Vast, endless black surrounded Shen Long Jin. He floated in the void, his body paralyzed. No matter how much strength he willed up, he couldn't even move a finger.

He saw something. Far in the distance, stark against the black, was a single pinpoint of light. Haze seemed to wrap around it... the white dot appeared to move closer and closer...

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and the pinpoint was gone. Bright light flooded ino his vision, and he tried to pull back from it, blinking profusely. Wherever he was, the sky was white. Pure white. White enough to put fresh winter snow to shame. Too much to all take in at once.

When his eyes had adjusted, he took another look around, confused as to what this strange place was. He was suspended in the air by shackles on his wrists, connected to two shimmery silver chains stretching up into the sky. They seemed to have no end, at least not one he could pick out. His body hung about two feet away from a wide lake of water, which was clear enough to see his reflection in. The gently rippling surface stretched on into eternity, a floor for this strange place.

Six figures stood in formation on either side of him, twelve in total. They wore the white garb of his nation's soldiers, but something was off about them... they had no skin, no flesh. Each was a withered skeleton, and each clutched a black-bladed broadsword that contrasted with the pristine white nature of this realm. They stood atop the water, and Shen realized it must've acted as a surface somehow. That was impossible... it broke the natural laws.

This place must not be natural, then.

He gazed to the pure white sky. Billowy clouds drifted in the air, not too far from his head - another law broken. Strangely, as soon as he looked at them, they moved, as if they were frightened off by his attention.

Wait. No. They were coming back, shifting, swirling, forming into a vast circular shape. Then, an image shimmered into existence on the circle of vapor, rainbow light bending in an odd way that gave the illusion of a moving picture.

It was... it was... a place he recognized. A ruined kingdom. A collapsed castle. Burning to cinders.

Anger swelled in his chest. That was his kingdom in flames. He thrashed, pulling against the chains that kept him bound, but they were pulled taut, zero slack. He couldn't break free, only writhe around in futile wrath.

Slowly, the memories flooded back. His queen. His children. His advisors and friends. They all betrayed him... used dark magic to lock him away in this mirror realm. But why?

He couldn't remember. Everything else had come back, but the reason he had been locked away escaped him. But it didn't really matter now.

For the next few days, or maybe weeks, he struggled against his chains. He didn't need to eat or drink any longer, and his body never got worn out - an effect of this realm, he guessed. The flow of time was lost on him. Entire hours passed like instants.

After what seemed like an eternity of trying to break free from the metal cuffs, he decided to take a break, to collect his thoughts. He stared down at himself in the water, and noticed something odd about his reflection.

He was white, white like paper. Not just his skin. His long, flowing hair was white, and his eyes were blank and milky. He couldn't even make out pupils. He blinked in disbelief.

What had happened to him?

No. He shook his head. He couldn't stand to look at himself. Closing his eyes tight, he tried to escape it all.

And he did.

It was the void again, the void he had first woken up in so long ago. His body seized up, becoming immobile. That light in the distance was still there... but closer than before. He could see that it wasn't just a white point, but an actual shape. A palace, wreathed in strange clouds. Though there was no light in this darkness, they seemed to refract a spectrum of colors. It reminded Shen of how the clouds in the mirror realm had formed together and projected an image over their surface. The palace grew closer and closer, but was still far off in the distance. Though he couldn't move, he tried to push himself towards it...

And in an instant, he was back in the mirror realm, suspended above the water, twelve skeletal soldiers standing at attention around him. A cold sweat passing over the back of his neck, he ran his eyes across them.

Curiously, he shut his eyes again. Black settled around him, his body became rigid, and the palace was back, floating ever closer. He opened them, and he was back in the mirror realm.

For some reason... he felt like that palace was the key out of here.

It took years, decades, maybe even centuries. But eventually, the palace drew close enough. And the realization of its importance came with it. This was the Palace of Clouds, an ancient structure spoken of in the mythology of his country. The stronghold of the gods.

The thick marble doors of the floating structure were mere feet away. Suddenly, the strange hold on his body broke, and he was able to move again. He stretched out one of his stark white arms and pressed his hand against the door. Though it should've been massively heavy, it pushed aside like it was made of air.

Shen drifted into the interior of the palace, able to control his movement like flight. The walls here were made of polished, pure white marble, and great murals of clouds and gods were etched into them. He flew down until his feet pressed against the cold, lustrous floor, and began to investigate.

This palace was like a labyrinth. Sometimes he'd walk down a hallway and it'd come to a dead end. Sometimes he'd enter a room, turn to leave, and find himself in another place of the palace. Sometimes he'd stumble across an odd chamber that seemed to serve a purpose - one looked like a ballroom, another like a library, although there were no books on the shelves.

Eventually, Shen stepped into a large, circular room. The ceiling here stretched up high, so high the old king couldn't make it out. For all he knew, it never ended.

Round silver mirrors hung on every wall, creating a reflective array. A marble lectern sat in the exact center of the room. Shen stepped up to it and saw that there was an unopened book on its surface, bound loosely in leather. He flipped it open, reading through its worn, sepia-colored pages. There was an illustration of a man on each page, taking a different pose. Though he couldn't understand the script, Shen was quick to realize what it was: a martial arts manual. He had studied many just like it when he was a prince.

But this book wasn't teaching a martial art... Shen could tell there was something mystical about it. And when he reached the last page, a white flash consumed his vision.

He opened his eyes, suspended above the water back in the mirror realm. But now, he felt stronger. Energy filled him to the core, pulsating, overflowing.

Shen pulled his arm forward, and one of the chains that kept him bound snapped. The other broke just as easily. As he tore the silver shackles from his wrists, he saw the guardian skeletons turn towards him in surprise. He was as shocked as they were... after what had felt like an eternity of struggling, he had escaped.

Well, escaped the chains. He still needed to break free from this realm. And now, with the knowledge that book contained, he could.

One of the skeletons rushed him, swinging around its black blade. Shen caught it by the wrist and, like a dry twig, ground the bone within his grip into dust. The black sword fell to the watery floor, still clutched in the skeleton's hand. Shen slid his foot under it and flipped it up into the air. Before the skeleton soldier could even react, Shen had taken its weapon and driven it square into its skull. It collapsed backwards into a pile of bones.

Another skeleton tried to attack, leaping in from behind with its sword extended, prepared to bring it down in an arc. But the water beneath Shen began to sparkle and refract. Before the skeleton soldier's blade could meet flesh, Shen fell down into a whirling portal, emerging from a new one that had formed on the water's surface directly behind the skeleton. With one swing of his stolen blade, he took it down.

Two down, ten to go. He scooped up the second skeleton's sword from its remains, more familiar with wielding two. Bringing them both around, he shifted into a defensive stance, pacing back from the encroaching monsters. One sword was held in front of his head, and another was held horizontally across his stomach.

Three struck at once, running forward in a line. With one slice, Shen cut through them all, lunging towards the next two. Before they could move out of the way, he plunged both swords forwards at once. Metal met bone, and bone crumbled and cracked.

One jumped on his back from behind, bringing him to the floor. Another hopped on, and another, and another, trapping him beneath a pile of bone. They tried to stab him, but were only getting in each other's way. With a roar of effort, he threw them all off, sending them flying into the air. When they crashed down, their bodies broke apart.

That left one last skeleton to deal with. Regaining his posture, Shen stood tall. The skeleton moved to run away, but a portal shimmered into existence beneath its feet. It fell through, popping out of another portal at Shen's feet. The portal closed, and Shen brought his foot down on the soldier's skull. It cracked into bits.

Nothing was left in his way. With the skeleton soldiers destroyed, he created one last portal.

One that led out of the mirror realm.

The White Emperor

Age: Depends on who you ask, but known to be in the hundreds.

Bio: Once known as Shen Long Jin, a kind and just king. After being betrayed by the people closest to him, Shen was imprisoned inside a mirror. During his time chained away, he was forgotten, the technique used to restrict him draining all the color from his body. Abandoning the man he was before, the White Emperor decided to dedicate himself to taking revenge on all those who wronged him. Over time the Emperor learned how to control the technique that restricted him inside the mirror and escaped his prison.

Abilities: An impeccable martial artist and expert at dual sword combat, carrying two black blades to put this skill to use. His trump card is the Mirrors of the Palace of Clouds technique, which allows him to use mirrors and other reflective surfaces as portals. He can also see places or people in a mirror he carries, as well as create reflective barriers and small servants that obey his commands.

Appearance: His entire body is colored stark white. His hair is loose and very long, and his eyes are dull and seem distant. He has an athletic, noble bearing. He wears black trousers and boots, a golden tunic with the front open, and a golden diadem on his forehead that's broken in the middle. His black swords are attaced to his waist and he keeps his mirror hidden in his tunic.