Lucas slowly stirred awake. With blurry vision, he sat up, recognizing the grand wooden door before him. Decked top to bottom with mystical symbols, the door was slammed shut, not a shimmer of light around it.

The carpet beneath him shifted colors slowly.

'Does this thing run on battery?' He thought.

To his right, Clyde was already up on his feet, brushing off his black turtleneck sweater. On his left was Fiona, lying still, unconscious.

Lucas crawled to her on impulse, slipping one hand under her head and gently raising it, getting a handful of soft light blue hair. Worry creased his face and panic made his voice crack. "Fiona, can you hear me?" He whipped his head to Clyde who was rushing towards the stairs. "We have to call an ambulance! Take her to a hospital! Or call a doctor!"

"How..." Her voice made him fall silent. She opened her eyes, meeting his gaze with a crossed expression. Her voice was faint yet stern. "How weak do you think I am?"

Lucas froze at her words, unable to process them while she slipped out of his arms and found a resting spot on the door she'd previously called 'The Boundless Doorway'.

Sitting with her back to the door, she sighed and massaged her temples.

At a loss for words, Lucas watched as Clyde walked into his line of vision, with an extra large chilled bottle of soda in hand. Taking long strides, he reached Fiona quickly and offered it to her. She took it and twisted the cap open, a fizzing sound following.

"Close call we had back there, eh?" Clyde dug his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry, guys." Fiona bowed her head, sadness mingled with her voice. "I should've held on longer."

"Are you kidding?" Lucas ran a hand through his brown side parted hair which was already ruffled from the day's activities. "That was dangerous. We should have been out of there sooner!"

"But we were this close to finding out the details of Krampus's plan." She muttered, staring at the carpet.

"Lucas is right though," Clyde said. "Teammate over task. We will find a way to stop him, with or without the details."

Fiona took a few gulps of soda, only pausing to get a word in. "We've better, because today's December 22. Christmas Eve isn't that far away."

A lump formed in Lucas's throat. How exactly does one stop a team-up of Dark Forces in two days?

"We'll need a solid plan," Clyde admitted. "But one step at a time. How 'bout I show Lucas around while you recoup with your cold beverage? After that, we'll all go and log our expedition with Scribbles."

She eyed the soda. "You know it'll take less than five minutes for me to finish this?"

"We'll be back in five, then. C'mon," he beckoned on Lucas to follow as he walked away.

The lobby they walked through was broad and circular with different designs of doors engraved on the walls and spaced out from each other.

"Are we circling back to the Boundless Doorway?" Lucas asked, peering over the railings on his right that followed the curve of the lobby, like a ring in the middle that revealed the ground floor.

"Depends on how fast I can make the tour. We're coming up on our first attraction; the largest collection of weapons ever known." Clyde stopped beside a double metal door which was to his left, engraved with different symbols from the previous one. Blue light seeped from underneath and the thin space between the doors. Facing it, he crossed his arms and puffed his chest. "This here...is 'The Infinite Arsenal'. It's a gateway to a dimension brimming with all sorts of weapons. It's where I got my bow and arrows from. And where Fiona got her skates."

"Her skates? Like roller skates?"

"Air skates. The point is, every Protector has one shot to be assigned a random weapon by the Infinite Arsenal."

"You mean..." Lucas turned to face the doors, awestruck by its metallic magnificence.

"Take your shot." Clyde stepped back.

Lucas touched the doors and suddenly, all the symbols lit up, startling him. The doors swung open inwards revealing a blue swirling portal that eschewed a whooshing sound.

"Brace yourself," he heard Clyde say. "Any moment from now it'll spew forth your permanent weapon."

He flexed his fingers, subconsciously readying to catch whatever may come out. Just like a pass between players in basketball, piece of cake.

As his eyes stayed focused, his mind tilted towards certain preferences. He silently wished for a weapon that could decimate Krampus. Anything big and lethal. Heck, even a nice clean sword.

But to his surprise, the doors slammed shut. The sound traveling round the building.

Lucas blinked in disbelief before gazing at Clyde who was stroking his chin.

"Wow, that's the Infinite Arsenal's way of saying you already have a suitable weapon."

"What?"

"Yeah, it does that to me when I touch it."

"No way..."

A gentle tug on his neck had him staring at Elasto.

Clyde patted his back. "Mario Timi is such a legend, even the Infinite Arsenal recognizes his handiwork."

"But I didn't choose the scarf!"

"And I didn't choose the bow." Clyde shrugged. "Let's move on."

"The Door gave you the bow!"

Lucas didn't know whether to feel happy or downcast. Did he just miss out on a cooler weapon?

For the sake of the sentient item with the power to crush his windpipes, he let himself feel happy.

"Wait up," he turned away from the doors, facing front and speed-walking until he fell into pace with Clyde. "Fiona is going to fangirl again once she hears this, isn't she?"

"Definitely, " Clyde sighed. "But until then..." he gestured ahead of him. They were coming up on a row of similarly looking doors on the left, four in total. The first of them had the number '1' engraved. Beneath the number was 'Fiona C-' in cursive writing. Clyde was obstructing Lucas's view of her full surname. It was supposed to be 'Snow', but the door seemed to have something different.

"These are the four bedrooms for each Protector. Dates back hundreds of years as well as the whole building."

"Mhm...is that supposed to be a good thing?" Lucas quirked a brow.

"At the Absconditum, everything is a good thing." Clyde pointed a thumb at the next door. "That's my room, see for yourself."

Lucas went ahead of him and turned to face the room. '2' was inscribed with the words 'Clyde Xavier' underneath. He twisted the golden doorknob of the white door and peered inside.

There was a polar bear rug on the floor, complementing the off-white color of the walls. A double bed was located in one corner of the room with black bedsheets. Hanging on wall beside it was a portrait of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor that Clyde found inspiring. The bedside table had a lamp in the shape of the emperor. On the right corner was a grey desk stacked with hardcover books. And beyond the desk was a black wardrobe.

"Woah," Lucas took in the scene. "Way to renovate."

"Didn't do a thing." Clyde shrugged. "Once you accept the call by wearing the medallion, your subconscious preferences are transmitted to the Absconditum. From there, it magically renovates your room."

"That...is awesome. Hold up! That means my room's already renovated?"
He closed the door and hurried to the next. On it was the number '3' and below, the words 'Lucas Marcus'.

Bursting in, he found an exact replica of his room back at home. His face dropped examining the small space, red checkered bedsheets on the single bed, dark wooden desk by the corner, and matching wardrobe on the other side. "This...this is my bedroom. In another house."

Clyde leaned on the doorframe. "Hmm. Did you have another preference?"

"I mean, not really. A bigger place wasn't realistic so I've grown to cherish my room."

"So the building did give you the room you preferred."

"I guess so..."

"Well, reality is a whole lot broader in here. So whenever you want, you can build your own dream room. Just try not to go overboard with the details. There's a limit to the building's kinetic mana."

"I don't suppose that's the same thing as kinetic energy?"

"Nope. It's mana in living creatures, while potential mana is the manna found in enchanted objects or magical items."

Lucas stared at Elasto, registering the different kinds of manna. He suddenly remembered something Coach Timi said. "How about mages? How many types are there?"

"Let's save that for later, Fiona's probably waiting for us."

They started heading back.

"Does that mean the tour is over?" Lucas asked.

"No, there's still downstairs and the other buildings in the compound."

"Where exactly are we?"

They slowed their pace to sluggish strolls, as Clyde explained. "Well, the Absconditum is an isolated compound with an unknown location. The Universe made it specially for Protectors, that's why it can only be accessed through the medallions. It's our safe zone. And that's why I had to keep it a secret from you."

"Why?" Lucas frowned, the feeling of betrayal slowly rising. "Why didn't you just tell me earlier? I thought you trusted me."

"Bro, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just...I'm sorry."

"Still waiting for a reason." He blandly retorted.

"Fiona...she was the first Protector among us. Around June this year, she discovered I had kinetic manna. She also saw me trying to get rid of my medallion. At that time, I didn't know what it was, so I was creeped out. It just keeps reappearing, you know.

Anyway, she told me about the Protectors of Balance, and taught me some really helpful tips. She also pointed out that your voice was flowing with manna, a trait peculiar to only Forces and mages of words. From there we suspected you would be chosen...and I really wanted to tell you everything, but if it turned out you weren't chosen after being aware of the Protectors and your powers..." Clyde shivered as a memory crossed his mind. He let out a heavy sigh. "We just didn't want a repeat of the mad mage incident."

"That's enough story for today, boys." Fiona approached them. "We can log our expedition later. Let's try to get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll have to warn Santa."