Lilith reread the sentence several times before closing the small red notebook. She could continue investigating for hours, but she doubted the pages would magically reveal the identity of that woman. The missing page did not help either.
For now, she only had three certainties: Oblivion probably existed, the old Lilith knew a woman connected to that fortress, and for some reason, that memory was accompanied by fear. It was not much, but at least she had something to work with.
She put the notebook inside one of the desk drawers and decided not to mention her discovery yet. She did not even know who she could trust with that information.
The next two days were surprisingly peaceful. The Eternal Bastion remained completely still while hundreds of workers inspected its enormous mechanisms, replaced parts, and loaded supplies for the next stage of the journey.
Lilith quickly discovered that stops were among the busiest moments inside the fortress. The streets were crowded from early in the morning, and the markets received goods collected by small expeditions exploring the nearby regions.
After spending much of her second life dealing with questions about who she was and what had happened to the old Lilith, she appreciated being able to spend a few hours doing something much simpler.
Claire appeared shortly after noon on the third day and practically forced her to leave her chambers. According to her, a princess who had just participated in her first expedition could not waste the final day of rest locked inside reading documents.
Lilith did not need much convincing. She still knew a ridiculously small part of the place where she lived, so she agreed to accompany her to the central market.
The market occupied an enormous plaza surrounded by three and four-story buildings. Dozens of stalls stretched beneath awnings of different colors, and the noise of hundreds of conversations mixed with the sounds coming from the nearby workshops.
Lilith found so many unfamiliar things that she had to make a conscious effort not to stop every ten steps. There were transparent fruits, small crystals that emitted light without any visible source of energy, weapons made from strangely colored metals, and cages where tiny creatures slept piled on top of one another.
There was also food. A lot of food.
"What is that?" Lilith asked, pointing at something resembling a blue pastry.
Claire looked at her.
Lilith immediately recognized that expression.
"Before you ask, yes. I know exactly what it is."
"Then you don't need me to answer."
"I want to check if you know."
Claire crossed her arms. "Moon pie."
Lilith looked at the blue pastry again.
"Exactly."
"You had no idea."
"You can't prove that."
Claire burst out laughing and bought two. Lilith accepted one with some suspicion, but changed her mind after the first bite. The inside contained slightly sweet meat accompanied by a spicy sauce.
There was nothing particularly special about it compared to some of the magical things she had seen since arriving, but it tasted good, and that was enough.
They continued exploring the stalls for almost an hour. Lilith bought a small pouch for carrying coins, a pair of gloves for future expeditions, and after thinking about it far too long, a black cloak with a red interior that Claire described as "unnecessarily vampiric." That was exactly why she ended up buying it.
"Now you actually look like a Bloodrose princess," Claire commented as Lilith placed the cloak over her shoulders.
"Didn't I before?"
"Before, you looked like a Bloodrose princess trying to pretend she wasn't a Bloodrose princess."
Lilith was not entirely sure what that meant, but decided to take it as a compliment.
As they continued walking, she began to notice something she had overlooked during her first few days. The inhabitants did not treat the Eternal Bastion like some extraordinary machine. To them, it was simply their city.
She saw children running between the stalls, elderly people playing around a table, and merchants arguing over prices while beneath all of them, thousands of tons of metal waited for the moment to start walking again. Some of those people had probably been born there and had never lived in a stationary city.
"How long have you been here?" Lilith asked as they left the busiest part of the market.
"On the Bastion? Twelve years."
Lilith looked at her in surprise. "That long?"
"I arrived with my father when I was seven." Claire shrugged. "I basically grew up here."
That explained the familiarity with which she moved through every section of the fortress. It also reminded Lilith that she still knew very little about her. Until now, Claire had simply been the first person around whom she could behave relatively naturally, but she had lived an entire life before Ethan awakened in that world.
"And you never wanted to leave?"
Claire thought for a few seconds. "Why would I? Every few months, I have a different landscape outside my window. If I lived in a normal city, I'd have to travel to see the world. Here, the world comes to me."
Lilith smiled. She liked that answer.
They eventually reached one of the upper gardens. From there, they could see the black mountains much more clearly than during breakfast on the first day. The sun was beginning to descend, and a light mist covered some of the peaks. Beyond that mountain range began the Demon Continent.
"Are you afraid?" Lilith asked.
Claire rested her arms on the railing. "A little."
The honesty of the answer surprised her.
"I thought you'd say no."
"Being brave and being stupid are two different things." Claire turned her head slightly. "What about you?"
Lilith looked toward the mountains. She had died, awakened as a vampire, discovered she was a princess, and gone out to fight monsters in less than a week. Compared to that, being afraid of a place she had not even seen yet almost seemed too normal.
"More curious than afraid."
"That can get you killed too."
"I'll try not to let it."
They remained there until the first lights of the fortress began to turn on. Lilith did not mention Oblivion, the notebook, or the silver-haired woman. There would be time for that. For a few hours, she wanted to enjoy something as simple as being somewhere new and talking with someone she was genuinely starting to like.
The next morning, a deep sound awakened the entire city.
Lilith opened her eyes just as a familiar vibration ran through her bed.
The enormous engines of the Eternal Bastion were running again.
She dressed quickly and headed toward one of the upper terraces. Hundreds of inhabitants had already gathered there. In the distance, the four gigantic legs began to rise one after another, and the first impact against the ground made the walls tremble. Slowly, the city began moving again.
Lilith approached the railing.
The black mountains now occupied almost the entire horizon.
This time, they were not moving farther away.
Every step brought them a little closer.
Claire appeared among the crowd and stood beside her. "The break is over."
"How long until we get there?"
"If we don't run into any problems, we'll cross the border tomorrow."
Lilith placed her hands on the stone and looked at the path opening ahead of the Eternal Bastion. Behind them were the last territories its inhabitants considered relatively safe. Ahead waited a continent that appeared in stories, incomplete maps, and warnings.
And somewhere out there, another fortress might also be walking.
Lilith smiled slightly.
Her second life had only just begun, and she already had far too many things she wanted to discover.
The Eternal Bastion took another gigantic step toward the mountains.
This time, heading for the Demon Continent.