(A/N: Hello, fellow Maplers. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I will only be able to update on the weekends. So yeah, that's all. I hope you enjoy it and please review!)

Chapter 4: The Mirror of Insight

The Dual Blades group had now surrounded us, and there was no way to escape. I pointed my arrow at one of them and was ready to release.

"We can't kill them all," John muttered. "It's impossible."

"Then, we escape," Merlin said. "Grab my hand." My friends and I held onto the old man's hand.

"What are you going to do?" Matthew asked. Merlin didn't answer and the Dual Blades charged us.

"We teleport away," Merlin muttered. As he said that, we appeared behind the group of masked men. We didn't stay to watch and we ran down the hallway. The corridor was endless and had numerous doors on each side. It was hopeless; we would never find the mirror. I sat on the ground and sighed. We were walking for a long time and I was losing hope.

"Come one Jack, no time to give up," Merlin ordered, grabbing my arm and helping me up. Then, a soft buzzing sound was heard in my ear. I looked around but saw nothing. I took a step forward and the buzzing gradually increased. The Mirror had power radiating from it, and we weren't too far.

"Follow me!" I yelled, running down the aisle, feeling the buzzing getting stronger and stronger. Finally, the noise in my ear had stopped completely. Beside me was a door. The Japanese letters were sprawled all across the entrance. And one of the pictures was a mirror.

"This is it," Sammy murmured.

"I wonder what the Mirror does," Jennie said thoughtfully.

"Well, we're just going to have to find out," Merlin said, trying to open the door. The door was locked which made Merlin sigh and rammed the door with his staff. The impact and magic forced the door to open, but to set off the alarms.

"Get the Mirror, now!" Merlin ordered. Merlin readied his staff and sword as a large group of Dual Blades appeared. John nodded, telling me that they would hold them off. I ran into the room and saw marbles. Each one had a mirror in it. The mirrors had a polished glass in the middle, to see your reflection, and it had a gold surrounding at the sides. I grabbed one marble and slammed it on the ground. The marble shattered into millions of pieces and I grabbed the Mirror. All of a sudden, the Dual Blades marched into the room with Merlin, John, Matthew, Jennie, and Sammy tied up, bruised and injured.

"No," I whispered.

"Give us the Mirror, if you don't want to see them die," one of them growled.

"Don't do it, Jack, don't," Merlin muttered. One of the enemies hit his head with the hilt of his sword, "Don't speak, fool." Merlin crumpled to the floor and groaned in pain. I stood their in shock. Merlin looked at me and murmured something. All of a sudden, my friends and the Dual Blades disappeared. I landed on a hard surface and looked around. I was still in the Secret Garden, but far away from Merlin. I sat on the ground and tears welled up in my eyes. I lost my friends and they probably were dead now. I wiped away the tears and stood up. Merlin would want me to finish the quest, even if it meant for him to die. I looked around but I did not recognize the place. I walked down the hall and searched for the exit. But the place was an endless maze and I started to lose hope again. I sighed but kept walking and soon, in front of me, were two huge doors. I silently opened one door in peered inside. I saw another Mirror of Insight, but this one was bigger and cleaner. I looked at my mirror and noticed it was a replica. But for some reason, the real Mirror didn't radiate any power. It must've been some trick. Anyway, I looked around some more to see if there were any guards. I saw two men, which were the guards, with two swords strapped onto their waist. In between them was a beautiful young lady. She had short, brown hair with blue eyes. She had a white cape flapping in the wind and white Japanese clothes. I couldn't take my eyes off of her as one of the guards said, "I hear something." The Dual Blade soldier walked towards where I was. I readied my bow and waited for him to come. When he was close enough, I jumped into the room and released my arrow. The arrow flew towards him, but luckily he dodged just in time. The other guard took out his swords and was next to his partner. The lady, which I guessed was the leader, sat on her throne and watched in amusement.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" one of the guards spat. I ignored their question and released another arrow. The enemy tried to dodge, but a small cut appeared on his arm. He hissed in anger and charged at me. I dropped my bow and took out my old sword. I blocked his attack and slashed at his stomach. A gash had been formed from my attack and the Dual Blade fell to his knees. I took out one of my arrows from the quiver and quickly stabbed his neck. He fell to the ground, blood pooling around him. The other guard muttered something and rushed at me with a barrage of slashes and stabs. I tried blocking his attacks but his swords danced at an unnatural speed. Several cuts had appeared on my arms and chest. I spat out some blood but stood up again. The guard lunged at me but I jumped backwards and grabbed my bow. I took out an arrow and released. The arrow met its mark and shot the guard's back. The Dual Blade groaned in pain and fell to the ground. I looked back at the leader and saw that she was smiling with amusement.

"You have good skill," she said, rising from her throne and walked towards me. I quickly fitted another arrow onto my bowstring and aimed it at her, but I knew I could never fire.

"Who…who are you?" I asked.

"Lady Syl," Syl answered. "And why don't I give you a kiss for defeating the guards?" I took a step back, knowing that she had a trick up her sleeve. Her lips might be poisoned, or she might have a dagger and stab me, the possibilities are endless. I gulped as she came closer to me. I was now cornered and I dropped my bow. I took out my sword and placed it under her chin, "Don't move." Lady Syl simply moved the sword out of her way and was now in front of me. Her face inched towards me and soon, she had kissed me. I didn't react; I just stood there, wanting it to last forever. The breath smelled of berries as I closed my eyes dreamily.

"Reaper Kiss," she murmured. I stared at her in shock as I felt all my power drain out of me. When she pulled away, I crumpled to the floor. I couldn't move, I was too weak to do anything.

"What…did you do?" I muttered.

"I took your all your power. The power that you own is extraordinary," she purred. She smiled at me as I blacked out.

I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was still in the same room. But Lady Syl wasn't alone. Merlin and my other friends had found me and were fighting Syl. Jennie and Sammy were lying on the ground, injured and weak. John was bruised all over his body and Matthew was too slow and kept missing his attacks. Lady Syl was a skilled fighter, with her hands. Somehow, she had managed to get John's steel knuckles and was punching and kicking at each of my friends. Merlin was also injured which had surprised me. If anyone could lay a finger on Merlin, they had amazing skill. I looked around and saw that my bow was several feet away from where I was. I slowly crawled towards it, and whenever I inched forward, I felt pain all over my body. But soon, I grabbed it and grabbed an arrow. With my remaining strength, I stood up and pulled back, ready to release. I took a deep breath, trying to keep my bow from shaking, and released. The arrow whistled in the air and shot Lady Syl's arm. While she was distracted, John and Matthew tackled her to the floor and pinned her down.

"Give me back my knuckles," I heard John growl. Merlin walked over to Lady Syl and ordered, "Give Jack his strength back or I'll cut your throat."

"Oh, but if you kill me, Jack will never get his strength back," Syl said playfully.

"And you'll never see the sun again," Merlin growled. Lady Syl sighed and pushed John and Matthew off her. She walked towards me and leaned to me. I grabbed her shoulder and said, "No more Reaper Kisses." She gave me a smile and kissed me. Soon, I felt my power come enter my body. I raised my arm with ease. I sighed in relief and gave Merlin a smile. John came running towards me and gave me a hug, "I thought you were dead, brother."

"Brother? Since when did we have the same last name?" I asked with a smile.

"A bond that strong is as strong as a brother's bond."

(A/N: Finished the chapter! Don't worry; I'm not over with my story yet, except I think that my ending would be a pretty good story ender, but it doesn't matter. Anyway, I don't know what skills Lady Syl has, so I just thought of the kissing thing… Hope you don't think it was disgusting. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading!)

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