Chapter 12: Mirror Image
|June 11th|Real People Offices|9:40 am|
"Oh Karen, you're looking great as ever today!" Colette said, almost immediately as Karen walked into the office. She had been treating herself, it seemed, wearing a new orange and red blazer and skirt, complete with dark red shoes.
"Thank you! Oh, Amara, you alright? You look exhausted." Karen asked as Amara yawned.
A new week had begun, but the Shadow situation was far from ever. Amara was still invested in her artwork, especially making sure the cover page was perfect. Yet, it was harder to focus.
"Yeah, I'm alright. I just had a busy weekend! Artists never take a break, I guess." Amara said, as she tried to hide her fatigue. Stella, however, didn't seem convinced, but kept her silence.
"Hmm. I know what you mean. My divorce has been taking forever, but by Wednesday it should be finalised." Karen said, pleased. "I have such bad luck with men. Ever since..."
"Are...you alright, Karen?" asked Lucy.
"Oh! Y-yes, I'm fine. I just need to stay single for a while. No rebound relationships this time!" Karen said, determined. "Now come on, let's get working! I'm busy arranging interviews for the next edition."
"Oh that reminds me, Karen, I have to ask you about..." Lucy said, as she and Karen walked towards her office.
"Amara, are you going to tell me what's going on?" Stella asked, without the dramatic flair her voice usually had.
"I can't. No one will understand. You were right, though. Your readings are always right." Amara said, with a weak smile. "How long have you had this power?"
"Power? I prefer the term 'gift'. The gift was given to me by the spirits, ten years ago. It took me a long time to control such great abilities, and to this day I am refining them still." Stella said, with pride. "It was not my dream to become this, but it is the best gift I have."
"What was your dream?" Amara asked, curious.
"I wanted to...no, never mind. A dead dream is one that should never be mentioned again. I don't need pointless desires coming back." Stella said, suddenly serious. "Now then, let me give you a quick reading."
"Another one? Well, okay. Let's see what happens this time."
Stella quickly drew a card from her deck, and pulled out The Sun in reverse. "A mirror. A reflection of you. It lurks around, and tonight it shall make itself known." Stella said. "The Sun's shadow shall appear, and encounter its light."
"Huh?" Amara said, trying to think.
"That's all," Stella said. "But be careful tonight, my friend. Please don't let anything terrible happen to you."
"Thanks, but I'm quite good at defending myself," Amara said, shaking Stella's hand. "Hey, let's get lunch together!"
"I'd love to!" Stella said, with a warm smile.
Come lunchtime, and the two women were headed towards a café on the ground floor. Amara, distracted by discussing pointillism, bumped into a tall man with curly blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Ah! Oh my god, I am so sorry!" Amara said, her face red with embarrassment.
"That's alright, these things happen. Say, I haven't seen you around before. Are you new?" the man said, staring into Amara's eyes.
His voice reminds me a little of Nathan's. Must be a Nova Albion resident.
"That's right. I'm the illustrator for Real People. We'll be releasing our first issue soon, actually." Amara said, giving a thumbs up. Stella nodded. "I'm Amara Furaha, and this is Stella Cleon, our Clairvoyant."
"Oh, fascinating. I'm a writer for the Motus Delicacy. The city's oldest and greatest guide to food and restaurants. Ah, and my name is Alastair Clark." The two of them shook hands. Stella held out her hand, but Alastair didn't appear to notice. "I normally wouldn't eat at the cafeteria, but with a tight schedule, I don't have time to leave the building to go to Café Roma."
"I've heard about that place. Is it nice there?"
"Of course. The best Italian food in the city, and the atmosphere there is magnificent. Naturally, just talking about it doesn't do it justice. If you'd like to truly see how delightful it is, perhaps I could interest you with dinner there tomorrow night." Alastair said, with a sly smile.
"Um...I'm busy tomorrow, I'm afraid. Sorry."
He's charming enough, but he's not the right one for me.
"No need to apologise. Perhaps I was a little bold. If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work." Alastair, now looking rather sheepish, left quickly.
"A wise choice. You and he clearly are not meant to be!" Stella said, giggling.
"Maybe, but he knows his food. Now I know where to go on my next date, whenever that is. Anyway, we have lunch to think about! Hey Stella, you already know the menu?"
"Oh yes, they have lots of barbecue chicken pizza today. As well as prawn cocktail sandwiches." Stella said. "Impressed?"
"Of course!"
"Don't be. The menu's the same week after week." Stella said. "Likewise, every Tuesday, it's macaroni..."
She and Amara laughed all the way to the cafeteria, and Amara had felt the happiest at her work since she started.
|Lucille Valley High School|12:31 pm|
Serena had just finished her Physics class and was heading to the cafeteria. Since last night, she had been having scary thoughts, that she'd somehow wind up in the other version of the school. However, despite her paranoia, the school was the same as ever, and all the students were just their normal selves.
"Hey, Serena! Wait up!" Kyle said, as he wheeled himself to her. Serena stared for a minute, relieved it was the same kind Kyle she knew so well. He was like a different person. But perhaps, if he'd had to grow up in a world full of Shadows, and fend for himself, he would be rather bitter about his situation.
"Oh, hey! I'm free tonight, so you wanna hit the mall again?" Serena asked.
"Sure! I've been saving up for a new controller, actually. Maybe you can help me pick out something good."
"It'd be my pleasure. If I'm going to be fighting you, we need to have the best skills and the best equipment!" Serena said, fondly remembering some of her and Kyle's battles in the world of gaming. They had ranged from hand-to-hand combat, to swordplay, and even summoning magical armies of destruction. "Anyway, last night I had a really bad dream."
"Really?" Kyle said, now worried. "When you have bad dreams, it's one of two things. Either something terrible happened or you were thinking about Nina again."
"...This isn't about her." Serena said, serious. The memories of her older sister flickered in her mind, and once they did, there was no holding them back. Her dead sister, the one she could never be like, the one her parents constantly compared her too. She would have been 34 this year. "No, it was something silly this time. It was so weird."
Serena began retelling the events of last night, but without any mention of Amara, Nathan or Blaine, and made certain details rather vague. Framing it as a nightmare was hard, but she had to believe it was convincing. In dreams, anything could happen.
"Huh. So a dark samurai tried to kill you for dishonouring your family..." Kyle uttered, confused. "Is this because of what your parents said in March?"
"No!" Serena shouted. "It's not about that!"
Kyle looked down. Serena's seventeenth birthday had been a total disaster. Her parents revealed something she wished she had never known, something that completely changed her life, and made her turn her back on her family for good. She barely spoke to her mother and father afterwards.
"But Serena, if it really bothers you, you can always -"
"Kyle, please! I don't even want to think about it!" Serena yelled, her eyes watering. Some students were staring at her. "Look, let's forget about it. Let's just enjoy today, okay?"
"Alright." Kyle said. "I'm sorry."
"No...I am. I shouldn't yell at you, Kyle. You're so sweet to me, even when I'm like this. But stuff like this is just hard to talk about..."
"Enough with the sad talk. Come on, we've got the whole mall waiting for us!" Kyle said, now excited. "It's gonna be awesome, trust me!"
|Solar Ray Mall - Pizza Castle|6:00 pm|
"I love this place! So much better than that one in Red Gauntlet Alley." Kyle said, munching on a pepperoni pizza.
"Ugh, don't remind me. So glad they closed that down." Serena said, grimacing at the thought.
Pizza Castle was a small chain of restaurants across the city, each one having a medieval aesthetic. The one located in this mall was by far the most successful, especially among the city's youth. It had become a favourite place of Serena and Kyle's, for both the food and the relaxed atmosphere.
"I think I've tried every single pizza they have here at least once. A real-life achievement, I'd like to think!" Kyle said, proud of himself. "Oh, there's Kazuya."
"Who?" Serena said, taken aback.
Sure enough, at another table was Kazuya Miyazaki, wearing a casual white and orange t-shirt and a yellow headband. He didn't seem too dissimilar to his counterpart, yet seemed to be in a much happier mood. Next to him was a pretty girl with her hear in a messy bun, and her face was very familiar. It was Bianca Summers, gazing lovingly into Kazuya's eyes.
"He's an online friend. We met when we were complaining about overpriced DLC. He's a bit older than me, but he's pretty cool. And kicks my ass at Tekken most of the time." Kyle said, smiling. "I'd say hi, but he's with his girlfriend, and I don't wanna interrupt - wait, why do you look so panicked?"
"It's nothing..." Serena lied. "I guess I'm still down about the dream. You ever had nightmares?"
"Not since we first met. I guess you're my personal dream catcher."
"Aww, that's so sweet! I didn't think you'd be so charming!" Serena said, giggling. "Your Charisma stat must have been maxed out by now."
"Hehe! But seriously, I had a lot of bad dreams back then. I'd never felt so alone...like I'd never make another friend like Matthew." Kyle said, looking down at the table. "I told you a little about him before, right?"
"Yeah, you did.. How did you meet him?" Serena asked, leaning in closer. Kyle continued looking down, as he did when he was sad.
"It was at the river here in Legarte. He noticed me watching the seagulls, so he got me some binoculars so I could get a closer look at them flying. Then we just kept hanging out, until..." Kyle trailed off. His eyes were rather tearful as he spoke, and Serena regretted mentioning it.
"I'm sorry. Listen, I'm always here for you. You can talk to me about him any time, remember that." She said, earnestly.
"Thank you, Serena. If I hadn't met you, I'd probably still be moping around." Kyle said. For a second, Serena thought he was blushing, but then she noticed someone come in. It was Blaine, followed by a man she didn't recognise, wearing a bus driver's uniform.
"Hey! Blaine!"
"Uh...hi, guys...?"
The atmosphere soon turned tense, as Kyle and the other man gave them probing stares. Serena soon realised her error of judgment. Explaining how she knew someone much older than her would be quite a challenge.
"Serena, how do you know this man? I mean, he has to be forty-something!"
"More like thirty-nothing! I'm still young, you know." Blaine said, looking at Kyle. He seemed to recognise him, even though the hairstyles between worlds were a lot different. "Your friend here was in Kanaloa because she was curious, so some punks tried to rob her. I put a stop to them." Blaine said.
"Oh, really?" Kyle said, now relaxed. "That was pretty brave of you, mister. When was this, Serena? You should have told me you were going there!"
"You didn't tell me about that. Wasn't it another girl who let you use her phone? Amaretto or something?" the other man said.
Blaine shook his head, hand over his face. "No, you dummy. That was Amara. Oh, this is Dan, my best bud."
I'm sure I've seen him driving the bus I get to school.
"Don't listen to a word this guy says, I'm the smart one here! Wait a second, I saw you guys on the bus this morning."
"Oh, really? I didn't recognise you. Then again, I don't pay much attention to whoever's driving the bus." Serena said, surprised "Still, thanks for getting us to school!"
"No problem. I live to serve. And get drunk! Responsibly." Dan said. "You don't want to do that yet, though. Stay in school, kids!"
"Well then, it's nice to meet you two. I'm Kyle McHale." Kyle shook hands with Blaine and Dan, and all seemed well. "Wait, your surname is Kingsley, right?" Kyle asked, staring at Dan's goatee.
"Yeah. Why?" Dan asked, but he seemed to know where this was going. Blaine looked alarmed, also aware of what Kyle was going to say next.
"I knew someone else called that. His name was Matthew." Kyle said. Dan's face went pale, and Blaine looked away. "Relax, he's probably nothing to do with you. He just told me he had an older brother, and he was from Kanaloa, so...oh..."
"Wait a second." Serena said, as she soon realised what this meant. "This is the same Matthew who died, right?"
"Yeah..." Kyle said, looking worried. "Dan, you're..."
"That's right. His big brother." Dan said.
All his cheer had faded away as he said this, leaving nothing but tension behind. Blaine, looking worried, quickly excused the two of them and sat down at another table.
"So that was Matthew's big brother. I wondered what he was like." Kyle said. "Sorry about that. I guess I killed the mood."
"No, it's alright. I guess we've both got sad stories, huh? At least we're not alone." Serena said, holding Kyle's hand.
Meanwhile
"Damn…" Blaine said, staring at Dan. "Um...never mind."
"Don't tell me you were going to say 'cheer up' again..." Dan said, eyes on the empty table.
"Nope, not after last time." Blaine said. "Come on, let's just order something."
"Yeah..." Dan said. Blaine sighed, and thought back.
So Serena knows Kyle, who knew Matthew. Small world. Damn, why did this have to come up again?
When Matthew died, the first year afterwards was hell. Just about everything set Dan off, especially birthdays. Those were days he would never experience with Matthew ever again. Dan spent most of his adult life looking after his younger brother, and Blaine had been right by his friend's side the whole time. He had to admit, it felt empty around the house without him.
What could he do to help Dan move on? That question had been on his mind just about every day since Matthew drowned in that river. Kyle must feel the same way, too. Maybe if he and Dan spoke again, then they could start to heal.
"So we're still going out with Roger tonight, yeah?" Dan asked.
"Oh. Yeah." Blaine said. "I could use a few beers after today..."
|Nathan's House - Nova Albion|4:43 pm|
Nathan and Priscilla's home boasted a grand, almost regal facade, as most houses in Nova Albion's Primrose Place did. Not far from the sensational Terpsichore Opera House, it was just as magnificent on the inside. White marble was in almost every room, each one being spacious and full of luxuries.
At the moment, Priscilla was cooking dinner, whilst Nathan was searching for anything he could find on Aeternus. Other than archived news articles about their former successes, Nathan found nothing of interest. All he knew was that at the convention, there was a secret group of employees unveiling a project. Yet he could not find a single piece of information on either of them.
"Nathan, darling, did you hear from Tara? She said she's going to be playing in the orchestra next week. And she's arranged free tickets for us!" Priscilla said, entering the living room.
"Oh, really? Fantastic, I haven't been to the theatre in ages. We should invite her for dinner sometime." Nathan said, smiling. Yet he couldn't help but feel that music shouldn't be his priority right now.
If he could just focus on his normal life, then he could relax. Today had been a peaceful, boring day, but earlier he could have sworn he saw Richard Eden whilst driving to the Albion offices. He was jogging, wearing simple work-out clothes, and didn't seem to recognise Nathan whatsoever.
I wonder what sort of person he is in this world?
"I'll give her a call later tonight, then. Now, I'm making my French Country Casserole." Priscilla said. "Could you be a dear and fetch a good bottle of wine from the cellar?"
"Of course."
Smiling, his lover left the room, and just as he was about to head to the basement, he noticed something peculiar outside the living room's front window.
"What the -"
Staring at him was a man with messy short red hair, the same vibrant hue as Nathans. In truth, his face was a mirror image of Nathan's as well, but he had a torn blue jacket, with an entire sleeve missing, exposing orange tribal tattoos on his right arm and his leather bracer. His skin looked paler, but it was undoubtedly Nathan.
"Huh?!" Nathan jumped up with fright - and at this, the other Nathan ran like the wind.
Who was that?!
"What's the matter?" Priscilla shouted from the kitchen. "Is everything okay?"
"Y-Yes, darling..." Nathan said, still in shock. "I just...stubbed my toe, that's all."
"Ouch...I hate it when that happens to me. Don't worry, the pain goes away eventually."
"I know it will. Now, I'll get that wine. Rosé alright with you?" Nathan said, still staring out the window.
"Of course! We've still got a lot of good ones from the wine club."
Where is that man going? How long was he there watching? If Priscilla caught him, then...
Nathan shook his head, relieved he had avoided the worst-case scenario. A confrontation between another version of himself would be too hard to bear, especially if Priscilla witnesses it. Slowly, he walked down to the cellar, wondering where his counterpart was headed next.
|Outside Motion Publishing|5:05 pm|
"Clear skies, just as I foresaw," Stella said, gazing fondly at the sky. "Our city is so wonderful in the summer, isn't it?"
"Yes, absolutely," Amara said, smiling. "Hey, you should meet my friends sometime. The other ones who went through the ordeal. They're pretty nice, in their own ways."
"I'm sure we'll meet sooner or later. Now then, I'm heading home. I trust you'll work just as hard tomorrow. After all, Karen's become rather fond of you." Stella said, smiling.
Amara looked at her, surprised. "You think so? She's nice to everyone."
"No, I'm serious. I think she sees something of herself in you. Of course, I didn't read her mind to find out."
Please don't be reading my mind right now.
As she left home, Amara decided to take another walk. After all, tonight she wasn't going to the other world, and all she had to worry about was perfecting her designs for the magazine. Today, her life had been like normal, and her job was keeping her busy. It was nice to have something mundane to work on.
Amara headed towards Silvana Bridge, hoping to take some photos. Often, she took her own pictures to use as references for her artwork, and today she planned to do exactly that. Tonight, she would forget Shadows or Personas even existed, and just work on her art as ever.
When she was finally there, she spent quite some time getting the best angle and waiting for the right moment. The sun was setting, and it was a breathtaking explosion of colour. The sunset was Amara's favourite time of day. In her eyes, the moment between daylight and night was a time of absolute magic. One she wanted to capture it in full detail. Holding her phone up, she took numerous pictures, trying to get as much activity as possible - the ships sailing throughout the river, and all the people walking on either side of the bridge.
"Fantastic!" Amara said, as she stared dreamily into the sunset. She would have given anything to make this moment last forever. Just then, she heard lots of footsteps and shouting behind her. Turning around, she gasped at the person running. They gasped too, and both knew why.
It was a girl with the same tan skin as her, with black hair in a large ponytail, with a pink skull hairpin. She had a necklace with the same skull design, and wore purple jeans and a blazer. She had a scar above her right eye that she was trying to cover with her hair, but you could still see it. The eyes were the same blue hue of Amara's.
"You're me?!" both of then shouted. The mirror image Stella spoke of was real.
This is the other me I've been worried about?
The other Amara stood there, in stunned silence. Finally, she spoke.
"This doesn't make sense. There's no Shadows here or anything! Everything's perfect here! You got lucky!" the other Amara shouted, tears welling up. She then quickly ran away, as fast as her legs could take her.
"Hey! Get back here!" Amara said, giving chase. This was a weird sensation, chasing after herself. However, if she left the other Amara around, all sorts of problems could occur. She had to get back into the other world, and fast.
Finally, they were in Farawell again, in front of the warehouse.
"Dammit! It still won't open!" The other Amara, angry, kicked the door repeatedly. She then turned around, and her eyes were like daggers of envy. "Urgh, you! You should just go back to your sweet life with dear old daddy! Leave me alone!"
"Stop! I've been to your world! I can help you get back!" Amara said, holding the key. "I'm fighting the Shadows too. I know what they're like! Here." The other Amara watched as Amara unlocked the door. "The NDD's upstairs! Now hurry!"
"What is going on? Why are there two different cities?" Other Amara said. "I don't want to be here. Not if you're around! I'm going to kill all the Shadows on my own. With Sekhmet, I won't lose!"
"Sekhmet? But my Persona's called Hathor..." Amara said, confused. "Please. I know others with Personas in this world. We can bring down Aeternus together!"
"No, don't bother! You're lucky that you can live in this great city, you know. So be quiet! Don't bother coming back, just stay here out of harm's way!" Other Amara said. Before Amara could stop her, she ran upstairs, and vanished into the NDD.
"Damn. What now?" Amara said, stunned. "...Was she upstairs that night?"
She might have been looking at her old room. My old room. Did my dad not hear her at all? How long has she been here? Ever since I first went to the other world?
She had finally met her other self, her mirror image, but almost immediately, her reflection had fled. If Nathan, Serena or Blaine encountered their other selves, there would be even more chaos. Scared, she left the warehouse and locked the door, quickly heading back home.
|Amara's Apartment|8:21 pm|
Watching an old episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Amara relaxed on her sofa, trying to forget about her encounter. Just then, her phone rang. To her surprise, it was Nathan calling. Still anxious, she answered.
"Oh, Amara, there's something I need to tell you. I saw the other me today. My other self from the other world! He was outside my house!" Nathan said. Amara gasped - another Nathan, still wandering around the city. What chaos could they be causing?
"Did anything happen?" Amara asked.
"No, thankfully. It was disturbing, though. Priscilla has no idea what's going on, and no one else seems to have seen him but us." Nathan said. "This is...bizarre, trying to search for myself. You haven't seen him, have you?"
"No, but..." Amara trailed off. Slowly, she told Nathan about meeting the other Amara on the Silvana Bridge.
"I see...so she went back to the other world. Then we may see her the next night we go there. Are you alright?" Nathan asked. "It can't have been easy for you. I suppose it's expected she'd be stressed."
"I'm alright now. Thanks, though. If I see the other Nathan, I'll try and talk to him." Amara said, smiling. "Good night."
Hanging up, Amara looked out the window. Everything in her city seemed at peace for now. Yet, she wondered what her other self had been through. Things couldn't have been easy for her, with all the Shadows swarming the streets night after night for a decade. Now she had seen a glimpse of a happier world. One that she couldn't live in.