entranceway | 003 ♚ mirror writing/action

I. mirror writing;

_{[Today a certain someone's left a message for the Mirrors. Several messages, actually. Copies appear on all sorts of mirrors in all sorts of places, spread out around the mansion for maximum coverage.

To Mirror eyes, it reads:]}

When does her royal highness plan to let you back over?
Good company is scarce and some of you are more likeable than your other selves.

Good allies are also hard to find.
I want something you can do.
Maybe you want something an ally on this side can do.
We could help each other across the great divide.

_{[Characters on the Real side see something different, however. Peter has cloaked his writing so that when Reals look at the words, they'll see nothing but gibberish, configurations of random letters, lines, and doodles as if a graffiti artist or a very bored person has gone around defacing mansion property. No matter how hard a person tries, though, the writing won't come off.]}

II.

_{[Another slight change in the daily comings and goings of Wonderland is that today Peter Pan is letting himself be seen.

Usually, the wiry youth with his leather skins and timeworn boots keeps his appearances random. Sometimes he might chat on the network or show up in the odd place, or he might disappear for a week or more, it all depends on his mood. Even though he technically has free run of the place, it's especially not every day Peter spends a lengthy amount of time in the mansion; he still looks out of place inside its walls like a vagabond that's snuck in through the back door, his tastes running in the opposite direction of all the glamor. Nonetheless, the mansion is where the people are, so even he has to come in to warm his feet by the proverbial fire sometimes.

While he monitors the mirrors, the boy can be found all over the mansion and its grounds, keeping his quick, nimble fingers occupied with wood and blades, partly for himself, and partly to attract the right eyes. He works idly--even thoughtlessly to inexperienced eyes who see only a meaningless pastime and not the centuries of experience in his baby-soft hands--but there's a grace in what he does.

In the morning, maybe you'll see him carving spears in the tea room or the dining room, the archaic weapons and the mess of wood shavings at his feet at odds with the room's expensive tastes. Maybe you'll find him somewhere with a large hunk of yew almost as tall as he is, scraping bark off with practiced ease, or measuring off branches of a dogwood tree with his eyes to ensure they're the right length for arrows. Reed is a slightly trickier wood to work with, and if you come across the teenager in the entrance hall you may find him cutting into the wood delicately, tongue peeking out of his mouth.

No matter where you come across him, Peter doesn't have a single care about leaving things in disarray, even if the room's already occupied. Don't bother trying to chastise this one. In Neverland, never had a child ever been expected to clean up a mess except as punishment.

At some point in the day, Peter can even be found sitting outside by the mansion doors, the sun beaming down on him without ever casting a shadow below. He handles small pieces of bamboo, carving them more carefully than any other, but he'll hide them from sight if anyone drifts near enough to catch a peek. They'll make fine panpipes before too long, and that's a surprise he wants to keep under wraps for a while yet.}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[There's no writing for a moment, as the Mirror Once-ler considers this. Then, he wipes away the previous ink and writes instead.]

Why? What are you offering in return?

[No one gets something for nothing, after all.]

Because I don't see why some of us can't get along.

_{[Also, because if a war's going to break out it's going to involve more than one faction, and Peter wants to prepare himself to be the last boy standing.

You know, innocent reasons.]}

What might you want? I reward people fairly for their hard work.

[It's another second before he responds. But ultimately, what does he have left to lose?]

Her Majesty's decided I'm not allowed to use the closets any more. Maybe we could help each other out here.

[It's a slight step up from depending on the charity of other Mirrors, especially since charity isn't something that's easy to come by on his side of the glass.]

She banned you from the magic?
Did you do something you shouldn't have?

_{[Sounds like someone's committed a crime that displeased his queen! Peter can work with that.]}

That won't do if we're going to be friends.
I can see where you're going and that shouldn't be a problem.

I stole a key for her, but before giving it to her I decided to see what it unlocked. She planned to destroy them anyway so I saw no harm. Key only had one use in it though, apparently. It vanished and I was Marked a traitor.

[Curious use of a capital M there, but the Mirror Once-ler quickly draws a symbol on the glass - a broken heart with one side colored in.]

Anyone with this [And he draws an arrow to it for emphasis] on them is a traitor to the monarchy.

I think we could be very good friends.

[Of course they could! Look at how helpful he is already!]

And what did it do that she'd make you a thief for it?

_{[Curiosity killed the cat, as it were, but Peter's not a cat and even when he truly was fourteen years old and not the ancient person he is, he'd still been too curious for his own good. A good story gets his attention as much as hearing about the queen's doings. Peter's not one to bow his head to any imaginary ruler--especially not an irrational woman--but the queen's a wily one, with the magic and the control she wields.

He looks at the picture drawn on the glass for a while, brow puckered. A broken heart for the Queen of Hearts, that's cute.]}

From what I've heard, I'm surprised she doesn't just cut off your heads.
She must like to humiliate you instead.
Is the brand enchanted? Is it what cuts you off from the magic?

_{[Adding one more line, Peter makes a point to juxtapose the queen's offer of public humiliation with his offer of friendship.]}

Let's find a way to turn that Mark into something to be proud of.

The keys opened doors to the past or the future. Definitely wasn't worth it in the long run.

[It shook him to his core, but it didn't tell him anything he didn't already know about, and in the end it got him marked a traitor. All around it wasn't worth it, not because he felt genuine regret, but because he didn't get anything worthwhile out of it.]

It seems to be. She said if we were marked the closets "wouldn't listen to us anymore". It's pretty humiliating though - it hurts.

[It burns enough that he wishes he could just rip the skin from his neck sometimes. Dealing with the pain of an open wound would surely be better - anything would be better.

Something to be proud of, though? ...Hm.]

Did you have something in mind?

[What else does he have to lose at this point?]

Yours, or Wonderland's?

_{[Now that is interesting. He'd had a feeling asking the neighbours for cups of sugar with more and more frequency would yield some results. True to form, there seem to be some disenchanted servants of the current monarchy willing to share some tidits.

Reminds him a little of Wendy and the boys, really. Only now he's hoping to make betrayal work in his favor.]}

I haven't found a world yet where a curse couldn't be broken.
Find that way, and your fortunes might just start to rise.

_{[Or, you know, if the traitor's mark itself can't be undone with Peter's level of magical aptitude, this Queen of Hearts herself could always experience what it's like to have her head separated from her body. That, too.]}

But you'll have to be willing to work for it.
Let's start with a question:
Do you know of a room on the fifth floor?
Where light seeps out?

Mine. Because I used my key.

[If he'd used someone else's, he might have seen their past or future instead.

He's unsure if he likes the idea of having to work for it though. Not because he doesn't want to work for it exactly, but he doesn't want to wind up a slave to a teenager with no end or reward in sight. But, Peter has no way of knowing who he's speaking to at moment, so he's not trapped in any sort of contract. He's always thinking in terms of business. So, for now, he complies.]

You must mean the Core.

Edited 2014-07-09 16:52 (UTC)

How is it your key if you had to steal it for her?

_{[That opens up another kind of door, however--the door of possibilities. Is he saying every Mirror, and by extension every "Real," might have one of these keys? "My key" and "my past or future" implies as much. Hm!]}

Is that what you're calling it?
All that raw potential just sitting there.
Is there a reason you've left it alone so far?

It didn't magically become hers just because she wanted it.

[It was his key (or rather, it was his Real's key) and since it vanished after he used it, it never became hers.

He hesitates at mention of the Core though.]

I'm calling it that because that's what it's called.
I don't know much about it or how it works, but it's dangerous.
I'd call it raw power instead, but in the same way a hurricane or a tornado or a tidal wave is "raw power".

[And then, just to clarify:]

I hope you know I'm not going to let you get me killed for this.
Working for something and dying for something are very different things.

Edited 2014-07-23 01:00 (UTC)

003 ♚ mirror writing/action

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