The woman’s head snapped up to watch him, and her facial expression flashed through panic, confusion and disbelief before finally settling on amazement. “Adam? Oh my god, Adam? Is that you?” “Guilty as charged, I’m afraid.” “Then this is… No, it can’t be! That’s impossible.” “Yes, that’s more or less what I said. Then she gave me this.” He unstrapped the sheathed sword from his back and presented it to her for inspection. She thoughtfully ran her hands across the leather. “I… I remember this. Wait, who’s ‘she’?” “The Starlit Goddess. And let me tell you, it was a bit of a shock seeing her.” “The Goddess is real, too? I… I almost can’t believe it. All of this was really real all along?” “It sure seems so. Unless of course I’m having a stroke or something and this is all just one big hallucination.” “I don’t feel like a hallucination.” Lily replied dryly. “That’s exactly what a hallucination would say!” The two of them looked at each other for a moment, and then they both broke out laughing. Because sometimes you just had to laugh, or else you’d go mad. It took a few minutes for the laughter to lose its slightly hysterical edge and start to subside. Adam helped Lily to her feet, taking in her somewhat bedraggled appearance as he did so. She was wearing a red silk dress that was originally tailored to be figure-hugging, but which now hung pretty loosely on her slender frame due to the large rips in the fabric. It was, in his professional opinion, completely irreparable, especially given the large grass stains all over the skirt. She was also wearing a pair of much-abused black shoes that had once been high-heeled, but both heels had snapped off. Her hands were scratched and dirty, and she had broken one of her long, painted nails. All in all, she looked like she’d gone directly from a rather posh party straight into a warzone. “So, what happened to you? You look like you body-checked a bramble thicket.” “Running through the woods fleeing a huge yellow light intent on hunting you down does that to a girl.” “Why were you in the woods in that getup?” “I was at a party in some old hunting lodge. I had just stepped out for some air when I saw this huge light thingy barrelling down towards me.” She looked down at her clothes with a frown. “And I really liked this dress, too. I wonder if I can have it mended somehow.” “I’m sorry, but nothing short of divine intervention is going to save that dress. And the Starlit Goddess doesn’t strike me as the tailoring sort.” “I’ll take your word for it. Damn, this sucks. Know anywhere I could wash up? Like, a bath or something?” “Not really, but I guess we could try to find one.” “Sounds like a plan. Lead the way.” It had taken them over an hour to find a bath and figure out how to run and warm it, and a few more hours to find some clothes for her to wear. She wasn’t too fond of the rough linen shirt and breeches they’d managed to find in a long-abandoned storeroom, and she positively loathed the hobnailed leather boots, but she did admit it was better than her torn-up party ensemble. By this time, Lily was pretty hungry and Adam was absolutely famished. Following a faint scent of food they found a small kitchen staffed by a single elderly man wearing a threadbare, heavily patched suit. When they asked him for something to eat he led them to a nearby dining room, which looked somewhat less disused than most of the castle, and seated them at the middle point of adjacent sides of the square oak table, which looked big enough to seat twenty. They didn’t contest the odd seating arrangements, since they vaguely remembered sitting at this table before. Not too long thereafter the man arrived with bowls of some kind of warm soup, as well as tankards of what appeared to be very weak beer. Lily was about to complain about the choice of beverage until Adam reminded her that they were in what appeared to be a pre-industrial society, so the water probably wasn’t safe to drink. She dropped the matter, but something about Adam’s statement seemed to bother her. “It doesn’t make any sense.” She finally said after a few spoonfuls of the vaguely cabbage-y soup. “What doesn’t make sense?” “Well, when we were last here this castle was full of people, right?” “Yes, so?” “But most of the rooms we saw looked like they’d been abandoned for ages. Centuries at the very least.” “I guess. I’m pretty sure time actually moves at a different rate here, somehow.” “And you said this is a pre-industrial society?” “It certainly seemed like it when I looked out the window. There were no big factories or anything, and I didn’t see any vehicles that weren’t pulled by people or animals.” “But that doesn’t add up! If we’ve been gone hundreds or thousands of years, why hasn’t this place developed at all? From what I remember of this place, it seemed to be something like late medieval or early renaissance as far as culture and technology goes. There should at least have been an industrial revolution by now. Hell, if we’ve been gone more than a few centuries these people should have caught up with us by now, or even surpassed us.” “That… Actually makes a lot of sense. Why didn’t I think of that?” “Did you ever study sociology?” “Not really, no. I went to a trade school and then took an apprenticeship as a tailor. My education was a bit light on the social sciences.” “That’s probably why, then.” “So you’re a big sociology buff, I take it?” “Hah, no. My mom insisted I had to get some kind of degree, and it seemed as good a field as any.” The meal continued through two more hearty but uninspiring courses. Conversation grew thin as the sheer emptiness of the dining room seemed to leech whatever good cheer they might have felt right out of them. Trying to think of something to once again raise their spirits, Adam suggested they go find Lily’s artefact, and together they descended the stairs to the dungeons where Adam had been reunited with First River. Trying to find their way through the dungeons alone was frustrating and time-consuming. Especially when, after almost half an hour of false starts and wrong turns, they found themselves in the chamber that held Brilliant Hearth, the Fire Princess’s harp. It took another fifteen minutes or so before they finally found the chamber that held Clear Sky. The silver frame and handle of the mirror glinted in the soft light, and the etched golden backpiece shone in a way that beautifully lit the single cloudy citrine set into its centre. Lily ran her hands across it lovingly before lifting it up to look into the mirror. Adam couldn’t see her face as she sought out her reflection, but he did hear the choked gasp she let out as she gazed into its depths, and he definitely heard her anguished cry as she hurled away the mirror with all her might. He wasn’t worried about the mirror, since he doubted anything so mundane as hitting a wall could even scratch it, but he was very worried about Lily. “It’s not true. It’s lying! It can’t be true!” “Lily! Are you all right? Get a hold of yourself!” “It... The mirror! I couldn’t see myself. I couldn’t see anything!” “Well, I never saw anything in that thing anyway. Besides, I can’t draw my sword, so we’re pretty much in the same boat.” “Don’t you get it? Air is the element of truth! The mirror only reflects the truth. If I can’t see myself…” She angrily brushed away the tears running down her cheek, but more just kept falling. “Then what? You’re a lie? How can you be a lie? Unless, what, you’re lying to yourself?” “I AM NOT! I have a great job, I have important friends and I make plenty of money. I’m perfectly happy! The mirror is wrong!” “You don’t sound perfectly happy.” “Of course I don’t sound happy! How would you feel if you were perfectly satisfied with your life and then some hunk of glass and metal came along and said that it was all a lie?” “I’m sorry, but… If you were really as satisfied as you’re saying, I don’t think you’d be crying right now.” This, it turned out, was exactly the wrong thing to say, as it made Lily storm over to him and slap him so hard it sent him tumbling to the floor. By the time he managed to get back on his feet she had long since stormed off, leaving the mirror discarded on the floor. He groaned as he tasted blood from his abused cheek and tried his best to ignore the stinging pain as he retrieved the mirror. He looked into it, but as always saw nothing but a mass of dark, roiling clouds. Like an oncoming storm. With the mirror in hand, he made his way up the stairs and found the old servant once more. The aging fellow led him to a room where he could spend the night and gave him a bottle of unpleasantly pungent ointment for his cheek. Not knowing what else to do, Adam got into bed, trying his best to ignore the musty smell that rose from the long-disused mattress. After what felt like ages he finally drifted into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of dark mirrors and distant thunder.