Zenith slumped against the wall, gasping for breath.
According to his internal chronometer, twenty minutes had passed since Oliver had left. In all that time, Zenith still hadn't succeeded at breaking out of the cell.
With each minute that ticked down, his desperation flared higher. For all he knew, the others might be battling the dragon already.
But without his sword and shield, he was limited in what he could do. He'd charged from the back of the cell and thrown himself at the iron door countless times, but had nothing to show for it besides increasingly battered armor and a deepening ache in his muscles. Though he tried using his Levia to augment his strength, it proved dismayingly difficult to gather the light inside him, as if he had to dig it out from beneath a tightly woven net.
Even with the wizard nowhere in sight, Oliver's Levia burned fierce and hot. It was like a blanket smothering his own power. Such an overwhelming contract, one intent on consuming his will rather than augmenting his existing strength. So unlike Theo's.
But it would not succeed, Zenith vowed. His mind was still intact. As long as it remained so, he had no choice but to fight as hard as he could.
So he told himself, but his muscles refused to obey when he tried to rise again. A violent spasm ran through him, followed by a burst of pain as if rusted knives were twisting through his flesh. Hissing, Zenith collapsed back onto his knees.
His harsh breathing echoed throughout the cell. The pain had died down to a throbbing ache, but every twitch of his muscles made it stab anew. Tangled locks of hair fell in front of his eyes; he shook his head to clear them away, but his vision only blurred further.
How much had the whipping taken out of him? 'No,' he told himself fiercely, gritting his teeth. 'I don't have time. I have to...to overcome it....'
Once again, he tried to rise. Once again, his legs gave out beneath him. He hit the floor with a clatter of armor, driving another wave of mind-numbing pain through his body. His gasps turned into hacking coughs.
By the time he got it under control, another three minutes had passed. Just one more attempt. 'One more attempt....'
So he told himself, but his body only slumped further. His head bumped against the wall. He closed his eyes, trying to draw relief from the cool stones. But it was difficult when that harsh orange Levia pulsed within them.
Another minute passed, then another. 'Get up.' No good. The Levia seeped from the stones into his skull, only strengthening the fire consuming his body.
But...wait. If he strained all his senses, he picked out the faintest spark of something beneath the tide of Enson Levia. Little more than a flicker, yet it felt soothingly cool and calm.
Zenith flung his senses out as wide as they could go, wanting to seize onto this new Levia. It offered some relief, however slight. And something about it seemed naggingly familiar, but why?
This wasn't Theo's Levia, or his liege's. Yet the harder he reached for it, the more certain he became that he had felt it before. That uncanny stillness, smoother than a frozen lake. So smooth as to be...artificial?
Zenith bolted upright. Pain seared through his limbs, but it was almost lost beneath the amazement pulsing in his chest.
There was no mistaking it. The previous times he'd sensed this Levia, it had existed as little more than a muted note at the edge of Ryan Crowley's overwhelming power. Even so, that was enough for Zenith to remember it.
Avia. And if he wasn't mistaken, she was in the cell right next to him.
Maybe he still had a chance to complete his mission. Gritting his teeth, he turned himself around until he faced the wall. Then he lifted his fist and knocked against it.
"Avia," he called. His voice came out thin and ragged. Swallowing, he tried again. "Avia!"
This time, it sounded loud and clear. Would Avia be able to hear it through the stone wall?
"Avia!" he shouted again. "It's me, Sir Zenith. Are you there?"
The seconds slipped by with no reply, only his rasping breaths. Yet he sensed a ripple passing through that smooth Levia.
So she had noticed him, at least. Heartened, he called her name again, but again there was no reply.
Suddenly it struck him that he had never once heard Avia's voice before. What if she was incapable of talking?
Zenith clenched his teeth. In that case, he would have to try to reach her through his Levia. It would be harder than using his voice, since he would have to struggle against Oliver's smothering power. Nonetheless, if it was his only option....
Just then, a voice drifted through the stones. "Sir...Zenith?"
Zenith's Levia sparked in excitement. "Yes, it's me," he shouted, pressing his face against the wall. "Are you all right?"
"Sir Zenith...," Avia repeated. The wall muffled her voice, but from what Zenith could tell, it sounded like a low contralto with a faint metallic echo. "Why...are you here?"
She spoke slowly and hesitantly, as if she was unused to it. Still, it encouraged Zenith that she had answered him. "I've come with Theo and Ryan to save you."
"Save...me."
"Yes. We're here to break you out along with the other prisoners. I was captured too, but I believe with your help we'll be able to escape this place. Can you tell me what you know?'
"Escape...?" Avia repeated, as if she had never heard the word before.
"We don't have much time." Zenith didn't mean to sound so impatient, but he was exquisitely aware of every second slipping by. "If we work together, we can break out before Oliver returns."
"I don't...understand. Why....?"
Zenith didn't want to admit it, but Avia's confusion was starting to irritate him. The situation couldn't be that difficult to understand, could it? "To get out of here. So you can return to Ryan. Now, hurry."
"But...Oliver is my wizard."
That simple statement struck Zenith like a punch to the chest. "What – what do you mean?"
"Oliver is my wizard." Now Avia sounded a little more confident. "I am...contracted to him."
Never, not once, had Zenith expected to hear this. "It's illegitimate! You didn't choose him, did you? He captured you!"
"He is the one...who holds my contract. Therefore...I serve him."
"That – that – " Zenith sputtered. "But did you want him to? Did you choose him?"
"That is...irrelevant. A familiar...serves their wizard."
"Yes, that's true, but the familiar has to choose a worthy wizard! It means nothing if the wizard takes the familiar by force. If Oliver really is your wizard, why is he holding you in captivity?"
"He is my wizard," Avia said as if that explained everything.
"No, he's your captor!" Zenith could barely choke out words through his rage. "Are you really going to accept this? Did Ryan capture you unwillingly?"
Right after he asked it, he realized he didn't know the answer. Perhaps not too long ago, he would have feared it might be "yes." But after seeing how far Ryan had been willing to go to get Avia back, he could not bring himself to believe it.
A long pause from Avia. When she finally spoke, her voice was so quiet Zenith barely heard it through the stones. "No."
Relief swelled inside Zenith. "Then you know who is your rightful wizard!"
"Oliver holds my contract. He is my wizard."
"How can you say that?" Frustrated, Zenith slammed his fist into the wall. "Do you know how hard Ryan has fought to get you out of here? Even without a familiar, he chose to break into the Enson prison. Now he's been captured! Who can say what kind of danger he's in? Is that really all right with you?"
Again, Avia did not reply immediately. Maybe he was finally breaking through to her – only for all his hopes to flee the next time she spoke.
"Oliver holds my contract. He is my wizard."
This time Zenith slammed both hands against the stones. Pain spiked anew in his muscles, but it was easy enough to ignore beneath his sheer rage and disbelief. Was it truly going to end like this? After coming all this way, after so much struggle?
Perhaps as a fellow homunculus, he understood Avia's impulse to default to her programmed duty. Even so, didn't she have a mind and judgment of her own? Or was she that much of a machine?
If so, she might be impossible to reach. But Zenith couldn't accept it. He had to try, or else everything he and the others had done would be for nothing.
His mind made up, he punched the wall again. "Avia! Is that really all right with you? Is it? Think hard and ask yourself! Is it?"
The raw scream echoed off the walls, ricocheting back and forth. Avia remained as silent as the stones themselves.
Yet he sensed the faintest of flickers from her otherwise still Levia. Though it might mean nothing at all, it gave him a tiny sputter of hope. Even if she refused to answer, she was still listening to his every word.
Which meant he just might have a chance.