>>6041136An idea strikes you like thunderbolt.
You wonder if this is a blessing from Ansàrra or the first hints at a gnawing madness, but it may just be your way out of here. You remember the figures coming out of the mirrors, the room which is completely empty, the well that was a tower that was a well… you have stepped into foreign territory and you have to make use of foreign thinking.
“Take your armour off,” you mutter turning towards where you hear Rubida’s breath.
Which stops as she hears you.
“W-What?”
“We need it. I think I know how to open this door.”
“This is not the first time you have made crazy requests,” Salicera muses with a chuckle. “But this one trumps them all. Why do you need her— ohhh…” She asks as she seems to connect the dots.
“The mirrors act as a gateway. We can’t use one of those because I am afraid the shadow things inside them would come out as well. We can’t use our swords because they are too thin!” You mutter, your words starting to pick up speed and confidence as you explain. “But you always keep your equipment so clean and polished, Rubida. We can use your armour!”
“I am not completely sure I like the way you are talking about my maintenance,” she huffs, the annoyance visible in her voice. You can almost see her turn her face away from you. “But I have no other ideas. Why are all your ideas so weird, Candente? I wonder where you get them… here, help me out of the laces and the pins, will you?”
You and Salicera follow the edge of Rubida’s metal plates, slowly freeing each of the hooks keeping it in place. It’s a slow and hard job in the utter darkness and often you just push or mistakenly rub against Salicera’s fingers, but bit by bit you manage to take it off.
“Here…” you crouch on the floor, positioning the armour so that it faces ninety degrees away from the wall. It’s the best you can do.
And now for the hard part.
“What’s next?” Rubida asks groaning as she creaks her back. You have a hint she’s hiding her right arm behind her back even in the utter blackness. “I feel naked without that thing.”
If things go like you suspect, Rubida will have no need for her armour anymore.
“We have to go back to the veil,” you mutter. “I will also need two of the plates from your arms.”
Rubida sighs, but reaches for them in a creaking of metal.
“At this point, you’d save time just complying,” Salicera chuckles.
“Thanks,” you say as Rubida puts them into your hand. By the feel, they are from her left arm. “Here is what I think we should do next—” you start, praying beyond all hope that your plan may work.
[cont.]
