In a dark room with 12 seats arranged around a circular table, a voice was heard from the one occupying the largest of the chairs.
"Triton and his partners have laid the groundwork. We will only have to guide Zander and his partners towards their destinies." His sentence was followed by profound silence.
"Remember"
A female voice echoed throughout the room.
"No interference, only guidance. This generation is that of our own successors. We must guide and protect them, no matter what. It is our responsibility as gods to make the most powerful and overall suitable leaders for this world in preparation for Chaos's return. This assembly is hereby adjourned."
"Indeed"
The one on the large chair said.
"The black void protocol is hereby invoked."
One by one, the participants of the meeting disappeared and when only the person in the large chair was left, he changed into a smaller form, much smaller than the gargantuan forms the meeting participants had. He removed a glass ball from apparently nowhere and spoke into it.
"The black void protocols are a go. Our Gods have said that in 12 years' time they will choose the elementals from the children in the orphanage. The Oracle will also choose an apprentice and the gates will have their watchmen. Those in charge of the children get them ready. The children who aren't meant for those roles will become apprentices of the war councilmen. Let the preparation for the return of the Demon Eczosiri begin!"
From the moment the elementals vanished, life on Asteria slowly went back to normal. This normalcy was short-lived, however, as the black void protocols basically took all of Asteria by storm.
Nyx, the caretaker of the orphanage, brought together all the children, and they assembled in the main conference room. A few minutes after everyone was set, a spatial disturbance was felt, and the Oracle walked in. As soon as his identity was verified, all the children bent the knee and offered their greetings.
"At ease, children," the oracle started.
"You have been training all your lives since you took your oath as guardians. You have mastered every lesson we have ever tried teaching you. That said, you have always been cautiously reminded that great power lies inside every one of you and that power was bestowed upon you to serve the purpose for which they chose you and not for any selfish motives."
"This is a burden as much as it is a blessing. If anyone of you wants to live a normal life as a guardian, free to live as you wish, only having to lend your strength on the day of the great battle, please step forward. I will relieve you of your burden."
After a full 2 minutes of utter silence, Zander, as one of the eldest and the de facto leader of the children, put out a hand seeking permission to speak. When the Oracle waved a hand of approval, Zander spoke in a respectful yet authoritative voice, which beamed with charisma and respect.
"Your excellency the Oracle, voice of the Gods. We have already spoken amongst ourselves and we have decided to step to our duties. We were rescued from near death, given a home, given a family, and given a purpose. A lifetime of serving our purpose is but a small price to pay for all the Elementals have done for us."
Oracle gave a smile of approval and nodded for Nyx to leave. This startled the children, but they nonetheless kept a poker face and as soon as Nyx was gone, Oracle stood up and, looking at the children, hit his staff on the floor beneath and a blue light wrapped around all of them. "You can all hear my voice in your minds. We will be speaking like this henceforth when we have something to talk about too important for everyone to know. Without further ado, I'll begin from the very beginning."
"As you know, the Gods ruled over humanity and interfered in their daily lives in every way. But when the sky father Zeus brought forth the issue of human development being stagnated, he and the other gods decided to let mankind grow. They brought forth the elementals to ensure their continued growth as well as their development without external influence. The elementals recruited guardians to help them with their mission and soon they came to Asteria where even now we still dwell."
"The dimensional gap better known as the void is the root cause of all disasters with a 5/12 and above reading on the DS scale. This is as a result of the demon Eczosiri. A being who is the very personification of Chaos."
"An entity so evil that together with his 7 generals caused so much pain and death that the elementals and the 12 elders had to interfere directly and put him out of the picture.
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A/N
A Singularity is an implosion caused from an overload in chaos energy. This implosion has enough power to blot out an entire galaxy and if it comes in contact with enough chaos energy, it causes a series of implosion explosion chain reactions. Which could more or less destroy an entire universe.
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"His demons and generals were bound with him as well. Some managed to slip out of the void due to the presence of dimensional fissures, including those you have fought before on your trimming missions. He remains there to this day."
"Due to the recent ascension of our elementals, the barriers have become thinner than ever, and Eczosiri has already deployed all of his generals alongside a fraction of his soul. It will be up to you children to seal him back up and it's going to be up to you to lead Asteria into the future."
"You have all felt a kind of power wash over you in recent times. That's your inheritance from the old generation plus the power with was innate in every one of you even before you were brought to Asteria. I have personally sealed it up and I've only let you feel the power so you can better learn how to control as part of your body."
"This power you must learn to control. Train you body and mind, do not depend on the power. As guardians, you are already above average, but by the end of these 12 years we want all of you to be able to take down at least one of the was councilmen using only your teamwork and determination. We will also unlock your control over the elements. Your weapons will be upgraded to mystical grade weapons. The tecnopaths, techno-sorcerers and all the other special ability bearers will have access to my personal library."
"Build yourselves up, build each other up. Some of you have forged bonds, even death cannot break. That's a perfect start. I don't want you to make friendships because it's your duty. I want you to make yourselves trustworthy."
"Forge bonds on your own terms. If you naturally dislike a fellow guardian, try to understand that we are all brothers and sisters and in battle, we will have to trust each other with our backs."
He took a long pause, as if to let all that sink in. He deactivated the mind link but continued conversing with them and admonishing them about several things they had to pay attention to. As soon as that was over, he brought out a treasure chest containing several bracelets. He once again indicated for there to be silence as some had already started talking among themselves.
"That said, I have gifts for each of you. They're battle suits which double as weights for training, making you two times as heavy."
"Without further ado, I'll get back to my tower to attend to several issues which may need my attention. Choose a leader for yourselves and let me know about your decision. They will be your liaison to me when I can't come here myself."
"But remember, so much potential lie inside you. So much potential for greatness as well as a potential for darkness. Do not yield to the temptation of power. Lean on your friends and family and on the strength we guardians take from our oath."
"I bid you farewell and Godspeed!"
He disappeared from the room and a silence covered the room as they all tried to meditate upon the words of wisdom they had gotten from their oracle.
After a few moments of not a single sound, a familiar tune broke the profound silence.
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A/N
Dimensional gap, dimensional void, void, void gap is going to be used interchangeably sometimes.
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