Leonidas suggests that Pan can feel the way to go in his heart, and he grins even wider… for the boy was an adventurer, and his wanderlust always seemed to lead him somewhere more. More wonderful. More magical. More mysterious. The castle was all of these, a true wanderer’s paradise. He wanted to take it all in, to roam in every world. So as he tears across the sky, he lets his heart be the guide – just as the other suggested. And finds himself in a place so bright, it couldn’t be real.
Pan was entranced with the diamonds, gathering a handful and letting them fall from his grasp in a shower of sparkle. Even Oliver seemed to be caught in the wonder, skittering forth from his satchel and gathering up a stone-sized diamond in his grasp before returning the treasure to the bag for safekeeping. They would have gathered more, but the screech of hooves against the jewels is enough to bring their marvel to a screeching halt. He turns to find Leonidas fleeing with anger, flinging open another door and letting a blast of heat wash over them.
”Be careful!” he screams at the boy… but it is too late, for Leonidas tumbles into the land of fire. With a mask of horror, Pan follows, unwilling to let his new friend perish in the heat of the flame. “Don’t worry! I’m coming!” Heat singes at his nose, smoke burning his eyes as down, down he tumbled. When his feet should hit solid ground, instead he finds himself suspended, warm but not unpleasantly so, shielded by some kind of strange magic. Where he should have burned, he simple tickles with an uncomfortable sheen of sweat, searching through the magma-laden world to find Leonidas once more.
“I don’t like this place… let’s get out of here.” With urgency, he looks for an exit, but does not immediately find one. Instead, there is a gaping hole in the floor, filled to the brim with bubbling magma, seeming to beckon them in. “Do you think we’re meant to jump into the volcano?” He shivers with concern, not entirely trusting of this new world but finding no other way. ”You first…” he gulps, half ashamed of the nerves which creep along his neck. But Leonidas had gotten them into this world, so then, it was only right that he would find his way out.
They stand together for a moment more, contemplating the leap, before the lava bubbles quicken and explode into a shower of sparks. With a scream, Pan closes his eyes, pinching them tight and expecting the end… but the magma turns into a harmless shower of rain, and as he opens his eyes on this world again, Pan sees only a grand room with rich tapestries on the walls and a regal throne standing ominously atop a dozen stairs.
“What is it?” Pan wonders aloud at the creature who sits upon the throne, even as he takes an involuntary step forward, drawn toward it as he presses closer to his winged companion, unsure of what might happen next.
@
