Vito Akmakjian

The dark-haired boy winced as the loose clothing he wore still managed to find a way to chafe against his newest piercing. He stared off into the distance, his eyes getting lost in the tapestries surrounding one of Marie’s Super-Secret Study Speakeasies.

I told her that I’d rather have gotten it somewhere else. Next time, If there is a next time, I will stand my ground against her.

“...I’m sorry, are we boring you?” asked the boy sitting across from him. His long, stick-straight blonde hair cascaded down his sharp, angular features. He slightly adjusted his hands, causing all the papers on the table to smooth themselves out, one of the small habits that Vito had come to understand was Papyrus’ nervous tics.

“Sorry Py, my… back hurts,” Vito said.

Papyrus Fabriano, one of the smartest students in their friend group studied Vito momentarily, arriving at an annoyingly accurate conclusion within moments.

“Again? That is the third piercing they’ve made you get this month, Vito!” Papyrus exclaimed.

“I… I guess it is.” Vito replied.

Minette looked up from her stack of papers.

“You didn’t tell us? If you’re in pain, I can heal you, Vivi.” She said. The dark circles under her eyes had somehow gotten worse after the group had forced her to sleep yesterday.

“I’m fine. Everyone is dealing with their own issues… I didn’t want to distract you from your search.” Vito said.

Minette grabbed Vito’s hand, casting a small spell into his palm. Winding vines grew off of one of Minette’s wooden bracelets, shaping themselves into a marble-sized hollow sphere, like a tiny wooden birdcage. Inside the orb, a gentle yellow-green glow pulsed. Vito felt a bit of the irritation fade instantly.

“I always have time for you, Vivi,” Minette said through a haggard smile.

“Thanks, Mini. I just wish there was more we could do for you. Have you heard back from your family yet?” Vito asked.

Minette looked down at her papers.

“I… did. My father is being… less than understanding about the situation. He was all like “A proper shaman of the homeland should be able to channel their connection to the ancestral land spirits across any distance.” And I don’t really have anything productive to say in response to that… so I didn’t respond. I guess it’s generally frowned upon to import soil samples from across the sea, so everyone told me to forget about asking for a sample of said homeland. I mean, how harmful could a single handful of dirt from Carniola be? It’s not like a stray bug would be able to decimate the Ringed City, right?” Minette huffed.

Papyrus looked pensive for a moment.

“There should be forms to submit for magical exceptions to import laws. There are several academic reasons for the import of controlled substances. I can go ask the Scribes-” Papyrus began.

“UUGH, not this again! Mid-terms is coming up FAST, Pipi! If you want an excuse to go gush over the scribes, then go ahead! But I don’t think I have time for that option anymore. If i can’t make my domain work with what I have on hand, I’m toast.” Minette tersely replied.

It was Papyrus’ turn to wince.

“I’m sorry, I was just trying to-” Papyrus said.

“No, I’m sorry for snapping. Now I know how Gio feels… and at least I have a domain spell… I wonder how he’s doing.” Minette said, looking off towards the smoothie bar.

“Hey, isn’t that Chandrika and Jean?” Minette asked.

Vito looked over to follow her gaze and felt a sharp tug that seemed to want to pull him by the flesh toward Chandrika. Vito exclaimed in pain, feeling the row of piercings on his spine all rebel against his skin.

“Vito!” Papyrus yelled.

“I’m fine.” Vito said, casting a spell that summoned a ball of black energy that sank into his shadow, which instantly calmed down his rowdy shade.

“You’re getting worse. I thought all the piercings were supposed to help?” Papyrus said accusingly.

“And they do. Py, my family has been dealing with this for a long time. My mom’s awakening was so bad that she needed to be bound in silver chains for a while… so I think I’ll survive. I haven’t felt it pull that hard in a long time, though.” Vito replied.

“Is everything okay?” Asked Jean, who had walked over with Chandrika, who currently looked nearly as bad as Minette.

“Oh, uh… yeah. Thanks for asking.” Vito replied, wincing at his social ineptitude.

His shadow protested again, and his eyes were drawn towards their feet. Vito sharply inhaled.

“Hey, uh… don’t freak out. Is there some reason that you’re being followed around by another set of shadows?” Vito asked.

Chandrika studied Vito for a long, uncomfortable moment, glancing towards Jean.

“Care to run that one by me again? I don’t see any shadow besides my own.” Chandrika replied.

Vito got up and walked closer, following one of the two dark spots. The spot backed away, and Vito followed it, at which point it began quickly moving in circles around him.

“Yeah, there’s something here. You’re being followed by two shadows.” Vito said somewhat confidently.

_____

“Okay, and why do I need to leave my spellbook behind?” Vito asked, looking worriedly at the decrepit wooden door in front of him. He didn’t spend a lot of time in the House of Torches and had never heard of the training room the three of them were about to enter.

“Because the mirror inside will summon a duplicate of you that will hurl your own spells at you. Ask me how I know” Chandrika said.

“Okay… For me specifically, that’s like… bad. I have some spells that I need to cast somewhat frequently for my own… safety.” Vito mentioned.

“You can wait outside if you want. You said the shadows already went in?” Jean asked.

“I’ll come in, at least for a minute. I haven’t had much experience with Mirror magic, so I’m curious.” Vito replied.

The three students walked inside, and Chandrika gasped the moment they opened the door. The magic mirror had a massive spiderweb-like fracture, and there on the other side of the mirror were two copies of Giorgio deGloria, who both looked to be silently cheering with joy.

Chandrika walked up to the mirror, face stony.

“You absolute ASS! We were worried sick about you!” She yelled.

A Gio mouthed a reply, rubbing the back of his head coyly.

“Rika, you said it yourself that he was probably okay. It looks like he was successful. Although… I don’t know which one is which.” Jean said.

“Hey guys, Sorry to interrupt… but will somebody please fill me in on what’s going on? My reflection looks… weird.” Vito pleaded.

The copy of Vito in the mirror was twitching, and a black ooze was dripping from his eyes. A few specks flew towards the mirror, splattering onto the shattered surface. One of the copies of Gio calmly walked towards Vito’s reflection, placing a hand on its shoulder. The reflection seemed to break apart into pieces, which seemed to alarm the other Gio, who looked toward Chandrika and Jean with a strained smile.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Okay, so Gio uses mirror magic. He’s been trying to go to the mirror dimension, and he was training using this magic mirror, which it looks like is mostly broken. The other copy of Gio, who I think is the one who just… broke your reflection… we call Rio, as in- ‘Reflection Gio’” Jean stoically replied.

“Okay. That’s.. A lot to take in all at once. Does Gio have a sentient reflection? And it… likes him?” Vito asked.

Gio began rummaging around in his reflection’s backpack, pulling out some paper and a pen.

“Yeah… to be completely honest with you, I’m still not sure how that part works. Reflection Chandrika over here webbed me the second she saw me last time. And she should know how much it sucks to get Banglan spell-silk out of her hair.” Chandrika commented, glaring daggers at her reflection.

Gio held up a sign that said ‘Pls draw this!’ with a diagram of some sort of big circle.

“What is… Gio… How does he expect any of us to be able to replicate that?” Jean asked.

Vito paused for a moment.

“I’ll be right back, I’ve got to make a call,” Vito said.

_____

“Fascinating. Utterly fascinating. I cannot believe that we’ve not been introduced before this.” Papyrus said, eyeing Gio and his reflection.

“[Scrivener’s Boon]” Papyrus uttered.

A spiraling dance of ink flitted out, Instantly covering the neatly cut swatch of vellum that Papyrus’s paper magic had provided in an even layer of ink.

Vito surveyed the bizarre facial expression on Gio’s face.

“Is he okay?” Vito asked.

“Don’t mind him. He’s probably gawking at your friend’s spell.” Chandrika said.

“And thank you again for coming to help with this. Papyrus, was it?” Jean said.

“Yes sir. It is of no concern. I’ve heard that the other classes in our year had some interesting students, but this has all been… particularly titillating.” Papyrus smiled. He had his fancy earrings in, Vito noted.

Trying to make a good first impression? How did he even find the time to change?

Gio seemed to have tried to cast a spell of some sort, but nothing happened. Papyrus and Gio spent some time exchanging notes, and then both versions of Gio sat on the ground, animatedly discussing something. Papyrus gracefully walked back from the mirror.

The lanky boy bowed deeply in the direction of Chandrika.

“I do apologize, my lady. I am unable to attune this targeting circle with the appropriate mana resonance signature to aid our Mirror-bound friend in his safe return.” Papyrus said.

Ah. That makes sense. His family is predominantly merchants, so he would likely want to make a good impression on the foreign dignitary. But why does she look so uncomfortable?

Chandrika seemed to bristle slightly.

“Thank you for your time, Mister Fabriano,” Chandrika said, in a dignified tone.

Whoa. it’s like she shifted straight into customer service mode.

Papyrus handed her and Jean business cards. Vito cringed for his friend.

“And Vito, we’ll be in Minette’s dorm room if you’re available later. I feel inspired that we might be able to figure something out for her domain issue.” Papyrus said.

“Thanks, Py. I am going to stick around a bit longer here, but I’ll let you know.” Vito replied.

_____

Chandrika

After about an hour of pacing back and forth, some unproductive ideas, and the complete butchery of several attempts at attuning a paper circle that she still didn’t quite understand, everyone in the room was looking spent. Gio had changed out the page he was using to communicate several times, and Vito- who had earned a lot of respect from her today- was rubbing his back through his shirt. Jean had been supportive and had offered to get snacks, but it had felt odd to eat in front of Gio, so they promised that they’d all eat together once they got him out of the mirror.

“Okay, I think it’s time,” Chandrika said, stopping her pacing and turning toward the mirror.

“Time for what?” Jean had asked.

“Time to tattle,” Chandrika stated.

_____

The three students entered the Manse with a hand mirror that Chandrika had grabbed from her room. Although for some reason, they couldn’t see Gio in mirrors outside of the training room, They had tested extensively and were positive that he and Rio were able to travel inside of it.

Chandrika cleared her throat.

“I seek an audience with Saint Baphelus of the Manse,” Chandrika stated, in a clear and powerful voice.

A staggeringly beautiful door subtly appeared in front of them. It was like a silken sheet that she hadn’t been aware of had been smoothly whipped away, and underneath the sheet, was a door made of diamonds and silver. The door opened, causing a brisk current of air to flow past the trio.

“I greet thee, O wise Sage.” replied a more powerful voice.

Really? That’s twice today.

Chandrika stepped forward, motioning to the two boys behind her to follow. She looked beyond the threshold and beheld a magnificent silver tea table, at which sat… a man. She paused for just a moment, remembering the hard-won manners that her mother had drilled into her.

“Your formal greeting is appreciated, but please, I am but a humble student,” Chandrika replied, in a formal bow that would have made her mother proud.

And unlike the paper guy from before, my arm isn’t extended in the wrong direction. If you’re going to make me suffer through formalities, at least do it correctly.

A hearty laugh nearly shook Chandrika out of her bow.

“Not one for the old ways? I cannot imagine a grandchild of Arseya who would be. But I would be rather be buried un-alive long before I willingly addressed one of your statures without the proper greeting you are owed. I was a… guest of your Great-grandfather, you see. So I have a great deal of respect for your grandmother.” Saint Baphelus said.

Chandrika winced, hard. More like a shudder that rolled from the back of her neck and down her shoulders.

“I… see. I apologize. With that being the case, I feel that I must inform you that grandmother has forbidden any member of the family from referring to that man by familial titles. We refer only to him as either “the former ruler” or any manner of insulting name.” Chandrika replied, trying and failing to let down her guard in front of the lich who was clearly trying to extend a warm welcome.

“Ah, a fantastic tradition! But… I fear that you did not come today to speak of your country. Tell me, what has become of my darling mentee? Or is Mister Castallane wielding a mirror as a shield for some other reason?” Baphelus remarked.