive." Which could mean all sorts of things...

[Ellen Banks]

You know, Ellen was trying really hard to be cooperate with Elsa, Elsa wasn’t exactly Ellen’s favourite person and this was a fact Ellen was sure she was aware of and how hard this was for Ellen so she really would appreciate it if Elsa made this just a little less painful. But oh no? She couldn’t put away her ego for just one second? She couldn’t resist making an ever so witty comment could she? Oh, she must be loving this? What was she implying? That she was tricked? Bamboozled? That Erika easily made her dance to her tune like a puppet on a string? What happened was a moment of weakness for Ellen. It was less Erika tricking her and more Ellen letting her guard down. It would never happen again. Elsa most likely have made millions of them and yet she was mocking her because she made one? Pure arrogant. “Clearly.”

Of course Ellen had said Everett name with such distance, before Everett came along, she and Erika were practically inseparable as close as two friends can be, and then Everett just had to get his claws in her and slowly turned Erika against her which lead to their big fight and putting some horrible cracks into their relationship and now he’s manipulated her into running away, she always knew he was trouble.

“Everett, Felix. Anyone. We talk to anyone that could possibly be considered close to Erika. Someone has to know something, it’s just a matter of finding the right person” As Ellen spoke her mind was going through the file in her brain marked “Erika’s friends” Trying to figure out who might have a motive for running away with her and could crack under pressure easily. “Oh well that goes without saying.” Ellen said to the suggestion they need to cover for her. “Even though you might need to work on a few things, your hair, your mesmerism, her closest friends will be able to tell who you really are in a instant. But I can help you with that.”

That last comment about her range almost caused Ellen to let her panic to boil over. She has guessed that, this was the case but still the info was just a little concerning to her. Ellen knew that the twins connection was quite strong indeed so that spoke volumes, but then the she regained her composure and her usual sense of logically mindset kicked in “Of course you can’t read her” Ellen said in a condescending tone of voice as if she was talking to a child If I was Erika and I didn’t want to be found that was the first thing I would try to get rid of it. After all you can find her practically in a instant using it and that something she certainly doesn’t want to happen, so she needed to get rid of that as soon as she could. If you could reach her then you wouldn’t have come to me in the first place now would you?

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"Agreed," said Elsa, nodding. it actually scared her a little that she and Ellen were on exactly the same page regarding this. That they both knew what to do. Elsa had thought of this before, realized this might be something she would have to do. Had Ellen? Somehow, Elsa thought that to be so, if only because she and Ellen thought far, far too similarly for it not to be the case. Go without saying, her hair, her mesmerism, closest friends. "I'm not letting you hypnotize me, so I sincerely hope that's not what you're thinking," Elsa had to point out, giving Ellen a raised brow. she didn't care if they had to cover for Erika or not; she was not going to let Ellen Banks hypnotize her. Hell would freeze over, be taken over by penguins, and be turned into the most adorable theme park in existence before Elsa Bellefonte allowed Ellen Banks to hypnotize her.

Though they did panic together, which only confirmed Elsa's suspicions that they thought entirely too much alike for either of their good. Which made Elsa tolerate the tone, if just. Ellen was worried, she was doing exactly what Elsa would do in the situation. Worse, it all made sense, too much sense, which meant that Elsa had to again say: "I agree," adding a sigh and running her hand over her face. "Erika could be using our shielding to block me out; she's done that before when she doesn't want me prying. Which would make sense if she's away with a boy or doing God knows what." Which struck Elsa as the most likely possibility. the others were...

Elsa looked to Ellen, silently communicating that hope, that this was just Erika running away and being emotional that something... something deeper, something worse hadn't happened to the closest person in both their worlds.

[Ellen Banks]

She was sure the fact that she was working together with Ellen was horrifying to Elsa as it’s seems like these days, the Bellefonte family weren’t exactly fans of Ellen. But to Ellen forming an alliance with someone that you maybe not on the best terms with for a common goal was common. Ellen does it all the time she practically has the act of tolerating fools and greeting them with a smile down to a tee. She often looked down at her peers and considers them morons, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t pretend to be more then accommodating of their faults.



Ellen couldn’t help but tilled her head back and utter a sharp little laugh at the idea of hypnotizing her into acting like Erika. She supposed on the surface that might as be a good idea and for a few hours it might actually work but in the long term. It was a horrible. Horrible plan and if it was ever discovered what she did she would be tossed out the school faster then she could believe. “You must think that’s how I solve all my problems don’t you Elsa?” Ellen said very amused by the idea “Trust me making you believe you’re someone else isn’t as easy as snapping my fingers, that sort of mental manipulation would take a lot of energy and hours of hypnosis…maybe even days and when Erika does come back I think it’ll be harder to wake you up from that more then anything else. You can’t just snap away those kind of reinforced suggestions. I was just going to suggest that I’ve been in the constant company of her for years on end, so I though I can show you a few things that I picked up on. Unless of course you can spare a few hours of brainwashing in order to act like your sister, but I for one would like to avoid the headache.” Really hypnotizing her caused more problems then it solved and was easily the most complex thing she could do, and then there was massive argument with Erika that they would no doubt had after she found out. Erika was never a fan the way Ellen used her powers she could only imagine how horrified she would be if she totally reshaped her twin sisters brain to act like her.



Still she couldn’t help but note the hopeful tone in Elsa voice. It was clear that she was fearing for her sister’s safety and was almost looking for Ellen to confirm with her for her own piece of mind. Ellen could understand that, she more or less considered Erika as her unofficial sister, she knew she would be destroyed emotionally if something ever happened to her, she could only imagine how her own flesh and blood feels. “Of course.” Ellen said nodding confidently trying to ease her fears and a few of her own in the process. “I wouldn’t think a lot about it, she’ll probably come back in a few days when she realizes what a terrible idea it was to run away, and even if she doesn’t I’ll ask around the school and track her down and you know that I will find out....one way or another. Ellen said getting the plan straight in her own mind “ You know,You make a better Banks then you do a Bellefonte” It was really something to see that Elsa and Ellen were on the same wave length especially given most of her families in tolerance towards deception. The Banks had just one philosophy; Win by any means necessary. The banks were never one to let morals get in the way of achieving their goals.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"no, I don't," replied Elsa, her voice tight. "I'm setting boundaries and making sure that you don't dig into my brain. I know how your power works. I've seen you use it before, remember?" Elsa shot back, barely letting Ellen finish before the words came out of her mouth. Like Ellen shouldn't have expected Elsa to be more than a little worried about hypnotism. They might not be outright enemies, but there was just too much to be gained from something like that. They could come up with something else though, and it looked like Ellen was already moving there. Though Elsa was tempted to say that she didn't need Ellen's help. How could the Banks girl be closer to Erika than her mind-reading twin-sister? But it was possible, and it could be that Ellen noticed things that Elsa just took for granted. "But I'll definitely take any pointers you have to offer. I know that you could certainly notice things that I'd...miss," and yes, that was painful to say. But Elsa acknowledged that Ellen needed help, and that Ellen was quite good at what she did.

Though that next bit, that sounded like so much wishful thinking to Elsa. She couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't going to be just a jaunt for a few days. Something in the back of her mind, in her gut, worried at her. Erika had so desperately wanted to get away from it all, feeling so crushed. who's to say that she hadn't done precisely that now?

The last comment drew Elsa from her thoughts, and she laughed dryly at the comment. "I know," she said, smiling at Ellen. No need to say anything else; they both already knew that much. Elsa thought that was what her family needed: the downright ruthlessness of the Banks family. So that was what she'd bring to the table.

"We're in agreement then: we cover for Erika," said Elsa, nodding. She already knew the answer, but it always helped to get these things out in the open, just in case.

[Ellen Banks]

Accidentally Elsa had stumbled Ellen’s main issue with her. Simply put Ellen always considered herself to be a much better sister to Erika then Elsa ever could be and almost resented Elsa’s being in Erika’s life a lot more then Ellen simply by virtue of sharing DNA with her At times Ellen felt that Elsa took Erika for granted. Where was she when Erika had her heart broken by dozens of relationships? Where was she when she was going through the dramatic relationship with Everett? Not to say that Ellen considered her a bad sister to Erika, on the contrary Ellen had noted the two had quite a loving relationship (Maybe that was part of the problem, Ellen at one point considered the possibility of being subconsciously jealous of Elsa…but then of course logic kicked into gear. Ellen? Jealous of any other living thing? The idea! So she was quick to dismiss that thought) but Ellen just considered herself to be more loving. Simply as that.



Ellen practically had to use all her will not to roll her eyes at Elsa little speech, just when she was beginning to approve of Elsa, her Bellefonte began to show. That Family was so incredibly stubborn at times “I never suggested anything of the sort Elsa.” Ellen replied patiently “I simply said I had a way to help and you jumped to conclusions” She knew full well what response she would get if she often to “Put her under” she had been dealing with her for quite a number of years and one of the most frustrating things about her childhood was the constant failed attempts at hypnosis, but still the significant of that little warning was not lost on Ellen. It showed where exactly her head was. On guard. Alert. Tense. Maybe even a little intimidated? No that was the right word for it…but paranoid of Ellen trying to trick her. As well she should be; if Elsa did suddenly out of the blue gave Ellen permission to hypnotize her then Ellen wasn’t sure if she could resist the temptation of correcting certain aspects of her behavior while she was there.



Ellen did feel some degree of sympathy towards Elsa, but she couldn’t resist feeling a rush of pleasure when Elsa admitted the possibility that Ellen might be closer to Erika then her. She could almost feel how much that one sentence hurt her and she took that admission as some small form of victory, it was true that Ellen had something of a talent for picking up on small things, it was part of what made her dangerous, people had the annoying habit of feeling they could hide their feelings around Ellen, so she learned the significant of body language. A nervous twitch, rapid blinking Little details like that which she picked up made her a cut above the rest.



Taking a deep breath, Ellen moved just a little closer to Elsa “If were going to do this we need to do this right. First off if you’re talking to Everett she never uses his full name. It’s usually Ever or Beverett.” Ellen said with a fair share of scoff. “Having nothing to do drives her crazy she needs to be active as possible hence why she’s involved in so many clubs, in fact she loves early morning jobs, she often wakes at five Am and follows a almost strict routine of singing in the shower writing in her journal and playing her guitar” Ellen secretly hoped that Elsa wouldn’t pick up on the shower thing. “She never straightens her hair and leaves it naturally curled. Which I’m sure you already know, more often then not she wears dresses and skinny jeans, her favourites are black and always carries around a bag of all of essential needs on her person, I’ve literally never seen her without it. She has a thing about physical contact, oh and she always sits cross legged. Are you keeping up or should I slow down?”

[Elsa Bellefonte]

As far as Elsa was concerned, they could put aside their squabbling and dig right into the matter at hand. they needed one another to protect Erika, a joint mission. So while part of Elsa would certainly enjoying going a few more verbal sparring rounds with Ellen Banks, she instead focused upon what the other girl had to say. And soon, Elsa had to fight against the urge to outright stare at Ellen. the information poured out of the other girl, almost as if Ellen had simply been dying to let someone see just how much she knew about Erika and was finally taking the chance. Elsa hadn't actually known the first bit, seeing as she simply hadn't paid attention to how her sister spoke with Everett. The active parts, her routine, that was all something that Elsa knew perfectly well. She figured Ellen knew from those years they'd spent living in close quarters. what she didn't quite understand is why Ellen felt the urge to spew forth all that at her.

"I'm keeping up," Elsa said simply, blinking and meeting Ellen's gaze, dangerous though she knew that to be. "I'm actually a little in awe right now. I do know most of this, but the fact that you know is... impressive," and a little confusing. Why? Why did Ellen know all this about---oh. Oh. Oh. Ellen didn't know that Elsa... yes, that was definitely not something that Elsa was going to even mention. She was thankful that she could keep her emotions under wraps though.

"The hair might be an issue, since mine is usually.... straight," she said, as if Ellen couldn't already tell, "and I need to be around too, though people won't notice me nearly as much as her," she pursed her lips for a moment, not thrilled at having to admit that to Ellen. "So what else do you have? Do you know how she interacts with Felix? I've only spoken with him a few times..."