"See," Revi remarked with a sigh.
"Well, you can't really blame Tephe," Aphrodite remarked before adding, "From her perspective, Adam is the one who changed her life for the better."
"Because he did," Tephe retorted before adding, "Also, how can I feel right attending a celebration about the saviour of the Phoenix race when the true saviour is lying unconscious in a medical bay?"
"Don't sell yourself short, you also played a huge part in helping my squad retake the capital and also hunt down the bastard who murdered my father," Revi stated.
"Perhaps, but compared to eliminating both their command and communications jamming ships, my assistance was minimal," Tephe replied.
The other women looked at each other in surprise as they knew that Tephe normally always liked to receive praise when she did a good job.
"I'm happy to see that you've matured, goddaughter," Revi said happily
"Or maybe she's acting more mature because it's Adam that's involved," Aphrodite added with a wink.
"Stop calling me that already," Tephe said towards Revi with a pout.
"But it's true," Revi said with a smirk before adding in a teasing tone, "Want to see the official record?"
"Damn mother, why did she ever agree to let you be my godmother?" Tephe asked while cursing.
"Well, I am the Phoenix Empress and allowing me to be the white dragon's godmother showed that our two races still had close ties," Revi explained.
"You're never going to let me forget this, are you?" Tephe asked with a sigh.
"Nope," Revi replied while wearing a gloating smile.
Lorelie chuckled before she went to check her uniband again, just as Rowena's uniband notified her of an incoming call.
"Is it Stacey?" Lorelie immediately asked as all the women's focus shifted to the uniband.
Rowena looked at the caller's ID before her eyes widened in surprise.
"Rowena!" Revi remarked impatiently.
"Sorry, no," Rowena apologised before adding, "It's not Stacey, it's Andromeda."
"As in Oracle Andromeda?" Revi asked in surprise.
"Why is Oracle Andromeda suddenly calling you? I know you mentioned having built a friendship with her through Rephilia, but still, the timing's a bit coincidental," Aphrodite remarked.
"You think she witnessed what happened in her visions and is calling to check up on Adam?" Eri asked.
"Why don't we stop speculating and just let Rowena answer the call?" Emma suggested.
Rowena nodded to Emma before accepting the call and asking, "Romy, why are you…"
Before she could finish, Andromeda's worried voice cut her off as she said.
"No time, don't let Adam's ship time jump; if it does, he will die."
"WHAT!" All the women shouted in shock and horror.
"What do you mean?" Lorelie asked in a panicked tone.
"I will explain after, just for now, tell Lorelie to stop Spector, they're about to jump," Andromeda said urgently.
Lorelie nodded before quickly looking at her uniband, only to find that she had just received a message from Stacey.
"Shit!" Lorelie cursed after quickly reading the message before she rapidly typed out a reply while saying, "Spector's already counting down."
"No!" Revi exclaimed as all the girls wore horrified expressions.
[[Activating condition purple]]
[[Weapons systems offline]]
[[Shields to maximum]]
[[Energy output to maximum]]
[[Redirecting energy output]]
[[All hands brace for Time Jump]]
"Time jump commencing in five seconds.
Four.
Three.
Two."
"SPECTOR STOP!" Stacey suddenly yelled before adding, "STOP THE TIME JUMP NOW!"
"Time jump suspended at two seconds," Spector reported as it paused the countdown.
"Thank god," Stacey said in relief as she slumped in her chair.
"For what reason did you order that?" Spector asked.
"If we time jump, Adam will die," Stacey explained.
"Where did you get this information?"
"Lorelie just told me that the warning came from Oracle Andromeda."
Spector was silent for a moment before saying, "Understood, cancelling time jump."
[[Activating Condition Green]]
[[Weapons systems offline]]
[[Shields to minimum]]
[[Energy output to optimal levels]]
"Please call Lorelie so that we can gain a better understanding of the situation," Spector requested.
"Sure," Stacey replied before making the call, which was answered immediately.
"Stacey, what happened? Where are you? Did you jump?" Lorelie asked in panic.
"No, you managed to stop us in time," Stacey replied.
"Oh, thank god," Lorelie said with relief.
"That was close," Aphrodite remarked.
"Active call detected from Rowena's uniband." Spector suddenly announced before continuing.
"Accessing Rowena's uniband.
Remote access acquired.
Linking calls.
Conference call commenced."
As Spector finished speaking, a second holographic screen featuring Andromeda in a nightie appeared next to the one featuring Lorelie.
"What the?" Andromeda said in surprise as, for her, a second holographic screen of Stacey appeared next to the one featuring Rowena.
"Oracle Andromeda, please explain how you know that Adam will die if I jump, also provide me with any other information that might help him recover," Spector announced.
"Spector just forcefully started a conference call. How's that possible?" Emma asked in surprise.
"No idea," Aphrodite replied before adding, "If Rowena was still on Spector, it would make sense since she is directly linked to her uniband, but how did she do it when we're away from her?"
"I will explain that later; the first priority is my operator's recovery," Spector stated before asking, "Or do any of you believe otherwise?"
None of them was certain and they were not even sure that they had heard it, but as they heard Spector's monotonous voice, which seemed incapable of changing in tone, it almost sounded as if it were slightly colder this time.
"Errr, right, right," Andromeda said in surprise before she gathered herself and said, "I just received a prophecy regarding Adam."
Andromeda was, of course, lying about receiving a prophecy since future Adam came to her in her vision, but using a prophecy as the excuse was a far simpler and more believable cover-up since she promised not to reveal future Adam's identity. So as she started speaking, everyone listened in quietly.
"My prophecy allowed me to learn that Adam is suffering from something called Temporal Displacement Syndrome, an illness one receives when they travel through time too much within a short period of time."
"I have no record of this Temporal Displacement Syndrome," Spector replied.
"I've also never heard of it, though considering how much Adam has time-travelled, it could explain it," Lorelie remarked.
"Four thousand six hundred and thirty-six years, that's apparently the total number of years Adam has time-travelled since he first travelled back to the Siege of Fenix Nest," Andromeda informed them.
"Wait! You know about that?" Revi asked in surprise.
"Of course, I am the one who gave Tephe her prophecy in her original timeline, after all," Andromeda replied.
"You even know about the different timelines?" Rowena asked in shock.
"Again, I'm the one who made the prophecy, so I believe I became aware once Adam and Tephe returned to the present," Andromeda explained before adding, "Though I admit that I didn't initially know the identity of the black knight."
"Being an oracle is kinda OP," Emma remarked.
"OP? Andromeda repeated before asking, "I've seen that in Adam's chat before. What does that mean?"
"Overpowered. Everyone else forgot what happened after they returned except you," Emma replied.
"It definitely has its privileges," Andromeda said with a wink.
"How do we go about curing Adam and waking him up then?" Lorelie asked pointedly in order to get the conversation back on topic.
"He will awaken in a couple of days; however, he still shouldn't time jump for at least one week?" Andromeda replied.
"How do we go about preventing this from happening in the future?" Spector asked.
"That I don't know, I'm afraid," Andromeda replied apologetically.
"You have no reason to apologise, Romy. If it weren't for you, we might have lost Adam," Rowena stated in a thankful tone that made Andromeda smile.
"Rowena's right, thank you, Oracle Andromeda," Lorelie said as the other women also offered their thanks.
Andromeda smiled before saying, "It's fine, it's part of my responsibility as oracle after all."
"You still went out of your way to notify us, while even wearing your nightwear," Aphrodite remarked before adding with a smirk, "I hope we didn't interrupt anything."
"Really, Aphrodite?" Rowena asked while rolling her eyes before adding, "You know Romy is even more of a virgin than Revi."
"Hey!" Revi replied in an offended tone.
"What? It's true," Rowena smirked before adding, "Unlike you, Romy unfortunately, can never have a lover without losing her ability to prophisise."
"It's still not something I want to hear," Revi replied while pouting.
"Didn't think I would ever see an empress pout," Emma said with a chuckle.
"I might be an empress, but I'm still a woman after all," Revi replied.
"Fair point," Emma conceded.
"Haha," Andromeda laughed before saying, "You all have such a good relationship, it makes me kind of jealous."
"Jealous? Why?" Emma asked in confusion.
"I don't exactly have many friends, in fact, I only have two, Raphi and Rowena," Andromeda replied sadly.
"Sorry if this is an intrusive question, but why?" Emma asked before adding, " You seem so easy to talk to."