#rp: a new set of tools to overcome the mirror

[shimmerbeasts]

"I don't think I have to do that", Mizora said, "You seem more than capable of antagonising yourself."

The Cambion rose a hand and with an orange swirl and sparkle of hellish magic, a shard of the smashed and broken mirror floated towards her and she caught it with fine, long fingers. Holding the shard before a ruby-red eye, her purple lips tugged into a knowing smile as she continued to speak with her gaze half-shielded by reflective glass:

"After all, it was you who stood before that mirror with the vigour of a judge, laying out the reasons why someone deserves a death sentence, who also happened to be you. Some part of you is not nearly as guarded and controlled as you try to cast yourself as. After all, if you were so sure of that, you wouldn't need a mirror to practise your stance and facial expressions."

Mizora dropped the mirror shard on the ground. Her red eyes laser-focussed upon the girl, a gleam of interest and predatory hunger prominently in them. Her wings were slightly open, making her appear even more imposing than she already was. As she stepped towards Adelaide, her bare feet barely graced the shards of the mirror, which lay strewn about between them like freshly fallen snow.

"And of course, I have more pets to play with", Mizora mockingly replied, "But don't you know how that works? When a dog has been trained and responds to his commands properly, there is always the itch to find a new puppy to train." She halted before Adelaide, looking down at her in all her fiendish glory. "You know what I am, Adelaide, and you know why I am here."

Her hand gestured towards the shards of the mirror once more. "You want to be more than that girl in the mirror", Mizora said, "You have strained yourself for perfection, reinvented yourself over and over again for approval that never comes. After a while, I am afraid, you are bound to run out of people you can be. That would not be a problem if you could be satisfied with the masks, you have collected over your long life. But that's the thing: You are not satisfied, aren't you?"

Her hand brushed across the bumps and ridges of Adelaide's spine, causing the hairs on her skin to stand up. Mizora's voice lowered into a seductive whisper, honeyed knives cutting into her target's brain. "You crave more than that experiment with your little masks can give you. You need more power, more might, and more chances to impress. You need a new arsenal of tools, my sweet, and you don't even know it yet."

She stepped back and said, deliberately letting the sentence run into the void: "Of course, I might just be able to help you with that predicament..."

@shimmerbeasts → liked for a starter .

there is a stranger staring back at her , with large , unhappy blue eyes . she tilts her head , trying to find a familiar angle , and she stares , and she stares , and the longer she stares the more distorted they become . if she stands perfectly still against the mirror , she can pretend it's always been this way , that she always felt this hollow , and this ache has always been there , gnawing on the softness of her rotting insides , and this emptiness had cleaved a home inside her chest from her very first breath . had it ? in a moment of weakness she'd asked once : have i ever been happy , daddy ? he said : adelaide . darling adelaide , you have always been you .

tension grips at her jaw , and a flicker of anger flickers in the winter of her eyes . the reflection cracks , jagged slices of mirror scatter on the floor , and only then does her chest descend with what feels like a heavy breath . her posture does not falter as she turns , she moves with the practiced elegance of someone who had spent most of their life under scrutiny .

❝ it's rude to pry . ❞ as adelaide speaks to the blue devil , her tone is devoid of any emotion , as if reciting something she'd heard over a thousand times , until it stuck to her brain . ❝ don't you have any of your own friends to antagonize ? ❞ that is what friends were for , were they not ? dolls , puppets on strings ; you rattle their plastic limbs and entertain yourself until you're bored , and then you toss them away - time for new toys . better toys .