“And how do you propose we go about doing this,” Sadonios laughed, “You are a machine, I am too old for adventures, and while Tristian is conscripted to help you, I doubt Paige would want anything to do with this. And you see how tight those two are at this point.”
“Yes, I have noticed that they never seem to leave the side of each other. But this is important, and if I am right, it is what you call a life or death situation. This is on the level of apocalyptic and could very well destroy not only your world but mine as well. This is simply too big to ignore. Besides, if what you say about your governments is true then we cannot solicit their help in any of this. I doubt they will believe us when we tell them that magic is what controls this world and that it is leaking out into the atmosphere and that at this rate, the planet has a slim-to-none chance at surviving. Oh and this is all coming from a faerie trapped inside the body of one of your robots. They would probably laugh in our faces or attempt to destroy us all, am I right?”
Sardonios smirked, “Well when you put it that way, of course they will not help. But I get your point and understand that it is probably just going to be up to us. Okay, well, let me go call the cell phone number that Paige gave me and call the other two back. In the meantime, I think you should put that super computer chip processing power you have up there and start thinking of solutions to fix this global epidemic.”
Xep nodded and sat very still, thinking about what could be done to solve a problem that was greater than herself. Off in the distance she heard the gruff voice of her friend speaking into the receiver of the phone. “What have I gotten myself into,” she thought, “I do not know the first thing about solving issues. I just present the facts and let everyone else figure out how to win the war. This is totally over my head. Okay Xep get a grip on yourself. You are here, they are not, and you are the only one who can figure this out. And you are the only one who actually knows what true magic is and what it is capable of. So, how do the magi control the back flow of magic that sometimes builds up in the portal systems. What do they do? You know, I do not think I have ever seen what the magi do to burn off excess energy. Damn, now I really wish that I had paid a bit more attention to what they were doing and how they did it, I am almost sure that it would be the most applicable solution, as long as we had all the parts and the ability to do it, for solving this problem.”
The bells on the door chimed in and Xep whirled her head around, Paige and Tristian came bounding in, holding hands, “So what is the news? Sard said that you had it all figured out. Oh and while you guys were here we got word that another thingy opened up somewhere in New Mexico. It seems that a new hole opens up almost every day.”
Xep nodded and gestured for the other two to sit down. She stared at each of them and wondered what she was going to say, and how they were going to react to the news. She also wondered if she could count on them to help or if she was going to end up doing this all alone. A small, sad smile crept across her face and she opened her mouth.
When she finished telling them what she told Sardonios, Paige blinked and stood up. “Shit. I think I am going to be freaking sick,” she said before darting off into the bathroom.
Tristian nodded solemnly, “Just my luck. To be stuck here for so many years only to be thwarted before being able to return home. So, what is our plan. Do we even have a plan yet?”
Xep shook her head, “Not yet. I was hoping that perhaps you had some knowledge into how the Portals worked and how the magi controlled the energy that builds up in the back when they are not in use. I have the feeling that if I knew how that system worked, that it might provide is with the perfect solution to solve this energy issue that this world is having. Of course, that is presuming that the portal network on this side is intact and responds to any inputs we send to them.”
“Actually, I never saw the Portals often,” Tristian responded. “I was never interested it them from a technical standpoint. After all I was just a soldier, someone good with a sword in a fight. I never really questioned how the magi used the stones and their magical energies to teleport us all over creation. And the last time I used a portal, of course, was to get over here and that was the last time I ever really wanted to see one of those things. Sorry, but that is all I really have to offer.”
“Damn,” Xep said, hunching her shoulders down, “I was really hoping the solution was going to be an easy one. It sounds as if the energies are building up faster now and it could be any day that things get really really bad. Okay, at this point I am open to ideas on what we can do to solve this. Anyone want to start?”
Paige pulled her finger from her mouth, as she was chewing on one of her finger nails, and giggled, “I do not know how helpful this will be but what if we somehow got a whole lot of lemurs and just tossed them down the hole to block them all. Of course, it does not have to be lemurs, it could be almost anything big enough to block the holes.”
“Good suggestion but there are not that many of us and we do not have the capacity to blip around and block all the holes opening up in the world. Besides, at this point we need to somehow harness the energies falling out of the world and trap them back inside. Anyone else.”
Sardonios came back into the room, holding a book, “I have a suggestion. Of course, this one caters more to what I know and love but that is besides the point. What if I were to make an elixir that somehow infused the earth’s core with metals that the magical energy could attach to it and bond and be heavy enough to stay down where it truly belongs. As you can see, I got the inspiration for this idea partially from the healing potion thing I made for you.”
Xep noded, “That is an interesting approach. I say that you start working on formulating ideas. I presume that we will need to make a trip up to the closest fissure soon so you can get some samples of coneol to use in your tests.”
“Yes, that would be ideal. Although the closest place would not be my first choice of location because it is so cold up there. Cold does not do my bones any good. But I know we do not have a whole lot of cash laying around to just hop on a plane down to Mexico and finish our research there.”
Paige giggled again, “Yeah. No kidding. Although it WOULD be nice to visit the heat this time of year. Seems like winter here in Portland gets colder and colder ever year. Okay, so, we go up there, grab some of this coneol from the hole and toss this elixir. Then what? Everything magically gets better?”
“I do not know,” Xep said, “it sounds a bit too easy and farfetched. Hmm, I am also wondering if there is some sort of ritual or spell working that exists for the purpose of events such as these. If I know the magi, they would have not just left the portals on this side without some sort of book that helped you all control them or use them. If there is a such a guide for use out there I am almost certain that it would contain some sort of ritual that would tell us how to undo or control the energy in this situation. Sardonios, I would like to spend some time in your library and perhaps at some of the more obscure book stores to see if this idea has any merit. If I cannot find anything within a day or two I say we go with the back up idea of the mineral and metal potion. Of course, who knows how much of that liquid we will need in order to fix what is going on. The other big question is whether or not we will need to hit multiple locations at the same time or if fixing this at the original destination spot will heal all the other spots in a cascade-like effect.”
Sardonios scratched his chin, “Now those are two very good suppositions. Xep, my dear, you do not need to ask me to use or peruse my books, you have permission to look at any tome you would like. Just beware of the bindings and do not open any book all the way. I hate to see the books get damaged, what stop looking at me like that?”
Xep stood up and moved towards the doorway. She then paused and turned around, “Oh and I hope you all know that I do not expect you all to help me with this. I appreciate your willingness to put up with me and offer suggestions and condolences for being trapped here and all the things that you all have done for me up until this point. But when the time for me to head up North, I do not expect you all to follow me or to help me attempt to fix this issue. Heck I do not know if I can even fix this but I will do everything in my power to do so. You all have become a part of my world and I would hate to see your world destroyed.”
Paige was the first to respond by standing up. She walked over to Xep and stared at the robot directly in the eye. “You know what, you scared me when we first met. Part of me wishes that I had run off on you that day, but the bigger part of me is very glad that I stayed. This is like out of a movie, a dream world, and I doubt that anything this cool with ever happen to me again. So, I guess what I am saying is that you are stuck with me for the time being. This is exciting as hell and I am game to see where it all leads. [Sides, where Tristian goes, I go.”
Tristian looked up at Xep and said, “I have an idea. Now that you mention it, I know of the perfect place that we can go to to maybe get some help or find a solution to this end of the world stuff. There is a goblin market on this world. It does tend to move around a lot but it does have lots of things to offer and who knows, we may find something that can either quickly solve our issue or help create the perfect thing that can fix the fissure.”
“Do you know where this goblin market is and do you trust the people running it?”
Tristian snickered, “It is a goblin market, the people who run it are as shady as all get out but yeah, I guess you can say that I can trust it. I trust it as far as I can trust anyone else who dabbles around in magical arts of all shades. If we are going to do this, I need to go hit up my contacts and see if the market will be heading our way soonish. If so, we can visit it and see what goodies it has to offer us.”
Xep nodded, “Okay. Sounds like a plan. I am off to go hit the books. Wish me luck that I find some information that can help us.”
