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There is a house, and in the house is a bed, and in the bed is a girl. She sleeps soundly, curled up very small under her blanket, while a steady accumulation of snow makes round soft piles on the roof and against the outsides of the walls.
Past_Consumption
"The deal is struck. Accept your card."
The Shadow extends the Hermit card towards Riya. It gleams silvery.
the-silence-between
With her real body, she reaches hesitantly towards the card...
...and as her fingers close on it, her inner reflection reaches out and snatches all the reflected cards out of the reflected shadow's hands.
Past_Consumption
And then she is alone in her room again.
Something is different. Was the view outside her window always of a city?
the-silence-between
No. The view outside her window is of a forest. This is not her house and not her window and - her self is all wrong - she looks at the glittering silver fragments fading from her reflection's hand.
Past_Consumption
It seems she didn't quite manage to snatch any of the cards from the Shadow's mirror-self, but these fragments definitely did something to her...
Not to mention the larger changes from the Hermit card itself.
the-silence-between
She curls up under her blanket and examines her reflection. She can tell which things are from the Hermit card and which things are from the fragments. For some reason, all the fragment-things seem to be about parkour. She did not want this much parkour. Why is there so much parkour.
Past_Consumption
The parkour seems to like her, regardless of her blandishments. Running, jumping, climbing, leaping! How to find the best line and jump small buildings in a single bound! Parkour!
the-silence-between
Well, it's not like she precisely objects... anyway. She has all of the options she chose. Is there anything different about her that the shadow didn't warn her about?
Past_Consumption
Her thoughts seem clearer somehow, more crystalline. Easier to hold simultaneously in her head.
Her body reacts perfectly to her commands, with fluid, natural grace. This is more than simple agility - every motion seems aesthetically pleasing somehow.
Her bed-head appears to have fixed itself, not a single hair out of place. And she smells faintly of vanilla for some reason.
the-silence-between
She investigates her reflection until she sees exactly how and where everything is attached. It would be terrible not to know herself. It's already terrible enough to have been changed like this.
Still, it's not so bad being able to think easier and move easier and having... very convenient hair? Smelling like vanilla is weird but she can probably get used to it.
All this self-examination takes her a lot of time. Now she's hungry. She sits up in bed and sends her reflection tentatively out of the reflected room to look around for where she might go to find food here.
Past_Consumption
There is a place that is recognizably a kitchen, with a set of cupboards, a pantry, and a large strange humming box filled with fresh food. Apparently it keeps things cold: there is an interesting little box at its base, pumping hot air out of the insulated compartment.
the-silence-between
What an... object.
Are there any people around? She would like to avoid them if so. She does not want to interact with any people at this time.
the-silence-between
Good enough.
Her real body sneaks down to the kitchen and acquires an acceptable quantity of food and sneaks back up to her room. Then she sits on her bed and eats while her reflection pokes around to examine the reflected house.
Past_Consumption
There are all sorts of unusual objects. Some are recognizable variations on things she knows: some are completely foreign to her. Many things are made of a strange, unnaturally smooth material, like the black, polished bones of some ancient beast. Copper wires snake this way and that, through the walls, from one strange device to another: what arcane purpose could they serve...?
the-silence-between
It's very odd. But when she follows and studies the wires, she figures out soon enough that they connect to mysterious objects. Some sort of bizarre local magic. This must be a strange place indeed, to have produced the bone-hearted shadow with the golden-chained mouth. It makes sense that there would be all kinds of bizarre magic here.
Now she is done eating the food. Her reflection returns to her reflected room, and curls up in bed at the same time as she does. But only the reflection cries.
the-silence-between
At least her dreams still work right. She lies in bed and watches the dreamscape fade out of her selfspace as the reflections of her surroundings fade in.
Past_Consumption
Still the same strange room.
Still the same strange city.
Still the same strange world.
the-silence-between
She sits up after a few minutes and sends her reflection out to check if it's safe to go get food again without running into any people.
Past_Consumption
People appear to be having breakfast in the kitchen. One of them wonders aloud where she is.
the-silence-between
She does not want to talk to anyone. Maybe if she waits for a while they will go somewhere else and she can get herself some breakfast.
Past_Consumption
It appears that one of them has decided to go knock on the door to her room.
There is a window in her room. It's not too far to the ground, and she knows parkour. She has options.
