Chapter Text
Becs walked along the street, hands in pockets, the cold air biting at their cheeks and exposed skin. The winter day was bitter and cold, but they had still made an outing to visit their favourite shop, `Second Time's the Charm`. The streets were mostly empty, except for the occasional passerby wrapped in coats and scarves. Becs hadn't thought to grab a coat as they left their apartment, only seeing the notification about `new stock` on their phone and leaving instantly to get first dibs. It might have just been an excuse to leave their apartment, to be honest. It's not like they didn't like being in there- it was nice enough, with plants everywhere and a kettle always on the boil (except for when they left the apartment, like now), but it was too quiet in there. Not a peaceful type of quiet, as they had intended, but an eerie silence that absorbed each room at all times and made the rooms unnerving to be in. So when they got an opportunity to leave, it was always taken, and this was no different. The buildings blurred together as they walked, boots clicking against the pavement, laces bouncing with each step, until they reached their destination.
The building, from the outside, was as ordinary as any other, with a window display and sign showing the shop's name hanging over the door. Becs pushed the door open with two hands and heard a bell chime as they walked in. The inside of the shop was slightly hectic, with clothes and art supplies strewn everywhere throughout the room, but there were very few people inside right now. Other than Becs themself, actually, Becs couldn't see any customers in the shop- just two employees organising the new stock. One of them turned to Becs as they stepped inside. She smiled in Becs' direction.
"Hey, Becs. As you can see, we have some new stuff in here today. Feel free to take a look around." She gestured around the room, or at least Becs thought she did. Their glasses had fogged up, and Becs took them off their face to wipe them clear. "Y'know, as soon as you can actually see." Becs chuckled at that, placing their glasses back on their face. They looked at the employee and read her name tag. It held the employee's name, of course (Jessica), as well as her pronouns (she/her).
"More like if I can find a place to stand." Becs chuckled, then immediately kicked themself mentally. That was a slight exaggeration- there was stuff on the floor, sure, but it wasn't bad at all. Becs had been in there when there was actually nowhere to stand before, so it felt easy to navigate in comparison. They began to walk around the room slowly, trying to see if something caught their eye- nothing did, unfortunately –and delay the inevitable return to their apartment. Their haste to arrive had acted against them, unfortunately, so it was likely they would have to visit sometime soon in the near future. They were making their final round of the shop, which had been a disappointment, when they noticed something tucked into a corner of the room. A mirror. A pretty nice one, actually, hexagonal with a wooden frame, painted with green leaves and orange flowers on the edges by some previous owner. Becs crouched down to see it more clearly. As they reached eye level, the mirror seemed to warp their reflection- it was subtle, barely a change, but it happened. Becs swore it happened. The mirror shimmered like the surface of a pond, and suddenly it wasn't their reflection anymore. It looked like Becs, sure, but the smile was too genuine. It was also just... Off. And then their hand was brushing the mirror's surface, and, from the contact point, ripples cascaded across its surface, warping the reflection. `It's just like a pond.` They thought. And then, without warning, they felt a tilt, as if a hand had grabbed their wrist and was dragging them forwards, pulling them through the mirror- and the thrift shop was gone.
𐀔 ִֶָ ࣪˖𓂃 𓍊𓋼𓍊𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊𓋼 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔
When Becs came to, they were lying in a field. They sat up, shaking leaves from their hair. Wait. Leaves? There were almost no leaves in the city. And as for a field? Becs had only seen them in films and on a visit to the country when they were 15. Around them stretched an expanse of field, grass green and lush, empty except for them. As they stood up, they felt a shiver run through their bones that wasn't from the cold- because it wasn't cold. It felt like a lovely spring day, especially in contrast to the freezing winter morning it had been before. Speaking of before. Where were they now?
They turned their head in a circle slowly, taking it all in. The field they were in was large, but it was surrounded by woods on all sides, which made it feel smaller than it was. The sound of a woodpecker echoed from the woods to their right, and birds- magpies, canaries, nightingales –chirped at them from the same direction. In the distance, to their left, the ring of metal on metal could be heard, and as they looked, they saw smoke rising from beyond the trees in that direction. That wasn't what caught their attention, however. What caught their attention was behind it.
Because, behind it, standing tall and dark against the midday skyline, was a castle. A real, towers high, stone walls impenetrable castle.
It wasn't like one of the castles drawn in storybooks. This was a genuine castle, with flat roofs on the towers and crenellations lining the walls. The part they could see above the trees was dotted with arrow slits for windows, and was a dark grey stone.
"Genuinely, where the heck am I?" Becs put effort into every syllable, which was difficult as their jas was currently on the floor. They had just reattached it when they heard a rustle to their right. They whipped their head around, feeling hair smack into their face as they spun. When Becs saw the cause of the noise, they thought they were dreaming.
Because, in front of them now, was Becs.
Except it wasn't Becs, it couldn't be Becs. Because Becs was Becs. They weren't actually identical, actually, now that Becs thought about it. Other than how they dressed, there were a few differences. Their antlers were longer, more defined and intertwined with vines and flowers. They were wearing the type of clothes Becs expected from a hermit living in the woods, in shades of green, cream and brown that looked beautiful with their hair, which was curly, long and a slightly redder tone than Becs' was. Slung over their arm was a woven basket filled with blackberries and other foraged fruit and supplies. Right now, they were looking at Becs with one of the most surprised expressions they had ever seen- which was fair, to be honest, they were probably also experiencing what Becs now felt.
"Hello there." They said in a much calmer manner than Becs would have likely managed, considering the situation. "Would you care for some tea?"