Thenio knelt on a bench next to the window in his room, leaning close to the glass.

The window overlooked an enclosed garden. There was an open, grassy area just outside Thenio's room with a large bird bath and several feeding stations mounted on poles. There were also bird houses and feeders hung in most of the trees in the garden, so there were always birds around, no matter the time of year.

Thenio loved watching the birds. That's why the feeders and things were all there. Even the garden itself was there because of him.

A flock of sparrows was visiting the garden right now. Thenio watched happily while they splashed in the water and took turns at the feeders. Though he couldn't help feeling a little envious at how easily they swooped from the feeders up to the tree branches and back again.

He wished he could fly like a bird. It looked like so much fun....

Thenio heard the sound of a door opening off to his right, and he turned his head to see a man enter the room. His face was oddly blurred, so Thenio couldn't see it properly. But he still knew who it was.

"Dad!" Thenio's own face lit up, and he scrambled off the bench and ran toward the door.

It took longer than he expected to cross the room. Had his legs always been this short...?

"Thenio...." The man stepped forward and caught him, lifting Thenio up into his arms and giving him a warm hug. "Were you good for Melinei and Araela while I was gone?"

"I was! I did everything they told me. And I worked hard on my magic practice!"

"Good boy." His father.... That was his father...right? The idea felt a little strange somehow...but Thenio was sure it was right. His father tousled his hair affectionately. "It's almost time for your afternoon lesson, isn't it? Why don't we go to the training room together, and you can show me how much you've learned. Okay?"

Thenio beamed up at the face he still couldn't see. "Okay!"

The two of them left the room together, walking hand in hand. The training rooms were on the other side of the garden, so they went down a covered walkway that ran along one side of it. Thenio's father moved slowly, keeping pace with his short strides. It was nice to not have to run to keep up with him for once.

No...didn't his father always slow down for him? When had he ever made Thenio run to keep up?

Thenio blinked and then shook his head. He wasn't sure why he kept thinking about strange things like that.

He looked out at the garden. The sparrows were still fluttering around, filling the air with lively chirping. It reminded Thenio of something he'd been meaning to ask his father the next time he came to the research center.

"Dad, when can I go outside with you?"

"We can spend some time in the garden after your magic lesson, if you want."

"No, not the garden." Thenio shook his head. "I mean when can I go to the real outside? I want to go see the city! And visit the shop where Melinei buys those berry pastries!"

His father stopped walking. He looked down at Thenio quietly for a moment. Thenio still couldn't see his face, but he somehow knew that the expression on it was sorrowful. Then his father slowly knelt down in front of him so that the two of them were face to face.

"I'm sorry, Thenio," he said softly, stroking Thenio's cheek. "I don't want to make you stay here. I really don't. I know it's hard to be cooped up all the time like this.... But it's dangerous for you to go outside. Especially here in Telophi. There are too many wizards and too much magic. You'll go out of control right away."

"I know...I know that...but...." Thenio trailed off and looked down at the ground.

He knew everyone was just trying to keep him safe. And they did their best to make living in the research center more interesting. They'd built the playroom and the garden for him, and his father and Melinei told him stories about the outside world and were always bringing him books and toys and new foods to try.

But he wished he could see the things in their stories for himself. He wished he could be free to come and go like his father was. Like the birds were....

His father sighed and ruffled his hair. "Maybe we can go somewhere outside the city. Somewhere without much ambient magic. I'll talk to Melinei about it later. Okay?"

Thenio was a bit disappointed by that response, but he still forced himself to smile. "Okay."

His father patted his head and then stood back up. They started walking again, but they'd only gone a short distance when Thenio saw a flash of white out of the corner of his eye and paused, turning toward the garden to see what it was.

At first, he didn't notice anything strange. Just the usual grass and flowers and the birds flitting through the trees up above. But a moment later, he spotted movement at the base of a lilac bush. A furry white fox face was peering out at him.

Thenio frowned. Where had he seen that fox before? It looked so familiar....

The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Then the fox turned and ran off across the grass.

"Hey, wait!" Almost before he realized it, Thenio had jumped off the walkway and was chasing after the fluffy white tail.

But the fox was much faster than he was, and it soon disappeared behind another bush. By the time Thenio had reached the bush and circled around it, the fox was nowhere in sight.

He stopped and looked around, biting his lip. An uneasy feeling was rising in his chest. He felt like something terrible was going to happen if he kept chasing that fox.... Besides, he was supposed to be going to his magic lesson. His father was waiting for him.

Thenio turned and retraced his steps back to the walkway on the edge of the garden, prepared to apologize to his father for suddenly running off like that.

But he couldn't see his father anywhere.

He pushed back a twinge of panic. His father had probably just gone ahead to the training room. Hadn't he said that he was going to talk to Melinei? Right. He'd just gone to talk to her....

Thenio hurried down the walkway and through the doorway at the end of it. There was no one in the lobby on the other side, so he headed for the door to his training room.

But just before he reached it, Thenio felt the floor suddenly give way under his feet. He fell down into the wide, dark pit that had just opened up beneath him, landing hard against an unseen surface some distance below.

It didn't hurt, but he felt stunned and disoriented, and he simply lay still for a few minutes, trying to understand what was happening.

Finally, he raised his head and looked around.

Darkness. Complete darkness. Even when Thenio looked back up to the place he'd fallen from, he couldn't see anything at all.

"Dad?" he called out in a quavering voice. "Melinei? Are you there?"

Silence. No answering voices. No sign that anyone had noticed his fall or was coming to help him.

Thenio slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, his body shivering as fear started spreading through him.

"Dad!" he called more loudly. "Dad, where are you?"

Still nothing.

Thenio's breathing quickened, and his lower lip began to tremble.

"Dad!" he shouted. "Dad! Mom! Where are you?! Come back!"

There was no reply.

Of course there was no reply.... They were gone. They'd left him. He'd done something terrible, and his parents had abandoned him.

He was all alone.

Tears began streaming down Thenio's cheeks. He curled himself up into a ball, huddled in the silent, empty darkness.

"Mom...Dad.... I'm sorry! It was my fault! Please don't leave me! I didn't mean to! I promise I won't ever do it again! Come back! Please...don't leave me.... I'm sorry.... I'm sorry...."

He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, crying and apologizing over and over. Maybe minutes. Maybe hours. Maybe even years....

But finally, there was a response.

Something like a vine moved through the darkness, wrapping around the sobbing boy and gently lifting him up. There was the sound of rustling leaves, and a comforting smell, like a mix of cedar and vanilla, filled the air.

Don't cry, little one. You're safe. Everything will be all right.

Thenio looked up, sniffing and blinking away his tears. Sunlight was filtering down through a canopy of gold and green leaves that stirred lightly in the breeze, spreading their scent all around him.

We're here. We'll take care of you until your parents come back. So don't cry. The soft, deep voice came again. It wasn't an audible voice, but one that seemed to seep into Thenio from the surrounding air, resonating through the sunlit leaves and the dark brown branches that were cradling him, rocking him lightly.

Thenio didn't know whose voice that was. But he somehow knew that he could trust it. His small body relaxed, his eyes closed, and he drifted into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

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"The boy seems to have passed out from the magic suppression, but the old man might still have some tricks up his sleeve. Watch him carefully. And let me know immediately if he does anything suspicious. Don't try to deal with it yourselves. He's a high sixth-ranker and a dual grandmaster. You won't stand a chance if he gets free. Understood?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Understood."

The two guards that the man called Ebihan had called over both nodded solemnly and took up their positions in front of the cell where Focilo and Thenio were being held.

Focilo watched silently, his eyes slightly narrowed, as Ebihan disappeared down the corridor in the direction he'd come from just after they first arrived.

The Old One who'd been controlling Rimeus' body was arrogant and domineering, relying heavily on his superior strength to get what he wanted. But this Ebihan fellow seemed much more cautious, which made him even more difficult to deal with, in a way.

The guards seemed competent, though not especially powerful. They probably weren't a direct threat, but it looked like they would be paying attention, and it was hard to say what kind of backup they might be able to call in. So even though it was a relief to have the Old One and Ebihan gone for the time being, Focilo would have to be careful of his actions.

Rimeus' body was still lying on the floor where it had fallen. It was hard to be sure without examining it, but that was probably a corpse puppet. Meaning that the Old One's scheme had cost the real Rimeus Telven his life.

Poor, unlucky fellow.... It was very unusual for an Old One to take direct action like this. Rimeus had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Though the fact that the necromancer puppeting his body had thought he was the best choice to infiltrate the Royal Guard was at least a testament to the late doctor's character...whatever comfort that was....

Focilo frowned a little as he looked at the crumpled body. Based on his attitude and behavior, the Old One behind all this was probably the man known as 'Vehnkir the Brash.' He was a lunatic researcher with an impulsive nature and an utter disregard for any harm he caused while satisfying his curiosity. Vehnkir was the best known of the Old Ones, just because he was the one most likely to show up and cause trouble.

But his recklessness was also his weakness. He had the gall to carry out a daring plan like this, but he also had a tendency to overlook things and make foolish mistakes.

Such as assuming that Focilo, a lowly 'modern wizard,' would be helpless inside a magic suppression barrier.

But like most suppression barriers, this one had a serious flaw. It was something that only a few certain people would be able to take advantage of. But fortunately, Focilo was one of those people.

And Vehnkir the Brash, confident of his superiority, hadn't noticed.

Though maybe that was understandable, given how poorly Focilo had handled the situation so far....

He sighed and turned to look at Thenio, feeling a painful stab of regret. If only he'd used his full power to protect the boy from the beginning.... He'd had good reasons for holding back, of course. And there was no way he could have known that he was up against an Old One, not when they only showed themselves once every few decades.

But those excuses wouldn't count for much if the Royal Guard and Magic Corps couldn't find them in time and Thenio died of magic suffocation. Or if they did come in time but the attack on the base resulted in him being exposed to too much magic and exploding.

Focilo sighed again. The situation wasn't hopeless, but it didn't look good, either....

Come to think of it...why hadn't Vehnkir said anything about Thenio's ability to absorb magic? That was the sort of thing that members of the Order would normally go crazy over, since there was a good chance it could help them in their goal of using demon magic to increase their power.

Had he wanted to hide it from Ebihan? Since Vehnkir had known he would have to leave and come back with a better puppet in order to examine Thenio properly, maybe he was afraid that his underling would take advantage of his absence to study Thenio ahead of him.

Or did he really not notice? Certainly Vehnkir could be careless at times...but how could he have missed it when he'd examined Thenio's magic circuit closely enough to be able to see that he was actually a chimera? Even Focilo, a grandmaster necromancer, hadn't been able to see that.

Assuming it was actually true, of course. Focilo hadn't confirmed it yet. But it would explain some things, including Thenio's instability and his strange magic circuit scans.

If he was a chimera, though, he definitely wasn't a 'common' one, as Vehnkir had called him. Focilo was perfectly capable of recognizing a normal chimera, contrary to Vehnkir's taunts. He'd treated several of them during his time at the Stability Center.

A chimera was a person or magic beast who was born with at least two separate magic circuits. It generally happened in one of two cases: First, if the child inherited more than three different magic types from its parents. Or second, if the child inherited two incompatible types, such as fire and crystal. Those situations rarely happened with humans, and magic beast breeders knew to avoid risky pairings, so the vast majority of chimeras were wild magic beasts.

Human ones were born occasionally, though. And they usually didn't live long. Chimeras were highly unstable as a rule, and there weren't many treatment options available for them. So very few survived until adulthood, no matter their species.

That much seemed to fit with chaos morphs. But why did they have such distinct differences from other chimeras, in that case? What combination of magic affinities could give a human the ability to absorb magic?

Focilo threw a casual glance over at the guards. They were still watching him, but there was some distance between them, and his wooden barrier was partially obstructing their view. They probably wouldn't notice him using a little magic, as long as he was careful.

He turned back to Thenio and pretended to fuss over him, pulling up his blanket, manually checking his pulse and temperature, and smoothing his hair. But while he did all that, he cautiously activated his magesight and took a look at the boy's magic circuit.

He immediately frowned at what he saw.

Thenio had a mild case of demon poisoning. When had that happened? When Vehnkir broke the barrier? Or during the teleportation? Focilo had been doing his best to protect the boy from the Old One's magic, but some must have gotten through while he was briefly distracted.

It was also possible that Thenio was particularly vulnerable to poisoning because of his ability to use dream magic, just like the Consort was more vulnerable than other mythic beasts.

He'd ordinarily have enough magic power to fight off such a small amount of poison. But with the chaos affinity and dream magic complicating things.... Well. Focilo could help neutralize it if he needed to, although that would be difficult to do without the guards noticing anything.

He'd just monitor it for now.

Focilo moved on to examining the magic circuit itself. But that only caused his frown to deepen.

What was going on...?

He understood why Vehnkir had shown such contempt at their surprise when he'd said Thenio was a chimera. Focilo could see it now. The magic circuits were twisted and partially fused together in a way he'd never seen before, but it was quite clear that there were two of them.

How had he never spotted that? He'd examined Thenio plenty of times by now. If it had always been this easy to see, there was no way he would have missed it.

What was different about the boy's magic circuits right now?

After another glance at the guards, Focilo carefully began putting out a little more magic power, using it to test and prod at Thenio's tangled circuits.

It didn't take him long to find the answer. But it wasn't an answer he was happy about.

Thenio's magic circuits were completely sealed. He wasn't able to absorb any mana or magic power, and he couldn't emit any, either.

No wonder Vehnkir hadn't noticed he could absorb magic....

The seal should also be why the two circuits were more distinct than usual. It formed a thin coating over them, enhancing the lines and eliminating the low-level magic emissions that would normally interfere with magesight or machine scans.

So where had the seal come from? It hadn't been there when Focilo had examined Thenio a couple of hours ago, after he'd finished doing the enchantment transcriptions. And it wasn't the sort of thing that just anyone could create.

The Consort. It had to have been the Consort.

Focilo thought back to when Thenio was asleep, before Vehnkir had entered the recovery room. He'd been using dream magic then. He must have been meeting with the Consort, who placed the seal on him when he realized that Thenio had come in contact with an Old One.

The seal was both good and bad. It had protected Thenio from destabilizing during the teleportation, and it had prevented Vehnkir from noticing his ability to absorb magic. And though it was hard to say whether it had been the Consort's intention or not, revealing Thenio to be a chimera had definitely lessened the crazy researcher's interest in him.

But those were just the short term effects. Long term.... Well, there wasn't going to be a long term. A total seal like that would kill the boy even faster than the full suppression barrier.

Was the Consort determined to keep chaos magic—whatever it really was—out of the Order's hands, no matter the cost?

Or was he confident that Thenio would be saved in time? Was he planning to do something to speed up the rescue efforts?

That would be comforting in a way, since it meant Focilo would be rescued more quickly as well. But it was also terrifying. He knew it was incredibly dangerous for the dream beast to get involved with anything related to demons.

If a creature that powerful became corrupted....

Focilo shook his head a little. No. There was no way the Consort would risk destroying the entire world just to save one human boy. He must have some kind of plan.

While Focilo was pondering what the Consort might have had in mind, Thenio started stirring restlessly in his sleep. His breathing became uneven, and his lips were twitching, as though he was trying to say something.

Was he having a nightmare? Well, it was no wonder, after everything he'd been through today....

Focilo didn't dare to take out his jar of calming potpourri while the guards were watching. But he reached out and lightly touched one of the branches in his barrier. A thin tendril grew out of it, snaking down toward Thenio's pillow. Several green and gold leaves sprouted from it, releasing a light, gentle scent.

The effect was immediate. Thenio's face stopped twitching, his breathing and heart rate slowed down, and his body relaxed.

Good. At least Focilo was able to do something to help him....

"It's all right, boy," he said softly, stroking Thenio's hair. "Everything will be all right."

Focilo wasn't sure he really believed that. But giving into pessimism wouldn't help anything right now.

He activated his magesight again and checked on the status of Thenio's demon poisoning.

It had decreased a little. Good. That meant he was able to fight it off on his own. Focilo would need to keep watching it, but it should be—

Wait. Was he seeing that correctly?

Focilo blinked and looked again.

It was as he'd thought. The demon poisoning had decreased. But Thenio's magic power had also increased. That was odd. With his circuits sealed, he couldn't generate or emit magic right now, so his power level shouldn't be changing.

Something strange was going on.

Heedless of the watching guards, Focilo activated his magesight as fully as possible, causing his green eyes to glow faintly in the dim light inside the cage of branches. He stared fixedly at the sleeping boy in front of him, watching the magic in his body closely.

A minute passed. Two minutes. Five minutes.

Ten minutes later, Focilo was still staring at Thenio, unable to believe what he was seeing.

A normal human's magic would naturally surround and isolate demon poison until it decayed, preventing it from harming the rest of the body. That was why people with more magic power could resist poisoning more easily.

A few high-level healers could also learn to neutralize demon poison, which didn't destroy it but could help stop it from spreading and slow down the corruption process, giving the infected body time to finish expelling it.

But Thenio wasn't doing either of those things. His magic...was doing exactly what it always did. It was converting the foreign magic into its own type and absorbing it.

He was eating it. The boy was eating demon poison.

So...that was it....

The reason the Consort himself was watching over the chaos morphs. The reason the Wizard Association was so protective of the information they had about them. The reason the Shiu'tanas had trained so many magic stability doctors, including Focilo.

It was all because of this....

Thenio could purify demon magic.