Family Tree (Elsa)

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Erika would doubt Everett now, and Elsa did wonder if she hadn't been partially responsible for it. Part of her wanted to repeat her assertions, to insist that her sister's love would continue to behave like a prince out of a fairy tale. However, Elsa couldn't help but think that her sister would be better having at least a little bit of reality seep into her fantasy. Plus, though Elsa would never admit it, she grew jealous of having to share her sister with anyone, not to mention that Erika had, yet again, gotten the attentions of someone pretty.

Thankfully, there was a snail boy to distract. Elsa frowned at her sister as Erika simply replied with an arched brow. "That is not an answer,' she informed her sister archly. Just as she began moving to dig about and try to determine what this was all about, static settled in. For Elsa, this was something akin to someone suddenly taking the computer screen and throwing a bunch of random coding in it: she could no more decipher what Erika was thinking than she could debug a system. "'Mmm,' is not an answer either," Elsa continued. Erika walked away, and Elsa sighed. Only Erika would think this kind of behavior was cute; Elsa didn't even find it all that acceptable.

Even without the link though, the sisters still thought the same. True, Elsa's thoughts lingered on her sister doing something like this to her in the past. But those thoughts also drifted to more pleasant memories, to the time Elsa had mentioned only a few moments ago, the time when the halls had been filled with the Bellefonte children and their close friends, Ellen ranking among them. Erika had apparently come to a very similar conclusion as her twin though: what was the point.

"Family?" offered Elsa in response, though even she didn't sound all that convinced of it. "But I don't think I really want to spend more time with them either," she hesitated, "though I wouldn't mind spending more time with you. And Abel. Alexis too, if we have to," she looked to the side, noticing that they'd drifted closer to where they'd lived as children, which, really, had only been a few short years ago. How long had it been, five years? Seven? Not more than ten, that was for certain.

Thoughts suddenly snapped into clarity, and Elsa knew that Erika had "reflipped" her switch. Her sister turned to her, tempted to sift through the thoughts for the answers she wanted. Erika had, however, moved on. To a pillow fort. Elsa sighed, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, every bit of her saying that she most definitely did not. "Are you thinking of having a pillow fight? Because you usually win those," by "usually" Elsa meant 'nearly always" but she wasn't going to admit as much aloud.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

A loopsided grin formed on Erika's lips at Elsa's mention of family. Alexis seemed to hold a grudge against the twins, and even though the younger Bellefonte was merely two years younger, Erika still saw the difference in level of experience. Alexis and Erika was by far the most reckless ones, which was a little ironic considering they were actually sort of similar, yet hated each other's guts. And then there was Abel, Mr. Goody-Goody. Eh, he was decent. A little odd, though. But blood beat water any day, right?

''I don't know Elsa,'' Erika started, ''Out of all of them, you're the only one I can stand being around for more than a few hours,'' Erika chirped with a smirk. Truth be told, Elsa was probably the only one Erika could claim she actually liked, and even then that didn't describe her love for her 'baby sister'. ''Guess we just gotta fill this house with kids of our own.''

Erika bounced towards the staircase, but stopped at the sound of her sister's voice. Turning her head towards the brunette, Erika offered her a sheepish grin, ''Where is your sense of adventure?'' she asked, flipping her hair over her shoulders. ''Okay, fine.'' Erika pursed her lips, letting her eyes once again travel over the picture covered walls with a sigh.

Sitting still for long periods of time did not only leave the oldest Bellefonte daughter feel restless, it often affected her mood as well. All the pent up energy made her thoughts travel more so than what they usually did. They travelled to Everett and the scene in the forest, before skipping backwards until their first meeting on the training field. That had surely been interesting, but not once had Erika thought that it would lead into what it had; Erika falling for a member of the staff. Then their second meeting, which had ended awkwardly with him stepping on her toes, her pulling away and then a kiss. Then the boat ride, which... Well, lead to Everett being the idiot he always had been; Swimming with killer whales. Seriously, who did that? And then he had left. And came back. And things had been epic.

Well, until Erika messed it up anyways. Things were awkward with Felix now. She could feel it, even if both of them refused to admit it or even show it. Things were messy and complicated, and like always, Erika decided to run away from her problems instead of dealing with them.

''Do you think people would notice if I left for France for a weekend?'' Erika asked, casting a glance towards her better half, ''Or does that only make me a coward?''

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Yes, Alexis and Erika had quite a bit in common, arguably more than Elsa and Erika, despite their being twins. Though there were times when their personalities bled into one another; happened with twins, especially twins that had mental mutant powers. Still, there were times when Elsa wondered if Erika's dislike of their younger sister didn't have something to do with the fact that Elsa herself didn't get on with the youngest Bellefonte. Then she remembered that felt very self-important, and self-importance was, generally speaking, more of an Alexis or Erika trait.

"You could stand them," argued Elsa, looking over at her sister. "Though you're the only one I'd want to be around for an extended period of time myself, and we both know that there's a much greater chance of you ending up with children then me," Elsa wrinkled her nose up at this. This wasn't an "I'm not interested in love" declaration so much as "children sound like more work than they're worth." Elsa fully believed that Erika and/or Alexis could carry on the Bellefonte line without any help from their other sister, since Abel likely wasn't going to be furthering their bloodline. Then again, there was always adoption to consider.

Or a sense of adventure. "You stole it," replied Elsa dryly. "Or you got all of it when we divided as an egg. Obviously we decided that I'd get all the good sense, and you'd just get a sense of adventure," though Elsa wouldn't have minded a fort if that was just something that Erika wanted to make for no reason. She often entertained her sister, and, if she was being honest, herself by doing stuff like this from time to time.

Because sitting still always seemed to bother Erika, and it made her maudlin. She'd soon be thinking deep thoughts, and, given that this was Erika, they were going to be about Everett. Sure enough, Elsa began to feel the familiar words strolling through her brain. The scene in the forest, skip back then to their first meeting on the training field. Admittedly, that was "interesting," especially because (for some reason) Erika had not thought once that things would've led where they went. Erika falling for a staff member, like they hadn't all seen that coming. Second meeting, complete with awkward, totally Erika toe-trod and then also totally Erika first kiss. that made Elsa wet her lips a little, as if she were riding the sensation instead of just reading thoughts as they passed through her sister's head. Then a boat ride, which apparently involved either swimming with killer whales or talking about them. Sometimes Erika's thoughts were confusing like that: see the slug boy.

Then came another familiar story: Erika thinking she'd messed it up, when likely either of the boys she thought of would jump in front of a car for her. Though Erika was instead thinking of running away from her problems instead of confronting them.

"Depends," replied Elsa, practically answering before Erika could finish, "on who you were inviting. If you invite Everett, it's a romantic getaway, or possibly you two eloping, and yes, that will make me angry. If you invite me, it's a great gesture for your sister, and possibly awesome. If you run away by yourself, that makes you a selfish bitch, and I'll hate you forever," this last was said completely monotone, with about as much sincerity as a good practical joke. Elsa sighed. "You're just getting melancholy because you're not doing anything. C'mon," she gestured for her twin to follow her, "let's go explore an attic or something. I'm sure there's some hidden passages we haven't found," Elsa was heading for the attic, figuring that they could at least move around in there, give Erika something to do that didn't involve thinking about painful stuff in the past.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

''Children?'' Erika repeated, almost a little surprised. Honestly? The idea hadn't ever crossed her mind. Heck, a few months back she was running around with Ellen like a trained little puppy, and Ellen had single-handedly made sure Erika didn't even have something called a love life. And then, well Everett happened. And he bought a house. That was honestly to god one of the most awkward conversations the older Bellefonte had been through. But children? She couldn't quite picture it. ''I don't know about that,'' she said with a sigh, kicking the tip of her foot against the floor panels. ''I mean,'' she started, but trailed off. Would she even make a good mother? No, she couldn't picture it.

Nodding silently, Erika sighed. Right, Elsa was truth be told the only Bellefonte without attitude problems. Okay, Abel wasn't all that bad to be honest, but Alexis and Erika? Completely screw ups. ''Mmm yeah, seems that way,'' Erika shot back with a sheepish smirk.

Erika hated to admit it, but she often worked harder than what she needed to because she felt a strong desire for getting accepted. She had gone through huge parts of her life feeling as if she wasn't worth enough, which honestly was mostly because of Ellen and her degrading way of talking down on the telekinetic. But Erika couldn't push all the blame onto the blonde as Erika had indeed let the blonde push her around. It didn't exactly help having a twin sister who was considered flawless. She felt judged, she felt as if her mother, her friends, people she cared about didn't think she rose to the occasion. Which was one of many reasons as to why she acted as recklessly as she did, and often pretended to be fine when she wasn't. Ack yes, she was a train wreck of insecurities and a strong need to feel accepted.

Stop listening, Erika spoke in her mind. She didn't really mind her younger twin listening, but Erika preferred her wallowing in self-pity to be something she could do in peace. It was one of her weaker, more personal moments. Kind of like masturbating. Everyone did it, but that didn't mean you ran around sharing it.

Running her thumb against the line of her jaw, Erika's eyes drifted away again when her sister started speaking. ''Why would it make you angry?'' Of course, everything else the twin said passed Erika by like yesterday's news. Not only was she a little self-observed, she also had the attention span of a horny rabbit. Well, more so Erika choosing not to question it. She already knew those things. And a trip to France with her favorite person did indeed sound lovely. ''The attic?'' Erika asked, arching an eyebrow. But, she followed her sister nonetheless. ''Oh yeah, maybe we'll find a torture chamber too, and this ends up being one of those lame horror movies.'' Shrugging, Erika flipped her hair over her shoulder, ''Where's the slut when you need to throw someone under the bus to save your own skin?'' Or the asshole. Or the-- No, it didn't matter. There was always a girl surviving, and in this case, Erika hoped there would be two. Needless to say, the attic wasn't exactly her favorite spot of the house. It was dark, it was dusty and it was basically a living death trap for all supernatural, demonic beings. Joy.

Skipping up the staircase, Erika licked her lower lip before stopping, ''Elsa?'' she said, twinning her thumbs before smiling, ''Thank you.'' With that, the telekinetic started walking again, all but ready to toss herself into what would hopefully be a very slow and painful death.

Seriously, she really hated that attic.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa knew all about Erika's desire for acceptance. For some reason Erika was desperate for attention, which Elsa did understand to some degree. That was, after all, a personality trait that had a tendency to bleed over with the twins. Elsa just didn't understand why her sister was always so down on herself. Pretty, vivacious Erika with all the friends certainly didn't need to think that she wasn't worthwhile. She definitely didn't need to take what Ellen said to heart: letting a Banks get to you was sure to get you into sadness. but a flawless twin sister? Honestly? Did Erika have a secret twin sister she kept in an attic somewhere? Thinking that nobody cared, attempting to create a trainwreck just because people will watch the flames...

STOP LISTENING.

Erika probably hadn't meant for that to be in all caps, but it always read that way to Elsa. She clicked her tongue: "it's reading; you're not an audiobook,' she replied. She also broke the connection. Erika could feel that too, the buzz and presence that signaled Elsa's work severing suddenly, leaving Erika alone with her own maudlin thoughts. Erika probably wanted to wallow in her own self-pity, which was a fairly masturbatory act.

"Because it would mean that you left without me," replied Elsa, blinking. "And because I love you and hate it when you decide to hurt yourself like that," it was simple, nearly blunt, but that was sort of how Elsa operated. Erika should be more than used to that by now. They were already focusing on the attic and what lay up there anyway, which suited Elsa just fine.

"Don't worry, neither of us will die unless we find hot guys to screw between here and the attic," replied Elsa dryly, before following her sister. she stopped when Erika did, looking up at her older twin. "You might want to save your thanks for after we discover the torture device mother has been storing up there for years," she dryly replied, before walking up behind her.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Casting somewhat of a glare towards her sister, Erika pushed her bottom lip out into somewhat of a pout, tomato, tomatho, she tossed in Elsa's direction before feeling the familiar broken connection. It did leave Erika feeling a little lonelier than usual, as she was used to having the familiar presence of her sister within her head most of the time, which really just sounded crazy. As if she was schizophrenic. Eh, close enough, right?

It didn't matter though. Some thoughts were better left in private.

''Leaving to elope is hurting myself? I don't know; That sounds pretty damn fantastic right about now,'' she mused, only half seriously, ''Don't worry; I would never leave you behind to deal with all the crazy on your own.'' Not with everything going on; No, sneaking out during the night was more than enough. Erika preferred to keep her loved ones close, so she could at least make sure they were okay and safe. Especially Elsa.

Lifting her hand, as if to pause the conversation, Erika let an amused grin form on her lips, ''Woah, woah, backtrack. You screwing a guy? Wow, Goldilocks, when did you lose your virginity?'' The grin grew broader as the simple image of her sister even kissing someone filled her head. Okay, she wouldn't go as far as calling her sister a prude... Okay, maybe she would. Mostly for the fun of it, because it sort of fit her reserved personality. Not that she wanted any details, or confirmation though. Elsa could spare her those details.

''Hey, maybe it's some kinky sex dungeon. Heck, maybe you'll even dig that shit.'' Erika chuckled, tossing a wink at her sister's back before following her. ''Ah, I can totally see the headlines; Elsa Bellefonte, tragic death by sadistic vibrator. I mean, it could be worse. At least you'd die while having an orgasm.''

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"I meant running away by yourself. Leaving to elope with Everett would just have me sighing and covering for you," and Erika knew that, which just meant that she probably wanted Elsa to say as much. Elsa would. She always would. That was just how this relationship "worked." They were moving on though, both physically and more conversationally. That was until Erika held up her hand.

Elsa sighed, rolling her eyes. "Just because I don't have half a dozen people floating about me like a harem doesn't mean I haven't done anything," she hadn't; that wasn't the point though. Okay, Elsa had technically done some touching, and she understood how the whole process worked. She was pretty sure it didn't count when the guy ended up going off before there was any actual connection though. Elsa was reserved; she wasn't a prude. Heck, she liked most of the same people Erika did... practically all of the same people, for that matter, at least on an attraction level. And don't think that didn't disturb Elsa a little.

sex dungeon; and lo, Elsa was sighing and looking at the ceiling again. Erika would tease her like this. She just waited till Erika got to the punchline, before firing back: "Yes, and then the obituary would read that my sister stood by and watched for some reason. You'll end up surrounded by all the real freaks at the school, and I'm not talking about the slug boy," no, she hadn't forgotten that; Elsa was not one to forget details. She waited while Erika opened the door, hopefully getting to the attic proper. There were disappointingly few torture devices of one kind or another strewn across the place; mostly dust and various items that had been hidden up here, with the hope that Bellefonte children wouldn't damage anything.

"Odd, I don't see any torture devices. They're probably hidden in the back though," drawled Elsa. She sighed, looking over the room and waiting. Erika would find somewhere to go first, and Elsa would follow; that was usually how this worked, and by usually, Elsa thought always.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Chuckling, Erika nodded, ''All right, that's good to know,'' she teased, ''I'd cover for you too, you know.'' It was implied, for both of them, but that didn't mean it hurt to refresh each other's memory. The knowledge of having her sister backing her up when she needed her to was a comforting thought, and as Erika assumed it was for her sister as well. Even if she didn't want to openly admit to it. ''You're my person.''

''You'll always be my person.''

Looking at her sister with somewhat of wistful expression, Erika sighed. She remained silent for a few more seconds as the pair of girls made their way towards the attic. Again, the question about whether or not her sister felt lonely popped into her mind. Erika was no longer sure whether Elsa was being serious when she said she was fine, or if she was simply making excuses. And there was something about Elsa's words that cut a little deeper than it needed to - or even been meant to. Maybe Erika should have taken Elsa's example and just stayed away from love all together? ''All right, all right. Fair enough,'' Erika said as a chaste smile caressed her lips.

''Slug boy?'' Erika asked innocently before chuckling, ''Don't worry, Elsa. It was just some random guy I met -- he saved me from the cops, and then decided to drive me around.'' Frowning, Erika shook her head, ''Okay, point taken.'' It sounded stupid. It really, really did. Oh well, she had made worse mistakes and decisions in her life. She had hung around worse people, and the guy had actually ended up being sort of nice. That was a lot more than what she could expect from a lot of other people. Opening the door, Erika took a gaze around; The disappointment was obvious on her features, but there was only so much she could expect to find. The Bellefonte was rich, and like any other rich family, they were also good at hiding their secrets.

Walking through the room, Erika ran her fingertips over the different furniture and stacked up boxes along the way. It smelled in here, like a mix of dust and mold. It was most likely because there was few windows, and they were usually shut tight. The furniture was covered by white sheets, and the boxes were taped shut. It was oddly tidy for a attic, though that wasn't all that surprising.

Letting her ability tug at the sheets, Erika settled for an old paper box. It reached to her knees in height and was twice her size in width. Bending down, Erika leaned onto her knees and ran the tip of her index finger along the line of the tape, ''Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back: Everything is different?'' Tugging at the end of the tape, Erika slid it over the lid before tossing it aside. Opening the box, Erika started pulling out the items one by one. ''Hey, I think these are old photos...''

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Of course Elsa would always be Erika's person; that was sort of how this whole thing worked. She was half tempted to suggest that her sister was being silly in even assuming that it could be any other way, but Elsa knew better than to completely berate her sister, at least when Erika was doing it to herself. Now, if it were for her actions, like, say, if she'd done something that would get her in trouble with the police, then Elsa would have to say something.

Erika picked up the comment on slug boy, and Elsa raised her brows as her twin repeated it. The brows only raised further as Erika dug her own hole. Elsa waited a few seconds while Erika worked through that herself, then spoke: "What did you do that got the attention of the police? You know things are delicate now, Erika. It's a powder keg and they're just looking for the---"

Yet they were in the attic now, and Erika had always had the attention span of a distracted rabbit. Elsa read her sister for a bit, though it didn't prove to be overly necessarily. Erika was mostly thinking what Elsa expected: that this place was disappointing and it smelled funny. They both had more or less known what to expect when they'd come up here. Hadn't stopped them from actually doing it, nor did it stop them from looking around now. Even Elsa started to move, and she found herself subconsciously imitating her sister, running her hands along some of the dustier pieces.

"Don't we hire people to clean?" Elsa asked, mostly addressing herself. She turned, only slightly surprised to see that Erika had gotten into something else. She sighed, wiping her hand on her jeans as she worked her way over. "Oh yah, more memories to make you sad. And you still haven't told me what you did that got police attention," though Elsa said this more as if it were a familiar reminder than a reprimand. Everyone did stupid things from time to time; Elsa just wanted to know what specifically Erika had done this time.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

''I know,'' Erika said, nodding as a sigh escaped her lips, ''I got drunk. Got pulled over, and Trevor, that his name, used his power to make the officer look another way, and we got out of there. Kinda,'' Erika explained, pursing her lips as she went through the memories of the night. It hadn't been too bad to be honest. As suspicious as Erika had been towards the guy in the beginning, he had turned out to be quite the decent guy, and he had saved her from spending the night in jail, after all. So that was something, right? Flipping through the images with a solemn expression.

''Hey, these aren't too bad. I think it's of mom and dad when they were young,'' Erika said, handing Elsa the stack of old, yellowing pictures. ''Oh!'' Erika expressed as she dug her hands further into the box, pulling out stack after stack. Some of the pictures went as far back to when their grandfather, William was younger. Erika hadn't seen a whole lot of pictures from that time, and quite honestly; Nor had she ever been interested to.

With a sigh, Erika lowered her hands into her lap. She peeked up at her sister before frowning, ''Hey Elsa,'' she began but trailed off. Scrunching her brows, Erika let her eyes wander around the room, studying the details of an old mirror. ''Am I being selfish?'' She already knew the answer, she just... Well, maybe she just needed to hear it out loud. Or for someone to actually tell her for once. Felix sure wouldn't, and neither would Everett. Ellen... Well, Ellen didn't even know what the word meant, so there was that. Elsa on the other hand, Erika believed she would be honest.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa listened as Erika explained. Drinking and apparently driving, but Erika already knew that was stupid, so Elsa wasn't going to remind her. It was enough to scandalize the Bellefonte name, perhaps, but nothing worse than Alexis or, hell, their parents had managed to do in the last few years. It was, in other words, light, and definitely not something that Elsa was going to worry about it. Especially as she was fairly certain that this was Trevor Paige, which did make her think that she might need to contact him to... explain a few things.

Let's just say that Elsa didn't like blackmail.

She put such thoughts aside as Erika talked about the pictures. Elsa leaned over and looked, seeing pictures of a younger, and ostensibly happier, version of their parents. They were still recognizable as the people that Elsa and Erika had grown up with, though Elsa couldn't say whether that was a good thing or not. She moved to help Erika dig, and was pleasantly surprised at the photographs of their grandfather. Elsa grabbed a handful, sorting through them.

Elsa heard the sigh. She looked over as Erika said her name, quirking a brow. Out of reflex, she started reading and paying a little more attention to what she read. A question, followed by thoughts of people, of her own self doubt. Felix wouldn't tell her; Everett certainly wouldn't. Ellen, according to Erika, didn't know what the word meant. Elsa figured this was because "Ellen" and "selfish" were synonymous. Erika believed that her sister would be honest, which made sense. Blunt and honest were certainly words often used in conjunction with "Elsa Bellefonte."

"About what?" asked the younger twin, setting down the pictures and looking over at Erika. "About your relationships? Maybe a little. You are technically stringing two boys along. About your life? Again, a little," Elsa shrugged, "but we're young and you're stupid," she smiled a little as she said that, "so we're allowed to be selfish. Doesn't help that we're rich," Elsa paused, looking down at her picture. "Erika, if you're wanting someone to condemn you and help drown you in that sea of self pity you're wallowing in, then you're asking the wrong person," Elsa looked over at her sister again, "I love you too much to let you drown."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Erika remained silent as Elsa spoke. A smile caressed her lips as she nodded, biting her lower lip. Of course, she knew her sister wouldn't do that; She had quickly learned that there were very few people who did. But that didn't really change the fact that Erika felt as if she got it too easy. Would she have let anyone else off the hook as easily if certain roles were reversed? Probably not. She couldn't help but to feel like it was a little unfair. Her entire life was made up of Erika having it easy -- avoiding punishment and consequences. She didn't want to be like that, and she didn't want to feel like this.

But she couldn't sit around feeling sorry for herself forever either. Maybe it was time she just accepted things as they were, and moved on? She couldn't keep letting her life revolve around boys, let alone self-pity. It wasn't healthy. And she needed to grow up sooner or later, right?

Sighing, Erika turned her attention back towards the stack of photos, ''I've been thinking recently that we should do something to help people take their minds off of the SPECTRE deal. Like for example a sports day, a festival, concert, anything.'' Erika looked at her younger twin sister. ''Senior prank party,'' she added with a smirk, ''We need to get things back to normal, you know? Or at least try.'' It would have to be grand enough to attract the student's attentions, but also secluded enough not to attract the attention of the entire town. It would be a bad idea to notify SPECTRE and give them a reason to investigate. If they even had gotten so far to be in town, that was. But they couldn't know that for sure, since none of them really knew who these guys were, what they looked like...or even what they wanted.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa waited while Erika processed what her twin told her. The temptation to rake through Erika's mind nibbled at the back of Elsa's, and she did lightly skim, just in case there was anything she should be worried about. Erika's thoughts were troubled and jumbled, like bad spoken word poetry or something. Elsa had to fight her own facial expressions, though she wasn't sure whether she wanted to smile or frown. Leave it to Erika to make a tangled mess out of her life... and leave it to Elsa to want to untangle the mess like a cat with a ball of yarn.

Another strand appeared, and Elsa stopped reading when she realized that Erika was about to change subjects. She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling for a moment, wondering if someone had cursed her with an identical twin just to torment her like this. Those eyes landed on Erika soon enough as Erika outlined her plan. To Elsa's surprise, she actually agreed with Erika's assessment, though she winced at the idea of a senior prank party.

"Prom's coming up," she pointed out, shifting and pulling out another album to thumb through. "Do you really think that we're not going to do that? I think Ellen's already prepared her coronation speech," Elsa flipped through a few pictures of a life before her own, pausing to stare at a few of them. "Sometimes I seriously think that we're beyond normal. Our lives are too different for normal. We passed normal the moment we started doing things with our minds," she held up the album, showing an old picture of their parents. "Do you think they were ever really in love? Is that even an option for us?" she looked at it, wondering herself. In truth, Elsa thought she already knew the answer: for Erika, possibly. For Elsa? Well, someone had to marry to keep the family name intact.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Making a grimace, Erika mouthed the word 'prom' with obvious disgust. Surprisingly to many, Erika had absolutely no interest in prom or getting crowned. Heck, if it was up to her, she wouldn't even get nominated, though she had a feeling she would. Especially if her sister had any say in it, but she couldn't exactly blame her younger sister, since Erika had plans on nominating her too. It had always been a given, at least to Erika. ''Ugh, please don't remind me,'' Erika huffed as she rolled her eyes. Yes, becoming prom queen was more Ellen's thing than Erika's. As much as Erika adored attention, she didn't adore that kind of attention.

Gazing over at her sister, Erika nodded, ''Yeah, I know what you mean,'' she admitted with a soft smile, ''But what can you do? I mean, it's not like we have a choice. We were born with powers and now we have to deal with it.'' Turning again, Erika pursed her lips as she glanced over the picture. The corner of her lips turned upwards into somewhat of a mocking smile. Snorting, Erika shook her head, ''I honestly think mother only married father for his money. She's a leech,'' she said matter-of-factly. It had nothing to do with Erika's obvious disgust for their mother. No, the fact that she was so greedy and found it important that her daughters married rich was enough proof for the eldest Bellefonte daughter.

''I like to believe so,'' Erika admitted, though her expression turned somewhat saddening. Erika knew that if she wanted love, she had to go against her mother's 'rules', and the same thing went for the rest of them. ''If we did, and they don't fit the criteria, mother would shun us.''

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa raised her brows at Erika's groan of protest. Why protest at all? Erika was the beloved Bellefonte, usually literally, as Elsa could barely think of a friend her sister had that didn't have a crush on her or some other emotional bond of one kind or another. Elsa still met her sister's gaze as Erika looked to her, the powers conversation having naturally shifted out of the discussion regarding prom. Not a choice, deal with it. "Perhaps, but maybe it just means we're meant for more," mused Elsa, sighing and looking back at the album.

The hatred for their mother was well deserved, for the most part. It certainly described their relationship now all too well. But then? When these pictures were taken and their new life was just beginning? Maybe their mother had just been smiling because she knew she was about to gain access to a prestigious name and a good deal of money, but Elsa didn't believe it, or maybe she just didn't want to. Sometimes she worried that of all the children, she'd inherited the most from their mother. The rest of the family felt so different some times...

"That actually sounds like incentive, doesn't it?" Elsa asked as Erika pointed out that their mother would shun them. "Just think of all the awkward holidays we could miss. So when you inevitably marry a poet or fry cook or something, I'll have to make the decision to support you, and of course Alexis will just take any chance to avoid Mother. I'll probably still give our parents Thanksgiving though," she looked back at the album, "nobody cares about Thanksgiving anyway," she flipped again, staring for a bit. "Then again, maybe you'll get super lucky and find an actual prince or something. I think England still has a few. We'll have to head over there for our Summer Trip," assuming they could manage that, with everything being what it was.