[AUTHOR NOTE: Bonus chapter for attempted bribery, make sure to thank them.
I have got a backlog of chapters available again and bribery is once again available, so contact me if any of you are interested.]
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"It seems we will have to wait until we can learn more about this Temporal Displacement Syndrome to find out why it affects you in such a way and if there is a way to prevent it from happening in the future," Rowena remarked with a sigh.
"Agreed, so for now, no more time travelling into the distant past unless it's absolutely necessary, in fact, let's try to avoid it whenever possible," Lorelie stated adamantly.
"To be fair, the first couple of times I time-travelled weren't exactly my fault," Adam replied in a defensive tone.
"Also, from what Andromeda told us, it seems that it's caused by the more years you acquire from time travelling and not time travelling itself," Aphrodite suggested.
"That could mean that Adam's safe as long as we stick to jumping one second into the past to get from one galaxy to another," Tephe added.
"There is no way to know that Adam is the only one who can be afflicted with Temporal Displacement Syndrome, for all we know, it could afflict any of us and just hasn't since we haven't time-travelled as much as him," Emma suggested.
"For now, I think our best plan is to stay here in the Ashes Galaxy for at least a week so that Adam can fully recover, as Romy suggested. We can then consider using the experimental drive to jump to Aqua Primus like we originally planned," Rowena suggested.
"Let's put this topic on hold for now and come back to it in a week and also when we know more about the Temporal Displacement Syndrome," Lorelie stated.
"If that's the case, I have a question for you, Aphrodite," Adam remarked.
"What is it?" Aphrodite asked with a smile before adding, "Want to know my sizes, my favourite position? The total number of men I have been with in my life?"
"No, no and definitely no," Adam replied while covering his face with his hand before saying, "I wanted to ask about Astarte."
"Astarte? Why would you want to know about any succuba other than me?" Aphrodite asked with a pout.
"It's for our upcoming business negotiations," Adam replied.
"Fine, what do you want to know?" Aphrodite asked while still obviously feeling upset that Adam was asking her about another succuba.
"Stacey told me that Astarte is, in fact, the opposite of the oracle. I wanted to know more about that," Adam explained.
"Did she now?" Aphrodite replied.
"Opposite of the oracle? What does that mean?" Emma asked in confusion.
"You were not able to view the stream back when Lord Malacoss explained it to us, but he mentioned how light and darkness need to be in balance," Adam explained.
"People believe that this is also the reason why both Lord Omniel and the Demon King were born at the same time and are siblings," Rowena added.
"So what you're saying is that Andromeda is the light while this Astarte is the darkness?" Emma asked.
"That seems to be the going conclusion, considering Andromeda is part of the Nonpareilus race and literally has wings that appear to be made of light," Lorelie stated.
"They were really beautiful," Emma acknowledged before asking, "But then why wasn't she born to the Deverinian race?"
"I asked Stacey the exact same question," Adam said with a chuckle.
"No one is sure why the Avaricious was not a Deverinian but instead a Succuba this time," Aphrodite replied with a shrug.
"Wait, what do you mean by this time?" Adam asked.
"Unlike the oracle, which has always been a member of the Nonpareilus race, the avaricious has always come from a different race each time the old one passed away," Aphrodite explained.
"This just keeps getting stranger," Adam remarked.
"Agreed, we have no idea how the oracle and the avaricious are even picked to begin with," Rowena replied.
"Do they change at the same time?" Emma asked before explaining her question better, "I mean, say if Andromeda were to die, would Astarte cease being as avaricious as the power moves on to someone else and vice versa or not?"
"No, Andromeda has been the oracle for over three thousand years, while Astarte has only been the avaricious for a little over two thousand. Astarte received the position after the precious avaricious was killed," Aphrodite replied.
"So how does one know who the avaricious is? I mean, Andromeda obviously has her powers and her wings are pure white, what powers does the avaricious have and what fortelling features?" Adam asked before adding, "Also, how exactly is the avaricious opposite to the oracle?"
"Whoa, slow down, one question at a time," Aphrodite said with a smile before explaining. "Let me answer your question in order. The identity of a new avaricious or oracle instinctively becomes known by their counterpart. Let's use Emma's question as an example.
If Andromeda were to die and a new oracle took her place, Astarte would instinctively know who they were.
The avaricious always have green hair and eyes, as well as being incapable of having sex without dying."
At this point, Adam interrupted her and said, "Wait a minute, in the past, when you first told me about Astarte, you said that no one had ever seen her condition before."
"Ok, that part I fibbed about I admit," Aphrodite admitted while holding her hands up before quickly adding, "But I did it because the avaricious is generally someone people avoid talking about, unlike the oracle."
"She's right, you can't blame her for not being completely honest about this," Rowena added.
"Why?" Adam asked.
"Because the avaricious is essentially what the first oracle became, someone greedy who is only out for their own self-interests," Lorelie explained before adding, "In fact, the only individuals the avaricious ever shows concern for are those she thinks of as her own belongings."
"Is that why Astarte is indifferent to everyone?" Adam asked.
"Correct, though, as Lorelie said before, she can show concern for those she thinks of as her belongings. A good example of this is the girls who work at Universal Pleasure. Astarte considers each of the girls who work there as her own personal property," Aphrodite explains.
"Including you?" Adam asked.
"Yup, including me," Aphrodite admitted before adding, "Though admittedly, since I only work there on occasion, I have more free rein than the other girls."
"I get that she's greedy, but that still doesn't really explain why people would go out of their way to avoid speaking about her," Emma stated.
"There are two reasons," Rowena began. "First is out of respect for the Andromeda. Andromeda, as the oracle, is widely regarded and loved by people across the known universe because of the fact that she has helped so many of them in her three thousand years as the oracle. Mentioning the avaricious is seen as disrespectful to the oracle since it is her counterpart.
Second is fear, while this pink-haired bimbo is the best at getting anyone she wants into bed."
"Hey!" Aphrodite complained before Rowena continued.
"Astarte is probably the best at getting anything she wants in the universe due to how clever she is.
When Astarte first became avaricious, she didn't go about using her powers in a flashy manner; instead, she subtly used her succubus abilities and smarts to gather information and blackmail material on all the influential and powerful players in the known universe.
This blackmail material gives her not only the ability to blackmail anything from any of these players, but also keeps her safe from reprise, since she has publicly made it known that should she be killed, all said material and information will be posted publicly on the universal subspace network for all to see."
"Well, that explains how she has managed to survive unlike the first oracle," Adam remarked before asking, "But what exactly are her abilities?"
"Honestly, we are not sure, only Astarte and the previous avaricious, who are all dead, know that since none of them has revealed it," Aphrodite replied.
"There are a few speculations, however," Eri suddenly said.
"True, but that's all they are, speculation," Aphrodite admitted.
"I would still like to hear them," Adam said as Emma nodded in agreement.
"I'm not going to list every speculation someone has made ever since the first avaricious, so instead I will just name the most commonly believed speculation," Aphrodite replied.
"Which is?" Adam asked.
"It is believed that the avaricious has the ability to learn, discover or acquire whatever it is they want," Aphrodite replied as Adam and Emma shot her sceptical looks, causing her to sigh and say.
"Look, I know you're sceptical, everyone is when they first hear that speculation; however, it is also the one that has the greatest likelihood of being true. For example, do you think it's a simple matter to obtain information and blackmail material on every influential and powerful individual in the known universe? Do you know how many people that aquants to?
Yet Astarte managed to successfully do that in only a few short years."