Day 3: Secrets/Mirror

Two beings in a room. One of them is surrounded by liquid. The other stands opposite to him. They are two seperate things whose strings of fate have been messily tangled up. One of them floats. It speaks.

"The process," its eerie voice says, "is simple. Each time, you light up a match. Then you let it fall. If it's water that surrounds you, the match will die."

They let the silence embrace them. Two beings alike. Mortals chasing immortality, fools trying to live up to God, atheists who can only find faith when death comes knocking at their door. Nothing but a reflection of each other. A faulty mirror leading to divine punishment.

"If it's gasoline," and it leaves it at that.

"Do we both die then?"

"We all die," it continues with a soothing voice. Their discussion doesn't take place in a particular time nor place. It doesn't exist until it does. "But only one will burn."

.

He isn't sure he remembers his name.

He thinks it's Aguero. He tests it on his lips over and over until it stops feeling like a foreign language. Until it starts resembling something that is–that could be–his. That moment never comes. The name still sits bitterly on his tongue, tasting like a knife twisted against his gums. He would admit that it held some familiarity–in a way you would hold a regret, a memory of the past that caused you guilt–and since there weren't any other names he could use, he settled on this one.

In front of him was an empty road. Empty of people, empty of plants, empty of everything. As he walks, he tries to recall the reason he's here. Once again, he finds nothing.

At the end of it–he thought roads shouldn't end as abruptly as this one–stands a single wooden door. For a brief moment he feels as if there is something on the other side calling out to him, encouraging him to open it. He extends his hand—

"Do not touch the door." A childish voice commands. Aguero turns around and finds a little boy wearing a plain white shirt and black shorts staring at him. The boy has light blue hair–an odd colour, if anyone were to ask Aguero–that match his eyes. He thinks he looks more like a short businessman than a kid.

The kid, deciding to ignore Aguero, makes his way towards the door and sits in front of it. He also removes a small silver jewellery case from his pocket. He opens it while humming, carefully taking out every jewel. They all look beautiful and Aguero briefly finds unfair that a child is in possession of such fine things. Soon after he mentally curses himself for being jealous of a kid.

"Excuse me," he says, "do you know where I should go?"

The boy lifts his gaze and sighs. It sounds like a mother being disappointed at her ill-behaved child. It also makes Aguero wonder about his own mother. He couldn't recall her name or her face but she had to be beautiful, someone you'd admire.

"They said to watch the door," the child tells him deciding to ignore his question. "You can't go through the door."

"Then where should I go?"

The child places one of his jewels–a pair of sapphire earrings–back inside the case. "Try the mirror."

.

There is only fire.

The first time he had found himself in a situation like that, he had known something was wrong. He was a predator, someone at the top of the chain, any change in his environment would be easy to–

He was a friend. He was a friend and he was losing the black turtle–maybe not to the Eel like they've been told, but a loss like the one they had suffered was still a loss–and he knew it the moment it happened. More losses came afterwards and Rak had grown accustomed to losing. This time, however, was different.

This time he found himself in the middle of rumbles, smoke blocking his vision.

"He isn't coming out," someone says. He can hear the others' footsteps getting farther away. Rak should follow them, the fire continues raging on, but he finds himself unable to move. That sneaky turtle would come out any moment now. He would make a snarky remark and tell Rak that he isn't that easy to kill. He thinks he'd hug him–the blue turtle would hate it but it wouldn't matter–and despite his protests he wouldn't pull away from the touch. And then, they would return to their planning on how to save the black turtle. They would climb together, that was Rak's dream, that was the endgame.

And so he waited for the blue turtle to defy death once more.

That moment didn't come.

.

Aguero is certain that mirrors aren't supposed to work like that. He can't remember much of them, or anything, but he's sure they aren't meant to be used in a way similar to a door. Still, he carefully places his hand against the glass and waits for something to happen. The child pays no mind to him, too focused on his jewels.

"I don't think it's working,"

"You're doing it wrong, then."

"How am I supposed to do it?"

"Just put your hand on it."

"That's what I did." He mumbles to himself but continues pressing his palm against the glass. It takes a moment for him to realize that the mirror shows his reflection–like a normal mirror does–a reflection he didn't remember. He pulled away his hand and touched his face. He looked similar to the kid–blue hair, blue eyes–but surprisingly more lively even though he must have been way older.

"Do you know of that one myth?" The kid suddenly speaks. "It said a guy fell in love with his reflection."

"And what happened?"

"He drowned when trying to kiss himself."

"That's really stupid, isn't it?"

The child doesn't reply. He simply lowers his gaze. "You need to think of where you want to go."

"Think of–"

"You're a fish in the ocean. You must choose your path or the current will take you away."

Aguero nods and whispers something about creepy kids and enigmatic nonsense before touching the mirror once more. He wonders where he wants to go. Where he ought to. Maybe it's home but at the simple thought of a house, the mirror does nothing. It makes sense in a way, if it's truly connected to one's brain, something as vague as home wouldn't do the trick. He tries to remember something more detailed about his home but is once again stuck.

Unless–

"My mother," the words fall out effortlessly. As if by simply thinking of them, he has forced himself to burden his tongue. It feels wrong to say it in the same way his 'name' does. Yet, objectively, it's his best shot; he must have had a mother.

The glass against his skin changes texture. It becomes softer and slowly wraps itself around his fingers. Before Aguero could turn to look at the child, ask him if this was normal, the mirror sucked him in.

.

Maria, much like most of the people that were notified, pays little mind to the arranged marriage–a bidding–of FUG'S Slayer. Even if Jahad wasn't opposed to a Princess' marriage, Maria couldn't imagine any of her sisters dying to get wed. Still, for a brief moment, she entertained the idea of a Khun marrying the Slayer. Would it be some kind of rebellion against Khun Eduan or would they simply wish to break and rebuild the enemy?

Maschenny would probably know more, Maria even wondered if she had been involved. Although the older Khun wasn't open about her business, Maria knew a thing or two about her plans–mostly in an attempt to keep herself safe. With that in mind, she opened her Pocket to attempt to find out more.

There was a single notification.

She quickly scanned the message, her face remaining emotionless in case someone ended up seeing her. When she finished, she put away her Pocket and began tapping her fingers against the table.

"How troublesome," she mumbled.

.

Aguero ends up in front of an estate. It's familiar and unsettling, if such a thing is possible. He walks towards it, admiring the garden. Despite the dread building up inside of him, he can't help admiring the scenery. He looks up to the sky, trying to find the sun, but the light isn't quite as bright as he would like. Perhaps the person he was, is, liked sunny days.

"You shouldn't be here." Someone says. Aguero turns around and watches a woman standing a few feet away from him. She looks like him and the child–long blue hair, piercing blue eyes–and she sounds just as condenscending. She wears a long white dress that falls on the ground and yet looks spotless.

"I'm sorry," he tells her, "I don't know exactly where I'm supposed to be."

"You're supposed to guide the night."

"I don't know what that means."

The woman sighs. "Did you see the door?"

"A kid told me I couldn't enter."

"A kid," she repeated. Her expression changed slightly as she looked up to Aguero once more. Her gaze had softened. "I'm sorry."

"Is the door important?"

"No, not anymore." –she extends her hand– "Come, I'll show you around."

.

No one outrightly tells Bam he's a prisoner, but he isn't stupid enough to think otherwise. He hadn't had any contact with his friends but he was reassured that they would be okay as long as he complied. Of course, Bam had thought to himself, it always ended up like that.

He shouldn't be too worried. Lilial had been even more against this arrangement and he doubted anyone else would be interested in the competition. Moreover, Khun would certainly find a way to reunite them and Bam was prepared to do whatever it took.

The door to his room opened after a soft knock–only for the formalities since his guest didn't wait for a response before opening–snapping him out of his thoughts. At the sight of blue, Bam immediately lights up but the enthusiasm dies on his tongue.

"Mr. Grace," the newcomer–undeniably a Khun, just not the one that matters– greets. Her voice is sickly sweet much like everyone who had ever wanted something from him was. "I hope this isn't a bad time for you, though I was told I could come."

"And you are?"

"What ever happened to polite small talk?"

"I'm much more polite when I'm not being held somewhere against my will," he paused, "miss."

"Khun Maria," she provided with a smile resembling more Maschenny than Aguero, or even Data Khun Eduan. The name made Bam's eyes widem ever so slightly. He didn't know much about Khun Maria but he knew two crucial facts. One, she was the reason Khun had become an abandoned son and two, she was someone that he cared about.

Maybe enough to go, his traitorous mind added. He looked at her for a few more seconds wondering what would Khun's reaction be if he saw her. Would she offer him to go with her or would he, like Bam had foolishly done with Rachel, simply chase after her now that she was within his grasp? Suddenly, the desire of their reunion was replaced by an unbeatable fear that Khun would leave him.

"I'm going to offer to marry you," she tells him. She waits for his reaction but he remains frozen in his spot. "I should let you know, a marriage isn't going to happen. But the offer will be made and we'll most likely get engaged."

"Why?"

"I'm afraid only I need to know the reason, Mr. Grace."

.

"Khun Aguero Agnis is dead." is a sentence familiar to Ran. The first time he heard it, he hadn't had time to mourn. As soon as denial began kicking in, Ran was reassured that his death wouldn't last. Reassured that Viole would do whatever it took to save him. AA always believed in Viole, a little too much if Ran was being honest, so he had to trust him as well. And truly, AA's friends had brought him back to the land of the living and Ran never had to deal with the loss of his brother–just of their seperation.

This time, though, it was different. This time, Novick had sat beside him and offered him some pancakes that Ran hadn't asked for. Ran's silence had been earned because of the food and Novick had stayed quiet simply because he was equally emotionally constipated. After a few moments, with Ran's mouth stuffed with food, Novick had said, "he's dead".

He didn't have to say who he's talking about for Ran to understand. Still, because Ran had gone through it once, because AA had a fish that granted him immortality, he didn't pay much attention to it. "He'll be fine," he had told Novick after finishing his food and the other man had said nothing, but his expression remained same.

Three weeks later and no change to the situation, no message from either his team or AA, himself, telling him he was right. Ran had been told that Viole had been seperated from his team once more and had no knowledge of Aguero's situation–it felt wrong to call it 'death'–and Ran had briefly wondered if he should reach out and tell him himself. He could speak with Maschenny, make a small deal with the devil, and find out why had this so-called God let his brother die. Reconnecting with Maschenny wasn't something he wanted but if Aguero was dead, so was any chance of change.

Then again, if he was there, AA wouldn't have let him accept the fate of being nothing more than Khun Eduan's and Maschenny's son. Perhaps it was foolish of him to care about the opinion of someone–

Dead. Dead and not coming back.

From the window's reflection, he watches a small flame. Jumping from his bed, he runs to the room's corner and searches for the actual flame. He finds nothing, neither in the room nor on the window.

.

Aguero walked a few steps behind the woman, his eyes drifting from his surroundings to her. He still hadn't understood where he was but it was somewhere luxurious. It made Aguero unconsciously check his own outfit in fear it would stick out. It didn't, he concluded, but he still felt underdressed compared to his guide.

"I can feel your stare."

"I'm sorry." –he stopped walking– "Are you some kind of royalty?"

They had reached a small hill when she stopped walking as well. "Yes. Some kind." she said without turning to look at him. He walked to her side and watched her gazing at something in the distance, one hand on her throat and the other embracing her waist.

Squinting his eyes, Aguero followed her gaze. She was watching someone trying to plant a flower near what it seemed to be some kind of floor made of glass. From afar, the stranger–a girl, he concluded upon closer inspection–looked a lot like him. Now that he thought about it, every person he had seen since he woke up beared some resemblance to him.

"Sometimes I wonder," she begins "whether my life or death was crueler to those I loved most."

"Death." Aguero echoes. Ah, so this was why everything was weird. Aguero, much like the woman, was dead. The reveal didn't bring him as much agony as he expected, after all, he didn't remember his life to miss it.

"I remain here because it has all I love," she continues, "which is why I don't understand why you're here."

"I'm sorry–"

"I didn't mean it like that," she says in an apologetic tone. As if to say she doesn't hate him. A gesture he would have appreciated more if he had any idea who she was."shouldn't you be guiding [redacted]?"

"Who?" She repeated what she said but the only thing Aguero could hear was a static noise. "I can't understand you."

"Ah. I didn't rea–" she stopped herself turning towards the girl once more, mouth slightly open. Aguero followed her gaze and saw that the girl was now standing only a few feet away from them. Up close, she looked even more like Aguero. And she was staring right at him. "She can't see us."

Seeing how the girl didn't comment on it, just continued staring at Aguero, she must have been right. And yet–

"She's looking at me."

"She shouldn't be able to," she replied, not quite disagreeing with him, "do you know her?"

"I thought you did."

"Who I know doesn't matter. I've been dead for far too long."

"I don't think I do." The staring didn't stop. Suddenly, the faint smell of smoke reached his nose. "Do you smell something?"

"You don't get the whole being dead thing, do you?"

Aguero ignored her and looked around, finally spotting a small flame where the flower the girl planted was. "Fire!" he shouted and ran to the spot, his shoulder briefly bumping with the girl.

He tried to put it out but his hands went right through the flames. Luckily the girl came running soon after and began furiously stepping on the flower to put the flame out. Aguero took some steps back, standing on the weird floor, and shot it a quick glance.

Oh. It was–

"A coffin." the woman told him, "My coffin. Do you remember that?"

Aguero opened his mouth to respond but the short haired girl, the one he might have known when he was alive, interrupted him. "What," she whispered as she inspected the flower. The fire hadn't simply been extinguished, there hadn't been any marks of it in the first place.

"You have always been a bit of an outcast, haven't you Aguero?" The woman says as she sits on her coffin. "You must stand out in everything. Even in death."

"I'm not doing it on purpose."

"Return to the mirror, Aguero. This isn't your home."

With more questions than answers, Aguero nodded and began walking back. Behind him, the woman laid on top of her grave, hoping that the fire will find what it's looking for.

.

Nothing remains hidden in the Tower for long. This was the first lesson Maria had been taught and it was one of the few things she still chose to keep in mind. Really, FUG's little God ought to know it as well.

"No polite small talk this time." He managed to cough out. Maria had always lacked strength compared to most of the Princesses but she had counted on the element of surprise to land a good strike on the Slayer.

"Don't worry, I'm not aiming to kill you just yet. I can not go against a Family Head's wishes." –Viole coughed once again as he stood– "Once I've defeated Lilial, what happens to you will be my responsibility."

"I'm afraid you won't have to just defeat Lilial."

"Endorsi will not be allowed to join the fight." Even if she did, Maria was confident she could beat her. Yuri Ha, on the other hand, was a different story but with information she had found, she would do everything to beat her as well. Maschenny would help as well, not for Maria, but because Yuri's engagement would automatically put an end to their one-sided rival.

"I will also be fighting."

Maria laughed. Truly, this was perhaps the best outcome she could have hoped for. "Then you're in luck, there will be no need for an engagement."

"Confident I'll win?"

"Confident the fight will be to the death."

"I'm planning on returning home." He simply tells her. Maria was always known for being emotional, too emotional for a Khun according to her mother, according to people like Agnis, and perhaps this is why she feels so angry at something as simple. Of course, even someone like Jyu Viole Grace, wanted to return home. People like him, people like Jahad, arrogant and powerful just  because of nature's favouritism, could miss home, could say they wish to return and do so. Maria couldn't. Maria's home was a mother who could only be proud of her when she was away, four to five people stuck on a Floor she wasn't welcomed to and a brother–

A brother who was dead. A brother who was branded a traitor on two seperate occassions, one for Maria's and one for Viole's sake. A brother who had been dead for over two months because of the man in front of her.

"I don't understand your problem with me," neither her anger nor her frusturation had gone unnoticed, "if you want to prove you're Jahad's greatest savior by killing me, you'll have to get in line."

"The King has nothing to do with this." As expected the strongest pawns thought the world revolved only around them. "Someone important to me is dead because of you. He told me to join the competition, to win," she paused, she could feel tears forming in her eyes, "I will avenge his name even if I have to fight my sisters. Or a false God like yourself."

"I'm sorry but," he let out a small sigh, "I don't fight, I don't kill," he corrected, "for the joy of it. I only do it when someone threatens the people I care about."

"I respect that, of course. But you took away my brother, what should that mean for me based on your moral code?"

"Your brother," he repeats. His lips part, eyes widening slightly, and it's almost like Maria can see his brain running. She wonders if it's because he's that self-centered that he didn't remember him or if he had just caused the death of too many Khuns to understand. Before she can decide which of the two is it, he speaks again. "I need your Pocket."

.

Tired and disappointed, Aguero returned to where he began; in front of an annoying little brat. "I don't understand. If this is the Afterlife, why is everyone so secretive?"

The kid doesn't answer. Aguero continues staring at him. If this is the Afterlife, he assumes this game can last for the rest of eternity. "I'm tired," the child says even though he hadn't been the one running around mirror-dimensions with amnesia, "can you watch the door for me?"

And Aguero is tired, disappointed and empty but he's also fairly certain he isn't a bastard so he nods and sits beside the child. The small devil runs off somewhere leaving only Aguero and a bunch of jewels in front of a closed door.

.

On a cold Tuesday morning, many things happen in the Tower. Some more insignificant than others. Love declarations, fights, bad food choices. In one Floor, for example, a great revealation is made leading to unlikely allies. In another, Rak in the midst of mourning a friend faces two Khun siblings with nothing in common other than a damned blue turtle.

In the end, neither of these matter, the only thing that does is that somewhere a big fire burns–more like a shelter than a destruction–and all the people who had ever loved Khun Aguero Agnis  stand in front of it waiting for a miracle.

.

Somewhere before disaster struck–

"This will be the last time," the fire-fish tells him, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Aguero replies. His affairs are in order. He had wished to be with Bam, with everyone else, longer but he had already escaped death one too many times. He had known this might be the end as soon as Rachel appeared. He had left the crocodile a note, some instructions to Shibisu and had even called in a favor from Maria to make sure Bam would be rescued one way or another. Of course, he couldn't be sure if she would follow–their agreement had been faulty from the start–but he hoped Maria wouldn't be half as selfish as Rachel was.

"I didn't expect you to be that calm,"

"Maybe it's the best death I could get. I would hate for them to see me like this." He wonders how Bam would react to his death, whether it would hurt him as much as Aguero had ached when he 'died'. A selfish thought, a mean one, but Aguero had spent so much time chasing after Bam, he deserved to be selfish once more in his last moments. "Will you remain after I'm gone?"

"Yes."

"Then can I ask for one last favor?"

"Of course."

"Take care of them. In whatever way you can."

And the fish let its flames ignite as it thought that the only way to protect someone as reckless as the Tower's man-made monster was by always keeping his lightbearer at his side.

.

Aguero felt like his head was going to burst. There was a loud ringing in his ears that made him groan in pain. His hand accidentally knocked over some of the jewels, hurting himself in the process. He let out more yelps as he pressed his head against the ground. Soon there was a hand on his back.

"Aguero," a familiar voice called out to him. He managed to lift his head and watch as the child, the woman and a weird fish circle him. "Your time is up, you need to make a choice."

"Please make it stop." The noise only got louder. Soon enough it wasn't just sound but a specific word. His name. Someone, no one from the three beings in front of him, was calling out his name. Yes, it was the first time the name was reasoning with him and every part of his soul ached to follow the voice.

"You must push on." The fish, no, the fire-fish tells him. "I can't hold you much longer."

The voice inside of him continues calling his name, each time clearer than before. "Bam," he whispers to himself. Yes, Bam, Bam who is in danger, Bam who is waiting for him, Bam who he lo–

"Go to him." His sister tells him. Aguero curses himself for losing the chance to tell her everything he wanted. Still, she smiles as if she knows.

"The door is open," his younger self says  as he reaches for their sister's hand, "keep our treasures safe."

.

Kiseia thought that Viole, that guy who every person she had come across from the moment she left her house, spoke so highly of would have more impressive ways of bringing that idiot brother back. Instead, all the kid had was a love declaration and –hopefully– fireproof skin. "It keeps on burning and he hasn't screamed," Kiseia told the Khun kid–Maschenny Jahad's brother–while still searching for a sign of life either from Viole or Aguero.

"Maybe his death was quick," Maria provides and earns a number of gasps and yelling. It manages to comfort Kiseia a little. However, it doesn't last long as Viole reappears from within the flames and falls to his knees.

"I can't get to the source of it," he sounds utterly defeated. The dinosaur, Kiseia doesn't recall his name, walks to his side and they lean against each other. Around her, everyone looks devastated, as if Viole's arrival had immediately meant Aguero would live and they were now told he was killed once more. All hope they didn't know they had, lost once more. He was loved, Kiseia concluded, and the sentiment didn't make her bitter like she thought it would. "I tried, I can't, why I can't–"

The rest of the words were whispered against the dinosaur's back. Many of the others are tearful as well, including Ran who desperately tries to shield his face from the others. A hand softly rested on Kiseia's shoulder and she turned around to find Maria watching the scene unfold, tears in her eyes. She doesn't pull away.

"Whose funeral is it?" Someone says and Kiseia must be going crazy because the voice sounds awfully like–

.

Aguero thought he had died many times. In reality, it had only happened once and once was enough to know he didn't want it to happen again any time soon. He had stumbled away from the fire, the reminder of a friend's sacrifice, and had come across a very strange scenery. Someone screamed his name, it was Isu, alongside a number of curses and pet names, all in the same sentence.

And Aguero would have commented on that. Or on Maria's presense, hell, Kiseia's presense but he was far more focused on Bam and Rak looking awful a few feet away from him. Bam, in particular, looked as horrible as he did during the Battle of the Nest.

"What happened to you?" He asked. He had hoped the others would keep Bam safe, especially with Maria's help, and out of trouble but of course that was too much to ask. He had to get a full description of everythinf that happened and do damage control and–

Bam was hugging him. Or maybe trying to break his ribs. Aguero wasn't sure and he wasn't about to ask.

"Don't ever do that again."

"Dying?"

"Yes," Bam replies, letting their foreheads touch, "you aren't allowed to die."

And Aguero is both selfish and suddenly aware of his own mortality so he decides there isn't a better time to risk it than now. Now that he was alive and Bam was, hopefully, safe from being pawned off as a trophy husband. "I don't know, my luck has been very bad so far," he smiles, "I think you should check on me a lot to make sure I'm safe."

Bam laughs, tears streaming down his face. "Okay," he gives him a quick peck, "okay".

Notes:

- Athazagoraphobia is a fear of forgetting someone or something, as well as a fear of being forgotten. This word most likely doesn't exist although you may come across it online. The reason why I'm saying it is because etymologically, it doesn't stand. It is theorized to be a (without) - thaza (from θάζω which means to be seated, something I didn't know) -phobia (fear) so it's very close to agoraphobia. Just a little fun fact for you to tell people. Or not.

-Terribly sorry for any errors! I'm on vacation and wrote this on my phone–wifi-less!–so I couldn't check for any mistakes.

-A little bit info about Khun's deal with Maria! A fun little theory I have, but wouldn't really love if it came true, is that Maria would owe him one for helping her become a Princess. Here, because Aguero knew he would be dying, he called in that favor so Bam would be saved. Sadly, the message only told her to try and win the competition for his sake and nothing more. That meant that when Maria found out about his death, she (wrongly) thought it meant that Bam was to blame for Khun's death.

-this is a very messy fic so feel free to ask about anything, my mind is a mess and you have to suffer