It is meeting time once again. With all their tasks completed and operations running smoothly, the gods need to go over all the reports that they are receiving from Centuri.  

“Has everyone looked over the reports yet?” Claudeleous asked the other gods.  

“Vivianetta and I finished our reports yesterday morning,” Juliabethal said. 

“Good. Luciansys did you complete your reports yet?” 

“Yeah, I finished mine this morning. From what I read; everything is on track. I don’t see any issues here on my end,” Luciansys replied.  

“That’s good to hear. What about the earlier issues that we were confronted with before starting our wartime efforts? Vivianetta, were you able to find the cause of the sicknesses that suddenly appeared on Centuri? And Juliabethal, did you find a way to fix the restoration pools?” Claudeleous asked. 

“As of right now, nothing has changed from the last meeting we had. I was still unable to figure out their origin, but after further studying, I can at least manufacture vaccines. I’m currently working on creating a tracker that we can use to keep logs and predict trends on how it spreads, when it will spread, and which areas will be affected the hardest. This way we can send medicines and other supplies to lessen their burdens down there,” Vivianetta said. 

“Unfortunately, I do not have much news. The scientists and I are still exploring all avenues to see which will work to repair the pools. For now, all the restoration pools have been blocked off to prevent misuse. Especially since we are not sure of what kinds of effects it will have on the citizens here. The staff from the communication hubs throughout the ethereal realm have sent out an alert informing all citizens of the pool’s closure and to avoid the area while we continue to conduct maintenance. The only somewhat upside about the pool’s integrity is as far as I can tell, it does not have any ill effects on us gods. Which is beneficial because it allows any of us to go in the water and continue our investigation,” Juliabethal reported. 

“I see what you mean. That is most unfortunate for our citizens. Well just continue doing what you are doing. I hope that we can find a solution to this problem soon. Thankfully there hasn’t been a real need to use them so it’s fine for now. Before we conclude this meeting, does anyone else have something they want to discuss? Otherwise, if not then I call this meeting...” 

“Wait a minute Claudeleous. I had promised Melophilio and Topificetus, the demigods from the land region, that I would talk to you all about something they were concerned about. Can I have a minute of your time so we can talk about it?” Luciansys asked them. 

“Sure. Let’s hear their concerns. What is they wanted to bring up to our attention?” Claudeleous said. 

“Thank you. This has been bothering me in the back of my mind ever since let last time we spoke with them. Topificetus and Melophilio had asked me what would happen to everyone should all our plans fail, and our preparations are not enough. I think we all failed to think about this. We might have put too much faith in our initial plans. Even with the few contingency plans that we have in place, they are right, it might not be enough to save everyone. I think we should come up with a last-ditch effort that will save us, even when everything else has failed. 

# 

The four of them sat at the marble table in silence trying to come up with a solution to this conundrum. Several hours had passed since they started to toss around different ideas, but none of them were viable. Tensions were running high because they knew that none of them would be able to leave the room until a proper solution had been found. One idea that they kept circling back to, was how everyone would be doomed should the warriors fail in their mission. If the warriors did fail, that would be the end of everything. The four gods and six demigods would be completely powerless to save them. Not unless they were to remove their limiters and activate their full powers, but even then, the consequences and fallout from such a plan would be just as disastrous. 

As horrible as it is to say this, but should Darkness destroy all life, aside from the gods, there is still a slim chance that they could start life all over again. However, should they remove their limiters and fight, regardless of who won or not, it would ultimately lead to their destruction. Without the existence of the gods, life cannot begin again. This puts the gods and demigods in a real bind because the only plan that they can come up with is to find a proxy to step in on their behalf to become a savior to all of them. It was at this moment when all of them had the same thought. They needed a supreme being to act as their proxy. This being would be powerful like them, but not so powerful that a limiter would need to be placed to keep their powers in check. They all agreed that this plan was the one they had been searching for in the many hours that they had been tucked away inside the meeting room. 

# 

“Ugh, we have been brainstorming for hours! I want to take a break! I don’t think my brain can handle it anymore. I’m about to get a massive headache. Has anyone else thought of a plan that will work?” Vivianetta whined while her chin rested on the surface of the marble table. 

“I think we all know how you are feeling Vivianetta, but you aren’t the only one here that’s exhausted. We all are. But we need to hurry up and find a solution. We are running out of time. I’m sure you all can sense how far away Darkness is from us,” Luciansys said in frustration. 

“Well, I'm all for us removing our limiters and stepping in the fray along with the warriors,” Claudeleous said with much annoyance in his voice. 

“Yes Claudeleous, we have heard you pitch this same plan every chance you could. We get it. You want to be part of the action. But let it go already. You know that it would be a certain death for us to intervene. So, stop wasting our time and give us something we can use,” Vivianetta growled at him. 

“Juliabethal. You’ve been pretty quiet. What are you thinking about? Do you have a solution for us?” Luciansys inquired. 

“I was just thinking that during the whole time, we have been here brainstorming, there has been one common factor that we have all agreed on, which is needing more power. Should the warriors fail in their mission, we will be counting on that extra power to save everyone. So, if we cannot personally take part in the battle, then how about we make a proxy that will act in our stead? What do you all think?” Juliabethal told them of her plan. 

# 

Each of the gods gave serious consideration to Juliabethal’s plan. None of them could find any flaws in this plan. They decided to put her plan into action, but now they had to work out all the details. The first thing that they needed to decide on, regarding the proxy, is whether or not they could easily just manufacture a body suitable to house all the magic that the proxy will need, or should they put more work into a non-manufactured body. 

They summoned the Chief Scientist to come to the meeting room so they could run some test simulations that would help them make up their minds. They did worry that a manufactured body would not be able to maintain its integrity and would fall apart after being imbued with the essences of each of them. Once the Chief Scientist entered the room, immediately they began to run a program that would allow them to test out different situations. Each test simulation that they ran ended in failure. That’s when Vivianetta proposed to grow and give birth to this proxy that would eventually become that supreme being.  

Chief Scientist Ko began running the simulations and asked them, since they would be growing the proxy as a living being, all of them needed to decide who would be the ones to donate parts of their essence to begin fetal development. Looking at each other, all of them came up with the same idea, which is all of them would be donors. Each of the gods will give up pieces of their soul gems and other magical properties to imbue the proxy's body with. After running the final simulation, the Chief Scientist told them that by adding parts of their soul and binding them all together with their corresponding magic, the embryo would be perfect and viable. More staff members came into the meeting room to escort the gods to the medical lab in the basement of the annex so they could start the collection process.  

The science and medical staff informed the gods that the collection process along with the beginning stages of creating the embryo would be completed quickly. However, maturing the fetus is what will take the most time. Claudeleous asked them if there was a way to speed up this process at all since they were quickly running out of time. A doctor, who was also a magic user, told them they could use a spell that could accelerate the growth, but it would not be instantaneous. All four gods agreed to proceed with the plan and begin growing their proxy. To ensure that nothing would go wrong, they asked Juliabethal if she could take the lead because they were all aware of her skills in creation. Shyly, Juliabethal agreed without hesitation, because she knew that her brothers and sister had much faith in her, so she would work alongside this team of scientists and doctors, so she wouldn’t let them down.