Mirror Me

24: The Flying Walnut

A sage who becomes corrupted through murder or evil deeds gains indigo or black magic. While it is more powerful than blue magic, it distorts the body and shortens the wielder's life. Next you have the most corrupted of all the magic users and they are the Half-Lives who use violet magic as seen through the violet color their eyes obtain."

"Alright," I said. "So what magic am I?"

"You are a special kind of magic called White Magic. The only ones who can perform this type of magic are Mirrorbenders and sometimes the Vestel of Vetra. It is the most powerful form of magic there is but it also comes at the highest risk to oneself and others. You already know that your power comes from your connection with Owen. The closer your bond to him the more powerful your magic becomes.

White Magic can be broken down into four types. These include: scrying, healing, weapon summoning, and the very dangerous spirit summoning. Scrying falls under three subcategories. The first being Travel Scrying, the second being Dream Scrying, and the final being Spirit Scrying.

Travel Scrying is the most notable and easiest of all the powers a Mirrorbender can possess as it is essential to have in order to arrive in Tartarus in the first place. You, Hope have already demonstrated two examples of your ability to use Travel Scrying. Describe to me the first time you scryed beyond the mirror. What did you see?" I thought back to when I first fell into Tartarus.

"I saw nothing at first," I said. "It was like I was falling through an emptiness then I fell to a vast sea. From there I found myself sucked into a tight tube until I was blasted out into Tartarus."

"Yes," said Martha nodding. "Many Mirrorbenders have described what you have experienced. The sensation is called, Falling. Falling is a term used when a Mirrorbender falls into the Ether."

"I know you've probably explained it before but what exactly is the Ether?"

"The Ether," explained Martha, "has never been fully understood as no one but the Mirrorbenders have ever traveled across it. It is simply described in most writings as the gap, the empty sea, the barrier, or the void between Earth and Tartarus. Nothing there exists but the leftover energy from the beginning of the universe. Some stories say it is a passageway to other points in time and other realities, yet none of this has ever been proven. It is unnavigable."

"So it's like a wormhole that moves you through time and space." I smiled. "Wow! That's so cool! But why if there is nothing in the Eather did a glowing bug fly into my eye?" I rubbed my eye. It had been sore ever since. Even now it hurt.

"I am not sure," said Martha. She leaned over to see into my eye. "There should be nothing there. Perhaps you had an eyelash fall into it."

"Perhaps you're right," I said. "Now why was the Ether different the second time I went through?"

"You saw images of other places the second time, I suppose," said Martha.

"Yeah," interjected Owen, "it was like seeing through every window of every place."

"Well," said Martha, "That is kinda exactly what it is, a series of windows or doorways into different parts of Tartarus."

"But why was it so different the second time?"

"Because, Hope, the first time was between worlds. The second time was between places in that world. That in-between place with the many windows is called the Mirror Passages. Imagine opening a door to a hallway of many doors. That is the core understanding of Travel Scrying."

"So each one of those images was a portal to another place? A reflection on a mirror?" I asked.

"Yes," said Martha. "Another place cast as a reflection. Like a water puddle on the street or a shiny golden goblet in someone's hand. Anything reflective creates a doorway that a Mirrorbender can enter and exit. Now here is where the danger comes in." Martha pulled from her satchel an old spotted mirror. "When a Mirrorbender travels, the size of the reflective surface does not matter. What matters is if that reflective surface is clear and calm. There exists a popular tale of 95th Mirrorbender Daphne who was a performer in life.