Meg led them down a staircase only slightly less narrow than the one below the attic. She lived on the upper floor of an old townhouse, the bottom floor of which she'd converted into a secondhand bookstore. Which was about the last career Theo would have guessed based on her appearance.
They weren't going to the bookstore, but the basement beneath it. Now this seemed like the kind of thing you might find in the fantasy stories Sam loved. A basement door that opened into another world. When they stepped through, would he find himself back in the wasteland with the blue sky above?
In spite of everything, Theo was starting to get a little bit excited. Now that the danger had faded, he could appreciate how amazing this whole thing was. Another world. Wizards and familiars. Levia, the light that lived inside his body.
What did this all have to do with him? With his dreams of Fortresses, the diagrams he drew?
Theo started when Zenith came to a stop in front of him. Though he couldn't see past the knight's tall frame, he heard a door click open up ahead.
Zenith stepped aside to allow Theo through, and heart pounding, Theo crossed the threshold.
He had braced himself for an onslaught of sunlight and heat, so it took him a moment to realize that he was still indoors. The room looked as ordinary as any in Meg's place, floored in dark wood and illuminated by fitfully flickering lights. There was no furniture aside from the bookshelves lining the walls, leaving the floor wide open.
"Um, this is an arena?" Theo blurted.
Meg glanced over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow, making him burn. "Don't get too excited now. This is just my basement. But we'll be off soon enough."
Before Theo could ask her what she meant, she pulled a book from the shelf and handed it to him. Its unexpected weight made him stumble.
He'd never held a book like this before, bound in dark leather with tarnished brass clasps and a fancy design – a diagram – embossed on the cover. "What is this?"
"It's a grimoire," Meg said. "A compendium of spells. Now, here we go."
Scarlet light flooded the room, so sudden Theo jumped. Heart pounding, he stared at the circle spreading beneath Meg's feet. As it widened, its lines and symbols became clearer, and he realized they were the exact same as the circle in the park.
Then he saw nothing but scarlet light, swirling like flames. His own Levia flared in response. So hot. Mindlessly, he stumbled forward.
His hand closed around someone else's, smooth and cool. Without thinking, he squeezed tight.
A crackle rippled through his head, followed by a rumble, and the light faded. Theo blinked, spots dancing in his vision.
A blue sky spread above him, but his feet rested atop the basement's scuffed floorboards. It was like the basement floor had transformed into a circular platform floating in the middle of the sky, and that wasn't even the craziest part. No, that honor went to the bookshelves hovering above the platform like a bunch of Tetris blocks.
"Excuse me, my lord." The hand in his grip twitched, and only then did Theo realize he was still clinging to it. He jerked away like he'd touched a hot stove.
"Ah, sorry! Sorry!" he yelped, waving his arms like an inept mime.
"It's fine," Zenith said quickly, turning away. With his eyes shaded by his helmet, Theo couldn't quite make out his expression, but he seemed embarrassed too.
Wait...helmet? Theo blinked. Sure enough, Zenith was back in full armor, gleaming beneath the sun. Hair loose, no glasses to be seen.
"Glad to see you made it here okay," Darian called from behind. Theo turned to see the boy perched atop one of the floating shelves, and just like Zenith he wore his fancy fantasy clothes again.
"Of course he did. If he could access that higher level arena, this simple one should be no problem," Meg said, tossing her head. She hadn't changed, and neither had Lodo.
"Why do you guys look different now?" Theo asked.
"These are our true forms," Darian said. "When we're on Earth we have to wear glamours to blend in, you know. But on Tielos, or inside an arena, we don't need them."
"So this is an arena?"
"Correct!" Meg clapped her hands. "This is a low-level arena of mine. Arenas are created from the space between the two worlds. Using portal spells, we can bend the space to our wills and shape it as we please."
"So it's not actually Tielos," Theo said.
"No. The higher the level, the more the arena resembles Tielos. However, it will always be limited in size and incorporate elements from the location on Earth where it was opened. Only the strongest of wizards can open portals to Tielos itself."
"We came to this world in search of strong wizards, ones that will allow us to maximize our power," Darian said. "It wasn't a choice we made lightly. No Tielan does. For many, it's a one-way trip. I myself don't know if we'll ever be able to return."
"We will, my liege," Zenith said fiercely. "I vow it. We will return and complete our mission."
"And we're one step closer now that you have found your wizard, Sir Zenith," Darian said, eyes sparkling. Zenith nodded stiffly and bowed, sweeping out his cape.
Theo couldn't take his eyes off the knight's precise yet graceful movements. It seemed inhuman, somehow, in a way even Darian and Lodovico weren't.
But something Zenith had said sparked Theo's curiosity. "What do you mean by mission?"
"That's right." Darian leaped down from the shelf, landing on the floor with cat-like ease. "I haven't told you yet, have I? Well, I'm the prince of Miria Fortress, and I'm out to claim my throne."
"Prince...of a Fortress?" Darian did have quite a princely manner, but – "Doesn't that mean you've already maximized your power?"
"I may be the prince, but I've never actually seen the Fortress in my life. Or any." Darian shrugged. "I grew up on the wasteland, raised by my mother after she descended from Miria to escape my father's clutches. I doubt he even knows I exist. But I've heard plenty about him, enough to know he's a petty tyrant who doesn't deserve his throne. So I've made it my mission to become a worthier successor, and that means coming into my power and contracting with a strong wizard."
Not for the first time did Theo wonder what he'd gotten into. Just when he thought he had a grasp of the situation, something new swept him off his feet. Somehow he'd ended up smack in the middle of an otherworldly dynastic war.
'It's too much, too much' – but wait. "Isn't Meg your wizard?
Darian's eyes widened while Meg cackled. "Hardly! All my Levia is devoted to Lodo. Our prince is a seraphim, after all. I haven't the power to contract with her, and I doubt you do either, strange as you might be."
"Oh, okay." That made sense. Except... "Wait a minute, 'her'? I thought – are you a girl?"
"I'm a prince," Darian said haughtily, tossing his – her? – head. "That's what matters most."
"She's also in her twenties," Meg added, definitely smirking now.
Theo had no idea how many more revelations he could handle. All this time he'd thought Darian was younger than him.
Armor clanked from behind. Zenith marched past him, face hard as a marble statue, and stabbed his sword at the sky. "I am a knight sworn in the service of Prince Darian of Miria. Upon my soul and my honor, I will strive until the very end to ensure my liege's mission is fulfilled."
So dramatic. Hard to believe just ten minutes earlier, this knight in shining armor had been wearing glasses and an oxford shirt. But all facetious thoughts fled when Zenith spun to face Theo, pinning him in place with those crystal eyes.
Theo felt his Levia too, that clean, sharp light that would not bend or waver for anything. So unlike Theo's gentle glow, yet they were connected anyway.
"And you," Zenith said quietly, "are my wizard. The lord who will allow me to carry out my duty to the fullest."
With that, he sank to one knee before Theo. The perfect picture of a devoted knight.
Heat rose in Theo's cheeks, and the old doubt, never far away, stirred within him again. Could he do this? Could he really? By all means and intents, he'd gotten dragged into a battle that spanned worlds and might end with challenging some of the most powerful beings in existence.
'It's too big. It has nothing to do with me. I never asked for this.'
But. He was connected to it, wasn't he? Because he was a wizard. Because he dreamed of Fortresses, because he knew powerful spells. Maybe if he got involved, he might find out why.
And it seemed wrong not to answer Zenith's resolve. There was something fervent in his gaze, almost desperate. Theo remembered how it had felt the moment they'd connected, how their combined power had defeated the dragon.
He took a step forward, then another, and reached out. Zenith blinked.
Truth be told, Theo had no idea what he was doing, but he felt he had to do it. Clearing his throat, he said, "Okay. I'll be your wizard. Just...just one thing."
"Yes, my lord?"
"Um, that – don't call me that. Sorry, it feels kinda awkward." Theo rubbed the back of his head. "My name's Theo, okay?"
Zenith blinked again. The inhuman resolve had left his expression, replaced by a confusion so innocent it made him look painfully young. "Very well. By your will, my – I mean, by your will, Theo."
'Somehow I don't really think he got it....' But a smile spread across Theo's face anyway. He crouched down, taking Zenith's hand. The armor pressed against his skin, cool and hard. Zenith started, but Theo gave a gentle tug.
He didn't have the strength to actually pull Zenith up, but Zenith understood what he wanted. He rose to his feet, cape sweeping behind him. His grip remained firm around Theo's hand, and some foolish part of Theo almost welcomed it.
Then Meg declared, "Marvelous! I'd say it's time to get training!"