Inktober Day 6 - Spirit

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The sky roared in pure rage outside of the young priestess' bedroom walls, the wind angrily slamming against the glass of her window, any harder and it would shatter beyond repair.

The priestess stood in front of the tall mirror in the dimly lit room, its faint light sustained only by a single flickering candle on the nightstand; a brave little thing, with only a few more dwindling moments of life to get it through the night. The girl stared widely at the reflection before her, her hand brushing over the violent scars with a feather light touch, adjusting her fingers to the feel of the wounds as she traced the outline of the long branch-like markings stretching over the pale skin of her chest; a memory of the ritual. One she wasn't supposed to have.

Her eyes darted from her body back to her face, scanning through her own features over and over as if it were the first time she ever saw herself, reaching her trembling hands up to touch her face.

"Why... why am I still here...?" her voice quavered in disbelief, her eyes unable to process her own reflection staring back at her. This wasn't supposed to be how it went. She wasn't supposed to be here...

She gasped out when a loud crack of lightning struck just outside her room, the thunder following almost instantly after the bright light, shaking the entire house with it.

Upon looking back at the mirror, she found it staring back at her, but not like before... no... this time, it was alive. She could feel it. Her reflection's eyes stared back at her with not a drop of emotion; her body no longer followed her movements and she was unable to look away from whatever was staring back at her.

"My child..." her reflection whispered, voice soft and broken, an echo in the depths of her mind. "You've done... so well"

The priestess flinched at the sudden voice, backing away from the mirror in panic only to stumble over the loose floorboards, barely managing to catch herself on the side of her bed, clinging onto it as she kept her eyes on the mirror, somehow unable to look away from it.

"I know you are confused, little one... But fear not, I will fix this..." her reflection continued, her lips curling into a gentle, almost loving smile, if not for the dead stare that still lingered. "Fear not, my child, after all... we'll be together for some time... Now that our spirits are bound into the same vessel." She held her hand out for the frightened girl, urging her closer.

The priestess let out a quiet gasp, the realisation finally settling into her shocked, resurrected brain. "Ulyssia...!" she gasped out in relief, hurrying back to the mirror, placing the palm of her hands against the cold surface, a smile forming on her face as tears gathered in her eyes.

Her reflection returned the smile, remaining quiet as the priestess broke down into tears, unable to control her trembling body finally able to release the pent up tension onto someone- something she trusted.

"Now, now, child..." The mirror's soothing voice made the girl look back up, rubbing the tears out of her eye as she watched her reflection reach its hand out of the mirror, slowly extending it towards her, its fingers brushing lightly over her neck, a gentle; hesitant touch at first, until its nails abruptly dug into her skin, dragging her body as close to the mirror as she could go.

The priestess cried out in pain, scratching at the hand squeezing her neck in an attempt to free herself but her movements quieted when her reflection spoke once again... voice eerily calm.

"Tell me child... Do you believe in your god?"

WC: 634 

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