A white arc of light flashed through the room, though the bundle on the floor didn't move an inch. A woman with the same long hair and delicate bones of Alyss walked into the room. "Hello, hello, hello," she called out cheerfully. She glided forward and elegantly yanked the bundle out, peeling the blanket away from the still-stunned girl. The women put a hand up to the other girl's face, cracking an eyelid. "You in there, sleepy?"
"I won't open my eyes," she said pertly, scrunching her eyelids up. "If I do, I'm sure to see something scary again, so it's best to pretend there is nothing and no one out there. I can't do that if I can see otherwise."
The other girl laughed. "I'll just tickle you until you can't help it, then," she said. She went for the third rib, wiggling her finger until the other girl was wriggling with laughter.
"Laughter," the girl gasped between outbursts, "is no true indication of enjoyment. This is... quite... undignified!" She managed to wriggle away at last, looking warily at the other girl with her hands up in a warding gesture. She gasped then, getting her first good look at the other person. "But... you are... why, you look just like me!" It was true. The same eyes and nose, the same mouth. Why, the only true difference were the dirty and uncared for nails as well as the scruffy and clearly untrimmed eyebrows.
The other woman had stopped smiling, her face serenely serious. "You understand what this must mean, right?"
Alyss laughed harshly. "Must? There is no such thing. I can think of four, no, seven reasons why there would be someone in front of me that looks just like me, and I would be ready to believe another five on top of that with the element of magic."
"Really?" The other woman looked intrigued. "Please, do tell."
Alyss sniffed. "Fine, though most every one of them points towards a terrible character on your point, and the spectacle just now only proved it."
"What you really mean is that you're grumpy I did something as undignified as tickle you," the girl giggled. Alyss didn't deign that with an answer, preferring to continue the conversation.
"There are several possible reasons as to why you look almost identical to me, with a few notable exceptions of taste. The easiest and most obvious is that, somehow, I had a twin I've never heard about, though that is relatively unlikely. The second is that you are using cosmetics or magic to trick the poor human girl in the cell and play a prank, which seems more likely given the situation. The third is that you are a clone of me and have been raised separately from me, though that seems unlikely as, given your appearance, you seem to be the teensiest bit older than me; and a clone could only be younger than the original. The fourth, that you dyed your hair and did plastic surgery to copy my looks completely because you are an identity thief by profession, also seems improbable, as I am underage, have no established credit, and my parents aren't working as my cosigners for college, let alone credit cards. Though child identity theft seems to be on the rise, so it's not completely far fetched. The fifth possibility, that you are a visitor from a parallel universe, is unlikely, but plausible. Especially with how easily people are using tesseracts or wormholes or whatever they use to pop in and out of places all the time around here. The sixth, that you are a monster who normally lives in the palace and wanted to show up in a form that you knew for sure wouldn't alarm me, is relatively believable, and would be admirable to have put the effort into making such a glamor, though taking a form of a normal human besides me would have been a better course of action. If the sixth were your route, then I can only assume your cause for being here would be pure curiosity, which I suppose is better than tomfoolery like in option two. The seventh possibility is that, in the future, I somehow gain the ability to time travel, and for some reason I decided to go back in time and visit myself. So, which is it?"
The other girl pouted. "You're no fun; you were supposed to be scared that someone looking like you showed up."
"So sorry to ruin your dreams," Alyss said dryly. "Now, the answer, if you please?"?
"Well, I am you from the future, so I guess that makes me option seven."
"False."
"What?"
"You cannot be me, as I would never be seen with such poor personal hygiene results. I also would never skimp out on using a wrinkle cream, which you obviously have. You must be no more than five years older than me, yet I can see every year on your eyes. You really should switch to a stronger night cream, Mrs. Delusional."
The other girl laughed. "Well, I've been put in my place, haven't I? To think I really used to be like that. Anyways, I can prove I am you."
"How," Alyss asked suspiciously.
"Walk through me, and see."
Alyss quirked her brow, but with a shake of her head she and shrug of her shoulders she walked forward with her eyes held closed. She put one hand forward, as if to warn her before she ran into the other girl, but her hand felt nothing. Alyss cracked one eye, looking at the girl, and jumped back with a scream. Her hand had gone through the other girl!
"Are you a... um... a ghost? From the future‽"
"Not really, no. As far as I know, ghosts are kind of stuck wherever they are put, so they aren't