Hero Vs Villain (BoyxBoy)

A Mirror With Teeth

Ridley

I had been back at the castle for about a day and a half since the whole demon ball (almost dying twice) debacle. Vandel and I had parted ways at the border of the human territory and I hadn't heard anything from him since. The energy around the castle since I had returned had been...odd to say the least. Everything felt ever so slightly off. No one seemed to have questioned where I'd been but I kept receiving strange looks from many of the palace guards.

Upon returning I had gone to try and find Percival to apologize for our fight but I'd been informed he had left the palace grounds for a 'personal' affair. To further add to the strangeness even Annette seemed rather awkward around me. She kept asking me personal questions. Anytime I questioned why she would just say, "I wanted to make sure it was the real you," without any further explanation.

I returned to my room now, exhausted from a day of training. I had tried to push myself even further than usual since I'd missed a day due to the extra travel time required to get me back to Alteria. Needless to say every muscle in my body ached when I finally returned. Wanting nothing more than to just sleep I flopped down onto my bed.

"Hey Ridley!"

"GHA!" I immediately shot up, nearly toppling off the side of my bed. I looked to my mirror which had once more grown a mouth complete with a set of pointed teeth. I shot the mirror a sharp glance, sighing heavily. "Don't you think you could give me a little warning before manifesting yourself in my room in some form or another?"

"I'm coming to you as a talking mirror Ridley. This is about as good as it's gonna get."

I adjusted myself on the bed now, turning to face mirror Vandel.

"You still haven't figured out how to get rid of the mouth part?" I asked, arching a brow.

"Yeah," the mirror said with a huff. "This might be a surprise to you Ridley but magic isn't as easy as it looks. I can't just alakazam spells out of my ass, it takes practice."

"Still...isn't having a mouth attached to a mirror when you're trying to be stealthy a little err...counterproductive?"

"Alright, you make a single fair point. Emphasis on single. One day I'll eventually get it right and then there will be nothing stopping me from spying on you anytime I want while you're changing."

My entire face turned red. "What?!?!"

The mirror let out a snort of laughter. "Oh calm your tits, I was joking." The mouth attached to the mirror smirked. "Or...would you like that?"

I felt my face grow even warmer. "Vandel stop it. Why do you find it funny to always imply such...such indecent things about me?"

"It's not my fault. You get so flustered every time I do it that it's almost impossible to resist."

I sighed heavily. "Well, I assume you didn't go through all this effort just for a friendly chat. Did you want to discuss something?"

"Yeah, I want to sort through our plans moving forward. At the Blood Masquerade I questioned the demon that attempted to smuggle in the Corisathium, he told me there was an anonymous Alterian human who kept trying to buy it off him. I think it's reasonable to assume that this human is the one who stole it. The demon said he offered him quite the sum for it as well which means he has money, possibly a noble. It's the best lead we've got so far. Do you know of anything that might let us investigate the Alterian elites?"

I gave him a small nod. "In two months time there's going to be a feast in honor of the king's 50th birthday. Nobility will be coming from all around the kingdom to celebrate. It would be the perfect time to try and find out who our mysterious Corisathium thief is."

"There's only one small problem..." Vandel said slowly. "The princess and those other irksome knights are going to be there. They've all seen me, it'll be practically impossible for me to go undercover."

I perked up, an idea suddenly coming to me. "You could transform into your bird form! That'll be an easy way to smuggle you in!"

"That has got to be one of the stupidest...wait a second...that actually might work!"

"I could carry you around in my pocket!"

"Okay well not you're getting a little ahead of yourself buddy."

"We could tie a little ribbon around your neck-"

"Enough!!!!" The mirror let out a little huff. "I'll see you for the feast, we'll reconvene then."

I smirked at the mirror. "I think you'll enjoy it. Unlike demon events we don't commit murders at our parties."

"Oh shut it!" If the mirror/Vandel combo had eyes it would probably have just rolled them.

"Oh, one more thing," I said suddenly. "Did you ever find out what your mother was doing in Alteria?"

"Nope. As curious as I am there's no way I'm questioning her directly. I'm sure you've heard the stories about how she gets. Whatever she was doing there though..." the mirror hesitated a beat, "I'm sure it's going to end up being bad news for the humans."

I swallowed hard, fidgeting anxiously. "What do you think she wants?"

The mirror chuckled at that. "What all demons want, power. She's been fighting this war before your great grandfather was even born. That means you need to be careful Ridley. If my mother was in Alteria she definitely has some new plan up her sleeve."

"What kind of plan?"

"I have no idea! Normally she would have at least consulted with me. I'll do my best to find out as much as I can but right now my hands are tied. And speaking of... I really need to be going now so good luck! Bye bye Ridley. See you in two months!"

And just like that the mouth vanished from the mirror and I was left with the horrible feeling that events had already been set in motion that could destroy the lives of the Alterians forever.