"Long after the gods disappeared and their stories became myths, a strange visitor appeared in Tartarus. Before that time talk of a world beyond the glass was simply legend; a mystical fantasy where dreams came from and the holy leaders denied. Soon Tartarus would discover a new magic, one that would rock the foundations of the world, change how people lived and worshiped, and teach stubborn scholars that even ancient myths hold a little bit of truth. This is the tale of the first Mirrorbender.

It began one fine day when the Princess of Vetra, Princess Claudine, arrived at her favorite pond in the castle gardens. Like any other day, she was happily humming her favorite song and braiding her silver hair.

'Hello, little fish,' giggled the young princess. The fish snapped the water's surface at the sound of her voice. 'It is feeding time.' Claudine scattered bread crumbs across the water. The fish eagerly chomped on the food. When the ripples had settled and the fish heavy with food sank into the dark water, Claudine noticed a strange aura envelop the pond. This soft white glow almost invisible in the bright sun formed around her reflection until suddenly it changed. An oddly dressed man and a foreign sky reflected back through the water. The princess stared into the man's beautiful blue eyes. A feeling of unimaginable longing betwixt her senses. She had never seen a man so radiant in all her life. Curious, she reached out a finger. The man did the same, and as they touched, a violent surge swelled across the pond sending water and fish flying into the air. Alerted guards readied an attack, a formation of lances, arrows, and swords encircled the water.

'My Princess, are you harmed?'

The wet princess laughed and smiled. A fish flopped on her lap.

'Only my heart aches, dear soldier. It bleeds with agony for never have I felt such painful bliss. My heart has been struck by the arrow of love.'

From that day forth, Princess Claudine came to the pond praying she would see the handsome man again; a daily routine that began to consume the princess's lessons and duties.

The castle's court grew more concerned with each passing day as the princess fell deeper into silence and sadness. Her beautiful singing that once filled the castle with joy, now sung a forgotten echo of longing and desire. Even the fish who once wrestled on the surface for food began to die from neglect; their white bellies filling the pond. The willow branches and lush wildflowers of the garden became the sight of a frostbitten wasteland with no snow. Rotten leaves fell around her with every whistling breeze. She left only to sleep and eat, but no matter how hard the king or court tried to pull her away an inescapable force pulled her back to the water's edge.

A year went by and the king worried that his daughter had gone mad demanded a solution. The order came for the pond's immediate removal, no water, no reflection, no more trouble. The king would finally break the spell that had ensnared his daughter.

Of course there was opposition. Upset by the news, Princess Claudine rushed to the water pushing away the guards that attempted to dig away at the pond's muddy banks.

'Man in the water,' she pleaded leaning over the edge, 'please come to me! They want to take you away! I need you!'

In the eyes of all those present, noble and servant alike, a bright light filled the pond. The Princess's reflection turned into that of a young man. Color of every shade and hue burst from the water. Some court officials were driven wild in fear while others stood motionless in shock. The Princess reached into the water and pulled with all her might.

First a hand, then an arm emerged until an entire man had exited the pond. The man was dressed in unusual clothes, and on his head a forest of thick black hair. In haste he was brought to an audience with the king and the advisory council.

'What sort of god are you who are pulled from the water by a princess?' asked the king.

'I am no god, your majesty,' replied the man nervously. 'I am simply a man who has tumbled into paradise.'

The man addressed himself as Darius of Earth, a humble glassblower's apprentice. He explained how he had seen the princess in the water a year ago and became encapsulated by her beauty. He had made it his life's mission to reach her wherever she may be.

The king suspicious of this traveler and resentful of Darius's power over his daughter demanded that Darius show proof of this other world. Darius could show none, so with a bang of his holy scepter, the King of Vetra named him a charlatan and ordered Darius to be locked in the dungeon. Princess Claudine gripped by her father's ruling exited the court in tears.

That night the princess sneaked out her room to the dungeons beneath the castle. There she waited until the guard fell asleep before approaching Darius's cell.

'Awaken, dear traveler,' she said. The princess raised her lanturn shedding light upon the man's handsome face. 'I wish to have conference with you.'

'Princess," whispered Darius through the bars, 'you should not have come here. Your father, the king, he--'

'I could not remain away,' replied the princess. She reached out lovingly to Darius, running her hand across his soft cheek. 'I am drawn to you like birds to the sky or water to the sea.' The two joined hands. 'I feel I have known you always. My guardian from the water.'

Between the prison bars, the two expressed their unconditional love for one another and shared with each other the stories of their worlds. Darius learned that Tartarus was a world bent on magic where something that would take a craftsman days to create on Earth could be brought into existence by the flick of the wrist from a skilled sage. Claudine learned from Darius his world of architectural wonders and the inventions his people used to counteract the absence of magic. He mentioned a glass object he had created which brought him into the world but lost. They talked until the sun arose. At which point, Claudine slipped away to her bed chambers leaving no trace she had ever left.

The two performed this interplay of sneaking and storytelling for weeks until they were discovered by a light-sleeping guard. Enraged, the king declared that Darius be executed for influencing the princess and corrupting her with heretic stories of other worlds. Afraid of her lover's fate, Claudine remembered the strange object Darius spoke of that led him to Tartarus. In haste she scrambled to the pool and resting at the bottom lay a large round black glass. As she raised it from the water, her eyes witnessed a wondrous sight.

Rushing into the execution, the princess stood over her lover crying out, 'Here is your proof, father! Here is the proof that Darius has brought us. Behold.'

She lifted the black obsidian mirror over her head so the whole court could see. In its surface surged images of Earth and the faces of Tartarus's great and noble kings. The court and council fell to their knees in reverence. It was the world's first glass mirror.

Darius was given the title of Duke and soon he and Princess Claudine were wed. Not long after their marriage, the King of Vetra died making Darius, King of Vetra, ruler of Tartarus.

A new age had begun, the Age of Kings. Darius and Claudine had three sons, triplets, whom they named after the three brother gods, Juprus, Neptus, and Plutus. Darius's rule brought forth the ideas of his world including his glass inventions.

Darius requested a magnificent castle be made entirely of mirrors to act as the epicenter for his new kingdom. He named this castle, Silvershine, for the bright glistening it made when the light hit the silver walls.

Darius also learned of his own special powers, ones that allowed him to travel through reflections to other places, the ability to heal the sick and dying, and to foresee disastrous events. The people praised him, calling him the God King, the Water Riser, and the more popular name, the Mirrorbender. He was the greatest ruler Tartarus had ever known until suddenly and without warning everything changed.

Scholars have described the dismal day as the time when the sky ripped open and a haunting darkness descended upon Silvershine. King Darius, Queen Claudine, and all their subjects within the castle vanished and were never heard of again.

People began to fear that Silvershine was built on cursed land or that some hallowed demon had swallowed the inhabitants for claiming power over fate. For a king who could peer into the future, people wondered how King Darius could overlook his own destruction. Whatever the reason, Silvershine was abandoned and lost to time."

Sage Martha coughed into her robe.

"So what happened after that?" I asked excitedly. "What became of the three sons? Did they disappear too? How did the other Mirrorbenders come to find Tartarus?"

"Whoa," said Martha. "You are getting ahead of yourself. Let's look at how this story relates to you before we continue."

"Simple," said Owen. "It tells us how the First Mirrorbender came to Tartarus. And reinstates the idea that Mirrorbenders are connected to Tartarus by their reflections. Mirrorbender Darius would only appear to Princess Claudine because the two were opposites of one another. This would also mean that after Darius's arrival, Claudine would not have a reflection in the pool ever again."

"That is one way to look at this story," said Martha. "But the other way is by what means did Darius arrive in Tartarus."

"He used a mirror it sounds like," I said. "One made out of volcanic glass."

"Yes," said Martha. "This story shows how Mirrorbenders scry. A single mirror alone is not enough for a Mirrorbender to travel. A second mirror or in the case of Darius, a second reflective surface, the water, must be used."

"That makes sense," I said pulling out my small plastic mirror. "I fell into Tartarus when I stood between the two panes of tinted glass. And the same went when Owen and I fled Desire, and I placed this against another mirror."

"That is the secret to how a Mirrorbender scrys," said Martha with a satisfied grin. "Two mirrors facing each other creates an illusion of infinite space. A Mirrorbender can enter this space, step beyond the veil as it were."

"I did that without even thinking," I said smiling.

"It is no surprise. I am sure your mother or father taught you when you were young," said Martha confidently.

"Actually, no," I said with a sigh. "My parents never spoke of this place." I breathed deeply. Martha pushed her hair out of her face.

"Are you sure they never told you of Tartarus? Surely someone did."

"No," I responded.

"I don't know why they would hold such a wonderful gift from you. It seems almost cruel."

"Wait," I said as a smile formed on my face. "I do recall my abuelita telling me stories as a little girl before bed when I couldn't sleep. She would tell me about the magical people from another world, and jealous gods, and castles made of silver glass. She never called it Tartarus though. She called it Wonderland. Like out of that story of Alice who fell beyond the looking glass." I brought my hand mirror up to my face. Even though I could not see my reflection I could almost see another face, the face of my grandmother looking back. "My grandmother knew everything," I said. "She always did say I was special." I turned to Martha. "Do you think my grandmother came here to Tartarus?"

"No," said Martha shaking her head. "You are the first connection between our worlds in over two-hundred and fifty years. We sages would have known if another Mirrorbender had scryed here." I tucked my mirror away and stared at the blue sky.

"Martha?"

"Yes, Hope," said Martha.

"Can you tell me the rest of the story? I want to know about my ancestors. I want to know about the Mirrorbenders before me."

"Hope, there is something you need to know," said Martha apprehensively.

"What?"

"Whatever your grandmother told you, this is no fairytale. Not all stories have happy endings. The story of the Mirrorbenders is a sad tale of death and destruction, and I am afraid it will soon get far worse."