It pained Maxx to see Zacchaeus in the strange condition he displayed when they landed on the surface of Top. Zacchaeus had floated up from the Daemon asteroid and everyone, including Maxx, stared up at him as his body was covered in black oil. The Daemon were evacuated from the asteroid by the crew of the Mmoatia ship, a process that went smoothly because they had all been incapacitated by a spell from Issac Washington, and a perimeter was formed around the asteroid. Zacchaeus never said a word as he floated and the oily forms moved around his body.
“What is happening to him?” Maxx asked. Many people had been monitoring him since this started and Maxx found Issac among them. Even though he was human among the Mmoatia, Aerphim and Bludonians, he commanded everyone’s respect, so much so that even Pultine stood with her arms crossed next to him to ensure that others showed him proper respect.
“I think they’re trying to contain Minyak,” Issac explained. “What we are seeing is a manifestation of that struggle. I wish there was something to be done, but all we can do is watch and wait. Tell them to back up!” Issac yelled and Maxx watched as Pultine took flight and landed next to a group of the Top crew members who were using devices to sweep the ground for any foreign contaminants. Pultine very rudely shooed them away before returning to Issac.
“Lorv’s crew is nothing if not oblivious,” Pultine said. “They are so focused on singular tasks that they miss everything else going on around them.”
“I believe that Zacchaeus will come through this and that he will keep everyone safe from Minyak, but all we can do is wait and be ready,” Issac said resolutely. He looked to Maxx. “How are things on Bludon? I fear that Minyak has deceived us all about the true nature of his abilities.”
Maxx hadn’t spoken with anyone on the surface since the initial approach of the asteroid and he stepped to the side to make a call to Coxx.
“Superguardian!” Maxx heard Coxx say eagerly through the communicator. “It is always good to hear from you, even in troubling times.”
“The asteroid has been neutralized and is on the Mmoatia ship…” Maxx started.
“I am aware, Superguardian,” Coxx interrupted, “but I was referring to recent developments here on Bludon. Minyak has infected blues all over the globe, including Ministers. But it is not the infection we were used to.” Coxx told Maxx about his encounter with the infected Minister who was kind enough to entertain children and dangerous enough to inspire serious concern.
“And many blues are infected this way?” Maxx asked.
“Yes. I hope that things are properly contained there, enough for you to return to Bludon soon. The Queen would be an amazing help in identifying the motives of those infected. We can’t just attack parents and librarians who we know are infected if they’re not threatening anyone.”
“I will send her immediately,” Maxx said. “I will be on the Mmoatia ship until I know that Zacchaeus is alright.”
“Of course, Superguardian, thank you. We look forward to receiving the Queen,” Coxx said as Maxx ended the transmission.
When he walked back over to Issac and Pultine, the Queen Rowen was there. She looked exhausted and her pigmentation had settled, leaving her pale.
“It’s utter chaos,” the Queen said to Isaac. Her voice sounded thin, like even talking was a labor. “The Mmoatia and I devised a strategy to weaken the mental ruckus that rages around Zacchaeus, and it worked for a time, but it is a chore. Ahdis is sleeping and Tracia is meditating to prepare for another go at it, but in all my time I have never worked so hard to infiltrate a mind. There is a psychic war raging in that human and I hope that his body can withstand it. He may perish from the strain. We hope to sedate him, maybe remove from the struggle from his body somehow.”
“The Needy won’t let him die,” Issac said defiantly.
“I will lend my psychic talents when you all try again,” Pultine offered.
“Can you take her place completely?” Maxx interjected. He had never seen the Queen so exhausted and he was happy to have an excuse to spare her another attempt at reaching Zacchaeus. “They could use you on Bludon,” Maxx said to the Queen. “Minyak is causing other trouble and you would be very helpful there.”
The Queen looked to Issac who had become their leader.
“If they need you, go,” Isaac said and then he looked to Maxx. “The Mmoatia and the Queen’s psychic intervention is a failsafe, a plan B if it seems like Zacchaeus is in mortal danger. But I know that he will pull through this. Don’t feel like you are diminishing our efforts here. Let the Guardians know that we will be there to help as soon as we can.”
Maxx nodded and Pultine gave the Queen Rowen a single-passenger ship to return to the surface of Bludon while she recovered from the ordeal.
“Why don’t we all just leave this to Lorv and her crew?” Pultine asked Issac and Maxx crossed his arms at his chest while he contemplated that himself. There was nothing they could do for Zacchaeus, all they could do was spectate. But what could they do on Bludon? The formidable fighting force that they are was useless against what Coxx described.
“We won’t be much help on Fumarole,” Maxx explained to Issac. “You said he upgraded, Pultine, and Coxx just confirmed that to me. Minyak is no longer animating corpses to attack. He is changing, altering minds. Coxx isn’t attacking, he wanted the Queen to better assess the fallout. The psychics would be helpful on Bludon.”
“I will speak with Tracia,” Pultine nodded at Maxx.
“Go now, see what she thinks,” Issac said. “I’m sure Coxx would appreciate help as soon as possible.”
Pultine flew away.
“I just hope…” Maxx said, but then Issac pointed out at Zacchaeus in the distance. He had landed in the grass and there was no longer a chaos of oil on his body and in the space around him. They both ran toward Zacchaeus.
“Do you see that?” Yana said from the Essence blue mist that hovered over the heptagon of the Smiting Chamber.
Owuo nodded, “Something has changed in him, he seemed to have regained himself.”
He stood in front of Yana on the heptagon and the picture of the events on Top was rendered in what looked like blue lasers.
“Never doubt the mists,” Yana said, not really to Owuo. It almost sounded like she was lecturing herself. She sometimes doubted the visions she’d received from her interactions with the very strong magic of the Smiting Chamber. Since the first time she witnessed the mists of the Smiting Chamber transport a being of another universe to its heptagon, she was aware of the immense arcane energies that manifested in the chamber, but it was difficult not to question in the face of adversity. The terrifying enemy that the mists of the Smiting Chamber had identified before Goldie’s first encounter with the Outsiders were real, she knew that. Because of the uncanny entanglement of the Fonlands and the other realm, known as Prime 5, the Chamber was able to assess the beings of both worlds with ease, and it used that data to adjust the ranking and stats of Smiting cards sanctioned by the Smiting Chamber. The Chamber is a supercomputer designed to maintain a game, but it had evolved into a multiversal power assessor of sentient beings. When the threat arrived in Prime 5, it felt extremely foreign to the Chamber and it searched out similar feelings in the multiverse, and it was terrified by what it saw. Yana caught visions of the Chamber’s terror in her dreams and when she went to it, the Chamber showed her what threatened the future of Prime 5 and the Fonlands.
“Never doubt the mists,” she said again, this time to Owuo. “Zacchaeus and the Needy cannot be bested by Minyak, the Chamber knows this.”
“That doesn’t look great,” Owuo said and Yana turned her attention back to the view on Top where the good portends for Zacchaeus had turned bad.
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