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((Triple Wednesday -- Page 3 of 3))
There were so many moving parts. The shifting armor with its cooling effect. Twenty-four boxes in orbit. And five more discs, orbiting at a much higher speed, ready to be let loose.

Yet he wasn’t struggling to maintain it all. He felt as if he could handle much more than this, even. But he did want to organize it a bit more. So he started allowing the twenty-four boxes to collide and attach themselves to one another. The walls of each of the cubes were maintained, however. He only wanted to group them together, like miniature hotels, perhaps. Each piece of sludge stayed where it was, in its own room, but now the rooms were grouped together horizontally.

He found it even easier to keep track of, and perhaps most importantly, it freed extra space in orbit around him. He was going to be needing that soon, he felt.

The worm below had amassed itself back into a single beast again. It appeared to be biding its time, searching for debris to devour and absorb while it waited for Hector to come for it.

Somehow, he didn’t much care for that. At this point, he almost would’ve preferred it to keep acting like a rabid animal.

And perhaps that was why it wasn’t doing that.

The thing wasn’t nearly as stupid as he might have hoped, Hector knew. If it wanted him to attack first, it was probably going to try something sneaky. And it hadn’t used its lightning in a while, either, as it had been divided.

That was going to be a problem, with all this iron swirling around him. He’d have to be even more mindful of it.

‘Hector, wait a minute,’ said Garovel.

‘What?’ He’d been just about to leap down there.

‘The treasure pile over there. There are a few mirrors in it. I want you to grab one. The largest you can carry unhindered.’

Hector saw the pile he was referring to and started making his way over. It was a bit scattered compared to when they’d first arrived but still mostly intact. He still had to ask, though, ‘Why a mirror?’

‘Just a precaution,’ the reaper said. ‘The worm ate the Moon’s Wrath, remember? And there are rumors that these bastards can absorb powers.’

Hector understood. It would be like the time he fought Harper, in other words. Thinking back on that experience, he very much hoped it didn’t come to that.

He found a mirror that seemed suitable, if maybe a bit expensive-looking with its bejeweled and golden paneling. According to the Scarf of Amordiin, it was the largest one here, being slightly taller and wider than Haqq’s shield. He decided not to carry it, though, wanting to keep his right hand free, and instead chose to encase it in iron and add it to his orbital collection.

Garovel chuckled. ‘That’s pretty handy.’

Hector could only agree.

He started back toward the worm, going over his next plan in his head.