"So when are you performing?" Emma asked Lorelie as they continued to tour the stalls.
"Excited to see our girl perform?" Rowena asked with a smirk.
"For sure," Emma nodded before saying, "Watching you perform on stream was already great, I can only imagine how good it will be to watch you perform in person."
"Thank you for the compliment," Lorelie said with a smile before adding, "Revi asked me to perform both today and on the final day of the celebration; however, I haven't seen where they want me to perform yet."
"Oh, right, with everything going on, I forgot to talk to you about it," Elemence suddenly realised before continuing, "Because of a certain empress asking you to perform last minute."
"Look, I already apologised for that, already," Revi complained, which Elemence ignored as she continued.
"Because of that, we couldn't fit you into any venue in the city that's suitable for a diva of your calibre, since they are all fully booked with other performances already."
"You don't need to go to so much trouble; just a small venue would be fine," Lorelie replied.
"That's kind of you, Diva Lorelie, but this isn't just for your sake but our citizens. Surely you understand how many people will want to attend your shows?" Elemence asked.
"Probably the entire galaxy," Aphrodite replied with a smirk.
"Try the entire universe, I doubt USNN will miss the chance to broadcast her performance live," Stacey stated with a smirk.
"Ohhh, you're right," Aphrodite said in agreement.
"Adam, what's wrong?" Revi suddenly asked as she noticed he didn't seem to be following the conversation and was looking in a particular direction.
"Sorry, I've just been wondering something," Adam replied before he pointed at a small creature on a male phoenix's shoulder and asked, "I've seen them a few times now as we were walking around, but is that a baby Phoenix?"
The creature he pointed to looked like a small bird that was mainly brown in colour, though it had a small tuft of red feathers on the crown of its head.
"That's correct," Revi replied and continued to explain, "That one is only a few weeks old. The phoenix whose shoulder it's on is most likely a relative."
The baby phoenix chick noticed Revi looking at it and chirped happily before flying over and landing on her shoulder.
"Hello, little one," Revi said as she gently stroked it, earning another chirp.
"Is it allowed to get that close to you?" Adam asked in surprise.
"There are very few phoenixes in our society who would even consider harming Revi after all she's done for us," Elemence remarked before adding, "Also, since this one is only a few weeks old, it's hardly dangerous."
"Understood," Adam replied.
"Thanks for worrying about me regardless," Revi said as she smiled at Adam.
"How long before this one can talk then, or does it need to attain its human form first?" Emma asked as she studied the phoenix chick.
"It depends on whether this one is on its first life or not," Revi began to explain. "If it's on its first life, then it does indeed need to wait until it attains human form to learn how to speak. However, those who have been reincarnated already know how to talk and so can normally speak after a few months."
"Amazing," Emma said with bright eyes.
"Would you like to pet this little one?" Revi asked Emma with a smile since she appreciated her enthusiasm towards her race.
"Is that alright?" Emma asked in surprise.
"I don't know, is it?" Revi asked as she looked at the phoenix chick on her shoulder.
The phoenix chick chirped before flying over to Emma's shoulder and settling on it.
"Hehe," Emma giggled as she began to stroke the little phoenix chick.
"Let me, let me," Tephe said in excitement as she approached Emma and joined her in stoking the chick.
"This one seems to be a reincarnation," Elemence stated.
"Because it can understand us?" Stacey asked, to which Elemence nodded in confirmation.
"Is there any way to tell which life it's on?" Lorelie asked curiously.
"Not without looking at the official records or asking its family," Revi replied.
"It's her third life, empress," The phoenix whose shoulder the chick had been on originally suddenly said as he came over and bowed to Revi.
"I see, thank you for telling us," Revi thanked the man.
"It's my honour, empress," The man replied while bowing.
"Are you going to come see me perform later, little one?" Lorelie asked the chick as she gently stroked it.
The chick hopped around on Emma's shoulder and chirped happily in response.
"I think that's a yes," Rowena replied with a smirk.
"We are all looking forward to your performance in Capital Square, Diva Lorelie," The man said.
"Capital Square?" Diva Lorelie asked curiously.
"That's where we plan to hold your concert, since there aren't any venues available and so many citizens will want to come see you perform live," Elemence explained.
"Wow, you get to perform in Capital Square," Rowena said in surprise.
"Is that impressive?" Adam asked.
"The Capital Square is known by another name, The Phoenix Nest," Revi replied.
"Like your planet?" Adam asked with a frown.
"No, that's Fenix Nest," Revi replied before explaining. "The Phoenix Nest is the literal birthplace of the phoenix race as well as the place where we lay out dead to rest, but perhaps it's easier to show you."
As she finished speaking, Revi took Adam by the hand and led him down the street towards a red glow in the distance while the others followed.
💫💫💫
Somewhere in subspace between the Sandanar and Galamedees Galaxy.
"Tessa, how are things progressing back on Aunt's end? Is everything ready?" Andria Ororis, captain of the Imperial Down, as well as Tessa and Becky's cousin, asked as she entered Tessa's private cabin.
"Almost. We are just waiting on a few loyal ships to rendezvous with the traitorous ones before we act," Tessa replied as she looked up from the holographic screens that were floating above the console on her desk.
"What are the traitors up to, cuz?" Becky asked as she lounged on one of the room's sofas while eating snacks.
"You know you're still technically a member of this crew and so have duties to attend to? Why are you just lounging around here?" Andria asked in annoyance.
"I'm acting as Tessa's bodyguard," Becky replied before she threw a snack into her mouth.
"Isn't that Emma's job?" Andria asked while glancing at Emma, who sat opposite Becky.
"It is, but I won't turn down the help. There is more than one traitor aboard after all and no matter how lazy she may be, Becky has been trained in our family's combat techniques," Emma replied.
"Hey!" Becky complained.
"How is the monitoring of the traitors going?" Tessa asked.
"There isn't really anything to report," Andria said with a shrug before continuing. "We haven't noticed them doing anything out of the ordinary; they even interact with each other normally. It's starting to make me think that they don't know the identity of the other traitors."
"That would be an effective way to keep their identities secret; perhaps only the one issuing their orders knows each of their identities," Tessa said thoughtfully.
"But who is giving them their orders?" Becky asked before she ate another snack and offered one to Emma, who accepted.
"We don't know," Andria replied in annoyance before explaining. "We have been unable to figure out how they are communicating off the ship; all we can say is that they are not using the ship's own communications."
"Perhaps they're using a device similar to the one our family uses," Tessa suggested as she indicated a small circular object that was connected to her console.
"Who knows how long that stupid brother of yours was working with that organisation? Perhaps he gave them the designs for it," Becky suggested with a frown.
"That would imply that it's the same organisation behind both events," Emma remarked as she stole another snake before adding, "But the prince wasn't part of our Ororis family and so shouldn't have known about the communications device."
"It's always possible they invented their own version," Tessa suggested.
"Sure, but I still don't see how they could communicate long distance without using the ship as a relay," Andria stated.
"Perhaps their version doesn't need to use the ship as a relay," Becky suggested.
"Perhaps the one in charge of them is onboard," Emma suggested, causing the room to go quiet for a moment.
"Impossible, we have accounted for everyone on the list Princess Liluth sent me," Tessa finally said.
"Do we know for certain that the list Princess Liluth Solar sent is legitimate and complete?" Emma asked doubtfully before adding, "She was partially the cause of our race's estrangement with the rest of the universe."
"True, but I believe what she gave me is genuine," Tessa replied.
"How can you be so sure?" Emma challenged.
"I have my own reasons for trusting her that I can't reveal at this time," Tessa replied, causing Andria and Emma to look at her in surprise.