Theo had almost forgotten Oliver was there. He whirled around, ready to remind the kid that no one was forcing him to watch. Then again, it wasn't like he could just up and leave the cage.
Despite himself, Theo felt an uncomfortable squirm of guilt when he saw Oliver crouched in front of his parents' drained corpses. But all his sympathy evaporated when Oliver spoke again. "What did you just make me watch? I need a lifetime supply of brain bleach!"
"Look, you – " Theo began, but his logical mind cut him off. Yelling at Oliver, however satisfying, wouldn't help with anything. He could sense Zenith's impatience pulsing through their contract.
Even so, it didn't feel right to leave Oliver here. "Zenith?" he asked.
Zenith tilted his head. "Yes?"
Theo tried to gather his racing thoughts. "Can you – without a spell – cut these bars? It's okay if you can't, just – "
Zenith nodded, his Levia sparking in understanding. "Get back," he said, lifting his sword.
Theo did so. Once he was out of the way, Zenith gave the sword a mighty swing.
"HEY!" Oliver screamed, throwing his hands over his head. With a screech of metal and a flash of sparks, the sword sliced the cage bars open.
Blinking, Oliver peered out like an owl. "Hey...what…."
"You're free to go," Theo said. "I, I don't know if you can get back to Earth from here, but...and I'm sorry about your parents, but…."
He trailed off, realizing just how inadequate this must be. But he couldn't do anything more.
Oliver just stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language. 'Oh well,' Theo thought, turning back toward Zenith. Couldn't waste any more time.
Zenith nodded at him before plunging forward. Kicking his legs, Theo followed.
Only for Oliver to shout, "Wait!"
Theo glanced over his shoulder. Oliver was still kneeling inside the cage, but now his gaze was sharp and alert.
"Uh...just...um...thanks. That's all." His face flushing, Oliver turned away.
Never in a million years could Theo have imagined Oliver Enson sincerely thanking him for anything. Once again Victor's thanks echoed in his ear, soft and mocking. The difference was Oliver actually meant it.
So Theo replied the only way he could. "You're welcome."
With that, he turned around. Zenith started through the Liminal again, and Theo hurried after him.
~*~
Oh, how sweet success tasted.
It was a taste with which Mirage had unfortunately rather fallen out of acquaintance. So who could blame him for savoring in it now?
The crystal gleamed in his hand. Beside him, Victor had the unconscious prince draped over his back. Greisen and his soldiers had been defeated, and the prince's groupies were exhausted. As for Oliver – well, he'd done his part once the time-delayed illusion had activated, breaking the enthrallment on him and thus preventing Greisen from opening the portal.
Now nothing stood in Mirage's way.
As they headed deeper into the Liminal, the flotsam from the museum thinned out until only the occasional rock or bone remained. Conversely, the colors of the Liminal became richer and brighter.
Something began throbbing in the core of Mirage's being, beyond blood and bone and muscle. Less like a heartbeat, and more like a deep, satisfying resonance.
He hadn't felt this in almost two years. While he certainly enjoyed the life he'd built for himself on Earth, he had to admit...he had missed this.
The Liminal didn't last forever. Soon, they would reach Tielos.
Mirage couldn't help it; a laugh tore from his throat, high and wild. Victor cast him a slightly alarmed look.
Mirage smirked in response, and with a sigh Victor faced forward again. Mirage took the opportunity to briefly survey his wizard. An ugly gash crossed the front of his armor, but otherwise he seemed in excellent condition. His Levia pulsed strong and steady through their contract, and his face was blank as ever.
Nonetheless, Mirage couldn't resist prodding him a little. "Are you having second thoughts? Regretting betraying your precious little brother?"
To his disappointment, Victor's expression didn't change. Not even an eyebrow twitched. "No, Captain. I already knew what the plan would involve."
"Of course." Mirage snorted, giving the crystal an idle flick. "So what do you think this thing is?"
Victor blinked, which Mirage counted as a victory. "The doctor called it a shard of the Star of Miriel."
"Miriel, hm." Mirage twirled the crystal between his fingers. "As in the seraphim princess who defeated the Demon Prince."
"Yes, I assume it's that Miriel."
As if Mirage had been asking a question. But he was in too good of a mood to feel very annoyed at Victor.
What this crystal had to do with Princess Miriel, Mirage hadn't the faintest idea. No doubt it was something very important indeed. After all, Greisen had set up this entire trap just to get his hands on it. If Mirage presented both it and the prince to the Infernal Lord….
A delighted shiver rippled down his spine. Some part of him almost wished the groupies had left Greisen alive, if only so Mirage could rub it in his face just how thoroughly defeated he'd been by a mere 'whore.'
Suddenly Mirage sensed alarm spiking through Victor's Levia. That was all the warning he got before something heavy tackled into him.
Indignant, Mirage writhed, but couldn't escape Victor's hold. Then green light streaked above their heads, so close its power singed the ends of Mirage's hair.
Finally Victor let go, floating back upward with his sword drawn. Gasping for breath, Mirage kicked his legs to straighten himself out.
Well, well. Seemed their pursuers had caught up.
Avia lifted her bow, already aiming a new arrow. Not far behind her came Lodo and Ryllis, both aglow with strengthening spells.
As they charged, Victor unslung Darian from his back and hurled her at Mirage. Startled, Mirage managed to grab her just in time, but the impact knocked him a few meters back.
"What are you – " he shouted.
Victor didn't look back at him. "Hide with your invisibility. I'll take care of them."
Who did he think he was, giving Mirage orders? But, well, Mirage did see the sense in his words. He'd fight better if he didn't have to haul around the prince.
Mirage pulled Darian closer. With her eyes shut, she seemed peacefully asleep – if you ignored the blood staining her right arm, anyway. It didn't take much effort for Mirage to reach for his Levia and use it to cloak them both.
Invisibility was the simplest of his powers, after all. The first he'd discovered during those long, idle days he'd spent dreading the coming night, fervently wishing that he could somehow hide from those eyes piercing his body….
'Focus, dammit.' Disgusted with himself, Mirage shook his head to clear it.
With a crackle of Levia, Avia fired her arrow. Mirage instinctively ducked, though it hadn't been aimed anywhere near him – seemed the invisibility was working. Victor dodged as well, but the arrow swerved around and raced back toward him in a brilliant green streak.
"Ha! Suck on that!" Ryan yelled.
Unperturbed, Victor faced it head-on and lifted his sword. Purple flames swirled as he slashed it down and sliced through arrow.
Levia exploded in green sparks, flashing through the Liminal like fireworks. Though he'd destroyed the arrow, the force of the attack sent Victor sailing backward. Ryllis and Lodo erupted from the smoke, diving toward Victor.
With rapid swipes of his sword, Victor parried Lodo's claws and Ryllis' spear. Metal clanged, sparks flashed. Mirage could barely follow his movements, but that didn't matter. Because through their contract, he sensed Victor's Levia darkening like storm clouds covering the sky.
It had been a long time since Victor had cast such a powerful spell. He truly was serious about ending this.
Savage delight tore through Mirage when a diagram erupted beneath Victor. Its purple glow almost blinded him, but squinting hard, he made out sinuous lines that formed a shape reminiscent of a dragon….
Victor's Levia crested like a tsunami, crushing the breath from Mirage's lungs. Then darkness engulfed his sword – pure black, but flickering with purple flames at the edges. As it grew, its outlines swirled and stretched until it transformed from a shapeless mass into the silhouette of a massive dragon.
Mirage had never seen this spell before, but he instantly knew what it must be. Victor was calling on the spirit of the dragon from whose scales his armor had been forged.
Victor gave his sword a mighty swing. The shadow dragon unfurled its wings, blotting out the Liminal as if a sudden night had fallen.
Ryllis and Lodo braced, shield spells ready. But the dragon tore through the shields with contemptuous ease, snuffing them out like candle flames. Screams filled the air as darkness swallowed both familiars.
The dragon wasn't done. As Victor's Levia flashed around it like purple lightning, it surged toward Avia.
A shield spell flashed in front of her, but it sputtered into nothing before the dragon's might. A gong-like clang reverberated through the Liminal as several tons of pure darkness slammed into Avia's armor.
For a moment darkness swallowed Mirage's vision, as if the Liminal had transformed into an Infernal Legion arena. Then slowly the darkness retreated, once more shrinking into the shape of a dragon. It returned to Victor's side, where it loomed above the wizard like a guardian.
Three figures drifted in front of him, limp as rag dolls.
Screams pierced the deafening silence. Sam and Jin hurtled toward Ryllis, grabbing her arms, and Meg came fast after them to reach Lodo. Meanwhile Ryan floated above Avia as if frozen himself, his face bloodless.
It took all of Mirage's self-control to crush the laugh bubbling inside him. If he let it out, it might never stop. He'd laugh and laugh until nothing remained of his body except pure, glittering triumph.
How long had it been since he'd felt this? Perhaps that day all those years ago when he had finally escaped his old prison, when Spider Lily had died and Mirage had been born….
Movement in his arms. A rustling sound. Alarmed, Mirage looked down at Prince Darian.
Just in time for her fist to slam into his face.