The Tangled Mirror (part one)

The Diary of Chase Burke, age thirteen.

Sunday, July 24th

Dear Diary,

My adventure began today.

As always, whenever we went sailing, I was up at the bow, letting the ocean spray me and get me soaked. I wasn’t going to miss a feckin’ moment of this adventure below deck. The priests barely took me out on their adventures ever since Ma died. I don’t know why. I hated being cooped up in that stuffy old temple. I needed to explore. I needed the wind in my   I needed other people.

According to Father Moumou (or as he is stuffily known as Father Valérian Moulin) we were heading to an island that was ravaged by a savage storm a few weeks back. We were heading out there to help rebuild. Obviously I felt sad for the poor buggers, but by the gods was I bloody excited!

As soon as we docked, our ship was bloody swarmed. The wave of desperate people surprised me, but the priests were expecting it. After all, we were flying Artemis’ flag, and people around here always knew what that meant. Help from the Angels. 

I wasn’t complaining about the people. No way. Over the last two years all I’ve had to talk to were priests and priestesses, and they are feckin’ boring! So, as people waited for their turn, I tried to introduce myself, make some small talk.

Everyone ignored me.

It feckin’ sucked. All that time practicing how to talk properly, and now people are just ignoring me. Why would anyone want to talk to me? I was just a freak.

“No, come on mate, you can’t think like that. Ma wouldn’t like you being so negative on yourself.” That’s what I told myself, and I was right. I couldn’t make this all about me. They were suffering. I needed to help. That’s when I decided to head out to help in the village.

This place was brutal. The houses were mostly gone; the ground was just mud, and everyone seemed so miserable. I wished I could change that.

As I walked, I noticed a girl who looked about my age, and I got pretty excited. I made sure my bandana was covering my hearing aids—didn’t want her thinking I was a freak already—and went right over to her. 

Bringing up my friendliest grin, I stuck out my hand and said, “Hi! My name’s Chase Burke, what’s yours?”

She looked me up and down, looked at my hand, then at my pockets. “Do you have food?” 

“Uh, no.” I pulled my hand back, feeling a little awkward. “But the priests of Artemis are at the dock with a bunch of food.”

Her eyes went wide, and she hurried off down the streets without even a thank you. I sighed. I mean, I wanted to help, but a small smile would have been nice.

The wind guided me to the edge of town, where I saw some people going out into the woods, probably gathering supplies. I wasn’t super strong, but I figured I could help out a bit there. Maybe then someone would actually talk to me.

I got out there, and right away started asking what I could do to help, but no one would stop and look at me. There were so many different noises; axes chopping, trees falling, people yelling. I didn’t know what anyone was saying. 

I should just tell them I’m deaf.

I shook my head at the thought. No way I’d tell them that. Then they’d all treat me like a freak. I just had to figure it out. I—

Thump.

I ran into someone as I was scrambling about, trying to figure things out. I swung around, but not in time to catch them as they fell. They fell face first into the dirt, scattering the load of wood they had been carrying. I apologized over and over again, but the words stopped in my throat as the boy turned and glared at me. 

He was bloody gorgeous.

“What in Gaia’s name are you doing?” he shouted at me, and there was no mistaking what he said. “Watch where you’re going!”

“I’m so sorry.” I held out my hand to help him up, but he slapped it away and got up on his own, picking up the loose wood. I bent down and started to help, but he just scowled at me again. 

“I don’t need your help. Leave me alone!”

That bloody hurt, but I didn’t say so. I just stood up, nodded, and left. I wasn’t needed here. I was just some freak that wasn’t any good to anyone. 

The wind led me deeper into the trees and then stopped. I looked around, hoping to see the town, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t hear anything, I had no idea what to do. 

Where was the wind? 

I closed my eyes and strained to feel for any little wisp. Nothing. It had never done that before, and then I realized… I was lost. 

I screamed out for it, begging it to come back, and it did, but this time it was anxious, just like me. It started whipping about in every direction, blowing up leaves and dirt into my face. The trees around me groaned and cracked, then one started to fall. Not just to the ground. It was falling on my head, and all I could do was stare at it in shock. 

Suddenly, I wasn’t on my feet. I was falling to the ground with someone wrapped around my chest. The tree came crashing down, but I was safe. I looked up into the beautiful eyes of my hero.

“You… Why are you here?” I asked. I thought he was mad at me.

“I’m sorry,” he said, standing to his feet and offering his hand. I took it gratefully. He pulled me up and my heart fluttered as I got close to him again. I wasn’t sure if he felt it too. We only met eyes for a second, then he bowed his head in shame, I guess. I wished he hadn’t. I couldn’t tell what he was saying.

I tapped him on the shoulder, and as he looked up at me, I said, “Sorry, could you say that again? I couldn’t quite hear you.”

He seemed confused, but he repeated himself, now keeping those gorgeous blue eyes on me. “Oh, uh, I said I was sorry for snapping at you. It’s been a really tough couple of weeks. We lost our house. My mom’s really sick and my little sister is covered in burns.” He shook his head, and I could see those eyes shimmering with withheld tears. “But then I was a jerk, and I made you sad. I saw you run off into the woods. I felt bad, so I came to look for you. Are you OK?”

“I’m… a lot better now.” I couldn’t help the grin on my face. Then he smiled back, and my heart almost burst through my chest. I was so excited, yet a little frightened. I stuck my hand out. “My name’s Chase, by the way.”

He took my hand, and my heart leapt again. “My name’s Desi.”

Desi. My heart took that name and kept it safe.

His gaze slipped past me to a point behind me, and his eyes went wide. “What is that?”

I turned to see a huge mirror, rimmed in tarnished silver and foggy gems. The glass was cracked, and there were vines and weeds wrapped all around it, but it was still a beautiful sight. 

“Wow,” Desi breathed, coming in close to inspect it. “That weird wind must have blown some of the junk off of it. I’ve never seen this before. Why do you think it’s here?”

“I don’t know,” I said, standing close beside him, pretending to inspect it as well. “The gods do work in mysterious ways.”

He laughed. “You think the gods put this here? No way. I bet this thing is magic. Like magic from the old world. None of that Blessing’s crap.”

“You… don’t like people with Blessings?” 

“Well, not really. It’s not like they care about us. ‘The Blessed’ are too busy being important than helping people like us. Besides, I’ve read about old magic, and it is way cooler.”

I smiled. “I’d love to hear about it.”

That was all he needed. He started rattling on about all the things the mirror could do. Like it was a portal to another dimension, or a way to speak to the dead, and a bunch of other amazing, crazy ideas that I loved. He was so passionate about it. We ended up staying out in that forest until the sun started to set. That was later than either of us should have been out, so Desi hurried us back to town. We split ways at the tent he was living in, with the promise that we would meet back at the mirror tomorrow.

Of course, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.