(WC: 1764
Category: Angst
Warnings: Death

Just killed an alter, feeling good

In all seriousness, though, this was a fun one to write. If you look at it, Alters is the Origins for alt accounts, though it's not starting for them it's ending fdhskjhfdksjh-

Ignore the fact that there is literally a song in the Celeste OST titled "In The Mirror" because Resurrections suits this oneshot more thanks

Also, if you look at it, this also follows the storyline of Celeste. False and True could totally be Madeline and Badeline :O

But that's for another time. For now, enjoy :D)

The skies were blue and cloudless. The sun cast rays of bright light that reflected off the ocean waters. The wind was good today--enough to hold your wings up steadily, but not enough so you felt out of control. All in all, it was a beautiful day.

Of course, on Hermitcraft, you didn't get a day like this without something going wrong.

False was expecting a freak lightning strike to smite her into oblivion. Maybe her elytra would break and she would get her first death by bellyflopping from 100 feet up into the ocean below. Her good luck wouldn't last much longer.

But it did. Her stores had made a healthy amount of money. She managed to snag a good loot box in Decked Out. She even secured a trade with Stress, completing an artifact set and adding a point to her name.

As False flew back to her base, she did a little loop in midair, smiling to herself. It felt good to be out in the sun again, skimming the ocean's waters below. She missed the feeling.

As she flew inside her base, she made a sudden turn up, rocketing into a small room on the side, almost at the very top of her base. The floors up here were almost never visited, and it was built as discreetly as possible as to not attract attention. The light barely came in from here. And it was all because of one thing.

In the corner, hidden by shadows, stood a tall, nondescript mirror. It had a plain spruce wood frame, splintered and weathered by age. A cloth tarp hid the reflective surface itself. Dust gathered on the floor, and cobwebs lined the corners.

False readied herself. This might just be where her luck ran out. She strode up to the mirror and yanked the tarp off, coughing as dust flew into the air.

Unlike the wood frame, the mirror was shiny and clear of any grime that should have gathered. False also knew that the glass was unbreakable...from both sides.

Other than that, though, the mirror was normal. Until, of course, you noticed that False lacked a reflection.

False sighed, sounded more irritated than concerned. She waved her hand in front of the mirror, careful not to touch the glass.

"Hello? Are you there?"

A moment of silence passed, then a figure slid into view. It looked exactly like False, except for the fact that it wore a scowl instead of a tentative smile.

"True." The reflection spat out the name.

For it wasn't the real False outside of the mirror--it was her reflection, True.

If you looked closely, there were some differences between False and her reflection. True's skin, hair, and clothing looked less saturated, leaning more on the bland, gray side than the vibrant colors False normally had. You couldn't tell who was who unless they were standing right next to each other, like they were now.

"You should have seen me, False!" True's expression brightened, her irritation replaced with a childlike glee. "They had no idea. Ii gathered all your diamonds from your shops, made a trade with that Stress girl--oh, man, it feels so good to be out."

"And you trapped me in here to replace you?" False sounded livid. True hadn't noticed it before, but her reflection's hands were bruised and bloody. False had tried to escape the confines of the mirror with brute force, but to no avail.

True hid her concern with a slight pout. "You can't have one side of the mirror empty. That would be unbalanced, and who knows what could happen then. The only way to get in and out is to switch places," she added, as she looked pointedly at False's hands. As you very well know.

"You tricked me!" False protested. "You tricked me into putting my hand on the mirror, then pulled me in here and switched places. 'I want to see your world, if it's anything like mine'. I don't believe you."

"It was the only way, I'm telling you!" True couldn't help but feel guilty for tricking False. "You didn't really believe all that mirror dimension nonsense I told you, right? It's all empty space there. You know that now."

"I--I've started to feel things in here." False's tone was now on the verge of panic. "Like I'm starting to lose my identity. It was at its worst when you were gone--but now that you're here, it's not happening anymore. What...?"

"It's the mirror." True avoided False's gaze. "Over time, it starts to eat away at who you are, making you fade away. The only way to stop it is by having your reflection on the other side, too--like a normal mirror would. But since the mirror is barely visited..." True trailed off, though the unspoken words between them were obvious. You fade faster.

"You knew all this...yet you still trapped me in here!?" False yelled through the mirror as if True couldn't hear her before. "What is wrong with you? I--I could die here! Is there any good in you?"

True exploded. "You realize that you've done the same to me, right? I was on the edge of completely fading away. You're just getting a taste of what I've had to endure. You think it's easy, being locked away with only a blank void to stare at all day? I didn't even have you. Do you like it there? How do you think I feel, huh?"

False fell silent, long enough for True's breathing to steady after her angry outburst. Then, she spoke.

"Put your hand on the mirror."

True felt her heart sink. "False, please--"

"I'm not going to abandon you," False promised. "I'll move your mirror to the bottom parts of my base. You'll be visited often. Please, though...let's switch places. You're meant to be in here."

True still wasn't sure that she could trust False. But she sounded sincere enough, even though her last words stung...but what if she decided to keep True in there?

False must've known what she was thinking. She looked True in the eyes, showing the truth and sincerity in them.

"If you have any good in you, you'll let me out."

True hesitated. Then she put her hand on the glass.

False did the same move on her side, now being able to move freely between the two dimensions. Her hand went through the glass and grasped True's hand, pulling herself out. Now both of them were on one side. Someone had to go into the mirror to balance it out.

True sighed, disappointed that she couldn't be free for longer. She was about to step inside the mirror when she felt a sharp push from behind, shoving her into the mirror and onto her knees.

She looked over her shoulder just long enough to see False grab the tarp from the ground and start to drape it over the mirror.

"False...what are you doing?"

"Trapping you in there." Only a small portion of the mirror was left uncovered, and False looked at True through it with a look of hate.

"W-wait! No, please don't leave me here!" True banged against the mirror helplessly, trying to fight back a stream of tears. "I-I'll be good! I promise!"

"You had your chance," False said, "and you wasted it."

"P-please, the mirror--"

"I couldn't care less about you right now. You can't be trusted. So I'm keeping you there. Have fun fading away, True. It's what you deserve."

True collapsed onto the ground, her body shaking with sobs and fear. "Please, False, give me a second chance--"

False pulled the cloth over the mirror, hiding her reflection completely. Then she walked away, muttering to herself that she had done the right thing.

From then on, False lacked a reflection. Every time she looked in the mirror, she could see everything reflected perfectly--except for her. She could still hear True's desperate sobs coming from the mirror as she walked away, but it was too late to get her back.

But she had done the right thing. She was sure of that. True had manipulated her into getting trapped in the mirror. It was only fair that she did the same thing. She deserved what she got.

False still harbored guilt, though, even though she hated to admit it. True just wanted to be free. And she took that away from her. Even worse, she had indirectly killed her by trapping her back in the mirror.

One day, months after the event had taken place, False found herself in front of the mirror again. The tarp was still in its place, so she grabbed it by the corner and yanked it off, blinking rapidly from the dust that flew into the air.

Of course, the mirror didn't reflect her. False hadn't expected it to, though she still felt a twinge of disappointment when she saw the empty glass. She could still remember the empty void behind the glass. The mirror universe True had baited her with may had been fake, but there was still a world behind that mirror. A cold, unforgiving one.

False bit her lip and waved a hand at the mirror. Her fingers brushed the surface and came away dusty and dirty. This place really had changed. In more ways than one.

She had, too. For the first time, she started to really realize what she had done. And it was even worse, because she knew she couldn't do anything about it anymore. It was too late for do-overs.

She spoke to the mirror, hoping that True could somehow hear her.

"Hello? Are you there?"

False's voice quavered as she looked into the mirror. It sounded so small compared to everything else in here. She silently wished that True would slide into view, call out to her, anything.

"True, please. Tell me you're there. I'm sorry for what I did."

False poured all her guilt and regrets into the apology. She stared into the glass, suddenly feeling a wave of sadness crash into her from being back here.

"It was wrong to trap you there. I see that now. If you're there...give me a sign. Something that you're there. I miss you, True. Please, tell me you're still here..."

But nobody came.

False sighed, feeling even worse now. She walked away from the mirror, stealing a glance at the mirror as she went away.

She had done the wrong thing. She was sure of it now. But she had realized it too late.