group
Richard sighed, unintentionally mirroring Scipio's movements. It was almost like muscle memory, really; he had been literally mirroring Scipio's every move in front of a reflective surface for years.
"I got injured, and I wasn't able to block you from coming into the Mirror dimension. Oh god, Merlin's gonna murder me…"
"'The Mirror Dimension'?" Scipio asked, seeming skeptical. "Alright, I live alone… no one could've spiked anything. I'm not dreaming, not high, and not drunk… am I insane? Well, the possibility has crossed my mind before…" He rambled to himself, trying to make sense of the situation.
group
As Scipio spoke to himself, Richard felt a tug again.
"Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap!" It was Merlin; the wizard was finally getting around to healing Richard. In a mere moment, he would be whisked away to Merlin's workshop, leaving Scipio alone. Richard couldn't let that happen. He stepped forward, grabbing Scipio by the arm.
"Sorry 'bout this," he muttered.
"You know, you are allowed to swea- woah!" Scipio got dragged along to Merlin's workshop, holding his head as he swayed dizzily upon arrival.
group
The great Merlin of myth stood in the middle of the room, his back to them. So far, he looked like what the legends describe him as; long robes, long gray hair, the works. Then… he turned around. He had no beard whatsoever. In fact, he looked no more than in early twenties from the front. And the front of his robes was opened to reveal an AC/DC Back in Black shirt and bleached jeans.
"Richard, sorry that took so long, I've had a lot of pe-" Merlin paused mid-sentence when he saw Scipio.
"Well, shit Richard. How did this happen?"
"I-I'm sorry sir! When I was wounded, Scipio here decided it was a good time to walk infront of a mirror."
"Nngh… my head." Scipio took a moment to regain himself before looking up at Merlin. "Uh… hey. If you don't mind my asking, or if you do, doesn't matter much to me… who the hell are you?"
group
Merlin shook his head at Richard, then turned to Scipio. As he did, he pulled his long hair into a ponytail.
"I am the great Merlin!" He said, voice echoing "mysterious" across the room. Richard cringed slightly. Merlin should never have been introduced to speakers…
"Yeah, okay. Suppose that's just about as reasonable as the rest of this shit." Scipio huffed, looking around. "So explain to me how mirrors aren't just reflective pieces of whatever? Do you follow me everywhere?"
group
"Well," Richard started, "Mirrors did originally exist as only reflective items. However, when the world was threatened by darkness and all the creatures in it, Merlin here decided to change that. With his magic, he created this Mirror dimension, trapping the creatures of the night inside. Of course, he had to make sure that any new ones to appear could enter, while humans were blocked. That's where I and my kind come in. We are born with two purposes; keep humans ignorant of this world, and keep creatures inside."
"Of course," Merlin interjected, "It seems you've failed the most important one, Richard."
"So… are you a person? Simply a reflection or shadow?" Scipio asked, leaning against a wall. "Clearly you look like me, but is that where the similarities end? Naturally, I have questions about this strange dimension or whatever."
group
"I mean, I'm technically an alternate reality version of you. I'm just as human as you, though," Richard explained.
"Perhaps more so," Merlin muttered. He had heard about Scipio, alright.
"And the similarities pretty much end with looks, yeah. Though I have a dog too."
Scipio caught Merlin's comment and smirked a bit. "Do you have an alternate reality version of my apartment, considering you can appear in my mirrors? Although, I suppose you appear in other mirrors and even puddles or spoons… what's it like being in a spoon, hmm?"
group
Richard shook his head.
"I have my own house. That plain room we were in? It's enchanted to take on the appearance of whatever room you're in. Or whatever is being reflected. And it's not that weird. The weird stuff is when you're in a room full of mirrors or something. It's really trippy."
"Weird…" Scipio hummed, still glancing around. "But there are millions of reflective surfaces, and sometimes I'm not even in one. What do you do when you're not reflecting me?"
group
"Fighting a war," Richard said calmly. Merlin, while Richard was busy educating Scipio on the Mirror world, was rummaging through his spellbooks, tossing some to the side occasionally.
"The darkness isn't just hanging out here. It wants to get back to the Human world to completely take it over."
"Hmm. I was in a war, although it was against humans and not weird dark… whatever…" Scipio shrugged, yawning. "So if I'm here and not in my place, what does this place reflect?"
group
"This place," Richard said, ducking to avoid getting nailed in the head with a wayward spellbook, "Doesn't reflect anywhere."
"Well, the normal place, then. Is it just a white room or something like you see in cliche movies?" Scipio stuck his thumbs in his pockets.
group
"Not really. You see, Merlin here has various safe spaces around this world; just some concrete enchanted bunkers that the creatures can't get into. They take on the image of whatever you're seeing, and it takes on a form that way I can interact with it too." Richard shrugged with his good shoulder, more aware of his injured one than before. Finally, Merlin pulled out a spellbook and flipped it open. A few muttered words later, and Richard was as good as new.
"Thanks, Merlin," he said, rotating his shoulder.
Scipio eyed the book curiously. "Alright. Does the 'darkness' you fight take on any particular form? Just shadows? Invisible? That could make things interesting…"
group
"Well… basically, you know all those urban myths, like the hawk man or lizard people? Yeah, they're classified as creatures of the night. The dark itself… well, your kind call it the Boogy Man." Richard put his hands in his pocket, accidentally mirroring Scipio again. Merlin was still flipping through the spellbook, looking for something.
"Really? Guess that's real, then?" Scipio raised his eyebrows. "And you don't have to keep mirroring me if you don't want to. It's… a little surreal now that you're like, an actual person and not just a flipped picture or whatever."
group
Richard flushed slightly, embarrassed.
"Sorry, I'm just not exactly used to looking at you without copying you."
"And that's why humans aren't supposed to know," Merlin interjected, "Any normal person would be freaking out by now."
"Nice emphasis. Not a normal person, but it's still kinda weird." Scipio toyed with his hair, humming again. "Once you kill enough people, not much phases you anymore."
group
"I know," Richard and Merlin said at the same time. Richard with a sigh, Merlin in a disgusted tone. Merlin slammed his spellbook shut with one hand.
"Unfortunately, I'll have to look much harder to find a spell that can send you back without anything else getting out."
"Guess that means I can't just walk back, then?" Scipio lowered his hand. "On that note, are you able to come to my world like I came here?"
group
Richard shook his head.
"The same spell that's keeping the creatures- and you- stuck here keeps my kind stuck here too. Even Merlin here hasn't left since he made this place."
"Why isn't there a spell that keeps me from coming in?" Scipio crossed his arms, tapping one foot. "Then we wouldn't have this problem, would we?"
group
Merlin wiped around to face Scipio. Richard, on the other hand, stepped back a bit.
"Becuase a spell like that would contradict with the spell already in place. If there was a way to have both spells, there would be no need for people like Richard here."
"How long did you weigh the pros and cons before creating something like this? Surely I'm not the only one who's come through? Do you wipe their memories or what?"
