"What?" Theo felt like he'd been splashed in freezing water.
"I'm serious." Still grinning, Ryan pointed at Theo. "You don't have the first damn clue how to be a wizard. Not only do you piss your pants when your familiar takes basic damage, but you follow his orders. You've got it completely backwards, dumbass!"
"I – it's not orders – " Theo protested.
Ryan went on talking, each word more vicious than the last. "Listen up here, Theo, 'cause I'm gonna teach you a valuable lesson and for free, at that. Wizards and familiars, we've got our roles to play. The wizard's duty is to fight, and the familiar's duty is to obey the wizard. Didn't I tell you? The familiar's your weapon. You're the one who decides what he should do. What kind of wizard lets his familiar lead him around by the nose? You'll never become strong that way."
"I...I...." Theo could barely speak through the shivers racing through his body. "That's not – that's not – "
"You still don't get it, huh?" Ryan sighed and flipped his hair. "Guess you're the type who needs a hands-on lesson. Avia!"
A diagram blazed beneath him, casting ghoulish green highlights upon his face. Theo stumbled backward.
Avia appeared above Zenith, arrow pointed straight down. Snarling, Zenith struggled to his feet –
Just as Avia fired.
Zenith didn't have time to lift his shield. The arrow struck point blank, erupting in a fount of emerald light. And inside that light Theo saw Zenith's silhouette writhe like a speared fish.
"ZENITH!" Panic swept through Theo's mind, wiping it blank. Something – he had to do something – a spell –
The basic shield. But the instant the shield appeared, another arrow shattered it, driving Zenith deeper into the ground. Zenith didn't stop trying to get up, only for the next arrow to blast him into the air.
As he sailed across the sky, Avia appeared behind him with a new arrow nocked. Theo opened his mouth to shout a warning, but too late – she fired.
Zenith's choked cry ripped through all of Theo's nerves. With a thud, he hit the ground and didn't get up. Yet his resolve burned bright, and Theo could hear his armor creak as he struggled to move his limbs.
As long as Zenith was willing to fight, Theo had to support him. Hadn't he promised? 'I want to help you. I'll become a stronger wizard, okay?' Except – except he couldn't be a strong wizard, because he didn't want to treat Zenith as just a machine, a tool –
Another burst of green light. Mindlessly, Theo summoned the basic shield, but again Avia's arrow ripped it into pieces and pierced Zenith with contemptuous ease.
'I have to – I have to – I HAVE TO – ' but no spells emerged beneath the droning buzz that filled his head, growing louder and louder until it drowned out even his violently thudding heart. 'A spell, a spell, a spell! A SPELL!'
There, fuzzy and out of focus, at the edge of his consciousness. It rose out of the darkness, steadily becoming clearer –
The intricate lines sparked a vague flash of recognition, as if he was looking at an old map of home. But – but he couldn't. He didn't know what it did. It used too much Levia. Meg had told him not to....
Others joined it, crowding the canvas of his mind. So heartbreakingly familiar. 'No. I can't, I can't!'
Awash in green light, Avia lifted her bow. This time a deadly arc of six arrows blazed within its curve.
"Let's finish this," Ryan called. "We've let it go on for too long. I'll congratulate you for cutting Avia's armor, I guess. But that's just because I wasn't taking it seriously. Now I'm done here."
Avia drew the bowstring back. Zenith lay still, unable to so much as twitch a finger, but his fury and desperation hammered in Theo's chest like a second heartbeat.
Theo had to answer it somehow. Because this was all his fault. He was the one who'd recklessly accepted Ryan's challenge. He'd walked into this overconfident, certain he could depend on Zenith. And now Zenith was about to get defeated more thoroughly than he'd ever been defeated and Theo couldn't even cast a single spell to save him.
He could depend on Zenith, sure, but had Zenith ever been able to depend on him? Ryan was right. He was a failure of a wizard.
But at least – at the very least – he needed to keep Zenith from getting hurt any further.
The dream-spells still clamored for his attention, but Theo shook his head to banish them. Then he forced all his strength into his legs and took off running. Nothing mattered except closing the distance between him and Zenith, no matter how endlessly it stretched....
Somewhere in the distance Ryan was shouting, but Theo ignored it. His world had shrunken to the sun on Zenith's cape, tattered and torn but still gleaming brilliantly. It grew larger and larger until it filled his vision.
He threw himself on top of Zenith.
His body smacked against the knight's armor, driving sharp spikes of pain through his bones, but he didn't care. A relieved sob welled in his throat. He'd done it. He had reached Zenith.
Green light fell over his head, making him wince. But it remained still, not coming any closer.
Gathering his remaining courage, Theo lifted his head and glared up at Avia. The homunculus loomed above him like a statue, not twitching a single finger. All six arrows were still pointed directly at him – at Zenith.
"If you want to hit him," Theo said quietly, "you're going to have to go through me."
"Theo?" Armor creaked beneath him. "What are you – "
Theo didn't dare take his eyes off Avia, even though the harsh glow from the symbol on her forehead almost blinded him. His neck ached and sweat traced a stinging trail down his temple.
"What...the...FUCK?"
A scream, high and harsh. Not Avia – she hadn't spoken a word throughout this battle. Maybe she couldn't; maybe she really was just nothing but a weapon for her wizard.
Who certainly had more than enough to say. "The hell are you doing, man? Are you crazy? Get the fuck outta the way!"
"I won't move." Theo's voice trembled but didn't break.
"I'm trying to finish the battle here!"
"Then go ahead and finish it."
Where this bravery was coming from Theo had no idea. No, it couldn't be called bravery. More like desperation born from guilt.
"You get out of the way first." Ryan appeared beneath Avia, his eyes huge and wild.
"I won't move," Theo said again. Tears stung his eyes but he resolutely blinked them back. He had no right. "Zenith...Zenith's always protected me. Even when I don't deserve it. So now I – I'm going to protect him."
Despite himself, a sob hitched his voice. Furious, he swallowed it down.
"You – you – you – " Ryan trembled from head to toe before sucking in a deep breath. "Okay, fine. If you don't want him to get 'hurt' anymore, then end this. Forfeit."
Below Theo, Zenith jerked and gasped. But Theo remained facing Ryan.
"I forfeit," he said.
With that one word, a wave of cool relief washed through him. The panic, the desperation, unknotted from his chest and he found he could draw a full breath again. Yes. Finally it was over. This pointless battle he should never have started. Now...
"Okay, you loser." Ryan's mouth twisted like he wanted to spit at Theo. "Just so you know, I don't consider this a real win. Hell, this wasn't even a real fight. You don't deserve to call yourself a wizard."
With that, he spun on his heel and stormed off. Avia lowered her bow, the arrows dissipating, before floating placidly after him. Ryan didn't even look back at her.
"Th...Theo...." Zenith's voice drifted up toward him. So faint Theo would never have heard it if he hadn't been so close.
With his remaining strength, Theo crawled off of Zenith and finally faced him. The knight lay prone, his hair pooling across the cracked earth, but he'd lifted his head enough to give Theo a good view of eyes – huge and quivering with horror.
When tears blurred Theo's vision, he almost welcomed them. He let them fall, tracing hot, stinging trails down his face. As sobs shook his body, he doubled over and wrapped his arms around his chest, twisting his fingers into his shirt. All he wanted to do was grab Zenith's hands and pull him close – but he couldn't. He no longer had any right to touch Zenith.
"I'm sorry," he choked out between sobs. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for everything."
'For dragging you into this meaningless fight. For always being a burden on you. For failing you when you needed me the most.'