I gritted my teeth and reversed time another few seconds. Perhaps such a large expenditure of my magic left an obvious trace, but going back one more step may have eliminated it. The intensity of the pain shooting through my head brought me to my knees, unable to open my eyes against the glare of the sunset.

But I still heard his voice. "Well, well. Now that is an interesting power."

Felix cried out. Steel scraped against leather as he drew his sword. "Where the hell did you come from?"

A heavy, calloused hand slapped down on my shoulder. With his other hand, Brother Augur patted my head, like someone consoling a child. Pure, animal panic sent my heart racing in my chest.

"I am afraid Leones and I must have a very personal conversation," said Augur. "I will bring you back in ten minutes."

"What are---" Felix's voice cut out.

"Come now." Augur's arms slipped around me and hoisted me off the ground, adding to my indignity by cradling me.

Nothing happened that I could tell, but the orange glare of the sun suddenly died off. My eyes opened to a slit. I recognized the sparse canopy of Brother Augur's arboretum. The philosopher set me gently on the ground. Off to the side, the river burbled, a sound I had once found comforting. Now I felt as if some monster had dragged me into its lair.

"How did you know?" I managed to croak out.

"The disturbances are still rippling through the Mental Realm," he said. "So many times I have felt you use that power in my presence, but never so close or strong. Very curious. I assumed you had some minor talent like Felix that you could control to some small extent. Is this development because I taught you the mental palace?"

The philosopher was giving me an out I hadn't even considered. Piecing together coherent thoughts remained near impossible, though I could distance myself from the pain by focusing on Augur's words. In this reality, Augur knew nothing of me or Felix's story, only that his disciple had returned.

"Yes," I said, hands pressed against my temples.

"I have to admit," said Augur, "I have my doubts. You did catch on to the memory palace so quickly. Only people such as us can utilize it to such an extent. Would you like me to explain why?"

"Please." A lecture was tolerable as long as he was not killing someone I cared about.

"We are special, you and I," he said. "I have a suggestion. We both swear an oath to tell the truth. On your mind, your soul, your being."

"You first," I said.

"I swear, on my mind, my soul, and my being, I will tell only the truth for the next five minutes. Now, you do the same."

The migraine eased off enough for me to focus on the philosopher. He looked the same as always, relaxed, his eyes kind and a sly smile tugging at his lips. His smile grew as I repeated his words. Resistance would have been pointless. He knew there was a secret, and after witnessing Avarus' brutal, pointless slaughter, I suspected he would find a way of extracting the truth. At least this way he had to abide by the same rules. Fighting him with a few seconds worth of time magic remaining would be suicide. Even if I could negate his magic a few times, in my current state even Mara could have manhandled me.

"Tell me," said Augur. "What is your power?"

"I am able to manipulate time to some extent, but my abilities are limited."

"Oh?" The philosopher rubbed his chin. "What are the limitations?"

I considered how much to tell him. Augur gestured and I felt a threatening pressure settling around my head and shoulders. The longer I remained silent, the more intense the gravitic pull became. "I can reverse time up to an hour. And slow time to some extent, though it drains my power quickly."

The pressure disappeared.

I felt rather smug that the wording of his question allowed me to not mention the void magic. That was Paimon's power, not my own. If the philosopher did not intend to kill me immediately, perhaps he would protect me long enough for my reserves to return to full capacity. Plenty of other powerful figures had found themselves thwarted by a smooth-faced sixteen-year-old. If Felix returned, we would find a way to handle this bastard too.

Brother Augur steepled his fingers and rested them against his chin, watching me as if witnessing some fantastic performance. "Truly a god-like ability. Yet you are not fabulously wealthy, or surrounded by beautiful women, or under the patronage of the Archons. You came to this little Garden. If I knew you had such little imagination, I would have never taught you the memory palace."

"Why are you helping me?" I said.

"I only want you to prosper, Leones. To fulfill your true potential. You see, when I was your age I lived a life of luxury. I never achieved my greatest heights until I was forced to by external circumstances. So many teachers along the way. Women I have loved and lost. Feels like I have lived a hundred lives at this point. I spoiled my gifts worse than you could imagine. In comparison, you are absolutely thriving."

"So selfless." Petulance crept into my tone, though as far as Augur knew, I should have no reason to hold any enmity towards him.

"My turn for a question." The philosopher settled next to me in the lotus position. Heavy snowflakes drifted past him, buoyed in a gentle wind. "What is it you want, more than anything?"

"To escape this tesseract," I said. "Beyond that, to become powerful enough that I will no longer be helpless. To avenge myself of any wrongs done to me."

"Dangerous," said Augur.

"My turn. What is your power?"

The philosopher shrugged. "I will not tell you such a thing."

I was speechless for a moment. "You made an oath to tell the truth."

"Certainly," he said. "But I am under no obligation to answer any question I do not want to."

I clenched my hands into fists. Nothing would have pleased me more than a solid hit against his jaw. I would have tried my sword against him if I dared use the remaining dregs of my magic.

"In the name of fairness," said Augur, "try another question."

"What is it that makes you and I special?"

The philosopher grinned.

He said nothing else. He closed his eyes, meditating. Striking him down was more tempting than ever. I remained silent while we waited for the five minute duration of our oath to expire. At the exact second, Augur opened his eyes and nodded at me.

The bastard also had a perfect sense of time. Not terribly surprising, but to what extent had he honed his mind? Did I have a chance against an opponent who had most of my advantages? My time magic never allowed me to achieve anything I could not have already done on my own. I shook my head.

In the span of a blink, Felix appeared beside us. His sword was drawn, knees bent slightly, face red with outrage. In a split second he was upon Brother Augur, who merely smiled up at him from the ground. Steel flashed. The philosopher clapped his hands, catching the blade between his palms. He twisted his wrists to the side, wrenching the sword from Felix's grasp. Without flinching Augur turned his body to the side enough to evade my friend's follow-up kick.

"Enough of that," said the philosopher.

Even though I was at the outskirts, Augur's gravity magic still made me hunch my shoulders and fight back against the force attempting to slam me on my face. At the epicenter, my friend collapsed to his knees, then all fours, until the pressure forced him to splay out on his stomach.

Felix would not like that. If anyone hated being humiliated more than me, it was him.

Augur stood up and rested one boot on top of Felix's head, forcing it deeper into the snow. His face was blank, voice emotionless. "I am not making any unreasonable demands of you two. If anyone else attacked me like that, I would have crushed them in a heartbeat. Know your place, disciples."

Felix's muffled protests were unintelligible. As confident as the philosopher's words were, I could not help but notice the slow drip of blood from his palms where he had caught Felix's blade. The man was mortal, after all. I had half-expected to see blue ichor instead.

"I know everything that you two know," said Augur. "But you do not have a great understanding of the consequences of your actions. Or what exactly is happening within the city. The taint of the Goetia is obvious upon the both of you. You have chosen to make yourselves enemies of mankind. Witness what it means to side with demons."

The philosopher spread his arms. For a few seconds, nothing happened, then I felt the world twist around me. The feeling was so disorienting I had to close my eyes. I vomited, hot bile from an empty stomach. When the sensation passed I discovered myself on the second floor of Amelie in Yellow. The place was deserted, furniture overturned, shards of glass from broken bottles gleaming in what little light illuminated the room. The source of the brightness was Lyra's mural, the golden skull with its esoteric markings.

"What is that?" Felix spat the words out. He was beside me, glaring at the philosopher.

"The source of the initial tesseracts, such as the one that imprisoned the two of you." The philosopher walked over to the mural, running his hand along the wall. "That girl Lyra's paintings. They were distributed all throughout the city. To adorn rich men's villas or decorate an office in some prosperous business. Just one karmic link of many forged by the Goetia. I heard about her death. Senseless. Killing her afterwards accomplished nothing."

"Don't you talk about her," said Felix. "How are you involved in all of this?"

Brother Augur ignored him. "You must understand that the demon lords responsible for this accounted for any potentiality. They sprinkle a hundred, maybe a thousand little seeds like you two, hoping a few of them would sprout into something useful. At this point, most of the tesseracts throughout the city have fallen. Let us observe what happened at another one."

The world twisted again. "No, don't---" I began.

The second time was not as disorienting, though I remained on my knees, dry heaving.

We were inside the sitting room of an opulent home. Corpses were everywhere. From the remnants of the decor I gathered this had been some sort of party, perhaps an art exhibition. From the looks of it, over a dozen people in this room alone had killed each other with whatever means they had. I lifted my hand against my mouth and clenched my eyes closed.

"I believe this is why the Increate decided to make humans," said Augur. "The demons and various other species are long-lived but lack our numbers. Our population growth. When He made the Goetia, He made imperfect beings with only a fraction of His power. Still, they are enough to destroy our entire civilization with a concerted effort. But they think on a far grander time scale than us mortals. To wait a millennia before we mature, and to conquer us then. Anyone must admit, it is a brilliant plan."

I tore my eyes away from the bodies. They were in various states of sickening decomposition, with flies buzzing about them in a heavy swarm. "All of this was to make some Echoes? To find some useful tools?"

"Well, there is also the complete separation of the city from the outside world and the demonic invasion. Beyond that, everything is simply setting the stage."

"Setting the stage?" said Felix. "For what?"

"For Astaroth to descend."