Svetlana and Ursha

Svetlana curled up in a ball as she laid in the bed in her hotel room.

"Hit myself!?" her voice echoed in her head.

"Yes, it'll sell your story better. I want everyone to think you're there as an act of rebellion," Tsar Grigori's voice chuckled.

"But, I do want to be here..."

"I know, which is why I will use it to my advantage..."

Svetlana gritted her teeth as she tightened her grip on the pillow. "Even when I'm trying to do something I love, you still control me! This isn't like... when I was with Ursha..."

...

5 years ago...

"Oi, you seriously don't remember me?" a younger Ursha with wavy chestnut hair frowned.

"I'm told of your name and background, but know nothing else," a younger Svetlana sighed.

"We used to play together as kids. Hold on, let me see- Yeah, I got a photo of us," Ursha smiled as she flashed her phone.

Svetlana stared blankly at the photo of two young girls. Both wore yellow dresses, with one having short chestnut hair and the other short reddish hair.

"I'm supposed to be the one on the right?" Svetlana asked as she gazed at the reddish-haired girl.

"You don't even recognize yourself?" Ursha scowled.

"No, and there is not a photo of me younger than I am today in the household. Needless to say, I'm doubtful if I even was a child before."

"Oi, oi, what the fuck are you saying? We all start out as babies and grow up."

"A human can be created in a laboratory."

Ursha let out a sigh. "Seems I got my work cut out for me. Well maybe we should start by dying your hair back to normal. That might help clear some things up."

"What do you mean? This is my natural color."

"As if! Come on, let's get you a hair appointment."

Yet no matter how hard everyone tried, hair dye refused to work when it made contact with Svetlana's hair, instantly getting absorbed into the sea of silver.

"The hell did they do to you?" Ursha fumed.

"I know not the reason for your fuss. As I said-"

"As if! Your dad's some bigshot in the army, and has free range to run whatever experiment he wants in every state-funded lab in the country! He clearly did something to you!"

"Created me, perhaps?"

"You... Alright, I've decided; I'm gonna fuck up this world. You feel like joining me, I'll let you. You want to, but daddy won't let you, I'll bust you out."

A few years later...

Ursha smirked as she perched herself on the windowsill of Svetlana's room. "So, ready to swallow the red pill?"

"I'm not taking anymore pills," Svetlana grimaced.

"Oh, right, he probably would've forced you to take lots of pills... I mean, ready to fuck up the world with me?" Ursha asked as she held out a DESPER.

"Why do you have one?"

"Decided to play spoiled daughter before Daddy, and he got me one. Seems these things aren't mainstream yet, but if you know some chess, these things are more powerful than any old atomic bomb."

"I'm aware. I have one, myself."

"Probably cuz of your daddy. But I ain't here to make you do his bidding. I'm here cuz you said you wanted to break free from him."

"I do..."

"Then leap out. We're gonna mess up the world, starting first with this country your daddy just took over. Oh, guess that means I gotta be bowin' before ya, since you're royalty."

"Don't bow before me. It's unnerving."

"PERFECT Answer! This is why I love ya, girl."