One might assume after a week of meetings, Alexander's life would die down. That assumption would have been right, if it wasn't for Lucy.

"Coming!" Alexander shouted as knocking came from the door.

"Who the hell is knocking this early?" Edgar said, yawning. "It's not even five yet."

"Some bodyguard." Alexander said, reaching the door. "I woke up the first couple of times that-"

"I need help." Lucy said as Alexander opened the door, cloak dusted with snow. "Only you can provide the kind I need."

Being a Councilor carries a lot of advantages. One of those was access to a top secret entrance to Inner Eali direct into Council chambers.

"Hold my hand." Alexander said. "And whatever you do, don't do anything to remember where we are."

Lucy nodded, her mask having been enchanted by Alexander to blind her.

"Okay." Alexander said, moving his hands to her mask. "I'm going to block your hearing."

"Isn't blinding me enough?" she said, rubbing her faded yellow eyes.

"Not taking any chances." Alexander said.

Alexander moved the mask up to her ears. She immediately moved away, fixing the mask.

"What's the problem?" Alexander asked.

"Don't touch the mask." Lucy said. "Please."

"I have to." Alexander said. "I don't have anything that can fit over your ears."

Lucy stepped back forward.

"Just, don't move them away from my eyes." Lucy said.

Alexander moved his hands to the mask, moving it towards Lucy's ears.

"Before I do this," Alexander said. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"No." Lucy said. "Just get on with it."

Alexander pushed the magic from his body, shaping it into the required spell.

Magic, as mentioned before, was energy based along with having to know what spell to use to shape it. Unlike with other kinds of magic found in Earth fiction, shaping is not used in a metaphorical sense. Rather, it is used in a literal sense. Magic, quite simply, is like clay. It can be shaped into different things, most of them being abstract. Like with clay, it takes time and material to shape the magic into what you want. However, it is not able to be seen with one's eyes, but in ones mind. This is why magicians aren't very common on Rodia.

"Aaand," Alexander said, pulling the last vis into place. "Done."

When an object is enchanted, it flashes what ever color the magician is, then fades.

What color a magician is does not matter in most cases. It is simply a identifier, much th same as eye color.

Alexander watched as the mask flashed purple. He took Lucy's hand and started walking.

Of course the secret entrance being, well, a secret, Alexander got lost more than once on the way to it. To help keep it a secret, it will not be described.

Alexander sighed as he fought to remember what the pass-code was.

The system that the Council uses has numbers and Cavani letters, known on Earth as Greek. This system has a total of thirty-four symbols and uses six of them. As such there are trillions of potential combinations, likely more, making guessing it nearly impossible.

"Six, two, seven, omega, eta, sigma." Alexander said as he typed the symbols in.

A light flashed red.

"Avirt." Alexander cursed. "Seven, sigma, six, two, eta, omega."

Red.

"Two, six, omega, eta, seven, sigma, eta."

A heavy lock was heard from the door frame as the light flashed green. He led Lucy into the long hallway, closing the door behind him.

He pulled the mask from Lucy's ears.

"That was, disorienting." Lucy said.

Alexander ran his hand along the area of the mask, canceling the enchantment.

"I really don't like this hallway." Lucy said as she stared down it. "Reminds me of when I was younger."

"You said you needed help from the Council." Alexander said, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. "What the hell kind of help?"

"It's not something I want to say twice." Lucy said. "He is everywhere you know."

"Does it concern him?" Alexander said.

"Yes." Lucy said. "It concerns something big on the Council itself. Something that has the potential to change Rodia, forever."

"An emergency meeting Alexander?" the Vulp Councilwoman said. "Doesn't exactly look good. Not to mention bringing an unauthorized person into the chambers."

"Given Lucy's status, it may not entirely called for." the Lupa Councilman said. "Especially since you called for one in your early days as well Susan."

The Vulp had red fur instead of orange. The Lupa had black fur.

"That doesn't explain the fact that Councilmen Cazi and Jahoe are not present." the Cor Councilwoman said. "Along with Councilwoman Vazquez."

"I'm sure Alexander has the answers we need." Councilwoman Zal said. She turned to Alexander. "What is the purpose of this emergency meeting?"

"Truthfully, all I know is that someone is planning something." Alexander said. "I believe it is an attack on the Council with a new type of weapon."

This sparked mumbles around the table.

"Is this all?" Councilwoman Zal said, silencing the mumbles.

"All I know." Alexander said. "But I know that Lucy knows more."

"Very well. Lucy, tell us more."

Lucy felt nervous. Anyone sharing the news she had would be.

"Alexander is right." Lucy said, her hood pulled back to reveal her head. "There is an attack on the Council planned with a new type of weapon."

Now things really heated up.

"What do you know about this weapon?" Zal said as the chambers quieted down.

"All I know is that it is extremely powerful." Lucy said. "It is a bomb that uses a new type of energy."

"What the hell kind of bomb?" Alexander said. "Sorry."

"Given what she has shared, it is not uncalled for." Zal said. "Of what nature is this energy? Is it magical?"

"It emits from certain metals." Lucy said. "From what I heard, the bomb that is planned to be used uses uranium."

If the reveal of an attack was big, the reveal of the nature of the bomb was downright massive.

"SILENCE!" Zal yelled. The room quieted down. "Someone get Strife and Donald in here now!"

"I'm guessing that uranium is bad. Really bad." Alexander said. "But seeing as I'm new and not technologically aligned, why?"

"Uranium is a metal that emits energy that has the potential to kill in high amounts." the Bos Councilman said. "This energy is termed radioactivity. Normally there is low levels everywhere in the world, some places have higher levels, such as Inner Eali. But if Lucy is right…"

"No it won't cause everyone to die." Donald said as he walked into the room. "But it will cause some aftereffects that will last for long after we all die naturally."

"Baring cancer from being in the path of the radioactivity." Strife said, following behind Donald. "That could fall under naturally though."

"Is there anything you could tell us?" Zal said.

"Beyond what the Council already knows?" Donald said. "No. I'm more interested on how they managed to get enough uranium without getting the Councils attention."

"Would it be possible that a Councilor was helping?" Alexander asked.

"That certainly would help move things along yes." Donald said. "But there are three-"

"Cazi, Jahoe, and Vasquez." Lucy said. "Those are the three names that my source said was helping with the bomb."

"Looks like we've got a problem on our hands." Donald said. "Not much we can do without getting their attention."

"I have an idea." Fate said. "Could the energy be used as a power source?"

"That is most definitely a good way to see what's up." Donald said. "But the problem is keeping the radioactivity from escaping."

"There is another matter that is more important." Zal said. "Who is the one planning the attack?"

"His name is Fazam." Lucy said.

"Who is this Fazam?" Zal said.

"I don't know myself." Lucy said. "He hides beneath several layers. Beyond his name, all I know is that he wishes to become the most powerful magician in the world."

"But magic can only be taught." Susan said. "How powerful you are is limited by your knowledge."

"Not really." Lucy said. "Magic is measurable. The more powerful a magician is, the more vis he or she is can use."

"From what you've told us, this Fazam is capable of moving magic somehow." Zal said. "What do you know of this process?"

"It involves a machine of a complex nature." Lucy said. "I've seen it in action once when I was six."

"It's a very difficult subject to remember for her." Alexander said. "It leaves the one who's magic is drained hideously deformed. His group also has these weapons in a rod-like shape that deafen everyone."

"Impossible." Donald said. "I've shared the designs for that weapon to no one. Not even the..."

Donald looked like a deer in the headlights.

"If this weapon is as dangerous as you think it is," Zal said. "You acted in your own belief that it was too dangerous to share with the Council. I cannot penalize you for that. However, with another independent party designing the same weapon..."

Zal motioned for Donald to continue.

"Well…" Donald shifted on his feet nervously. "From what Alexander described, it was a sonic weapon. Mine is a projectile weapon."

"It wasn't a sonic weapon." Lucy said. "I've ran into an incident where one was used against me."

"Please describe what happens when it is used on someone."

Lucy ran into an alleyway, a large Mimus running past her a few minutes later.

"I hate Mimi." she said as she adjusted her hood.

After a while Lucy stepped back out into the street.

"An alleyway?"

The Mimus had tricked her. He pointed one of the rods at her.

"Don't think about running away." the Mimus said. "Or I'll shoot."

Lucy kept calm.

"Do you know what Fazam has planned?" Lucy asked. "He wants to overthrow the Council."

"They're a bunch of old, gray-muzzled mazards that sit on their tails while the world changes without them." the Mimus said. "Let him do that. The world will be a better place without the Council."

Unbeknownst to the Mimus, Lucy had been working on a shielding spell. She chose that moment to turn and run, activating it. She heard a loud bang.

"The shielding spell didn't work against the projectile." Lucy said. "When I got to a hiding place, my tail had been injured heavily."

"How so?" Zal asked.

"It bled heavily and the projectile was lodged near my vertebrae." Lucy said. "I had to pull it out."

"Councilwoman Zal." Donald said. "It is the same weapon I designed. If another party has it, we must prepare likewise."

"As much as I would like to say no, with events being as they are..." Zal said. "It is a needed course of action."

When the meeting was over, Donald had asked Lucy to come with him. Lucy had agreed, but only if Alexander and Fate came as well.

"My main workshop isn't in the tower." Donald said. "Or in the mountain for that matter."

"In other words..." Alexander said. "We need our bodyguards?"

"Yes." Donald said. "I'm going to use the main entrance. You three will use the secret entrance. Council guidelines state that-"

"We know." Alexander said. "At least I do. Fate you've read the book right?"

"Haven't had a chance to." Fate said.

Donald's workshop turned out to not even be in Eali, it was an extremely large building that one-half was in a hill near Eali Mountain and one-half built one of large stone blocks that had burn marks on the outside.

"Haven't been working on anything that has a chance to catch fire of blow up lately." Donald said.

"Is that statement making anyone else nervous?" Alexander said. "Just me then?"

Donald chuckled as he unlocked the heavy steel door. What lay inside was a mechanical wasteland. Various machines lay in pieces, strewn about the massive cavern, some Alexander recognized, most he did not.

"Is that a var?" Fate asked, pointing to a mostly dissembled vehicle.

"Of course my dear." Donald said. "Been trying to figure out a more powerful engine that can last longer. Haven't had much luck."

Unlike most Earth cars, vars do not run on fossil fuels, but on electricity.

"Do you keep your blueprints in here?" Alexander said. "I would be terrified of losing them in a fire or explosion."

"I don't have them on physical paper." Donald said. "See that door on the opposite end? That's where we're headed."

"My feet are going to be sore as hell after this." Alexander thought as looked at the door several hundred yards from them.

Yep, a nuke. Make sure you leave a review!