Clank

Clank

"Hey!! Be careful with that thing, it belongs to the Princess!" A courier yelled to his companions as they emptied a huge Crystal-Diamond from behind a storage truck.

After they finished unloading the crystal-diamond, the three men took it to the second-highest floor of the skyscraper.

On the elevator, the men had already switched from their courier uniforms to suits that revealed their true identities as The Arabian Palace Guards.

The Palace guards could be considered one of The world's best anti-terrorist specialists.

"Are we taking it to the lab or to the Princess's personal quarters?" Agent One asked the Lead Agent.

The Lead Agent stared at the crystal in contemplation for a while and then answered "The Princess wants it at the lab first, then her quarters after we study it. We can't keep it in the lab since the US and China have spies everywhere,"

"Roger that!" Replied Agents One and Two.

∞∞∞

Two Hours Later

The Crystal-Diamond was currently on a pedestal inside a laboratory shielded by the most advanced technology in the world. It was a ghost area, no satellites or any other signals could penetrate the walls of this floor.

There were several devices scanning the crystal-diamond under the supervision of some of the world's top researchers.

"What is it?" Princess Ameera asked for the hundredth time.

"Miss, we are not sure as of yet…" The Researcher replied reluctantly.

It wasn't that he didn't want to answer, it was that he could not answer… nobody could.

"Give me something. Tell me something new. How can we not know after we have been studying this thing since those two kids found it?" Princess Ameera asked tiredly.

The Arabian Royal Family shielded Aaron and Abas after they discovered the crystal-diamond, and hence had the privilege of studying the object at their leisure.

Still, Ameera still had yet to discover anything that could be used to convince those funding the research.

Despite being a Princess, she was also one of the World's foremost Researchers of Extra-terrestrial Objects.

Ever since the mysterious lights in the skies three years ago, Ameera had been the lead on identifying what the crystal was and where it came from.

At the sight of the crystal discovery, they found faint traces of colliding molecules that had different origin points. The molecules they found were H2O, but it interacted differently from water molecules in this Universe.

Ameera correctly surmised that both molecules were water, and behaved in the same way, but came from two different places. That meant they were working with something from an alternate dimension.

It was the first time someone had found definitive proof of the existence of other dimensions on Earth, but since then, the research team had not discovered much.

"We are missing something," Princess Ameerah said and continued "We are missing something that China and the USA discovered even without the crystal,"

She sunk into deep thought as she tried to think about what America and China could discover with simple satellite imagery available during the duration of the Auction.

That was the only time the crystal ever left the shielding that usually covered it.

"Miss, we have to leave for the banquet soon," Rad, the personal Palace Guard assigned to the Princess, reminded her.

"I wish I didn't have to be there…" Princess Ameera whispered and then had an epiphany birthed inside her mind.

"Maybe, we were too focused on what should be there, when we should have been focused on what isn't there," she whispered in a daze and immediately gave a different order.

"Run a negative-spectral scan and tell me what's missing from near the crystal! Don't focus on the crystal, itself!" Ameera ordered a bit excitedly.

The assistant immediately started the scans, and the result they got was appalling.

"Princess, I - I – I don't know how to describe it… it's uhmmmm, undefinable," The Assistant said appalled at what the scans revealed.

Princess Ameera also looked at the data and her eyes widened.

"This is?... I have seen this before… it's a space scan," An Assistant chimed in.

Ameera shook her head in disagreement and pointed at the dark spots on their screens.

"I can see the confusion. It does look like a space scan because we have yet to discover dark matter… but this thing behaves like an unknown but much tamer. From that, we can tell that it is a form of energy-based matter construct," Ameera said.

Everybody's eyes widened at the realization. There was an energy around the crystal that was both physical and held energy-like properties simultaneously. All this was discovered by conducting a negative-spectral scan.

"So basically, The Chinese and Americans discovered that this crystal was missing space… literally, space," Ameera said appalled.

Despite all their fancy terminologies, the simple explanation was that near the crystal was missing space. Yet, nobody could realize this because everything about the crystal seemed fine.

"Miss, the Royal banquet!" Rad reminded once more.

Princess Ameera sighed with great reluctance and said "Send the crystal up to my room on the highest floor!"

As much as she lamented leaving after such a great discovery, Ameera knew that there were other important matters to attend to.

She exited the laboratory with long strides in her steps. Everyone watched her beautiful, tall stature as she left.

∞∞∞

Later at The Banquet Hall

The hall had one center table with exactly twenty seats surrounding it. The hall was large enough to fit thousands, and the chandeliers were beautiful enough to rival the stars themselves.

Every single thing within the hall screamed luxury and privilege. On the table was more food than a thousand people could finish, but only a minor portion was seen on each of the twenty plates on the table.

It was as if the food was there just to demonstrate to everyone that the Royal Family had food in abundance.

Cling

Cling

Cling

The king sat at the head of the table and tapped his glass three times with his fork. With the dinner over, it was now time to address the matters at hand.

The king was required to please those who were under pressure from outside entities such as The US and China.

"My daughter, what benefits have we gained from the study of the crystal thus far?" The King asked.

Ameera clenched her fist under the table, but a graceful smile never left her face for a moment.

"Father, matters are not so simple. We require time to further understand something so unique," Ameera replied.

The King did not need a further explanation, he just waved his hand and gave an ultimatum.

"You have three days to produce results or we officially sell it to China. We can curry favor if we sell it at a reduced price. We cannot withstand the pressure of two great Countries any longer," The king commanded, and soon everyone dispersed from the table with pleasing smirks edged onto their faces.

The King felt guilty at having his daughter give up the only thing she showed interest in for a long time.

The pressures that accompanied the title of a princess were not conducive to The Researcher his daughter wanted to be.

When everyone was cleared from the table, Ameera broke down crying.

"Why father?" She asked pleadingly.

"My daughter. We cannot stall countries any longer. Every day our currency is devalued further. At most, I can withstand the pressure for three more days, so do all you can for that period of time," The king said, raising from his seat and also exiting the hall.

Ameera took a deep breath, went to the bar on the first floor, and drank away her sorrows until midnight.

∞∞∞

A woman could be seen stumbling inside the elevator, helped by a Royal Guard to her room.

This was Ameera, who had drunk a bit too much liquor, and Rad, her loyal Guard who always remained at her side.

Entering the room, Ameera tossed off her heels to free herself from the burden that came along with beauty.

"Why can't I just be free?" Ameera asked with a slur apparent in her voice.

However, Rad did not pay her drunken state any mind, instead, he embraced her from behind and began kissing her neck.

Ameera paused his action with a cold voice.

"Not tonight Rad," She said, demonstrating that their relationship was much more intimate than a Guard and his Princess.

However, With the tone of Ameera's voice, one would mistake their relationship to be one of a loyal dog and his master.

"Yes, Princess!" Rad replied without any disappointment in his tone.

When Rad exited the room, Ameera walked unsteadily to the display case in the enormous kitchen and stared at the crystal-diamond that lay behind several layers of protection.

Suddenly, a vague thought to open the isolation units that stored away the crystal came to her mind.

With a few clicks and scans, Ameera watched as the crystal-diamond was guided in front of her by the automatic transport system.

Ameera was mesmerized by the constantly shifting colors of the crystal, but something new caught her eyes. The crystal that was originally so colorful, turned black the moment it was in front of her.

"W- w- what? What happened?" Ameera said, internally panicking with the drunken slur in her voice.

She was just about to call for Rad to solve the issue, and maybe even take the blame if something was truly wrong with the crystal-diamond.

However, something more unbelievable happened to the crystal. Slowly, the crystal began to liquefy and then vaporize right in front of her eyes.

The process was slow, but to Ameera, it all happened in the span of a few seconds.

She was too curious to remove her eyes from what lay within the crystal-diamond. She was curious enough to forego the normal human reaction to fear the unknown.

Piece by piece the crystal vaporized and when Ameera saw what lay beneath it all, she stopped breathing entirely.

She felt as if breathing before such a marvel was disrespectful.

The chiseled features, the pristine contours, the brownness that seemed illusionary… What Ameera saw was the most perfect man she had ever laid eyes on.

Ameera didn't know when, but her hand had already reached to touch the divine body that presented itself to her eyes.

However, before Ameera could take any unintentional advantages, Zeel fell to his knees, still not completely awake from his three years of Great Slumber.

Ameera somewhat sobered up at this time, and stared at the man that fell to the floor…

She made a decision immediately… a decision that she would not have enough time to regret.