Mr Mirage/Ghosts and Demons
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Ghosts and Demons
Monterrey, Mexico. Two years ago.
(( << >> = translated from Spanish ))
The afternoon sun beat down onto the city. A few locals found shelter from the heat inside La Casa del Maíz. The restaurant was not packed for lunchtime. Only a man at the bar and two men blaring tales of adventure and heroism filled the cantina. The two men argued over facts and rumors of the hero known as Senor Espejismo. One claimed he heard this man single handedly taken down the biggest drug lord that Mexico had ever known. The other claimed Senor Espejismo was a ghost and freed hundreds of enslaved villagers in southern Mexico. For a half hour the two men bickered back and forth each time their tales growing increasingly more exaggerated. Finally the men were at a stalemate. They asked the man sitting at the bar, “<< Excuse us, Senor, but my friend and I would like to settle a wager. You have heard of this man we speak of? Tell us. Is he a ghost? Or just a man? >>”
The man at the bar kept his back to them trying to ignore their request. He removed his duster and placed it beside his growing collection of emptied shot glasses. He returned to the newspaper he was reading. He rubbed his beard delving into the possibilities of what fate had planned for him. Or worse, what she had planned for him. He felt the gazes from the men behind him. He tried to just ignore them but the tequila got the better of him. He mumbled to them, “<< I think you are both are foolish. >>”
“<< What did you say? >>” the younger man asked seeming highly agitated.
The man at the bar still did not turn towards them. He motioned to the bartender for two more shots and replied, “<< Grow up. Quit reading those damn comic books. They are for children and not for grown men. >>”
“<< Listen, gringo, Senor Espejisma is real, and he is the greatest hero Mexico has ever seen. One day you will realize this, >>” the man trailed off as his friend escorted him out to avoid a fight.
The bartender brought the man his two shots of Jose Quervo and left the man in peace. The man downed the tequila and as his head tilted back on the second shot, a silver tabby cat ran across the bar. He caught a glimpse of it and smiled. He placed the glass on the bar and swatted it with his fingers sending it sliding into the other seven glasses. The man kept smiling and looked ahead. He addressed his newest company, “Ah, Kara, and how long have you been sitting there?”
The empty barstool next to him was now occupied by a ravishing young brunette. Her demeanor was sharp and calculative with a hint of tease, “Now Lucius, is that any way to greet a friend? It amazes me how better you are at knowing when I am around.”
Lucius laughed as the silver tabby approached him on the bar. He began to rub her pet’s head and replied, “The great Lurid Shadow is not as allusive as you think you are. Your cat Mojo is a dead giveaway. Besides, I knew you were coming.”
“Did you now?” she playfully replied as she read over his shoulder. “Is that a copy of the Paragon Times? Catching up on current events?”
Lurid Shadow made Lucius uneasy. She always had. Her background was eerie. Her name was Kara Morgana. Her files say she was actually related to Morgan Le Fey. Mix that with how many times Kara had actually died and returned to life, and it was enough to make one uncomfortable by her presence. She had more lives than a cat. Mojo meowed at Lucius. He chuckled at the timing. Lucius glanced at the newspaper. The headline read CITY DESTROYED BY ALIEN INVASION. It was at his doorstep this morning. He replied, “Funny thing how a Rhode Island newspaper arrives here in Mexico.”
“Yeah so it is,” she replied with a devious smile. She gazed into his eyes impatiently fidgeting like a child with a secret she wanted to tell. “So they are calling you Senor Espejisma now? How cute is that? Mr Mirage. Heh, it’s catchy,” she jested.
“Look, I know you are not here to tease me,” he snapped. “You gave me this paper, why? You know I cannot go back there after what I did seven years ago. So, why the games?”
“Ok, McCoy, I’ll shoot straight with you,” Kara dropped her playful manner. “When you were enlisted into MAGI six years ago, we set out on a mission. To seek the treasures of one of the legendary cities of all history. However we never found this mythical place.”
“Orenbega?” Lucius replied excitedly, “They found it?”
“Yes,” Kara replied as she turned to page two. “Azuria had confirmed its location. We need to leave now if we want to beat the other treasure hunters. I left your tickets and flight itinerary in your room. I will meet you in Paragon.”
“Now wait a tic,” Lucius tried to stop her, but she vanished. He let out a long sigh of fear and reluctance. If he were heading home, he needed to seek salvation.
“<< Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been six months since my last confession >> ,” Lucius began as he propped his head against the wooden wall of the confessional booth. His forehead almost touched the edge of the gated window. He closed his eyes trying to shake the images of his past.
“ << No, my son >>,” Padre Miguel Ruiz replied through the window. His voice was calm and welcomed. Lucious embraced the comfort of the sound. “ << There is no need >>.” Lucius blinked at the notion of a priest telling him not to confess. Miguel laughed, “ << Lucius, I have known you for seven years now. You come here on the same day every week for all those years and confess to a sin you committed before you came to our country. The same one. However you never say what it is you did >>,” Miguel let out another chuckle.
Lucius failed to see the humor and retorted, “ << I have sinned, Father. >>”
Miguel leaned towards the window and whispered, “ << You should be confessing to whatever it is you and those women do after you rescue them >>.” Miguel burst into laughter.
Lucius’ laughter escaped though his shock.
“ << See? It is about time you lightened up, Mr. McCoy >> ,” Miguel said while regained his composure. “ << When you first came to me, you were lost. You were running from your past and had no where to turn to. You thought coming here to Mexico was your escape. However, we both know now that you were running here to face your destiny. You are a hero, Lucius. You are a saint. >> ”
Lucius tightened his fists in frustration. Miguel did not know what he had done before so many years ago. He may have been right about turning to a greater path but he was wrong about one thing. “<< I am no saint! >>” Lucius shouted but quickly pulled back his anger remembering he was in a church.
A long silence followed. Lucius began to break it, but Miguel interrupted him. “<< You have paid for your sins Lucious by saving our people. Do you not see this? You rid our towns of the drugs and the men who trafficked them and pushed them onto our children. You freed several slaves from sweatshops and drug labs. And let’s not forget you brought down the crooked police and politicians who allowed these criminal acts to continue. You are a hero whether or not you acknowledge it yourself. This burden you have been carrying for all these years has been lifted by God. >>”
“<< But not by me >>,” Lucius grumbled through his stern face. “<< It is easy for you to say that I no longer have to carry this weight for the deeds I have done for your country. I thought myself that by doing so I would stop hating myself every time I look into the mirror. That every morning when I wake I pray for someone to take my life, and at night before I sleep I pray I do not wake the next day. And now I must return to a place where I must face my past. >>”
“ << It is God’s will that you return there,” Miguel replied. “You must go and seek forgiveness. >> ”
Lucius snapped at Miguel again, “ << There is no room for forgiveness where I am going! >>”
Lucius walked back to his apartment in the slums of Monterrey. His conversation with Miguel still echoed inside his thoughts like thunder rolling in from across the Sierra Madre Mountains. He stopped and looked around at the people of the city and remembered what Miguel had instructed him to do.
“<< Look around you >> ,” Miguel had told him. “<< Look into the faces of the people of this city. See the happiness you have brought them. >>”
A few of the neighborhood children approached him as they saw him coming up the road. The grabbed his hand and pulled him to their secret meeting place near an alleyway. The two boys were Chavez and Javier. The little girl was Javier’s little sister Aura. Javier was excited to have seen Lucius coming. He had been preparing for this all day. “ << Lucius! Lucius! >>” he shouted. “ << I want to show you my magic trick. >>”
Lucius laughed at the notion. The children knew about his career as a famous stage magician and always tried to impress him with parlor tricks. When he first arrived in Monterrey, he used to perform sidewalk magic shows for a few extra dollars. He was a big hit with the children naturally. He smiled as he sat on his knees facing Javier. “ << Alright, show me though it takes a lot to wow me, kid. >>”
Javier produced a coin from his pocket and showed Lucius and the others that he held it in his left hand. He turned his fists over and tapped them together while blurting out, “Abracadabra.” He opened his left hand revealing the coin had vanished. Chavez and Aura gasped in shock and began to attack Javier with questions of the coin’s whereabouts. Javier only raised the index finger on his right hand motioning them to remain silent. He then reached behind Lucius’ left ear and pulled the coin out from behind his ear with his right hand. Chavez and Aura applauded him. Lucius chuckled placing his hand on Javier’s shoulder, “ << You are a master magician. My skills are no match for yours. >>”
Javier grinned from ear to ear as he hopped to his feet. He jumped up and grabbed a bed sheet pulling it off of the clothesline above. He wrapped it around him as he fashioned a cape. He announced the world, “<< For I am the Great Senor Espejismo! >>”
The other children gathered around Javier worshiping his greatness. Lucius cocked his head back in laughter at the display until a beautiful woman broke his smile.
“ << Look at all of the hearts you have touched ,>>” Miguel had instructed.
She stood on her balcony across the street. Her frown pierced his heart. The trails of mascara down her cheeks told Lucious she had been crying the entire day. She held up her hand to say goodbye but quickly returned inside closing the doors behind her. Lucious stood at the street and replied, “Farewell, my Maria.”
“ << By ridding these people of their demons, you have forever changed their lives, >>” Miguel had told Lucius.
Lucius entered his apartment and placed the key next to his plane tickets and his new passport. He picked up the passport to see what alias he would be using upon his return to Paragon City. It read Simon Caine. He tried to take it in when a package on his bed had caught his eye. He picked up the card on the long box and read it:
“<< To help you on your way. Love, Maria. >>”
He opened the box and pulled out a costume. He felt the stitching across the chest and realized she had made this herself just for him. He then reached for the cowl and laughed at the headpiece attached to it. He jested to himself, “This definitely will not draw any attention to me.”
He donned his new attire and straightened the brooch on the mantle of his cape. Facing the mirror, he told himself, “Now I must go and face the greatest demons of them all…”
The reflection in the mirror was not his own. Actually there was no reflection at all. Instead the mirror was covered in newspaper clippings dating as early as 1996. The headlines all read different titles although the shared a similar theme. One read MAGICIAN MURDERER. Another read CITY REP THOMAS POWERS AND WIFE FOUND DEAD. Two of them read DOUBLE SUICIDE – MCCOY TO BLAME and SURVIVING DAUGHTER JOCELYN POWERS TALKS. Lucius scanned over each one while straightening his headpiece and muttered, “…..My own.”
