New Game

It is done.  The task we've come this far to complete is over.  New York is no longer threatened by the artifact.  I suspect it came closer then any of us will publicly admit, as well.  I suppose I should tell some of the tale, if for no other reason then to have it written down.  It is harder for the tale to drift when it is recorded.

Nothing we tried to shut the artifact off had worked.  Aren, however, even with her weakness was able to...cast for the solution.  It had to be submerged in it's opposite.  As an artifact of darkness, it was left to me.  Vincent wished to take it to the Statue, but...there wasn't time.  If it was to be done, it had to be done at the Empire State Building.  Remembering how I dealt such damage to the shinobi, I returned with the artifact to the elevator.

Vincent gathered many mirrors, and everything else reflective that he could find.  It was, in the end, enough.  I find it difficult to put the feelings into proper words for what occured.  It was simply as if I was the sun, for a few moments, as I turned all of my divine power on the mirror my mother gifted me.  I did not see the results myself - such 'light shows' are difficult for me, as my eyes cut through such glare.  Gossip from those who had been watching the building, however, leads me to believe there was a simply massive wave of light shooting up and out from the building.

I stood when the light finally faded and walked outside.  The sky was clear, the black dome gone.  We'd won this battle, at least.  Even a temporary victory is something worth rejoicing in.