Ridley

Standing at the edge of my bed was a man. His skin was pale and chalky, long white hair cascaded over his shoulders falling almost to his waist. I stared up at him, eyes wide.

"Who are you?" I asked quietly.

The man smiled thinly, slowly circling around my bed. His pale eyes glowed white in the darkness. "You don't know who I am?" The man stuck out his bottom lip, drawing his face into a child like pout. "I'm hurt, I've been with you for awhile now."

I blinked. "I...I don't understand what you mean."

The man chuckled. "You will soon enough."

I jerked awake from the strange dream, the morning light falling over my face. I rose quickly, accidentally knocking the pile of books I had fallen asleep reading off my bed.

I was still going through every piece of writing I could get my hands on, desperately searching for any information on the Bone King. It was strange how little seemed to be known about him despite the fact that he had supposedly ruled the east for at least a thousand years. I wondered if Vandel had found anything.

I played subconsciously with the ring that dangled around my neck. It had been nearly two and a half months since I had parted ways with the demon prince and he hadn't contacted me since then. Obviously the thought had crossed my mind to simply put the ring on and just go see him. Then again, I knew it would be unwise to do so. I planned to never stoop to Vandel's level on impulsive behavior. When Vandel was ready I was sure he'd contact me. Until then I figured it was best to simply continue on with my typical routine.

Suddenly I heard a knock at the door.

"Uh, hold on!" I called. "I just woke up, I don't have a shirt on!" I heard a chuckle from the other side.

"It's fine, it's just me," Percival called from behind the door. Without even waiting for me to respond he pushed it open. His gaze fell over the piles of books that surrounded my room. "You're usually so neat, I'm surprised at this mess," he said slowly. I sighed heavily, slipping off my bed to finally collect the books I had knocked off when I woke up.

"Sorry," I mumbled quickly, flushing in embarrassment over the state of my room.

Percival forced a smile. "You don't have to apologize. I'm the one that just burst in here." He knelt down beside me, beginning to help arrange the books. "I know I always say this but...you really need to take it easy. After the Bone Monster attack you've been pushing yourself to the point that I hardly ever see you. The only other time you've gotten like this was..." his gaze darted to the ground. I knew what he was going to say.

"When my father died. I know."

Percival sighed heavily. "I mean, we were only kids then but I can still remember how you got. You would hardly eat, you would hardly sleep. You pushed yourself to the point where you could have died. I don't know why the Bone Monster attack and the missing Corisathium is causing you to have another obsessive episode but we both know it has to stop."

I stared blankly back at Percival. "This isn't an...obsessive episode. The Bone Monster attack could have killed that entire village. What I'm doing is important."

Percival picked up a book and tossed it towards me. "Any time I see you you're either training or researching. Don't you think there's more to life than that? What about your friends?"

I shook my head. "I don't need friends. I need to protect the kingdom."

Percival's face fell and I figured I said the wrong thing. His bottom lip seemed to quiver. "Don't I...mean anything to you?"

I stared up at him. "Of course you do."

"But..." Percival sighed heavily, "the kingdom will always mean more."

"Shouldn't it?" I said softly. "The knight code says we should be willing to sacrifice anything or anyone to protect it-"

"You know that's not true," Percival snapped. "Someday someone is going to come along and you'll realize you would do anything for that person, even burn this whole kingdom down to the ground." He let out a low breath and for a moment I thought I saw the shimmer of tears in his eyes. "But I guess that person is never going to be me." He bit his lip. "Gods, you want to know why I came here Ridley? I wanted to let you know that I plan on finally telling Annette how I feel about her tonight. I don't know why I thought something could actually be about me for a change. It ALWAYS has to be about you. Even when I come to tell you something about ME we just end up talking about Ridley this and Ridley that! I was going to ask you for some sort of blessing on telling Annette but you know what? Fuck it! You don't care about me. You don't care about Annette. All you care about is obsessively trying to be the perfect knight, trying to push out and suppress all the human parts of yourself. I keep waiting Ridley! I keep waiting for you to go back to the kid I grew up with, but the more time that passes the more that person begins to fade." He was crying now, tears streaming down his cheeks. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to say.

"I'm...I'm sorry..." I stammered.

"Stop!" Percival choked. "Stop saying sorry. Sorry doesn't mean anything. Sorry doesn't change anything. You know what I think Ridley? I think you get obsessive because it lets you shut out the rest of the world. Well I've got news for you! You can try to shut us all out but the world doesn't revolve around you which means we are going to have to keep moving on without you!" He stood up slowly. "Gods...I just...I just need to be alone for awhile." He laughed but there was no emotion behind it. "Not that it would even make a difference to you." And with that he stormed out the door, slamming it behind him. I scrambled to my feet, intending to go after him.

That's when I suddenly heard a whisper from behind me. "Oh shit...that was pretty brutal."

I whipped around and nearly gagged. The mirror across from my bed had somehow grown a mouth...a mouth that contained a set of extremely sharp teeth and a voice that I could easily recognize.

"Vandel...what the hell?" This was a phrase I was getting more and more used to saying. "What are you...doing...?"

"I'm transmitting my voice through this mirror."

"Why is your mouth there???"

"So you can stick your dick through it." Mirror Vandel let out a little snicker. "Just kidding. I think I just fucked up the spell a bit. I was glad your friend there didn't notice."

My eyes widened in shock. "Wait? How long have you been here?"

"A good 20 minutes, got to watch that entire fight. That was pretty entertaining. It would have been awkward as hell if he had seen me though." The mirror grinned at me. "Nice choice of clothing by the way." I flushed bright red, I had completely forgotten I still hadn't put on a shirt.

"Don't look," I stammered quickly. "I'll go put one on."

"You don't have time," Vandel said, almost too quickly. "I don't have much magic left before my spell wears off."

My eyes narrowed. "But weren't you waiting in the mirror for a really long time before-"

'SHHHHH," the mirror said. "Anyway, I think I might have found a lead on the corisathium."

My eyes widened. "Really!?!"

"Yes! Why else would I have said that dummy. Once a year the Demons hold what's known as the Blood Masquerade. The most elite of the demons will all be gathered together for it and they'll be drinking which will make them even more talkative. If a demon has the corisathium we'll be able to find out."

"Perfect!" I said, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice. "But...how am I going to be able to investigate with you, I'm a human."

"Don't worry," the mirror said. "I've got it covered. Use your ring and I'll sneak you into the palace at 7PM tonight. I'll explain everything to you then." He hesitated a beat. "Oh and one more thing. The Blood Masquerade...I think you're going to REALLY hate it."

I stared back at him...well the mirror...confused. "Why do you say that?"

"You'll see." He hesitated. "I want to investigate this with you, I really do Ridley. But I need a guarantee on this. You have to promise me whatever you see you won't freak out."

"I promise," I said slowly.

The mirror let out a little sigh of relief. "Okay, I'll see you tonight." And with that the mouth on the mirror vanished and I was left standing there, completely unaware of whatever I had just signed myself up for.