Azaria 2-21 (Patreon)

Good Morning!

Chapter 21: Gathering of the Cores

Azaria

Standing next to Starburst as the city settled in its new position, I waited as he did his best to search his memories. I watched from my field as Powered moved around the city helping those in need. The jolt of the sudden stop had just been too much for many of the buildings. They had already been suffering from poor repair long before this interdimensional journey started.

Looking at the damage, I had the idea to repair and reinforce parts of the city later when more people were asleep. I’d rather not give the mega Powered in front of me an exact understanding of my abilities just yet by doing it right in front of them. For now, I would concentrate my efforts of getting us back to Earth and stealing the prize at the same time.

After a span of a few minutes that I started to worry, he finally snapped his fingers as his eyes flashed open. “I got it!” he exclaimed quietly. We moved back into the dungeon to have a bit more privacy then looked at him expectantly. “It is not too hard. It is a feature similar to the cellphones of your world, just controlled by the administrators using the moon. Since we’re cut off from their influence at the moment, we should be able to use it a bit more freely.”

“How freely?” I asked curious if it was truly like the cellphones. If we could just dial the other dungeons whenever we felt it would make a lot of things easier going forward.

“About once every two weeks,” he replied and I couldn’t hold back my frown.

“That’s not freely at all!” I exclaimed then just shook my head. “Whatever. It will do for now. I will just do my best to make sure the situation is explained to the cores as best I can.” I stretched though there was little meaning in the action. “What do we need to do?”

“It is rather simple. We just need to focus on speaking at the moon gathering with real intent,” he explained. I wondered why it didn’t already start given I had been intent to speak with the other cores since this started. “After that, Aether needs to be supplied to manifest the location.”

“That makes since. Alright. Hold the fort while I’m gone. I will try to make this quick, but if what I saw last time is still the standard, it might take longer than I care for.” I flew to my high-backed chair that I had put in the manor over a month ago. I rarely had time to sit in it recently. Sitting, I rubbed my hands together and concentrated on the moon gathering from a month ago. With a bit of effort, I managed to start channeling Aether into the image and the world began to darken around me. “Here we go.”

It only took a few moments before the ballroom from a month ago took shape around me. I wasn’t sure if it was my influence over the situation or something else, but the banners, table covers, and chairs were all shades of pink. I stood on the landing above the dance floor and overlooked the place as people started appearing with motes of light.

I spotted Twenty-one and Seven when they appeared. Only those two and maybe three other were looking around with real understanding that something out of the ordinary was happening. I quickly made note of them before they got lost in the ever increasing crowd.

The first was a large raptor. The way it was looking around unlike the other cores told me that it was much more intelligent than the almost robots in the room. When he moved over in the direction of Twenty-one and Seven, I was sure that he was all there in the mental department.

The next was a woman, at least I thought it was a woman, and spider hybrid. I knew they had a name from Greek mythology, but it was escaping me for the moment. She also moved over to Twenty-one’s location. It looked like those two were some sort of ringleader for the ones with clear minds.

Finally, the last one looked almost human. Large bat wings came from his back along with a tail that had to be five or six feet long by itself. When he shifted his head so that the hat covering his face shifted, I realized with a surge of mixed feelings that it was Thomas! I had been concerned since the start of all this for his safety, but he had never explained his situation to me, so I had nothing to go on. I was happy that he was alright, but at the same time a bit upset that he didn’t feel like he could tell me he was also a dungeon core. And one that could leave his dungeon at that!

I chewed on my lip as I thought about what to do, but decided that there was nothing I could change that would make this any easier. If Thomas was just watching me for the two of them then that was that. I just wouldn’t trust him until he proved otherwise. I would just ignore the fact that he didn’t come check on me when this all happened even though it was in his power to do so. I rubbed the sting from my eyes and walked to the curved section that served as a balcony. It was the spot the golden man had spoken to us last time.

Quickly thinking how I wanted to do this, I cleared my throat. Best to be professional and to the point. In the end, it would likely be the five intelligent cores that matter after all. “Welcome to this emergency Moon Gathering! I need everyone to pay attention to me!” Thankfully, all the lesser cores looked directly at me. I was worried that not being the golden man would cause them to ignore me.

Clearing my throat again, I continued, internally grateful that my parents had made me speak in front of crowds during their parties. While it was never on the topic of declaring war, it certainly helped me now. “I’m not sure how much of the situation you are aware of, but the city has been pulled into another dimension or another realm, or something along those lines. The dungeon cores of this world want to consume us for our Aether and that includes all the humans. They want to enslave and eat them. While they are the scourge that we are trying to clean the Earth of, they are OUR prey. If we allow these invaders to take them, we will starve and eventually turn on each other.”

“That is all well and good,” Twenty-one said moving closer to the balcony, “but, why are you leading this?” I raised an eyebrow at her. I didn’t take her for the type to want to be in charge, not that I knew her that well.

“Because it was my power that brought us together,” I retorted without backing down.

“Good. As long as you-know-who isn’t involved, I don’t give a rat’s ass,” she replied with a breath of relief and I saw that Seven nodded along.

“O…kay. Anyway, we have to work with the humans for the time being. If you’re not confident that you can resist killing them, then please seal your dungeon for the time being.” I cast my gaze over the lot then sighed. “If you understood what I said please raise your hand.”

A lot of them did raise their hand. Just not as many as I would have liked. I shook my head as I thought about what I needed to say to get through to the normally blood thirsty dungeon cores. I blinked as I got an idea. Here goes nothing. I raised my hand out palm up. A glowing orb much like the one that Terleza created when she awoke me formed over my hand. It contained nearly two thousand Aether.

As I expected the docile dungeon cores quickly gained a ravenous look. “Do not let humans into your dungeons until I say so, and I will give you this.” This time I got many more nods in confirmation. I closed my hand and the orb vanished. A quick count put the number of cores I would technically have to pay at almost fifty. Good thing I didn’t specify the when. The rest still lacked any sort of understanding of the situation and had only reacted to the Aether.

“Go back now,” I ordered and most of the dungeon cores started to vanish. After the ones that could leave on their own were gone, I waved my hand and managed to sever the link between the others without a problem. Soon it was just me and the five truly sentient cores. I looked directly at Thomas. “Liar.”

“Sorry, dear. It was me that set him on you. His dungeon is near yours and I wanted to know what your real deal was,” Twenty-one said though failing to look truly apologetic. She was still nude, but I looked on unabashed. She couldn’t overwhelm me again with my own discomfort.

I crossed my arms and glared at her then Thomas and then Seven for good measure. “I regret my actions. I never expected you to be so powerful. How did you break into another dimension?” Thomas asked. His voice sent a shiver down my back. Even if I was mad at him, it looked like I couldn’t just turn my feelings for him off.

“An ability. I had no idea it would cause that,” I answered honestly. Thomas had been watching, then he could have figured out that something I did caused this headache we were in. It would be better to be honest and own up to my actions. That way I might get their cooperation without too much lying.

Thomas sighed then gave a boyish smile that made my heart speed up a little. This person was just too much in my strike zone. “I see. I still hope we can be friends. Twenty-one, and Seven were just worried by how developed your mind was coupled with the fact that you arrived here a year after everything started.”

“When you put it like that, I can understand. That still doesn’t make me feel better about it.” I rubbed my forehead and looked at the group. “Tell me. Do you all possess your memories?”

They looked between each other and seemed to share a silent communication. All the while, I tapped my finger on my arm. Finally, it was Twenty-seven that answered. “We do to an extent. I know I was a model that enjoyed the occasional foray into studying insects before all this went down, but other than that, nothing. Bits and pieces here and there.”

Thomas cleared his throat and went next. “I only remember my name clearly, and a few images from my life at school. From what I’ve gathered from the divers and a few resources that I have managed to get outside. That made me a high-schooler or early college student. Not sure exactly sure of my age.”

“Farmer,” was all Seven gave me before falling silent again.

The others were in about the same situation. Only one or two things that were crystal clear. None of them knew why they possessed even those pieces. Unlike me, there transformation had been smooth. They’ve only seen Terleza on the god front. Their instincts told them that it was better to keep their mouth shut and avoid her attention.

“I understand the situation a little better now.” I took a deep breath and relaxed. “I will forgive you. Just don’t do anything that might make me regret that,” I said looking each person in the eye.

“You got it, hon. Now!” Twenty-one exclaimed and jumped forward to grab my hands. Her chest came level to my eyes, and I was nearly submerged in them. “What is the big plan?”

“You are all confident in controlling your monsters?” I asked, backing up to gain some space from the mountains of flesh.

“Yes. We have all experimented with sending monsters of various types outside the dungeon. Personally, I tried to find clues to my former life, but as you can imagine that turned out to be nearly impossible. I can’t even be sure this was my face before the shift. Either way, it allowed me to understand the capabilities of my monsters. I think I speak for all of us when I say that they’ve all done much the same.”

“Alright.” I rubbed my hands together nervously. Public speaking was easy, public leading was a different ball game. “We have to sever the chains that are holding the city, but before that we need to deal with this Queen core. She might have took advantage of me weakening the veil between worlds, but the fact that she pulled us here is what is holding us.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but they didn’t need to know that. It might be selfish, but I wanted to get that device that could create rifts. Maybe I could use it to send Terleza to another plane of existence when we got back. That was probably a pipe dream if there ever was one, but it would help me sleep at night. If I slept.

“Sounds easier than it likely is, right?” Thomas asked with a grin that made me weak in the knees.

I coughed and determined not to look too closely at him for the rest of this meeting. “Yes. This world once went through what we’re going through back on Earth, however, from what I understand from my source on the matter, the locals grew too much for them to deal with. The gargoyles have been easy, but the actual demon we captured used magic that created a barrier that prevented someone that could tear through steel with ease from getting to them.”

“That make this harder than I thought.” Twenty-one stood with her arms crossed under her chest as she spoke. Why she felt the need to emphasis her already massive chest was beyond me. Maybe because I had nothing to speak of. “If that was just a forward party, inside the dungeon is going to be a nightmare. Just imagine trying to get to your own core.”

“Exactly. That’s why I decided to seek help,” I admitted with a nod to her statement. Even with the Powered helping, if we weren’t careful we could end up burning through our most valuable resource. Humans. I was absorbing Aether from this world without problems, but I wasn’t sure if it was Aether that had leaked through the crack or was already present in this world. If the latter, then my supply could dry up very quickly if the humans were all taken.

“First matter would be reconnaissance. We need to know what we might be up against,” Thomas suggested.

I nodded and looked at the group. “I’ll see what I can do. I’m communicating with the Powered. I’ll be sure to let them know that you’re going to be joining us in aiding the city.” Getting nods from the others, I smiled glad that this had worked out better than I had expected. “We’ll communicate via human methods going forward. I can only create one of these meetings once every two weeks.”

“We all have a minion outside that is able to use a cellphone. I’m sure Thomas can slip you one,” Twenty-one said with a grin in his direction. I had to fight something inside me to stop from glaring at her. I nodded once I had a handle on my emotions. That was dangerous.

Clapping my hands, I stopped channeling Aether and the meeting place broke apart. I soon found myself back in the manor, sitting on my chair. I took another deep breath, enjoying that it actually mattered it if did the action or not. “How did it go?” Starburst asked. He was standing right in front of me and I almost didn’t notice him.

“Good. There are five other cores that have a decent head on their shoulders. Not sure exactly how much help they are going to be, but we’ll see.”

Starburst suddenly grinned. “Nothing wrong with more cannon fodder,” he said with a chuckle. “Speaking of.” The manor suddenly shook and some dust rained from the ceiling. I looked around fully back in my field. Dozens of the boats packed to the brim with demons and gargoyles were descending around the edges of the city. It looked like Neo-Chicago was finally at war.

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