92: Reflection

They emerged suddenly and from the surface of the mirror that we stood on. But as the figures materialised, the solid mirror seemed to turn into a water-like substance which began to form various body-like shapes before us. Eventually, the water-like substance began to thicken and remove itself from the figures like thick, slippery, reflective sludge, and dissolved into the floor again. What the sludge left behind were the most breath-taking creatures I’d ever laid eyes on. I’d only ever seen celestial beings in books and the images on those ancient pages could not even come close to doing these ethereal creatures justice. Their skin shimmered brightly, and each celestial had intricate golden symbols etched onto every inch of their bodies. Their hair, ranging from glowing and almost translucent to a brilliant gold floated up in the air and flowed around almost as though gravity had no effect on the beautiful strands.
My awe was, however, put to an abrupt halt when my eyes met with the celestial right at the front and centre. Her skin was almost a blueish colour and along with the golden symbols, she had a few silver ones inscribed on her face. Her hair was a brilliant shade of deep silver and bright gold and instead of floating in the air, it flowed into and out of her face framing her eyes. Those were perhaps the most prominent features of hers. Her eyes were a bright silver colour and they stayed fixed on mine. There was something malicious and hungry about the way she gazed at me, and, in all honesty, it terrified me. Not only that, but her gaze never once faltered. Then, she smiled at me, and I wasn’t sure why exactly, but the moment she did, a shiver ran up my spine and I squirmed in discomfort under her gaze. I felt like prey being sized up by a ravenous predator.
Her stare was, however broken when Meera’s voice echoed through the room. And for what she assumed to be the last time saying this, she uttered loudly, “Long live the eternal monarch… and long live Diana Lorenzo.”
The moment after she’d said this, the entire room almost shook with the booming cries made by our ethereal rivals. The woman who’d been so fiercely staring at me raised her hands into the air, and as she did, the rest followed. With it, a fierce gust of wind blew us back as it sliced through the air. Not one of the nobles- including myself- had managed to stay on their feet. We were all sprawled on the floor, gazing up in awe as a bright, piercing light began to emit from their hands. Eventually the light was so bright, it was blinding, and I even had to resort to using my hands as a shield against its harmful rays.
When the glow had eventually worn out, I lowered my hands and slowly began to open my eyes. And for the umpteenth time for the day, I was left absolutely breathless. In their hands they each clutched onto an array of magnificent weapons. They were so beautiful that they seemed more like items of treasure than lethal tools that would inevitably lead to our deaths. They included bows with shimmering gold upper and lower limbs separated by thick, golden grips and strung with what seemed to be silver string which had an almost opal glow. Then there were swords with hilts of what almost looked like shimmering, hardened pearl and blades of pure silver. The other weapons were just as magnificent and as mighty and did a good job of making us feel less than inferior and more than just remotely overpowered. “Royally fucked” couldn’t even come close to the position we found ourselves in.
And then, things became even stranger- as if they weren’t already strange enough- every single celestial took a step forward, and as they did, their striking appearances began to change. Their skins lost their beautiful glow and their hair, once floating in the air, now slowly began to float downward. Just then, my body began to move on its own accord. My legs began to swivel on the floor, and I slowly stood up. My feet began to move, dragging against the slippery floor and pushing me forward, closer to the transforming celestials. But I wasn’t the only one suddenly taken over by this sudden lack of self-control. Liam, who stumbled next to me also seemed to have absolutely no control over his body. In fact, all of the nobles lurched forward as though they too had no control over how their bodies moved. We were like unwilling and confused puppets being made to move with strings.
I struggled against the force attempting to hijack my body, but all of my attempts were rendered futile. I almost felt like I was in one of my dream-like memories from before, but only now, there was something jarringly unnatural about it.
Suddenly, I came to an abrupt halt, we all did, leaving us in two neat rows only a few steps away from our counterparts. But as we glanced up, we were all left horrified. The celestial beings no longer looked like celestial beings. They looked like us. In fact, they were exact copies of us.
Soon I realised that there was something rather cool and hard in my hand and my fingers clasped around it tightly. I attempted to rub my fingers against it. At first, I assumed that my attempt at movement would once again, be rendered futile, but surprisingly, my fingers actually began to move against the surface of what I was holding, and as my fingers moved, the fingers of the woman sharing my face and body did so too, and in her hand, and attached to that had was a sword. It was held in the opposite hand to mine, almost as though she were a reflection of me. And that’s when the realisation set in- the room of mirrors, the celestials transforming into our exact copies. They had become our reflections. But despite having my exact face, I could see something different in my celestial reflection’s eyes. She had that same familiar hunger and that predatory leer as I’d seen in the terrifying celestial who had smiled at me earlier. And now her smile made sense to me. She already knew then that she would be choosing me to reflect. This was a challenge to her, and I was sure that my soul would be her prize.
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Hi everyone, again sorry for the late update! I am currently writing exams (my last one is this week) so updating has been a bit difficult. I will try to continue to update throughout this week if I can, otherwise my next update will be at the end of the week when I have finished my last exam. Have you been enjoying the Games of Successio so far, because it will only get more intense and more brutal hereafter!
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!