Forskis entered the Guardian's throne room, battered and bruised.
            "Forskis, I see it did not go as planned..." the Guardian said, trying to be calm enough for Forskis to explain himself.
            "To be unruly and question your power master." said Forskis. "To still not believe you to be the one true god. To have had to kill winged companions..."
            "Damn you Forskis! I bring you to back to the living once again and you fail me a second time! Explain these unruly Gargoyles!"
            "To not believe you to be god. To think you to be fake since none have seen you in person."
            "Damned Gargoyles... Perhaps they need a demonstration of my power..."
            "To not kill anymore! Please!"
            "Forskis, you have killed in the past. Why the sudden pacifism?" The Guardian grinned, assuring Forskis his death if he did not give an answer he liked.
            "To have only killed in your favor master. To not simply prove my strength. To have a personel rule about that..."
            "Leave me Forskis. I promise not to kill anybody you know..."
 
 

            Populated straight to the shores with armed Gargoyles. Buildings were either blacksmiths, weapon huts, or troop shelter... Nothing else. The mountains to the north began spewing lava violently. A red field surrounded the mountains, blocking the lava from the population. A large figure of the Guardian spanning nearly 50 feet high appeared amidst the volcanoes.
            "From what I hear there has been unrest among you. Some doubt me, some do not trust me. But this will stop!" shouted the Guardian figure to the Gargoyles below. "You want me to show my power once again!? I don't believe as many of you will survive this time! YAHAHAHAHAHA!"
            The red field dropped releasing the lava onto the helpless town burning down Gargoyles and buildings in mere nanoseconds. Some Gargoyles managed to get to the ships nearby successfully retreating off the island.
            But most could not determine their destiny...
 
 

            "Why dost thou keep us so long!?" shouted Sentri, who was becoming impatient with Rudyom.
            Rudyom had promised the Avatar and Sentri to tell them of something made of blackrock he called 'The Blackrock Prism.' Since then he put it off, avoiding all questions asked about it, changing the subject every time it was brought up. The very next morning, after everyone was rested, he assembled everyone in his old hut around a table with an odd diamond shaped chunk of blackrock.
            "We must wait for the last person," Rudyom replied. "I cannot explain until we are all here."
            "We are all here, old man." said Abraham.
            "Yes, thou mayest begin." said De Maria.
            "Ah, but thou doth forget." said Rudyom. "Nastassia has yet to arrive."
            The Avatar snapped to Rudyom's words. "Nastassia... Alive? Where is she?" he said hastily.
            "Be calm Avatar. She shall be here."
            A few minutes of silence passed, occasionally someone would start to fidget with something from all the boredom.
            Suddenly the door opened, and Nastassia herself walked through the curtains facing the group at the table. Nastassia's face was worn with a few cuts and bruises. Her clothes were tattered and patched in multiple places. But to the Avatar she was more beautiful than ever.
            "Nastassia..." said the Avatar.
            "A-Avatar?" she asked in a faltering voice.
            The Avatar walked over to embrace her but was pushed away.
            "Damn thee!" she shouted. "Tis thy fault that Cove was destroyed! Why the damned secrets!? WHY!?"
            The Avatar was speechless. Even Nastassia turned against him. But how could she do it? Of all people.
            "Nastassia... What have I done? What brought thee against me?"
            "I supported thee in the riots, and was threatened to be burned alive if I did not submit... Just as De Maria, I sold myself to the riots when I truly thought thee innocent in my heart..."
            "Then thou..."
            "NO!! THEY ARE ALL DEAD BECAUSE OF THEE! IF THOU DIDST JUST TELL US..."
            Nastassia broke down and ran out of the house. It didn't seem like she would come back.
            "Avatar." said Rudyom. "She'll be alright. But I must tell thee about my discoveries."
            The Avatar stared at the door Nastassia left through for a moment, but sat back down. He couldn't shrug off the feeling that there was more to the riots than was let on.
            "Avatar, I suspect that somebody told thee about the Caddelite gate by now?"
            "Yes, Lord British has." he replied.
            "Good, then without going into too much detail, according to my experiments Blackrock has the power to transport Ethereal beings across worlds during certain conditions. One of which is the alignment of the solar system's planets. However, Caddelite is of magical property as well, though it isn't native to our land as Blackrock is. Caddelite can transport Ethereal beings across worlds just as Blackrock. The only difference is that this must be done on an occasion that's twice rare. It's only by bad luck that it occurred so soon after the Black Gate that the Caddelite gate was formed."
            "What is this 'occasion' that's even rarer than the planet alignment?" asked Sentri.
            Rudyom sighed. It was obvious he was distraught in giving away such information. "That I know not. But it is in no way physical, I can tell thee that. It did have something to do with the recent storms that made the odd lighthouse in Britain, and took away the Shrine of Compassion."
            "The Imbalance!" blurted the Avatar. "When I was in the Serpent Isle, strange teleportation storms made things disappear, mutate, and exchange places. This rare occasion must be the Imbalance between order and chaos."
            "If this is true," said Rudyom with an air of renewed hope in his voice. "Then in order to send the Guardian back we must create a new Imbalance!"
            "Send him... Er, it back?" asked Sentri. "That fool will just find another way of getting here again!"
            "It may be a good idea..." said Abraham. "From what I know, no mortal weapon can hurt the Guardian. I know of his plans, it doesn't concern Britannia. At least not the goal. Britannia is somehow extremely vital to the destruction of the multiverse. If we simply block him from this world, he may not be able to ever accomplish his goal. Thus putting him through much frustration to the point of madness, then hopefully he would become powerless from insanity and forever living knowing he is defeated. That would be the proper payment for what he has caused me... Us..."
            "It would be no use... He seems desperate." said De Maria.
            "Yes," said the Avatar. "But for some reason he always wants me out of the way... The Blackrock dome, Serpent Isle, Pagan. What makes him so afraid of me? Several times he had the chance to kill me... But all he has done was lock me away somewhere."
            "Interesting..." said Rudyom, stroking his long beard. "It doesn't make sense..."
            "What doesn't make sense?"
            "I might as well tell thee. I haven't told anyone else about it. Though I have had the help of De Maria to unlock the secrets. This Blackrock prism, what you see there in the center of the table, has told me of great knowledge. Mostly about the secret between Blackrock and Caddelite. Blackrock and Caddelite are not minerals, I'll go so far as to say they're not matter. Though both can be used as tools, weapons, and other such things. Both Blackrock and Caddelite stand for certain Ethereal power. But I know not what they are. This here prism is similar to the magical crystal ball, but different in that it is much more of a prophecy type of vision than a normal vision. Avatar, only thou and I have the necessary magical skill to view the prism's secrets. Look into it and chant the words: In Bet Ex Wis..."
            "What will I find?" he asked.
            "Thou wilt see. I must warn thee, looking for too much wisdom may cause thee to go unconscious."
            The Avatar nodded and stood up. He was wary of Blackrock. Nothing but evil came from it. He held his arms out and chanted the words of power.
            "In Bet Ex Wis!"
            The sounds outside dimmed. What was once rushing wind and the occasional bird chirp was now slowing down to a deep, low, practically growling noise. Then it all stopped. The Avatar opened his eyes to find complete blackness. He couldn't move, nor could he shut his eyes again. In fact he couldn't feel his entire body.
            A small blue glimmer appeared in front of him. It was either far away or merely a few centimeters long. The Avatar would have otherwise thought the glimmer was a wisp... But somehow he knew it wasn't. He began to sense words comming from the blue glimmer, he could not hear them, nor could he see them. He merely sensed them as one does when one reads.
            " 'Avatar,' " said the glimmer. " 'I' know of 'you', 'your' origin, and 'your' purpose. 'I' know 'you' seek the defeat of the entity 'you' call 'Guardian'. 'I' know 'you' want to know of the very 'prism' which 'you' have delved into. There is much to be answered and little will be. For 'I' am indeed a 'Wisp', though not like the ones you have encountered in Sosaria. What 'I' am cannot be pronounced in 'your' tongue, for what 'I' am is a fleeting thought. A thought that no other entity can think."
            "Wisp, I must know of..."
            "Speak not such barbaric means of communication. 'Your' thoughts are enough for me to know. For 'I' am thought itself!"
            The Avatar began to think his questions.
            "I must know of the Guardian's plan. What has he done to unite the monsters of Britannia?"
            " 'Britannia'? Ah, it is what 'you' call 'your' land now. 'My' last peer into the physical world was thousands of years ago, it was done by a 'mage' called 'Erethian'... 'I' see 'you' know of the savage mage. 'He' sought to use 'my' power to bring forth a great evil. An evil that was taken later by... Ah, 'you' also know of 'Exodus'. The 'creature' taken from the deepest most evil reaches of the netherworld. And 'you' believe it was... AHAHAHA! Linear minded mortal... 'Exodus' was not the son of the entities 'Mondain' and 'Minax'! It was not even a metaphor. For 'I' know that 'Minax's' last words to 'you' cursed 'your' heritage and told of 'her' kin that was to soon defeat 'you'! Perhaps 'you' know 'him'... But for such thin thinking 'I' will not tell 'you' who 'he' is! Nor where 'he' is! But 'I' will explain this, for 'you' are the only mage in thousands of years that has the power to enter the prism this far."
            There was a pause, the Avatar assumed it was about 5 seconds but had no grasp of time in that state.
            "Multiple hang, your long enemy is your friend, a jest will rescue,
a strike will cripple. Too many is too good, too little is too bad. Death will aid, life will destroy. Lord to Lord, virtue will triumph. Virtue favors Good and Evil, only when both unite. Soldiers of Order and Chaos cause life and death. Balance must be brought to Good and Evil, Balance must be brought to Order and Chaos, Balance must be brought... to virtue..."
            The glimmer slowly disappeared and and Avatar opened his eyes to find himself back with Rudyom and the others. Stuck with the strange riddle, the Avatar fell unconscious.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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