Upon returning to the castle Alfred immediately went to find the wizards to demand answers, shouting and panicking in his own way as the wizards tried to avoid giving him answers.
The mirror in Matthew's room had frosted over in his absence and when the blonde sat before it the frost evaporated, revealing Ivan behind Matthew once more, the wizard's arms wrapped around Matthew's thin frame.
"Hello, little one." He murmured gently with a smile, his eyes peering down at the comb clutched in small fingers. "I see you found my wedding gift to you."
"Ivan," Matthew started slowly as he set down the comb on the vanity before the mirror, "I don't understand...this comb doesn't belong to me...it...it fell from..from a tomb of someone else…," the blonde murmured, his head shaking as he leaned forward, his hands pressing up to cover his face.
"...what is going on, Ivan? I'm very confused…"
"Once upon a time I fell in love... This was many years ago, mind you... And I fell in love with you." Ivan's voice was right beside Matthew's ear, even if he was still only within the mirror. "But you were mortal, a human, and as the years passed you began to die. I had hoped to place your spirit within the mirror, to find a way to preserve you so that when I found a way to preserve your body you would not have moved on... But I was too late and you died in my arms." The wizard rested his forehead against Matthew's neck gently. "And then you were born again, I was given a second chance to find you, but now I was trapped here, within the mirror among spirits and shades and impressions of the dead." The wizard reached up to run his fingers over Matthew's cheek, unable to truly feel the softness of the flesh. "I have waited for many years for you... And that comb was my last true gift to you before your first death... It holds all of your memories... Everything that ever happened to us... Between us... Rests in that comb."
Matthew slowly shook his head, the idea almost too much for him to grasp, to understand. "I...but...I'm not…," he wanted to believe Ivan, because the man seemed so familiar and the sincerity in his voice was enough to make anyone believe.
But it was strange and startling and hard to grasp that he was not just himself, that he was someone before, someone he didn't know, and someone that Ivan loved…
"I'm sorry, I just..I'm...me?" the blonde asked softly, his gaze dropping to the comb on the desk, his hands shaking as he began to reach for it but stopped. He was frightened and completely unsure if he truly wanted to know what the truth was.
"You're you. You're my Matthew... In this lifetime and in all lifetimes." The man pressed his face to Matthew's neck, but he couldn't feel the warmth there. Even if he was free from his mirror he doubted he'd be able to feel the warmth. "I've waited for you for so long..." His fingers reached out to touch the comb, placing it within Matthew's palm once more before he gave the blonde's hand a gentle squeeze. "I've missed you." The moment he released Matthew's hand there was a jolt along the slim arm as magic raced into the base of his skull, spreading warm and bright through his mind as memories were released.
Matthew's eyes widened as he was suddenly seeing memories of a little cottage, a warm bed and a crackling fire. A man with bright violet eyes that were unmistakably Ivan's, full and childish and loving stared at him, laughed with him and cried horribly sad tears that Matthew suddenly remembered feeling on his face and neck.
He saw a kingdom, a king, the murder and destruction of soldiers and guards, but then felt the way hands fiercely hugged him, the gentle, trusting kiss of a lover's mouth, and suddenly he saw years and decades full of magic, gentle love and coddling, and suddenly everything was swimming back to his room, to his reflection. Matthew, in that moment, felt he looked so much older, and in seconds his eyes were filling with tears and he crumpled forward onto the vanity, sobbing into his arms.
It hurt so terribly, the memories, the palpable distance he suddenly could feel between he and Ivan. But what hurt Matthew the most was that he had only suffered this separation for a few seconds, while Ivan...Ivan had hurt for far much longer than that.
Ivan watched Matthew quietly, pained that he couldn't hold the sobbing blonde to his chest, to offer some comfort to the smaller male. He doubted that he had any warmth left to give, as he had long frozen over. The visage he projected for Matthew was what the blonde would remember him as. Not what he was now.
"I'm sorry." The man whispered, his voice cracking with tears as he took a shallow breath. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you." His eyes filled with tears and while they trailed down his face in the mirror image, behind the glass they froze and collected about his eyes, just like every other tear he had shed since Matthew's death. "I've missed you for so long... I've wanted only you."
Matthew shook his head, a feeble whimper leaving his throat as he straightened slightly and peered at the mirror. His face was flush and streaked with tears and Matthew reached forward to touch the mirror, the glass cold under his touch.
"I should...I should be the one apologizing," Matthew murmured softly, his shoulders trembling as he brushed his fingers to the haircomb.
"You have nothing to apologize for." Ivan whispered, his face pressing to Matthew's neck once more. "I love you. So much... I pulled the stars from the sky for you..."
"The...the stariron?" Matthew asked softly, whimpering as he ducked his head and longed to wrap himself tight in Ivan's embrace. "You….you...didn't have to do that for me...Ivan…," the blonde murmured softly. "Ivan….I…," the blonde sighed, his eyes wet. "I've missed you…" it was such an odd, overwhelming feeling, that he suddenly missed Ivan so terribly it was painful.
Ivan was about to say something when the door opened and one of the court wizards was standing there, eyes widening in shock before he lifted his hand and a bolt of magic, sharp and dangerous, pierced the mirror, shattering the image and causing Ivan to roar with rage as he was forced back. The wizard grasped Matthew, tugging the blonde away from the mirror before turning the blonde.
"What have you done?" The man snarled, blinking as there was a sound of fists, numerous and uncontrolled, pounding upon the mirrors of the palace, rattling the walls and windows as the wizard snarled and shook Matthew. "The mirror, did you open the mirror?" The man asked and as they stepped into the hallway the man's eyes widened at the sight of hands, palms and fingers, clawing at the glass on the inside of the mirror.
"Let me go!" Matthew demanded, his eyes darting about to the different mirrors, desperately searching for Ivan's face.
"Ivan...where are you?" the blonde called as he wrenched his arm free of the wizard's hold, his eyes widening as he remembered the tall wooden mirror at the top of the stairs.
There was a thud from the stairs, the sound of glass rattling as Ivan tried to break the glass on his end, unsuccessful as he was, trying to shout through the glass and having the muffled noise echoing around the entire castle through every mirror.
Matthew's eyes widened and before he could be grabbed by the wizard once more, the blonde was tearing off through the hallway and as fast as he could up the dark stairs where the sound of the thudding increased.
"Ivan!" Matthew cried, the mirror cabinet on it's side as the blonde fell to his knees to pry it open hurriedly. "Ivan? Are you alright?"
"They're coming, Matthew, they want out and now that a mirror is broken they're trying to break the mirrors." Ivan called, turning inside his own tight confines to build a thick wall of ice around himself, whatever monsters and creatures skittering about in the darkness being stopped by the ice for the time being. The man turned back to the mirror. "Break my mirror, let me out." He called, his palm pressed to the mirror the only thing that could currently be seen of him.
"But…," Matthew whimpered, the howling and scratching and pounding from the thousands of mirrors in the castle making the blonde's ears ring. He was terrified of whatever sort of creatures they were getting loose, but Matthew didn't trust the other wizards to know what to do.
"A-alright," the blonde nodded, his hand pressing to Ivan's before he drew back and peered around the small space at the top of the stairs. There wasn't much there except for a tall, metal candelabra that Matthew wrenched one of the candle holders free from. Swallowing hard, palms shaking, the blonde approached the mirror and drew his hands back to then smash the metal end against the glass, sending shards every which way.
Ivan sent one last blast of ice into the mirror as he escaped, his cold hand grasping Matthew's as he went. "We need to go." He whispered harshly, trying to keep Matthew from seeing his eyes as they went. "They're going to come soon, we need to get out of the country."
"Wait," Matthew murmured softly, his feet coming to a stop just before the end of the staircase as he released Ivan's freezing hand. The blonde curled his hand to his chest as he he peered at the wizard's back. "...leave the country? But...what will happen...when they're finished with this kingdom, Ivan?"
Ivan was quiet before he spoke up, refusing to turn. "I... I don't know..." And it was obvious that there was still so much he had yet to learn. He was still so young for a wizard... "I... I suppose they'd move on to the next..." He whispered, his fist clenching as he tilted his eyes towards the mirrors. "I learned that you can direct them... Turn them into an army... But there really isn't a way to stop them without killing them."
Matthew shook his head before gently reaching for Ivan's hand once more. "We...we can't let that happen, Ivan...you're...you're a good wizard...if it were to happen...they'd find a way to blame you, you know it," the blonde murmured, gently squeezing Ivan's pale fingers. "We...we have to stop them, Ivan…"
Ivan was quiet for a moment, his fingers lacing with Matthew's as he turned to peer at the blonde. He was pale. Much paler than he had ever been. Years of darkness and cold had turned his skin a barely there blue. His eyes, once violet and warm and bright were now frozen over, thick clumps of ice replacing the actual eyes, his skin covered in cold frost and his silver hair stiff with the cold.
"I... I don't know if I could..." Ivan whispered. "I'd... I'd have to freeze everything."
"Ivan…," Matthew murmured softly, his eyes wide with shock as he stared up at the taller male's face. He shook his head, tears gathering at the edge of his eyes as he moved to press himself to the wizard's chest. Ivan was freezing and didn't feel like anything Matthew could recall, but it was still Ivan.
"I know you could," the blonde trembled, his hands curling into the thick black robes Ivan wore. "You're a great wizard, Ivan…"
Ivan was quiet for a long moment before he gently grasped Matthew, holding the blonde close to his chest as he took a deep breath. There was a sound of ice breaking, then glass shattering and Ivan ducked his head, holding out a hand as bits of glass collected about his palm, ice following until there was a veritable sheild of ice and glass surrounding both him and Matthew, his fingers curled into a loose fist before straightening and sending the shards away from his form in an explosion of ice and glass, killing the monsters that were crawling towards him and Matthew across floors and walls. The ice spread, Ivan breathing deeply as he concentrated, holding Matthew close to his chest to protect the blonde as he did so, thinking of ice and of polar bears, of creatures that survived the cold and how the humans would need to survive as well. They would become polar bears and the entire country would become ice, a country of ice and snow and iron atop the world.
Matthew shivered and trembled as he pressed close to Ivan's chest, his fingers tightening in the dark robes. He was afraid to see the creatures that Ivan froze, but even worse, he was afraid to see his family, what would become of them, if anything at all. But he trusted Ivan, even as it got colder and Matthew's shivers only increased, Matthew trusted Ivan completely.
Ivan's grip on Matthew tightened and he continued to freeze the castle, then the land surrounding it, the stretch of ice and snow expanding, encapsulating the fields, the mountain of Krims, everything.
He didn't notice Matthew becoming colder and colder in his arms.
The blonde nuzzled gently at Ivan's neck, though he could feel his limbs locking painfully, the feeling of ice creeping against his skin as hot as fire would be. It would be alright, Matthew told himself, his fingers releasing Ivan's clothing to curl together under his chin to attempt to keep the warmth he had left close to him.
By the time Ivan had finished his work on the country it was dark, everything covered in a blanket of snow, and Ivan sighed as he gently released Matthew.
Only to still in horror as he realized that Matthew was frozen completely solid in his arms.
"M-Matthew?" The man asked gently, tentatively reaching out only to pull his hands back in terror. It took a moment before he grasped at Matthew's shoulders, jumping when the blonde's frozen form collapsed, shattering into the snow about their feet.
Tears couldn't come this time. He was too cold... This time there was only the agony of a broken heart without the catharsis of tears to soothe it.
Ivan fell to his knees, covering his eyes. Only days before he had lost his love again...
The enormous man let out a roar of pain and anger, his hands lashing out and causing spires of ice to form, breaking through the walls and sending a section of the castle crumbling to the ground. He could wait. he would wait, of course... But what then?
He could only kill Matthew again...
A thought occurred to him and the wizard quietly looked to Matthew.
He would wait. For centuries if need be... And then he would give Matthew the one thing that could protect him.