Noble opened her mouth to answer as she raised her sword. But something on the ceiling caught her eye. Wait, was there a ceiling in this room?
Noble forgot about her cutting remark as she glanced upward. She was too engrossed in the grandeur of the room to leave. Wait, why would she leave?
Someone had told her to go. Who was that again?
A hand grabbed Noble's arm. "Bel!"
Noble blinked, her eyes becoming focused once more. The events of the past few minutes came back, giving her whiplash.
"What happened?" She asked aloud before switching to their shared Memory. 'Your Aspect?'
'It finally took effect. My powers are suppressed here, so I had to push through. That meant you and the rest got caught too, though.' Syrce didn't let go of Noble's arm.
The remaining three Masters were still enraptured in a trance, looking at the very spot that Noble had been intently studying only a moment before.
The Saint was truly a formidable foe. Thankfully, she was using her powers for Noble's benefit. For although the wind was still moving around the hall as the storm grew, the custodian was momentarily distracted.
They had a little breathing room.
'Try your chant again. Omer will not be able to thwart you now!' Noble pointed to the looking glass in Syrce's other hand.
The Saint spoke her incantation, but nothing happened.
'It's not working! I only knew the words to take the image of the Great Mirror. I don't know the right incantation to return it.' Noble could feel the energy coming off the Saint. She was beyond frustrated.
'Perhaps if you speak the words more slowly or with more feeling...' Noble felt the Saint's aura press against her.
'Speaking them isn't the issue!' The Saint seemed ready to explode. 'I don't know them at all. Anything else I try may create new problems.'
Syrce clutched the mirror to her chest. It was still glowing faintly from her previous spell.
'Oh…' Noble only knew one True Name, and she did not think it would come in handy here.
Syrce clenched her jaw.
'If I cannot undo what I did, we are back where we started. We need to destroy the mirror.'
Noble pursed her lips. 'Can we just leave it here and escape? The containment spell seems to be holding.'
Syrce sighed, her head beginning to ache. 'As the advisor said, it won't last forever, and then the Others will be able to exit from it again, and we will be where we started. Perhaps worse off…there has to be a way to destroy it here. Why else would I have been told to be careful with it inside the hall?'
That was a good question. This place was special; it was the precipice between two worlds. Perhaps the mirror was in a weakened state?
'Have you tried crushing it with your hands?' Noble knew the Saint was incredibly strong.
Syrce strained for a moment before relaxing her muscles.
'It's no use. It's too strong.'
Noble looked back at the Great Mirror.
Even as the Advisor was distracted, his anger was still burning.
The storm clouds continued to grow thicker in the mirror by the second. They were whipping up into the beginning of a hurricane.
The air in the hall flowed as well.
Noble studied the advisor. He was handsome but serious and sad. Omer was loyal to his mistress. However, he had tricked Syrce and caused Flint to die. For that, she would not forgive him.
While Noble did not think she could kill him, at least not while they were on different sides of the Great Mirror, she was sure there was a way to rid herself of the reflective relic.
Her hand tightened around the Zenith. Hitting it before hadn't worked, but if she used all her power to make the Zenith heavy and infuse it wither her essence...
'Set down the mirror.' Child of Promise aimed her blade at the glass and hit it with all her might.
Syrce picked it up and frowned. 'Not even a scratch.'
'That was the best shot I had.' Noble pushed back her hair. The wind was beginning to blow in her face in earnest.
The Advisor's gaze shifted. He was beginning to break free from Syrce's influence.
'Any other ideas?' Noble hoped that Omer had given Syrce some hidden clue along the way that would fix this mess.
Syrce looked down at the hand mirror. "I don't know what else to do. We have to return the image!'
Return it?
If there was something Noble was skilled at, it was returning things. She only had to find where they belonged.
'Think!'
Pushing back her hair yet again, Noble felt Syrce's frustration leak into her emotions. There had to be a solution. And it would be much easier to contemplate without her hair continually getting in her eyes! Why was the air moving anyway? They were on the wrong side of the glass to be affected by the storm.
Noble gasped as the realization hit her.
'The wind…it is leaking from the mirror!' An idea entered her head. She began to search. 'Where is it…where is it?!'
'The mirror?' Syrce kept the mirror against her chest. 'It's right here.'
'Give it to me.' Noble sheathed the Zenith and held out her hand.
The Saint complied, passing over the relic. The mirror felt warm and comfortable in her hand, as if it had always belonged there. Now that she had used the mirror to release the dragon, it seemed to have formed a kinship with her. Was it because she was wearing Mirage's cape? Had the mirror confused her with the Daemon? Surely not!
That would be too strange. But what if… Noble shook her head and hid the looking glass underneath her cape.
Then, against the wind, she stepped forward, coming close enough to the Great Mirror to touch it.
'It has to be here somewhere!'
Unfortunately, after almost a minute of searching, Noble came up empty. It was an enormous mirror, and the wind was not quite steady enough to give her any clue.
'Can you get us out of here as soon as we dispose of the mirror, or will the custodian thwart you?' Noble chewed her lip.
'I can pull us out immediately. That power is separate from the Hall of Imagination. I'm certain of it.' Syrce nodded.
'That settles it then.' Noble narrowed her gaze.
'What?' The Saint tilted her head, stepping forward to try and find whatever Noble was looking for.
The custodian's fingers twitched, and his head moved a centimeter.
Noble held out her arm to block her friend from getting too close.
'On my mark, release the Advisor and step back.'
'WHAT?! Are you crazy?' Syrce's scream echoed in Noble's head. 'Bel, don't hold me back. Let me help you!'
'It's you he wants, so you need to stay away at all costs. If he gets a hold of you, we are through. Now back up!'
Already, Noble had seen the Advisor's hand twitch toward Syrce twice since she had begun speaking.
Unwilling to risk abandoning her men, the Saint took her place behind her blonde friend.
'What exactly are you going to do?'
'I need more wind. So I'm going to do what is necessary to make that happen.' Noble shrugged.
'You mean…' Syrce's shoulders tensed.
'That's right. I am going to make him angry the only way I know how—with a big dose of the truth.' Noble steadied herself before the Great Mirror.
'I don't think that's a good idea…' Syrce began.
'I'm certain it's a terrible idea.' Noble countered, 'but it's the only one I've got.'
The Saint smiled softly. 'My empty-headed Bel. One idea is all it takes. You can do it.'
There was only one way to find out. Adjusting the cloak around her arm, Noble nodded.
"Now!"