Terrak Nor (O/A)

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Michael soon fell back to sleep, unable to maintain the energy to stay awake.

Boreas sighed and stared at the mirror that Mirror left through with a quirked eyebrow. "I was only . . . trying to be helpful." he muttered before deciding to get outside. He needed to be outside . . . in his element. This hallway was too enclosed for his liking.

After about an hour, Ricky woke with a gasp. He looked around, blinking rapidly, as though trying to adjust his eyes to a sudden light. He turned his head, examining the room before sighing. No one. Good. Then there was no one who'd hurt him. Suddenly though, he became aware of arms around him. He stiffened before looking down. Michael? Mike! It was his brother. He did come . . . that hadn't been a dream then . . . But he was hurt . . . his eyes . . . were a scar . . . so that wasn't a dream either. It was so difficult to distinguish dream from reality . . . it felt as though the past 5 years were nothing but a hellish nightmare with a few good dreams sprinkled in . . . he couldn't tell if he was back in that place or not . . . He squirmed out of Michael's arms. He wanted to know what he had missed. What was real? Before he left, though, he pulled the covers up over his brother. He looked really bad.

Ricky stepped out of the room with a curious glance around. This place seemed safe enough . . . With hesitant steps, he made his way out of Michael's room and out into the hallway, deciding to explore until he found someone. Maybe the lady from the dream? He looked at a mirror on the wall and blinked at it. Wasn't that her name? It was hard to remember. Everything was hazy . . . He touched the mirror lightly. There was sadness in this building . . . he could sense it. Pain . . . no . . . no more pain . . . he didn't want any more pain! His eyes glazed over once more and his hand fell to his side as the curiosity faded and he retreated into himself once more.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Mirror sensed a touch to her door. It was fleeting but she knew it was there. "Ricky? Hey sweetie are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?" She picked him up into her arms. "It's okay." He seemed to be like Hikari. Moments of lucidness coupled with insanity. "Ricky, look at me honey listen to my voice. You are safe here. They can't get us here. Michael will protect you, I'll protect you. Everything's okay. I swear it." She gently jostled him up and down and carried him back to Michael's room. She gave the door a knock. "Michael? Michael! I have a present for you?" She grinned.  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Ricky looked up at Mirror blankly before he was picked up in her arms. Again, he relaxed and just let his head drop on her shoulder. He heard the words, but they weren't registering in his head. Just . . . muffled sound.

Michael was in a mild state of panic. He had woken up shortly after Ricky left. He was groping the bed, still unable to use his powers to 'see'. "Ricky?! Ricky, are you there!" he was desperate to try and find his brother. This was too much like . . . No! He couldn't lose his brother again! When Mirror knocked on the door he made a mad scramble for the sound, searching for the doorknob. "Mirror! I can't find Ricky!" he exclaimed as he opened the door in a complete state of panic.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Mirror smiled. "It's okay Michael. Ricky just came to visit me." Mirror touched his cheek letting him see through her showing him that Ricky was safe in her arms and he was okay. He would also be able to see how protectively against her body she held him. She seemed to sort of adopt him. "He walked right up to my room and seemed to. . . fondle my door. It was adorable." She smiled happily and pressed her nose against his cheek. "Would you like him back?" She asked seeming to forget she was cupping Michael's cheek tenderly. Like a lover.  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Michael sighed in relief, nearly falling over. "Thank you. I . . . I just woke up and he . . ." he reached out to gently brush his hand over Ricky's hair. "What's gotten into you kid?" he asked with a small smile. He then turned to 'look' at Mirror. "Thank you." he repeated again, a bit more emphatically this time. "But I . . . I don't think I can hold him." he said, having registered the weakness in his body as relief flooded through him. As it was, his legs were shaking just holding him up. He also didn't quite register Mirror's hand on his face. He was assuming it was to keep the visual connection going.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

"Michael." Mirror's voice was calm, commanding. "It's okay. Calm yourself." She guided them both back to his bed helping him sit. "I've got it under control. He's okay, you're okay just don't. . . start hyperventilating on me." She tucked Ricky back into bed rubbing her nose on his then moved to Michael and helped him back into bed tucking him in just like a mother would. "Would you like me to read you a story?" She asked Ricky wondering if he could hear her. She had a purpose again. "Michael, you dropped the mirror I gave you." She put it in his pocket. "Remember, if you need me hold it, and rub it I'll appear instantly."  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Michael made his way back to the bed on shaking legs. "Right. Sorry." he murmured, wishing he HAD remembered the mirror sooner. But he was in the midst of a panic. He hadn't really been thinking clearly. He collapsed on the bed next to his brother with a sigh. Too much had happened today. He was exhausted. He barely registered Mirror tucking him in.

Ricky looked at Mirror blankly, not responding to her words. He then looked to his brother and snuggled in close, hugging the other as best he could, dropping off to sleep again. Sleep was good. Sleep was safe.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Mirror tried not to laugh at the scene. No need for a story. Instead of returning to her room she sat in a chair to watch over them in case Ricky got up again. She looked around the room. There was a large six foot tall mirror in the room. Yes. She'd use that to go to her room if she got bored. Watching them did make her sisterly instincts flair heavily. And she wanted to be around them to keep this feeling alive. Her heart pounded. No, she felt the sister thing toward Ricky, she felt something else for Michael.  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

As Michael slept, his energy slowly but surely started to replenish itself and, out of pure instinct, his powers flared. The shadows in the room flocked to cover Michael entirely until he was lost to darkness, unable to be seen. The shadows found his wounds and by the time his power flare had settled and the shadows returned to normal, his wounds had closed up entirely, only scars showing that there ever were wounds there in the first place.

Ricky woke up shortly after Michael's power flare and he blinked a few times before shaking his head, as though he was trying to shake off a fog. He then noticed that he was back in Michael's room and that they weren't alone. He stared at Mirror, blinking a bit more. However, his eyes were no longer blank and glazed over. Ricky was aware . . . and he wasn't quite sure what to do now that he could interact with someone.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Mirror was hovering a little off the ground. A very soft singing sound wafted around her. In a second she turned her body shimmering beautifully as her feet went to the floor and she smiled at Ricky. "Good morning sweetling." She said in a soft tone moving to sit on the bed near him. "Are you hungry?"

"It's sad about Mirror." Hawk heard a girl say.
"Yeah." Said another. "And attaching herself to Michael isn't really healthy for her. She should deal with-"
"Ssh!!! She'll hear! Mirror's are everywhere!"  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Ricky licked his lips, trying to get his mouth and voice to work right. "Where . . . where are we?" he asked softly, scooting a little closer to Michael. The last time he had woken up in an unfamiliar place . . . well . . . not counting that one moment when he went exploring . . . it hadn't been with Mike near him . . . and it hadn't been fun at all. "Who are you?" he also asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Why's Mike hurt?" The question came out much softer than his first one, almost a whisper. He didn't like that his brother was hurt . . .  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Mirror's smile turned gentle. "I am a friend, I have two names. Anna, and Mirror. You are in a safe place for people like us, your brother Michael got hurt during a mission, but I've been helping him get better, you're here because you missed him. Don't worry, I'm just a friend everyone here thinks different but I assure you, I'm just a friend."  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Ricky blinked and then smiled a bit hesitantly. "I'm Ricky." he said, introducing himself shyly. "Um . . . was there something about food earlier?" he asked softly. He was actually rather hungry. He wondered why she was so insistent about just being friends with Mike. It seemed a little weird to him. And he didn't think he'd mind too much if she was more than friends with him. He liked her. She wasn't mean like the bad people.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Mirror smiled and pulled him into her arms. "Come, I'll take you to the kitchens, we have heaps of food. Do you like ice cream? Or maybe noodles or something?" She carried him down the halls. She'd made sure to leave a message in the hand held mirror she told Michael to keep on him.

Daeva lurched in the hallways watching mirror with Ricky. Yes she knew of the little boy. "Hello again little Ricky." Daeva growled reaching out and cupping Ricky's head. Mirror hissed pulling Ricky close to her body. "Hands off. He's not yours."
"And you think he's yours?" Daeva asked eyebrow raised.
"At this moment, yes! I'm protecting him from you now sod off before I get mad."
"Ooh~ what are you gonna do? Show me reflections?"
"Yes." A mirror appeared between them enthralling Daeva in a reflection of her in sixty years.  

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Ricky smiled. "Really? I can have those things?" he asked softly, not really being able to remember the last time he had something like that. All he knew was that he had at one point . . . though he couldn't remember if he liked it or not. However, when Daeva appeared and suddenly cupped his head, Ricky stiffened. And then, as the argument broke out, he slowly became more and more panicked until . . . he shut down again. His eyes glazed over and he just very calmly laid his head on Mirror's shoulder. He had tuned out to the world around him. The raised voices . . . the unwanted touch . . . it had freaked him out far too much.