Revi stood before the statue honouring the black knight and white dragon for saving the phoenix race while she addressed the large crowd that had gathered and all those who were watching on holographic screens across the Ashes Galaxy.
"We once again gather at the statue of our two saviours, but not because a year has already come and gone, but because we gather to celebrate a very special guest to our lands.
The first white dragon to arrive on Fenix Nest since the one that fought alongside the black knight and saved us during the great siege.
My own goddaughter, White Dragon Tephe, graces us with her presence on this auspicious day."
As Revi's speech reached this point and she indicated with her hand towards where Tephe and the other stood a short distance away, the gathered crowd and many who watched on holographic screens cheered before some of them launched jets of flame into the air.
Revi smiled and let her people show their enthusiasm before she raised her hand for silence, yet it still took the crowd several moments to quiet down so that she could continue.
"In the presence of White Dragon Tephe, we honour our two saviours who had no responsibility to help us and yet risked their lives to save our race.
We honour the white dragon who fought alongside us to retake our capital before joining me in killing the one who killed my father, our former emperor.
We honour the black knight who fought alongside what remained of our space force before carving a path through our enemy and single-handedly destroying both their flagship and communications ship.
This allowed us not only to call for aid but to put our enemy into disarray, allowing us to launch a counteroffensive."
As she reached this point, Revi was once again forced to stop her speech as the crowd burst into applause while flames shot into the sky.
Revi smiled at the crowd's enthusiastic response before turning to look at Adam pointedly, causing him to look back in confusion.
Eventually, the crowd calmed down enough that Revi was able to continue speaking.
"Shortly after this, both the black knight and the white dragon vanished without asking for anything in return for the help they provided and no one has seen either since.
It is unknown where they went and if they shall ever return; however, what would the rest of the universe say about our race if we did not repay the kindness that was shown on that day?
Because of this, I officially declare in my position as Empress of all Phoenixes and with the full support of the Flame Council of Ministers, that from this moment forth, both the black knight and the white dragon be granted the title of Phoenix Friend and receive all the privileges and benefits that come with it"
As Revi made her declaration, the crowd once more burst into cheers and applause, Revi once again waited for them to quiet down before making her last announcement.
"Since neither of them asked for anything in return for their help all those years ago, I therefore declare that should they appear before me or any future emperors or empresses of our race, they may request any one prize or service, so long as we are capable of granting it.
And with that, I now declare the commencement of this week-long celebration."
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"Hello everyone, I'm Soots, the Ashes Galaxy correspondent for the USNN and we have just witnessed Empress Revi announcing the commencement of the celebration to welcome White Dragon Tephe.
Joining me in the studio to discuss Empress Revi's speech is Admiral Eterna, who commanded the Phoenix Space Forces' defence against the Herpolisk in the final days of the Siege of Fenix Nest and witnessed the black knights' actions first-hand.
Welcome, Admiral Eterna."
"Thank you for having me," Eterna replied.
"So, Admiral, can you give us your opinion on the empress's speech?"
"I approve of Empress Revi and the Flame Council of Ministers' choice to grant both our saviours the title of Phoenix Friend. I'm also…"
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"So what did you think?" Revi asked with a smile as she walked over to Adam and the others.
"Don't you think the appreciation was a bit much?" Adam asked.
"Are you being serious, or are you truly unable to comprehend that you saved an entire race?" Revi asked in disbelief.
"I get that, but…" Adam began, but Revi interrupted him as she said with a frown.
"Then am I to believe that you think so little of my race and people?"
"What?" Adam asked in disbelief.
"You," Revi said as she poked him in the chest before continuing, "Saved an entire race and while that might seem like something small and insignificant to you, it means everything to us."
She once again poked him in the chest while saying, "Without your efforts, my entire race would cease to exist. Do I and my race mean so little to you that you can't even accept what you have done for us and accept our gratitude for doing it?"
As Revi finished speaking, she looked at Adam with sad, hurt eyes that surprised him. It wasn't just the fact that he had hurt her without meaning to, but the fact that he had seen her make those eyes before.
It was back when she had just killed the assassin who killed her father and she had hugged him.
Adam knew that he wasn't the most sensitive when it came to women's feelings and picking them up at times, but even he could tell from her reaction that Revi had feelings for him.
"I'm sorry, Revi," Adam replied before continuing. "It's not that I don't like your race or think so little of you, I just have trouble imagining what it means to have saved an entire race.
I'm from a world where no one lives off-world, unlike here, where your race has spread out all over the universe.
Not to mention that because we jumped through time, I completely missed the last two thousand years where the Phoenix race was an endangered people and all the effort you put in to repopulate your race."
"He does have a point, Revi," Elemence remarked before continuing. "We can't really expect him to understand the true state that our race was in back then; only members of races that have experienced something similar would be able to understand."
"Also, don't forget that up until three years ago, neither Adam nor I knew there was other life in the universe," Emma added.
"Fine, fine," Revi replied before poking Adam in the chest again while saying, "I get that you still don't fully understand how everything works in the universe, but what you do need to understand and understand quickly is that you need to start building up a foundation and reputation in the universe."
"I've barely been in the known universe for a few months. Is that necessary so soon?" Adam asked.
"If you were anyone else, I would say there's no rush; however, you're not anyone else," Revi began as the women listened in with smiles.
"First off, you're dating two of the top divas in the universe.
Then there's the fact that you now own an entertainment company that has contracted those same divas.
Perhaps most important of all is your ship and mech. While your ship is still relatively unknown except for some powerful individuals, it is capable of time travel, which is a dangerous power that people will feel threatened by once they learn of it.
Your mech, on the other hand, is already known all over the universe as the black knight that saved my entire race, and while people have not figured out the truth about it being the true black knight, that will eventually happen, thus propelling your reputation even higher and even earning you your own fan club."
"Fanclub?" Adam asked in surprise.
"You might not know this, but you must have got an inkling of it when you competed in the UMB Cup opening ceremony," Revi continued.
"The black knight is the king, the emperor, the peak of all mechs in the universe. No mech has ever been considered its equal."
"Well, no other mech has ever been able to fire a planetary annihilation beam," Aphrodite replied with a smirk.
"Exactly," Revi replied before saying, "Anyone who likes or works with mechs has heard and even studied the black knight and its capabilities from the videos of it in action during the Siege of Fenix Nest.
Because of this, the black knight has its own fanbase and multiple fanclubs, all of which will become yours once people learn you're the black knight's pilot."
"Would people feel threatened by time travel because of that whole grandfather paradox thing?" Tephe asked curiously.
"Grandfather paradox?" Elemence asked curiously, which Tephe eagerly began to explain.