Chapter Five

Jessica’s eyes fluttered open. She felt rather light, almost as she was floating. When looking down to make sure she still had feet, she discovered a new outfit on herself. Black shorts and thigh high boots, a white button-up shirt, and a black, long jacket with blue details replaced her usual NSS uniform. Her hair, normally in a messy bun, was now let loose and somehow pulled back as she could feel it falling in soft waves over her shoulders.

Confusion took over her head as she glanced around, finding different sceneries in each direction she looked.

Old clocks ticking each one at a distinct pace going backwards, a red brick wall covered with different paintings of people, whose faces were completely blurred, a forest filling her ears with different echoes of words long forgotten, and finally, in front of her, a long path filled with leaves that seemed to never end.

All those images seemed to be spinning around her, moving even thought they were still. Jessica felt how her head was just about to explode. She didn't know what was going on, where she was and she felt slightly different from her usual ways, so she could also have doubts on who she was.

Suddenly she felt a hand against her own, making her look towards her side, finding a beaming Taeyeon next to her. Jessica finally took control of the things going on in that place, and she opened , searching for words to say what she was thinking.

“T-Taeyeon, what is going on here? Or rather, where is this place?” Jessica looked at her friend as if she was an angel sent from heaven to guide her.

“Oh well, this is the world behind the mirror. During the time I was trapped in the house I lived here…” The mentioned girl answered, looking slightly amused by the fact that her detective friend seemed so frightened by another world. “Don’t worry, I was also scared when I first came here, but after a while I was able to get used to the changing in this place.”

Taeyeon’s little comforting words did not help that much in getting rid of Jessica’s fright. Instead, they made her a bit more uncomfortable about her surroundings “Oh. Well, uhmm… what’s with the clothing?” She asked trying to get rid of the awkwardness in the air.

“It’s part of the whole thing that is going on here, Sica. They are supposed to reflect our inner self as this world is an inverted reflection of the real world. If you come with me, I’ll explain a little more about it.” The mystery Taeyeon used to draw her words was somewhat intimidating; it gave her a more confident look. This is quite odd, thought Jessica. Maybe, she was right when she thought so.

Following her friend mostly because she knew she was not going to be able to manage her way through the place, the blonde-haired woman walked towards the woods. As she got closer to the forest, the echoes turned into whispers, and then into words. “Welcome, newcomer, to The World behind the Mirror. Find what you have lost; wake up from your deep slumber and follow the path to your destiny.”  She did not know what was more creeping: the voices that seemed to be reciting words from an ancient book or the fact that Taeyeon did not seemed to hear them. She poked the latter’s arm and looked at her rather alarmed.

“Do you hear it?” She said, measuring her words. If Taeyeon could not hear them, then she would seem insane but if she did hear them and ignored them, then she would feel rather foolish.

“What do you mean by it? Are you talking about the voices?” Taeyeon asked, stressing the word "it" the most and looking at her friend. Jessica nodded and noticed that the former seemed to be internally laughing, and made a mental note to snap at her when they were at a less… dangerous place. She had been changing since the coming of Taeyeon, which seemed bizarre to her exclusively because when she had friends that were “alive”, she had no change, but now that she had a “dead” friend, she seemed to have a new self.

She asked herself, where is that cold detective now?

Then, Jessica decided to take notice of her surroundings. The forest had eccentric colors: a purplish kind of sky with soft looking clouds in a pink shade, dark blue—almost three hundred feet tall—trees with a darker shadow of violet on its leaves and small little flowers that looked like cherry blossoms. The ground had a wine-colored path, which became clearer as you walked forward. The whole place smelled addictively sweet and the blonde-haired woman cringed at the smell. After looking around, she noted that there were no animals in the forest or sounds aside from the echoing voices. Glancing towards her guide, she acknowledged her words, just as Taeyeon started explaining the place in which they were.

“Right now we are at Aelholt Forest, the place where memories are found. You see, each tree represents a person who has something to remember or, better said, an unforgettable something. The colors of the trees vary because of the age of each person, and the height depends on how long has it been without getting close to that memory. This is the first place we visit when we remember something. Of course, Aelwick is the one who is protecting this place so he prevents people from seeing this landscape before it is time. We should be meeting him shortly!” Jessica watched the pleased Taeyeon talk, and she suddenly became curious of the reason why she was so eager to be in this place.

“You know, this place gives me the chills, Tae. However, who is that Aelwick you talk about so happily? You are making me curious about him…” Jessica voiced out her thoughts as she walked more quickly, a new motive to pick up her pace.

“Just wait until you meet him, Jessica! He is awesome.” Taeyeon said, much to the discomfort of Jessica. Taeyeon gave up nothing about that man, and it was taking Jessica a lot of energy to control her urgent need for information.

As they kept walking, Jessica never stopped glancing towards the sides, feeling close to a certain danger that she hoped, was nothing but a hunch.

All of sudden, Taeyeon interrupted her step and Jessica side-glanced at her gulping, taking a few erratic breaths. Why was her guide stopping so suddenly, in the middle of nowhere? She heard a small snicker from behind the tall trees that surrounded the path, followed by little steps and small shadows casting themselves against the trunks of the forest. Picking up a fighting stance, she positioned herself in front of Taeyeon, trying to call down the abnormal beating of her heart. Suddenly everything came to a stop. There were no snickers, no steps, and no shadows.

That was what scared Jessica the most.

“Stop now, undead memories! Go back to your place, for this is not the soul you are expecting!” A powerful voice echoed, seemingly coming from nowhere, but the shadows did not seem pleased to hear it. The small shadows picked themselves up from the flooring, transforming into a giant creature with big, red eyes. Jessica never saw something like that: it seemed as if the creature that manifested in front of them was not a human, but a flat mass of black color floating around the forest’s sky. Around it, little spheres of a dark glowing aura danced in the air. As she looked at the monster’s eyes, small memories began to flood into her mind.

“Look, sister! It’s so pretty! Can we keep it?”

“Yes it is, Krystal. But we must remember that the beauty is in the freedom of the butterfly, the opportunity to see its wings moving across the sky” She was only eleven, but was quite mature by that time. Her vision of the world was different from the things they taught her.

“Run, dad, run! I bet you can’t catch me…” A little kid with golden hair spoke as she ran across the forest, her dad trailing not so far from her.

“I’m going to catch you Jess! You better run from the monster” the man answered while taking his daughter in a tight embrace and spinning her around.

“I want to play too daddy! I also want to fly like my sister” A younger girl beamed as she ran towards them.

“Jeska…” Across the door, a muffled voice spoke.

“W-what is it Krystal? Is t-there something wrong?” Was the older sister’s answer, trying to make it sound, as she never cried.

“I-I’m scared… why is mommy screaming at us?” The smallest girl said, looking at the older version of her through a small space in the door.

“Because the monster trapped her, Krystal… she doesn’t remember how to fly.” Jessica answered, opening the door and hugging her little sister.

“Krystal!” Jessica screamed as her eyes widened and, leaving Taeyeon frozen in her place, dashed towards the creature. She felt a strong flux of energy filling her whole body, and her eyes began to glow with white light. She threw punches and kick against the monster as if she was fighting against a deadly assassin, but nothing seemed to hurt that thing. Then she remembered the reason why she felt so powerful, and a crazy idea popped up in her mind. “Sister, help me.” She pleaded, hoping that somehow, Krystal would be able to hear it. She was surprised when inside of her mind, came the answer.

“I will always do so, Jeska.”

With that, she sensed how the white glow from her eyes traveled all the way towards her arm—leaving a soothing feeling in her skin—before leaving her body and transforming into a black staff with a glowing white stone. Jessica was in awe, and even thought she had no idea of what she was doing, she pointed the staff towards the creature, and whispered slowly, “This is for stealing my sister from me” before a white ray engulfed the place, blinding everyone.

However, Jessica’s world turned black.

“Tell me what that thing was, Aelwick. Now” Taeyeon glared at the black-haired young man standing in front of her, who was wearing a set of robes. The upper body of the robes featured a hood that was shaped like an eagle's beak in the center; connected to the main part, all in a dark red color. The lower portion was layered, with the back of the robes extending down lower than the front. Around the waist was a black sash, with pouches containing supplies, and a sheath for a sword connected to a belt. Even thought he had a sword for his usage, the main weapon he seemed to wield (judging by the way that he clenched to it) was a bow made of silver and adorned with red feathers. He accompanied it with a set of black arrows tipped with heart-shaped arrowheads.

His eyes met Taeyeon’s and she saw a faint sight of sorrow in the sparkling blue orbs. She opened to repeat her questioning, but he beat her at that. With a reluctant look in his face, he answered. “That was a hollow.”

There was nothing more to say, as Taeyeon’s eyes doubled their size and she covered with one trembling hand. “Where is Neexek?” She whispered, her voice becoming no more than a small sound against the four walls that surrounded her, and the raven-haired man could only sigh.

“He is no longer here.” 

And that is one long update. Welcome everyone, to the first Arc: The Ruler of the World Behind the Mirror. During these Arc, the fantasy will be the most important thing, hence the complete plot-twist. If someone is confused, you can look at the previous chapter, almost at the end. However, if that does not satisfy your growing hunger for information, feel free to ask me. 

About Aelwick's weapon and clothing, I took  Altair's Master Assassin robes from Assassins Creed, and the Angel Bow from Final Fantasy (weapon used by Serah). Also, I was thinking of including a few cameos by DmC, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and Assassins Creed videogames. Just minor characters in the story thought.

Anyways, share your opinion with me, comment, upvote and all those things.

Author-nim, out!