Delilah stepped in front of the mirror, assessing her outfit of choice. She was hoping this would be the one she could stick with. The pile of discarded clothes behind her attested to how difficult a decision this had been for her.
As did the regular knocking on the door to her dressing room.
“Come on, you!” Alice called from outside. “We’ve been waiting for forever, you know!”
“Come on, Delilah!” Isabelle called. “I wanna see how pretty you are!”
Don’t rush me, you guys…
Spreading her arms, Delilah turned in a circle. And quite quickly, she was smiling.
There we go. Not too gaudy, not too plain. Exactly what I was looking for.
The trickiest part of picking an outfit had been the fact that she wanted to keep two items: her long, purple hooded sweatshirt that was so light and breezy, open so that it sort of looked like a cape; and a magical handbag that cancelled out the weight of any items placed within it, and had far more space than its size suggested.
Those two items had been gifts, made for her by Gwen so long ago, when she’d spent time at Gwen’s house with Isabelle, Chelsea, and Lorelei.
I was so nervous back then, felt so out of place.
Right after coming out of the Wood of the Wisps, wondering what my purpose was, where I’d find joy…
It took a really long time. But I’m finally where I’m meant to be.
And yet in the end, Delilah had traded out her purple hoodie, folding it neatly and placing it in her magic bag. The fact was, she had a certain color scheme in mind, and the purple wasn’t helping her cause.
Don’t worry, Gwen. I’ll take good care of it. And I’ll certainly wear it again someday.
She liked the style of the light, open sweatshirt-jacket though, and luckily had found one very similar, but white. Beneath that she layered a shorter black jacket with white trim over a black tank top, a black skirt with a subtle white pattern along the hem, black pants, and short black boots with white laces. Around her waist was a beige belt, from which she hung not only her keychain Talisman with the plushies of her four Summons, but also two other Feline plushies — Crown Princess Chatelle Bianca Feline, and Morlon Feline Wizend, First Sage of the Sixth Circle — giving a splash of color to her monochromatic outfit.
I was worried there might be too much black, but this works.
What had taken Delilah even more time was her hair. Always an unruly, wild mass of blonde curls, so thick and wild when her sisters both had straight, thin black hair that they could style so easily, it had been something Delilah had constantly alternated between taking pride in and absolutely loathing. After so many adventures, so many different thoughts bubbling and mixing in her subconscious, when she had stepped into the dressing room and taken the first proper look at her hair in a very long while…
She’d decided to do something drastic.
“Well,” she said softly, staring at her reflection. “I look… different.”
It’s kind of a cliché, isn’t it? But… it’s true. I kind of don’t recognize myself.
Even though I still haven’t gotten any taller, somehow…
I don’t look like a child anymore.
She smiled, twirling in a circle again, watching the spin of her long jacket and short skirt, how they worked together so well. Watched her hair not only look different but act different. She pulled up her left sleeve for just a moment, so she could look at her bracelet, the one that marked her as a Paladin, that served as a reminder of her bond with Alice.
Yeah. This works. It works perfectly.
One final look at herself, another smile, and she made for the door.
“Come on, you!” Alice called, pounding her fist on the door. “Don’t make me bust down the —”
But she cut off as Delilah opened the door and stepped out. Both Alice and Isabelle stared at her, their eyes wide, mouths hanging open. Delilah chuckled.
Yeah. This is just perfect.
“Holy crap!” Alice finally said, taking a step back and sizing Delilah up. “Who the heck are you?”
“She’s Delilah, obviously,” Isabelle said, but her voice was hushed. She reached out, placed a small hand on Delilah’s arm. “You are, right?”
Delilah smiled. “Yeah, it’s me,” she said.
“So…” Isabelle started, looking up, “where’d all your hair go?”
Delilah blushed slightly, raising a hand to feel the hair she had left. “I, ah…”
“You look way cool!” Alice suddenly exclaimed, grinning widely. “Seriously! And you did that yourself, no barber needed? Way cool!”
Delilah looked past her at another mirror, and let out a sigh of relief. So she hadn’t gone too far overboard, then.
Her hair, which had long hung down to her knees and sometimes even longer, was now slightly shorter than shoulder-length. Not only that, she’d taken a page from Alice’s book and did her best to adopt asymmetry in her hairstyle. She’d never go full buzz-cut on one side like Alice, but she’d cut the right side shorter than the left, swept even more of it to the left, and tucked what remained behind her right ear with the help of a white pin shaped like a cat’s face. Able to actually see one of her ears regularly now for the first time in years, she’d even decided to wear a small, white, cat-shaped earring.
“You’re short on one side, and she’s short on the other,” Isabelle said, pointing to Delilah, then Alice. She giggled. “You look more like sisters now.”
“Yeah, we do,” Delilah said, smiling at Alice, who grinned back at her.
“So anyway, whaddaya think?” Alice asked, taking a step back and twirling around. She hadn’t changed her hair, but her outfit was a seriously drastic change. She’d spent the entire time since she and Delilah had met wearing slacks, a button shirt, a waistcoat, and a tie, total monochrome like Delilah was now. But now…
She’s wearing a skirt.
That was the first thing that struck Delilah. Alice wore a red pleated skirt with a white line around the hem. For the top she wore a blue coat styled like a military officer’s coat from some older era, but clearly prettied up for both stage performance and for a girl’s fit and style. It had gold accents and tassels, white cuffs, and a splash of red down the center, glistening with golden buttons. A golden belt with a silver buckle wrapped around her waist. Held by a white sash and pinned by a large golden pin to her right shoulder was a marvelous red cape that snapped out and flapped about heroically with every move Alice made. Completing the ensemble were dark blue boots with golden tassels.
“You look…” Delilah started, staring.
“Way cool, too, right?” Alice asked, placing a hand on her hip and tilting her head to the side, grinning. A red-and-gold pin shaped like a knight’s shield glinted in her hair.
“But you can’t wear a skirt!” Isabelle said.
“You’ve been saying that for a while,” Alice said, “and like I keep asking, why not?”
“Because you do all those flips and jumps and stuff!” Isabelle said, hands balled into fists, her face fixed into a serious stare. “Doing that in a skirt would be way too scandalous!”
Alice chuckled, and suddenly pulled up the front of her skirt. “I prepared for that!” she said. Underneath her skirt she wore a pair of black shorts. “No scandals going on around here!” She dropped the front of her skirt, grinning at Isabelle’s stunned expression.
“You can’t just go around flashing people like that!” Isabelle said.
“It’s not flashing if I’m wearing pants underneath,” Alice said, sticking out her tongue. “Don’t be so sensitive. You should be glad I prevented a ‘scandal,’ you know?”
Isabelle paused, considering that for a moment as she bobbed her head from side to side. “Yeah, okay,” she said, nodding. “Good job. Your outfit is approved.”
“I didn’t realize you were the approval committee,” Alice said, turning her attention back to Delilah. “Well? You just gonna stand there with a dumb look on your face all day or what?”
“You look dashing,” Delilah said, finally landing on the right word. “Like a hero out of a fantasy.”
“Right?” Alice asked, grinning. “I totally look ready to slay a dragon.”
“You need a sword for that,” Isabelle said.
“I’ve got these,” Alice said, flicking her wrist to bring out her silver scissors. “They may be small, but they’re totally good for dragon-slaying.”
“If you say so,” Isabelle said, rolling her eyes.
“And you look quite pretty, yourself,” Delilah said, smiling down at Isabelle. The girl’s apple-red hair was long and wild as ever, reminding Delilah of the locks she’d chopped off. And the girl stuck to a constant style — she still wouldn’t wear shoes or socks, and she wore a simple dress. But her new dress was blue instead of white, with a silver flower pattern along the skirt, and she wore a silver jacket over it with golden buttons. She’d styled her hair, too, sweeping her bangs to the side and tying some of it back with a large blue ribbon tied in a bow. She still wore her blue backpack with Teddy poking out the top, and his head bobbed as Isabelle twirled, showing off.
“Thank you very much,” Isabelle said, bowing at the end of her spin.
“So then… where are the others?” Delilah asked, looking around.
“Huh?” Alice asked, looking with her. “Oh. Hey, wait, where are they?”
“Mari?” Isabelle asked, turning in a slow circle to look all around backstage. “Where’d she go?”
“And Marcus, too,” Delilah said. “Did anyone see which dressing rooms they took?”
“There are just three here,” Alice said. “They must have gone off somewhere else.”
“But why not tell us?” Isabelle asked. She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Mari! Where’d you go?”
No answer came.
“Revue probably knows,” Alice said. “She’s gotta see everything that goes on in here.”
“I’ve sent Reginald to go look for them,” Delilah said. “Let’s not run off just yet. This place is huge — it would be easy to get lost.”
“Getting lost would be fun in here, though,” Alice said. She turned around. “Belle-Belle, weren’t we just saying don’t wander off?”
“But there’s a light over there,” Isabelle said, pointing. She stood at the edge of the last areas of backstage that they’d cleaned, and from around the corner a faint blue light glowed.
“Well then let’s check it out together, ya dork,” Alice said, bonking Isabelle lightly on the head with her fist. She looked over her shoulder. “Sis, you coming?”
“Yeah,” Delilah said, all her protests melting away until all she could do was smile and go along with it.
“Sis.” How does such a casual address make me feel so warm and light?
I’m so glad she’s here.
As she followed Alice and Isabelle, Delilah’s eyes were drawn to her reflection again. And again. And…
It’s going to take a long time to get used to this. But it feels good. I never knew my hair was so heavy until I chopped it all off.
Around the corner, the three girls found a door. It wasn’t the door they’d entered backstage from, and peeking through it, they saw a theater unlike any they’d seen in Revue Palace so far.
“There are so many mirrors,” Isabelle said, stepping through first. Like the main stage, this door from backstage entered directly into the center of this theater’s stage, a circular platform surrounded by seats for the audience on all sides. But as Delilah stepped through, it wasn’t that this theater was much smaller than the main one that struck her.
Like Isabelle, she noticed the mirrors.
Ringing the stage, spaced every five feet, was a slender mirror about six feet tall. Each mirror faced in on the stage, and Delilah often saw not only her reflection, but her reflection’s reflection, echoing back through multiple mirrors at once.
The theater was dark and dusty, but it didn’t smell like mold or rot, like the main theater had before the girls cleaned it up. It just smelled…
Old. And, in a way that was hard to describe as a smell…
Lonely.
“It’s like no one’s been here in ages,” Delilah said softly, turning in a circle so she could see everything. “Like even when the Palace was at its peak, this theater was… forgotten.”
“Too true, love, too true.” The voice of Revue echoed through the theater, and a moment later the masked woman appeared in the center of the stage, towering over the girls. Her mask bore an expression of longing and nostalgia as she looked around the theater. “You’ve found the most secret stage of all — the Reflection Theater.”
Alice scoffed. “Pretty easy to reach for a secret,” she said.
“Maybe not so easy, love,” Revue said. “How’d you get here, anyway?”
“Through the —” Alice started, then suddenly pointed. “Where’d the door go?”
The door they’d come through, the one that led backstage, had disappeared.
Revue laughed dramatically, her mask morphing into a huge grin. “Oh, don’t you see? There’s something special about you three.”
“Something special?” Isabelle asked. “About all three of us?”
“You’re the only ones who are here,” Revue said. “No Maribelle, no Marcus. Curious, wouldn’t you think? But why did you end up here?”
“Who doesn’t go through strange doors to new places?” Alice asked.
“It felt like it was calling to me,” Isabelle said.
Delilah stared at her, but then she thought…
I felt something, too. It was so subtle I didn’t even realize it at the time, but…
“There’s something about this place,” she said, looking around. “I… we should still be waiting for the others backstage. But I still came here.”
“And you’re big on rules and stuff,” Alice said. “So if even you came here when we should be back there…”
“We were called here?” Delilah asked, looking up at Revue.
“Indeed you were, love,” Revue said. “Now, why might that be?”
“I dunno, why doesn’t the one who knows the most about Revue Palace tell us?” Alice asked, hands on her hips as she fixed Revue with a challenging stare.
Revue didn’t laugh, her masked face instead transforming into a wistful expression. “This place… to be honest, love, I… haven’t been here in longer than can be counted. If the Revue Palace was the Lost of the Lost, forgotten to all but me… then this theater is the Lost of the Lost of the Lost, the most forgotten place in all the universe. For even I don’t fully remember all about it. And… what I do remember is that this theater has never been used. Not for its true purpose, at least.”
“Its true purpose?” Delilah asked. “What is its true purpose?” But even as she asked the question, she was walking across the stage, drawn towards a mirror on the far side — the only mirror that had a curtain draped over it. She paused in front of it, staring at the thick folds of the faded red curtain, untouched by dust even though so much else was coated in it. Slowly, Delilah reached out, took hold of the curtain, and pulled it aside. With a flutter, the folds of fabric tumbled to the stage floor, and Delilah found herself staring into a mirror unlike all the others.
It wasn’t different in shape, size, or style. What was different was the reflection.
Delilah couldn’t see herself. Not herself, or Alice, or Isabelle, or Revue. None of them were reflected in the mirror. And it had such a dim, murky surface that the reflection within was hard to make out at first. But as Delilah wiped at the mirror’s center with her sleeve, she was able to see it a little bit better. Her confusion only grew as she did, and she turned back to look at the actual stage behind her, then back at the mirror.
“They’re… not the same,” she said softly. “I don’t understand.”
The stage in the Reflection Theater was flat and empty, but its reflection in this mirror — this mirror, and no others — showed a pedestal in the center of the stage, and inserted down into that pedestal was a large, ornate key.
“Yeah, where’s the key?” Alice asked, rubbing at the mirror. “This isn’t… I mean, it’s a reflection, right? This is a mirror, right?”
“It is,” Revue said.
“So why’s the reflection different?” Alice asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“The Light Catchers don’t reflect us,” Delilah said. “We’ve seen mirrors do that before.”
“But this is totally different,” Alice said. “It’s showing something that isn’t here!”
“It feels… familiar, somehow,” Isabelle said, coming over and staring up at the key in the mirror. She played with the ends of her hair idly as she thought, but she didn’t say any more.
“Well, come on, then,” Alice said, looking back at Revue. “Do you at least know something about this?”
“You really shouldn’t be so rude to me, love,” Revue said, though she was smiling. “We’re going to be working together for the rest of your life, after all.”
“Please tell us what you know,” Delilah said. “This image… it’s important. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here. This is why we were drawn here, isn’t it?”
“The Key of the World,” Revue said, letting those words hang in the air, echoing unlike anything else Revue had said in this theater. A moment after they’d stopped echoing, she grinned, cocking her head to the side as she stared at Alice. “See what being polite can get you, love?”
“The Key of the World…” Delilah said softly. She reached into her shirt, pulling out the key she’d used to unlock the chains that had held Lunos captive. She turned it over in her hands, comparing its design with the one in the mirror. They weren’t exactly the same, but their similarities seemed too close to be coincidence. Both were pearly white, and both had a fixture of a silver crescent moon in their base, while the key end was curved and elegant. “But… what is it? What does that mean?”
“Ah, I have something for that,” Revue said, spreading her arms wide. “Listen closely, dears, because you’ll only get this performance once!” A spotlight snapped on, shining directly down onto her, dust floating visibly in its golden beam.
And then Revue sang. Her voice, like many voices all at once, found perfect harmony in this song, and even though no instruments accompanied her, she filled the entire space with music:
“When all the world falls, dust, ash, or shadow
Light lies out of reach, our hands cannot hold
Find through the dreams, find through the glass
Find in the depths, and take hold, you three
Turn the key
Turn the key
Turn the key”
Revue lowered her hands as the last notes echoed through the theater. “The Verse of the Key,” she said, her voice carrying a reverent air.
“Wait, we have to remember all of that?” Alice asked.
“It’s okay,” Delilah said, a small notebook and pen in hand. Revue had said she’d only perform this once, so Delilah had written it down as she sang. “ ‘When all the world falls’… that’s now, isn’t it? The stars are going out, the Endless Night is coming. So the Key of the World… we’re going to need it.” She stared at the dim reflection of the Key, right there yet out of reach.
“Too true,” Revue said. “But beware in going around telling of it.”
“Why can’t we tell everyone?” Isabelle asked.
“You can, but take care, sweetie,” Revue said. “The Key of the World is not regarded as something true by… well, I don’t think by anyone, now. Most have forgotten it; others have dismissed what they do remember as myth. I had forgotten entirely until you three entered this theater. You’ve awakened some of my deepest, most distant memories.”
“So what do we do?” Delilah asked. She placed her hand against the mirror’s surface. It was cool to the touch, but nothing out of the ordinary. It felt just like glass. “If its secrets are here… there must be more information about the Key of the World in Revue Palace, right? If we search hard enough, we might turn something up?”
“Now you’re onto something, love,” Revue said. “And I will do my best to aid you. Recovering the truth, the memories, about the Key of the World… yes. That’s what we need most, now.”
“We should bring it up during the Council,” Alice said.
“But only if we can learn enough,” Delilah said. “We can’t waste any time before then.”
“I suppose I can allow you to postpone some of your work here,” Revue said with a dramatic sigh. “The Key of the World… discovering its secrets, finding someone who can actually reach and turn it… that will be something most spectacular. I’m counting on you three. Put on the best show possible.”
“We will,” Delilah said, but before she’d finished those two words, Revue had vanished. In the center of the stage was the backstage door.
“Guess we’re heading back for now,” Alice said. “But once we leave, how are we gonna find this place again?”
“It’ll call us,” Isabelle said. “Just like before. It knows what we need.”
“A sentient theater,” Alice said, looking up and around. She smirked, white eyes shining in the gloom. “Neat.”
“Isabelle,” Delilah said, kneeling down so she could speak to Isabelle on the girl’s level. “Do you think you could do something for me?”
“What is it?” Isabelle asked.
“I… know this is a lot to ask. And if it’s too much, you don’t have to. But… can you keep what we learned a secret from Lady Kodoka?”
“You want me to keep a secret from Mommy?” Isabelle cocked her head to the side, more like she was confused than worried.
Delilah nodded. “Yeah, I want you to keep everything about the Key of the World a secret from her. Not forever — I just want to make sure when we tell her, it’s when we know as much as possible. Probably at the Council, but if we don’t learn enough before then, it might have to wait longer. I know it’s a lot to ask you to keep secrets from your mother, but —”
“Okay,” Isabelle said, smiling.
Delilah blinked. “Huh?”
“It’s just for a little while, right?” Isabelle asked. “And it’s so we can do something good. Mommy isn’t very excited about you two becoming Paladins, so she wouldn’t believe you easily.” She frowned slightly. “That’s not very nice. But you always do the right thing, even when it’s really hard. So even when it’s hard to keep a secret from Mommy, I’ll do it. Because I trust you.”
“Who wouldn’t?” Alice asked, grinning.
“Right?” Isabelle asked, beaming. “When we traveled together, all of you were like big sisters to me. Chelsea, and Lorelei, and Gwen were all like the cool, mature, smart big sisters. But you…” Isabelle took one of Delilah’s hands in both of hers. “You were the nice one. You were always nice, even when it hurt.”
Even… when it hurt?
She could tell, even back then when we barely knew each other?
Delilah found herself blinking back tears, but she smiled, giving Isabelle’s hands a gentle squeeze. “Thank you,” she said.
“If you wanted me to share my big sis,” Alice said, smirking at Isabelle, “you should’ve asked first, you know?”
“I knew you’d say yes,” Isabelle said, giggling.
Alice shrugged, shaking her head. “Who’da thought I’d turn into such a softy?”
“It’s a nice change,” Delilah said, starting towards the door. “Come on, let’s go find the others.”
“Yeah!” Isabelle said, charging ahead. “Gotta find Mari and — whoa!” She cut off as Alice grabbed her backpack, stopping her from racing past them.
“We gotta stick together, remember?” Alice asked.
Isabelle chuckled. “Yeah, I know,” she said.
Together, the trio went through the door and returned backstage. They turned a corner back to the areas they’d cleaned, and there was Maribelle, one hand on her hip, Reginald at her side. “What were you three up to?” she asked.
She was dressed in a new outfit like the others, and all of them had to take a moment to stare. The Princess of Solitude had, for so long, dressed very similarly to Isabelle — a long dress, and barefoot. She still didn’t wear anything on her feet, but for the first time… she wore pants. Her pants were blue, with silver flower patterns down the sides of each leg, and she wore a lighter blue blouse beneath a silver jacket trimmed in red. She kept her jacket buttoned halfway, and it was quite fitted, hanging down to her knees in the back like a half-skirt. Hanging crosswise from left shoulder to right hip was a leather satchel.
“Mari, you’re totally different!” Isabelle said, staring at her sister with wide eyes. “I’ve never ever seen you dress like that!”
“I rarely do,” Maribelle said. “But the time was right. From here on out, the battles will be fiercer than they’ve ever been. I need to dress for it.” She smiled at Isabelle. “You’ve chosen quite a good outfit for yourself, Belle-Belle. So?” She eyed the trio. “What were you up to?”
“A lot of stuff!” Isabelle said, grinning. “We’ll tell you all about it.”
“Where’s Marcus?” Delilah asked.
Maribelle sighed. “He said he couldn’t find the right outfit,” she said. “He left, but he’ll be back soon.”
“He left the Palace entirely?” Alice asked. “But he’s supposed to train us!”
“He won’t be gone long,” Maribelle said.
“Have you ever heard of the Key of the World?” Isabelle asked.
“What did we just say about being careful who you tell?” Alice asked.
“But she only said to keep it a secret from Mommy!” Isabelle said. “We can trust Mari!” She looked back up at Maribelle. “So have you heard of it?”
Maribelle blinked, staring. Her expression slowly changed, in subtle ways, to something wistful, longing, but also confused.
And yet the next voice to speak wasn’t hers, but came from the door to the main stage.
“The Key of the World…” said Marcus, standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the lights of the stage behind him. “Now there’s something I never thought I’d hear again.” He chuckled. “Well, well. We have a great deal of work to do, don’t we?”