The Fourth Relevant Truth

By Moonraker One

A/N: This takes place about three months after the events of chapter three.

CHAPTER FOUR – The Mammon Machine

The four gurus stood immediately in front of one of the single largest undertakings that Zeal Kingdom had ever seen. The large, immensely grand-looking Mammon Machine had been the project that had seen countless hours of effort and knowledge displayed by the four gurus. None had quite known what the outcome of all their effort would be, they just stood, praying that the device worked according to their plans. The final component of the enormous device was a chipboard that had within it the magic required to utilize the energy of the life form Lavos, and power the kingdom with it. Each guru had his own expectations of the way that the power source would work, other than the written objective of course, but Crono was the only one who did not fully trust the source of energy. If Lavos had been a lifeless meteor with energy inside, he would have put his complete trust in the machine; but as it stood, not only was the meteor a life form, but it also had sentient capacity for thought.

“We stand here today,” Guru Belthasar announced to the room filled with the Queen and her family, and several students of each guru, “in the wake of one of the greatest sources of power in the universe. Based upon our own unique study of the Lavos meteor, we have determined that it is a life form that produces a seemingly unlimited amount of energy. If this machine works according to our preset objectives, it will make our kingdom the dominant power in the universe!” The room then roared with applause. All were captivated by the prospect of free, limitless energy. Only Guru Crono considered it to be too good to be true. God forbid he express such an opinion, or he would probably find himself on the wrong end of the queen’s good will.

“Guru Crono,” Zeal instructed the youngest of the four, “activate the machine!”

Holding his breath, Crono shoved the chipboard into the center hole of the machine, and kicked it on with a lightning spell that started the inflow of energy into the primary chamber of the Mammon Machine. It gave off a small surge of electricity as it sucked power from the Lavos site far below the surface of the Earth. The machine hovered above a circular section of the floor through which a large degree of power came through and into the bottom intake of the device. Newly converted power radiated outward through the top of the device and spread through the kingdom like a wave, empowering the machines and lights of the kingdom that ran on electricity. All were astounded by the sheer sense of power that Lavos’s energy had. While everyone else took it as a sign of a powerful new tool for the kingdom to utilize, Crono saw it as a bad sign. He knew that the meteor had the energy required to annihilate almost anything it wanted. He knew also that the thickness of the waves of magical energy implied that the enormous energy requirements of a kingdom of millions of people did not at all tax the capacities of the Lavos meteor.

Queen Zeal twitched a moment as the machine activated. “Wha…a…my…eh…”

Dalton instantly held the queen by her shoulders as she began to appear lightheaded and dizzy. “Your Highness! What is wrong?” he asked.

She wiped her brow. “I…I’m fine, Dalton.” Crono saw at once that she was something other than all right; she was experiencing the dizziness that comes when a magical force attempts to break into one’s soul.

Crono turned to the servant closest to the machine. “Turn the machine off! NOW!”

“No…keep…the machine…on,” the queen weakly said.

The servant was torn between orders. “Sir! I…”

Crono clenched his teeth. “TURN THE DAMN MACHINE OFF!”

The queen practically convulsed under the struggle of magical energy going on with in her body. As the servant reached for the machine, in a display of uncharacteristic physical strength, she literally threw Dalton aside. “I’M ORDERING YOU TO KEEP THE MACHINE RUNNING!” As she ran to the servant, she got progressively closer to the machine, and Crono saw that the closer she got, the worse her convulsions became. Without a second to waste, he recited his most powerful basic lightning spell, and extending his left arm straight as a board, he fired a powerful bolt directly into the heart of the machine. It exploded with unbelievable force, throwing all in separate directions. Metal shards littered the floor as everyone regained their feet.

“GURU CRONO!” Melchior shouted. “That was five weeks of work!”

Crono shook his head; had he not acted fast enough, the queen possibly would have died or worse, lost her soul. “I’m sorry I had to destroy the Mammon Machine,” he explained, “but there was a torrent of magical energy fluctuating within the queen’s body. She very well may have lost her life or her soul had I not acted.”

Dalton examined the queen. Janus and Schala were behind the large bodyguard when he stood up and shielded them with his own body before the explosion, and were quick to snap to. The queen lay on her stomach, unconscious. “Quick! Get a medical team in here before…”

Crono lifted her into his arms. “No need. She’s not injured, just out cold. I’ll have to repair her energy pathways inside her body. Shouldn’t take but an afternoon.”

Dalton stuck by the young guru like a fox to a chicken. “Are you sure?”

The punk-haired guru stared at him. “Are you also the Guru of Existence? This is my specialty.”

Folding his arms, Dalton understood that he had been beaten in argument. However, it was his duty to ensure that no funny business went down while the queen was in the care of the talented young Guru of Existence. He didn’t trust the kid, for whatever unknown reason; if Crono did anything any way abnormal, it would mean the bodyguard’s head would roll. Execution was the last thing he wanted. Crono saw massive damage to the magical energy pathways that flowed through the queen’s body; it meant that she would have to be in bed for an extended period of time. He estimated it to be a four day recovery. Janus followed the guru closely, his eyes focused intently on the unconscious figure of his mother, being carried within the teen’s arms. He had never seen such a powerful usage of magic done quickly, but he wondered how effective the lightning spell had been. Schala shared in his concerns; they both worried that permanent damage to their mother had been done.

“Everyone,” Crono explained, turning around to face the growing crowd of friends, family and personal servants of the queen. “Inside the room, I’m going to require utmost silence and privacy. The slightest interference by any other source of magical energy entering the room may cause irreparable damage to her magical tracts, and as such, kill her.”

Dalton nodded. “As you wish, Master Guru,” he complied. He would see to it that absolutely no one entered the queen’s private chambers. The crowd continued to follow until they made it to the entrance to the queen’s chambers. Crono did not require special tools, as he had all he needed on hand. The body guard, however, made sure he had a medical team waiting outside the door just in case. Everyone stood in wait as the thick, soundproof door slammed shut.

Crono set the queen gently down in the center of the room, moving all furniture to the edges of the room with a telekinesis spell. He flipped her on her stomach so that he could undo her royal dress. One tie at a time did he untie the back of her clothing and slide it off. He did not like having to disrobe the queen down to her undergarments but it was required for him to perform the spells required. Her jewelry also had to be removed. He set all her attire and accessories at the edge of the room.

With the tip of his sharp katana he cut a small front facing Manji symbol—the Buddhist symbol of life—into the palm of his right hand. On the queen’s stomach, he cut a rear facing Manji symbol—the Buddhist symbol of power—of the same size. Using the tip of his opposing hand’s index finger, he wiped blood from the wound and drew straight lines from the points of the manji on her stomach to the far walls of the room. Finally, he recited a two part spell: part one was the healing part of the spell, and it sealed the wound on his hand, leaving behind scar marks in the shape of the manji. Part two was the reinforcing part of the spell—the purpose of which was to prevent similar damage from occurring again—and it sealed the wound on her stomach, again leaving a scar in the shape of the manji. Once he completed the reciting of both parts, he touched his palm to her stomach, making sure the center points of both symbols touched. The instant skin met skin, the trails of blood he’d drawn began to pull inward as the space between his hand and her stomach began to glow brightly. When the trails of blood each met the center of the glow, the light intensified, bathing the entire chamber in an almost inhumanly bright illumination. Slowly the beam concentrated until it was a single ray of light emitting upward to the ceiling, and then it slowly began to creep downward towards his hand. Upon contact, the room got pitch black for a second and then the electric lights returned to normal. Pulling his hand back, he noticed the sealing spell had been a success; both scar marks were gone, as were the blood trails he’d drawn. This was not to heal the damage done by Lavos, this was to undo any damage done to her soul and to safeguard her against any future invasion attempts at her spirit. Because she was out, she felt nothing.

After that, he began the very intricate procedure of finding all the damaged magic energy pathways through her body (and due to her level of power, there were thousands of them), and healing them with bits and pieces of his own energy. It took him almost ten hours of work to do. Once he had completed the grueling task of repairing her energy pathways, he carefully redressed her and reapplied all of her accessories before performing CPR until she regained consciousness.

“*cough* *cough* G…Guru Crono?” she sputtered, catching her breath. “Wha…what happened? Why am I on the floor in my chambers?”

He helped her to a seated position. “Slowly, your highness,” he informed her. “The Mammon Machine was reacting badly to your energy. You could have died if I hadn’t destroyed the machine.”

A little bit at a time, she remembered what had happened. “It…It was as if,” she hesitated as she recalled the horrifying details. “It was as if something was pulling me, pulling me out of my body!”

He nodded. “Yes, your highness, that is what happened. Because you have so many magical pathways connecting your body to your soul, I was able to shut off the machine before your spirit was taken out. I’ve spent the past ten hours repairing your damaged energy pathways.”

She felt her stomach. “I feel…a strange energy there…”

“Certainly, your highness. That is a defensive sealing spell I put on you. You’ll burn up a little bit more magical energy with each spell, but in return, you cannot lose your soul. If you run out of magical energy, for whatever reason, the last bit of what you’ve got will teleport you to a safe location.”

She seemed slightly concerned. “If…it becomes a hindrance, could I remove it?”

He lowered his eyebrows. “I…don’t see why you’d want to remove it.” He shook his head. “No. I painted it on you with my own blood; because of that it cannot be removed. If you’re concerned about the extra magical energy loss, I can make you an amulet that minimizes…”

She cut him off. “No, no, I’ll be fine.” She stammered a moment. “I’m just…concerned.”

He smiled. “You don’t have to be. Trust me.” He helped her to stand up.

“Thank you, Guru Crono,” the queen admitted. Bowing, he left the room.

He’d sensed that her energy pathways had been tampered with by a time-delay spell, indicating that before the day of the machine’s activation, someone had put a spell on her to be activated by the surge of the machine starting up. It was intended to weaken her magical energy pathways, and in turn, make it easier for Lavos to steal her soul. Of all the people who knew time-delay spells, one name popped into his mind as the best in the kingdom. He was going to have quite the angry talk with Dalton.