69 Work for the next generation? (1/2)

-NOOOOOOO! BETRAYAL!-

I watched with curiosity, as the thing inside the black hole tore the mirror mind apart and ate it. I had set it up in case something went fatally wrong.

Obviously the -thing- inside the black hole wasn't happy when it realized that it didn't catch a real soul.

The first rule in a duel of minds is ”Don't fight openly”. The real me hid inside my mirrors shadow. Of course if you set up something like this, you are out of control. The mirror mind will do as it sees fit from it's point of view and you will just tag along.

But it's perfect as a decoy. Learning the enemy's abilities is important. I retract my mind from the sphere and look at with disgust.

Did everyone who used the sphere get eaten? The thing seems to have a direct connection to the black hole.

So the thing inside the black hole reprogrammed the Council members and they started to feed it with the souls of gods? That's a horrifying thought. Does it get stronger with every soul it eats?

I stand up and walk to the door and open it. Outside are quite a few people looking at me with worried expressions. Those guys should ease up a little. The other mind-mages immediately try to scan me.

”Bow down before the ruler of the mult-”*SLAP*

*Blergh!*

”OwOwOwOW! It was a joke! Stop it!”

Celes immediately slapped me without hesitation while Arthur took me into a choke-hold and Nicosar jumped onto me to hold me down.

I let my defences fall and the mind-mages verify my identity.

But what they see in my memories doesn't make them happy and everyone goes either pale or pulls a grimace.

My family's expressions turn sour as they already fear the worst.

”He is fine.” One of the older guys announces after a minute. ”Just a little messed up in the head. I can't believe that someone like that is our king!”

The mind-mages nod without fail.

I smile and wave for them to listen. ”Have we recovered all souls of the people who died during the fight?”

”We are fairly certain that we got all of our people because we put priority on them.” One of the mages informs me.

It takes quite some time for a soul to drift to a new world and reincarnate. So everyone should still be near this system. Souls shouldn't go towards a black hole by themselves.

A free soul is attracted by every living being which is able to contain it. The black hole shouldn't have any attraction at all. I still don't want to feed that thing any more even by chance.

”Clean the whole system of free souls. Even our enemies. I want a complete soul-free space around the black hole.” Two of my subordinates bow and disappear. They don't have to ask any more questions because the scanned my mind.

”Can you explain what's going on?” -Arthur

Arthur and Nicosar get off of me and pull me to my feet.

After thinking for a second I answer. ”It looks like there is -something- sealed inside the black hole and the Sphere of Sight is set up to connect the user's mind directly towards it. This thing took great pleasure in eating the mirror mind, I had set up.”

I wait for a second to let the information sink in. ”So at the moment it looks like the Council was manipulated by that thing to feed it. They threw meals into it's maw for who knows how long.”

”We could have been it's food too if it weren't for Seria.” Arthur mutters to himself.

I nod. ”We can't be sure of it, but it could very well be that Seria's actions were responsible for keeping the thing on a low diet.”

”We should destroy the Sphere of Sight. It's useless to us. And then we smash that room too. Maybe crushing the whole city would be better.” Celes thinks aloud.

”I think you are right in destroying the sphere. But we may still need the room.” -Me

”Are you insane? All you could do with it is feeding this ominous being.” -Nicosar

”I don't want to feed it. I want to have the room in case one of those things is still outside the black hole!” I drop the bomb on them.

”That possibility is.... not....” But Arthur gets interrupted by Nicosar.

”Unfortunately he is right. We have to work with the worst case scenario. So if we assume that the culprit didn't belong to the Council. There still has to be someone unknown in this equation!”

I nod. ”The next thing I want is that everyone who returns to our home has his mind checked twice! The last thing I want is that we carry something unwanted with us. Then I want this whole system off limits! Just the guards. And at home we will construct a few more fortresses to set up a permanent watch here.”

Then I wave my hand to materialize my staff. ”And the Sphere will be dealt with here and now.” I turn around and walk back into the room.

Before the sphere, I take a stance and strike it with all my might. I invoke a shield, as the sphere shatters and shards of it are spraying around the room. Slowly dimming, the room goes silent and a little less bright than before.

Celes looks inside with a curious expression. ”I thought you wanted to break the sphere and not the city.”

I turn around. ”What?”

”The city just lost all energy.” Arthur gives his observation.

But then the light slowly returns and a female voice booms through the room in a strange language.

~Jegme'nod. Mjerk'sod'lemef~

”I don't understand a single word. What about you guys?” -Me

But everyone shakes their heads.