Forgotten Reflection

What passes for sunlight filters through the smog of the city; the smell of machinery enters through the open window of the small apartment. Lucas gets up from an unfamiliar bed that he's been using for about a week; he takes off his hat in front of the mirror of the unfamiliar bathroom to adjust his bedhead. After a couple of brushes, the hat just reappears on his head; Lucas sighs. "This still makes no sense; the timing is always different too."

Finishing his routine, the young man gathers his belongings and exits the apartment; it's time for another day of trying to make sense of this mess. Taking the stairs was a mistake; several other inhabitants seem to have chosen this time to stroll and chat. The usual barrage of familiar greetings by unfamiliar people begins. Good morning, Lucas. Have a good day, Lucas. Did you see the game last week? I can't believe we lost. The young man smiles politely as he returns the greetings, pretending to know those people and excusing himself as fast as possible.

He already tried explaining his situation; it wasn't taken seriously. Just rest for a bit; you'll be fine in a couple days. It's been a week. The only thing that he knows for sure is that he's a man called Lucas Walker, fairly well liked by the people in close proximity to his home but otherwise unremarkable. Nobody knew what his job was, or if he even had one; chances are he didn't since none of the appliances complained about him being missing from there. As he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he checks his pockets; a slight shift in the contents goes largely unnoticed as he takes out an ornate pocketwatch. It's 8:00, and the cover shows no new messages received.

The glass doors show the bustling street filled with creatures of all kinds; some of them feel out of place somehow, but without memories to speak of, Lucas can't explain why he feels that way. The young man takes a steadying breath, then he places his hand on the glass and enters the reflection. He's not sure why he can do that or how, but it's a useful ability to have when you don't want to be bothered by people who are convinced they know you. After tripping and entering his window by mistake, he decided to explore the city in this way: going unnoticed makes things easier. Over the last few days he explored farther away from home each time; the metallic buildings and noises of the city are starting to feel familiar, but he has yet to reach an edge. Today he decides to take it easy, walking near crowds and little groups seated at benches and cafes to absorb some rumors undisturbed; some people are spooked when seeing him in reflective surfaces but mostly react with quick confusion and move on.

"Have you seen the news yesterday? Some monsters made it past the wall." A gruff-looking man gossips to what looks like a colleague; they have the same vague uniform.

"I call bullshit. If there really were monsters in the city, we would know; they just exaggerated to raise interest. Where are the damages? The death reports?" The other man sips on some coffee as he scoffs.

"Maybe they don't want to spread panic. If it really was nothing, it wouldn't have made it to the news, no? I heard that people started going missing more around those parts."

"Believeing this kind of shit is why you keep having to do overtime. If you focused more instead of spacing out, you would be done sooner."

The conversation turned to some technical knowledge Lucas had no need of, so he moved on. These rumors were not new; it was starting to cause worry even for the normally calm young man. After all, there has to be a base of truth for all these rumors to take hold. More conversations go by, more rumors, more monsters; some swear they saw figures in dark alleys, some see strange reflections in mirrors. Lucas just keeps walking; today is as good as any to get to the wall, to see what's there and what could be causing this disturbance. The trip to the wall is filled with more of the same. Using the mirror world to travel means fewer obstructions, but he also can't interact with people normally, so he slips into a nearby building to get back into the real world before approaching the wall proper.

A couple of soldiers stand guard; by the way they act, it seems the rumors may be false; they seem very relaxed for a post that was supposedly attacked not long ago. Lucas manages to get close to the gate uninterrupted before he speaks to one of the guards.

"Excuse me, I would like to exit the city."

The soldiers look at each other, clearly confused; the helmets make the expression hard to read, but what shows is clear enough. "Look, lad, I don't know what you have to do out there, but now isn't the best time. Didn't you see the news?"

"So something did happen. I heard some rumors, but I need to go outside for job-related issues." It wasn't a lie; one of the things the young man discovered was the existence of Jobs, roles that bestow several skills to those who practice them. The term was confusing, but he managed to become a Black Mage, or at least so said the strange window that popped up sometimes.

Another glance at each other then the other guard speaks. "We won't stop you if you really have to, but it would be better to stay inside. The breach was on the other side of the city, but it's been strange out there. Be careful; it would be better if you could defend yourself."

"Did I get turned around somewhere? I went in a straight line. I can use a little black magic if that helps."

"It's better than nothing. You can use the small door in the back; we almost never open the big gate anyway." The soldier moves aside to show a service door on the wall, with a small warning sign.

"Thank you." As Lucas was about to head for the door, he caught a strange dark mist gathering in the corner of his vision. Turning around, he sees the mist gather into a solid shape and lunge at one of the soldiers. "Look out behind you!"

The guard barely has time to process what is happening before a spear slices his arm off; the warning changed his stance enough to avoid being beheaded. A mounted knight adjusts his stance, annoyed at the failure. His focus shifts to Lucas and the other guard who is just now unsheathing a greatsword. "How unexpected. No matter, a minor inconvenience will not hinder me." The knight adjusts his grip on the spear and charges.

Lucas dodges to the side; the charge continues past him, aiming for the guard who prepares to block it with the flat of his blade. The glint of the metal catches the young man's attention; he feels a surge of power well up inside; the reflection moves by itself. Flames burst forth from the blade, leaving both guardian and knight confused, but the latter seems unscathed. Lucas takes advantage of the distraction to reach into his pocket; with a shift, instead of a pocket watch, a sword forms in his hand. A lunge, the slow overhead slash, gets easily blocked by the knight, the difference in height making it easy to unbalance the young man. Flames start gathering around the young man's hand: "Fire!" The spell lands, the opponent was not unscathed like the previous time, but the damage was clearly very little. "At least his attention is fully on me now." Lucas glances at the guard, who seems conflicted before running off, gesturing something, sword left on the ground.

"Such petty tricks; let me show you true power. Agilao" Heat surges beneath the young man, who jumps backwards just as a pillar of flames erupts in front of him. The fire scorches the ground, and his legs are partially caught in it; Lucas pushes through the pain.

"Is that all? It doesn't look much different from mine." The deadpan delivery seems to enrage the knight further.

"Lowly human, how dare you mock me!" A charge, the young man jumps to the side; his arm gets hit. "Your cowardly tactics will only take you so far. You are out of ground to run on." Lucas is with his back against the wall of an office building; the people inside are seen scrambling for the exit. Another charge, the young man sinks into the glass wall as the knight shatters it.

"You are out of time instead. Blizzard" The glass fragments still in the air shine and ripple; cold air and ice fragments rush out with great intensity, freezing the knight in place. The sword in the young man's hand shifts into a metal bat as he approaches the mirror world version of the frozen knight. With a swing, the frozen statue shatters, the fragments disperse in the same mist the creature appeared in.

Several soldiers rush to the scene; the one in front of the group surveys the destroyed wall and frozen glass fragments. "What happened here? Where is the monster?"

The guard that ran away speaks up from the back. "A young man was holding it back; he was a Black mage, I think."

The other guard shambles to the front, clutching the stump of his arm. "I saw them run in there. That was the most powerful Blizzard I ever saw; when the mist disappeared, they were both gone."

"A Blizard did this?" What seems to be the captain of the unit asks while looking over the frozen room; frozen chairs and tables are crumbling and cracking. "Are you sure it wasn't a higher-level spell?"

"I'm sure because I heard him cast it. That guy could protect himself for sure. A little magic he said, makes you wonder what his standards are."

Lucas was relieved to see the guard still alive but didn't feel like dealing with the aftermath, so he started moving around the perimeter of the city walls in search of a good place to emerge from. A strange ripple on the metal wall looked out of place, something foreign, but also strangely familiar. Out of the mirror world, Lucas examines the ripple; instinctively, he reaches out his hand, and a window pops up in front of him.

A strange sensation overtakes the young man, movement without movement, colors and shapes blend and stretch; he blacks out. When he comes to, he is greeted by sprawling grassy plains and a sunny sky.

"I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore. What even is Kansas?"