Leo Inu pressed a button and the hologram of his Queen vanished. He had hoped to never see the day were that message would need to be played. Sadly, it seemed as though the gods were against them this time.

He turned back to the Court – well, what was left of it – and sat with a sigh.

Amneris and Colt had vanished during the battle against Tara and her army. No one had seen what had happened. They were too caught up in their own individual battles. Ray and the Dreamas had helped search for her – them – after Tara ordered a retreat, claiming to have done what they had gone to do. When Ray checked, the crystal it was thought the Terpolites were after was still in its place. No, it had not been replicated in any way. No, it had not been replaced.

That was two weeks ago. Two weeks where I could have been searching for her.

Nikki stood. It was her job as the Queen’s Second to take charge when Amneris was unavailable. As their Queen was currently missing in action, this qualified as one of those times.

She had healed quite well from the battle, Leo realised. Her arms and hands were no longer bandaged from where she was attacked while in one of her other forms. They were only scarred. The scars would fade unless she chose to keep them. Aside from that, she only had a few bruises which were currently visible around her neck and under her lips. Leo saw that he was staring. He looked away.

Kayla and the Dreama’s team of Healers had taken good care of those injured in battle. All things considered; they had been lucky. Very few had been lost. They had received word not too long ago from Ray saying her people were making a swift recovery.

How long after Amns vanished were we fighting? The thought would not leave Leo’s mind. Had he known, he could have spent that time searching for her . . .

“We know our mission.” Nikki’s voice held steady despite the clear fire raging in her eyes. “We have to find the items Amneris hid and get the remaining four off Tara.” She let out a long breath. “Now, the big question. Does anyone know where the items are?”

Silence.

Utter silence.

Leo could not help but be surprised at it. Had their Queen really not told anyone where the items were? His eyes drifted towards Hathor who looked just as clueless as the rest of them. She had not even told her own daughter.

His glanced down, waiting a moment longer to see if anyone spoke up. No one did. “Well, that answered that.” He gave his old friend an apologetic look. “At least we now have phase one?”

Nikki smiled softly at him. “That’s true. We just need to figure out where to go from there.”

“What about the Old Court?”

Everyone turned to Hathor. The girl went red, probably just realised she said what she was thinking out loud. Zoe placed a hand over her girlfriend’s and squeezed it. Hathor continued, but still seemed to doubt what she was about to say.

“Think about it. They were there when mum locked Enliatu away. They might know where the items are or, at the very least, have some idea on where we need to ask. We should ask them.”

“That leads to another problem.” This time, everyone faced Dan. “We don’t know where all of them ended up. Aside from Ray, of course.” The Strategist because thoughtful, leaning forward and resting his head on his fist. “Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, don’t Tayla and Ethan still live here? On Lyriumia, I mean.”

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“I think they are,” Carmin agreed.

Nikki nodded. “Okay, so we call in the Old Court and see if they have any ideas. If not . . . We can cross that bridge when we got to it. Hathy, can you get onto that?” The girl nodded her response. “Good. Next question.” Her breath caught as she went to speak. Leo grasped her hand. “Who tells Lvaane?”

Again, silence.

This time, Leo decided it was his turn. “I’ll do it.”

“Are you sure?” Nikki asked. “Because I can –”

“No. No, I’ll do it. You should help Hathy.” He brushed his thumb over the palm of her hand. “It’ll be already.” He could not tell if that was supposed to comfort himself or her, or who he was trying to convince. Leo stood, dropping her hand as he made his way out of the room. “There’s something I need to talk to him about anyway.”

* * * * * * * *

Leo found himself standing in front of a pacing Lvaane, Amneris’ adoptive father and the Old King of Lyriumia. He had told him everything that took place of Tylwaerdreath. Leo knew Lvaane had dealt with the Dark King before, but the previous Photon King was old now. He was almost twenty-thousand years of age and one of the few inhabitants of Lyriumia who showed signs of again. The wields of the Cores were never supposed to live forever. Amneris was an exception to that rule due to certain unforeseen circumstances.

Had been, a part of him thought. No, I won’t accept it, the other screamed back. She’s fine. She’s still here. She’s just . . . lost.

“My daughter,” the Old King murmured for what must have been the fifteenth time in the last three minutes. He turned back to Leo. The way he was looking at him was incredible. Lvaane may have been old in their terms, but there was still plenty of power burning inside him. “No word at all?”

“None,” Leo answered. In all honesty, he had an idea of what might have happened. What he was thinking was far from impossible, but he did not want to say it out loud. It might make the idea too real. The look Lvaane was giving him answered the question whether or not he should say it. “It is possible,” he started, “That she was taken out of the multiverse. Its also possible that Tara is holding her somewhere. There are other things that could have happened, but I believe those are the two most likely scenarios.”

“At least my Helia is not alone wherever she may be.”

That was true. The Terpolite was with him.

“Sir,” Leo begun slowly, unsure of how to word what he was about to ask. On some worlds, it could come across as treason to think that way about a Court member, especially if they were chosen by the ruler, even if you yourself were one. Still, he had to be certain. “Are you still able to sense if someone is using some sort of appearance altering spell?” A nod. “Did you ever feel anything . . . off about Colt.”

“He’s not who he claims to be but he’s not hiding his appearance.”

Leo felt himself tense. He knew something was wrong with the Terpolite and now he was absolutely certain.

Lvaane came closer, lowering his voice. “Have you ever heard of the Soul Summoner spell?”

“The spell used to summon people from Erebus?” Leo asked, confused. It was very similar to the spell used to turn Amneris immortal. From what he was told, that was a side effect of it going wrong.

“It is indeed used to bring souls back from the grave,” the Old King confirmed. “If the spell is done correctly, the original body is not needed. The soul only needs to enter an empty body. It remembers everything that took place in life and death.”

“Colt’s soul isn’t there!” Leo could feel the pieces falling into place within his mind. “That would mean that someone else is in his body, but who would . . .” He trailed off. “Oh gods.” He knew. He knew exactly who was in Colt’s body. There was only one person who knew so much about Amneris, not including himself and Lvaane. “No,” he said to himself. “Tara wouldn’t have. She couldn’t. Tara doesn’t have the name.”

“Kek does.”

Kek. Of course, it was Kek. It made sense. He had been a childhood friend of Amneris. At least until he sold her out to the Dark King. He was the reason she had that’ scar over her right eye. Kek had been there when she had died but was also present when someone else did. Leo ran a hand through his hair. This explained so much about the Terpolite. Not just why he acted strangely, but why he knew so much about her. He even knew minor details.

The doors to the throne room slammed open as Carmin charged in, her eyes wide and her wings splayed. She looked frantic. There was blood seeping from a cut on her hairline. What had happened to her?

“We have . . . a problem,” she panted, gesturing to the cut on her head then towards the balcony. “Well, you’re gonna have to see it for yourself.”

The three ran to the balcony. Carmin pointed towards the horizon, almost falling off it in her hurry. Leo gaped at the sight before him. “Okay, yes, that might be a problem.”