Mirror, tell me something.
Tell me who's the loneliest of all?
Shirayuki looked at the rest of the magicians around the room with a smug look, turning her head to the perfectly formed ice crystal in her hand, as she tossed it above in the air. It shattered without a loud bang into millions of small shards, only for them to evaporate into nothingness as summoning magic lost its energy. Cheers came from the onlookers and grunts of discontent from other competitors. Shirayuki held the tips of her dress and bowed gently. She knew her performance was top notch and few, if any, could match it today. The prize was hers to bring home.
But who will be there to appreciate my achievement, congratulate me for the trophy?
Her eyes searched the crowd for her father, but she knew it was in vain. If he'll be there at all… he won't be there for her.
Father. The father who used to read me books… he's not himself anymore and I doubt he'll ever be.
But he wasn't likely to be there. More likely he'd be out in one of his campaigns, campaigns whose frequency started to rise ever since he remarried to that terrible step-mother. She wanted to consider the trophy a victory against her, as if it was a punch in that witch's gut, but she couldn't. There was only a single thing she thought of.
But all of that… that's a distant memory now. It happened almost a decade ago.
Shirayuki's vision of the magic competition that took place in the very same hall she was in now dissipated. The hall was now part of a derelict town, plagued by nightmarians. In front of her was a gigantic, sword-wielding bear-like armored nightmarian. It was time to perform feats of magic in this hall once again, this time for another goal.
I will beat it. I will become powerful enough to free my father from the clutches of this woman. I will reclaim my kingdom.
The creature hissed at Shirayuki as it raised its sword high up in the air. The light from the chandelier reflected and sparkled at the blade.
Mirror, tell me something.
Tell me who's the loneliest of all?
Mirror, what's inside of me.
Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?
The creature swung its sword at Shirayuki as she backflipped, landing on both feet in a graceful movement. Shirayuki pointed at the floor with her circle and it immediately covered with a thin layer of slippery ice. Shirayuki skated with ease, evading the nightmarian's sword blows one by one. It then found an opening by punching Shirayuki in a backward movement with its elbow, throwing her a few meters away. Shirayuki rose up and quickly slid to avoid a sword blow, hopping on the air as the back movement came, only to deflect from the sword as she landed over it, using it to gain further momentum into an aerial somersault matched by a graceful landing. Her light circle now multiplied into five, four copies of it flinging towards the Nightmarian. The sound of shattered glass echoed in the hall as its sword cleaved through them, breaking three of them into pieces. The fourth one homed in on its sword, twisting it out of the monster's hands. It flung high up in the air, its blade landing halfway through to the ground. The nightmarian lunged for it, only to find himself unable to pull it as a cluster of ice formed around it.
Shirayuki allowed herself a slight smile at her advantageous position, as she summoned her magic once again. "Seven Lights" she called off her attack. Out of the bags in her dress, seven colored streams of lights emerged, striking the nightmarian each in their turn. First red, then green, then cyan, followed by purple. By the fifth one the nightmarian fell, barely rising to a kneeling position, as the streams of light twirled in the air, striking and sticking to it, pinning its boots to the ground, its arms to the side and flinging away its sword.
Mirror, mirror, what's behind you?
Save me from the things I've seen!
I can keep it from the world
Why won't you let me hide from me?
Mirror, mirror, tell me something.
Who's the loneliest of all?
The nightmarian raised his head, only to see Shirayuki mid-air, her outline shining against the light emanating and reflecting from the chandelier above, holding two glowing circles in her both hands.
"Eternal glorious" She invoked the magic, then swiped both in slicing motions, making deep cuts through the creature's armor. The nightmarian slowly collapsed, magic glitter seeping and rising from the cut. It barely managed a gasp before its entire existence turned into little more than dust glitter particles and then nothing.
I'm the loneliest of all.
Shirayuki looked again at the now empty hall and the memories started to flood her again.
"... And the prize for the best magic performance, goes to Shirayuki." The announcer called. She stepped forwards slowly and nodded as she felt the cold touch of the silver medallion in her palm and the hard touch of the gem fitted in it.
She brushed these thoughts just as quickly.
No. My magic is now used to defend Fandavale. Defend my comrades.
Akazukin is waiting for me and so is Ibara. Hamelin needs to relay our report to king Fernando. I've done all I can for this village, for now. One day, I'll be back. We'll all be back. The day we defeat Cendrillon, and peace shall return to Fandavale.
-OJAFMOJAFMOJAFM-
Sekko decided he had seen enough. The eye-spy creature hopped away from the scene, having performed its intelligence collection duty.
"Shirayuki has always been one of the more dangerous of the Musketeers, Even though Akazukin does pack a punch and Ibara has surprised our forces more than once."
Hansel made telepathic contact with Sekko yet again.
"Sekko, has the nightmarian managed to stop Shirayuki?"
"Brother, are there news from the village?" Gretel inquired, but Hansel silenced her.
"Not now, sister. Please leave us be."
"Sorry, brother." Gretel's head drooped as she slowly walked away to her room.
"Our forces have made good progress today. This setback is but a minor one."
The mirror in front of Hansel sprung to life, Cendrillion's image now appearing in it.
"Queen Cendrillon, our forces have made significant progress toward King Fernando's castle today. The failure to capture Shirayuki is but a small setback." Hansel assured her.
"Very well. I expect a swift victory. Do not disappoint me."