BLOOD BOUNDED - THE SHADE - English - Castlevania Lords of Shadow (fanfic) PII

Chapter 39

"Don't you like ice cream?" Asked the man sitting across from Patricia.

The feeling of vertigo was overwhelming her and the world was moving fast again. What was this feeling called? Dejavu?

She alternated looking between her glass of colorful creams and the stranger who was watching her.

"Not really..." she said, with a drop in her stomach.

"So, what is it that bothers you?" He leaned back on his sofa.

The girl rolled her eyes. Yes, it was called dejavu, she learned it from one of her friends, who liked strange words.

The world increased its speed, but it was not in a car. The neatly coiffed and uniformed person in the seat in front of her was not her uncle, and that ice cream she had been offered should be delicious... But she didn't want to eat it. She still didn't know why she was restless, in that big, beautiful hall and in her gorgeous outfit.

She raised her eyes once more.

The man was studying her.

She didn't like his scrutiny.

"I see" he said, with a cordial smile "you are a young lady of few words, aren't you, Patricia Lizarde?"

At the mention of her name, she had the impulse to correct him, "I'm Patricia Belmont!" But she contained herself by pursing her lips.

"I'm glad you've accepted my company, while Lord Genja attends to his business," he continued. "It must be boring for a little girl to be alone in this place."

The girl looked away and ran into the mirror, again.

"It's magnificent, don't you think?" the man followed her gaze "You know, there is a very interesting myth about that mirror."

Patricia paid attention.

"It is said that a craftsman made it using the fragment of a magic mirror, which was able to see the past, and the present, and predict the future."

The girl's eyes lit up:

"The Mirror of Fate."

She immediately noticed the man's smile in an obvious attempt to show surprise:

"Smart girl," he murmured. "Then you know its story well, and how many things it is capable of."

Heck, she backed down, she'd let her guard down.

"Of course" she answered immediately "everyone knows it."

"Indeed" he narrowed his eyes "one of the greatest mysteries that have been studied from the remains of the castle of the Lord of Shadows" he paused thoughtfully "lying right under our feet..."

Then Patricia pursed her lips, promising that she would think better before saying anything else.

Carelessly, he drank from the dark contents of his cup and continued:

"The fragment used was nothing more than a tiny piece that he found in the ruins of the castle, when the city was being built. They say that he secretly took it and melted it into the mirror material that would be a gift to his daughter. Then strange things started to happen. The villagers called her: The mirror witch." He outlined a sagacious laugh. "Does it sound familiar to you?"

The mirror witch? she thought. She knew many stories about magic mirrors. However, the oldest of them came to her mind. A stepmother whose all-knowing magic mirror could tell nothing but the truth.

"You know," he said, seeing that she had become cautious "most of the tales are nothing more than stories that began as rumors and were told over and over again, in different ways... until transcending time. Just like this castle. Even if we can no longer see it, part of it and its enigmas remain with us." He pointed to the mirror. "This is just one of them. A very beautiful one, if my appreciation is valid."