Gem was sleeping peacefully until she flew off her bed and landed on the floor. She groaned and opened her eyes.

Gina peered down at her from the bed.

Gem rubbed her eyes. "Gina what are you doing in my room? And why did you wake me up?"

Gina threw a pillow down at Gem. "We got an invitation to visit the castle by your friend Gemini. Hurry up or we'll be late."

Gem stood up and walked over to her closet. "I have to wear a stupid dress and wear stupid makeup, all so that I won't be recognizable later."

"Why don't you just tell your brother who you are? Stop wearing all that make up to look different from him, and just say, like, hey, I'm your sister."

"I have to establish a bond with him first. He probably won't believe me if I introduce myself right away."

"He seems gullible, maybe he would believe it."

"I'll think about it."

***

Gem and Gina finally reached the castle.

"It feels weird walking on a cloud." Gina carefully walked towards the castle entrance.

"You won't fall through." Gem smiled reassuringly. "The constellation king created this castle and he made it float on a cloud strong enough to hold it up. Just like how we didn't fall through those glass stairs."

Gina shuddered. "Don't remind me of those stairs."

"If you fall off, you can fly."

"I still don't like them."

Gem walked up to the castle gates. The guards were expecting their arrival, so they let them in without problem.

The inside of the castle was beautiful. The floors were a silver color, while the walls were white and gold. Various paintings were painted into the walls.

"Welcome." The girls looked at the king who approached them. He was dressed nicely with his hair swept back.

Both girls bowed.

"You guys don't need to bow or anything like that. Nobody really enforces that kind of thing anymore, but everyone does it anyway. Now, I hope you guys came hungry. I planned a picnic for us." Gemini then led them through the castle.

***

There was a large balcony that stuck out from one of the upper floors of the castle. Guards watched over it. Gemini led Gina and Gem over to a blanket that was placed towards the end of the balcony, enabling them to enjoy a great view while they ate. A maid brought out a large picnic basket.

Gemini dug through it and tossed everyone a sandwich and a juice box. "You guys probably expected something better, but I wanted it to be like a real picnic."

Gem happily took the food. "Do you really think I'd complain over free food just because royalty usually eat fancy meals?"

"It's probably refreshing to eat something so simple," added Gina. "Are you sick of all that fancy food?"

Gemini nodded slowly. "I love all the fancy meals, but sometimes I miss eating a simple grilled cheese, or a sandwich."

Gina nodded. "I think I'd be the same way. I was just wondering, but why did you invite us here? It doesn't seem like you know us well enough to invite us for a picnic with the king himself."

Gemini shrugged. "I saw you guys at a few of the coronations. We got along well, so I wanted to spend more time with you guys. Everyone tries to kiss your ass when you're a king, so it's nice to have people that speak to me as if I'm just someone else."

"King is just a fancy title." Gem took a bite of her sandwich and swallowed. "It doesn't actually make you any better than everyone else, it just means you have more influence and power."

Gemini laughed. "I think you're the first person to say that so bluntly. You're not even concerned with trying to say stuff that I want to hear. I like that."

Gina looked at Gemini. "Is it hard being a king?"

Gemini knew that it was the explanation she wanted to hear, not just a simple yes or no. "I enjoy living in a castle and all... but I kind of miss the days where I could hang out with friends, you know? I'm only like seventeen or eighteen or something like that. I've only been on earth for less than two years. Sometimes I feel like all this power should be in someone else's hands. If only the people could choose their leader."

Gem analyzed his answer. "You'd want them to elect you as the king if you deserved it, but replace you with someone different if you didn't."

"Exactly."

"Then why not think of changing the government?" asked Gina. "See if your friends feel the same way, and if they do you can change the governments so that they would work that way."

Gemini's smile turned into a more serious expression. "I've already thought of that. So far me, Aquarius and Cancer decided maybe it would be best to let people choose their ruler. Libra wants a more relaxed life. Scorpio loves being a queen, but she hates all the work that comes with it. She'd rather live a life where she can prank her friends and relax. Pisces said he likes being a king, but I don't think he's very good at being one. He's not bad he's just... he likes playing around and messing with people a little too much. The others are enjoying being in power."

Gina's face softened with pity. "So you don't get to talk to them often?"

"Not really. That's why I'm trying to make more friends, like you guys. Capricorn is my best friend, but I never get any time to hang out with him. I suppose you shouldn't focus too much on your own personal life if you're a king but... I don't know if it's reasonable to expect that when you put teenagers in a position of power like that."

Gem smirked, thinking of a good way to change the subject. "Sooooo, do you have a girlfriend?"

Gemini laughed nervously. "Isn't that a personal question?"

Gem shrugged. "You said you like how we treat you like any other person. Well, I'm really nosy so this is the kind of question I'd ask, even if you weren't a king."

Gina laughed. For some reason, Gem trying to pry into her twin brother's personal life was funny to her.

"I don't have a girlfriend."

Gem frowned. Then she smirked again. "A boyfriend?"

"No."

"A crush?"

"No."

"A fictional girlfriend?"

Gemini sighed. "You remind me of one of my friends."

"Which one?"

"Sagittarius."

Gem shrugged. "If she's like me, then she must be really awesome."

Gemini suddenly thought of something. "Isn't it confusing? Having the same name?"

At first Gem was confused, but then she remembered her fake name was Gina, but then Gina decided to steal her name, which caused them to both be Gina.

Gina shook her head. "Not really."

Gem decided she didn't care if her brother knew her real name, even if he had no idea he was her brother. "My nickname is Gem. You can just call me that."

Gemini nodded. "Gina and Gem... and Gemini. Our names are all so similar, and we all look so alike. We could all probably pass as triplets."

"In that case, I'm the most attractive triplet," said Gem.

"Then what does that make me?" asked Gemini.

"The ugly one."

Gina spit out her apple juice in surprise.

Gemini laughed. "You literally don't care about insulting me. Maybe that's why I like being friends with you guys. You remind me of my royal friends."

"Were you the one that kept everyone from going crazy?" asked Gina.

Gemini shook his head. "I'm kind of neutral. But the others are already past the point of no return. Nobody can keep them from going crazy, there's just a few of us that keep the more crazy ones from doing really crazy stuff. It doesn't help that our leader is one of the most crazy ones."

"That sounds fun," said Gem.

Gina sighed. "I know for sure that you would fit in with them."

"What does that mean? I'm very serious. I don't even know what crazy is."

"I don't know you very well, yet I still know you better than that." Gemini stood up. "Do you guys want a tour of the rest of the castle?"

Gina's eyes widened in delight. "That would be awesome."

***

After a tour of the castle, Gemini led his friends to a small room that resembled a living room. Couches and small table lined the perimeter while a large flatscreen hung from the wall.

Gemini was about to introduce them to the room when his phone rung. "I've got to take this. It could be about confidential information. You guys go wander around. I'll find you when I'm finished." He answered the phone and pressed it to his ear.

Gem and Gina left the room and wandered around the hallway. Gem considered pressing her ear to the crack under the door, but she didn't want to risk getting caught.

"Imagine living in such a beautiful castle." Gem reached out and touched the wall.

"You'll get to live here if you tell him who you are."

"No, I don't feel confident enough today."

"Alright."

Gem walked forward, but paused when she realized Gina wasn't following her. "Gina?"

Gina stared at the wall, curled up in a ball. A new memory suddenly hit her...

***

Gina was in some kind of room she didn't recognize. She sat at an oval shaped table with a few other people. She recognized the blonde curly haired girl as the girl that watched as she fell off a cliff in her other memory.

"Today we're going to learn how to keep your people from turning against you." An older woman sat at one of the ends of the table.

Gina watched as she started taking notes on the notebook that sat in front of her. She wasn't in control of her body. All she could do was watch as her arms moved without telling them to, writing bullet points of what the older woman was teaching her.

"I'm so bored."

Gina turned her head to see Gem sitting beside her.

"You say that every class," sighed the boy across from her.

"Why is there two Geminis anyway?" asked a girl with orange hair. "Let's just keep the alternate and let the other one go."

"Wait, which one is the alternate again?" asked one of the other boys. "I can't tell them apart."

Gem looked at Gina. "She is. I'm the original Gemini's twin."

Gina nodded. "I'm the alternate. Why not let her go if she wants to? She's not an alternate, why can't she choose to leave if she wants?"

The older woman sighed. "Because she knows too much."

Gem crossed her arms. "I'm not a snitch."

"I still don't trust you."

Gem sighed and went back to taking notes. "Fine."

Gina kept a straight face. She knew all about Gem's plans to escape. She was waiting to learn as much as she could before running away.

Gina didn't agree with the plan, that's why she decided to help Gem plan her escape...

***

"Gina... Gina?"

Gina snapped back into focus to see Gem looking down at her with a concerned expression.

Gina stood up. "I had another memory."

"Of what?"

Gina made sure nobody was around before whispering to Gem. "There's something going on. I was in a room with all these people, and you were there too."

"Me?"

"Yes. They were discussing something. We were writing notes."

"What are you talking about?"

"We were discussing a plan, but I don't remember what the plan was. You wanted to escape. They used these words like original and alternate. Don't you remember, you were there!"

Gem furrowed her brow. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't discuss any plans with you or with a group of people."

"But... you were there! They said something about being Gemini's twin. They said something about how I'm alternate and you're original."

"What does that mean? Original? Alternate?"

"I don't know. They're just terms that they were using."

Gem shook her head. "But I don't have a memory like that. Somehow you're getting memories that didn't happen."

"But you were there."

"That doesn't make sense. There's no way it could have been me."

"Then I'm getting false memories?"

"Maybe. Maybe where you hit your head some memories come back normal, while others are distorted."

Gina rubbed her head. "Maybe. I have no idea."

Suddenly, a door opened. Gemini smiled and waved the girls to come back in the little living room. "Let's get back to our tour. Anyway, this is where everyone comes to relax..."

***

Present time...

Gem woke up. She sighed and hugged her pillow. She had another nightmare about Gina.

Looking back, Gem remembered Gina saying something about alternates making a plan. At the time, she assumed it was nonsense, but now that she knew about the plan, she realized that Gina was right all along. It wasn't until after another memory that Gem started to believe that Gina's memories were real. Not until it was too late.

But one thing never made sense to Gem. She didn't remember being in these classes with the alternates. She only knew about them because of what Gina told her.

How did she attend classes with the alternates but not remember?

Gem rolled over and sighed. She doesn't remember having memory loss or anything like that, but then what explains her not remembering stuff that Gina saw in her memories?

If Gina was secretly alive like she hoped, Gem would ask and see if Gina knows anything about her memories that are somehow missing.