«Sit down, my dear», he said, pointing at a spot on the floor right in front of him. His voice was smooth, sensuous, the voice of a storyteller. I took my spot and closed my eyes, letting his words transport me. «The stories I am about to tell you, I have told to each and every member of our family that came across the portal after I did.
«The world you see around you was created so long ago, that no one remembers how it came to be. The legends told by the Reflections speak about the gods of old, the Greek and Roman gods, as we know them today. It is said that when the Titans fell, they weren't sent to Tartarus, as we've been told, but they traveled elsewhere, where they could still amuse the gods. So, Zeus himself created this place for them to roam, unable to hurt anyone but themselves, trapped in here for all eternity. As a sign of his cruelty, Zeus gave them as many windows as there were mirrors in the world, for them to see what they were missing.
«But, alas, Zeus's plan didn't work as well as he had thought. Without a purpose, the Titans died of bore. They didn't need to feed, so they didn't hunt; they didn't need to drink, so they didn't search for water. After some time, they couldn't even reproduce, because the space was too small for a numerous progeny to survive. When the tenth death occurred, Zeus decided to give them a reason to survive, to fight. He created the Titan Games, and made the arena out of thin air. The Games were to be held every ten years, and it allowed a Titan child to get out. They started killing each other, so there wouldn't be many competitors. But, you see, such a game would have been extremely boring for Zeus, so he decided that, as long as they were in here, the Titans wouldn't be able to hurt each other. Instead, they would die after many, many years of roaming this barren world.
«The first one to win was the most unlikely of Titans. He was small, thin, weak. His demeanor was nothing like the rest of the Titans' were; he was sensitive, benevolent and gentle, but he was vain, he loved his reflection. When Antigonus —that was his name—, when he won, all the other Titans rebelled. How could such a creature have won? It was obvious that the Games were swindled, Zeus had made them in such a way, no one but the ones he had chosen would win; that's what the Titans said.
«As per the rules of the Games, Antigonus was given the key to go out of the Mirror world. But the rules were changed right there and then. From that moment on, every offspring of Antigonus would have had a double inside the Mirror world, and they would have had to fight each other in order to go out and fill the spot. The Mirror portal was given to Antigonus, for him to keep as an heirloom and allow the Games to go on.
«Antigonus then complained, for he would never be free from the Mirror world. So, he came to a deal with Zeus; if Antigonus managed to keep the next five generations away from the Mirror world, then the Mirror would lose its power, and it would be nothing more than a simple mirror.
«He was able to teach some of his children to ignore the pulses of vanity, to stay away from the mirror. But not all of them learned the lesson. The youngest of his great granddaughters, Aliki, was lured by the callings of Ikila, her mirror twin, and entered the Mirror realm, thus sealing our curse. She was not but ten at the time, and she lost the first Mirror Games. When Ikila exited, Antigonus recognized her, and banned her from his house. But the damage was already done. Just like Antigonus's children, some of us are lured by the power of the Mirror, and some aren't able to hear its calling.
«Another legend tells, that the Reflections are in fact the children of the Fallen Angels, and that God created this place to punish them for disobeying Him. But, even among the Reflections, those are nothing but stories.»
I shook the stupor out of my voice before I spoke. «What exactly are the Games, James?»
«The Games are our worst nightmare», he said ominously. «Every trick the Reflections know and master throughout their lives, we must learn and control in barely eight days, often in even less time. All those things we hate, those they are. We face the worst and the best of ourselves. How can you beat them, if not by knowing what you're not? Once you know, then you know them, and you can become whatever you need to be. But the real question is, how do you become something you're not in such short time?
«The Mirror Games consist of three games, and a race. The first three games are in fact challenges, taken one at a time during one full day. If you win a game, you get one point. At the end of the day, whoever has the majority of points gets a thirty-feet advantage for the race.
«The Final Race is run on the next day. It's full of obstacles, and riddles. While there are rules for the Games, there exists no such thing during the Race. You can do whatever you please, even if it prevents your opponent from going on.»
«So she can cheat? Block me anyway she wants? Or even push me out of the road, and that is allowed?»
«Indeed.»
On the bright side, if she could cheat, then so could I. But it wasn't like me. «I don't think I can do it.»
«And if you did, probably none of us would accept you back. If we are living under a fallen roof in the middle of nowhere, it's because we refused to play their way. There was only one of us, as I already told you, my great-great-grandfather Ulrich, who played that way. Lu didn't cheat, but Grandfather Ulrich did. He pushed Lu around, threw things at him. But he didn't know the laws of Mirror Physics, and most of the things he threw at Lu came back, and made him lose. Still, he was so vicious, and he had played such fowl games, that the Reflections liked him better, and kept him with them.»
«But--»
«Play your game, my dear. One way or another, things will turn out for the best. There will be a silver lining, even if you stay in here. Play as well as you can. And if you don't win, then it means we're not the good teachers we think we are. If you want to do things the right way, then play your Games your way, and prove us right.»
YOU ARE READING
The Mirror Games
FantasyAli was delighted when she received the old mirror that belonged to her old Great-Aunt Peg. She couldn't possibly imagine that her Great-Aunt herself had been a prisoner in the Mirror realm for over fifty years, and that the mirror she had received...
