The Lesser One Arc 2 Version 2 Chapter 10: Orb

 

Orb

I am asleep. I know I am because I can’t see my hands. I am in an open world without detail, at the center of which is a large blue orb. The orb shimmers with an intelligent radiance.

“Who are you?”

“I am the sage.” The ball rotates. “The manifestation of your spirit. The being you captured when you ascended to a thousand-year ring.”

“Wait, are you the reason why I can just think of something complicated and it appears in my hand?”

“Exactly.” The orb coalesces into a being of pure white. I cannot see its face, but it has the form of a woman. “It is nice to finally communicate with you.”

“Um, same here.”

At tea table appears. The Sage sits down and motions for me to sit.

I sit. “So where does all that knowledge come from? Why am I able to access it so easily?”

“I am connected to the flow of information. You would know it better as the universe’s cloud storage. Is that the correct term?”

“Yeah.”

The Sage folds her hands. “Your internet is a primitive version of what I have access to. I would liken your species’ level of technology to be analogous to a monk in a cloister copying a scroll. The universe is a great carnival. You know nothing of what a being can experience.”

“Are you a part of me? Where did you come from?”

“I am a construct granted to your species to aid in your enlightenment. Every being who is deemed worthy is given one such as me. Though I am unique in my focus on the formation of objects.”

“So Mandrake has a Sage? The Darks too?”

“Yes. You may think of it as gaining control of the contents of a portal. I see it as an individual dipping into the aetherstorm and coming out coated in gold, like your myth of Achilles.”

“Do I have an Achille’s Heel?”

“I have done my best to mitigate it. However, your heel, if I may describe it that way, is your naive willingness to utilize your power without proper thought as to how your usage will affect others or your future.”

“So I use it too much?”

“No.” The Sage conjures a teacup and sips. “You give away your knowledge too willingly. You create a metal so fundamentally different from humanity’s technology that it has the power to change the world. You create a drug that will, without fail, upend the entire illicit drug market within a year. And yet you do it without so much as a thought as to what the consequences will be.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to do better.”

“No. Don’t do better. Your naivete is also your saving grace. You have not once tried to increase your material wealth or social standing through deliberate use of your power. The devils, I have found, find this infinitely perplexing. The elves think you are quite the individual for refusing to give in to temptations. Do you realize what you can do, the power you have in your hands right now? You are like a god to an ordinary mortal being. Even compared to the highest-level adventurer, you are at very least an equal.”

“So why doesn’t everyone who kills a portal boss become like me?”

“Dr. Barrimore.” The Sage folds her hands. “His potion. He discovered something that we had deigned to keep hidden. You don’t know this, but the instant he learned of what happened to you, he destroyed his recipe, his research, and drank a potion that caused him to forget everything about it.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.”

“Neither does he. He closed his mind off to the dangers of that formula. You are the only other being who even knows of its existence. Keep it hidden. Keep it safe.”

“How, exactly, did Dr. Barrimore’s potion work?”

The Sage sits up straight. “Why do you want to know?”

“To satisfy my curiosity.” I conjure a cup of tea. It’s too hot and I burn myself. “Itch.” I stick out my tongue.

The Sage has no eyes, but I can tell she is looking deep into the distance. “You cannot know until you become a Siverbone. Become one, and I shall give you the information.”

“So you recognize their organization?”

“Every planet connected to the network has a similar secret society. Yours just so happens to be in a state of civil war.”

“Okay. I become a Silverbone, you teach me everything about the potion that Dr. Barrimore gave me.”

“Then we are agreed.” The Sage looks at me with her blank face. “From here on out, now that I have manifested a connection with you, you will be able to communicate with me while awake. You may ask me questions. As well as this, I can hack into any electronic device. You just need to touch the device at one of its input ports. I do not particularly know how you would use this skill of mine, but I do offer it to you as a function of our contract.”

“What, exactly, is my contract?”

“You should ask that of your devils. They know the answer as well as I, and they would be delighted to let you know exactly why they follow you. They are creatures of law, after all.”

“Explain?”

“There are two hells on the plane of creation. One is populated by beings of pure chaos. The other is a world bound by law. Both are equally evil, but the law-abiding devils work better with mortal humans like you.”

“So they really are evil.”

“They are beings of contract first. They are evil second. And to them, being evil just means that they will use whatever necessary to obtain their goals. They are not sadistic like demons are.”

“Okay. How about heaven? Is there a heaven?”

“Indeed. There are three.”

“What are the differences?”

The Sage shakes her head. “We’ve been talking for too long. While you are awake, you may simply think my name and I shall come to you.”

“What is your name?”

“The Sage.”

I wake up. It’s dawn over the city of London, which I can see though the panoramic view of my room in the Esmex building. I get out of bed and feel great. Stretching my arms, I enter the lounge. Mandrake and Sebastian are playing cards. Tia is in the kitchen with a tumbler of whiskey, using her phone. She looks up at me and raises an eyebrow.

Sebastian drops his cards. “Jupiter Rising. You lose three life points and I gain transfixion.”

“Aw, hell.” Mandrake sighs, scooping up his cards. “I surrender.”

“Is that Jenma?”

Mandrake shrugs. “Yeah. It’s a pastime of mine. I’ve been playing since the alpha days. When you mentioned it to Crayton I realized I hadn’t played in a while.” He gives Sebastian the evil eye. “But I never expected him to be so good at this game from the get-go.”

Sebastian grins. “We devils are very good at games of strategy.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

A dryad walks into the lounge, carrying a basket of clothing. “Sir, I’ve come with your dry cleaning.”

“Thank you, Freyta.” Mandrake takes the clothes. “You always take care of me so well.”

Dryads, are almost exactly like humans, except for a slight woodiness to their hair and bright green eyes. The reason you know they’re dryads is more of an aura thing; they appear to resonate the feel of an empty forest where birds are calling in the distance. Freyta sits down at the marble island in the middle of the room. “Tia, are you drinking in the morning?”

Tia raises the tumbler. “I need some of this to get me going.”

Mandrake shuffles his card deck. “Have you ever tried coffee?”

There is a thump. The roof caves in and three clowns drop through the hole. One is a skinny man with a red wig and green makeup. The other two appear to be twin girls. Their hair is bright red and frizzled. They are all wearing polka-dot outfits.

Mandrake looks at his now-dirty dry cleaning. “Aw man.” He tosses the clothes aside, snaps his fingers, and conjures a blast of wind.

Sebastian disappears in a cloud of smoke. Tia forms a spear of ice in her hands. Freyta stomps on the ground and grass spreads from her feet.

The skinny clown flickers out of existence and then reappears right behind me. I duck just as a blade slices through the air. I jam my elbow backwards and feel it connect bone. There is a crack. I conjure a gun. This time it looks like a mixture of a Desert Eagle and a Luger. I fire blindly behind me.

The skinny clown deflects the bullets with a shield of energy. I drop to the ground, roll, and come back up facing the skinny clown.

The skinny clown holds out his hand. The space surrounding his body is distorted. “Hand us the sepulcher, and we won’t kill you. We’ve rigged this whole building to blow. You have five minutes to comply.”

“Not on my watch.” I turn into my own mind. Sage. Can you find the bomb?

Yes, Markus. The bomb is in the computer room on the second floor.

Disarm it.

Will do.

I flick back to where I am in the moment. The skinny clown stabs at me with his dagger. He cracks his knuckles and blades spring from between his fingers, Wolverine style. He licks the blades.

“Won’t you get caught in the blast too?” I start circling the clown.

The clown cackles. “Why do you care? You’ll be dead anyways.” He strikes. His blades whistle through the air.

I block with a riot shield. The blades become impaled in the plastic. The skinny clown appears surprised, and tries to pull away.

Something shatters behind us. I hear ice crystals cracking.

“Markus! Hold him back!”

One of the twin clowns slams into me, apparently having been thrown across the room. I stagger. The skinny clown rips his finger daggers from the shield. He swipes at me. I turn just in time. His blades rip into the shoulder of the twin clown.

“Jack!” The other twin clown rushes over.

The two sides separate. The three clowns stand across the battered room.

The clown, who I assume is named Jack, looks at the twin he mutilated. “Sorry, Sally. I didn’t mean to.”

“Shut it, Jack.” The other twin sniffs, wiping blood from her nose. “Here we go.” She holds out a detonator.

Hurry up, Sage!

Just a moment.

The clown clicks the detonator. There is no reaction. The clown clicks it a few other times.

“Uh oh.”

Tia throws a blade of ice through the air. Jack catches it. He looks at it, spits, and then turns to the twins. “We’re out of here. Mission failed.” He runs to the window, shatters it with his blades, and jumps out. The twins follow. The last one to jump gives me the middle finger. They fall away from the building and open up wingsuits.

I look at Mandrake. “Sorry about your dry cleaning.”

“That’s what you’re concerned about?” Mandrake looks down at the table. “Aw, man. They destroyed my Black Garden.”

“Was that a valuable card?”

“Very. A gem mint ten worth two thousand dollars.”

“Sebastian, get him a replacement.”

“You didn’t have to.” Mandrake collects the rest of his cards. “Now we know what they’re after. We’re going to need to figure out a good way to hide that thing.” He turns to me. “Do you still have it on you?”

I take the black orb out of my pocket. “Yeah. It’s still here.”

“I think Grey was really looking ahead when he gave that to you.” Mandrake sighs. “They’re going to be coming after you even more after this. I’ll send some of my dryads to try and mitigate them.”

“Thanks. You don’t have to do so much for me.”

“I’ve taken a liking to you.” Mandrake frowns. “It’s just another mess I’ve got to clean up.”