(This one is a long one!)
The ex-magical stared down into her tea. In the reflection, briefly, she saw Them. Or perhaps, more accurately, another Her. Seeing Them, it felt like a both a glimpse of hope and a vision of damnation. A portend of death. A- No. No. She couldn't speak of such things here.
The woman continued her rambles to her therapist, not looking up. "I know that my job- well, I know its something a lot of people work their entire lives to get. But its hard for me to be happy with it after being a magical guardian. The freedom, the whimsy, the fun I had then. It's been hard to um-" speaking her mind felt like navigating a maze "date the people I want. You know, not really into that whole grindset lifestyle ha ha...." Her voice meandered, her thoughts wandered. "And like, its not that I don't work hard or anything. But its hard to feel optimistic about my job and my career after what happened to me as a magical girl."
"I understand you still have concerns about your past with Post Magical Unreality Syndrome, Miss Sage." The therapist stopped for a moment, perhaps to imply some sort of empathy. "You've been cured for years. We're here to work on relationship boundaries." The older woman spoke softly. "I know its hard. But you have to let go of these expectations from your magical guardian days. You're a non-magical human. You have to let go your past. Focus on your current you."
The ex-magical girl avoided eye contact. She took a sip of her tea. She looked over her own attire. It was business casual as usual- colorful enough to seem casual but not so colorful as to stand out. Was this really who she wanted to be?
The older woman continued, "You're doing well for yourself, Miss Sage. You have a great job, you're young, and you're in a great part of town. There's many people are envious of your position." Then why did those words sound like an indictment? Was giving up her entire teenage years studying to get a cushy office job where she felt barely tolerated worth it? Especially now, that she's had a taste of something else? Five years of being a guardian? A magical dream?
The ex-magical girl continued. "You k-know I want to do more with my life." She wanted meaning outside this capitalist hellscape. "I want to give more." She wanted to shape the world the way magic could. "That- that's why I still why I care about magical guardians." Don't talk about villains. They'll lock you up if you talk about villains. Never mention villains to a therapist.
The therapist gave a trained smile. "I know you have a generous heart, but don't wallow in it. Why don't you donate more? Or maybe focus on your carbon footprint, since you're so concerned about your environment. There's a number of local initiatives you can be a part of-"
A little bell ding interrupted her, signaling the session was over. The ex-magical and her therapist exchanged a "thanks" and a "good day." Cherry Sage shuffled out of the office.
These therapy sessions somehow always left the ex-magical girl feeling drained. The whole situation didn't feel fair, like a sort of morbid societal trap. Of course she, a frustrated trans woman, would never be happy playing the role of some cis girlboss salary woman after being a magical girl. Of course her therapist, a woman working with many intercity clients, would quietly push her towards acceptance of her presumably privileged position. She felt like she was in an eternal stalemate- politely asking a corrupt system to change its ways only the get soothing words from someone who was just as much of a cog as she was. It was utterly infantilizing. But she was used to infantilization at this point.
Cherry passed a mirror on her way out the building. A visage of Them appeared in the corner of her eyes. That dark jester. The mocking girlthing always inside of her. "I see you still haven't told your therapist about Me."
Cherry didn't stop to hold a conversation. She still had a soul crushing day in the office to get to. A mirror made it easier, but she could always to those things inside herself. "You know as well I as I do- I never would. Why would I risk it? Why would I expose myself like that?"
In the reflections of the storefronts, in the puddles on the city streets- she saw Their smirking visage. They spoke again, "Then its time. There's nothing left here for us... Let's chat again after work."
...
The ex-magical girl returned home to her apartment, exhausted. At least she was finally alone. Expensive as it was to live alone- she couldn't imagine doing what she was about to do next with roommates.
There, tuckered away in her room and easily hidden from prying eyes and landlords, was a distinctly magical mirror. Certainly not something a non-magical human like her should be able to have, much less craft. However, while Cherry lost her magic due to her Magical Unreality Syndrome, They were still quite magical. Her other self, the thing beyond the reflection, was quite powerful. Powerful enough to slowly manipulate this world from the other side.
Cherry looked at other world beyond her magical mirror. It was a city, much like hers, yet somehow less fallen. No highway cut through the mirror city. The dirty streets were just a little cleaner and the cleaner streets just a little dirtier. Old businesses ousted from her city decades ago were still present in the mirror city. She could sometimes see magical duels between heroes and villains happening within the mirror city- a thought unimaginable in her version of the city. The last time a villain was seen anywhere near this city, the whole place was under lockdown and martial law for weeks.
No matter how much she longed for the mirror city, They assured her it was far from a perfect place. That many of the same society ills were still present. This mirror world wasn't a cure-all.
There was once major difference though. The version of her in this world was very human, and very non-magical. The version of her in the mirror world was barely human and quite magical.
"Are you ready to come over?" That villainous jester girl on the other side smiled greedily. Well, they weren't truly villainous, just equal opportunity. An anti-hero, on the true side of justice. At least according to Them. Purportedly, They had the phone numbers of multiple mirror-world magical girls to prove it.
"There's nothing left for me in this world." Cherry stated definitively "I'm ready."
"Approach the mirror." They commanded. "Walk through it as though like an open door."
Cherry approached the mirror, stepping confidently through as though waltzing into the sunlight on a Sunday morning. Polarity suddenly shifted. Her body, mind, and soul longed for the mirror world. The force of these desires sucked her in, violently. Meanwhile, 3 ethereal strings linked her back to her old world. She was whipped about like a passenger trying to escape falling plane with parachute, or like an astronaut trying to escape an exploding space station via an airlock.
Their voice rung out in her mind. "Take my blade. Its at your hip. Cut the string the Truth. Its the weakest."
Despite being battered about, she found her jackknife at her hip and immediately got to sawing off the weakest string. Was she stronger now?
She rejected the Truth of her old reality. The old reality's neatly edited history. The finely crafted lies of laws, order, and society of her old life. That crusty old Empire she lived in was never built for someone like her anyway.
The string, a line holding her to her past life, was cut.
"Now, for the string of Humanity." It almost felt like Cherry was talking to herself.
Feeling dissociated from her body from a young age, Cherry never cared to much for society's narrow vision of personhood. Which was fortunate- because in this new reality, those gifted with strange magical powers from birth aren't seen as particularly human to begin with.
The string cut with strange ease. There was only one left.
"Finally, for the damn string of Reality." She was definitely talking to herself.
Black Cherry- her moniker in this world, villains didn't need real names- was a bit of an anomaly. Interdimensional magic was consider unstable, dangerous, and caustic to any normative understanding of reality.
No one knows where Black Cherry came from. Was she experimented on as child? Many like her were. Did she use her powers incorrectly at a young age, and change herself irrecoverably? Also an all-too-common story. Black Cherry, with no memory or records of her past, couldn't deny any of these possibilities.
It was simply rumored- which is just as good as fact for morally dubious antiheros- that Black Cherry was a dimensional hopper who had experienced an alternate history for Bay City. An alternate history so disgusting and insulting to Black Cherry, that the rogue would do anything in their power to prevent the same fate from befalling their timeline zero Bay City.
Was Black Cherry a raving lunatic turned luddite, her poor grasp of reality turning her against authorities? Or maybe Black Cherry was a she/they vigilante of justice and visionary of the future? Not even Black Cherry was completely sure.
The last string was cut, and now Black Cherry completely belonged to the world this side of the mirror. And into the mirror city, her city now, she fell down down down down.
thunk
...
"Are you okay darling?" It was voice so melodic, so ageless, so idealistic that it could only belong to a veteran magical girl.
Black Cherry yelped awake in the other magical girl's lap. She was in an apartment that felt too familiar for one she had never seen before.
"Hey Hana, why are you transformed? Get called in for work or do you wanna show me an extra magical time again?" a busy wife called over "Oh- Black Cherry."
The Rose-Gold Centurion smiled at her wife. "Yeah. You know Black Cherry can't untransform. She feels more comfortable when I'm like this. Magic isn't like a high-magitech bow you can turn on and off for everyone! Some can't really turn it off."
Black Cherry's mind reeled. This place was so familiar to some parts of herself, but alien to others. She felt cautious comfort from some parts of her- like waking up the arms of a woman was just a thing she did. Another part panicked in a mix of hungry jealousy and voyeuristic shame. She wasn't worthy of such attention. She must have did something wrong to get here. No one would love them for what they are.
The calmer parts of them won out. Her internal struggles would have to wait. "I think I did it, Hana. I feel a little more complete again." Black Cherry grunted in mental pain. A sudden thought entered her head. "How long was I out?"
"I'm not sure? Not that long ago- I found you knocked out off the middle of Main Street less than an hour ago." Hana thought for a moment and giggled. "I can tell there's something different about you- you're a little more honest than normal. Congratulations on getting yourself back together!"
Parts of Black Cherry blushed. Other parts reminded herself that the Rose-Gold Centurion owed her and not the other way around. Overall, Black Cherry gave a grumpy pout.
"See! You'd never be so honest with your emotions before!" Hana looked smug. The little goody two shoes could be surprisingly dense sometimes, but she was so self-assured when she got something right. "I always believed you could do it! I don't entirely understand, but it must be awful to have your entire self chopped up like that." The magical girl inside Hana activated "We'll bring whoever did this to you to justice! All that talk about it being an accident has to be a lie. I know you, Black Cherry! There's no way you got split up naturally!"
Black Cherry sighed. Not too long ago, the Rose-Gold Centurion would be making these kind of speeches about Black Cherry's inevitable demise at the hammer of justice. A lot changed since she took down MagiCorp, kicked out the Red-Eyed Wizard Gang, and stopped the New Machine God Cult. Well- I guess even a stubborn magical rival will change her tune if you accidentally save her a few times, break her out from mind control, and then intentionally safe her wife. Her magical rival's unflinching, nigh zealous drive for justice almost seemed cute.
Ugh. What was Black Cherry thinking?
She got up quickly from the magical girl's lap. She needed to clear her mind.
The other looked concerned. Black Cherry consoled her. "Thank you, Hana. I just need a moment to collect myself outside."
Hana blushed as they walked over to the balcony. "You've- uhm- you've never thanked me before. I- I'll give you some space!" The mushy magical girl skittered off to her room.
Black Cherry leaned over the balcony's rail. It was thankfully private enough out here. She'd worry about her all-too-honest rival later. Instead, she turned her attention inward. She stimmed with her own magic, warping space into a dark cube hovering over her hand.
"So do you like it here, me? You've already got me blushing at my own damn rival. Rivals to lovers, its so trite! Ugh." Black Cherry spun her Anti-Space Cube. "I mean, it was probably going to happen anyway. And I guess I have slept with her before. But fuck- I'm going to lose my bet with Jess."
Black Cherry sighed at her own capacity for gayness. "I guess that's another hit to my brooding and contemplating time- we'll have to work out how we work together, all complete like this, as we go."
Externally, Black Cherry played with her cube some more. Internally, she was feeling things out. This was her life now. Their life. In this world she was just a lost piece of herself. But she also felt like she always belonged here? Of course she did, They were always here.
It was a little confusing. She could remember so many things, clearly- memories of her life here and her life past the mirror. There were many parts of her. Yet, those pieces still bled together, and the boundaries were unclear. She was Black Cherry, and They were Black Cherry. Was she still Cherry Sage? Was she ever Cherry Sage? Was Cherry Sage anything other than a husk, or something else outright?
Black Cherry wasn't sure. But she would figure it out on the way.
