A Look through the Glass

by mrastounding

"They say that the eyes are the window to the soul...yet few would guess that for one special little girl, there was more then one observer waving back" an alternate look at some of the events of 'Revelations 2', at least with the Barry Burton campaign (rating subject to change; additional genres: drama, adventure, horror, spiritual, hurt/comfort, and possibly others)

1. Chapter 1

"The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew"

Robert Burns

Chapter 0: Prologue

A Friendly Face in the Mirror…wait, what?

Unknown POV

"…The bird has changed." I found myself smiling as I finish reading that, thinking on of how true that last statement from that particular section of 'The Zürauer Aphorismens' was, though not QUITE of the variety I would have expected to grace my face two years ago…but then again, my soul sister, in terms more accurate than one would expect, probably didn't have much reason to smile back then either, and today was the day that I finally introduced her, or rather RE-introduce MYSELF, to my…OUR family. For those of you reading this journal, you're probably wondering who I am and why I say these things, and I don't blame you: for those not in the know, this might sound like the incoherent babbling of a crazed lunatic…though given my original upbringing, that might not be too far off the mark.

To set your mind at ease, let me introduce myself: my name was Alexandra Manuela Wesker, though I preferred Alex: past tense, as I'm fairly certain that even if things HAD gone the way they were intended, that wouldn't exactly be true anymore. To make an elaborate scheme simple, I had attempted to transfer my consciousness, as I was originally on the verge of death due to a condition with no cure in sight, into one Natalia Korda, now Natalia Burton, so that, in manipulating her fragile soul into surrendering her very existence to me, I would continue the Wesker family's goal of spreading fear throughout the world…or at least, that was what was SUPPOSED to happen. I still don't understand it, even now, but the two of us…bonded over, among other things, our mutual lack of a supportive family and equal parts gratitude to one Barry Burton and his daughter, and our adoptive sister, Moira, for accepting us with open arms…ironically enough, given that the former helped to take down my dead brother on one occasion. In short, we became as close as two sisters, in spite of our literally shared living space, even helping one another overcome each other's individual shortcomings and weaknesses. I just hope the Burton's and family friend Claire Redfield will listen to what I have to say: even if things HAD gone according to my original plan, I would see to it that those Neo-Umbrella stooges were dealt with, seeing how they were acting without MY consent….but that's an issue for later. For now, I want to tell you how this all came to be…but not before clearing a few things up.

Now, I'd be lying through my teeth if I said that things started out smoothly between us: heck, I purposely tried to get her killed in order to submit to me…which in hindsight is just one of MANY signs that my original plan was a bit half-baked: I didn't even arrange to give myself a way off the island I was originally using as a base of operations, for crying out loud. Needless to say, Natalia proved stronger than anticipated, for which I'm glad, thought I didn't show it at the time. In fact, my first clear words to her, no tricks involved whatsoever, were "There's still plenty of time to get under your skin…and next time, you won't see me coming."* I was right of course, and yet looking back I couldn't have been more wrong…but I'm getting ahead of myself. In fact, I think it's big-little sister Natalia's turn to narrate.

Natalia's POV

You can't tell, but I'm blushing right now: she ALWAYS has to tease me about how, thanks to the "age" of the mind transfer and/or the mind involved, she's both younger and older than me at the same time. Anyways, before I go further, I should probably mention that I understand that some of you out there aren't all that supportive of the idea of a known criminal - yes, I know the term is "bio-terrorist", but I'm keeping it simple - is sharing living space (literally) with a twelve-year-old girl, but think of it this way: imagine growing up knowing only the chill of death, even as you and everyone around you strove to defy it. Having only been three years old when the Terragrigia Panic, as the media calls it, took place, separating me from my parents and bouncing me around the foster care system within TerraSave - that last part actually wouldn't have been so bad if not for the fact that it was next to impossible for me not to see things from the workers there that constantly reminded me of what happened back then - I can actually understand, at least in part, what her life BEFORE her little experiment took place was like. Looking back, I was the first person to give her unconditional love, despite her giving me every reason not to: I can only imagine that if things had gone slightly different, she wouldn't have gotten the chance to really appreciate that, to appreciate the capacity to give a life rather than take it away.

…and I just realized how mature that probably sounded, which actually highlights one of the reasons why, even if we DID find a way to reverse the process, neither of us would go through with it: see, I get the chance to experience the maturity of her long life every now and then, and what little kid wouldn't appreciate that…but more than that, it seems her mind transference gave ME a cure for MY crippling health issue. You have to understand: the events I went through prior to all this left me damaged, leaving me in a state without fear. Sounds awesome, right? Wrong: I was also unable to really feel joy or anger or many of the other emotions that so many take for granted. Ironically enough, without her admittedly crazy plan, I might well have been in an emotionless state for the rest of my life…and I'm not the only one who benefits, am I, Alice?

"Alex's" POV

Ugh, she keeps insisting that I change my name to reflect on my new place in life. Nothing wrong with that I suppose: in fact, it's something I've been pondering myself. That said, if I've told her once, I've told her a thousand times: I'm NOT re-naming myself after a character made by Lewis Carol…but in any event, she's not wrong. Besides giving me the opportunity to hide from my associates, former or otherwise, until I was ready to make my move, I must admit that it's rather enjoyable being given the opportunity to be a child again…both literally and metaphorically. Of course, as you've probably surmised, this is but the end of the journey, or at the very least we're getting there: perhaps it's time we told you how we got to this point.

To be continued…

Disclaimer:

Alex Wesker's full name is of my own creation, but nothing else in this story belongs to me other than my original idea; also, apologies in advance if either her or Natalia appears out of character during the narration: this is supposed to be told from their point of view AFTER THE FACT, so there's plenty of time for subtle changes in personality along the way, especially given the overall premise here.

* reference to the "Little Miss" DLC