The Other Side of Darkness

'Vision Mirror'

Later that day, Lev and her first-year friends sat at their table eating lunch. All the third-years were in some type of assembly, so the lunch room was much more open than usual. That was probably a good thing, since Lev didn't really want was she was talking about to be overheard. 

"Mickey?" Jack repeated the name she had just spoken. "What's that?" 

She had decided that she wanted to tell them all about the figure in her mirror. Even though it just started out as a way to prove she wasn't crazy, now she was genuinely curious. So, she decided to expand her field of confidants.

Grim tiredly took a huge bite out of his sandwhich. Through the food, he muttered: "Apparently, he's the guy who keeps appearing in the mirror in our room at night. I've never seen him though, only Lev has."

"Oh yeah, I remember you talking about him," Deuce recalled. "Since everything with S.T.Y.X. happened, I'd forgotten."

"I remember that too," Ace said. "I think I remember telling you to take a picture with the Ghost Camera. Did you?"

Lev nodded and reached into her pocket. "Here." She pulled out the photo of Mickey and handed it to her friends. 

They sat in silence for a moment. The boys all looked at the picture in pure confusion.

"Is it...a beastman?" Ace asked.

"He's cuter than I expected," Deuce muttered.

Ortho picked up the photo and stared at it for a moment. "I'll cross-reference him with all known living beings in Twisted Wonderland to find his origin." He closed his eyes for only a second. "Nope, his silhouette matches no known species."

"I guess this means you weren't dreaming," Ace said, taking back the photo. 

"But, why couldn't Grim see him then?" Epel wondered aloud. "If the Ghost Camera could pick him up, why couldn't Grim?"

"Prefect," Jack said, grabbing Lev's attention, "is there anything else you know?"

Lev shook her head. "All I know is that Mickey started appearing in my mirror not long after I arrived here. At first, I could barely see him, but now he himself is pretty clear, but neither of us can see anything but each other. He's also apparently never heard of 'Twisted Wonderland.'"

Ortho hummed in thought. "So that means he isn't from here, like you. However, both our world's are on similar enough wavelengths to allow you two to communicate." He went quiet again. "Well, in my opinion, I think the mirror in hour room is acting as a 'Silver Crown.'"

"Sounds fancy, what's that?" Lelie suddenly appeared behind the group, startling them. 

Lev hissed. "Jeez, how quiet are you?"

Lelie grinned dangerously. "As quiet as I need to be." She plopped down in the seat next to Lev, displacing Grim, much to his annoyance. "Anywho, what y'all talkin' about? Something about a Silver Crown?"

"I've never heard of it," Epel admitted.

Ortho giggled. "Sorry, I should probably explain. Have you guys ever heard about 'Crystal Radio?'"

Jack nodded. "I made one in elementary school. It's a simple device that uses copper and crystal to pick up radios waves."

Ortho nodded. "Yep! Specifically, it's something that picks up radio waves by intentionally arranging specific conditions to pick up a target frequency. In some occasions, the silver crown used to treat cavities meets one of those conditions and will pick up the radio waves."

"Woah, really?" Epel gasped.

"Of course, there are a lot of specific conditions that need to be met, that's what makes it so rare. It's more of a coincidence than purposeful like the crystal radio."