Our Mirrored World

Chapter Twenty Two - Love?

“What do you mean about that Luther?” Zarian curiously asked while gazing at that wizard from the mirror.

She’s about to change her clothes, but Luther’s statement made her stop walking towards her bedroom to get changed.

Zarina couldn’t understand why her heart was beating frantically against her chest, Luther was right, they couldn’t see and touch one another.

So why? Why is she feeling so remorseful about that thought? Why is she in pain that she’s feeling deep inside of her?

Luther almost fell in the air at her sudden question, and what he said probably came out the wrong way again.

“I-I mean, you’re my first friend, isn’t it fun if we do things together physically? I have never experienced bonding with friends just like what you did at what? The karaoke where humans sing even if their voices sound weird?” Luther claimed, so Zarina gazed at him intently.

“Those aren’t my friends, I have a relationship with them called workmates,” Zarina coldly stated, so he shook his head.

“So you truly consider me as your friend now?” Luther happily clapped his hands, but Zarina glared at him.

“W-Woah alright!” Luther chuckled, “What about the woman you were talking to a while ago? I heard her bugging you about relationships,”

“Kirstin? You were listening again? You know, people here would find it weird and creepy if you’re listening to conversations like that,” Zarina scolded, but he just shrugged.

“I can’t help but hear it, your voices--err rather her voice was loud,” Luther sincerely said, so she just sighed in disbelief.

She’s mad that he has reasons why can’t she stay mad at him, “I’m not interested in relationships, those are a nuisance,” 

“W-What? That is not true! Love is special and works very mysteriously! Magic can’t even match it,” Luther claimed, so Zarina just sniggered.

“Oh really? Love isn’t mysterious, it’s just a coincidence, people fall in love with people because they like each other's quirks and are similar to some sort of things,” She claimed, so Luther disappointedly shook his head at her.

“That’s not true! How would you explain opposites attract? They fall in love because both of them we’re filling something up that’s lacking in their lives, they're not similar in numerous things, but what makes them different is doubling up the reasons why they’re being drawn to each other,” Luther exclaimed.

“Also, love isn’t a coincidence, you don’t fall in love by choice, it just happens that your heart couldn’t stop unless it’s not meant to be,” He claimed while gazing at Zarina’s emerald eyes.

“How could you say that? Did you fall in love before?” Zarina raised her eyebrows, but Luther didn’t answer her.

“See? You couldn’t even answer me, you don’t have a friend let alone a girlfriend,” She added, so Luther just sighed.

“I can't believe we’re discussing things such as this, but what I said was true, love works mysteriously, and someday, a man would prove that to you,” Luther commented.

Zarina scoffed at what he said, “Over my dead body, if there is someone, then hopefully he could prove it to him,”

He clenched his fists as he felt something pricking in his heart, the thought of Zarina in a relationship with someone is making his blood boil.

Luther couldn’t understand what he feels, but he knows that it’s going to be big trouble someday, especially the distance between them both.

“I’m just glad that destiny gave me a chance to meet someone like you,” Luther mysteriously smiled at Zarina, so she was stunned for a moment.

She couldn’t understand why she couldn’t answer him as her heart thumped for a moment and decided to leave the bathroom to get changed in her bedroom.

“By the way, what was your first impression of me, Luther?” Zarina curiously asked after she slipped off into comfortable clothes.

She’s curious about how Luther thinks of her and it's weird because she shouldn’t be bothered about what he thinks of her. So why is she asking him some dumb questions? This is not like her, she thought.

Luther stopped for a moment as he thought about it intently, “A woman that’s feisty, beautiful, and probably an independent woman,” 

“That’s my first impression of you, you aren’t surprised by seeing me, so I found it amusing,” Luther chuckled at the thought of the moment that they first met, “Plus those melons charmed me,” 

Zarina immediately stomped towards the bathroom to glare at him, “What did you just say?” She raised her tone, so he raised his hands in defeat.

“I-I said I’m going to shut up!” Luther chuckled before staring at her glinting emerald eyes, “How about you? What’s your first impression of me?” 

“A ghost then was changed into a pervert, lunatic who thinks he’s the greatest wizard of all times,” Zarina directly answered, which astounded Luther.

“What?! How could you think of me like that?!” Luther complained as he watched Zarina ponder while massaging her chin.

“Maybe the most handsome guy I’ve seen in our world, I’ve never titled that to anyone before except on fictional characters,” She whispered that Luther heard loud and clear.

He was stunned to the point he couldn’t think of a comeback to tease her, “Did I say that out loud? If not, good, I’ll go make some early dinner,” 

Zarina left Luther to ponder his thoughts as he scratched the back of his head and he felt like he was blushing.

He’s always being complimented in his world so why does Zarina’s compliment sound different from his ears?

“Hey, remember when I said I want to know about mermaids? What happened to that? I slept when you started narrating or something,” Zarina raised her voice from the kitchen, so Luther used his magic to check what she was doing there.

She looks adorable wearing an apron as it hugs all of the curves that she’s been hiding from her conservative clothes.

“You did fall asleep and as I said, they were sirens,” Luther raised his voice before thinking about something.

“Oi! Would you like to try buying a lot of mirrors and place them in every place inside your apartment? My water element is draining me too much and I think using lots of mirrors would help me see what you’re really doing inside your apartment,” He suggested proudly, so Zarina stopped chopping some onions.

“What makes you think I’ll do that? Do you know how much a huge mirror here costs?” Zarina coldly stated, so Luther frowned on the other side.

“Pretty please? I’d like to observe what human beings truly are and what they could actually do, you’re the best subject for it, I guess?” Luther chuckled, so Zarina thought he was insulting her.

“Fine, but can you actually put yourselves to those other mirrors? Because I don’t like to buy many if it’s for nothing,” Zarina coldly informed while drying off her hands.

“Of course I can! I’m the greatest wizard of all time! What can’t I do wrong?” Luther sniggered, so Zarina just made a funny face in the kitchen.

“Like making my apartment into a forest and teleporting me almost to somewhere I do not belong?” Zarina claimed, so Luther stopped for a moment.

“T-That’s right! I switched forests and you got dragged with it because you’re a living thing and so are those plants and trees,” Luther exclaimed as he started summoning some books.

Zarina stopped chopping as she paced towards the bathroom to see what Luther was doing, “W-What do you mean and what are you doing?”

“I’ve been putting bugs and you have been putting things from your apartment, it’s non-living and a living thing, maybe that’s why our experiments won’t work!” Luther happily cheered as he found out the solution to their problems.

“And it works on non-living things just like how we exchange our drinks and foods swiftly! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it! I’m so stupid!” He claimed frustratedly, so Zarina thought it made sense.

“So um, you mean, I should use living things here too in exchange for your living bug there?” Zarina raised her eyebrows, so Luther just nodded as he started mixing some potion in his huge black cooking pot beside the mirror.

“Yes! You could look for a living thing that you want to be experimented on, someone that won’t upset the balance of both our worlds,” Luther told her as he gazed at her again.

“Well go on and finish cooking the early dinner, the more time we have to spare the better so that we can focus on this experiment,” After he said those words, Luther became busy mixing some potions.

Zarina just smiled secretly as she saw how dedicated Luther was to conducting this experiment. He doesn't have any reasons or why he has to prove it. It’s like he's a scientist, but a mad wizard in reality.

She then started cooking their dinner as it was a hamburger steak, it didn’t take her a while to finish as she prepared the table in front of the bathroom again to eat with Luther.

“Luther, eat first,” Zarina called while gazing at the bathroom, Luther was reading books that were floating all around him.

“How could you understand all of that if you read them all at once?” Zarina raised her eyebrows as Luther heard what she said.

“Oh is dinner ready? And I’m just skimming them for your information, I don’t read all of them as I’m just gathering the information that I’ll be needing,” Luther sounded smart, so Zarina shook her head and placed his bowl in front of her plate.

“Eat first and we’ll deal with that later,” Zarina scolded, but Luther didn’t mind her as she glared at him from the bathroom.

“Eat or we will not do this experiment later,” She threatened, so Luther flinched before pouting.

“Now you’re acting just like my mentor,” He just sighed while scratching the back of his head before transferring a drink in exchange for the bowl Zarina prepared for him.

“So have you found a living creature that you would be willing to experiment with later on? We have to try it tonight since you’re free tomorrow,” Luther curiously asked while munching on the hamburger steak.

“Yeah, it’s a mantis, though I have to put it in a jar or else it’ll jump or fly away from me,” Zarina coldly informed, but Luther was too engulfed by the food to care.

“Woah! This tastes so awesome!” He exclaimed as he happily munched on his meal, Zarina just secretly smiled as she raised what drink Luther did this time.

“Do you like making drinks a lot?” She curiously asked before tasting that cold drink, “It tastes good,”  

“Yeah, my mentor used to make me lots of drinks before, he’s pretty good at it,” He proudly gloated, so Zarina just nodded.

“My dad used to make me drinks before, but I told him to stop doing it because it’s not good for my health and my mom stopped him because mostly it’s sweets,” Zarina shared before finishing up her meal.

“By the way, I'm just curious, why do you want this experiment to be a success?” She coldly asked before gazing at Luther who looked close at finishing up her meal.

Luther stopped eating before looking up into his ceiling, “U-Um no reason? I just want to check if we mythical creatures or you humans could go to each other’s world without a problem, didn’t you remember?” 

Zarina shrugged because she can’t remember hearing why he’s dedicated to doing this experiment.

“And who knows, you might see a lot of creatures here that you haven’t seen in your world and I could go there as well to observe more about humans,” Luther mysteriously gazed at Zarina before smiling.

“And maybe also to have a chance to spend time with you physically,” He whispered while playing with his spoon.

“Sorry, what did you say? I didn’t hear it,” Zarina furrowed her eyebrows at him as Luther shook his head at her.

“Nothing! I said I'm almost done and you should finish up yours, wash your dishes, so we can proceed on doing this!” Luther exclaimed as he felt his heart thumping against his chest.

Zarina just shook her head because she thought that wizard was acting foolish again before finishing up her food and cleaning up the rest of her dishes.

She decided to take a bath first. Of course, she didn’t forget to cover the mirror with a cloth before she slipped into her comfortable clothes.

Zarina then paced to the bathroom while carrying a jar with her, “Are you ready?” Luther then smiled, so she just nodded at him.

To be continued...