~ As Gabrielle appeared back in her room, she noticed something that she hadn't noticed before...a noticiable lack of magic power. She thought back to the preceeding hours and could only think of one thing....

The assasin.....his attack in the curch...had to be....but what had he done to her? She felt fine otherwise....She wasn't sure what was happening to her but she was going to find out.

She placed the necklaces back around her neck and walked back into the corridor....she knew that the Sanctuary would have alerted Jaeden to her return by now...and in turn would inform Elisa and Brenna...that was good in itself...but she needed someone else with a good working knowledge of Zchadazar. If he, as she suspected, was behind this as well, although both attacks seemed to be unrelated, then a former vassel of his would probably know a good place to start figuring it out.

She walked down the corridor and found one of the pages....~

Find Gunter Mal and tell him to get his eternal ass to the council chambers! And tell him in those exact words....he'll figure it out.

~ and with that, she turned and stormed down the hall~

Gunter was just lowering himself into his long withheld bath when the page yelled through his chamber door and repeated Gabrielle's message. Word for word.

Gunter sighed. He sure hoped he wasn't quite eternal.
He continued to lower himself into the water. He WAS going to finish the bath, at least.

Tell her I will be down very shortly! He yelled back.

Of course, to someone as old as he was, shortly was a relative term.

He walked into the coucil chambers almost a half hour later. Bedecked in white and green silk robes of an Imperial cut. His well groomed hair held back in a pony tail by a platinum band.

He raised an eyebrow as he stopped before her.

I am at your service.

~ she spun on her heel and faced him. One could tell that she was not very happy right now ~

I have a problem and I think you are one of the only people that would know anything about it. Are you any good at story problems? Let's see....

For example, if a women went up against an assasin, most likely sent by Zchadazar, and the women's magical clone got hit by a projectile from the assasin's blow gun. After that, she seems to be slowly losing her magical abilities. Of course, this was all before she battled three brotherhood beings that were sent by him to turn Norworld against the trinity and I had to let loose the spirit of the land.

~ she arched her eyebrows dangerously at him ~

So praytell has Zchadazar done to me?

Gunter raised both eyebrows slightly.

I am truly glad to see you are well....for the most part. I take it that Zchadazar's initial aggresion against your homeland ended in your victory, but not without cost.
And since I know Him best, as much as any being can know Him, you need my help?

His eyes softened and so to did his voice.

Of course, for you, all that I can do...

~ she steped closer to him and arched her eyebrow once again ~

Then tell me what he has done and what I need to do to set things right. I can't lose my powers, especially right now. He's still out there and is dangerous. He has his eye fixed on Norworld for some reason, most likely a distraction, and I need to have my powers to combat that....

Gunter smiled ruefully

You cannot combat Him directly. He HAS the power to crumble your entire world into so much debris. And if you think about it, Jaeden could likely do the same.
But He believes that to be too easy. He prefers the challenge of achieving His ends by manipulating events from afar.

So I agree. You DO need your powers to combat His machinations.

Gunter gently places his hands on her shoulders and guides Gabrielle to a clear space in one corner of the room.

Stand right here.

He then steps back and pulls some special instruments from his own personal extradimensional space...they pretty much seem to appear in his hand from nowhere.
An ornate brass stand about four feet tall, upon which is set a peculiar crystal lense.
A stylus of indeterminate material, with which Gunter scribes strange sigils in a circle about her.
A silver, globe shaped lantern which hovers of its own volition and shines a bright light through the lense and begins to bathe Gaby in shifting colors of light.
And finally a fist sized, black globe which Gunter seems to be trying to look through. Inspecting Gabrielle. Walking around her, slowly. HE would occasionally whisper something in a dead, arcane language, causing the black globe to release a blinding flash.

Hmmmmmmmm. I need one of your sisters for a comparison....

~ no more than 5 mins later, Elisa walked into the room with a frown on her face ~

What is happening to her powers? And why do you need me?

I need a comparison to better pinpoint the cause. Only you and Brenna are similar enough to Gabrielle to give me that.

Gunter gestured for Elisa to take Gabrielle's place in the circle. When she did, he produced a new globe and performed the same examination as he had done on Gaby.

Intrigueing.

He then held up both globes. Examining one...and then the other. Then back again. What he sees in the apparently featureless globes can only be guessed at.

Elisa, you have some very....different...findings in your scan.

He appraises her with a critical eye.

But those have nothing to do with the other anomalies which lead me to suspect what is wrong with Gabrielle. She has been infected with a mote of focused non-existence tailored to attack arcane ability.

By it's nature, it is a paradox and should not be, and thus I know it to be a creation of Zchadazar.

Gunter frowned...and looked a little worried

Removing it is an entirely different problem...

~ Gabrielle looked around at the others and nodded her head ~

I don't care the cost Gunter...figure out how to do it and get it done. This isn't the time to be losing my powers....

Gunter nodded

If all the multiple cosmos, realities, dimensions, planes, and concepts and all things that constitute them be considered Existence; then you must go beyond that! You must be plunged into what lies behind Everything!

Nothing. Non-existence. Void.

Even the concept is attributing to it more than what it is, because a concept is something. A concept cannot exist in non-existance.

Since the mote of non-existence within you wants to be, by its nature, what it is....by going there yourself the mote will leave you to rejoin the greater sea of non-being.

Unfortunately, anything outside of Existence becomes non-existent as well.

He looked grim...and a bit of helplessness glinted in his eyes

Any magic even I could use to shield you from becoming part of the Void would quickly become part of the Void as well.

In other words, I could send you Outside of Everything, but you would instantly become Nothing to bring back....

But there are two that I know that could prevent your disolution. One of them created the very mote your...we're trying to remove.

The other He sometimes calls Sister...and we are Her guests here.

Gunter finally smiled at this mostly good news

I suppose we just need to ask Her...assuming She does not now already know because I have just said it...

One could say that the ArchAngel knew the problem before Gunter mentioned it aloud. What passed through her realms was always known to her.

But, she waited, to see if Gunter knew what to do and she had arrived to catch the very end of what he told Gabrielle and she spoke.

"Under different circumstances, I would say that would be the best route to take....but....not this time."

She looked to her sister Elisa and smiled faintly and then looked back to Gabrielle.

"What I propose to do is a bit more drastic....but, I promise that it -will- work. Do you agree?"

Jaeden stood watching her, waiting for her answer.

~ Gabrielle looked at Jaeden and nodded her head ~

I trust you and Gunter in these matters as I do not know much about them, and I really don't care who does what, as long as it gets done soon. I can't be without my powers for long or there will be great consequences......

Gunter tilted his head in curiosity at Jaeden's statement. There were always possibilities of alternative cures, but he hadn't been aware of any in this very specific and unique malady. He was eager to hear what that would be.

And what cure could possibly be more drastic than the threat of not-being, M'Lady? He asked Jaeden

~ Elisa looked at everyone in the room and nodded her head ~

As it seems that nothing can be decieded for Gabrielle's sake, I will deal with this matter myself and take her to my priests. I'm sure they can come up with something.

~ With those words, Elisa and Gabrielle both disapeared in a bright flash of light ~

Gunter blinked at what just happened, then a grim look fell upon his face. Norworld's priests could at best delay the inevitable.

He turned and left the chamber without a word. He made his way back to his chambers and collected his notes and his few belongings and then stepped through the door of his chamber....

....and arrived in the Palace of the Trinity

~ As Elisabeth walked along the hall with Gabrielle, she reached into her mind and summoned her priests to her inner Sanctuary and told them that they would meet them there and it was of the utmost importance. They couldn't afford to wait on this....

They had barely reached the end of the hall when a messanger came rushing up to her and told her that the magical barrier around the castle had been breeched. There was an unauthorized entry into the castle. Elisa shook her head, knowing whom it was and why he was there. She turned to the guards and spoke in a low voice ~

Go find Gunter and bring him to the inner Sanctuary. Place him under light guard until then. He should understand.....

~ Elisabeth reached inside herself once again and sent a message and echoed throughout the hall that Gunter and the guards were in ~

GUNTER! I don't have time for these games.....let them bring you here so that we can figure out how to help Gabrielle. Understood?

As you wish. Gunter's voice came from behind Elisa and Gabby.

They turned and there he stood, two guards and the messenger standing with him looking very disoriented and bewildered.

Elisa knew it should have been impossible for anyone to breach the wards that guard the inner Sanctum, but Gunter had done just that.

He was very good at doing what he had been required to do in the past. Thief, spy, assassin, archmage, priest....

Instead of seeming satisfied with what he just did, the set of his face showed he was there for business.

~ she turns and nods, seemingly not surprised by his presence ~

Now...how do we fix this without Jaeden's help?

Gunter frowned a little as he began to explain

We will need your priests. And they will need to ask something of your gods that the gods may be unwilling to do...

...your gods must bestow upon me all their power. I must become, for a little while, what I have always been unwilling to become. And to do it quickly, yet temporarily, it must be borrowed from those that are gods already.

Gunter smirks a little.

Your gods cannot do it themselves because, by their nature, they are concerned with what what lies within Existence. Even most gods care little, much less understand, what lies Without. I, unfortunately, do.

He paused there to let the two women digest exactly what it is he must do and to make a decision....
One that could mean a sacrifice on his part away from his humanity...

~ Elisa nodded, knowing what he was asking ~

I can already tell you that our deities would be unwilling to do that....bestow those types of powers upon yourself...but they MIGHT be willing to bestow them upon myself or one of my priests....

We all have to make sacrifices....~s~

Gunter sighed

That would be fine, if I could quickly teach what knowledge was required...

....but such knowledge, even with magic, would take quite awhile to transfer

Gunter raised an eyebrow

Have you got a year to spare?

~she shook her head~

Then I'm afraid we've hit an snag. The powers that be will never agree without those provisions. We will have to find another way.

Gunter nodded. His lips set into a grim line and he began to pace around the chamber, his brows lowered in deep thought. Every 5 minutes or so he would look up at Elisabeth and Gabrielle, and the grimness of his expression deepened before he continued his pacings.

He did no like what he was coming up with, but he was seeing little choice.

He quite suddenly stopped, looked up, and took a big breath.

I have a compromise, of sorts.

Your gods grant one of you their powers, since you believe they shall not trust myself with them.
Then.....you use that power to merge with me. We become...One. We will know everything the other knows, for a little while at least.

Can you handle being something beyond intimate with someone like myself?

~ The two women looked at each other, obviously communicating as only they could, weighing their options. Gabrielle turned and looked at him and nodded ~

Then it shall be me....The decision and arrangments have been made....Although the priests made it very clear that we have a VERY limited window of opportunity and will have to work quickly.

Agreed?

Gunter nodded. He seemed outwardly unconcerned about what was soon to happen. Inside he was nervous. This was something he had never done. Few beings had ever done. Merging to become a single entity.
He was a little afraid of not being himself, and even after, of not being the same.

I but await the word that all is ready. We will then do what needs be done.

He looked at Gabrielle and she couldnt help but note the moment of concern in his eyes. What he had once showed her of his own life was for her second hand and could never have been complete. First hand... he wouldn't wish on anyone by choice.

He had run out of choices...

~ Both Gabrielle and Elisabeth realized that their options were very limited right now. They had to do what they had to do....after a brief conference between the two of them and the order had been given to lock off the room and keep a heavy guard on it, Gabrielle turned to Gunter and nodded her head ~

The priests are ready...they say to give them a moment to complete the request to the deities that be...

~ after a moment, Gabrielle's body began to shake as power flooded into her mortal body.......~

it had begun.....