32 | dwarf; a reflection of good

[The story 'Mirror' is opening...]

When the crinkle of sheets sounded, Lucas had already raised his hands immaturely to flip the other person off, furrowing his eyebrows. The hand gesture was unnecessary, but Elias had escaped to a far enough distance and the other didn't want to yell.

[A number of new characters had been found! Merging profiles with the story...]

[Confirmed! The story may be read!]

The teasing man tapped the ring with the tips of his nail, allowing a dull metal chime to call out—loud in Lucas' perked ears.

"A distraction, just for you." said Elias loudly, knowing that they'd already neared their location. It was equivalent to running away at the last moment.

Paper crumbled beneath him, and the ground parted into splits of dozens of sheets, and Lucas tumbled once more into a new Story.

How Elias found the Story, he didn't know.

At the very least, Elliot was still passed out in the car, and in the worst case scenario, the group would be able to visit Kane separately.

Whatever the case, Lucas was going to kill that man.

[The story 'Mirror' has opened!]

The man in question, crashed through the unfurling pages and onto cobbled grounds. Elias rubbed his legs calmly, feeling the bare skin on his palm before he paused.

A blink, and then he stroked his legs again. Ah yes, his calves were truly muscular—no, that wasn't the point.

Where were his pants?

On the other side, in a different area, Lucas groaned as he rubbed his back. He'd have to put in a complaint on the transport system for these Stories, seriously!

Muttering complaints to himself, he rolled over into a sitting position. There was a strange smell that clouded his nose.

Then he froze.

Lifting his arm with some struggle, large, forest green sleeves draped over his body, and past his fingertips, dragging onto the ground. The cloth bundled at his neck to make a sort of turtle-neck style, and a belt looped around his waist.

Lucas lifted up the fabric, checking underneath before relaxing. Pants. He was still wearing pants.

However, when he reached out to feel the weight on his head, he dragged off a pale purple hat that almost drowned his head.

"......"

Lucas tried to move and stand, but the bundle of cloth dragged him back. Finally, he futility rolled up the sleeves, attempting to tuck a pile into his hands—resulting in a prominent stomach bulge.

He pulled it out immediately.

Although Elias was nowhere in sight, considering their last egg conversations, he did not want to hear whatever comments that man would make.

"Dopey?" A pale, sweet voice called out from the door followed by rough knocking. "Hello?"

Lucas glanced sideways, his fingers wrapped around the belt, ready to unbuckle.

"....." He hastily fastened the belt again and answered, "Yes?"

"Where are you? You're supposed to be cooking today, aren't you?"

"...yes, give me a moment."

"I've already given you plenty!" Another banging on the door.

"Not again." scowled Lucas at the rumbling voice, carried in a lull drawl of speech. It spoke in his mind uncomfortably.

Two flashing white dots blinked in the corner of the dim room, and Lucas narrowed his stare.

A sweet, fluffy black bunny peered back at him, glasses perched on its nose. There was no smile this time, but the chaos swarmed in its expression. Round, white eyes blinked again.

The banging on the door was getting louder now. He felt a sharp object with pointed tips graze his skin and winced.

Lucas listened for more, but the bunny refused to add anything more than the basics. Straight to the point, unlike the sadistic Cinderella Teller.

Actually, who did this Teller represent?

There was another point that itched at Lucas' brain—the name of the Story. Unlike the Cinderella Story, the name of this one was not Snow White, but 'Mirror'.

It was a seemingly insignificant thing, but he didn't think so.

The Cinderella Story was one of collaboration, where it would be near impossible to survive unless you learned to trust your fellow victims. That was a secret hidden until the end.

The objective of killing the Evil Queen was too easy. Although humans preferred to watch than commit murder, it could be done if necessary.

There were also the reminders that had been said.

"Hey! Dopey, if you do not open the door soon...!"

Lucas sighed irritably, dragging the heavy weight of fabric as he jiggled the doorknob and swung it wide open.

A young, beautiful woman stood on the other side, with hair the colour of the darkest nights, and cherry lips that carried a natural sheen. Doe-eyed and flushed pink cheeks that were prominent against pale skin.

Her hands and well-manicured nails sat impatiently at her hips—definitely not the kind Snow White known in the most common story.

This Snow White looked as if she wanted to bite his head off.

She smacked her lips, muttering loud enough for Lucas to hear, "Hm... you'd be a rather tasty piece of meat..."

Suddenly, Lucas could empathize with how that cowardly youth, Julian, felt.

He stared ahead in the small cottage, covered in clean wooden planks, and raised an arm forward nonchalantly. "Go for it."

"Excuse me?"

"Take a bite."

A look of bewilderment filled her gaze as her smile twitched. She changed her mind—eating the meat of a crazy man would be detrimental to her health!

Lucas took another casual step towards her, drooping clothes and all, and she stepped back, horrified. He felt a little offended at her stare, that looked at him as if he were some diseased food on the sidewalk.

"Anyway!" She cleared her foot, crossing her arms as she arrogantly lifted her chin. "I expect the food to be done soon, Dopey. If not..."

A sinister smile appeared as she waved a finger to the room that he had just been in. Lucas slowly turned around, feeling her hands scrape against the back of his neck.

It dug into his skin slightly, and the reflection of three stacked corpses filled his vision. Bloodied, dismembered bodies with mushy flesh clinging to the floor as the rancid stench permeated his nose.

It was in the corner of the room, so Lucas hadn't looked at it originally.

"Well! I'll be back soon, take care Dopey."

She spun around, skirt flowing joyfully with her movements as she waved. Lucas closed the door to the room as soon as she did, bile building at the back of his throat.

First thing first, she wanted food. He could do that—even if the last attempt in the kitchen actually ended up with his microwave exploding, he had some confidence.

However, when his hand rested over the doors of the large pantry, he had a terrible premonition. The smell was muffled compared to the room, but as he approached, the vague scent of burnt flesh....

Lucas turned around and decided to become a farmer.

Forging for foods in the woods, just like a fairytale princess would. See, he was fully committed to his character; didn't he deserve extra points? He could even speak to animals if it allowed him to escape that flesh-starved woman.

He walked for less than a minute and decided not to go further because he was starting to daydream.

Crouching down, Lucas depicted the idle scene of a youth frolicking in the woods and picking mushrooms—red coloured tops? Must be especially good for the immune system!

He gathered an assortment of the brightest plants he could find, in all sorts of reds, yellows, and greens.

Walking around, he searched for a knife. When he couldn't find it, he grabbed a wooden plate and ripped into the plants, breaking them into a million little pieces before laying them out in a beautiful presentation.

Social media worthy, of course.

The door swung wide-open behind him shortly after, and syrupy singing filled the air. Lucas held out the plate; Snow White paled.

"Dopey!" She screeched noisily, as Lucas placed his hands over his ears. "Has nobody ever taught you that bright-coloured plants are often poisonous!"

"I dropped out of... dwarf school."

"Did your parents not teach you....!"

"They're dead."

"Oh."

The pair of people stared blankly at each other for a moment, and the moment of excruciating awkwardness was equivalent to silence on a first date.

Finally, Snow White kicked up a fuss and threw the food onto the ground.

"Get out, get out!"

Lucas stepped forward to offer up his arm again, and her screaming grew louder. "Go! I don't want to look at your disfigured face anymore! Out, out!"

She flailed around furiously before slamming herself into the only room in the small house. The room with the corpses.... The mixed sound of gnawing and weeping slowly trailed out, and Lucas left urgently.

She'd glared at him as if she wanted him dead on the spot—but there seemed to be certain regulations that prevented her from killing at random.

And so, the little dwarf was expelled and sent on a journey into the woods.

Lucas trudged along absentmindedly until he reached the nearest town—connected to the Evil Queen's palace. It seemed that whoever made this world was too lazy to create too many towns to create a realistic place.

He wondered what sort of lazy author didn't plan out the landscape well.

Regardless, it was convenient and saved him the effort of walking. Judging by Snow White's twisted character, he wasn't actually certain if the Evil Queen would be... evil.

And if she wasn't evil, then would he still accomplish the task by killing her?

He could only hope and pray that the Evil Queen would be a murderous, jealous woman as portrayed in the tales.

——xxx——

Elias accidentally slammed his knee into a mirror and crumpled to the ground in pain and surprise. He'd wandered into a dark room within the unnecessarily large castle in search of proper clothes.

Clearing his throat, the especially elegant and terrifying man stood up and brushed the dirt off his skirt.

A piece of the mirror had shattered, clinging to his skirt, and he pocketed it in a daze.

The only joy he could muster was the hope that Lucas had been forced into an equally interesting situation. Not that the man himself looked awful in dresses, of course.

Elias looked great, always.

He trudged out of the room with the billowing black skirt flowing around him, the dress fitted around his muscular chest, and he walked with a frightening confidence.

The muscular maid continued his exploration of the castle.

In fact, he'd only been startled in the beginning, but humans adjusted to things rapidly and Elias had already accepted his fate, shamelessly walking with large strides.

He turned the corner and met the gaze of a shell-shocked maid, who rubbed her eyes twice before blinking, as if imagining things. Lowering, her eyes fell upon the chest area.

Elias smiled casually. "Hm, can I classify this as harassment?"

He tapped his head twice and twirled his fingers at his side, invisible threads snaking out of the tips and gliding through the air. His smile remained in place, but a glaze coated the maid's mind.

"Don't I look fantastic? Though I know somebody who would look even better."

Robotically, the maid nodded her head with a stiffened expression. Elias glanced around at the empty area before looking back at her.

"Should I find the Evil Queen, or my darling?" mused the man, relaxed.

Although there was nobody more aware that Elias that the objective wouldn't be so simple, when explained in such a bland and straight-forward way.

More importantly, he should discuss with that hopeless sponge who was likely simmering and soaking in profanities as he walked.

Somewhere in the woods, a certain cursing man sneezed.

Snow White. A tale of competition between mother and daughter, of the insecurities of the older woman, and the ignorance of the younger.

Though Elias wasn't very interested in finding the True Ending. The opposite was true, in fact—he'd rather not learn anything about the twisted secrets behind the happy fairytale.

A flash of raven appeared in the corner of his vision, and he glanced back carelessly before waving.

The black bunny in the corner peered at him.

Decades of sorrow pressed into the rounded white eyes, years of exhaustion and endless suffering.

"What?" He turned away, completely ignoring the Teller. "I'm not interested in learning about whatever nonsense it is you wish to share."

A mist appeared Elias' fathomless ocean gaze as he tilted his head back, dozens of fine thread circling him in a protective cocoon. It resembled a spider's web, with prey tangled at the ends.

"Do recall who you're speaking to," Another elegant smile curled the corners of his lips, and the black bunny stared blankly. "Teller."

Before Elias' bored eyes, it disappeared in a cloud of pitch smoke and a short chuckle rumbled from the man before he continued to walk, spinning a metal ring between his fingers.

Humming loosely, he meandered through the rooms with an air of careless individualism, indifferent to whether he was seen or not.

He threw open a stuck door, hearing a whimper escape in the corners.

A curled-up, shaking figure cowered in the depths, snowy eyes peering cautiously at Elias, warping their beautiful face in an expression of terror. Long eyelashes framed their gaze, and tousled raven hair fell over their skin.

"....."

He wasn't having a nightmare, was he?

Because that tear-stricken, pitiful, puppy-like expression may have been unfamiliar to Elias, but the shape of his jaw and his chilling gaze was not.

"E-Elias?"

Even that infuriating voice was the same.

"Is this a joke?" wondered the man, half-waiting for an insult on his abnormal outfit—not that he wanted to be insulted, but it would've provided a great comfort to him at this moment.

More watery tears bubbled in the sobbing figure's face, and Elias took a step back in horror. "If I wanted to see you cry, I'd prefer it was due to my own ministrations."

There was no biting remark in return, much to Elias' disappointment. He wondered if he was secretly being conditioned to take cold words by that sponge.

"Elias. You're here."

"You see, that's something he would say, but certainly not with that expression on his face."

This 'Lucas' blinked with wonderful, confused eyes that unnerved Elias immensely. Elias stared, half amused and half terrified, thoughtful.

"Are you Lucas?"

The man nodded quickly. "I am. I may not be the one you know, though."

The Teller had cautioned them of something similar too.

"What do you mean?"

"I am." The trembling man stumbled to his feet, gaze shifting nervously. "Lucas. However, I am more of a reflection—though in my eyes, I am the real one."

"A reflection?"

His fingers grazed a shard of mirror that had been tucked away in his pocket, and he rubbed it absentmindedly. Ripples danced over the reflective surface, giving way to a scene hidden beneath before returning to normal.

Elias stilled, curiously rubbing over it once more before looking up at the Lucas he didn't know

"Well. Won't this be interesting?"

And in a forest, far, far away, a certain apathetic sponge stood face to face with a stoic, straight-faced weed that he definitely did not know.

———xxx———

[ding! message from lukiyo]

hello~ i'm sorry for the late update!! my wifi was cut last night, so i'm here at work leeching off the internet LOL (will edit some grammar mistakes and such later on my break!)

hope you're all having the most delicious of days!!