[CENTER][B]Lucem Lux & Manus Maleficus[/B][/CENTER]

Guided by the flickering candles that lined the walls of the mysterious complex, a young boy wove around corners and down stairs, leather boots clapping against the cobblestone floor with an almost skip-like beat. A seemingly endless maze of corridors, empty rooms, and mystical tricks and traps it was; a place that would stunt and potentially kill the common fool if they were not careful. Every day the path changed, walls caving in and turning into hallways or doors sealing and turning to solid stone. The boy had plenty of skill manoeuvring through it, relying on the magical threads that bound this place to guide him rather than his own eyes. Because of this, despite its current layout, the boy felt as if he knew the building like the back of his own hand. The physical state of the complex changed but the magical threads that guided him never did. It was his home after all, an entire castle almost to himself. He had to know every nook and cranny.

He himself followed the single mystical thread which led from his room, through the endless maze, and to his master’s study, a room he had never entered and had been forbidden from ever entering. It was a dangerous place, if his master’s words held true, and that he would cause more chaos by simply stepping foot inside then he ever could out of it. It was for that reason alone that the boy was almost constantly trying to find a way inside.

The boy almost slipped as a whole stairway appeared beneath him, spiralling downwards for what looked like an eternity. His stomach churned, balance briefly lost as he scrambled for something to cling on to. Throwing his arms out they latched onto the stone balustrade which sprung up before him, saving the boy a few nasty scrapes and bruises. He pushed himself up and brushed himself down, blowing a strand of loose hair from his face with a breath. With hands running along the stone supports the boy ran, bounding down a dozen steps in a single stride. Blond locks flew about as he moved, only kept out of his bright green eyes by the brass goggles which he wore.

Descending what must’ve been a dozen floors, Lucem Lux landed on firm ground with his arms outstretched, mimicking the landing of a skilled gymnast. He smiled, bowing and pulling up the goggles so that they rested on his forehead. He was met with a large wooden door, the only door on this floor it seemed. It was easily twice his height and several times as wide, lined with silver metals and decorated with fine runes and symbols. Lux rapped his knuckles against the door’s knocker, th golden face of a grostesque creature, playing a familiar tune which he whistled in unison. When he got no response, Lux knocked again. And again. And again.

Lux may or may not have done this for the next two and a half minutes, leaving only a short break between his series of rhythmic beats. He briefly contemplated the idea that the one he was looking for, his master, was in fact not behind the door. Discarding the idea quickly, Lux returned to banging his clenched fist against the door and hoping for a response.

“Yes?”

His ears pricked up to the sound. Lux turned on the spot, tugging at his jacket and fixing the fastening on his cloak before performing a quick, exaggerated salute to the man before him. He stood to attention, legs straight and chin held high with a great big grin across his face. “Apprentice Lucem Nathanus Lux, reporting for duty, sir!”

The man before him sighed, a deep breath that accompanied a tapping foot. He looked over Lux with a discerning eye as if he were not sure whether to take the boy seriously or not. Lux often claimed it was the only way Master Manus could ever look at him, a mix of confusion, disappointment, and amusement. Manus himself was no less unusual than his apprentice, however, standing at six and a half feet tall and almost completely bald beyond the tiny ponytail trailing from the back of his hair. His skin showed his true peculiarities though, snow white flesh decorated with deep black patterns, all entirely natural. A thick black cloak covered most of these features though, leaving only a pair of gleaming scarlet eyes to peer out from underneath his hood. To those trained to see magical energy, like Lux, Master Manus oozed it.

“I am ready and waiting for the trip to Primus, Master! Eager to get goin’ right away, A.S.A.P.” cheered Lux, still beaming.

There was no reaction from Manus, his quizzical look refusing to budge. After a few moments had passed, Lux’s body began to tire and he returned to a more comfortable stance, his arms falling back to his side and his eyes wandering to the painting on the wall beside him that he didn’t recognise, portraying a great mythical land of huge concrete towers and tiny motorised carriages. Manus responded by gripping his staff firmly in his hand, placing the pointed tip under Lux’s chin and using it to tilt his head up again. Lux rolled his eyes.

“And where are your things?” Manus asked.

“Why they’re right he-”

Lux never finished his sentence. He looked down to his side, arms outstretched and pointing to the side. He expected a small pool of leather bags filled with his things from clothes to sentimental items to alchemical equipment to be beside him, ready to be transported. Instead Lucem was granted by an empty space where he had thought them to be. “I left them upstairs, didn’t I?”

Manus nodded.

“You couldn’t teleport them down here for me, could y-”

“No.”

Lux groaned, muttering under his breath about how Manus was a terrible mother and that the other kids let him play outside after six o’clock. Slowly he dragged himself back up the stairs, hanging his head low and mumbling a little more with every step. A few steps up he turned his head over his shoulder, looking at Master Manus with the closest he could get to mimicking the charm of puppy-dog eyes. It failed miserably.

“Remember that this trip is hinging entirely on your good behaviour. The longer you pout the more likely I am to mysteriously forget the proper incantations to generate a portal of this magnitude. Keep it up for much longer and your room may or may not be accidentally rented out to a large family of Arlesian feral trolls. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

A pout turned to a worried, almost fearful look and the slow trod up the stone steps of the stairway turned into light taps and a rush of wind as a blond blur wove up the spiral stairs in an instant. Manus began counting in seconds, slowly working up from one. By the time he had hit six Lux was before his master, standing just as attentively as he had before. A gust of wind kicked at Manus’ own cloak from the sheer speed of Lux’s magically enhanced movements. Lux looked to his master again, this time with various satchels and cases held in his hands or slung over his shoulder in black and brown leather, some decorated with brighter colours. He was silent but his eyes stayed firmly locked upon Manus’ own, once again adopting a more innocent and vulnerable expression usually reserved for toddlers.

Manus raised his hand, a crooked finger sliding out from the long sleeves of his cloak and pointed towards the solid stone wall to his left. The demon’s lips began to move, whispering quiet words and phrases under his breath. As easily as flicking a switch, Manus snapped his fingers and the room burst into flames. Golden cinders and streams of opal fire engulfed the wall, twisting and swirling and biting the air as ferociously as any dragon. Lux watched on in amazement as shapes took form in the fires, slowly twisting into a large circular shape about twelve feet in height and width cast across the wall.

Lux knew he would never grow tired of that.

The two of them slowly made their way to the newly formed portal, carrying their things with them. Manus took the first step through, his form warping and vanishing through it in a blur of more magical energy. Lux looked over his shoulder, taking in one last glance at his old home before stepping forwards himself. He felt the fire lick at his body, a searing pain that dragged him forwards deeper into the mystical gateway. Brightly coloured lights enveloped his vision and a sharp screeching filled his ears, enough to disorient even the keenest of minds. Lux was dragged through the portal, falling from his perch on the firm stone floor and thrown into the arcane abyss.