Legends: Diversion

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related, remotely related, or is in the game, Illusion of Gaia. It is owned by Enix and all related companies. All Original Characters, Stories, and anything that is not in, related to, or remotely related to the game, was solely created for creative and entertainment purposes. Thank you for your time.

Chapter Two – Sage

We have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire;

the more we see, the more we are capable of seeing – Maria Mitchell

By the time Kat had gotten to the food court, almost an hour had passed since her short encounter with Sage. As she had been told by Ann, she had clocked out for the day and punched in the code for "leaving early – sick"; she wasn't really sick, just following the advice of her supervisor. The clammy feeling she had earlier was gone, in its place was a determination to find out why Sage was there and why he didn't know that the Ring of Two Souls still had a master. As far as Kat was aware, from what Gaia had told her two years prior, she was to be the last one and that is if she remembered correctly. She hoped that it was just like he said: he didn't know.

Like she had been told to do Kat put the ring out of sight; it now rested in a pocket within her purse and she held that purse ever so tightly in front of her. Looking around nervously, she caught sight of the sub shop first and the owner of it behind the counter. He was standing to the side, trying to look as though he was busy; he glanced up when Kat came through, stopped, and turned to the small enclosure where few people sat to eat. There were tables in the other food areas to eat in so not many bothered to take their food into this space. There Sage sat at a booth, legs across the long seat, arms crossed over his chest, and his eyes staring directly at Kat. When she nodded to the sub owner, who nodded in return, she stepped into the space and felt a sudden chill go through her. This time it wasn't because of Sage but of something else entirely; what the Spirit behind the sub counter could do to make sure her and Sage were the only ones there, she didn't know and he wouldn't explain it even if she asked.

"It took you long enough; I thought I told you a half hour." Sage watched her sit down on the bench in front of him before he swung his legs over the side and leaned on the table between them with his arms crossed on the table.

"You did, I just needed a bit of extra time to come down here," she answered sharply. That wasn't a total lie; she could have come down ten minutes sooner if she hadn't been afraid of this meeting. She was still afraid of it, unsure of who or what Sage really was. "Besides, how do I know you aren't part of the Underworld?"

"Do you really think that I could get this close to you without a legion of Spirits tearing me apart before I said one word?" Sage laughed at her. "You have so many of us looking after you that I'm surprised you don't wake up with twenty breathing down your nightshirt. It took enough talk as it were to let you take this job."

"Am I supposed to be appreciative that the Spirits let me do anything?" Kat asked coldly, taking the chance to put her purse on the bench next to her. "Or are you here just to remind me that I can barely go out my backdoor?"

"I'm not here to remind you of anything, I'm just here to make sure that the ring doesn't fall into the hands of the Underworld again." Sage leaned back in his seat, throwing an arm over the back of the bench to appear more comfortable. "Had I been told you were the current master of the Ring of Two Souls, and not just someone who was holding onto it, I would've handed the task to someone else. In fact I wasn't even aware that you were the one Ann was talking about until an hour ago. I was just told to get the ring back to the last place it was used, I should've connected things sooner."

Kat smiled. "And here I thought I wasn't told anything. I thought all of the Spirits knew I was the ring's current master, I guess that assumption was wrong."

"Not every Spirit is aware of what's going on in the mortal world, there are some of us that just rather not think about what once was or even bother with the mortal world." Sage tried to return that smile but it did not reach his eyes; Kat remembered Ann's warning not to ask him about what made him a Spirit. "I know better now, I just do what I'm told and finish the task before moving on. Now that I can't back out now we'll move on as to fill you in as to what is really going on out there."

"What I really want to know is what's going on with Crystal, where she is, what's she doing with my father, and how to get rid of her." Kat folded her hands on the table and stared long and hard at Sage's reaction. If she thought he was going to get up and walk away with such a demand she was mistaken.

Instead he blinked several times, surprise clearly evident on his face as he didn't seem to have expected such a demand so soon, or as a detailed one as Kat had laid out. It wasn't clear as to what this Spirit knew outside of what he was supposedly told, which didn't seem much to her, but his scowl a second later showed he at least understood her. He didn't ask who Crystal was, who was her father, and what she meant by her choice of words; she hoped she wouldn't need to go into much detail about what had happened on Kara's Keep. But she still thought it to be a reasonable request.

"Pretty demanding, aren't you?" Sage said a moment later. "We'll get to that in time, I'm sure you're wondering what else the Underworld has been up to."

"Not really, I just want Crystal gone so that my father can rest in peace," she lied. In truth while that may be what she wanted, she also needed to know more about what was going on in the rest of the world. Being confined to a small area didn't exactly warrant a whole lot of information to her.

"You're such a damn liar, you know it as well as I do that you have more than a passing interest in what's going on elsewhere as well," he pointed out with a smirk. "Oh I'm sure you're more interested in that, but in reality that's the least worry we have."

"Oh really?" Kat raised an eyebrow. "Considering that she knows who I am, knows what I have, was the last master of the Ring of Two Souls, and has my father, I think that makes her one of the biggest problems there is."

"Let me remind you that whatever this Crystal is doing pales in comparison to what the Underworld is doing. Yes some of what is going on in the Underworld itself may just be because of her; she isn't the main concern right now." Sage shifted in his seat. Kat could tell that while what he said was true, there may be more to what role Crystal had in this then what he was saying. "Whatever actions are against her will hinder whatever faction she currently is or is not serving, but the Underworld as a whole is in a little bit of a mess. I'm sure that you're aware that there isn't one set group or person that controls the Underworld, right?"

"Right," Kat said, thinking back to what the other Spirits had told her in limited detail. "It's made up of different factions."

"Exactly. I'm sure that you realize that the Underworld has always had its most powerful factions at the top for as long as the Spirits have been around if not longer," he said. "Whoever is on the top has the ability to do a lot more than those who are weaker. But that has all changed the moment you put that ring on."

Kat blinked in surprise. "Why? I know it's a powerful relic, and I'm not exactly the first one to have put it on."

"Think about it for a moment. You are a mortal with a powerful item, while not exactly THE most powerful it still is quite impressive. There are multiple sides wanting to have it, to use it for their own gain, and most mortals don't even know what it is until they see it. Now being a mortal that can control a decent chunk of power not really attributed to mortals you become a target for less desirable sides. This has been the case for centuries with relics of power." Sage flexed his fingers then leaned on the table again. He suddenly looked so tired, as though he hadn't slept for weeks; had Kat not known that certain Spirits didn't require much sleep, she would've told him to go back to bed. "Which is why the Spirits have made sure that you are as protected as possible, hence the restrictions placed on you. The last thing that is needed is to have you, the ring, or both on the side we're trying to keep you from. Are you following me so far?"

She nodded her understanding. "Why hasn't it been done before? I mean, I understand the concept but again I'll state that I am far from the first person to use the damned ring."

"Who says it hadn't been? Spirits have kept tabs on the ring, sure, maybe even allowed the Underworld to have it for a time just like they had with other relics. The threat of the Underworld in a mass revolt hadn't been a thought even up to five years ago; especially in the darkness that is the Underworld. Oh there were petty squabbles here and there but nothing that hasn't happened before." He took this moment to look outside the confines of the eating area they were in to make sure that whatever placement there was around them was still holding up before returning to look at Kat. Whoever wanted to come into the confines of this area suddenly backed up and went elsewhere to eat, their eyes blank as they shuffled away. "The difference between then and now is what is going on in the Underworld and why it's so damn important to keep you safe. Sure the Underworld knew of its existence, a faction probably had it for a time, but it was one of the things they never really went after. But the Underworld has spies, they know things and they can find out what's going on."

"But you just said…" Kat started before Sage held up a hand to stop her from speaking.

"What I said was that anyone who is in the Underworld can't get near you, I said nothing about anyone else. Just like the Spirits have spies so does the Underworld and they can get under a Spirit's protection just as easily as a Spirit's spy can." That was an uneasy thought, Kat glancing around what she could see of the food court. Any one person out there could be able to listen in on their conversation, they may not be able to get near her but even the walls have ears. "Oh don't look so alarmed about it, it's been going on long before I even became a Spirit and it's normal in the relationship between us and them. But I will say that the majority of the Underworld could care less about the Ring of Two Souls, it's the more insane factions that have been raising a stink about its impending destruction."

He let Kat have a few minutes to let his words sink in, her face going from confusion to horror as she realized that whatever Gaia had told her now could very well be common knowledge in the dredges of the Underworld. She was mildly surprised that Sage knew what Gaia had planned, she had no idea that even the deepest, darkest places knew of it and even then she couldn't imagine who else knew. It made her feel sick to her stomach to know that someone within the Spirits had either said the wrong thing to the wrong person, or the conversation they had been bugged while she was in the confines of the Dark Space. It had been bad enough that Gaia couldn't sense the ring's presence for some time, now Sage was telling her that not even a Dark Space was safe from outside ears.

"That was said in the confines of a Dark Space, there is no way that kind of information could have leaked out of there," she said finally, holding her purse closer to her. "That or a Spirit had been leaking information."

"Dark Spaces, while controlled by Gaia, aren't exactly the safest place to hold a conversation about the ring. It would have been better to have been shouting from the treetops but what She does isn't always clear to us Spirits." Sage sighed. "What I'm telling you, what was said where or who knows what aside, is that by figuring out that you are to be the last master of that ring, you have suddenly shot up to the top on numerous Underworld factions 'Most Wanted' lists. By capturing you, you have become a target for these factions and are viewed as a one-way ticket to a higher ranking."

"But if most of the Underworld doesn't care about the ring, why is it important to have me guarded all the time?" She asked. "Even if there are insane factions, I seriously doubt even the Underworld as a whole is stupid enough to let them do whatever they please."

"It's the smaller, more insane factions that are trying to get to you. While the Underworld has its roots in discord, they do have standards. That much I agree with." Sage grinned at that, Kat shaking her head; she heard those words once before a few years prior. "The Underworld is currently trying to get rid of those deemed too insane to survive, thus a revolt but it's not going so well. It's happened before, it will happen again, but this time the stakes are a bit higher. You are, unfortunately, caught in the middle of it all and there's a lot more at stake than a single relic. Gaia had believed that you would have at least a few decades to test out the ring, maybe a century or two, before it was decided to destroy the ring. She wants it done and soon."

"She wants to destroy the ring now?" She leaned back in her seat, startled. "What couldn't She have done it when I was on the island?"

"Because although it had been considered before, it had not been finalized and she had hoped that you could have some experience with it before it was destroyed completely. That is one of the major differences, the factions understand that this is a final decision and cannot be undone." Sage's voice had become strained and his eyes were looking away from Kat more often now. He was keeping his eyes open for anything that may just jump out at them but he did not let Kat worry of it, not yet. "That is why you have been kept guarded, why you didn't have the space as the others had before. Because even though the majority of the Underworld really doesn't give much of a damn, if one of these factions currently in revolt gets the ring it will cause a lot of discord, a lot of destruction, and a lot of needless headaches on both sides. Because even though the Underworld has generally been kept busy with trying to get this under control the Spirits are trying to keep you as guarded as possible and away from whatever may try to get you."

"And why I haven't seen anyone from the Underworld at my doorstep." She knew she was being closely watched because she was the master of the ring but she had no idea until that moment the whole reason behind the why. Suddenly it made more sense to her of Sage's belief that Crystal was the least of her worries then it had been. It still was on her mind, it would be for a long time, but she understood a lot more than she had when she woke up that morning.

"Exactly that. By defying the one person that could easily destroy the entire world as we know it, the Underworld could very much find itself in a worse position then it is currently." Sage smirked. "And the last thing the Underworld wants is to have its only roaming grounds destroyed."

"So what happens now?" Kat asked. "How does something like the Ring of Two Souls get destroyed?"

Sage remained quiet for a few minutes, his eyes closing during that time. He hardly looked like the person who had been standing at the watch counter nearly two hours before, Kat saw his body sagging and his breathing was more shallow. At first she thought he was going to pass out but as Sage opened his eyes and looked at her, his grey eyes were focused and determined, a sort of fiery look to them had appeared. It was startling that his body looked so worn down and tired but his eyes seemed to come alive that Kat had to fight down the urge to get up and walk away. Just the look that came onto his face a few seconds later made him seem more deadly than he appeared to be; Kat should have known better to get comfortable where she was.

Looking over to the sub shop owner, Kat found that he although he was still standing at the counter his whole body was turned away from them. His back was to where she and Sage were sitting, he wasn't even bothering to make sure that Kat was already. So much for my Spirit defense, she thought to herself as she turned back to Sage while putting a hand down into her purse. His eyes and face had turned back to normal but he still had that look of a tiger ready to pounce; she made sure to keep her fingers where they were in case she needed to take the ring out at a second's notice. If Sage decided to suddenly jump the table and lunge after her, she hoped she had enough time to get it out before he did anything.

"Things like the ring aren't easily destroyed, it's often better to hide them away or make sure that if old relics are used they are kept in check," Sage said finally, his voice cracking. "However once an item is deemed ti to be destroyed, there is a process that must take place."

"And what exactly is this process?" Kat asked carefully. Although Sage did not seem to want to lunge over the table, his eyes had gone down to her purse where the ring was held. That apparently kept him from doing anything of the sort. "How complicated is it?"

"The process that has to happen isn't the challenge," he said slowly and just as carefully as Kat had asked her questions. "It's getting the relic and the person who last used it back to where it was introduced that is going to be the problem. Usually by the time someone decides a relic needs to be destroyed, whoever the last person was to use it has already died. You're going to need to back to the place where you put the ring on, Kat, since apparently you're the last known person to have the ring in their possession."

Kat opened and closed her mouth several times in a vain attempt to from words in response to what Sage had just told her. It wasn't hard to understand the implication of what he had just said, it was the sheer absurdity of it that made her brain stop working rationally for a moment and plunge into what would happen if she ever stepped foot back in there. She had been told the last place she needed to be was the same place she vowed not to return to, regardless of what the tribal council had allowed her to do. Besides, hadn't Freedan told her it wasn't safe for her to be there? And now Sage told her it was the only place where the ring could be destroyed.

"I have to go back to Kara's Keep?" She asked softly, asking the question just to get a confirmation. Sage's nod in answer was all that she needed. "I thought I wasn't, I mean I can't, I-"

"The destruction process will start soon if it hasn't already begun, it has to be completed within a year of it starting," he said. "I had thought that because the last master of the ring wasn't to be found that it would be impossible to destroy it, now I understand the decision behind it and should've seen the connections sooner. You most likely have eleven to twelve months to get back to this place you call Kara's Keep in order to get the destruction process over and done with."

"What if I don't? What if I refuse to go back?" Kat asked as Sage stood up. His eyes flickered over her for a moment, one side of his mouth curving up in a half smile as he slightly cocked his head to the side.

"You don't want to find out, do you?" He asked, drumming his fingers on the table before nodding to her as a goodbye. He didn't stay long enough to hear any more protests, questions, or anything else that Kat might have to say, walking away before Kat could even open her mouth. The eating area around Kat suddenly felt even smaller than it actually was, her eyes staring in the direction Sage was walking in as she tried to comprehend what she had just been told.

It was only after ten minutes of sitting there, staring out into space and into nothing, did Kat blink and look around; there were people coming into the area, like whatever had been surrounding it had just vanished. Standing up she pulled her purse over her shoulder and looked in the direction of the sub shop, the man that had been standing behind it now was gone. If he was a Spirit, or just someone who was attuned to a higher Dark Essence, it was apparent that his job for the time being was done. Kat felt the urge to go up to him, to demand to know what was going on, but that man was the last person she could go to for answers. Sage had already walked off, Freedan was still holed up on Kara's Keep, and the last person the planet Kat wanted to talk to was Gaia.

In the end Kat decided that the best course of action was to find Ann and get her to talk.

Until Next Time