Chapter 216 - She Jumps Through the Looking Glass

"A draft?" Christian asked as he walked towards the large mirror. "Come to think of it-oop!" Christian tripped right in front of the mirror, and threw his hands up defensively as he expected a full on collision that would result in shattered glass everywhere. However, that did not happen.

"Christian!" Robin yelled as she saw him vanish into the mirror. Not even thinking, she immediately jumped into the mirror after him.

Keith, alarmed by the noise, peeked his head behind him at the two. But could only look around in alarm and confusion, for the two were nowhere to be found.

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"I'll give you that pearl, but in exchange, I want you to leave me alone!" The boy bartered.

Liam felt amused. This youngling was trying to negotiate with him? Glancing at the closed door, he had time. It wouldn't hurt to play along just for a bit.

"So, you're giving me this pearl in exchange for leaving you alone?" he asked slowly.

"That's right!" The youth nodded. "You get what you want, and I get what I want. It's a win-win situation!" He smiled, looking pleased with himself.

"Certainly, in the case of negotiations, striking a deal that benefits both sides would surely be preferable." Liam noted. "...That is why I cannot accept this deal."

"Mhmmm mhmmm-wait WHAAAT!? I THOUGHT WE HAD A DEAL!" The youth exclaimed.

"I said I'd listen. I never said that I'd agree. Unless you can one-sidedly initiate a binding magic contract, I am not bound to this proposed deal of yours." Liam pointed out. "Moreover, the terms you have stated are unfair in terms of exchange. Such a contract would benefit only me, which is unacceptable."

"What do you mean!!??" The teen grimaced at Liam. "We'd both get exactly what we wish for. How is that not beneficial to me!?"

"Getting what you wish for, and getting what is beneficial are not the same thing." Liam said sternly. "Children wish to eat sweet things, but that which benefits them most are the bitter herbs and medicines that they despise. Not to mention that I don't need your permission to take this pearl, as the pearl is already no longer in your hands. Negotiations can only commence before the goods are handed over."

"Why you!" The youth fumed. "Give that back! It's not yours!"

"I think not. What are you gonna do? Leave your cage to take it from me?" Liam teased.

"Why must you do this? It's not like I'm anyone special or necessary. I don't recall crossing you or your friends in any way, so why must you meddle in my affairs so much!?" The lad asked.

Liam rolled the pearl around in his fingers. "Personally, I once felt that if someone was bound to ruin themselves, then that's their choice... But, now I don't think that way anymore."

"Why?"

Liam's expression softened slightly. "Because I met a very meddlesome friend who refuses to leave people alone. Seeing all that she has done, I am more and more convinced that I was wrong."

"Ha! Sure you are. And that's why you had to go an' bother me, is it? Why can't you just leave me be." The lad sat back in his cage, woefully.

"Because sometimes the one we most need to save ourselves from, happens to be ourself. And the only one who can do that is someone else." Liam replied. "Can you guarantee that you will always be right? That you can't make mistakes?"

"Heh. Goody two shoes never helped me worth a darn." The lad snorted, turning his back towards Liam. "You don't know anything."

"I have lived far longer than you, youngling. And I can bet that I've seen far more than a mere chick in a cage could even imagine." Liam replied evenly.

The lad wrapped his arms about his knees. "You don't understand..."

"That depends. Even I haven't seen everything, after all." Liam said. "But I certainly can't understand anything if you refuse to explain your circ.u.mstances to me."

The lad shook his head, refusing to speak. Liam waited patiently, until he was certain the lad wasn't gonna talk. Then he sighed.

"Well it looks like neither of us are getting anywheres. Perhaps if I knew what you know, then I would change my mind again. Perhaps I'd also agree that you deserve to spend the rest of your life in that broken cage. But I can't make that sort of decision if there's something your keeping to yourself."

Silence pervaded the room once again. Finally, the lad opened his mouth to speak.

"You see...."

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"Christian!? Robin!? Where are you? Please, if this is some sort of joke, then it's not funny!" Keith called, once again, beginning to feel alarmed.

"We're right here, Keith! Turn around, you idiot! We're here!" Christian banged on the window that had suddenly become solid and impenetrable. All around them were windows showing all the different angles of the mirror shop. Other than that, the area was a completely white space.

"It seems that we cannot return the way we came in." Robin noted, calmly. "This must be the work of that magic beast you saw."

"Blast!" Christian once more hammered his fist onto the unbreakable pane. He slumped down to the floor.

"Are we going to be stuck here forever?" He asked, vexed at the current situation.

"Not really." A voice sounded out.

Robin could only watch on in surprise as Hikaru's form glowed, reshaping itself into the human form that Robin had seen in her dreamscape.

"I thought you could only do that in my dreams?" Robin said, eyes wide in surprise. Christian turned his head, and also became speechless at the sight.

"Whoah! Who are you!?" He exclaimed.

"I suppose I should make the introductions?" Robin said bemusedly.

"Hero sword Hikaru, Christian; Christian, Hero Sword Hikaru."

"A p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e." Only Hikaru's eyes smiled. "But as for my form, it can only appear this way in dreams or in a mindscape. This is a very perilous place you have entered. The world behind the looking glass is full of danger."

"So we're trapped in the world of mirrors, huh..." Robin mused.

"Time is short, and I have a lot of information to run through." Hikaru pointed out. "The main one is this: Never stand in front of a mirror which can only be seen by one other mirror."

"Why?" Christian asked.

"Because that place is the most dangerous. the number of mirrors you are standing in front of is the number of shields standing between you and your death." Hikaru said.

"Why?"

"This magic beast pulled you into this domain because if it can trap you in a mirror and shatter it, then it can feed upon your shattered remains and grow more powerful. In that respect, every step you take here could be your last." Hikaru replied. "The less amount of mirrors there are, the more likely it is that the magic beat can break the mirror."

"What kind of fool would keep such a dangerous pet?" Robin asked, feeling a headache.

"In all likelihood, they probably captured an imm.a.t.u.r.e youngling before it had come into its powers." Hikaru surmised. "Such beasts are exceptionally rare, given their need of mirrors in order to survive."

"What if we managed to shatter the mirror the magic beast was hiding in?" Robin asked.

"Obviously, your stay here would end and you'd be returned to the mirror shop." Hikaru replied. "But that would mean that you'd need to pierce the area between dimensions again."

"Well? Are you up for it?" Robin asked Hikaru.

Hikaru smiled. "I thought you'd never ask. Ah, keep track of your friend Keith, as well. if he stands in front of a mirror, he could end up blocking a mirror. This is the same as losing a mirror because you are not reflected in it." Hikaru's form glowed with light as she returned to her sword form.

"Good luck."

Robin closed her eyes for several moments before opening them. "Are you ready?" She asked.

Christian stood up, sweat dotting his brow. "Do I have a choice?" He asked.

"No. but you don't need to worry too much. I have a plan." Robin replied.

"Plan? What kind of plan are you talking about?" Christian asked.

"The plan to defeat the mirror beast, of course!" Robin replied.

"When did you come up with a plan?" Christian asked, surprised.

"Just now, of course!" Robin said. Didn't you hear Hikaru?"