It was strange –almost too strange — to hear his brother with a sophisticated, noble accent. He no longer had the mumbling, unfocused voice of a disobedient and willfully ignorant teenage boy. Another odd sight was the black armor, heavily adorned with emblems of creatures he didn’t recognize. Angry-looking creatures and shapes; vines with thorns, a snake monster with a wide mouth, large leathery wings that stretched across the calf of the armor. The metal images reminded Cody of tattoos that he saw on Kumar’s uncle; aggressive signs that made the wearer seem cool and macho. But Cody couldn’t help but feel that this wasn’t his brother at all. Aaron, even with all his faults and selfishness, would have never pulled this hard on his arm. He wouldn’t have ever had the incentive to even try.

The object that he managed to grab from the table was stabbing him in his palm. Cody quickly stuffed it into his pocket, folding the necklace inside hopefully without Aaron seeing. The hallway was damp and cold, stony and black, lit only by a few green-glowing torches. He felt like he was being led to his father’s room as he looked up at his brother.

“You’re not my brother.” said Cody plainly. As his head was spinning, seeing as nothing made sense, he decided he wasn’t going to just sit back and take it.

Aaron turned, dark shadows under his eyes, and said, “Ahh, so you do have your own thoughts. But if you cannot believe your own eyes, why should you believe anything I have to say?”

He was right. Cody had been finding it difficult to believe his own father. Why should he believe anyone? Why should he try to make sense of any of this? Perhaps he didn’t want to admit the truth, as he was being dragged along, but the truth finally did hit him and he couldn’t avoid it. “Phaeton. Your Phaeton.” And the old man back there…could it have been…?

The iron-clad teen laughed. “Little gaean, you impress me. And do you know how hard it is to impress a three-hundred-year-old grand wizard?”

Cody assumed he was expected to answer but remained quiet, only pulling on the hand that pulled him forward towards the intersection of stone walls ahead. He wasn’t about to play games anymore. “Where’s Aaron? Where’s my father?”

“Hmm, you mean the other boy who impolitely interrupted my alchemy spell? Didn’t you see him in the chamber there?” said Phaeton. Cody’s stomach turned. He had been right. That old man was Aaron. He was trapped in Phaeton’s body. This was impossible. How was he supposed to win against a wizard this powerful if only yesterday he didn’t even know magic existed? His thoughts turned toward Illyion and he grew even madder. She had lied to him too, he was sure.

“What did I ever do to you?” Cody managed.

Phaeton glanced at him from over the neck guard of the armor, only his upper face showing. “This? This has nothing to do with you. I only want the respect I deserve. Why must everyone contest me?”

The wizard veered down the left hallway pulling even harder than before. There was light ahead, a large chamber, and Cody was partially blinded. The chamber was huge from what he could tell. As his eyes adjusted, he found that he was on a large staircase that led to the ground floor, the banister curved at the end and made a spiral into the foyer. On the lower floor stood several display cases of jars and other old and strange things. Everything had a tinge of dark orange or brown, including the banners that hung overhead, containing strange symbols. Further away, adjacent to the stairs, was a large iron door, black with age, ominously staring back at them at the top of the stairs.

“You’re better off not being a gaean anymore. You will know the power of the mystical nature of the universe, the true nature, the uncharted depths of existence and reality. If only for a moment.” Phaeton dragged Cody towards the staircase and threw him forward.

His feet left the stairs as he was flung forward. He screamed, flailing his arms trying to grab something, anything, but there was nothing close.  Falling forward, the absence of solid ground, the rush of helplessness swirled around him like the stairs and ceiling above and below. He only had a second to draw a tear, wishing his father were here, before his back collided hard with the middle step of the staircase. A cough and choked sob escaped his lungs as he continued down the stairs, moaning, wincing from the sharp stabbing pain of the steps, and trying desperately to grab for the steps to stop himself. As he toppled onto the floor his hands hit the carpet in front of him and he started crawling, feeling the presence of the dark wizard coming behind. The plastic helmet had fallen a few feet away. His back hurt the most and would likely be the worst bruise he’d ever had.

“The Issula Worm of Dojun. The Kilaxia of Darkmoor. The Talon of Angwich. These are some of the great guardians of Paralaya. They were once soul-creatures like yourself. Now they are statuesque totems to the cyclic realms, protectors of the magic gates. You should find satisfaction in that at least, that you will be counted amongst legends.”

“What are you talking about?” Cody winced and furled his brow in angry defiance. Remember how to fall, he told himself and shook off the tears. The time he broke his finger falling off the tree was worse than this. If he was going to die, he wasn’t going without a fight. “Don’t you have anything better to do than to threaten a kid?”

“Your juvenile intelligence is becoming quite annoying. Perhaps I will give you the gift of insight, at least to appreciate this moment.” Phaeton’s armor clinked as he slowly walked down the stairs, the wizard wearing Aaron’s face.

Cody reached and grabbed for the helmet, to shield his face in some way, and said, “I’d rather keep my head empty than fill it with lies.” He put on the helmet as he tried to stand and straighten his back. He tapped the top of the helmet.

“I must commend your ego. You have a loud squawk for such a tiny creature.” Phaeton’s distortion of Aaron’s face was growing more disturbing. He held his chin high when he spoke and his lips curled into a smile more often. He was also more articulate and moved his brows in wide angles. As he approached Cody he leaned down, clearly trying to make him seem more pathetic. “Let me enlighten you.” The wizard took two steps back and then walked along the glass displays.

There was a creature hanging in the first glass cylinder, or rather the head of a creature. It reminded Cody of a salmon with sharp jagged teeth and a second vertical crease giving the mouth a diamond shape. “Since the dawn of our civilization our people have been trying to uncover a way to break through the dimensional barrier of time and space.” said Phaeton. “I can see on your face that you have no idea what I’m talking about. The elders of our past failed miserably, many of them suffering by their own experiments, becoming forever changed. At first their thoughts on the matter were too simplistic. The ancient wizards believed that if they could imbue a portal with great power, ancient mystical power, they could simply walk through it and come out the other side. They were wrong.” Phaeton reflected angrily and seemed to relax again when he continued. “Other dimensions cannot be reached through a portal or any other magical doorway. Their naive and fragile minds could not fathom the truth. At least not until I arrived to provide them that truth.”

Phaeton walked past another display, this one of a dried snake-bat, but Cody was too distracted by the silly speech. “I’m assuming this is going to lead to why you kidnapped a twelve-year-old boy, you sick freak.”

“How dare…” Phaeton’s face grew red when he shouted, but it was something Cody had been used to from Aaron. He gritted his teeth but seemed to relax again, eager to tell his “truth,” as he put it. “The dimensions all share a commonality, a common existence, even language itself seems to be mirrored in these alternate realities. Even you.” The wizard grumbled. “It was my genius, and my willingness to defy tradition, that led to this discovery of dimensional transmutation.”

Cody cocked his head sideways even though he had heard this phrase several times before. There was pride in the wizard’s voice when he said the phrase, his hands gesturing in the air like Cody’s math teacher, Mrs. Mccoy.

The wizard glanced down at the floor for a moment and then quickly looked back at the boy. That was when Cody noticed the large circular platform that was embedded in the stone at the end of the carpet, situated in the center of the room. It had two carved circles, one inside the other. He stepped back and felt the urge to run back up the stairs but he knew he wouldn’t get fair in the wizard’s dungeon, against his magic and his home, if this was indeed the wizard’s home.

“I sense your dimension has not yet unlocked this secret.” smiled Phaeton. “Let me ease your intellectual deficiency. There exists an unforeseen number of dimensions stretching across time and space. There are more dimensions than there are stars in the sky. And each one is connected through an invisible tether.” He held up both his pointer fingers. “Mirrored objects through mirrored universes. I have harnessed the ability to change these tethers to another object or multiple objects or beings.” He held up three fingers on his left hand and kept the same finger up on his right hand. “One object is now infused with the power of three and the magic essence of that single object in the other universe becomes stronger. But those objects become meaningless if they do not have the right outlet, the right socket, the right vessel.”

Socket, outlet, Cody thought of a power outlet and he was probably right based on what Phaeton was saying. A television, a lamp, a microwave, all would be useless if not for a wall socket to plug into. He looked at the round markings on the floor and took another step back.

“Tether alteration is a parlor trick compared to what could be done with transmutation, and that is the ultimate goal of truth seekers, is it not? To dive head-first into the unknown?” said Phaeton “One cannot simply transcend the dimensions without transmutation. Changing the tether of one object to another is one thing, but changing one object from another universe to another object in another universe is something much, much more.” Again, with the dramatic gestures, Phaeton’s hands swirling, fingers pointing. He held up two fingers again. “Imagine, if you can, that two mirror objects swap places. When the tethers become closer the tether becomes loose, the objects entering the space between realities, the bonds that they are made of also become loose and their chemical makeup changes. And if that object is a person with a soul, that soul would remain tethered to the dimension while the body of the person would be transferred somewhere else, to the other dimension. For the less educated I would call this ‘body-swapping.'”

There was a drawn-out look in his eyes, a tiredness that he had never seen in Aaron. He knew what the wizard was saying was true since he was looking directly at the aftermath of this “swap.” His brother in the other room…. was suffering inside the body of an old man, barely able to move. “Their minds…What happens to the mind of a swapped person? Are they trapped there forever?”

“Oh no,” waved Phaeton laughing, “Their minds stay where they are, in the same dimension. It’s their bodies that change.” Cody didn’t understand the difference. “The vict…. The body takes on the shape of the spell caster and vice versa. It is the only way to move between worlds, but only in form. The mind of this boy is in my body, under an influence spell, doing what I tell him to do. It’s quite limiting and was quite a conundrum to solve. But as you can see, I’ve done it! Not only am I here in your world but I’m more youthful than I’ve been in a very long time.”

Cody looked around the room. They were still on Earth? Then that meant if everything he was saying was true then Phaeton had achieved a level of power that Cody couldn’t even imagine. No, not achieved. Obtained. He touched his plastic helmet and peered down at his feet and then back at the circle shape on the floor. “The guardian isn’t a guardian at all.” The wizard had a look of surprise at his words. “It’s a key. But….but why me?”

His look of surprise turned to a smile, “Hmmm, yes, you’ve been busy with the Fallenshroud haven’t you? I hope they haven’t ruined all my secrets. That Illyion is quite pathetic, a novice magician at best. The guardians were what the ancient’s used to heightened the power and auras of magic, only made stronger by the tethers, drawing energies from other dimensions and storing them in a vessel of purity, unspoiled by darkness and malice. It’s a noble act, it really is.”

His smile was becoming wider, almost too wide, a knowing eager smile that suggested he wasn’t telling Cody everything. The vessel he was referring to was himself, that was clear. But that would mean if Phaeton had used magic to bring his dungeon here, to Earth, then the ritual, or whatever he did to cause all this, was already happening. Originally, he was told to collect the tethers in one place by the wizard. After his father went missing Illyion told him to destroy the objects, presumably to stop the magic spell that Phaeton was already casting. The objects were meaningful to Cody which meant that they held some magical essence over Cody, or maybe Cody had power over the objects and didn’t know it. How else could they be used as tethers if they were useless? He rubbed the side of his pocket, this time trying to feel for any strange sensation. He narrowed his eyes with determination and then suddenly there was a warmth on his fingertips…

“And your transformation will come shortly.” Phaeton gave another glance to the circle symbol.

The eagerness and confidence that came from his brother’s captor made Cody’s blood boil. How could someone be so calm about imprisoning a child forever –in a statue, did he say? Paralaya was in peril, or so that’s what Illyion had said. If it was, he was sure the wizard had something to do with it. “You destroyed your world and now you want to invade ours. It’s sad you needed help from a boy to do it.”

Phaeton took several heavy steps on the carpet and towered over him like dark clouds signaling a coming storm. “I’ve tried to enlighten you but I can see that you are too primitive to understand. I only want to enlighten everyone! To welcome them to a new age of multi-dimensional peace and unity. The inhabitants of Paralaya refused to listen to reason and suffered the consequence of the blight. They realized I was right and now the darkness consumes the land! I will not be passive again. I will not allow others to decide what is right and what is wrong, especially those with limited mental capacities.” He clutched his gauntleted hand close to Cody’s face, his face growing red.

With his other hand he lifted Cody’s cape by its strings, the back of the cape being the only thing that was holding him up by the back of his skull, and flung him forward closer to the circle. Tears started to build in his eyes. Again, there was that hopeless feeling. No, he couldn’t allow himself to wallow in despair.

“The magic artifacts, the tethers, will not allow you to disobey me. Stand on the pedestal.” The round circle started glowing after Phaeton put his hands to his head. He was closing his eyes, focusing.

Cody loosened the string around his neck and stood but he didn’t have any urge to move to the circle however the item in his pocket became warmer. If he was the key to unlocking a more powerful transmutation spell than he himself would be able to control some of that power, wouldn’t he? The objects on their pedestals came to mind. The tether artifacts were tied to him, along with being tied to other objects from another dimension. Was he also tied to another person in a mirror universe? If so, that person was also in danger of having their magic energy sapped by Phaeton. He had so many questions and so little time.

“No.” said Cody standing defiantly, “I don’t think so.” knowing now that Phaeton’s little collection of his personal items was missing one item and therefore whatever spell he held over Cody was incomplete.

Aaron’s face stared back with a crumbled frown and Phaeton spoke, “How…?” The armored wizard took three steps forward and pulled Cody up by the cape. “Your father is in the land of the dead, little boy. And I’ll make sure your soul suffers the same fate when I’m done with you.”

“No, he’s not.” Cody wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth but he was sure the wizard was a deceptive coward for hiding behind someone else’s face. It was his father who said, “Cowards are weak but heroes are powerful.” It was the one thing that Cody knew was true at that moment. The warmth on his leg was growing even hotter. The metal hand tightened around the cape string as he slipped his hand in his pants pocket and pulled out the searing object. The shark’s tooth was glowing blue as they both squinted at its radiance.

He would have thought the shark necklace would have burned his hand but it filled his body with an energy that made him feel refreshed and alert, the pain in his back dissipating. The light forced the wizard to stagger backwards and dropped him. Cody quickly collected himself and gripped the tooth in the palm of his hand. In a heartbeat the radiant blue light shot into a straight line in front of him and ended at a sharp tip, three feet from his hand. “Woah…,” said Cody. It was a sword of light…Something must’ve triggered the change but he didn’t have time to question it before he was thrown backwards by the yellow glittering hand of Phaeton.

His back slammed into the huge steel door but the shark necklace, or sword, seemed to shield him from pain. Before he could stand completely another gust of wind from the wizard’s hand pushed him back. The look on Aaron’s face reminded him of when Cody found his brother’s cigarettes and flushed them down the toilet. Phaeton pulled his arm back, making a fist and sent another forceful blast toward him, this blast hitting him like a shockwave. But as the blast struck him the door flew open, shredding the metal lock and his cape but not the blue energy from the sword he held in front of his face.

Daylight hit his face and he smelled the pleasant smell of green grass. He sighed, hoping this was all just a dream and that he had fallen from the treehouse again. But no, it wasn’t a fever dream. His hand was still glowing with the light sword and Phaeton, with that crumbled frown, was standing over him on the lawn of Cody’s front yard.