Marcus had just managed to hide his puzzle books under the bed when the doorbell rang, followed immediately by the sound of his bedroom window sliding open.

  "Your mom let me in," Elias announced, climbing through the window despite having apparently already been granted access to the front door. His dark hair was windswept, and his grin was electrical. "But this seemed more dramatic."

  "One day you're going to fall and break something," Marcus said, not bothering to hide his smile as he crossed the room to help Elias untangle himself from the curtains.

  "Worth it." Elias straightened up, brushing imaginary dust from his vintage jean jacket. The pins adorning the pels—a mix of band logos, cryptic symbols, and astronomical diagrams—clinked softly with the movement. "Besides, I've been practicing. Mrs. Hernandez's cat got stuck on your roof again st week."

  Marcus raised an eyebrow. "And you rescued it by climbing through my window?"

  "No, but I considered it as an approach vector." Elias tossed his backpack onto Marcus's bed with practiced familiarity. "Anyway, not important. This is important."

  With reverent hands, he unzipped his backpack and removed an object wrapped in midnight blue velvet. The cloth alone looked ancient, its edges frayed but the fabric itself still rich with color. Elias pced it on Marcus's desk and carefully unwrapped it.

  Inside was a wooden box about the size of a thick hardcover book. Even in the ordinary light of Marcus's bedroom, it seemed to shimmer slightly. The wood was dark, almost bck, but inid with what looked like mother-of-pearl in intricate geometric patterns. Those patterns shifted subtly as Marcus watched, rearranging themselves like stars slowly rotating across the night sky.

  "What is it?" Marcus asked, leaning closer but not touching. Years of friendship with Elias had taught him that much—never touch a magical object without invitation.

  "It's called the Labyrinth Box." Elias's voice had taken on that hushed quality it got when he was truly awed by something. "I found it in that weird little shop—you know, the one that's only there when it rains on a new moon? The old dy who runs it said it once belonged to a powerful seer."

  "Okay, but what does it do?" Marcus couldn't take his eyes off the shifting patterns.

  "That's the best part," Elias said, his eyes bright with excitement. "Legend says it reveals your heart's true desire—but only if you can solve all of its puzzles."

  Marcus's own heart skipped a beat. "All of its puzzles? As in, more than one?"

  "Seven yers," Elias confirmed, running a finger along the edge of the box. "Each more complex than the st. And get this—supposedly the puzzles change depending on who's trying to solve them. They adapt to the solver's mind."

  "That sounds... impossible," Marcus said, even as he noted several sequences in the shifting patterns that resembled ciphers he'd been studying.

  "Most people would say the same thing about magic," Elias countered with a shrug. "And yet..." He gestured around them, at the world they both knew contained more than most people ever saw.

  Marcus nodded, conceding the point. "So how do we start?"

  "We?" Elias looked up, his expression a mix of surprise and pleasure. "You want to help?"

  Marcus felt heat rise to his face. "Well, yeah. I mean, unless you don't want—"

  "No! I mean, yes, I want you to!" Elias said quickly. "I was just going to tell you about it. I didn't think you'd actually be interested in solving it with me."

  "Of course I am," Marcus said, perhaps a bit too earnestly. He cleared his throat. "So, uh, seven yers. What's the first one?"

  Elias's smile returned full force. "Okay, so according to the shop owner, we need to find the starting point first. The box won't reveal its first puzzle until it's activated."

  "And how do we activate it?" Marcus asked, studying the geometric patterns more closely.

  "That's what I've been trying to figure out," Elias admitted. "I've tried everything. Moonlight, candlelight, speaking to it in different nguages..."

  Marcus frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe we're overthinking it." He leaned closer to the box, noticing that certain lines in the pattern seemed to form a path. "Have you tried just... tracing the pattern with your finger?"

  Elias blinked. "No. That's... that's too simple, isn't it?"

  "Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one," Marcus said, remembering a line from one of his puzzle books.

  "Okay, try it," Elias said, pushing the box toward him.

  Marcus hesitated, suddenly aware of how closely Elias was watching him. What if he was wrong? What if—

  "Go on," Elias encouraged. "I trust your instincts."

  Those words, simple as they were, sent a warm current through Marcus's chest. Taking a deep breath, he reached out and pced his index finger at what appeared to be the beginning of the pattern—a small spiral near one corner of the lid.

  As soon as his finger touched the wood, the pattern illuminated, a soft blue glow tracing the lines like phosphorescent ink. Marcus could feel a gentle vibration through his fingertip. Acting on instinct, he began to trace the pattern, following the glowing lines as they shifted and connected beneath his touch.

  "Holy shit," Elias whispered, leaning in so close that Marcus could feel his breath on his cheek.

  The pattern grew more complex as Marcus traced it, branches splitting off and reconnecting in an intricate dance. But somehow, he knew which path to follow, as if the box was guiding him. When his finger finally reached what felt like an endpoint—a star-shaped node at the opposite corner—the entire box hummed, and the lid split into nine sliding segments that rearranged themselves into a grid.

  "You did it!" Elias excimed, grabbing Marcus's shoulder in excitement. "How did you know?"

  "I don't know," Marcus said truthfully. "It just... felt right."

  Elias was looking at him with something like wonder. "You're full of surprises, Reyes." He turned his attention back to the box, where the nine segments now dispyed fragments of what appeared to be a rger image. "Looks like a sliding puzzle. Cssic first challenge."

  "What's the image supposed to be?" Marcus asked, studying the scrambled pieces.

  "Not sure yet," Elias said, experimentally sliding one of the pieces. It moved smoothly into an empty space, causing the pattern to shift. "But I bet once we solve it, we'll get to the next yer."

  Marcus nodded, already mentally calcuting possible move sequences. "Let's do this."

  As they hunched over the box together, shoulders touching, the rest of the world fell away. For the next hour, they took turns sliding pieces, debating strategies, and occasionally arguing good-naturedly about the best approach. When they finally aligned the st piece, completing an image of what appeared to be an ancient map, they both let out a cheer.

  "We make a good team," Elias said, bumping his shoulder against Marcus's.

  "Yeah," Marcus agreed softly, very aware of how close they were sitting. "We do."

  The box hummed again, and the completed image sank into the wood, disappearing completely. In its pce, a new puzzle emerged—a series of concentric rings etched with symbols that neither of them recognized.

  "Second yer," Elias breathed, his excitement palpable. "This is going to take a while."

  "Good thing it's Friday," Marcus said, trying to ignore the flutter in his stomach when Elias grinned at him.

  "Good thing I have you," Elias replied, and though he immediately turned his attention back to the puzzle, the words lingered in the air between them.

  Marcus swallowed hard and focused on the symbols before him. Seven yers to solve. Seven puzzles between them and whatever the box would reveal.

  The irony wasn't lost on him—seeking a magical object that would show your heart's desire, when he was already sitting right next to his. But as Elias began theorizing about the symbols, his hands moving animatedly as he spoke, Marcus couldn't help but smile.

  Whatever the box might eventually reveal, this moment—the two of them, together, embarking on an adventure—was already everything he could wish for.

  Almost everything.