"What was the point of that?" said Felix. "You could have taken care of that thing yourself in a few seconds."

Augur slid off the tree branch and plummeted some fifteen feet to the ground. He landed in front of us, his knees slightly bent, cloak whipping around him. "Curiosity. While you both are impressive for your age, I do not see what the Goetia hope to accomplish with you as their Echoes. I suppose if they had several hundred like you, that would supplement their forces, but was it worth all of this effort?"

His glib tone made me clench my hands into fists. If I had not used my time magic, that demon would have torn me into pieces after I failed my first attack. Was the philosopher so in control that he could save my life at the last minute? Or would he have watched it slaughter both of us if we failed?

My biggest concern was about whether or not he had sensed any traces of my time magic. If so, he had not given off any reaction, but that meant nothing when dealing with Brother Augur. The temptation to flee an hour back in the past remained. Even if he could sense some disturbance in the surrounding area from my time magic, would he be able to trace it back to me?

But after Augur had demonstrated his powers, I could think of no safer place within the city than at his side. He was the one who taught me about the memory palace, allowing me to expand my powers and bond with Paimon. The latter may have made me a puppet of the Goetia, but at least I was alive. Could I have managed without the void? It was possible I would still be trapped within the tesseract. Though such a delay may have even been beneficial in the end, granting more time to train my powers. Maybe Sensi would still be alive...

There were plenty of regrets from the past to linger on. All I could do was continue forward.

The philosopher rested a hand on the trunk of a nearby tree. "The last two demons are heading towards the center. Stay here while I handle them."

He disappeared in front of us. Into the tree? The ground? Something else?

Felix stared at the empty space for a few moments. "Do you think he's really gone?"

My magical awareness picked up nothing around us. Not that it meant much. "I think so. Why?"

"I don't trust him," said my friend. "All his muttering about a mysterious past and being an Echo. But he just accepts us having bonded with the Goetia? Shouldn't we be his enemies? He taught you some things, sure, but I've never exchanged a word with him until now. He knows I'm associated with the Goetia and just...doesn't care?"

"Would you prefer he fused our bodies together?" I said.

"Look." Felix rubbed the patchy stubble invading his jawline. "He pretty much said that he's here to stop whatever the Goetia are planning. I can't imagine working with him is in my best interest. We are sort of trapped here though, aren't we? He can find us easily."

Not necessarily. I still had around an hour of my time magic left. Enough time for us to avoid the Gardens and meeting up with Augur. That would also drain most of my reserves. Perhaps I could experiment with Dasein amplifying my time magic. It was possible using the sword would allow me to use less power for the same effect. That carried its own inherent risks. Best to stick with Brother Augur but keep our guards up.

Something was certainly off about the man. He seemed so casual about this entire situation, even choosing to enter the tesseract of his own free will. After such a striking demonstration of his magic, he had done nothing else but walk around with us and have us challenge a spider-demon, seemingly for his amusement. Shouldn't he be protecting the people of Odena? Aiding the Archon in his battle on the other side of the city?

"Well?" said Felix, snapping me out of my reverie. "What do you think?"

"Why don't we ask him what his intentions are?" I said.

Felix crouched down, back against a tree. His eyes drooped as if he was struggling to stay awake. "And you think he will just tell the truth?"

"Well, what was your perfect plan again? Maybe we should find one of your spider-demon friends and ask it to protect us? Funny, that thing took a swipe at you as well."

Felix clenched his jaw and started raising a finger in my direction. Halfway through he thought better of it, leaning back against the tree trunk and closing his eyes. Silence hung heavy between us.

I crossed my arms and waited. The argument seemed petulant the more I thought about it. I considered taking my words back but damn, Felix's surliness and contrarian nature could be grating at times.

After a while, my friend sighed. "Sorry. I just don't know what to do. It doesn't seem like there are any good options left."

I nodded, my anger dissipating just as quickly as it had appeared. "I'm sorry too. The stress of everything is just squeezing me. I feel like I'm holding up fine mentally, but when I focus on it I realize how clenched up my entire body is."

Brother Augur reappeared eleven seconds later, calm as someone just returned from a leisurely stroll through the Gardens. What a strange figure he made, with his placid eyes and tanned skin decorated with curlicues of white scarring. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back. No weapon. Radiating the simple confidence of a man fully within his element, certain he would conquer whatever came next.

"Quite the dour expressions, you two," he said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

Felix glared at the philosopher with intense eyes. "What is your purpose here?"

Augur tilted his head and looked off into the distance. His lips twisted into a little smile. "To bear witness. There are certain events that are inevitable, so tightly woven into the fabric of the cosmos perhaps not even the Increate could reverse them. In a place like this one finds the most interesting things." He glanced my way. "I must admit some fondness for my student as well. You have progressed as well as one may hope. And you've even found a fascinating companion along the way."

"Did that seem like an answer to you, Leones?" said Felix. "The only thing I got out of that is that he has a strange liking for us."

The philospher's face remained blank. For a moment I had the ridiculous thought that he wanted to end Felix's life then and there. Just...compress him into an orb the size of a marble. Instead, Augur touched his forehead with two fingers before resting them against his heart.

"I make an oath on my mind, my soul, my being," he said, "I intend you no harm. Both of you. Consider me a sword and a shield. I am here to protect you and all of the other worthy souls within this dark world."

"Why me?" Felix slammed his fist against his chest. "You're one of Aramadat's Echoes. I understand why you would protect Leones, but why me?"

"When you put it like that, there is only one reason to do anything," said Augur. "Because I want to."

My friend shook his head in frustration. "Let's just join up with the others, unless you have some other trials for us."

We returned to the main path heading to the Gardens. Soon, we would be united with Mara and the Karystans. What to do with them? I had no qualms against the Karystans, but my fellow acolyte...

"Did I ever tell you what Mara and Caedius did?" I said to Felix.

My friend glanced back over his shoulder. "I don't think so. What was it?"

I shook my head as I remembered. "Reported me to the authorities. I'm a wanted man in Velassa as well, coincidentally."

He punched my arm. The easy camaraderie reminded me of simpler times. "Some of the mysterious past, finally revealed! Here I was thinking I was a poor influence on you, and you've been a fugitive this whole time."

I rubbed the spot he had hit. After the past few fights and running around everywhere, my body felt like it was falling apart. "Yes, well, they set some of the Magisters on my trail. So I am not exactly pleased with her right now."

"I've never been a fan, personally." Felix wiped his nose against the back of his hand. "They were some of the least annoying acolytes, but we weren't exactly inseparable before. Them pulling that kind of shit on a friend is unacceptable."

Augur remained silent as he led us from the front. He did not even stop when a massive boom like a thunderclap startled me. The ground trembled under our feet for a few seconds before subsiding. Felix and I picked up our pace.

Everything looked so normal. I had walked this path a hundred times before. Even when we came upon the others, everything looked familiar, as if I had walked in on one of a dozen lectures. Three acolytes in grey sat in a clearing with their backs to us. Mara's shock of red hair was recognizable, as well as Lisara's black braid and Johan's bulk. Avarus loomed over them as if delivering a lecture, though for now he simply stood there, a hand on his sword.

Lakken rested on a cushion off to the side, his granddaughter Elys standing guard over him. Given the circumstances, the sword at her hip was no surprise. The old man lounged with his eyes closed, hands clasped on his chest. If not for the slow rise and fall of his chest I may have thought he was dead.

"You're back," said Avarus.

Seeing him brought a smile to my face. I had not realized how much I missed the old blademaster. Even the sight of Johan as he turned to regard us made my grin widen. Mara's face was a different story, and she quickly looked away---but not before I saw her cheeks redden. What, did she think I would kill her for what she did? I was not that far gone. Lisara did not even bother to turn.

"Avarus." Felix nodded at the blademaster, ignoring the others.

Avarus' smile appeared a bit strained. "Glad to see you all made it back here."

"It is as we suspected," said Augur. "Demonic forces have infiltrated the city. I am not sure how they are arriving from Desolada. Perhaps some sort of portals spread throughout the city, unless there is one focal spot. Our greatest hope is that the Archon and his forces are able to seal the breaches."

Avarus pulled at his beard. "They would have accounted for that before this invasion, wouldn't they?"

"The Goetia would have accounted for every variable long before going through with a plan like this. The best we can do is protect ourselves and not antagonize the victors."

"So the worst truly has come to pass, then," said Avarus. "Sensi has been killed. Vera. Aeron. Theos. Such a deadly game to play, for a bit more power. If the Goetia are victorious, our fates are sealed. I will not bargain my soul. I will not live on my knees as their slave. The Increate will judge us in the end. Should we not be on the side of mankind, even if our deaths are inevitable?"

"Go, then." Augur swatted in the direction we had come from. "So far it is only their scouts. You felt those tremors just now, didn't you? Worse awaits you on the other side of the city. Forces that will toss your body down an entire street like an old bag of bones. Make your suicidal charge, in the hopes that it opens the gates of paradise."

Lakken propped himself up on his elbows, his feeble voice drifting through the clearing. "Now, now. Stop this bickering. Did none of you notice our uninvited guest?"

The old man pointed off to the side.

Zephyr stepped out from behind a tree. Rage burned in my chest at the sight of her. Her smug face, the bare sword she held in her hand. The same blade she used to poison me, and drag me into this hell.

"Very observant." Her voice was as calm as a breeze. "I did my best to mask my presence. I mean no harm to most of you. I only want the young gentlemen over there who escaped from our prison. Who used the chaos to kill one of the most renowned warriors in the history of this city. I've tracked their scents here from the palace. Return them to my custody."

Avarus coughed for several seconds into his hand, eyes wide with disbelief.

Augur glanced my way with amusement. "Is that so? Unfortunately, I did make an oath to these two."

The philosopher vanished. Zephyr had only enough time to narrow her eyes before the man appeared next to her; one hand held her sword-wrist, the other was wrapped around her thoat. She attempted to grab at him with her free arm, but the angle was too awkward for her to fight back. Her face reddened above the philosopher's crushing grip.

Zephyr dropped her sword and tried to sputter out a frantic surrender. A sinister part of me wanted him to end her life. She was nothing but a nuisance who I should have killed myself.

"Stop this immediately!" shouted Avarus. "She is the Archon's daughter. If the acolytes have to face justice, then that is what must happen."

Augur released her. Zephyr collapsed to the ground, holding her throat as she choked out ragged gasps. I reached for my time magic, ready in case she attempted to flee.

Augur turned towards the old blademaster and held out one hand. He squeezed it into a fist. "How do you not understand? The old ways are done. Snow blankets most of the Civilized Lands. The Goetia have invaded the heart of our people. Things change. If you cannot stand that, step aside."

"I cannot let you do this." Avarus drew his sword.

"Sanctimonious fool." Augur swept his arm through the air in front of him.

At first, nothing happened. Then the blademaster's shoulders collapsed into his clavicles with a sickening crunch. His dropped sword clattered against the ground. He seemed to implode in on himself in a series of jerks, everything folding into one central point. His neck snapped, head twisted to the side. His upper legs retracted into his stomach. What collapsed to the ground resembled nothing like a human. It took only a few seconds.

"No!" I shouted.

Not the blademaster. Augur had revealed himself. Even if he thought he was protecting us, how could he casually murder another philosopher like that? Someone he had been associated with for so many years? Even if the man was powerful, he was deranged, and by now must have had a deep suspicion of my powers. I preferred my own chances without him.

I reversed time thirty minutes, saving just enough power that I could escape a threat or two. This brought Felix and I back to the point where we discovered Philosopher Vera's body. An awful sight, finding her decapitated body sprawled along the path, but an easy memory to anchor myself to.

I fell to my ass immediately after returning to that moment, hands pressed against my forehead as if that would push away the overwhelming migraine. The coppery smell of Vera's blood only exacerbated the nausea roiling in my gut.

Felix kneeled and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Leones! What's wrong?"

I focused on my breathing until the migraine subsided enough for me to talk. "We can't keep going forward. Too dangerous. Let's go somewhere else."

"Where else can we---"

"Well, well," said a too-familiar voice.

Impossible.

I squeezed my eyes open despite their excruciating sensitivity to the light of the setting sun. How could he be here? We would not encounter him for another few minutes, battling the spider-demons within his arboretum.

Contrary to reality as I knew it, Brother Augur stood a few feet away, smiling down at me.

"Now that," he said, "is an interesting power."