Kade wandered the dimly lit halls of the castle, the echoes of cheering soldiers still ringing faintly in his ears. His chest felt tight, not from pride, but from the sheer anxiety of knowing he had somehow convinced an entire army he was capable of leading them. The pale man's approving nods and the commanders' fierce stares of loyalty had been too much.
"Congratulations, Kade. You've gone from failing actor to fake overlord with a side of military dictatorship. What's next, evil taxes?"
The hall stretched endlessly, his boots clicking against the polished stone. As the adrenaline of the speech faded, exhaustion started to creep in. The pressure of staying alive, pretending to be this all-powerful Dark Lord, and keeping everyone from realizing he was not Kaedus was beginning to weigh on him.
"I need a break. A long one. With snacks. Do they even have snacks here? What do villains eat? Spicy nachos?"
He rounded a corner, expecting yet another corridor of identical stone walls, but instead, he found a small alcove with a narrow staircase spiraling downward. A faint breeze drifted up from below, cool and carrying the scent of damp earth.
Curiosity tugged at him, and he descended the stairs cautiously, his hand skimming the cold railing. The flickering light of the torches above faded as he moved deeper into the castle's underbelly. At the bottom, he found himself in a cavernous space illuminated by faint blue light. The walls glistened with moisture, and strange crystalline formations jutted out from the ground.
In the center of the room sat a massive pool of water, its surface unnervingly still. The blue light seemed to emanate from the pool itself, casting strange reflections on the walls.
"Okay, cool mysterious evil lair. What are the odds this is where Kaedus kept his pet sea monster?"
Kade approached the pool cautiously, peering into its depths. The water was impossibly clear, revealing smooth, polished stones at the bottom. As he leaned closer, the surface rippled, and an image began to form.
His own reflection stared back at him, but it wasn't him. The face in the water was sharper, crueler, and the glowing red eyes seemed to burn brighter than his ever had. The figure smirked, its expression dripping with malice.
"That's unsettling. Why does Evil Me look like he just stole someone's lunch money?"
The reflection tilted its head, as if hearing him. The smirk widened.
Kade stumbled back, his heart pounding. The surface of the pool stilled, leaving no trace of the reflection. He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake the image.
"Great. Now I'm hallucinating. That's exactly what I need."
A low rumble echoed through the chamber, and the crystalline formations seemed to shiver. Kade froze, his eyes darting around the room.
"Cool. Guess I woke up the evil basement rocks. Definitely a good time to leave."
He turned to head back up the stairs, but a voice stopped him cold.
'Leaving so soon?'
Kade spun around, his heart jumping into his throat. The pool's surface rippled again, and the cruel reflection reappeared. It spoke this time, its voice smooth and mocking.
'Running away already, Kade? And here I thought you were starting to enjoy yourself.'
"Okay, nope. Talking evil reflections. That's new."
He stepped back, keeping his eyes on the pool.
'You're not real,'
he said, trying to sound confident.
'You're just some creepy magic mirror thing.'
The reflection chuckled, the sound low and menacing.
'I'm as real as you want me to be. But let's not waste time on semantics. We both know you're in over your head.'
Kade's fists clenched, his frustration boiling over.
'What do you want?'
The reflection grinned, leaning closer as if it could reach through the water.
'What I want is irrelevant. What you want, though, is obvious. You want to survive. You want to thrive. You want them to keep believing you're Kaedus.'
Kade glared at the reflection, his jaw tightening.
'I'll figure it out on my own.'
The reflection laughed again, shaking its head.
'Oh, Kade. You're not Kaedus, but you could be. All the power, all the control, it's right there, waiting for you to take it. But you won't, will you? Too afraid of what you might become.'
Kade felt a chill run down his spine. He turned and marched toward the stairs, refusing to look back.
'You can't run from this forever, Kade,'
the reflection called after him.
'You're already playing the part. How long before you stop pretending?'
He didn't stop until he was halfway up the stairs, the voice fading into the distance. When he reached the top, he leaned against the wall, his breathing ragged.
"Great. Now the castle's trying to gaslight me. Just what I needed."
As he made his way back to his quarters, his mind raced. The reflection's words gnawed at him, no matter how hard he tried to shake them.
He wasn't Kaedus. He wasn't a Dark Lord. He was just Kade, a guy who had landed himself in the worst performance of his life. But deep down, he couldn't help but wonder.
What if the reflection was right?