Emilly was walking up the stairs towards the door in the round tower where the rift was, when she looked up and stopped. Zack stood there.
"Oh! Hello there!"
"I was going to conduct the scrying ritual," he said. She nodded.
"I set out everything I thought you would need, but do let me know if you need anything else."
"Well...since you are the one who was able to stabilize it, I will need your help in case something goes wrong. The ritual should let us see where the rift is coming from. It will probably give a few hints, and more resources on how to deal with it."
Emilly nodded, walking up the last few stairs to the metal landing. "That is the hope," she murmured.
"Let's get inside and prepare, then."
She stepped carefully into the room behind him, scanning it quickly. The barrier orbs she'd set up still seemed to be keeping the eldritch fog at bay. The tentacles still emerged from the rift, and from the floor, but...they seemed frozen in place.
Zack walked over, picking up the vessel of salt she'd left, and poured it in a line around the portal, forming a circle. He picked up the chalk next, and on each cardinal point around the circle, drew a symbol representing each of the four elements.
Emilly carefully stepped inside the salt circle, making sure she didn't break the line.
"Those symbols will be used as a trigger to channel the energy of my crystals. They must be placed precisely at each cardinal point, and represent their element."
Fascinating, she thought.
He inhaled, closing his eyes, tracing a pattern she didn't recognize in the air. A strange energy grew in his hands as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Earth, power of the north, I summon you, rise up and be the shield that protects my magic!"
She watched as the crystal he'd set atop the symbol rose up, spinning slowly, illuminating with a soft green light. Small flying pebbles circled it.
"Fire, power of the south, be the sword that will face any foes against my magic!" he said next. A crystal in the south rose, illuminating with a red-orange light. Licks of flame ran along the outside.
"Air, power of the East, be my messenger and bring me what I seek!"
The crystal to the East rose up with a yellow-gold light. She held out her hand. She could feel a small push of chill wind against her palm.
"Water, power of the west, gather up your wisdom and guide me in what I seek!"
The crystal from the west side rose up, lighting with a cold, blue light. Silvery orbs of water surrounded it, spinning in place.
Zack formed an arch with his arms slowly in the air, joining his palm and the backs of his hands together as the four crystals let a beam of their respective light link to the portal. Still with his eyes closed, and keeping his focus and intention on trying to find the origin of this rift, he pronounced his final incantation.
"Magica, Conjuro, Abjuro, Evocate, Divinam, Elementum, Terra, Aeros, Pyrus, Hydros..." Strands of multicolored light spanned the chamber.
"Ohh..." Emilly whispered.
Zack opened his eyes, speaking in a clear, ringing voice. "Tell me, what is the origin of this dimensional rift! I command you! Show me the truth!" He looked at the rift, waiting to see if the spell would work, or fail.
Emilly followed his gaze, reeling back as images hit her mind--the Gray Area in transit, stars that spun uneasily out of pattern, the temple she'd seen before, a larger image of the city as a whole--and then everything went dark.
The world returned with a staggering rush and a blinding flash of light as she swayed in place.
"Where did Emilly go?" she heard Justine say.
"She's here," Zack responded.
Was she? Oh, good.
She heard Justine whisper. "I was staying outside, until Emilly disappeared." She turned towards her, Emilly turning her head to catch the look.
"I don't want to lose you again!"
"I'm back," she said. Patted herself down to be sure. "I'm back, I think. "What...did I miss? Did you learn anything?"
She watched in shock as Zack lowered his hands, collapsing to his knees. The lines of light disappeared, the crystals falling to the ground with loud clinks. She looked around, wide-eyed.
"They're--they didn't--shatter, did they?"
Zack panted heavily, shaking his head. "No, they...they're fine...they are...more resistant than that."
She nodded, and then her heart stopped at his next words.
"I saw...a travel to ancient Palestine...does it...ring a bell with you?"
She saw Justine's eyes widen. She nodded.
"Athena...She said she was going to find her father. I caught her right at the edge of the rift, but--she was too far in."
She watched Lina step into the room. She looked at her hands.
"And she kept..."
"Well, at least that power still works," Lina said. Justine reached for Lina's hand as she came in, keeping her from stepping forward through the salt circle.
Zack looked at Emilly, taking a deep breath, finally standing up again.
She laughed, looking at them, sounding slightly hysterical. "It was...precious, really. She was trying to fold space to move places. But she's so little, it didn't work...completely. It took us a long time to find anything that looked...recognizable...And that was a temple being constructed. She dashed off to the shore behind the temple, and...Hiro...was there. I thought--I thought she'd brought us there to get him back, you know?"
She searched their faces. "And then we got yanked back here."
She turned to face Zack. "She told me we couldn't bring Daddy back because Daddy was here. And I asked her what she meant, and...she refused to talk to me. And I changed, and came down to Darktow, and...all hell had broken loose."
"I'll say," Lina muttered.
Emilly slowly turned to Justine. "That must have been when the time locks disengaged on the underwater temple. So there WERE two Hiros on the sim. Sort of..."
Zack tilted his head. "So the scrying ritual probably was trying to show that the rift we have in front of us is related to those events somehow. To maybe an object, or an action that has been done. Or maybe both."
"But then, I don't get--" Emilly waved at the rift in midair, spitting purple light. "This! HIRO didn't use this to go anywhere, he was in the Gray Area!"
Justine nodded. "And that would explain the quantum disruption and the spike in Higgs-Boson readings--"
"Sure, but--why are those continuing? They should have died down after he returned, and they're getting stronger."
Justine thought. "One of the other five has somehow found its way back to Gearhaven?"
Lina snorted. "Not hardly."
Justine looked at Emilly. "Where...do we know where Athena is? Now?"
Emilly blinked. "Up in the nursery."
"Are you ... sure?"
"And if one of the other five," she continued, then stopped, looking at Justine again. "What? And...wait. What if--are we sure the other carrier bots are--just that?"
Justine shook her head. "I didn't...I haven't checked them...Oh, no--"
"And at least, when I checked last--she was there. I can check again."
"You thinking they're those--tentacle things?" Lina asked. She gestured towards the tentacles pushing through the rift.
"What, the ones here?" Emilly asked. "No, I think they're more....echoes? They barely move at all."
"Well...I do hope that my arcanic skills were...quite helpful..." He blew out a breath. "It was more draining than I expected."
"No, the robotic assistants on the Prometheus." She turned to Zack. "I am sorry, Zack. Thank you for your help." Her eyes turned to the rift. "That was a long reach back."
(Continued in part LIX).
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