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Amsvartnir, Knight of Cosmos

The Code was in trouble, that much he understood. A lot of things seemed to be going on, something disrupting the Code, causing it to try and protect them—their Wonders—from any harm, further harm, all of it. He stopped and considered. He knew where his Code piece was, of course... So he had to go stabilize it. Interesting. He would do that immediately upon leaving the Moon, then—he didn't have anything else better to do, and the more people that could do it immediately, the better for the Code, the stronger it might be for the other Squires or Pages who needed more strength from the Code to head to their Wonders and resonate with their pieces.

"I'll work as quickly as I can," he said firmly, hoping to assure the Code in some way.

Tortuga narrowed his eyes as the code explained. He did not like how it was just delaying answering his question. 'in due time' my a**, he mentally thought even as everyone started to either provide more information or offer up energy for the flagging code. The squire knew that yes, first aid was needed first, hence the name, but if they couldn't correct the root problem then that's all they would be doing. It was putting a finger in a damn hoping to hold the flood waters back.

It was a delay. That's all it was.

It also didn't help that he had no clue where the damn piece was on his storm swept island wonder. He really didn't want to go hunting for it either. But it also didn't seem like there was much choice in it either... ******** magic.

"Is there anything particular we have to do in order to commune with the code piece once we find it?" He asked with a sigh before perking up as an idea hit him. "And can we get help from other knights or senshi to locate it?" If he could get some help maybe it wouldn't be so damn bad.

Antisana, Squire of Pluto

"They are not in danger anymore."

Antisana's head canted sharply at the insinuation. Their wonders weren't in danger 'anymore,' but they had been at some point. The issue of the weak link with the wonders hadn't been caused by some stellar signal disruption, like a cell phone in an elevator. It had been something dangerous. And the Code had decided to not yet share whatever that danger was, just that what had happened was "correctable."

An uneasy note hummed from his throat as he turned back to Maya. "Yes, I know where Antisana's is." And of course he would do whatever he needed to do to fix it because- what was the alternative? If he did nothing, he would just be trapped on Earth where the youma would attack incessantly.

"Hopefully whatever needs to be done will be manageable..." 'Resonate with Code peice' did not sound like an arduous task, but he knew better than to go in with the expectation that it would just be simple. And even if it wasn't, he did expect it would be easier for him (having traversed much of his wonder and knowing where his Code piece was) than for Maya, who'd never even been to hers- he could barely even fathom, and the look he gave her probably expressed as much.

"You... have not seen your wonder?" He invited cautiously. "Why."

His slate gaze flickered sharply to Meninx as if he expected something of the other man. To say he was in the same boat as her? To agree with Antisana's incredulousness? Something. And then back to Maya. "If you need some kind of assistance, the Code could surely give you some hint as to where the Maya piece is located..." Probably. "And I would go with you, if you fear it is unsafe."

She had saved his life, after all. He owed her this much.

Kyuseisha no Hikari

Meninx

Shanyume

Maya

[Lanting, Page of Ida]

At least he wasn't alone in having been stuck, though the other two who had found themselves trapped up there were clearly more experienced Knights than he was. And the Code didn't seem angry, or judgemental, or anything, so maybe Lanting wasn't some kind of total failure for having gotten stuck.

Clearly this was a weird situation! And that meant Lanting just...got to be a new Knight at a weird time. All good and fine. Probably.

"It, um, really wasn't, I totally wasn't prepared to spend days away from home. I'd brought some snacks, but they were like, 'what if I run into somebody who's hangry on patrol and a granola bar fixes it' snacks? Anyway I ordered an amount of DoorDash that probably looked like it was for a lot more than one person when I got back." He laughed, like it wasn't a big deal. He'd gotten home, after all. "But I guess it's really important that we go back and find these Code pieces."

Lanting thought he'd pretty thoroughly explored his Wonder--but there apparently was somewhere he hadn't gone, because he definitely hadn't found anything like that.

Well! More to do, he supposed.

[Aokigahara, Knight of Saturn]

Today was a day to be designated big brother, it seemed. Fortunately, it was a role Aokigahara was well prepared for.

"Not so common, but it has happened before," he said. "When I was a Page, we recovered a damaged piece of the Code from the Rift--this very piece, in fact. It had been damaged by its time there, and its damage infected the rest of the Code. We had to take the Chaos into ourselves, and by spreading it among many, we cleansed the Code and returned it to normal. Which was a much more pleasant situation, all things considered." A dry little laugh.

"As fort he name Rin--that would be me. Or, my past self." He tilted his head to the side, thought, and--"I recall a Xingyi. Rin often worked with him--our Wodners are quite similar, it seems, because Aokigahara too is a graveyard for those who would not receive a proper burial on their homeworlds. The lost and abandoned, yes, but also those who had committed such terrible crimes that their peace could not be assured--it was Rin's job to ensure they were all laid to rest. It's a pleasure to meet you in the present, Kaifeng, and while the nature of our collaborations would be quite different--I hope we can work together in the future."

The closer they were bonded as Knights of the same planet, the better, in Aokigahara's mind.

"A moment, though," Aokigahara said. "I should offer my help, since I have energy to spare."

He stepped forward, and extended a hand towards the Code.

"I have more than enough to spare." he said, "so I'm happy to offer what I can, so we can work to fix this."

[Lyonesse, Knight of Earth]

Lyonesse rolled his eyes, fondly. "I don't mind, but Nile is being ridiculous and you are free to ignore him," he told Aventine. There was a note of deep affection in his voice, but also a little exasperation, too. Nile, as ever, would be himself, Lyonesse supposed.

A familiar Saturn Squire moved past them with a wave, and Lyonesse gave a brief one back--at least Necromanteion was well enough to be here, and it was good to see him.

"It seems whatever affected the Code affected all of us quite strongly," Lyonesse said, and he exhaled. "My weapon has been brittle, I haven't been able to get to my Wonder...I've not had to try and call on my magic, but I have no doubt it would be just as faulty. But at least there's a path forward to fixing it." Better that than not knowing, at least in his opinion. "I think I know where my Code piece probably is, at least--there's a giant tree on my Wonder that everything is built around. Dollars to doughnuts it's somewhere under the roots."

Not so common, but it has happened before.

Those words made him stop to listen to Aokigahara as the knight joined the group of transcended knights offering energy to the Code.

“I did not know this piece of the Code came from the Rift.”

The Rift was a place he had heard of, but never been to himself.

Something had happened involving a group of senshi and knights that had gone into Negaspace, but he did not know the full story since he was not yet a page then — but he knew that one week before he had awakened, knights had been called to the Moon like now.


✪

Læraðr, Amsvartnir, Hyperborea, Erytheia, Spei, and Aokigahara were assuring in their words and actions. It was enough to placate the Code.

Almost.

The Code almost seemed to grumble. Despite the energy it was receiving from the Transcended Knights, it was unhappy.

So many of them had spoken up to ask about where to find the Code piece on their Wonder. So many had never made contact.

“Oh, what dire straits. You poor Knights.”

Another bump in the road, no matter. A slight delay. Correctable.

“I will take as much energy as you can provide. I think this will require more of me than I expected,” it said, loudly enough for all to hear. It did not argue with Valhalla. “Send Ganymede up, and any Transcended Senshi. I will accept help from them all.”

The Code had no mouth, and yet it sighed heavily. No wind blew through the room, but there was something real about it. It shined brighter, but this was a temporary collection of power at best.

“If you have not found the Code piece at your Wonder, I will do what I can to aid you further. But I cannot believe so many of you are assigned to protect it and do not even know where it is. Alas. I suppose you cannot be blamed. In older times you would have had people able to tell you where it was. But moving forward, I need you to encourage all Knights to locate this promptly upon awakening. It is heavily tied to the source of your power. If it should be damaged, you could lose access to your Wonder and your powers. But.” A pause, a sigh. It sounded briefly petulant. “I will help you.”

Though it stayed the same size, it seemed to grow denser with the energy it had collected.

“On your Wonders, no matter what world, you will find a small, glowing orb of light. It looks like me, but miniature. It should be hidden, somewhere safe. Your Wonder was chosen as a meaningful location deserving protection, and in the past the Knights were assigned to guard it–and a piece of the Code planted there. It was, and is, a symbiotic relationship. Your powers come from the Code, and manifest in the spirit of the world it is housed on.”

The Code paused briefly for those Knights who might find this to be new information, but it knew they still had much to cover.

“If the location of your Code is still unknown to you, perhaps it is simply just very well hidden.” It surprised the Code that Pendour would ask, but it was not unkind to her, nor any of the others. To Sigiriya, “You will find it. I can offer you no map nor can I guarantee your Wonders house anything that might aid you. On your own, you should be able to sense it. Once you are there, clear your mind. You should feel a pull. Instinct should guide you. But, with things as they are now, perhaps it will not be so easy. If anyone here has not yet located their Wonder, I will grant you more strength and focus. When you arrive, I can use my magic to help you find a path to follow it. I can mark your hand before you leave, and when you arrive, you’ll see a glowing trail. You should be able to follow it to your Code Piece.” It clarified further for Sawtooth, “If you are trying, you should be able to resonate with it. But I suppose, in an absolute worst case scenario? Maybe you will be lucky and enough Knights will be able to resonate and the Code will naturally snap back on all worlds. But it is equally likely that you will simply continue to have inferior magic and struggle to perform your duties if you do not make this effort. If things get bad enough you may even lose your connection completely. So I hope you won’t drag your feet. I need you all to understand how important it is that everyone tries to pull their weight and fix this, fast.”

To Tortuga, “You can take others with you to look if you think it will be difficult. It is up to you. It might be more difficult to carry them to your Wonder but I see no reason to advise you not to bring them.”

If there were troubles on their Wonder, maybe it would be best to have backup.

“But resonating with your Code is a deeply personal experience. Your guests may find it rather boring. When you locate your Code piece, you need to focus on it. You need to feel the flow of its energy. You need to hear it in your mind. Find peace with it. Your presence will calm it. The Wonder–and the Code piece–will do the work, and guide you in your part. You just need to be there, and be willing to help.”

The Code suspected there were more questions that could be answered about finding their Code piece, about resonating with it, but there were still more questions about the greater threats. Again, a rumble. It had not been forgotten. It was not keeping secrets. It was trying to make sure they had the information about how to fix this problem first.

It did not blame them for being curious, only impatient.

“I had hoped to make sure everyone was confident they could accomplish these tasks before filling your heads with worry, but I had no intention of keeping the source of this issue a secret.” Delphi had expressed curiosity about the source again, and the Code had not forgotten Tortuga’s original question.

“I cannot give you a list of threats beyond your world, but know that there are many. I cannot keep track of what dies, what is reborn, and what is newly created. I am sure the Surrounding, what is left of it, helps some. There are other protections. But they will not last forever. Earth is lucky, that is all I can say. Luck will run out, and you must be prepared. Explaining to you the threats in the universe is like asking you to explain to me the threats on Earth. They are everywhere, in every form. We will handle them as they come to pass, and I will give you what warning I can. This, so far as I can tell, might not have been an attack.”

Not all threats were born of evil intentions, anyway.

“I think there was some sort of explosion. A magical disruption cast waves throughout the universe and destabilized quite a few things. I don’t know what caused it, but I can tell you that the source originated from a pocket of the universe that I know to be particularly vacant of life–and has been for longer than Wonders have existed. Perhaps the easiest thing to compare this blast to is a supernova, but I don’t know if you can imagine the proportions of this. I have lost contact with a Cornerstone piece. It was dormant. Not awake when the blast hit, but it was there. I’ve been cut off from it. It might have been destroyed, it might have just been destabilized. There is no way to reach it. Some of the other Cornerstone pieces–like myself, and the one you may have met on Mars–are safe, but locked down. Perhaps they will need to be awakened at some point. But we’ll see. All pieces of the Code are separated to keep them safer from influence, but there is a spiritual level we can never truly detach from. I think part of these anomalies are tied to that. Your Code pieces are suffering. But I think, in tending to them–in making sure their locations are secure, in confirming your Wonders have not sustained damage, this can be resolved. If your Wonders have been damaged…”

Its voice trailed off briefly, like it had to think about this. “They will heal. When things stabilize, I can grant you extra energy to help. If you are fortunate, your Wonders will be fine. In the worst case scenario, you will have to worry about energy manifestations from your Code. Maybe a shockwave, maybe an earthquake. The only way to tell is by finding where your Code is housed. Do not carry worry or pain in your heart when you go to find it. Trust in yourself, in your Wonder, and in me. Meditate with it. Tune into it. Focus, clear your head. It will stabilize. Everything will heal. We’ll be stronger for it.”

Especially if so many of them had yet to locate their Code yet.