Chapter Two: Mirrored Shadow

A few days have passed, but I've gotten used to Dr. Yen's place and the city. Although, some people had blamed me for their loved ones death and some others moved on. Meanwhile others were thankful. But the meteorites were normal and not a coincidence, right?

The only thing that wasn't a normal thing was hearing this voice. The voice seemed to come wherever I went. It bothered me and at times I would wake up to the voice. Calling out for me. There are times it disturbed my sleep, or even myself mentally. I've already told Dr. Yen about the voices I kept hearing, but it seemed like she was trying to find as many ways to get rid of them. I don't blame her if she's taking a long time to find a way, she could be busy or something. Although, I was distracted from the voices because of Owen, Raijin and Yuka.

I opened the windows, due to the air conditioning that didn't work. Dr. Yen and Raijin were working on the broken air conditioner, yet the only air conditioner I got was the wind that entered through the window while the sun was shining brightly. Owen told me the sun was out so brightly because it was sunny in fall. I didn't actually know what Owen was talking about, it seemed like random facts and words to me. But that doesn't matter, my mind was too focused on the voices.

Yuka slammed the door open as the door hit the wall harshly, making a slamming sound echo through the room.

"Seven! C'mon! We're gonna get food in the city!" she shouted.

I looked behind, only to see Yuka and Owen. They were all dressed up casually and they seemed to already be ready to leave. But comparing their dressing to myself, I was only wearing a short white gown, I was barefoot, my hair was messy, and everything I had was the opposite of what they were wearing.

"No.. thanks." I replied.

"Who said you could choose?"

A few minutes later, I was forced to get ready and look casual like the other two and soon, I was walking to the city with Yuka and Owen. Or maybe. Dragged.

We entered the forest, the same one I was in after I first heard the voices. But, not wanting to deal with such a terrifying sight again, I stayed cautious and made sure I wouldn't be left alone. Walking past the trees that had covered the sun, seeing nothing but green, probably boring to see. But we were almost there. My body was just fine, but it trembled every step I took. But I soon felt a small grip on my hand, cold as ice.

"Seven?"

I looked down at my left foot, only to see Yuka gently holding my hand. Her face was concerned, but I didn't know why… until I looked back up. I was near the edge of a cliff. Being too close, I stepped back. Pulling Yuka along with me. Right as I turned around, Owen was leaning on the tree. He had no expressions on his face.

"Seven, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"Then c'mon! Let's keep going!"

Yuka decided to drag me instead of letting me walk. She was too worried I would walk off another cliff or something. I tried to convince her I'd be fine, but I guess it only made her feel worse. It was fine with me though, I didn't want her to worry anymore.

. . .

We came back home with bags as our weights. Yuka fell asleep, since it was 9 PM and she used a lot of her energy. But I'm still not used to the way people sleep. Do they shut down themselves or something? It didn't bother me much, but it slightly disturbs me to see how others sleep.

Owen and I placed the bags down in the kitchen before Owen left to put Yuka to sleep. With just me alone in the kitchen, I opened the fridge and took out a water bottle, opened the lid and took a long sip. The cold water was a breeze and it had a slight of a good taste. But it was soon interrupted when I saw something run across the kitchen with my inner vision. Huh?

I walked out of the kitchen, entering the halls. But there was just darkness in an empty hall. Checking and walking down the hall more than once, I finally shrugged it off. I turned around, only to see Owen coming out of Yuka's room. But not thinking much, I continued to sip the cold water. The air felt normal, there were no disasters and it was actually peaceful. It seems like everyone except Owen and I weren't asleep.

"So… the meteorite accident…" Owen mumbled, trying to start a conversation.

I looked at him as one of my eyebrows slightly raised up. I was in a mood for a conversation to escape the awkwardness, but I didn't expect the topic to be that accident. Oh well. I can't read minds anyways. So I turned my body to him, giving my attention to him.

"You know you broke the meteorites, right?"

"Mhm… is that a bad thing?"

"Not really… it's just weird for someone like you who unknowingly came here and suddenly saved a city from a meteorite."

"I see. What makes you think that?"

"We did some research on you, but we got nothing. Not even your identity. But it even seems like…"

"..." My face slowly darkened by the deep information Owen was slowly telling me. He knew he didn't want me to be exposed and feel worse. But I hid it, pretending like I could handle the news. But maybe I could. If I don't break out.

"You don't exist here." He continued.

I blinked, but my eyes were surely shaking on his four words. I tried hard to keep it away, but it didn't do anything. Although, I don't want to lie to him. It's bad too. Even if I wasn't taught to not lie, my guts told me to not lie to anyone. 

"Sorry for making you feel like that." Owen admitted.

I looked straight in the eyes. I saw his eyes glowing bright yellow. I could suddenly sense what he was doing. He was trying to pay attention to my emotions!

I couldn't let it happen, so I stayed calm and tried to clear my mind. I thought about nothing but blank. I stared at him as a few moments later, his eyes stopped glowing as he was a bit surprised. I could tell the confusion on his face, but not that I was just staring at him as much as I could. He was confused about how I overpowered his own mind ability. I don't happen to have a problem with mind abilities, but I guess I seemed to know how to find it's weakness.

Once he had used his mind abilities to track my emotions, it only gives him the opportunity to know my real identity or my reaction. But he would be at a disadvantage because he could only focus on tracking my emotions. If he was distracted, his mind ability would break the line of connection it created on its own. But another way to break the line of connection is to keep the mind clear. Which is almost impossible to do, knowing that the emotions can be filled with thoughts and it can allow Owen to mind read. Although, it won't be happening again. Knowing that I countered his emotion tracking ability.

I looked away, sipping the bottle of water once again to cut the awkwardness. But I slightly choked on the water after I could hear a slightly quiet scream inside the house. It seemed like Owen heard it too as he quickly looked up at the hallway. But soon, Owen and I looked at each other. Believing that we heard the scream, we ran up towards Yuka's bedroom because the scream sounded like Yuka. We opened the door, slamming it open with a loud sound. We rushed in like people who were late on their jobs or something, but I got a good look in the bedroom.

Yuka's small bookshelf had fallen as the books were scattered all over the floor. The bright light blue curtains were flowing in the wind as the windows were opened. Her small lava lamps were knocked over, and her music box was slowly playing its melody in the background. Meanwhile Yuka was on her bed, screaming and crying. Yuka's cries echoed all around the house where Dr. Yen came rushing into her bedroom and picked Yuka up.

"What's wrong Yuka?" She asked, playing the little mom tone.

"There… there was someone!" Yuka cried out. Her words started to mumble and stutter because her mouth was trembling, but Yuka pointed her finger at the corner of her bedroom.

The three of us looked at the corner she pointed at, only to see nothing. Or is it nothing? Maybe it's nothing to Dr. Yen or Owen. But for me, I could sense a corrupted aura right at the corner Yuka pointed. It was as dark as the night, but its wicked trail made a point that it wasn't nice.

Yuka continued to cry. She didn't stop. It seemed like she was having trouble calming down. I didn't know what to do, but I had to try. So I approached Yuka before placing my index finger on her forehead. A bright yellow aura glowed onto my finger before Yuka calmed down and fell asleep again. Her room was quiet as Yuka's cries were silent. I took my finger off before Dr. Yen took Yuka to her room as Owen and I were left to clean up Yuka's mess.

I picked up all the books and placed them back onto the bookshelf neatly, meanwhile Owen closed the blinds and window. After we finished up, I stared back at the corner that Yuka pointed at. The corrupted aura was still left there, but I walked off. Keeping my mouth shut.

. . .

It's been about a week since Yuka has been waking up in the middle of the night crying. Dr. Yen even tried to see Yuka's dreams, but there was nothing. The corrupted aura had increased every time Yuka had cried, but still only I could see it. Owen would try and track Yuka's vision when we were not in her bedroom, but still nothing. Maybe it was the time I had to do something. The look on Yuka made me feel guilty. She was a young girl, but her fear was rapidly increasing every night. So instead, I volunteered to take Yuka to bed.

"Hey, Seven. Make sure Yuka falls asleep. Okay?" Owen recalled.

I looked at him before shaking my head. Giving him the sign of "I'm positive on what I'm doing." which was true, but the other hand… not really.

I gently grabbed Yuka's hand as I slowly walked to her bedroom to keep her company until she sleeps. To be honest, Yuka seemed pretty scared already. But she tried hard to not show it. It was understandable though, for a little girl who has been waking up in the middle of the night must be awful. But I wonder why I haven't been through that when I was younger… or do I remember if I was even a little girl like Yuka?

As we entered her bedroom, Yuka pulled my wrist tightly as she whispered in a scared tone, "I don't want to go to sleep…"

I looked down at Yuka, she was trembling. I wish I could say what I was doing. At least support her somehow, but I couldn't push any promises on Yuka. What if I fail? No, I shouldn't think that. I had to do something else to comfort Yuka, so I gently patted Yuka on the head as I took her to her bed and laid her down on the bed before putting the blanket on. I didn't leave though, I sat down next to her bed. Although, Dr. Yen and Owen haven't done this to Yuka before. I can tell because the surprise on Yuka's face was shown. But soon, Yuka seemed to calm down. I hope she knows she won't be alone this time.

"Thank you…" Yuka smiled.

She trusted me as Yuka closed her eyes and soon fell asleep. Her snore was quiet like the wind. But the temperature of her room was just perfect. Good enough for Yuka to sleep. I couldn't help but smile. For once, Yuka finally went into a good mood. Especially when she trusts me. But, I stopped smiling. I had to get going and find out about that corrupted aura. I gently patted Yuka's head once again, before getting up and quietly walking towards the corner.

Everything was silent. Yet, I stopped once I got a few feet closer to the corner. I stared at the corner as it was covered in the corrupted aura. The aura was bright and very visible to me, but not to others. Yuka seems to fear its gruesome energy that has spread through her heart and dreams. But I didn't make an expression for it. No matter how dangerous the energy or scary the energy was, I wouldn't let it run after what it did to Yuka. It wasn't fair for her to deal with something like this, she's a child after all.

I walked to Yuka's closet as it was just right next to the door, but I acted like I left the room as I hid in the closet. Yuka's closet was dark, but there was a lot of clothing. Which was good so then I could easily hide with the clothing.

I closed the closet, but opened it slightly so I got a good view of it. Yet, I began the waiting game. The waiting game went longer than I thought to the point that I almost thought I wasted my time doing this and it was just Yuka's ability effects. But that thought was immediately erased when I heard a quiet hum. A young girl's hum right at the same corner with the corrupted aura. So I stared at the corner through the slight opening, only to see a shadow silhouette of Yuka climbing out of the corrupted corner. The shadow stared at Yuka, sleeping peacefully. But the shadow smiled in a wicked way, it was obvious that the shadow had stolen Yuka's appearance and came back for more. But I won't let that happen again.

The shadow stood up before walking normally towards Yuka, yet her footsteps were silent. But right as the shadow stopped right next to Yuka's bed, I took that time to jump out of the closet and tackle the shadow. Which was successful. As I tackled the shadow, the shadow kicked me off and made a run for it to the mirror Yuka had in her room. I quickly stood up and followed the shadow, only to stop when the shadow jumped into the mirror.

So that's their easiest way to escape? I thought.

I didn't hesitate as I jumped in the mirror, entering the Mirror Realm. The Mirror Realm was a white void, filled with clean reflections and crystal-like colored mirrors. All I could hear was silence, but the echo of footsteps as the shadow was running. Running from me. The shadow has been caught. But I couldn't waste time, so I ran. Following the shadow. 

I slowly began catching up to the shadow, not stopping for any breath. This was my only chance. If I stopped to take a break, that shadow could escape and hurt Yuka more. But I won't let that happen. I can't let it happen. I promised her. I promised Yuka.

But soon, it all ended when my wrist was grabbed by mirror shards. The mirror shards were like a marionette's strings as they tightly held on, making my wrist bleed. I tried not to scream, even though the pain was sharp. I looked at the shadow, only to see the shadow standing just a few meters away from me. She sinfully smiled, her dark aura became visible. Yet, she even giggled a little because I had fallen for her trap.

"You're a lot easier to trick and lure than the child…" the shadow giggled.

"What did you want from Yuka?!" I shouted, ignoring her.

The shadow stared at me with her demonic smile, only to reveal her true form. Instead of being a shadow version of Yuka, she was entirely different. She was tall, at least 5'11 and she didn't wear heels. The shadow had extremely long black hair, about 4 feet long as her hair was darker than darkness itself. She wore a dark black outfit, it matched the color of her hair. Yet, her eyes were blood red. As menacing as a god, but darker than the God of Death, Shinigami. Her voice was revealed to be a lot more elegant but sent out such creepy vibes to the point it could make my shoulders shiver.

"Let's see… for a young girl like… what was her name again? Yuka? Oh right. For a young girl like Yuka, I would want her aura."

"Oh, forgot to add. Her soul would be good for my collection too."

"But why her?"

"Because Yuka's spiritual aura increases rapidly. Yet, Shadows like me love to hunt those whose spiritual aura increases rapidly. Yet, it takes time to harvest the spirit aura. I could've gotten her spiritual aura if you hadn't come in."

"You gave Yuka a hard time. You'll pay for what you've done to the poor kid!"

"And how is that gonna work? You fell for my trap… but you can be the replacement. Or maybe… the other guy."

The emotion of anger increased in me. All I wanted to do was save Yuka. But I didn't want anyone else to be harmed by her too. I wouldn't let that happen. I promised Yuka. I promised myself I would protect Dr. Yen and the others if I could. But if I die here… I won't be able to protect them all.

No. I can't be in despair. I'm already this far. Right? I have no right to give up. Yuka is waiting for me, and she's waiting to be cured!

Do you need help… weakling?

… Who was that?

I am you, but more powerful and better. But mostly, I am anything.

What do you want?

I don't want anything. That decision is for you.

Me?

Yes. What do you want?

… To beat this shadow.

Very well then, Seven. We shall meet again.

RTO, Activated.

MIRROR REALM shall be shattered.

Reflector System, BROKEN.

Soon, I broke free of the mirror shards as the mirror shards turned into dust. The shadow's devilish smile was replaced by shock. As I landed onto the ground with my feet, the entire realm shook intensively. An unknown aura was created around me, it seemed to have frightened the shadow by the sight. I could tell because she slowly backed up. I stared at the shadow, having full confidence in pushing her back to her place. But her mind wouldn't fall for it.

Instead, she ran towards me as her claws had sharpened. She was preparing an attack. Yet, at an immeasurable speed…

I was behind the shadow. But soon, the shadow fell to the ground. Dead. I wasn't covered in blood or anything. I caused her fate to happen in less than a millisecond. Yet, without hesitation or fear of what I just did, I walked away. My quiet footsteps echoed, as I soon left the shattered Mirror Realm. The Mirror Realm was no longer white, but black. The outlined cracks were white, every crystal-like thing became nothing but a part of the dark void.

. . .

A few days had passed and Yuka's nightmares had gone away ever since. She finally slept in peace, meanwhile everyone else was also able to sleep in peace. Honestly, I haven't told anyone about the Mirror Realm or anything about that. All I've told them was that I helped Yuka get better sleep. It was hard to convince most of them, but it worked. I hope so. I wasn't so sure if I wanted to deal with that again. Dr. Yen did notice the cuts on my wrist, but I allowed her to patch them up. She hasn't asked what I did to get those though. Which is very good because… it's hard lying to others!