“You’ve heard of Tanza, Wilma, Grace, and Belinda?” asked the Lord Vice-President.
“The mobile sub-continent?” asked Belinda. The Gaians nodded in confirmation. “Dreary landmass, if I recall the history of it correctly.”
“It wound up about four nautical miles off the coast of this continent, yes?” asked Wilma.
“That’s right,” confirmed Fran. “For most of our planet’s history, it’s been of little interest to us except for occasional geologists and fool-hardy mages wanting to unlock the secrets of its mobility. …That is, until a seam of minerals unique to the planet was discovered in its substrata.”
“Fascinating,” said Yazmyn, her sarcasm thick.
“It became fascinating, Miss Jacobson,” interjected the Lord Vice-President, “when the minerals reacted in ways contrary to the laws of magic and science. The Lord President, my superior, opened Tanza to a number of interested parties in exchange for furthering their own scientific knowledge.”
“The other countries of Gaia have slightly limited scientific facilities,” explained Malachite. “Capitalis offered…some assistance.”
“I see,” said Grace.
“Was it worth it?” asked Bethany, genuinely interested.
“The 25 major powers of Gaia each had representatives on Tanza,” continued the Lord Vice-President. “There were some 500 life-forms engaged in top secret research unlocking the energies of the minerals when-.” The Lord Vice-President then started coughing. “F-Forgive me-!” he managed to get out.
“Lord Vice-President!” called Gabi as she handed him a little bottle.
“Oh, my pills! Thank you, my dear!” the Lord Vice-President coughed. He tried to explain to everyone as he opened the pill bottle. “I should not be in this position now, everyone. I serve an interim role until the fate of-!” More coughing interrupted him. He stopped and took his pills, then swallowed some water Gabi got for him. “Lord Presidents and Lord Vice-Presidents have come and gone since I retired from the office of Lord President, but my advice is still sought from time to time. It really can be a nuisance. The current Lord President of Gaia was kind enough to offer me a less-stressful position as she navigates being the ruler of Gaia.”
“I praise her wisdom, but…the point?” asked Belinda.
“Barely into her third term of office,” explained Malachite, “the Lord President was on Tanza for an official visit when-.”
“The entire subcontinent vanished!” finished Opal.
“Vanished?!” yelped Ruby.
“Okay, not the kind of fascinating I was looking for,” said Yazmyn.
“It was taken out of time and space,” explained Malachite, “along with all personnel. There have been sporadic sightings rumored since, but-.”
“Did you follow them up?” asked Ruby.
“To no avail,” replied Flora.
“A week after Tanza vanished,” continued the Lord Vice-President, “300 statues appeared outside the citadel, riddled with time distortions and…well…”
“Magi-forensics indicated,” said Pearl, “that the statues were once people, specifically the people that vanished with Tanza.”
“…Petrification,” guessed Belinda. The Gaians nodded.
“You can imagine the outcry,” said Tim. “There was almost war, but the government in Capitalis denied all knowledge.”
“I take it the Lord President was among those petrified?” asked Wilma.
“No,” replied Gabi. “M-Mi abuela, the Lord President Rosa Morales, is still m-missing.”
“…Rosa?!” yelped Grace. “Hang on, when did Tanza vanish?!”
“A year after you departed to find the last three Roses,” replied Pat.
“Oh, poor Rosa!” sighed Belinda. “After that Entrooper mess, now she’s trapped!”
“There’s still no satisfactory answer for the subcontinent’s disappearance,” said Malachite.
“And why not, Malachite?!” snapped Wilma. “With all the GMA’s dirty tricks at your dispo-!”
“Tanza was taken out of time all together!” interrupted Malachite. Wilma glared, then sighed.
“…Something far beyond any Gaian’s capabilities, since they’ve never bothered to use temporal magic.”
“We’ve offered up Capitalis to inspection,” said Fran, “and instigated this conference.”
“It is hoped,” said the Lord Vice-President, “that agreement can be reached on the limitation of the use of high magic.”
“Oh, of course!” groaned Belinda. “You want to protect your own mystique, make sure the other powers of Gaia aren’t getting too big for their boots. But what about Tanza, hm?! What about finding Rosa?!”
“This conference,” interjected Malachite, “gives us the perfect opportunity to figuring out who is capable of using such magic! …And thus, a step closer to finding the guilty party.”
“Oh splendid,” grumbled Bethany. “It’s taken you a year to figure that out.”
“Bethany…” warned Wilma.
“I have to side with Bethany somewhat,” remarked Ruby, “because, Malachite, as you say, your plan hinges on the guilty party being here at all.”
“At the very least, Miss Kobayashi,” said the Lord Vice-President, “we may find a clue!”
“And, meanwhile,” grumbled Grace as she fixed Malachite with a pointed glare, “any insight into alternative magical sources would do the GMA nicely.”
“I may be bound by my oath to further the GMA’s agenda, Grace,” retorted Malachite, “but the ultimate goal is to discover the truth! Who could have done this? Who would risk the wrath of so many Gaian powers?”
“Who indeed?” asked Wilma. “The Gaian Civil Wars were so bloody, why risk another one?”
“…What if it’s someone in Emperor Entropy’s organization?” asked Ruby.
“Miss Kobayashi?” asked Tim.
“Pat, Opal, Gabi, did you ever fight against any Entroopers?” quizzed Ruby.
“We sure did,” replied Pat. “That was how our parents found out about us being Cosmic Roses.”
“Did they leave after you got rid of the big bad?” asked Yazmyn.
“…Big…bad?” asked Opal, echoing the question on all Gaian minds.
“…Their boss, probably soulless, has maybe a few ‘elite’ minions,” translated Yazmyn.
“W-We’ve never encountered their leader,” replied Gabi.
“You didn’t get any threats?” asked Bethany.
“No, we didn’t,” answered Pat. “Just waves of Entroopers.”
“Yaz, Beth, you girls think this one’s smarter than Lord Typhoon?” Ruby asked her friends.
“Not wanting to announce their plan until it’s in motion, sounds about right,” replied Bethany.
“You think they might attack the citadel?” asked the Lord Vice President.
“It’s possible,” replied Ruby.
“The citadel’s shields can repel any attack,” retorted Malachite.
“That’s what we all said about the High Priestess’s Temple back home,” said Belinda. “No, we need to be better than that.”
“Mr and Mrs. Daniels,” said Ruby, “where do you and Pat fit into Gaian society?”
“I’m the High Monitor, the main head of operations,” replied Fran. “Tim’s my assistant and Pat’s my apprentice.”
“Any chance you three could bring Bethany along to help check for any glitches in the system?”
“Ruby?” asked Bethany.
“That would actually be splendid,” replied Fran. “Perhaps we can finally isolate a problem we’ve been having with the Mana Pools.”
“I tell you, it’s just the instrumentation-!” interjected the Lord Vice-President.
“Lord Vice-President, with respect, let US make that determination,” said Tim. “The whole system needs an overhaul. Miss Bethany, will you accompany us?”
“Sure thing,” replied Bethany. “Always eager to learn new technology and the science behind it.”
“Your world leans more towards the scientific?” asked Pat.
“Yeah, but I think we just proved that there’s magic in the universe,” replied Bethany.
“Well, given that we’ve used magic instead of science throughout our history…” said Pat.
“Ooh, magic-based technology, then?” asked Bethany, intrigued.
“And she’s about to go full egg-head,” sighed Yazmyn.
“Egg-head meaning someone insufferably smart?” asked Opal.
“Bingo!” replied Yazmyn. “You got any phrase like that?”
“Not exactly like that,” said Opal. “Although we do say book-worm.”
“That’s what we say too!” Yazmyn grinned. “I think you and I are gonna get along just fine!” Opal grinned in agreement.
“Come on, let’s do some patrolling!” she said. She and Yazmyn stood up.
“I think we’d better get going as well,” said Pat.
“Miss Williams, this way, please,” directed Tim. Bethany followed her hosts out.
“What will we be doing, Ruby?” asked Wilma.
“…We’ll be at the conference, looking over things,” decided Ruby. “We need to see if the culprit or its representative is in attendance.”
“I-I know the best place to do that,” offered Gabi. “That is…if you’re okay with it.”
“Perfect!” praised Ruby. “We’ll take up our position there. Lord Vice-President, you have some stuff to do for the conference, yes?”
“Naturally,” replied the Lord Vice-President. “I take it I am to carry out my duties to make our potential suspect think I am ignorant of the whole thing.”
“That’s the idea, Sir,” confirmed Ruby.
“Leave that to me, then. I once did that when I was Lord President.” By now, everyone headed off to do their parts.
“Minister,” said a woman in workman’s clothes, “I appreciate that you want to speak to me, but I have an assignment that requires my attention!”
“It is not the assignment you must pay attention to,” replied the minister. “Listen to me, my dear. Listen to me carefully.” The minister pulled out a stone and a faint noise could be heard.
“Wh…What is that-?!” yelped the woman.
“Do not resist the noise. Do not fear it.” The minister’s words were burrowing into her mind, giving the noise time to activate the bliss centers of her brain. “That’s it, my dear. You now obey a higher power as I do. Hear that music. Let Dame Petrify command you as she does me.”
“…C…Command…mmm…yes, please, Dame Petrify…command me…” The woman was zonked out and deep in hypnotic bliss.