Noble stood in the field between the soldiers' camp and the lake of Bastion.
The first night of the full moon had come in the blink of an eye. Overhead, the pale moon hung like shattered glass. The sight made Noble shiver.
While they weren't going to face the beings that had caused that travesty, the cohort was about to try to pass by a Prince who had fought alongside them.
That was concerning.
After cinching the Zenith at her waist, Noble removed the blade partway from the sheath. Summoning Memories took time, and she didn't want there to be any delay if she needed a weapon. As usual, everything was in order. She returned the Zenith to its usual resting place.
With a satisfied nod, Noble checked the clasp of Mirage's cloak. The fire charm was still there, though she hoped she would not need it. If she faced another column of flame tonight, then something had gone horribly wrong.
'Think happy thoughts.'
Beside her, Helie was fiddling with her gauntlet. The Memory armor fit perfectly around her delicate hand, but it was her nerves that made her remove it and adjust her grip.
Noble placed her hand on the other woman's. "It will be fine."
"And if it isn't?" Helie's emotions already seemed to be playing tricks on her.
Noble flooded her companion with calm and confidence. "If it isn't, then I'll do that."
Taking a deep breath, the brunette legacy nodded. "Thank you."
"You two done blabbering?" Flint joined them with a leather belt slung over one shoulder.
"Just waiting on the rest of the group," Noble answered quietly to counter the man's awkwardly loud comment.
"You planning to use that?" Helie pointed at the Relic.
"I'd rather be in control of my flying than let Blondie handle it. Plus, if things go sideways, she'll need to get you, Roan, and Aether out of there in a hurry." Flint shrugged.
"Aren't you afraid you won't be able to disconnect when you need to?" Helie glanced at Noble with a bit of concern.
But Flint simply laughed. "That won't be an issue. Blondie says a dozen annoying things every hour. I'll just latch on to one of those and use it to break the bond."
The floating Master rolled her eyes. "Sure, I am the one who says obnoxious things."
Noble wasn't bothered by the insult. It was oddly comforting to have him not treat her any differently now that he knew her secret. He had been able to separate her from her Dreamscape persona easily...perhaps a little too easily.
But since it worked to her advantage, Noble decided not to care.
Summoning The Other's Voice, Child of Promise handed half of it to Flint. "If you are going to use the belt, you should also have this. It will make it easier when we get inside."
'And keep you from suffering from your Flaw,' she added when he tucked the piece behind his ear.
Flint raised an eyebrow at her. 'What? You don't want me waking the dragon with my stunning intellect?'
Noble grinned. 'Something like that.'
"The others are coming." Helie pointed back toward the camp.
From the circle of wagons, three more dark figures appeared. Roan and Syrce were discussing something in hushed voices while Aether listened.
"Are you sure we can rely on this information? What if the place you seek is no longer there?" Roan gently rested his hand on the sword at his side.
"Then we will leave no better off than when we started. But it won't be an issue. My source is infallible. The entrance is there." Syrce insisted. "Bel, tell the man I know what I am doing."
Noble blinked. How had she gotten roped into the discussion?
"You know more about this than the rest of us. We are relying on your expertise," she hedged.
"See?" The Saint beamed.
Roan couldn't argue with Noble's words. They had been planning for two days using Syrce as their source of knowledge. Other than their excursions to clear out the creatures closest to the lake, they had done little else but discuss their options.
The time for debate was over.
Roan sighed. "Alright. We just need to be careful. If anything goes wrong, we abort and get out as fast as we can. We have three nights to try this, so there is no need to push our luck."
The others nodded.
They had made every contingency plan and thought of every hiccup. Whatever came, they would be ready for it, or they would leave and regroup to try again the following night.
Hopefully, none of it would be needed, and the evening would go smoothly.
The only way to find out was to move forward.
As the moon completed its rise over the forest, the group hurried to the edge of the lake. The water looked as still as glass, but Noble knew the horrors lurking underneath. They would not risk disturbing the monsters in the deep.
Having already called forth his griffin, Roan and Syrce climbed on the majestic creature's back. Syrce's Transcendent form could fly, but they did not want to risk alerting the dragon to their presence with her energetic light.
Flint strapped on the belt and tilted his chin at Noble. She felt him tether the relic to her soul. Summoning his spoon, the surly Master stuck only the handle into his belt for safekeeping. They were almost ready.
Tucking her hands under her cloak, Noble called forth her bracelets. Syrce intended to push attention away from them, but it couldn't hurt to have a little extra insurance that she wouldn't be spotted. With that goal in mind, Child of Promise made her cloak the color of the night sky.
When she pulled on her hood over her helmet, she had all but disappeared.
"Where is he?" Aether asked nervously.
Noble scanned the ruins. "He is on the far side of the hill near the top. If Lady' Syrce's location is accurate, he is not very close to our intended goal."
"My location is accurate," the Saint nodded firmly. "And we should get going."
Feeling the tether's connection open, Flint lifted off the ground. Noble couldn't help but marvel at how he almost looked happy when in the air. His face appeared childlike in the starlight, bringing a smile to the woman's face.
'Hurry up, Blondie. Time is wasting!'
Noble shook her head. Silently, she lifted the final two Masters and herself over the water. The group began their trek to Bastion.
'Do you see that?' Flint's message startled Noble.
Already on high alert, Noble looked around, searching for any threat that might be coming.
She looked up at the shattered moon. Its stained glass pattern was haunting but not dangerous.
But nothing seemed amiss.
'What?' She asked at last.
Flint's emotions were behaving strangely.
'Look down.'
Noble glanced at the water and frowned. The stars twinkled brightly, and the whole moon shone in its full glory.
Was Flint trying to pull some kind of prank? Maybe he was trying to force her to get her jitters out before they reached the ground. If so, the move was in poor taste.
'Haha, very funny…I don't…'
But then she saw it.
The moon! It wasn't a reflection of what was above.
It was white, pristine…and whole.