Noble backed away quickly, grabbing the hem of Syrce's flowy sleeve like a shield.
"What?" The Saint turned suddenly, bumping her friend with the movement.
"My reflection…it smiled at me." Noble lowered the sleeve to look at the mirror again.
The image had returned to normal.
"Did you have some of that juice made by Mirage's relic?" Flint furrowed his brow. "Or has too much time in this crazy place made you go insane?"
"I'm not drunk or crazy," Noble insisted. "That image moved without me!"
The rest of the group glanced at one another. Noble wasn't one to say things rashly. They looked at their own reflections more closely.
Helie gasped. "Mine blinked!"
Aether hesitated, "I think mine may have tilted his head slightly."
"Um, everyone…" Roan's voice trailed off.
The group paused to view his reflection. It was waving!
"You can relax," Syrce told them. "It's just a bit of fun."
"Are you sure?"
Noble's reflection smiled at her again, sending a chill down her spine.
"I'm sure." The Saint continued walking.
Still holding on to Syrce's sleeve, Noble was pulled along in her wake.
She couldn't take her eyes off the mirror person, no matter how many times the reflection smiled at her. It was unsettling, but after a time, Noble agreed that the pictures in the mirror were unlikely to hurt them. Her shoulders relaxed slightly.
They continued for a long time, with the mirror beings occasionally trying to interact.
'I don't like this.' Flint grunted softly. 'My reflection looks miserable.'
At that, Noble couldn't help but smile. 'Oh, you don't think he is having indigestion, do you?'
'Stop it. I keep smiling to make him stop looking so sad, but he won't budge.' Behind Noble, Flint was walking close to the opposing wall of the chamber.
She turned to see him pulling his face in every direction, but the man in the mirror would not compromise on his sullen expression.
'Who is trying to entertain whom?' Noble chuckled.
'Forget it,' Flint turned away from his image and walked faster. 'I am much handsomer than that imposter anyway. His scar is above his left eye, and my scar is above my right eye. That makes all the difference in two worlds when it comes to good looks.'
'If you say so,' Noble wasn't about to argue about Flint's appearance.
That was a slippery slope that she did not want to fall off.
Aether's copy was bowing to Syrce repeatedly, while Helie's was seeming to pantomime having some tea. Only Roan's seemed to be somewhat unchanged from his own actions. Until Noble noticed that the steps and arm swings were the opposite of what they should be. The reflection wasn't mirroring Roan; it was directly copying him.
That somehow was the most unnerving of all.
Syrce laughed. The sound bounced back and forth, coming from all angles at once.
"What a neat little trick! Mirage must have lifetimes of fun down here, amused by these antics." The Saint dipped her head to her twin with a big smile.
The saintly reflection threw back her head in a silent laugh, which propagated to the rest of the mirror beings.
Their soundless mirth softened Noble's resolve. They were pretty amusing.
She waved at her copy, wiggling her fingers slightly.
Flint shook his head. 'Flirting with yourself?'
'What? No, I was just trying to be a little friendly.' Noble lowered her hand, causing the reflection to frown.
"We are almost there," Syrce urged them forward.
"And what is there, My Lady?" Helie managed to pull her attention from the glass.
"Sometimes it is not about the destination, it is about the journey." The mossy-haired Transcendent chuckled. "But this destination should be pretty memorable."
The group could feel her anticipation. Syrce had waited years for a chance to get to this point. All her hopes and dreams were pinned on whatever lay ahead of them. It was hard not to get excited as well.
The next few minutes stretched out into an eternity. Noble was so focused on finding the end of the maze that she completely forgot all about her reflection and its antics.
What would be worth all of this trouble?
Then, the passage opened. Noble found her breath taken from her. Her mind was so full of wonder that she had no words.
"Welcome to the Hall of Imagination!" Syrce announced with a clap of her hands.
A hall? No, this place looked big enough to encompass an entire world! The space was so vast that it absorbed the light from the Memories, only lighting the closest place around them. Noble couldn't sense the walls.
Either they were even more enchanted than the mirror maze, or they really were in a place that would comfortably house the largest giant.
'Wait, how big are Daemons naturally?' Noble hadn't given it much thought before, but now she wondered.
If the center of the room was any indication, they were larger than any of the mere humans could fathom.
"The Great Mirror." Syrce strode toward the enchanted glass with an incandescent smile. "It is just how I pictured it."
'Don't all mirrors look the same?' Flint shrugged.
'My time in here suggests otherwise,' Noble countered. 'And this one is unusually large.'
All of the members of the cohort came even with the great mirror, looking at the glass with no small amount of interest.
This is what they had come for? Why?
"This is it, everyone. Be careful what you imagine," Syrce told them. "Happy thoughts only!"
'What happens if we don't?' Flint wondered so only Noble could hear.
'Don't try it!' Child of Promise arched her back. 'Find something happy and focus on that instead.'
After her experience in the Wonder Woods, Noble knew better than to defy instructions when it came to what to think about. Likely, it would bring the very thing she feared to life and cause them more trouble than the dragon overhead ever could.
That was not an option she could ever entertain.
Fortunately, this directive from the Saint was a pleasant one to follow. There were plenty of things that made Noble happy.
She had a fulfilling job–no, two, maybe three of them, depending on how she added up all she did. She had a wonderful family.
If not for the world falling apart at the seams because of a chain of Nightmare Gates, Noble would have had everything her heart ever desired. If only…
'Happy thoughts!' She reminded herself.
'I am trying!' Flint shot back.
The other cohort members seemed to be struggling as well. Syrce's order seemed to have the unintended consequence of making the other Masters allow doubt to creep in. In the middle of a Nightmare, they were struggling to keep a positive attitude.
Noble pushed the feeling of joy toward Roan and the others. She was going to be happy, and so were they. Helie took the feeling almost before it reached her, and the others accepted the emotion with relief.
Only Syrce was left untouched. She was already elated.
With the people in the right mood, the pleasant thoughts came naturally.
And when they did....the mirror took notice.