Don’t panic, I’ve got you.
“What you mean, don’t panic?” Zacchaeus says aloud as he falls through space, occasionally tumbling over the surface of tendrils, or knocked around by them. The violet energy that he’d been wielding since before the Vodun force left the Fonlands is suddenly gone. He had been wielding the enhanced Death Magic of Fâ through the armor that all members of the Vodun forces wore that allowed them to amplify their powers in their fight against Une, but it had suddenly stopped, or he could feel it being drained from him, and now he can’t control himself in space. He had been flying through the tendrils with Fâ and they were about to arrive at Xêvioso’s location, but then he lost his ability and now he is being pummeled. Then he hears the familiar voice in his mind.
Exactly what I said, don’t panic. You are forgetting that the arcane powers you learned in the Fonlands are not your only source of power.
“I’m not forgetting that, Jit,” Zacchaeus says as he tries to grab on to one of the tendrils so he can stop being jostled around, but their jerking movements make that impossible. “Its good to hear from you again by the way, this is the last place I thought we’d talk like this again. I’m not forgetting your power, I’m just afraid of the Black magic vulnerability. I don’t wanna be a fungus brain again.”
Didn’t you hear? My magic hasn’t been Black for a long time. I am the inky gray mage of the caverns. You can use your inheritance to protect yourself, don’t worry about any vulnerability.
Zacchaeus trusts the voice in his head and he allows the power that comes to him naturally to diffuse his body. He is surrounded by gray smoke and a gray cloak replaces the black one that he’d been wearing. Zacchaeus uses the ancient power of the Needy to charge his body so that he begins to move adroitly among the tendrils. He pushes off of them as they thrash and he regains his composure enough to orient himself in space to fly free of the tangled chaos of space around him. Eventually he emerges into clear space where he is out of reach of the tendrils and then he feels the Violet magic return to him.
That’s a fairweather powerset you’re working with there.
“I wonder what happened. Where you at, anyway?” Zacchaeus asks as he looks around himself for any other signs of life, and he sees others in the distance rising above the chaos of tendrils.
Stay there, the Arcane Wizard will be there soon.
“I thought you were a gray mage,” Zacchaeus says.
I hitched a ride with the Arcane Wizard. You know him, the Master of Arcana.
“He got a new name? And he wearing the Needy now?”
New clothing as well. The Fonlands have blessed us all.
“It’s been a long time,” Zacchaeus says after he turns to see Issac Washington smiling at him, glowing in a long golden coat.
“Too long,” Issac says with a smile. “We have discovered the means to end Une. That is why Jit and I are here, to end this. So we can all finally go home.”
Zaccaheus is overcome for a brief moment as he considers returning to the life that he had left decades ago. He had made Bludon a second home and watched it suffer a devastating attack. He traveled Outer Spacetime and confronted the Barons of Deads’ Town as they repurposed Outer Spacetime into the Disc of Deads and Wraiths on the underside of the Disc of Lêgba. He traveled the Fonlands and found love in the mmoatia Coffey, who is also here in the Une-verse but very far away from him now, and he even made friends of the Vodun. He has had a rich experience since he left his home existence and honestly he forgets what he is returning to. But he shakes it off to smile at Issac.
“That’ll be the day,” he says, not really knowing what he means by it, but it is enough to move the interaction along. “Do you know what happened with the suit?” he asks, indicating the suit of armor he wears that is clearly coursing with arcane energy.
“Tenebris, and the Golden Executioners with her, lost their powers temporarily,” Issac says, “otherwise she and Adofo would be with us now. It seems the suits stole the wearer’s power for about a minute but it all seems in order now. Maybe it was just a glitch?”
“A fucking glitch?” Zaccaheus says with a laugh. “Didn’t Vodun make these things? Vodun magic glitch? I ain’t never experienced nothing like that before, it felt like something did that on purpose.”
“Maybe, but it’s over now,” Issac says. “When I left the others, they were fully restored.”
“Tell that to everybody else that was flying around this god-forsaken place!” Zacchaeus isn’t angry at Issac, he is just angry. “I don’t mean no harm, man, it’s good to see you, but I can’t catch a fucking break since we got here. First the flying cube explodes, then I get lost in a place that I ain’t never been before, and then I finally meet up with Fâ, a Vodun, and then we get separated again, the tentacles go crazy, and I lose my magic. You lucky you missed the first part of this mission, it’s been pure, uncut ass.”
“You think I was just chilling and watching it all in the Smiting Chamber?” Issac asks. He understands Zacchaeus’ frustrations and takes the opportunity to vent his own feelings. “I faced Uneb…”
“The hell is Uneb?” Zacchaues interjects subtly.
“…in the aether outside of Aido Hwedo…”
“Aido who?”
“…and after she exploited my time loop spell, she overpowered me and probably would have killed me if not for Jo…”
“Jo Fraser? What are we talking about?”
“The Vodun, Zacchaeus,” Issac sighs. “Anyway. The Needy is here and happy to bond with you, but you will have to learn the spell to strike at Une’s heart. I can do it, but the two of you have a history.”
Let’s win this one together, the Needy says inside of both Issac and Zacchaeus’ minds. Just like old times.
Zacchaeus follows Issac back to the location where Tenebris and the Golden Executioners had summoned Issac with the Needy and the Purple Mysticisms, and the New Ajogun who now possess the powers of the Mysticisms. The large space rock where they had completed the summoning is in chaos when they arrive. The tendrils of Une are bucking the space underneath the rock and one of the tendrils has wrapped the rock, while its underside oozes a foul puss as it hisses like an alarm blaring. Tenebris and Adofo, as well as Maxx, are attacking the tendril, trying to slice it so that its grip can loosen and it can flail away into space, and Zacchaeus lifts a hand that he infuses with all of the magic in him, the Gray Black of the Needy and the Violet of Fa, and he blasts a beam of glowing energy at the tendril that slices it cleanly, leaving it to fall away from the topside of the rock. He lands with Issac to speak with Tenebris.
“Impressive,” Tenebris smirks at Zacchaeus and he bows to her like a southern gentleman.
“It is my pleasure, ma’am.”
“Xêvioso’s plan was taking shape before the tendrils went mad,” Tenebris says to them both. “We have reestablished the link with the other stations around Une and they are recovering, nothing has been lost, we merely need to reposition. Which is time that we can all use considering the news from Xêvioso. Apparently, the Vodun Agê is on the surface of Une. Xêvioso and Fâ are plotting how to retrieve her so that we can launch our attack without killing her.”
“Agê is a captive of Une?” Issac says with astonishment that alarms everyone. “We cannot let Une corrupt a Vodun, we would not be able to withstand the added power. A power that grand will put Une completely out of our league. Maybe we should launch the attack with the assumption that Agê is already turned and we need to contain them both.”
“If she is a great power, then why doubt her ability to resist corruption?” Tenebris asks, seemingly taking personal offense to Issac’s assumptions.
“I’m with the stunningly beautiful Tenebris on this,” Zacchaeus says to Issac. “We shouldn’t count out a Vodun until we see a body. I know Une is this scary universe eater and all, but the Vodun are gods, Issac.”
“How long has she been Une’s captive?” Issac asks.
“Since Xêvioso’s cube exploded,” Tenebris says.
“Thats a long time,” Zacchaeus says to her. “It was enough time for me to get completely lost twice. A Vodun is strong, but can they hold out forever? And if not, then how long can they resist that thing?”
They all look at one another, waiting for anyone to answer.
Agê can last quite a long time, the Needy says, though only Zacchaeus and Issac can hear him, so Issac repeats the words to Tenebris. Tenebris is right, do not underestimate the Vodun. She could even survive a strike like the one Issac described earlier, but she shouldn’t be made to unless we are desperate. If Xêvioso has a plan, he has time to execute it. We should be trying to understand why these oversized mycelia ooze and screech. It seems something has attacked it.
“Was it someone in our force?” Tenebris asks Issac.
I can bond with the tendrils to learn more, but do we need to risk that? Maybe it is time to pool our knowledge with the others.
“No,” Zacchaeus says. “Let’s just do what we need to do to make sure Xêvioso’s plan works out.”
Everyone agrees as Tenebris and the Golden Executioners explain the construction of the Vodun forces that Xêvioso designed so that everyone’s suits can dispense maximum output toward the enemy.
“Have you heard from the mmoatia?” Zacchaeus asks as he and Isaac watch the arcane formations of the Golden Executioners that will contribute to Xêvioso’s construction.
“I’ve only been here, and then to get you,” Issac says. “I was about to ask you about Maria. Are you worried about Coffey? I thought she stayed in the Fonlands and only the original Supreme Mmoatia came here.”
“That was the plan until Ahdis went with Sakpata. And the worst thing, she tried to hide it from me, so I haven’t seen her since before we left the Fonlands.”
“I’m sure we’ll run into her soon,” Issac says confidently. “What about Maria?”
“I saw her in the cube, but not since then,” Zacchaeus says. He doesn’t sound nearly as worried as he looks.
“But no need to focus on that,” Issac says. “We got plenty to do and we’ll all be reunited soon.”
Zacchaeus half smiles as the Golden Executioners continue their arcane formations.
PRL Serials 