For several seconds, nobody moved. The enormous avalanche had finally passed, leaving the group scattered across a vast snowfield while the last clouds of snow slowly drifted through the air around them.
Arthur was the first to move, pushing himself upright with some effort, his clothes almost completely buried beneath white powder and Luna still safely held in his arms.
He looked down at her to make sure she was alright, and after blinking a few times as though trying to convince herself that they had actually survived, she finally nodded.
"You okay?"
"I think so," Luna said, brushing some of the snow from her hair.
Arthur carefully helped her back onto her feet. She steadied herself for a moment before looking at him with a small, almost disbelieving smile.
"You caught me."
Arthur shrugged as though there had never been any doubt. "I said I would."
Her smile grew slightly. "You did."
Arthur looked around to check on the others. Vedas was sitting nearby with Eden in his arms, both of them covered in snow but otherwise unharmed while Athy had settled onto his shoulder.
Mithra was kneeling beside Melo and carefully brushing the snow from the fox’s fur. A short distance away Athena was already inspecting Aegis for damage as though being buried beneath a mountain was merely another field test.
Arthur was about to call out to them when a muffled voice came from somewhere beneath the snow.
"...Help."
He turned toward the sound and immediately had to bite back a laugh. Only Sun’s head was visible above the snow, while Kong sat comfortably on top of him as though he had deliberately chosen the spot.
Arthur failed to hold the laughter in.
"Sun?"
"Don’t."
"I didn’t even say anything."
"You didn’t have to. Your laughing is saying enough."
Kong looked down at Sun, seemingly fascinated by the situation, while Sun slowly raised one hand from beneath the snow.
"Kong," he said with as much patience as he could manage, "please get off me."
Kong remained exactly where he was.
Sun stared upward for a moment before sighing. "I swear, you’re enjoying this."
Kong answered by nodding enthusiastically.
Sun finally managed to pull himself free and immediately took several deep breaths, looking back toward the shattered mountain with an expression of genuine resentment.
"I hate mountains."
Arthur glanced at the enormous slope behind them. "We weren’t exactly having a good relationship with this one."
Mithra laughed as she brushed the last of the snow from Melo. "You were the one complaining about Arthur’s plan."
"I was right to complain!" Sun protested, pointing toward Arthur. "We were running across pieces of a collapsing mountain while everything around us was falling apart. That was objectively insane."
Arthur gave him a small smile. "But it worked."
Sun opened his mouth, paused, and reluctantly lowered his hand. "...That’s the annoying part."
Athena, who had been examining a crack along Aegis, glanced toward them. "His plan was statistically questionable, but the result was successful."
Arthur looked at her. "I’ll take the victory."
"You should not confuse a successful outcome with a sound plan," Athena replied, returning her attention to the shield.
Arthur smiled. "I’ll still take the victory."
Eden was the first to notice Star moving in Arthur’s arms, and she immediately flew over, circling the little creature with open curiosity.
"Star!"
Star bounced happily in response, the tiny celestial crown above its head giving off a faint golden glow as the stars inside its translucent body shifted with every movement. Eden followed the swirling lights with her eyes for several seconds before smiling.
"It’s still so pretty."
Arthur looked down at the little Slime and smiled as well. "Yeah. I don’t think I’m ever going to get tired of looking at it."
Kong reached toward Star, apparently curious about the strange new form. Star immediately stretched toward his finger and wrapped itself around it, its soft body molding itself to the shape of his hand.
Kong stared.
Then Star’s surface suddenly hardened.
Kong slowly pulled his finger back and examined it with an expression that was surprisingly serious for him.
"...Huh."
Arthur smiled. "Mimic Form."
Sun crouched beside him. "Already?"
"That’s what I think. It can temporarily mimic the physical properties of things it touches."
Sun looked from Star to Kong, then back to Star again. "Can it turn into Kong?"
Arthur paused, genuinely considering the possibility. "...Maybe?"
Kong immediately straightened up and puffed out his chest.
"Don’t encourage him," Sun said, looking horrified.
Kong proudly flexed both arms.
Mithra laughed. "I think it’s already too late."
Arthur reached down and gently patted Star. "We’ll test it properly later."
Star bounced so enthusiastically that its little crown nearly slipped sideways.
Arthur laughed. "Apparently, it agrees."
After everyone had recovered enough to continue, Luna looked toward the northern horizon. Through the thinning snow, the enormous barrier surrounding the northern region was visible in the distance, its translucent surface stretching across the landscape until it disappeared beyond the horizon.
Luna slowed slightly as she looked at it. They had already crossed through the barrier once, but after everything they had discovered since entering the Everglades, knowing they were about to return to the sealed region made the place feel no less mysterious.
"We’re getting close," she said quietly.
Arthur followed her gaze. "So once we get back there, we can use the Water Mirror to open the way again?"
Luna nodded. "Yes. That’s how we entered before."
Sun glanced toward the barrier, then at the Mirror they had carried out of the mountain. "I still can’t believe that thing actually lets us bypass it. After seeing how massive that barrier is, I’d expected there to be some enormous mechanism hidden somewhere."
Athena looked at the Water Mirror thoughtfully. "The Mirror itself appears to be part of that mechanism. We already know it responds to the sealed regions, so there is little reason to assume the process will be different this time."
"I wasn’t worried about whether it would work," Sun replied. "I’m wondering what we’ll find once we get through."
Arthur smiled. "That’s what I’m wondering too."
Luna glanced toward him. "The region beyond the barrier is much larger than the area we explored before. My grandfather’s stories mentioned ancient ruins and places where the snow never settled, but he never knew exactly what was there."
Mithra looked at her curiously. "He never went that far?"
"Not that I know of," Luna said. "Most of what my village knew came from stories passed down through generations. Some of them sounded more like legends than anything real."
Arthur’s interest immediately sharpened. "What kind of legends?"
Luna smiled faintly. "You really want to know?"
"Of course."
"There were stories about strange lights moving through the forest, ruins that appeared to change locations, and creatures that were never seen anywhere else in the Everglades. My grandfather always said the northern region was different from the rest of the land, but he never explained exactly why."
Arthur looked toward the barrier again, his curiosity growing. "That sounds interesting."
Sun gave him a sideways glance. "I knew you’d say that."
"What?"
"Everyone else hears about dangerous creatures and mysterious ruins and starts thinking about whether we should be careful. You hear it and immediately start wondering what you can touch."
Arthur laughed. "That’s not true."
Sun raised an eyebrow.
Arthur thought about it for a moment. "Okay, that’s partially true."
Mithra laughed, while even Athena allowed a faint smile.
"At least he’s predictable in one way," she said.
Arthur looked at her. "I thought the Water Mirror was supposed to teach me not to be predictable."
"I said you’re predictable in one way," Athena replied. "Your curiosity has remained remarkably consistent."
Arthur smiled. "I’ll take that as a compliment."
"It wasn’t intended as one."
"Still taking it."
They continued toward the barrier, the enormous structure slowly growing larger as they crossed the snowfield. Arthur could already remember what the other side looked like from their previous journey through it, but the thought of returning there felt different now. They had another Mirror, Star had evolved, and the Water Trial had given him far more questions than answers.
Athena seemed to be thinking about the same thing. She walked beside him for several minutes before finally speaking.
"Arthur."
He glanced toward her. "Yeah?"
"Now that we’re heading back, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you."
"Yeah?"
"What happened inside the Water Mirror?"
"You mean the trial?"
"Yes." She looked toward Star. "We saw you disappear. Then you returned with Star looking completely different." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And judging by your expression, something else happened."
"I wanted to ask that too," Sun said immediately.
"So did I," Mithra added.
"You promised to tell us," Vedas said.
"I remember," Arthur smiled.
"Good, because I’ve been wondering what kind of ridiculous thing happened in there."
"It wasn’t that ridiculous."
Everyone looked at him.
"...Okay. Maybe it was."
He started explaining. "The first thing I noticed was that the Mirror didn’t give me an enemy."
"No opponent?" Athena asked, interested.
"Not at first."
He explained how he’d found himself surrounded by water with no obvious direction, then how the environment suddenly changed, water becoming ice, gravity reversing, mana beginning to flow incorrectly.
Sun’s eyebrows rose. "Wait. You said gravity reversed?"
"Yeah."
He looked at Athena. "Did he just casually say gravity reversed?"
"He did."
"And you survived?"
"Eventually."
"That’s not the part I’m asking!"
Mithra laughed.
"At first I tried using my normal abilities," Arthur continued.
"And they failed," Athena said, already understanding.
"Pretty much."
He explained how Guardian Shield had initially helped, only for the altered environment to destroy it, how Magic Burst hadn’t behaved normally, how the environment kept changing whenever he found something useful.
"So the Mirror was actively responding to your choices," Athena said thoughtfully.
"Exactly."
"Did you realize that immediately?" Mithra asked.
"No."
"Good," Sun smiled.
"Why is that good?"
"Because for once you didn’t immediately understand something."
Arthur laughed. "Thanks."
He continued. "Eventually I ended up underwater." He explained the crushing pressure, the creatures swimming around him, how they weren’t struggling. Sun listened carefully now as Arthur explained he’d initially tried to overpower the environment, then realized the aquatic Beasts weren’t doing that. They were simply built for it.
"So you copied their adaptation," Mithra said.
"Basically."
"You used Evolution Path Vision," Athena said.
He nodded, keeping the explanation simple. "I found a Beast that could naturally survive the environment, touched it, and adapted."
Sun whistled. "So the Mirror gave you a problem, and you found something that already solved it."
"Exactly."
"That’s actually clever."
"Thank you."
"Don’t let it go to your head."
Arthur laughed. He explained that even after he’d learned how to survive underwater, the trial didn’t stop, gravity changing again, the environment turning chaotic, water moving across the ceiling, Beasts crossing surfaces that shouldn’t have been possible.
He’d eventually noticed a light, an exit, but instead of fighting the environment anymore, he’d adapted to it, running across the ceiling, using explosions to propel himself, changing direction, moving with the environment instead of against it.
"That’s when you passed?" Mithra asked.
"No."
"There was more?" Sun groaned.
"A lot more."
"Why are the Mirrors like this?" Sun looked at Athena.
"We don’t know," she said calmly.
"Right."
He told them about entering the white space. Then, "There was someone waiting for me."
Everyone looked at him. "Who?"
He paused. "...Me."
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