[Episode 229163] [Episode 229163]"Come on, I can do this..." Rika said looking at herself in a mirrored desk. Later that day having finished her socialization with Tomoyo and Sakura, Rika had returned to her bed room. The obvious solution to her problem came almost instantly to her. "If I could seal my old memories once, I can seal them again... then I can forget this nonsense and just get back to my life!"
Rika held her palms against the glass, smudging it, calmly breathing in deep. "Okay Rika, just focus, you've done this before you can do it again then it can all be over..."
But there was nothing. No fading of the horrid image of herself being killed from Mira's point of view. No fading of the memories of her years of loyal service under Clow Reed. No fading of the ghastly encounter with The Sword.
Rika leaned her head against the very solid glass mirror, "Please... I beg you, don't make me remember all this! I'm just a normal girl! I'm not some wandering spell or magic unicorn! I shouldn't have to remember all this!"
'Heh. Did you really think it was going to be that easy?'
Rika stepped away from the mirror on her desk. She was close enough to The Sword that she could hear it. "Don't talk."
'That won't be happening: I was created to attack, attack, attack, to strike down my enemies without hesitation or mercy.'
"I'm going to bury you in our basement where no one's going to find you in a hundred years."
'You did more than seal away your real memories when you took on this facade sister. You sealed away the powers and abilities of your true self as well Mirror. A flat, solid, reflective surface should mean nothing to you. Yet it's as solid to you as if you were a human instead of pretending to be one you murdered in cold blood to have a hiding place and fulfill your base desire to copy anything you see.'
Rika didn't reply, instead she stepped away from her desk out of the range of The Sword's voice, shivering and feeling sick. She sat down on her bed, hugging herself. 'There has to be a way I can make these horrid memories go away. ... There just has to be. What am I supposed to do?'
Her father called her down to dinner. Rika instantly leapt to her feet and ran downstairs. Normally she helped with the cooking every chance she got, but her parents had let her have the day off this one time due her having friends over (or that was how Rika saw it, her parents saw it as not -letting- Rika do a large share of the cooking for once, let the girl relax for one afternoon).
Dinner had been as good as ever. Mom had spoken lively about sowing, and her father lively writing, and Rika of course had spoken lively about her class activities. Rika breathed it all in. 'Yes. This is me. A human being. A family that loves me. Friends who know me. And a home to call my own. This is the real me.'
The image of herself being impaled by Mira flashed through her mind. Rika broke out in a cold sweat. She barely excused herself, ran into the bathroom, and vomited. Then she dry heaved. And finally she began to spit foul tasting yellow liquid. Rika's entire body ached, her body was covered in sweat by the time she was done.
Her parents hadn't heard what had gone on in the bathroom but they DID see their daughter's face. Her mother instantly brought her hand to Rika's forehead, "No temperature. Rika dear are you feeling okay?"
"I think," Rika stumbled over what to possibly say, "I'm okay. Don't worry. I think I ate something at school I shouldn't have. Don't worry, everything's fine."
Her parents looked at each other around the time that Rika said 'don't worry' twice.
Rika's parents had INSISTED in no uncertain terms that Rika go to bed, while they did the after dinner dishes.
Rika stumbled past her drawer, not even letting The Sword get a complete sentence in, 'So how does it feel to be with the family of the human you-'
Rika fell into the bed, barely thought to undress herself and fell asleep.
Rika awoke at midnight, feeling unnaturally hot. She wandered over to the mirror half asleep to see what was the matter. She screamed at her reflection. Facing her, was a shivered corpse version of her wear her nightie. It was eyeless, and had an oozing gaping hole in it's chest. It raised it's finger and pointed right at Rika.
In another moment Rika was in a black void with a glass panel in front of her showing her bedroom from her mirror's perspective. In front of her on the other side standing at attention was another Rika, looking calm, grinning at her like a shark.
"No! Please! Let me out!" Rika shouted, her voice muted as she pounded futilely at the glass.
In another moment however, Rika -was- back in her bedroom, looking calmly at the mirror, seeing herself hit helplessly against the mirror's surface in the black void beyond.
Rika felt herself smile, she didn't want to smile, why was she smiling? Her body acting on automatic, Rika swirled around. Like a Sailor Moon transformation sequence, she was now wearing pale robes with pale skin, long hair and a face that reminded Rika somehow of Sakura's. Rika didn't know how she knew it. It was like her body was a puppet and she was along for the ride.
Rika's head turned and saw a two handed sledge hammer, Rika felt herself grin wider, her head turned to look at the Rika still trying to break out. Rika's hands grasped the sledge hammer, turned to the now terrified Rika in the glass, and shattered her, breaking the mirror into a thousand pieces. 'NO!' Rika wanted to shout but her body wouldn't obey her.
Suddenly in control of herself Rika dropped the heavy hammer, and tripped in the oversized robes, the long hair getting in her vision. From the shards of the mirror, her face covered in blood like the cracks in a glass panels, the other Rika looked at her unfathomable hatred.
Rika awoke from her bed with a gasp. She sat up in bed looking around. No shattered mirror, no hammer. She looked at herself and was relieved to see her own hands, she touched her head and let out a sigh feeling her own slightly curly dark short hair opposed to smooth pale long hair. Only her own reflection shined in the distant mirror, doing only as she did, looking only as she did.
The clock saying it was around three AM, Rika laid back on her pillow. "Please, let all of yesterday just be some horrible nightmare." She whispered hesitantly closing her eyes going back to sleep.
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(Posted Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:11)
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