Audrey's family mirror was naturally no ordinary object. Not only was its surface broad and clear, but its frame was quite exquisite as well, crafted of pure silver work inlaid with gold thread and gemstones.
"You should come over too. This ritual requires a witness." He said to M.
Arrodes's rules required a third party to observe the questioning, to satisfy its peculiar hobby of making the questioner suffer social death or agony.
Although Silas felt the mirror wouldn't dare try anything with him, the corresponding procedure still had to be carried out.
"Shff, shff."
Once M had come over, Silas lit a candle in front of the wide, floor-length mirror, then cut open his finger and used the blood to draw a mysterious symbol on the mirror's surface: the sigil belonging to the magic mirror Arrodes.
A moment later.
"Whoosh!"
The room began to turn cold and dim, and gusts of chilling wind rose one after another, sending shivers down the spine.
"Meow?"
Luna's sapphire-blue eyes watched the invisible wind with curiosity, her small head turning to follow it.
At the same time, the mirror, once clear and translucent, began to grow bottomlessly deep.
Ripples spread across its surface, and dark red ancient Fusark characters surfaced one by one: "You have summoned the great Arrodes."
The dark red script, paired with the gusting chill, made for quite a terrifying sight. But of the room's occupants, one living person, one split personality, and one cat, none of them cared much.
Silas kept watching, his expression blank.
The writing on the mirror's surface kept surfacing: "You must abide by the corresponding principles. For every question asked, one shall be answered...!#@¥@!*"
Before the second sentence had even finished appearing, something suddenly changed, and a jumble of chaotic script formed, as though whoever was writing the words had been struck by overwhelming panic.
A moment later, the blood-red script vanished, replaced by a series of pale, trembling ancient Fusark characters: "Great Master! Please forgive your humble, foolish Arrodes, that it failed to recognize you! Your bearing is so profound and lofty, it commands reverence. Your presence is so magnificent and vast, it makes one stop in their tracks..."
"Enough."
Silas looked at the wall of pale text on the mirror's surface, finding it both glaring and needlessly elaborate, and cut it off coldly. "Don't waste my time with all this nonsense. It's giving me a headache."
With a swish, all the writing on the mirror's surface was wiped clean, leaving only a single line of pale script behind: "My deepest apologies, great Master."
Beside the words was drawn a simple stick figure prostrated flat on the ground, as though doing everything it could to convey its submission.
"What is this thing? Rather amusing." M couldn't help laughing at the sight.
"This is the magic mirror Arrodes." Silas told her, then, watching the ripples spreading across the mirror's surface, said slowly, "Arrodes, I've summoned you because there are some things I'd like to ask."
He'd made a promise to Klein, so he hadn't done much to intimidate the mirror. He only meant to use it to resolve his own doubts.
"It is my honor to serve the great Master." Arrodes's reply remained just as humble, and there seemed to be an uncontrollable trace of dread woven through the words, forming a stark contrast with the imposing presence it had displayed just moments ago.
"Very well." Silas nodded. "My first question: what is the true identity of the Primordial Moon?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Arrodes suddenly stopped moving.
Like a computer freezing up, the ripples that had been spreading stopped dead, and the pale script froze in place at the center of the mirror.
This strange state lasted about three or four seconds, and then, with a sharp crack, a horizontal line suddenly split open across the mirror's surface. More and more cracks followed after it, and the entire mirror simply shattered!
"Crash..."
Fragments of the mirror broke free from the frame and clattered to the floor. Startled by the noise, Luna leapt lightly onto the table and turned to peer down at the ground.
Silas stood frozen in place.
What was this? He'd only asked one question. How could the mirror just shatter without any warning at all?
M likewise looked down at the shattered glass.
"So, you called me over here just to watch a mirror-shattering magic trick?" She teased with a smile.
"Enough of that." Silas's face darkened.
He waved his hand, and a small whirlwind immediately rose up in the room, sweeping up the sharp fragments and tossing them into the trash bin.
He himself circled the living room and found a mirror the size of his palm, then performed the summoning ritual for Arrodes once again.
"Great Master, Arrodes is at your devoted service."
Pale script surfaced on the mirror's surface. Beyond its dread of Silas, it seemed to carry a note of weakness as well.
"Arrodes, what just happened?" Silas asked.
"Great Master, your humble servant begs you to choose a different question. Poor Arrodes dares not speak of matters concerning that existence." The pale script answered him so.
It seemed Arrodes had grown afraid.
And not merely afraid: the mirror from before had suffered substantial harm.
It seemed the evil god lurking behind the Primordial Moon was quite the terrifying existence... Silas thought to himself.
It looked like the magic mirror wouldn't be able to offer any information here. He wasn't sure whether the Snake of Mercury would fare any better; she was, after all, a Sequence 1 angel, and surely wouldn't be frightened into a rebirth by a single question.
Silas caught the scent of danger. The deeper he dug, the more the horror of the Primordial Moon seemed to grow, bit by bit. Perhaps, given his current Sequence and strength, he ought to proceed with a bit more caution.
But before that.
He turned his attention back to the mirror.
"In that case, I won't ask you about that." He said.
"Thank you!" Arrodes seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Next question. Do you know where Ince Zangwill is hiding?" Silas continued.
The ripples on the mirror's surface froze again, and just as Silas was bracing for a repeat of the shattering routine, the mirror quickly recovered instead.
A line of script surfaced on its face: "Ince has currently left Backlund. His exact location is difficult to determine."
Beside the words was drawn a small figure clutching its head and trembling, as though to convey just how anxious Arrodes was about this question.
What was it so worried about? Ince himself? That didn't seem right.
Perhaps it was the 0-08 that man carried on him... Silas took note of Arrodes's state, and knowing that if he pressed further the mirror would likely freeze up and crash again, thought for a moment before asking his third question: "What do you see when you look at me?"
Arrodes seemed to have sensed something unusual about him, and might be able to explain the source of what made him special.
And yet, after another ripple spread across its surface, Arrodes's answer turned out to be rather evasive: "In you, I see the beginning and end of all things."
What kind of answer was that?
Silas grumbled inwardly.
This mirror had made quite the grand entrance, and yet of the three questions he'd asked, it had either not dared to answer, or given some ambiguous non-answer instead.
Where had all that fawning enthusiasm it showed Klein gone? Why was it that the moment it got to him, it lost its wits from sheer fright?