Mirror Mirror

My friend and I have been giving each other "beginning/ending with" sentences to motivate ourselves to go back to writing (good God there are far too many "to"s in one sentence) and here it is. This piece actually has quite a bit of significance to me, personally.
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My breath caught in my chest as I stood in front of my ful-length mirror, or whatever was left of it.

Shattered.

Fragments of the mirror lay scattered on the floor, and I stared in disbelief and horror at the damage for a few silent moments before dropping to my knees, frantically gathering the pieces in my hands.

"No... not my precious... who would've done such a horrid thing?" I muttered to myself, ignoring the shards that cut into my flesh. All that I could think of was that I had to collect every single fragment... and then what? Pray that it could be restored? Somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard a bell chime, but it was soon put out of my mind.

Soon enough, I managed to collect all the pieces. Had I been more focused, I would've realised that though my hands and fingers were covered with blood from the cuts, not one single shard had a speck of blood on it. In fact, there was a slightly reddish hue to them, almost as though they soaked up my blood like a sponge.

"Please, oh please oh please..." I chanted, praying against all odds as I tried to piece them back together. It has to work, it just has to! What would I do if I never get to see Him again? No, that just cannot happen. I musn't think like that! The faint sound of a bell chiming reached my ears for a second time, though like the first, I paid no heed to it and continued with my task.

It was rather daunting, but I managed to fully reassemble my mirror after an hour or so. Good, even the tiny shards are in place. Satisfied, yet sick with anticipation, I turned to face It like I always have, every single day without fail, for the past ten years. Cracks marred the smooth surface, but I hope He wouldn't mind. Well, here goes.

"Ren, are you there? Can you hear me? Please, I beg of you, please appear before me," I pleaded with a note of desperation in my voice.

Silence.

Tears threatened to spill from my eyes when it happened - a bell chimed for the third time, bringing along with it a gust of wind. Or was it the wind that carried the sound? In any case, the surface of the mirror in front of me began to flicker, and a male figure started to materialize.

My heart leapt with joy, but it was a moment too soon. Instead of the face I was expecting, I found myself looking at darkness. Literally darkness. The figure that appeared never took on a definitive form like it always did, but remained a shadow.

"Ren? It is you, isn't it? What's the matter? Why haven't you taken form?" I asked with a sense of panic.

Slowly, a blood red gash appeared on the shadow's face, resembling a mouth, and cracked into a grin. I was spooked, but stood my ground, unflinching. Seeming to take my stance as a positive sign, the shadow took a step forward, still grinning.

"Aki..." said the figure, arms outstretched. That's it! That's the unmistakable voice I know, the same voice that comforted me through all my lonely and painful days.

"Ren!" I reached out my hand to him, and miraculously, as the distance between us closed, his hand penetrated through the glass, and for the first time in ten years, we touched.

As Ren fully stepped out of the mirror, he pulled me into a tight embrace, and I relished in the feeling. Ah.... how I've dreamt of this moment. After a decade of waiting.... finally, all my dreams and prayers have been answered. But then...

"Ren, why are you still a shadow?"

"Does it bother you so?" he asked.

""Not really, but... it's just..."

"Creepy?" he voiced out my exact thoughts, though I remained quiet. "Would you love me any less if I remained this way forever?"

"No!" I protested. "Just... I just want to know what's going on..."

"Aki," he stepped away from our embrace and cupped my face in his hands instead, making me look at his featureless face, save for that red gash of a grin. "This has always been me. What you saw, the features you thought to be mine, was nothing more than your imagination. I am but your mirrored self, the part you've always kept secret, the true self you tried desperately to hide from the world. I am you, as you are me."

I gasped, my eyes widening in shock. "This..."

"How else could we possibly be bonded this way, my fair self? Haven't you  ever wondered how I've always seemed to know your exact thoughts, your exact emotions?" he caressed my cheek lovingly, the grin never leaving his 'face'.

"I....." what Ren said made sense, and yet, "But I love you so much, how-"

"As I love you, Aki. Does it make any difference knowing that the one person you love the most is yourself? Two sides of the same coin, the dark reflection of thy fair self, one split into two, two existing as one." Ren slowly brought his face closer to mine, and I stared at the red gash, hypnotized.

"We are one, and we shall reunite where we belong..." Without realising it, those words left my lips as Ren completed the distance between us, our mouths pressing together, like the Ouroboros.

~

Invisible to everyone, a figure looked on and sighed. A charred patch was left in place of Suzushii Aki, the mirror looking as though it never shattered. "Looks like this is another failure. Who will be the one who breaks the curse?"

With a swish of his cloak, the figure disappeared into the night sky, leaving behind the chime of bells resonating in the air.