Socratilun's Mirror

Darius pounded on the huge wooden door with his fist. He was out of breath from running up the stairs, and his expression was dark and troubled.
"what, what?" his father said crossly, opening the door. "what's the matter with you? Speak up."
Darius huffed for breath and then gritted his teeth. "There's a man here," he said. "He's got a suitcase and everything. What's he doing here?"
"Yes, that's the guest I was telling you about. He arrived last night. You're not to bother him, do you understand? You must keep out of sight at all times, that's all I ask."
"Yes sir," the child mumbled, but his face revealed that he wasn't satisfied. His father smiled thinly.
"Go on, tell me what's on your mind."
The little boy looked up at his father, looking worried and suspicious. "It's just that… well, what are you going to do with him?"
"That, my son, is none of your concern. You needn't worry about it. It's purely for business- I'll explain it to you once everything is in place." Darius glanced behind his father at the pile of golden coins on the floor. His dark eyes widened in surprise.
"All that money," he said curiously. "What's it for?"
Bardus sighed impatiently. "Business transactions, that's all. Uninteresting business. Why don't you get back to your studies?"

"I don't want to. And anyway, I can't concentrate with that stranger in the house."
"Well you had better redouble your efforts. That man will be staying here for a while and there's nothing you can do about it. You're forbidden from talking to him, do you understand?"
The boy nodded disappointedly, turned, and walked back down the stone stairs. Bardus cast a hesitant look after him, as if debating whether to say anything more, and then turned and shut the door to his office. Upon hearing the sound, Darius’s face brightened a little, and he hurried away.
The door to the "guest's" bedroom was locked as intended. Darius slipped his pale hand into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a small golden key. It clicked in the keyhole and the handle turned beneath his palm. With a grimace of determination, he stole silently into the room. Although the room was dim, it was a great deal brighter than the light he was used to in the castles below, and so he blinked a bit as he looked around. The man was sleeping in a rather ornate bed, and Darius crept closer in fascination. Soon he was standing right beside the bed, examining the oblivious human. Darius felt strangely compelled to touch the sleeping face, as if to make certain that it was real and not an illusion. His fear of waking the man restrained him, and with a small nervous swallow, he turned around to inspect the rest of the room.

The first thing he found was the man's shaving kit, and the treasure it included: a small mirror. D smiled as he saw the reflection of the room around him, and then he picked it up, and tilted it towards himself… and dropped it with a sharp gasp. He caught it again before it hit the floor, but his heart was racing. He wasn't sure of what he had seen. He quickly looked over his shoulder, confirming that he was alone in the room with the sleeping foreigner. Then, gathering his courage, he raised the mirror before his face. Wondrously, he saw his own reflection in the glass.
The face he saw was pale, smooth, with the same chin and sharp nose as his father. The boy could see his father in his overall countenance, but not in his eyes. His eyes were his own- wide, childlike, with sweeping dark lashes, and narrow brows. And they were blue, blue like his mother's eyes had been, not devilish red. His curly brown hair was tied with a black ribbon at the nape of his neck. The soft brown hair and blue eyes did not belong to a demon. "I don't look any different from the children in the village," he thought to himself. He glanced back at the sleeping man, who also had brown hair. There was a strange sense of resemblence between the two of them. "I could be that man's son!"

Pleased with his appearance, Darius grinned, then immediately scowled as the mirror revealed his sharp teeth. When he scowled he looked more like his father again, stern and harsh."Hello there," a voice said behind him. Darius gasped and spun around, clutching the mirror to his chest. His eyes widened with horror. The man was awake! He took a step backward. "I see you found my mirror," the man said, sitting up in the great bed. Darius gulped and hurriedly fled from the room, already wincing in anticipation of his father's wrath. Fearful for his father’s anger, and realizing that he still had the magical mirror, Darius fled to the bowels of his castle where he hid the mirror. When his father had emerged to ask him about the missing mirror, he denied it. As punishment for stealing from another noble demon, the boy was banished from their home.

The book slammed shut, with the children eyeing around the area. It was late, and they were obviously terrified. The moral had been taught clearly. Those who steal are punished rather harshly. It was the way of the world, and it was the way that things operated whether they wanted to accept it or not. Even those of us who had been around for a while understood the consequences of these actions

I would stand there with my arms crossed while watching her explain the point of the story. As soon as she had finished, I would float over to stand next to her. She had done a wonderful job as usual. I was rather curious about how she managed to create a story that fantastic. Her books were growing, and with that her publicity and prestige inside this realm. Even now it was getting to be a rather decent pain for me to find any time to spare with her being alone. She was always busy and traveling and telling stories to children. She was the kind of spirit that the humans really needed as a guiding light.
Her arms would wrap around me while I returned the feeling. It was strange to feel a body against mine. My armor was currently in my home, getting cleaned up. As for myself, I was working rather diligently to spend more time up here.
“you worried me this time.. you were gone for six days, I thought something had happened and you would never return..”
“Sorry about that.. these humans are rather interesting. There are some of them that can even bend the winds of power like we can. Their realm is filled with chaos and disorder, and they need our guiding light to protect them. I promise, I will never worry you like that again.”

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