( 'cause all your heads are gonna roll, i've made your misery my goal )

[ripstides]

Who: Mirror!Percy (retroact), Percy (ripstides) & YOU!
Where: Various locations, real and mirror side.
When: 9/16 after the queen's announcement for the duration of the event.
Rating: PG-13, potentially higher with mirror shenanigans. Will edit accordingly.
Summary: Mirror!Percy has had about enough of this whole watching and waiting business so naturally, he goes with the flow of things at the Queen's command. Of course he has ulterior motives that just happen to align with hers. Unfortunately, Percy's stuck on the mirror side.
The Story:

( MIRROR PERCY » real side )

[ lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'entrate. the only inscription around the mirror he pushes against are the ones that he and others like him have carved into the walls while they were waiting for the chance to put their palms against the glass and push. entering the real side of Wonderland isn't the same as prying open the gates of hell ( abandon all hope, ye who enter here ) but the almost paralyzing thrill instantly greets him, easily mistaken for fear by those that don't know what to do with themselves. he imagines that's what his Real is feeling behind him, not that he spares that miserable excuse for a demigod a glance over his shoulder. goodbye and good riddance. he's been waiting for this chance for months. the opportunity to let the counterparts of Percy Jackson's friends rip him apart, piece by pathetic piece, while Mercy works at tearing down as many of Percy's real friends on this side as he can.

because this is what it is to watch; to be powerless to do anything except watch, to bear witness to the terrors the world has to offer. the two of them aren't so different. he isn't better than Mercy, he simply hasn't lost as much.

( he's about to. )

the desire to shatter the mirror is just barely contained with the need not to raise any more red flags than there already are flapping in the wind. the Queen's message hadn't been subtle. crystal clear and still ringing in his ears because a sword powerful enough to defeat the Jabberwock was a sword he could use against his Real, against the Queen herself, against anyone. unlike most of the others, he isn't eager to run prey down in plain sight. he chooses to be a wolf in sheep's skin for as long as he can possibly get away with it. being a complete moron is about as easy as it looks. once he steps out of the bathroom Percy shares with Annabeth and changes into something more presentable, he can be found in the usual haunts, searching for Percy's friends. the same bedroom he's in now, the library, the pool or the beach, the gardens. even in the halls. ]

( PERCY » mirror side )

[ if Mercy is the representation of the calm before the storm, of quiet dark waters with something brewing beneath the surface, then Percy is the crashing waves. the frenzied hurricane. the panic in the heart of every sailor when they realize they're going to go down with their ship and their captain, like it or not. crash landing on the ground in the middle of brushing your teeth is a) disorientating, b) painful, and c) not how he plans on spending his day. as he realizes his surroundings are not as they should be ( reversed ) a nagging suspicion makes him hurl his toothbrush away from him forcibly to get back to his feet. he spits into the sink and wipes his mouth. he can't believe his eyes. that's-- it's him. as someone that's never had the pleasure of talking to his own mirror, he suddenly gets goosebumps on the back of his neck due to how familiar the guy walking away from him looks.

when the shock fades, he pounds his fists against the back side of the mirror until the sides of his hands are numb and red, threatening to bruise and he has to force himself to spin away from it. think, Percy! as much as he wants to kick over the clothes hamper and shout, he has to pull it together for Annabeth. she's the one stuck with that freak! what would she do? ...she would think ahead. that's it! he looks around for a marker, or some chalk, and ends up dashing into the bedroom and scattering things out of the drawers in the desk until he finds a marker he thinks he can get a message across to her with. ]


as long as we're together
i said that and i meant it
but WE aren't TOGETHER

[ he hopes with everything else going on that it gets to her, that she comes back from the library and sees the message on the mirror and can interpret it for what it is. a cruel message on the surface but obvious to them. but he can't wait around for that. he has to keep moving. he has to find a way out. Percy has to get to his friends and it's for that reason, that drive, that he doesn't see Mercy come back into the bathroom in his favorite sweatshirt and smudge the writing away with his fingers. ]

Comments

[cutthetrap]

Mank just really hadn’t wanted to cross over to the Real side. People might call Mank a sore loser but people should keep their attention to themselves because 1- Mank hasn’t asked and 2 - he also does not give a single damn.

But he wants to obey the Queen, even Mank isn’t stupid enough to go against her even if he loathes being under the orders of someone else other than his father. And he’s fully aware someone like him, focused in battle and war and pain and suffering isn’t going to get much done when they need brains to get the sword. People able to play with words and figure the riddles out, people able to mingle with the Reals and not call attention to themselves. It’s no secret Mank loves attention.

So instead he’s left behind. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t allowed to have fun, right? Not with all their Reals popping out here for a visit. Frank is going to make sure no one leaves this place thinking he’s a bad host, and a good one always does his best to entertain his guests. Especially if that guest happens to Zhang’s best friend.

He sees Percy right as he leaves the room, and he can’t help a little grin.

“Someone looks frantic. Chill, will you? You’re stuck here anyway.” Like him.

[ripstides]

Frank. Finally, he can thank the gods for something going right in his life. He almost barrels right into him for a hug when his instincts catch up to him and an uneasy feeling crashes down on him instead. This isn't his Frank. It can't be. There's no way he would react to him that way. He would be glad Percy was there and that other stuff would have factored in, but he would have said it differently. He would have said he needed to calm down so they could put their heads together or something.

"You're wrong. I'm getting out of here." Offense intended, he's going to make an attempt to brush by what he's assuming is Frank's mirror for the time being to find any of his real friends that might be trapped here with him.

It's not the worst thing in the world to have Frank on the other side of the glass though. He's someone Percy can trust to hold his own and take care of their friends stuck with Percy's mirror version.

[cutthetrap]

Mank really just has nothing better to do right now than follow and bother Percy, so he does. He still loathes that he’s stuck in here, but he doesn’t have to just sit around and watch the others handle things, right? He can’t even watch them properly since the stupid underworld freak got Frank mad enough to break the mirror. And even if it had been intact the level of fucks he gives about the other side is in general pretty low.

Unless he gets to have some fun with them, like right now.

“Spare me the BS and wake up, hero. There’s some things even Poseidon’s golden boy can’t do.” Poseidon… psh. Mars is where it’s at, if Mank wanted his father would have everyone begging for their deaths in minutes. “What’s the plan? Come on, tell me so I can get a few laughs.”

[ripstides]

"Yeah, like outsmart a little upstart from Manhattan when all of his friends are bound and he's weaponless. There are some things Poseidon's golden boy can't do." He hopes that gets Mank's panties in a bunch. Thinking about Chrysaor still messes with his head and makes him feel powerless, but in the end, he did end up saving his friends. His name's Percy, and that jerk made it pretty clear that he was the "golden" son.

"I thought we'd try the one where you get lost and I get to look for my friends."

[cutthetrap]

Mank just scoffs. Either he doesn’t get the reference or he doesn’t care, either way it gets the same non-reaction out of him. Percy is the most interesting thing that has happened to him since he woke up in the Queen’s realm and he isn’t going to let it go so easily.

“Want to hear a funny thing? No one in the other side is even going to know you’re here. You’re so bland, so boring, you make everything around you so dull it isn’t really going to matter. Isn’t that just hilarious?”