Chapter 50 – Dark Fleet in the Embers

The dark corridors of Shadowvale echoed with the chants of maddened tongues, like mad foxes howling upon the night sky within deep space. A massive angular obsidian ship, appearing out of the void slipped into view, its blackened structure almost swallowing the smaller transport craft that Ursula and her team road in to travel hundreds of miles above the prison. As its dark gates closed up with a deafening silent roar, the sight of the prison citadel was blocked away indefinitely, left to the distant past. The atmospheric shields activated once Ursula's escape craft was docked inside.

Greeting them as their ship opened up was a raven-black hooded figure with greyish pale skin, their guide. The air was dense, the smells of the alien city pungent in the air. She knew from the time her sister had worked here the Exodus dominion and their robed, cult worshipers and insurgents were not to be trifled with. The doors to the main halls opened, and the team disembarked out their craft and into the structure.

"Welcome, to our house of X." The guide said. His bandages were glowing neon red in two strips, crossing each other over his face. "This is Shadowvale 17, one of the quickest and smallest of 154 Chapter ships we maintain in secrecy."

"It's cold out here."

Veronica said to herself, Jel comforting her with her arm and a gentle pat.

"The air has been pumped with oxygen. Our atmospheric gens aren't quite as stable or power efficient as Xi'an tech to maintain an artificial atmosphere, we have to make do with what we can." The guide responded. "The Exodus dominion is extremely efficient in their efforts to protect and preserve the history of their race. I doubt you will find another who speaks so fluent in ancient Alphari." Zari and Serena looked at each other with confusion. "Tch. Thought the Alphari were extinct." Serena casually mentioned.

The guide turned his head briefly as they walked through the corridors. His red glowing 'X' bandage illuminated their faces in scarlet. "Oh, were they? We don't like to use the word 'eXtinct' around here. While we follow the path of extinction, we prefer to think of it as 'purifyXing'." His red eyed gaze looked at the group, and his mouth opened wide like a demon's. They moved along the corridors down into the large main temple room. The room's holographic simulators created the illusion of deep space along the walls, empty black in every direction but the floor, occasionally blocked by gigantic granite monoliths. The tallest three monoliths formed a series of pillars in the center, like a throne to the stars.

"We welcome the newcomers to Shadowvale." The guide said. Ursula looked around- the granite structures aside, everything in the room was eerily ambient with black and red lighting yet empty. If there was a trap, she would've sensed it by now. For reasons she couldn't understand, her telepathy couldn't tap into the electronics or control systems of the Shadowvale, assuming there were any. Perhaps it was due to the power core's own design, shielding the facility from remote electronic intrusion or interference, or perhaps this room was specifically

prepared for this meeting, and the guide was well aware of her efforts to read his mind. When Ursula tried to poke into his wavelengths and brain's electrical signals and was met with static, he merely gave a ghastly smile.

"The head Prelate will see you soon, and Black Mass will convene." He said. "Please make yourselves comfortable while you wait." With that, he made a hasty retreat to another room, where he was seen walking away from the group and down a different hall. A small metallic box beside the large center monoliths opened, with chairs for each of them and the group sat down, their eyes turning back to look at the ceiling. The black abyss filled the space, occasionally obstructed by the granite pillars jutting upwards. Caleb scratched his head. "Hell did you pick as our getaway cruise?" He asked Ursula with a scowl. "The Exodus dominion is actually the opposite of our escape cruise." She replied. "It's our new base of operation." She said.

The 3 star breakers with Caleb, Veronica and Jel looked on at her with disbelief. Serena seemed to react the least, her arms folded as if welded to her chest like steel. "The Exodus dominion is a death cult. The ones we just met worship the old religion of this facility, the religion that the ancient Alphari had that they were exiled from." Jel pointed out. "Even the Llavalites consider them a bunch of creeps."

Ursula looked at Jel with an air of contempt. "Yes, I know all of that." She replied. "Recently they've fallen under hard times. The main issue being- recruiting. Let's just say, the work between me and my sister has fixed that up quite abit."

She looked at the team. "It will be a great time to do some recruiting. If the others that we got away are the same kind of people."

"The same.. kind of people?" Caleb asked, an eyebrow raised.

Urs gave him a silvery smile. "Fanatics." She said. "Hence, the best people for the job."

The team sat up, straightening their shoulders as they faced their leader. Satsuma turned away slightly. "Just because folks believe in something passionately, doesn't always mean they're wackjobs." She said, giving a slight scowl.

Serena adjusted her visor. "I'm with the Sats on this one." She turned to Ursula. "The Exodus dominion has been augmenting their beliefs with, new age types. Superstitions stirred by the Engima." Serena said, her voice cold with contempt. "And they're just a bunch of wackos who try to pass themselves off as being special." She folded her arms again. "Their entire way of crazy thinking would make the Hellenic Orchid pantheon and Llavalite religions blush with embarrassment."

"'Scuse you." Satsuma practically hissed at those words.

"The Exodus dominion is the largest religion in the Black Nexus, so I hardly doubt that.

I'm not trying to insult them, Sats. I'm trying to explain what this place is. In the face of their failures, the Exodus dominion has become a bunch of desperate, scared, hungry people, with very unstable attitudes and mindsets." Serena explained.

"But their minds are weak, so it's just a matter of pushing the right buttons to make them bend to your will." Ursula lectured them. "And in all the breadth and depth of nights, there's nothing, I excel at more than bending others to my will."

"Black Nexus?" Caleb asked.

Veronica whispered. "The regions of high-density Cascade fields and phenomenon that Xi considers non grata within the edge of their borders. Basically no-man's land in deep space." She looked around the room. "It's also why they excel in cloaking tech and ship teleportation- they seem to have technological secrets in manipulating Cascade that even Xi doesn't know about."

"Luckily for us.." Ursula smiled. "I have secrets I keep of my own."

The sound of a bell chimed above the room, followed by a hiss. A set of red lights flashed overhead, followed by a series of black lights that made a pattern over the ceiling, until they spelled out the symbol 'X'. Slowly hooded flickers, or holographic avatars of them began to pop into the room one at a time, like wraiths visiting a ship's graveyard. Their black robes, hoods and masks concealing their face, their skin the same pale grey of the figure who brought the team to the facility. Some of the figures wore a red strip across their face- two strips, crossing over their eyes like a red X.

"There are three levels of Black Mass." The figure said to the group, his voice echoing around the room atop stairs from the three front pillars. "All who attend are not obligated to participate. However.. it's customary. There's only two rules for the event. Do not speak of it, and do not speak while it's happening." A voice said from above, as the manifesting avatar of a man with parts of his porcelain-like face carved out, the other 3 parts suspended in floating parity above the bottom-most jaw. The empty spaces of the carving between the floating sections, formed an 'X', as if someone had carved an X out of their granite face and the cut parts levitated above his neck fixed in position. Behind him a massive red cross made of neon light rotated around his shoulders, like a windmill of death. Slowly the dregs and worshipers of the damned inside the Shadowvale started to gather closer in great numbers, bumping the Starbreaker team elbow to elbow as they packed close to hear what the Prelate had to say, his jaunt gangling form slowly making its way down the stairs with a cryptic gait.

He spoke in a deep, authoritative voice, an echoing resonance of power. "Firstly- The ceremony for new initiates. Larval subjects of the dominion, newly hatched and baptized under her ascended deathly lights."

"Her?" Caleb asked. Veronica shushed him.

"Secondly, a ceremony may be called forward to initiate new Prelates, priestesses and X- cutioners. Honorary servants of her X-cellency." At the back of the room, three figures stood- a tall armored figure wrapped in slick belts, spikes and what looked like a helmet with two eye- slits forming in an X-'shaped' cross, a figure with her eyes X-bandaged in neon red wearing poofy sleeves with black latex gloves and thigh-high boots, long white hair and wide hips wrapped by a latex skirt. The third, a tall hooded figure in all black, covered from head to toe by

a cloak, their hands held before them as a pair of long scissors, the blade shaped in a crude butchering form like an 'X'. The last figure removed its hood and revealed her hood to show two flowing blond pigtails and an X-shaped eyepatch over one eye, a blood-red bow decorating over their head. She looked like a lolita girl from Caleb's view, dressed in black frills beneath her cloaks and white rubber gloves. The three watched the Starbreakers and Ursula carefully, never taking their eye off them at this function.

"The third ceremony, which we may consider the most holy and reverent is the ceremony of purity." The Prelate said. "The only ceremony called when a new Prophet has arrived.”

"The new Prophet?" Caleb asked. He saw the black cloaked frilly figure's hands drop, gripping their scissors. They wouldn't take their eye off him.

Ursula began to step forward, pushing through the crowd, who started to look and reach out their hands in awe.

"The ceremony is our life, and the Black Nexus is where we find out if we can make that life, live, or not. When all this is over- you will know our secrets. Those secrets, not only have we paid for them with our lives, but our deaths too." He made a turn, a gesture for all the congregation to join in the chant. It was a high pitched, unnatural chorus that pierced the air and rattled the very hairs of their nerves, each of them shivering as the sound of the mass echoed from the walls of the black chamber. "Our deaths as citizens, as sovereign subjects, as slaves to the decadent regime of the Xi empire. The time has come to find the answer to our purpose, the final solution to our existence. I'm looking for warriors, warriors who can find power in the darkness. Power strong enough to save our lady, our great visionary goddess lost in the abyss. Her ascended powers in the darkness will be enough to save all of us, but only if we maintain the faith. And to maintain our faith, requires X must choose her prophets." Everyone looked at Ursula. "The new Prophet, with her army at their side!"

The premier moved around the center, up the stairs and stood before in front of the center monolith. Upon reaching the head Prelate, he took out a two-sided ceremonial dagger, and stabbed her hand. Ursula wrenched slightly, letting the blood flow. The Prelate fingered the wound, pooling blood as he pressed in and then wrapped her injury. He then proceeded to smear the blood across Ursula's forehead in two diagonal motions- both streaks of red crossed one another, forming a bloody 'X' atop her face.

"Oh no." Caleb muttered. Ursula smiled gently.

"She has been initiated. Hear the words of the Prophet.." He began.

As he stepped aside to give Ursula auditory control of the room, the girl looked at her new constituency. "X-faithful. Knowers of the truth about the forgotten goddess. Worshipers of her dark light, let us cleanse the world of the foul scum, those who would corrupt, subvert and pervert her holy light.." She hissed. "The Llavalites, once our allies have cast their lot with the Xi'ans and become heathens. But they too will join us in good time! This much I know. Look at

the signs of the end times- the technological failings happening around us, the Enigma, its all pointing to the messiah. Even now, her return bleeds the galaxy it of its potency, taking back her light from the sutured technology powered by the Cascade that belongs to her. I bring to you news of her return! Rejoice, for the age of synths will soon be upon us! The technocratic dawn is soon to come!"

"X!" "X!" "X!" The voices cheered and chanted in unison.

"I have been granted a blessing by the Goddess. Now that I am her prophet.." Ursula's voice echoed off the hall. "The Goddess hath chosen me to bring upon her wrath to punish their sins. To punish and destroy those who would dare stand before her, with the power of X-cision!"

The voices rose. "To begin her grand X-cution.."

As Ursula spoke, the Starbreakers listening felt the gravity and carefully curated resonance of her words. She was a different person altogether up atop that stairwell orating, likely reading every single neural wavelength in the room to get a vibe for the manipulation of the masses. Veronica gave Ursula a glare. "Ugh." She turned to Jel, then to the others. She shook her head. "This woman's got to be one of the most sadistic, crazy person that I've ever-" "Nah.

She knows she's speaking nuttery. Whole bullshit false prophet act." Satsuma smirked. "Reminds me of someone I know.."

Veronica turned to Jel, looking over their faces. "You.. okay with this?" Jel shrugged. "Same level of wacko as my lineage."

The Prelate continued. "Thanks to the Prophet X-Night, their funding and our blessings- we're getting the tools we need to take the war with the Xi'ans. We will re-establish our culture, reclaim our history, and destroy the faithless who stand against us! The enigma siphons Xi's strength every passing arc, each passage of the stars! We shall burn the X-ed enemies of X-cess from the blackness of the Black Nexus! And by the grace of X, those who do not join us, shall be eradicated from X-istence!"

Caleb rolled his eyes. "What does that even mean? Who is X? Who's he even talking about.." The weird way of speaking and cult-speak was starting to give Caleb a serious headache.

Ursula affirmed. "This is what our enemies face- the wrath of X." She smirked.

Zari leaned in and explained. "The cult of the X-domination, otherwise known as Exodus dominion, their bloodied cloaks and hoods, the chants, the mantras and rituals of a false god, a dark and unknown goddess said to be the god of machines, who has been hidden away for millennia, the source of her worship so dark and forgotten, its history obscured and lost in time itself, hidden in the veils and shadows of the Xi empire." She cleared her throat. "That's about the extent of it I know. I doubt there's any real 'machine goddess' or whatever, but hey.. Useful idiots."

"Fuckin heck.." Caleb muttered.

The Prelate raised a fist to the ceiling. "Our enemies shall know her wrath, her holy fire and power, and she shall destroy them and bring forth the new world." The room began to grow hot, and the ceiling began to melt away, revealing a giant black hole that was expanding in size. The center monolith cracked as its stone split, and light from the hole flared out, like the flame of hell. The monolith disintegrated into millions of glittering stone fragments that fell from the sky in the form of an artificial meteor shower. As it landed upon the floor, the lights dimmed and shut off- only the light of the chamber's center and ceiling and the Prelate's hood were illuminated by it.

The crowd fell silent, the air suddenly chilling. It was all just a holographic projection of course, but the atmosphere turned serene.

As the Prelate spoke, a woman in pure white latex gleaming under the red lights like a pearlescent ode to beauty, a mask and bodysuit covering her head to toe. She stepped up- Besides her, a strange figure dressed like a mummy in black wraps. Their apparitions flickered- more projections.

"It has been a long time.. Urssssula." She said, her snake-like voice at the end giving Ursula a heart attack. "I trust our goals are aligned for the moment?"

"Prophet X-Night! How wondrous of you to join us in the initiation ceremony of our newest recruit, Prophet Ursula."

Ursula looked at 'X-night' with a glaze of scorn, the disdain drawn across the wrenching wrinkles in her face.

"X-Night!" Ursula cried. "What is this, this nonsense.." She coughed into her hand. "How nice of you to…make your presence known."|

"Well, someone has to keep an eye on things, less the 'spectacle' stop going." X-Night's words were very deliberate, Ursula tuned in carefully.

"Ursula is an agent of X." X-Night, the prophetess told the crowd. "Hers is the true face of X's will, and the power to lead us to her will be found through the Premier. She will take back the stars. She will recreate XU as I've promised. And the wayward sympathizers.."

As X-Night prattled on, the Starbreakers saw more holograms enter the room- massive crowds along the edges, dressed differently, with no X-based paraphernalia or symbols worn. One group on the left side of the room wore stylized green cloaks and tunics, the other group on the right looked to be in military regalia jackets- Mostly in Red and White. The green tunics were embroidered with a strange symbol, the head of an owl-like bird with a large circle in the middle. The Red and White military groups were wearing a six-sided star as their insignia, which looked like a rotation of a clear Xi-emblem that Caleb recognized.

"You may have noticed that your cause has many, sympathizers. While we surely have our own ideals, let ideology not be the dividing line between us." X-night told the group, her curves and breasts sleek and sheeny among the Mass. "We give it all to our singular goal, of destroying Xi. May your goddess X bless us, and in fact, she surely already has. With the Enigma still active, Xi has grown weaker than ever. Now is the time for our forces to converge and strike. To your faith and movement, I give you.."

She raised her arms towards the left-sided group. "The Peacekeepers, environmental protectors of the Cascade and its purity. They've seen the Cascade used to its limit, and are the most likely to have an allegiance to the Goddess.. Activism has taken them as far as it could under Xi's degenerate oversight, and now is the time for radical action. If the Cascade is to be cherished for future generations, it must not be extracted, abused, experimented on and drained to its ends. They've sworn to its protection, and to the Dominion's protection aswell." The right group bowed their heads to the group. X-Night then turned around to the other side of the room.

"And the Xi Reformants. Who have seen the falsehoods of the Xistress state. Who have seen how the Empire has failed and abandoned their ideals. How it abandoned the old guilds, the honorary X-kompanies, the Merchant Guild. They have no honor whatsoever among the bureaucratic state. These have sworn to the destruction of Xi, that traditional Xi shall be the tool to destroy Xi. And theirs is a sacred war, for they too know of the return of X." She looked towards them, several of their brass giving her an acknowledging nod. "Once they reclaim the galactic reigns, a mercantile economy will be re-established with 6 new elderdragons. Llavalites will be uprooted, as they were in the classical times. Xi will return to the old ways. They, much like the Peacekeepers are as you of Shadowvale-17 say, X-cessionists. The time has come to begin our purge, and the Xi Reformants and the Peacekeepers will be of great assistance. Let us join hands opposed to Xi'an tyranny."

"Down with Xi'an tyranny!" The X-dominion began to chant.

"Down with Xi'an tyranny!" The peacekeepers joined in, softer but no less authentic. "Down with Xi'an tyranny!" The reformants started to join aswell.

"Down with Xi'an tyranny!" The three groups yelled in unison. The Prelate nodded.

"As the Prophet X-night hath spoken, we shall do away with Xi'an Tyranny."

"Just wait one second." Ursula said. "Prophet X-night. You seem to have a flair for the dramatics.." She eyed the other lady with a confrontational glare. "But surely you understand that.. not all our, let's say, priorities, are perfectly in sync." She turned to the crowd, as if delivering a counter-argument. "My my, protecting the Cascade? I'm sure that's something even her lady X can get behind.. but what of the Reformants? Do you think a traditional Xi, would respect the authority of nature? Of the X-goddess? And what of And to top it off, I haven't even-" She looked towards Caleb and the others. "Seen any Sovereigntists around here. Should this

Mass not mention, you've been funding and arming them?" A low growl rumbled through the ranks of the Reformants at the mention of the Sovereigntists.

"The fuck's a Sovereigntist?" Satsuma asked.

"Well.. we just rejected a new alliance with the Sovereigntists, not too long ago." Zari said. "They're even more hardlines militants than the Reformants, they believe that Sandra is too democratic and soft, even 'tolerant' towards Llavalites or Set. They're not merely anti- immigration but more pro.."

"Murder?" Jel asked.

"Purity. They want us to wipe out non-nationals and the Xistress too and set up some, Darwinian totalitarian state under the rule of a few military brass." Serena finished her sister's sentence. "They're too extreme to get along with these groups here. Fancy pantsy environmentalist, religious wackjobs, old-styled Xi conservatives? They're hardlined, they're not going to be happy with us for a long while. Granted, their whole military worship thing means they have enough clout to measure and slump hippies like us many times over but..."

"Fuckin right." Satsuma laughed. "So what you're sayin, Prophet X-Night is a nutjob who's lost her marbles?"

"Lost her marbles?" Zari whispered back, nudging Satsuma. "Maybe, but she's the one bankrolling this whole operation, remember? The Exodus dominion, the Reformants, the Peacekeepers... maybe even us, indirectly. She sighed. "We're just kind of along for the ride, although surely Ursula has some cards up her sleeve.. Prophet-X has been the one who basically pulled the strings and formed this entire group, and even turned a dying decrepit sect like the X- dominion into a full on movement."

"She's a nutter." Caleb said to the room at large. "And she's got a nut job army of weirdos that want to burn my people out of existence.." He shuffled his feet.

Ursula seized the moment of discord, her voice cutting through the murmurs that followed Satsuma's remark. "Prophet X-Night speaks of unity against Xi, a noble goal we all share." She addressed the holographic figure, her tone carefully measured, a blend of respect and subtle challenge. "But unity requires transparency, does it not? You bring forth these sympathizers," she gestured towards the Peacekeepers and Reformants, "yet their paths diverge significantly from the Dominion's and from mine. The Peacekeepers wish to preserve the Cascade, while the Reformants dream of restoring an old Xi order that likely wouldn't tolerate the Dominion's faith or the Peacekeepers' environmental zealotry. And where," her voice dropped slightly, becoming more pointed, "are the Sovereigntists you've been arming? Surely their brand of 'purity' deserves a place at this table, if we are truly converging our forces?"

She stepped closer. "This is supposed to be the age of X's wrath. Why, when you wish to unite against the Xi, do you give them weapons, resources and support to aid in their holy war, and then not invite them to the table? Is it perhaps, because it would expose any ulterior motives of your own, Prophet-X?"

The holographic X-Night remained impassive for a beat, the pearlescent white of her suit gleaming under the ambient red light. The mummy-like figure beside her shifted slightly, as if waiting to hear her counterargument. "Patience, "Prophet" Ursula," The fingerquotes around prophet stung into Ursula's pride. "The Sovereigntists? Their methods are blunt, necessary for certain, let's say operations. Their presence here tonight might prove counterproductive to this display of broader unity." She turned to the crowd. "They are soldiers. But we are warriors." She paused, giving dramatic time to reflect. Every inflection weighed on the mass like a balm of tension, waiting for its suspense to be freely delivered. "We are not savages."

The Dominion members, caught up in the fervor Ursula had ignited, merely looked between the two Prophets. "Ideological purity is a luxury we cannot currently afford," X-Night continued, her gaze sweeping over Ursula's Starbreakers. "Evil must be smitten with evil." She said gently, the word ringing in Ursula's ears.

"We must first unite in the face of common enemies, then come to discourse after. As for the methods? We have our own ideas." She turned back to Ursula. "That is all for now, Prophet X-Night is quite busy, so let's enjoy this celebration." They turned one last time to the crowd. "Down with Xi'an Tyranny!" Ursula gazed at X-night like a chessmatch of wills.

"Let the galaxy tremble, for the true inheritors of the night have awakened!" X-Night fired up the crowd.

"X!" "X!" "X!" The chant resumed, louder this time.

Ursula steeled her resolve. She knew X-Night was obscuring things, playing her own manipulative game, likely positioning these disparate groups to weaken each other even as they fought Xi, leaving X-Night herself in a stronger position of control later. But for now, for now, the resources were useful. This alliance, however fragile, served her immediate purpose.

"Down with Xi'an tyranny!" "Down with Xi'an tyranny!" "Down with Xi'an tyranny!"

The Dominion members, bashed their arms together up in the air to form an 'X' in pose, their signature stance.

The argument ended, and Mass became ravenous once again. X-Night turned around with their mummy and started to leave the room, slowly fading from their holographic presence. Ursula watched the two leave, her face betraying only mildly disdain. The shadowvale slowly seeped away, the atmosphere turning dark and ominous as it turned to night. Outside the holographic projection, Croix smirked across the galaxy. The shadow figures she'd spoken to had already vanished.

Ursula walked down the stairs, then whispered something to Satsuma, who rubbed her hands with glee.

The Prelate raised her hands, and the room plunged into total blackness once more.

Lounging on a recliner chair a few thousand light years away, Prophet-X in her castle looked over the ocean. She took off her white rubber mask, Croix giving a sigh of longing. "Always making things difficult for me to help you, like old times sis?" She turned, seeing the lights of the city in the distance. Behind the light, Croix looked up at the night sky, her expression turning a bit sly. "But this is just the start." She turned to the mummified figure. "I need a job done.. The Starbreakers. Turbo twins are just some flashy pets of hers, I could care less about them. But the Orchidian could be a problem down the line.."

"Take care of the problem?" The mummy replied. "Naturally." Croix said.

Back in the Shadowvale chapter, Ursula's words replayed in Satsuma's mind. "Her enforcer could be dangerous. I want you to eliminate her, if you can."

Satsuma beamed as she thought about that one. It'd been so long since they last had a dual.

As the others followed behind Ursula in the now emptied temple chamber, Caleb scoffed. "Lady." He looked at Ursula, giving her the eye. "You just turned the cult into a mass killing machine. This whole ceremony was just a massively cynical political maneuver."

Ursula smiled. "We embrace all who stand against Xi. That's simply the calculation we must make." She turned her eyes towards Caleb.

"But, you're just using these deluded people-" Caleb replied.

"Caleb, do be quiet." She said. "I just did what I had to do to gain control. You stand with us, rather than Xi right?"

Caleb folded his arms over his chest as if a pouting child. "I just wanna be 1#.. If your group becomes losers, don't think I'll stick around."

"Atta boy." Ursula patted his head. "Good dog."

The group soon left through the temple corridors to be shown to their staying chambers. "Welcome to the Black Nexus, Caleb," Jel murmured dryly beside him. "Try not to get X-

terminated."

"Stoppp." Caleb elbowed her and chuckled.

Their path was illuminated with flickering red lights, their path along the winding route guided by a hooded figure who led them on. The hallways seemed nearly neverending, snaking

along like a maze through miles of corridors, turning and turning endlessly in the darkness. At the end of a hallway's turn, Jel saw a single statue atop a small pedestal.

It resembled a girl of some kind with springy, spindle-like tree branches in her hair, which she recognized as some kind of neurons. Her face bore a slight smile. It was the kind of smile that made Jel's chest tighten, the girl's gaze looking back at her, a slight flicker of her eyes, as if they knew each other in a very ancient way.

"What's that?" She asked of the group in her general direction.

The guide went deathly silent, before turning his head to the statue, getting on his knees and putting his head to the floor in reverence.

"Goddess X.." he whispered, beginning to pray to the statue.

Ursula rolled her eyes at them. Another twenty minutes, they were shown to their quarters- which had a fairly sizable makeshift kitchen, bathroom, 3 bedrooms and a spacious living area, aswell as an office. Once the 3 teens and the 3 Starbreakers settled in, Caleb found it appropriate now to ask. "So how did you become their Prophet anyway?"

Ursula scratched her cheek. "Oh yeah. You know the Enigma? The thing, that they currently believe is a sign of the return of her? The goddess X herself, they believed she caused it and coming back to them." She turned on the coffee generator, quickly poured herself a raw cup, mixed cream and sugar took a slow sip.

"She didn't cause it. I did." Her hand wiggled and fingers waggled, the lights above turning on and off in disarray.

"W-WHAT?!" Caleb shrieked.

"Dunno, seemed like a good idea to fool these zealots, as well as to cripple Xi in the meanwhile. So far, it seems to have worked.."

Ursula said. The conversation went dark.

The teens looked at each other, then back to Ursula. "Cool?" Jel asked.

"Dude..." Caleb said. "Uhh.." Veronica froze.

"You mean you created the Enigma?" Caleb asked, shaking his head at the revelation. Ursula smiled.