“Yes,” he said quietly. “That is indeed what he wants. A long time ago, he made a pact with the demons of the Black River, and when I was a child he tried to give me to them. He still wishes to complete his pact, to pay them for what they have done for him, whatever that was. This is why he followed me into the past, and why he allied with Aelvedaar.”

Phalomir smiled slightly.

“But perhaps he is not completely lost. He has been corrupted, yes, but perhaps there is still be a kernel of what was my father in him. I believe this of him, as perhaps you believe this of another, my love. Allow me to try, please. I will speak with him.”

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“Master,” Phalomir said. “Do not bargain with those who cannot give you what you seek. Only your son himself can bargain away his life.”

“Call me father,” said the Sith in the orb.

“I do not know what it is you gained from the Black River, but it is not too late to stop your quest. There are greater things than power, than the rule of a race. There are far greater things.”

“Such as?” asked the Master, raising an eyebrow.

“Such as family,” Phalomir said. “The feel of the woman you love as she holds your hand, the laughter of your son as he runs through a meadow, the joy of living as you honor the Universe by your very existence. We have learned something here this day, father, something which changed our perspective of life. The natural order includes everything, and we as the living universe are given a simple choice of what we strive for in our short times. You need not choose power, father, join me in honoring all things by first honoring each other.”

The Master remained silent for a moment.

“Time has stopped,” he said at last. “It will not begin again until this task is accomplished?”

“Yes,” replied Phalomir. “That is our understanding.”

“And you need my assistance in powering the device?”

“Yes.”

The Master sighed. “Very well. I will do this in exchange for my freedom. We shall discuss the other matter further at a later time. Where is your female?”

“My fe--…?” Phalomir growled. “JHARMEEN is right here. Why?”

“I must speak with her,” came the quick reply.

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She raised her chin, looked down her nose at the purported "Master."

Master of what or who, this is yet to be declared, she couldn't help the non sequiteur from entering her thoughts.

Her eyes slitted a touch.

"I am here," she said, simply, coolly, but in a tone of voice heavy with unspoken meaning.

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"I do not trust or believe you. There is nothing that can contain the strength of the All; if you are as powerful as you say, you should easily escape from your--"

She paused a moment, her eyes widening as a sudden thought struck her.

"You... you cannot access the All, can you?" she asked quietly, before shaking herself back into her former demeanor.

"No; you fulfill your half of the bargain from wherever it is you are. You had the power to control Thoran from there--

"If you have the power you claim, you can use it from there as well."

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"What suggest you, my love?" she asked quietly, before turning to the others, her hands outspread.

"What say you all?"

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"Look, I know what you can do," I said, shuddering as memories of Noghri and horrendous injuries inflicted upon my body flashed across my mind's eye, images quickly followed by that impossible morning when I had awakened to find myself hale and whole...

At her hand.

"I say this dude can just rot in his little ice prison until eternity ends..."

I flinched a bit, realizing just what it was I had said. Indeed, unless we got this show on the road, it looks like Eternity had reached it's endpoint, with us smack in the middle of it.

"I think we have enough power to do this, you just don't have faith in yourself, Sis.

"You never did..."

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"We are no mere Force users!" she snarled, trembling with the effort to refrain from blasting this Shar'tak and the creature it contained into the farthest depths of that place which he wished to send his son.

Hands upon her arms and around her shoulders brought her back into some semblance of herself, allowing the blinding light which flowed from her Glyph to quiet to merely ultraviolet splendor. She took in another breath, now sending a quick apologetic glance towards Erik, then a warm one, one which instantly bonded them together, to Shayla.

"We are two users of the All... you waste our time!"

Sneering openly then, she turned her back on Phalomir's father to face the others.

"I grow tired of this one; let us go to the device and attempt this on our own; perhaps Galen is correct, and my Adept and I have greater ability than I thought."

[ 01-08-2005 01:17 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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She paused, glancing momentarily to her husband and then looking to Jharmeen, "I agree, we can do this."

[ 01-08-2005 12:45 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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“You will free me now! Or we shall all perish together in a frozen second!”

The horns on his head, two spiral kudus, grew longer, twisting as they expanded. The red skin on his exposed face deepened in color, and tightened around his eyes until the eyes themselves protruded slightly from the sockets. The robes behind him fanned out until a long forked tail whipped out from under them. He wrung his hands together, the now extended claws clicking together in a sick chorus.

He walked closer to the orb, staring deeply into it.

And with a swift backhand sent the Shar’tak sailing across the room to smash against the wall. It did not break, but fell to the floor a solid black.

Phalomir continued to stare into the empty space on the table.

“We can do it,” he said quietly.

--------------------

She let a great puff of air escape her, and began to turn round, then stopped.

"Yes, love," she began, holding up one slim hand to stay the others in their tracks.

"But first..."

Turning back then to the blackened Shar'tak, she stood over it, staring down upon its ominous form. Then, the motion quick, catlike, the Glyph blasting out in glory upon her brow for her effort, she closed her eyes, reached out with the talents taught to her by Lord Aelvedaar...

...and grasped hold of the very fabric of spacetime itself, still a congruent whole within their frail little bubble. A twist here, a turn there...

...and the Shar'tak was firmly ensconced upon the never-ending wheel of a Mobius time-loop, removed from the universe, there to spend something beyond eternity in an insanity-promoting eternal Now, forever trapped between one second and the next.

[ 01-08-2005 01:03 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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“This is the location of the device,” he said. “My lady, can you take us there? We shall be no more ready than we are at this moment. This room lingers with the scent of betrayal, and if the Master is indeed imprisoned somewhere within this temple then let us be away. Perhaps someday I shall return to find him, but not this day.”

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Then, not waiting any further, she let the images of the others fade away as she concentrated on what Phalomir was showing her. Upon her brow, the Glyph radiated brightly.

A wave of her hand, and a Portal opened, roiling blackness from which a soft green light emanated.

"Let us end this task, then," she said simply and stepped into the Portal, leading the others, emerging upon a terrain which appeared to be composed of trees and vines and brush and grass, under which a deep red and eroding soil let peep a tantalizing glimpse of something dark and shining and unknown.

She pointed to the exposed enigma.

"Is that it?" she asked, turning to the others.

[ 01-08-2005 01:12 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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He reached down to the ground and began to brush away the soil. A door, large and partially hidden below ages of dirt, was beginning to be revealed. Phalomir uncovered a large handle, and tried pulling it.

“Panthar, help me,” Phalomir called out when the door did not budge. Panthar jumped and strode quickly to Phalomir’s side. He grabbed the top of the handle and pulled with Phalomir. Both of the Sith grunted and heaved, and the door flung open.

A cloud of dust flew from the darkness inside. Within a few seconds it settled, disclosing a set of steps that led down into the ground. Phalomir and Panthar exchanged glances, then in unison turned to the rest of the group. Phalomir stood and descended, followed by Panthar.

After placing a foot on the first step, a soft white light clicked on to reveal just how long the set of stairs was. Phalomir continued his descent, calling for the others to follow.

At last the stairs ended in a room, approximately 4 meters square and a with low ceiling. The walls of the room were lined with various lights and gauges, while the center held four circular platforms, each about one meter in diameter and protruding just inches from the floor.

“We need two force users, and another sorcerer,” he called out. “And someone to man the controls. Panthar, I nominate you to man the guidance controls. Allow me to demonstrate while we wait for the others.”

Phalomir began to show Panthar the controls for steering the energies while the others made their way down.

[ 01-08-2005 01:32 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

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...clearly worried. As they finally reached the bottom and she heard Phalomir's words, she spoke up. "We have two Force users," she reiterated, "And two All users as Jharmeen has said. But how are we going to get another Sorceror unless..."

She paused, pursing her lips thoughtfully, "How about two All users, a Force-user, and a Sorceror? Can the variables be altered any?"

Even as she spoke the question, she noticed Erik shift uncomfortably out of the corner of her eye.

"Otherwise..." she traled once more, frowning now as something else occurred. "Thoran has some Sorceror's abilities, does he not?"

[ 01-08-2005 01:38 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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For it was here that we, mere motes of matter that we were, were to determine the fate of the Universe, as grandiose as that sounded.

Ok, then, so it wasn't our idea anyway.

But... here. Right here, in this very room, underground -- again -- on the planet which had brought me the greatest joy in my life by giving Terrin back to me again.

This very planet... upon which we were most firmly and gravitationally bound.

"Umm... 'scuse me," I interjected, finger raised.

"Does this mean that we're all going to be taking a little ride into the Elseness, too?"

--------------------

“Yes, of course,” he said. “But we shall leave that place when everything is secured.”

Phalomir checked an instrument on the wall, tilting his head as if in surprise. He shrugged, then looked around at the group.

“According to the readings here, it will be very difficult, extremely taxing on those involved, but we have what we need,” he said. Jasyn, will you assist Panthar and watch this blue dial? If it reaches past the black line let him know immediately. Panthar, if that happens then you must increase the flow to the diversion polarizers. Matt, watch the red dial, if it falls below the black line then… yell. Panthar will know what to do.”

He stepped onto a platform, and the gray turned a bright red.

“The other sorcerer must stand here, beside me.” Phalomir indicated the platform next to him. “Our force users must occupy these two platforms, and our people with the All may use the console next to Panthar to view the movement of the solar system, and open the portal when the bodies are in motion. Shayla? Erik? Terrin? If you would?” He indicated the other platforms.

[ 01-08-2005 02:04 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

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He sure as kriffing hell hoped it worked.

Pushing back his concerns, he couldn't help but reach out and take Galen momentarily by the hand, squeezing it then as he looked at her. "I love you," he then whispered. And with no further ado than this, he gave her hand a final squeeze, and let it go, stepping up then onto one of the indicated platforms.

Allright, Thoran, he then thought to the other entity within his body, You're up...

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Thoran took control of Terrin’s body and allowed his Sith magick to come to the forefront, awaiting his cue from Phalomir.

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Speaking no more, Graysith moved to her assigned place, there to stand quietly until her abilities were needed. She stared with growing curiosity at the console upon which a multitude of sigils flashed and blinked, powers unspeakable inherent within them.

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I stopped with a sigh, for it appeared no one was listening.

"Oh, never mind. I'm sure you all have enough power to get our buddy The Universe to send us home... at least I hope so.

"Is there anything I can do?"

If there was anything I hated worse than helmet hair -- outside of being shaken, that is -- it was standing around being helpless, feeling like a proverbial fifth wheel.

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