'Aunty Amneris, you're back!'

Amneris scooped up the five-year-old Dragonoid boy and gave him a tight hug. 'Hello, Blaze. Been causing much trouble?'

He shook his head with a smile. 'Mummy says causing trouble is a bad thing and does a lot of bad things.'

'Yes, that does sound like something your mother would say.'

'I can hear you!' Carmin laughed, taking her son from Amneris' arms. She kissed his cheek. 'So, meeting?'

'Where are the others?' Amneris asked.

'Right behind me.'

* * * * * * * *

Everyone sat around the oval table of one of the large Meeting Rooms. Amneris sat at the head, Lvaane and Colt at her side. Xix sat at the other end, Ema and Axel beside her. Leo, Nikki, Zoe, Carmin (with Blaze on her lap), Dan, Jay, and Kayla sat between them.

'Is this everyone?' Ema asked.

Amneris said, 'No, we're still waiting on--'

Hathor dashed into the room, her friends Troy, Imogene, Maddie, Sky, and Isaiah running in behind her. They took up the empty seats.

'Sorry, mum,' Hathor said with a sheepish smile. 'We got a little lost.'

'Now everyone is here,' Amneris smiled.

'Wait, shouldn't the Council be here?' Nikki asked.

Amneris and Lvaane exchanged glances. 'We are planning to tell them after this meeting. When we have more information. And actually know what's going on,' Amneris answered.

Xix tapped the table. A holographic screen flickered to life, displaying an image of Jennix with her silver armour, pistol, and bright blue pony tail.

'First order of business,' Xix said. 'This cyborg does not exist. The Database has not heard of them. They are . . . no one.'

'That's impossible,' Leo said, sitting back and crossing his arms.

'Which brings us to our second order of business,' Jay said. He tapped the table. Three more images--Aurora, Arthur, and Lydia in their now clean clothes--appeared next to Jennix. 'These guys also don't exist in the Database.'

'Still impossible,' Leo said stubbornly. 'Everyone in Creation is in the database.'

'Everyone in this Creation,' Zoe corrected. 'I looked up these people. Aurora and Arthur do exist. Normal teenagers on several of the Earths like everyone else. Lydia died over ten-thousand years ago, also a normal Human. So was Jennix who only exists in two universes so far. They're a new being and still quite Human.'

'There,' Leo said. 'They do exist.'

Zoe shook her head. 'These people exist in Creation, yes, and they are in the Database. The ones we've met, however, don't exist. The people in the Database and the people we've met? All different beings.'

'Which is why when you search them manually they exist, but not a direct scan,' Sky said slowly.

'Right,' Zoe nodded. 'What we're dealing with is people who don't exist within our Creation.'

'That alternate multiverse theory is looking pretty good right now.' Nikki sighed. 'Just when it was starting to make sense they go and pull this one on us.'

'We all feel your pain, Niks,' Amneris said.

'Speaking of feeling pain,' Xix interrupted, 'I would like to make mention of our third order of business. The powers of Naiu and Naka.'

Amneris buried her face in her hands. 'Do we have to talk about that? It was embarrassing.'

'It is important, Sister.'

Lvaane spoke. 'Naiu's power was stolen from my daughter. While she and I still have our natural abilities, we no longer have access to our Photon powers. Xix's Silent powers have only continued to grow stronger as Creation has lost Balance. Chaos is becoming stronger and Order is slowly fading.'

Amneris clenched her fists beneath her table. She was to blame for this. She was the one who allowed Jennix to steal her power. She was the one who'd thrown Balance out of whack.

Colt's hand appeared on her own under the table. 'This is not your fault, Tali. None of us knew how far Jennix would go.'

'We don't even know what they want.'

'Whatever they want, they need a mass amount of power to do it,' Dan said, sitting forward, resting his head on the backs of his hands. 'I would be willing to bet they come after Naka's power next.'

The room filled with grim silence.

Amneris took a breath. 'You don't think that . . .'

'It is possible . . .' Xix agreed quietly.

'But no one can control its power,' Colt said.

'Uh, excuse me,' Maddie said, raising her hand. 'What are you three talking about?'

Amneris sighed and sat back. She turned to the youngest members of the table. 'You all know the stories of my power and Xix's - the powers of the Photon and Silent Cores.' They nodded. 'There's an old story, one we've never dared test. It says we can fuse the powers together into an all-mighty force called the Eternal Core, the ultimate power of Balance and Eternity.'

'No one knows how strong it is,' Xix continued. 'There's no record of the Cores being fused in that way.'

Lvaane took a sharp breath. 'That is not true. There is one case.'

'Oh?' Amneris asked, suddenly very interested.

Lvaane pressed the table. The holographic images of the four were replaced with a worn stone tablet written in the Old Language. Amneris whistled. Stone tablets were rare on Lyriumia. Almost everything was done on holographic screens or enchanted paper, and had been for millions of years. Stone tablets . . . Gods, even Amneris had no idea how long ago those had been used.

Lvaane nodded to the room. 'Yes, this is one of our most ancient records. Not as old as the First Photon Queen but not far off. Our archaeologists who discovered this dated back to the time of the Fifth Photon Ruler Adria. He was the third King.'

'Adria,' Xix breathed. 'I've heard stories of his power. Of his adventures.'

'He tried to control the powers of both Naiu and Naka,' Ema said.

'And managed to do so,' Lvaane said.

'Temporarily,' Amneris muttered. 'It blew up in his face.' Everyone stared at her. 'Yeah, that's right. I know the stories, too. This is far from my first day on the job.'

'Helia, please.'

'Sorry. Sorry. Continue.'

'Adria managed to create the Eternal Core, but only for a moment,' Lvaane said. 'The power was too great from him. He lost control, the power destroying him as the two Cores separated, returning to their natural form. As my daughter said, it blew up in his face. He died.'

'The ultimate power of Balance and Eternity,' Sky muttered. 'How strong are we talking, exactly?'

Amneris smiled grimly. 'Imaging being able to control everything within Creation with just a thought. Being able to created and destroy with a wave of the hand.'

'Wow.'

'Yeah, it's stronger than that.'

Silence.

'That's bad,' Imogene said.

'Jennix wants the power of the Eternal Core,' Hathor said. 'But why?'

'Perhaps our visitors can shed light on the situation,' Colt said.

Amneris sighed. 'Oh, alright.' She keyed her wrist mic. 'Bring them in.'