Noble felt like she had been pulled through space, yet she was sure her body hadn't moved.
The Great Mirror was still in front of her, but the crack was gone. Her reflection had returned, looking as mundane as ever. That was strangely comforting.
She turned to look back at the hall which led to the mirrors, and instead found a stone wall. Had they been sealed in?
No, there was a pale light coming from above. Looking up, Noble found a beautiful glass window channeling the last rays of the setting moon. The hall was lit up with its pale glow.
Where had her Lucent Taper gone? She hadn't remembered dismissing it. Looking around, Helie's light Memory was gone as well.
'It's in my Soul Sea,' Noble heaved a sigh of relief.
'What's in your Soul Sea?' Flint looked around. 'Please don't tell me that we are. That would be weird.'
'My Soul Sea does not include the Great Mirror, I assure you.' Noble looked up again at the sky light. The metal frame looked familiar.
"What happened?" Aether looked up as well. "We aren't underground anymore."
"Of course not. I found an alternative exit," Syrce beamed. "I think you will find my solution was quite elegant."
"You didn't take us through the mirror, did you?" Noble wasn't sure that she could handle that news. The replaced faces of her loved ones flashed across her vision, and she shivered.
"No," the mossy-haired Saint waved away the concern. "That would have taken us to quite a different palace. My helper brought us! Didn't I tell you that this was a relic?" Syrce held up the necklace with pride. "Now come, I've always wanted to look around here!"
Roan looked at Noble, but she was just as confused as he was.
Wherever they were, they could see the night sky and weren't yet being attacked by a Remnant. That was something.
Noble tilted her head after the fleeing Saint. They followed her from the room.
The hall leading away from the Great Mirror was not lined with any reflective surface. It also wasn't a maze, merely beautiful white stone. They traveled through a string of rooms, passageways, and staircases in an endless line. Unlike the ruins, the place was lavishly furnished with ornate furniture created with such whimsy as only Mirage herself could have designed.
And that only confused Noble more.
As they turned a corner, Flint ran his hand along the oversized doorframe and frowned.
'It can't be.'
'What?' Noble paused to let him catch up with her.
'This room: I recognize it. There will be a foyer around the corner with a large balcony attached.'
Flint chewed his lip in contemplation.
As they turned the corner, the hall opened up into a large gallery with an open-air balcony large enough to house a royal court.
The low wall of the balcony would be far too easy to fall off. Even a Master who fell from such a height would be seriously wounded. Fortunately, that was not a concern for a floating Master like Noble.
Looking up at the tall towers surrounding them, Noble furrowed her brow.
'How did you know this would be here, Flint?'
The surly Master boldly walked out on the ancient balcony and looked out. "I can't believe it."
Roan and Helie seemed similarly stunned by the development. They joined him at the railing.
"What?" Noble took her eyes off of the heights and looked out at the landscape. Now she knew why they were so stunned.
Aether struggled to find his words. "Is...is this Bastion?"
With shining eyes, Syrce nodded. "It will be our Bastion. I cannot wait to show our people!"
That hadn't been what Aether meant, and Noble knew it. Stretching out before them was the ancient city of Bastion that the humans from the waking world knew.
The palace of Mirage stretched to the lake, looking as magnificent as it ever had. Beyond it, where the mundane city and streets resided in the present, Noble could barely make out the caravan's camp in the last rays of the moon.
She had wondered about the possibility of being in some still-standing part of Bastion as they were moving through the halls, but seeing the reality with her own eyes had left her nearly speechless. It wasn't part of Bastion. The whole hill had been completely restored.
"I don't understand. How is this here?" Noble held her head, trying to make sense of what she saw.
"I told you our dreams would come true," Syrce winked.
"Where did the palace come from?" Roan looked down at the courtyard below.
His few trips into Bastion's main palace had been to visit with Lord Anvil. He had never stayed to look at the scenery.
"Where else? From Mirage!" The Saint shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"The moon!" Helie leaned over the side of the balcony and pointed at the horizon.
Startled by her outburst, the rest of the group rushed to see what had her so concerned.
Out on the edge of the horizon, the moon was sinking behind the treeline. Only it wasn't the moon they had grown used to. This one was whole.
Noble furrowed her brow. "Aether?"
"Don't look at me. I am not doing it!" The young man held up his hands.
"It healed?" Noble asked Syrce.
"In a manner of speaking." The Saint nodded slowly.
Noble looked at the sky and then at the ground. "Syrce, where is the dragon?"
"He is...contained," the Saint brushed back her hair with a mischievous grin.
"Contained?" Noble felt something in her mind click.
The palace was whole. The Moon was whole. The Remnant was not there.
While it didn't make sense, there was only one logical conclusion.
Nothing was the same, because they weren't in the same place. Had they moved back in time?
That didn't work. Then the world would have to go through the Doom War a second time. They had simply moved locations, but to where?
Everything looked like it did in the present time.
"We are in Mirage's Palace, but not the one that was destroyed..." Noble mumbled.
"Bel has almost figured it out, I think!" Syrce laughed.
Child of Promise tapped her fingers against her chin as an idea came to her. "Aether, do you still have that cloth you found in the ruins?"
The young man pulled the piece of tapestry from his armor. "I had almost forgotten about it. It's right here."
"There is an identical piece among the relics in the caravan. They are both torn. When I saw your half, I assumed it was the reflection of the palace in the water since it is upside down. But what if it isn't?"
"What do you mean?" Flint's eye opened wider. "Wait! The moon in the lake!"
The floating Master nodded.
"We both saw it. The reflection of the broken moon was whole in the lake's water, but what if it wasn't a reflection at all? What if it were this moon we were seeing?" Noble looked at Syrce. "This is a copy of the real palace, isn't it?"
"More than just the palace, Dear Bel. It's a copy of the world."
Noble blinked, letting the words sink in. They were no longer in the true Bastion. A fake copy had taken its place