A/N:
Credit to u/Galactic_Knightmare on Reddit for drawing a chart that inspired the first part of this chapter.
"Listen up, because we don't have enough hours in the day for me to explain this more than once!" Magolor tapped the whiteboard with his pointer, looking over at the meeting table. "There are five fundamental components in every magical entity. The first and most obvious is, of course, physical matter. Mundane, mass-having matter."
Magolor picked up a marker and drew a familiar shape - first a circle, then dotting the eyes, before finishing with a smile and stubby limbs. After a moment, he erased the face, which caused Marx to gasp in mock horror. Magolor ignored him, beginning on the next emblem within the round shape.
"The other four are also matter, but by nature do not have physical mass. They're composed primarily of magic, and can rarely manifest forms of their own - though that's mostly exclusive to this first one. You'll all recognize this -" Magolor drew a shape reminiscent of a flower, then after a moment of thought drew a tiny eye in the center. "Dark Matter. Just as physical matter has mass, every other type of matter has its own unique properties. Dark matter is, in essence, loneliness, hate, and sadness condensed into a gaseous form. Dark roils and forms spheres, but can rarely act without a body to manipulate. Exceptions exist, of course. Zero is - was? Have we confirmed Zero's eradication? Sorry - Zero was able to make its own body using its magic.
"Dark isn't entirely bad, I should note. In moderation, it serves to amplify enjoyment of existence, promotes self-sufficiency, and encourages critical thought. This sort of duality of function is universal across all four of the magical matters" Magolor paused to draw a line across the center of the diagram, starting to draw a new shape. "Now some of you - or, uh, just Sectonia, actually. You probably know the principle of opposition. That all things have opposites. Matter and antimatter, light and dark, heat and cold -,"
"Hold on, even I know that darkness is just places where light isn't, and cold is just a lack of heat," Marx interrupted.
"Conceptual opposites are still opposites, Marx. The ideas associated with things like heat and cold are in opposition, and those ideas are held by enough people to bleed into reality and alter the essence of those concepts fundamentally," Sectonia explained, "It is an essential part of advanced ontological thaumaturgy."
Marx stared at her for a few moments, jaw agape and expression blank. After a little while he spoke, "Yeah no I'm just gonna ignore that one thanks"
"Anyways!" Magolor cleared his throat, drawing a small heart opposite the Dark Matter. "The opposite of Dark is Heart matter. Heart matter forms bubbles and crystals when left to itself, usually in - you guessed it - heart shapes. As the opposite of Dark matter, Heart matter is the matter of love, happiness, and unity. But it has its downsides as well, in excess creating a mindset that is easy to manipulate. Heart is unquestioning and uncritical, and I'm sure we can all think of someone who is absolutely steeped in the stuff and never questions anything.
"Moving on, let's examine the other axis of magical matters." Magolor drew another line, perpendicular to the first, and started drawing a star on the right side. "Dream matter is ever present here in Dreamland, coming from the fountain of dreams in a constant flow. Dream matter is associated with, well, dreams. Both the ones that happen when you sleep, and the ones that are better described as plans or aspirations. Dream matter - which exists mostly in the form of stardust and energy constructs, ironically making it not actually matter - is the matter of plans, ambitions, and ideals. But delve too deep and it creates complacency and inaction, leading to the sort of lackadaisical attitude that most Dreamlanders have.
"Dream matter's opposite is one we've all had intimate interactions with: Soul matter." Sectonia felt a shiver run down her back as Magolor drew the next symbol, a dripping orb. "Soul matter coalesces as a viscous liquid, like paint. But you all knew that. Soul is associated with instinct, survival and struggle. An entity with too much soul does not think, does not plan, and does everything it can to survive. Even to the point of defying known rules of magic and physics. Sound familiar?"
Drawcia's painting wobbled, drawing everyone's attention. How do these matters interact?
"Good question! That was what I was just about to get to!" Magolor moved to another spot on the whiteboard. "Most people have an even balance of these four, resulting in a perfectly functional individual. Others have higher levels of one or another, but so long as the ratio isn't thrown completely out of whack it still works mostly as usual. But some people have exceptionally different proportions of magical matter, which brings us to the most interesting part.
"Let's look at Gooey. Gooey, as you all know, began life as a Dark Matter. An entity of self-absorption, which rejects other viewpoints in its myopic existence. But Gooey was befriended by Kirby, who as best I can tell is a creature of immense Heart matter. This created an interesting result."
As Magolor drew a simplistic depiction of Gooey, Marx frowned.
"Combining Heart and Dark is an unstable union, resulting in a creature that cannot maintain a single form for extended periods-," Magolor began.
"You better not say anything bad about Gooey!" Marx shouted, "He is a precious baby boy who must be protected!"
"Gooey is not a baby, and is more than capable of protecting himself. His instability is a constant, and he'll eventually solidify for a bit before he returns to a goo state. If you don't want to continue talking about Gooey, let's talk about you." Magolor moved to the other side of the whiteboard, drawing Marx. "Can anyone guess what types of matter are in Marx?"
"Gonna be honest, wasn't listening," Marx said, "But probably something like 'awesome' and 'god'."
"No. Anyone with a serious guess?"
"Soul, for one," Sectonia said, "He is impulsive and continues to defy known laws of physics, both mundane and magical. If I were to hazard a guess at a second type of matter, I would say Dream if only because of his origin as a Dreamlander."
"Correct on both counts. Due to the unique-,"
"Wait, how do you know that?" Mark asked.
"-composition of opposing matters -," Magolor continued, ignoring the interruption.
"Have you been doing experiments on me?"
"-the end result is, like Gooey-"
"Spying on me in my sleep?"
"-extremely unstable. Dream-"
"No seriously how."
"-matter leading to grand ambitions, while Soul matter means he'll never be able to muster the patience required to get anything meaningful done!" Magolor's volume increased steadily through his rant. "And he won't sit quietly while I try to explain things!"
Marx didn't respond verbally, instead choosing to escalate by launching himself into the air and spreading his wings. He opened his mouth and released a beam of white light at Magolor, missing by a significant margin and blasting the whiteboard to pieces. The metal wall of the Lor darkened, and the entire ship rumbled ominously.
"What is wrong with you?!" Magolor shouted, "Stars above, you are the most violent person I have ever met!"
"I'm tired now." Marx plopped himself down in his seat. "Gonna take a nap."
Drawcia's painting was, in short order, covered in various complaints and lamentations at the fact that Marx existed. These remarks remained for only a brief moment before she replaced all of them with Absolute lunatic.
"Great, okay." Magolor ran a hand across the top of his head, pulling at one ear before he looked over at Sectonia. "Right, uh. Sectonia, if you wouldn't mind getting another whiteboard from the storage hold, that would be appreciated. I need to run some diagnostics to make sure Lor is okay. Drawcia-,"
I am a painting.
"-yeah, just do whatever. You're good." Magolor tugged at his ear again, then started drifting off. "I'll… I'll be right back."
As Magolor made his way through a door, Sectonia started off towards the storage hold. She knew roughly where it was, but had never actually been inside. Doors opened ahead of her as the Lor Starcutter guided her to where she was supposed to go. She entered the storage hold, and looked around, frowning.
It was musty, dusty, and dry in the storage hold. Large blankets and tarps covered all sorts of shapes, keeping a rather eclectic collection of things preserved. The whiteboards were closer to the back of the room, and the things Sectonia had to navigate past were… interesting, to say the least. Large mechanical objects, metallic renditions of Dreamlanders loaded up with over-the-top weaponry. A stack of clocks, surrounded by floating magical runes that contained volatile temporal energy. A crate full of star rods, each utterly devoid of power and probably fake to begin with. Books with magical energy radiating from their pages, latched shut and held that way by rubber bands.
Sectonia tugged at one of the whiteboards - why were there so many in here? There were twelve whiteboards, all flat against the back wall. Did Marx break them so often that this was necessary? Either way, she gently pulled one away from the wall, only to wince as something elsewhere in the room slid out of its carefully packed position. There were so many magical artifacts in here, contained only by ramshackle runes and makeshift bindings. One wrong move could cause a chain reaction of dire proportions.
She looked over at the thing that had fallen, and her heart caught in her throat.
A tarp had slithered to the floor, leaving bare something she recognized. The winged golden frame, with stars at the corners and a crown on top, caused dread to rise in her gut. The mirror's surface reflected her own face for a moment, before its surface shimmered and went blank.
"No. No no no no no…" Sectonia flew over to the mirror, panicking for reasons she couldn't quite understand. This mirror - the Dimensional Mirror - was bad. She knew it was bad, but she didn't know why. What was bothering her, and why was it so urgent that she felt the immediate desire to leave.
"Sectonia?"
She snapped out of her daze, looking towards the entrance of the storage hold. Magolor was there, Marx sleepily walking behind him. Drawcia's portrait hovered alongside the two, moving on its own for the first time since Sectonia had first met the paint witch.
"I…" Sectonia blinked, trying to regain her focus.
"You've been gone for almost an hour," Magolor said.
We were worried. The words appeared on Drawcia's painting in soft blue.
"I am sorry, I," Sectonia began, swallowing as she turned her attention back to the blank silver surface of the mirror. She looked back over at Magolor, not even trying to hide the fear. "Where did you get this?"
"Oh, the mirror? I found the pieces all over Dreamland and put it back together." Magolor floated over, stopping a short distance away. "You, uh, really should put it down. If it reflects you, it only shows your negative attributes, and gives them a life of their own."
"It's… a bit late for that," Sectonia whispered. She stared into the depths of the mirror. "The mirror had me years ago…"
"Hold on, if the mirror copies anyone who walks in front of it, is there a mirror Magolor in there?" Marx asked.
"Oh, I had a tarp on it. Must have slipped off."
"A tarp?! Really?!"
"I had a countercharm too! Perfectly safe!"
"That… exists?" Sectonia furrowed her brow. Did she just see something move in the mirror, or was her mind playing tricks on her?
"It was somewhat touch and go, but I put it together. I've been tinkering with Ancient tech for a long time so it's not that hard." Magolor shrugged.
"Really Mags? Just messing with forces you don't understand on a daily basis?" Marx scoffed.
"Marx, you are forces I don't understand. Forces you don't understand, because you insist on rejecting any sort of information I try to teach you!"
"I take great pride in my accomplishments."
"I hate you."
"I thought we were supposed to be learning today. You just keep telling me things I already know."
"Can you… be quiet?" Sectonia asked. She had located it. The abnormality in the mirror. She was sure it was staring back at her, with the faintest impression of eyes.
"Anyways, how do you know about the mirror?" Magolor turned back towards her. "I heard it was - oh, right. Sky mirror, sky kingdom, that makes sense."
"It was a gift," Sectonia said quietly, "But the one giving it to me was just as fooled as I was. But now I see you."
She drove her hand through the surface of the mirror, the polished silver rippling like water as she wrapped her fingers around the edges of the mask. She pulled, fighting against the entity on the other side as it resisted. It was strong, and she felt the sharp blade of a sword slicing at her fingers, but she was stronger. She had control this time, and she wasn't going to relinquish it.
The entity on the other side of the mirror was hurled across the room, spreading its wings to stabilize in midair. It looked like Meta Knight, though the differences were more than enough to differentiate it. The scrape across its silver mask, the blade of silver rather than gold, the tattered cloak-turned-wings, and of course the aura of darkness that it emanated.
It moved swiftly, blitzing Sectonia with its blade of silver. She conjured one of her rapiers, parrying the blow and sending the creature careening into a crate full of - ironically - replicas of Meta Knight's golden sword.
"This is already a disaster," Magolor said with a sigh, "Just try to keep collateral damage to a minimum."
Sectonia ignored him, keeping her eyes on the dark knight as he climbed out of the plastic swords. His yellow eyes were full of anger, but also shock. She had caught him off-guard.
"Who are you?" Sectonia demanded, leveling her rapier at the knight. "And why do I recognize you?"
"...What a joke," The dark knight muttered.
His form flickered, and faster than the eye could follow he was dashing around the room. Jumping from object to object to reposition. She just lost track of him when a star-shaped portal opened in the corner of her eye, and she whirled to see the dark knight careen through the portal. A moment later another portal opened, and with his momentum he slammed into the wall of the storage hold with a heavy thud.
"Stay off the merchandise," Magolor shouted, "I haven't found any buyers yet!"
"Stay out of matters that are none of your business, wizard," The knight spat back, whirling. He raised his sword, and splinters of silver mirrors winked into existence around the room. He raised his sword-
Something tittered gleefully, and Sectonia glanced over to see something she had thought impossible. Drawcia had stepped out of her painting, paintbrush in hand. One flourish, and half the mirrors were covered in white paint. Another sweep, and the other half were blocked out with black. When the knight's sword plunged into the floor, it rebounded. The paint on the mirrors wobbled, then expanded to consume the silver they covered. In moments, the mirrors were gone.
"Do you want to try that again?" Drawcia asked, her voice soft and carrying an unearthly echo, "I'm sure it'll work better next time."
The confusion in the dark knight's eyes grew. He was out of his depth, surrounded by entities well beyond his power level. He took a defensive stance, not noticing the shadow creeping across the floor as he readied himself.
Marx rose from the ground behind the dark knight, cackling madly. When the knight whirled, Marx just grinned.
"Boo."
A blast of energy released from Marx's mouth, catapulting the knight across the room. Through one of the whiteboards, a stack of novelty plates, and ending in a robot shaped like a waddle dee. The metal crumpled inwards, smoking and burning as it collapsed around the dark knight.
"Damn it all, Marx!" Magolor shouted, "Why do you break everything?!"
"Bah, I got the guy. Besides, nobody's gonna buy fifty plates with your face on them." Marx rolled his eyes. He looked over at Drawcia. "Surprised you bothered to leave your painting."
"I felt a certain… kinship with this intruder," Drawcia said, flying over to the mostly-destroyed robot. Her painting moved up behind her, utterly blank. "I'll return soon enough. I can't stand your asinine nonsense. And I haven't enough power to sustain this form for long."
"A kinship?" Sectonia asked, flying up beside her. The knight was buried in bent metal panels, locked in place by wires and cords as he stared at her in hate. "What kind?"
"A similar darkness. Different hues, painted in different ways, but ultimately the same paint upon similar canvas." Drawcia tilted her head, leaning closer. "I am of Dark, you see. Dark and Soul. Quite obvious when you know what consistency each has, but I digress. He is of Dark too. Darkness in the mirror world… how tragic."
"Darkness in the mirror. No wonder it doesn't grant wishes," Sectonia lamented, "If it ever did, now it only makes nightmares real. What do you find so funny?"
The dark knight was laughing, a raspy, rough chuckle that sounded like it had never been used before.
"You would know," The dark knight said, "What kind of nightmares come from the mirror."
Sectonia went cold. That… that meant something dangerous to her. She could tell that the knight was telling the truth, but she didn't know why.
"What are you talking about?" Sectonia swallowed. When she focused, she could recognize an unsettlingly familiar aspect to his magic. Something entirely disconnected from the types of matter. The implications made her sweat.
"Poor insect. Forgetting your own past. Looks like you really have lost the control you so fervently wished for," The knight taunted, "Let me remind you: you are of the mirror too. A dark reflection of a foolish idealist."
Sectonia had to focus to keep her head from spinning. That was… she was…
"I envy you. For replacing your counterpart. How I wish I could do the same. But my counterpart is the greatest warrior to ever live, and even as his reflection I am doomed to fail against him." The knight chuckled again. "But you? Your counterpart was a prissy royal. How easily you choked her, throwing her into the hellscape you escaped."
"N-no, I…"
-Sectonia wrapped her fingers around her doppelganger's throat, strangling her for a few moments before throwing her into the mirror-
She was crying, now. Tears flowing freely down her face. They smudged her makeup, stained her clothes.
For all her cruelty, for all her grandstanding, for all her madness, Sectonia knew the reason now. The cause for her ego, and vanity, and paranoia.
She was a fake. A reflection from the mirror. And she had cursed the real Sectonia with a fate worse than death.
She backed away, breathing heavily. The others were talking. Concern, caution, and laments. But she didn't hear. Not truly. It was just noise.
She reached out to the mirror, lifting it into the air, and looked over at the others.
"I'm sorry. I don't know if I'll be back. I'm sorry."
And she plunged into the silvery depths.