140. Golden Orb

I decided that I should forget about everything that happened and generally no longer mention Zombozo. So my sanity will stay in order.

In any case, he's done with and he won't have to come back, so it's best not to worry about trifles once again. And it's not because I was actually scared by that clown disappearance scene, okay?

When I got back to Chicago, I had to take care of all the people who unwittingly brought their possessions to the zombie clown. When I destroyed the tape recorder, none of the lunatics woke up, and they all continued to sleep standing on the street.

As a result, I had to carry almost thirty thousand people home. Luckily, I had my clones, super-speed aliens, and magic that I could use to find each sleepwalker's place of residence, and was able to correctly distribute the stolen property so that everything returned to its place.

As a result, three hours later, all the victims of hypnosis were back in their beds without noticing anything. I, too, was finally able to get back on the bus and immediately fell asleep, as I really had to work hard to make it look like nothing happened tonight. Although, that's how it was. What happened was just a nightmare. (Negation of reality.)

Grandfather woke me up at eight o'clock in the morning. I didn't get enough sleep, but since I had plans for today, I couldn't sleep much longer.

First feeding Nebula, who began to manage her telekinesis better and better, I went to breakfast with Max and the girls (fortunately, grandfather was in a good mood and we were able to persuade him to go to a cafe). And then, we parted again, each to his own business.

Max went to see his old friends, Gwen went to see some new friends she met yesterday, and Ashley went back to look for a new food contest, in which she is very easy to, it turns out, win with a little cheating.

I, having asked Max off, went to meet with Hope, as promised. Although, I will have to return to the festival by six o'clock in the evening, when grandfather's favorite band will perform, since I promised that I would definitely be present at the performance. And after that, there will be a performance by Kalkun's, which is also not to be missed….

- Hey. - I said softly distracting Hope, who was in Hex's room, reading something raptly.

- Lex! - the girl shouted joyfully when she realized that it was me, jumping into my arms.

- I missed you too. - I said with a smile, tightly squeezing the body of my girlfriend in my hands.

- I missed your hugs. - Hope said happily.

- We haven't seen each other for only a few days… - I reminded the Charmcaster, although I myself felt a very strong longing for her.

- Too long… - Hope said irritably, reaching for a kiss.

Happy to give it to her, we began a passionate kissing session to show how much we missed each other, which eventually escalated into a horizontal position, and you know how it ended...

***

*Three hours later*

- Ah, I missed that… - Hope said with a broad smile, lying beside her without clothes.

- Yes, me too ... - I said honestly, although, probably, shouldn't have.

For the next ten minutes, we just lay in silence, enjoying the pleasant atmosphere, after which we decided to do important things anyway.

After taking a shower, which took a little longer for obvious reasons, we began to retell what had happened over the past few days.

First, I told her about the meeting with Vaalet, Victor's plan and the victory over the Mummy, after which I showed her Cal (the former Excalibur). Also, in general terms, I told how our family trip was going, and after that I gave the floor to Hope and began to listen to how her working days went.

For the first two days, she only studied the golden orb that I gave her, and also waited for the translation of the black pages to be ready.

Then Hex appeared, and somehow everything flew out of her head, as she constantly pondered the past conversation and thought about what she should do with her 'new' uncle.

Eventually, only yesterday she decided to call and consult with me. I sort of managed to calm her down and she was able to take her mind off Hex and continue her work on exploring the golden orb. I ripped it off just as she was looking for the right spell.

- So you haven't been able to find out what this golden sphere is? - I asked, munching on the pizza I had brought especially for Hope, since I knew she was probably hungry.

- I used every exploratory spell on it that I know and that I could find in my uncle's books, but I could only find out that this orb is some kind of map that should lead to some secret place. - Hope said unhappily.

- Map, huh? - I asked, holding the aforementioned sphere in my hands.

- Yes. Although, it is better to say, the key. At the certain time, the orb will have to open the way to that mysterious place and lead to trials, after passing which you will receive an inconceivable reward. At least according to what is written on the sphere. - Hope quoted, pointing out very small writing that I hadn't noticed before. They must have been hidden…

- And when will 'that' time come? - I asked.

- That's the thing, I don't know yet. But I think I've found a ritual that can figure it out. - Hope said, pointing to the book she had been reading before I arrived.

- Well, then let's not hesitate and go and check? I even wondered what the 'mystery place' was and what kind of reward it was. - I said as I got to my feet, helping Hope up from the floor where we were sitting and eating pizza.

- Me too. We go to the basement, there is the most suitable place for the ritual, at the same time we will check those pages. - Hope said. hugging my hand with a smile.

As we headed downstairs, I realized that Hope had never once mentioned another subject that I had asked her to investigate.

- Wait, what about cloth? - I immediately asked, sensing something was wrong.

- Cloth? - Hope asked incredulously.

- Well, that rag I gave you along with the orb. - I quickly recalled.

- Ah, I completely forgot. I didn't have time, so I didn't even start researching it. It should still be in the basement. - Hope said.

Stopping abruptly, realizing that some kind of devilry had happened, I quickly clarified: - So it wasn't you who sent me the restored cloth a few days ago with a note that it should be eaten?

- What? Eat? No, of course not, what kind of nonsense? - The Girl asked looking at me strangely.

'What the hell?' - I thought, visibly frightened.

I was already starting to panic and urgently wanted to get rid of the cloth, which, as it turned out, got to me from hell knows where, but abruptly stopped when a very familiar laugh was heard in the air.

- Paradox? - I asked out loud, recognizing the owner of the laugh.

- What are you talking about? - Hope asked incredulously.

- Can't you hear laughter? - I asked, looking at the girl as the Time Lord's laughter grew louder.

- What laugh? - Hope tilted her head sweetly.

Before I could say anything, the laughter stopped and a small green portal opened above my head, from which flew out a small piece of paper with a note that read:

[When I realized that the last piece from the Contumelia prototype fell into your hands, I I just could not resist and decided to help you understand what treasure fell into your hands. You can not thank, this is my thanks for helping Ben 10'000.

Your favorite, Professor Paradox.]

'That's not funny at all. I really got scared.' - I thought angrily, clutching the note.

- What was it? - Hope asked, unable to understand anything.

- Do not pay attention. Message from an old friend. - Through my teeth, I said.

'Someday, I'll kick that bastard's ass...' - I promised myself, deciding not to forget this incident and no matter how much time passes, Paradox will one day get punished for his stupid jokes.

- Okay, stop wasting time. Let's go. - I said, pulling on Hope's arm.

- Ah, okay… - Hope said indistinctly, whom I scared a little with my strange behavior.

When we got to the basement, there was a very familiar cauldron in the center, with a translation potion that was still covered with a lid.

- Is it okay that the pages lie there for several days longer than they should? - I asked pointing to the boiler.

- There is nothing wrong. Once the translation has been completed, the entire effect of the potion is over and it won't harm the pages in any way. - Hope said with a smile as she started drawing the ritual circle from the book.

- Why don't you call on your stone creatures to help? - I asked, remembering the last time in this place, Hope was preparing a ritual to seal Zs'Skayr.

- The ritual is too complicated this time. Although they are intelligent, they are not very smart and skillful. So this time you have to do it yourself. - Hope said, very concentrated on drawing some complex figure.

- Well then, let me help you. - I said readily.

- Okey. Here, hold the magic chalk. You need to draw this drawing on the ceiling exactly above the place where I draw. - Hope said, handing me the crayon and pointing to the complex octagonal figure in the book. consisting of many characters of unknown origin.

- No problem. - quickly memorizing the whole drawing, I said, and then turned into a Spidermonkey, climbed to the ceiling and began to do my part of the work.

This turned out to be much more difficult to do than I thought, and I was only able to finish painting an hour later, fifteen minutes later than Hope. That's what experience means...

- Done. - descending from the ceiling and becoming a man, I said, and then asked: - What is this ritual supposed to do?

- If all goes well, he should show the true purpose of the golden orb. True, I thought the same when I used another spell and nothing happened. Let's just hope it works out this time. - Hope said, looking a little angry that she was having such a hard time deciphering the secret of this orb.

- It's clear. Well, then start the ritual. - I said, putting the golden orb in the center of the drawing, and stepped aside so as not to interfere.

- Okey. ;? *; :*;? :*; : ;? *: TO; (; : *(*%; *(. - Hope said and cast a spell in a new language for me, putting her hands to the edge of the drawing and began to saturate it with her mana.

As always, everything lit up with the color of Hope's Magic, and the rusinka began to blaze. When all the lines glowed evenly pink, the sphere slowly flew up into the air and started spinning like crazy. This went on for several minutes without any change. But then, everything suddenly began to fade, and Hope loudly shouted:

- I don't have enough mana. Help me...

Quickly running to the girl, I put my hands on her back and began to transfer my mana to her so that the ritual would not fail. Since I have much more mana than Hope, I soon intercepted the ritual, and everything began to glow blue.

The golden orb kept spinning for a few more minutes until it suddenly released a wave of air that sent us Hope right into the wall. Luckily, I managed to stop us with telekinesis before we hit.

- Beautiful… - Hope said fascinated, looking at the place of the ritual.

Also looking there, I saw something similar to a hologram that showed the outer space of our solar system. The hologram was replaced by different images, showing our planets in turn, which, in the end, slowly began to line up in a straight line. Finally, the hologram zoomed in on the sun at the center of the line, pointing to a specific spot on our star.

- Parade of planets…. - I said slowly, understanding the meaning of the vision shown to us as the hologram disappeared and the entire ritual ceased.

- So it's time when the path opens and the orb leads to the 'mysterious place', is that the day the planetary alignment happens? - Hope asked, picking up the fallen orb.

- Apparently, yes. But this is not just a parade of planets. This is a full parade when ALL the planets line up in a straight line. This only happens once every 170 years. - I said, erasing the entire ritual pattern, since we no longer need it.

- And when is the full parade next? - Hope asked, not at all versed in such things.

- If they don't lie here, next year. In May. - I said after checking the internet.

- Oh, it's very soon. We were lucky. - Hope said.

- Yeah, lucky ...

- Well, what do you think? Are you using the key? Will you go to the 'mysterious place'? - the Charmcaster asked curiously.

- Probably. I'm really curious what's behind this. - I said, shrugging my shoulders and taking the sphere from the hands of the girl, sent it to inventory, where it will lie until needed.

- Aren't you afraid of the trials that were spoken about in that sphere? Maybe not worth the risk? - Hope asked worriedly.

- Don't worry, if it turns out to be too dangerous, I can always escape. - I said, stroking the girl on the head.

- Mm, it's good that you know that you don't always have to persevere. - Hope said with a smile as she hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.

- Yes. This is my forte. - I said with a cheeky smile.

- So, what is next? - the Charms asked, ignoring my previous words.

- Pages. - I said seriously, looking at the cauldron. Time to finish them off and see if they can help me get what I want...