"The pieces are in place," he said in a low voice. In the darkness, he may as well have been whispering. Against the heartbeat, he might not have been speaking at all. "The Searcher has found the entryway. The Keepers are dead. The remaining keys have been located, and the Director is ready to move his subordinates into the Garden." The Ringmaster paused, coming to a halt. "The stage is set for the finale."

 

There was a moment of silence. Lyxek could feel the intense heat and pressure in the air around him, the suffocatingly intense darkness emanating from the Heart. Any other being would find the feeling unbearable. They would subcumb to the Heart's dark nature in several short hours, disappear into the mindless, unorderly abyss. Not Lyxek. He alone had managed to withstand the destruction. He had linked his mind, body, and soul with it, become one with the chaos.

 

Only one other being had ever managed to successfully accomplish this. And in the end, he had been too weak to see the contract fulfilled. He had rejected the Forever One; in doing so, he had sacrificed his power, breaking Rhashahk's very being into three parts--and those three parts had eventually split further, becoming four. Lyxek had to admit that the former Ringmaster had been remarkably skilled to be able to pull off such a thing and survive. It was a shame that he had not yet been able to locate him...

 

Whispers began to fill the chamber, cascading off of the walls arounds Lyxek. They were stronger than they had ever been in the past. That was good--it confirmed that everything was working. Vue d'Ombre... The Ringmaster's thoughts continued to pore over the intricate twists and turns of his plans--his reliance on the Director, on Dalmia, Vailian, even Kerid and the Day Run itself... Noyau d'Ombre... The plan had spanned for decades, and no one had ever realized it. From the fall of the original Ring, the destruction of the original Kai-Nam, the splitting of the Heart...

 

He looked up at the Heart, a slight smile on his face. "All accounted for," he said. "The Eye has been gathering energy since I made my return. Its programming will be overidden once everything else falls into place. As for the Soul..." He blinked slightly. "It'll arrive soon--and it'll bring so much more with it..."

So there are only ten hours left of voting, and Day Run is barely holding its place in third. Perhaps this will have convinced some of you guys to give it a few more votes--and given everyone an idea of just what might be in store for the future... >=)

Final poll, entry #2. Vote Day Run!