A shattered moon shone upon a shattered castle. The castle had always been a ruin, but now it was reduced to rubble. The rubble used to be surrounded by a deep lake, but now, the lake was gone.


    Its bottom had been revealed, in all its mystery and horror.


    Standing on the mound of debris that had once been a great rampart, Kai was looking down. Far below him, ancient ruins glistened in the pale moonlight. They were covered in mud and seaweed, but he could still recognize the shapes of beautiful stone edifices and smaller buildings beneath the mud.


    The castle stood on a mountain, and there was a prosperous and sprawling city surrounding the mountain... or had been, once.


    Others would not see, but Kai did. Buried in the mud, hidden in the darkness of the ancient buildings... there were human bones. There were too many of them to count. Myriads of skulls were staring at him with empty gazes, as if blaming him for being alive.


    Millions of people must have perished here once, a long time ago. Some of the skeletons were intact, and some were crushed. He did not know what had killed the inhabitants of the ancient city, but whatever it was, their deaths had been sudden and brutal.


    Perhaps it was the great flood that had drowned the city, burying it under the mass of water for thousands of years.


    Perhaps the great flood had happened on the same day the moon had been shattered.


    Looking at the drowned city that sprawled across the entire basin of the lake, Kai wondered if there was a similar ruin at the bottom of the real Mirror Lake.


    No... this was the real Mirror Lake. The Bastion he was familiar with was merely an illusion.


    It was still strange to think about that.


    Letting out a heavy sigh, he looked away from the ruins of the ancient city and turned his gaze to the sky.


    The shattered moon was always the same, and Kai knew better than to stare at it too much. It could not tell him anything about time, anyway... however,he knew that there was going to be a full moon in the illusory version of Bastion today.


    Which meant that, for a short time, reality and illusion would overlap a little, allowing for passage from one to another.


    ...Which meant that if Mordret wanted to infiltrate the capital of the Sword Domain, he had to do it today. There would be another battle, without a doubt... and a much more ferocious one than all the previous ones.


    Looking down, Kai rubbed his face tiredly and soared into the air, flying smoothly to where a fire was burning in the heart of the ruins, and the tantalizing aroma of food was rising above an alloy pan.


    As he landed gently on the ground and greeted the other Saints, a strong gale of wind crashed into the remains of a crumbling wall protecting the fire, and a small pebble fell from it into the pan.


    Before it could plummet into the fragrant stew, however, Princess Morgan raised a hand and caught it without ever looking up. Her reaction was just as fast as one would expect from a Saint, but it was her senses that amazed Kai. Did she catch the pebble simply by hearing it brush against air, or was there a Memory she possessed that granted her complete awareness of her surroundings?


    It was a good catch regardless.Having a dirty pebble fall into their stew would have made the meal less enjoyable.


    Kai smiled and opened his mouth to say something.


    But before he could, Morgan spoke first:


    "Good catch. I know."


    He looked at her blankly.


    Letting out a sigh, the princess raised her head and looked at him with sunken eyes.


    "...It will be ready in a few moments."


    Her usually sharp gaze seemed a little dulled, and she looked a little disheveled. Morgan of Valor had always been neat and collected, maintaining flawless decorum and cold composure even in the middle of most dreadful fights. Her tidiness was a bit compulsive, even.


    But now, her clothes were in disarray, and her beautiful raven hair was begging for a brush. She looked drained and exhausted — quite understandably so, considering that they all were.


    It was just that, when Kai had seen her several hours ago, Morgan seemed much more full of vitality.


    Looking at her now, he frowned.


    Something... was wrong with Morgan of Valor.