Chapter Text
Harsh breaths came out of a teen’s mouth as he ran from his chaser. A human mutant to be more exact; a grotesque creature beyond reason with only the intention of killing anything in its path. They've been at this for about an hour already, though Kaleido supposed he should end this soon since the sky was turning a beautiful orange. Ah, what a shame. He was having fun playing hide and seek with it. A giggle left his throat at the thought, causing the mutant to roar in response; no doubt pissed it hasn’t crushed his skull yet. Kaleido pushed his leg muscles further into a sprint, which caused the distance to grow between him and the creature.
The teen fumbled with a simple pistol on his belt, making sure it was loaded before making an abrupt stop and turning to face the monster behind him. The gun leveled in between the monster’s eye followed by the click of a trigger and a loud bang. Kaleido wouldn’t have processed the thud of the mutant’s form crumpled on the dirt road if it weren’t for the fact that he saw it happen in front of his eyes. He walked up to the now dead creature, getting a better look at it.
Kaleido’s ears rang as he studied the mutant’s form, a smile never leaving his lips. It was previously a woman seeing as it had breasts alongside with medium length hair adorned in clips, one being in the shape of a star and the other being a cat. Its left arm was three times bigger than its right, which looked more like a claw than a hand, and its bare feet were plump with grime, dried blood, mold, and rot. Kaleido will bet that the rest of her body is in similar shape to her feet. A snicker left his throat at the thought as his colorful eyes lit up in glee. He could see the inside of the mutant’s mouth due to the rot decaying its skin. Hm, it would make a horrible meal, but the look is interesting.
Well, he supposes he should bury it. With that Kaleido pulls his eyes away from the dead body and glances around. Conveniently, he sees a house nearby. Ah, he’s truly lucky today! First, he had a fun game of tag with a mutant and now there’s a house for him to steal from. The teen skips happily into the building, collecting anything he sees as useful, which was just some bullets. Kaleido guessed someone else must’ve already raided this place. Thankfully, he found the shovel he was looking for quickly and went back to the body.
“I’m back!” He exclaimed joyfully to the crumpled mutant with a shovel in hand. With that, he began digging its grave off the side of the dirt road, humming cheerfully all the while. The sky went dark as hours passed, but the moonlight and stars provided enough light for the teen to continue. Once Kaleido was finally finished, he walked back to the body and kneeled down. “Well, since you’re dead, you won’t mind if I take your clothes and stuff, right? I mean, it’s not like you need them.” He giggled as he stripped the woman mutant of its clothes and placed them to the side; taking the hair clips as well, which he clipped onto his own hair instantly.
The clothes were a bit torn and muddy, but that’s fine. It wasn’t like he was going to use them. Rather,he was going to trade them. Though, he should wash them first, so the offer is better. Hm, after he buries the body, he’ll clean them. Kaleido throws the exposed body into the hole, uncaring about its nude form, before grabbing the shovel and using the dirt he dug up to cover the mutant. Humming pleasantly to himself as the hours passed, pressing his shovel to smooth out the soil once the body was fully covered.
Kaleido discarded the metal tool, grabbed the clothes, and walked away happily; a smile gracing his lips. What a good haul he has today. Clothes fetch a lot of nice things, even more so when they were on the nicer side. Maybe he could even get food or a new weapon this time. No, food was priority; weapons can wait for another day. The teen nodded in agreement at his reasoning. By the time the sun was up again, Kaleido finally reached a waterway. He sat on the river bank before letting the clothes soak in the gilding water, washing his hands as well. Once he saw that the clothes were drenched, he took them out and wringed the water out of them. Then Kaleido placed them on a nearby tree branch.
Maybe he should take a bath. Kaleido pondered on the thought as he walked back to the river, stopping once he saw his reflection in the water. His black braided hair still reached the back of his knee joints, except now adorned in the cat and star hair clips he took from the mutant. His skin tanned from long days under the sun and his colorful eyes- red on the outermost part, yellow inside alongside blue (which was thicker than the other two), and black wrapping around his white pupils- were just a reminder that he was a mutant as well. Really, everyone was in this world; something about radioactivity. He didn’t quite care. After all, he doubted it would affect his survival. The question about mutants was just whether you broke apart enough to let the rot consume you and become a mindless killer or not.
Kaleido’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the river turning black, snatching his interest. His grin spread wider as he could no longer see his reflection staring back. This was new. A deep voice began to boom in his head, one that wasn’t human, mutant or rot. How fun.
“Ah, my dear esteemed benefactor…”
“My proud, beautiful flower of evil.”
“You are truly the fairest one of all.”
“O magic mirror, thy wisdom I entreat…”
“Reveal unto me the visage I seek…”
“You, whose image the Dark Mirror did beckon forth…”
“If your heart bids it, take the hand of the one reflected in the mirror.”
Kaleido went to his knees as he fixated on the blackened river. He didn’t truly understand the words he heard, but he understood the meaning all the same somehow. Excitement filled his chest before he pushed his arms into the reflectionless water out of his own volition. It was thicker than water, yet thinner than blood. Kaleido couldn’t linger on the feeling for long however, since he felt something grab onto both of his wrists and drag him down. The teen let himself be pulled freely, not fighting against it. He saw that the water was somehow more black (and deep) within than what he saw outside of it. A manic grin pulled at the corners of his mouth before he blacked out. The last thing in his vision being a bright light followed by blue flames.
“As flame reduces even the stars to ash,”
“As ice seals away even time itself,”
“As green trees sallow even the sky,”
“Fear not the power of darkness.”
“Now– demonstrate your power.”
“To me. To them. To yourself.”
“The hour grows long, and time is scarce.”
“Keep steady your grip, no matter what may come…”