By the time Matt had finished his explanation, Alasea was sitting on the grass, knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. R.D., in the meantime, had gone down to the house, saying he needed to get something. Ileyna had wandered out of Tamaran's mouth and was looking around; Matt's explanation had already informed her of why the two of them had picked up a nine-year-old girl.

"Well, I'm not sure I can help you," Alasea said, after a bit of thinking. "You could use the Gateway device back at Persior. You know, the one Helena said that the dragon ghost had been imprisoned in? Other than that, I don't know how to get you to another dimension."

Alasea thought for another moment. Then, she spoke. "How did you get to this dimension, anyway?"

===Darkness===

"Hey, what're you doing?" Michael said, instantly noticing when the being began to siphon off his power. Quickly studying how it was, he quickly replicated it--now, he was just siphoning back what was stolen, along with a trickle of Zhatsuroth's own power.

"Seriously, knock it off," he continued. "I'm twice as powerful as any of the Six..."

He trailed off for a second. "No, that R.D. kid killed another one yesterday... Five Beasts. I'm twice as strong as any of the Five Beasts of the Dark Apocalypse. So stop what you're doing before I decide to kick your ass."

Edited by RisingDragon on October 11, 2008 at 11:50:17.

"No it won't," Michael said, having opened up a mental link between him and the being when he began the siphoning. "I've already got cursed power inside me, I've already built up an immunity to the corruption."

Michael rubbed the ends of his nails on his shirt and looked at them. "Look, if you're seeking a fight, I can easily give you one. That kid you were after... not nearly as powerful as me. And besides, if you did try to fight him, you'd just get killed. He's got something that can easily negate your power, and he's not interested in taking your's."

"I sent him here," a voice responded.

People tend to jump when someone sneaks up behind them, and naturally, Matt did so with the always sudden appearance of the robed Chronomancer. "Would you quit doing that?"

"Have you found the girl?" the Chronomancer asked.

"What, did you already know about her?"

"I sent you here to locate your friend and the girl. Her abilities are vital to your quest."

Ileyna, having seen the person appear, reacted naturally--Tamaran soon found his head being used as a hiding place for the girl. Alasea also jumped up on her feet, startled by the person's appearance--how in the hell did he managed to appear without her knowing it? "Um... do you know this guy, Matt?" she asked, unsure of what was going on.

"He's the Chronomancer," a voice said behind them--R.D. was coming back up the hill. His outfit had changed a bit--he retained his faded white cargo pants, but his overshirt was traded in for an older, dark-gray and long-sleeved shirt, one that was missing its right sleeve. His black T-shirt was worn over it. The glove on his left hand had been taken off, folded up and stored in one of his pockets. The satchel Alasea had given him was in its usual place. "He's the one who saved mine and Hugo's asses after the Eternal Sanctuary fell apart. And the one who sent Matt on this new, cockamamie quest involving that blasted artifact."

===Darkness===

"Like I really give a shit," Michael said acidly. "If you hate being controlled, why do you let yourself be?"

"You-your shirt's missing a sleeve," Matt remarked.

"Take this," the Chronomancer interrupted, and pressed a smooth, curved disk into Matt's hand. Matt spread his fingers to reveal the brilliant red scale in his palm. "This is a scale from a powerful beast known as the Great Serpent. When you hold it aloft, you will be able to teleport you and your friends to the nearest dimension that has Omega Essence."

"Omega Essence?" Matt asked.

"That is the proper name for the fragments of the Omega Core. With this scale and the girl's power, you will be able to recover Omega Essence."

"Omega Essence, huh?" R.D. said, walking past the Chronomancer to stand next to Matt and Alasea. "Kind of a fancy name."

"There won't be any negative affects to them handling the Essence, right?" Alasea asked, looking into the darkened cowl of the Chronomancer, where she assumed his face would be.

"I cannot forsee any negative impact," the Chronomancer said. "All the same, it would do well for you to store the Essence in this." From his robe, he withdrew a sparkling blue gem, attached to the end of a short golden chain. "This was specially made to hold the Omega Core when it was to be moved without a host. It will serve to contain the Essence and rebuild the Core, without unleashing its power."

"All right." Matt pulled out the fragments of the Core from his pocket. One uncaptured shard dropped onto the grass. "Ah, damn it."

The Omega Essence struck the ground at its tip and bounced, dropping down the hill a bit. R.D. took a few steps after it and caught up to it once it settled, then reached down to pick it up. Ileyna, watching the antics, suddenly had an instinctual feeling, much like she did when she saw R.D. about to attack the incapacitated Flux. Her hair lit blue for a moment, and she cried out.

"No! Don't!"

It was too late. R.D. touched the shard of the Omega Core, and set his mind aflame. Lumiya went wild, uncontrollable. Power spiked out around him, and his head was thrown back, eyes in shock. The air ignited into a myriad of prismatic colors to anyone who looked. The same, eight-pronged circle symbol that appeared in R.D.'s Overdrive manifested on his forehead, glowing an angry red through the color-shifting.

Images were flashing through his head. What were they? False images of the past? Memories of the future? They flit through his mind, unable for him to grasp and contemplate a single one.

Black figures raised weapons up around him, appearing from nowhere.

Monsters filled the skies, surrounding a green-skinned nightmare.

A colossal dragon of crimson and silver rose towards the heavens, roaring in fury.

Light flared as two white titans clashed in the dead city.

It flew down on black wings, descending upon him--!

"Aaaaaaaagggggghhhhhhh!!!"

Tines of lightning tore through the air around him, shredding apart the grass and the soil. Sound collapsed and exploded, and a shockwave of power erupted from the Omega Essence. It was ripped from his grasp, and the force threw R.D. down the hill, his body moving limply, like a discarded puppet. He crashed into the ground and bounced, hit the ground again and rolled. Lightning danced across his form, and slowly, he pushed himself up onto all fours, breathing heavily.

===Darkness===

"Pfft. Details. Ever tried rebelling?" Michael said, scoffing. "No method of control is absolute. Not even a god's. Just look at the Crystalis."

Vivid memories of his own encounter with bare Omega Essence flashed in his mind, and Matt was hurtling toward his friend soon after. "R.D.!" He forced R.D. to stand up with a strong upward shrug. "Come on, man, speak to me here!"

Alasea turned blazing eyes on the Chronomancer, her expression furious. "You said nothing would happen!" she yelled at him before she too was running down the hill, even as Tamaran stood up and growled, growing anxious at what had happened to his chosen master.

R.D. squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment, trying to will the pain out of his head. He tried to grasp what was happening, what had happened. The Omega Essence had done something to him. Had he absorbed it? No, he couldn't have, he remembered dropping the damn thing.

Suddenly, he realized something was missing. His power, the power that had always been inside of him ever since he had killed the sea serpent so long ago, was missing. He started to panic. Had it removed Lumiya!? He stood up from Matt's grasp, backing away slightly, looking at his hands. He was shaking. Alasea was suddenly there, touching his hands, looking into his eyes, asking him if he was okay, but he really couldn't pay attention. That panic was growing.

Suddenly, he felt it. A trickle of power, hidden deep. He still had it, had the power. But... why so little of it? What had happened to Lumiya!?

He pulled his left hand, his bare hand, out of Alasea's grasp, looking at it. The symbols. They'd changed, no longer five portions of something incomplete, but now something entirely different.

He realized it then. The Omega Essence, that fragment of the Omega Core... had somehow damaged Lumiya.

Yeah, this was an excellent time to panic.

"What is it?" Matt snapped. "What happened?"

"Lumiya," he said, looking up, distress written all over his face. "Something happened to Lumiya! It's... it's...!"

"R.D., calm down!" Alasea cried, gripping his hands. He was starting to lose control.

Hollow, melodic sounds were in the air, and Alasea saw that Ileyna was now aloft, lit with a blue aura and wings of light emanating from her back. There was a look of concern on her face, and the girl reached out and touched R.D.'s shoulder. Particles of light trailed down his body for a brief moment, and peace rolled through him, easing his muscles and calming him.

R.D. promptly collapsed, dropping down to sit on the grass. He breathed slowly and heavily, trying to pull himself together.

"This is unexpected," the Chronomancer remarked.

"You damn right this is unexpected!" Matt shouted at the robed man. "What happened to him?"

"It makes sense that Lumiya would be affected by the Omega Core." The Chronomancer glanced at Matt. "After all, Lumiya was created from it."

"What!?" R.D. shouted, standing up suddenly.

"I do not know why or how exactly it was created," the Chronomancer explained. "However, I can say that someone must have known enough about the Core to create a copy. An imperfect copy, granted, focused more on power than the whole scope of reality manipulation, but this copy can be used without possibility of error or self-destruction."

R.D. was wondering if panicking would be okay in this situation.

"Lord..."

He sat down heavily again. This day went from good to weird to bad. "So I'm carrying a weapon created from something hell-bent on recreating the Multiverse through destruction," he muttered, his voice bitter.

The Chronomancer had a talent for remaining perfectly still, like a wax statue. "I stress that it is a copy. Lumiya is purely a weapon, lacking any sort of conciousness. It was never meant to be alive, unlike the Omega Core."

"So what do you think happened?" Matt asked.

"Perhaps it was just overpowered by the Core. I can't really say how or why. But Lumiya is, again, an imperfect copy, so the Core would overpower it in most situations."

"Whatever happened, Lumiya's damaged," R.D. said, looking up. After a few moments, he stood up. "Can it be fixed?"

"I'm not sure."

"Wonderful," R.D. spat. This was getting just better and better. Where in the hell was Ondal when you needed the enigmatic bastard? "Here's to hoping I don't get killed on this quest, seeing how I just got nerfed."

Edited by RisingDragon on October 11, 2008 at 23:22:19.

Matt rubbed his chin. "That's weird. Just as I lost a majority of my power, R.D. lost a majority of his. It's as if some cosmic entity is balancing the odds to make the coming battles against our enemies dramatic and more exciting. But that's just silly, right?" He winked.

"Why are you winking?" the Chronomancer asked.

"...never mind."

"In any case, you may still have some use to Matt's quest, so I would prefer if you joined him," the Chronomancer said to R.D..

"I don't really have a choice anymore," R.D. said, looking at the Chronomancer. "If any enemy I have on this world learns of my diminished power, I'm that more viable of a target."

R.D. looked away for a second, then took hold of Lumiya. He drew in an absolutely pitiful amount before letting it go. "I'd be better off going off-world while I try to find a way to fix this mess."

"R.D.," Alasea murmured, speaking only loud enough for herself to hear.

Matt eyed the scale. "Can this thing transport that giant metal dragon over yonder?" he asked, pointing toward Tamaran.

"The field of effect is not large enough to take the dragon as well," the Chronomancer replied.

"Crap. There goes my 'bomb the hell out of everyone with relative ease' strategy."

R.D. carefully plucked up the scale from Matt's hand, eyeing in for a second. Luckily, this object didn't have a negative reaction Lumiya. Granted, even if it did, Lumiya was in no condition to be doing anything.

"Well, there's no use in delaying things further, right?" R.D. said. He turned around and raised the hand holding the Great Serpent's Scale forward, aiming it away from everything. Nothing happened.

"... well, that was anticlimatic," R.D. said, looking over his shoulder at his friends, and thus completely missing when the scale began to glow and gather particles of red energy into it.

R.D.'s body was suddenly rocked as it released the energy, and a wrist-thic beam of energy, brilliant crimson in color, erupted from the scale, shooting across a distance of fifteen feet before it seemed to crash into an invisible wall and a pinpoint of green light. The beam turned at the impact, angling and curving until the beam was firing into a massive red spiral on a green well of light. There was yelling going on, Alasea found a frightened Ileyna glued to her legs, and R.D. struggled to keep on his feet and not drop the scale.

A few moments later, the beam cut off, and the dust was blown away by the wind, revealing a magnificent, circular rip in between the dimensions of the Multiverse, brimming with power and casting a green light on the air.

Warily, R.D. looked at the scale, now frightened by its power.

"See, you have to wait for these things to kick in, otherwise you'll just look like an idiot," Matt said, recalling the last time he set up a portal.

The Chronomancer waved toward the rift. "You must now make haste. Already Magister's forces have been dispatched across the Multiverse to locate the Omega Essence. You must gather the rest of your companions."

Slowly, Ileyna relinquished her grip on Alasea's stocking-clad leg, and approached the portal, looking at it in wonder. She reached out a hand and touched it slightly, then pulled it back--some of the energy stuck to her hand for a moment before it was freed, returning to the rift. "Wow," she said, looking at it in amazement.

"So, time to get a move on, huh?" Alasea said, looking at R.D.. He turned and looked at her. "This 'leaving me' thing better not become a habit, guys."

R.D. laughed quietly. "Yeah, alright. You'll be okay by yourself?"

"I've taken care of myself for the five weeks since you brought me to the Pillar of Dawn," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "I think I can handle it."

The girl approached and hugged both R.D., then Matt before stepping away. After that, she knelt down in front of Ileyna and said, "Be sure to keep an eye on these two troublemakers, okay?"

The girl giggled, and nodded. "'kay!"

"Now, Ileyna," Matt said with a wag of his finger, "watch how a seasoned adventurer leaps blindly into portals." A pause. "Actually, you'd better hold onto R.D. for your first jump." Matt backed up, eyeing the portal dead-on, before hurtling toward it and, as expected, tripping over something to fall through the rift.