Mirror Mirror

The reflection continued.

"For one, you have no right to push the blame onto another. Our mind wasn't so broken back then; it was on the verge of breaking, but it was still one piece!

"It was only during that long hibernation that the split became permanent. At least that's my theory....and that would mean you are responsible, just like you are now!"

Cain sneered, "Responsible for what?"

"Haven't you been killing thousands? All because they aren't all happy? Is sadness and depression not allowed? Is most of the emotional spectrum not allowed to exist?"

Cain defended himself, "Helping them recover would take too long, and even then, it might not work. Take the man from earlier; he felt absolute regret, and the root cause could not be fixed." 

The reflections stopped. One by one the mirrors disappeared until only one was left.

"So? Aren't you doing this for the one person who would hate to see you like this?"

Cain's eyes turned fiery, "Do not use her against me!" He then took a deep breath, "Either way, there are far more people alongside her now, many of them do not care what it takes for me to pay for my sins, as long as I do it."

"If that's what you think...."

Seeing as he was only increasing Cain's twisted desire, the reflection's mind began to burst with thoughts.

'Sheesh, what am I going to do? Taking him over would make me a slave to the horrors... dying would make him continue like this... what to do....'

It was then the reflection remembered that there were things other than Luna that Cain had.

"Wait! Although you wish to create a land of peace, will lock yourself away here forever?! Don't you want to find that land we were born in, don't you wish to find our family? We might still have a home!"

Cain clicked his tongue, "It's too late for that. I don't remember anyway; it's best to just forget it. Who knows, the system could have been lying."

The reflection screamed out, hopelessness spreading through its body, "Damn it, don't you even wish to find out the truth of this world!"

The crazed murderer calmly responded, "No, I just wish for peace now. After this, I just want to rest. I have already done so much; I might even learn such truths from those who come here in the future."

Cain's tone was heartless, heartless I tell you!

'He's gone so far? Is he already so twisted and lost? Damn it, damn it! How am I going to get out of this!'

As the reflection panicked, Cain stared it down and widened his growing smile.

"You truly are me, right? Something created from my memories. A reflection of myself?"

"Yes, Yes! Do you understand, we can't keep going on like this! This is going even worse than our other self!"

"You think so? He killed the innocent indiscriminately."

The reflection roared, "But at least he did it for a proper cause that would abstain us! You're just doing it for a false dream. Do you think you can turn this city pure? That's impossible; imagination cannot be restricted! Not to mention the Nightmares and their corruption!"

Cain took out his rosary beads; clutching them in his hand. One of them glowing bright green.

"With this, it is possible."

"Hope? You've already made it wrong and disgusting! That isn't hope but madness! This is all madness!"

Cain took a step toward the mirror; his footsteps were heavy and powerful.

He had direction, even if such a direction was heading down. Down into the realm of insanity.

"You know what? It may indeed be a little crazy. But this is the price for doing what's right."

At that moment, Cain took his hand and plunged it into his chest. Only, his chest wasn't wounded; the air cracked like a smashed mirror, and Cain pulled out a crystalline heart trickling black sand.

The reflection gasped while it seemed to choke on something, "Y-You... You!"

It fell to one knee, black granules flowing out of it.

Cain didn't say a word and watched as the reflection slowly died.

With the reflection went Cain's last bit of rationality.

'Well, nothing is stopping me now.'

...

Opening his eyes, Cain found himself back in the Dream Realm.

Around him was broken glass and a shattered mirror. Standing up, he investigated his surroundings.

'The child ran....'

Finding no traces of Derek, Cain began to clean up the scene. The bodies were erased naturally, but he still had to leave zero traces of a struggle.

As he picked up broken glass, his mind constantly repeated a crazed mantra, "This is all for the greater good. This is to end all despair and sadness...."

...

Derek ran from alley to alley. His head was spinning, and only now was the fear in his heart subsiding.

After he summoned the mirror, the mirror itself seemed to grasp at the strange man who killed his mother and father.

Not knowing what he did, Derek simply got as far as possible to hopefully survive.

He made sure not to leave any traces of his exit, using his imagination to clean up everything. Though a Dream Master could uncover something, it wouldn't be substantial.

Derek was one of the Dream Folk, after all, a half-blood but he still walked with Dream.

The one thing imagination wasn't good at was when it went against itself. If two people imagined a powerful sword, no matter how much more powerful they imagined their sword, neither would break under the other.

Only objects instilled with rules from reality could overpower items that couldn't. This was how mirrors didn't reflect things they shouldn't or how Masters could become so powerful.

Anything from reality trumped dreams, simply because it was real.

Turning a sharp corner, Derek found that he was lost.

'I-I don't know where I am. Is this still Fran District?'

"Hey, you okay?"

Tapping his shoulder, a cloaked man got Derek's attention.

Seeing the scared child, the man lifted their veil. Although they looked human, they had fuzzy traits related to...

'Dream Folk!'

Hatred burned in Derek's heart. But he quickly realized hatred wouldn't help him, survival came first.

Remembering the figure who murdered his father, he quickly overcame his hatred. In a sense, they were just like him, trapped in this Realm.

'The one who killed father said he was an inquisitor, right? He looked like he was also from reality like Dad. But I can't be too sure....'

Derek cried while holding the stranger's cloak. "I'm not okay; someone killed my father! It was someone from the Dream Lord's palace! An Inquisitor!"

The man was appropriately taken aback, "What?! Is that true? They said they were an inquisitor?"

"Yes."

The man smiled at Derek, "Come with me. Even if you report it, nothing will come of it. But I know a place where you can get revenge, perhaps even something more."

There was a hint of reverence and madness in the man's tone. 

Yet Derek didn't refuse, for the first time in his life, he had the feeling that following this man would bring him to something good.

It was a feeling he wasn't going to reject.

The two continued walking, disappearing into the winding roads and bustling crowds of the city.