The back of the wardrobe was false. With one mighty shove, Astral revealed that the wardrobe went on. How, he had no idea. He floated through and covered the back once more.

It was pitch black. Only his body's natural glow was penetrating the darkness all around him. Still, despite the blackness, he pressed on

"Beware of the mirror!"

"Uncover me, uncover me, and see what you'll become!"

Those words clashed together in hushed tones all throughout the darkness. They were the only sounds besides Astral's steady breathing. The back of the wardrobe wasn't the most comforting place, but he never expected it to be.

After a while, Astral came to a door. It had a combination lock with a series of confusing symbols. He placed his hands on the lock, and a combination came to mind almost immediately. It was strange, yet his hands spun the lock, and the combination worked. The door swung open, revealing a rectangular shape covered in a tarp.

"What's this?" he mumbled, getting closer to the thing.

Behind the tarp, a whisper of a voice called out, becoming more and more insistent by the second. "Open it, open it. Uncover me, uncover me! I dare you!!"

"Don't uncover it!" another voice warned.

Astral foolishly ignored the voice of caution and removed the cover, revealing a mirror underneath. His reflection wasn't as it should have been. It was completely white with spots of blackish purple in his face, hands, chest, just scattered depending on what side the light was hitting him. The right eye was white, and the left was the same blackish purple with a muddy gold iris.

Suddenly, it grinned.

Astral quickly covered it again and rushed out, not waiting to see if it would follow or not.

The figure behind the mirror glass was once again covered by darkness. He pressed his purple/black hand against the glass, and his hand passed clear through it. He grinned. His entire body passed through the glass.

"You set me free, Light Side," the reflection purred.

"I swear, if what I found out is true, I am in trouble!" Astral's voice said. "I just hope that it doesn't cause any trouble. If it is, though, please don't let it be today..."

The reflection heard the words, and he grinned. "As you wish, Light Side."

~.~.~

By the time he got out, night had fallen.

Astral's heart was racing. What have I done? If only I had heeded the warning voice! He roared in frustration. Good thing his house was far from the others. Otherwise, they would have heard him.

"How could I have been such a fool," he scolded himself, leaning against the wardrobe door. "I normally would not have done something so stupid." Then, he sighed and paused. "Though, I am sure the urge would have kept bothering me had I not done that. I am sure I would have done it anyways."

Astral shook his head and started banging it against the wardrobe door, trying to knock some sense into himself. "No, I should have just ignored the urges! Now look at what I've gotten myself into!" He then stopped and thought for a while.

The moment he had opened the mirror, memories that Asi had and her experiences had flooded his mind. The dark being in the mirror, the immense struggle between her and her reflection, and the even bigger struggle of getting the reflection to once again lie dormant within the mirror. Now, because of his stupidity, the evil was now free.

"Oh, am I supposed to get the reflection to lie dormant once more?" Astral lamented. "If what I saw was true, then the being will be stronger." He sank to the ground and buried his face in his hands, mumbling things to himself.

Then, he got up. Whatever happened, he needed to keep the evil reflection out of trouble. After all, it could trick people into believing whatever it so desired. That included making them think that Astral was the bad one. He couldn't let that happen.

Astral wondered if there was a way to bar the door, but there seemed to be no way. He grimaced. I will just have to deal with him, then. How, though? He pondered the matter until the daylight poured in from the morning rays. That was when he heard some sort of engine.

Astral rushed over to the window to see a family get out of their car. Astral knew that they were new because he knew every person in that small town. Most people would move to the center of the city, so the fact that these people moved here baffled the spirit.

The boy in the family looked over to the house Astral lived in. Then, he turned to his parents and talked to him for a while. He seemed to be pleading. After both parents gave a nod, the boy started walking toward Astral's house.

Astral was genuinely confused. He wondered why this boy would want to come over to his house early in the morning. Shouldn't he be getting to sleep or getting used to his new house? Why is he coming here?

The door to the wardrobe creaked open. Astral whipped around to see the gold and white eyes peeking through, shining with glee. He caught his breath and rushed to the wardrobe door, pressing his weight down on it just as a knock on the door sounded. He decided to ignore it for the time being. For now, he had to keep that reflection from escaping.

"Hello?" a muffled voice called. "Does anyone live here?"

Astral didn't answer. He had other things to worry about.

"Hmm...I guess it;s abandoned." The boy left.

The being on the other side stopped struggling. Astral relaxed. He sighed in relief and let go.

~.~.~

The reflection was confused. Why didn't his Light Side let him out? He wasn't going to cause trouble in any way for that day. He had promised.

"Maybe," the reflection concluded, "he's just scared to meet me. Maybe he doesn't wanna know that there's an evil side of him." The reflection grinned.

He floated back to where the mirror was. "Even if he doesn't wanna know, I'll make him see. I'll force him to accept that this is life. Everyone has a dark side."

~.~.~

Astral went outside in the afternoon. This time, the voice was no longer with him. Probably because he uncovered the mirror and looked at it.

"Hey," a boy's voice called.

Astral turned around and saw the same boy from earlier. His red eyes lit up in curiosity.

"Yes?" Astral responded.

"My name is Yuma Tsukumo. I just moved here." Yuma smiled brightly. "What's your name?"

"My name?" Astral looked up. "My name is Astral."

"Ah, I see." Yuma didn't seem to question why Astral was a ghost. He just seemed to roll with it. "Where do you live?"

"I, uh, I actually live in the house you knocked on," he explained.

"Really? Why didn't you answer?"

"I was preoccupied..." Astral didn't want this new boy to know that there was a threat.

"Preoccupied? With what?"

Sanji ran up to Astral. "Hey!" he called. Then, he looked at Yuma. "Hey, dude. What's your name?"

Yuma smiled. "My name is Yuma Tsukumo!" The two high fived, as if they were already buddies. "What about you?"

"I'm Sanji Sar."

Then, Astral blacked out.

~.~.~

"Astral," a voice sang. "Wake up, Astral!"