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 Nine – Reasons Why

The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding,

because to understand is to be free – Baruch Spinoza

The feeling of moving fast through a jungle of trees, branches, and other assorted flora was not one she had particularly enjoyed the last time she had hitched a ride on Freedan's back, at the time it had been a necessity to get to the Dark Space as soon as possible. This was even more important as it had been the last time, then they didn't have much of an inkling to go on and not much of an urgency to stop what might happen. This time, however, Kat had a broader spectrum of what was out there, what might happen if her ring wasn't destroyed, and the darkness that wanted to keep the impending destruction of a relic from happening. This time there was a lot more at stake than someone taking the ring back for their own selfish pleasures, this time that selfish pleasure would most likely destroy the world as she knew it – or Kat would, if she did not consent to the destruction of the Ring of Two Souls. And that left her with a sour taste in her mouth.

She knew that Sage wasn't too far behind them; however he went at a slower pace than Freedan was as the other Spirit didn't know where the Dark Space was on Kara's Keep or if Freedan was trying to get rid of him altogether. It was almost like she could feel where he was, she could certainly hear him as he moved on the path behind him; it was times like this she was glad she could suppress her hearing to ignore the angry mumbling from behind her. Whatever happened between him and Freedan in the past was something she made a mental note to ask one of them about. Between the two she had a better chance at asking Freedan what happened but if she wanted more of a straight answer, it might be best if she asked Sage. Granted if she the time after all of this was over.

Unlike the last time the knight had taken her to the Dark Space, it hadn't taken them more than an hour and a half to be able to get to where the Dark Space was. This time it didn't seem like Freedan was trying to elude anyone, instead he took a more direct approach to where it was though he did move at random times from one direction to the other. If it was to confuse Sage it didn't work, as he still managed to follow them despite going at a slower pace. By the time Freedan slowed down to a halt, the sun above them had moved slightly past it's mid-day high and the island around them seemed to have taken on its earlier chatter. To Kat, as she jumped down from Freedan's back, that was how the island should sound like, not silent as though there was nothing on it besides a darkness that they couldn't see.

Like before she could not see where the Dark Space was located, although she had a pretty good idea as she moved away from Freedan as walked away from him. Stopping where she was, Kat felt a cold sensation where she stood as though she was standing between the hot air of the island and an air conditioned room. Reaching forwards she tried to see if anything was there yet her fingers didn't touch anything; it wasn't until she turned to her right, where she should have touched a large fern, did she feel something pass around her fingertips. Yelping Kat stumbled back, regaining her balance when Sage stopped behind her and pushed her into a standing position.

"Thanks," she mumbled to him, rubbing the feeling back into her fingers as she turned to face where she believed the Dark Space was. Kat tilted her head to the side and looked around the area in front of her: there was nothing remotely different about it that she could possibility see. Not even when she tried looking at it in several different angles, although at several points she could almost make out some sort of shimmer or small ball of light that connected the mortal realm to a Dark Space.

Looking over at the two Spirits to see if she was even remotely right that she had managed to locate a Dark Space without even being able to see the entrance to it, she scowled as the pair were trying their best to hide their amusement. Sage, despite his rumblings earlier about her not being able to see it, had to turn his head away so that Kat couldn't see his smile; Freedan looked like he was watching a child at play, though he nodded in satisfaction that at least Kat could somewhat tell where it was. If it was there when Freedan took her in, it was at least something she had learned in the short amount of time she had been back to the island.

"Can we go in now?" She asked once Sage had decided to let his amusement run its course. Freedan nodded, taking a glance over at Sage as he started towards Kat.

"You stay here," the knight told him when he reached Kat. Upon hearing that all of the amusement faded from his face and serious look replaced it, like he had been slapped several times.

"And why should I?" Sage demanded acidly. "I have every right -"

"You forfeited your right to know what goes on with the ring centuries ago, you stay out here unless She calls for you," Freedan snapped, taking Kat loosely by the arm. Sage scowled at them, mumbled a hushed 'fine' as he turned on his heels and walked in the jungle-forest in a different direction then they had come.

"Why can't he come into the Dark Space?" She asked, worriedly looking at Sage's retreating form. "He doesn't seem like he went on the same path as Crystal did, not if he became a Spirit."

"He can but the less he knows, the better - it's for his own good. If you want answers concerning you friend over there, either ask him or ask Gaia." The way Freedan spoke told Kat that it was not a good idea to continue on with that conversation topic. "Right now I think it is for the best that we get inside so Gaia can give you the information you need."

"Will I be torn apart this time?" Kat asked as Freedan let go of her arm so that she could walk forwards into the Dark Space instead of being pulled backwards.

The knight smiled. "All depends on what you mean by torn apart."

Taking her by the arm again, Freedan brought her forwards so that they were walking side-by-side; this was better for Kat as at least she could see where she was being led to. This time she had a brief understanding of what it felt like to go through the entrance to a Dark Space, the cold feeling she had before when she believed she had been by the entrance washed over her as Freedan led her into the Dark Space. Kat had been off by several feet at the least, the cold feeling she had felt only moments ago had been an edge to the entrance; had she gone more to the right she would have been much more accurate than before.

Unlike before, where the barrier between Dark Space and mortal world stood, Kat did not feel like her skin was about to peel off or she was going to be thrown back out onto the island. There was a slight burning sensation to entering the Dark Space but that quickly subsided as a cool calm washed over her, Freedan ignoring her flinching as he kept a firm grip on her arm; Kat wondered if he let her go at that precise moment what would happen to her. Would the barrier force her back out into the island or would it devour her? Kat hoped that Freedan didn't let go of her until they were in the actual Dark Space.

It was only a few minutes later did the two of them stop and the knight let go of Kat's arm, Kat looking behind her at the invisible wall that separated her from the rest of the world. To her surprise the wall seemed to emulate a starry sky, at least that what it looked like to her; the rest of the Dark Space seemed to have the same flow and ebb to it. She had not seen this the last time she had been in this place although at the time it hadn't been her list of priorities to see what the Dark Space really looked like. She had even figured, on the way out of it, that even if she ever could find one on her own, it wouldn't matter what one actually looked like as she wouldn't bother going into it.

"Welcome back, child," a motherly voice called to her from the other side of the 'room'. "I wish this reunion was on better terms."

Turning around to face the voice, Kat did not cry out or attempt to find a way from what sat in front of her haven seen it the last time she had been inside the Dark Space. Even though she had seen the giant head two years ago, it still came as a shock that Mother Nature herself decided that this was the best way to talk to mortals. No matter how angry, annoyed, or scared Kat felt at that moment, it was a relief that she was able to directly talk to Gaia instead of wondering why there had been silence on her end. Suddenly Kat felt foolish that one of the biggest reasons why the planet was still alive could take the time to justify a line of contact with her was silly and stupid, surely Gaia had better things to do then to talk to any and all masters of relics!

"As do I." Regardless of how she tried to keep her voice level, Kat couldn't help but allow some of her frustrations into her voice. No matter what else Gaia had to do, there should have been at least something to give to Kat considering how she was to be the last master of the ring. It didn't take much for the large head of Mother Nature to understand that the mortal in front of her was angry, regardless if she had willingly come back to Kara's Keep on her own.

"You're angry, that much I can tell even without you being here," she said slowly. "I am sure that you have many questions for me but right now -"

"No, what you need tell me about the destruction of the ring can wait," Kat interrupted, walking forwards so that she was much closer. Freedan did not look amused at his mistress being interrupted like that but decided not to lash out at Kat, instead he gave her a hard look while remaining quiet at the moment. "What I want to know why I was not allowed out of my own home city as much as I should have been, why I wasn't told about what the Underworld was really doing up until a month ago, and why all this secrecy surrounding a lot of things." She stole a glance towards Freedan for a second. "I understand protecting a relic and not given me every Spirit-known secret, of which I don't want, but I was kept out of the loop regarding this whole damn thing."

There was silence that followed after that, Freedan looking surprised at what Kat had just said while Gaia looked mildly irritated that she had been interrupted. After the look of annoyance had passed, Gaia looked perplexed at the words Kat had spoken, turning her head slightly to the side as it would allow with its limited capacity. If Kat hadn't known better she would thought that the head was trying to come up with an excuse to justify not allowing Kat to go anywhere because of what lay outside the protection of the Spirits. Or trying to comprehend what she had just said.

"I had the Spirits protecting you to make sure you didn't wander too far and not give as much information to you as they possibly could, in case something happened between you returning home and now," Gaia said slowly as she gauged Kat's reaction. "There are certain things that even Underworld spies can't ferret out by themselves."

"Considering I could barely even get a job within my own city without Spirits jumping down my throat, your decision to keep me contained most likely did more harm than good," Kat told her hotly. "And I hardly knew much more then 'it's just an Underworld patrol, Kat, nothing to be worried about' or what I was told a month ago. I don't want Spirit secrets, just to know what's happening beyond my own front porch!"

"I was under the assumption that you were given more freedom then that." Freedan looked at Gaia for an answer to that, Gaia's face blinking back surprise. It did some good to see that Mother Nature was bewildered at the lack of space Kat had been given, her eyes becoming unfocused for several minutes as though she was looking past the two that stood in front of her and at something else. Kat opened her mouth to say something but Freedan hushed her with a wave of his hand; it wasn't until five minutes later did Gaia's eyes refocus and a angrier look appeared on her face.

"Apparently the instructions I gave to the Spirits keeping you safe had decided on to err on a more extreme caution and keep you confined to a smaller radius then I had originally allowed you to," Gaia said with a cool tone, then added when she took in Kat's confused expression: "I can talk to some Spirits directly like I had just now, it takes my focus away from whatever is in front of me but that's just something that cannot be helped."

"Oh, so that what it was," Kat mumbled more to herself then the other two, Gaia went on as though she did not hear her say anything.

"I gave the instructions to limit your wanderings to a four hundred mile radius of your home after the Underworld began to send out more patrols. The Spirits protecting you, as they typically do with relics that are to be destroyed at a later date and their current masters, will see fit to limit that radius even further," she went on. "I did not give the instruction to have the Ring of Two Souls to be destroyed until three and a half months ago so you should have been allowed to go further then you were prior to that. And you should have had more freedom then you had, using the Underworld as an excuse to limit it is not justifiable."

Kat didn't know if that answer was because Gaia wanted to calm her down or really thought that the Spirits looking over Kat would've stayed by their mistress's orders. However, it was the look on her face that said everything that she didn't through words: she had wanted her to allow herself more freedom then intended but it backfired. If Gaia really did want Kat to wander around, not far but enough, why didn't the Spirits heed that order? Or did the Spirits have a better grasp of what the Underworld was doing then the giant head in front of her? Or maybe they just believed that Kat should be kept safe and not allowed to wander far, thus ignoring Gaia's allowance of Kat's freedom.

"I wasn't, all I was told was there were Underworld activities somewhere and that I needed to be under Spirit protection. I am sure that I could have had a Spirit escort somewhere else but I was very limited for the past two years." Kat looked between the two. "If it has something to do with Crystal tell me because I haven't heard much about what she's doing, where's she's at, or what she's doing with my father."

"What she is doing is gathering a couple of factions, an assortment of rogues, and forming a resistance to stop the destruction of that ring of yours. What she is doing with your father we are not entirely sure, it seems like our spies within her network aren't as reliable as we had hoped with more information on your father," Freedan said carefully, watching Kat as she turned towards him. "What we do know is that he is still being controlled by her and is still alive, what else she is doing with him we aren't sure. But we are constantly trying to find a way to sever the connection between the two so that your father can finally find the peace he should have had two years ago."

Kat breathed out a sigh of relief, not because she knew that her father was still being tormented by Crystal but because she finally had something more to go on. She also knew that Crystal wasn't keeping Michael alive just because she wanted him to be by her side, no she was keeping him with her as leverage, bait, a trap, or a mixture of the three. There were endless possibilities that Crystal could use with Michael that involved that Kat was beginning to understand a deeper reason as to why she wasn't allowed to go far: that Crystal could pop up anywhere and use her father as a way to lure Kat into the Underworld at any given moment and take her down into whatever hell they called home. It didn't take Freedan long to understand why Kat had gone quiet, or at least decided that it wasn't the best idea to continue on the line of conversation of her father at the present moment, so he continued on.

"I'm sure by now that you have some understanding as to why she is doing this – what do you know of the few Underworld factions doing it?" He asked. "And not the ones who have decided to fall under Crystal's leadership."

"Because they are insane? Or maybe because they want to undermine a final decision set down by Mother Nature?" She shrugged, those were the only things she could recall in her limited conversations with Sage, Ann, and a select few other Spirits. "That's all the reasons I was given and not much more than that."

"There are reasons why most mortals don't know anything more than they should, you are one of the few that knows more than they should. Those that do are often more of a target by things that are best left for Spirits to tackle," Gaia said. "There are things that weren't given to because of the risks involved."

"Because a mortal with a relic might be captured? And that the less they know, the better off they'll be?" Kat asked dryly. "Or don't you want me to be prepared in case I know what may happen should certain orders be ignored?"

"Barely," Freedan said, giving her a look to try and remain respectful regardless of how she was feeling at the moment; Kat ignored the look. "Is it possible a Spirit or mortal with extra knowledge will be captured and any information they know will come out? Yes, it is. Only a few select factions take that route, even then they risk getting the wrong mortal – the way both sides gets their 'secrets' is spies."

"You weren't told as much lies within what the Spirits were willing to tell you and what I was willing to allow them to say to you. Out in the mortal world anyone is able to listen in on a conversation about the Spirit or Underworld planes, a place like Dark Spaces is more controlled then out there," Gaia explained. "Even as protected as you were, the Underworld knew that there was a huge concentration of Spirit energy within a certain area and that was like a tower of light to them. If they sense a high amount of energy somewhere they will try and pin it as close as it can without being detected."

"So I wasn't told much of anything because the Underworld might have found something out then using a much easier, and much less riskier, way of spies?" Kat stared at the head in front of her, not understanding the real reason why she wasn't at least given updates on at least her father. It took her two years to get the basic information about what Crystal was doing but Gaia was still skirting around the real reason. Did she really expect Kat to believe that the Underworld didn't have better ways of getting their precious information, whatever it was, then trying to kidnap a random mortal off the streets? "Okay, that's great, wonderful. I'm here now, so tell me what I need to know. Or are Dark Spaces just as unreliable as the mortal world?"

"Telling a mortal even a fraction of what the Spirits now in the mortal world is risky regardless of what you may think, there is a bigger risk now then there had been a hundred years ago. In ages past there had not been much of an issue, however with the advancement of the human race information can travel faster than it had before. What used to take a month now can take only seconds." Gaia's voice was becoming more frustrated with every passing second, although it was unclear if it was due to Kat or something else entirely. "However even by today's standards a mortal may be aware of some things and never fall prey to the Underworld or anything else that is out there. I am sure that you did not, and do not, want all of the secrets the Spirits possess, just something to tide you through."

It was only then did Kat actually laugh, glad that someone finally understood what she wanted all along and it was only the head of Mother Nature that understood! If she had the ability to drag every last Spirit that she had been in contact with over the past two years, from Sage to Ann to the others that had some hand in her training, to this very spot so that Gaia could tell them what she had just said, Kat would've. At the moment, however, it felt understandably better to know that at least someone didn't need to spout every last detail of what was going on, just a basic idea of what to expect out in the wide world. It wasn't hard to understand, how come Mother Nature understood it best? Heck Kat could even assume Freedan understood!

"That's all I wanted to know, was just something that didn't involve telling me everything," Kat said in a quiet voice once she had stopped laughing. She couldn't be sure if it was just the trick of her eyes or that both Gaia and Freedan seemed to have relaxed more now that Kat was not as angry as she had been coming into the Dark Space. "Although I don't understand. Sage said that the Underworld only found out about me being the last master of the ring was because Dark Spaces aren't secure, which seemingly started this whole thing in the first place."

"Since Dark Spaces operate in a similar way it does to get into the actual home of the Underworld – that is, by fissures only those connected to the Underworld can see – some can't be fully secure. Some are, some aren't, but the majority of them are. This one is as secure as it can be, just like the other one on this island is," Gaia said the best way she could. "How the Underworld found out isn't a mystery, eventually they would have found out but they must have known it since almost the beginning. The more volatile factions are using this as a reason to start something that they shouldn't be doing – if the rest of the Underworld is worried and trying to get these factions under control, unsuccessfully so far, then there is little time to act."

"Which brings us back to why they are doing this in the first place," Kat said, looking between the two. "From what little I know of the Underworld I didn't think it needed a reason to do an uprising like this."

"They don't, they have had uprisings in the past but nothing that wasn't quickly controlled either within their own system or by something else entirely. You'd be surprised at how little the Underworld as a collective wants this world to end, regardless of what is thought of them," Freedan told her. "Some of the factions believe that by undermining a destruction order will prove that this world isn't as controlled as it should be. That they should have more freedom to do as they like, damn the consequences. But defying this order will destroy more then what these factions believe."

"I'm sure that this isn't the first relic that is to be destroyed, so why now?" She asked, although she had a vague idea as to why. "Why not then?"

"It isn't, neither the Underworld nor the Spirits had much of a care as to what stayed hidden or what was destroyed. I won't say that there weren't problems with the Underworld with past destroyed relics, there were plenty, but those problems were not on a scale as this is." The giant head took in a deep breath. "If there were factions before that had thought of the possibility of going against an order like this they did not bother for whatever reason or were destroyed, dismantled, or absorbed into other factions before they could take a step into that direction. So why now instead of then? The biggest reasons has to do with the previous master of that ring."

Kat smiled to herself for being mostly correct. "And there I thought she was only part of it."

"You know how she was the last time you met her, she blamed everything but herself for the way she turned out. I'm sure that there were a few missteps along the way, but sometimes a simple act can change things. But she is, like you said, a part of it." Freedan looked uneasy about talking on such things, just by the look on his face he wanted nothing else to drop the subject of Crystal entirely. "The Underworld and the Spirits have maintained a mutual 'do not destroy the world' stance since as far back as I can remember, there have always been fights, relics tossed between sides, and countless other things between us. Even the Underworld understands that things like relics must be destroyed to level out the field some, oh they'll make a show of making it hard for us to do it but they haven't tried to actually stop one."

"Until now," Kat said, running a hand through her hair. She understood the concept of trying to keep the world in balance between light and dark, that was the way nature worked, and in order to keep that balance certain things had to be destroyed. But why was it so important for certain factions to suddenly decide that an order needed to be destroyed? Why was it so important that these factions didn't do it before?

"Until now. The idea of an order like this has been in the Underworld's for generations. They had the motivation, just a lack of general direction and something out there is giving that direction, be it Crystal or something else entirely." Gaia took in a deep breath. "From what has been gathered since the last time you were on this island, Crystal has done more than rouse a few factions and rogues to her cause. The thought that by delaying or stopping the ring from being destroyed will show that anything I say can be disregarded without worry has gone through the more volatile factions. Something out there has given them a bigger reason to go up against an order like this, if it's Crystal then that is one thing we need to eliminate. If it's not, we need to find out what it is."

"But there are consequences," Kat point out. "Like an apocalypse, only worse."

"In a sense, yes it could become like that. There would be no seasons, little rainfall, very little food, and the whole world would nearly shut down. Oh the world would turn as it always has been, there still would be people and animals living on the land, and the oceans wouldn't suddenly dry up." The thought of that made Gaia's mouth tighten. "But I wouldn't be there to make sure that the Earth is as protected as it is now, regardless of how mortals treat the planet, and the Earth may collapse even further not long after."

"What few mortals are left might be spared by the Underworld, the lucky ones won't be; what the Underworld will do with the living you don't have to imagine much." The look on Freedan's face made it clear to Kat he didn't want to imagine it himself. "If there are any remaining Spirits left they wouldn't be much help, they would be forced to obey the Underworld or find a hole somewhere to regroup and try to overthrow the Underworld. Whatever resistance there may be it would most likely die out before any real chance of taking the planet back happens."

"Will this happen if the ring isn't destroyed?" Kat looked between the two. "Is it for certain?"

"No, it isn't, not entirely." Gaia sighed. "What will happen should this order be ignored is up in the air, but it is not a possibility that I want to entertain, not then and certainly not now. You can understand why I do not like giving an order like this but given the relic, I have no choice but to destroy it."

"Can't you hide it from Crystal or anyone else for that matter?" Kat found herself becoming annoyed and frustrated again. If Gaia didn't want to go through all this trouble in destroying something, why didn't she just keep it hidden from the Underworld? Unless she wanted to keep it from the Underworld for much longer then a few decades then destroying a relic would be a good idea. But why not when Kat had been on the island before?

"Kat, if we wanted to hide a relic we would've done it a long time ago. There are relics out there that hasn't seen the light of day since before I was born and some that has seen a handful of humans in the last hundred years. Unfortunately there are relics that, because of one reason or another, needs to be destroyed and sometimes mortals have to be involved in order for it to happen," Freedan said, taking in a deep breath. "We've deviated from the actual reason why you're here for long enough. We need to get back onto the topic of the actual reason why you're standing on this island again."

"Fine, let's get this over and done with. I'd like to go home as soon as possible if you don't mind," Kat said as she turned to Gaia. The two shared a look between each other, she couldn't tell what it was about or understand it; it was a look that screamed worry but also sad as well. "What does the destruction of a relic entail?"

"By coming here you have already filled the requirement of willingly wanting to destroy the ring." Gaia glanced down at the ring. "Is it still warm to your touch?"

Kat nodded. "It is."

"That's a good sign indeed. Regardless of how the relic feels to your touch the first two steps have been completed. You cannot leave this island until the destruction process is over, had I been aware you were coming so soon more preparations would have taken place." There was a flash of annoyance over the head's face but that quickly passed. "But that is something in the past and can't be helped at the present time. Unfortunately it will take several days to complete more of the preparations, a week at the most before the ring can be safely destroyed. Once it is the relic will cease to exist and the power of it will be no more. I do not believe that there will be any problems with the actual destruction of the ring, despite its origins. There is a lot of work that needs to be done in order to get ready for it and not a lot of explaining to do."

That explanation didn't give her much of an idea as to what really happened when a relic was destroyed and Kat stood there waiting for either one of them to explain further. When no one offered her more information she took it as either they weren't going to tell her just yet, wait until the actual process was underway, or wanted her to ask for clarification. Either way, they did not continue on with how the process worked. There was a nagging question that was at the back of her head that she wanted to ask them before she was taken out of the Dark Space and into the confines of Kara's Keep. What better person to ask it to then Mother Nature?

"Why do you need the last person who used a relic?" She asked quietly. "What will happen to me?"

Freedan paused, looking worriedly towards Gaia then back to Kat. "Destroyed relics aren't exactly done easily and there is a lot of thought that goes into it, there is a process that -"

"What will happen to me afterwards?" She snarled, cutting the knight off before he could get another word out. Freedan stood there, arms by his side, his mouth opening and closing for several seconds before he dropped his gaze and turned his head away from her. If Gaia could do the same she would've, her eyes moving to one side as she took in a deep breath and moved her large eyes back onto the mortal girl standing in front of her.

The next three words that came out of her mouth were not the ones Kat had expected to hear and made her wish she had not asked that question.

"You will die."

Until Next Time