"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." – Mark Twain


There was a ringing in Blaine's ears and a throbbing in his chest. He stood frozen in place as his hands trembled and his eyes remained locked on the empty mirror frame in front of him.

Kurt.

Broken pieces of glass littered the ground in front of the frame-long, splintered shards that used to hold Kurt's reflection. He blinked his eyes, noticing a few red drops splashed across the glass and numbly looked down at his own hand. His palm was cut-either it was deep enough not to really hurt or Blaine was in too much shock to notice any pain.

Kurt.

He swallowed deeply, his throat scratchy, as he looked around the room-mirror after mirror reflecting his wan, horrified face back to him.

Kurt was gone.

"Please no," Blaine whispered to himself, feeling numb and a little sick. He took a tentative step towards the largest mirror near him; feeling desperate, he pressed his palms against the glass. "Take me. Take me!" Nothing happened. "Please." Blaine begged, his knees feeling like jelly as he sank to the ground.

There was a sharp buzzing sound and Blaine lifted his head, hoping maybe one of the mirrors would suck him in the way the other mirror had stolen Kurt, but instead, all of the mirrors started to crack. Blaine ducked his face and covered his head just in time as the mirrors splintered, shooting glass throughout the room-tiny shards flying in every direction as Blaine crouched down in a ball trying to protect himself.

His breathing was labored and too fast, and when the buzzing sound stopped, Blaine looked up to see every mirror in the room had shattered, their frames empty and their glass spread over the ground. "Oh god." Blaine stood shakily, turning slowly around the room and surveying the destruction. "Oh god."

There was a sharp rap on the front door and the unexpectedness of the sound made Blaine's heart leap in his chest.

He didn't move for a moment, trying to place the noise, but when he realized what it was, he rushed forward, racing out of the room and sliding over broken glass until he got to the foyer.

Kurt, it had to be Kurt.

The unlikelihood that Kurt had been sucked into an enchanted mirror just to land on the doorsteps of Callaway Place wasn't a thought Blaine allowed himself to entertain. If only it would be Kurt at the door, he would grab his hand and keep running, leaving Callaway Place behind and getting Kurt as far away from this place as possible.

He wrenched the door open, heart in his throat, and almost sagged to the ground again when he found a young man in a blue delivery uniform and hoodie. "Package for Kurt Hummel?" The man said, looking up at the sky as thunder rolled over them.

"What?" Blaine blinked at him, not able to understand what was happening.

"I have a package for Kurt Hummel." He held out the large brown box in his hands. "Are you Kurt Hummel?"

"No." Blaine shook his head and a piece of glass fell from his hair to the carpeted floor. Both he and the delivery man looked down at it.

"Are you okay?"

Blaine couldn't find the words to answer him.

"Uh, can you sign for him?" The man looked at the sky again, "It's about to rain."

"I…" Blaine was trembling as he reached forward, taking the man's scanner and scribbling his name without thought. He was given the package as the delivery man nodded to him and rushed back to his truck before the heavy rain clouds above could burst open.

Blaine shut the door and glanced down at the package in his hands. It was addressed to Kurt Hummel from Jane Hayward at Britton's in New York. He walked dazedly to the side table in the foyer and placed the package on top of it, tearing it open.

He found a hand-written note on top.

Kurt,
Here is your book and the mirror you asked for. I hope you're having fun on whatever crazy adventure you're on. Come home soon though. It's boring here without you!

Love,
Jane

Blaine blinked back a few tears and pushed aside the packing paper to find Kurt's book. He almost reached for it but stopped when he noticed the blood on his hand, irrationally thinking of how upset Kurt would be if he got blood on his newly restored book. Instead, he went for the object in the box that was wrapped in bubble wrap, the mirror. Blaine tore off the wrapping and glared at the silver framed hand mirror. He had the sudden urge to chuck it across the room and have the satisfaction of seeing it shatter against a wall. But he couldn't do that, this was Kurt's mirror. The mirror he'd spent years talking to Blaine through. Instead, he held the mirror to his chest and held back a quiet sob.

He took only a moment, standing there in the eerily silent foyer, to let his despair wash over him like the lapping waves outside of Callaway Place. But only a moment. He drew in a deep breath and then glanced over to the coat rack near the front door, his book bag hanging from one of the hooks. He walked over to it, placing the mirror carefully inside and then back to the box, packing Kurt's book in as well.

He strode back to Aunt Helen's bedroom and slowly looked around the old dusty room, empty frames lining the walls and broken glass littering the floor. He took a step towards one of the vacant frames, leaning down to carefully pick up a piece of glass. It was silent, and Blaine knew deep inside of himself that there was no magic there. The mirrors had shattered—not to spread their enchantment but to break it.

He dropped the piece of mirror as he stood and walked deliberately from the room, shards of glass crunching under the soles of his shoes. These mirrors here were broken, but Blaine knew of one mirror that was more than likely still undamaged and powerful. It had wanted him this whole time, calling to him from his dreams and trying to trick him when awake. Fine. If the mirror wanted him, it could have him.

He stomped purposefully up the staircase to the second floor, and then down the south corridor, only stopping briefly to glare at the portrait of Saffron Callaway. "You can't have him," Blaine spat out before opening the carved door to the third floor and climbing the staircase.

He'd been right. The third floor mirror was still whole. Tall and gleaming and alive with magic, the twining vines of the frame were nearly red with a burning light like metal in a flame, the glass was heaving in and out like a fierce mythical creature about to breathe fire. Every instinct was telling Blaine to flee. He took a step forward.

Saffron's diary was on the wooden floor in front of the mirror; Blaine scowled at it but bent down to pick it up, stuffing it in his bag. He was very close to the mirror now; he could feel heat radiating off it. And it was beating, like a heavy bass line, thrumming in Blaine's chest.

Tiny golden lights began to spark on the other side of the glass, twirling hypnotically. For the first time, Blaine didn't feel compelled by them, he didn't feel drawn in. This time, he didn't want to be anywhere near this mirror. He took one final step forward.

Kurt. This magic had taken Kurt and Blaine would do anything, anything, to get him back.

Blaine reached out an unsteady hand towards the glass, pressing first his fingers and then his whole palm against it. The glass was warm and pulsing, and it had a give to it in a way that glass really shouldn't. Blaine shuddered and closed his eyes, drawing on all the courage he had. Then, he opened his eyes and pressed his hand harder against the glass; his hand started to sink in, like moving through thick warm mud.

Blaine wanted to scream, but he stuffed it down, pushing forward until the mirror had engulfed his arm up to the elbow. Blaine cleared his throat, trying to sound steady, "I'm coming Kurt," he promised and then took a step forward.

There was a whooshing, fluttering sound echoing in Blaine's ears; his whole body felt on fire for a moment and he squeezed his eyes shut, nearly blinded by a bright yellow light. Then, he stumbled forward, losing his balance and falling to his knees.

Blaine opened his eyes.

Then closed them and opened them again. He sucked in a breath of fear, terrified for a moment that he had actually gone blind. His surroundings were as pitch dark as coal and he couldn't see a thing. His whole body started trembling and he held his stomach as he lost its contents. Blaine heaved for a moment, trying to catch his breath, and then he slowly stood on unsteady legs.

He turned in a circle, hoping to see something, but it was oppressively dark, and he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. It was cold here, a chill breeze whipping through the air, and his palms and pant legs were wet from where he had toppled down on the ground, so he felt like he was probably outside. He readjusted the book bag on his shoulder and cleared his throat, "Kurt!" He called out to the darkness hopefully. "Kurt, can you hear me?!"

He waited in silence, nothing but the wind whistling around him. He thought, for the first time, just how much of a chance he was taking here-the third floor mirror had sucked him in just like the one downstairs had taken Kurt- but did that actually mean they were in the same place? Blaine shivered and pushed that idea out of his head. He couldn't think like that; it would break him.

He stood shivering as he called Kurt's name a few more times, but there was no answering call. No sweet clear voice of the man he loved. Blaine didn't know what to do, he had no plan, no idea where he was, where Kurt was, no precedent to tell him what to do when captured by an evil magic mirror. He just knew he couldn't stay there and do nothing.

He felt like he could see a little better now, lighter black shades against darker black, so he took a few tentative steps forward, calling Kurt's name again. He didn't get far before his feet tangled in something, snagging him and causing him to topple down to his knees again. He caught himself on his palms with a hiss.

This wasn't working, he couldn't just wander around in the pitch dark. He'd never find Kurt and he'd probably hurt himself and then what use would he be? The problem was Blaine had walked through a magic mirror with about as much thought as swatting away a fly. He hadn't brought light, or a weapon or even a jacket – which would have been a welcome addition as he was shivering uncontrollably now in the biting cold.

He sniffed back a few tears and then stood again, reaching his arms out in front of him and taking a careful step forward, "Ku-" he began to call again, but his hands collided with something. Blaine yelped in surprise and then started to feel the object in his path. It was circular and maybe a couple feet around, and tall. Its surface was rough like many pieces of something smaller suck together, and yet cold, and if it weren't for the polished feeling of the surface, Blaine would guess he was touching the bark of a tree.

Blaine leaned his forehead on the object and tried to clear his thoughts. He needed a better plan than wandering aimlessly though the overbearing darkness around him.

If only he'd thought to bring a flashlig– of course! He was an idiot! He had a flashlight, in a manner of speaking. Blaine quickly fished his phone out of his back pocket, shouting in victory as the screen illuminated his hands. Thank god. He swiped to the flashlight app and turned it on, relief like a warm mantle around his shoulder. He could see.

His hands were trembling, but he lifted the light to inspect the object in front of him; it was a tree. Well, it was mostly a tree. It shimmered and gleamed against the light of Blaine's phone, and as he ran the pads of his fingers down the trunk, he realized the bark was made of glass.

Blaine took a few steps back in surprise and tripped over the same thing that had snagged his foot before. He fell down with an oof and directed his light to the object on the ground; it was a thick gnarled root protruding from the earth, also shimmering and reflective, as was the moss on the ground, and as Blaine craned his neck up and his phone illuminated the bottom few tree branches, he saw that even the leaves seemed to be some kind of peculiar hybrid of organic material and glass.

"Jesus," Blaine swore under his breath, "Where am I?" He slowly stood, wiping his muddied hands on his pants, the mud here at least seemed to be real, and glanced around at his surroundings with his phone.

He seemed to be in some kind of sparkling, reflective, glass forest. A shiver ran up his spine. "Kurt!" He called out, and for the first time, worried that something other than Kurt might hear him.

He continued onward, no real plan in mind and his thoughts growing sluggish and tired. Even his feet seemed uncoordinated, and he really just wanted to sit down against one of these strange trees and go to sleep.

"Kurt where are you?" He whispered to himself, shining his light to and fro and yawning widely. He didn't know what to do other than to keep looking and hope that by some miracle he might actually find the man who had come to mean the entire world to him.


Kurt was panicking. His heart pounding hard against his chest, his breath coming in short shallow gasps and his thoughts swimming with dread. A small steady voice in the back of his mind was telling him to slow down, to calm down, to take a deep breath. He couldn't focus on that voice. Not when he was surrounded by utter darkness, in a cold, unknown place with no visible way of escape.

His panic made him desperate and foolish, and before he knew it, he was wildly running away from the spot where he'd first been sucked through the mirror. It didn't make sense, and it certainly wasn't helpful, but Kurt wasn't actually thinking straight. All he knew was that an evil mirror had pulled him from the relative safety of Callaway Place and Blaine and into a dim, freezing, nameless midnight.

Kurt wasn't sure how long he'd ran like a madman before he stumbled and rolled down an incline, banging his shoulder on something hard and coming to a stop on the cold wet ground.

Kurt stared up into the blackness, his heart still hammering madly, but forcing himself to take slow steadying breaths. It had been years since he'd had a full-fledged anxiety attack; the last time was when he was nineteen and was alone in New York for the first time with his whole unfamiliar future ahead of him. He'd been able to calm himself then, he could do it now. He closed his eyes, even though it made no difference, and drew in a long breath, counting to five, and then exhaling out while counting to five again.

His situation was monumentally worse now than it had been last time he did this, but soon his heart rate felt less like a rabbit about to have a heart attack and his mind less like a swirling cyclone of fear. He blinked his eyes open and rubbed them. The darkness was still jet-black and inky around him. He surprised himself by yawning as he sat up, body trembling a little but feeling much more relaxed.

Okay, he had been incredibly foolish; running away from his point of origin had to have been the worst thing he could have done. And he would never find his way back now, not in this overbearing darkness. There was no way to retrace his hasty steps. Instead of worrying over it though, he just yawned again and laid back down on the cold wet ground. Why was he feeling so tried? Sure, he was usually exhausted after an anxiety attack, but this wasn't right… he shouldn't… be… this… sleepy.

"Kurt." An unfamiliar voice called out to him, but he kept his eyes closed, allowing his mind to drift off to sleep.

"Kurt!"

"Leave me alone," Kurt mumbled with a yawn.

"You can't go to sleep."

"Wanna."

"Kurt, Blaine is in danger!"

Kurt's eyes snapped open at that and he sat up. "What?" He shivered, not knowing who was there, who he was talking to. "Where are you?"

"Kurt." The voice, a woman's voice, and maybe it was a little familiar, "You have to find Blaine. He is here."

"Blaine?" Kurt shook his head, his thoughts muffled. "How? I can't see anything."

"Theia."

Kurt was waking up now, and the fact that he'd almost curled up in the mud to sleep was horrifying to him. He immediately stood.

Blaine was in trouble. If the disembodied voice – that he wasn't sure hadn't been part of a dream – could be trusted.

"Hello!" Kurt called out, but there was no answer. The Theia spell. Kurt cursed under his breath. Of course, he'd been too frantic to think of the spell before. It was one of the very first spells his mother had taught him, a light bearing finding spell named after the goddess of sight and the shining light of the clear blue sky. Kurt smiled at the memory of his mother teaching him the spell, but his heart constricted in his chest when he thought of Blaine in danger.

He quickly moved back down to his hands and knees and felt around until his fingers slid over something hard and smooth. "Perfect." He lifted the stone up to his face trying to see it, but it was just too dark. It didn't matter, he didn't need light to perform this spell.

"Bring light to the dark, Theia brighten and shine. Help find what is lost, show the way of the divine," he whispered over the stone and then placed a kiss to the cold surface, wiping mud from his lips with the back of his arm. He whispered the charm again, and again and again until a pale blue light started to emit from the stone. He repeated the words one more time, adding Blaine's name to the charm, "Bring light to the dark, Theia brighten and shine. Help find Blaine, show the way of the divine." Suddenly, the rock lit up, illuminating the area in a strong blue glow.

"Thank god," Kurt breathed in relief. If he'd just thought of magic instead of panicking when he'd first arrived, maybe he'd still be standing by the mirror that brought him here and not lost, short of breath and covered in mud. That didn't matter now, though; what mattered was finding Blaine, and if the light of the stone was any indication, Blaine was here – wherever here was – somewhere.

Kurt took a steadying breath, he was trembling all over and it was probably more due to the fact that he was wet and cold, but it didn't matter. If Blaine was in danger, then he had to find him. He hoped his dream-because that's what he was deciding that voice was-and his glowing rock were wrong. As much as a comfort it would be to have Blaine with him-and his shoulders almost relaxed at the thought-he didn't want Blaine to have been dragged into this nightmare.

"Please be safe, Blaine," Kurt whispered to himself, his heart squeezing painfully in his chest.

He followed where the glowing blue rock led him; it would brighten or fade to indicate which direction to go, like playing a frustrating game of "hot and cold". The process was further complicated by the fact that Kurt was getting more and more nervous about the place he found himself in. A forest of some kind, but not like anything he'd ever seen before. The trees, and vines, and shrubs all glimmered and reflected the light of his rock back at him. It was like everything here was made out of broken pieces of mirror.

"I am definitely not in Kansas anymore," Kurt murmured beneath his breath and tried to make himself laugh. He couldn't, he was too terrified. In fact, it was only the idea of Blaine in danger that kept him grounded and not panicking again – he couldn't afford to panic if somehow Blaine was here and needed him.

Kurt kept his breaths steady as he walked alone in the dark otherworldly forest. He diverted himself with memories of the night before – had it really only been last night? – Of being with Blaine, skin to skin, lips to lips, heart to heart. The words I love you Kurt Hummel kept echoing in his mind. "Damn it, Blaine." Kurt sniffed as he nearly slipped in the mud. "You better be okay when I find you! And if you came here just for me, I'm going to kill you."

Thunder crashed above him making Kurt start-that would be just what he needed-rain on top of everything else. The light from his stone was glowing brighter now and his heartrate quickened; he must be getting close. He thought he saw movement ahead of him, and he leaped backwards with a terrified gasp as something came scurrying out from behind a bush.

The creature stopped in its tracks looking up at Kurt with big round glossy eyes and a twitching nose. It had soft looking gray fur, and long floppy ears – a rabbit-Kurt had almost jumped out of his skin because of a rabbit.

He took a step closer, there was something off here; amongst the gray fur were patches of smooth glass, one of its floppy ears didn't really flop as it seemed to be made of glass, and its little fluffy tail was just a crystal sphere. The animal was like everything else here, part mirror.

Kurt swallowed deeply as the rabbit darted away. "Holy shit."

This place was becoming more frightening the longer he was here.

Kurt followed the glow of his rock a little longer, the air cracking with thunder occasionally, and soon a light shower started pelting down on Kurt's shoulders. He hunched against the rain and continued forward until his stone shone so brightly that Kurt had to shield his eyes for a moment, and then it faded to a gentle pulsing glow. That meant the spell was complete – the stone would keep emitting light, but it had found what it was looking for.

"Blaine?" Kurt called out, scanning the area, but he didn't see him anywhere. Maybe the spell had gone wrong, maybe Blaine wasn't really in this awful place after all maybe – Kurt's eyes landed on something a few feet away from him and his breath stuck in his throat.

It was a shoe. A brown leather chukka boot that was unmistakably Blaine's.

Kurt's stomach dropped and he sprinted forward, scooping the boot out of the mud and holding it up as if it would tell him where to find Blaine. "Blaine!" Kurt shouted frantically, circling, "Blaine!"

The rain was coming down harder now and mixing with the tears on Kurt's cheeks. Oh god Blaine please, please be alright.

Kurt heard a noise behind him and spun around, it was a moan or – Kurt saw him. Blaine was right in front of him sitting on the ground with his back against a tree trunk. Kurt hadn't seen him before, not only because of the limited light, but because Blaine was practically camouflaged in mud.

Kurt ran and then skidded to his knees to kneel by Blaine. His eyes were closed and he didn't seem responsive, and this close, Kurt realized it wasn't just mud that had made Blaine hard to find; there were thick strong tree roots growing out of the ground, and they had somehow managed to wrap themselves around Blaine's body, pinning him to the tree.

"Blaine," Kurt reached out to wake him, but one of the tree roots moved to whip his hand away with a resounding crack. Kurt hissed in pain and held his hand to his chest, and the other roots started moving as well, more thoroughly wrapping themselves around Blaine. More of them even sprang up from the wet ground, twisting and pulling as if they wanted to meld Blaine to the tree itself.

"No! Stop! Blaine!" Kurt reached forward again, hoping to yank Blaine forward, but the roots just whipped at him and tightened their hold. He seemed to be making them angry, and if Blaine's now labored breath was any indication, he wouldn't be able to take much more of this.

Kurt's mind was running a mile a minute, trying not to panic, as he went through, spell by spell, all the magic he knew trying to come up with something that could help.

"K-Kurt?"

Kurt looked up to see Blaine's eyes open as he stared at Kurt sleepily. It was such a relief to see him awake that Kurt had to hold back a sob. "Blaine, can you get up? Can you move?"

"I was looking for you."

Kurt smiled and scooted closer, careful not to touch any of the roots twisting around Blaine. "Well, I'm right here, but you need to move."

Blaine blinked at him sleepily, and there had to be some magic in the air to make Blaine so tired, something about this place that just made you want to curl up and take a nap despite the danger around you.

"Please, Blaine."

Blaine glanced down at himself and his eyes grew wide, "Oh my god. Oh my god." Blaine tried to get up, but the tree roots just held on tighter, causing Blaine to cough.

"Stop stop. Don't move!" Kurt held his hands up, wanting to help but scared that he'd just make things worse. The rain was pelting them now, icy cold, but Kurt barely noticed it.

"Hard... to… br-breathe," Blaine wheezed out and Kurt held in a whimper of fear.

His hands hovered over Blaine's constrained body, "Okay… I… um I know a spell, something used to unbind ropes or knots… It might work for this." Kurt's mind was working a mile a minute trying to remember exactly how the spell went.

"Anytime," Blaine rasped with a smile, but his eyes looked scared.

"I just… um. Unbind, untie… make loose these binds?" Kurt recited, but then stopped, how did it go? It wasn't like Kurt had actually used this spell very often. "Um, Unbind, make loose… or um… unbind unknot?" Kurt's throat was dry and his chest hurt, he couldn't remember.

"It wouldn't be…." Blaine coughed and the roots shifted more snuggly around him. "In your magic book?" Blaine's voice was high and tight.

"Yes!" Kurt was on the edge of freaking out, "But that doesn't help!"

"It does." Blaine made a movement with one of his hands, not able to move his whole arm as it was pinned to his side. Kurt glanced down to see half a book bag protruding from the roots. "G-grab it."

Kurt didn't really understand, but he did as he was told, carefully pulling the book bag from the roots; they let him have it, but they stayed firmly around Blaine. Kurt opened the bag and pulled out a big black leather book that he'd recognize anywhere. Kurt brushed rain out of his eyes, hardly believing the sight, "How?"

"Kurt," Blaine gasped.

Kurt hurriedly opened the book, not caring how it got there or that it was getting drenched, again. He came to the passage he needed "A spell of untying."

God this better work. Kurt wasn't sure what else to do. The spell would be better if he had some Beetle Toe or even Rosemary, but just focusing and repeating the words would have to do. "Unravel, untie, unloose these binds. Unknot, undo, make these ties unwind," he read and looked up at the roots, directing the words at them, "Unravel, untie, unloose these binds. Unknot, undo makes these ties unwind!"

The roots twitched and then there was a crackling noise, and suddenly the roots started snapping away from Blaine's body. Kurt grabbed Blaine's arm and hauled him forward with all his strength. Blaine was released and he came toppling down on top of Kurt. Kurt lay on the muddy ground holding Blaine's arms and looking up at him. "Are you alright? Blaine, are you alright!"

Blaine nodded and smiled. "I think so."

Kurt sighed in relief as they both moved to stand up, backing away from the tree. Blaine was rubbing his chest and wincing.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Blaine nodded again and took in a long deep breath. "Maybe a little bruised."

Kurt's vision was growing a little blurred, tears of relief in his eyes. He threw himself forward wrapping Blaine in his arms and pressing their lips together. Blaine stumbled a little at the onslaught, but when he regained his footing, he held onto Kurt and kissed him back. Rain was pouring over them and Kurt was cold down to his very bones, but he didn't care. "Oh my god, Blaine." Kurt sighed, breaking the kiss, "Don't scare me like that!" Before Blaine could respond, Kurt kissed him again, slotting their lips together and kissing until his cheeks felt warm.

When he finally broke the kiss and backed up, Blaine was looking at him with shining eyes and an awed expression. "Wow."

"How are you here, Blaine?"

"I went through the third floor mirror."

"On purpose?"

"Yes."

"Blaine, how could you!" Kurt swatted at him, but there was no force to it; he hated that he was relieved to have Blaine here.

"As if I could let you be trapped here alone."

"Oh, Blaine." Kurt cupped the back of his neck and leaned his forehead against Blaine's. Thunder shook through the forest. "What are we going to do?" Kurt's eyes were closed, but as lightning split through the sky, he opened them.

"Did you see that?"

Kurt looked behind his shoulder in the direction Blaine was staring.

"See what?"

Lightning struck again and Kurt could just make out a structure of some kind in the distance. "Is that a building?"

"It almost looked like a… castle."

"Where in hell are we?" Kurt shivered and wondered if hell was actually cold and wet and dark instead of hot and burning. Not that he believed in such things.

"We should go check it out."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "You don't actually want to go there."

"Kurt, we can't just stand out in the pouring rain. We need somewhere to sit and think and come up with some kind of plan for getting home."

"And you think some random castle in the middle of a dark mirror world is the place to do that?"

"We could at least get closer and see what it is."

Kurt sighed, he didn't have any better ideas. "Okay, let's go."

Blaine leaned down and picked up the now sodden book bag, and Kurt slipped his magic book back in it.

Blaine smiled and reached for Kurt's hand, bringing it up to his lips and placing a soft kiss to his knuckles. "I didn't know if I'd ever see you again."

Kurt blinked back tears and brushed some of Blaine's soaked hair from his face. "Same here."

At first, they tried to hold hands as they made their way through the dark forest, only illuminated by Kurt's rock and the occasional flash of lightning, but soon found it wasn't practical with how slippery the terrain was, and as they neared the silhouette of a castle, the ground became steeper.

"Where did you get the glowing rock!?" Blaine shouted over the rain and thunder.

"It was just a rock, made it glow with a spell!"

"Of course you did!" Blaine sounded proud of him.

"How did you get my book?"

"It was delivered from Jane right after you… right after…" He stopped and Kurt turned to face him.

"After the mirror took me?"

Blaine nodded, looking grave.

"Come on," Kurt sent him a reassuring smile, "We're almost there."

The lightning did two things: one, it gave them their first good glimpse of where they were, and it was indeed a glassy forest of shimmering reflective trees; the other thing it did as they climbed up the hill to the castle was illuminate their destination. As they neared it, Kurt was relieved to find it wasn't a castle really, not anymore; it had been one once – now it was the ruins of a castle, large and sprawling over the plateau of the hill.

They reached the ruins and stood gazing at them for a moment, lightning illuminating the structure off and on and giving it strange shifting shadows. The castle must have been impressive and gorgeous in its day, but now it was the skeleton of a once great palace. It seemed to be made out of some kind of limestone, intermixed – as everything here was — with glass fragments. They carefully picked their way around fallen stones until they found a section of the building that looked less dilapidated than the rest.

"Over here." Blaine nodded, reaching out for Kurt's hand as they ducked under a low hanging stone arch. Kurt shivered as they finally got out of the cold rain and into the relative safety of a small, mostly intact stone room. There were some cracks in the mortar letting rivulets of water run down the walls and silvery vines were growing out and up the walls, but it was still a far cry better than the pelting rain.

Kurt wrapped his arms around himself as his teeth started chattering; now that he could relax a little, his body seemed to be realizing how cold it was. "We need to start a fire," Kurt said, looking around the empty room for some kind of kindling.

Kurt spun back around to face Blaine as he heard him clear his throat painfully, his hand was rubbing his chest again.

"Blaine, you're hurt." He rushed forward, but Blaine just shook his head.

"Just sore. And cold. A fire is a great idea."

Kurt bit the inside of his lip but didn't argue. Instead, he walked to the wall and started ripping ivy off the stones. Blaine lifted an eyebrow in question. "These are part glass, so be careful not to cut yourself, but I think they are enough plant to burn."

Blaine joined him and soon they had enough vines for Kurt to make a large nest surrounded by stone as a fire pit. He sat down cross legged on the, thankfully, mostly dry ground and held his hands over the vines whispering a fire charm under his breath. Within moments, a warm cheery flame blazed over the vines. "That should last a while."

"You sure are handy. I bet you earned all the boy scout badges."

Kurt grinned up at Blaine who was staring down at him with a smitten look on his face. It made Kurt's stomach flip over pleasantly. Kurt patted the ground beside him, but instead of joining him, Blaine just peeled his wet shirt off. Kurt watched with wide eyes as Blaine glanced around the room and then moved towards the doorway, and finding a couple large fallen stones, he rolled them one by one near the fire.

"What are you doing exactly?"

"Sitting around in wet cold clothes is miserable," Blaine answered, unzipping his pants and pulling them down. Kurt swallowed deeply. Blaine laid his clothes out on a stone and then stood there in nothing but his underwear with his hands on his hips. "You could dry yours too, you know."

"Blaine Anderson, are you trying to get me out of my clothes?"

Blaine placed a hand over his chest, his broad muscled lovely chest, and with a mock severe expression exclaimed, "Only for your own comfort."

Kurt stood with a chuckle, marveling that even in some strange otherworld surrounded by uncertainty and fear, Blaine could still somehow make him feel safe and cared for. He slipped off his sweater and shirt and pants, very aware of Blaine watching him, and laid them out on a stone near the fire. He wasn't really any colder than he had been with his clothes on, seeing as they were muddied and wet. But he did feel much more vulnerable. Blaine seemed to be very comfortable in his own skin, though, and easily sat cross-legged by the fire, holding his hands over the cobalt flames.

Kurt joined him, sitting almost shoulder to shoulder – for warmth of course. "Are you sure your chest is okay?" Kurt asked, reaching out without thinking and gently placing his hand over Blaine's heart. "No broken ribs or anything serious?"

"What would you do if there were?"

"Worry," Kurt answered with a grimace.

Blaine smiled and shook his head. "I bet it will bruise tomorrow, but I'm fine." He leaned in and kissed Kurt's cheek. "I promise."

"You shouldn't have come, Blaine," Kurt said, his heart breaking a little. He couldn't bear the thought of being here on his own, but if it meant Blaine would be safe, he'd suffer it.

"I shouldn't have led you to Aunt Helen's room when we both knew we should have left." Blaine's voice caught a little.

"I shouldn't have insisted we go back to Callaway Place when you didn't want to. We… we could be at that lighthouse right now if it weren't for me." He felt a hot tear on his cheek and angrily swiped at it.

Blaine just ducked in and kissed him. "This is not your fault. My family. My curse."

Kurt shook his head, but he didn't want to argue. He was tired. And scared. And he felt helpless – a feeling he hated with a passion. "What are we going to do, Blaine?"

"We are going to sit here at least until our clothes are warm and dry, and we-" He leaned over to the book bag and pulled out Kurt's magic book, "We are going to look in here for anything you think might help us get home."

Kurt took the book, opening it and laying it out by the fire to dry, "If Jane saw that I drenched this book again she would be outraged."

"I still can't believe it arrived right after you vanished."

"That was fortuitous."

"You're going to see her again."

Kurt looked up from the book to Blaine's earnest face.

"Jane. You're going to get home again."

"We both are," Kurt said, putting on a brave face. He wanted to flip through his book immediately looking for some magic to try, but he needed to let it dry, one page at a time before flipping to the next. It still wouldn't be in as good a condition as when Jane restored it, but it would have to do.

"So where do you think we are?"

"Saffron thought the other side of the mirror was a fairy world filled with unimaginable power. This place is magical and as eerie as all get out, but I don't know that it is an all-powerful fairy realm."

"It used to be something more though," Blaine said, looking around their small room. "People must have lived here? I mean someone built this castle. Or maybe not people… but something built it."

Kurt shivered, "They seem to be long gone now though."

"And we definitely aren't on earth, right? I mean the trees and the stones and just everything is made of mirrors."

"I saw a rabbit," Kurt added, "It was also part mirror."

"Disturbing."

"Do you think there's a chance that…" Kurt hesitated, loath to bring up a subject that might hurt Blaine, "Do you think this is where your aunt was those three days she went missing?"

Blaine worried his lip before nodding slightly, looking down at his lap, "Undoubtedly."

They both remained silent for a moment, neither of them bringing up the fact that three days here had driven Helen mad.

"Saffron!" Blaine cried out, lifting his head.

Kurt's heart all but stopped beating. "Wait! What?"

"No no. Sorry." Blaine was quick to assure him, "I'm so sorry." He took both of Kurt's hands and held them in his own, until Kurt started breathing normally again. "I just remembered I have Saffron's journal too." He let go of Kurt's hands and reached in the book bag again, pulling out the diary and handing it to Kurt.

It was wet as well, but not as bad as Kurt's book since it had stayed protected in Blaine's bag this whole time.

"Oh my god Blaine I lo-" Kurt stopped, cleared his throat, "You are amazing."

Blaine gave him a small half smile and then moved closer to him. They leaned side by side as they went through the journal meticulously reading every word on mirrors they could.

"Listen to this," Blaine said, finding a section that confused him, 'I quickly concluded that a traveling mirror would be necessary in my endeavors, I must conjure one before I continue on. I hope it will be as simple as I believe it will be, but I know it is essential even if it takes me some time to perfect it.' What is that? A traveling mirror?"

Kurt's brow was furrowed as he scanned the passage Blaine was referencing; he tried to not be distracted by Blaine's warm skin pressed against his side. "That's… that's just the third floor mirror isn't it?"

"I don't think so, I mean this is after she already had plans to endow her family's mirror with power, this seems separate."

Kurt sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was tired, not the strange enchanted sleepiness that he first experienced here, but actually bone deep tired. So much had happened so fast and it was catching up to him. "I mean, I did travel through the mirror in your aunt's room, so maybe she had several traveling mirrors? But one all-powerful one?" Kurt yawned and looked up from the book to Blaine's face.

He was close, his eyes warm and tender and his red lips tipped up in a smile.

"What?"

"You're adorable when you're sleepy," Blaine said.

Kurt's cheeks flushed, "You aren't so bad looking yourself."

Blaine chuckled at that. "God, Kurt, I'm tired."

Kurt chewed his lip for a moment and then glanced at the warm bright fire. He shut Saffron's journal and placed it next to his own magic book before getting up to his knees and shuffling over until he was straddling Blaine's lap, "We should rest."

Blaine gulped, his eyes wide, "Rest?"

Kurt nodded and leaned down to kiss him, lips gentle but needy, working against Blaine's lips until they parted and Kurt was able to deepen the kiss. Their now warm and dry chests pressed together and Kurt's fingers tangled in Blaine's unruly curls. Blaine's strong hands were anchored on Kurt's hips as he kissed him, his breath on Kurt's skin as he tightened his grip.

Kurt pulled back breathlessly, but Blaine just lay down backwards taking Kurt with him, kissing him again from his lips to his chin to his neck. Kurt wasn't sure how much time passed before he found himself lying side by side with Blaine, the lights from the flames dancing off Blaine's bronze skin.

Kurt felt much more at ease; while the danger of their situation was still in the back of his mind, he let himself enjoy this moment lying close to Blaine and softly tracing patterns up and down his arm. "Do you still think Saffron is behind all of this?" Kurt asked and Blaine sighed.

"You said yourself you don't think magic could act this way on its own."

"I just don't understand what is going on. Other worlds are well out of my scope of magical knowledge."

Blaine nodded and brushed his nose against Kurt's. "We'll rest now. We have the books and… and each other. We're going to find a way out of this."

"Okay," Kurt said, placing a soft kiss to his lips. "Okay." And he believed him.

Kurt awoke sometime later, lying on the dirt ground and not able to place where he was. He was cold and shivering and practically naked. He sat up quickly, fear like a knot in his stomach. He saw the magical fire almost out and remembered where he was; his relief was only momentary, though, as he remembered that where he was was someplace awful.

"Blaine?" He looked around; he'd fallen asleep curled next to Blaine, but he wasn't there now. Which might explain why Kurt was so cold. "Blaine!" Kurt jumped to his feet. "Oh thank god."

Blaine was huddled against the wall of the building by the doorway, dressed again and with Saffron's journal in his hands, apparently reading by the light of his phone. "Blaine, what are you doing?" Kurt asked, pulling on his pants and slipping on his shoes.

Blaine didn't look up from the diary.

"Blaine?" Kurt slipped his shirt over his head and grabbed his sweater, moving to kneel in front of Blaine. "Couldn't sleep? You could have read by the fire where it is warmer." Kurt noticed the sky outside was a dull bloody red and he hoped that wasn't what daytime looked like in this place. "Hey, Blaine? You with me?" Kurt smiled at him and ducked his head to try and meet Blaine's eyes.

Blaine looked up slowly from the pages he was studying, his expression was grim, brow creased and lips pressed into a straight line and his eyes… Kurt swallowed deeply-they were bloodshot and severe and his gold irises danced with some kind of strong emotion Kurt couldn't place.

"Blaine," Kurt said quietly, reaching out to place a hand on his arm, "What's wrong?"

Blaine shook Kurt's hand off him and stood with what almost sounded like a growl.

"Blaine." Kurt stood as well. "What's going on?"

Blaine's lip curled up in a snarl and his eyes burned; they almost seemed like they were on fire like Saffron's eyes in the painting. Something was very wrong here; this was not the face of the kind, tender man he knew. Blaine pushed Kurt roughly out of the way. Kurt stumbled but didn't fall.

Blaine marched to the now dying fire and tossed Saffron's journal in the flames.

"NO! What the hell are you doing!" Kurt ran towards the fire, reaching carefully for the corner of the book and trying to pull it out without burning himself. "What's wrong with you? We need this!" Kurt hissed as he burned his fingertips but was able to fish the book from the flames. He looked up at Blaine whose eyes were still burning and who was raking his hands through his hair.

"Blaine?"

"Shut up!" Blaine shouted and then clamped his mouth closed.

Kurt stood slowly and stepped towards him like approaching a frightened animal, "What happened, Blaine?"

"Don't come near me!" Blaine growled, "Just fucking leave me alone!"

Blaine was frightening when he was angry; he was smaller than Kurt but seemed giant now with this fury flowing through him, his cheeks flushed and his eyes hot. Kurt was worried he was going to start pulling his hair out with the way his hands were scrambling over his scalp. "Just leave me alone please." Blaine's voice was much quieter now, desperate, as he turned on his heel and fled the little room they'd been so relaxed and happy in just hours before.

"Blaine!" Kurt called after him, heart in his throat. Something was wrong with Blaine, and as Kurt hurriedly collected Blaine's bag and his magic book and rushed to follow after him, he couldn't help but think of Aunt Helen – muddied and confused – found wandering the third floor without her wits.

Kurt ran faster.