The Man Who Sold His Reflection
Shigure followed the river north
Its waters murky
Dark as ink
Whispers curling off its surface like steam that carried voices from nowhere
It led him to a lone shrine built into the side of a jagged cliff
Crumbling
But not abandoned
Someone had been maintaining it
Fresh incense sticks lay at the altar
Offerings of dried fruit
And polished mirrors stacked like coins
He didn't enter right away
The air was too quiet
Like it held its breath
When he stepped inside
He saw him
A man
Tall
Draped in black robes lined with red threads that shimmered even in shadow
He stood before a mirror
Touching its surface
Like it was alive
"Welcome traveler" the man said without turning
Shigure didn't answer
"You came here to forget
Or to remember"
"I came here because the river led me"
"Ah
So you're the kind that pretends to leave everything to fate
But walks like every step was a choice"
The man turned
His face was…perfect
Too perfect
Like someone sculpted it from memory
Not from life
"I sell freedom" the man said
"Slavery disguised as choice" Shigure replied
The man chuckled
"I trade pain
For peace
Your scars for silence
Your grief for calm nights"
Shigure stepped closer
"You sell lies"
"Lies that feel better than truth"
He gestured to the mirrors
Each one glowed faintly
And in each reflection
Different versions of Shigure stared back at him
One smiling
One whole
One with her still beside him
Laughing
His fists clenched
"These are not real"
"They're not fake either" the man said
"They're what could have been
If you had made the other choice
If you had begged instead of stood
Held on instead of let go
Run instead of fought"
Shigure's voice was ice
"Show me the cost"
The man smiled
Held out a thin dagger
Black as night
"Cut your shadow from your feet
And place it in the mirror"
Shigure looked down
His shadow flickered
Like it wanted to flee
He took the blade
Kneeling
He sliced just above his heels
And his shadow peeled away like smoke
He held it in his hands
It screamed without sound
The mirror pulsed
He stepped forward
But didn't place it in
Instead
He looked at the smiling version of himself in the glass
And asked
"Would she have loved me if I had forgotten her"
The reflection hesitated
Then blinked
The smile vanished
The mirror cracked
Shigure stepped back
Dropped the shadow
Let it crawl back beneath his feet
The man looked disappointed
"You chose pain"
"I chose truth"
As he walked out
The shrine trembled
Mirrors shattering one by one
And behind him
The man's voice echoed
"No one escapes memory forever
Even the broken glass remembers the shape of what it once held"
Shigure walked on
And for the first time in days
His shadow stayed solid behind him