“Exactly, and I will tell you why. These five sons represented the five elements of the universe, because he created them out of the five elements. Their names were Dante, Timaeus, Vaspaug, Jaikan, and Quencius.”

“Wait. Dante?” Alex’s eyes shifted to Varenkoff.

Varenkoff chuckled, “No, no, not the same one. Although my parents named me after the king’s son.”

Alex smiled and nodded in understanding.

Nick continued. “Right. So, they represented respectively Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and Light. Using the elements in their grossest form, Anaxagoras created them and he planned to control the Universe through them. He and his sons fought in the War of the Eight Kings, but they were no match for their ancestors. Now, the story goes that they were killed by the one who granted the boons of controlling the elements, an Elemnauri king named Gaius.”

“I thought that the Elemnauri were extinct,” Alex said.

“Many faded with their powers and ultimately died out. But I also I told you that those who fled the planet of Migra at the time between the Creation, mentioned in the Tablets, and the War with the Twelve, were the Elemnauri.”

“Oh right,” Alex said, now understanding it somewhat. “So where did they go?”

Nikolas smiled, “A place called Gaia.”

“You mean Earth?”

Nikolas nodded, “I’m calling it Gaia, because it was called so by the Elemnauri. They found that it was already inhabited by another group of peoples, the very primitive humans.”

“Now how long ago was this?” Alex asked.

“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you,” Nikolas smiled.

“I believed you about the Twelve,” Alex said.

“Two hundred and fifty billion years ago.”

Alex paused. Before, Nikolas had mentioned the Knights of the Elders and the time span of trillions of years. But what he didn’t understand was how it all fitted together. “We have no history of that.”

“I know, because of the Big Bang Theory, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Do the scientists know what happened before that? No. Because they have no proof of anything happening before that. However there is some information, in the religious texts, like the Vedas. You see, it is recorded that the Universe ages in cycles and so before this cycle, before thirteen to fifteen billion years ago, there were vast civilizations on almost every planet in the Universe, but unfortunately not all of their history is recorded. Every three hundred and eleven trillion and forty billion years or so, there is a reversal of creation and the Universe dissolves and it creates itself again and again. So there was a civilization that existed on the Earth, or Gaia. Now, they were totally forgotten because of the recent dissolution and Re-Creation, which we call the Big Bang.”

“I think I get it,” Alex said, leaning forward on his bed.

“They lived as refugees on the planet, until finally they decided to call it their home. About one hundred and fifty billion of the Elemnauri race came to the Earth and later the former civilizations of the Earth dwindled. Finally, there was a hybrid race out of which a new race called Gaian-Migrites were formed. They had the combined powers of both the Migrites and the Elemnauri. This was because every stem cell of every Migrite is psychically connected. Therefore, where there is change in one Migrite, there will be in another automatically. Now, the Gaians, the original Elemnauri, were extinct. A large asteroid hit the Earth, wiping out one third of the planet’s life. The Gaian-Migrites decided to create clones of their DNA and stem cells which they kept hidden in a space shuttle. This was sent back to Migra, with a handful of the new Gaian-Migrite Race. They knew if they came in large numbers, the Migrites would take it as a sign of war. But they never made it.”

“Why?” Alex asked.

“Nobody really knows, but the common belief is that they got lost, or something destroyed them. So once they made it back to their native planet, for many millennia, they were looked upon as gods. But soon they too dwindled. Their race lived in the High Mountains and they had their own kingdom. It was ruled by its own monarch. This gradually turned into a peaceful reign. When it came time for the reign of Anaxagoras XXIX, he made a pact with Gaius. He said he wanted to learn more about the Elements and how to control them. Sadly, he had no sons. He wanted five sons who would be able to control each aspect of nature.”

“Wait. I have a question,” Alex said, gesturing with his hands.

“What?” Nick said. The others had been listening intently to him. They leaned against the walls or sat on chairs or on Alex’s bed. Their eyes glistened with interest as they watched Nikolas.

“How did the rest of them survive the Big Bang?”

“Remember that I told you that the primitive race had the power to create universes?”

Alex nodded.

“Well, there you go; that’s exactly what they did, by creating an alternate one and so survived.”

“So it’s possible that they created this one,” Alex said, his eyes widening.

“Well...”

The ambulance arrived with Mrs. Howe in a paralyzed state. Four butlers were there to help her. The crowd at Central Square saw this and everyone remained silent as John ran towards the ambulance. They understood that something was out of place. John was in shock when he saw his mother. The paramedic team took her to the emergency room and with the four butlers, he followed them. Her eyes were closed and she was totally still.

Once they reached the emergency room, John was asked to stay outside and wait until the doctors gave their final prognosis. He waited for thirty minutes until Richard and Herbert arrived.

“I don’t know what to do,” John said. “Just a few hours back, I spoke to her about so many things. She seemed fine and now...now...” His voice trailed off.

“Everything’s going to be fine, John. Don’t worry,” Herbert reassured.

“Yeah, your mother’s a strong person. She’s not going to give up,” Richard added.

“What happened at the ceremony?” John asked.

“We’ve postponed it indefinitely,” Herbert said.

“Why?” John said. “You should have continued.”

“John, are you crazy?” Richard said. “Right now your mother’s condition is more important.”

“I know that, but I can’t have this government go into anarchy again. We should do something before it happens.”

“That won’t happen,” Richard said, shaking his head. “We have the support of the people.”

John sighed, “I hope you’re right.”

Angel and her parents walked into the small common room where they sat. “Is she alright?” asked Angel, sounding genuinely concerned.

John said, “We don’t know yet.” He shook Ken’s hand and hugged Martha, who was still sobbing. “Don’t cry, Martha. I know things are going to be fine.”

Martha shook her head, “I know,” she wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, “I just can’t believe what’s happened.”

Angel rolled her eyes. Such a drama queen.

The doctor walked into the room, closing the door behind him as they stood up anxiously awaiting his news. John hurriedly went to shake his hand and asked, “Is everything okay?”

The doctor said, “I’m sorry to inform you, Mr. Howe, but your mother’s in a coma.”

“Are you telling me that this universe, the one that’s here now was created by the Migrites and the Elemnauri and the Gaians?”

“Exactly,” Nikolas said.

Alex laughed in disbelief, “You’re serious?” He turned to the Rebels to find a different answer in their faces. They all smiled and nodded their agreement. “That’s...that’s unbelievable,” said Alex.

“Truth isn’t validated by belief; it just is,” Nikolas said, echoing God’s words.

Alex smiled and said, “Okay, so go on.”

“Right. Where was I?” He thought for a moment. “For a few years, Gaius refused him and when things were going badly during the War of the Eight Kings, Anaxagoras asked him for support. Gaius freely gave it. Anaxagoras said that if he was to help him with troops and with the five sons, he would give him half his kingdom. Of course, this was an outright lie. The kings made the pact and Gaius gave Anaxagoras the secrets to create life, actual life!”