Chapter 26: Lenses

Chapter 26: Lenses

We reached the top floor. I came to a halt as a giant pane of glass blocked most of my path. I stared at it for a minute. Remi let out a sigh and leaned against the hallway wall.

"I think I see it," I said.

"See what?" He asked.

I squinted and leaned closer to the glass. "I think I see the sword. It's blurry and really small, but I think that's it." I peered at the dark pointed shape in the center of the glass. I inched around the pane to examine the rest of the room. Large spherical lenses sat on pedestals with wheels. On their sides were tally marks. In the floor coming straight away from the glass was a groove where it looked like the pedestals locked into place.

I remembered this from optics class. I knew exactly what to do. I started to push the convex lens that had three tally marks on it.

"What are you doing?"

"Just stay there." I said. "Let me know how the images changes when I push this into place."

I wish I could make out his expression, but I took his silence as acceptance. I locked the lens into place on the floor.

"Whoa. It got bigger. And it's upside down."

"Does it look any clearer?" I asked.

"No."

I looked around at the other lenses. There was five concave and ten convex lenses. I walked around to the pane of glass to see how big the sword looked. It still seemed a little small. It should probably fill up the whole pane. I pulled my current lens off of the line and pushed a lens with a single tally mark on it. The image got smaller.

"The marks are focal points," I murmured.

I reached in my tote for a pen and notebook. If I could just set up a lens diagram or do a little bit of math, I could figure this out quickly. When I opened my notebook, the pages were black. My eyebrows furrowed in frustration. This lack of light was incredibly annoying. I dropped the items back in my bag and pushed the biggest number of tallied lens in line. The image remained about the same but sharpened some.

"It's going to have to be a compound lens, I think."

"Well, I'm glad that means something to you," Remi said.

"It means I will need to use several lenses to change the image. I think it needs to be bigger, clearer, and flipped upside down."

I looked at the number of tallies on all the lenses. There was probably several ways to solve this puzzle. So, I just needed to pick a lens and then add a few more to it to change it until it was something I wanted. I knew I needed a convex lens to flip it upside down, so I started with one that had a five on it. That would give it a negative five focal length. I put that about in the middle.

Next I grabbed the five focal length convex lens and put it in between the glass and the concave lens, right at the focal point. This would move the image to the other side and make the virtual image where I needed it to be.

"I don't think this is working," Remi said, boredom creeping into his voice.

"I have to fiddle with it. Just chill out."

Now the last lens would be the most important. It was the one that would project the virtual upright image. I picked a smaller lens and put it between the glass and the other concave lens. This would be the tricky part.

"Tell me when it looks clear."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Just watch it," I snapped.

I slowly slid the lens back toward the glass.

"It's getting bigger."

"Is it right side up?"

"Like pointy side down? No. Whoa wait where'd it go?"

Alright, we were at the compound focal point. I just need a little bit more. It would be too easy to go too far. I inched it ever so slowly back towards the glass.

"It's pointing the other way."

"Is it clear?"

"Aaaa..? I don't know?"

I eased it just a little bit more.

"Whoa, yeah it's clear."

I saw Remi's figure reach towards the glass. His fingers hit the pane.

"Wait, what? I thought you knew what you were doing," he said.

"The image is virtual," I said. I looked up where the image and my head math said it would be. "Just keep looking through the glass and tell me when it looks like I'm standing next to it."

I left the lens I was standing at and walked to the other end towards the wall. I hesitated each step as I passed the concave lens, waiting for his reply.

"There. It looks like you are standing right next to it."

I stuck my hand in the path of where the line of sight should be. Even though I was half expecting it, I was still surprised when my hand grasped something solid in the darkness. I wrapped my hand around the hilt and pulled. As I pulled it from the line of sight, the Sword of Night self-illuminated.

The inky blackness that was like light outlined its edges. My eyes locked on as I felt a mixture of emotions. I couldn't quite decide what I was feeling. Was it excitement? Fear? Elation? There was something about it that was almost jealously and greed. This sword was mine. It was a fact. One I couldn't seem to get out of my head.

The self-illumination followed down the sword into my arms until I was self-lit. Everything in this world looked crisper. I could even see Remi. He wasn't as bright, but I could see his features as if he was a dim version of himself in this world. But I was no longer a shadow. I was now a part of this strange realm somehow.

"Kira?" Remi asked with a note of concern in his voice.

I barely heard him. I was too focused on the sword and my new sense of sight.

"Kira?"

I swung on him. He was a lot closer than I realized. I almost sliced him with the sword. I dropped the tip of the blade to the ground. "Sorry."

"Are you okay? I can see you. And your eyes, they look really strange."

I tore my eyes from the sword. "Like what?"

"Like, black."

I blinked. Hopefully black eyes wasn't a bad sign. I didn't know a single movie that said they weren't but this wasn't a movie.

"What do we do now?"

Remi pointed towards an open doorway that hadn't been there before. "I think we keep climbing."

A screech of what sounded like a very large bird came from above. And then another. Then multiple at once. I shared a look with Remi.

"I think that's the final boss," He stated.

I gripped the handle of the sword tighter. I had never been in a fight before, but hopefully the sword would take care of that on its own and I would just have to go for the ride.