The moment they stepped through the silver portal, the universe as they knew it simply… ended.

One second, they were floating in the cold, starry vacuum of space. The next, they were standing on a floor of polished, obsidian-like material in a room that had no visible walls or ceiling. The space around them was a soft, gray twilight that seemed to stretch on forever. There was no sound, no smell, no temperature. It was a place that existed outside of time and space, a quiet, eternal waiting room.

They were not alone.

Scattered around the vast, circular room were other beings. And they were… impressive. Ryan had thought he was a big deal, a one-of-a-kind Genesis Lord. He now felt like he had just shown up to his first day at a new school for super-powered, cosmic weirdos, and he had forgotten to do the summer reading.

To their left stood a being that looked like it was made of living starlight. It was a tall, graceful figure whose form was a swirling galaxy of blues, purples, and golds. Tiny, shimmering stars drifted through its body like dust motes in a sunbeam. It radiated a feeling of calm, ancient peace.

To their right was a being that was the complete opposite. It was a warrior king, seven feet tall and clad in black, jagged armor that seemed to be made of solidified shadows. A dark, smoky energy bled from the seams of his armor, and his helmet was crowned with horns that looked like twisted, frozen lightning. He radiated a feeling of pure, aggressive power and ancient, bitter pride. Even standing still, he looked like he was about to start the universe's biggest and most intimidating bar fight.

Across the room was a silent, floating crystal. It was a giant, multi-faceted gemstone that slowly rotated, its many sides catching the non-existent light. It didn't seem to have a mind or a body, but Ryan could feel its consciousness, a vast, cold, and incredibly complex intelligence that thought in pure, clean logic. It felt like standing next to Regent Vorlag's much older, much smarter, and much pointier brother.

There were others, too, even stranger. A being that looked like a shifting, multi-colored cloud of gas that hummed with a thousand different tunes. A small, hunched figure in a dark, hooded robe, from which dozens of thin, spidery arms emerged, each one writing in a different, glowing language on the air itself.

This was the Conclave. It was a collection of the universe's anomalies, the Watchers, the players. This was the secret club of cosmic gods.

And standing in the very center of them all, the one who was clearly in charge, was the Apex.

It was a tall, elegant figure, dressed in flowing robes that shifted in color from deep purple to midnight blue. Its face was completely hidden in a pool of absolute shadow, a void so deep that light itself seemed to be afraid of it. It just stood there, its hands clasped behind its back, radiating an aura of utter, unshakable authority and a faint, almost terrifying amusement. It was the headmaster of this strange, cosmic school.

Ryan, Emma, and Scarlett just stood there for a long moment, trying to take it all in. Emma's mind, which was used to being the smartest, most strategic brain in any room, was now whirring, trying to process a thousand new, terrifying variables at once. Ryan just felt a strange sense of belonging. These were his people. These were the other weirdos.

Scarlett, on the other hand, was not impressed. Or if she was, she wasn't showing it.

She had stepped through the portal and found herself in a room full of beings that could probably unmake her with a single thought. She saw the starlight goddess, the shadow king, the giant thinking rock. She didn't flinch. She didn't look scared.

Instead, she moved a little closer to Ryan, and her hand came to rest, possessively and firmly, on the small of his back. It was a small, simple, human gesture. But in this room full of cosmic gods, it was a loud and clear declaration. It was a silent, primal message to every single, super-powered being in the room.

Her touch said: "This one. This one right here. He's mine. You can be a god of shadows or a sentient disco ball for all I care. But this one belongs to my team. So watch it."

Her love, in this antechamber of impossible power, was a claim. A territory marker. And it was a shield.

The Apex, the figure in the center, slowly turned its hidden, shadowy face toward them. An ancient and impossibly powerful voice, smooth as polished obsidian, echoed not in their ears, but directly in their minds.

"The Wildflower," the Apex's voice said. There was a tone of deep, old amusement in the words. It sounded like a professor who was pleased to see that a particularly interesting new student had finally shown up for class.

"You have finally arrived," the voice continued. "And just in time. The game is about to begin."

The Apex paused, letting the weight of its words settle in the silent room.

"And the board… is the universe itself."

The Apex made a small, graceful gesture with one of its robed hands. The gray, twilight walls of the antechamber dissolved away. Suddenly, they were standing on their obsidian floor, but now they were floating in the middle of space. They could see their entire reality spread out before them like a giant, holographic map.

They could see everything. They could see the slow, steady pulse of the god Core. They could see the distant, angry buzz of a small pirate war on the galactic fringe. And they could see the Gardener's influence, a subtle, creeping tide of pale, orderly blue light, slowly spreading from a central point, re-calibrating everything it touched.

It was a god's-eye view of the game board.

"The question is," the Apex's powerful, amused voice echoed in their minds, as it looked around at the assembled beings, its gaze finally resting on Ryan. "Which side will you choose?"

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