The snow fell heavily, blanketing the town in white. The lights in every house was on, and the noise of joyous festivity could be heard even from far away; the entire town seemed to glow in that dark Christmas night. There were brightly-lit lanterns, festive decorations, Christmas trees…the whole set, essentially. There were even people on the streets in this cold, dark night, sharing the joy of Christmas. It was just another Christmas Day.

Except.

Except for the boy shrouded in a cloak of black, who vaulted from house to house as if they were naught but stepping stones.

Except for the silver-haired girl who chased fiercely after him, her face set in determination as she swung the bow she held, trying to aim as at the boy as she ran.

Except for the fact that no one else in the town could see either of them, or hear them speak.

The girl’s voice rang out, “Stop or I will shoot!”

The boy froze, almost comically, in mid-step. Slowly, he turned back to face the girl, his head cocked to one side. He twirled his knurled staff in one hand, seemingly casual, as his raven-black eyes surveyed the girl from under the hood of his cloak.

The girl’s arm was steady. “You’ve been able to escape me from nigh on two hundred years, Mirror. Not more. I won’t let you go this time!”

There was a pause, as the boy’s shoulders shook with silent mirth at her words. The girl scowled at him. “What’s so funny, Mirror?”

The boy continued to laugh, ignoring her completely. The girl took a step forward, lowering her arm slightly as she repeated her question testily, “I asked you, what’s so funny?”

All of a sudden, the boy flung his hood back, raising his head and revealing a mop of golden hair as he gazed at the girl. The girl jerked back, instinctively raising her bow again.

Only to find that it was too late. She was frozen in place, completely unable to move anything other than her eyes. Her gaze darted about, before falling onto the boy’s twisted staff.

The tip of the staff was pointed directly at her. Light blue swirls of mist emanated from the staff’s point, and it had slowly travelled towards the girl, like some sort of creeping virus. The mist had only reached her feet, but already it controlled her, immobilized her. She could feel the magic the Mirror was casting, could feel his cold touch creeping across her skin.

The boy raised the staff, a mischievous grin on his face. More of the mist emerged, swirling faster now; the girl would have called it a beautiful sight, if not for the fact that her very own existence was in danger.

The mist shot right into her eyes, turning the world blue. Her eyes watered, her vision dimming, and she imagined an unyielding, cruel layer of ice, slowly spreading through her heart, devouring all the good in it…

The girl shattered into fragments.

The boy clapped delightedly, whooping silently as he jumped up. He turned his staff to point at the people below; the mist moved quickly, silently, like death itself as it swirled towards the commoners below.

The boy’s lips moved silently; and the mist shot forward, into the eyes of all those people.

There was a collective gasp of pain as everyone winced, their hands automatically flying up to clap over their hands.

The boy smiled; he was linked to the mist, every part of it that left his staff, and he could feel as the mist crept into the bodies of those they had entered, creeping downwards slowly, invading their hearts and turning them black.

The boy swung the staff over his shoulder, and with a single leap, he vaulted over two houses and took off running into the woods, soon out of sight.

Below, the people rubbed their eyes and went on with their own lives, completely unaware of the poison that had invaded them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1500 years later

The raven-eyed boy knelt at the feet of the Master’s throne; the Master nodded to him, then dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

The boy moved aside to stand at his place behind the Master, as one of the Master’s finest creations.

The Master was a formidable creature; he was in the shape of man, except hundreds of times bigger, and with huge blood-red horns on his head. He had talons for hands, each one sharpened to a tip – they could gut anything from a human to a whale. He had a tail, like most creatures of Hell did, but his black tail was tens of meters long, often coiled at one side, with a deadly poisonous pincer at the end.

Indeed, the Master was a commanding figure – he had to be, for he ruled all things below the earth, and had done so since the dawn of time.

The Master sat on his throne, above all the other cretins of Hell as they gathered before him. The creatures were a noisy bunch – they roared, screeched, cackled, and made all the most horrific noises possible. The boy’s face was an emotionless mask, but inside, he flinched; he’d been amongst humans for so long that he’d almost forgotten what the creatures of Hell were like.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he did not notice the Master calling him. The Master turned with a growl, slamming his talon into the ground and penetrating it easily.

The boy jumped; hurriedly, he went to kneel before the Master.

The Master’s guttural voice rang out, “All of you know the Dark Mirror, amongst the finest of my creations. A mirror he is, but one that serves our purposes, showing men all the evil and darkness that exists in their hearts. And he has served us well! The souls of hundreds and thousands of men have been conquered, damned to Hell thanks to the efforts of the Dark Mirror. Not just that, he has killed many of the servants of the Light throughout his two thousand years in the world above us!”

There was a roar of approval, and the boy bowed even lower.

The Master leaned forward, and his voice was an audible hiss now, “But, Dark Mirror, that is not enough. Far from it. We must have more souls – every soul damned to Hell is one less for the Light above. You are our knight, Dark Mirror, and you must do your job. Do you obey?”

The boy raised his staff, and swirls of light blue mist shot to the ceiling, showering the creatures. The monsters of Hell roared, stamping their feet and bellowing as the boy rose. He would obey the Master’s orders to the very end!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jiyeon’s head shot up, her hand reaching for the object Myungsoo had placed on the top of her head. She pulled the wreath of flowers off, then glanced at him, the hint of  smile playing at the corners of her lips. “Really, Myungsoo, you shouldn’t be harming nature.”

Myungsoo grinned, patting the flowers around him. “Sorry, flowers.” He sat down next to Jiyeon. “But really, it looks pretty on you.” He plucked the flower wreath from her hands and placed it on top of her head again, admiring her.

Jiyeon’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she quickly looked down. Myungsoo smiled; quick as lightning, he leaned forward, and gently pecked her on the cheek.

Jiyeon’s head jerked up, started, her heart pounding as it always did when she was with him.

Myungsoo just gave her a smile, full of warmth and affection. He slipped his hand easily over her shoulder, pulling her closer to lean against his chest. Jiyeon lay against him, relaxed, the two of them sitting on the Hill of Flowers as they waited for the sunset.

All of a sudden, Jiyeon jerked upright, a chill running down her spine.

Myungsoo straightened, looking down at her with a startled expression on his face. “What’s wrong?”

Jiyeon shook her head silently, her lips tightening as she gazed about warily. What was that feeling, that sense of someone watching them secretly.

That “someone” in question was perched atop a tree, his knurled staff over his shoulders as he crouched on a thick branch, watching. His hood covered his head; although the sun was soon to set, but if given a choice, he would, without a doubt, prefer the cover of the dark night. His raven-black eyes studied the loving couple before him.

Loving. The boy mouthed the word silently, to see how it felt. But the word was incomprehensible to him – the Master had told him that loving meant happiness, and happiness was the one thing the boy would never know, never have, never feel.

The voice of the Master whispered in his ear, “Show the boy what it means to be one of us. Invite him to join the Darkness.”

The boy grinned. He straightened up, standing steadily on the tree branch and held his staff out, his lips moving soundlessly.

Jiyeon’s gaze became more urgent. She could not shake that feeling that something was just about to go wrong, terribly wrong.

“Jiyeon? What’s wrong with you?” Myungsoo’s voice was puzzled, but she ignored it.

The mist shot forward; Jiyeon’s eyes widened as she spotted it, but she was a beat too late. As she reached out to push Myungsoo away, the mist shot into his eye and he flinched, his hand coming up to cup his eye. “Ugh! What was that?”

The raven-eyed boy smiled. He drew the staff back, and then vaulted off the tree, crouching amongst the bushes as he waited to see what would happen.

Jiyeon looked around, but saw nothing. She blinked, turning back to Myungsoo. Was she seeing things? What had that mist been? She leaned over Myungsoo worriedly. “Are you all right?”

“Fine, just got some goddamn dirt in my eye.” Myungsoo rubbed his eye hard.

Goddamn? Jiyeon eyed Myungsoo, surprised. She’d hardly ever heard Myungsoo swear.

Myungsoo blinked twice, and his eye suddenly stopped hurting. Jiyeon peered into his eye. “Are you all right?”

To her surprise, he pushed her away. “I’m fine.” He folded his arms, his expression impatient. After a moment, he snapped, “Why are we even waiting here?”

Jiyeon stared at him, mystified. “We said we were going to watch the sunset.”

Myungsoo snorted. “Waste of my time. I’m leaving.” He stood up, brushing flowers and grass of his jeans. He stomped off, kicking at any flowers that were in his path, and Jiyeon thought she heard him muttering something about “damn eyesore flowers”.

Jiyeon’s expression was confused, even stunned. She’d never seen Myungsoo act so unpleasant before – despite his cold exterior, he was the warmest, most caring person she had ever act. Except just now…

She shrugged it off. His eye must have really hurt him to make him so upset, she supposed. Sighing, she got up, and set off after Myungsoo, pulling the flower wreath off her head and holding it in her hands.

And then she stopped, her head whipping around as she sensed someone behind her.

The raven-eyed boy froze, as he stared right back at the girl. Could she see him? His expression turned questioning. No human could see him – he’d tried, and not once, in his three thousand years of existence, had a normal human been able to see or hear him.

But the girl was staring right at him. Even as he watched, she turned around, and walked purposefully towards him.

“Who are you?” Jiyeon called suspiciously.

The boy gulped. He looked about quickly, then, before Jiyeon could come any closer, took off running.

Jiyeon stopped in mid-step, her jaw hanging open. The boy was fast! In a few heartbeats he was already far out of sight. Was her eyes playing tricks on her? She peered, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging, she turned to follow after Myungsoo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jiyeon knocked persistently on the door, calling out, “I’m not leaving till you come out, Myungsoo!”

It’d been five days since Myungsoo suddenly stormed away from the Hill of Flowers, and five days since Jiyeon had seen him. Myungsoo had stayed cooped up in the house, and there had been no sign of him coming out at all.

“Come on out, Kim Myungsoo!”

She thought she heard an impatient sigh; the door was thrown open, and Myungsoo glared at her. “What do you want?”

Jiyeon looked into the house. It was dark and gloomy, completely unlike how Myungsoo’s house had been a week ago. Things lay around the house, completely messy and disorganized. Jiyeon frowned, reaching out to feel Myungsoo’s forehead. “Are you feeling all right-”

Myungsoo slapped her hand away. “Is that all you want to ask? If so, then just leave me alone.”

Before she could say a word, the door slammed in her face.

Jiyeon turned away, biting back a sigh. What was wrong with Myungsoo? He was completely unlike his usual self, and had been like this since that day at the Hill of Flowers.

At the thought of the Hill of Flowers, the mysterious, raven-eyed boy jumped into her mind again. He had been wearing a black coat that covered his entire body, making him look like a ghoul, and the hood had been flung carelessly over his head. That didn’t hide his eyes however. His eyes had been raven-black, just like his cloak, and full of mystery and intrigue. He held a staff in one hand, too, a twisted one that looked like it had seen better days.

Just who was that boy, Jiyeon wondered, and where was he now?

The first question was not so easily answered, but the second was. The answer? He stood not five meters away from her, hiding behind a house as he watched her silently.

This girl had haunted his thoughts for days. The only normal human who could see her – why was that? Her name was Jiyeon – or so she had been called on that flowery hill, but that was all he knew about her.

He crept silently after her; no one else noticed him, even as he pushed past several of them. He followed her into her house, sneaking in before she could lock the door and quickly hiding behind a wardrobe.

“You can come out now.”

The boy jumped guiltily. He peeked out from behind the wardrobe, only to see Jiyeon staring right at him, her arms on her hips.

He gave a guilty little smile, and stepped out into the open.

Jiyeon eyed him. “I noticed you following me in the streets. Who are you and why are you following me?”

The boy shrugged. With the staff, he pointed at her, then at himself, followed by a series of waves and slashes.

Jiyeon frowned. “You…are you mute? Can you talk?”

The boy shook his head. Jiyeon strode towards him. “Can you write?”

The boy nodded. Satisfied, Jiyeon shoved a paper and pen towards him. “Write down your name and who you are, then.”

The boy scribbled quickly, the ink of the pen splattering across the paper. Jiyeon retrieved the paper from him when he was done. “Your name…you’re called the Dark Mirror?” Jiyeon asked questioningly.

The boy nodded again.

Curiosity flashed over her face, but she quashed it and looked down at the paper again. “You don’t remember much about your past and you’ve been wandering around the world all this time…you’re an orphan?”

The boy shrugged.

Jiyeon looked at him thoughtfully. “It’ll be odd if I call you Dark Mirror…why don’t I give you a name? Can I…can I call you Baekhyun? That was my father’s name, do you mind?”

The boy hesitated. A name? He’d never been given a name before – since his creation, he had always been called the Dark Mirror. An odd feeling spread through him, a strange feeling of warmth, and he nodded.

Jiyeon clapped, delighted. “Great! I’ll call you Baekhyun, then! Now, Baekhyun, how about some lunch?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the end of the month, Baekhyun could scarcely remember how his life had been before he met Jiyeon.

Jiyeon was a wonderful person; she cared for him, treated him like a friend, like he was normal. Not like he was a slave. She gave him food, talked to him, listened (or read) to what he had to say.

Slowly, Baekhyun thought, he was beginning to understand that feeling called happiness.

There was only one dark thing in their lives: Kim Myungsoo, the boy whom Baekhyun had infected with the mist. He continued to be unsociable, ignoring all the other townspeople, even Jiyeon.

Baekhyun felt a twinge of guilt every time he thought about Myungsoo. It was his fault Myungsoo was in this state, but he could not help himself from being a little happy – if he hadn’t done it, then he would never have met Jiyeon!

But Myungsoo drove a wedge between them, a barrier that could not be breached. Every day, without fail, Jiyeon would go to him, and try to get him to open up, and every day without fail, he would reject her, push her away.

Baekhyun knew that her efforts would not work. He’d infected enough people to know that much. But she was so hopeful that she could help him, he couldn’t bear to tell her that. He dared not.

And then one day, disaster struck. Kim Myungsoo disappeared.

Jiyeon was frantic when she heard. She rushed right out of the house, leaving Baekhyun behind. He’d followed her, listened as she wept, watched as she searched every nook and cranny of the town, all to no avail.

Kim Myungsoo was gone, and he’d left no trail behind.

There was a part of Baekhyun that was happy – he would have Jiyeon to himself! But it didn’t take long before that part of him was crushed, as Jiyeon began to exert all her efforts into searching for Kim Myungsoo.

And now here they were, a year and a half after Myungsoo had disappeared, and Jiyeon was still searching. They’d travelled great distances, visited many towns, just to look for that man, all to no avail. But still she refused to give up. Baekhyun watched Jiyeon silently as she desperately asked the townsfolk if they had seen Myungsoo.

Jiyeon wasn’t happy anymore. She no longer smiled and laugh, and her countenance was always cold. Even to Baekhyun – she rarely talked to him anymore, and had no more time to listen to him.

Baekhyun wondered if she would be so worried about him if he disappeared. He no longer felt guilt when he thought of Kim Myungsoo, only bitterness. Myungsoo may have led to him meeting the best thing in his life, but now he was taking it away as well.

Day after day, he’d watched as she searched frantically for Myungsoo, and night after night, he’d listened as she cried alone in her room.

And now he watched, as Jiyeon got to her knees, begging them to help, to help her find Myungsoo.

Baekhyun felt an anger growing in him, and it was foreign to him. He had felt more in these past years than he’d felt in his whole existence, all thanks to this girl, the girl that was throwing away all her pride and dignity as she begged for help to find a man who was not him. 

His fist clenched, and something in the Dark Mirror snapped. 

Without a word, he stood up and held his staff up to the sky. Sparks of light blue mist shot into the sky, invisible to all but Jiyeon, as she turned around in wonder. And recognised the light blue mist. Baekhyun looked at Jiyeon, and their eyes met. 

Jiyeon looked at him, and in her heart, asked a silent question. Was it you? Did you do something to him?

And he nodded. 

The light blue mist was dimming, but its purpose was served. Baekhyun knew where Kim Myungsoo was. He held his staff higher up, lips moving silently, and then shot skywards. 

Jiyeon watched, and she realised that there were tears in his eyes, tears of hurt, tears of rage, tears of sorrow. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Baekhyun watched as Myungsoo struggled against the ice-cold snow. He cast his gaze skywards, and wondered why all those he infected with the blue mist always ended up in the Arctic, trying to look for the entrance to Hell? Was it some sort of magnetic pull? Did they not know that to enter Hell, all they had to do was slit their wrists?

But Myungsoo was close, very close. And Baekhyun knew that once a mortal passed through the gates of Hell, then there was no turning back. 

He held his staff out, pointing it at Myungsoo. He didn't know of this would work. He'd never tried it before, and the Master had warned him explicitly against this. 

Screw the Master. This was for Jiyeon.

As his lips began to move silently, he could sense the presence of the Master, the Master's consciousness hovering above him, watching him, judging him. He ignored it. 

The entire staff began to glow with light blue energy, shaking uncontrollably. Baekhyun stopped in mid-sentence, staring at the staff, his eyes confused. What was happening? 

His vision began to dim, his body slowly weakening. 

And the staff burst into blue flames, blue flames that were streaking through the snow towards Myungsoo, shooting into his body. 

Baekhyun's eyes closed, and his body fell to the ground, limp. 

This was it. The end. The Master never forgave traitors. He should have known. 

And as his last breath escaped him, he just hoped that he had been able to save Kim Myungsoo. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boy's eyes fluttered open. A figure towered over him, with huge red horns and talons for hands. 

The Master, the boy thought. The boy got to his feet. He was dressed in a black cloak, with a hood thrown over his head. In one hand, he held a twisted, long staff. He glanced up, and saw his reflection in the mirror. 

Dressed all in black, except for his staff which was dark brown. Black eyes. And black hair. 

The Master's voice growled, "What is your name and your past?"

Kim Myungsoo bowed. He rose, and his lips moved silently, giving the answer. 

The Master nodded. "That is right. Your name is the Dark Mirror, and I am the one who created you." 

-------------------------------------------------------

Done! I kept changing the plot when I started to write the story, so that's why it took so long...I decided to change it into a oneshot instead, I hope you guys don't mind. 

So Baekhyun was the mirror in the story of the Snow Queen, and the Master was actually the Devil (the Snow Queen states that there was a mirror created by the Devil that reflected all evil in men's hearts). So yeah, the mirror's not a what, but a who. The Dark Mirror is actually meant to be a weapon. It's not stated explicitly, but Light (God) and Dark (Devil) are actually in a proxy war and are using the souls of men to fight (hinted in the Master's speech, about how they need souls condemned to Hell). So the Dark Mirror is the Devil's weapon, while there are servants of Light who serve God (the silver-haired girl Baekhyun killed at the start is one). 

The ending may be a bit confusing: essentially the mirror exists as a never-ending cycle. Both Myungsoo and Baekhyun think that they, as the Dark Mirrors, are created by the Master, which is clearly not true because Myungsoo was originally a human, and hence not created by the Master. Each of them is just one of many Dark Mirrors; every time a Dark Mirror wavers in his mission and tries to save a human, he or she kills himself or herself, and condemns the human to become a Dark Mirror. It's quite different from the original Snow Queen, which was a happy ending. 

The main point I was trying to get across was that not every action or word can be taken back. From the moment Baekhyun infected Myungsoo, there was no saving Myungsoo's soul, no matter what he did. And I guess the other point was that things don't always end happily (to be honest I'm quite a fan of bad/unhappy endings - it's more realistic).

Note: I think Jiyeon got the worst end of the deal, she lost both the men she cared about...

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this, and please comment on what you thought of it!