Touch of Fate

Chapter 53: Making Waves

"Javier, I have loved you since the day we met, but there is something I must confess."

"What is it, Isabella? Our love is strong enough to withstand anything!"

"I....have been unfaithful."

(Gasp)

"Who?! Tell me who!"

"I didn't know, I thought he was you!"

"You mean..."

(Door slams open)

"Yes! It was I, Ramon! Your twin brother!"

"How could you?!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Selenica, Goddess of Gates, Travel, and Reincarnation was on the edge of her floating throne made of polished silver. Her gaze was focused on a screen hovering in midair, featuring a pair of identical and darkly handsome men staring daggers at each other.

As the show, "Lies of my Heart" went to commercial, she couldn't help dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief she conjured into being.

"Earthlings always make the best shows. I hope that Javier forgives Isabella. They make such a cute couple."

The sudden piercing wail of an alarm klaxon interrupted a balding man on the screen attempting to sell used cars for 'crazy' prices. Selenica was so startled she fell out of her throne.

She stood quickly, and blew an errant wisp of hair out of her face, before calling forth another screen. Long lines of data appeared and started scrolling. After a few seconds scanning the goddess frowned.

"A quasi-divine soul descended on Ea? I thought there weren't any Ascensions planned for this century."

Another alarm started sounding, this one more shrill than the other. Selenica waved a hand to mute it in annoyance, while summoning another screen. Her eyes widened when she read the contents.

"Someone disrupted the cycle of reincarnation?! There shouldn't be any Tier 5 healers at all right now! Crap! Its going to take me ages to fix all these errors."

An image of a goofy man with an unusual soul flashed into her mind, and with a sinking sensation she started hunting information on him.

Unfortunately for the her, his encounter with Fate had left him largely invisible to most forms of tracking, even for the goddess who had blessed him. However, she was able to pick up bits and pieces of his path through other sources, and it became increasingly evident that the man was at the center of whatever had occurred in Ea.

Somehow, in a matter of minutes, he managed to disrupt the complex network of souls that made up the cycle of reincarnation in this section of the multiverse. Ordinarily, the status of one soul wouldn't have made much of a difference, but the goddess had been slacking lately, letting a number of issues crop up.

Resolving them would have been a simple fix, but the disruption set off a chain reaction that would require a great deal of intense effort to solve. For the typically indolent goddess, it was the height of indignities.

Selenica's aura flared red, and she clenched a shaking fist. "Michael Rasmussen, you blockhead! I'm going to get you for this. Just you wait!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Archmage was experimenting when the event occurred. His seniority in Mage's Guild had long ago precluded him from such menial tasks as teaching, so he had a wealth of time to be put towards his research.

He had been experimenting with a new form of magic he had discovered, almost by accident. The system had labeled it Technomancy, which defied both the conventional classification of magic skills and the Archmage's own understanding of the way magic worked.

As far as he could tell, this new skill could only be used in conjunction with devices of great complexity. He'd had some luck with a few of his more intricate magical designs, but he had not yet figured out the exact purpose of this magic.

When the quasi-divine soul descended, he was immediately sensed it.

"Ascension?!....No, it doesn't feel quite right."

He had a sudden epiphany and sent a mental communication to his homunculus, who had been standing by in the Observatory ever since he had detected the strange surge of energy in the central continent.

[Yan! Power up the Observatory an initiate scanning procedure 132. I will be there shortly.]

[As you wish, Master.] Came the reply.

The Archmage cast a quick spell with an omitted chant, rose into the air, and started flying through the corridors of his tower. Various papers, furnishings, and a few slow-moving apprentices were scattered in his wake as he made his way to the top floor.

Another disturbance, thousands of kilometers away triggered the Archmage's senses, albeit to a much lesser degree.

[That felt like Tier 4 spell with almost enough power to push it into Tier 5. What's going on?]

[Master, there are readings of a high Tier 4 lightning composite elemental spell being used on the central continent near the city of Wyrport. For some reason I can't lock onto the origin.]

[Switch to manual scanning! There has to be-]

Yet another disturbance, of even greater power than before interrupted his message.

[Master! The machine is overloading! What should I do?]

The Archmage grimaced, another lead lost due to the imperfections of his designs.

[Forcibly disconnect the lattice from the tower's power system!]

[The Observatory is powering down now, but Master the last readings...they are.....]

[A Tier 5 spell, I presume?]

[That's correct, Master. We weren't able to gather any information about nature of the spell, however.]

[Very well. Continue the shutdown sequence, and I will be there soon.]

He landed, and started walking normally, no longer in a hurry to arrive. An apprentice, that had been cringing in the corridor seconds ago, stared after him in some amazement.

[It seems that there is a newly Ascended Mortal already making waves....Or at the very least someone capable of wielding the power of an Ascended. Nothing in our earlier predictions had included this possibility. I will have to start making plans according.]

As he rounded an corner and started walking down the hallway leading to the Observatory, he frowned again.

[Hopefully whoever it is will stop causing all these disturbances. Its starting to get expensive for me.]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The corpse of a peg-legged beggar lay cooling in one corner of the basement crypt, a blissful smile frozen on his face. A robed and decrepit figure stood hunched over the body, a goblet full of blood clutched in its dry gray claws.

It was speaking in hushed tones.

"My lady. Brutus has been slain. We have failed you."

The echoing voice of a mature and confident woman issued forth from the goblet. "Indeed. You have failed me. Who told you to take the Hero by force? Your actions have set back our plans by months, if not years."

"How was I to know that a high Tier 4 caster would interfere?! Brutus would have been able to defeat the Hero with ease without the intruder. I was merely trying to make the most expedient choice at the time." The creature's voice had risen in pitch, anger and fear evident.

"Brutus was a valuable and loyal servant, one that had served the clan well for millennia, and your thoughtlessness brought about his needless sacrifice. I entrusted him to you in order to ensure our mission in Wyrport continued uninterrupted, yet not only have you caused his death, but you have failed in your larger task. This transgression demands punishment."

The clawed hands of the robed figure trembled. "No...no, give me another chance. I swear I will make it up to you, my lady!"

"Tsk-tsk, Menaphus. Is this the way the Butcher of Ulam faces his end? I had expected better."

With a sibilant voice, the woman continued. "I'm taking back the gift that was given."

The robed figure dropped the goblet in horror, backing away. It looked down at its grey hands, which were already beginning to desiccate and crumble.

"No.....NOOOOOoooooo!"

Silence fell in the basement, as a cloud of dust began to settle on the pile of dark black robes lying empty on the floor.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Seraphina awoke with a start, sitting up straight in bed. She glanced around the small bedroom in the darkness, wondering if perhaps the rowdy patrons of the inn below had wakened her again.

There was a sudden flash of light, flooding through the window, illuminating the room as if it were midday. She squinted in response, utterly bewildered and was almost knocked out of bed by a roaring wave of sound which seemed to shake the very foundations of the building.

[What's happening?!] She thought as she rushed over to the window.

At first there was nothing, but soon a soft white glow could be seen over the city walls to the north. She briefly had a delusion that a star must have fallen from the sky.

A pain shot through her head, causing her to double up on the floor, as an image bore its way into her mind.

A dark, smoke wreathed being was standing upon a mountain of corpses. There was something so profoundly terrible about this creature. Even after witnessing all of the petty cruelties and injustices that humanoids inflicted on one another, nothing had prepared her for this being.

It was evil. Pure evil. There was no other way to describe it.

Most of its features were hidden, but Sera caught flashes of ebon skin, curved horns, and blood coated claws. However, it was the eyes that made her skin crawl. Two pure white holes stared from the depths of the perpetual gloom. Sera realized that they were focused upon another figure, one she had failed to notice with the all-consuming presence of the entity.

A young man stood at the base of the corpse mountain, looking with defiance at the evil creature. His hand was clutching a sword made of light. Looking at him, Sera felt the terror, which had been gripping her, ease. For some reason this young man's presence reassured her.

Strangely the man's features were as obscured at the creature's. A sort of blurring haze prevented her from getting a close look. However, she was able to notice one last thing before the vision ended and she awoke on the floor of her room, knees hurting from where she had scraped them in her fall.

"Eyes of gold...." She whispered quietly looking up towards the ceiling.

"You were right, mother."

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