Analyzing the crystal

[Rising Dragon]

"About damn time," she muttered as she walked into the portal.

The three of them appeared inside one of the Core's main labs, with specialized equipment in every which direction.

[BD]

"So, what can tell us who sealed the soul into this thing...?" Kite asked with an eyebrow raised at all the equipment.

[Rising Dragon]

"You can look for yourself when I'm done," Samus said, placing the crystal in a steel pillar that looked as if it had its middle cut out of it. The crystal floated inbetween it, slowly revolving as a green field enveloped it as it was scanned.

"And now we wait," Samus said, sitting in a seat by a computer terminal.

[Fallen]

Marianna watched as the crystal was being analyzed, also finding herself a seat to sit in and wait.

[BD]

Kite walked over and crouched down next to Marianna,"Can that scrap heap go any faster?"

[Rising Dragon]

Samus gave Kite a sidelong glance. "If you keep pushing, I'll show you how painful a whip can feel," she said, "You need to be more patient."

Meanwhile, the scanning continued, as it pulled in data from all around Ymaggion related to the crystal. She blinked when a certain word popped up as it began compiling the data, despite still drawing information.

"A Soulstone shard?" she said in quiet bewilderment.

[BD]

"And what the hell is that?..." Kite asked looking at the read-out on the screen.

[Rising Dragon]

"It's a crystal that, when thrust into the body of a dying creature, will absorb the soul of the victim into itself, and when an occupied Soulstone is placed inside another creature, the soul can take over and warp the body as it sees fit," Samus explained, "Well, a Soulstone can be a very powerful weapon for a demon, and the most prominent demon to wield Soulstones was an old enemy of your's."

Samus turned around on her chair and looked at Kite.

"Do you remember Ziatoch's minion Diablo?"

[Fallen]

Marianna nearly quivered, placing her hands over the pit of ice that was her stomach, "I've heard of him, from Kalmar. But.. I thought he was dead."

[BD]

"...this isn't good...I killed him, something or someone revived him and only one person would have the power to do so, Ziatoch himself..." Kite said connecting the dots.

[Rising Dragon]

"Diablo is dead," Samus confirmed, turning back to the computer, "He was struck down by the Rising Dragon, whom you both know as Rua Dragonheart. No one knows how he did it or what happened, for a while at the end he was missing. All we do know is that during the battle, Bahamut was killed and the Rising Dragon unlocked the Third Cipher of Lumiya."

She finished up the scan and printed it out, handing it to Kite.

"Diablo has nothing to do with this, he was just the most prominent user of Soulstones. What this is," Samus continued, holding up the crystal, "Is a shard of a Soulstone. So it can contain a soul, but not for long. It'll eventually break free. But we still have a mystery, for the soul inside to be used, it needs a body. And it didn't have a body, did it?"

[Fallen]

"No," Marianna replied, "the ghost vanished after a few moments." She looked at Kite, and back at Samus.

[BD]

"Wait a minute...The only way that could be is if a summoner or necromancer used one..." Kite said thinking,"Computer, pull up a list of all summoners and necromancers with known connections to soulstones..."

[Rising Dragon]

Samus gave Dranzer a flat stare as the computer did... nothing. "It's not that kind of computer, Kite," she said, shaking her head. "Honestly, you kids watch too much Star Trek..."

Samus turned back in her chair and put in the search criteria for Kite, and the computer quickly began scanning Ymaggion's database.

"I'm not sure there'll be much," she said, musing, "We've got most of the remnant Soulstone data locked away, since it was alien data brought in during the glitching."

[Fallen]

Marianna giggled at Kite, "Then whatever the computer pulls up should be a short list. We should be able to find out who did this pretty easily then!"