When Two Worlds Meet

The Mirror

Author's Note: A new entity will make itself known in this chapter. I imagine that he will speak with the voice of Erik Dellums, who plays both Koh the face stealer in Avatar the Last Airbender, as well as Aaravos the dark elf in The Dragon Prince. To enhance your experience, please look up his voice if you don't know what he sounds like :)

Virgil's POV

It was as though I had slipped into a dream. You know that feeling when you dream of sensing everything going on in your dream, even when you know that you're asleep? Like, you can still feel the bed below you, but you can feel the ground under your feet as you run in your dream? I was having an experience kind of like that. I could feel the ground under my feet and I could feel that my eyes were closed, but I wasn't thinking about that.

I was standing on what looked like an infinite sheet of black granite. The sky was black as well, but it was somehow lighter than the ground. It seemed to light up the reflective stone just slightly, illuminating it from below. I walked unsteadily across the surface, looking around to see if there was anything in this colorless, blank world.

For a couple minutes, I just walked. The horizon was just uninterrupted eternity, beautiful as well as stagnant. I soon became tired; I'd had a long, exhausting day and I was ready to rest. Just as I was about to sit down on the hard ground, I spotted something in the distance. I squinted, but it was too far away for me to make out. I started to walk faster, eager to escape the dullness of the landscape.

As I drew closer, I saw that it was a tall object, about my height. It was flat and oval shaped; at first I thought the entire thing was black, but as I drew closer I realized that it was actually a mirror reflecting the black granite, which created the illusion of all being one color. It was lovely, but I slowed as I came closer to the mirror. Something was off about it.

Even though I wasn't close enough to see my reflection yet, I could tell that something was odd about it. For one thing, it was floating about two feet off the ground, as though it were hanging on an invisible wall. For another, I could feel the magic within me writhe as though it were in pain as we drew near. I hesitated, but something about it compelled me to keep coming.

When I was finally able to see my reflection, I gasped. I was horrified, but also drawn to the mirror, and I kept walking until I was only a foot away. It was me, but it also wasn't. All of my veins were lit up, and my irises glowed as well. I glanced down at my arms to see if I was glowing too, but my arms looked completely normal. Even though I could feel that I was frowning like I always do, my reflection was smiling just slightly, as though it knew something that I didn't. I looked like the worst version of myself, the version that I feared.

"Hmm, you are a clever one." My reflection said. My eyes widened when I heard its voice. It had a beautiful, rich, deep voice that was also oily and smug. If I hadn't seen his lips move, I wouldn't have believed that it had come from him. It didn't seem to match my scrawny body.

"I wouldn't have chosen one that was so easily frightened, however." He continued. Though his smile never wavered, his eyes were icy. His voice seemed to ooze into one ear and out the other, which was an uncomfortable feeling. It was incredibly disconcerting to see myself move and speak without my own direction.

"Yes, I have heard that before." He seemed to be addressing my thoughts directly, something that I really didn't like. It felt like an invasion of privacy.

"Why?" He asked smoothly. "You don't seem to mind when your little friend does it. Besides, our conversation will go much quicker this way. Trust me. You need my help." He sounded as though he were mocking me.

'Who are you?' I thought in irritation, addressing him directly.

He chuckled dryly. "I have worn many faces." Suddenly, my reflection changed. Instead of seeing myself, I was looking at the image of an old man with short silver hair and a matching, neatly trimmed beard. He was glowing the same way I had been, with his veins visible through his flesh and his purple irises lit up like lanterns. He wore the same expression of smug superiority and hidden secrets.

"This was my original face." He told me in his oozing, beautiful voice. He turned his head from side to side. "Yes, my first life was quite the adventure." He seemed amused. Then the reflection changed again. And again. He began swiftly flipping through different appearances; they were young, old, male, female, short, tall. The only thing they all seemed to have in common were violet colored eyes like mine, some lighter or darker, redder or bluer, but they were all purple. He began slowing down, finally stopped on a familiar face. My heart twisted as I recognized my mother's heart-shaped face; it felt unnatural to see such a cruel and superior expression in her features.

"So sensitive." He switched back to my own body, which wasn't much better. "Who am I, you ask? Once I was called Merlin. I have since been re-named 'The Protector'. Quite an unimaginative name, no more than a title really." He seemed slightly bitter, characterized by a slight narrowing of his eyes.

I didn't really understand who he was, but I wondered. If forced to guess, I would have said that he was the spirit of Merlin passed down through the generations of his posterity. Given what my mother had said about how we were the Protectors, I guessed that he was now my burden to bear.

"Perceptive." He murmured. Somehow I could still hear him clearly. "But you are wrong about one thing. I am not a burden by an means. On the contrary, I could be the key to your success, if you let me help you." He smirked even harder as my eyes sharpened. "Ah, that got your attention. Yes, if you let me, I could help you achieve all your dreams. Your dreams of being wanted, of being skillful with magic, of not being a burden to those around you." Images flashed through my mind of all the times I'd been bullied or mocked or pitied over the years. I knew the images came fro him, but that didn't make them any less painful. I flinched.

"You could prove them wrong." He seemed to whisper in my ear. "With my help, you could do anything you wanted, go anywhere you desire." My anxiety lessened as I pictured coming to Beatrix with even more power than before. Showing Carolyn that she was right to choose me as her apprentice. Rubbing it in Principal Staines' and all the other stupid kids' faces when they saw how much better I was than them.

His voice lowered even further, which somehow seemed to add more power to his words. "Just give me control. Let go of your body and let me give you my power. I am limited where I am and can't help you." He reached out his fingers, sending a ripple across the surface of the mirror like it was made of water. His hand reached out of the mirror, purple veins against white flesh. "Just grab my hand, and I can make all your dreams come true."

My tired mind was filled with images of victory and glory and pride. It was a simple thing he was asking. Just take hold of his hand. Just let go of control. Just let go. I reached up my left had to take hold when I hesitated. An image of my mother's face floated up in my mind. Not the twisted, corrupted version from the reflection, but the sweet, compassionate, and kind version from the message she had left me. I realized that she had sacrificed her and her husband's lives so that I could be free.

I blinked and the Protector's spell was broken. I glared fiercely at my reflection, taking a deliberately large step back. 'I will never accept help from you.' I thought viciously.

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong." The Protector replied in an amused voice. He didn't seem fazed by my choice; on the contrary, he seemed delighted to have someone stand up to him. "You WILL accept my help eventually. You just aren't desperate enough yet." He laughed deeply.

Then his face grew serious, an expression that seemed more at home on my features. "Even though you view me as your enemy, we still have the same goal." He told me.

'I don't think so.' I thought angrily.

"Oh? So it isn't your goal to protect the Portal? Like all you ancestors have before you?" He asked smoothly. My thoughts fell silent, no retort ready. "That's right. We both have a common interest. And to achieve that interest, I want you to listen closely."