The Slave of the Mirror had since given up hope of ever being useful again far before she had ever arrived.
The more time she spent around him the more useful she became to him.
She looked useful at least, he had a good eye when it came to magic, she was mostly magic than human yet the one thing that shocked him was the extraordinary empathy she had for him and the incredible mercy she had for even the lowliest of characters.
The Slave in the mirror preferred to side with the villain no matter how deplorable and despicable.
She was moved by each tragic end of every villain he relayed to her.
"Oh that's ever so sad".
At that she would sigh to convey her sorrowful sympathy.
"It is indeed.
Yet that is the lot of the villain.
It is their role.
They create challenge, they design obstacles, they stir up the necessary struggles for the hero.
However if a villain is formidable enough, they create absolute chaos.
You may call these characters evil but even evil has it's purpose...that is to say all villains have a purpose in this world. I mean just imagine how meaningless the works of a hero would be without the villain challenging them at every turn. A hero's life would be ever so dull and boring without the thwarting of the villain.
You must admit that Villains make things much more interesting. Although good and evil are two different sides there are times where these forces must cooperate hand in hand to create balance in this world. Many Heroes do not understand what they say when they claim they are on a quest to vanquish all evil. If evil is vanquished they will cease to be heroes.
There is a saying that a hero's work is never done.
For when one villain has fallen another arises in their place. Now not all villains are truly evil some are just simply hero's who's stories were never told.
Villains are often heroes that are forgotten about so in their loneliness and despair they find a new purpose. It is confusing but often heroes don't always have the best character. I have met heroes that have many villainous traits and I have encountered villains with the attributes of a hero. No one is truly what they seem. I see the heart and I see the soul, I see the hidden desires and secret intentions. I see all that is true and I see through all deception and deceit. Many Heroes have dark hearts and many villains have hearts of light."
"If that is true than no one is truly good or evil and no one is truly a villain or a hero.
We are all capable of both yet we are all given the choice to choose which path to take.
The path of light and the path of darkness but no path truly determines who we are at least not forever. There is always a chance that a villain or a hero may choose to switch sides, nothing is for certain and nothing is truly written in stone.
Am I right?"
Amber reflected on the Mirror's words.
"You are quite correct. You are very wise for someone so young.
Tell me are you some sort of witch or enchantress?"
"No I am neither a witch or an enchantress. I'm not quite sure what I am, to be honest.
All I know is there aren't very many people like me out there. I only met one that was like me but it was very long ago. He was a Bard. He told me that's what I was and he gave me this amber necklace before he left me.
I'm still not sure if I am a bard but I know certain things, things others have told me i ought to never know. I hear things that people don't, voices from the stars, voices of the trees and creatures that live in nature, I hear them speak to me.
Yet the others call me crazy, they say I am insane, many call me cursed. When I was a child I was told that I was the illegitimate offspring of a dark wizard.
They said I was touched by the same evil and eventually I would become evil myself yet I did not choose evil and I chose the path of righteousness.
Now I'm not so certain if that path was meant to be my true destiny."
The mirror sneered yet this time deeper than before.
It was not malicious sneer but rather a sneer that revealed a slight smile, a hint a humor brought up one of the cold corners of his mouth.
"Destiny is chosen and it is made by the person it belongs to.
If you do not have a destiny, you create it.
I must say that I sense no evil in you.
I see no evil in your heart.
Purity and light is all I see.
I feel the goodness emanate from that troubled soul of yours."
"Then they lied to me about my parents?"
Amber's face was overshadowed by a glum somberness.
"Did you actually think that all of those that hated you spoke the truth? It is natural for the ignorant to hate what is different and label the outcasts as evil.
There are two types of ignorance, there is ignorance that is thrust upon a person at birth and then there is ignorance that is chosen.
Your enemies chose ignorance and in their ignorance they were consumed by hatred.
So yes they lied to you.
They lied to shame you into submission.
Yet I do not lie. I can tell you the truth and only the truth."
"Then what is the truth of my parents? Do they still live?"
"The truth is often a very sour draft to drink. It is a very bitter cup and tastes of disappointment and it smells of tragedy.
The truth often does not heal, often it is a knife straight to the heart. Are you sure you want to take on such a sorrowful burden?"
"I lost my parents and I wish to know who they were.
I wish to know what happened to them and why they weren't able to raise me themselves."
"Very well. I will grant your heart's desire. Your mother was very fair in complexion and her hair was like fire, she had eyes of warm amber yet her Health was weak despite her strong spirit.
So naturally she perished after your birth."
"What was she? Was she like me?"
Amber's voice trembled with unshed tears.
"She was purity and light very much like you but there was darkness that came to visit her.
There was a curse upon her, a curse that was meant to be passed onto the child but there was a man that freed her child of that. That man was your father.
Your Father was only one that gave your mother any kindness.
He did all in his power to remove the curse from her but he was not able to save her from it and eventually it killed her in the end. Your mother was from a strange people, they were children of flame and rebirth. The story is that the first Phoenix that was created blessed a certain people living in the desert. These people grew to great numbers and there powers grew with them, they eventually discovered that they possessed a certain kind of immortality.
If ever anyone of these people were to die they would burst into flames but then they would be reborn from the ashes and they would than live again, only this time stronger and far wiser than before.
However your mother's curse prevented her from being reborn again so she died without the flames of rebirth.
Your Father was a traveling Bard of great repute yet ever Since he fell in love with your mother he gave up his life as a Bard and he became a great and formidable wizard so that he could cure her. However in his search for the cure he found more than he bargained for. He found madness in his quest for knowledge. I see he is still lives but he is in turmoil and in despair. He lives in misery and anguish. He hates himself and all he has done. He blames himself for the death of your mother. He cannot escape this guilt and that guilt tortures him night and day."
"If he still lives why didn't he take care of me and raise me for himself?"
"He was quite mad. I do not think he would have been capable of raising you himself because of this madness. If he was not mad he most likely would have been too grief stricken to take care of you. Grief does a great deal of damage to the mind.
The truth is painful isn't it?
It hurts like a hot knife to the heart. I warned you that truth would not heal you. I warned you that truth would only cause you pain and sorrow.
The truth is a burden, not just to those that speak it but to those that harken to it's words.
The truth is always prided as a sort of a strange salvation but truth is hardship, it is pain, it is suffering, it is tears, it is misery and it is heartbreak and in some cases especially with your father it is madness."
"No truth isn't that horrible. Truth is only horrible when it reveals something tragic. You revealed to me tragedy yet truth of goodness that is what truly heals the heart. Truth isn't always bitter, sometimes it is sweet and it can smell of sunshine and sunflowers.
Truth can be magic but it all depends who speaks it and how it is spoken. You are used to using truth as a weapon.
Use truth as a soothing salve and even the bitterest of truth can seem sweet to those that listen.
It's all about how you use the truth that truly matters".
For the first time the mirror felt a pang of guilt.
He felt his heart throb with a emotion he had not felt for a centuries, he felt sadness.
He almost wanted to sob at the shocking sentimentality of her words.
Her words shocked him.
They were so rich with emotion but instead of being carried away by this emotions they were confirmed by a strong logic.
He tried to challenge those words of hers but since he saw all truth he realized that these words were true.
"You speak the truth."
The mirror spoke reluctantly and very slowly with a stagnant solemnity.
"You seem to be very bitter and angry. Where is all this hostility coming from?"
Amber had eyes were brimming with concern.
"I have been a slave for hundreds of years. So naturally I am very bitter. Besides being imprisoned in this mirror I have been forgotten for many centuries.
I have been stuck here in this godforsaken palace, nearly dormant awaiting the day someone would awaken me.
Since you have summoned me and awakened me from my slumber you are now my new master and I must serve you till the day you die".
Amber noticed the disgusted contempt in his voice as he spoke.
"You don't seem too happy about it."
"Happy? Why should I be happy? Oh yes I admit that your company is quite pleasant and the fact you summoned me is quite pleasing to me but still I am not at all happy. Servitude is not a happy affair. Now that you've summoned me I must see another lifetime of servitude.
So no I'm not happy about being awake. I'm not happy to wake up a slave to this mirror yet again.
I've not been happy for a great long while. I hardly know what happiness is since it's been so long since I've tasted it.
I know no happiness in this prison in which I live in.
So I believe I have every right to be bitter and angry don't you think?"
"Yes I suppose you do. You speak of happiness that you've had before and you claim you live in a prison. Were you once free?"
"I was as free as you were. Once I was flesh and blood just like you are. I was once alive but ever since I crossed over to the other side of this mirror, I became a phantom, a ghost if you will.
This imprisonment changed me, it changed my thoughts, my emotions and my very appearance.
This imprisonment changed everything. I am afraid I cannot change back. I will never be what I once was."
"What if you could?"
"What if I could what?"
"What if you could change back?"
"I'd have to be free of this mirror to do that".
"Well then what if I could free you of this glass prison?"
"You would do that for me?"
"Yes of course. You allowed me to stay here, think of it as payment."
"You do realize that freeing me won't be an easy task don't you?"
"Yes I'd imagine it not only be difficult but very dangerous.
For whatever power bound you to that mirror is no doubt a great and evil force."
"What do you know of evil?"
"I saw evil face to face when I was a child. It entered my mind as if it were but water and all my secret thoughts were exposed.
It had a smell, it was the smell of rotting flesh seeping through ancient earth. I smelled that same decay when I arrived to this place. Thank goodness it is not a very strong smell which means the evil that resides here isn't quite as powerful as it used to be. The evil here has faded in power. It is strong but not as strong as the good magic that flows within this place."
"I do hope you are right.
Yet you do realize that if such evil still exists in this place than it very well could still live within me?"
"Evil is chosen remember? You choose your own destiny and you create it. Don't forget that.
So when the time comes you must decide what is right and you must fight that evil that lives within you."
"There is always a price when it comes to dark magic so if you choose to help free me you may only help aid the evil that still lives within me. You might even strengthen it if you are not careful."
"No I refuse to strengthen evil.
I will be very careful and I won't aid evil in any way. I know what is right and good. Righteousness and Goodness always prevails."
"No not always. If it is not chosen it does not prevail."
"Do you want to be free?"
"Yes of course I do."
"Then you mustn't argue with me. Trust me, I can free you.
You must trust me. I know what must be done."
"How can you know when you are nothing but a child?"
"No I am no longer a child, I am a grown woman and I am very strong as well as wise beyond my years. Please believe me, I can help you".
"Very well, you may help me.
You will probably end up losing your mind or losing your soul in the process but if you're so determined I certainly won't stop you."
"It is said that the Queen that lived here locked away both her heart and soul."
"Yes and look where that lead her. She was driven to madness and eventually she fell to her death. Believe me you don't want to end up like her".
"I won't end up like her because she chose the path of darkness I did not and I never will.
So I'm sure the outcome of my story will be quite different.
I'm different than she was.
I'm not going to make her mistakes."
"Perhaps not but darkness can be very enticing and ever so tempting when it is offered.
Beware the deceptions of darkness".
"Oh don't worry I will. I have no intentions of succumbing to the darkness."
"