Post by Shine on Apr 17, 2016 20:35:25 GMT -5
Name: Ashling Evans
Secret Identity (if any): Shine
Age: 22
Affiliation: Heroes
Base of Operations (if any): She still keeps her apartment in Jewel Junction, though if she gets the right scholarships or job opportunities, she could find herself moving anywhere from New York to Oregon.
Another location that she is learning to use is the her mirror space, her own personal sanctum, courtesy of her jerk of a father who'd tried to have her killed. She still doesn't know the whole story on that, or on the mirror itself.
Appearance: Ashling is a young woman in her early twenties with ginger hair past her shoulders, a pale complexion, and some freckling left over from her youth. She's quick to smile, quick to frown, and quick to laugh. She has a lusty, athletic figure which she keeps trimmed from regular running, complemented with the occasional swimming or climbing outing. When out and about, she favors jeans, jackets, and tennis shoes for their comfort and durability, but she always takes the opportunity to dress up to the occasion if going to a party.
As yet, she doesn't have an outfit, a name, or even a desire to step into people's lives as a hero, but, she idly fancies herself a "Shine" if she were to do so, as she's heard of other people doing.
Powers: Ashling is a "hero". The daughter of one of the Celtic Gods, and a mortal woman living in the United States who had personified the the old memories stirring in Aengus' memory. She would be called a demigod among other cultures. She is destined to have her tales recorded alongside those of the Tuatha De Dannan, and other mighty heroes still heard in the folklore of the lands come out of the celtic histories. She's always been strong of limb and swift of foot, with a spirit of fire burning in her when it came to competitions. Thought not driven by the nature of competition, she craved the challenges that came of such competitions, feeling that they allowed her to truly open up and release her inner self, instead of containing and holding herself back. Since learning of her heritage, she has begun testing her limits, and though she is still building strength, and agility, she finds that she seems to develop it further and faster than others her age.
Through an ordeal meant to end her life, she gained ownership of an artifact of magic power from the Fae Plane. She knows it only as "The Mirror". This Mirror confers on her the ability to pass into a world where she can see out of the reflective surfaces around her, or use them as direct portals to other mirrored surfaces. She hasn't learned the exact distance or how well and far she can move through this means, but she has figured a few things out. In order to use a reflection as a gate, there must be light present, for without light there can be no reflections. If it is pitch dark, she cannot travel through it, and if a mirror is covered she cannot pass through it. She must be able to fit through it, so she can only reach an arm through small reflections, while she can run, leap, and dive through larger ones. An exception to this is the mirror passing these powers on to her, through which she can pass into, despite its small size. Something of the artifact's magic allows this.
She knows that when in the mirror world, she can be seen when she steps up to it and is ready to pass through. She's unsure close she needs to get before she becomes visible in the mirror she is looking out of.
As time goes on, Ashling will add to her allies, enemies, and equipment, but for now, it is limited to the hand mirror which she gained possession of by taking. Inside it is an extradimensional space that is safe from a variety of supernatural threats such as divinations, dream invasions. As the owner of the mirror, the appearance of this space changes to suit her desires and commands. Inside the mirror is also, the Keeper. Someone or thing created to "Keep this space". Keeper can provide useful information about what he can see out from the local area around the mirror, as well as answer questions, but his knowledge is limited to what he has experienced directly, or about the mirror and its purpose directly. Keeper seems unable to do any direct harm.
Personality: Ashling is a young twenty something. She's fun loving and energetic. She's highspirited, competitive, and has a fire and a pride burning in her that can be difficult to shut down once it starts. She has little real knowledge about the Irish heritage on her Mom's side of the family, but does her best to live up to it. That can mean anything from drinking alot and carousing wildly to standing firm when she knows she's right, and standing up for those pushed around. Even with her relatively good and comfortable life, she's had her share of problems however. Growing up without a father to dote on you and help pick you back up again can be hard to bear, even with the support of family and friends along the way, and Ashling has had trouble finding where she belongs in the world. Not such an unusual problem for the youths of the world to have, but it's not helped by the fact that many of her best natural talents aren't what she has a mind for. She may be talented at outdoor activities like running and climbing, but she would rather spend her time studying how to teach or coach better.
Origin Story: My name is Ashling Evans, and I never knew my father. Never even heard his name until I was twenty-two, but once I knew about him, it changed the way I looked at things in a BIG way. I can talk more on that later though. The first entry in about my new life doesn't First: who am I? Nobody special really. At least growing up that's how it felt. I was just another school kid in the central states. I grew up in the Smoky Mountain with blessed little space. That's not as exciting as I wanted it to be. Mom managed to get me out to see the great outdoors from time to time, whether taking me herself, or passing me off to friends for an afternoon. She struggled. She was a young single mom stuck with me and abandoned by some jackass that screwed her over and then left before the bedsheets had even cooled. So much for love. You'll find that ironic later on.
I did well in track through highschool. Actually, track was what I stood out in. I set some new records and had my name put on the wall. As far as I know, no one has actually beaten my running times. Once I was out of school though, I started getting a little more philosophical. I started to see a need in the world for people who would look out for the lost. My Mom had done a great job helping me through my funks growing up, and I'd had some really good friends on the track that had stood by me. But they'd moved on now, and I'd moved out to college, and it was just little ol' me. I got a scholarship for running at Jewel Junction University for a couple of years, but my heart just wasn't fully into running anymore. That didn't stop me from using it to the best of my ability. Instead, I started devoting myself to various community services, and I started coaching a homeschool group's track activities in my time between shifts waitressing. The pay was atrocious and barely more than enough to cover my time, but I got alot of satisfaction out of it, and it helped give me the support that I hadn't known I would be missing so much.
Queue Dad. I wouldn't find out how he found me until later, and if someone had told me then, I would have laughed myself silly. See, my dad is an old man, and set in equally old ways. He found me by using divining wands. Old magic.... Yeah. I know what you're thinking. Ashling's gone off the deep end. Wait! Wait! There's more! My dad is actually alive from the pre christian era. That would put him at least older than two thousand years. Whew.... I wonder what the cost of living was back then.... Joking aside, his name is Aengus, and he be from Ireland, or Britain. Or maybe Wales? I don't know. I've never been too clear on the old celts. Aengus Og, the Celtic God of Love. For being a god of love, he sure didn't live up to his name. I didn't know that at the time though. It was just package delivered through the mail like anyone else would send. I went and got it at my apartment buildings office, and took it upstairs to open it.
I opened up a letter taped onto the outside of the box and started reading. It's hard to describe the lurch in my gut and the feelings that came when I realized who was sending it. I was excited on the one hand, but there was alot of pent up anger at good ol' Dad for never being around while I was growing up. I read the letter. I couldn't read it at first. The script looked like a bunch of lines with more lines running through them, but when I blinked at it, the pages letters seemed to flow together and I thought maybe it was just the dark in my room. I flipped on the light and started reading. In essence, he told me that he'd been looking for me all my life, that he hadn't been able to find me, and that he needed me to stay a secret. That hurt. Alot. Alot more than I thought it should coming from someone I'd never met, but hey. Those are feelings for you. The letter said he wanted me to have something though. A gift included in the box. I went ahead and opened that up, and inside was... well, a hand mirror. But calling it a hand mirror would be like calling the Mona Lisa a painting instead of a priceless work of art. It would be like saying that the St Louis Arch was nothing more than a structure instead of a national monument. This handmirror was the most expensive and finest piece of work I'd ever held. With shining mother of pearl on the handle, and brass and silver ornamentation over a shimmering, shining piece of art. My fingers trembled as I picked it up, admiring the sweeping silver runes contrasting the brasswork showing figures.... I didn't really know what they were doing, other than the figures were mirrored perfectly on either side. I looked in the mirror, and that was when I noticed things started getting weird. I realized right away that I couldn't look away, and I started to feel drawn towards the mirror. I leaned in towards it and unable to stop myself, even when I tried with all my strength to lean back as far from it as I could. Then things seemed to start stretching. Nevermind how it works, because I'm pretty sure that if I understood that, I'd be better off locked up in an asylum. Regardless, I felt myself getting drawn forward, sucked into the mirror I was holding.
It took me awhile to piece together what must have happened, and longer to convince myself to act as though it were real until I knew one way or another whether it was a dream or not. I looked around me, and everything looked white. Up and down weren't quite so arbitrary there. Around me, I saw windows showing me the world. Parts of my room, small patches and fragments here and there showing different parts of houses. I walked up to some, and saw through it, into my bathroom. It was hard to see through. The light wasn't on, and the evening was closing in. I walked over to another patch, and saw a woman wrapped in a bath towel leaning up to the window, working on her hair. Her eyes seemed to lock on me, and she jumped and recoiled back from the window. I ran from there. To be fair, I did much the same reaction. Everything in this weird place was freaking me out, and I had no idea what it was. I thought it was maybe some bad chicken for lunch at the time, but I came to realize that I was seeing the world through reflections. Wherever a reflection was, I could look out of it. "Well that's nifty," I thought, "But now how do I get out." I put a hand on the mirror looking into my bathroom and pressed. No response. Dim light from where I'd left my bedroom light on was leaking in, and I could just barely glimpse out into the room. I saw the mirror just sitting there on the bed, face up and reflecting light onto the ceiling. While I watched, I saw a figure step into the room. It was a thin willowy figure of a man. Almost unnaturally stringy. Even so, I yelled at the top of my lungs, and beat on the window-mirror to try and get his attenion, because I couldn't think of what else to do in that situation. He didn't seem to hear me. Instead, he just looked down, and carefully slipped the mirror into a pocket on his jacket before turning to walk out. I was about to burst into tears at the sudden ludicrous hope, and how it was taken from me before it could even be realized, but then he turned and stared right at me in the mirror. I stopped cold, and froze in place. His eyes were this vividly bright gold, with slits, and it sent chills down my spine. I recoiled back from the opposite side of the mirror and he gave malevolent smile that lowered the temperature by a few degrees.
I fell back and stopped trying then, about ready to just swallow whatever was given to me. Whatever this was, I had no idea how to stop it. Then a voice seemed to speak to me in my head. It said, "I am the keeper of this space. My master has ordered the destruction of any who enter here, save for him." The words seemed to pour into my head more as concepts than as actual words. It's difficult to understand without experiencing it first hand. Anyways, I pushed myself up, helplessness forgotten, and balled up my fists as hard as I could. I guess some of that Irish blood in me knew it was time to wake up. I spun around and yelled out a question. "Who are you?!" It answered without missing a beat. "I am the keeper of this space. My master has ordered the destruction of any who enter here, save for him. You are not my master."
I spun and my eyes locked onto some odd shape of a figure. It... he maybe? He seemed made of reflective glass, like the mirror. Almost human in shape, but something was off.
"Farewell." The strange voice rang in my head again, and raised an arm towards me. I stumbled back, thinking of running, but I still had questions. "Wait?! Who is your master?!"
"Aengus Og is my master. You are not my master. Farewell." It didn't even flinch as it answered, and then I saw what was happening. Around me, the world seemed to be crumbling. Shattering like a mirror. It started at was very clearly an edge, and was working its way in towards me. I'm sure my eyes bugged out, but I turned and did what had paid my way through college. What I did better than everyone else I knew. I ran. I ran. And I ran. Ahead of me, everything looked the same, but behind me things were crumbling apart. As the world broke, it seemed to point me towards a center point, until I did see something besides floating windows into the real world ahead of me. It was almost like an alter ahead. There was an island in the center of the huge plain of white and mirrors. An island surrounded on all sides by a chasm that led somewhere I didn't want to explore. Behind me was rapidly becoming that same place though, so I kept on running. In fact, I lengthened my strides. I wouldn't have been surprised to have seen my feet leaving trails of fire if I'd had time to look behind me, but I only had time to glance back and see blackness closing in on me, constantly nearing. Gaining on me.
"My master has ordered the destruction of any who enter here, save for him. Farewell."
Well to hell with that! I thought, and looked ahead. I was nearing the central island, and could see what looked like the mirror I'd dropped on my bed when I'd been pulled into this strange place on the altar there. But as I neared that place, so did the chasm and its jump near me. No time to worry. No time to hesitate. I took a straight ran at it and vaulted. I felt almost like I was flying in that jump, and I felt the last of the ground of that place give way from underneath me as I leapt. Time seemed to stretch out. I'm not kidding. That stuff about you life flashing before your eyes? It's true. I saw back a couple of years ago, when my Mom found a guy that could love and take care of her. Reese Andersen. They'd married, and I'd never gotten on well with my Step dad. I had time to regret it now. I had a step brother still in his early teens that I didn't even know. I regretted that too. I remembered my kids that I coached, friends I'd not seen in years. All in all, I thought I had alot of failures, but what I realized right then was that I was trying my damnedest to do everything I could to survive and get back to the people I'd failed. For my own sake, as well as the love I had for them.
I hit the edge of the central island and bounced off, sure I was falling to my death, but as luck would have it, my foot got caught in a fissue in whatever passed for earth in that place. So instead of dying I was merely left hanging upside down with a foot caught, a twisted ankle, and a bruised rib where I'd bounced off the edge of the island. My dignity may have been bruised a little too, but right then I was just happy too have stopped falling. It took a little while, but I managed to get myself twisted around, and start climbing up the side of the cliff. It wasn't easy, and I was hurt. I had to go slow and cautious. By the time I reached the top, I was exhausted and let myself collapse at the foot of the altar. After a few moments, I saw the same being from before: The Keeper. He was just floating there, looking at me. He didn't speak, and I was still breathing hard enough for two athletes, so I just lay there and closed my eyes. I must have fallen asleep, but when I woke with a jolt, I pushed myself up. Keeper was still there watching and waiting. I was alone on a small island of white in the middle of a black sea. Eventually though, the only other interesting thing in the landscape pulled me to it: The mirror. As soon as my fingers touched it there was a jolt, and I jerked my hand back from it. I heard the voice in my head again immediately.
"Greetings. I am the Keeper of this space. You are the new master of this mirror. What is your bidding?"
"I just want to go home." I muttered it under my breath, and to my surprise, I got an answer. Of a kind.
"Clarity?" The voice seemed to be asking for moreI ignored it, a little interested now that the thing seemed to be responding to me and not trying to kill me.
"Where am I?"
"You are in the mirror." It answered back to me. I must've hit my head, I decided, but I tried to be a little smarter about how I asked it questions anyway.
"So what does that mean?"
Keeper seemed to pause and reflect (hah) on me for a moment before answering. "The mirror is an extradimensional space designed to assist the Tuatha De Dannan and their allies against the forces of-"
"Enough! I just want to get out of here. How can I leave the mirror?"
Keeper seemed to reset himself, and then begin answering. "Choose a reflection, and then touch through. Beware Master. The Mirror is currently in transit and held by a member of a party that means you ill."
I shook my head and ignored him, before grabbing the mirror off the table and reaching out to touch it. I felt pressure on my face as soon as I felt the familiar feeling of being pulled through the mirror. It was hard to breath, and then I heard a tearing sound. I found myself on the ground in the woods, and I had no idea where I was. What I did see, was the shredded remains of a jacket worn by the man who'd taken the mirror back in my room. Speaking of mirrors, I had it in my hand now. Oh. And he was there too, looking shocked that he'd just apparently had a girl leap out of his pocket. Or maybe he'd really liked that jacket. He'd have to get over it. For the moment, he was backing away from me, like I was some kind of toxic serpent, so I played it up as best I could, and held the mirror out towards him like a weapon.
He shrieked, and took off running, and I realized that he was alot shorter than he'd looked back in my room. And his nose was alot longer. And he had very pointed ears. I did at that point what any other delirious and disturbed individual would do. I laughed uncontrollably. Then I realized that I shouldn't linger, so I picked a direction and started heading in it. The air was the freshest I'd ever experienced there, and I soon found out why. Those weren't the smoky mountains, and I wasn't in the United States anymore. Long story short, (because this entry has gone on far longer than it probably ought to have) I found myself in another world In the plain of the Fae. Like DnD Fae, but alot older and more real. I met alot of people there when I found someone who brought me to the court of Brighid, a Goddess of fire and the forge, among other things. Thankfully, there were actually people that gave a damn about a poor little mortal there, and they all sounded suitably impressed by my story of running my butt off to keep from falling off the shattering world. Near as I can tell, I'm something of a novelty to them. I'm not sure how I feel about that. They returned me to my apartment, and promised to look after me. I'm didn't ask them how they were going to do that. Some others even offered to train me to use a sword or spear! Hah! So archaic, but also such beautiful weapons....
I have alot of history to study, and maybe some drinking to do tomorrow. And I have some friends and family to reconnect with too.
Secret Identity (if any): Shine
Age: 22
Affiliation: Heroes
Base of Operations (if any): She still keeps her apartment in Jewel Junction, though if she gets the right scholarships or job opportunities, she could find herself moving anywhere from New York to Oregon.
Another location that she is learning to use is the her mirror space, her own personal sanctum, courtesy of her jerk of a father who'd tried to have her killed. She still doesn't know the whole story on that, or on the mirror itself.
Appearance: Ashling is a young woman in her early twenties with ginger hair past her shoulders, a pale complexion, and some freckling left over from her youth. She's quick to smile, quick to frown, and quick to laugh. She has a lusty, athletic figure which she keeps trimmed from regular running, complemented with the occasional swimming or climbing outing. When out and about, she favors jeans, jackets, and tennis shoes for their comfort and durability, but she always takes the opportunity to dress up to the occasion if going to a party.
As yet, she doesn't have an outfit, a name, or even a desire to step into people's lives as a hero, but, she idly fancies herself a "Shine" if she were to do so, as she's heard of other people doing.
Powers: Ashling is a "hero". The daughter of one of the Celtic Gods, and a mortal woman living in the United States who had personified the the old memories stirring in Aengus' memory. She would be called a demigod among other cultures. She is destined to have her tales recorded alongside those of the Tuatha De Dannan, and other mighty heroes still heard in the folklore of the lands come out of the celtic histories. She's always been strong of limb and swift of foot, with a spirit of fire burning in her when it came to competitions. Thought not driven by the nature of competition, she craved the challenges that came of such competitions, feeling that they allowed her to truly open up and release her inner self, instead of containing and holding herself back. Since learning of her heritage, she has begun testing her limits, and though she is still building strength, and agility, she finds that she seems to develop it further and faster than others her age.
Through an ordeal meant to end her life, she gained ownership of an artifact of magic power from the Fae Plane. She knows it only as "The Mirror". This Mirror confers on her the ability to pass into a world where she can see out of the reflective surfaces around her, or use them as direct portals to other mirrored surfaces. She hasn't learned the exact distance or how well and far she can move through this means, but she has figured a few things out. In order to use a reflection as a gate, there must be light present, for without light there can be no reflections. If it is pitch dark, she cannot travel through it, and if a mirror is covered she cannot pass through it. She must be able to fit through it, so she can only reach an arm through small reflections, while she can run, leap, and dive through larger ones. An exception to this is the mirror passing these powers on to her, through which she can pass into, despite its small size. Something of the artifact's magic allows this.
She knows that when in the mirror world, she can be seen when she steps up to it and is ready to pass through. She's unsure close she needs to get before she becomes visible in the mirror she is looking out of.
As time goes on, Ashling will add to her allies, enemies, and equipment, but for now, it is limited to the hand mirror which she gained possession of by taking. Inside it is an extradimensional space that is safe from a variety of supernatural threats such as divinations, dream invasions. As the owner of the mirror, the appearance of this space changes to suit her desires and commands. Inside the mirror is also, the Keeper. Someone or thing created to "Keep this space". Keeper can provide useful information about what he can see out from the local area around the mirror, as well as answer questions, but his knowledge is limited to what he has experienced directly, or about the mirror and its purpose directly. Keeper seems unable to do any direct harm.
Personality: Ashling is a young twenty something. She's fun loving and energetic. She's highspirited, competitive, and has a fire and a pride burning in her that can be difficult to shut down once it starts. She has little real knowledge about the Irish heritage on her Mom's side of the family, but does her best to live up to it. That can mean anything from drinking alot and carousing wildly to standing firm when she knows she's right, and standing up for those pushed around. Even with her relatively good and comfortable life, she's had her share of problems however. Growing up without a father to dote on you and help pick you back up again can be hard to bear, even with the support of family and friends along the way, and Ashling has had trouble finding where she belongs in the world. Not such an unusual problem for the youths of the world to have, but it's not helped by the fact that many of her best natural talents aren't what she has a mind for. She may be talented at outdoor activities like running and climbing, but she would rather spend her time studying how to teach or coach better.
Origin Story: My name is Ashling Evans, and I never knew my father. Never even heard his name until I was twenty-two, but once I knew about him, it changed the way I looked at things in a BIG way. I can talk more on that later though. The first entry in about my new life doesn't First: who am I? Nobody special really. At least growing up that's how it felt. I was just another school kid in the central states. I grew up in the Smoky Mountain with blessed little space. That's not as exciting as I wanted it to be. Mom managed to get me out to see the great outdoors from time to time, whether taking me herself, or passing me off to friends for an afternoon. She struggled. She was a young single mom stuck with me and abandoned by some jackass that screwed her over and then left before the bedsheets had even cooled. So much for love. You'll find that ironic later on.
I did well in track through highschool. Actually, track was what I stood out in. I set some new records and had my name put on the wall. As far as I know, no one has actually beaten my running times. Once I was out of school though, I started getting a little more philosophical. I started to see a need in the world for people who would look out for the lost. My Mom had done a great job helping me through my funks growing up, and I'd had some really good friends on the track that had stood by me. But they'd moved on now, and I'd moved out to college, and it was just little ol' me. I got a scholarship for running at Jewel Junction University for a couple of years, but my heart just wasn't fully into running anymore. That didn't stop me from using it to the best of my ability. Instead, I started devoting myself to various community services, and I started coaching a homeschool group's track activities in my time between shifts waitressing. The pay was atrocious and barely more than enough to cover my time, but I got alot of satisfaction out of it, and it helped give me the support that I hadn't known I would be missing so much.
Queue Dad. I wouldn't find out how he found me until later, and if someone had told me then, I would have laughed myself silly. See, my dad is an old man, and set in equally old ways. He found me by using divining wands. Old magic.... Yeah. I know what you're thinking. Ashling's gone off the deep end. Wait! Wait! There's more! My dad is actually alive from the pre christian era. That would put him at least older than two thousand years. Whew.... I wonder what the cost of living was back then.... Joking aside, his name is Aengus, and he be from Ireland, or Britain. Or maybe Wales? I don't know. I've never been too clear on the old celts. Aengus Og, the Celtic God of Love. For being a god of love, he sure didn't live up to his name. I didn't know that at the time though. It was just package delivered through the mail like anyone else would send. I went and got it at my apartment buildings office, and took it upstairs to open it.
I opened up a letter taped onto the outside of the box and started reading. It's hard to describe the lurch in my gut and the feelings that came when I realized who was sending it. I was excited on the one hand, but there was alot of pent up anger at good ol' Dad for never being around while I was growing up. I read the letter. I couldn't read it at first. The script looked like a bunch of lines with more lines running through them, but when I blinked at it, the pages letters seemed to flow together and I thought maybe it was just the dark in my room. I flipped on the light and started reading. In essence, he told me that he'd been looking for me all my life, that he hadn't been able to find me, and that he needed me to stay a secret. That hurt. Alot. Alot more than I thought it should coming from someone I'd never met, but hey. Those are feelings for you. The letter said he wanted me to have something though. A gift included in the box. I went ahead and opened that up, and inside was... well, a hand mirror. But calling it a hand mirror would be like calling the Mona Lisa a painting instead of a priceless work of art. It would be like saying that the St Louis Arch was nothing more than a structure instead of a national monument. This handmirror was the most expensive and finest piece of work I'd ever held. With shining mother of pearl on the handle, and brass and silver ornamentation over a shimmering, shining piece of art. My fingers trembled as I picked it up, admiring the sweeping silver runes contrasting the brasswork showing figures.... I didn't really know what they were doing, other than the figures were mirrored perfectly on either side. I looked in the mirror, and that was when I noticed things started getting weird. I realized right away that I couldn't look away, and I started to feel drawn towards the mirror. I leaned in towards it and unable to stop myself, even when I tried with all my strength to lean back as far from it as I could. Then things seemed to start stretching. Nevermind how it works, because I'm pretty sure that if I understood that, I'd be better off locked up in an asylum. Regardless, I felt myself getting drawn forward, sucked into the mirror I was holding.
It took me awhile to piece together what must have happened, and longer to convince myself to act as though it were real until I knew one way or another whether it was a dream or not. I looked around me, and everything looked white. Up and down weren't quite so arbitrary there. Around me, I saw windows showing me the world. Parts of my room, small patches and fragments here and there showing different parts of houses. I walked up to some, and saw through it, into my bathroom. It was hard to see through. The light wasn't on, and the evening was closing in. I walked over to another patch, and saw a woman wrapped in a bath towel leaning up to the window, working on her hair. Her eyes seemed to lock on me, and she jumped and recoiled back from the window. I ran from there. To be fair, I did much the same reaction. Everything in this weird place was freaking me out, and I had no idea what it was. I thought it was maybe some bad chicken for lunch at the time, but I came to realize that I was seeing the world through reflections. Wherever a reflection was, I could look out of it. "Well that's nifty," I thought, "But now how do I get out." I put a hand on the mirror looking into my bathroom and pressed. No response. Dim light from where I'd left my bedroom light on was leaking in, and I could just barely glimpse out into the room. I saw the mirror just sitting there on the bed, face up and reflecting light onto the ceiling. While I watched, I saw a figure step into the room. It was a thin willowy figure of a man. Almost unnaturally stringy. Even so, I yelled at the top of my lungs, and beat on the window-mirror to try and get his attenion, because I couldn't think of what else to do in that situation. He didn't seem to hear me. Instead, he just looked down, and carefully slipped the mirror into a pocket on his jacket before turning to walk out. I was about to burst into tears at the sudden ludicrous hope, and how it was taken from me before it could even be realized, but then he turned and stared right at me in the mirror. I stopped cold, and froze in place. His eyes were this vividly bright gold, with slits, and it sent chills down my spine. I recoiled back from the opposite side of the mirror and he gave malevolent smile that lowered the temperature by a few degrees.
I fell back and stopped trying then, about ready to just swallow whatever was given to me. Whatever this was, I had no idea how to stop it. Then a voice seemed to speak to me in my head. It said, "I am the keeper of this space. My master has ordered the destruction of any who enter here, save for him." The words seemed to pour into my head more as concepts than as actual words. It's difficult to understand without experiencing it first hand. Anyways, I pushed myself up, helplessness forgotten, and balled up my fists as hard as I could. I guess some of that Irish blood in me knew it was time to wake up. I spun around and yelled out a question. "Who are you?!" It answered without missing a beat. "I am the keeper of this space. My master has ordered the destruction of any who enter here, save for him. You are not my master."
I spun and my eyes locked onto some odd shape of a figure. It... he maybe? He seemed made of reflective glass, like the mirror. Almost human in shape, but something was off.
"Farewell." The strange voice rang in my head again, and raised an arm towards me. I stumbled back, thinking of running, but I still had questions. "Wait?! Who is your master?!"
"Aengus Og is my master. You are not my master. Farewell." It didn't even flinch as it answered, and then I saw what was happening. Around me, the world seemed to be crumbling. Shattering like a mirror. It started at was very clearly an edge, and was working its way in towards me. I'm sure my eyes bugged out, but I turned and did what had paid my way through college. What I did better than everyone else I knew. I ran. I ran. And I ran. Ahead of me, everything looked the same, but behind me things were crumbling apart. As the world broke, it seemed to point me towards a center point, until I did see something besides floating windows into the real world ahead of me. It was almost like an alter ahead. There was an island in the center of the huge plain of white and mirrors. An island surrounded on all sides by a chasm that led somewhere I didn't want to explore. Behind me was rapidly becoming that same place though, so I kept on running. In fact, I lengthened my strides. I wouldn't have been surprised to have seen my feet leaving trails of fire if I'd had time to look behind me, but I only had time to glance back and see blackness closing in on me, constantly nearing. Gaining on me.
"My master has ordered the destruction of any who enter here, save for him. Farewell."
Well to hell with that! I thought, and looked ahead. I was nearing the central island, and could see what looked like the mirror I'd dropped on my bed when I'd been pulled into this strange place on the altar there. But as I neared that place, so did the chasm and its jump near me. No time to worry. No time to hesitate. I took a straight ran at it and vaulted. I felt almost like I was flying in that jump, and I felt the last of the ground of that place give way from underneath me as I leapt. Time seemed to stretch out. I'm not kidding. That stuff about you life flashing before your eyes? It's true. I saw back a couple of years ago, when my Mom found a guy that could love and take care of her. Reese Andersen. They'd married, and I'd never gotten on well with my Step dad. I had time to regret it now. I had a step brother still in his early teens that I didn't even know. I regretted that too. I remembered my kids that I coached, friends I'd not seen in years. All in all, I thought I had alot of failures, but what I realized right then was that I was trying my damnedest to do everything I could to survive and get back to the people I'd failed. For my own sake, as well as the love I had for them.
I hit the edge of the central island and bounced off, sure I was falling to my death, but as luck would have it, my foot got caught in a fissue in whatever passed for earth in that place. So instead of dying I was merely left hanging upside down with a foot caught, a twisted ankle, and a bruised rib where I'd bounced off the edge of the island. My dignity may have been bruised a little too, but right then I was just happy too have stopped falling. It took a little while, but I managed to get myself twisted around, and start climbing up the side of the cliff. It wasn't easy, and I was hurt. I had to go slow and cautious. By the time I reached the top, I was exhausted and let myself collapse at the foot of the altar. After a few moments, I saw the same being from before: The Keeper. He was just floating there, looking at me. He didn't speak, and I was still breathing hard enough for two athletes, so I just lay there and closed my eyes. I must have fallen asleep, but when I woke with a jolt, I pushed myself up. Keeper was still there watching and waiting. I was alone on a small island of white in the middle of a black sea. Eventually though, the only other interesting thing in the landscape pulled me to it: The mirror. As soon as my fingers touched it there was a jolt, and I jerked my hand back from it. I heard the voice in my head again immediately.
"Greetings. I am the Keeper of this space. You are the new master of this mirror. What is your bidding?"
"I just want to go home." I muttered it under my breath, and to my surprise, I got an answer. Of a kind.
"Clarity?" The voice seemed to be asking for moreI ignored it, a little interested now that the thing seemed to be responding to me and not trying to kill me.
"Where am I?"
"You are in the mirror." It answered back to me. I must've hit my head, I decided, but I tried to be a little smarter about how I asked it questions anyway.
"So what does that mean?"
Keeper seemed to pause and reflect (hah) on me for a moment before answering. "The mirror is an extradimensional space designed to assist the Tuatha De Dannan and their allies against the forces of-"
"Enough! I just want to get out of here. How can I leave the mirror?"
Keeper seemed to reset himself, and then begin answering. "Choose a reflection, and then touch through. Beware Master. The Mirror is currently in transit and held by a member of a party that means you ill."
I shook my head and ignored him, before grabbing the mirror off the table and reaching out to touch it. I felt pressure on my face as soon as I felt the familiar feeling of being pulled through the mirror. It was hard to breath, and then I heard a tearing sound. I found myself on the ground in the woods, and I had no idea where I was. What I did see, was the shredded remains of a jacket worn by the man who'd taken the mirror back in my room. Speaking of mirrors, I had it in my hand now. Oh. And he was there too, looking shocked that he'd just apparently had a girl leap out of his pocket. Or maybe he'd really liked that jacket. He'd have to get over it. For the moment, he was backing away from me, like I was some kind of toxic serpent, so I played it up as best I could, and held the mirror out towards him like a weapon.
He shrieked, and took off running, and I realized that he was alot shorter than he'd looked back in my room. And his nose was alot longer. And he had very pointed ears. I did at that point what any other delirious and disturbed individual would do. I laughed uncontrollably. Then I realized that I shouldn't linger, so I picked a direction and started heading in it. The air was the freshest I'd ever experienced there, and I soon found out why. Those weren't the smoky mountains, and I wasn't in the United States anymore. Long story short, (because this entry has gone on far longer than it probably ought to have) I found myself in another world In the plain of the Fae. Like DnD Fae, but alot older and more real. I met alot of people there when I found someone who brought me to the court of Brighid, a Goddess of fire and the forge, among other things. Thankfully, there were actually people that gave a damn about a poor little mortal there, and they all sounded suitably impressed by my story of running my butt off to keep from falling off the shattering world. Near as I can tell, I'm something of a novelty to them. I'm not sure how I feel about that. They returned me to my apartment, and promised to look after me. I'm didn't ask them how they were going to do that. Some others even offered to train me to use a sword or spear! Hah! So archaic, but also such beautiful weapons....
I have alot of history to study, and maybe some drinking to do tomorrow. And I have some friends and family to reconnect with too.