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[i] “I just ask questions and get answers.”[/i]

Suddenly things started making sense. Rita had some kind of compulsion based abstraction, and all the times Britney was forced to speak all made sense. She slapped herself mentally for failing to catch on sooner, but she could only feel disgusted. "So, you've been hiding a compulsion abstraction from all of us?" Britney asked, putting a hand on her chest, the same hand that was covered in roots. "I feel fucking violated here, and I know I messed up-"

"Enough!" A massive flame appeared in front of the group and caught everyone's attention as Justin stood in the middle of the fading flame. He had his eyes narrowed and brows furrowed as he spoke, "Okay, we know Rita's abstraction, we know Billy's a murderer and a coward, but how about we stay on the subject here? Just for one second, okay?"

Britney groaned.

"We need a way to kill the Glutton, and we don't have a clear plan, and as much as I want to charge up in there and fuck that thing up - I don't like the idea of going in without a clear plan at the very least," Justin said as he pointed at the mountain through the window. "Winging it isn't going to work."

Things were getting intense, but Lynette was staying focused on the mission. Stopping the Glutton (or finding that lead on her grandmother). Rita had seemed to use her abstraction on anyone that wasn't Britney or Penny - she thought to herself. However, if Billy [i]really[/i] tried to kill her... then she found it hard to care that he ran away (or even got injured). She let out a sigh of relief when Justin took charge of things, and there was a little lightbulb in Lynette's head that was about ready to go off.

"I have an idea, it's not the best but it's better than what we got - nothing," Lynette said finally deciding to step up and be a leader. "Brit, you said that the Wielders or whatever built the Seals in the first place, right?"

"Yeah," Britney said. "They're long gone, however."

"What if we tried to find them? Is there an option to do that?" Lynette suggested.

Britney sighed.

"Well..." Britney trailed off, looking off to the side. "We could, there's a point in the mountain that'd allow us to travel to the different universes but there's a catch or two... or three." She shrugged before she continued.

"We'd still have to go into the mountain and I think the Glutton is gearing up for something big. Plus, all of the Godforce and those memories could overwhelm some of us. I've seen what it can do to people and... it's not pretty. And that's not even the worst part; traveling to different universes can be a scary thing - like the League exiles thousands of people each year and know where some of them go? The void. And once you go in, you never come out unless somebody gets you. And with some of the things there... it's better to leave them be."

That was the first part of Britney's explanation of why this was a terrible idea. It gets worse. "And those universes aren't small - they're huge as ours. What are the odds of us stumbling on the wielders of the white light in a reasonable amount of time?"

Justin shook his head as he put his hands on his hips and hung his head. "... Not high, right?"

"But, it's still better than nothing."

"Better than nothing?" Britney said, "I don't think it's a good idea, dimensional travel is [i]risky[/i]. Too risky for us to even consider an option."

"You brought up one definite way to fix the seals, right...?" Justin mused as he kept his arms crossed, looking off to the side. 

"Don't tell me..." Britney looked over at Justin and balled her fists. "We can't trust Amethyst with that power - even if she does solve it, we might have a [i]bigger[/i] problem on hand later! If she doesn't go and fuck it up the first time."

"Well, I'm thinking maybe we'll have to chance it!" Justin shouted.

"Don't trust her," Britney said, "I don't want to see her throw your lives away so she can achieve power!"

"... Hmph, and you are the people the Child has placed their faith in?" The group heard the deep demonic voice of the Hound as he appeared in a cloud of black fog. First appearing in a silhouette and then walking out of the fog with his glowing red eyes. He appeared to be the size of a normal wolf, for once, but his head drifted from the left and then to the right. "Are you all aware you all are the last Awakened in Farmer Hill? All others have fled." He first said.

Britney's heart started racing for a moment as she had to grasp her chest upon seeing the Hound in person. Sweat started dripping down her head as she took as many steps back as possible to get away from the thing.

"Or they're dead." Justin flatly said.

"And they are being [i]tormented[/i] as we speak," The Hound said, a hint of irritation in his normally monotone voice. "You all need to get serious because time is of the essence. The Child may have kept this from you all, but there's a slim chance we can revive those killed by the Glutton."

"Wait, there is?" Britney suddenly perked up. "Or are you bullshitting us...?"

"I never lie," The Hound said, "As I said before, the whole cycle of life and death has been thrown off balance... it wasn't their time to die, which means if we do things right; we can save them."

"And what's 'right'?" Lynette said.

"I can give you a way to fix the seals utilizing the same power that the Wielders of the White Light used," The Hound started. "The true name for that power is [i]Ascension[/i] and it requires meeting a certain set of requirements and bathing yourselves in the Godforce to Ascend to a different level and grant you the ability to manipulate the Godforce itself."

That was interesting to Lynette, to say the least, but what was the catch. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the Hound, and he continued, "However... it requires a clear mind and a deep bond to everyone else being bathed in the Godforce. Or your minds will be overloaded and shattered by the experienced. Sent all over the Godforce... but using this method we can recover those who have been consumed by the Glutton."

"But, there's always a fucking price is there?!" Justin shouted, angrily.

"I am afraid so, Justin Liao," The Hound turned towards him as he said, "There's also the option of locating the wielders of the white light, but you'll have to go to the very core of the Mountain to find the portal into the All-verse and possibly connect your minds to it and try to locate them. But, that'd require sacrificing a few of your friends to the Godforce and I can't guarantee you'd find them..."

That hurt Lynette's plan.

"... But if you did, I'd [i]guarantee[/i] they'd be able to save your friends and close the seals."

That saved Lynette's plan.

"However, as I said before, time is of the essence and you all should be aware that all of this will come with a price. It's merely a matter of deciding which choice is the lesser evil."

"What about Amethyst's plan?" Justin just had to ask.

"That'd work, too, but with all the prices Britney went over," The Hound looked at the group, "So, I would decide now and stick with it."

"We should go with giving ourselves greater powers," Britney said as she raised a hand.

"I think we should try to locate the Wielders of the White Light," Lynette suggested.

Justin shrugged and remained silent.

However, the light in the sky outside went orange for a second as the group perceived orange cracks in their eyes. A massive headache overtook them as the Speaker appeared out of nowhere in their vision. Except [i]wrong[/i]. Instead of appearing human, their skin was an unnatural oily jet black color and their eyes were orange... holes. The thing wasn't wearing any clothes but was completely smooth in appearance.

"... So many risks, choices, and games," The Speaker first started with their voice having an echo as if it was being repeated over and over again. "Bah, don't tell me you all are going to play the False-God's sick, sick, game." 

The Speaker chuckled for a moment, "All of this... all your life's sufferings and complications, it's all to them and they didn't care one tiny bit. They just farmed you for your memories so they could achieve true power and now they are suddenly trying to care that they have a use for you. Hahahahahahahahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Speaker laughed maniacally.

"Don't play their game any longer, I can give you an easy way out. So we can [i]all[/i] enjoy the rest of eternity in relative bliss. Reject the false Gods, reject their Harbinger of Death, reject the system they forced on you. Because [i]this[/i] is how you achieve the happiness you want. The freedom you desire without the shackles of the False God. Just reject him already, we have a place for you on the other side. We just need you to... fall into the light. [i]The choice is yours.[/i]"

All of the Speaker's hallucinations disappeared. Possibly a mind game or maybe they wanted [i]true[/i] allegiance to the Glutton.

So many choices and Lynette didn't know which one was worse. Hell, some part of her was thinking that maybe the Glutton wouldn't be so bad.