Mirror Mirror

What are you doing Grey?

"What are you doing Grey?"

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Vanessa, Finral, and Grey stand in a room filled with treasures. Vanessa holds the scry mirror, waving it around in an attempt to detect any signs of a glow, but the mirror remains unresponsive.

Grey realizes that the dungeon is empty, devoid of any traps or dangers. "No glow anywhere. I thought the mirror would guide us." Finral recalls his previous encounter with Gauche, leading them in the direction they were about to follow. "I'm certain Gauche came from this way. But... it's a dead end."

Vanessa sighs in frustration, trying to think of where the artifact could be. Grey searches through the book for any clues, hoping to find a hint.

Suddenly, Finral's foot presses into the floor, triggering a trap door to open. He slips into the slide, catching the other two off guard. "Finral! Are you okay?"

Thankfully, the spatial mage opens a portal behind them, "Im alright! Just a... bit of a mishap, but don't let that change your view of me ladies!" 

Grey and Vanessa remain silent.

"R-right, um... follow me"

The room they enter contains a few treasures, catching Grey's attention. She notices a giant shard on the wall, recalling Gordon's words about a piece from the original mirror that acted as a seal. Grey realizes that the guiding lights haven't revealed themselves because the seal is still intact. However, something about the shard seems peculiar.

While Grey examines the shard, Finral and Vanessa spot an opened chest nearby. They approach it and discover papers with hastily written handwriting inside. Finral picks up one of the papers, revealing a symbol with the description "The Sigil of True Nature." He recognizes the sigil and shows it to Vanessa, who compares it to the reflection in the scry mirror.

"The sigil matches the reflection in the scry mirror!"

As they read the description, they learn that the creator of the scry mirror was also the author of these papers. The mirror was designed to reflect the creator's past and predict the future through visions. The creator used it to document their life and make decisions based on the visions. Vanessa shares an example from the writings, describing how the creator avoided being chased by bees by changing their path after seeing a fallen beehive.

Vanessa looks at the scrying mirror, contemplating its power. Suddenly, she sees a vision of Grey attacking them. Alarmed, she turns to the real Grey, who is looking at the giant shard and touching it.

"Grey, stop!"

But it's too late. Grey collapses onto the floor, lifeless. In an unnerving twist, Grey rises up with an inhuman contortion of her legs. She summons a mirror and slams Finral against the wall, causing rocks to jut out and pin him in place.

Vanessa gazes up at Grey, who now wields a different grimoire. The atmosphere has changed, and Grey no longer appears nervous or embarrassed. She exudes an eerie sense of being alive yet devoid of life.

"Grey... What's happened to you?"

Grey's eyes glimmer with an unsettling presence as the room fills with an air of danger and uncertainty.

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In the mirror world, Gauche evades the creature at every turn, growing tired and weaker.

Gauche: (dodging constantly) in thought: DAMNIT! I can't keep this up!!!

As Gauche begins to feel lightheaded and his wounds begin to beat like a heart gone wild, a familiar voice screams his name.

GREY: (shouting) Gauche!

Grey, falling from the sky towards the creature, catches Gauche's attention. He shouts to her.

GAUCHE: (urgent) Grey, look at me!

Grey turns her gaze towards Gauche. He quickly pulls up his hair and chants.

GAUCHE: (chanting) Mirror Magic: MIRROR BRIGADE!

Gauche hesitates, realizing the risk of using his altered eye on Grey. He was taking a serious gamble by using it on Grey here. There's a chance that it wont even work.

As Gauche chants, his spell multiplies Grey as she falls from the sky.

GAUCHE: (relieved) Grey, transform the glass into something soft!

Grey nods and positions her hands towards the creature. The person riding it looks on in shock.

GREY: (chanting loudly) Transformation Magic: Glass to sand!

The creature's form changes into grains of sand and falls. The person uses their mirrors to escape the fall and lands safely.

In the air, Grey's clones disappear, and she is left falling. Gauche flies towards her and catches her safely.

GAUCHE: (gentle) Are you alright, Grey?

GREY: (breathing heavily) Y-Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for saving me.

Gauche expresses his gratitude to Grey.

GAUCHE: (grateful) I owe you one, Grey. You saved me.

They both look down at the person, now engulfed in dark magic.

GAUCHE: (determined) We need to stop them. Get some answers.

As they descend towards the dark fog, Grey catches a glimpse of the person, their form changing and resembling her.

GREY: (whispering) They... they look like me.

The person fades away, their voice echoing.

PERSON: (whispering) Consume... Grow... Conquer...

Gauche and Grey realize they're too late. The dark magic dissipates, and the person is gone.

GAUCHE: (frustrated) Damn it! We lost them.

Grey stares at the ground, her eyes wide with shock.

GREY: (quietly)What did we just witness?