Chapter Eighteen: The Veil of Vanity

A.N: Nice long update for you as a present since I've been away from this for a while. I hope you enjoy arguably the most torturous scene I have ever written.

Content warning: suicide, drug addiction, alcoholism, murder, miscarriage, abuse. Please proceed with caution.

Mark fell for what felt like miles. He was in pure blackness so it wasn't easy to tell where he was. The clanging of distant mining and the whoosh of the wind in his ears told him he was still in Greed and falling fast. The question, then, was where the hell was he falling to? He wasn't dead, he knew that for sure; his heart was beating so loud he thought it was about to burst out of his chest. So where was he?

Before he could get a real answer, the world around him started to become brighter. At least, that's how it appeared at first. It took several seconds for him to realize what was happening; a bright yellow light had appeared below him and was reflecting off the walls. All around him were crystal-clear mirrors. He caught sight of his reflection. He was pale, paler than he'd been when he'd left for Caina. The tip of his nose and knuckles were a soft shade of pink. Cold? No, he hadn't experienced the coldness of the Underworld since becoming Serenity's Guardian. It was something else.

He had a few seconds to contemplate this before he landed face first on the ground. The collision with the crystal-like surface below him rocked his body. He felt almost every bone in his body shatter like glass.

"Painful, isn't it?"

The voice was distorted, but it seemed familiar. He opened his eyes, staring into his own eyes. The floor was so reflective it unnerved him just a little. Through the excruciating pain, Mark hauled himself to his knees. The world he'd fallen into was like a carnival's Hall of Mirrors. He was seeing his own face staring back at him from every direction. Even the ceiling seemed to stare back at him.

Wait... ceiling?

"You're stuck here."

That damn voice again. Mark stood, fists clenched.

"Who are you?"

Cold, unfeeling laughter echoed around the seemingly endless chamber. His eyes darted across the faces of his reflections. As he looked around, one of his reflections seemed to change. His eyes narrowed; the face he was staring at was his own, but he was wearing his Guardian robes. He looked down. He was still wearing his torn jeans and t-shirt from earlier. He looked back up, turning his head. He caught the eye of another reflection.

This one was dressed as his wrestling persona, cloaked all in black. The same piercing green eyes stared back at him, scowling as he did.

"Your past selves can see right through you."

Mark growled. The voice was becoming a little more distinct now, though it was still very distorted.

"Show yourself!"

More laughter. He growled again, turning away from The Undertaker. The next reflection that caught his eye was a different version of the Undertaker: Big Evil.

The biker persona of the Undertaker he'd tried for a few years. He'd dropped the undead wizard gimmick in favor of a more amplified version of himself; a biker. With a bandanna, dark sunglasses and a long trench coat, it was a face he barely recognized. That face belonged to a man living in a simpler time.

The walls quivered as his reflections moved. Each appeared beside the biker, each from a different period in his life. His youngest self on the day of the fire; his teenage face; the young man who'd fallen so deeply in love he'd been willingly to sacrifice everything; the man who'd helped his brother break free from an asylum. Each face stared back at him, showing the same sincere expression.

Regret.

"Enough of this!" Mark shouted, fists clenched so tight he could feel his knuckles clicking under his skin. "Whoever you are, come out here and face me."

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

Mark growled again and turned. He'd had enough and wanted out.

"I don't have time for games."

"Then take off your mask."

He stopped moving as something moved out of the corner of his eyes. He turned to face his reflections again. One of them was missing; the biker. Eventually he found it. It appeared to be behind him. He swung around, coming face to face with his former self.

Mirror-Mark followed his movements almost exactly before smirking. Mark blinked, taking a step back.

"Who are you?"

Mirror-Mark continued smirking, reaching up to remove his sunglasses. He placed them on his head, revealing pure white eyes. No pupils, no irises, all completely creepy. His head tilted ever so slightly as he smiled.

"I'm here to help you realize that you are not the saint you make yourself out to be," he said, his voice echoing around the room.

He raised a hand. Mark's reflections began to ripple and waver, forming a circle around the two.

Mark watched as his past selves surrounded them, keeping him from finding any way to escape.

"If you actually learn something, I'll take you back to Greed," Mirror-Mark said, watching him. Mark raised an eyebrow. He still wasn't sure what was going on, but he'd play along until he could return to the task at hand. His queen was waiting for him in the Palace and he be damned if his flickering reflection would stop him.

"Show me what you have to show me then."

"Patience, Calaway. Let me ask you a question first. Is you're family the most important thing to you?"

Mark stopped, taken aback by the question. Of course they were! He'd fallen down here because he refused to give them up, didn't that say enough? Every member of his family, even the brother who had tried to kill him multiple times, were the single most important thing to him.

"What the hell kind of question is that? Of course they are!"

His reflection nodded, waving his hand. The other Marks disappeared, replaced with his children. Abbi, April, Anna, Gunner, Cooper, Gracie and Chasey. Even Michelle appeared, a dull yellow glow surrounding her pregnant belly. The only ones missing were Brooke and Blake.

"Let's start with the basics. Your children," Mirror-Mark said, waving his hand again.

All but one of the reflections blurred. Abbi was the only one that stayed as crisp and clean as a photograph. The reflection moved her head up to stare at Mark, blank expression on her face. His three eldest girls resembled their mother in such a way that seeing her eyes staring back at him, it almost brought him to his knees. Abbigail, his eldest child out of the bunch, looked like her the most, even with the under cut of her hair dyed white-blonde. Each of the girls had changed their hair to distinguish themselves from each other. Abbi was the least like any of her siblings, probably due to the fact she hadn't grown up with them. She'd only known them a few years.

"You barely know Abbigail, and the only time you see her is when you need something," Mirror-Mark said, stepping closer to the reflection. He tapped his finger against the crystal.

"I do know her," Mark threw back. He growled. How dare this cheap imitation say any of those things?

"Do you?"

Mirror-Mark waved his hand. The crystal walls surrounding them rippled until he could see the shining lights of the Strip in Las Vegas. He could see Caesar's Palace and the Hard Rock Hotel. Beside the giant fountain in the center was the Star de Lune Vegas, Abbi's nightclub. It was one of three owned by the Calaway triplets. Abbi lived in a loft above the club with her husband, Alexis, who helped her run the club. They were very happy together.

"This scene happened one month ago, almost to the day. You were in Los Angeles at the time, preparing for your trials."

Mark blinked. Serenity had warned him that time ran differently in the Underworld, but he didn't think it ran that fast. He felt like he'd only been gone for a few hours, but a month? How could that be? He watched as the image panned in on the club. He could see Abbi through an upstairs window. She was leaning against the window frame. She was staring out at the city lights, her mind lost in thought. Alexis was in the apartment behind her, reading something.

Abbi's beautiful southern drawl echoed around the chamber, and he immediately knew she was upset.

"Do you think I should tell them?" She asked. She turned to Alexis who looked up.

"Your siblings maybe. I don't know about your father."

Mark's eyes narrowed when Abbi laughed.

"That's very true, and to think I spent seven years of my life trying to find the man."

Alexis laughed with her and stood, stepping up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. He rested his head in the crook of her neck. They looked very content, but there was still a sadness in Abbi's eyes that Mark couldn't place. What was wrong? What had happened to make her lose her usual spark? He needed to know. Would this memory show him that?

"He's not the most loving of parents," Alexis said. He brushed a lock of Abbi's hair out of her face. She sighed and turned to look at him.

"You have a better relationship with your dad."

"That I do. But they're different people, Abs."

"I know. Just wish Mark would pay attention to me, you know? It seems if I can't give him something he wants, he doesn't want to know me."

The image faded and Mark turned to look at his reflection. Mirror-Mark just smirked.

"Abbigail spent years trying to find you, and you ignore her. You're a neglectful parent and don't even realize it."

Mark could feel his temper bubbling as the crystal walls warped again. This time they were traveling through the hills of Calabasas in California, home to April and Gunner. The two of them were together, sitting in the back yard of April's home with Brooke, the newest addition to their family. Alex, April and Xander's youngest child, was sitting on April's lap with a rattle in his hand. The four of them seemed to be in a deep discussion.

"This conversation took place a week ago, just after your success in the Limbo trial."

Mark glared at Mirror-Mark but stayed quiet. This was valuable insight to the lives of his children and he wouldn't pass this up. Of the three adults, Gunner seemed to be the most heated, which wasn't a surprise. He was the most passionate of all of his children, and he'd used that passion to turn his dislike of Mark into full-blown apathy. He avoided Mark at every turn. He never showed up to family events if he knew Mark was going to be there, and he would turn on his heel if he walked into a room, so the fact he was having such a passionate discussion about Mark was mind-blowing.

"You see way too much good in him," Gunner said to April, sipping a drink. April rolled her eyes and gestured to her brother.

"And you don't give him enough credit."

"He dragged my ass to hell just so he can get his dick wet. I ain't about that life, sis. I don't want anything to do with him. I want him to stay away from me and my wife and my kids. Zero contact, thank you very fucking much."

April smirked and looked over at Brooke. The blonde was looking between them, looking incredibly confused. She'd only been in the family for a little while, and seeing the way her siblings were speaking about their father appeared to be a little jarring.

"Dad had his bad points, and most of them outweigh the good, but there are good points," April said. She leaned against her arm. She looked tired. The infant on her lap was most-likely the reason, but maybe not completely.

"So far I have only seen the bad," Brooke replied, soft smile on her face.

Mark turned to his reflection and glared.

"How do I know you're not manipulating this to make me out to be the villain?"

Mirror-Mark laughed.

"Because I'm literally you."

Mark raised an eyebrow and returned his attention to the conversation. April had moved from the back porch and was stepping inside, her baby son pulling on her hair.

Xander was sitting in the sun room with their youngest daughter, Piper, sitting on his lap. He was reading, but Mark could tell by his immediate response to April's presence that he'd been watching her.

"Why am I defending him?" April asked, flopping down into a chair. She ran her fingers through her hair and looked at her husband. Xander smiled and closed his book.

"Because you always try to see the good in people, no matter who it is."

April smiled and reached across to hold his hand.

"Sometimes I wanna beat him to death with a bat."

"I'd pay to see that." Xander reached up to touch her face. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. His bullshit doesn't bother me anymore."

"Right." Xander rolled his eyes. April held his fingers.

"Okay, I know this is complete bullshit," Mark said, swiping his hand against the crystal. The image faded, revealing a grinning Mirror-Mark. "Of all my children, April and I get along the best. She tells me everything, so if she's upset with me, I would know."

Mirror-Mark gave him a smug smile before pointing back at the wall.

The image had returned, this time showing Anna, lounging on a pizza shaped pool floaty. She seemed content. Nearby, but out of the range of the image, were her daughters and husband, playing a game of tag. The whole family was happy and enjoying the Florida sunshine.

"It's Anna. She's enjoying the sun. What's so bad about this?" Mark asked his reflection. Mirror-Mark's face remained as smug as ever as he pointed back at the image.

"This is from the day you told her you were getting married."

Mark's gaze fell on Anna's torso. He knew modern day-Anna to have a teddy bear tattoo on her stomach, on her left hip. Her eldest child had drawn it for her and she'd gotten it tattooed as a birthday gift. It had been on her skin for almost a year, and he would be able to verify Mirror-Mark's claim if it was there or not.

To his dismay, it wasn't there.

"Fuck."

Mirror-Mark smirked.

"Watch what the result of that conversation did."

Mark took a breath and watched.

Anna continued lying on the pizza floaty. Her eyebrows disappeared under the rim of her sunglasses, her forehead crinkled in thought. Eventually she looked over at the direction of her family and removed her glasses.

"Scottie?"

"Yes, Bunny?"

Her husband's voice came from just out of view, but Mark could tell he was concerned.

"Do you remember when April called me earlier to tell me about Chris?"

"Yes. Did she actually mention it before you mentioned the wedding?"

Anna smirked.

"Yes, she did. Father's nuptials just occurred naturally when she asked me what I'm up to. I said I was trying to figure out what to wear to the wedding and she asked what wedding."

"I take it she was completely unaware?"

"No, but I think she'd intentionally forgot. She was mad when I told her that Abbi and I knew months ago though. Thing is, this usually happens."

Anna slipped into the water and swam to the edge. Scott was sitting near the house, holding their youngest daughter on his lap. His face was covered by his long blonde hair, but he sat in his swimming trunks, playing with his daughter's hair. Anna smiled when the little girl waved at her.

"Should I have brought up the wedding?" she asked of Scott. He stayed silent, but his head tilted to the side, and Mark wondered what his expression was.

"Annie, I'm gonna be honest with you," he said eventually. "You're a messenger pigeon."

Anna raised an eyebrow. Obviously this hadn't been exactly what she'd expected him to say. A messenger pigeon?

Scott ran his fingers through his hair, revealing his expression for just a moment; he seemed confident but cautious. He knew he had to choose his words carefully or the Calaway temper would explode from his wife. Every single one of Mark's children had unfortunately inherited his temper, and stubborn nature. It sometimes made conversing with them incredibly difficult.

"How many times has Mark told you something about his life that he didn't tell April or Gun himself? How many times has he told you something and asked you to pass it on to them?"

Anna gave him a glare.

"Not that often. Not for big stuff anyway."

Scott laughed and held up a hand.

"The first of his children he told about his relationship with and later divorce from Sara was you. The first of his children to find out he was dating Michelle was you. He told you about Abbi first. You're the first to know about his engagement. Face it, Annie; he's been using you to have hard conversations with April and Gun for literal decades. I'm surprised it took you this long to see it."

Anna opened her mouth to respond but found herself unable to speak. Scott was right. She'd always seen her relationship with her father as fantastic. They were very close, so much so he told her everything. But if what Scott said was true... had Mark been using her this whole time?

"Bastard," she muttered to herself, hoisting herself out of the pool. Her temper was very quickly reaching boiling point.

Mark stepped away from the image and sighed. These weren't the things he wanted to see. He had a good relationship with his children, he just knew that if they learned certain truths they wouldn't trust him. He loved them, even if they couldn't see it. He had tried with everything he had to give his children the best lives they could ask for. He was supportive of their dreams and pushed them to be better than he was.

Mirror-Mark watched him pace the room. Mark could see him out of the corner of his eye. The biker was as still as a statue, save for the slight turning of his head. Eventually his reflection turned to face him fully.

"I don't think I need to show you how Gun really feels," he said with a smirk. Mark rolled his eyes.

Gunner was a prominent figure in the hip-hop industry, and had made several songs about Mark that had sold millions of copies. His cheating ways, his lying, his apparent manipulation. Gun had made it very clear from a very early age that he and Mark would never be close again, and that he was ashamed of sharing a last name, let alone that they were genetically related.

Of Mark's adult children, the only ones left to watch were Blake and Cooper, though he wasn't entirely sure how either would pan out, though he had his suspicions.

"Don't bother showing me Cooper, either," he growled, turning back to face his reflection head on. Mirror-Mark smirked again and waved his hand.

The vision on the wall changed again. He could see the ever-shifting sands of the Nevada desert. They seemed to be traveling towards Las Vegas. They flew through the strip into a part of Sin City he hadn't been to in a very long time. Spring Valley was home to the best view of the strip within five miles, and it was home to Jia, Cooper's mother. She had passed away a few years beforehand, so perhaps what he was being shown was the past?

Mark felt his stomach drop when he saw the house he knew far too well. The red terracotta roof, the sandstone walls and the dust covered garden filled with cacti and shrubs. There was a pair of rocking chairs under the awning, both of them occupied. Mark's heart shattered in his chest. The images he was seeing were from 1999, the day he'd met Cooper for the first time.

Jia, the little Korean woman he'd had a brief affair with, was sitting in one of the chairs, her sixteen year old son sitting beside her.

"I see this scene looks familiar," Mirror-Mark said, grinning. Mark glared at him, returning his gaze to Jia.

He still didn't understand why he'd had the affair. He'd been out on the town one night, the rare moments when he'd been able to get away from Jodi and the triplets. Jia had been a waitress at a Denny's not far from his house, one he frequented often. He'd been the only one in there that night, and Jia had been relentlessly flirting with him. Truth be told, she'd been flirting with him for months before that. She seemed to have a genuine interest in him, often disregarding other patrons to speak to him. He'd told her initially that he was married, but part of him was curious. That part of him was much louder than the rational part of his brain and he'd eventually succumb to his own desires. It had only happened once, but it had resulted in Cooper.

At first, Mark had been furious with himself. He left Jodi and the children to fend for themselves for several months. But he loved his wife and he'd eventually confessed his crime to Jodi. She'd been livid at first, but he'd promised it would never happen again and that he was back to be with them. Jodi had decided to leave it up to the triplets. The minute he'd walked in the door, they'd tackled him to the ground and her love for him resurfaced. Their life together had restarted where it had left off, and only ended when Jodi had died.

He hadn't seen Cooper until he was a teenager, and that's what the scene in front of him was. He held his breath as he saw his all-to-familiar truck pull into the drive way.

"This is gonna suck so bad," young Cooper said, slouching in his seat. Jia reached across to pet his arm.

"It's important that you meet him, Coop," she replied. She reaches up to scruff his dark hair. "You have all the power here."

Cooper smirked and looked over as Mark exited his truck. Modern Mark remembered his scowl all too well. Cooper had been ready to throw insults the minute he'd arrived. Anyone wanting to see a fight would absolutely get one.

"Hello, Cooper."

"Fuck off, dude."

"Cooper!"

"Sorry, Ma. Kindly, fuck off."

"I'm so sorry, Mark. He's not usually like this."

"It's alright, Jia. I expected this. Mind if we talk alone?"

Jia nodded and stood, leaving her son and Mark alone. Mark sat down beside Cooper and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked over at Cooper who continued to scowl at him.

"So-"

"What took you so long?"

Mark blinked and smirked, looking at his feet. He looked back at Cooper and leaned back.

"There is so much more going on in my life than you will ever know," he said eventually, choosing his words as carefully as he could. "I don't have time to raise teenagers when I'm traveling so much."

Cooper rolled his eyes and stood.

"And I don't have time for deadbeat dads who only show up out of guilt."

He was about to head inside when Mark grabbed his wrist.

"Sit. We need to talk to this out."

Cooper pulled his hand but Mark's grip stayed as strong as before. He sighed and returned to his seat.

"Fine. What the hell do you want from me?"

Mark sighed and leaned back again.

"Nothing you're not willing to offer."

"Alright, enough!"

The scene froze as Modern-day Mark stepped away from his reflection. He turned away from the scene, his gaze moving throughout the room. There had to be a way out of this room. He would do anything, everything, to get back to the surface. This madness had to end.

"What are you running from?" Mirror-Mark asked, watching him.

"I'm not running. I need to return to my children, apologize... I don't know. I am not the person they think I am."

Mirror-Mark rolled his eyes and waved his hand.

The crystal walls, once glistening and slowly shifting, froze. Only for a second, then one by one the walls moved.

"Do you really believe that?"

The walls continued to move, moving closer and closer to the two men. Mark stepped back, his heart pounding. He was used to being in tight spaces, but he was somewhere in Hell with no idea how to escape this room; the walls closing in was enough to make his already shot nerves throw him into fight mode.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He shouted, turning to the reflection. Mirror-Mark smirked, finally lowering his hand. The walls stopped when the room was significantly smaller. Only a few feet in any direction separated Mark from his many reflections. He caught sight of Mirror-Mark as he stepped back into the crystalline wall.

"You are on a selfish path," he said, his voice echoing around the chamber. It didn't sound like Mark's own voice anymore, but that of demon howls he'd heard from the pit above. "Your selfishness will not end well for anyone in your family line, I promise you that."

Mark raised an eyebrow, peering at his reflections. One by one they warped and shifted. One by one the images of his children and wife returned, closer than ever and looking as if they had seen his ghost.

He caught the gaze of April who stared at him with deep green eyes. She followed him as he walked around the room. He held that gaze as she tilted her head.

"I've been trying my entire life to please you," she said, her voice as gravely as her face. She looked paler than usual. It wasn't until she took a breath that Mark noticed the deep, dark bruise around her neck. The crystal behind her showed a dark room with a single beam of light. In the light was a hangman's noose, holding up a swinging silhouette. He didn't need to see its face to know who it belonged to.

"April..."

"I can't run this family. You ruined them, and I have to clean up your mess. I am not strong enough to hold us together. I failed them."

April turned her head, just as a light flashed behind her. Her hanging body became visible for a split second, only to disappear back into darkness.

Mark closed his eyes. He could feel his heart aching, even as the image began to shift. April disappeared, allowing the next vision to take its place.

Anna. She was sitting alone, her daughters pulling on her arms. She didn't respond at all, just wobbled as her children tried to get her attention. Eventually they let her go and disappeared behind her. Mark recognized this image, and it wasn't something he wanted to see. Anna had had a brief drug addiction that had caused her to become catatonic for several months. The only one who had managed to bring her out of it had been April. Her older sister had convinced her to seek help and kick her habit, to be a better person for not only herself but her husband and children, who needed her just as much as she needed them.

Underneath Anna's hand was a pill bottle. Mark wasn't sure what was on the label, but he knew it was a prescription she didn't need. It was orange with a white lid, and it stood out against the paleness of her hand. Her fingers curled around the bottle as she finally looked up at her father.

"I am nothing without her. She was the only one who could hold us together. Without her, I cease to exist. I am hollow."

Mark knew exactly what those words meant. April's death had had a domino effect on her sibling. With her downfall, Anna had lost whatever grip she'd had on reality and had retreated into herself.

He could feel himself shaking as Anna disappeared too. The vision pulsed once, then shifted to show Abbigail, just as gaunt as April had been, but a little greener around the edges. Her lips were a toxic shade of blue, and her beautiful green eyes were bloodshot and swollen.

"I'm barely part of this family," she said, her voice gravelly and painful to hear. She sounded like she'd choked on sawdust. "But after we lost April, I tried to step into her shoes. The pressure was too much." She held up an empty syringe, her fingers barely able to grip it. "I didn't mean to, but that's what expectation can do to someone."

Mark turned away, his eyes closed tight. Hearing his children suffer was enough to make the facade he wore crack, just the tiniest bit. He loved them, loved them so much he wouldn't do anything and everything to keep them safe. Knowing he was causing this pain almost drove him to his knees.

"I always hated you."

That was Gun's voice. Mark forced his eyes open and looked at the image of his son, he too seemed to be a shadow of his former self. His eyes were sunken and dark, his skin as pale as a ghost. He wore a prison jumpsuit, his dark red hair darker still against the orange fabric. His lips were blue too, only this time they appeared burnt and scarred.

"From the day I found out about Cooper, I fucking despised you. You always knew that. But deep down I knew I was your son. I did everything in my power to be different from you."

He looked down at his outfit and smirked. When he looked back up, a long red line ran across his throat, slowly leaking blood down his throat onto his clean white shirt. A piece of glass seemed to be sticking out of his jugular.

"Died defending you. Poetic irony."

Mark could feel the lump in his throat building as Gunner's image shifted into his younger brother. He took a deep breath, holding whatever tears wanted to fall back. He wouldn't cry. No, he couldn't. If he wasn't strong during this task, he would fail and be stuck here forever. His children would suffer without him. He was the glue that held his family together and they would fall apart without him. If he didn't come back, they would fall into darkness forever.

Cooper appeared next, a deep red gash splitting his handsome face in two. His lip was swollen and he was covered in bruises. He looked beaten and bloody, similar to how he'd looked the night Xander and April had taken him in. He'd been attacked and mugged by drug dealers in Las Vegas the night his mother had died, leaving him in a bloody state. Abbi had found him and taken him to April and Xander to keep him safe. He'd only just made it before Xander could heal his external wounds.

"As it turns out, I needed them for direction," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Without them, I have no one. It was easier to run from my responsibilities than to stick around and fail them in person. That was my mistake."

A sob escaped Mark's throat as the image shrank and split in two. He knew exactly who was on the chopping block this time. Gracie and Chasey, his children with Sara. Behind them stood Mirror-Mark, eyes as empty as before. He rested his hands on their shoulders and watched as Mark struggled to breath.

"These two follow in your footsteps. For what they lack in street-smarts, they make up for in courage. But that courage wasn't able to save them from the demons you didn't manage to kill."

Mark looked away before he could see what became of them. He'd spent the earlier part of his adult life hunting and vanquishing demons, attempting to make the world a safer place for his little family. It wasn't until Jodi's death that he stopped, but he remember telling his youngest children stories, as if they were only fiction.

Mark collapsed to his knees, his entire body shaking with grief. This couldn't be what his path lead to. It was impossible. He'd raised his children to be selfless and strong. To be brave in the face of depression and anguish. The images he was seeing couldn't be real. He refused to believe it.

"Mark."

Mark refused to look up. Knowing his luck, Michelle would be shown torn to shreds and it would be his fault. He refused to see it.

"Mark, you lied to me."

He clenched his fists. No, he'd kept a secret, but never lied. He wasn't a liar.

"I don't want to be with you anymore. Not after the loss of our baby. I lost it, and you were gone. Where were you? Why didn't you come to me when I called?"

Tears dripped between Mark's clenched fists as he doubled over. Had Michelle called him? Was any of this true? If it was, he would never be able to live with himself. Kane was right. He'd sacrificed everything he love, not for their own safety and protection, but for a selfish need for power. All he had worked so hard for would collapse underneath him if he continued. It needed to end.

Eventually, Mark stood, turning slowly to face the final reflection of his selfishness. Kane peered back at him, exactly the way he'd left him in Greed. He smirked in return.

"You know exactly what I'm gonna say," he said, nodding his head. Mark nodded in return.

"My biggest regret was trying to kill you."

"Now look at us. I'm waiting for you to get your ass back up here so we can finish this thing, and you're moping like a bitch."

Mark wanted to laugh. Of course this is how his subconscious version of Kane would behave. Exactly like his very-much-alive counterpart. It wasn't a surprise.

"So what are you supposed to be?"

"I'm the reminder that you still have a job to do."

With a wink, Kane was gone, leaving Mark alone with his reflection again, who smirked back at him.

"This isn't gonna end the way you want it to," he said. Mirror-Mark continued to smirk.

"Maybe, but you're still here."

Mark stared, his fists clenched again. This time, he could feel his potent rage bubbling to the surface. There was no way on Gaia's green earth he would let this be the way this situation ended. He would return to the mines, retrieve his brother, finish the trial and save Serenity from whatever was holding her in the palace. He knew now that something must be keeping her captive. There was no way she'd let him go through this without her direct intervention. She loved him as much as he loved her. He would never let whatever was hurting her win.

"It ends now. I'm going back up there and you can't stop me."

Mirror-Mark laughed, his image eventually fading into the purple and blue crystal walls. Mark took a deep breath and scanned the room for anything that would help him escape this room. He tried summoning his powers but as he predicted, he was unable to use them while actively inside a task. Blake had warned him of this during their training. Mark had to prove himself without relying on his abilities. It was the only way he would be worthy of becoming Serenity's Guardian or Champion.

His eyes fell on a piece of crystal wall with an indent. As he got closer, more and more crevices seemed to appear, climbing up the wall. The ceiling seemed to open as the indents grew in numbers. Vanity seemed to be allowing him to finally leave. Perhaps he'd learned the lesson it had been trying to teach him. Perhaps he was too stubborn to learn and it had given up.

Either way, one by one he grasped his steps to freedom and began to climb.