A Sentinel's Heart and the Mirror Link
The teleport near the Battle Mage Fields of Star Academy began to hum—the first warning of incoming—then the transport column itself flattened out into a broad circle, lit up blue, and a column of blue light rose into the air. When the light faded, four people stood in the wide circle. Evervine was looking toward the fields for a good spot to practice.
Marcel was walking forward with no thought to his surroundings as he thought about how potions may be used in the Potion Triathlon and Aetheric Alchemy events. Hazel was shaking her head while watching him, and young Leo was looking back over the low hills into the valley where the main part of the vast campus lay. From his vantage point, the pentagram shape was evident, and the house flags and colors bobbed in a magical wind, denoting their locations in the school.
"Come on. Let's catch a carpet to the other edge of the fields. The hexes are too dense here; they will affect our spell work." Evervine rushed off to a hill covered in huge carpets, rugs, and tapestries. A deep blue and gold one rose as she approached. The blue was a tall, thick pile and the border was golden and short. Evervine jumped up effortlessly, while Hazel levitated and Marcel and Leo climbed up laboriously.
"Evervine, why are you always in such a hurry? Even the carpets are rushing from your energy."
"Don't be a baby, Marcel." But she looked at Leo apologetically. "Sorry about that, Leo. I do tend to get a bit overly excited."
"On that note, hold on tight, Leo, because she does not go slowly." Leo took Hazel's advice to heart and quickly held on for dear life. His eyes went wide as Marcel tumbled back and almost fell off as the carpet rose quickly and shot toward the distant end of the fields.
The valley that held the Star Academy was massive and had every ecosystem imaginable within it. The battle mage fields were not fields but vast groupings of hills that had their tops flattened. And because these were magically induced lands, each hill was carefully maintained and could be changed however the witch or wizard wanted.
They passed many hills scorched by hexes and some that had been cleared of grass altogether. The smell of hexes made Leo sneeze, and he held on a bit tighter. He was glad he had when the blue and gold carpet abruptly stopped at one of the taller hills and made an abrupt landing. He watched as Marcel tumbled past him and onto the dry hilltop with a soft groan.
"Leo, you wait here with the carpet. It will wait for us until we are ready to go back. Marcel, I was thinking we could use some of your traps and hold a wide perimeter while I protect the core."
Evervine walked right past Marcel's crumpled form as she discussed the strategy. Hazel helped her friend to his feet as she looked over the hill. "That sounds good, but how about we do something that is layered? Maybe Marcel's potions and alchemical things on the outer perimeter and, closer to us, a runic phase shield that can match the aura of the attacker? I have been working on one that is illusion-based magic, and it is a pretty simple incantation."
Evervine's eyes lit up. "I knew you two would be better than Gabriel and Tasha."
Marcel rolled his eyes. "So we were the backup plan?"
Back in Hazel's room, it was quiet; swirls of dreamscape dust floated in the streaming light coming in through her window. She had stacks of traveler, potion, and runic books on her desk, and her bed was made as if she had been in the military all her life.
The room slowly shifted. The shadows deepened and the light streaming in through the open curtains dulled. The temperature dropped and the motes of swirling dreamscape dust froze in the air as if time had suddenly stopped.
A jagged, thin black line tore across a wall and slowly opened. The dark quiet on the other side seemed to pulse, and soon the face of the Emotion Doll pushed through as if it had to move through a barrier to enter.
Half of the thread at its mouth and eyes hung loose down its macabre face, the free corner of its mouth twitching as if it were amused. It pushed all the way through and the rift closed behind it with a loud clap. And everything started and froze again in an instant. The Doll hovered motionless for a moment and then, like a switch had been flipped, it was pulled toward a far wall as if there were a black hole there sucking in all matter.
The Emotion Doll struggled, its white tattered dress pulling away from the suction force, but there was no use. It flew into the space in front of the wall and hit air with a thunderous boom that caused the heavy books on Hazel's desk to bounce up, a few falling to the floor. Again the room seemed to freeze and then the Doll began to sink into nothing.
Gaelia laughed as she materialized. The black and gold of the Mirror of Indifference—Gaelia's current physical form—was polished and shined brightly as the Emotion Doll slowly continued to sink into its mirrored surface.
"She knew you would come for her thinking nothing and no one could stop you. You never thought about coming up against yourself, did you?"
Gaelia's voice was harsh and unsympathetic, yet it was still laced with a bit of sorrow.
"You have forgotten so much—I have forgotten so much—but Hazel has promised to help. You and I will be one again and she will find our body and help us to truly live. Whether people fear us or not—we will live and be happy."
Hazel's bedroom went icy quiet as the back of the Emotion Doll sank into the Mirror of Indifference. Then the mirror turned and slipped into the dreamscape to wait for Hazel—so that two halves could finally be whole again.