Mirai

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I frowned in response to Dad's statement. I hadn't thought much about how other people could access this world. Considering how me and Tamah had just been able to enter, I would have assumed that anyone who knew the location of the mirror could enter it. What Dad said suggested something else, though.

Dad continued explaining, perfectly managing to understand what my expression meant. "All mirror worlds like this one have a keeper. I'm the keeper here, and, as such, I can block people from entering. That also means that people from the outside can send messages directly to me."

I nodded. "And what does she want?"

"To talk to you. She wants you to step out of here to talk to her. She's waiting for you on the other side."

I wasn't surprised. In fact, now that I got that message, I was more surprised that she hadn't asked me to do that earlier. I wondered about her motive, however. The coven likely wanted Tamah back, no matter what, considering how they had worked so hard to try and stop me from getting to her. They probably also wanted me back for the reasons Dad had given, to make me into the puppet that could guide all their future decisions.

But Mom. What did she want?

I felt relatively sure that she wasn't interested in harming me in any way, that it was quite the opposite, that she wanted to protect me. But I was also relatively sure that she would go about it in a bad way.

Where I was, I didn't need protection from anyone. The ones I needed protection from were on the outside, was the coven. I most certainly did not need protection from Tamah, which I was sure Mom thought I did.

But it was for the best to meet her, to tell her this, to explain and make her see sense. I didn't want to have to pick between her and Tamah. Mom had acted stupidly since my birthday, but that didn't erase the years of her taking care of me and being amazing.

"How do I leave to go and talk to her?" I asked Dad. At my side, Tamah moved closer to me and took hold of my hand.

"It's just for you to concentrate on leaving and taking a step. The step will take you out of here."

I gave him a nod before turning to Tamah. She shook her head as if already knowing what I was about to say.

"You have to stay here."

Her headshaking intensified.

"I won't be long, okay? And I will be back. I promise. But I have to go and talk to her."

Tamah stepped even closer to me and it was my turn to shake my head.

"You would be in danger if you came with. Someone might hurt you. If that happened, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. That you are safe is what's most important to me."

Her eyes hardened and she pursed her lips a bit.

"I'll be fine," I smiled. "It's my mom, after all. She won't hurt me."

Tamah leaned in, rested her head on my shoulder while we hugged. I stroked her back but remained silent. After a long while, she took a step away from me and let go of my hand.

"Promise you'll stay here?" I asked her and she nodded. "I'll be back soon."

I turned so I wouldn't face Tamah. I didn't want to leave her and I had a feeling of that if I looked at her, I wouldn't be able to leave this world.

So without her in my sight, I concentrated on stepping out and took that step into the clearing in the forest the mirror stood in.

Just like the sun had been setting in the mirror world, the sun was setting in the real world. But with the trees around, it was impossible to see the sunset. Instead, it was the dimmed light that told the time.

Mom was not waiting for me alone on the other side. The Priestess was there and her sidekick, as well as five other witches. Quite the welcome party and that made me even surer that Mom didn't know what type of protection I truly needed.

"You wanted to talk to me," I said and looked straight at Mom, ignored the rest.

"Mirai! Oh, thank the goddess you're alright!" Mom exclaimed and moved forward. I took a step back so I was as close to the mirror as possible without touching it. My movement stopped Mom.

It wasn't that I didn't want her to hug me, as she likely had wanted to. But I wanted to make it clear I wouldn't go with them. And I also had an instinctive feeling of that Mom might use magic to force me. If she was touching me while doing so, it would be that much easier to accomplish it.

"What... How are you?" she continued and her eyes darted all over me. "And why are you covered in paint?"

"Doesn't matter," I said, though I guessed I had to look kind of silly with paint all over me. But that was neither here nor there. What mattered was to get to the point, so I swiftly could return to Tamah. "I'd rather you get to the reason why you asked me here. I promised this wouldn't take long."

Her eyes widened. Alarm and panic. She had not considered my firm stance on this matter.

"You... you're planning to go back?" she asked me with a voice that trembled.

"Of course. Why would I not return to my mate?"

"Your mate?" Mom looked from me and to the Priestess. And then back again. "You don't mean that Lamia is your mate?"

"Her name is Tamah and yes, Tamah is my mate."

"But you have to reject her! She's dangerous. She will harm you!" Mom moved closer again, I moved to the side this time. Mom stepped back again as I moved.

"I will never reject her," I stated. Calm. Steady. With certainty.

"Mirai, I don't think you understand the situation." The Priestess was the one who spoke this time. I didn't bother looking at her, but kept my eyes on Mom.

"I came here because you wanted to talk to me. If there isn't anything, I'll leave," I pointed out and moved to turn back to the mirror.

"Mirai. Sweetheart. I just want what's best for you. You know that, right?" Mom's eyes glistened with tears.

I smiled, but the smile wasn't happy. It contained the sadness and bitterness I felt in my heart. "I do know that. Unfortunately, I also know that you don't know what actually is best for me. If I had done what you wanted from the start, I would be moving towards a certain death."

As if to emphasize my words for myself, I felt a vision try to take over. It was as if I looked through a glass on which a movie was projected. But the projection wasn't strong enough for me to make out the images and I fought against it. Fought to stay in the present.

"What do you mean?" Mom asked.

"The countdown," I explain. "Finding and mating with my mate is what will stop it. If it reaches zero, I'll die."

She gasped and took a step back. Then she hurried forward. I used too much of my concentration to fight the vision, to shove it to the back of my mind, so I didn't have time to step back before her hands clasped mine.

"Oh, sweetheart! There must be another way to stop it. Maybe if that monster was gone, it'll stop."

"She's not a monster!" I snapped and pulled away. "And if you want to harm her, you'll have to go through me first. I'll protect her with my life."

"Mirai," the Priestess said, and this time I turned to look at her. The vision had grown clearer and I saw Tamah in it, saw Lamia. "I understand that you have certain feelings towards Lamia if she is your mate. But the Goddess must have made a mistake. You've heard stories about Lamia, have you not? She's caused so much death and devastation and if she's not contained, if she's not stopped, she'll cause much more harm."

"Yeah, I've heard the stories," I snorted. "But I've also seen the truth. So forget trying to convince me to hand her over. It'll never work. You'll have to kill me first. But you won't ever do that, will you? My gift, my sight, is too precious for that. You must have realized it. You saw how I fought when I ran away from here and you saw how I fought when I broke Tamah out. You know that my gift has strengthened and that is what you're after and nothing else."

There was a dead silence after my words and I saw the truth I already knew in the Priestess' eyes. She didn't look surprised by my words. If anything, there was a glint of satisfaction in her eyes. A pleased smugness to her smile. My words had confirmed what she had suspected.

"It's not like that," Mom said and shook her head. I heard the earnestness in her voice. Saw the genuine worry in her eyes. "Yes, of course, it would be great if you could use your sight to help the coven out. But we care about you, all of us, and we want what's best for you."

I smiled at Mom. "I know you want that. But you don't know what's best for me and being used in the way the Priestess wants is far from the best. I belong with Tamah and that's just how it is."

I saw Mom's eyes widen, but she didn't look at me. Instead, she looked slightly behind me. Then I felt a hand take hold of mine and the vision I fought almost overwhelmed me for a second before it lessened in intensity. But that second was enough to make me certain about what was about to happen.

"You promised to stay," I told Tamah as I turned to her.

A blotch of green paint covered one of her cheeks. A streak of green went across her forehead. Droplets of different colors were splattered all over her face. She had yellow eyes filled with tears and pupils in the shape of slits. Her body shivered slightly and green smoke billowed around her feet.