Daneel had been expecting a vision like the one granted to him by the Mother of all Godbeasts, but right as he felt the spell take effect, he saw that he was very, very wrong.
As he took in what was in front of him, the frantic pace that he had maintained until now fell away. In front of him was an endless void, and all around him, he could see spots of light that glowed like stars in the sky. He had no body, but when he thought that he wanted to move, he did so, going closer to the spot nearest to him.
Fascinated, he watched as it magnified in his vision, turning into a nimbus of entangled wisps of light of various colors, reminiscent of what he had seen outside.
[Activating decoding spell.]
His initial thought was that it was just a random thing that made no sense, but slowly, the wisps started to arrange themselves. Like pixels on a screen back on Earth that had been jumbled, they shifted and danced around each other until a coherent vision started to form.
It was that of the land of Angaria, and to Daneel's relief, he saw that it was still floating on the Endless Sea, with all of its people living and breathing as was evident from the masses of individuals who could be spotted from the viewpoint that he was looking through. Yet, this relief instantly disappeared when the image zoomed in, and showed the center where his sovereigns were either sitting and talking to themselves or pacing around, with him absent.
[Data gathered from test vision analyzed. Analysis of spell system complete.
Name: Monocle of Deiora
Description: During his travels, near the end of his life, the individual named as Deiora managed to enter the core of the continent. Inside, he used his research into time to study the Will of the World, thereby creating an object that could be used to take a glimpse into the future. The object was weak, only able to glimpse into the next few moments. It was also highly uncertain, giving thousands of possibilities. But after painstakingly studying every one of them, Deiora found a clue to a location in the sea where the laws that prohibited his Artefact from working would be weaker.
The reason behind this was that that place had experienced a magical impact of proportions that could not be imagined even by Heroes. This resulted in a weakening of what he termed 'the dimensional barrier' around it. At first, Deiora was confused, as what he had seen broke the laws of prophecies that had been set in stone until then.
It was a paradox unlike any he had seen before. So far, prophecies had been such that the future was not dependant on the prophecy, itself, being seen. He would not have been able to find this place if he had not seen through time in the first place.
Slowly, he realized that the merger with the Will of the World that he had carried out had resulted in unforeseen anomalies. One such anomaly was the injection of information from the Will. Deiora had felt this place before in his travel over the Endless Sea. Even if he hadn't done so consciously, his subconscious had noticed the anomaly. His Artefact had made it so that the past could be used, too, in this manner, to find what was needed. With the paradox resolved, Deiora found the location and built traps around it so that it could be utilized by those he had authorized. He had always been jealous of the Emperor, and his objective was to create something that would be of much more help to his home than anything his foe was capable of. He died feeling that he had succeeded.]
It was like a story straight out of some animated show, and Daneel even felt annoyed when he was given all the details about how what he was seeing had come to be.
Yet, understanding that the system would not have given him the story unless it was important, he calmed himself down and studied everything that he had just been told.
Slowly, Daneel began to see hints of things that he should not have ignored. The first thing he saw was the paradox presented by Erin using that phrase to stop him. So far, all the prophecies given by seers had always been of the sort that followed the rule believed by Deiora. They saw what they saw, and using that information, everything leading up to the future was affected. Time continued like an unbroken stream, as the glimpse into the future by the seer was concrete, with the only thing that was able to be changed being how it might happen.
This case was clearly different. The future had directly been affected by what Erin had seen. If she had not seen that she should use that phrase, she would not have used it. It caused a loop that had no beginning and end, and it was antithetical to everything that he knew about the way prophecies worked.
Just like the Emperor's rival figured out the answer behind the paradox… he found it answer, too.
Some parts of it were still unclear, though, so he asked the system, and sure enough, he was right.
[The merger resulted in the information that is present in the Will of the World to be utilized to affect the future. Hence, the information about the phrase that needed to be used did not come from the future, but from the past.]
'Exactly! Weren't there multiple times when I struggled with the truth about how I am from a different world? Isn't it true that the Will of the World is present everywhere, and as my consciousness is also made from the Will, that my thoughts are accessible to it?'
It made sense… But at the same time, Daneel saw that it represented a problem.
"Is everything about the past recorded perfectly, then, waiting to be used by anyone who can find a method in which it can be accessed?"
[Negative. Events on the continent are encoded in an extremely complex manner. The decoding can only occur if they need is presented by the 'time' part of the Monocle. The Monocle has been programmed to only call upon the Will in situations of extreme need.]
For the moment, it made sense. There were other things that he was curious about, but right now, Daneel decided that he would do what he had come here to accomplish.
"Take me to the vision that she saw."
Without a response, the system made him travel toward a different spot of light nearby. It was a jumble, too, but the closer it came, the more it started to resolve.
A few seconds later, he saw exactly what Erin had seen.
It was a still image, but it was enough for him to understand the reason behind how she had spoken. The part of the Endless Sea where Angaria had stood for eons was empty. The viewpoint he was looking through slowly changed to go under the sea, and there, the large mass of earth that they called their home was sinking, sinking, sinking to unseen depths where there was nothing but darkness. He could see no sign of anyone living or dead, but there was a hole through the center of the land. The rest of it was blackened due to the destruction that ranged outwards from this gaping breach, and slowly, a feeling of desolation began to engulf him.
Pausing, Daneel realized that the sentiment was coming from the image, rather than himself. It was difficult to explain, but it was like he was tuning into things from what he was seeing like a radio. Only, here, the signals he was getting…were emotions.
'It's…true.'
He didn't register being pushed out of the void. He didn't listen to the system saying that the Artefact had been overloaded. He didn't speak when he was teleported to the sky, and he didn't breathe when he felt the wind in his face.
All he saw…was that image, that felt like it had been burned into his eyes.
Only one other thing was strong enough to stand beside it, and understanding where he needed to go…Daneel gave the order.
"Take me to my wife."