Page 3529

‘What, so you’re saying you really DID lose track of it beforehand?’

“Um... maybe? Do you remember when I last had it?”

‘It was on the ground. Not technically in your possession, I suppose. You were carrying it in orbit around you until Malast, uh... gave you his “blessing.” Then you dropped it, along with everything else. When you came to, Malast gave you everything back... except the mirror. Hmm.’

“Oh. Huh. You think he left it out on purpose?”

‘Tough to say. He might not have even known it was a special artifact. You had it encased in your iron the whole time, so perhaps he merely mistook it for debris or something.’

“Yeah, but he was a ‘god.’ And he, like, knew stuff.”

‘You have a real way with words, sometimes, Hector.’

“What I mean is, he would’ve known that it was special, wouldn’t he? Because he could just tell. With his weird god-powers or whatever.”

‘I’m inclined to agree with you. But remember, he was also a big idiot.’

“That’s, uh... hmm.”

‘And a bigger douche.’

“Wow, Garovel. Tell me how you really feel.”

‘I’m just saying we can’t assume much about what his intentions might’ve been. If we’re feeling less insulting in our choice of labels, then we would probably call a guy like that a “wildcard.”’

“Okay, well, even if he didn’t hold the mirror back intentionally, we’re still at least certain that I didn’t have it on me when we returned to Atreya, right? Which was the important point.”

‘I suppose so, yes. Which would mean... we REALLY have no idea how it ended up in the Gate.’

“Oh, maybe Malast sent it afterwards. Like, maybe he saw it on the floor and realized he’d forgotten something, sent it through on its own, and then it got stuck here.”

The reaper was quiet.

“What?” said Hector.

‘We didn’t have much time to get to know Malast, and yet... somehow, the scene you just described sounds incredibly likely to me. I can just imagine him fucking up like that.’

“Geez. Y’know, you’re ragging on him so much that it’s starting make me feel bad for him.”

‘Really? You’re the one who shit-talked him to his face, though.’

“I--well, that wasn’t--I mean... er...”

‘Yeah. There’s the Hector I know.’

Hector wasn’t sure what to say now. And rather than continuing to struggle with that, he returned his attention to the mirror.

‘You sure you don’t want to break it?’ said Garovel.