Two-faced

Moshi Moshi Mai

Chapter One: Here's the Deal

How did I get myself in this situation? Loud sighing followed that train of thought as the owner of those thoughts pouted and stared out the window of the carriage they were currently occupying, headed towards Airyglyph. As the snowy scenery flashed by, all they could feel was sorry for themselves.

Maria is so going to owe me a bunch for doing this.

Three Days Ago…

Sleep. Sleep was such a nice thing. You could escape from reality and fade into the nonexistence in your mind, or fly to some other fantasy world. It was like a vacation in your head. And for free, too.

This was the place Fayt Leingod was currently in, and he didn't feel like leaving anytime soon.

Unfortunately, during his nice vacation on the beach in his mind, the doors to his room burst open, shining an evil light into the room as none other than his twin sister, Maria, stomped into the room, emerald eyes flaming with indescribable rage.

"Fayt!" she hollered as loudly as she could. Her older brother by two minutes ignored the scream and smacked his lips together instead, rolling over on his side. Maria made a small strangled noise in her throat and proceeded to approach the large bed before kindly taking her brother's head and shaking it like a maraca.

"Gah! Maria, what are you doing!" Fayt yelled sleepily, grabbing her hands and trying to pry them off, but it was in vain as her tapered fingers clung onto his face more tightly.

"This sucks! This absolutely sucks! Fayt, you have to do something! Please, don't make me go! You're on my side, right? This is so stupid!" the nineteen year old went on, completely unaware of Fayt's brain sloshing back and forth.

"Maria!" The shaking abruptly stopped.

The boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair before looking at his sister, who had a huge frown on her face. "Why don't you start from the beginning and tell me what happened?"

Maria sighed dramatically and plopped down next to her twin. "Fine, I'll tell you the whole horrible story…"

She was unbelievably excited.

"Eureka!" Maria cheered, happily patting herself on the back for a job well done. She had just invented the world's greatest gadget, if she could say so herself. It was the perfect thing to enter into the annual Rising Inventors Convention.

Sure, her parents found it strange that a young lady such as herself would be interested in inventing things and the like when she should be practicing her etiquette, but this was her passion. Fayt supported her unconditionally, and was even her guinea pig during some experiments.

She sighed proudly and set the gadget on the table. It was a voice modifier; all you had to do was attach the gizmo near your vocal cords and it would change the pitch and quality of your voice to whatever setting you put into the remote.

"I can't wait to show this off!" she exclaimed, running her slender fingers over the tiny contraption fondly.

"You're going to have to, dear."

Maria whirled around and pulled off the goggles from her face, narrowing her eyes dangerously.

"Dad! What did I tell you about coming down here into my laboratory?" the bluenette griped, placing her gloved hands on her hips with a frown. Robert Leingod smiled sheepishly at his daughter.

"My apologies, then, but I have something important I need to talk to you about."

Maria tensed. It was never good when her father had "something important to talk about." She slowly sat down on her stool and peeled off the thick gloves as her father grabbed another stool nearby and sat in front of her.

"Now, before you do anything rash, let me explain the situation…Your mother and I have agreed with the Nox family to wed you to their son, Albel." So much for being eloquent with words. Needless to say, Maria flipped out and the rest was history.

Fayt blinked slowly at his fuming sister, slowly digesting the situation. "Wow…that does suck," he murmured to himself. Maria threw her hands up into the air and rolled her eyes skyward.

"Yeah, you think? Fayt, you have to do something about this! There's no way I'm marrying someone I don't even know! Plus, Dad says I have to leave in three days and the Rising Inventors Convention is in a month!"

Her brother scratched his head and sighed before looking at Maria straight-on. "Maria, you knew this would happen eventually. Dad's been best buds with that Sir Nox guy since his teenage years, and it was only natural that they wanted to wed you and their son since we're both noble families…hey, are you listening?"

"No."

"Maria…"

Said girl sighed impatiently and grumbled. "Look, I know, but why couldn't it have been later on? Why now, when I just created the world's best gadget ever?"

"What do you want me to do about this, Maria?" The green-eyed girl paused in her silent fuming and frowned. "Exactly, there's nothing I can do about it. Dad wouldn't change his mind just because I asked him to – "

The door opened quietly and both siblings glanced as a maid entered the room. She smiled in greeting and looked at Fayt. "Maria, your father wants to talk to you about arrangements that will be made for your journey to Airyglyph. He asks that you refrain from kicking him in the shin again," the brunette added as an afterthought, hiding a smile behind her hand.

"Uh, I'm not Maria," Fayt said, jabbing a thumb towards his sister, "That's Maria." The maid blinked and slowly turned a pale shade of pink as she realized her mistake. She bowed quickly and laughed.

"My apologies, it's just that you two look so similar, I can't really tell the difference sometimes." And without further explanation, the maid exited the room, leaving a nice silence.

Maria slowly turned towards her brother, a wicked grin on her face. She knew Fayt knew what she was thinking due to the groan that followed the look she gave him.

"Maria, no. I'm not going to do that."

"Aw, c'mon! We used to switch places all the time as kids! You would wear a wig and I would tuck my hair in a cap and no one would know the difference! Remember?" Maria exclaimed, looking excited.

"Yeah, when we were kids. I don't know if you noticed, but my voice has gone down several octaves. I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad would notice if you suddenly sounded like me. Besides, if I went as you, they'd be suspicious of where I had disappeared off to."

Maria frowned a little, and Fayt felt relief flow through his body at his triumph. Then all relief flew out as a brilliant smile appeared on his sister's face.

"That's it! Fayt, the gadget that I created for the convention is a voice modifier! I can make you sound like me using it! And as for where you will pretend to be, you can just tell our parents that you want to travel around the country. You've always wanted to do that anyway!"

Fayt just stared at Maria, not knowing what to say. The plan was so ludicrous that it just might work. "Wait a second, if I'm using the voice modifier, what are you going to bring to the convention?"

"Oh," Maria waved a hand dismissively, "I'll just invent another one. No big deal."

"What do I get out of this, anyway," the blue-haired youth muttered, already feeling himself giving in.

"The undying love of your twin sister and a chance to explore the country!"

Fayt sighed. "Fine, I'll do it," Maria squealed, "But if Mom or Dad find out about this, you're taking all the blame." Maria rolled her eyes and shook hands with Fayt to confirm their alliance.

"Don't worry, bro, they'll never know."

Two Days Ago…

"Testing, testing."

Maria howled with laughter, clapping in delight as her brother stared at her with a dull expression on his face. The two siblings were in Maria's bedroom, their secret plan in action.

"Wow, you sound just like me!" she exclaimed, proud of her invention.

"I don't know how we're going to pull this off," Fayt muttered in Maria's voice, reluctantly slipping a wig onto his head. It felt itchy and weird, but it worked quite nicely. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought he was Maria. "You're so lucky I'm your twin."

"Don't I know it," she replied hastily, picking up a dress from the bed and handing it over to Fayt. He eyed the clothing oddly. It was full of dark green ruffles and lace and there were lacey white gloves as well. It looked like it would be a ball of fun to put on. "This is what you're going to wear the day after tomorrow. I have a feeling you'll need my help putting it on."

Fayt nodded. "Hmm…anything else we should do?"

"I think we got everything set. You told Mom and Dad that you're going traveling, right?" Fayt nodded the affirmative. "Alright then. They'll think you left tonight so you don't have to wave goodbye to yourself when you leave for Airyglyph." She grinned at her little joke and Fayt gave her a dry look.

"Right. I guess I'll go back to my room and pack for my fake journey," Fayt said sarcastically, exiting his sister's room.

"You have fun with that."

One Day Ago…

Since Fayt had already "left" on his journey, he was stuck in Maria's room the whole day. She would come into the room every now and then to make sure he hadn't left and wandered off somewhere. Currently he was hiding under the bed, playing hide-and-go-seek with his fellow dust bunnies.

Maria's head suddenly appeared at the bottom of the bed and he squished a yelp. "Geez, don't do that! Warn somebody before you do that. Your face is scary up close!"

"It's the same as your face," she replied easily, ignoring the glare sent her way. "Anyway, here's some food we had today for lunch. Mom thinks I'm turning into a pig thanks to you and your need for food."

Fayt rolled his eyes as he dug into the steak Maria handed to him. "Don't blame me on your gluttonous habits." Maria stuck her tongue out at him and he returned the gesture, both siblings sharing a smile.

"So when are you gonna leave for the convention?"

"At midnight after you leave. That way it's harder for the guards to see that I'm still here."

"Good idea."

"Yep, I've got this all planned out…Oh! I almost forgot," she stood up and walked across the room, reaching for something in her drawer before returning and handing Fayt a small device, "We'll need to keep in touch, just in case something goes wrong, so here's a communicator. Just press that green button right there when you need to reach me." Fayt accepted the device and pocketed it.

"When are we gonna switch places at the Nox estate?"

"The convention will probably be done within a month or so. I'll contact you on the communicator so you know when."

"Ok, that works."

"Cool, now all you have to do is wait until morning. You should get some beauty sleep," Maria teased.

"What are you talking about? I'm already beautiful," Fayt replied, laughing when Maria rolled her eyes.

A few hours earlier…

"How the hell can you breathe in this thing?" Fayt complained as Maria pulled the zipper up on the green dress.

"Easy – you don't."

"…"

She ignored his silence and adjusted the wig on his head, straightening it out neatly. After that she handed him two circular soft objects, and at the clueless expression he gave her, she promptly shoved them down his chest and pushed them around until it looked like the real thing. Then she went on to attach the voice modifier near his vocal cords.

"Testing," Fayt spoke clearly, rolling his eyes when Maria started to silently laugh.

"Good, it's working. Now you're going to have to put on some make-up…"

"I what? You never said anything about wearing make-up, Maria."

His sister looked innocent. "Well, you are a lady now, Maria, so it's only obvious that you'd have to wear some." Without warning, a make-up set appeared in her hands and she attacked his face with the weapons of cosmetology, skillfully dabbing blush here and there.

After a few minutes of struggling on Fayt's part, Maria stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Nice. You look just like me!"

"Woo-hoo." Fayt approached the vanity mirror in her room and stared for a few seconds. "Hey, you're not kidding. Though, like any guy in my situation, I feel awkward with all this, you did a pretty good job, Sis." Maria beamed.

A knock at the door sounded and the siblings exchanged a glance before Maria dived into the closet.

"Uh…who is it?" Fayt asked, wrinkling his nose. He was still getting used to sounding like a girl.

"It's me," Ryoko's muffled voice said from the other side of the door. "Are you ready to leave, Maria?"

"Yes, Mom!" Fayt yelled back. Maria gave him the thumbs up signal from the sanctuary of the closet and Fayt breathed in deeply before opening the door. This was the first test to see if he could fool someone.

Ryoko Leingod stared at Fayt for a good while, her eyes squinting up at him.

"Uh…Mom? What's wrong?" Fayt asked, feeling sweat starting down the side of his face.

Ryoko blinked and then a smile appeared on her face. "You look lovely, dear. You just have a little something on your face…right…here." She reached out and lightly flicked off some of the blush that had smeared a little too much. Fayt inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thanks Mom." The two "women" proceeded down the winding staircase where Robert was waiting next to the carriage. A pleased smile appeared on his face upon seeing his daughter all dressed up.

"You look beautiful, Maria."

"Who, me? Nah…you flatter me with your words, Daddy," Fayt said loudly, his voice reaching the real Maria watching from the window. She rolled her eyes.

"I so do not talk like that," she hissed quietly.

Robert laughed. "Oh, but I'm telling you the truth, dear. It's too bad Fayt suddenly wanted to leave. I would've liked to take a family picture, but oh well…"

Fayt shrugged and proceeded into the carriage, waving at his parents as the door closed. "Bye, Mom, Dad! I'll miss you!" he yelled, sticking his tongue out at Maria as she did the same. After their house had disappeared, Fayt turned around in his seat and crossed his arms.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

A/N – So, what do you guys think? Sound interesting? Just so you know, I don't plan on updating this until June due to semester exams. Anyways, tell me what you think:D

Moshi Moshi Mai