Taking Stock

"Theo! Theo, open your eyes!"

"Victor, come on! Wake the hell up!"

The shouting voices struck Theo like blows to the head, pummeling his brain into mush. How he longed to tell them to stop, but he couldn't seem to move his throat.

Still, beneath the voices he was starting to become aware of other sensations. Gone was the peace and contentment he had felt while speaking to Mom. Instead, a deep ache gripped his muscles and an unforgivingly hard floor pressed against his back.

He heard a familiar creak of armor, followed by a low grunt. Then strong hands gripped his waist and shoulder, helping him sit upright. The sudden change in position left him dizzy, but he sucked in desperate breaths, trying to calm himself down.

"Theo." It helped when Victor spoke into his ear, low and calm as ever. "Are you okay?"

"I...." Theo's voice came out hoarse and cracked, but at least he was able to speak. "I...I am, I think."

Bracing himself, he cracked his eyes open. For a brief moment the world spun around him, a blur of black and white, before resolving into details. Victor was crouching in front of him, his armor stark against the marble floor. His hair hung lank over his face and sweat beaded his brow, but his gaze was firm.

His hands slipped away; Theo swayed, but managed to stay upright. The same couldn't be said for Victor. The instant he let go of Theo, a pink blur barreled into him so hard he fell onto his rear.

"You – don't ever do that again!" Mirage sputtered, pounding on Victor's chest. "You had me so worried, did you know?"

"Sorry, Mirage," Victor said, a faint smile lifting the corner of his lips as he ran his fingers through Mirage's hair. Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Theo tore his eyes away.

His gaze landed on Darian, who leaned down in front of him with her hands on her knees. "Can you tell us what happened?" she asked.

"Uh, what happened to us?"

Darian quirked an eyebrow, but gamely answered. "You both just suddenly collapsed. Like you'd fallen unconscious."

"You were glowing, too," Mirage called over Victor's shoulder. "It was more than a little creepy, if you ask me."

"Ah, sorry...." Theo pressed his fingertips to his forehead. "Well, basically, we kind of spoke to our mom."

"You what?" Darian blinked hard.

"I don't know, we went to this weird place, like a cosmos, kind of like, you know, the Star of Miriel's Levia. She spoke to us there."

"Your mom – was she that...thing...that appeared out of your body? And attacked Astraeon?"

"That was the power she entrusted to me. It's a long story, but I have her Levia inside me. Uh, her name is Sarieva. She was a seraphim who went to Earth a long time ago and taught humans how to use wizardry."

"Wait. Hold on." Darian backed off, her face paling. "So is that how humans know wizardry? Just how old is your mom?"

"She lived before the Rending," Victor said, his tone almost academic. "So at least that old."

"Really, now?" Mirage leaned into Victor's face, studying it like it hid all the secrets of the universe. Victor being Victor, he stared stoically back – though he started a little when Mirage tugged on his ears. "Then does that mean you're half-seraphim?"

Half-seraphim. When talking to Mom, Theo hadn't yet faced the full implications of her words, but now they struck him like a brick to the chest.

So he wasn't a wizard after all – a human. Ice trickled through his veins, leaving him hollow and cold. Then everything – his wizardry, his contract with Zenith – what did that even mean for him?

Darian's voice seemed to drift from far way, but compelled every atom of his attention. "I see. So when you grew wings, Theo, that didn't mean you had come into your power. It's more that you were displaying your true heritage."

Theo stared at her in numb astonishment, his chest tight. He supposed that must be the case, but if so, why hadn't Darian ever grown wings? After all, she had much more seraphim in her blood than him. Victor, too, had never grown wings as far as he knew.

Maybe it had to do with the power Mom had left him alone. Her legacy.

"Hmph, I'm certain your wings must be the most stunning of all. You're only keeping them in reserve because none are fit to behold their splendor," Mirage was saying, patting Victor's shoulders.

"Mirage...," Victor sighed, a familiar exasperation softening his voice. It made Theo almost want to crack a smile.

Darian's sharp clap echoed through the chamber, making him jump. She stood firmly upright, shoulders straight and head lifted. "All right. We've gotten some answers, but that doesn't change the basic situation. We need to figure out where we are and what to do from here, and fast."

"Right," Theo said quickly, stumbling to his feet. His muscles still felt a little weak, but he could at least support his own weight.

His gaze landed on the tall windows across the room – or rather at the hole gaping in the centermost one, cracked glass radiating outward from it like a spiderweb. The sky beyond gave no clues; it was a pure, featureless blue.

"We entered this place through the mirror on General Grave's craft," Mirage said as he helped Victor to his feet, then coughed out a short laugh. "I highly doubt we're still aboard, of course."

"If...if Astraeon was here," Victor said, slow and careful as if turning over a new idea in his mind, "does that mean this is a Fortress?"

Theo gasped, and he wasn't the only one; Darian and Mirage tensed as well. His mind whirling, Theo glanced around the empty chamber. He hadn't considered the possibility, but it wasn't like he'd gotten a chance to really take stock of their surroundings until now.

"I...is it really that easy?" Darian said skeptically, rubbing her chin. "I thought only those who had come into their power were allowed entrance into a Fortress. It isn't just some snooty gatekeeping rule, more like a law of nature."

Then she shook her head, snorting slightly. "Well. I've learned that a lot of what I always believed was completely wrong. Emperor Astraeon...my father...the Infernal Lord. All one and the same."

She huffed a bitter laugh, the sound lancing through Theo's guts. Not that he could blame her. He still hadn't wrapped his mind around everything he had learned, and a part of him didn't even want to. How could a seraphim pretend to be a demon in the first place? And why?

There was no use wondering right now, though. Instead, Theo closed his eyes and concentrated on his Levia. To his relief, all he sensed was his own gentle dawn glow, not a trace of Mom's white-hot power.

Then he reached beyond the light, flinging out his senses as far as they could go. What he was searching for, he didn't know. Just something, anything – the slightest clue about where they might be.

At first, nothing. All he felt was his own racing heartbeat, the dawn light cycling through his body. But then, gradually, he became aware of something else at the very edge of his consciousness. Deep and resonant, thrumming within the solid walls and floor. It was so subtle he'd never have found it if he weren't actively searching, but as he concentrated it became clearer and sharper.

The power began to throb inside his own bones, aching in his chest. It almost felt like early afternoon light, rich and golden, and coated the inside of his throat like cloying honey.

His heart lurched. Just like that, his concentration snapped, but it didn't matter. He'd sensed more than enough.

"You guys," he said, struggling to push out words through his dread. "This place – I know what it is."

Instantly the others spun his direction, wearing identical astonished expressions. "What do you mean?" Darian demanded.

"This Levia, I've sensed it before." He could barely hear his own voice beneath the blood pounding in his head. "It's...Cyrias's."

Darian's eyes widened and her face turned chalk-white. "You mean – "

Just then, a door slid open on the opposite wall. Something drifted into the chamber, looking for all the world like a jellyfish the size of a man's torso, its bell glowing a soft, crystalline blue. It froze in place, staring at Theo and the others with eyes like pink glass beads. They stared back in mutual incredulity.

Then the creature whirled around and zipped out the door, tentacles streaking after it.

"Intruders!" it shrieked.