Amneris Topanga zapped into the living room of her small townhouse in Newcastle, Australia, wobbling slightly as she landed on the carpeted floor. She sighed. That landing was better than I thought it would be. She went to a certain picture hanging on her wall and removed it, pressing her hand against the wall beneath. She placed the picture back as the floor lowered to the house's basement. That was where her study was located. It was filled with shelves covered in books and artefacts from her job as an archaeologist which she had taken up shortly after arriving on Earth. Many other strange looking objects were scattered all over the place. There was even an acoustic guitar in one corner. It looked very out of place with the rest of the darkly painted room. Forgot to turn the light off again, huh?

The small black book in her hand was put on the desk with a thump. Amneris hung her black cloak on the wall before collapsing into her chair. She tugged at the elastic band holding her golden-streaked auburn hair up, letting it fall over her deep bronze face and shoulders, ending at her waist. She sighed, closing her eyes and running a hand over her scarred and tattooed face in frustration as she kicked off her heeled combat boots. She opened the book and flipped through the pages until she reached where a square shaped hole had been cut in. She took out the tiny pouch and opened it. Her actions from earlier would be pointless if it was empty. She poured out the contents, letting out a relived breath at the pile of flower petals in front of her. She swept them back into the pouch, placed it inside the book, and closed it. 

Her mind drifted back to what had happened in that dark room. She still did not understand why that man - Colt, was it? - had given her the book. At least his uniform had given away who he was working for. Tara Kymmer. Only she has such a bad taste in masks. It made sense. Tara had wanted to release the Dark King since learning about him. Her methods had become more interesting, leading to the events of a few hours ago. She had been able to stop Tara many times over the last sixteen years. 

Amneris looked towards a picture on her desk. She picked it up gently and smiled. It was of herself and her Court at one of Lapide's beaches only a few weeks before she left for Earth, leaving her Second, Nikki, in charge. She brushed her fingers over her family's faces. Sixteen years, huh? Was that how long it had been since they were last together? No wonder she missed them. Sure, they called every now and then, but it was not the same.

A small scarlet box barely the size of her palm appeared in front of her, bringing her back into reality. She put the picture down and picked up the small cube, turning it over in her hand. Amneris groaned as the found the seal of Terpola - her world's sister planet - on it. It was one of their communication devices, she could not remember the name. It had been so long since she last got one. A few thousand years, maybe? It was created to find someone by tracing their energy. The only problem was that nothing could trace the cube's location. Yet. The sender had to find the receiver through what was displayed. 

She tapped the seal and the box unravelled into a screen. It showed static momentarily before the face of a young woman appeared. She had a pale complexion and umber eyes framed by a black bob. Amneris groaned again.

The woman tapped the screen irritably. "Is this thing even on?"

"Yes, Tara. It's on," Amneris replied.

"I can hear you, not see you." There was a pause as Tara looked intensely at the screen. "Liam!" she exclaimed. A tall, walnut-haired, dark-skinned man appeared behind her. "Why is it not working?" His face came into full frame and a finger pressed the screen. It went black.

Amneris rolled her eyes. Every time. "Now you've turned off visual."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Dammit, Liam," came the reply.

"Press the red button twice, then the green one once," she read from a small set of instructions on the side. Tara's face appeared on the screen, looking annoyed. The red-head waved. "Working?"

"Yes. Now, where were we?"

"You were going to tell me your plan and surrender?" she tried, getting a look of disbelief. "Worth a shot."

"I see your insolence has yet to change, Majesty," Tara replied flatly.

"Something like that." She rubbed her hands together. "So, Tara, I'm guessing you're trying to find a way into Negative Space, yes?"

"Yes," she hissed.

"A-ha," Amneris said, picking at her onyx-polished nails. "You do realise its been five thousand years since the last opening?"

"I do."

She feigned interest. "Enlighten me. How're you gonna do it?"

"Why would I tell you, my old mistress?"

"I'm not that old."

"Look, Majesty," Tara sneered. "You will die trying to stop me."

Amneris bowed dramatically. "Many have tried. I wish you luck." Bitch, I'm immortal.

She grinned. "The Dark King will awaken and join me."

The link was cut, and the screen became static as it vanished.

Amneris let out a lengthy sigh, rubbing her face. She had not thought that things would get much worse. Oh, how she had just been proved wrong. Very wrong. Only Tara would be crazy or desperate enough to release Enliatu. Perhaps both. Even his own people, those of Terpola, feared him more than Amneris herself was feared. That was saying something. There were plenty who cursed her name.  

Amneris fidgeted with the gem-covered golden ring on her finger. She was yet to call in her Court on the matter. She did not want to involve them. If Enliatu was going to be released back into the multiverse . . . She did not want to think about the chaos he would cause. Even so, things suddenly became bigger than herself. 

Amneris stood, slowly moving towards a silver-and-sapphire box she kept on one of the shelves. She took it down and blew off the dust before opening it. Resting on the black velvet inside was a necklace. On the long black chain was a single sphere-shaped polished diamond which seemed to glow from the inside. She took out the necklace and held it up to the light, placing the box back onto the shelf.  Slowly, with shaking hands, she put it on. Power flowed through her long-dead veins. 

It was time for her to become the Photon Queen once again.