As the audience scrambled to find where the explosion had originated, chaos erupted.
At first, Caelum thought the explosion had come from backstage, but the audience below had already erupted into panic.
Many nobles immediately rushed from their seats, trying to push open the door, fearing they were under attack, but they soon realized they couldn't open it.
One of them called a muscular attendant to try to force it down.
The attendant slammed his shoulder against the door.
CLANG!
The impact barely moved it.
Then
Clink.
Clink.
A metallic rattle came from the other side.
Everyone went silent.
"The doors are chained!" one of the nobles shouted.
"Check the other doors!" The noble yelled as most of the panicked audience quickly moved through the opera house to leave.
But none of the other doors would budge either.
Then the nobles realized every entrance and exit had been sealed.
Panic spread through the remaining audience as those still seated scrambled to their feet.
Something caught the attention of one of the nobles who had started to regain his composure.
He noticed a strange odor, almost reminiscent of wintergreen.
He looked up at the brass vents and realized the sharp smell was coming from them.
As he tried to see what was causing the scent, he thought to check the window.
Realizing that they were closed, he decided to check the cooling vent. As he looked up, his vision blurred and tears began to form.
Squinting through watering eyes, he tried to determine what was pouring from the vents.
As thin, pale vapor seeped into the hall, forming a cloudy image
Then a violent cough tore from his throat.
With a slight movement, he pulled out a handkerchief to cover his face, as he was closest to the vents.
As the vapor slowly filled the room, the pleasant scents of polished wood and flowers gave way to a sharp, choking odor.
Caelum, upstairs in his seat, wrinkled his nose and perceived a strong smell that stung at the back of his throat.
He wondered what was causing this irritating scent. But after a moment, his eyes began to water, and he coughed forcefully.
Then again.
What the hell is this smell?
It's unbearable and irritating, and he tried to wipe it off his face with his clothes.
In an instant, Scarlett left her seat, standing behind him, her eyes visibly irritated as she started coughing uncontrollably.
She said to Caelum in a fearful tone,
"Young Master, let's get down from here. Whatever is permeating the air isn't normal."
She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and tied it over her mouth and nose.
"How is that going to help?" Caelum asked.
She looked at him as she began to choke, saying, "Young Master, if you have a better idea, I am listening."
As soon as Caelum heard that, he remained silent as he crouched down to help, while tears fell from his eyes.
Internally, he thought whatever was permeating the air was too harsh; were they attempting to kill us?
As Caelum aided Scarlet in getting back to her feet, she instructed Caelum to find a way to Mother in the next row and leave the upper areas because whatever was causing this smell was extremely strong.
As Scarlett searched her pockets, she pulled out two more handkerchiefs, handed one to Caelum, and the other to Mother.
Mother didn't hesitate.
"We're leaving."
Her voice was low but firm.
"Now!
She woke Diana immediately and gave her a handkerchief to cover her face.
Diana, who was shaken awake, stirred in Mother's arms for some time with droopy eyes as she screamed in anger and immediately asked,
"...What happened? Why did you rattle me so hard?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep and anger, as she staggered awake.
As she began to cough wildly, she immediately asked in a panicked tone, "What's happening, Mother?" as she looked at her with a teary face.
Mother, trying not to agitate Diana, replied shakily, "Nothing is wrong," she said, handing her a handkerchief, then pulling a small lump of coal from her bag and telling her to tie it to her face.
Told her it might reduce her choking, Diana quickly did as Mother instructed. Mother took out three more pieces, handed them to Scarlett and Caelum at once, and told them to put them under their handkerchiefs and tie them to their faces.
Caelum immediately asked Mother, "Why do you have coal pieces in your bag?"
She replied, "I always carry some on me. Ever since the incident when I was younger."
For a moment, she looked scared. Then she snapped, "Tie it well! I don't know how long it will last, so let's get down. Hurry!"
As they rushed downstairs, they immediately ran into a man in a white shirt and black tie, who kept coughing as he got closer. Because the substance had made Caelum's vision blurry, he couldn't tell who it was until he heard a voice shouting in a panic.
"Anyone there?" the man screamed, the words breaking into a choking cough.
Scarlett had taken the rear of the line, one hand on Mother's back to keep her upright on the stairs.
That put her where the vapor sank thickest, and somewhere between the landing and the corridor, she fell behind, bent double, her handkerchief soaked through.
Caelum froze, trying to find the source of the uncontrollable coughing.
Then he heard a second cough behind him, higher and thinner than the man's.
He turned. Scarlett was there, doubled over.
"Can you still move?" Caelum asked
"Don't worry, young Master. I'm fine," she said. "Let's quickly get out of here."
As soon as she said that, she froze.
Over Caelum's shoulder, past the drifting haze, Scarlett's eyes locked onto something at the far end of the corridor.
A man in a heavy black suit stood against the wall, his face wrapped in cloth. Everyone else coughed and stumbled toward the exits. He was perfectly still.
A small brass lighter sat between his fingers.
The flame caught.
He let it fall.
It tumbled through the pale vapor, slow as a feather, and Scarlett understood before it landed.
"Young Master, DOWN!"
She slammed Caelum to the floor and threw both hands over him. Water burst from her palms, a shimmering dome that swallowed them both. Caelum had never seen her use magic. Not once in six years.
The vapor ignited.
The world turned white.
A wall of fire tore down the corridor and rolled across the ceiling. It poured into the brass vents like gas, and the climate array carried the flame through the whole building faster than anyone could run.
Inside the dome, everything was orange and trembling. The water boiled against Caelum's cheek. Through its rippling surface, he saw the flames pressing against it like hands.
The crater. The red floor. The skin peeling from bone
His body locked, the way it always did. But Scarlett's arms were around him, shaking, and her sleeves were burning.
"Scarlett—"
"Don't look, young Master," she gasped. Her voice was thin and strained. "Just stay down."
The water thinned with every second.
Her hair, the same red as the fire, curled and blackened at the edges, and she did not let go.
Then the building itself gave way.
The explosion rose from somewhere deep below, and the floor lurched beneath them.
The gallery above broke apart in a roar of glass and stone.
Chandeliers crashed down, and the world turned to noise and dust.
Then nothing.
When Caelum's hearing returned, only a high ringing remained. The water was gone. Scarlett lay heavy across his back, unmoving.
Somewhere to his left, something scraped against stone. A cough, wet and ragged, then a voice he barely recognized.
"Young... Master."
Leonard.
He lay half behind a toppled bench, arms still locked over his head, as though he'd thrown himself there when the lighter fell.
It had saved his life, and little else; his white shirt was gone in strips, the skin beneath it blistered and weeping, and one hand was a blackened curl he held away from his body as though it belonged to someone else.
He dragged himself forward with the other, leaving a dark smear on the stone.
"Stay... with me," he rasped. "I'm coming."
Beyond the rubble, a woman screamed his name.