Taking a deep breath, Theo knocked on the door.
No reply. Sweat prickled the back of Theo's neck as he wondered if he had the right place after all. According to the schematic of the Blue Sky's interior he'd picked up earlier, this should be Nevy's workshop.
He knocked again, but just to be sure he dug into his pockets for the schematic. Before he could grab it, a familiar high voice came from behind the door. "Come on in."
Theo's heart leaped into his throat. Quick as he could, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
He found himself in a space that might've been as big as the galley, but seemed a lot smaller thanks to the tables, workbenches, tools, and contraptions scattered about. His eyes skimmed over them – here a mechanical bird with rubies for eyes, there what looked like a smartphone with a distressing amount of wires stuck into it – until they landed on the large table at the back of the room.
A jade-green golem stood in front of it, and sitting atop it was a youth with long blond hair.
"Zenith!" As fast as he could, Theo hurried over. Easier said than done with all the stuff blocking his way.
And before he could make it there, Nevy stepped in front of him. "Oh, dear. Theo? Pardon, I thought it was Prince Darian. Shouldn't you be resting?"
"I feel fine," Theo said impatiently. He'd woken up earlier today, a little sore but otherwise well-rested. Even so, Lodo had flat-out forbidden him from going out to help the others with the repairs to the Blue Sky.
Not that Theo minded. He had something a lot more urgent to take care of.
"Theo." Zenith blinked at him. Even in the dim workshop, his eyes were bright as the sky outside. "Nevy is right. You used nearly all of your Levia; you can't have fully recovered yet."
"I'm fine, I said! Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself?"
Finally, Theo reached the table. Nevy stepped aside to make room for him, and Theo took the chance to grab Zenith's hands. Relief crashed through him when he felt the smooth, warm skin beneath his fingers.
Hold on a minute. Only now did he realize Zenith wore nothing but a pair of pants, not a piece of armor in sight. Heat bloomed in Theo's face, and he would've let go if Zenith hadn't chosen that moment to wrap his fingers tight around Theo's.
"Um, uh," Theo stammered. "Where's your armor?"
"It's in the crystal right now." Zenith nodded at Nevy, who held up a diamond-shaped blue crystal just like the ones that decorated his armor. Levia glowed in its core, faint but steady.
"The armor is a part of my body, but I can remove it if necessary," Zenith explained.
"I see," Theo said, feeling like an idiot. Before he could stop himself, his eyes drifted over to Zenith's shirtless torso.
'What the hell are you looking at – ' but all thoughts fled when he saw the scar in the center of Zenith's chest. It was pale and silvery, almost blending in with the equally pale skin, but its jagged edges stood out in stark relief.
Theo gulped. "That looks like it hurts."
"It's the best I can do with the Levia welder," Nevy piped up behind him. "Over time his healing mechanisms will ensure it fades, though some Levia from his wizard wouldn't hurt either."
Upon hearing that, a crazy part of Theo wanted to jump onto the table and start making out with Zenith this instant. Thankfully, he managed to shove the urge aside.
"Really," Nevy sighed. "It's been quite some time since I've had to conduct such extensive repairs. You've been doing so well since coming back from Earth, Sir Zenith!"
"Doing so well?" Theo whirled toward her. "What do you mean?"
"Well...." Nevy scratched at her head. "Let's just say Sir Zenith has a tendency to fight recklessly. While the Prince and I can repair most damage, I do wish he'd think a little more about the workload it causes me."
"It is for the sake of protecting my liege," Zenith said, serious as ever, before his gaze flickered over to Theo. "And my wizard. What happens to my body hardly matters compared to your safety."
Theo stared back at Zenith, his heart slamming against his ribcage. Before he could stop himself, he squeezed Zenith's hands tight.
Zenith blinked, looking faintly alarmed, but Theo forced himself to speak. "Zenith, please. I don't want to see you fight like that again. You – you could've gotten seriously hurt."
Though it was the last thing he wanted, the memories tumbled through his head again. The sword piercing Zenith's chest, crackling with white lightning. Zenith gasping for breath on his knees, barely able to climb a flight of stairs.
"That is true." Zenith's calm voice scattered Theo's whirling thoughts. "If I break down, I would be unable to fulfill my duties. Yes, I will take more care in the future. Forgive me, Theo."
"That's not it!" Theo yelled. When his voice echoed around the workshop, his insides twisted in embarrassment, but he couldn't well take it back.
For the first time, Zenith seemed startled. His fingers twitched beneath Theo's, but that only made Theo clamp down tighter.
"That's not it," Theo said again, quieter. "Your life has its own value, okay? If anything happened to you, I...I'd be sad."
'Real smooth, dumbass,' he berated himself, but he couldn't think of a more eloquent way to put it. Especially not with his heartbeat throbbing so violently in his ears.
It didn't help when Zenith blinked down at him, looking so confused Theo wanted to sink through the floor and die. But his heart jolted when a smile settled across Zenith's face.
"I understand, Theo. I don't want to make you sad."
Theo sighed in relief, though some part of him couldn't help but think Zenith still didn't get it.
"There we go!" Nevy chose that moment to pipe up, rather ruining the moment. "That wasn't so hard, was it, Sir? Now Theo, you should get going. I'm still not done with my repairs."
"You aren't? Then when?" Theo blurted.
"Perhaps by tonight. I'll have to put Sir Zenith in sleep mode to thoroughly assess his systems. So if you'd let me...."
"Right." Though he felt a little reluctant, Theo let go of Zenith's hands. At least their warmth lingered on his skin. He nodded at Zenith, who nodded back, before heading out of the workshop.
~*~
I am drifting through darkness.
It confuses me. Why can I see nothing? Or feel my body? All I am certain of is the Levia in my core, its light weak but steady.
Some dim part of me realizes I should not even be conscious. The last thing I remember is putting myself into sleep mode.
Yet I am here, in this endless darkness.
With nothing else to do, I think of Theo's words. 'Your life has its own value.' And from even earlier, the things he told me after his song. 'Isn't there anything you want for yourself?'
Strange, confusing words. Words that make no sense, yet reverberate inside my core the way no words have before. Not even my liege's orders.
"What is it that you want, I wonder?"
Faint as it is, the voice strikes like a lightning bolt. A voice I have never heard before.
Up ahead, a pinprick of light gleams in the darkness. As I drift closer, the light grows larger and begins to take on a discernable shape. A person, it seems, with six wings spread behind him....
"What do you want, Sir Zenith?" the person asks again.
His voice, the voice I have never heard before, trembles through my core. It compels my attention. Not in the same way as Theo's or my liege's, but – but something deeper. Older. Beyond the crevices of memory....
I answer the same as I did to Theo. "To fight for my liege."
The man chuckles, a soft sound like fluttering feathers. "Is that what you really want?"
Theo doubted my words as well. Why? When it is my liege's Levia that animates me, her mission that gives me purpose.... I should need nothing else.
Another chuckle. Quiet as it may be, it digs at my very soul.
"Isn't there something more, dear boy? Think. Before you became a wizard's familiar, before you even met your liege."
'Nothing,' I want to say. Until my liege, I had nothing.
"Not even me?" The voice lowers to a whisper, soft and cajoling. "Even if you've forgotten, I have never forgotten you. My dearest creation....
Don't you want to come home?"