The Tale of Two Sisters

CHAPTER THREE

"Woah!!"

Penelope jumped back when she saw the images inside of the mirror. She could not believe what she just saw.

She eventually rubbed her eyes a few times, but still, the images were there.

The dragons, flying on the skies, roaming around,

The weirdly-looking trees on the hills,

the lake, which looks shiny, as it was filled with fairy dust, 

everything inside the mirror seems unreal for her.

"Maybe, I should rub my eyes again."

Penelope thought for herself, and still, the result was the same. 

The images were still there, moving as it was a screenplay on the movies.

"What is this? How-"

As Penelope tried to grasp, between illusion and reality, she noticed something is moving toward her.

In a fast manner!

Penelope then shielded her eyes, protecting it as she thought the thing might come out from the mirror and smashed it down.

"Omg!"

Penelope waited and waited for the sounds of the mirrors got smashed, but it did not happen.

"Huh?"

Still covering her eyes, Penelope stood in scared while waiting for something to happen, even if something was pointed a g*n or a sword at her. She did not even care, as long as she did not see it, she thought it will be fine.

"Are you going to do like that, forever?"

A husky, raspy voice called out for Penelope when she was standing at the same spot, doing absolutely nothing.

Penelope, still closing her eyes, started to buckle up herself, as she heard the voice called her out.

And that was definitely not a female voice!

"How come a guy in the girl's restroom?"

Penelope asked. She can hear the sigh from the voice, as it was sharply done.

"I’m not, can you open your eyes now?"

Penelope did not know what gotten into her, that she agreed to the voice. She slowly put down her hands, although her eyes were still shut. Gradually, she opened her eyes again, to look at the mirror, as she knew, something was there, looking back at her.

And the next thing she saw, clearly shocked her.

A guy...no!

A guy, who has dragon's scales, with dragon's wings, flapping its wings in front of her, in the mirror!

"Wh-what are you?"

Penelope asked softly, as she was still in disbelief on what was happened in front of her now. 

She clearly saw a guy, no, a dragon-guy, standing still with his wings flapped around, as he was hanging on the skies, in the mirror world!

"I will answer your question when you closed your wide-open mouth. It disturbs me."

The guy felt annoyed with Penelope's reaction when she saw him. He rolled his eyes when Penelope did not blink at any times when they first met.

Now, Penelope seemed slightly irritated than shocked, when that guy behaved almost like all the guys she ever knew. 

"I'm sorry, Mister dragon, but as you can see, I'm just an ordinary girl, Not like you."

She threw the shades back to the dragon-guy, but he seems not offended by it. Rather than that, he continued to introduce himself and straight to the matters of the point.

"Listen, my name is Veldroid, the son of Tempest. My clan, Grimogrie, was known as the most powerful, feisty dragons in here, Juridria Kingdom. Listen, we must now go to the..."

The guy, Veldroid kept blabbering things, but Penelope just stared at him, cluelessly. Abruptly, Penelope snapped her fingers, to catch the guy's attention.

"Um, Velda? Vilma? Hello, um, Verinne?"

Veldroid looked annoyed with Penelope, who kept messing around with his name.

"Its Veldroid." 

"Oh, yeah sorry, Veldreed. I-"

"Veldroid."

Penelope looked done with the name things, but then she breathed deeply, slowly and released.

"You know what, let's go with Vel. Simple and easy to memorize."

Veldroid rolled his eyes and then gave a slight nod.

"Okay, Vel, listen. I have no idea of any things that you're talking about! Okay, done."

Veldroid rubbed his forehead, trying to cope with the situation.

"Listen! I don't have much time here, and so, do you! Make a quick decision, and I will come to you later!"

Suddenly, the scenery behind Veldroid started to change, from happily, colourful scene, to horrifying, dark view. Penelope, who was still unsure suddenly panicking, though she was already felt she was crazy to talk with illusion in the mirror.

But somehow, she felt resonated with Veldroid, but she did not understand what is going on there.

"Vel! Why is going on behind you? The trees! It is burning!"

Veldroid tried to answer her, but suddenly a rain of black arrows made its ways to Veldroid. He dodged it gracefully, as her dark-red wings flapped around while avoiding the arrows.

"Ugh!" 

Though he almost dodged it all, one of the arrows managed to scratch its wing and made him unstable for a moment.

"Vel!"

Penelope extended her hands to shove Veldroid out from the mirror, only to get yelled from him.

"No! You must not interfere now! You have to choose first! Here!"

Veldroid took out something from his white cloak and tossed it to Penelope, which surprisingly, the object is passed through the mirror. Penelope did not has a second thought and quickly grabbed the thing, which is a locket, before it falls to the floor.

But she also had to fall to the floor, to catch the locket.

"Got it! What is this, Vel?"

No reply.

Penelope stood back to look out for Veldroid, but sadly, the images in the mirror became normal again. 

It became a regular mirror, once again.

At the very moment, when Penelope was touching the mirror, like a maniac, a few girls entered the restroom, just to found out about Penelope's weird behaviour.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Is she okay? Why is she doing that to the mirror?"

"Isn't she the same girl who suddenly fall on the school's entrance?"

Realizing that she looked like a dumb and weird girl, Penelope hurried up to clean her mess and left the restroom quickly, passing through the girls while bumped them. 

"Hey!"

One of the girls scolded her, but Penelope ignored it and quickly walked to her class. She started to think that she was going to be crazy at the moment.

She began to have bizarre thoughts in her mind, running wild and wander. 

What happened?

Why am I acting crazy? 

Is that even real? 

Am I okay? 

Is the world exist? 

Is Vel exist? 

I'm not crazy, right?

The thoughts kept repeating and spinning inside her head,

until she did not realize that she was already stood in front of her class.

"Penelope? Why are you just standing there?"

A question from her friend, Blaire, finally snapped Penelope from her thoughts. Blaire, with her black hair and blue eyes, staring at Penelope, who was acting a bit weird this morning, made her worried.

"Are you okay, Penelope? You became the talk for today, like, people said you fall in front of the entrance so sudden. Is anything okay?"

After listening to her friend, Penelope's mind became plainer and sane. She finally got to have her subconscious back in reality.

"Oh, hey, Blaire. Yeah, yeah, everything just fine. Should we enter?"

Still, Penelope did not want to have an immediate discussion with her friend. 

She wanted to look as she was okay, then she ready to have that kind of discussion with her friend. 

"Are you sure?"

Blaire kept asking her, but Penelope only gave her a weak nod and proceeded to her seat in the class.

As Penelope took her seat, her mind began to wander again about the incident earlier.

"Of course, it isn't real. Haha..."

Penelope giggled quietly by herself, thinking how dumb she can be to believe the world beyond the mirror, but somehow, something made her rethink again.

When she clutched her right hand, she realized something firm in her palm. She tried to remember if she took any things inside the restroom, but nothing came in my mind.

Except, for one thing.

The locket.

She gulped, and slowly looked down on her right arm, trying to debunk what she just remembered, and wanted to think that, the world beyond the mirror is only her illusion.

But she cannot.

As soon as she looked at what her right palm held, her mind began to race again.

The thoughts of the world beyond the mirror is real, making her mind began to twist, and suddenly everything looked like as it was black and white. Blaire, who noticed her friend started to look pale, quickly rushed to her side.

"Penelope, are you okay? You look sick. Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

Penelope can no longer hear her friend clearly, as her subconscious began to lose again. 

Ch...os...e

And now, she can hear the same voice again, and again.

"Stop..."

Choose.

Blaire looked worried, and soon the class began to shift their attention to Penelope.

"Is she okay?"

"Do you need me to call the teacher?"

"You need a hand to bring her to the infirmary?"

Penelope did not hear her classmate all gathered around her, talking with each other loudly, but none of the words made sense to Penelope now. 

Suddenly, she fell from her chair, laying down on the ground.

Blaire quickly kneeled down beside her, to check her up.

"Pene...lop...Hang i...ther..."

The words that Blaire spoke of, because Penelope pretty sure that it was here, are no longer can be digested by her.

Her mind slowly drifted to another part of the world, and it was beyond her capability.

Choose, 

and defeat her.

The same voice kept calling for Penelope, again and again.

Choose,

and be with him.

"What...who are you?"

A faint voice came out from Penelope, asking for the call, though she did not know where it came from. She did not have much strength to look or even to move her body.

"Help...her...someone..."

She still can hear Blaire called out from someone, but she did not have the strength to tell her that she was okay.

Choose,

or lose it all.

"Stop."

That word was no longer strong enough, as Penelope started to feel weak.

Apparently, she began to shut her eyes completely.

Of course, she can no longer listen to her class, which was now in chaos, because of her.

But one thing for sure,

Penelope needs to choose now.

And so does Lisa.

Now, choose.