"Abracadabra!"

Theophilus drew all of the earth-bound magical strength he could muster, siphoning them up from his feet up to his outstretched arms high up in the air, the thick arcane tome crackling with energy. A blinding flare instantly materialized and disappeared just as suddenly; in its place the Sage's immobile body sprawled on the floor with an ominous thud.

Distracted, Leon tilted his head to the side for a moment; trying to make heads and tails of what appeared in front of his eyes. It was only after he heard Ilyena's terrified gasp that he realized what actually happened.

"The spell backfired. By the gods," Elfienne murmured from her seat, her mouth covering what could be a snicker or a slight hint of shock. "I'm...speechless."

Leon walked over to what seemed to be Theophilus' corpse and gingerly nudged the downturned face with his foot, the soft brown hair falling over his soft leather moccasins. "I'm tempted to say, 'stupid fool', but I guess it's redundant," he said simply, an odd hush falling over him and the other occupants of the bar.

"Theo...NO!!" Ilyena's strangled cry pierced the silence, prompting Leon to shake his head and call off the ceremonies.

"We've had too much excitement. Étienne, Aemilianus," he called out, snapping his fingers, "carry this poor sod out and go think of a place to bury him." Shaking his head, he turned to Valeur with a wry smile. "I'm afraid I have to take leave for now...a spot of headache, you see."

The magician wrenched herself from Valeur's grip and stumbled towards her beloved's body. "No, please, I never meant it to be this way...please darling, please...LIVE! Someone, anyone..." she babbled on, gradually becoming incoherent.

That's the way things are, I suppose, Valeur thought, the haze of jadedness never really leaving him. You don't know what you lost until you do.

"It's sad, no?" Leon asked, as if he read his mind. "One would wish the Creator made a more failsafe happy drug other than love."

With that, he vanished into thin air.