The Other Side of the Mirror

Chapter 1 - My Teacher Thinks I Lost to a Squirrel

Hey, boss, her Majesty needs you.
Does she now? What for?
Well, you are her personal knight.
That doesn't answer my question, recruit.

Waking up to a loud, sudden thud, was not exactly how I planned this morning to go. To be completely honest, I was planning on sleeping the entire morning. It's a nice escape from all the responsibilities that any life brings, but I'm the only one that seems to use it as a way to leave all my worries behind. To me, sleeping is my only escape. Of course, however, the gods weren't on my side as I was rudely awoken by my body diving into the hard wooden floor.

Bringing myself up, I sat there for about 3 minutes until, finally, my body had the energy to get off the ground. Walking over to the window, I threw open the red curtains and stared out at the scenery before me. The sky was a light gray, the clouds blocking most of the sun but could do nothing when it came to obstructing the sunlight as well. There was a faint mist in the air that became more apparent with the small droplets that clung to blades of grass. Opening the window, I let the scent of fresh rain fill my room as I let out a sigh.

This moment of peace was short-lived, however, as I looked towards the sky once more and noticed the sun.

It was at its highest peak.

If it was morning, the sun would be--

"I'm late," I muttered to myself, almost in disbelief. "By the gods, I am late." Quickly throwing on the nearest clothing items that I could get my hands on, I headed out the door, slamming it behind me.

The air, as it looked, was cold, but it was this refreshing chillness that woke most people up almost instantly. Well, I say most people, but currently, it would only wake up lazy bums, like myself, that decided the afternoon was a good time to wake up at.

Teacher was going to kill me.

Running down the gravel pathway, I had finally reached the outskirts of Mako Village. It was a simple village that resided in the region that was referred to as the Mako Region. It was in the eastern forest that was closer towards the sea than it was to the royal capital. This huge river ran through the middle of the village, which caused the village to be separated into two halves. The northern part of the village was the residential area, the southern part being where all the stores and shops were located.

"Ashton, sweetie!" A voice called out to me, as I was just reaching the bridge to head into the residential area.

I turned to see Mrs. Simmons, the bakery's owner standing just in the doorframe of the said magical house of amazing food. She was a woman in maybe her late 40's and had this gentle mother appearance about her. She was from the Kiri race, like me, as made apparent by the pointed ears that stuck out in front of her long, dirty blonde hair. A simple band of fabric was used to push her hair out of her face, and she wore this light blue dress with an apron that had these little white designs at the bottom of the dress.

I quickly turned my body towards the other direction, running towards her, only to slip on the wet cobblestone that the bridge was, and fell straight onto my stomach.

"Oh dear," I heard Mrs. Simmons voice say, almost to herself, as footsteps quickly made their way towards me. "You need to be more careful, child."

She pulled me back to my feet, brushing my messy brown hair out of my face to check for any injuries. Tutting to herself as she gave me a look over, she gripped my wrist and began to pull me into the bakery.

"You need to be more careful if you are to be a shrine caretaker, you know."

"I'm not a child, so stop lecturing me like one," I felt myself pout, allowing her to lead me inside the sweet-smelling building that was just as cozy inside as it looked from the outside.