I meditated as a demon shrieked in the distance.

Constantly repeating 'patience' to myself did little to ease the pounding of my heart. At least the white and silver orbs floating in the back of my mind appeared to be near full strength; that knowledge helped ease some of my worries, but with no idea what the future held, it seemed best to err on the side of caution.

In one way or another I had been preparing for this moment ever since I was first trapped within Amelie in Yellow. Before that, even, from the beginning, when the Magisters burned down my family manor and started this chain of events. Everything I had been through led to this moment. I knew something was coming, and when that happened, I could not falter.

Focusing my awareness on the silver orb revealed three hours, fifty-six minutes, and seven seconds worth of time magic if used purely for reversal. Without experimenting, I had no inkling of how much of a drain it would be to slow time. Either way, it would have to be enough.

Fifteen minutes after I woke up, the guards stomped into my room. Their halberds gleamed wickedly in their hands.

"You're coming with us," said one of them.

I kept my face blank. "Where are we going?"

"Underground," said the guard. "It's not safe here. In the dungeons, we can keep you all together under the Archon's protection."

"I don't like the sound of that screaming," I said, remaining in the lotus position. "Seems like you're rounding us up for a slaughter if the palace ends up falling."

The second guard felt left out of our conversation. "You don't have a choice here. Get up and come on."

"There's always a choice."

Still, I complied, curious what would come next. For a maximum of fifteen minutes I would indulge them. No matter how I made my escape, the guards were the first obstacle. Best to see what openings they left me.

"Creepy kid," the second guard whispered to his companion.

They went so far as to bind my hands with rope. One in front, the other behind, they led me towards the staircase. Brave of them to only send two people to escort Barrow's murderer to the dungeons. They were in the heart of their power, but it seemed strange regardless.

My magical awareness billowed throughout the area, searching every nook and cranny within a ten foot radius. Now that the Archon had left the area I could at least experiment with my powers.

Both of the guards both gave off a weak grey aura---at least, weak compared to the likes of the Captain. Normal men would not possess such auras. Either they were some of Vasely's Echoes in disguise or they were outfitted with divine protection. If it was the former, I was going to have some problems. Two of them, and clever enough to disguise their power until now.

Stairs took us down into the dungeons below the palace. At the entrance, another pair of men in full plate stood at attention in front of a double-locked door. Iron chains around the guards' neck bore keys as pendants. After noticing my escort, the men guarding the dungeons grabbed the keys from around their necks and plunged them into their respective holes. The metal-banded door slid open without a sound. We descended, torches throwing wild shadows along the walls.

Behind us, the door slammed.

The stairs descended several floors deeper, but they intended to keep the prisoners on the first floor. Figures wandered through the communal cage, large enough to house a hundred prisoners. Separate cells in the back housed several men presumably barred from socializing. The guards shoved me into the communal cage and took up posts outside.

Around twenty others occupied the space as well. The closest, a man and a woman, were fellow prisoners from the tesseract. We had never spoken, but when I saw them I felt a sense of kinship. They, too, had suffered through this farce---in fact, their incarceration within Amelie in Yellow was far longer than mine.

The man nodded; the woman watched me with suspicious eyes.

I did not intend to stay here long, but I was curious about something. Over the past week I had often thought about that encounter with Jokul on the first day. Mostly because of how infuriating his little smile and nod was, but I was interested in why he had been posted at that specific room, like a common guard. I had my suspicions, and the worst of them was confirmed once I looked into the separate cells in the back.

One of them held Felix. Part of me hoped that my friend would have escaped, but his presence here was inevitable. He was no more likely to escape this hell than I was. My friend looked resigned after he noticed me; he must have shared my thoughts.

The Champion stood outside the cell, frowning. It must have chafed him, watching over a prisoner while his master fought in whatever battle was occurring in the city. When he saw me, his expression shifted to one of predatory amusement. His hand rested on the pommel of his guard. A taunt.

A knot formed in my throat.

Avoid at all costs.

Was this me, then? A boy without pride, without confidence, a passive observer watching others strive towards greatness. Bestowed with the power of a god and using it to run every chance he had. A god, refusing to believe he was anything but mortal. Part of me shied away from this thought. Arrogant, dangerous. I was no one special, only lucky, an aberration.

What is it that separates a man from a beast? A man from a god? How had the Archons convinced the world they were not simply powerful mortals blessed with longevity? They had the spark of the divine, ineffable, displayed with such pride that just doubting them invited retribution. They were not good in the way society tells us that we should be good: kind, lawful, humble. Yet our society deified them in a way no good man would ever experience. No one questioned them because they allowed no questions. Most of all, they never questioned themselves.

Deep down I believed I was nothing. A void. Witnessed by others and promptly forgotten. But that was not quite the truth. The void is much more, just like time is more than the passage of seconds.

"Felix!" I called out. "If I came to your room earlier, how would I get you to fight the Champion with me?"

Jokul's head swiveled towards my friend in disbelief.

A few seconds passed before Felix's voice drifted back. "I'm always ready. Just say the word."

My time here was up.

I reversed time thirty minutes, back to when I first woke up to the demon's shrieks.

That would have to be long enough to meet up with Felix before they attempted to move us to the dungeons. Otherwise I would have to find a way to retrieve him from his cell in the dungeon, with an unknown number of other guards in the area.

This time, instead of waiting for the guards, I would bring them to me.

Instead of waiting for the guards in the lotus position, I took position next to the door, spread flat against the wall. Once I was ready, I began to scream as loud as I could. At the same time, I closed my eyes and focused.

Water droplets, falling steadily against a placid lake. One a second. And now, half speed.

The guards burst into the room. Their moment of confusion as they looked around for me offered the perfect opening.

At first there was no immediate difference. Only when I focused on my breathing did the truth become evident. Everything around me was slowed to around half. My body itself did not move faster, but my attention sharpened, and I could move with more grace despite stretching my body to the limit. Not to mention how obvious my opponent's movements would become.

I emerged from my hiding spot, pressed against the wall to the left of the door, and leapt into the air. With all my might I kicked outward with both legs, intending to knock the closest guard into his companion. My first try was slightly off, my feet slipping off his pauldron and barely forcing him to stumble. Even with the time dilation, the perfect connection was difficult.

On the third try I landed a respectable blow against his shoulder and upper arm. Pain tore through my legs from the impact. I managed to twist and land in an awkward crouch.

With time slowed it was almost comical to watch them stumble into each other. In his surprise, the closest guard fumbled his halberd. It clattered to the floor between us. I was faster, scooping the weapon up. I visualized the perfect movement, using the haft to sweep his feet completely out from underneath him. My body followed an instant later. The jolt of connection was almost as satisfying as the sight of the bastard toppling to the ground.

Terrible fighters. Avarus would have drilled such awful habits out of them in the first month. That made it more likely they were Echoes in disguise instead of trained guards. Before the guard even hit the ground, I lashed out with a wave of the void, wiping out all traces of their weak auras. When the guard finally landed in a cacophony of metal, the haft of his halberd followed right behind, crunching directly into the center of his forehead.

Not a fatal blow, probably. No time to consider it. The other man recovered from the shock of his power being nullified. For a moment he looked like he wanted to run. I may have let him if he tried. Already a small jolt of pain shot through my mind as the time dilation drained my power away.

Our engagement was brief but fierce. The halberd was an unfamiliar weapon but I was able to press him against the wall. He managed to land a counterattack along my left arm, steel grating against bone.

Gritting my teeth, I reversed time. That pain was nothing compared to Zephyr's poison.

On the second attempt I deflected the blow properly. His desperate counter left him wide open. Instead of attacking with the halberd, I leaned back slightly and kicked out in front of me, driving my heel through the open front of his helmet. Blood sprayed. The back of his head smashed into the wall and he crumpled in a heap.

I released the time dilation. The disorientation of returning to normal made me feel nauseated. Shaking my head, I looked at the two unconscious men. Leaving the two of them behind seemed like a mistake, but killing them was a bold declaration. Vasely was an Archon, after all, and it seemed I had not made a complete enemy of him yet.

I committed their faces to memory and snuck away, halberd at the ready. No other guards manned this floor. The entire area looked deserted. It made sense to separate me from the others, particularly Felix. But that would not stop me in the end from reuniting with my friend.

Judging from where I saw Jokul before, my friend's room was a couple floors below mine. My first instinct was to head towards him immediately. But we could not confront the Champion without proper weapons. Instead I wandered through the corridors for a while, searching for anyone who looked like they belonged.

Most people had evacuated this area by now. Likely they had more warning than I did, a sleeping prisoner only roused by a demon's shrieks. It took a couple minutes of searching to find an old man in expensive robes hurrying down one of the corridors. He fled at the sight of me but I caught up easily.

"Who are you?" I said.

"Just an old servant," he said. "Ecurus is my name. Please, I am just trying to leave."

"How familiar are you with this place?"

The old man remained silent.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I said. "Show me where the armory is and you're free to go."

Between the halberd in my hand and my unblinking stare, Ecurus gave up in the end. His shuffling gait eventually led me to the top floor, wasting a precious five minutes of my time. At least he did not attempt to mislead me.

In the end we did reach the armory, a rather cramped room with a basic assortment of weapons along the walls. An unimpressive selection, but the real prize rested on a table in the center of the room. Dasein, its porcelain blade laid bare. A pair of magnifying glasses and other tools were arranged around the weapon. Whoever had messed with my sword at least had the decency to include a serviceable scabbard to accompany it. Some small part of me felt annoyed at someone else handling my sword. But it fit, and keeping the scabbard at my hip felt far more natural than some loop of cloth at my waist.

I reversed time to completely eliminate the encounter with Ecurus. No use wasting all of my time when I could head there immediately after defeating the guards. This time I ascended the stairs as fast as I could, keeping my breathing steady. No need to weigh myself down with the halberd, either.

Having wasted no more than two minutes to reach the armory, I buckled Dasein and an additional sword at my side. Just for good measure, I held a third one in my hand. Felix would need a sword too, after all.

I took a much needed ten seconds to steady my breathing and my mind. Then, I was ready.

Down the stairs. The world around me shone with perfect clarity, every detail gorgeous in its intensity. Down. Down. My feet carried me forward and down the corridor. The whole time my mind remained utterly blank, numb. Fearless.

Both my time and void magic remained healthy enough. I knew my limits and I was not even close. And I knew I was not alone.

"Felix!" I shouted as I sprinted down the corridor.

And there the Champion waited, guarding my friend's room. This time, his expression remained blank as he drew his sword.

I assumed a fighting stance. Jokul was content to wait at his post. Light from the setting sun streamed through a window opposite him, soft oranges and pinks gleaming along his blade and accenting the hollows of his face.

What other signal did my friend need? Was his name not enough?

"Let's kill this bastard!" I shouted.

Jokul's eyes hardened. He took a step toward me.

After a long, breathless moment, the door tore open. Felix charged out, wielding a chair leg in one hand like a club. The Champion's sword lashed out in a casual backhand. For a moment it seemed the blow would sever Felix's head from his shoulders. Then Felix moved just enough, ducking underneath the blow so close it almost shaved his scalp. He feinted with the chair leg, just enough that the Champion assumed a defensive posture.

Felix seized the moment and slipped around him, coming to a stop beside me. My friend tossed his club aside and accepted the spare sword I offered him.

Jokul pointed his blade in our direction.

I was going to enjoy this.