Noble looked back at Flint and Roan on the second bench. Their faces were as pale as her own. They had not seen this coming either.
There was no doubt about the view ahead. Facing forward once more, Noble took in every detail of the scene.
The palatial fortress that was Bastion was missing from its majestic perch. In its place on the hill rising above the water was a set of crumbling ruins. A few walls stood haphazardly, giving so semblance of the ho's forr glory, but the bulk of it had been torn apart.
What could have caused such damage?
Surrounding the bottom of the hill was a lake like the one Noble had seen in the Dream Realm. Except that instead of being pristine and picturesque, the water had debris floating on the surface and washed up along the shore. The wood was rotted and did not seem to belong to the ruins of the palace, and Noble wondered why it was there at all.
No, wait...how had any of this happened? At the beginning of the Nightmare, she had seen Bastion standing in all of its glory. If she had tried, she could have picked the tower where she had heard the clanging from Lord Anvil barely ten days ago.
Yet now it was rubble?!
Had sothing changed in the Nightmare to cause this calamity?
"How did this happen?" Noble's expression could not hide her confusion. She was at a loss.
Looking at her friend, the Saint smiled warmly.
"Sweet Bel, your befuddlent at the most obvious things will never grow old. It's like having a friend and child all rolled up into one!"
The blonde Master pursed her lips. Just when it seed like she would not be getting an answer, Syrce turned back toward the hill and motioned to the summit.
"What happened here is the sa thing that happened to the moon and to the dam at Northgate. The gods happened. What's worse, they destroyed the city below! Unlike Northgate, most of the people there drowned."
"Drowned?" Noble took a mont to process the words. "You an there is a city under the lake?!"
"Was a city. It used to be dry at the bottom of the hill, but when the dam broke, the whole plain flooded. The water has yet to recede from the town. Perhaps it never will. That may be for the best. It makes for a better defensive position."
"Defensive position?" Child of Promise was beginning to feel like a parrot, but Syrce's words made her head swim.
"Of course. It's all part of my plan. When we rid the hill and the surrounding area of monsters, we will set up a safe place for my sister and the rest of the people to live until we can find out how to push back the darkness once and for all. That hill, and the forr ho of Mirage, will beco the final bastion of humanity."
Noble felt her stomach knot. "What did you say?"
"I said I want to make it a bastion of humanity. Well, we do—my sisters and I. I can't take all the credit for the plan. You see, Maelys decided…"
Child of Promise could no longer listen. She was too overwheld by what she heard.
Rubbing the mory behind her ear, Noble tried not to show her excitent.
'Please tell that you heard that too.'
'What? You an bastion? How could I miss it? You nearly floated off the cart at the re ntion of it.' Flint smirked.
Undeterred by his condescension, Noble continued on her line of thought.
'Tell this. Have you ever heard of an ancient city at the bottom of the lake?'
The surly Master scratched his head. 'Can't say that I have. That water is so glisteningly pristine that it may as well be a mirror. It's possible the First Generation cleared it out though…'
'Not the First Generation—this generation right here. Don't you see? The central conflict of this Nightmare! We might not be able to rescue an entire world, but we can certainly rebuild a broken city.' Noble's eyes swirled.
Why else would she have seen Bastion completed when ti started to rewind? The answer had been staring her in the face the whole ti!
'That isn't the worst idea you've ever had.' Flint mused.
Beside him, Roan nudged him with an elbow. He could see by the man's face that the other mbers of his cohort were communicating. Roan had learned about the mory only yesterday, and while he understood that the two people bonded together by mystical forces would need to communicate, it did make him feel left out.
He really wanted to know what they were thinking.
Thankfully, Flint obliged. While Noble and he communicated through The Other's Voice, the surly Master spelled out their ideas with hand gestures and signs.
Roan nodded slowly. He hadn't heard of a drowned city in the lake either. And he could see the logic in Noble's thoughts.
Rebuilding Bastion, fortifying it, and getting the last of the people here would be an arduous task, but not impossible. It was a worthy mission.
"And that is why we must retake Mirage's ho and carry out the plan which she was never able to complete." Syrce finished her tale.
"What plan was that, My Lady?" Roan asked respectfully.
"I showed Bel. I am sure she is eager to tell you all about it." The Saint shifted happily in her seat. "Go on. Tell him!"
Noble coughed lightly. "There isn't much to tell. All you showed was a shard, and then you ntioned a fra that your sister is sending. When you started to explain, we were interrupted."
"We were? Oh, that is terrible!" Syrce paused. "No, you are right. What shall I do then?"
"You could explain now," Flint tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his frustration.
"That's true. You are right as well." The beautiful Saint contemplated with a nod. "Now that we are so close, I won't spoil the surprise."
The surly Master frowned. "That's the opposite of what I said..."
He shook his head. 'Sotis I wonder if it is willful ignorance or actual insanity. Or maybe she's just being a woman...'
Noble opened her mouth, but while she was trying to decide whether to chastize Flint in her head or coax Syrce into revealing more information, the Pink Ones suddenly slowed to a stop.
Delia trumpeted, and all of the ones behind her followed her call.
"This is as far as they will go. We will have to continue on foot past this point."
The Saint climbed down, as if the rebellion by the beasts of burden were the most natural thing in the world.
Noble floated to the ground and followed after her hostess.
"I don't understand. If the Pink Ones were made by Mirage, shouldn't they be excited to return to her ho? Are they afraid of the water?"
The creatures had played in the many rivers they passed, but she had never seen them try to ford sothing truly deep. Perhaps they couldn't swim?
"They are scared, but not of the water..." Syrce nodded.
The floating Master got a sinking feeling. "What makes them anxious then?"
The Saint smiled. "Nothing much. It's silly, really. They are just terrified of the Remnant living in the rubble."
"The...the what?!" Noble looked up at the fortress with wide eyes.
It began to move.
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