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"I exist," Kaede whispered, more to the night than to Mayu. The thoughts threatened to asphyxiate her, but she did not wish to save herself.
She did not wish to hear anything. She did not wish to know how impossible it was to help Mayu. The guilt weighed Kaede down. Gravity suddenly felt imposing, chaining her to the ground - as if to say that is where you belong.
The wind was merciless, in that it forced Kaede to exist. It refused to lift her off the ground and beyond the boundless horizon. Then again, she feared exploring the sky. That meant leaving Mayu behind.
Mayu.
Mayu's eyes were blissfully shut. She remained peacefully asleep, even as the slivers of sunlight grew in brightness. They streamed through the tempered glass window, caressing her smooth skin in the way Kaede's love did. The wind was gone, and so was the night. It had been pitch black mere seconds ago.
The first sun.
The fog in Kaede's senses had dissipated. Even in her sleep-dazed state, Mayu was the epitome of aquamarine clarity. The younger girl stretched a tentative hand out. She held it dangerously close to Mayu's face, only to withdraw it immediately.
The mirror was lying. Kaede could not allow Mayu to wake up before the flashes stopped. Images flickered across its polished surface, disappearing and materialising in nauseating sequences. Kaede's reflection was clothed entirely in roses. They were painted in crimson so deep it appeared black. Thorns were wrapped bewitchingly around the illusion's eyes, and Kaede hated the mirror for truly seeing her.
Have I always been this way?
"Take me," Mayu stifled a yawn. "I want to forget everything. Except you."
Mayu's voice was crystalline like the sound of wind chimes. It should have been gentle, and perhaps even soothing. It should not have clawed at Kaede. Nevertheless, it was a ravenous thing indeed - devouring every last inch of her heart's remains.
Oddly enough, it did not hurt in the least. Kaede's heart had been ripped to shreds far too many times to count. Being numb was but a natural consequence. Numb was the Kaede reflected in the mirror. Numb was not the Kaede whom Mayu wanted to see.
There was no way to help Mayu. Kaede was already hurting her by merely existing. At the end of the day, the mirror had never lied. Kaede had always been the one to lie - both to herself and to Mayu. The mirror was untainted unlike the truth.
"Don't lie, Kae. I know you asked for me."
It's too late. I've forgotten how to be sorry.
"You don't understand. I'll disappear someday, but I can't bring you along," Kaede uttered resignedly. She traced a lone finger along the outline of Mayu's face. The mirror's scrutiny was suffocating, but even that could not compare to the silence.
Mayu's eyes fluttered open too soon. Kaede could not hide the mirror from her. Murky ink penetrated its metal surface, and the younger girl recognised it as her own true form. She had failed to conceal reality, which spilled onto the floor. Mayu was no longer blind to the poison in free flow.
"The ink. I should swallow it...so we can share a fate," Mayu's words tasted cloying, as if they were dripping with honey. "You'll still disappear, but not without your love."
Glass filled Kaede's sight. The mirror was made of metal and glass. Glass shards were scattered where the ink pooled. They made incisions on the decayed surface of Kaede's heart, such that Mayu's name was now engraved on it. According to her eyes, the glass had only remained unmoving.
Kaede could not trust her eyes. She was not sure if trusting anything was safe. At some point in time, Mayu had been her solace and confidant. However, the ink seemed greedy enough to consume the older girl. The impure substance was no different from Kaede herself.
"Do you even understand the consequences?" she placed both hands on Mayu's shoulders, proceeding to shake her vigorously. Kaede needed to empty herself of what little life she had left, and transferring her energy to Mayu was the only way.
Mayu did not resist Kaede's motions. Her eyelids drooped down like silky night curtains, masking out the sun's cheery rays. She was comfortable and at home in Kaede's firm grasp, smiling as if she were dazed. It was too much. The younger girl withdrew her touch immediately.
It's only me. I can't save you because it's me.
Kaede feared Mayu. She feared hurting her, losing her, and being trusted by her. Mayu was not afraid of the mirror. She stared directly at it, her gaze intense enough to pierce through both metal and glass at once.
"Consequences? It's a gift. Love me, Kae."
The ink continued to gush untamably. It surged to a speed monstrous enough to stop heartbeats. On the mirror's other side, unlit candles materialised out of nowhere. They formed a protective circle around Kaede's reflection. An overwhelming force willed her eyes shut, and she knew that succumbing to it was the safest option.
It felt like hours had passed.
There was only darkness when Kaede awoke. It swallowed everything in its presence, such that nothing was left in sight. She extended a hand forward, hoping for her skin to brush against warmth.
You were never real, were you?
Absence greeted her readily. Its presence felt jarring in Mayu's place.
The candles illuminated themselves one at a time, flames flickering amidst the air's stillness. Their collective incandescence gave Kaede just enough light to see. The dress she had on was eerily familiar. It was made from stitched crimson roses - and only existed within the mirror's confines.
"Make a wish," Mayu's voice rang out, unmistakably clear against the empty silence. "The candles will grant it for you!"
Kaede's vision met with polished metal. Dried ink clung to its edges like a parasite. Mayu faced her from the mirror's other side, gazing with fervent desperation which appeared insatiable. Kaede's reflection sat next to Mayu, smiling at the older girl as if she loved her.
Kaede's reflection was innocent and everything she herself was not.
"I wish for everything to be yours."
The ink resumed its flow, blanketing the mirror like the depraved substance it was. Sharp thorns blindfolded Kaede, pricking her skin in the process. She had lost the only window to her world.
It's a blessing, Mayu. Hate me, and don't wait for my rebirth.