68 If there is light?

I am wandering through the Council's city. It's a beautiful place, I have to admit it. But I am still tempted to nuke it to oblivion. 

Nicosar's fears are going through my mind. My grandfather has a point if he doesn't trust the peace. After an exhaustive talk with Lada, we know one thing for sure. 

Lada almost never touched any of the city's installations. First, she doesn't like technology and doesn't really understand it. Second, she never stayed inside the city for long. 

She has various places throughout the multiverse, where she spends most of her time with mortal people. The healers think that's the reason for her sanity despite her age. So she never felt the urge to stay in the Council's city, where just gods who were removed from the real world resided. 

After the fight, various gods from throughout the multiverse turned up and we are still trying to sort out the mess. 

At the moment we take the position that everyone should continue to have an eye on their own world. We took the previous government completely out of service and threw them inside a void zone. It's the perfect prison for the moment. Some people from home will take care of them one by one. 

After I investigated the Council's sealing method within the black hole, I completely dismissed it. The device which was used for it, is a baleful looking room, belonging to the city. 

You have to stand on top of a platform, while numerous crystals face their tips towards you. By channelling the planets mana-flow itself through your soul, you are sent directly into the black hole with unbelievable force. 

It's just a description from the city's occupants. I dismissed the idea because there wasn't a possibility to get someone out again. Who knows what happens to a soul inside a black hole? 

The whole machine didn't look very nice to me either. I can't explain it, but I had a bad feeling while I was looking at it. 

Of course Arthur and everyone else wanted to come down to the city too and take a look at it, but I forbade it. 

Only experienced soul mages and the absolutely needed guards are allowed down here. If Nicosar's suspicions are true, nobody without knowledge about mind-magic should be in this city. 

I also inspected various other installations and weapon storages within this city. The light-weapons are one of them. There is a whole complex of facilities, which are producing them non-stop around the hour and storing them in underground storages. Those seem to be endless by now, although the process of creating a light-weapon takes an enormous amount of time and mana. 

The light-weapons seem to be a very advanced part of the crystal-tec. They are concentrated mana too, but they have no seed. 

Of course I took a look at the Sphere of Sight too. But when I took a step into the room with it inside, I made a step backwards and closed the door again. Nicosar's warnings don't leave my head. 

Wouldn't the Sphere be the perfect place to set up a mind-wiping trap? Wouldn't it be logical for us to use it to search for the missing Council members? 

Am I too careful? Lada wasn't influenced and she visited this city regularly. So you are safe if you just look and don't touch? 

Hah! Could this bad feeling of mine be fear? I didn't feel fear for an eternity, I don't remember how it feels to fear something. I guess it's normal to loose this emotion if you already know that you will just reincarnate again. 

But this situation isn't like that. Having your mind mashed up like Enyo's is equivalent to dying. No fun! No fun at all! 

But why am I feeling fear? Is there something to fear? I had a fulfilled life. I did everything I ever wanted to do and I lived longer than any mortal could ever dream of.

Why do I fear death? I there any logic behind that? Hmmmm. 

I turn in a circle and look around. This is a big plaza. There are no people around. All this sucks big time. Not even the inhabitants of this city were of any use in uncovering its secrets. 

First of all, I want to know where the seed is! The seed is the core of every crystal technology. Like with my palace and my fortresses, the seed is something like the central computer core. It focuses the mana and enables the mana-crystal to grow and develop. 

But there is no seed in this city. That's impossible. It should be a big pulsing crystal with enormous energy. How can someone live for millennia inside this city and not know of something remarkable like that. 

This whole thing makes no sense! 

So I will have to try it? Take a look at the Sphere? I guess there is no choice. I look up at the fortresses above the city and concentrate. 

-Arthur, can you hear me?- 

-Yes?- 

-Send ten of our best mind-mages to the room with the Sphere of Sight. I want to take a look at it and they have to check me as soon as I come out of the room.- 

-.... understood.- 

I cancel the connection and step on a pathway which leads me directly in front of the room with the Sphere of Sight. 

It doesn't take much time and ten people arrive one by one at the meeting place. They are all people I saw on an earlier meeting. Back then we set the rules for investigating the city. 

"I want to take a look at the Sphere and you guys have to check on me afterwards to find out if something went wrong." I give them the short version. 

"And what if something is wrong?" A young woman in blue robes asks me. 

"Then you hold me down and call for help." I wince at the thought. 

"But what if we don't manage it?" Someone else asks. 

I sneer at them. "You are ten people and I will be alone. You still want to tell me that you wouldn't be able to restrain me?" 

All of them look at me with doubtful expressions. 

"Whatever! Get Celes and Nicosar down here if you have so little trust in your own abilities." I turn around and enter the room. 

Inside, I slam the door shut and turn towards the Sphere of Sight. It still gives off an ominous feeling. 

Slowly I circle around the thing without coming too close. It's a solid sphere made out of mana-crystal. It's constantly spinning while it stays perfectly centred inside the room. 

Are you supposed to touch it and see something on its surface? Or do you have to connect with your mind to it? According to Lada the Sphere was a mystery to her. She just saw Amaru standing before it for hours and days. 

When he suddenly moved again, he would have the information he was looking for. So it's a mental connection? 

I brace myself and sit down cross-legged to concentrate. Doing this right can't hurt. After my mind is clear, I start to set up my defences. 

A good mental blockade has to consist of multiple layers and insurances in case something goes wrong. 

After spending another whopping twenty minutes with setting up every trick I know, I slowly stretch my mind for the sphere. 

At first it feels unhealthy and cold. But then I get used to the Sphere. It's a gigantic conductor for sight-magic. This particular type of magic can be used to search for something lost. But I never heard of it being used on such a scale. 

The Sphere channels my magical power and forms it into a pre-defined spell. Suddenly my perception increases drastically and I have to gasp. It almost overwhelmed me but slowly I am getting a grip on it. 

Is that what omnipresence should feel like? I know it isn't real omnipresence, but it comes very close to it. I can see the people in front of the room. They really called Nicosar, Celes and even Arthur. Such low self esteem. 

Above me are other worlds. By focusing on one, I can search it in seconds. And there are sparks of pure power everywhere. 

After concentrating on one of the sparks, I realize that I am watching over the shoulder of a god. He is playing an immoral prank on a mortal. Seeesh. Is that everything an ascended being can do to kill time? 

Carrying on I return the focus of my attention to the Council's city to watch its inhabitants. Then I focus outward again in an attempt to find the missing members of the Council. 

But there is no way to distinguish all the sparks from one another. Where should I start? Do the Council members know each and every spark? So if a new one turns up, they know that it's a new god? 

Then I become aware of a heavy presence. It's watching me. And it's close. I search for it and find its origin within the black hole. 

It's ominous and dark. The same feeling I got from the sealing room and the sphere. Suddenly I feel a strong pull on my entire being and I am jerked towards the black hole. 

-Who are you?- 

I try to resist, but my soul falls towards the black hole and every resistance is futile. 

-Come!- 

Something black and slimy grabs for my mental body and I strike it mentally. It shudders in pain but it still keeps enveloping me while I fight. I am being pulled down! Down towards the darkness! 

And there are teeth! 

-Fresh!- 

The thing claws into my mind and starts to eat! All my defences fail or are blown aside like smoke. 

And all I can do is scream. 

... 

-NOOOOOOO! BETRAYAL!-