Shadow Slave

Some time prior, Effie returned home... the home of her counterpart, which felt both familiar and strange.

It was different from her own family home in Bastion, but shared the same feeling of coziness with it. The nature of life in Mirage City was vastly different from the real world, of course... but Effie vaguely remembered how her counterpart had lived, which was why she did not feel particularly alien to this fantastical place.

If anything, she felt a little bit too at home here.

The people quietly following her in the shadows were troublesome...

It was the people inside, however, who were the problem.

Opening the door, Effie took off her coat and shook off the drops of water from her hair. By the time she was done with that, the sound of little feet drumming excitedly on the floor was already drawing near.

”Mommy!”

She put on a smile.

Her children... her counterpart’s children... were upon her a moment later. She crouched to hug them, burying her face in their soft hair.

“Mommy’s home!”

“Mama! It was raining a lot, mama!”

The boy was a little older, while the little girl was still a toddler. He was boisterous, while she was shy. Both of them were full of the irresistible, innocent sweetness that only children possessed.

Neither of them was real.

Effie kept reminding herself of that fact, but it was of no use. Cold rationality was powerless in the face of blazing emotions, and it was especially powerless in the face of those fundamental feelings that lay at the foundation of human nature.

Like the affection a mother felt for her children.

Despite only knowing them for a few days, she did not want to let these kids go. She couldn’t.

“Hey, you rascals. Your mom had a very long day. Give me a minute to catch my breath.” The kids reluctantly let go of her and took a couple of steps back. The girl glanced up at her with wide eyes, which suddenly started to water for no good reason.

‘Uh-oh.’

“Mama... d—did you get an ouchie?”

Effie glanced down at herself. She had been in pretty bad shape after the car crash, but most of her bruises and contusions were out of view. There were a few scrapes on her arms and face, though, covered by adhesive bandage.

She smiled and patted her daughter’s head. “Yes... but just a tiny one.”

Then, she winked at the little girl.

”Mama is too awesome to get really hurt, pumpkin.”

The boy clenched his fists.

“Our mom is the awesomest mom in the world! Of course she won’t get hurt!”

Effie laughed.

“Alright, settle down. Let’s prepare you for bed...”

The kids protested in unison:

“Noooo! I want ice cream first!”

”I want to watch cartoons!”

She let out a theatrical sigh.

”No ice cream before bed. Where did this idea even come from? Cartoons are negotiable, though...”

Soon enough, Effie found herself on the sofa with two soft bodies pressed against her, hugging the kids gently as they watched a colorful cartoon with enthralled expressions. ᚱÁΝǑ𝖇Ёș

”Look, look! It’s Tali!”

”Go get them, Tali!”

On the screen, a pair of precocious kids somehow got themselves into trouble with a band of clumsy bandits while trying to obtain ice cream from a magical ice cream stand. At the last moment, the owner of the stand — a pink dragon named Tali — revealed herself to save the day.

She dealt with the bandits, huffed and puffed until they ran away to surrender themselves to the police, and then treated the kids to waffle cones full of delicious ice cream.

”Ah, I want ice cream too!”

”Tali is the best!”

The name of this popular cartoon was, apparently, ”Talitha’s Ice Cream”.

The titular Talitha, strangely enough, resembled a young Awakened girl Effie had met in Bastion once or twice — one of the Shadow Clan members operating there in secret. Considering that everyone in Mirage City was based on reflections from outside the Great Mirror, that wasn’t too peculiar...

Effie did not know why that girl’s reflection turned out to be a pink dragon, though. That was a mystery.

‘Ah. I want ice cream, too...’

She smiled and hugged her kids tighter. Then, her expression froze.

‘What am I doing?’

These children were not hers.

But even if they were...

Tonight, she was going to say goodbye to them.

Forever.

Effie was going to leave and never return. She was going to face the Castellan and challenge it for control of the Palace of Imagination...

If she lost, she would die. Detective Athena of the Mirage City Police Department would die, too, leaving these sweet kids to grow up without a mother.

If she won, Mirage City would very likely cease to exist... and these innocent children would cease to exist with it.

In any case, she would never see them again. There was suddenly a dull ache in Effie’s chest.

She remained motionless for a while, and then let out a quiet sigh.

‘They’re not... real...’

Soon enough, the cartoon was over. She prepared the pair of children for bed, and then lingered in their room, looking at them quietly.

“Mom, mom! Dad said that you won’t have to go to work for a while. Let’s go to the zoo tomorrow! Let’s go to the park! Let’s go to the movies!”

Effie smiled gently.

“That sounds nice.”

The boy seemed way too excited to fall asleep any time soon.

”Let’s go to the lake! Let’s go to the toy store! Ooh... they are opening the castle soon, let’s go to the castle!”

Effie’s smile dimmed a little.

”That sounds nice, too.”

Some time later, she turned off the lamps and put on the night light for the children. Then, Effie made to leave...

But at the last moment, a tiny hand caught her sleeve.

Glancing down, she saw the little girl looking at her with pitiful eyes.

”Mama... don’t go...”

Effie let out a small sigh.

Kneeling in front of the girl’s bed, she tucked her in and said softly:

”Mama has to go, pumpkin. Sleep tight. When you open your eyes...”

She paused and remained silent for a while. Then, she forced out a smile.

“Daddy will make you a delicious breakfast. He will take you to the zoo, to the park, and to the movies. He will even buy you ice cream.”

The girl’s eyes glistened.

”What about you, mama? Will Daddy buy ice cream for you, too?”

Effie chuckled.

”Why, of course.”

‘How can I leave them?’

She glanced at the little girl intently, as if wanting to etch her lovely image into her memory.

If someone asked Effie to describe what she felt at that moment, she would not have been able to.

But it was then that she finally understood what she was missing... what stood in her way on the Path of Ascension.

Kai’s greatest obstacle had been his lack of confidence. But Effie was different.

What held her back the most was her inability to let go.

The very reason she wanted to become stronger was to protect the things she cherished. But if she wanted to protect them... she had to let go.

She had to learn how to leave them behind.

‘How twisted.’

Patting the little girl on the head, Effie leaned down and whispered:

“Mommy loves you very much.”

She was saying it for Detective Athena, who could not say it herself... and for her own sake, as well.

Deep at night, when the entire house slept soundly, Effie crept to the window and opened it without making a sound. Throwing one last look back, she closed her eyes for a second and inhaled the smells of the strange, cozy home.

Then, her expression hardened. She smiled bitterly and turned away.

A moment later, she was gone, leaving behind only the scent of rain.