Hoping his Users would be able to escape, Jack fell deeper into his dreams searching for the power Kelsey saw. That was his sole hope of preventing the ritual and aiding his Users. Leaning down he found himself on top of a building at night. Jack was wearing a completely black suit with a black mask that concealed his face.

Going to the edge of the building, he looked down across the way at the next building over. Near it's top was the letters CQE, and below it was the words Crea Quid Erit. Jack took off a solid pack off his back, and when he took a look at it, he found it looked unusual under the night sky.

Opening it, Jack was startled to realize it looked larger on the inside then the outside. Reaching within, Jack pulled out a large tube with a hook sticking out the front. He took aim across the way and pressed a trigger. With a loud thump a rope went flying across the way and stuck into the roof of the opposite building.

Taking the back end of the rope, he tied it tight, then returned the pack to his back. He hooked a metal catch to the rope and then he began climbing the rope down to the building across the way. Looking down, he could see he was above a road, and most of the buildings around them were unlit.

Reaching the roof, he unhooked himself, then went to a door on the roof and looked at the panel next to the door. Pulling out some tools from his pockets, he popped the covering of the panel, then carefully cut some covering of a pair of wires. Jack subsequently pulled out a miniature device with two wires hanging from it and attached them to the panel. Hitting a button, he heard a buzzing sound and the door popped open.

Stepping inside the building, Jack found himself at the top of a set of stairs. He began to swiftly move down the set of stairs. At each landing was a door that led to the floor. He had passed eleven of the doors before he reached one that read seventy-nine.

The panel next to it looked more secure than the one that had been on the roof. Jack reached into a pocket on his side and pulled out what looked like a black device and held it up to the panel. For a few seconds nothing happened and then it went green.

Entering the door, he found he was in some sort of strange room that was barely lit. There were desks next to desks all in claustrophobic walled off sections. Going through them, he walked towards a corner room that had full-length walls. The door to the office was secured, but he pulled out a metal bar and jiggled it in the keyhole for a second and the lock popped open.

Stepping inside he went to the desk and pushed aside the chair. Looking down, Jack saw a large white box, he reached behind it and unhooked a wire to it, then flipped a button on it. It whirled to life and then Jack pulled out a small black box with a thin metal shape coming out of it, then pushed the metal part into a receptacle on the white box. 

A red light went on the black box and Jack turned to the desk and saw a picture of a smiling man with a woman and a pair of children. Moving on to the desk, he pulled it open and saw several files which he quickly went through and saw nothing of interest.

Moving on to the wall next to the desk, he moved aside a painting revealing a safe that had been built into the wall. Trying the lock, Jack was surprised to find it had been left unlocked. Opening it revealed some bundles of what he felt was cash and in the back was a tube of a glowing blue liquid.

Reaching in he took the tube and put down his pack and placed it inside. Then he closed the safe and returned the painting to its place. Going back to the desk, he saw the black box was now blinking green. Pulling it out, he put it away and left the office. He reached a storage room and fiddled with the lock with his metal bar. 

He heard some sounds coming closer, going faster he popped the lock and quickly entered the room. Closing the door behind him, he found he was in some sort of storage room. He heard steps passing the door. Whoever it was, was currently whistling and pushing some sort of cart.

Going to the back of the room, Jack silently pushed a large box back from the wall. Going around the box, he saw that there was a large vent cover on the wall. He reached inside his pockets and pulled out a tool. He worked on each of the corners of the vent removing screws that held the cover in place.

Pulling the cover off, he glanced down and saw a dark tight metal shaft that would barely fit him. Taking off the pack, he attached a pair of metal balls to its side, and he put it on the side of the vent, where it stuck in place. Satisfied he climbed carefully into the vent.

Being careful, he hung from the pack over the black void below. He pushed a button, and the pack began to slowly roll down the side of the vent. For several minutes he hung from the pack as it rolled down the vent. Finally, he felt his feet reach the bottom, and Jack hit a button and the pack stopped and popped off the wall. 

Jack lowered the pack down and crawled down the vent to a nearby vent cover. Pulling out a compact mirror that was attached to a metal rod, he slipped it out of the vent and took a look down the hallway below. The hallway was a long hallway that looked meticulously cleaned. A camera near the vent looked over the hallway.

Carefully, Jack pried up the cover, and then reaching into the pack, pulled out a small circular device. Keeping out of the camera's field of view, he put the device on top of it and it began to blink red for several seconds. When it stopped blinking Jack nodded and slid out of the vent into the hallway below.

On the wall nearby were the letters CQE again and a phrase below that said Vidi, Vici, Vere. Jack continued down the hallway with another panel next to it. He pulled out the black rectangular device and held it up to the panel, and it blinked a green light.

Stepping through the door, he found several large glass tubes where people were floating in a foul greenish liquid. A few of the people looked like they had been deceased for some time. Jack swiftly went to each of the tubes and examined the bottoms of them. He popped open the bottom and saw that there was a crystal that he had seen before attached inside.

Hauling it out he placed it into the pack he was carrying with him. Jack could feel that he was pissed that they were doing this. After he had retrieved each of the crystals, he went to each control panel of the tubes and made sure that the occupants were dead.

When that had been accomplished, he went to the second door and opened it. Beyond it Jack found himself in front of a large tank of liquid in which a blue glowing crystal was floating in the center. Every few seconds it would flash a bright light and sparks would come off the tank.

Hearing voices coming from a nearby door, Jack quickly went behind a nearby box and heard two people walk into the room. Glancing through a crack, he saw that one of them was the man with the scar on his face. He was now wearing a suit, and Jack felt an intense hatred for the man. He held himself back and looked at the second person.

This second person was a woman wearing a long white coat. She had her hair tied back into a ponytail and was wearing a set of large glasses that looked a bit goofy. She was explaining something to the man looking a bit exasperated. The man shook his head and pointed at the crystal and spoke some harsh words at the woman.

She frowned and nodded. Then the man continued in a threatening manner, and she looked frightened and her tone of her voice sounded pleading. The man stared at her for a few seconds then said something. He turned around and exited the room. The woman let out a breath looking really relieved, and sat down at a desk and began to press her fingers rapidly on a board near a glowing screen.

Silently he stepped out from behind the box, and snuck up behind the woman. He pulled out a knife and grabbed the woman and pulled her up surprising her. Holding the knife to her throat, he barked an order to her. She nodded, and he walked her over to a panel next to the tank.

She reached down and pushed a button, and the tank began to drain. A metal claw came down and grabbed the crystal and brought it outside the tank. When that was done, Jack pushed the woman into the corner and pulled out a roll of tape and wrapped up her arms and legs. Then he wrapped her mouth. Making sure she could breathe, he opened his pack and maneuvered the large crystal into it.

The woman's eyes went wide in amazement as Jack fitted the four feet long crystal into the pack that was only a foot long at least. He went to the woman and yanked off her ID, and apologized to her.The woman's eyes went wide in amazement as Jack fitted the four feet long crystal into the pack that was only a foot long at least.

Going down the hallway, he arrived at a door that he used the woman's ID to open, and he slid inside. The room inside held several racks of devices and a hum of fans could be heard. He put his pack down and opened it, removing a large metal pole with several rings attached to it.

He set it down in the middle of the room and pressed a button and stepped quickly back. The rings began to move and sparks began to appear around the device. The banks of devices began to whir and click loudly then began to shut down.

Feeling satisfied he waited until the rod stopped moving before picking it up and placing back into his pack. Then he pulled out a weapon. It was similar to the one he had seen Lady Niadas wielding, but did not feel magical at all. He put the pack on his back and went to the door; he got the feeling he was going to kill someone. Then he stepped out of the door.

Frustratingly Jack found himself no longer in the building but stepping out of a vehicle in a hot desert sun, next to a large run down building. The sun was in the middle of the sky bearing down on him. Looking down he saw he was wearing a set of shorts and thin shirt, but he still felt sweat pouring off his skin.

The vehicle he had stepped down from was a long rectangular one, he had backed it up to a large metal shutter entrance to the building. Going to it, he pulled out a key and undid a lock on the metal shutter. Pushing it up, he saw the inside was a dusty warehouse that had seen some recent activity. Several rows of devices strung together with wires all lead to a machine in the center of the warehouse.

Opening the back of the vehicle, he saw several large wooden boxes inside. He pulled down a metal ramp at the back of the vehicle, then went inside the warehouse to get a dolly to move the boxes from the vehicle. Each box was extremely heavy to move, and Jack had to take several breaks.

By the time he had got to the final box, the sun had moved far across the sky and it was late afternoon. The last box was a massive one taller than him, and a good five feet wide. He went inside the warehouse and got into a small vehicle with some metal prongs on the front of it.

He carefully drove it up to the box and slipped it's prongs under it. Then backing it out, he brought the box to the interior of the warehouse. Finishing, he closed up the large vehicle making sure to lock it. Then he went inside the warehouse and closed the metal shutter behind him.

Taking a closer look at the device in the middle, he saw it was a strange platform that looked designed to hold something upright. Opening a door in the device he nodded in satisfaction and picked up a nearby crowbar and began to bust open the wooden boxes. When he did so, he revealed dozens of blue crystals that were wrapped up in some sort of paper. 

Unwrapping several of the crystals, Jack took them to the device and slotted them into slots that looked built to receive them. Placing the last one, he closed the door and hit a switch. The device began to twist and turn, panels lit up and a green symbol lit up. Seeing it was working he went to the last box he had brought in and broke it open.

As he did so he found inside the box was a massive crystal, it was nearly seven feet long and four feet wide. For a brief moment he could feel something try to bring him out of the dream. Shoving that feeling aside, he knew that he had to grasp the dream to save his Users. Looking closer, he could see that there was something deep in the center of the crystal, but it was too dark to see clearly.

Using the dolly and some hard work, Jack managed to get the giant crystal into the device he had powered. When it was secure, the machine began to whine and hum. Rods began to latch onto the crystal, and sparks began to appear. Then a deep blue glow began to light up the crystal from within. Inside Jack saw there was a woman seemingly frozen nude in time.

To his complete and utter shock, Jack recognized her as the woman who he had seen disappeared. Placing his hand on the crystal, he knew that this past self of him had already known what was in the crystal. A feeling of utter sorrow and grief struck his past self, with a brief feeling of joy of seeing her again.

He frowned then went to the nearby panel and began to hit several buttons. There was a sudden spark from the machine and Jack flinched backwards. The panel went completely black, and then he saw his name appear on the screen, and then he found himself no longer standing in the warehouse.

He was inside of a space that did not feel real. It reminded him of his white void, but it felt more dreamlike here.

"Jack" A voice called him, and he looked over at who was calling him, and he saw her, the woman he truly loved, Maya, her name somehow came easily to him when he saw her here.

"Maya!" He said and walked towards her, only to find she did not seem to look at him.

"When you fell, I knew one day you would awaken. So I have left you this message in hopes that one day you would hear it." She said and as she walked past him seemed to change, her skin becoming more crystalline."I do not know what you will become, but I know it is not the path I myself walked down."

She seemed to be in multiple places and poses in this message. "For you, I have made a space for you to grow and hopefully awaken. It is the same for what you did for me so long ago."

A smile wistfully appeared on her face, as did several tear filled reflections. "I placed it on a world on the edge of the multiverse. You are sure to love it. It's a fantasy world like some of your favorite books." She frowned and said "I wish I could be there for you when you awaken. I am the third to walk my path, and my powers are needed in the void. I have seen beyond it, and I must hold back the horrors."

Jack reached forward and found his hand passed right through her. "I have placed a portion of my power by your side to aid you should you need it or the world below does. When you gain the strength, please come find me. I am forever yours, Jack. Oh by the way, the deal we made is still on the table. I wouldn't want you to get rusty before finding me." Maya winked and then said "Farewell Jack, don't leave me alone longer than necessary."

Left in front of him was a giant blue crystal. Within he could feel a remnant of her power. Jack could tell that this would be barely enough to ensure that the ritual was stopped and he reached out and touched it. Pain coursed through him, and he willed the power to save his Users. At that time he fell into blackness.

ElKriJa

Thank you for Reading my Story, this begins the third Arc