A wooden door's hinges creaked as a small blond boy slowly pushed his way through, trying not to attract too much attention from anyone that could be nearby. His blue eyes darted and shifted from side to side before his body was finally completely in the room. Cautiously, he slowly pushed the door back until it closed again with a satisfactory click.
The air was frigid; he could see his breath mist in front of him as he fumbled around in his bag for a flashlight. He found what he was looking for and clicked it on; the light beam instantly lit up the rather dark room, revealing almost nothing but wooden walls and floor, and a single large mirror standing solely on the opposite side.
"I'm back," the boy whispered and made his way towards the mirror. He kept the flashlight pointed away from the reflective surface so as to not blind himself, as he was rather prone at doing the first few times he had been there. Once he was close enough to touch the cool mirror with the palms of his hands, he sat down on the hardwood floor cross-legged and placed the flashlight in the middle of his lap.
Heart thumping, he leaned in close. A quick breath from his mouth was enough to fog up the mirror's reflective surface, and a trembling hand reached out to draw a shape in the middle. Seconds later, an innocent looking heart traced onto the surface stared back at him.
And everything changed.
Suddenly the heart he had drawn had vanished, and the boy found himself looking at a reflection that was not his own. The body was of similar shape and proportion, but any passerby would know immediately that the person reflected in the mirror was not the same blond boy sitting directly in front of it. He was a bit pale and had slightly sunken eyes, but nonetheless looked healthy enough compared to the other. "Ness," the real boy said with a smile on his face. "It's been a while."
'Ness' blinked his brown eyes and smiled back. "Hey, Lucas. How've you been?"
The boy known as 'Ness' appeared to be Lucas' reflection, but the differently styled hair and the colors of their eyes proved otherwise. Their clothes were similar, but each sported a different palette. The reflected boy didn't react even remotely similarly to Lucas' movements; as the blond boy moved to nervously scratch the back of his head, 'Ness' didn't move at all.
It was as if Lucas was speaking to a boy in a different dimension instead of his own reflection.
"I've been alright," Lucas shrugged. "They made fun of me again today. You know… for being all alone."
"I thought you were going to play with Toon Link and the Ice Climbers?" Ness blinked, confused. "That's what you told me, anyway."
"I was," the other boy turned his head and looked off to the side. "But they called and said they couldn't make it. I was already at the park when they called and I didn't really want to go back home, so I just stayed."
Ness frowned and moved his arm. The limb bent and the tips of his fingers padded against the mirror's surface, unable to go any farther. Lucas turned back to see what the other was doing and likewise moved similarly; both hands were pressed together, but were separated by a seemingly thick slab of glass.
"If I could be out there with you," Ness spoke aloud, "I'd play with you every day. Then they wouldn't have anything to make fun of anymore."
Lucas smiled. "Today wasn't completely bad, though. I made three new friends."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I've never seen them before, so I think they're probably new and just moved to the neighborhood. They heard the guys calling me names and actually stepped up for me. It was… kind of nice," Lucas shrugged. "The bullies left me alone after that, and I got to talk to the nice people."
"That's great, Lucas!" Ness smiled. "I'm glad to know you've got some more supporters. If you were just a bit more outgoing, I'm sure you'd have a lot more friends." He paused. "But I'm glad you aren't like that. Then you'd be different, and who knows if we ever would have met."
"Right…"
They sat there in relative silence then, hands still pressed together on the mirror. It took about five minutes before Ness finally spoke up again. "So… how are things going at home? You know, with… them."
Lucas blinked and looked down at the flashlight in his lap. "It's been better. They don't really acknowledge my existence anymore, so I have to get my own food and everything. But in a weird way, it's kind of nice. They don't care what I do, so I can just do whatever I want and they would never worry."
Ness bit his lip and looked down. "I'm sorry you have to go through all that, Lucas. But at least you're happy… right?"
"More or less," the blond boy shrugged and smiled. "I've been feeling a bit sick lately, though, like… I'm starting to cough often, and I'm getting these painful headaches from time to time. It isn't too bad though, really. I mean, I can handle it. But hey, even if I was in my death bed, I'd still come to see you. You're my best friend."
"Don't joke about that," Ness scolded, but laughed lightheartedly all the same. "If you aren't feeling so well, you should stay at home and rest to get better. Then you can come back to see me, and I can scold you for not coming to see me while you were sick even though I told you not to do that in the first place."
"Don't be a hypocrite," Lucas laughed, and the boy in the mirror stuck his tongue out at him. Once again they seem to settle in a comfortable silence. Neither moved a muscle, relaxed in the admittedly chilly and dark storage room. Lucas let out a misty breath and leaned in close to the mirror so that his forehead touched the cool surface. He closed his eyes.
Ness looked worriedly at the blond boy, and tilted his head to the side. "… Tell me more about the people who saved you today."
"Hm?" Lucas opened his eyes and looked up at Ness, face so close to his. "Well… what do you want to know about them?"
"Anything, really. Their names, what they looked like… just something to talk about. Don't fall asleep on me."
Lucas chuckled. "Don't worry about that… There were three of them. One was a really tall, muscular guy who kind of reminded me of Snake but was actually really nice, one had strange blue hair and dressed like a prince, and the last one was a really short guy. They were a weird group, but I guess I can't talk. I'm probably the weirdest of all."
"I think you're pretty normal," Ness smiled. "And even if you aren't by normal standards, I like hearing about you and your life. You can go out there and experience things, and talk to other people… I'm just forever stuck in this mirror."
"I want you to be with me," Lucas frowned. "Then you wouldn't be confined here, and I wouldn't have to sneak here every day. We could go out and experience the world together… and I wouldn't be made fun of anymore. I would do anything for you to have an actual body and be out here with me."
Ness opened his mouth to speak once more, but both boys jumped at a loud banging on the door. Lucas swore under his breath and shot a worried glance at the boy in the mirror. Ness simply shook his head and motioned for him to go.
"Lucas!" a feminine voice shouted from beyond the wooden shack. "Are you in here?"
Hastily the blond boy turned off his flashlight and forced his palm to the cool glass of the mirror. The surface area his skin made contact with seemed to glow a light blue, and suddenly Ness was gone. With no time remaining, Lucas leaped behind the boxes behind the mirror just as the door was kicked in, the force almost completely ripping it off in the process.
"Lucas?" A blond woman looked around worriedly, pristine white gloved hands pressed together in anxiety. "Are you in here?" She breathed, and upon seeing her breath arise in the form of mist, held her arms. "It's freezing in here, Snake… he wouldn't be here."
The man next to the woman sighed, slowly breathing out cigarette smoke. The blonde scrunched up her face and waved the toxic smog away, but the man paid her actions no mind. "He has to be somewhere, Peach. This neighborhood isn't exactly big."
"No one said he was staying in one place," Peach frowned. "This isn't the first time he's run away from home, he could be on the move as we speak."
"Something tells me he isn't."
He stepped forward and his eyes surveyed the room. Lucas held his arms close to himself and staggered his breathing so as to not let his misty breath give away his location. Please go away, he closed his eyes and prayed. I don't want anything to do with you.
The blond boy almost yelped as Snake slammed his hand on the box nearest him. For a heart stopping moment, he was terrified that he had been caught and would be dragged back to that household and be forced to answer to them. All he wanted was to talk to his best friend… and they wouldn't even let him have that.
But then Snake turned on his heel and walked back to where Peach stood, back at the entrance of the pitiful wooden shack. "He isn't here," he muttered in a low voice. "Let's go check the park again. Maybe that Ike kid knows something."
"Don't terrorize the neighbors," Peach's voice trailed worriedly, but she didn't seem too opposed to Snake's method of search. She allowed the military-dressed man to leave first before passing through on her own, but not before turning around and allowing her baby blue eyes to scan the rest of the shack herself. "Lucas…" she whispered before finally walking out of sight.
Lucas shook where he sat and didn't dare move from his spot. That was too close… He slowly opened his eyes.
A dull throb pounded away at the back of his mind, and he groaned as he pressed his thumbs to his forehead and started to rub. What was he doing? Ness would never have worried if their positions had been reversed; he probably would have found a way out even before Snake barged his way in. Living in a mirror didn't seem too bad now, he thought, as Ness didn't have to worry about being hunted by his own guardians.
It's not like I deserve it, Lucas added pressure to his thumbs as he rubbed his forehead in circles. I was perfectly fine with Samus. Then when she left, Peach and Mario were alright too. Then Snake came in… and he ruined everything.
Finally deciding that his headache wasn't about to leave him anytime soon, he slowly got up onto his feet and peered around the edge of the box. They at least had the courtesy to close the door when they left.
The boy turned to look at the mirror and briefly wondered if he should risk calling out Ness for another chat. But then he quietly sighed and shook his head. His shoes squeaked on the hardwood floor as he turned away and made his way towards the only exit, his flashlight gripped tightly in his sweaty hands.
"So what's the deal with you and Snake, anyway?"
"Huh?"
It was their third meeting together, at the mirror in the shabby little shack at the edge of the neighborhood. Lucas had been playing with the buttons on a navy blue coat he had received from Peach for his birthday just two days prior when Ness asked the question.
"You and Snake. I want to know more about your family, and you go on and on about Peach, but whenever you say that guy's name, you get kind of angry for a moment before you go back to normal. What's up with him?"
"O-oh… well," Lucas buttoned up the last button and turned to face the other fully. It was the middle of summer, and the blond boy seemed to be getting a tan from all the extra sun. Ness, however, looked almost worse for wear. He had heavy and dark circles under his eyes, and his skin was almost chalk white, giving him quite a ghastly appearance. Nonetheless, Lucas was glad to be in his company.
"Snake is… a replacement, I guess, for Mario. I used to live with Samus, but then one day she just upped and disappeared. The last time I saw her, she was with this blond guy with pointy ears," he used his pointer fingers and jabbed them upwards next to his ears for emphasis and clarification. "I guess she ran off to be with him or something, I don't know… I never really did trust Link. He had that kind of 'silent, so is probably a serial killer in disguise' vibe to him."
Ness laughed weakly, and Lucas frowned. "I'm serious! He never talked. It was so weird. But Samus was a really tough woman, and I trust her, so… she should know what she was doing. Anyway, one day he came over and they left together, and she just never came back. Weeks passed, and I was able to live on my own for a while, but then the power went out and I guess she didn't pay the bills or something. I couldn't heat up my food anymore, so… I moved."
"By yourself?"
"Yeah. I was pretty much a hobo for all of a day, so it wasn't too bad. Peach found me pretty quickly and took me in. I don't know how she knew I was homeless, but she has pretty good maternal instincts, I think. She's pretty good like that. But anyway, she took me in to live with her and I guess her husband Mario. They were really nice, and it felt good to have two parents instead of just one… Not to undermine Samus, or anything."
"So where does Snake come in?"
"I'm getting to that. Eventually Mario got really sick, and after a few days… he died. Just like that. I don't know what the illness was, but it must have been really bad to kill him so quickly. Peach was a wreck, and I had to stay home inside for a long time to console her and make sure she didn't hurt herself. Then one day I convinced her to go out, and she did… and came back with him."
"… She must have gotten over that pretty quickly," Ness said, raising an eyebrow.
Lucas shrugged. "I don't know. But anyway, Snake is kind of like Link in the fact that he rarely talks, if ever. He's kind of mean too, but he was nice to Peach at least, so I let it go. At first."
"What happened?"
"Snake is one of those 'bad men' or whatever you'd call them. He smokes, swears, and just tries to act really 'cool' in general. It's annoying, but I kind of learned to live with it. But then I came home to see him hitting Peach in the kitchen, and I wouldn't take that."
"He's abusive?"
"Yes and no," Lucas frowned, and narrowed his eyes. "He only hits her whenever she really gets him angry, which isn't too often, actually. But whenever he gets angry and can't take it out on her, he takes it out on me instead. He used to be in the military or something, so… he isn't someone to pull a joke on."
Ness' eyes widened, and instantly he felt sympathetic for the blond boy. "I'm… so sorry, Lucas. That's why you hate him so much, then. Because he hurts you."
"I don't care what he does to me," Lucas gripped the navy blue jacket with intensity, "It's Peach I hate him hitting. She's such a nice woman, and… he just takes her for granted. She won't leave him now, because she doesn't like pain and doesn't want to do anything to get him angry. Snake is really strong… it's like a never-ending cycle now, and I don't know how to fix it."
The sickly boy held his thin hand up to the mirror. "What are you doing?" Lucas asked, staring at it oddly.
"Put your hand on mine. Think of it like… a friendship ritual, or something. Whenever we do this, it'll show that our friendship is really strong, and it'll in turn make us stronger because we'll know we'll always be there for each other… something like that. Basically, I send my courage and will into you, and you use that to maybe someday stand up to Snake."
"… That's so silly," but Lucas was smiling.
"I know. That's why I'm doing it," Ness smiled back. "Now come on, put your hand on mine."
Lucas did so, and he could actually feel a little better just holding his hand up to Ness' own. Maybe it was a trick or play on his mind (if he believes it will happen, his body will will it into actually happening), but in the end he decided it wasn't all that bad.
He finally had a reliable friend.
OoO
"Peach is going to be so angry with you…"
"I know, I know… please don't tell her, Luigi. You're the only person I have left."
Luigi frowned and twiddled with the edge of his moustache before he sighed and fell back into the recliner chair. Behind him, a fireplace burned, the only source of heat in the otherwise freezing little house. "Lucas… I can't cover for you forever. But I guess… I guess I can do it." Lucas felt a relieved smile grow on his face. Luigi noticed and pointed sternly, "But only just this once! This is the last time!"
"That's alright! Thank you!" Lucas laughed, a huge weight having been relieved from his chest. Eventually he would have to face the consequences, but for now, there was nothing to worry about. "You're the best, Luigi."
"Mmhm," Luigi's face turned a soft red and he pouted, looking away. Lucas giggled; he knew the older man wasn't nearly as frustrated with him as his words made him out to be. Other than Ness, Luigi was the only person who understood him and his problems and was always willing to accept him. In a way… he was more of a father or older brother than Snake.
"By the way," Lucas said, finally calming down, "Do you have any pain relievers anywhere?"
"Pain relievers?" Luigi looked back at the boy, raising an eyebrow. "Why? Are you hurting?"
"Kind of. It isn't too bad, though," the blond smiled. "I kind of have a headache."
Instantly Luigi was up and in a fuss. "You poor thing," he muttered while quickly making his way to the kitchen. "You've been outside for too long, probably. It's freezing out there, why do you insist on going out in the middle of winter? You're insane, but I'm not really one to stop you; you can go and do whatever you want, I guess… but wait! I have to have some sort of authority over you and implement rules or something so you don't go and get yourself killed… Ah, shoot, I'm getting off topic. You need soup! Or hot chocolate! Anything warm and hot to drink or eat! Stay right there!"
Lucas sighed, but felt comforted in the fact that the man in green cared for him so much. Luigi was a neurotic man for sure, but he loved him all the same."I just wanted pain relievers!" He called out.
"Soup!" was the instant reply, and Lucas rolled his eyes.
Before he could make a witty retort back to the frantic male, a loud rapping at the door reached his ears. Quickly muttering some choice words to himself under his breath, he jumped into the recliner chair Luigi himself was in just moments before and covered himself in the thick blankets.
Luigi was on the door as fast as he could, running up to the entrance to his house with a pink apron wrapped halfway on around his body. "Coming, coming!" He called out just moments before reaching his destination, and he pulled it open without bothering to arrange his clothes protectively. "Sorry, I'm kind of busy right no—Snake! How, um, nice… to see you, that is."
"Is Lucas here?" Snake didn't bother with beating around the bush, and he lit up a new cigarette. "It's almost dinnertime." It was as if the boy hadn't been missing all day. Peach stood a few ways behind him, a worried frown set upon her face. Her dainty hands were folded together in front of her, yet she shivered from the cold air. Why she wasn't wearing a sweater or anything to protect her from the seasonal air, the man in green would never know.
"L-Lucas?" Luigi smiled shyly. "He hasn't been here in m-months, I'm afraid… I think I heard him earlier, though, near the park." He pointed in the general direction of the playground, not so far from the house. "There were some other kids there earlier today too, so maybe he was playing with his friends?"
Peach smiled, albeit the fakeness of it was terribly obvious. "That could have been him. We asked Ike earlier, and he said Lucas was at the playground today, too… Your story checks out. Right, Snake?"
Snake narrowed his eyes at the skinny man and Luigi shivered under his gaze. "What's with the apron?"
"Oh, this?" Luigi laughed nervously and weakly pulled it completely on. "Well, like you said, it's almost dinner, so… I was about to make myself some food. The apron makes me feel more like an actual chef."
"I'm glad I'm not the only one," Peach said softly.
There was a moment of silence in which none of the three spoke; instead they merely chose to stare at each other. From inside the couch, on the recliner chair, even Lucas could almost feel the tangible tenseness in the air. Luigi wasn't a terrible liar, but he wasn't a particularly convincing one either. Whether Snake would believe his lies or not would be completely up to luck…
Suddenly, Snake pushed Luigi in the house and the man fell with an astonished yelp. Peach gasped and quickly made her way in to help him back up, but Snake had already invited himself in and was currently going through everything in the living room.
"H-hey! What are you doing?" Luigi asked, his heart pounding in his chest as the blonde woman helped him off the floor.
"Snake!" Peach called out. "You're making a mess! Get back here!"
Snake didn't answer or respond to either of them, and he eventually made his way into the room with the fireplace. Lucas, hiding under the blankets, had no idea what was going on and could not move to see.
The man kicked over a pile of boxes, and odd trinkets of sorts fell out. The one that ended up on top was a rather peculiar and shiny red vacuum that looked as if it hadn't been used in quite some time; Snake picked it up and tossed it over his shoulder as if it was nothing. Luigi made an odd noise in the background as it collided with the wall and fell to the floor with a thump, but it didn't seem too banged up in the end.
Eventually the only thing left in the room he hadn't checked was the recliner chair with the thick blankets. They were soon pulled off, and Lucas' eyes widened as suddenly his body was exposed to the slightly less warm air.
"I found you," was all Snake said upon finding the blond boy.
Small blue eyes looked up at him and the boy they belonged to began to tremble. "S-Snake…" Ness would know what to do in this situation… why can't he have a real body to help me?!
Luigi and Peach quickly made their way inside, and they gasped at the sight. Snake had poised himself dangerously in front of the boy, and despite not having much of an expression on his face, the look in his eyes was all they needed to see.
"Snake!" Peach shouted, finally having enough. "Get over here right now!"
"O-oh, d-dear…" Luigi mumbled softly, wishing he had his hat to cover his eyes with. He settled for playing with the strings of his apron, and he gulped, praying silently for Lucas.
Snake made an odd laughing sound as he exhaled, "You're going to have hell to pay later, Luigi, for lying to me." Luigi bit his lip and turned away. Peach continued to glare at him. "As for you, Lucas… you're coming home."
Lucas shook, but managed to crane his head up to look the man directly in the face. "N-no."
"Excuse me?"
"No…! I'm not going home. Not now, and not anytime soon. Not… not while you're around," he muttered. "Go away."
The silence was almost deafening as Snake didn't respond. Lucas thought that maybe he had actually stunned the man so much, he would just up and lea—
Suddenly a blinding pain erupted in the back of his head, and his eyes rolled upward as he felt himself sliding down a wall. Barely could he hear Peach's horrified scream in the background, along with Luigi's surprised gasp. He felt a sudden tightness at the collar of his shirt, and the next moment he found himself dangling in the air, up and off the ground. Snake's face moved so close to his, he could smell the lingering stench of cigarettes from the man's lips.
"You want to run that by me again?" Snake growled dangerously, and Lucas wished to be anywhere else at that moment. With Ness, getting bullied by Ike again at the playground, meeting up with his new friends…
"Leave him alone!" And suddenly, Lucas was a crumpled heap on the floor. Snake had been tackled by Peach almost directly into the fireplace, and she held him down with her weight only.
"Get off of me, bitch," Snake bit, and Peach reeled backwards as he pushed her off and stumbled to stand back on his own two feet. Lucas, still disoriented from the impact his head had with the wall, looked up at the man dizzily as he had pure hatred and rage in his eyes.
The blond boy turned his head to look at the wall, and even with his blurry vision he could see the trail of red streaking downwards from where he had made contact. A quick feel of the back of his head resulted in his hand becoming painted with a sticky red liquid that most likely had stained his hair as well.
"Peach!" He heard Luigi shout, and the green wonder moved to her side. Snake tried to kick him away, but Luigi managed to jump over his leg and tackle him back down to the ground before he could get any closer to Lucas. Peach instantly went to his aid, helping the brother of her late husband hold down the man that had been making her life a living hell for so long.
"Lucas!" She called desperately to the blond boy. Lucas snapped to attention, or at least the best he could while having a probable concussion. "Go! Run away! We can handle him! Just get out of here!"
"But…" Lucas' hands trembled as he gripped the ends of his shorts. He didn't want to run away! Not when they were still in danger! Snake was probably stronger than both of them combined; they couldn't keep him down for long…
As if on cue, the man roared and forced the two holding him down up and backwards, kicking them for good measure. Luigi and Peach were fast to get back up and cling onto his arms and legs, restricting the man's movement once more.
"Lucas!" Peach tried again. "Please! I'll come find you when this is over! Just go for now!"
"Get help," Luigi chipped in. "Go to one of your friends' houses, tell them the situation and call the police! Please, Lucas…!"
Lucas bit his lip, trying to make up his mind. Finally, he shook his head, having made up his choice, and turned to run away. His chest felt heavy at leaving behind the only two people he cared about with a madman, but his head knew that was what they wanted. They could handle themselves, they could handle themselves…
He ran those words over and over in his mind as he legs carried him far out of the house, far past the trees that had been in his way, and far past the last place he felt safe in.
OoO
By the time he had made it to a house, his legs were sore, his shoes and clothes were dirty and worn from all the running and scraping past trees he did, and in his mind was a giant sensation of pain.
It was hard to think straight, from the blood loss in his head to the probable concussion to the fact that he didn't know what had become of Luigi and Peach. They wanted him to get help… sometimes he loved Luigi for living so far away from other people, and sometimes he hated him for the exact same reason. Currently, it was the latter. What would Ness think of me now…
His hand reached up to ring the doorbell.
The door was opened by a man with soft blue hair with a tiara-like object resting just on top. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of the rugged boy and he quickly ushered Lucas inside his home, asking him just what the hell had happened as he did so.
"I need to use your phone," was all Lucas mumbled as the man hurriedly sat him in a chair and ran off to get him a drink.
There were two other males in the room with him that the blond boy just barely recognized as the new people he met earlier that day. That meant that the blue haired man who had answered the door was Marth. At least it wasn't Ike…
"Lucas," the short one said worriedly. "What happened to you?"
"You look like a mess," the largest one snickered, but was stopped as the smallest one lightly smacked his arm. "Sorry."
"Here you go," Marth came back with a cup of hot cocoa (it had been convenient timing; he already had a batch of hot cocoa prepared for his other two friends when the doorbell sounded) and carefully placed it in Lucas' small hands so that he wouldn't burn himself.
"I need to use your phone," Lucas repeated himself, staring at the floor.
Marth looked at the other two males in the room worriedly, and nodded his head at the smallest one. "Alright, then… Olimar, can you go get him the phone?"
"… Certainly," he didn't seem displeased about being the one who had to fetch the telecommunications device at all, and he slowly slipped himself off the couch to run up the stairs where they kept their only phone.
Meanwhile, the last one decided to try and start up a conversation. "You might be wondering why we're all here together so late," he said, pulling up his legs and wrapping his arms around them. "Well… we're kind of roommates, I guess you can say. I mean, we've all been together for a while. When we first met, we didn't have anywhere to go or anyone else who really cared about us… so we decided to stick together and work it all out like that, and here we are today. I guess we're pretty inseparable now."
Marth sighed. "Now probably isn't the best time, Falcon. Come here, Lucas, let me see the back of your head. I grabbed some bandages while I was out. How are you feeling?"
"Like I'm dying," was the instant response.
The blue haired male bit his lip and slowly started wrapping the bandages around Lucas' head. "I guess you would feel that way… Lucas, would you mind terribly if we were to bring you to a hospital?"
"I don't care about myself," Lucas muttered. "I need to call the police."
"To arrest the people who did this to you, right?" Falcon punched the palm of his hand. "Who was it? We can go take care of them ourselves! Was it Ike? I swear, that bastard is going to pay—"
"It wasn't Ike!" Lucas raised his voice, and his headache exploded. He leaned forward, dragging a surprised Marth with him, and groaned loudly as the pain started to spread. His fingers shook, and his skin was layered with a thin sheet of sweat. Marth looked on worriedly as the boy's breath started to come in short, ragged bursts.
"Lucas, I'm going to take you to the hospital after you explain your situation to the police," he said worriedly. "We can leave the room if you want privacy, but as soon as you hang up we're leaving, alright?"
Lucas nodded and bit his lip as it only served to aggravate his headache even more. What's happening to me… "Can I use your bathroom?"
"… Sure. Do you need help getting there?"
"N-no, I'm fine."
He pushed himself up and off of the large and cushiony chair and used the wall for support as he tried to make his way back to the bathroom near the entrance of the house. I need to talk to Ness, he thought determinedly. I have to… he'd know what to do. He always knows what to do… It didn't even occur to him that Ness may not even appear without the special mirror back at the abandoned shack, but he had to try. If one ordinary mirror would work, why wouldn't all of them?
He stumbled into the bathroom and practically slammed the door behind himself. He dragged himself up to the mirror of the sink, and weakly breathed onto the smooth glass. The house wasn't nearly as chilly as the shack, but he managed to fog it up just enough for it to be visible.
His finger was raised and quickly traced a sketchy heart onto the foggy glass just before it disappeared forever. His heart pounded in his chest; if he couldn't talk to the one person he trusted more than anyone else in the world, he would break.
"Lucas!" a familiar voice reached his ears, and the relief was enough to nearly cause the blond boy to relax. "Where am I? Are we – oh my god, what happened to you…?"
"Ness," Lucas said worriedly. "Snake found me. He found me, and… I don't know what's going on anymore," he anxiously ran his skinny fingers through the blond hair that was stained with red. "Snake was really mad this time, a-and… he could have killed Peach and Luigi." Just the mere thought was enough to make him hurl. "I d-don't know how I could live with myself if that happened…"
"Lucas, Lucas, look at me," Lucas craned his head upwards to look into the familiar dark eyes he had grown accustomed to seeing. Ness was in the completely opposite situation as him; the dark circles under his eyes had completely vanished, and his skin was of the healthiest peach the blond boy had ever seen. It seemed that when one of them was ill, the other was healthy.
Ness pushed the palms of his hands to the glass. "Please, Lucas." Lucas looked at him for a moment before also holding his own up to them. For a brief moment he felt comfort flow into him, but it was quickly replaced with mixed feelings of dread and anticipation. He immediately broke off contact, and he felt worse than before he had even done his regular friendship ritual with Ness.
"Lucas?" Ness asked, his voice sounding hurt.
"I-I'm sorry, Ness," Lucas choked. "I can't…" His body shook and suddenly he forced the palm of his hand into the mirror.
"Lucas!" Ness screamed, but the reflective surface glowed light blue and instantly the boy was gone.
I'm done, I'm done, I'm done… Lucas' mind was reeling. Not even Ness can help me… His vision reeled, and he stumbled backwards until his back hit the surface of the wall directly behind him.
Another series of knocks was heard from the bathroom, and Lucas decided right then and there that he hated the sound. "Lucas, we have the phone," Olimar's voice was heard. "Are… are you alright in there? I heard a crash…"
Lucas stood and opened the door without a word. Olimar looked up at him, a bit surprised at his even more ragged appearance, but silently handed the white phone that was almost too big for him to even carry to him. Lucas looked down at the small little male one last time before walking off to the front door.
"Where are you going?" Olimar asked, twiddling his fingers in that odd spacesuit of his. Lucas had meant to ask him when they had first met earlier that day why the small male wore it, but now he decided he didn't give a damn.
"Anywhere that isn't here," Lucas choked. "Thanks for the phone." He slipped his shoes back on and quickly ran out the front door.
"Lucas!" Olimar almost ran after him; the blond boy could hear his footsteps chasing after him for the first few seconds he had been outside. But they quickly stopped, and whether Olimar's voice had been heard by Marth or Falcon and they came to check on them or if Olimar just up and changed his mind, Lucas didn't care. As long as they didn't follow him, he didn't care.
Briefly he wondered if he should have taken Marth on that proposal to be taken to the hospital, but it was too late now. There was no going back, or he'd never be free again.
His fingers shook and the phone trembled violently as he ran once more, his feet pounding like thunder on the sidewalk. Multiple times he screwed up the police department's phone number and he had to start over, but after a few tries he eventually got it.
"Hello, what is your emergency?" a deep masculine voice asked from the other end of the call as soon as it had been connected.
Lucas thought about how lucky it was Olimar's only phone was a cell phone. Portable. "I don't know what's happening," his voice shook, and his breathing was labored as he continued to run. "There's a man in my… my uncle's house. He was supposed to be my surrogate father, but I don't see him like that. I never did. He could have killed my mother and my uncle, I don't know. He's a lot stronger than them, and he's abusive. I think I have a concussion, I think I'm going to die." His mouth ran a mile a minute, and the words came spilling out. He didn't know what the man on the other end thought.
"… I see," was the first thing he said after a moment of silence, and Lucas instantly felt all possible hope (as small as that was) be thrown out the window. "Where are you now? Where is your uncle's house?"
"I don't know where I am, I'm running," Lucas responded. "I'm running because if he's still out there, he's going to kill me for sure. And he won't be caught, because he's the stealthiest man I know. He'll know how to evade the police, I bet. And you'll never find my body…"
"Please, ah… what's your name?"
"Lucas."
"Lucas. You sound very young, so let me tell you—"
"Young? You think I'm lying about all this?"
"That isn't what I said at all—"
"You do think I'm lying! I'm not making any sense, am I? You think this is a joke!" He didn't know what he was saying. He was running from a man that had absolutely no idea where he was or where to begin looking. He was running from a man that may or may not have been taken care of by two of the three people that loved him. He didn't know anything.
"Lucas, please listen to me. Where is your uncle's house? We'll dispatch a unit to check things out for you."
Lucas finally slowed to a walking pace, and he took a deep breath. "He doesn't have an address. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. He lives in the middle of the woods, at the edge of Smashville. It's the only house there, so you'll know if you find it." His forehead felt ready to explode, and it took all of his effort not to scream in pain.
"East or west?" The man didn't seem particularly interested in helping him, at least that's what it seemed like to Lucas.
A bit agitated, he said, "East. It's the only forest you'll see around here."
There was a pause as he heard the sound of shuffling papers on the other end. He heard the man call out to someone, "Dispatch a unit to the east side of Smashville and check for a house in the woods. Check out this kid's claims. And you," the sound of a chair spinning, "Trace this call. I want to find him."
Lucas narrowed his eyes. "They're on their way, Lucas. Stand still for me, alright? Stay right where you are, and don't move. You're probably outside though, and the temperature has been insane lately so you're probably freezing, but please. We'll be there in just a few minutes."
And if Snake finds me? He left the question unasked, and merely ended the call. A few steps forward and he tossed the cell phone down in the dirty sewers far below, where he could just barely hear it land in the soiled water with a splash. Sorry, Olimar, he frowned. Can't have them tracing me.
He took another deep breath, and surveyed his surroundings. Just behind him, a couple of miles away, was the playground where he met the trio earlier that day. Somewhere in front of him, blending in with all of the houses in the neighborhood, was a house that used to belong to Samus. Somewhere near there was a house that belonged to Peach and previously Mario. Now it was Snake's house, and he'd be damned if he went anywhere near there.
But just beyond those houses was the abandoned shack he had taken refuge in almost a year earlier, the first time he had run away from home. It was where he met Ness, and where he would continue to meet him. Summoning him in Marth's home was the first time he had done so outside of that shack, and he understood if Ness felt horribly out of place in something so unfamiliar to him.
He had to pay him back, even if he had been so rude to him earlier.
One foot in front of the other, he marched almost mechanically in the direction of the shed ahead. He felt almost ready to collapse at any moment, and was amazed at himself for being able to stand for so long. After this, I should go back to Olimar and apologize, he thought, I don't know what's happening to me… I'm so scared, yet I feel like I shouldn't care about what happens anymore…
He wanted to meet Ness first, though, for advice and to see what course of action he should take next. Ness had become a sort of mentor and guide to him, despite not having any experience in actually living. The only real human he had ever encountered was Lucas himself, yet Lucas felt as if Ness knew so much more than he let on. The only real mystery was why Ness looked so sickly when they first met a year earlier, but at least it seemed that he was finally getting better.
Reflections can't die.
Finally, he found himself at the entrance to the abandoned shed. He had been wary and careful when passing by Snake's house, but it seemed that no one was home. Lucas wondered what had become of Luigi and Peach, but he couldn't go back and check. It was too late. And he would hate himself if anything bad happened to them, but at least the police would take care of them if they got there in time. And if not…
"I can't worry about that anymore," Lucas muttered, his hand resting on the doorknob of the shack's only door. He didn't feel cold despite it being the middle of winter with degrees far below what was normal of the winters of Smashville. He felt almost numb, despite the horrific sensation going on in his mind and the pounding agony of his headache.
The inside of the shed was dark and it was almost impossible to see anything if he closed the door. But since he had left his flashlight all the way back at Luigi's house, there was nothing else he could do if he didn't want to end up freezing to death. Slowly he closed the door behind him and he carefully made his way to the familiar mirror where so many meetings had taken place.
The fog from his breath was much better than within Marth's house, and so he was able to take his time when drawing the heart. His finger trembled and shook and it almost ended up looking more like a circle than anything, but he figured it was acceptable since the fog vanished instantly and was replaced by the image of his best friend.
"Ness," Lucas nearly collapsed to the floor, but was able to slowly lower himself down without falling. "I'm… I'm so sorry for what happened back there…"
If he didn't know any better, he would say that Ness looked almost alive within the mirror, as if he wasn't inside a flat sheet of reflective material at all. He looked healthier than ever, and Lucas was almost taken away by the sheer sight of him.
"Lucas, it's okay…" Ness whispered, holding his hand up to the mirror. "If you want, you can tell me everything that happened."
"I… I ran away," Lucas groaned, weakly holding up his hand to match that of Ness'. "I'm such a c-coward, a weakling… I can't even protect the people that matter to me most, let alone myself." Finally he felt the tears well up in his eyes. A moment later they spilled, trailing down his face in a steady stream. "I'm hopeless… I probably got Peach and Luigi killed, Snake is probably hunting me down right now, I left Marth, Falcon, and Olimar when they just wanted to help, and… and I left you, t-too. I can't… I don't know what to do…"
"Shh, it's okay," Ness leaned his forehead forward until it lightly touched the front of the mirror. "I forgive you. I'll always be there for you, you know that."
Suddenly, to Lucas, it felt as if the temperature plummeted twenty degrees. It had already been freezing the moment he went outside, but now even he could feel the cold creeping into his skin and chilling his bones. He started to shiver.
"N-Ness…" Lucas whispered. "What's happening to me...? My h-head hurts so much, and it started even before Snake found me… And… why do you look so d-different…?"
Ness opened his eyes to look down at Lucas, and he smiled softly. "I don't know what you mean, Lucas. Maybe you just caught a cold."
"N-No, t-that isn't it…" With each passing second, Lucas felt weaker and weaker. His hand slowly slid down the smooth surface of the mirror, and his head became too heavy to even lift. He couldn't move. "What… what is…?"
He felt a hand grab his wrist, and his eyes snapped wide open. Using all of the strength he could muster, he forced himself up and off the ground to wrench his arm away from the new person. "Get off of me!" He shouted and turned to fend for himself, but realized with shock that there was no one there. The blond boy turned back around to see that the person holding his arm…
… was Ness.
He was at a loss for words. The boy in the mirror still had a smile on his face, but it almost seemed menacing to Lucas now. Ness' arm was holding Lucas' wrist through the mirror, and the part where his limb passed through rippled as if he were merely sticking his arm through water. It was almost a horrific sight.
"Ness… how are you…?"
"You don't want to deal with these things anymore, do you?" Ness asked him. "You don't want to deal with Snake terrorizing your everyday life, you don't want to deal with Ike taunting you every day, and you don't want to deal with the fact that everyone you left behind hates you now."
"You…"
"You want me to protect you, right? You want me to have a physical body so I can protect you and keep you safe from harm. I'm sorry, Lucas, but there's only room for one of us in this world."
"Ness…"
Ness' other arm shot out through the mirror and grabbed the collar of Lucas' shirt. Lucas yelped and tried to pull away, but his newly weakened body could do nothing more but struggle futilely against Ness' much stronger one. "Every time we make contact through the mirror, you send part of your soul into me to help me get stronger," Ness explained, smile still on his face. "And now I'm strong enough to live in the real world. But unfortunately for you, you don't have much of your soul left. And that makes you useless. Obsolete."
Lucas' blue eyes widened in horror as the realization struck him. Ness' horribly ashen and sickly figure when they first met a year before compared to Lucas' healthy body, to the present day where Lucas was the ailing boy while Ness was strong enough to fend for himself.
They had a complete role reversal.
"N-no… stop!" He shouted as his fingers passed through the almost liquid-like surface of the mirror, and his arm began to follow suit. Deeper and deeper his body was being pulled inside, but instead of seeing his arm form on the surface, it almost felt as if it was disintegrating instead.
"I can leave, but nothing can ever come back," Ness explained as Lucas started to scream in agony. "I could never take the entirety of your soul, but you can't have two parts of one soul living in two separate bodies at the same time. It just doesn't work like that. One of us has to leave. And since you're now the weaker of us… why not you?"
Lucas pulled himself back to try and pull himself out, but Ness merely grabbed onto his leg and started dragging him in by that limb instead. The blond boy got the remainder of his arm out of the mirror, but all that was left was a rather bloody stump. Lucas continued to sob as he stared at his disfigured limb, and turned to try and drag himself away with his other arm.
"Lucas, Lucas, Lucas," Ness tsked and shook his head. "I'm strong enough to stand up to Snake. I can make so much more friends than you ever could. I can deal with these things. You already proved you can't, so… I don't know why you're trying to cling to life so much. You said you'd do anything for me to have an actual body, right? Well, now's your chance. You said you would do anything for me… and now you'll die for me."
"Someone help me!" Lucas screamed. "I don't want to die!"
Ness laughed almost childishly as he continued to drag the blond boy inside of the mirror. Lucas continued to shriek as the entire bottom half of his body up to his torso had been pulled inside. Even if he were to escape now… there would literally be nothing he could do before bleeding out anyway.
"It was nice knowing you, really," Ness reached forward to grab Lucas' head, and he pulled the rest of his own body out of the mirror just as he forced the blond's body completely inside. He looked down at his new body, similar to Lucas' in almost every way save for eye and hair color, and nodded in content.
"Goodbye, friend."
OoO
A/N: This strayed so far from my original idea it's ridiculous.
I didn't mean for the Snake thing to take up most of the story; it just kind of… happened. Whoops. But uh, I hope this was alright ( despite how long it is, ehe…;; ).
Um… thanks for reading! (also sorry, this was for a horror contest yet it didn't really turn into horror until the end… ;; again, the snake thing wasn't supposed to take so long, aha… )