Chapter 205: Book 3: A Pound of Core
The core of an Inspiration is that they alter the skills that pass through them in some fundamental way. The Knight is the strongest one I have, and the skills that pass through it usually emerge as some physical alteration to my form rather than the usual energy projections.
The Mirror Twice Shattered, on the other hand, is perhaps the most unpredictable. It's one of the reasons I haven't used it as much—the Mirror tends to lend an emotional tint of some sort to the skills it alters, and most of the options I have aren't pleasant.
It's a representation of some of the worst moments in my life, after all. The Mirror is a reflection of me as I was, and who I was back then...
Determination. Anger. Sadness. Fear.
I remember looking back at the Mirror in the moments after I first received it. It hadn't felt particularly good at the time, having my life laid out in such broad strokes. It hadn't felt like a real representation of who I was.
I remember my thoughts back then. The Mirror took the most significant moments of my life and turned them into a source of power, but what it hadn't been able to do was take the small moments. Recovery hadn't been instantaneous. It was a slow process, built up over months and years, learning to smile again, learning to laugh, learning to live...
Only for me to be brought into the Trials right as I felt like I might be ready to face the world again. Go figure.
Now that I think about it, even back then, I think I had a connection with both my Truth and my Talent. I might not have really known what I was doing, but I looked at the Mirror and thought it felt wrong. Like it failed to truly capture who I was. I'd forgotten this up until now, the memories suspiciously foggy.
Now, though? Clear as day. I remember reaching back to the Mirror, trying to fix it. Trying to make it represent who I really was.