POV Rio
I had finished sending off the items to where they needed to go and let Adagio and Aria about their sister arriving in the next few minutes so I decided it was time to summon Sonata. I bought a Background Customizer and began.
'Her full name is Sonata Musica Dusk. She is the youngest daughter of the wealthy Musica Family. Her parents died in a boating accident 2 years ago. She is a citizen of the USA and Greece. Works as a singer and performer. Net Worth of 100 Billion USD.'
I didn't summon her here and instead made her appear in the Musica Family home. The Next summon was Pegasus which was easy enough to get them settled in with the other Pegasi in Sanctuary. After them was Cynder which I took to Gaia which is where all the dragons moved to after the fight on Mars.
Cynder: "Dragon Lord!"
Rio: "Nice to meet you I am Rio Magus."
Cynder: "I am Cynder and it's an honor to meet you."
Rio: "Welcome to this new Universe. I will have you work under Paarthunax. He will teach you how to speak as the Dovah do. Also, take this Datapad. It will tell you everything you need to know about this Universe."
Cynder walks through the Gate I opened and I move on to the next summon. The last summon for today is Loona. In a flash of red light, she is summoned.
Rio: "Welcome to Earth. My name is Rio."
Loona: "Wow, I thought I was drugged or hallucinating. Well, anything is better than being in Hell. Got any beer?"
Rio: "Well, I suppose we should set some ground rules. You will not do anything vulgar or inappropriate while in my home. You will also not do anything vulgar or inappropriate in front of my kids. You will see a psychiatrist to handle the trauma you suffered in Hell. You will be free to explore the Earth once you are cleared to be safe on Earth. You are not of age yet to drink so that means no drinks. Now despite all those restrictions, you will find ample entertainment in my Empire. Do you understand?"
Loona: "Ugh, do I really have to?"
I let loose some of my aura. It causes her fur to stand on end and she shivers.
Rio: "Yes, it is quite necessary. I have already had the Hell of this Multiverse destroyed so you are currently one of the last remaining demons. I am giving you an olive branch. Take it. Despite your race, you are not an evil being. I know you can be better so prove it."
Loona nods and I give her a Datapad with all the info she could need as well as setting up the counseling appointments so she can move past her trauma. I didn't want to be so forceful but I knew Demons answer more easily to power. Once she was gone I moved to my office for a meeting with Yularen about the most recent intelligence report. As I enter my office Yularen rises and salutes me.
Rio: "At ease Admiral. I hear there has been some unusual activity spotted on Earth."
Yularen: "Yes, it has to do with the magical communities. As I am sure you are aware we are struggling to gather intelligence on them due to their isolationist nature. Simon has tried his best but the mages of Earth are a paranoid and secretive bunch."
Rio: "I thought Simon managed to join the 3rd group?"
Yularen: "Yes, he has but the group has made it clear that Simon is an outsider and as such is rarely let in on what is happening without buying the info. Which he can't do too often as it would make them more suspicious."
Rio: "Well what has Simon learned so far?"
Yularen: "The second and third groups have united or are about to unite."
Rio: "What? Those 2 groups dislike each other strongly. The entire basis on which their groups are founded is fundamentally different. Are you certain that what Simon was told was true?"
Yularen: "I have looked into it further using our best agents. I am willing to say that it is accurate. The only thing we can't be certain of is if they have already united or are about to. We can say for certain that their goal is to attack the Sorcerers of Kamar Taj."
I frown when I hear their goal.
Rio: "That doesn't make any sense. Both the second and third groups are very cautious and even a bit cowardly. Even if they united they still wouldn't have the power or numbers to take down Kamar Taj. Even if they knew about the Ancient One losing her power it still doesn't make sense."
Yularen: "I agree, their movements make little sense. Unless they have something to even the playing field."
Rio: "Do we know what the current situation with Kaecilius is?"
Yularen: "All we can say for certain is that he is still a member of Kamar Taj. Not much else."
Rio: "Let me check something."
I use the Palantir to see where the Sorcerers are currently and I find their placements strange. I write down the locations and show Yularen.
Rio: "These placements are very strange. They have abandoned the London Sanctum. The New York Sanctum only has a single Sorcerer guarding it but the Hong Kong Sanctum has 20 Sorcerers protecting it. They have also emptied all three Sanctums' of their artifacts and anything else that isn't required for living there."
Yularen: "It is quite an interesting strategy. My best guess would be that they are consolidating their forces to fight off the other mages. Kamar Taj has numerous barriers and wards that allow it to be safe from attack so by sending nearly all of their forces to Hong Kong they can localize the battle to an area nearest to Kamar Taj. Which means they will be in the closest Time Zone."
Rio: "Strange that they would let 2 of the 3 barriers fall without a fight. My only guess would be that it is because the Dimensional Lords left are not strong enough to breach the barriers. Most Dimensional Lords are either recovering or wary of what is killing them. But that still doesn't answer why the other magic users believe they can destroy Kamar Taj."
Yularen: "Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find any info on what could be giving them such confidence. All we can say is that besides Simon only one other magic user is not being pulled into this conflict."
Rio: "Oh, and who would that be?"
Yularen: "An Ancient Werewolf that calls themselves Fenrir. He was cast out of the 3rd group due to his mental instability. He currently lives in the mountains on the Eastern German border. From what I have been able to gather he has lost himself completely to his Lycanthropy. He seems to have devolved into a mindless beast that kills anything it comes across."
Rio: "It sounds like a job for a Witcher. I will ask Vesimir and Geralt if they would like to accompany me on a hunting trip. But back to the topic of the alliance. I think they are getting help from someone. Or even several beings. The most obvious would be Death. She is weakened and likely desperate for souls. She is the only one we can say for certain would be helping them. But that still isn't enough. Do you have intel on what Thanos has been doing?"
Yularen: "He has continued to be usually quiet. He has however trained Loki extensively and I think it is likely they are preparing to move on Earth in the next year or two."
Rio: "It would be slightly out of the ordinary but Thanos could be another supporter. He wants the Time Stone and the mages want Kamar Taj destroyed. Numbers wise Kamar Taj has the clear advantage. 2nd and 3rd groups have at most 150 members. Kamar Taj has at least 230 active members. But they could call upon another 10-20 reserve members. Conventional tactics would tell us that you need 3 times the number in a siege. Unless you have a siege weapon that eliminates the defender's advantage."
Yularen: "Do you think Thanos might give them the Mind Stone?"
Rio: "Definitely not. Even with a magic contract, Thanos wouldn't take the risk with individuals with suspect goals. Death would be able to let the mages know that they have the Mind Stone and could get the Space and Time Stone easily enough. No, Thanos would provide tech and a distraction. They would likely begin their attacks at the same time. But even then it would be incredibly risky. The mages would hesitate. Only Thanos would profit from both groups decimating each other."
Yularen: "Perhaps Thanos could be offering that once the major countries had been destroyed he would turn his forces to strike Kamar Taj."
Rio: "The attack by the mages would last no more than a few hours. Thanos would need days to conquer Earth even if we didn't get involved. The Dark Mages have maybe 5 strong magic users and the rest are minor witches. The Independent mages have a single powerful magic user, their leader. A supposed descendent of Merlin. Wait, that could explain it."
Yularen: "What? Merlin. He is dead as far as we have been able to gather."
Rio: "Not Merlin but his disciple. Morgana Le Fay. As far as I know, she was never killed on this Earth. She fled Earth to the Dark Dimension after the Ancient One defeated her."
Yularen: "But the Dark Dimension was destroyed by Meridia. And the barriers were still up so nothing could get through."
Rio: "That's where you are wrong. The barriers are meant to keep out Dimensional Lords but if you weaken yourself you can slip past the barriers. Mephisto did it all the time. Unlike with the Dimensional Lords, Morgana would just have to seal her power in a vessel and then unlock it once she got back on Earth. As long as she didn't open the vessel she could also hide from the Sorcerers. Morgana was strong enough that she could fight the Ancient One without the Time Stone. With the Ancient One out of commission, Morgana could quite definitely win a battle against Kamar Taj."
Yularen: "Then would Thanos even have to be involved?"
Rio: "Most likely. What I didn't mention is that one wouldn't use the vessel technique unless they were desperate. It weakens the user for a time. Combine that with the fact that Morgana was in the Dark Dimension a place quite hostile to life and you can guess she won't be quite as powerful as she was. The Dark Dimension can prolong one's life but you have to be careful or else you end up like the Ancient one and start aging rapidly once the source is interrupted or destroyed. No matter how you do it, it comes with a cost. Morgana can also explain why the 2 groups united. Both sides respect Morgana and further, she fits in both groups. She has a Mana Core but will also deal with Dimensional Lords."
I use the Palantir to see if I was right and sure enough, the Palantir finds her right away. She has a few grey hairs and wrinkles but otherwise looks combat-capable. I show Yularen so he knows I was correct and we can start preparing to deal with her should it come to that.
Yularen: "That was all I had for now sir. I will discuss the newest revelation with the magic users and Tex to see what we will do from here."
Rio: "Thank you for taking the time to brief me on the situation."
We end the meeting and I make my preparations to start the trial.
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Authors Note:
If any of you are curious about the reason why Thanos is moving so early there are multiple reasons. Asgard is weakened and can't get involved on Earth. The Ancient One is greatly weakened. Several Dimensional Lords and their Dimensions are gone. Loki arrived much earlier than he would have otherwise. Santa keeps coming back. And Thanos felt the death of so many Celestials and Cosmic Entities. With the Universe so chaotic Thanos wants to move before it is too late. The next chapter will be the LOTR Trial. Until next time Ciao.