As Eary and Mote snuck back into the small suite, he was abruptly startled by a voice from the kitchen.

"Where have you been?" His brother's voice rang out from the kitchen.

Eary stood in silence as he stared at his brother.

Luke pressed in once more. "I knocked on your door an hour ago, no answer. So I went inside. No Eary. So I called Sakile and Calvin. I called Denby and Decan. I called the girls over. You know what? The girls didn't show up!" he said angrily, while taking out his phone and shooting a few texts. He continued. "So, where were you three?"

Eary's voice began to creak as no words could escape his mouth. A moment later, the guys arrived.

Sakile scolded Eary, "What's your problem? You gotta go sneaking out? You had us worried sick! You know how fucked up your brother was when he found you not in your bed? Denby and I have been reviewing security cameras, man. Fuck!"

"Not cool, love.

Eary attempted to defend himself again but to no avail. Decan approached to comfort his boyfriend, but a sudden noise prevented the moment. Alice and Mei burst into the apartment. Reading the minds of those in the room, Alice quickly came to the defense of Earhart.

"Hey, cool it!" she announced as she interrupted Eary's interrogation.

Luke hissed back. "You! Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Alice crossed her arms and replied with sass, "Look man! it was an accident. The magical kind! I 'accidentally' teleported us away... that's what happened."

"Where did you go?" Luke replied, visibly more calm.

Before Alice could answer, a blue shimmer of light appeared above Eary.

"Ta-da! Did ya miss me?" Mote exclaimed as he flew around in a flurry of lights.

"Mote!" Luke announced in suprise.

The little moteling hovered before the beanie clad young man. His beady eyes and mischievous grin flashed as he spoke,

"That's King Mote to ya! Now, why don't ya all sit down? We have a lot to go over," he said.

The crowd took a seat. Each cramming into the tiny living room of the identical StarGazer suites. Mote took center stage on the coffee table. He began by recounting the events of the evening and filled the others in about his very ancient past. The group sat shocked. Calvin was the first to speak,

"So, how old are you, Mote? I mean, that's not rude, is it?"

Mote grinned. He replied, "My kind don't have traditional ages. We go by how many universes old we is. We get to retire after we complete our assignment at our posts. I happen to be 40 years young."

"Hold up! Exactly how long does a universe exist for, and why are you fourty of then?" Alice asked inquisitively.

"Well, *cough* I, um, just so happen to be finding myself," Mote replied. "Claris has been tryin' to find the right fit for me. Bein' infallible and all that, it's a bit of a pressing issue."

"Is Claris like God?" Eary inquired.

Mote looked back and replied very loudly,

"Yes, they are! Good at it, too! And might I say, looks fetching in whatever they wear that moment!" Mote said, glancing around at the air above him, Eager for some acknowledgment.

"Are you, like, an angel then?" Eary inquired, his eyes full of wonder.

Mote scoffed. "Nah, I'm middle management; I handle accounts receivable for all karmic debts. I wish I was an angel. Sheesh! Do you know what those big birds get paid? And the benefit package? Get outta here!"

Excitedly, he sprang from the table. "All right, I'll take it from the top." he said as he flew past a corner and dragged a large whiteboard from seemingly nowhere.

"Where did that come from?" Alice exclaimed.

Mote waived his paw dismissively. "Never mind where I got it," he replied as he zipped up to the whiteboard and drew a detailed map of the Nocopo empire.

"So, some 26,000 years ago, give or take. Claris sent me here with a shard of themselves. My landing was a tad rough, so I dropped it."

"You were drunk," Eary exclaimed.

Mote nodded in compliance, "Hungover, actually. Anyways, a teenager named , no older than you, helped me collect 'em and such. We then sealed off Eldris' connection to this place and 13,000 years after that, I was livin' the life. I had it all; a lavish room in the Leoht palace, servants, money, power, respect... " Mote's ears sunk, "but unfortunately, my sand castle got kicked over. The whole Nocopo civilization was destroyed. Only Ilia and I survived, with many humans of course. All because of the Claris power. "

"What happened to 'em?" Denby inquired, mesmerized by Mote's tale.

Mote placed a paw over his eyes. "The darkness and I sealed in the heart of our land. A Scion popped up right there! In the Aedish kingdom. His name was Elxam. He was a powerful Claris of life, that was until he had a kid."

Eary asked."Why would that change?"

"Ya see. The Aedish passed their shard down at birth, the shard of life. Moreover, it's the same one ya got, kid," Mote replied.

Eary looked shocked. "How do you know?"

"Each of the four shards did somethin'. The life shard could fix and damage. That's how ya healed your sick friend back then." Mote said as he whirled around Eary. "You see, kid, you've never been too bad. So I'm guessin' that's why the shard picked you over your siblings. Because when a Claris uses their power for bad things, they become scions."

Mei inquired, "So the three scions are just an evil version of Eary?"

Mote's nod confirmed Mei's suspicion. He said, "In potential, yes." Taking a glance at Eary he sighed. "But probably far more advanced in their capabilities."

"Who were the evil scion guys then?" Alice asked.

Mote's disposition grew somber. He seemed to drift off into thought. He began to whisper,

"The three Scions of Eldris... a nasty bunch of fuckers. They once held the world in balance with the power bestowed upon them by Claris."

Mote then began to pace back and forth on the coffee table. His face slowly shifting to a more determined nasal scrunch. He grimly continued,

"The three Claris of the Nocopo once held perfect balance over their lands. Each supplied the genetic powers that had been instilled into the race of their region. The first to corrupt were those tech heads, the Rathok. Their Claris line was born bad! The 'Shard of the Claris' chunk that was left with the Rathok was turned into a butch tiara. It wasn't the biggest piece, but size don't matter with pieces of the almighty. Soon after corruption, their empire of evil was born. An empire of high-grade products. Wonderful shit, I'm not gonna lie. Delivered right to ya in an instant, too! But.. it was due to the luxuries the Rathok provided, they kept an uneasy balance with the Leoht for millennia. That was until the Aedish Claris corrupted, or so it seemed..."

"Why, 'So it would seem?'" Eary asked.

"As I told ya before Lite-Brite, the Aedish king had a kid before corruptin'. I wager that's how ya got your shard. The Aedish have it in the blood, unlike the other two."

"What happened to the other shards?" Alice asked curiously.

"The Rathok gem grants automatic genius. The holder can build all kinds of advanced shit. Judging from the crap in that place we escaped from... I'd say their already awoke and on the opposing side. The Leoht shard was a large orb those fancy-asses turned into a necklace. Awful gaudy thing, it was. But they hulled it around for the longest time."

In the gravest of tones, Luke replied, "So where are these Scions, then?"

Mote shrugged. "That, I don't know. I do, however, expect our neighborhood nasty Johnathan Tiddle to be one."

"Why do you suspect that?" Sakile inquired.

Mote raised his brow and replied, "That Tiddle creep dissipated me. The only others to ever manage that have been Scions."

"Got it!" Sakile replied.

"So what about these super gems? What are they, and how can we find 'em?" Alice asked, as she took out the magnificent purple gem from between her breasts.

Mote flew in for a closer inspection. After a moment, he replied, "This is one of the seven gems of the companions."

Mote's statement confused the group as Eary asked, "Who were the seven companions?"

Mote nodded as if to reassure himself of the accuracy of his own claim. He turned and directly spoke to Earhart.

"The seven companions were the ones who bound together and defeated the Scions the first time. They even started the Nocopo race. That gem is what Nocopo bodies turn into when they all die. Unless the powers have been drained from you, that is. We fought back at the lab and avoided that. Unlike those who went into that abomination." Mote scratched his long ear as he pondered momentarily. He the excitedly exclaimed, "They're draining the powers from you all. That's the whole evil plan!" Mote's eureka was quickly met with a shrug."But how?"

A few ideas surfaced as the group sat there, scratching their heads. Calvin suggested that someone had the power to drain others. An idea that was quickly shot down due to the sheer number of abductions.

Mei concluded that there must be some supernatural explanation for this being possible. Just then, Eary's memory flashed before him-one of Sasha, Johnathan, and a secret third member.

He then recalled that Sasha was a world-famous inventor.

Realizing he may have figured it out, Eary inquired,

"Mote, is there a superpower that lets you build things? Like high-tech stuff."

Exuberant over the question, Mote replied, "Kid, I think you've done it! There is a power out there like that. A power called 'Technopathy.'"

"Is that where those bracelets came from?" Luke inquired.

Mote nodded and replied, "More than likely. But now we gotta figure out who."

Eary interrupted and stated, "No, we don't! I already know who he is." He then recounted the event of his dream with the three men.

Sakile inquired, "So, it's that famous inventor, Sasha Mikhailov, right?"

Eary nodded somberly.

Alice piped in, reminding the group of the task, "So where are the gems?"

Mote shrugged. "That, I can not say. But I bet dollars to doughnuts the Scions got a few."

"I know they've got a list of locations of possible hideouts in the offices upstairs," Denby stated as he woofed down a bowl of snacks he found on the side table.

Mote snapped his fingers. He confidently replied, "That would be a good start. We could find their bases and take the fight to 'em. And if we go as a group, nothing could take us!"

Luke leaped from his chair with a resounding, "Nope!"

Eary quickly asked."Why not?"

"I'm not letting my baby brother go charging into dangerous situations. You're nuts if you think that!" Luke replied.

Mote hovered over to the defensive Luke. With a commanding tone, Mote informed him, "If we don't prepare him, they will find him and kill him."

Luke stared in disbelief at the moteling. His eyes locked, longing for another way. Mote continued, "He's gonna need your help, too!"

While contemplating his position, Luke replied, "We'll grab the list in the morning. We will set up a time for us all to go together. But we need to keep this from the officials."

Alice added, "And Maxwell."

The group agreed with Luke's plan, recognizing the need for unity and secrecy. They knew that dealing with the Scions and recovering the super gems would be perilous and require careful planning.

As they discussed their strategy further, Eary asked Mote, "Do you have any insights into the Scions' strengths or weaknesses that could help us?"

Mote pondered momentarily before responding, "The Scions' power is tied to the shards they possess. Only the Aedish shard was through blood. If we can find a way to separate them from their shards, we might have a chance."

Sakile added, "We should also gather information on each Scion, their abilities, and any vulnerabilities they might have."

As the group continued to discuss their strategy, they were unaware that their actions had already set into motion a series of events that would determine the fate of their world. The Scions had a head start, but with courage, unity, and some magic, they were ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.