No Looking Back

For the first time, Victor whirled around. The shock on his face sent a fleeting jolt of triumph through Mirage, though he barely felt it beneath the Infernal Lord's crushing Levia.

"What...what did you say?"

"You heard me," Mirage snapped, stepping closer to Victor. "I'm coming with you."

Victor drew in a breath. "You don't need to – "

"Of course I do." Mirage lifted his head, gazing Victor in the eye. "Did you forget the promise you made? I can't have you breaking it on me yet."

A tiny sound escaped Victor's throat, like a gasp cut short. His eye widened. Then he sighed and relaxed his shoulders, and Mirage's heart skipped a beat when he saw the slight upward quirk to his lips. It was the closest he'd ever seen to a smile from Victor.

That settled it for Mirage – he had indeed made the correct decision. At any rate, he couldn't waste any more time worrying about it.

He took another step forward, closing the distance between them, and reached for Victor's hand. Their fingers intertwined across the crystal in Victor's grip, the cool Levia within it beating against Mirage's palm. Closing his eyes, he sent a stream of his Levia across their contract.

Victor started when the rose petals brushed his dark flames, but thankfully didn't let go. His Levia swelled, almost overwhelming even the Infernal Lord's, and the next thing Mirage knew the weight of the crystal vanished from his hands. Instead, his fingers pressed against cold hard armor.

Though he already knew what he would see, an indescribable emotion welled in his chest when he opened his eyes. How long had it been since Victor had worn his armor? Even with that damn eyepatch, he cut so imposing a silhouette Mirage couldn't imagine anything standing in his way.

It was just an illusion, of course. Though they might not be directly confronting the Infernal Lord, he would no doubt do everything he could to stop them through the mirror. And there was no way Hellebore would take their betrayal sitting down....

Mirage swallowed down a wave of nausea. Betrayal. Yes, that was what he was about to do. Betray the Infernal Legion, turn his back on his last hope to gain power.

But what kind of power had he ever held? A fragile little thing, dangled like a toy by his superiors only to get yanked away the next moment. Even as a captain, he'd hardly commanded the respect of his subordinates. And it had never been able to protect him from the Infernal Lord's wrath.

In the end, his own body didn't belong to him. How was it any different from being Ulrich's slave?

Victor's voice rose in his memory. 'What has the Infernal Legion ever done for you besides cause you pain and suffering?' And even earlier, a simple, 'I promise.' Those words resounded in his soul in a way the Infernal Lord's orders and Ulrich's sweet-nothings never could.

They were words he could believe in. More than that, he chose to believe in them.

"Mirage." The sound of his name jolted down his spine. Blinking, he saw Victor gazing at him.

Heat flooded Mirage's face. Hadn't he just told himself not to second-guess his decision? Clearing his throat, he straightened his back and said in as business-like a tone as he could manage, "Let's go."

Victor nodded, then set off down the hall. Mirage crept after him, focusing on his Levia to ensure the invisibility was holding up. So far, so good.

Soon they came within inches of the guard, who still hadn't noticed them. One swipe with the flat of Victor's blade sent him tumbling to the floor.

That was the easy part. As Victor stepped back and lifted his sword, his Levia spiked. Mirage clenched his teeth, concentrating on his own power. Though he had no illusions the invisibility would hold for long, he could at least try to buy them a little time.

His sword aglow with purple flames, Victor slashed at the door. The clang of metal on metal echoed through the corridor, and Mirage's heart jumped into his throat when the door split clean in half.

As the two halves bowed inward, the Infernal Lord's Levia rushed out like an avalanche. It swallowed Mirage's vision, drowning his world in darkness, and crushed the breath from his lungs.

It was too much – he couldn't find his way –

Out of the darkness, a spark of purple light. It was dim, but Mirage lunged toward it like a lifeline. The next thing he knew, his fingers closed around an armored hand. Victor's fingers curled around his own, squeezing tight.

The Infernal Lord's darkness didn't retreat, but its pressure eased a fraction. Just enough for Mirage to breathe a little easier.

Blinking hard, he managed to make out his surroundings. A small chamber dominated by a round mirror, inside which loomed a shadowy silhouette. Despite himself, a cold wave of fear wrenched through Mirage's gut.

But he squeezed Victor's hand tighter and forced himself to focus on what lay in front of the mirror: a boy curled up in fetal position. To Mirage's surprise, pink light glowed around him like a fragile cocoon. Though faint and flickering, it didn't give way beneath the darkness.

That wasn't all. Lying next to the boy was a staff tipped with a dark blue crystal, a pink star twinkling in its core. The sight made Mirage's heart flip.

Inside his cocoon, the boy trembled. Mirage heard Victor breathe in sharply, then his wizard stepped forward.

The darkness deepened, almost driving Mirage to his knees. At the same time, he sensed a subtle shift from the shadow in the mirror.

It had noticed him and Victor.

As the full brunt of the Infernal Lord's power poured over him, Mirage clenched his teeth and dug his heels into the floor. His rose petals scattered to nothing, overwhelmed by the tide of darkness, but he refused to give in. Even if every instinct was screaming at him to kneel down and beg for forgiveness, beg for a chance of survival –

He was tired of living like that. Cowering at the feet of the strong, clinging to the scraps they deigned to toss his way.

If he had been alone, he might have succumbed. But he wasn't. As long as their hands were connected, he knew Victor was here with him.

Still, his resolve shuddered when the Infernal Lord spoke. "Lieutenant Mirage."

The voice, slow and deep, rippled through Mirage's body. Everywhere it touched, it left ice in its wake. For a horrified moment, the tentacles were wrapped around his limbs again, hauling him high in the air before a cackling audience....

No. That wasn't real, he told himself as he dug his nails into the grooves of Victor's armor. This was. Victor beside him, and the promise he had made.

"What do you think you're doing?" The question rumbled with a threat, but Mirage was better prepared to face it now. It helped when Victor began gathering his Levia, the purple flames smoldering beneath the all-encompassing darkness.

Mirage needed to help him. He clenched his teeth, reaching for the rose petals swirling inside him. Though they felt distant, their scent faded to almost nothing, he managed to snatch a handful. These he directed across the contract, even if forcing them past the Infernal Lord's power felt like pushing a sled uphill.

It wasn't much, but it was the best he could give. In the meantime, he made his move. He lunged forward and grabbed for the staff on the floor.

The instant his hand closed around the staff, a jolt shuddered through Mirage's Levia. Though it remained weak as ever, he somehow felt it was just the slightest bit closer to his reach.

"Lieutenant! Explain yourself!" the Infernal Lord barked.

Gathering every ounce of his courage, Mirage gazed into the mirror. "If you'll excuse me, my Lord," he said quietly, "but it seems I've misplaced something."

Right on time, Victor picked up Theo and slung him over a shoulder. The cocoon shattered into glowing shards, but the light inside the Star pulsed as strong as ever.

The Infernal Lord's Levia exploded, slamming into Mirage like a tsunami. He almost flew off his feet, but Victor tugged on his arm and managed to pull him back upright. Still, he didn't know how much longer either of them could withstand this assault. And when Mirage saw black tentacles unfurl from within the mirror, horror tightened his throat.

"So you truly mean to betray me?" the Infernal Lord raged, each word striking Mirage's chest like an iron fist. "All for the sake of a human? Are there no depths to which you will not sink, you filthy little whore?"

Victor maneuvered in front of Mirage. "You never understood," he said, his voice quiet as ever but girded with steel. "You've never seen his true strength."

Surprise wiped Mirage's mind blank. But he didn't have time to process it before the tentacles burst from the mirror like a swarm of hissing snakes.

Victor's Levia surged and a shield diagram flashed before him. The impact of the tentacles shattered it to pieces and drove him and Mirage back, but that brought them closer to the entrance. As the tentacles flailed, Victor hurled them both out the broken door.

Gasping for breath, they took off down the corridor. Mirage's heartbeat roared in his ears, but he didn't look back once.