CHAPTER#89

"I don't get it. The Geas seems super powerful, but that woman outside was able to make serious progress in a matter of hours."

"I wondered about the banging down here. The Geas, in a way, is just the shield. Now that you are the Caretaker, you must find a way to wield the sword. Bang on any shield long enough, and it will finally give." Ratu set her goblet down. "The objects I was working with, however, were like barely contained wildfires."

"Such as?"

"I would prefer not to say for reasons that will become clear. Another analogy. The Ark of the Covenant. You have heard of this, yes?"

"Indiana Jones?"

Ratu gave him an odd look. "No, it was created by Moses at the instructions of the Hebrew God. A powerful magical talisman that brought grave misfortune to anyone it considered an enemy. Fires, floods, boils. In the hands of the believer, however, it could confer divine blessings.

"Consider this. Magic is like energy. It cannot be destroyed once harnessed. If you were to take apart the covenant, destroy it, what sort of magic could you gather from it?"

Mike pondered this, chewing on a hunk of cheese. "Would it matter who took it apart? An enemy versus a believer?"

"It would. And the intent would matter to. If an enemy were to destroy it, they could end up with magic capable of bringing catastrophic ruin. If done correctly this magic could also be gathered in such a manner to create a divine object capable of bestowing blessings."

"Then why bother destroying the ark? If you are going to harvest the magic anyway, then why not keep it the way it is?"

"Because you have destroyed another object and harvested its magic. You are now assembling magical ingredients of the highest quality, potentially building a weapon that has no business existing. So when you destroy a magical item of such a nature, you must find somewhere to put that energy so that it cannot be used in that manner. And this was where my problems began."

"How so?"

"I come from a race of semi-divine beings. Not quite god, not quite mortal. As such, we can be bound by the rules of both. Emily asked me if I would be willing to dismantle these three objects she had acquired in order to rid the world of them. In exchange, I could leave my home, which was rapidly becoming developed and polluted and then live here.

"It was all in the wording. She promised me that I could live here in exchange for dismantling the seven items for her. She even provided me a vessel to channel the magical energy into. Once I began living here, I was bound to fulfill my promise. I told her I would not rest until I had done what she asked, making the world a safer place. What I didn't understand was that my desire for a more peaceful existence would blind me to a certain inconvenient truth."

"She wanted those objects broken down for a reason, didn't she?"

Ratu nodded. "I mainly suspected that something was up when she brought me here through a one way portal, not the house. The others had no knowledge of me, and I seldom had visitors. Emily checked on my progress at first, and I realized that the vessel she had given me was built for something far more sinister."

"What was the vessel?"

Ratu contemplated Mike for a long time, then shrugged. "I suppose it won't hurt to show you. You see, once I found out Emily was no longer alive, I found a way to siphon the magic off of the artifact and create that tiny sun over our heads. Until a year ago, all I had were the torches." Reaching into her cleavage, she pulled out an ornate key. It was an antique, and the gaps in the key were filled with three different gems. Two of them had cracked, but the last one was flawless. "Often, we discover that magical objects are an extension of their physical form. The ark was for worship, and was built as such. This key was designed to unlock a door. However, with the power of these three stones, it was going to unlock something else."

"What?" Mike was surprised when Ratu handed him the key.

"I have my theories. Have you ever put two different foods together and discovered that they taste amazing when paired? I believe that Emily was planning to use this key to do the impossible - become a demigod."

"Why would she need to do that?"

Ratu nodded. "She discovered something in the house. She would never tell me what it was, but based on some conversations we had, I believe that she had discovered the Architect's identity. However, she knew that her lifespan was approaching its end, and became desperate for more time. Immortality comes at a great price, and she intended to use the power of this key to gain it through divine intervention."

"So, what, this is the key to Heaven or something?"

"If only it were that simple. I'm afraid that humans have muddied the waters when it comes to what is real and what isn't. Have you ever wondered if an ant can distinguish you from a cloud in the sky? Mortals are small, and often only see what they want to." Ratu held out her hand, and Mike returned the key. "No, I believe she was going to use the key to open a door to where the Ancient Ones slumber, beings from before the Universe existed."

"That sounds like some Lovecraftian shit."

Ratu frowned, her lips stretching dramatically. "Lovecraft did more for mankind than you will ever know, and he paid a price for it. Yes, we are talking about beings of immense power who are unable to enter this plane through ordinary means. You see, no god in their right mind would simply make Emily a demigod. She had nothing to offer. I believe that she planned to offer a trade, allow one of them to slip through."