This is the first of a three-part Tnt miniseries involving several major characters and mirrors. The first one is the angstiest, and you'll soon see why. Of course, it mixes the funny with the horrific (I hope, it's horrific), but there are some dark themes in this part too.

Laska lay on her bed in a room at the inn at Brynnlaw, simply staring at the ceiling, thinking. The past few days after Irenicus had stolen her spirit, she had been feeling more and more like a shell... an empty shell.

Coming back to Brynnlaw after demolishing Spellhold was a real treat. They had never expected song and dance in the streets as the formerly expelled hippie pirates had returned to their rightful homes in the township of Brynnlaw, and were celebrating that fact with great joy. Colored lanterns hung from the houses to the masts of ships as merry music was piped from pirate banjos.

After the death of Desharik, it had been very easy for Elayne to run the other evil pirates out of town. The old days had finally returned, as did the good times. They had found the Swiftwind docked in the harbor, all the girls having been set free. The Festhall was closed forever and some enterprising pirates were planning on turning the watering hole the Wanking Monkey into a Karaoke milk bar.

But Laska was sure she would never ever forget the image of Jan, Dynaheir and a struggling Korgan to be raised up into the air by the cheering pirate crowd. They tried to do the same with a fully armored Minsc, but that didn't have the desired result. The Umberlists claimed all partially crushed pirates would eventually make a full recovery, though.

After the party, though, a great feeling of loss and sorrow befell Laska, and she had no way to combat it... How could she when an integral part of her very being was missing? Normally, she would exercise and think things through, but at the moment she just didn't care. She was too listless.

And then it was also very hot outside. The air in the room was stale and the humidity was more than a little stifling. Adding to that was that Laska had been feeling very tired lately. She had gone upstairs for a nap and simply plopped down on the bed with her clothes on, saving the relatively cold sheets. The leather of her pants swooshed against the sheets as she tossed and turned and the warm felt of her vest didn't add much comfort either. Sleep never came. Instead she had been simply staring at the ceiling.

"Waiting for death," Laska spoke aloud to no one in particular. Immediately Laska blinked. "Where did that come from?" Laska spoke again, to no one in particular.

Laska couldn't stand it anymore and sat up in bed, rubbing her forehead as she did so. After wiping her sweaty hands on the sheet, Laska got up and looked for her boots. She found one lying at the bed, but when she noticed the other one lying on the other side of the room near the window, she decided not to bother and turned to the basin near the door.

The rooms in the Scumm Bar were sparsely dressed, but nice. There was no carpeting, but there were pleasant paintings in the room. The room also contained a bed, a dresser and a basin. Plus, nobody felt like staying on the Swiftwind at the moment, since it was still being cleaned up and repaired at the drydock. The two-person bed was nice and soft, the dresser was large enough and the basin contained fresh water and had a large mirror hanging over it.

Laska walked over to the mirror, supported herself on the basin as she leaned towards it to look at her own face. Her eyes seemed almost glazed over, her hair was sticking to her skin and she looked pale, greyish pale. There were bags under her eyes, adding to her gaunt appearance.

"You're a mess, kid," Laska smirked and dipped her face into the basin, rubbing away the sweat and grime with the clean water. She rubbed her face some more when she rose from the basin to look into the mirror... and got the fright of her life.

It wasn't her looking back at her. In the mirror, she saw a rotting, dead version of herself. Her eyes glazed in a milky film, her lifeless skin stretched so tightly over her bones she could clearly make out the contours of her skull. Her normal rich dark hair was matted and thin. But worst of all, there was no expression on her face, none at all. This dead version of herself was just staring at her. The Slayer was only staring at her.

Panicked, Laska felt her face and looked down at her body for a moment to see if she hadn't changed. But she hadn't, thankfully. Laska let out a heavy sigh, closed her eyes and softly whispered : "You're not there... You're not there..."

Opening her eyes again, Laska noticed that not only the apparition in the mirror was still there, but that it slowly raised a bony arm, even though Laska had not raised her own arm. The clawed hand slowly came to rest, apparently pressing against the surface of the mirror.

Again, Laska closed her eyes and repeated her earlier words with more fervor. "You're NOT here... You're NOT here!"

Laska was startled, and dared not open her eyes, when the tips of the cold bony fingers from the mirror were suddenly caressing her cheek. Her whole body quivered with a strange fear as the fingers took a look of her hair and twirled it around her finger, just like Rose liked to do to entice her. "YOU'RE NOT THERE! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Laska shouted, still with her eyes closed.

Suddenly, a deep pain hit her as two fingernails sliced into her cheek, just under her eyes. The razor-sharp nails traced Laska's eye-tattoo as they tore through her flesh. Blood welled up from the wound and trickled down as Laska gritted her teeth against the intense pain. Just as she was about to grasp the skeletal hand and rip it from her body, the door opened.

"Laska?" Rose asked. "What are you doing?"

Immediately, the pain in her face was gone, the blood was gone and her face was whole, as if nothing had ever happened. Looking in the mirror, she saw herself staring back... Bewildered, perhaps, but it was at least still herself.

"Oh, nothing," Laska said quickly and literally scooped Rose away from the mirror and led her into the hallway. "So," she broke in before Rose could say a word, "I haven't had a chance to ask yet, but how did you enjoy your trip on a boat filled with girls?"

"Well, I..."

"I saw you looking at that petite red-head," Laska grinned.

"Laska!" Rose blushed slightly. "Please..."

"It's okay to look around," Laska grinned and kissed Rose's forehead. "Hey, you know, we might invite her over for a bit. For a... chat or such."

"Laska," Rose shook her head. "What's gotten in to you?"

"Oh, nothing," Laska said. "I just need a... distraction."

"We might have something for you," Rose smiled and melted into Laska's embrace. "I was told to take you downstairs and..."

"UAAAARGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" sounded from the room at the end of the hallway. "That little VIXEN! That BRAINLESS COW!"

Out of the room stormed Viconia, dressed in only a towel wrapped around her body. Raving and ranting, one thing soon became painfully obvious. Her formerly long and luscious white hair had become completely pink.

Laska barely suppressed a snicker as the fuming Drow paced across the hallway, kicking at the walls and tables as she went and ignoring the obvious pain from doing so barefooted. "That little rat! That... that..."

"Something wrong, Viconia?" Laska snickered.

"It's your bloody sister what's wrong!" Viconia shouted in her elven friend's face. "Just look at my beautiful hair! That prankster will get what's coming to her!!!"

"You seem different today," Rose offered, adding to the mix. "New shoes?"

"I'm not wearing any vithing shoes!" Viconia said, ripping the towel of her body. "I'm not wearing vithing anything! Just look at my hair! It's ruined! I was just taking a bath to prepare for the party, put on my shampoo and then when I looked into the mirror, I found out I had turned into cotton candy!"

"Party?" Laska asked. "What party."

"Errm, nothing," Rose said, steering Laska away from the snarling Drow. "Just come with me downstairs for dinner."

Laska felt a little uncomfortable sitting at the head of the table in the main room of the inn while her fellow partymembers were staring at her with strange grins plastered on her faces. Even Boo was grinning.

Viconia in the meantime, had dressed, but had tied her pink tresses into a bun and covered her head with an enormous hood to avoid any embarrassment. A waitress passed and apparently looked in Viconia's direction a little too long for her liking. "WHATCHA LOOKIN' AT, IBLITH-HEAD?!" Viconia snarled, patting the Flail of Ages on her belt as she shouted. The waitress yelped and ran into the kitchen as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Look, Vic," Imoen sighed. "It was just an accident, okay? I just put my pink hair-dye into the first container I could find when the bottle broke. So it just happened to be your shampoo bottle... But you look lovely in pink, you should keep it on."

Viconia's response was a growl that could put a lion to shame.

"Come on, Vic, you do look lovely and..."

"DON'T TALK TO ME!!!" Viconia shouted at Imoen.

"Oh, dear..." Keldorn sighed. "More trouble in paradise... If this party ever was a paradise, that is. But, Viconia, there is nothing to be done about that. You're just going to have to wait until your original hair color grows back."

"Pink hair and ebony skin?" Viconia snorted. "I don't think so. I do know the 'Restore Original Haircolor'-spell, but I have to pray for it first, so I'll be stuck with this hair for a day!"

"I've never heard of such a spell," Keldorn said. "Is such a thing even possible?"

"Thou dost not know much about women, does thee?" Dynaheir snickered, pointing at her own multi-colored hair.

"Okay, okay," Laska said. "You've been making me curious long enough. What's going on here? And why are the pirates putting party-favors on the ceiling?"

"You really can't remember, can you Las?" Imoen snickered. "You forget every year."

"Though this time we had some warning in advance," Viconia nodded.

"What?" Laska said. "I never forget anything!"

"What are you talking about? You forgot your lesson plan all the time back in Candlekeep..."

"I mean, I never forget anything that I don't forget deliberately," Laska added, scratching behind her ear. "And where did Rose run off too?"

"Come on, Laska, remember!" Imoen snickered. "The seventeenth of Hammer!"

"Oh," Laska suddenly realized. "Oh, cripes, you're right..."

"Happy birthday, silly," Imoen said and hugged her sister for a moment. A series of congratulations followed, as well as slaps on the back, handshakes and cheek-kisses.

"28 years old today, Laska," Imoen said. "Geez, 28 already, ya old fart."

"Sorry, that position in the party is already taken," Laska said.

"Very funny, Laska," Keldorn sighed.

"I wasn't talking about you," Laska replied. "Technically, Jan is the oldest one."

"What was that sonny?" Jan said, putting his hand to his ear. "This old gnome is hard of hearing... Hmmm, just like my old-uncle Stinkingrich Jansen. Now, he's got back-trouble, hearing-trouble, myopia, biopia, anti-opia, artritis, a fake hip, a fake leg, a fake ass, low blood pressure, screeching joints, aching joints, missing joints, violent flatulence, liverspots on his liver, he's so senile he's starting to get sharp again and is married to a 19 year old nymph with in insatiable sexual appetite and a body that won't quit. So, he's in trouble."

"How so?" Keldorn asked.

"Well, the relatives expect to inherit his millions, of course, but he won't give it to them. Instead, he wants his wife to have his gold for shopping money when he dies. Still, the relatives want their inheritance, even if divided there will only be about 13 coppers each."

"Enough crap-nonsense," Viconia snarled. "This whole birthday thing hardly makes any sense to me, to be honest."

"Don't you have birthdays in the Underdark?" Imoen asked.

"Are you kidding?" Viconia said. "That will only serve as a reminder to your sisters than you are getting on in years and they still have to assassinate you."

"So, you never had a birthday? How sad."

"Hah, I don't even know when my birthday is... I just count from the beginning of each new year and keep the number of years to my self."

"Oy! Enough bloody talk," Korgan said. "It be gift time! Ah, lassie, since ye be 'avin' those lovely long locks, I be giving ye me old beard-comb. It be servin' me well the past century." Korgan handed Laska a greasy, dirty and nearly toothless comb. The elf grimaced and took it between the tip of her thumb and index finger.

"Thanks, I... I think," Laska gulped and put the greasy thing on the table.

"Och," Korgan said after digging around in his beard for a couple of seconds. "Thar be some more teeth 'ere..."

"Our turn," Minsc announced.

"Yes," Dynaheir spoke. "Minsc, myself and Keldorn chipped in and bought thee this bottle of ancient elven hearthwine. 287 DR. A very good year."

"Oh, gimme!" Laska said and took the bottle with glee. The bottle was ancient, but smelled of the luscious liquid inside. On the label was a picture of elven grapevines on Evermeet and the name of the vineyards in ancient elven. "Awww, thank you, guys!"

"The irony is that," Keldorn said, "the wine took over a 1000 years to ripen and will probably be finished to the last drop by Laska within 10 minutes."

"My turn!" Jan said and took out a small little device. "It's a super deluxe Jansen-style ear cleaner!"

"Are you suggesting my ears are dirty?" Laska asked.

"No, I'm suggesting they can be cleaner," Jan grinned and pressed a little button. Immediately, a q-tip sprang from the machine and started whirring about violently. "And in case of trouble," Jan said, "you just press this button and a blade will spring from the other side. You don't want to be weaponless when you're attacked whilst cleaning your ears."

"And you don't want to mix up the sides when you only want to clean your ears, ouch," Imoen said.

"And our gift," Viconia said, handing Laska an ornate red dagger. "Imoen and I bought this little knife and spent a week enchanting it before we arrived on Brynnlaw."

"Perfectly balanced," Laska smirked. "I always appreciate the gift of a weapon."

"Throw it at the wall! Throw it at the wall!" Imoen beamed.

Laska smiled and complied. The dagger whooshed through the air to be imbedded in the Skumm Bar's dartboard. As soon as Laska held up her hand, the dagger appeared in her hand. "Wow! This is great!"

"I knew you'd like it," Viconia said. "The biggest problem for me and Imoen was to make the dagger return to your hand clean, so there won't be any orc-brain on it when it appears in your hand."

"And on that chipper note, where's the cake?!" Jan smiled. "Hmmm, orc-brain cake with beholder feces for a topping! Wonderful flavor, as long as you mix in a lot of turnips. About 5000 to mask the flavor of the other two elements."

"And where's Rose?" Laska asked as the waitresses led in an enormous cake. "She led me downstairs and then disappeared."

On cue, the cake's top was throw clear, and it soon became apparent where Rose had gone after she jumped out of the cake wearing a red bikini.

"Now, there's a present," Laska grinned. That grin was soon answered as a smiling Rose pressed a piece of cake in Laska's face... And so the party began.

Imoen staggered into her room after four hours of dancing, partying and generally having fun. Viconia was already in bed, and seemed very annoyed at being woken up again.

"You snuck off early," Imoen said. "Didn't like the party?"

"I liked the party, but not the people constantly trying to pull my hood off."

"Sorry, but it was just too tempting," Imoen said and sat down on the bed next to Viconia. "Say, Vic?"

"Hmmm?"

"Is it really true that you never had a birthday or a party?"

"Calling me a liar?"

"No, no, I just thought it was... really sad. Hey, you know what?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"It's past midnight," Imoen smiled. "The 19th of Hammer. Let's make that your birthday!"

Viconia rolled on her back to stare at Imoen. "What are you talking abo..." and suddenly found that Imoen was holding a muffin in her hand. On top of the muffin was a small lit candle, burning brightly in the dark.

"Happy Birthday, Vic," Imoen smiled.

Viconia started at the muffin, then at Imoen, then at the muffin again. Imoen could swear that, for a moment, Viconia's eyes showed signs of intense gratitude and happiness before it was gone again.

"Here," Viconia said, taking out a dagger to slice the muffin in half. "Let's share the birthday cake."

Meanwhile, back in Laska's room, the two lovers only had attention for each other. Laska had carried Rose into the room and laid her on the bed. Having taken off her vest and pants already, Laska had gotten onto the bed and crushed her body into Rose's, pressing her lips on her lover's.

"Why don't you unwrap your gift?" Rose smirked as the lovers came up for air.

"Thought you'd never ask," Laska smiled and immediately bent down to kiss Rose's neck while sliding her hands across her lover's shoulders while Rose's fingernails raked across Laska's back. While softly nipping at Rose's soft flesh, Laska got the uncomfortable feeling of being watched. Almost instinctively, Laska's eyes slowly, but certainly trailed to the mirror next to the door...

As soon as she looked in the mirror, she noticed there was no reflection at all. The surface of the mirror had become a black, unyielding void, drawing Laska in. Laska felt as if she was floating and a haze came over her, numbing her mind and her senses. All time lost meaning, all action lost meaning... She was floating and free, not knowing, not caring, but revelling in the action... but the action her body was performing, she could not see. Somehow, it felt wrong to her, so very wrong. Laska clenched her eyes shut, gritted her teeth and resisted... and as she opened her eyes again, she was horrified to find that she was pinning Rose down with her body, pressing her elbow into her throat and clenching her flailing lover's wrist with her other hand while forcing her tongue into a protesting Rose's mouth.

Immediately, Laska released her lover and scrambled up, taking a seat on the bed and avoiding the mirror at all cost. Forcing herself to calm, she took a few breaths. She still felt the malice in her heart, slowly retreating from her body, but she knew its intent. Laska had given in to... something, and if she had not resisted, the creature from the mirror would have driven her to... to... rape her lover.

Laska felt sick, nearing the point of throwing up, but she suddenly felt a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Laska," Rose spoke, but there was no accusation in her voice. "When one of us wants to get rough, we promised each other to talk about it first. It's your own rule... you made that up when you were such a baby about me nibbling at your ear-tips."

Thank every god in Faerun she doesn't know.... "Sorry," Laska said. "Got into the moment for a while there."

"Ancient elven wine getting to you," Rose smiled. "Come on, lie down on your back..."

As Rose slowly laid down Laska, the elf considered that she really, really needed to forget out the mirror and to lose herself in the moment of passion was a preferred method. But she was also quite aware of the malevolent force still in the room, waiting to strike again. She nearly yelped when she felt Rose starting her erotic onslaught again, by kissing her belly button and slowly moving upward with a trail of kisses and caresses.

"Wait," Laska said, considering, "you have to tie me up... Wrists to the bedpost..."

"Oh, my," Rose smiled. "Who's giving a present to who now?"

She had no idea what's going on, thank the gods... Laska thought, but as soon as Rose had finished tying her wrists, she noticed that, to her disappointment, the half-elf had not tied her very tightly or strongly. She could rip thought the cloth with ease... in fact, in the height of passion, she usually broke through Rose's bonds with a single jerk.... She had to find a way to keep herself from looking at the mirror and she did not trust herself to simply not do so. The mirror had a strange effect on her... she was drawn to it.

Laska gasped as she felt one of Rose's warm hands moving across her shoulders, but before their lips could meet, Laska called out. "Wait," she asked. "Blindfold me..."

Rose smirked, nodded and took out another piece of cloth from the side of the bed, a black one this time.

If only she knew...

Laska was in quite a euphoric mood as she laid back with her eyes closed. Oh, Rose had worked her magic, alright. She hadn't thought about the mirror for hours... Oh, crap, Now I'm thinking about the mirror again!. But, Laska quickly pushed the thoughts away as she thought of Rose's soft kisses and caresses... and the honey, definitely the honey. Oh, and the strawberries...

The tattooed elf jerked her arms and found her wrists to be stuck. 'That's odd... I thought I jerked myself loose to hug Rose already. How did I get stuck again... Wait a minute, where's my blindfold?'

After opening her eyes, she found that she was lying inside of a small white room. All kind of medical instruments hung from the wall. Apparently, she was chained to an operating table by her wrists and ankles and a white canvas was covering her body from neck to toe. Suddenly, a strange smell hit her nostrils, and she soon found the source : a long intestine hung from a number of hooks from the ceiling. She regarded the thing for a moment.

Ah, crud, a dream, Laska thought. And here I was hoping to wake up early to fix Rose some strawberry waffles.

Suddenly, a figure wearing a bloodied white coat entered the room. Laska immediately recognized the figure as Irenicus. Instinctively, Laska tugged as her bonds trying to escape, but she soon noticed that Irenicus was quite a lot more pleasant than usual.

"So, how are we feeling today?" Irenicus asked while he was fiddling with his clipboard. "Hmm, patient 001. Laska Leafwalker, Bhaalspawn elf. Symptoms : acute hallucinations, loss of self and minor anxiety attacks. Hmmm, yes, I think we should continue with our amputations. Nurse?"

"Righto!" the nurse entered. The 'nurse' was actually Rose wearing a white cap and a white coat... and white garters. "Shall I assist doctor?"

"Ermm, I'm not sure I wanna know," Laska said when Irenicus removed the white cloth. The elf gasped for a moment as she looked down. She was naked underneath, but also... opened up. The skin of her belly was gone, well, actually parted and set with pins at the side of the operating table. Her belly was strangely empty, leaving Laska to uncomfortably stare at the intestine which was obviously hers. Still, there was no blood, no pain... And she could move as normal.

"Hmmm," Irenicus said as he moved his hands inside Laska's belly holding a scalpel. For a moment, Laska could feel his hands slicking over an internal organ and yanking it free. Holding it up, Irenicus briefly studied the organ. "Nurse, please write down. Unusual sized-liver... Almost twice the normal size. Let's weigh this object," he said and walked to the scales.

"Hey, ummm," Laska said. "Could you please put that liver back? I think I might need that..."

"Nah," Irenicus said. "You can live perfectly well without it. Just don't hop on one leg anymore or you'll die instantly."

"Here," Rose said as she reached into Laska's chest cavity. "Oh, look at this!" she said as she yanked out Laska's still beating heart. "Awww, this is mine. Mine forever..." Rose said and briefly kissed the heart.

"Well, that's sweet," Laska said. "In an utterly disgusting sort of way."

In the back, Laska saw that Irenicus was unfolding a chart. On it were two elves. One of it was herself, with the words 'Before' written on it. The other elf was the distorted undead version of herself, with the words 'After' written on it. Without warning, the picture of the undead figure came to life and swatted Irenicus away. Rose screamed briefly but could do nothing. Before Laska would ever shout a warning, the creature slashed one claw across Rose's belly and took the half-elf's head off with the other. Laska's beating heart landed in the creature's hands. With dispassion, the undead creature rose the organ to its mouth and took a bite.

Immediately, every blood vessel in Laska's body started oozing red, every nerve-ending wracked in pain...

Laska awoke with a brief yelp, and awakened in her room. She quickly checked if her body was still open, but found to her relief that all her major organs were still safely inside her. "Keep at it, liver," Laska sighed and sat up in bed.

She noticed to her horror that the sheets were slick with blood. Horrified, she ripped them away, revealing the mutilated body of Rose. Turning to the mirror, she once again noticed her misshapen alter ego staring back at her.

Laska awoke again, drenched in sweat. The room was completely dark, and rain poured against the windowpanes. Next to her sounded a soft feminine snore, and a quick inspection revealed a peacefully sleeping Rose, curled up against her lover.

The elf let out a sigh of relief... but soon found herself drawn towards the mirror again. And indeed, there is was again. The creature was staring at her dispassionately with its dead eyes.

"Enough," Laska whispered. Not bothering to seek her clothing, she wrapped a bathrobe around her body, making sure not to wake up Rose. Laska then walked to the mirror and snarled at the creature. Without a word, Laska ripped the mirror from the wall and slid out of the room. She held the mirror in front of her as she walked down the stairs, through the inn and out into the rain.

Laska's hair stuck to her face as the rain drenched her. She shivered from the cold, but did not care... Apparently, neither did the creature. Finally, somewhere down the middle of the deserted main street, Laska found her target : A huge rock.

"Okay, mirror, cop a load of THIS!" she shouted and threw it down on the rock. The mirror shattered into hundreds of larger and smaller pieces which spread out over the ground.

"How'd ya like them apples, ey?" Laska grinned.

The grin was soon wiped off her face, though. Suddenly, the undead face appeared in every single shard of the mirror... In every window-pane of every house... In every puddle even. The cold, dead stares surrounded her utterly. Defeated, Laska sank to her knees and lowered her head. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Laska shouted into the rain... but then, she had a thought.

She picked up one of the larger pieces of glass and brought the sharp end up to her throat.

"You're inside of me, aren't you?" Laska told the dispassionate spirit. "I suggest you behave, because if I go, you go..."

The creature kept staring from all directions.

Laska then pressed the shard of glass into her throat so hard it drew blood. "Waddaya say? Wanna check out the afterlife together? All I have to do, is slice."

And just as quickly, all stares were gone... All creatures were gone. Laska knew she would never slice herself open, but the creature apparently didn't know that, and was unwilling to take a gamble.

"Hah," Laska grinned and dropped the shard to the ground. "Coward..."

Laska entered her room again and grabbed for a towel. She dropped her wet robe and dried her body, hoping to get warmer in bed. The elf quickly crawled back in bed, and soon Laska found herself being embraced by a sleeping half-elf... but Laska found no sleep, not quickly at least. She still felt as if she was being watched, spied on, studied...

Laska shivered and held on to Rose protectively as she pulled the covers completely over their bodies in an attempt to keep whatever was watching her from looking in.

It was of no use...