Chapter Text
He stared in the mirror, shattered and littering the mostly bare floor. Whatever happened, he had no idea. In fact, he had no idea about anything. He didn’t know his name, or if he even had one. What about his friends, or his family? Did he have any of those? And where the hell was he? Whatever room he was currently in was cold, and aside from the empty vanity desk with chipped black paint and a broken mirror, there wasn’t a single thing in the room, as if someone had cleared it just before he had woken up on the floor, surrounded in glass.
He shivered, wrapping the cape that hung loosely over his shoulders tighter around his body. He stared harder into the cracked reflection, his snake pupil dilating as he moved away from and towards his warped reflection. He had scales on one side of his face, which trailed down his neck, and a part of his cheek that was… he didn’t quite know how to describe it. He reached his hand up to try something, and- when had he put gloves on?
He pulled a glove off of his hand to find more scales on the back of his hand, sharp, thick nails covered in peeling, dark yellow nail polish that was barely there anymore, and the cold air.
He slipped the glove back on immediately, not wanting to look at the sight of his nails which had been bitten, or the scales that hadn’t stopped after his neck, or feel the coldness on his hands. He shivered again, his hand absent-mindedly reaching for the necklace that was hung around his neck. It radiated heat that soothed his freezing body; a glowing blue crystal attached to a silver chain.
His gaze shifted from his own face to the door behind him. I looked old, with scratched off black paint and deep claw marks all along the surface. He turned his head away from the broken mirror to look at the door properly. It was worse than the warped version the mirror had provided, and open just slightly.
He began to make his way to the broken door, trying his best to avoid making a bigger mess with the broken mirror on the floor and failing, shattering the glass bits under his boots. And how he hated that sound! It wasn’t loud, sure, but he still despised it. Both his hands reached for the warm crystal now, trying to the sounds as he reached the door.
He reached to the handle, grateful his gloves dulled the icy temperature. He pulled the door open, only to be hit with a dark mist that was, if possible, colder than the room he was exiting. He curled into himself tighter, desperately reaching for the crystal that had now become his only light and heat source.
He walked through the mist, holding up his necklace to navigate himself through the dark. His mind buzzed with more questions, like why was it so cold, and where was everyone else? Surely no one else would stay here! Right?
~~~~~
How long he’s been walking, he had no idea. His legs hurt from walking, and he was cold, but at least the mist had thinned and it wasn’t as cold as before. He was fiddling with his necklace, turning it in his hands and watching as the glow pulsed. He hasn’t even noticed how the mist thinned out completely, or how he was no longer shivering. He only noticed after he bumped into a wall.
His head snapped up, and he rubbed his forehead, which had hit the surface. His vision blurred heavily, having to go from a changing, soft light to a solid, burning white. He rubbed his eyes to try clearing his temporarily blinded sight.
His hand skimmed over the walls, guiding himself as his vision processed his new environment. He was walking down a long hallway with doors of every colour going down as far as he could see. His eyes scanned over the golden plaques above the doors; “Star Room,” “Quest Room,” “Storm Room.” All the doors had different textures and patterns, and he ran his hands over as many as he could while maintaining a steady pace.
The only noise that filled the air was his footsteps, his hands tracing the wood, and-
“Deceit?!”