{ mirror mirror }

[dreamposts]

MIRROR MIRROR

With the sleepwalking curse over, everyone will have some time to rest and recuperate—until Jack Frost comes barging in with news of a clue on how to help his beloved Ice Queen who still remains asleep. The clue was the mirror shard that was in her chest, and there are theories that it may have been a fragment of a much stronger, powerful mirror she had been given some time ago. Problem is, he can't find it nor can he remember who gave it to her. He does, however, have a magic incantation that will allow people to enter mirrors and hopefully find a trace. Unfortunately, this horrendously backfires and we have mirror chaos instead. Dammit, Jack.

More details on everything can be found here. We will request any thread submissions for certain prompts during AC .

I. REVEREIN

II. MIRROR WORLD

COMMENTS

I. REVEREIN

It all begins in Reverein, where there's a strange shift in the air upon Jack's attempt to cast the spell. But instead of affecting just one mirror, it reflects off the surface and spreads out to the entire town, hitting every reflective surface instead. Ripples can be seen before the surfaces still, but it's too late. Every reflective surface—glass, mirror, window—is under a different effect because of the botched spell.

And some are being unwittingly pulled into them.

Fortunately It is possible to communicate and even watch people from the other side of the mirror, but it's only through certain mirrors and at certain times. It also will be temporary, so while one mirror might work one time, it may not work again.

A. Strange Reflections. While some mirrors may still reflect proper images, many will have…unusual changes.

🪞 You are what you see. Whether it's an odd hairstyle, change in skin color, or style of clothing in the reflection, suddenly the viewer will look exactly like what's reflected. The most extreme is a different form entirely.
🏡 Glimpses of home. Everyone will have a rare glimpse of their home world, and these can be instances from the past, present, or even a limited future. They are just reflections and cannot be interacted with, and future reflections may be blurry to prevent the person from seeing too much. For those who have memory issues, such visions will also be blurry, but perhaps they can help stir some things…
🔮 Most desired. Mirrors that have a bit of a pink hue to them will reflect the viewer's most desired "thing." It could be an object, person, place, or even a general idea. However, if not careful the viewer may become trapped in a trance and will need to be removed or smash the mirror.

B. Clone Wars. Mirrors that do not show any kind of reflection are to be quickly taken away and covered as it will begin to create duplicates in Reverein of what is reflected within it. Yes, even people, and they will be very obviously fake: wrong colors, different voices, odd behavior, etc. and will usually be harmless. These "clones" will continue to appear and multiply until the mirror has been covered, and will need to either be destroyed or captured and shoved into the mirror, where it will lose its "no reflection" status and become a proper mirror again…only for them to appear on the other side in Mirror World.

C. Mirrorsnatched. A mirror with a black rim has the chance of absorbing a significant personality trait or memory of the one looking into it, and when this happens, the person will walk away feeling very muddle-headed and off. The mirror will "keep" this part of the person and someone from the Mirror World side must find their essence and "shove" it back out onto any mirror surface so that the original owner can break the mirror and retrieve it. The downside of this method is that breaking a mirror means one less mirror those on the Mirror side can use, so they need to choose carefully.

D. The Unknown. Appearing in both the Mirror World and Reverein will be a strange mirror masked, black cloaked figure called "The Unknown." It traverses through the mirrors and through the walls, seeking those with happy reflections and will try to corrupt them with nightmares. People on both sides of the mirrors will be able to confront and try to stop the Unknown, though beware its chocolate attacks.

II. MIRROR WORLD

Everything in this "Mirror World" is, in a word, chaotic. Imagine an AI-generated monstrosity based off of Picasso, Escher, and Dr. Seuss, where everything seems to be upside down, backwards, colors everywhere and nowhere, and everything feels so fragmented that one step feels like walking towards the edge of a cliff. In a way it's nightmarish in an unusual sense, and those inside can feel that touch of "madness" that seeps through the cold air.

Beware the strange creatures in the Mirror World. They are grotesque monstrosities, many of them looking as if they were stitched together from different parts. Fortunately they are susceptible to weapons and dreamotion and those inside the Mirror World will find they are able to use different abilities, especially those with reflective properties.

A. Fragment of their old self. In order to get out of the Mirror World, those inside will need to catch a small fragment of themselves that has escaped and is running around. This fragment is actually a piece of their old self prior to arriving in Songerein. For some, this self may not be so different, but for long-time residents, they may seem a lot more different. To make things more interesting, this self can be from any point of the character's past. It just has to be a version of the character from before entering Songerein. This version will also appear "homesick" and "want" to return to their original home, regardless if the character actually feels that way. Thus the fragment will seek out mirrors that will reflect anything of their home world. Shattering these mirrors will weaken the fragment until it can be caught. But that's only half the challenge. If the fragment is injured, the original will also feel the damage but to a lesser degree. If the fragment is destroyed, then the original will be "knocked out" for a few seconds before a new fragment appears. However, this fragment will be much more distorted and worse than the one before.

B. Distorted Memories. At random points while traversing, characters may come across strange pockets of the world that they will feel drawn to. Following said instinct will lead them to a shifted landscape that will reflect images of home from different points in time (past, present, maybe even future) as if they've just walked right into it, but just like everything else, they are distorted. The changes can be as subtle as the wrong color of clothes, having too many limbs, to something major like the sky now being the ground. The only way out will either be destroying the anomalies or correcting them, and they will be rewarded with a mirror shard that will aid in their escape.


C. Warped Sense of Self. The longer a person stays within the Mirror World, the less "coherent" they will feel, and sometimes sound. Their memories will slowly become more disjointed, their personality feeling a bit "off", and they may even forget who they are or where they are from. Even their physical selves will start to twist and change, starting with something subtle (e.g. eye color) and then growing more drastic as time goes on (where did those extra fingers come from? Or why are they suddenly much shorter?) Finding those reflections of home will help with these anomalies, but those weak of heart be warned: the distortions may only exacerbate the issue and make them believe that they are the truth instead. Help anyone who might be caught in fixing these so that they can recover.


D. Finding an exit. To leave the world, those inside must find a mirror that will connect back to Reverein, and those on the other side can also try to help by posing as "anchors" for those inside to recognize. Otherwise, there are many mirrors in the Mirror World that will lead to different places within Songerein—presumably. However, perhaps due to the magic or needing something else, they will be unable to pass through any mirrors that are not connected to Reverein. This is where players have the fun opportunity to make up whatever kind of location or place the characters may see reflected on the mirrors. They could be existing locations in the game, or new ones that could be explored in the future. One unique place we can mention will be reflections of a city covered in night.

Only upon finding a mirror that leads back to Reverein, but they will also need help from the outside. Someone from within Reverein must also be there to physically reach in and pull them out—while hopefully not accidentally be pulled in themselves.

I. REVEREIN

II. MIRROR WORLD

COMMENTS

Comments

[refantasma]

Nico giggles at how stilted the man's Italian was. His eyes were still teary, but he was focusing on teaching the man to play his favorite game!

"Sìì!"

He shuffled the cards and handed the deck to the man. "Come ti chiami?" he asked as he shuffled the second deck for himself. He then reached down and pulled out some figures. He blinked at them. They didn't look like they usually did. They looked younger than the gods he knew.

[crouching_sin]

Nico really should know better than to trust strangers at this age, but he'll play along for now. He looks down at the figurines, a little confused at Nico's confusion.

"Mi chiamo Naoya. Stai bene, Nico? Cos'è che non va?" Maybe he's asking a little too familiarly, but he is... genuinely concerned at the other's hesitation. "Dai, giochiamo. Potresti essere sorpreso dalla velocità con cui lo riprendo. Sono molto bravo con i giochi."

[refantasma]

"Queste non sono le cifre con cui gioco di solito..."

There were ten of them: four girls, five boys, all teenagers, and a short, stocky saint with a weird hat. It was like a cap with a duck bill on it. "Il satiro ha un buffo cappello," he said.

He frowned more at the figure, dividing the figures between them. "Va bene allora. Io interpreterò i greci e tu i romani." He didn't know how he knew that. He shuffled again, then held out the deck for Naoya to cut.

[crouching_sin]

"Comunque funzionerà."

Interesting... and he's right, the cap is rather... modern. Maybe this is part of Nico's memories in a different form? He's not sure but he's put himself in this situation. Might as well play his hand to the end, so to speak.

He takes the deck and cuts it - standard as far as he's aware. He's even doing his best not to cheat! Look at him, being honorable. "Va bene. Gli dei romani sono interessanti... hanno un tipo di sincronizzazione davvero unico. Ne sai molto di loro, Nico?" He's sure that the grown-up Nico would be happy to compare notes, but as for child Nico...

[refantasma]

"Si!" Nico said excitedly, bouncing in his chair. "Sono davvero interessanti, ma mi piacciono di più i greci. Non so perché. Lo faccio e basta."

Nico doesn't suspect that Naoya would even think about cheating. "Ne so molto! Posso raccontarvi quasi tutto di loro!"

He sets the deck down and instructs Naoya to draw seven cards as he does the same. He looks at them, frowning. Like the figures, they aren't quite right. Zeus is wearing a suit and looks meaner than usual.

[crouching_sin]

He pulls out his seven cards, glancing over at them. Famous Roman mythological figures, huh? Interesting. He's not sure if these are right, but he's not going to point it out if they're wrong.

At the declaration he chuckles again. "So parecchio anche di loro. Sono una specie di esperto di mitologia. Ma è giusto avere dei favoriti." If anyone knows about obscure myths it'd be him - though they might not hold true in this world. Or the memory of this world, to be specific.

"Quali dei sono i tuoi preferiti?"

[refantasma]

Like Nico's Greek cards, they'd show the gods in the 21st-century incarnations. Mars would be dressed and camouflage fatigues, for example.

"Il mio dio preferito è Ade," he said, looking over his cards, still frowning. Poseidon is dressed in a weird shirt that's unbuttoned. "La mamma mi racconta un sacco di storie su di lui."

He put down a card, then put down an energy source card, explaining what he was doing.

[crouching_sin]

He listens carefully to the explanation - ah, he's played games like this. Resources, then fighters. He sets down a Ceres card with an energy source, not even blinking at her next to a bowl of some kind of cereal. It's fitting, after all.

"Veramente? Che tipo di storie? Felici o tristi?" His Italian still feels a little rough, but it's fine. It's been decades since he's had to use it at all. "Mi sono state raccontate molte storie. Alcuni di loro sono in conflitto tra loro. Ma va bene, i miti sono proprio così. Ognuno ha le sue versioni."

[refantasma]

"Storie per lo più tristi. Ma sono abituato alle storie tristi," Nico said. Looking at one of the action cards.

This wasn't right. That wasn't a scene from the myths...

He only vaguely recognized that Naoya was still speaking. "This isn't right..." he said, not realizing he was speaking in English, as he looked at his own face on the card.

[crouching_sin]

Oh, English. He switches to English, fairly neutrally accented. "What's wrong with it?" He wants to lean over and look, but he doesn't want to be accused of cheating in the game so he keeps his butt in the seat.

"Are you all right, Nico?"

[refantasma]

"No," Nico said, standing and dropping his cards. The boy's dark eyes were wide with fear.

On the card that spooked him was himself, dressed in what he assumed was an undershirt, but it said 'Camp Half-Blood' on it, opening up the earth to swallow a group of zombies to protect an older boy.

Who was looking at the Nico on the card with fear. "I need to go home," he said and began to run.

[crouching_sin]

"Nico - Nico." He gets up and starts to run after the boy. He's aware that he's not like to keep up with a demigod, but he can do his best to try. "Come back - let's figure this out together."

Damn it. Nothing's going to get done if he just runs away!

[refantasma]

Nico's first instinct has always been to run.

While Nico is a demigod, faster, stronger, and has better stamina than normal mortals, he's still a teen-year-old boy right now, not his normal teenage, battle-hardened self.

"I wanna go home!" he shouts, angry and scared.

[crouching_sin]

"I know you do! ... Let me help you get home, Nico."

He's not going to force the kid, but... well. He's concerned about what the young man is going to do in this state.

[refantasma]

Nico peeked out from behind from behind a mirror.

"You can do that?" he asked. "You can help me find Mamma and Bianca?"

[crouching_sin]

"I can try, at least. I promise you I'm not here to hurt you." He holds a hand out towards the child.

... He doesn't know where to start, but he can at least accompany the child.

[refantasma]

Nico steps out from behind the mirror and then looks into it after something catches his eye. "That's Bianca!"

He pointed at a girl in a green hat standing next to him. They were wearing weird clothes, though. "Why are we so underdressed?"

[crouching_sin]

"Hm? Underdressed?" She looks fine to him, at least.

... Wait. Are the clothes the wrong period? That might be it.

[refantasma]

It was the time period. The pants Nico-in-the-mirror was wearing were okay. But the t-shirt looked like an undershirt to Nico. Bianca was wearing a skirt. Those were grown-up clothes!

And she was wearing a T-shirt as well. "It's weird."

[crouching_sin]

"... Maybe that's her after she's grown. The mirrors in this place have been acting up." He sighs and rolls his shoulders back. "They've been showing odd things."

[refantasma]

"No... she looks like her, and I look like me."

Nico furrowed his eyebrows, then looked at Naoya. "What do you think is happening?"

[crouching_sin]

"I'm not sure... but I believe this is a memory of some kind. I know it's difficult to believe, but I know you when you're older."

He shrugs - it's up to Nico to believe him or not.

[refantasma]

Nico looked at him suspiciously. "Tell me something only I'd know then."

[crouching_sin]

... Really? Okay. He rolls his eyes a little.

"Your father is Hades and also you're attracted to men."

[refantasma]

To be fair, Nico is eleven.

So, this was before Nico learned (or relearned; he was never sure and probably would never be sure) that Hades was his father.

But that little fact is absolutely dwarfed by the fact this man knows his deepest secret.

"You know?" he asked, eyes wide.