The Flux's Flower

Artifacts

Lalna put the pieces together very quickly "This whole thing wasn't about a cure, it was about revenge!"

Nano grabbed Lalna's shoulder "Can I talk to you before you attack him?"

Lalna glared at Shadow before following Nano to a corner "What's up?"

"Look, I don't trust him either, but he saved our lives, and for the time being, we need all the help we can get if we want to stop Mother."

Lalna sighed "I know, but he keeps so many secrets. I still feel like there's something he's not telling us."

Nano crossed her arms and rocked side to side. "I'm sure there is. Perhaps he has his reasons. Whatever the case, lets defeat Mother before we grill him about it.

Lalna crossed his arms and huffed before reluctantly agreeing "Fine."

The pair turned to Shadow. "So what do you know about the Mother entity?" Nano inquired

"Not much really. My studies weren't very conclusive. However, I did manage to uncover a strange connection between her and the artifacts of the Aesir."

"The Aesir?" Lalna was confused "as in norse gods?"

Shadow shrugged "In a way. the three rings of power are named after them, but the artifacts that your friend and I have aren't really directly connected."

On the mention of the three rings, one of Lalna's old memories surfaced. He'd heard about them before...His old boss Xephos kept them in a vault  in...in...the memory faded. Lalna hit the wall "No!"

Nano jumped and looked up at him with concern "What?"

"I saw one of the rings. I remember it. I worked with it too. But I can't remember where! All I got was a name...Xephos. He was the one that put me to work on that project"

Shadow suddenly seemed very curious "Are you sure that's all you remember?"

Lalna nodded "For the time being. It's like someone was scrambling my mind, preventing me from accessing those memories. Now, what's this about a connection?"

Shadow nodded "Rather than a specific connection, there's a legend that says anyone who posses all of the artifacts at once will gain absolute power. I believe the Mother entity wants to use that power to open portals and spread her taint throughout the multiverse."

Nano muttered "I think I read about a multiverse in one of my comics"

"Similar concept, though its much harder to open a portal than just running really fast."

"You read that series too?"

Lalna stepped forward "Alright you two, work first, nerd out later." He turned to Shadow "Where's the next artifact?"

Shadow walked over to Darkstone's control console, beckoning Lalna and Nano to follow. He pulled up a map of the world. "The beacons indicate the places of the artifacts" Two of them were on top of each other, while the third was seemingly in the middle of the ocean."

Nano turned to Shadow "I thought there were six artifacts? I only see three."

Shadow nodded "The three rings are more heavily shielded than the others, thus I haven't found them yet."

Nano looked back at the monitor "So if the overlapping beacons are our artifacts, then that one in the sea must be..."

Shadow nodded "The Apple of Grisaia, residing in the normally hidden Garden of Eden. I've travled there before, both with and without my key, but the magical barrier camouflages it and turned me around. However, with your Flugel Eyes, I have a feeling the barrier won't mind"

"So what are we waiting for?" Nano smiled "Lets go!"

Shadow put the ship in gear, and Darkstone rose from the castle, taking off towards the garden.

As the ship left, however, none of them noticed another ghostly female form watching them.

The queen, ruffian, and traitor. Her mouth curled into a sinister smile. I'll see you there.