" WHAT!? I THOUGHT WE WERE STOPPING NAHZGOR FROM FINDING THE BOOK!! "
You get up and shout at Izael as he begins to walk back out of the throne room in the direction that you both came in from.
" The potential threat of what we just saw is too significant for us to pursue alone. That mortal just used The Holy Omniverse Transcript with ease. You saw it with your own eyes. With power like that, I'm afraid that Sovarohm's entire angel army couldn't hope to stand a chance in taking the book from that mortal. "
Izael replies as he walks off into his palace. Noeh turns to you and speaks to you after Izael disappears.
" Izael is right, mortal. Aatu is the most powerful out of us all and I'm not sure even Aatu could stand a chance alone in fighting that mortal if conflict does break out. If we lead Nahzgor to the mortal, then we'll be able to safely gauge how powerful the mortal really is without having to worry about suffering any losses of our own. "
" I see. You guys plan on using the mystery mortal to end Nahzgor's crusade. What happens if Nahzgor succeeds in defeating the mortal and he takes the book? "
You say to Noeh as you both stand around Izael's throne.
" He won't. Not alone at least. Nahzgor's army is a nigh unstoppable force, and Nahzgor alone is a force even stronger than that. But regardless of how powerful he is, as long as Nahzgor isn't in possession of the book, Aatu will be able to keep him in line. Since we believe that the mortal is possibly on par with Aatu in terms of power, Nahzgor shouldn't have a fighting chance if he tries to take the book. "
Noeh says to you with a calm and confident look.
You look at Aatu and see him let down Mimi from his arms back onto her feet. After Mimi gets let down, she runs up to you and holds your hand looking up at you with a smile. Aatu then looks at you and speaks to you in a serious tone.
" Thank you, mortal. Without you, we wouldn't have known the gravity of our situation. However, I'm afraid that I must ask more of you before you and the child can return to your mortal realm. "
" Anything you need, Aatu. I'm more than willing to help. The closer we are to getting that book, the closer we are to saving Veronica and curing her curse. "
You reply in a friendly tone.
Aatu responds to you in a satisfied demeanor.
" Good. The first thing on our agenda is meeting with Nahzgor, but before we do so, I want to teach you how to use the power within in case you ever need to defend yourself. "
" The power within? "
You ask, puzzled.
Aatu answers your question in a patient tone.
" Yes, mortal. The power within. I'm sure you know that it is strenuous for immortal beings to manifest themselves into the mortal realms. In order for mortals to perceive us in your mortal realms, we must tune ourselves to something similar to the mortal wavelength in order to take various mortal forms. Do you know where I am going with this? "
It clicks in your head and you respond to Aatu in a disheartened tone.
" You're implying that you and the other gods won't be able to accompany me and Mimi in a physical form once we set off on our adventure. "
" Precisely, mortal. So while I have you here in Izaels immortal realm, I would like to at least show you how to tap into your power as a Black Trap. But in order to use the power, you need to understand what you are and why you have such power within yourself. "
You blink and suddenly you and Aatu are back in the village that was being invaded by Nahzgor's army. Time is frozen and you can see a still environment of Izael's angels fighting Nahzgor's cultists around you. You look up to see the great dragon also frozen in time with angels flying around it and bloody battle scars all over it. You look back at Aatu and see he's now sitting at a dining table with 2 chairs on either side that appeared in the middle of the street while you were looking around. You slowly walk to him and sit with him on the opposite side of the table. You can see something bright in Aatu's hand as he speaks to you, but you can't quite make out what it is.
" Do you think that it is a coincidence that you were in The Light when my father approached you? "
" No. I had the opportunity to ask him when he allowed me one question, but I asked him something else instead. "
You tell Aatu.
" You were indeed in The Light for a reason. You were put there long ago. Longer than your real world self has been alive. The reason for you being cast into The Light is not just because of what you are, but also because of what it means to be a Black Trap. "
Aatu says to you, continuing to stare at the bright object that's concealed in his hand.
You respond to him in a serious tone.
" The One told me that Black Traps are singularities. "
" Yes. Black Traps are singularities within the Omniverse, but it goes deeper than that surface-level explanation. Think about the name. Black. Trap. "
Aatu pauses for a moment allowing you to think, then he continues speaking to you in an inquisitive manner.
" The word "Black" in Black Trap references the composition of your being within the Omniverse. When my father first presented himself to you in The Light, what do you remember of his form? More specifically, do you recall The Light being altered in any way when my father spoke to you? "
" Yes, actually. I remember his form pulling and distorting The Light in what looked like 4 directions. I remember the darkness from his form being mixed into The Light and existence being fabricated out of it. "
You answer Aatu as you recall the first event that you read before the story developed to where it is now. Aatu then responds and explains what you actually saw.
" That is because everything in existence that is created by my father is molded out of Light and Darkness. Everything that exists requires both Light and Darkness to take a shape. If you only have Light with no Darkness, then all you'll have is white. If you only have Darkness with no Light, then all you'll have is Black. You are an anomaly and a rare exception to the Light and Darkness creation rule because my father didn't create you. The reason for the word "Black" in Black Trap is because you are a being that was created without any Light at all. You are a being of complete Darkness but yet you still exist and possess a shape. "
" So why was I put in The Light? "
You ask Aatu. As you ask him this, he turns his attention from the object in his hand to looking at you instead. You can see an unimaginable depth to his black irises as he stares into your eyes while he continues to elaborate further on the topic in a serious tone.
" The Light and Darkness creation rule is the law for which all of existence within the Omniverse is based upon. When it comes to Light and Darkness individually, there is a law of attraction. As long as Light and Darkness are both inside of something, that thing's existence is stable. However if there are beings that are entirely made of Darkness or Light individually, then they attract the element that they lack and their existence is unstable until they are eventually comprised of both of the elements. This is where the word "Trap" comes into play. As a being of complete Darkness, you can siphon The Light from everything around you and trap it within your body. In your case, The Light that you siphon cannot become a part of you, so instead it is stored within you as a powerful resource. Thus the reason why it is called The Power Within. My father casted you into The Light because you are a danger to all beings that contain Light inside of them. Rather than have you be the potential undoing of my father's creation, he put you into an infinite dimension of Light. There you could absorb an infinite amount of Light and you'd never take away any Light from the things that already exist. "
Your eyes light up as you process what Aatu just told you.
" So what you're saying is because I was in The Light, I have infinite power? "
You ask Aatu in a flabbergasted tone as if you can't believe what you've just been told. Aatu chuckles and responds in a dismissive manner.
" Don't be ridiculous, mortal! My father is the only being with true infinite power. If you absorbed one-quintillionth of The Light that my father possesses, your tiny mortal body would explode with a force greater than a trillion universe's worth of stars going supernova all at once; and that's an absurd understatement. "
" Okay… Holy shit. So what you're telling me is that The One put me somewhere where I could die extremely easily? "
You reply to Aatu disappointedly.
Aatu diverts his attention back to the object in his hand as he answers you.
" Yes, mortal. But you didn't. You didn't absorb any Light at all. Granted, my father did wipe your Omniversal memory and predestined you to grow a second consciousness and be born as you are in the real world after 100 billion years… if you ended up surviving that long. "
Your mind starts racing at the thought of your consciousness being over 100 billion years old. You start panicking as you realize that you've lost the memory of who you were before your current life in the real world. Then you close your eyes, take a deep breath, and focus back on the matter at hand as you respond to Aatu.
" I'd appreciate it if we stop this side conversation, Aatu... I'm not trying to have an existential crisis right now. Let's stay on topic and focus on showing me how to take The Light from things and use it as a power. "
" Very well, mortal. "
Aatu says as you both stand up from the table and the table disappears. Aatu holds his hand out to you and offers you the bright object that he's been holding in his hand throughout the entire conversation.
" Here, I have a gift for you. "