Cygnus Knights was just a decorative title. Everyone knows Explorers and The Resistance are stronger. They are on a whole different level. The all important frail Empress of the Maple World, protected by the weakest army. And people expect me to suddenly explode with power. Who the heck came up with that story?

Over the next two weeks, nothing much happened. Alice senses a Kalidah. I transform, ride on Shinsoo to the location. I defeat it and return. Easy. I never had a problem of not being able to defeat one. Sure, sometimes things can get a bit technical. Like one Kalidah that had twelve lives, or the one that wouldn't die until I destroyed its core. But I never had any serious injuries from fighting them. From the start, I seemed to have all the power I ever needed. My magical power was rather excessive. All I ever needed was to practice controlling that power.

My reflection in the mirror had a golden glow. Food tasted better, I sleep more soundly. I was more cheerful than I had ever been, since I became the Empress. I guess all I needed was a bit of exercise. Everything was going well until one incident, and I started doubting her.

I had just defeated a Kalidah, with ease. I noticed the statue of a man chopping wood outside his house. My attacked had strayed off course and hit the man's leg. Both his legs were sliced cleanly below his knees. His body still stayed upright, frozen in time.

"What is going on? I thought those affected by the stone barrier are invulnerable?" I asked.

"You need to get out of here. The barrier is falling apart," Alice warned me.

There were quite a few people in the vicinity. I perched on a big tree and hid myself as the barrier crumbles. As the stone body of the man returned to flesh, he just fell to the ground, screaming in pain. My stray attack had cut off his legs. The other farmers gathered around him. I just watched as the injured man was carried away.

"You lied to me..." I said.

"I did not. Maybe you did not channel enough energy to your barrier. You were getting a bit complacent and had let your guard down. But don't worry, everyone makes mistakes."

'Don't worry' she said. She seems to say that a lot. It wasn't that big of a blunder. He survived it. Accidents happen once in a while. So I got over it quickly. Alice's methods seemed sketchy, now that I think about it. Protecting people by petrifying them? Why didn't I just petrify the Kalidahs and kill them instead. I was such a fool. Blinded by self-satisfaction.

I remember Alice saying something about doing this to make up for her own mistakes in the past. But she wouldn't tell me the details. She was a weird person. She said 'Wizard of Oz' was her favourite story. I never understood the lunacy of that story. I guess it has feminine appeal? Seems like in the story, all the ones with power are the women. I guess she likes to be in wonderland. Me? I am just a figurehead. Neinheart makes all the decisions.

The mistake had affected me more than I thought. My next battle was at El Nath. I had defeated a flower golem and it fell off the snowy cliff. I watched as its body disintegrate in midair during its journey to its icy grave. My stone barrier collapsed and the sun lit up the ice valley once again. I looked for a group of explorers that were tracking nearby to see if they were alright. They were still in statue form. I checked the sky again to see that my barrier was gone. I then walked aimlessly through the El Nath's wilderness, gawking at the countless petrified Yetis like an idiot. Alice just watched in silence. Yes. She just watched in silence! Not even a 'Don't worry.' Apparently, I had nearly wiped out the entire population of Yetis that day. A large part of El Nath had turned into an indestructible graveyard of statues.

After all that walking in the snow, I was depressed and upset. When I returned to Ereve that afternoon, all I wanted was a nice hot cup of tea. And guess who decides to show up? Neinheart. He said more Cygnus Knights are deserting than ever. They all went to join the Explorers or the Resistance. And he expects me to do something about it? He was the one commanding the army. He wants me to raise the morale of the remaining knights. What did he expect me to do? A concert? I'm not some pop idol. I was extremely annoyed. If I have had my tea first, things may have been different. In a fit of rage, I thought, those who left aren't loyal. But those who remained, should be more loyal than ever. That was what wished in my heart. I don't know what happened, but all the knights acted completely different the next day. They were suddenly full of life. They took the initiative to hone their fighting skills in their free time. In bars, they were raising their glasses and saying 'Praise the Empress'. Well, it's about time they realised how awesome their Empress is...

Anyway... erm... reflections! The thing Alice said about my reflections being affected by my state of mind. It was true at first. Later on, my reflections didn't make much sense. So I didn't pay much attention to them. Abstract art, inverted colours, black silhouette, invisible, etc. And sometimes, I get reflections of different people. One time, my reflection showed Hilla! It gave me a big scare. I wished I had realised earlier what it all meant...

From the start, I never needed Alice. I was doing all the fighting. She was just a ghost. I started to doubt her. Was she just using me? It didn't matter. I just wanted to do something. I just wanted to be acknowledged. I was tried of just being a figurehead. A frail princess locked in a tower.

I eventually learnt to sense the locations of the Kalidahs on my own. I didn't need Alice anymore. I even forgot that I was just temporarily replacing her. Deep in my heart, I wished she would just disappear. And so she did. I still continued hunting down Kalidahs in her absence.

It was about a week before that dreadful night. The enthusiasm the knights had, seemed to have run out. They appeared lost in thought, their minds seem to always wander off. At least they were still loyal. Then, it happened. I couldn't transform. I couldn't even change the Staff of Hope from its bracelet form. I could still detect where the Kalidahs were appearing. I just couldn't fight them anymore. I had suddenly lost my powers. It was then I realised, the madness that was showing in the mirror, was my powers going out of control. I think it was because I had rarely used magic before. But I had suddenly fully opened the tap and drained off all my powers. I tried to asked Shinsoo for advice but her mind had reverted to an animal. I only heard squawking from her. At least she could still follow my commands... So I still flew to the locations to take a look. Omega Sector, Korean Folk Town, Florina Beach, Kerning Square...

From then on, everything started deteriorating. Ereve was like a zombie island. Everyone was moving slowly with emptiness in their eyes. I did the same too. In those final days, I didn't even leave the palace. I spend most of my time rotting in my room. Funny, one time I saw a mushroom in the mirror...

The mirror... That was where it came from. That night, I was moping in my room as usual. Out of curiosity, I decided to take a look at the mirror. Thinking that maybe my strange reflections could amuse me. That night, my reflection looked older than me. Or maybe it was because of her white hair. She was wearing a purple dress. It was a really nice dress. And that was it. I was a little disappointed, until she spoke to me.

"Look at you, you pathetic excuse of an Empress," my reflection said.

I just stared blankly at my reflection like an idiot.

"Why? Did you get tired pretending to be useful?"

"What?"

"Poor little Empress, all alone. Even your imaginary friend ran away. "

"Imaginary?"

"Why don't you go out and continue your little charade? Pretending to fight imaginary monsters and hurt bystanders for the fun of it."

"What are you talking about?..."

"You know what I'm talking about. It all wasn't real! The day you found that staff, was the day you lost YOUR FREAKING MIND!"

"NO!" I took a few steps back.

"Yes. All the people that got hurt. It was all your fault."

"S-shut up... Shut Up!"

"Don't worry, everyone needs a hobby. Just that yours requires some HUMAN SACRIFICE!"

"SHUT UP!"

In the heat of the moment, I threw the Skaia at the mirror and fell back. Of all the things I could have thrown, a hairbrush, a book, a shoe, I threw the precious heirloom. The mirror shattered into pieces. I looked up and saw her there, outside of the mirror, holding onto the Skaia. She just laughed at me.

"Oh, for me? You shouldn't have," my reflection said as she examined the jewel, glowing in her hand.

She then ran out of the room, laughing.

"W-wait!" I ran after her.

Stumbling around like a fool, I chased after her. As I ran out of the palace, the guards didn't even notice me. Terror, confusion, frustration; my feelings overwhelmed me as I chased her into the dark forest. I chased her all the way to my garden. She stopped there and turned back to look at me. Then I thought, I needed a weapon, and the Staff of Hope that was on my wrist, finally reverted itself to its original form. I pointed the staff at my reflection.

"What are you gonna do? Shoot me? That's not gonna change what you had done. Are you even sure what you're seeing is real?" she said.

She held the Skaia in front of her. The jewel glowed brighter and brighter, emitting a familiar ringing sound until it exploded in her hand.

"Hahaha! It's not even real! Looks like Phantom gave you a fake Skaia. Like who would trust some brat to keep such a relic?"

I fell on my knees in defeat. I didn't know what to do anymore. She walked towards me. As she got closer, a cold darkness enveloped me, accompanied by her fading laughter. I don't know how many times it happened, but that night kept repeating itself. An endless nightmare. Was that night even real? I don't know...

"In the end, I don't know what was real anymore. Maybe, nothing was," Cygnus said.

Cygnus got off her bed and approached to where the mirror once was.

"Maybe, if I could retrace my steps, I could find something..." Cygnus spoke with a brittle voice. "After she appeared in the mirror... I threw the Skaia at her... the mirror broke... and she appeared... then she ran off... and I chased her..." Cygnus stumbled towards the door.

Phantom caught her and stopped her from leaving the room. Cygnus started crying. Her legs weaken. Phantom held her and slowly lowered her down to a seating position. He then embraced her in silence as she cried. Luminous and Mercedes burst into the bedroom. The sight of Cygnus crying in Phantom's arms completely rid their suspicion of Phantom. They left the bedroom quietly.

Author's notes:

I could stretch this arc a lot more.
But I feel the chapters would just get repetitive.
So I decided to end it.

To be continued-

(05 MAR 2015)

Edit: Minor changes to last paragraph. (08 MAR 2015)