Following a Golden Thread of Hair [Closed]

"It was called the 13th Step to Heaven" For the rest of the walk toward the library Rayden was silent as he tried to turn back the thoughts in his head to when he last saw the book. Upon arriving at the library Rayden completely ignored the help desk the went straight to the back of the library where massive rows of bookshelves were the only thing visible. "This way." Rayden picked a seemingly random row and headed toward the center running his fingers along the spines of the books as he passed.  After a minute of walking Rayden finally stopped and picked out a book from the shelf. "Section 3, Row 22, Shelf 2nd from the top, and book number 12 from the left." The book was a simple hardcover book colored purple with the title on the cover. Rayden handed the book to Rider. "Thou seems to likely be a fast reader wouldst thou mind finding us a worthy mystery?"

As Rider read, he would come upon a paper inside the book with something scrawled on it. It stopped at the Tale of the Dead Hands which read:

In olden times, it was custom for folk to cover mirrors when someone died as they feared the person's soul would stay trapped in the mirror and haunt them. There was once a village where an unfaithful married man's wife committed suicide. The man, not really believing in customs, did not cover his mirrors and the funeral was held in a non-enthusiastic manner. Happy he was free to start real affairs with women again, he would lead them into his house, but each time the women would see the bedroom mirror, they'd find a floating bloodied hand writing: BEWARE. The women would flee and the man would become angry at his wife's ghost. He decided to confront it by smashing the mirror but when he hit only his reflection he slumped over and died.

After reading the story, he would look at the note. The words, strangely, resembled the handwriting of the note Rider had found in Mirai's locket. The note read:

The tale of the dead hands in the mirror is decades old but it's been renewed here in the Beacon Academy in the gymnasium. I've heard a few people saying they witnessed this, but little do most people know that some things are the trick of an eye. I should go there sometime when no one's around.

"Well, I do believe I've found something Mirai would be interested in," Rider said showing Rayden and Caster the entry. "Actually I do recall hearing some gossip about this. It does sound like something fun to witness. Care to check out the gymnasium?"

As Rider waited for the group's reply, they'd hear the small shriek of a girl with her friends.

"Calm down, Jane," one of the girls would tell her.

"But I saw it!" the girl named Jane urged in a sharp whisper. "When I was training, I saw it! I was practicing my stretching in front of the gymnastic mirror alone and I saw someone there. I looked behind me and there was no one! It was so creepy!"

"What if that person just left?" the second friend of Jane reasoned.

"You don't understand!" Jane said stomping her feet. She looked to the ground and hugged herself. "When I turned back, the person got closer and closer. It was a man in a worksuit. He came up to the mirror and then slammed at the glass as if he were on the other side! It was so scary!"

By the time she finished, she began crying and the girls, scared to make a scene, rushed her away and left the library.

His master's teachings instinctively made Rayden want to go to the girl's side and offer some sort of help but she was already long gone. Rayden suddenly felt a tinge of anger from knowing that something was scaring women. "We have our lead we must make haste!" Without waiting for the others Rayden dashed off in the direction of the gymnasium hoping they would catch up eventually.

"I'm not the only one getting tired of his medieval talking right?" Rider mumbled to Caster before wheeling his wheelchair after Rayden.

Blinking, Caster looked at Rider. "Should we... go after him?"  he asked and scratched the back of his head before shrugging. "Yeah, let's go after him."

After Rider asked his question Caster grinned, shrugging. "I think it has it's own kind of charm to it. Call me a sucker for gimmicks."

Starting to walk, he shook his head and brought a hand to his mouth. "These guys are a mess, I swear. I love it." Laughing softly, he started to move at a slow jog. "Come on, Rider, we should hurry. Don't want him going and presenting lady bloomers to the whole school."

"Well sorry my legs aren't as fast as they used to be," Rider smiled as he turned the wheels to his wheelchair.

Laughing, Caster slowed down a bit and looked at Rider. "Would you like me to push you? I understand if you would rather I didn't, but we would go much faster." Shrugging, he kept his pace next to Rider.

The three young men made their way to the gymnasium in question which was, due to class hours, empty and dark. The only light was coming from the window on the north wall. Like most gymnasiums it had a long and stretched floor. There were cushioned mats and balance beams, rings and bars to swing on, among other things. When it was used for school events, these equipment would be disassembled in order to make room for bleachers. On one said of the training ground, a small portion of the southern wall had been dedicated to a long mirror similar to those you'd see in dance and ballet studios. It was split into three portions. The typical balance bar had been put in place as well.

The mirrors looked nothing out of the extraordinary as it showed the reflections of their faces bright and clearly in the leftmost portion of it.

"Dear lord! The mirrors are possessed by three good looking monsters!" Rider screamed and flailed his arms dramatically. "Oh wait, that's just us." Rider chuckled and wheeled towards the mirrors, looking at them up and down. "Hey Caster, give us a light will ya?"

Caster chuckled at Rider, raising up a hand. "I can see what that girl was so afraid of. These guys' looks are to die for." With that he snapped, a flame coming from his glove and growing as he bend his fingers back and let all the fire focus to his palm.

Once the flame had grown large enough he nodded, using his semblance to bring the slightly orange tint of the flame to a clear bright ray that shown around the mirror. "Wallah!" he grinned in approval of himself.

'Well then, let's see if we can find anything useful," Rider said as he examined the mirrored. "Rayden, how about you investigate the areas that these mirrors reflect. Chances are our 'ghost' is just a trick of reflection. Maybe a bad sports poster or a punching bag."

When Rayden would investigate the room, he'd see nothing out of sorts. Right in front of the mirror, the most you could see was the window and parts of the equipment of the room, namely the balance beams, the bars and the cushioned mats. There was also a bag hooked on the walls filled with the powder assumed to be used to put more friction on the hands, but in the mirror everything looked as it did.

"Hm~" Rider hummed, placing a finger to his chin as he examined the mirrors finding nothing of use. "Well then... if one cannot find the clues to a mystery, the next best thing to do is try to simulate the mystery."

Rider rolled back to a good vantage point and raised his hand in front of his face to form a rectangle as if he was trying the put a picture frame on the scene.

"Caster, why don't you stand at a different viewpoint. The more eyes the better. Rayden, try to do exactly as what that girl in the library was saying. And I mean exactly. Let's see if we can fish out our ghost in the mirror..."

Rayden moved in front of the mirror and started to stretch not considering he didnt have any other idea but quickly ran into a problem. "My apologies Mr. Blanc but it seems my armour prevents me from stretching in the manner the young lady mentioned." Rayden once again tries to stretch but meets the same results. "Perhaps Mr. Grate would have better results?"

Nodding, Caster moved back and back to another angel, raising an eyebrow and staring at the mirror. The flame turned to a short of orb as he balled his hand tighter, only allowing the light to shine around the mirror to avoid any glare.

"Rider, remember how in the story the man smashed the mirror because his wife was haunting him from the other side, correct? Well, didn't that girl say she saw the man smash the mirror?" Suddenly, he snapped with his other hand. "Rayden, can you retrieve that girl for me? I think I have an idea!"

Suddenly the flame disappeared and Caster ran up to the mirror. "I feel insane!" he suddenly laughed, glancing quickly at Ride then looking back at the mirror. "I don't even believe in ghost." he chuckled, leaning towards the mirror. "Are you stuck in there? Did she look like her, eh? Did it make you mad?"

Caster seemed to shake with excitement, smirking widely. He looked back at Rider, stretching in the manner described he spoke. "Think about it, Rider. Let's say our ghost is real. Maybe he doesn't know which side is which. Maybe he just wants to rid himself of the woman haunting him."

It was only then that the three men heard footsteps. When they came to the entrance, they saw the two girls who had come from the library. The one who had been addressed at Jane flinched upon seeing them, but she sighed in relief.

"Oh, hi, there," she said. "Me and Icah didn't think anyone would be here at this hour. Are you training?"

"Actually," the one called Icah said. "Have you by any chance seen some weird person around here? A man in a one-piece worksuit perhaps?"

"Icah, no!" Jane urged.

"I'm telling you, Jane! It was probably just a trick of light."

They continued to argue there, apparently worried about something.

"Now now," Rider consoled saying trying to catch their attention as he wheeled to the front of the group towards the two girls, a casual smile on his face, "Things in this world are not always as they seem to be nor are they always as we expect them to be. What makes the difference is ignorance."

Rider smiled at the two girls calmly and confidently. "There is nothing to fear but fear itself and fear itself is nothing," Rider stated, "Those who are afraid of the dark are not afraid of the dark. What they are afraid of is the unknown, what may or may not be in the dark. They are afraid of ignorance." Rider spoke calmly and comfortingly to the girls his small philosophy like a wise guru. "No one truly fears death. They fear what comes after for they do not know what it is. No one fears abandonment. What they fear is the unknown future in front of them."

Rider raised a finger to his smiling lips and winked at the girls.

"And you are not afraid of ghosts or spirits. You're only frightened of something you don't understand yet," Rider smiled charmingly, "Ignorance is your only fear. Once we come to understand our little mystery, there will be no ignorance to fear. Even if it's a real ghost, if you come to truly understand it, you will have no reason to fear it."

Rider gave a reassuring chuckle and offered his outstretched hand to the girls.

"Now Jane, how about you tell us exactly what happened?"

Caster paced around the mirror, paying no mind to the girls yet as he let Rider question Jane. Putting his right hand over his mouth he started to mumble. "You wouldn't pull something like that with just lights. There are no other mirrors that could be used to make it seem like the man was actually on the other side." He waved his left hand behind the mirror to make sure he could not see it from the front.

Suddenly he turned around and fixed his jacket, clearing his throat. "Also, if it's not too much trouble, can you stand in front of the mirror for me, Jane?" He made a small bow to the girls before directing his hand to where he wanted Jane to stand. "Do not worry, I am a professional magician. If any trickery went on there I will have no trouble identifying it."

The girl named Jane had been surprised by Rider's kind gesture and anyone could see that her face was bright red even in the dark. Icah was standing next to her, a flattered smile on her face.

"O-oh," Jane said meekly. "Y-you heard that? Well, anyways, if we're going to get back to business, I was here early morning around six am. It was just about the same time Oscar, he's the training room janitor, opened it and left. It was still pretty dark and I didn't know where the lights were, so the only light was coming from the window just like now . I decided to just stay by the mirror,the third portion of it, and practice my stretching when just a few feet behind me was a man in a worksuit, you know, like someone working on construction. I turned around to see no one there, but he was still in the reflection getting closer and closer. I turned around yelling and threatening but really! No one was there. When I turned back again, his image was right next to mine and he slammed his hands on the glass. It was so strong I actually heard the glass thump! I ran screaming after that."

She sighed, tears coming up in her eyes again, but she then turned over to Caster who also asked her something. "U-um...okay. I guess I can."

Jane hesitantly moved over to the mirror in front to where he was. "Now what?"

"No need to cry." Caster said reassuringly, pulling a cloth handkerchief from the inside of his jacket and offering it to the girl. "You are in no danger, my dear. Even if there were some danger, we are all armed. You are in good hands."

Then, motioning for everyone to back away, Caster did so himself while maintaining eye contact with the girl. "Everyone, make sure she is the only one in the mirror." he said to the whole group. "Now, Jane, I would like you to reenact what happened when you saw the man. If at any point you wish to stop then let me know."

"O-okay," Jane bobbed her head timidly. She started doing a stretching routine, something familiar to ballet movements. She looked warily at the mirror but nothing showed. Icah sighed.

"See, there's nothing there," Icah told everyone as they all faced one another. "I'm sure that it was just Jane's mind or something and--"

The doors suddenly slammed shut and so did the window, leaving whatever light that had been there extinguished. Jane let out a small scream. She backed away from the mirror, bumping right into Caster as she grabbed Icah and pointed to the mirror.

In the left portion of the mirror, something glowed faintly in smudged red writing, surrounded by what looked like smeared red hand prints.

LEAVE

Icah's face went pale and they ran towards the door screaming, the door locked.

"LET US OUT!" Jane screamed.

In almost a second, the window opened again and the click of the door happened. Jane and Icah jumped backward and Icah took out her dust revolver. A man with blonde hair in a janitor's outfit was there, he wore thick glasses and was slouched over. He didnt' seem to see Jane and Icah, but he lifted his hand up to his ear.

"What's going on in here?" he said as he looked around blindly. "I heard the door slam shut and screaming.

Icah sighed in relief.

"Oh, it's you, Mister Oscar," Icah said. "Yeah, the door did close shut. But--"

Jane yelped again and when people turned the mirror no longer had the letters nor the marks anymore.

Caster's heart jumped hard in his chest, a hand rested on Jane's shoulder. "You nearly blew my eardrums out, my dear." he told her softly, giving her shoulder a gently pat. "That was sublime, fantastic. You did wonderful." Smiling at her gently, Caster gave a gentle squeeze to Jane's arm before moving to the mirror.

"Well, Rider, Rayden, I believe we found our ghost." Looking to the mirror, Caster crossed his arms. "Everything is fine, sir. Just a little investigation." he said to the man who had entered.

Oscan wasn't looking at Caster, but he nodded.

"Just make sure to lock up when you're done," Oscar said. "It's not training hour until later so whoever needs it has to ask for the keys. You have thirty minutes left to stay here. With that, Oscar cleaned his glasses and walked out. It was only now that anyone noticed that aside from a broom, he was holding out a walking stick and tapping the floor.

"That was the janitor for this room," Icah explained. "Oscar. He's started this year and is pretty amazing. He's legally blind but he has a great sense of hearing. It's a wonder how he can tidy up this place at all."

Jane sighed.

"I don't think this solves anything," Jane said. "But thanks for your concern guys. I think I'll be going to my room."

She left hastily with Icah tagging along who was now looking warily at the mirror.

"I told you it was haunted..." Jane muttered as she left.

Now the men were alone, the mirrors dark and barely showing their faces.

"Well... that was a thing," Rider said casually. "Now let's see what we have here."

Rider wheeled towards the mirrors and tried to examine the spot where the red letters had appeared, looking for anything the mirrors could have reflected or any sign of marks having been there.

The mirrors reflected Rider's darkened figure, the sunlight coming from behind him and outlining his white hair, ears and clothes. Touching the surface of the mirror, there was no trace of any substance on it, either. It was, once again, a plain mirror.