“Still, none of this helps my cause,” Mitsuru said, putting a hand to his forehead. “If the Crown of the Seal performs such a vital function, then how can a mere Traveler such as myself ever hope to claim it?”
“Yes, you see…” Zophie leaned forward in her chair. “There’s something very important I haven’t said yet. There is another way in which the Mirror of Eternal Shadow might be sealed. Master Mitsuru, did you know of the Mirror of Truth?”
This was, of course, familiar territory. Wayfinder Lau had told him all about the mirror. He knew that on his journey he would meet people bearing these mirrors, that they were vital signposts to a Traveler, and that the mirrorbearers would be his friends on his journey, and aid him. He knew also that when he combined the gemstones he found with these mirrors, he could return to the real world—though only for a short period of time.
Just as Wayfinder Lau had said, as soon as he left the Village of the Watchers, Mitsuru had met someone carrying a Mirror of Truth.
The man was a beastkin, and as soon as he learned that Mitsuru was a Traveler, and that he needed the mirror, he asked Mitsuru to hire him. Apparently, the man made his money as a bodyguard. But Mitsuru had no intention of dragging the man along on his journey. Nor was he in need of any friends. And how could he trust someone he had to pay money to protect him?
So Mitsuru had killed him and stolen the mirror. Mitsuru wore it still.
“Yes, I know of it, or rather, them. Unlike the Mirror of Eternal Shadow of which you speak, the Mirror of Truth is not whole but has been broken into many fragments.”
“Yes, this is so. The Mirror of Truth was first broken by the hand of the Goddess herself, its fragments spread across Vision. Over time, the fragments fell into the hands of people who did not know their true worth.”
“But, if one could gather all the fragments and reconstruct a whole mirror?” Mitsuru asked.
“Yes. With its power, one could stop the Mirror of Eternal Shadow forever!” Zophie said, her voice swelling. “The Mirror of Eternal Shadow opens a path to the Dark, and the Mirror of Truth opens a path to the real world. Put them together, and they will destroy each other.”
This, she explained, is why several generations of emperors had made it their mission to gather all the fragments of the Mirror of Truth. “Sometimes they used rather violent means to do this. Yet Vision is vast, and it was difficult to cross the sea and search faraway lands with any thoroughness.”
But now the situation was changing. With powered boats, the unified north could create a unified Vision. This would make searching for the fragments and ultimately the reconstruction of the Mirror of Truth a simple task.
“If we use the power of the Mirror of Truth to stop the Mirror of Eternal Shadow, then we will no longer have a need for the Crown of the Seal. Then you will have your gemstone as you desire, Master Mitsuru. That is why my father asks you to wait. I hope you understand the depth of the reasons he has for doing this now.”
Mitsuru stood from his chair and bowed humbly. “I do understand. And I thank you for your generosity and consideration in telling me all of these things, m’lady.”
For a moment, Zophie was overcome with emotion, grabbing his hand, then clutching her own hands to her breast, and laughing. All the while, Mitsuru was thinking, coldly plotting his next move.
I wonder if this little girl or even the emperor realizes that when they reconstruct the Mirror of Truth and do away with the Mirror of Eternal Shadow forever, they will lose what right they had to special privileges as the chosen guardians of the Goddess. Or perhaps, they don’t care—as long as they unify Vision first, with them as its leaders.
Or perhaps they have grown tired, weary of their role as defenders of Vision. Being guardians of the world sounded good, yet he imagined the burden would be great. Not that any of this mattered much to Mitsuru.
“Might I ask one more question—purely to satisfy my curiosity as a Traveler from the real world?”
Zophie was refilling their cups with an unsteady hand. She nodded, her eyes bright.
Mitsuru reached out, grasping her hand. “Allow me to pour. We’ve covered some difficult territory here. Perhaps you should rest.”
“Yes, of course.”
“I was wondering, just how dangerous is this Dark? How strong are its powers? Do your scholars know anything of this?”
Zophie’s mouth tightened. “Once, and only once in the past…nearing the end of the War of Unification, for a brief moment only, the seal was broken, and the power of the Dark came into our world.”
“However did this happen?”
“It was, the histories tell us, done on purpose to defeat a formidable adversary of the Empire. They were nomads, actually, living on the wide plains. Barbarians, they had no central government, yet wherever our troops went, they nibbled at their heels, disrupting our supply lines. Consequently, the emperor at the time decided to draw upon the power of the Dark.” The demon army that came through the portal when the Mirror of Eternal Shadow was used demolished the barbarians in the blink of an eye.
“Frightful…yet, were there not injuries to the Imperial Army as well?”
“The barbarians were lured to a particular place, and the mirror was moved nearby. All care was taken in the planning of the attack, and, luckily, our losses were few. As soon as the barbarians were defeated, the seal was replaced, of course. It was open for perhaps all of an hour.”
The seal replaced, the demons that had fallen upon Vision became nothing more than dust.
“What form do these demons take?”
“I do not know. If one were to read the ancient chronicles of the war, one might find a drawing, I’d imagine…”
Mitsuru had read every account of the war in existence and found no such drawing. Perhaps whatever they did look like was too fearful to be recorded.
“The field where the demons set upon the barbarian tribes is, even today, a barren wasteland where not a single blade of grass will grow. I have never been there, though, for it is far away from this city.”
Then Zophie changed the subject with another question. “Master Mitsuru, do you know why this castle is called the Crystal Palace, though it be built of stone?”
Mitsuru looked up at the towering castle behind him and shook his head. “That I do not. Now that you mention it, it does seem quite odd.”
“It has been three hundred years since the War of Unification ended, yet it was a hundred years after that when the capital was moved here. They built a castle, setting the Mirror of Eternal Shadow in a safe place within, and that instant, the castle filled with translucent light as though it were made of crystal. The castle was called the Crystal Palace in memory of that moment. I hear that during the battle when the barbarians were defeated, when the seal on the mirror was lifted and then replaced, a similar light filled the land. I must therefore conclude that this light comes from the mirror itself. Perhaps it is the mind of the mirror revealed.”
The mind of the mirror? What exactly would a mirror think or feel, Mitsuru wondered. Was it the joy of release when its seal was lifted? Or perhaps it was merely showing satisfaction at being feared and respected.
Regardless, the discussion had taken a sudden and unexpected turn in Mitsuru’s favor.