Theo feels like time has stopped.

He knows he is doing the stupidest thing he could possibly do. Stepping between Liam and four light spears. Him, with no mana, no magic, no protection.

Him, who was given a second chance at life, now throwing it away.

For another person.

For a stranger.

No. He is not a stranger. He is my student. He is Theo the Archmage’s student.

"Does he know that?" A voice within him asks.

Now you show up? Are you here to laugh at my stupidity?

Theo coughs up blood.

But his vision is unnaturally clear.

He can see everything in the room with perfect clarity. Julian’s tears. Huh. I never knew Julian had such thick eyelashes.

Maeve’s pained expression. Her freckles are beautiful.

The female mage standing not far from him, looking at him with horror in her eyes, tears already welling up, both hands pressed over her mouth. Her eyes are bright blue. Her hair is almost white. Stunning.

Alicia’s shocked and lost expression. She is so out of her depth. She is not one of us, and yet ever since she awakened, she has always been here. We need to make it official.

Arthur’s ice blue Fire. Theo sighs. Of course. It is so like you to break through when you are corrupted. You are the first student I have had, in both Caelthorn and Altheon, to lose control of your mana three times. What a handful.

And Liam’s soaked back. Theo sighs again, this time in resignation. Poor Liam. His own hesitation cost him. I hope he finds his way to the next realm.

Then the pain pulls him back.

He coughs again.

Maeve is shaking and crying while trying to heal him at the same time.

Theo reaches up and covers her hand where it rests on his chest. He tries to speak with telepathy, one of Light’s abilities. Then he remembers he has no magic.

He tries anyway.

Maeve. Maeve.

Maeve gasps. She stops crying. She looks down at Theo.

"Thea?" She whispers, not quite trusting what she is hearing.

Yeah. It’s me.

Theo smiles.

"Oh my God! Thea!" She cries out.

Shh, Maeve. We can talk later. Right now we don’t have much time. Arthur is almost free and Liam can’t hold him much longer.

Maeve nods frantically. "Okay. What do you need me to do?"

Julian looks between the two of them, tears still rolling down his face.

"Maeve." He stops her. "Are you...?"

Maeve nods immediately. "Yes. I’m talking to Thea. She wants me to do something."

At that, Julian stops crying. He wipes his face and the full gravity of the situation finally lands on him. The air in the room is already getting harder to breathe.

"What should I do?"

Maeve goes quiet, listening. Then she glances toward Sonia. Then she nods.

She turns to Julian. "We need to move from here first. If this escalates any further, we won’t be safe where we are. We need to move her over there." She points to an area out of the line of fire.

Julian moves without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Liam feels like he is being boiled alive. His Water is starting to bubble, like a pot on the verge of boiling over.

"Liam!" Maeve’s voice cuts through.

He turns and finds her eyes clear. Relief washes over him instantly.

"Liam!" She calls again.

He swallows and nods. I’m listening, Maeve. He cannot say it out loud. Too much strain.

"Listen to me. Thea is okay. She’s injured, but she is going to make it." Maeve does not know that for certain, but it is what Theo asked her to say.

"Now, you need to lower the water temperature. Make it colder. That is the only way you can contain Arthur."

Liam makes a face. I know that!

He looks at Theo, who is already looking back at him.

Then he hears Maeve again. "Trust me. You can do it. I’ll walk you through it. First, keep your Water moving. Just keep it moving."

Move? Liam is confused. If I move my Water, Arthur’s Fire will burn this room and everyone in it.

"That’s removing, you idiot!" Maeve yells. "Move, not remove!"

Move, not remove? Huh?

"You can be such an idiot sometimes. Move! Like... like... like a current! Water current! Yes, that’s it, a current!"

Current? Water current? Liam turns the idea over. I never thought of that. Let me try.

A new surge of hope rises in him. He starts shifting his Water the way Theo’s words, passed through Maeve, are telling him to.

Huh. It’s sort of working. I don’t feel as hot anymore.

"Good, Liam. Now summon more and keep it moving. Not too fast, but not too slow either. The speed has to be just right. You’ll know when it is."

Across the room, Sonia is still crying. She catches fragments of what Maeve is saying to Liam and something clicks.

Is she the one who taught them? Then which one of them summoned the storm?

She looks at Liam, fighting with everything he has, and then at Arthur, who is smirking, his ice blue Fire holding strong and steady.

Sonia swallows. This is dangerous. The wind outside is violent. If that Fire meets it, the result would be unimaginable.

She looks back at Liam.

This is my fault. As much as I hate the Monforts, if it wasn’t for me, that young woman would not be on the floor right now. I should help.

She takes a breath and glances toward Theo.

Maeve and Theo are both already looking at her. She startles.

"You." Maeve says, her tone curt. "If you want to help, create a shield between Liam and Arthur. To protect Liam in case Arthur’s Fire really lets loose."

Maeve is mimicking the tone she hears from Theo in her head, and she agrees with every word of it. If it were not for Sonia, Theo would not be injured.

She conveniently forgets that she was the one who started all of this.

Sonia considers it for a second, then nods.

"What can I do to help?" Alicia appears near Julian, startling everyone around her.

Maeve tilts her head, listening to Theo, then turns to Alicia. "Feel the wind and make sure it doesn’t feed Arthur’s Fire any further."

Alicia nods, relieved to finally have something useful to do.

Arthur feels the mood shift. Even corrupted, his observation is intact.

"Are you trying to contain me?" He smiles broadly.

"Let’s see who’s stronger. Me, or all of you." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The temperature surges. The air pressure shifts, like a powder keg with a lit fuse.

Liam is the first to recognize it.

He turns to Theo. "Move!"

Sonia feels it too through the shield she has placed in front of Liam. She tries to reinforce it, but against an Arthur with no inhibitions, it is not enough.

Liam is in full panic. He cannot hold it anymore.

The next second, the sixth floor of the Rhaenas building explodes.

From outside, anyone looking up would see blue fire instead of red, burning strong and fierce while the pouring rain cannot touch it. A strange and terrible sight.

And poor Hawk, who is on the balcony when Sonia’s shield fails, is blown clean off. He is left dangling by one hand, holding on for his life.

------------------------------

"THEA!" Liam screams. By some miracle he is largely intact, suffering only minor cuts. And he is terrified about what that means for everyone else.

"Hey. I’m still your opponent. You don’t get to turn your back on me." Arthur’s voice carries through the dust and debris.

As it settles, Arthur is revealed standing untouched, his Fire surrounding him like armor. The rain cannot reach him. He is a beacon in the dark and the storm.

The living room is rubble. The kitchen is half destroyed. The hallway to the bedrooms has collapsed.

Liam ignores Arthur and starts scanning through the wreckage. The wind and the rain are not helping. There is debris everywhere.

He feels heat coming at him. He dodges it easily, still not looking at Arthur. He keeps calling out. Theo. Julian. Maeve. Alicia.

One fireball ignored. Arthur sends another. Then another. Then another. An endless stream of them, each one aimed at Liam.

"Argh!" Liam’s annoyance finally snaps.

He spins to face Arthur. "Stop it! We need to find them before anything else. They are your siblings. Your friends. Don’t you care about them at all?!"

Arthur laughs. "Of course I do. But they can take care of themselves, Monfort. This is between you and me. Come on."

He sends another volley of fireballs.

"If you keep ignoring me," Arthur says, when Liam still will not engage, "I will burn the whole building. Not just this floor. I will make sure it spreads. To the buildings around us. I will burn the entire block."

He laughs again.

Liam grits his teeth. He is done holding back. His Water surges and rises, wrapping around him.

He turns slowly to face Arthur.

"You want a fight? You’ll get one."