• 02 - Mirrorheart

    45 – Prim and Proper

    Scan after scan. Blood, hair and various biopsies. Tests that focussed on her human self. Tests that focussed on the solid chunk of magic in her chest. The kitten pillows helped somewhat with the hollow, voidy feeling inside her, but just a bit. They weren’t a long term solution, but they helped in the really bad moments. It was like getting used to a weird texture or taste when you had no choice but to endure it. When she’d tried to verbalise it to Jones, she’d simply nodded, commented “bad stim, gotcha,” and promised to keep the heartbeat pillows coming whenever she needed them. With movement, it was still basically…

  • 02 - Mirrorheart

    41 – The Colour Spectrum

    There were a lot of questions that an agent had to ask over the course of their life that a human didn’t have to. Most of those questions had answers in protocol or precedent. All of that aside, Ryan wasn’t sure what level of celebration was appropriate for a birthday when the guest of honour could best be described as “dead”. It apparently didn’t give Merlin the same level of quandary as he had spent most of the morning decorating the lab. A hand-drawn birthday card sat on the rolling drawers beside Stef’s bed, and a banner along the wall had joined it. Whatever he did, he knew he was…

  • 02 - Mirrorheart

    28 – Everything Changes

    Some agents felt very attached to a certain time frame. Often, but not always, it was the time associated with breaking past that unofficial “newborn” phase, of the moments when they truly became themselves. It was, in its way, very human. Others simply became invested in hobbies to the point where they became a defining part of that agent’s personality, and they would quietly gripe as their treasured pastime fell out of favour, and would crow in victory once they once again cycled back into the public zeitgeist. Ryan had never found himself experiencing nostalgia for any particular slice of time. The possibilities of tomorrow, of what could come, of…

  • 02 - Mirrorheart

    19 – The Death in Every Moment

    Ryan turned the coaster over and over in his hand, something just to keep his hands busy, something to dull his mind as he watched light reflect and refract through it. The resin was clear, with gold flakes here and there, but nothing that would overwhelm the rose petals – Carol had made them as a pair, one for each of them, something subtle they could keep on their desks, a reminder of each other, even when work pulled them apart. And now, it was one of the few things left of their relationship. They had loved, he’d mourned, and time had passed. Cruelly, the guilt had left more of…

  • 02 - Mirrorheart

    01 – Everything Lost, Everything to Lose

    There was an innate stillness to corpses that always set Ryan at unease. All the small motions of life extinguished, the spark gone, nothing but the husk remaining. Stef’s dead eyes stared out into the night, and he blinked back tears. He closed his eyes, holding the image of Stef alive, happy, questioning everything and exploring magic – tried to hold onto the precious few things he knew about her – then took another breath. With a shaking hand, he touched the jagged, misshapen piece of mirror that jutted out from her chest, and made a wish. He could feel the magic flowing in the mirror, static and overwhelming, so…

  • 01 - Mirrorfall

    38 – Glitter and Dust

    Stef stared. If she’d been asked what she was expecting, she wouldn’t have been able to put it into words. Whatever that vague idea she’d had though, this wasn’t it. It was the same ice-cream shop they’d been at last night. It looked different by the light of day – ice-cream stores, like parks, were something that should only exist in bright daylight. By the light of morning, the colours of the paint, and the chalk illustrations were far cheerier, inviting customers in to experience all the homemade flavours. The only thing that hampered the shop’s cheer was the police tape. The blue-and-white tape sectioned off the area around the…

  • 01 - Mirrorfall

    30 – Hierarchy

    The combat knife was the only thing in the world. Magnolia stared, her body relaxed – something that came from long years of training. If she was tense, her reactions would be off. There was danger, even in training sessions, but it to be a factor that she accepted so that she could perform at her best. Taylor wasn’t the kind of soldier who did fancy things with his knives. No unnecessary spinning. Changes to the grip were done swiftly but in a perfunctory manner. The blade rested in his hand, and if she didn’t move at the right way at the right moment, in three seconds, it would sink…

  • 01 - Mirrorfall

    01 – Broken Doll

    A child screamed. Ryan swore as he lost his footing on the uneven carpet and only regained his balance two steps into the room. It was a pastel-painted nursery so perfect it could have been featured in a magazine. A silenced shot—deafening in the confined space—hit the wall beside his head. He didn’t need to worry—the criminal had seemingly run out any weapon that could hurt him. Ordinary bullets were no threat to him—but they were to the crying child, the little girl, struggling against the Solstice operative holding a gun to her head. Ryan raised his own gun. It raised the stakes, especially now that it was a hostage…