Startled, Davri fell backwards onto his back. He didn’t suppose that he was seeing stars because he had not been hit on the head, but he was certainly seeing something. Sparks and tendrils of light were everywhere. They looped and glittered in the air, then surrounded the four figures. Davri was surprised to see them accumulate around the medallion he wore, which absorbed them and glowed.

And then he was swamped with a feeling of complete and utter bliss, warmth that spread from head to toe. He shut his eyes and let himself get lost in the euphoria.

“Hey!” Someone was shaking him and he opened his eyes in irritation. Lewis looked worried again. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He sat up. “Just…” he shook his head and suppressed a slight smile. Getting to his feet, he limped towards the Gate. “Stand back.”

Glancing at his right palm, he reminded himself that the magic wasn’t real, not entirely. It felt good, it felt so good, but it wasn’t true magic. Sitting down in front of the Gate, bad leg splayed out in front of him, he started mumbling to himself.

After the first few lines he didn’t even care what he was saying anymore. He started begging, asking the almost-magic to heal his leg, his aches and pains, to restore his nerves and muscles and energy, and soon found himself simply repeating one phrase over and over.

“Heal me. Heal me. Heal me.”

It appeared to work. Light pooled around his body again, lingering in a large glowing mass. Again it blinded him and he shut his eyes; there was another surge of the blissful sensation, a sudden sharp pain, and then he lost consciousness.

*

Nyte?

D-Davri?! Where—?

I’m in your skull, kid. You said to get in contact. Davri was careful not to move. He was aware the scientists had moved him onto a cot, but he didn’t know if they were nearby; he was sure that the instant he showed he was awake they would start to bother him, and he didn’t want to deal with them.

There was a pause. …right. You scared me, though. How are you doing?

I’m fine. What’re you doing right now?

Puzzles. Riddles. Mostly tests, although they have showed me these things that look almost like runes. They keep trying to get me to do magic.

Yeah, same here, only it works for me. I think I found your key—how they get the magic.

There was another pause. …you…you found out.

Yeah. They’re using a Gate. Have you studied those?

A bit. I understand how they work but I’ve never actually seen one.

You could ask about it but I doubt they know what it’s called. It’s very badly done—most of the symbols are wrong. I wonder how they learned about them.

And who from. Maybe there is someone who knows about magic here.

Can’t hurt to ask. You try and I’ll try and we’ll see who has more luck.

Okay.

I’m gonna go now. Get in touch with you later.

Oh…okay.

Davri groaned and sat up, blinking and stifling a yawn. He was in a different room; it was smaller, with a cot, and through the doorway he could see the room with the Gate. There was no one else in the room with him.

He felt better. More awake, more at ease, more like his old self. He stood up, putting weight on his bad leg; it didn’t crumple beneath him. Slowly he stood on that leg alone. It held, and he grinned.

“Kick ass.”

He prowled out of the room, seeing if he could get out of the Gate room and find Nyte, but he was intercepted by Lewis.

“You’re okay!”

Davri leapt back into the wall. “Yah!” He clutched his chest melodramatically. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, man! Scared me.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Davri slid back into his casual demeanor. “No harm done. How long was I out this time?”

“An hour.” Lewis pointed at his chest and Davri saw that he was still wearing the medallion. “Yours is still glowing—we all took ours off a while ago.”

“You want me to take it off?”

“No!” His eyes widened in apparent horror and Lewis shook his head. “We can’t take them off when they’re glowing.”

There was a pause. Davri crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, staring at the Gate.

“…someone died to figure that out, didn’t they?”

Lewis sighed and glanced at the Gate as well. “I’m new to the project, so I didn’t know them.”

“How long have you been doing this? Messing with magic?”

Lewis shrugged. “I don’t know how long the project has been going on, but I’ve only been in on it for a couple of days.”

Davri sighed, frowning. “How did you guys even learn about magic?”

“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Andrea.”

Davri pushed off the wall and headed across the room, where he could see Andrea and the crazy lady discussing something. “Then I will. I’ve got a right to know.”

Andrea turned to face him as he approached, most likely warned by Alma. “That was—”

“Shut up. How do you know about magic?”

“—an unexpected…” She trailed off and blinked. “Excuse me?”

“How do you know about magic? Was there a book, a person, some freaky flash of insight, a mistake?” He narrowed his eyes and cut her off as she opened her mouth to speak. “And I have every right to know, being a mage myself.”

There was a short pause, then Andrea sighed. “We have our sources. But rest assured that it was not a mistake or a freaky flash of insight. Might I ask why you want to know?”

“Yeah, you might.” He rolled his eyes. “Why do you think I want to know? I’m curious!”

She hesitated. “There…there is a book. And a person.”

“Can I see this book or meet this person?”

“Perhaps, if you behave.”

He stared at her for a moment, peeved. “…I hate conditions.”

“You’re going to have to deal with them if—”

Davri turned and walked away, heading for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Somewhere else,” he mumbled.

“You can’t leave.”

Her voice wasn’t shrill, and he hadn’t expected it to be. Andrea was, as far as he could tell, methodical and scientific, and did not want him to leave so much out of spite or desire for control as that it simply was not a good thing to have your subjects wandering around unhindered or unchecked.

To hell with her experiments.

He didn’t even get as far as the door, unfortunately. Lewis grabbed his sleeve and tugged at it childishly.

“You can’t leave!” He protested. “We’re in the middle of a—”

“I don’t care,” Davri snapped, yanking his arm out of the man’s grasp. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about your stupid tests.”

“Then return the medallion.”

He glanced over his shoulder at Andrea, who crossed her arms and stared skeptically back. “We need it for something else,” she continued. “If you don’t want to participate in our study anymore, then give it back.”

“It’s stopped glowing,” Lewis added helpfully. “You won’t be hurt if you step out now.”

“No shit.” For a second he wanted to refuse, just to spite them, but then he shrugged. “Whatever.”

She held out her hand and he pulled off the medallion, pausing for a second before dropping it into her palm.

“Thank you. You may leave now, if you so desire.”

He turned to the door again, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. They would let him go so easily? No; Lewis had fallen in step with him, watching him carefully.

“How do you feel?” he asked as they left the room together, Davri trying his best to ignore the blonde man.

“I feel fine.” His heart was pounding and he felt shaky, as if he had just run a mile and gotten into a fight. Normally adrenaline didn’t bother him, but he hadn’t done anything to get it flowing, and that bothered him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Davri glanced at Lewis, irritated. They reached the elevator and Davri punched the button.

“Do you know where you’re going?”

“Not really.” He paused and looked at Lewis, who stared attentively back. “…I’m going back to my room, aren’t I?”

Lewis nodded. “We’re not the only ones doing tests, and if you randomly walked into a delicate experiment…”

“Heads will roll,” Davri mumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Pardon?”

“Eh, it’s a historical reference you wouldn’t catch anyway.” The door slid open and they entered. Lewis pressed a button and they both leaned against opposite walls, looking at each other. Davri noticed a dark bruise on Lewis’ right cheek.

“I give you that?”

“Pardon?”

Davri gestured at his own cheek. “Bruise. I’m assuming that’s my handiwork.”

“Oh. Ah, yes.”

“Cool.” He sniffed and looked up at the ceiling of the elevator. There was a stiff pause.

“…You’re not going to apologize?”

Davri returned his gaze to Lewis and stared at him scathingly. “Why should I? I’m not sorry I hit you.” He shrugged. “Wish I’d been able to sock that bitch, though.”

“She didn’t mean—”

“Just shut up, okay?” Davri glared at him and he fell silent; the elevator shuddered to a halt and Lewis led Davri back to his room without saying another word. There was a gentle click as the door locked and Davri threw himself onto the bed. His heart was still pounding, and he suddenly became aware of a sick sensation in the pit of his stomach.

Swearing violently, he got up and began to pace the length of the room. Maybe it had been a bad idea to cut off the experiment so suddenly. He might never get to meet the person who instigated their experiments, or worse. Would they ask him to participate in another experiment even though he walked out on the first one? How was Nyte doing?

And to top it all off, he was absolutely starved.

“Fuck!”

Somehow he forced himself to stop pacing, to sit down and calm down. Anxiety and hunger pangs fought for dominion over his stomach, and only the eventual sleep calmed them both.

---

Pan: Thanks for pointing that out. I dunno, the line just seems natural to me. And hmmmm, well, I’m sure you’ll see Nyte using his magic soon enough.