Mirrored Love: Chapter 1
I'm redoing this story, so enjoy the renewed story!
There is a rumor that says you can see the person you are going to marry, with just a simple spell cast upon the full moon. By sitting in front of a mirror, with only candlelight, brush your hair one hundred times and will see the man you are to marry staring back at you. A silly fairytale mothers tell their daughters and a dare that schoolgirls tell one another at sleepovers. It was always just a simple game, no one was ever meant to get hurt, but sometimes, things are not just simple fairytales…
“Grandma, how can you have all of these things?” the girl asked as she stared into the room filled to the ceiling with old dusty boxes.
The fragile old woman looked over at her granddaughter as she smiled and answered, “I’m sorry your mother is making you help me clean this old house up. I will make you something delicious for lunch to repay you; what would you like Akira?”
Akira turned around to face her grandmother hesitating before answering, “Anything really, I’m not picky.”
Her grandmother nodded her head before turning to leave, shuffling away to the kitchen. Akira looked around the room, running her slender fingers across the surfaces of the stacked boxes. She let out a sigh before tucking some of her dark hair behind her ear. She began grabbing the boxes, opening them up and checking them, seeing all of the things her grandmother had collected over the years. The time flew by and the room was actually starting to be cleared, and the walls that had been hidden were slowly being revealed. Akira opened one more box as her grandmother called for her to have lunch.
“I’ll be there in a minute!” Akira called back as she peered into the box.
There was an old antique box with a beautiful design painted on the top. Akira pulled it out and examined the wonderful workmanship on its sides, thinking that whoever did it was surely a great craftsman. She opened the box to see if anything was inside, surprised by the sudden melody that played once the lid was lifted. It was a calming sound, a melody she hadn’t heard before, but somehow felt familiar. There was only a single necklace in the box, a very simple necklace at that.
“Oh my, you’ve found something I forgot I even had,” Akira’s grandmother spoke as she appeared behind Akira.
“What do you mean?” Akira asked as she watched her grandmother pull the necklace out from the box.
“This necklace meant quite a lot to me. Someone I once loved gave it to me as a present, he asked for me to give it to your mother, but I thought I had lost it forever. Since you found it you can keep it,” her grandmother explained before placing the necklace around Akira’s neck.
Akira looked at the pendant and saw that there was a picture engraved on it, a symbol or crest she hadn’t recognized before, the only recognizable thing being the moon on it. For something so old, it seemed brand new and sparkled without light even hitting it. Akira thanked her grandmother before going to the kitchen and having her lunch. After lunch Akira took a short break, taking a short nap on the couch.
Akira looked around and saw that she was in a magnificent castle, the floors gleaming with the radiant sun shining through the windows. Then she heard some voices coming from another room and decided to take a look and see who was there. There was a pair of giant extravagant doors standing in her way, but she easily pushed them open and revealed a wonderful ball. The people were dressed like in the past with the giant gowns and suits, but they all wore masks. Just then she noticed everyone turning their attention to the doors again. The doors opened and a group of five people arrived, but only one was wearing a shining crown upon his head.
Akira awoke from her dream, slightly disappointed that she didn’t see the man’s face before waking up. She returned to the room and began to clear things again, revealing an old vanity hidden beneath the mess. The dark wooden vanity with its dusty old mirror had withstood time without as much as a scratch on its surface. Akira was impressed that the things her grandmother had kept all these years had stayed in such good condition. Her grandmother came to check up on Akira and saw the newly revealed vanity.
“So it was in here the whole time? Sure looks good even after so many years, it used to be mine when I was just a little girl and I haven’t had the heart to get rid of it. You can have it if you like Akira, I have no use for it anymore,” her grandmother told her as she went and placed her shaky hand on the wood.
“That’s very nice grandma, but I don’t think it will fit in my room,” Akira tried to politely decline her grandmother.
“You know,” her grandmother paused as she looked into the mirror at her aging face, “When I was just a girl I used to sit here on a full moon with a single candle lit and brush my hair one hundred times in hopes of seeing the man I was supposed to marry. The man I saw in it was actually totally different from your grandfather.”
“You mean that old story was true? You really did see a man in it?” Akira asked with peaked curiosity.
“Not everyone sees who they will marry. I just happened to be one of the lucky ones, but honestly I told your mother to never mimic me, and let me warn you as well, don’t try it. Sometimes you’re better off not knowing who is looking back at you,” her grandmother told her in a serious tone.
Akira watched as her grandmother left, waiting till she shut the door before taking a seat in front of the mirror. It wasn’t night time, there was no candle, but she did have a brush she carried everywhere she went. She fetched the brush before looking into the mirror and stroking her long bobbed hair. Her heart beat faster, anticipating that it wouldn’t work, but she still found it exhilarating.
“…99…100…” Akira counted the last strokes awaiting a face in the mirror.
Nothing happened, only her own reflection staring back at her. Akira figured that would happen and stood up, ready to go back to work before she heard a voice come from the mirror.
“I knew you would return, always knew you would,” the voice echoed as the reflection became distorted.
Akira became frozen in fear as the mirror began to look like a whirlpool, swirling and ready to swallow her whole. She looked down to see the necklace glowing as the mirror began to suck her in. Akira screamed for help as she tried to grab something to keep herself from begin sucked in. Her grandmother rushed in only to see Akira crying out for her to help her. She was hanging onto to dear life, tears streaming down her cheeks before her grip loosened, causing her to be sucked into the mirror. Hearing her grandmother call out her name was the last thing she heard before everything went black…
---
“Your highness, please slow down!” the young man followed after the prince who hurried for once in his life.
The prince turned around, fixing his mahogany brown eyes on his court advisor, Hiromitsu, before yelling, “We can’t waste time, father said it was important and I must hurry because something bad may have happened!”
Hiromitsu had never seen the prince so flustered before as he nodded and followed after him. The prince was shorter than most men, his light brown hair and deeply tanned skin making him stand out among the others.
“Do the other court advisors know to meet us in the great hall?” the prince asked as they arrived at the giant grand doors of the great hall.
“Yes, Ohno-sama, they should be on their way if not already in there waiting for us,” Hiromitsu answered.
“Good, let us see what father has that is so urgent,” Ohno said before pushing the great doors open.
The king and queen were seated in their thrones as their son arrived, walking towards them. His three other court advisors were bowing politely as the prince walked up to them.
“What is so urgent father that you must tear me away from my paintings?” Ohno asked.
“The priest of the temple came to me, saying he found something quite interesting,” the king explained before motioning for a guard to bring in the priest who brought in a cage.
In the cage was a young woman, clearly unconscious, and dressed in clothing not seen anywhere before. Ohno was confused as to what was the meaning of this. The king signaled again as the priest bowed before stepping forward.
“This girl here arrived from the sacred pool, wearing the necklace of our kingdom. I found it strange as I rescued her from the pool, she hasn’t woken since, but I believe there is something special about her. For now I would like to present her to you and decide what to do with her,” the priest explained as he never lifted his shaved head to face them.
Ohno went over to the cage observing the strange girl through the bars, wondering where she’d come from. Suddenly the girl began to stir and Ohno jumped back in case she tried to attack him though the bars. She sat up, her wet hair falling loosely and dripping, covering her face slightly. She looked around, taking in her surroundings before trying to speak. Everyone leaned in, trying to hear exactly what she was saying.
“W-Where am I? What…is this…place?” the girl asked as she looked around trying to figure things out.
When she turned her eyes to Ohno, he could see that her eyes were quite dark, almost black in color, but still noticeably brown. He nervously watched her before going closer to the bars, slowly reaching in as he knelt down to her eye level.
“I’m not going to hurt you…you are in the Mizu Kingdom of Arashi. This is my home, now tell me who are you?” Ohno told her in a calm manner, smiling gently at her in order to not spook her.
“M-My name is Akira,” She told him as she turned to look the man in the eyes.
“Akira, that’s a beautiful name. Can you tell me where you’re from?” Ohno asked hoping to get her to answer more questions.
“I-I’m from…” Akira trailed off before her eyes shot open and she frantically looked around, “Where is she?! Grandma?! Grandma?!”
She tried to stand up quickly, but hit her head against the top of the cage which startled everyone in the room. Her eyes began to weld up as she hugged her knees in, burying her face, trying to hide her tears. Ohno felt sorry for the frightened girl, and ordered the priest to let her out of the cage. The priest looked to the king for his consent who nodded before he unlocked the cage. Ohno’s court advisors rushed over when they saw their prince walking around to the door.
“What are you doing my prince?” Yuta, one of the court advisors, asked.
Ohno ignored the four court advisors before squatting down and extending a hand out to Akira. She glanced up at him, then at his hand before looking into his face. He gave her a serious look as he waited, but he didn’t have to wait long before she reached out, placing her hand trustingly in his. Somehow, even though she had never met him before, there was something about him that was calming.
He helped her out of the cage and turned to his father and asked, “If it’s alright with you Father, I would like to look after her myself.”
His father said nothing which Ohno took as a yes before whisking the girl away, his court advisors following closely behind him. If only he knew that his father and the priest were smiling suspiciously behind him…
There is a rumor that says you can see the person you are going to marry, with just a simple spell cast upon the full moon. By sitting in front of a mirror, with only candlelight, brush your hair one hundred times and will see the man you are to marry staring back at you. A silly fairytale mothers tell their daughters and a dare that schoolgirls tell one another at sleepovers. It was always just a simple game, no one was ever meant to get hurt, but sometimes, things are not just simple fairytales…
“Grandma, how can you have all of these things?” the girl asked as she stared into the room filled to the ceiling with old dusty boxes.
The fragile old woman looked over at her granddaughter as she smiled and answered, “I’m sorry your mother is making you help me clean this old house up. I will make you something delicious for lunch to repay you; what would you like Akira?”
Akira turned around to face her grandmother hesitating before answering, “Anything really, I’m not picky.”
Her grandmother nodded her head before turning to leave, shuffling away to the kitchen. Akira looked around the room, running her slender fingers across the surfaces of the stacked boxes. She let out a sigh before tucking some of her dark hair behind her ear. She began grabbing the boxes, opening them up and checking them, seeing all of the things her grandmother had collected over the years. The time flew by and the room was actually starting to be cleared, and the walls that had been hidden were slowly being revealed. Akira opened one more box as her grandmother called for her to have lunch.
“I’ll be there in a minute!” Akira called back as she peered into the box.
There was an old antique box with a beautiful design painted on the top. Akira pulled it out and examined the wonderful workmanship on its sides, thinking that whoever did it was surely a great craftsman. She opened the box to see if anything was inside, surprised by the sudden melody that played once the lid was lifted. It was a calming sound, a melody she hadn’t heard before, but somehow felt familiar. There was only a single necklace in the box, a very simple necklace at that.
“Oh my, you’ve found something I forgot I even had,” Akira’s grandmother spoke as she appeared behind Akira.
“What do you mean?” Akira asked as she watched her grandmother pull the necklace out from the box.
“This necklace meant quite a lot to me. Someone I once loved gave it to me as a present, he asked for me to give it to your mother, but I thought I had lost it forever. Since you found it you can keep it,” her grandmother explained before placing the necklace around Akira’s neck.
Akira looked at the pendant and saw that there was a picture engraved on it, a symbol or crest she hadn’t recognized before, the only recognizable thing being the moon on it. For something so old, it seemed brand new and sparkled without light even hitting it. Akira thanked her grandmother before going to the kitchen and having her lunch. After lunch Akira took a short break, taking a short nap on the couch.
Akira looked around and saw that she was in a magnificent castle, the floors gleaming with the radiant sun shining through the windows. Then she heard some voices coming from another room and decided to take a look and see who was there. There was a pair of giant extravagant doors standing in her way, but she easily pushed them open and revealed a wonderful ball. The people were dressed like in the past with the giant gowns and suits, but they all wore masks. Just then she noticed everyone turning their attention to the doors again. The doors opened and a group of five people arrived, but only one was wearing a shining crown upon his head.
Akira awoke from her dream, slightly disappointed that she didn’t see the man’s face before waking up. She returned to the room and began to clear things again, revealing an old vanity hidden beneath the mess. The dark wooden vanity with its dusty old mirror had withstood time without as much as a scratch on its surface. Akira was impressed that the things her grandmother had kept all these years had stayed in such good condition. Her grandmother came to check up on Akira and saw the newly revealed vanity.
“So it was in here the whole time? Sure looks good even after so many years, it used to be mine when I was just a little girl and I haven’t had the heart to get rid of it. You can have it if you like Akira, I have no use for it anymore,” her grandmother told her as she went and placed her shaky hand on the wood.
“That’s very nice grandma, but I don’t think it will fit in my room,” Akira tried to politely decline her grandmother.
“You know,” her grandmother paused as she looked into the mirror at her aging face, “When I was just a girl I used to sit here on a full moon with a single candle lit and brush my hair one hundred times in hopes of seeing the man I was supposed to marry. The man I saw in it was actually totally different from your grandfather.”
“You mean that old story was true? You really did see a man in it?” Akira asked with peaked curiosity.
“Not everyone sees who they will marry. I just happened to be one of the lucky ones, but honestly I told your mother to never mimic me, and let me warn you as well, don’t try it. Sometimes you’re better off not knowing who is looking back at you,” her grandmother told her in a serious tone.
Akira watched as her grandmother left, waiting till she shut the door before taking a seat in front of the mirror. It wasn’t night time, there was no candle, but she did have a brush she carried everywhere she went. She fetched the brush before looking into the mirror and stroking her long bobbed hair. Her heart beat faster, anticipating that it wouldn’t work, but she still found it exhilarating.
“…99…100…” Akira counted the last strokes awaiting a face in the mirror.
Nothing happened, only her own reflection staring back at her. Akira figured that would happen and stood up, ready to go back to work before she heard a voice come from the mirror.
“I knew you would return, always knew you would,” the voice echoed as the reflection became distorted.
Akira became frozen in fear as the mirror began to look like a whirlpool, swirling and ready to swallow her whole. She looked down to see the necklace glowing as the mirror began to suck her in. Akira screamed for help as she tried to grab something to keep herself from begin sucked in. Her grandmother rushed in only to see Akira crying out for her to help her. She was hanging onto to dear life, tears streaming down her cheeks before her grip loosened, causing her to be sucked into the mirror. Hearing her grandmother call out her name was the last thing she heard before everything went black…
---
“Your highness, please slow down!” the young man followed after the prince who hurried for once in his life.
The prince turned around, fixing his mahogany brown eyes on his court advisor, Hiromitsu, before yelling, “We can’t waste time, father said it was important and I must hurry because something bad may have happened!”
Hiromitsu had never seen the prince so flustered before as he nodded and followed after him. The prince was shorter than most men, his light brown hair and deeply tanned skin making him stand out among the others.
“Do the other court advisors know to meet us in the great hall?” the prince asked as they arrived at the giant grand doors of the great hall.
“Yes, Ohno-sama, they should be on their way if not already in there waiting for us,” Hiromitsu answered.
“Good, let us see what father has that is so urgent,” Ohno said before pushing the great doors open.
The king and queen were seated in their thrones as their son arrived, walking towards them. His three other court advisors were bowing politely as the prince walked up to them.
“What is so urgent father that you must tear me away from my paintings?” Ohno asked.
“The priest of the temple came to me, saying he found something quite interesting,” the king explained before motioning for a guard to bring in the priest who brought in a cage.
In the cage was a young woman, clearly unconscious, and dressed in clothing not seen anywhere before. Ohno was confused as to what was the meaning of this. The king signaled again as the priest bowed before stepping forward.
“This girl here arrived from the sacred pool, wearing the necklace of our kingdom. I found it strange as I rescued her from the pool, she hasn’t woken since, but I believe there is something special about her. For now I would like to present her to you and decide what to do with her,” the priest explained as he never lifted his shaved head to face them.
Ohno went over to the cage observing the strange girl through the bars, wondering where she’d come from. Suddenly the girl began to stir and Ohno jumped back in case she tried to attack him though the bars. She sat up, her wet hair falling loosely and dripping, covering her face slightly. She looked around, taking in her surroundings before trying to speak. Everyone leaned in, trying to hear exactly what she was saying.
“W-Where am I? What…is this…place?” the girl asked as she looked around trying to figure things out.
When she turned her eyes to Ohno, he could see that her eyes were quite dark, almost black in color, but still noticeably brown. He nervously watched her before going closer to the bars, slowly reaching in as he knelt down to her eye level.
“I’m not going to hurt you…you are in the Mizu Kingdom of Arashi. This is my home, now tell me who are you?” Ohno told her in a calm manner, smiling gently at her in order to not spook her.
“M-My name is Akira,” She told him as she turned to look the man in the eyes.
“Akira, that’s a beautiful name. Can you tell me where you’re from?” Ohno asked hoping to get her to answer more questions.
“I-I’m from…” Akira trailed off before her eyes shot open and she frantically looked around, “Where is she?! Grandma?! Grandma?!”
She tried to stand up quickly, but hit her head against the top of the cage which startled everyone in the room. Her eyes began to weld up as she hugged her knees in, burying her face, trying to hide her tears. Ohno felt sorry for the frightened girl, and ordered the priest to let her out of the cage. The priest looked to the king for his consent who nodded before he unlocked the cage. Ohno’s court advisors rushed over when they saw their prince walking around to the door.
“What are you doing my prince?” Yuta, one of the court advisors, asked.
Ohno ignored the four court advisors before squatting down and extending a hand out to Akira. She glanced up at him, then at his hand before looking into his face. He gave her a serious look as he waited, but he didn’t have to wait long before she reached out, placing her hand trustingly in his. Somehow, even though she had never met him before, there was something about him that was calming.
He helped her out of the cage and turned to his father and asked, “If it’s alright with you Father, I would like to look after her myself.”
His father said nothing which Ohno took as a yes before whisking the girl away, his court advisors following closely behind him. If only he knew that his father and the priest were smiling suspiciously behind him…