Mirror World

"Even though it's small, it looks like a labyrinth." Keshita pointed at the map while taking off his headphones.

"?"

"Apparently, each location in the museum plays themed music, headphones will be useless."

"They’ve noise cancellation, but you're right… Wow, these are prettier than I imagined!"

First, they entered a hall with many projectors showing blossoming flowers on the walls and the field, carried by the winds here and there, forming a dance. Folklore animals suddenly appeared from the bushes, dancing in a circle around the audience. This was especially liked by the little children, whose joyful squeals spread throughout the hall.

"Do you feel something special?"

"Like, am I blooming or flying?"

"I wish I knew how it works. Maybe how your brain grows during evolution, layering new sections on top of old ones? Then no wonder you constantly complain about your head splitting."

"This is not funny! What if it really bursts?"

"I think the brain has foreseen everything, isn't that what it's for? The bone tissue of the skull also expands. And indeed, your head seems to have become bigger!"

Keshita looked around, trying to find a mirror surface to check if Miku was joking. And he was lucky, because the next location was a crystal world. It consisted of hundreds of suspended special garlands that resembled crystal. The floor and ceiling were made of mirrors that reflected the lights and formed a common space. The lights turned on and off, gradually turning into other more complex patterns. At some point, it began to look like stars.

"Seriously? I was just kidding. Although…"

"She's changed. Has she become… warmer? We've become friends a little, of course, but it's happened faster than I expected." Keshita tried to analyze Miku's behavior.

"I feel like I'm in outer space!"

The garlands were hung in a special way, creating a labyrinth inside a large room. If it weren't for the large number of people, it would be easy to get lost here.

"Keshita…" Tamiya suddenly heard a voice inside himself and turned around.

"Miku?"

He saw that she’d moved away from him a little, carried away by the lights. He tried to return to her, but suddenly the light went out. And light by light it began to be restored.

"Keshita! There you’re. I asked you to stay close." It sounded again, but more clearly.

Tamiya glanced to the side and noticed a small child being taken by the hand by his mother and led away. The lights began to move and, accelerating, created a semblance of hyperspace. Keshita began to feel very sick and nauseous. He looked around, but in the flickering, fast-moving light he couldn’t find Miku among the dark silhouettes.

But the girl was nowhere to be found. Keshita moved against the light. He saw a familiar figure ahead and grabbed his shoulder, turning him towards himself.

"Miku, what's wrong?"

"Eh? You've got the wrong person, young man." Said the old lady with the backpack.

Keshita recoiled and became even more frightened when he saw the familiar silhouettes of the rakshasas behind his granny.

"Face to face. Keshita, you can't hide. You owe us something, remember?" The voices of the rakshasas were heard from all around.

"Where is my confidence? I'm still scared to death of them, what is this!?"

Tamiya panicked and ran away. The human figures around him also began to transform into creepy creatures, Keshita didn't even try to look at them.

"What!? What could I possibly owe the demons?"

The hyperspace never ended; it seemed that it really was endless. Tamiya accelerated and after a few moments crashed into the wall. He fell and closed his eyes in pain, and when he opened his eyes, he saw many of his reflections in the broken glass. Suddenly, one after another began to speak to him.

"What, you've already forgotten?" One of them said, pointing to her neck.

"The soul is still here. You wanted to give it away, didn't you?"

"In exchange for revenge on the murderers of your family!"

"What happened? Did you give up so easily?"

"What do you want? Keshita!? " All the reflections screamed at once.

Their scream deafens Tamiya, but suddenly the broken mirror door opened and a human silhouette appeared there. Without thinking twice, Keshita jumped up, pushed the shadow away and ran into the next room - with thousands of suspended glowing balls, each of which reflected thousands of others. Keshita tried to run carefully, but in his haste he still hit several with his head. Tamiya suddenly froze, seeing a familiar image in the reflection.

"My boy… did I raise you to be a coward?" A warm but dismissive female voice sang.

"M-Mom!? "

"Raise your head, son! Face your fate like a man!" A male voice spoke.

"What are all these visions for!? I don't understand!"

The visions and voices of his relatives haunted him, reflected and multiplied in the glass balls. Dark silhouettes among them seemed to be hunting Tamiya. He dodged and fought them off until he hit a mirror wall, panicking and looking for an exit. As soon as he noticed another shadow coming out of the wall, he ran towards it and found himself in another glowing hall. This time it consisted of various paths and ramps, along which mirror balls rolled.

"You can't run away from fate, brother… " A soft child's voice sang.

"Eh… and I thought you were strong and could protect us! " A second one almost identically rang out. " What about the fireworks festival?"

Suddenly the lighting pattern changed, reflecting endlessly in the mirror balls, creating the appearance of fireworks.

"You promised to take us!"

"Sisters… Forgive me! Forgive me!"

This mirror and glowing labyrinth turned out to be more difficult. Keshita saw his own reflections everywhere, mixed with visions and dark silhouettes, either shying away from him or pursuing him. But thanks to this, Keshita was able to notice a dark door in the middle of the world of light. He quickly headed towards it, but at that moment a huge rakshasa came out of it and grabbed the guy. But Keshita didn’t think of giving up, hitting the demon in the face with the back of his head. Freed, Tamiya ran to the next hall. In the passage to it, the guy saw a map, but it was blurring before his eyes, becoming more confusing. The rakshasa had already come to his senses and began to pursue Keshita.

The passageways created their own mirror labyrinth, with thousands of reflections of Keshita running parallel to him and trying to strike up a conversation.

"You let your parents down…"

"…little sisters…"

“…our entire organization…”

“…all of us!” Thousands of voices resonated in my head, shaking the space.

"Enough!" Keshita shouted and pulled back the soft mirrored curtain leading into the hall.

It consisted of a large open space without unnecessary hanging elements. But its floor repeated the hills, and visual waterfalls flowed from the walls, created by the glow that was refracted by the emitted smoke. This place was more peaceful than the others. Keshita calmed down a little and managed to forget about his pursuers and merged with the crowd, which no longer seemed so terrible.

"Why do I see them now… could I’ve changed anything then?.. Stop. I’d sisters!?"

At first, the music calmed Keshita, bringing her heartbeat back to normal. Until the blue of the waterfalls changed to bloody streams, reminiscent of the depths of hell.

Keshita saw the door behind the bloodslide and finally got back to the trading floor. Everything changed dramatically here. The people were distorted by visions and a flurry of their thoughts penetrated Keshita at once. He tried to put on his headphones to somehow drown out the voices, but he couldn't find them. And he remembered that he’d thrown them away during his escape, as he’d planned to hide from Mukibutsu and Miku.

"What's happening to me? What is this?"

Modern shopping mall windows use screens instead of glass, which can change transparency and broadcast any image. But what Keshita saw was clearly different from what was displayed.

All screens formed a single picture.

"This is… hell!?"

Each floor marked one of Dante's nine circles of hell. But Tamiya didn't know this, seeing only suffering sinners and demons punishing them. And also burning rivers, mountains and a bottomless abyss.

Suddenly, this whole bacchanalia was interrupted by a calm voice, but with a hint of alarm.

"You're… the same, right?"

"Ah?"

Keshita turned and saw one of the screens interrupt the hellish image and change into a cityscape of a completely different country. In the center stood a stranger, and behind him stood the shadow of a rabbit.

"I see. So, I really don't have much time. See you later!"

Contact.