'So that's what Steel is up to...' Flint forgot to shield his thoughts from Noble.
She glanced at him, trying to discern if she should respond. Her curiosity got the better of her.
'What is your brother up to?'
Flint seed startled by the question, but he was too lost in his own musings to cut out his companion.
'Most full moons, he disappears. Once it was for a whole month. When I asked him about it, he said he was in Bastion. When I asked him why I hadn't seen him that whole ti, he smiled at with that infuriating grin. Who said it was this Bastion? He asked . But when I challenged him to explain, he changed the subject and wouldn't bring it up again. It was around the sa ti I heard him ntion the fractured moon. If I put those two facts together...'
'Steel has been to the other Bastion, the real one.' Noble touched her cheek.
The surly Master nodded. 'And he didn't even tell about it! That lout!'
If Steel knew about the two Bastions, then those trusted by Valor knew about it also. What a secret to be keeping! There was sothing even stranger to consider, though.
All of the people from the waking world who were residing in or around Bastion were viewing and interacting with this version of Mirage's ho. They had no idea they were living in a copy of the original. Would they even care?
Or was the concept too bizarre for them to even contemplate?
Maybe soday she could ask Julius or her mother about their thoughts. She would just have to find a very careful way to word it.
"So....that's it?" Helie's frank question brought Noble back from her reverie.
"What's it?" Syrce pursed her lips.
The brunette Master winced, trying to pick her words more carefully. "I thought we were here to rebuild, but now there is nothing to rebuild. So, why are we still here?"
While she was speaking to Syrce, Helie shot a glance at Roan. Her question was really ant for their cohort leader.
And it was a fair observation.
If rebuilding Bastion was the goal, then they had done it. So… why wasn't the Nightmare over?
"We are here to take in the sunrise," Syrce pointed at the faintest hint of light on the horizon. "Though I do wish I could see my n's faces when they wake up to a completed fortress! They will rejoice! Lyra will be very relieved to know that this place truly exists, too. I look forward to her triumphal entry with the rest of our people."
"Lady Syrce makes a good point. We will need to get all of the people safely here for the move to be complete," Roan reasoned.
"Are all the people in this new land?" Noble could see the camp on the shore, but there were many others by the seaside as well.
"I pulled them all through. Isn't that wonderful?" The Saint bounced up and down on her toes.
"How?" Flint rubbed his face. "How could you have managed such a feat?"
"That's my little secret," Syrce pointed to her amulet with a wink. "But it wasn't as easy as you might think."
"It doesn't sound easy at all!" Noble leaned back slightly.
The relic that Syrce wore was powerful enough to help her pull people into the copy of Bastion.
It sounded impossible! Yet she could not argue with where she was and what she was seeing.
And speaking of seeing...Noble's amazent turned to a frown.
Syrce touched her friend gently on the nose. "My but your expressions always give you away!" She looked in the hand mirror with a laugh. "I cannot wait until Maelys sees you. She will find you as amusing as I do. So, wipe that worry off your face. We succeeded, what is left to vex you?"
"It's probably nothing," Noble forced a smile. "Only I saw so strange things back in the Great Mirror..."
"Things?"
Feeling the eyes of the others in the group, Noble rubbed the back of her neck.
"When you asked us to think happy thoughts, I did. A beautiful vision appeared in the Great Mirror. But the faces of the people, they were not right."
Syrce closed her eyes, running her fingers along the chain around her neck.
"Yes, yes, I see. That must have been very upsetting! I am guessing the people you wanted to see were not from this Realm."
"No…" Noble's family was most certainly not from this ti or place.
The Saint clapped. "That explains it! Mirage's creation can only reflect those faces it knows."
That did explain part of it. To keep the illusion, the Mirror had done the best it could with the images it had collected.
But that didn't give the reason for the strange looks when she had broken the silence. They hadn't reacted to Syrce when she was speaking. Even if the faces had been right, the empty, expressionless gazes would have set her on edge.
And then there was the figure that she might or might not have seen. She could almost explain that one away as a fignt that her brain had created to make sense of the break in the glass. Almost.
"Did no one else see anything strange?" Noble saw her companions shake their heads.
Flint clicked his tongue.
"Not unless you count seeing my dreams finally co true. That was certainly a first."
"I an, everything in that maze was pretty strange. Perhaps we beca less sensitive by the end," Roan offered.
"And very tired," Helie added with a yawn.
Roan, Noble, and Flint looked warily at one another, relieved when the yawn didn't seem to spread.
Oblivious to their concern, Aether stretched also. "Helie makes a good point. We could all use so rest and ti to recuperate. After that, perhaps we could regroup?"
Noble had no better idea. Not that she would be able to rest much. Too much was going on in her head. Still, so quiet ti to process everything would be a welco change.
"Do you think there are beds around here?" Flint tilted his head.
'Are you wanting to see the chamber where Lord Anvil sleeps?' Noble asked them through their connection. Google seaʀᴄh novel-fire.ɴet
'Why not? Don't tell you aren't a little curious where a Sovereign might rest his head.' Flint raised an eyebrow at her.
'I can say with certainty that I am not.' It was no business of hers where anyone slept as long as they did so peacefully and without bothering anyone else. He could sleep in a coffin for all she cared.
"I would like to check out this place in the daylight before sleeping here." Helie glanced over her shoulder warily.
"Agreed," Noble could not have said it better herself.
Just because Syrce thought it was safe and free of monsters did not make it true.
"You all are no fun. Where is your sense of adventure?" The Saint sighed. "Very well. We will head back to camp."
After one last look around the balcony and its adjoining hall, the band of Awakened warriors made their way out of the main palace and down the hill. By the ti they reached the camp, the soldiers were stirring from their beds and discovering the change in the landscape.
The wonder over the strange occurrence was of little interest to Noble. Her soul ached from the damage done in the night, and her mind spun from all that she had seen.
She entered the wagon to fall asleep as the sun was rising.
Her rest, however, was short-lived.
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