Page 3530

“Yes, I’m sure,” said Hector. “Shut up with that, already.”

‘But what if breaking it unlocks its hidden power?’

“Why in the world would that do it?”

‘Why wouldn’t it? It’d be like breaking open a locked door.’

“Yeah, okay. Or it’d be like smashing a priceless vase.”

‘Y’know what? I bet you’re not even strong enough to break it. I bet it’s probably too powerful for you.’

Hector snorted. “You must be getting desperate, if you think that’s gonna convince me.”

‘Ugh, damn you and your lack of pride. You’re a lord now, you know. Your ego is supposed to be inflating every day.’

Hector ignored him, knowing they were going to get sidetracked again if he didn’t.

In a background thought process, he’d been trying to sift through the memories of the Candle for anything about Rathmore’s Gate or Rathmore’s Materials--or even Rathmore himself. In truth, he’d been searching for a while, on and off for the past few days.

With all the things that the Candle had left him, it felt like there had to be something in there. Somewhere. Right? If these Materials were as old as Garovel said, then surely the Candle would’ve learned something about them as some point.

If only it was that simple.

Perhaps Hector was taking too long with his thoughts, because Garovel seemed to realize what he was up to.

‘Find something relevant in that head of yours?’ the reaper asked.

“I’m trying, but... I don’t think so.”

‘Hmm. Nothing at all about Rathmore? He was pretty damn famous, so it would make sense if the Candle knew about him.’

“Unfortunately,” said Hector, “that’s not really how it works. The memories are... just, like, scenes in my head. And emotions, too. Those are able to come through. But names? And words? I can’t really use those like keywords for a search.”

‘No? That sucks.’

“Tell me about it,” said Hector. “I can sometimes remember... conversations. Sort of. But that’s about it. And they’re usually kinda... weird and muddy. Probably because they were taking place in a language that I don’t actually know.”

‘So you just need to search for someone mentioning Rathmore’s name.’

“You make it sound so simple...”

‘Maybe it is. Maybe you’re getting into your own head and overcomplicating things. Not that you would ever do such a thing, I’m sure.’

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.

Page 3528

‘Ooh, wait a minute,’ said Garovel. ‘What if this thing is a teleporter now like the Gate? Try sticking your hand through it. Watch it pass through the mirror like an open window.’

“You really think that’ll happen?”

‘Well, of course. It was my idea, and I’m never wrong, so yes, I’m sure it will.’

Hector bobbed his head and decided not to retort. “Alright, then. Here goes.”

He pressed his gauntleted hand flatly against the reflection. And waited.

Nothing happened, still.

‘You’re obviously doing it wrong,’ said Garovel.

“Oh, am I? How so?”

‘Uh. Well. Your armor. You gotta use your bare hand, of course.’

“Okay, then.” He dematerialized one gauntlet and repeated the same action.

It made no difference.

‘Alright, it’s useless. You can break it now.’

“I’m not gonna break it!”

‘Oh, c’mon. It deserves it. Just look how smug it is. With its. Reflectiveness.’

“Even if it is useless, what would be the point in breaking it?”

‘To make me feel better?’

“Garovel.”

‘I’m kidding again. Relax.’

“Are you, though? You sure this isn’t one of those sarcastic confession-type things?”

‘Maybe a little. Maybe I think that mirror is being a real prick, right now.’

“Okay, Garovel.”

‘I don’t appreciate your tone, Hector.’

He decided to move on before the reaper dragged him down another conversational rabbit hole. “I wonder if whatever power the mirror had... got sucked out by the Gate ‘r something.”

‘That sounds possible. Hmm. Maybe even plausible.’

“But why would it only affect the mirror and not anything else? The Shifting Spear of Logante had power in it, too, right? And it came through the Gate just fine. Not to mention the Scarf.”

‘Perhaps the nature of the mirror’s power was similar to that of the Gate. So they interacted with one another.’

“So... maybe it’s actually the opposite of what you were saying. Maybe it was a teleporter, but now it’s not?’

‘Maybe. And if so, then... man, that bites. Bad luck on our part.’

“I mean, at least we didn’t end up fused into the rock.”

‘I guess that’s true. Way to look on the bright side, Hector.’

“Hmm...”

‘Now what’re you thinking?’

“I’m trying to remember the last time that I actually saw this thing,’ said Hector. “Because I feel like... I didn’t even have it with me when we went through the portal. Not that I knew we were going through a portal, at the time.”