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Tonight seemed like the best night for her to get the photos she needed for her sales page. There were four dolls she needed to get good photos of for the site she used to sell and it helped when the backdrop was more than just a white sheet or light box. It started as a hobby years ago but now was kind of a small business thing in a way alongside her streaming and stuff. It was great not to have to work a 9-5 even if it meant she was kind of out late at night getting photos in the park.

It took her a bit longer than normal to get everything set up in the park, the doll stand for the largest of them was just not cooperating so she had to put her bag and everything down to try and dig out a screwdriver for it. It was then she had heard a bit of a scurrying sound but paid it no mind as there were always stray cats in the area and she frequently fed them. "Hrm... this should do it." Standing back up, she adjusted the posing and pulled out her camera, getting the exposure and other setting set up for the clear night sky and the humming streetlights that surrounded the area.

Now was where the magic happened, she took various photos from each angle with a few different settings changed between sets. When she got home she would be able to go in and touch things up to have only the best photos up on her sale page. If it went well she would be able to get a new video game to stream or some new gear to bring her camera and stuff around in. Lord knew she had enough painting supplies for her doll work to last until the end times but part of her always wanted more colors and brushes just in case.

After the first doll was done, she glanced around for a bit making sure nobody was going to come over to bother her. Even if they did, she had mace and a pretty solid tripod to swing at them with if needed. As she scanned though, she definitely saw the last bit of a cat's tail as it ran down one of the alleyways. Not abnormal but, a bit sad that she couldn't get a picture or give them treats. Maybe next time she would get to meet more of the cats of the city, there were so many of them and she was always worried they might get squashed or treated badly by other city folk.

Sighing she turned back and laid the rest of the dolls down, deciding on what to photograph next. There was so much to do and hopefully, her luck of having solitude would continue.

Something had changed in the air, she couldn't quite tell what it was at first but when someone spoke up behind her she nearly jumped out of her skin. First thing was first though, she carefully put her camera down while trying to prep her mace. After she was ready, she turned around to see who had snuck up on her. This was a public place and people were allowed to be there but still, she was bothered by the fact that someone had interrupted her.

"It's not a lot, everything folds up. Also like, what are you doing out this late? I don't see a camera to take photos of your cosplay?" As if she was one to talk but she at least had a serious and professional reason for being out. This costumed-up cosplayer didn't look like they had a camera or someone to do a photoshoot for them. Their whole outfit was odd and didn't look like any character she had recognized from her vast knowledge base of anime characters. Unless they were watching something like new new or if it was from some obscure old video game.

"If you're here to cause trouble I have mace and I mean business." It wouldn't be the first time she had to spray someone down, in fact, she was kinda used to it with all the places she chose to take photos. If she had more friends that were into it, she would love to do the whole urban exploration thing of abandoned places to get some good photos taken.

Well, at least he didn't know that the stack of dolls behind her was about five thousand dollars to the right people. It was a hobby that had its own small and tight-knit communities both online and in person. Between the vetting of artists and the watchdog system to look for counterfeits or recasts as they were called.

"I guess not, you really do look a bit out of place at least. At least I try to dress kind of drab to blend in more when I'm out like this. It's hard to get a good photo when there are people all over, especially because they start asking questions and start trying to touch things they shouldn't." The was more than a bit of annoyance in the last bit of that sentence. Daylight was safer for her but not for the delicate resin dolls she photographed. The last time she had one of her more complexly dressed ones out in the daytime, someone had knocked it over and broken one of the hands. Matching older resin to fix it was both annoying and expensive.

She watched him carefully for a moment as he seemed to be listening or looking for something. "I grew up in the middle of nowhere with bears in my yard, rabid dogs don't bother me much. Plus, my tripod is pretty sturdy and can do some damage as an improvised weapon if I need it. Not that I would say it doesn't bother me that all the weird crap goes on in the city. I just have to say the risks are worth the rewards when I can pay my rent with my work out here in one night." She would probably die if she had to work a 9-5 again, nobody ever had a clear plan or goal. Everything was always cloak and dagger it seemed like in the graphic design and artist world. It made her frown a bit before she remember she was just straight-up staring at the guy again.

"I would say it's stupid to not be afraid but at the same time, it's just one of those things you gotta just deal with and keep on keeping on I guess and not let it keep you from doing what needs to be done. I have to work hard in my own way to get by." At that she lowered the mace a bit while watching him closely. Was he waiting on someone or was he just keeping a watch out for that cat or one of the weird things that roam the city at night?

“I would have to say maybe? But nobody with as much fancy like detailing as your outfit? Oddly enough a time or two I saw people out that looked pretty out of place given how formal they were and how late it was. At lot of them stayed back once they saw the camera so I guess they didn’t want to get photographed for being up to whatever they were doing.” She shrugged a bit and looked around to see if there was anyone else coming.

“I had some weird birds come at me but they just kinda stopped existing when my tripod hit them? I am pretty sure I wasn’t on anything but I might have been really tired that night and misremembered. I really don’t think birds would just vanish like that and they didn’t sound normal either. I started carrying mace once after this one guy grabbed me and musta got me with something. It almost made me pass out but like when I went to the hospital they couldn’t find anything in my system so that was hella weird too?” She thought for a moment more, over all the random and weird crap that had happened since she moved into the city.

“I swear some weird stuff happens here, it makes me miss the woods sometimes. I’m guessing you seem to know more about this weird stuff since you’ve been here awhile or is it because you know like what’s actually going on?” She stared at him, trying to gauge and get a feel for if it was general concern or if he really knew something more and she was the dumb one. At least if it came to the latter, she knew she could handle her self if it came down to the nitty gritty.

It did sound crazy, but the things she had seen were also crazy. "I think it'd be nice to have a bit more oompf to my swing if needed to knock some of those weird things outta the park but it does sound a bit weird. I would like to help other people stay safe though, but I'm not one for being powerful or in the limelight if that's ok too?"

Shifting her weight from one foot to the other before sliding the mace back into her pocket. "Do I need to pull like a sword from a stone or make some sort of contract with like an eldritch being?" She chuckled a bit as she thought of some of the anime she had seen a few years back. "As long as I don't have to drink some sort of Kool-Aid I wouldn't mind helping out those who are a bit less prepared than I am to fight the weirdness in this city." Returning to a bit more serious tone, she chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought.

"Also, this won't like mess with my uni courses, right? I paid a lotta money to attend and I don't wanna blow it." She reached out her hand to like shake the deal or whatever. "Shake on it yea?"

His handshake was firm and sort of reassuring if a bit long. It was genuine from what she could tell at least, unlike the fast and loose deal-making handshakes that car dealers had.

It was a bit shocking to see his outfit just magically change to be more blinged out and all magiciany looking. The floating mirror was totally magic because it was so huge there was no way he could have sleight of handed it out of thin air. It looked alien in a way with how the sheen to it was dark and greyish black instead of the bright silver most mirrors had.

Weird...


Looking at him then at her gear, she motioned her fingers back and forth between her eyes and him letting her know she was watching him. She wouldn't hesitate to mace his a** if her stuff was even looked at funny while she wasn't by it.

Turning to look at the face of the mirror, she reached out to touch it. It didn't feel solid like she thought it would, it was more like a ripplingly liquidy feel. His explanation wasn't far off as she stepped through. It was very dark and off in the distance was some sort of light source. As she walked? waded? through the inky blackness, she heard whispered voices calling out to her.




It ticked at her ears as she continued towards the light but instead of reaching it, she just ended up walking back out of the mirror as if she had just walked in a circle. It was a bit disorienting and she shook her head a bit to clear it before looking back at the man. Only now she felt a bit stupid because she didn't really know his name to call out to him.

"That was... very weird. Now what?"

Nodding for a moment as she listened and walked over to her stuff to make sure it wasn't touched. Everything was where she left it and as she picked up her phone, she saw her own reflection. "Whoah this is new." Holding her hands out to look at the gloves and bracer things, she noticed the whole wardrobe change and felt very uncomfortable with the amount of skin she had showing. "Oh, it said, Hela of Dolls? That sounds kinda similar to puppets, doesn't it?" Turning back to look at the man, Remarque was what he had said, she continued listening. It was a lot to take in as he explained some of the basics.

"So like where'd my actual clothes go? I want my tech wear back, it was expensive." She had a flat frown on her face as he brows furrowed. Pausing for a moment at the mention of worlds and power. "So I'm guessing it has something to do with mirrors right? Does that mean I actually need to go out and buy one for my place?" Holding her hand to her face as a moment of realization hit her. "Oh yeah, can I beat up those weird monsters now without using my tripod?" That was her whole reason for joining up so it would be really obnoxious if he had lied about that.