As soon as he arrived at the edge of his Wonder, Spei could feel something was different from when he'd tried to get here earlier. Experimentally he poked his arm through the barrier surrounding it; to his surprise, and to the credit of the Moon's Cornerstone Code piece, he was able to pass through with minimal effort. Raising an eyebrow, he cautiously pushed his body through, and found himself on the other side. "Well, that worked remarkably well," he murmured to himself, glancing at the barrier. He then took a good look at the building that was the heart of his Wonder.

It looked from the outside as though all of the hard work he'd done to restore the little shrine had been undone in a single event. Fresh cracks in the pillars, leaves blasted everywhere from the trees and plants around the building, even the lake itself was rippling in apparent agitation, instead of being the placid reflecting surface it had been.

Spei sighed. He hoped the Code was right and this would help heal the Wonder again.

Walking up to the building, the Moon Squire filled his thoughts with as much hope as he could muster and entered. Inside it looked marginally better; there were still cracks in the floor tiles and walls, but it didn't appear to be a complete disaster. The plants in his little solarium toward the back of the main floor looked to have taken the biggest hit, with several pots knocked over and dirt everywhere. That was a mess to tend to later, though. Right now the priority was getting to his Code piece and healing it.

He climbed the stairs, which were mercifully still intact, to the second level and made his way swiftly to the tiny room above the solarium where his Wonder's Code piece resided. Reaching the doorless entryway, he took in the damage there. The walls were cracked, and the thick window opposite him looked to be broken. But the pedestal supporting the Code piece was a shattered mess; shards of marble were strewn everywhere, with large chunks of it in the center of the floor. Above it all, barely hovering, was the Code piece itself, its light sputtering and uneven.

"Oh,' breathed Spei as he rushed into the room. Dropping to his knees, he gathered the Code piece in his hands and held it as gently as he could. The Cornerstone Code piece had been correct – whatever had happened, it was on a magnitude he couldn't begin to imagine. "Don't worry, little guy," he said softly to the small glowing orb. "I got you."

With calm, measured breathing, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the Code piece, on healing it, on the bond he shared with it, on hope. Slowly he slipped into a deep trance-like state, much like when he was working on a song, his mind empty except for the music which always seemed to be running through his head. The internal song evened out into a low harmonic drone as he slipped deeper into the trance, losing awareness of where he was, of everything except healing the Code piece he was holding.

At first Spei's mind was filled with calm tranquility and hope as he focused on the Code piece. Gradually, though, muted images and sounds began to flicker through his thoughts: steel upon steel, shouting, crying. He felt – or imagined he felt, maybe – arms around him and the warmth of a body pressed against his, and somehow he knew this was Gault. But not-Gault, much bigger and stronger, clinging to him like a drowning man clings to a life raft. And a promise made in the heat of battle, at the end of the world: that no matter what, they would find each other again, in another lifetime.

Spei gasped, and in that same moment the Code piece in his hands emitted a burst of energy so powerful it disrupted the vision – the memory, he felt certain. He sat back on his haunches and opened his eyes….

And everything looked as it had before. The pedestal was intact, only a few cracks to show what had happened. Looking around, the cracks in the walls were gone, and the window was no longer broken. He turned his attention to the Code piece, and it was glowing steadily and humming in his mind, as if nothing at all had happened. But it had.

It was then that he realized that, despite everything around him being the same, he was different. He felt…. Stronger somehow, more capable of defending himself, like his magic was stronger too. Amber eyes wide, he looked down at himself and saw that his uniform had changed; it was more ornate, the jacket, and his boots. Holding out an arm, he suddenly realized he was wearing a cloak of all things. And he felt something on his head – a hat? He reached up and removed it, studying the cream-colored top hat with wonder. A wry smile crossed his lips; the Code had finally given him, the king of hats in his civilian life, a hat in his powered life now.

He summoned his shield to see if it was different too, and an eyebrow shot up. The weapon was large now, much larger than before, ornately decorated in a manner similar to his jacket, and so shiny he could almost use it as a mirror. "Whoa," he murmured. All this…. Did this mean he was a Knight now?

The sense he got from his Code piece said yes.

Spei, Knight of the Moon, got to his feet, a slight smile playing across his face. He'd done it – he'd healed his Wonder and the Code piece. He couldn't wait to let the Cornerstone Code piece know, though he felt that it knew already, connected as they all were. And he couldn't wait to show Gault – Holland – what had happened to him. That, he felt, was going to be the best surprise of them all.

(wc: 1007)