Prince of Slackers Ch. 02

"The Gateway opens," said the Darkling, and in the space between realities, the Lords of Entropy gathered their forces and seized the day. For far too long they had been kept out of the Material World by the barrier erected by the Ancients, those pesky Immortals who dwell in the Aether. By the droves they poured forth, eager to take hold of that which had been denied to them for far too long. The darkness has escaped from its prison, the light is threatened, and the Universe would never be the same...

"My love, what troubles you?" asked Lady Amer, mother to Slack and Ren, wife of Lord Ark and Queen of the Ancients. Tall and regal, with clear eyes, the majestic lady gazed upon he who had been her beloved for eons, troubled by his distraught countenance. Lord Ark leaned the transparent empyrean stones that made up his throne-like chair, his eyes vacant, his face troubled. Whatever troubled the Lord of the Ancients must be great indeed, Lady Amer mused as she sought answers.

"Amer, can't you feel it? The Darkling has escaped, along with the Lords of Entropy," Lord Ark said glumly, when he could finally speak. Lord Ark took his wife by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. As Ancients, existing eons before the Big Bang, they had no need for physical forms, but whenever they willed it, their invisible essence took on humanoid form, a shape they had come to find pleasing after watching life evolve on the planet Earth for millennia. Now wasn't the time to quibble...

"If this is true, we must mobilize the others," Lady Amer said, and she looked at her forlorn husband one more time before summoning their daughter Ren. Materializing instantly, Ren assumed the shape of a tall, slender, long-haired and dark-skinned human female in her twenties, dressed in regal white garments. Lord Ark and Lady Amer nodded gratefully as their daughter, alarmed by the summons, looked to them askance.

"Father, Mother, what is going on?" Ren asked, and all around them, the seven-member Supreme Council of the Ancients appeared. Lord Oberon, Duke Mire, Lady Husk, Lady Martel, Prince Ix, Lady Havok and Lord Tusker gathered around the Throne, concern all over their faces. They came from the vastness of the Aether, beings of formidable knowledge and power who answered only to the regal pair whom they had elected their leaders eons ago. Lord Ark and Lady Amer beckoned for their brethren to come closer.

"The Darkling somehow broke through the Barrier, and he and the Lords of Entropy are loose," Lord Ark said, his normally stentorian voice borderline brittle. "My Lord, surely we can defeat them again easily, after all, you still have the Alpha Power," said Lord Oberon. Lord Ark looked at Lord Oberon, the towering, dark-skinned and bald-headed Ancient beside whom he fought the Lords of Entropy in the olden days. Along with Lady Amer and many others, Lord Ark and Lord Oberon were able to beat back the Darkling and trap him outside of their reality along with his forces. In those days, when the Material World was mere billions of years old, Lord Ark was young and strong, possessed of a formidable ability called the Alpha Wave. With the Wave, the Ancients defeated their age-old enemies and secured the Universe.

"The Alpha Wave is gone," Lord Ark said, after exchanging a somber look with his wife Lady Amer. Ren looked at her parents and sighed. Lord Oberon and the remaining members of the Supreme Council of the Ancients looked at their leaders, flabbergasted. There were looks of sheer consternation on their faces. Lord Oberon took a deep breath, although he did not need to breathe, one of the many perks of being an ageless Immortal from outside the Material World.

"Sire, I do not understand your attempt at humor, where could the Alpha Wave be if not in your possession?" Lord Oberon said cautiously, locking eyes with Lord Ark. The Supreme Leader of the Ancients shifted uncomfortably on his throne, and swallowed hard. As befitting the leader of some of the most powerful beings in the Cosmos, Lord Ark typically has a way with words. Still, in this particular instance, Lord Ark struggled to find the right words. Looking at her forlorn husband, Lady Amer shook her head.

There was no way that Lord Ark and Lady Amer, for all of their power, could hide from their fellow Ancients the fact that the Alpha Wave was gone. It is the magical equivalent of a nuclear warhead in terms of supernatural warfare, not the sort of thing that loyal subjects could forgive their leaders for misplacing during a state of emergency. If we do not get the Alpha Wave back we are doomed, Lord Ark thought. Still, the Supreme Leader of the Ancients could not bring himself to articulate this sad state of the affairs...

Lady Amer, mother of Slack and Ren, and Queen of the Ancients is nothing if not decisive. For eons she has been her husband Lord Ark's most loyal acolyte and his partner in all things. Now that their Family was divided and their kingdom endangered by hostile outside forces, the lady is determined to stand tall in the face of unprecedented turmoil. In the greatest heights of the heavens as it is on earth, the lady of the house runs the house...

"The Alpha Wave is on the planet Earth, secured within the darkest recesses of the mind of one particular individual, our son Slack," Lady Amer said, matter-of-factly. Lord Ark and Lady Amer exchanged a look before looking at their gathered constituents. The Ancients did not look happy. The fate of the Universe is in the hands of my little brother the aptly named Slacker, Ren thought, smiling mirthlessly. The Princess of the Ancients fought the urge to say a silent prayer to whatever unimaginable force created Existence to spare her Family any more unnecessary grief...