" What!? I thought we were supposed to prevent Nahzgor from finding the book?! "
You shout at Izael as you stand up from the throne, watching him begin to exit 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 opened and used The Holy Omniverse Transcript with ease. You saw it with your own eyes. With power like that, I'm afraid that the entirety of my angel army couldn't ever hope to stand a chance in attempting to take 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 God of us all and I highly doubt that Aatu could stand a chance alone in fighting that mortal if conflict does break out, even if the mortal doesn't use the book against him. If we lead Nahzgor to the mortal, then we will 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 this mystery mortal to end Nahzgor's crusade. What happens if Nahzgor succeeds in defeating the mortal and he ends up taking 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. Regardless of how powerful Nahzgor is, as long as he isn't in possession of the book, Aatu will ultimately be able to defeat him if needed. There's no need to worry about him getting the book, though. Since we believe that this mortal is on par with Aatu in terms of power at the bare minimum, Nahzgor shouldn't stand a fighting chance if he tries to take the book for himself. "
Noeh says to you in a calm and confident manner.
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 bright smile. Aatu then glares at you and speaks to you in a serious tone.
" Thank you, mortal. Without you, we wouldn't have known the gravity of our current situation. However, I am afraid that I must ask more of you before you and the child can return to the 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 optimistically. 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 feel like it is necessary that I teach you about the power within in order to broaden your understanding of the Omniverse and your place here. "
" 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 such as myself to manifest themselves into the mortal realms. In order for mortals to perceive us, we must tune ourselves to align closer with 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 or help me once I go back to Aria… "
" Precisely, mortal. So while I have you here in Sovarohm, I would like to at least help you understand the power that you hold as a Black Trap. Once you understand the nature of your power, only then can you begin to use it. "
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 immediately look upwards to see the great dragon that you saw before, also frozen in time, with angels swarming around it inflicting bloody battle scars across its golden scales. You look back at Aatu and see he's now sitting at a dining table with 2 chairs on either side that have manifested in the middle of the street while you were looking around. You slowly walk over to him and sit with him on the opposite side of the table, and you notice something bright shining in the palm of Aatu's hand. You can't quite make out what it is as he speaks to you.
" Do you believe 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 answer Aatu, seriously.
" You were indeed in The Light for a reason. You were put there long ago. Longer than your consciousness outside of this universe 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 an inquisitive tone.
" The One told me that Black Traps are singularities. "
" Yes. Black Traps are singularities within the Omniverse, but it goes much 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 informative manner.
" The word "Black" in Black Trap refers to the composition of your very 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 very first event that happened to you before you've gotten to where you currently are. Aatu then responds, explaining what you actually saw.
" That is because everything in existence that is created by my father is molded out of Darkness and Light. 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 an infinite formless white. If you only have Darkness with no Light, then you'll have the same except Black. You are an anomaly and a rare exception to the Light and Darkness 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 composed of complete Darkness, 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 snaps his attention from the object in his hand to making eye contact with you instead. You can see an unimaginable depth to his black irises as he stares into your soul, continuing 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 must abide. 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, the existence of said thing 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 composed of both of the elements. This is where the word "Trap" comes into play. As a being of complete Darkness, you are able to 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 could have infinite power? "
You ask Aatu, flabbergasted, 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, then 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 skeptically reply to Aatu. 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 with a second consciousness to be born as you are outside of this universe after one-hundred eons… if you did end up surviving that long. "
Your mind starts racing at the thought of your consciousness being over one-hundred billion years old. You start panicking as you realize that you've lost the memory of who you were before your current life outside of Aatu's universe.
What? One-hundred eons?? Is my consciousness really that old? The Light was a prison… and I was a prisoner. My memories are gone… Who was I before The One put me there?
You close your eyes, take a deep breath, and focus back on the matter at hand as you respond to Aatu.
" We can talk about this later, Aatu... I'm not trying to have an existential crisis right now. Why did you bring me here? I want to know why you needed me here alone with you. "
" 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.
" It is because I have a gift for you. "