Alto freezes, her heartbeat momentarily erratic from shock, but she quickly gets herself under control. She gives Belle a measured look, her voice forcibly casual.
"Strange...what caused that question?" (Alto)
Belle's features becomes marred by uncertainty, with eyes scanning her face even more fervently.
"Your roots...they look a lot lighter than the rest of your hair." (Belle)
Realization dawns on her.
'The dye...I'm late reapplying it.'
The thought is initially followed by panic, but that soon transitions to a kind of morbid curiosity.
'What would happen if she knew the truth? Would she even recognize me? Part of me wants to know...needs to, even. Maybe coming clean wouldn't be so bad...I don't like lying to her.'
In the end, though, she can't quite bring herself to divulge everything on the spot. So instead, she just nods at the expectant looking Belle.
"Oh...well as it happens, my hair used to be blonde." (Alto)
She studies Belle with a quiet intensity as she responds, watching every little fluctuation in her expression. Belle's eyes widen slightly, something indecipherable flickering across her face. She's silent for a moment before she responds, her voice softer than before. More vulnerable.
"H-Have we met...before? As kids?" (Belle)
Time feels like it stops for Alto as the question lingers in the air, punctuated by the sound of water drops pattering on the ground around them, seemingly heavier than before. Her chest tightens, both from an inexplicable relief that Belle seems to remember her, and anxiety over how she'll react to the truth after all these years.
She gives Belle a nervous smile, her voice hesitant.
"So, you remember me after all...I was honestly afraid to find out." (Alto)
Belle's pupils constrict to pinholes, her voice cracking with emotion.
"A-...Are you really her? The girl from the garden? Alto?" (Belle)
She nods slowly.
"I'm sorry that I didn't t-" (Alto)
WHUMPF!
She's cut off as Belle suddenly slams into her chest, forcing the air from her lungs. Before she can fully process the unexpected action, the sound of choked sobs hit her ears, Belle's hands grasping her back desperately.
"Alto, I...sobs...I'm so...sobs...I'm so sorry!" (Belle)
She blinks, stupefied, and one of her hands absentmindedly returns the hug.
"You're...sorry? I am the one that lied..." (Alto)
Belle shakes her head frantically, wiping her nose with her arm despite the water streaming over both of them.
"That day in the garden...sobs...I just ran away and abandoned you. Sobs...I'm so sorry...sobs...I was scared...my parents." (Belle)
Her eyes widen.
'That's what she's sorry about?'
She tilts her head in confusion, rubbing the still sobbing Belle's back soothingly.
"It's okay Belle. You were a kid, and my parents were to blame. If anything, I'm sorry that you had to go through that because of me. You're...really not mad?" (Alto)
Belle shakes her head, her sobs subsiding.
"No, but...why have you been pretending to be someone else?" (Belle)
She studies Belle's face, full of concern and confusion, but...not anger. A tired sigh escapes her lips, her gaze drifting far away.
"It's...a long story..." (Alto)
*****
Many years later...
Alto stands on a small platform in a forest-green dress, a rare, beaming smile on her face. Her platinum-blonde hair shimmers in the evening sun, and there's an uncharacteristically warm glimmer in her pale blue eyes. Her gaze is locked firmly on the two people in front of her – Belle, clothed in an elegant white dress, her brown hair tied in an intricate braid, and Kenan, appearing deceptively like a respectable young elf, dressed in a vest and his finest pants.
Behind Kenan, Traz stands with his lips twisted into a knowing smirk, and off the side of the platform, a small crowd of people are gathered, staring at Belle and Kenan expectantly. In turn, Kenan watches Belle with a nervous expression, while Belle smiles back at him radiantly. She speaks, her voice full of unrestrained joy.
"Nothing would make me happier...husband." (Belle)
The small gathering erupts into cheers, while Kenan pulls a giggling Belle in for an enthusiastic kiss. Alto watches from her position directly behind Belle, filled with nothing but sincere happiness for her best friend...and Kenan too, she supposes.
Years ago, she finally told Belle everything. What her childhood was like, how much befriending Belle had meant to her as kids, and how much losing it had hurt. How she left her family and why, and of course, why she'd posed as Altera thereafter. Contrary to her expectations, the admissions only made her and Belle closer. Belle even promised to help her uphold her Altera persona...as long as they were themselves in private.
For a few years, things continued as they had before, save the subtle changes in her and Belle's relationship. However, not wanting that secret to become a strain on her best friend's love life, she eventually told Kenan and Traz the truth as well. After a brief adjustment period in the group, things took a turn for the better in her relationships with the guys as well, and she finally started living as her real self again.
Now, after years of using her real name, wearing her real hair color, and not hearing a peep from her parents despite that...she's happy. Beyond happy, on a level she never thought possible.
As the post-nuptial festivities intensify, the bride and groom moving to dance among the crowd, she drifts to an inconspicuous spot in the shade, watching everything with a content smile. Her eyes follow Belle's dancing figure affectionately, an intense warmth coursing through her veins every time her friend smiles or laughs.
'She's so happy, and...I can relate.'
For a brief moment, it occurs to her that her father might very well die from secondhand indignation if he knew that she was happy like this. Roaming around with poor commoners, doing basic labor, experimenting with her magic. The realization causes a smug grin to form on her face. She chuckles to herself, her voice thick with amusement.
"Too bad, Setti. I could live like this forever, and I'd never be as miserable as you made me. In fact, I hope that happens...let nothing whatsoever change." (Alto)
She sighs heavily, leaning back against the trunk of the tree she's shaded under. Around her, people are laughing and dancing, wine is flowing as readily as conversation, and Traz seems dangerously close to convincing the rambunctious crowd to lift the bride and groom into the skies. She admires it all, taking in the cool, sweet-smelling air, enjoying the lush, calming greenery.
Then...everything changes.
The scenery shifts to one of unfathomable carnage. Blood stains the grass and pollutes the air, dead elves litter the ground like fall leaves, their dismembered bodies strewn about like a macabre game of twister, their faces permanently contorted into expressions of despair and agony. Her eyes, frozen in disgust and horror, immediately find a familiar face lying atop a pile of corpses, Belle's once vibrant brown eyes now glassy and lifeless.
In that moment, memories and awareness come flooding back to her, as if she's been broken from a strange trance. She screams, ripping apart the hellish silence as her heart feels like it's being torn from her chest.
"AGGHHHHHHHH! NOOO! NOT AGAIN!" (Alto)
She scrambles across the ground, slippery with the blood of her fellow elves, and falls next to Belle's corpse, grabbing her pale face desperately as tears begin to stream down her face.
"Belle, Belle, Belle, Belle...no, I'm so sorry! Please don't leave me! Don't go...I can't be alone again! Not like before...please!" (Alto)
She throws her head into Belle's chest, crying profusely, the pain like nothing she's ever experienced before, and yet...distinctly familiar.
"Alto?" (Belle)
She freezes, snapping her gaze towards the source of the voice, only to find a smiling Belle in front of her...perfectly healthy. Around her, the nightmarish gore from before is nowhere to be found, the scenery again one of a merry wedding celebration. She blinks rapidly, stunned.
"What..." (Alto)
Belle continues smiling at her, seemingly oblivious to her plight.
"I asked you if you want to join us, silly. After our honeymoon...an outreach trip outside the Kingdom, to help the demi-humans. Kenan and I just learned there's one planned a few years from now! Isn't that wonderful?" (Belle)
Her eyes widen in horror, her body shivering at the visceral experience she's just had. She practically screams in response, her voice raw with desperation.
"No, Belle! Don't go on the trip! You'll die!" (Alto)
But as if her words were never spoken, never meant to be, Belle just giggles, tilting her head with an eerily joyful smile.
"Hehehehe...I knew I could count on my best friend! We're going to have so much fun!" (Belle)
The scenery shifts again, and she suddenly finds herself kneeling on the ground, her hands digging in the earth of a small garden area. Belle is by her side, diligently tending to the surrounding plants. Innumerable primitive tents haphazardly occupy the area, and a few dozen other elves are roaming the grounds, speaking with hundreds of men, women, and children dressed in ratty clothes and sporting grey, furry ears.
Recognizing the scene before her, Alto's heart seizes in fear.
'No, no, no, no, no!'
She tries to scream, to throw herself at Belle, to do...something. Anything that can stop what she already knows is about to happen, but...she can't. It's as if her body is no longer under her control, as if she's an unwilling spectator to some gruesome play starring her cursed twin. She can only watch the same sad story unfold...
Belle glances at her, smiling mischievously.
"So Alto, not to be rude, but...when am I going to attend your wedding? It's been literal decades, and I've never seen you go on so much as a date. Honestly, I'd think you're into women if you hadn't resisted my charms for so long." (Belle)
She raises her eyebrows at her friend, tilting her head in confusion.
"Why do I need to get married?" (Alto)
Belle glares at her indignantly.
"So you can have your person, you know? Be happy!" (Belle)
She shrugs dismissively.
"I am already happy...and you are my 'person'." (Alto)
Belle sighs, somehow looking both pouty and touched.
"Okay, that's sweet, but...seriously. Haven't you even considered it? Are you just going to be celibate your whole life? Please don't depress me by saying 'yes'..." (Belle)
She purses her lips thoughtfully.
"I...do not know. But after what my father tried to force on me, I'm never going to have a romantic partner just because I feel like I should. Maybe one day...if I have with a guy what I have with you, if I'm comfortable with him...I'd consider exploring something romantic. But for now, I am happy just as I am...being your best friend." (Alto)
She smiles at Belle appreciatively, causing her friend to look away in a rare display of embarrassment.
"Alright, alright, I get it...cut it out with the flattery, will you?" (Belle)
Alto chuckles, setting her gardening tools aside. She lies down, resting her head in Belle's lap. She closes her eyes, a content smile gracing her face, and responds in an amused voice.
"If you want me to stop, then I require a bribe." (Alto)
Belle rolls her eyes.
"Shameless..." (Belle)
Despite her friend's words, the sound of gloves being removed meets her ears, and she soon feels Belle's fingers running through her hair affectionately, causing ripples of satisfaction in her chest. She smirks.
"See...you know me so well, and you already spoil me. I have no need for a husband...Kenan can just keep sharing you with me." (Alto)
She feels Belle tense slightly, disrupting her comfy headrest, and she opens one eye to smile at her.
"Relax, I would never make that joke to Ke-..." (Alto)
Her words die on her lips as her eyes meet Belle's...one wide in shock, the other with an arrow buried inside it. As she remains frozen in horror, her brain struggling to process the sight before her, she feels something warm and thick splattering on her face.
Then come the screams...not that she can focus on them. Her gaze is locked on Belle's face, grotesquely disfigured around the left eye and dripping with blood.
"B-Belle...?" (Alto)
But there's no response from her friend, no reaction at all, her one remaining eye now dim and unfocused. Then, as if time once frozen suddenly continues flowing, Belle's body collapses backwards...lifeless.
Alto sits bolt upright, a guttural scream erupting from her throat. Meanwhile, a couple of nearby voices register in her ears.
"Wait, what the hell!? Are those elf girls!?" (man 1)
"Fuck...you're right! Dammit man, why'd you kill one of them!? Do you have any idea what we could get for the two of them!?" (man 2)
"Me!? You're the one who told me to shoot!" (man 1)
Alto slowly turns to face the two bickering men, her expression blank...empty. With a cold, detached objectivity, she notes that the men discussing Belle's murder are human. At the same time, she observes other humans further away, slashing through the few wolf-kin warriors not out hunting, grabbing their screaming children. Closer by, she sees another couple of humans run a male elf through with their swords, smiling coldly.
"ALTO!?"
Her head snaps towards the sound of her name, and she sees Traz fighting off three humans, Kenan's motionless body lying near his feet. Traz swings around his blacksmithing hammer wildly with one hand as he fires off basic-tier fireball spells with the other. His spell hits one human in the face, killing them, while his hammer finds the temple of another, popping their head like an overripe melon. The remaining human backs away from Traz, more wary than before. Traz's eyes lock with hers, yelling once more.
"ALTO, YOU HAVE TO-" (Traz)
SQUELCH!
His words are cut off abruptly as the tip of a steel sword erupts from his nose, killing him instantly. His body collapses forward, revealing a burly human smirking at the fresh corpse in front of him. The man's gaze meets Alto's, eliciting a lecherous grin from him. His voice booms across the area.
"We got honest to gods elves, boys! Change of plans! Capture the elven women and kill the men...no witnesses!" (burly man)