Mirror

Part 1- Shatter | Chapter 1 - Ash

Part 1 - Shatter

 "It doesn't have to be perfect," China said as Ash crumpled the paper in frustration and threw it into the overflowing waste basket.

"Of course it has to be perfect. Don't you want me to be a good student?" Ash grumbled, "I can't even begin to restore damaged books if I make the words backwards or the letters sideways." She saw China sigh visibly. They had been wrestling this difficult experiment for nearly the whole morning. Ash hadn't gotten to eat breakfast and had hungrily inhaled one measly biscuit for lunch.

"Let's take a break from this. We've been working on it all week," China said, "Let's do something a little more, ah, fun."

"I pray it doesn't involve paper at all?" Ash glowered at the bin of wadded up parchments.

"No, no papers," China agreed. "Follow me. Let's take a walk outside." Ash straightened.

"Outside... as in outside the palace?" she asked hopefully.

"No, dear. Just a short jaunt in the palace gardens," China said, her stormy eyes stern. Of course not, Ash thought grumpily. I don't get to go anywhere. But, she obeyed nevertheless, following her mentor as she left the sun-streaked room. Ash let the moonwood door slam behind her. She followed China silently the whole way, eyes to the smooth, worn floor, feet dragging, ignoring the servants as they greeted her and bowed. After the spiraling, quartz staircase downward (China never let Ash take the elevator- gotta keep in shape, apparently), they came to the last floor. A pleasant breeze drifted through the open doors at the end of the hall.

"Come, Ash. Quit looking so gloomy," China reproached. "I thought you liked the gardens?"

"I do," Ash said quietly. "I just... I just wish I could see what's outside."

"Honestly, Ash. There is nothing outside the palace that you need to see right now. Your time will come. Besides, it's not safe. There are people who love and support you. But you also have to think about all the people who would like to see this powerful Saint-Empress dead," China warned. "Ah, here we are." Ash said nothing as they entered the garden. Ash loved this place, though she wouldn't admit it. White flowers were planted smartly in a circular pattern, all rippling out from the center- a moonwood tree. Glass tiles painted the ground with intricate mosaics and abstract images, and the air was sweet with the aroma of starlace.

Starlace- that was Ash's favorite flower. It was like silver ivy, twining its delicate tendrils through tree limbs and creeping up walls. It had small, white blossoms- each with five petals- that shone like stars at night. The gardeners had given up on trying to get rid of this weed. First off, Ash would not allow them to destroy such a beautiful plant, and it spread quickly. The starlace and moonwood looked perfect together, silver strands on dark grey wood, petite, white petals over velvety, black blossoms.

China knelt down and picked up one of the many crumpled, brown leaves that had pooled beneath the moonwood.

"Observe," she said, cupping her hands around the leaf. Her eyes glowed, and Ash watched, transfixed. It was not often that her master performed magic before her, and she enjoyed watching every time.

Slowly, the leaf unfurled, and a shimmering silver crept back through the veins, pushing outward until there was not a trace of decay. China handed it to Ash

Ash turned it over, inspecting it. The leaf had been returned its smooth surface and grooved veins. With this kind magic, I could resurrect a whole tree. Stars, I could raise the dead, she thought and felt a chill crawl down her spine. That kind of thinking will lead you down the good ol' path to insanity. Plus, you'll never be that powerful.