Chapter 10: What Lies Beyond the Looking Glass
I tried to ignore the aggravated expression on Kid's face as we once again found ourselves standing in front of the Mirror of Whispers. I just hoped the mirror wouldn't show me anything else about Kid's past that she wanted to keep hidden. She might forgive me once, but surely not twice.
The Venus statue smiled up at me. "Welcome back, Master Serge. Is there anything you would like to know?"
I had come with the intension of confronting the mirror about the warning I had heard. To see if Lynx really was expecting us or not, but as I stood there before it, I lost my nerve. Try as I might I couldn't bring myself to accuse the mirror. Knowing that it would simply skim the thoughts off the surface of my mind anyway, I quickly blurted out, "I'd like to know about your past."
Kid shot me a hot glare. "That's why ya drug us in here? To ask the mirror about itself?" Magil showed no reaction. Disapproval or otherwise.
I shrugged meekly. "I was just curious I guess."
The statues reflection smiled at me from the other side of the reflection. "You have interest in my past?" It asked in a humble tone.
"Yeah," Kid answered in my stead, suddenly curious herself. "What in the blazes are ya?"
"I am a Mirror of Whispers, crafted over three-hundred years ago in the Realm of the Looking Glass."
"Realm of the Looking Glass?" both myself and Kid asked simultaneously.
"It's the flip-side of this world, a world which harbors the objective contents of thoughts," Magil answered quickly.
The mirror continued, "I've been in this world for a long time. Passing through the hands of many owners, I have traveled far and wide throughout many lands."
"So how did ya end up here?" Kid asked.
The mirror sighed, a depressed and lonely sound. "I came here with a kindred spirit, but now…I am alone. Furthermore, now that I am without others of my own kind, I have begun to fade. I am so lonely…" On the reflection side, tears trickled down the Venus's face.
"If we come across any other mirrors like you, we'll come back and tell you," I said in an attempt to cheer it up.
Still weeping the Venus statue looked up at me and smiled. "Thank you so much. Your kindness shines, truly." It started to speak again, but then paused as if hesitating. "If…if you'd be interested I have a gift for you."
"A gift?" I was taken aback. What kind of gift could a mirror possibly give to someone?
"Only a modest token of my appreciation for you and your comrades. I present you with a personal invitation into the Realm of the looking Glass, if you are interested."
Kid frowned. "This aint gonna take long is it?"
"Oh no," the mirror replied. "It won't take up hardly anytime on this side."
To me it sounded like a great gift. Traveling to a parallel world? That could prove exciting. I reached forward and plunged my hand into the mirror. The surface rippled slightly as I stuck my arm in deeper. It felt like sticking my arm into water, only not quite as wet, if that makes any sense.
"Oh, Master Serge I'm so sorry!" The mirror wailed, suddenly upset. "I've been forced to trick you! Hurry pull your arm out, or you'll be sealed inside me forever!"
With panic setting in I urgently tried to pull my arm free, but something, it felt like a strange pressure being wrapped around my arm, began to pull me further in. Kid and Magil rushed to my aid, both grabbing onto me and tugging as hard as they could. My arm came out a little, causing cracks to spider web through the mirror.
"On the count of three," Magil ordered. "One. Two. Three."
The three of us pulled back with all the force we had, popping my arm out from the mirror. Instantly the mirror was covered with cracks.
"I am so sorry, Lynx planned to seal you all in the mirror," the mirror wept. As it spoke more and more cracks appeared in its surface. "There's more. I had already alerted Lynx of your presence long before you knew of my existence. He's known you were in the mansion since the beginning."
"Damn him," growled Kid. "Why'd ya do it, mirror? Why'd ya side with someone like him?"
"Lynx took away everything I ever had. He refused to allow me to leave Viper Manor, coercing me to be the mansion's eyes and ears, promising he would someday set me free…" A large piece of glass fell from the mirror, shattering on the floor with a light tinkling noise. "However, it was simply another one of Lord Lynx's schemes. No freedom is worth stealing another's for. I would rather destroy myself than become another murderer…"
Another piece of glass fell to the floor, and another. In the reflection we could still see the Venus statue's mouth talking, but we could no longer hear her. Soon the rest of the glass had fallen. I looked into the shattered shards of glass, into a kaleidoscope of images. Heaving a sigh I turned away. Lynx had claimed another victim. "Let's go."
As we left I looked over my shoulder. Hoping to hear a faint whisper. There was only silence.