Chapter Text
A high-pitched beep echoed in the bedroom. It blared from your phone, repeating itself until you shut it down. You were ready to throw your phone across the room whenever it happened, even if the alarm was there for a reason. Your eyes went past the snooze button and shut off the beeping before putting the phone down and flopping on your bed. It’s eight-thirty in the morning.
Usually, you would sleep until ten. However, the morning was the only time your friend, Vee was off work. They invited you and your other friend, Alex, over. Your mind went back to yesterday at Starbucks where Vee was shaking in their boots. It could’ve been the coffee. You weren’t sure. All you knew was that they were super excited about watching a new cartoon you got them and Alex into.
The cartoon was a little show called Lego Monkiekid. You brought it up to them a little bit ago. Alex got interested after you told him that the show was animated by the same studio as Rise. The show was a second-generation Journey to the West. You didn’t know much of the story outside of summary videos.
It was good. Really good. You wouldn’t have recommended it if it wasn’t. The only con was that you had to watch it with Vee and Alex in the morning.
You pulled yourself out of bed, stretching against the stream of sunlight. Specs of dust float in the light, reminding you how dirty your room is. You let out a heavy sigh with a bit more girth than a regular one. Your arms slouched along with your back. You might as well get dressed before Vee starts to get worried.
After getting dressed, brushing your teeth, and untangling the mess that was your hair, you went downstairs to the kitchen. Your grandma was already there along with the sweet aroma of pancakes. There were already four of them stacked on each other. You assume that they’re for everyone. That included you, herself, Grandpa, and Mom.
“You’re up early,” Grandma didn’t even look at you. Her eyes were still on the pan, waiting until it was time to flip the next pancake.
“Vee invited me over,” you said. “They have the morning off today.”
“Oh, that’s nice. What’re you doing this time?”
“I’m showing them a cartoon.”
You went up to the counter next to her, watching the petite old woman cook. Flyaways of gray hair freed themselves from the pins she used to tie back her hair. You took out the coffee pot, filling it with water before scooping some coffee grounds into the top of the machine. Usually, you were the one making coffee. It didn’t matter if you woke up early like this or late.
You turned on the machine and watched the coffee drip into the pot. The whirring mixed with the light bubbling of pancake batter as it gets flipped over.
“Do you mind starting the eggs while you wait for that?” Grandma asked. “I forgot to earlier.”
“Sure,” you pulled out the carton of eggs from the fridge and cracked several of them into a bowl. After adding a little bit of milk, salt, and pepper, you whisked it all together. You took out a pan and put it over the heater on medium heat before pouring the mixture in. Eggs were easy, especially scrambled eggs. You’d been making them since you were ten.
“By the way, when you get back from Vee’s we’re cleaning out the attic,” Grandma said.
You sighed, forgetting that it was cleaning day. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. Your mom was the one that brought it up. Said there was something that she needed to get out of there. She sounded stressed about it.”
“Hm. Weird,” you said.
“Who knows? It might be some kind of college memorabilia,” grandma said.
“You’re just saying that because I’m taking a gap year right now.”
“You still have to decide.”
She was right. You hated the fact that she was right. If anything, Mom wanted to make sure some pictures of your father were safe.
A ping on your phone went off. It was a text from Vee. They were asking when you’d show up at their house and that Alex was already there. You texted back that you needed to eat first and then you’d be there.
“I gotta go pretty soon,” you said.
“Don’t forget your coffee,” grandma said.
“Right. What would I do without you?”
“Probably die.”
You couldn’t help but smile as you poured your coffee along with a little bit of creamer. You quickly ate a couple of pancakes and some eggs before grabbing your camera to leave.
…
Much like you, Vee stayed at their parents’ place after high-school graduation. However, they weren’t planning on going to college at all. Vee’s dad runs an auto shop and Vee planned to work there and, eventually, run the family business.
Because of this business, Vee’s garage is almost always open during the day. Next to that garage is their house. You passed a bush already sprouting spring flowers. A butterfly gently flapped its wings on one of them, drinking its nectar. You were tempted to snap a photo but left it because the butterfly flew away.
You rang the doorbell once you got to the front door. Almost immediately, Vee answered. Their eyes lit up upon seeing you.
“[Name]!” Vee embraced you in a bone-crushing hug. “I’m glad you could make it!” A ponytail restrained their billowing red curls brushed over their shoulder. Because it was the morning, they were clean.
“I told you about the show,” you said. “Of course, I was gonna watch it with you.”
Vee dragged you inside and led you into the living room. The TV was already set up with the show. Vee’s laptop was plugged into it with an HDMI cord. From that alone, you discerned that you’d be watching Monkiekid off a pirating website.
Alex was in the kitchen, eating a snack. He wore a flannel and a pair of shorts. Despite the pronouns she had, she was assigned male at birth. She waved at you and made his way to the living room.
“‘Sup I’m running off of five hours of sleep and several cups of coffee,” he said. “Now let’s do this thing before I pass out on Vee’s couch.”
Vee pressed play and you went through with watching the pilot and season one. Vee’s reactions to everything were a lot more animated than Alex’s. It was funny to look at the differences in their reactions to certain scenes. For you, it was fun to watch the show again. It was like refreshing your memory before you could watch the fourth season. Although, it was still in mandarin at the moment.
“They did not have to go so hard with the animation,” Alex said.
“I know,” you replied. “They don’t even look like legos to me.”
A scene from the racing episode came up. It was the one where MK and Mei crashed through the city to get to the finish line.
“I wonder how good of insurance you need to live in that city,” Alex said.
“Probably really good,” you said. “At least it wouldn’t be as bad as Gotham.”
“Anything is better than Gotham. It’s fucking Gotham.”
“Yeah. You’re right.”
“It’d still be one of the better fantasy worlds to get isekai’d to,” Vee said.
“Isekai?” you asked.
“You know, like the fanfics. You die or get sucked into your favorite show and have to cope.”
“Oh. That.”
“Those are either good or targeted towards men,” Alex said.
“The ones for men are power fantasies where the main character is boring but gets all of the ladies anyways,” you sighed.
“I feel like I’d get too attached,” Vee said. “That’s why I’d never get isekai’d.”
“I don’t think the universe picks and chooses who gets to go to other worlds. Besides, it’s not real.”
“Who knows? A group of people could go to other worlds as a job.”
Vee put on the next episode. The three of you hummed the theme song and let go of the conversation. You wanted each episode to go on for more than eleven minutes. That way, it might take longer until you have to clean out the attic with Mom.
…
Mom was already cleaning by the time you got back from Vee’s house. The ladder up to the attic was held down by boxes. Mom rummaged through each one, muttering to herself. You were sure she didn’t hear you come in.
“Mom?” you said. “I’m back.”
“Oh, hi honey,” Mom finally looked up from the box she was searching through. “How was Vee’s house?”
“It was fun,” you said. “I showed them a new cartoon.”
“Is it that one with the monkeys?”
“Uh…yeah.”
You went stiff. Mom was smiling, still stressed about whatever she was trying to find. You had a feeling that grandma may have been underreacting to the situation. Although, it was mom. Crippling anxiety followed her everywhere she went. Her hair was disheveled from the number of times she was dipping her head to look.
“Should I go through the attic to find anything?” you approached the ladder.
“Can you?” mom asked. “Just look for a box labeled ‘keep out.’ Don’t look through it, just call me down.”
“Alright.”
You climbed up the ladder and into a pit of darkness. The attic scared you once as a child. You cried whenever Mom needed to be up there, tugging on her ankles and begging her not to leave you. You realized that the attic was another room in the house and that Mom would always come back down.
A stream of sunlight lit the attic up a little. You flipped the light switch up and down. It was futile, the lightbulb in the ceiling hasn’t been changed out in months. Despite the boxes laid out in the hallway, there were still plenty stuffed into the attic. You stepped through the cornucopia of cardboard, trying to find letters written out in black sharpie. There was nothing until you got closer to the back. The shadows were more intense, and darker than the other corners of the room.
You sifted through the boxes. Most were taped down, the packing tape still tight against the cardboard. However, one of them was opened. The flaps were undone on their own, inviting you to look. You accepted the invitation, pulling the box out of the dark corner and into the light. There wasn’t much, only a mirror. On the outside of your reflection, a few characters brushed around it. They were gold, shining, and reflected under the sunlight. Your thumb brushed over the small writing, unable to understand the words. It was old, almost scratched away.
The writing began to glow. Its light was as bright as the sun. You covered your eyes to keep yourself from being blinded. For a moment, you could look behind the mirror. Within the newfound light, you noticed the sharpie bleeding into the cardboard. ‘KEEP OUT.’ You were too late.
“Mom! I think I found it!” you shouted.
“Okay, just bring it down!” Mom called back.
“Yeah,” you stood up with the mirror in your hands. It was still glowing. Your fingers tapped against your reflection in the glass. It seemed to respond to your touch. You gasped as the glow from the words went around your body. You closed your eyes, feeling something crawl up your spine. Then, you sensed nothing but the mirror cracking.