"You said you have the footage? Show me," Maurice says to Julian.
Julian nods and turns to the big TV mounted on one of the walls. He gets up and types something on the keyboard near the TV.
Theo is no stranger to security footage. He used to do it too, though it was called scrying. And not all mages can do it.
Everyone watches as the screen comes to life, showing an empty lab room. Suddenly, it brightens, and the camera adjusts itself. The purple flame appears, floating in the middle of the room. Its initial size is as big as a person's head.
In the next few seconds, an energy field surrounds the purple flame like an acrylic box, isolating it from the room.
Julian explains, "It stays like this for the next two minutes." He fast-forwards the video and stops it after two minutes.
"Then it starts to get bigger." The floating fire on the screen grows until it's as tall as Arthur.
People start showing up, shouting to each other to notify Arthur and Julian. A few minutes later, Julian arrives.
"Oh, it's beautiful! What happened?" he asks, eyes wide.
"We don't know, Julian. When we got here, it was already there," one of the lab assistants answers.
"Here." The second lab assistant hands him a tablet, apparently playing the footage of the first time the fire appeared.
"It just appeared out of thin air! How is that possible?!" Julian exclaims.
"Julian," Lab Assistant A calls, "don't you notice the color?"
Julian nods. "Yes. Purple. We've been trying to produce this purple fire but haven't been successful. And now it suddenly appeared on its own."
"Turn on the Arcatherm and put it on 'Fire!'" Julian barks.
Lab Assistant B immediately runs to one corner of the room and turns on the device. He watches as it comes alive. "Julian!" he shouts.
Julian runs to him, staring at the monitor, eyes as wide as Leila's teacup saucer. "Holy shit!"
In the dining room, Julian turns to Maurice. "Everything is off the chart. It can't read it. It just says 'Unreadable' blaring on the display."
Maurice's eyes are glued to the TV. "And you said I don't need to know or worry about this?! You should've called me!"
"Well, the flame has been successfully put out. It won't burn our lab," Julian tries to defend himself.
Maurice glares at him. Julian's voice grows smaller. "I didn't call you because the flame didn't exactly do anything but exist."
Seeing that his father is still silent, Julian points to the TV. "As you'll see, over the next two hours we tried everything. And the fire was just… there. Not moving, not burning anything. It was like it only wanted to grant us its majestic presence."
The scenes on the screen unfold exactly as Julian explained. He occasionally fast-forwards the footage to fit his narrative.
"You said the Arcatherm couldn't read anything off it. Including heat?" Maurice asks.
Julian nods. "Yes. And if you're wondering why we didn't melt from the heat—well, that was because of the Aegis. It literally saved our asses. We could still feel it, but it was bearable."
He uses a laser pointer to highlight something on the screen. "As you can see here, the energy field starts to melt."
He pauses the video and turns to his father. "This was the moment we knew we had to act, or it would turn into a disaster."
He continues, "And as you can see, at this point we tried to suck the oxygen out of the isolated area."
Everyone is silent.
Maurice is deep in thought. Leila pales a little, hearing how close her second child had been to danger. Arthur's eyes keep flicking between the screen and Theo.
Theo, meanwhile, is glued to the screen. He notices everything—and he is certain that the purple flame on the giant display is Amethyst Blaze. Yesterday, he had produced Emberfire with only a basic magic spell.
And now he's dying to test his magic again.
But something else catches his attention: what Julian and the others call "Aegis." In his magic tongue, it means shield.And from the looks of it, it's strikingly similar to his own shield.
This confirms what Arthur had said about this world's history—that it once knew magic. And now, the Aegis proves it: their old magic and his own are very similar.
Are the worlds connected somehow?
Maurice is deep in thought. There's something nagging at his brain, and usually, this is a sign that something is off. Then suddenly—
"Ah!" he exclaims and opens his tablet.
Everyone looks at him, waiting. They all know (except for Theo) that when Maurice is like this, he's on to something.
Maurice keeps searching on his tablet, and when he finds what he's looking for, his face changes to astonishment. He immediately shows it to everyone else. "Look at the time!"
Leila leans forward to see the tablet. She doesn't understand. "What time, honey?"
"The timestamp when the Emeralis fire started!" Maurice answers.
Julian's eyes widen. "Wait a minute! Can it really? Hold on!" He then types furiously on the keyboard and searches the lab footage. He stops at the moment the purple fire first appeared.
"Oh my god!" Leila clamps her hands over her mouth.
"They started at the exact same time," Arthur says aloud.
He turns to Maurice. "Father, I think this warrants a further investigation. I'll contact the Emeralians and see if I can find out everything about their fire."
Then he turns to Julian. "Jules, before I go—anything else you haven't told us? About this fire, I mean."
Julian shakes his head. "I don't think so."
He looks around the room. "But what does this mean? How can two fires start at the exact same time? And they're not just miles apart—they're on opposite sides of the globe!"
Theo, who has been quiet the whole time, is thinking too. 22:49:34. Is that the exact time Amethyst Blaze appeared in the lab? Why am I bothered by this?
He frowns, deep in thought, ignoring his surroundings. His expression now is very similar to Maurice's a few minutes earlier.
What was the time when I experimented with my magic? It was—
"Thea?" Someone touches his shoulder.
Theo snaps out of his thoughts. "Hm?"
Leila is looking at him, smiling. "What would you like to eat for breakfast?"
She hands him her tablet, showing a breakfast menu.
Julian chuckles. "Mom, you made a breakfast menu?"
Leila glances at Julian. "Yes. It's easier for everyone—easier for me to explain, and easier for Thea to choose. It has names and pictures."
Julian grins. "You could start your own restaurant."
Leila nods in agreement. "I could." Then she turns her attention back to Thea. "Take a look at this, and if there's anything you'd like to ask, just ask."
Theo looks at the menu Leila had so lovingly made, and he feels happy. Did Julian say anything about treating me like I don't remember anything?
He looks up to Julian and finds that Arthur is no longer in the room. When did he leave? He glances at Maurice, who's talking in a low voice with Julian.
"Thea." Leila calls again.
Theo turns his attention to her.
"Don't worry about them. They're talking about work. You don't need to worry about it. What you need to focus on is getting better. And you can start by eating a good, healthy, big breakfast." Leila smiles gently at him.
Theo smiles back. "Okay." He turns his eyes back to the menu.
Leila sighs in satisfaction. "Good." She claps her hands. "After breakfast, we'll go shopping!"
Theo turns to her again. "Shopping?"
Leila nods enthusiastically. "Mm-hm. Shopping for clothes. Your clothes."
She looks at Theo with full maternal love. "You've just returned from… a three-week trip. During that time, you've experienced a lot. And it has changed you. The you now is the new you."
She smiles widely. "And it's only fair that you have a new set of clothes that reflect the new you! Don't you agree?"
Theo is dumbfounded. Impossible! Julian most definitely told her. There is no way this is happening if he hadn't!
Theo is half-right. Someone did tell Leila and Maurice. But it wasn't Julian. It was Arthur.