Sept 2nd

Life moved, whether or not you wanted it to. Seasons changed, years came and went, people changed. Sometimes, it was you who changed, and you who moved on. Sometimes, the best way to move forward was to leave the past behind. Sometimes the past came back to haunt you in the present.

Sometimes it was like watching a movie of someone else's life going on, that he was just sort of along for the ride and not actually driving the car. Maybe it was his tendency to keep to himself and not get involved. Maybe it was depression and burn out. Maybe he was just not great at living his own life. Whatever 'it' was kept changing, too.

The building around him had changed, the bed beneath him changed, the floor length mirror in front of him had changed. The shadows that danced beneath it's surface were even newer. He no longer shared a house, shared a life. He didn't tutor so much any more, he'd given up on trying to keep plants alive. Even his very proper and formal way of speaking and interacting changed and evolved.

Many things had changed over the years that Tatsuya Kato had been, well, Tatsuya. The day he'd been awoken, he'd been brought into a world he never would have chosen. Him, running around fighting with magic? Who he'd been before his awakening would have refused that in a heart beat. Add on his world being consumed in water and monsters? No no no no no he would not thank you very much.

Then his sister had walked into his life. What followed set him on a path to speak to a puppeteer in a top hat, who helped him step into a mirror. Yellow took the place of bright teal, and he found a far better home than he could have expected. A place that expected nothing of him, and let him live his life the way he wished to.

Then she had to open the box, had to play with things she couldn't understand and he found himself chasing her and her darkness. Through a box of chaos, through small worlds bottled into jars, and then into the mirror itself.

Things calmed, they made it work him, his sister, and her husband, and his niece. It was quiet for a while, he was quiet. It was... nice, actually. To just live a life. No magic, no monsters. Occasionally, things would come up, and he would go assist where needed. Anything to keep his sister and brother-in-law safe. To keep his niece safe.

It was...

Fine, really. Really.

Until it wasn't.

His newish apartment had a small balcony overlooking the city. If you asked Tatsuya what happened, he'd say it was because his niece was getting older and they didn't need him also in the house. In truth, it wasn't really one thing or another, just... a feeling he had. A feeling that if he didn't try to live his own life, he was going to end up stuck where he'd been year ago: living the life someone else wanted him to. So he packed up his relatively small amount of things and left.

His decent paying desk job wasn't the most thrilling thing in the world, but it allowed him the finances to live by himself in the city proper. He styled it very traditional Japanese, with tatami mats and a low table, though he slept in a western style bed. He lived below his means and only occasionally abused his ability to mirrorwalk for personal gain. He even patrolled and energy gathered, even if it wasn't very frequent these days.

It wasn't a grand life, but it was his life at least. Not his father's, not his sister's, not some future version of himself's. His life.

Whatever that even meant anymore. He'd been living everyone else's version of his life for them for so long, he wasn't sure he could define what 'his' life should be. Even Hydrus was a life someone else envisioned for him. The cat had chosen to awaken the power in his chest, whether he'd really wanted it or not. The memories impressed upon him the one time he went to his namesake were and weren't his. The memories he had of a future that didn't come to pass weren't really his either.

How could you live a life if every decision you've made felt like it was made by someone else for you?

Tatsuya looked down at the henshin pen in his hand and the alert on his phone. Remarque had found the potential source of the shadows and shattering mirrors. He needed help. The court was being called in to assist their Prince in Mirrorspace once again.

He had a choice. He could ignore it and keep living his life. Whatever was going on in Mirrorspace would get handled, and nothing would change in his life. Maybe something new for Mirrorspace would be uncovered, or they'd find it's source. Nothing that would affect him directly, not really.

Or...

He could embrace it. He could don the kimono that was his fuku, feel the power in his veins. Press his hand, tinged darker than the rest of his skin, against the mirror in front of him. He could step into it, into the space between, and help his Prince.

The leviathan on the henshin pen seemed to glow and swirl around inside its orb as Hydrus stood from his bed. He crossed the room in two strides, hand hovering over the mirror. Yellow eyes framed by black hair and a silver circlet stared back at him for a moment. Then the mirror rippled and he stepped through it, eyeing the shadows that flitted along the edges for a moment.

The mirror stilled, leaving nothing but the rapidly fading image of Hydrus on it's silver surface.

He could worry about his life and living it later. For now, his Prince called, and he was duty bound to answer.

[ WC: 1004 ]