"Call if you need anything," Emory repeated as she gripped Sam's hand, and the pair turned into rainbow lights. The background changed once again to a plot of undeveloped land with a massive forest encircling them. "Let's tell Gatrie first, then Myrrh," Emory suggested.
The pair headed into the semi-developed zone with a similar large barracks being built towards the far end, albeit much less constructed than Tana's. Instead, a three-story building with a radio dish slightly bigger than the perimeter of the structure on top stood before them. Recognizing this was the research center, the girls decided to go inside and look at what had been built.
Through a double glass door, the square room inside was filled with a few tables, comfy chairs, and books lining shelves on the wall. In the corner was a spiral staircase made of black stone. Upon following the path upwards, they found a room filled with screens and chairs. Gatrie was sitting on a chair watching a video near the back of the room and didn't hear them come up the stairs. As they got closer, they saw a grizzly scene of Mantoan and humans covering a battlefield, obviously a scene from the last war. Sam shook her head in disappointment because she imagined that this was how he had spent most of his time in the last few days.
She called out, "Gatrie! Is this all you've done over the last few days? Sit around and wallow?" He turned to look at who was chastising him and immediately started bawling when he recognized the two girls staring back at him.
"You're back! I was so worried!" Gatrie cried, "After I set up the long-range array, we got a ping for something far out, and I feared the worst. Then I got lost in recordings of the last war and collapsed under my own fear."
"Well, don't worry anymore then. We've returned and brought reinforcements too," Emory grinned.
"So, everything turned out okay with the Council of Witches?" Gatrie sighed with relief, "I hoped it would, though you never can tell with secretive organizations like that."
Sam beamed, "Yep, it went great. Emory here was even elected Supreme Witch."
"Really? Like Cassandra Black?" Gatrie gasped, "I bet you have access to all the secrets now. Congratulations!"
"Thank you. Because of that, I'm bringing a thousand Witches from Clan Riev including the leader. They'll be here to help train your squad and the army coming from the Collective," Emory informed him. She continued to relay the same information she had to Tana about the command changes and communication improvements. "Now, tell me about this ping you received," Emory ordered. Gatrie tapped on his wrist a few times, and the screen changed to a map of the local area of space.
"The day you and Sam left, we finished the research center that evening," Gatrie explained, "Later that night, Jask detected a ship moving through the outer range of the scanner. It was faster than any ship we have. But it just skirted the far edge and kept going."
Emory wrinkled her face, "What direction was it going?"
"North-west," Gatrie confessed, "Towards Nephenee's system."
"That's what I was worried about. Sam, I still have to update Innes, Nephenee and Tethys. Can you let Myrrh know about the changes happening?" Emory persuaded Sam.
"No problem. That's too bad that you're leaving; Myrrh seems really excited to see you again," Sam joked. Emory glared at her and rolled her eyes before she waved goodbye and disappeared.
This time, when she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a sea of grass that outstretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. The research center was finished, at least from the exterior view, and the walls surrounding the encampment had been reinforced. Behind it, she saw a second building, which looked like an apartment of sorts, under construction. It surprised her because she had neglected to talk about her plan to bring home an army. Actually, she had left Tethys to take care of everything here without any direction or information. Guilt began to wash over Emory as she started searching the outpost for Tethys. Running at full steam towards the ship, she came to a complete stop when she saw a petite blonde girl sitting at the edge of the bay doors.
Emory yelled, "Tethys! You're here!"
"Emory, is that you?" Tethys called back as she hopped up, "It is! You finally came back." She bolted towards Emory, meeting her and giving her a big hug.
"Tethys, I'm so sorry! I went to help Innes and Nephenee then I got wrapped up in my conviction to protect everyone and forgot to include you in the plan. I can't say how sorry I am," Emory bowed slightly.
"Emory, it's okay," Tethys replied as she pulled Emory up, "You were off protecting us. I was just worried about your safety. Here, let's head to the command center and catch up." Emory nodded and followed Tethys back to the main command aboard the ship.
Emory asked while they walked, "What gave you the idea to build barracks? I didn't say anything about it to you."
"After your emergency call with everyone, I figured you were going to need a bigger force to really change the tide," Tethys explained, "So after we finished the research center, I had them start working on that. I didn't know how many people you'd need to hold, but I knew it'd be a lot."
"That is one of the things I planned to talk to you about, yes. I'm really happy that you have already started on the project because it's a doozy. First though, tell me about you. What have you been up to since I passed out?" Emory questioned genuinely.
"Well, there is a big deal that I haven't been able to talk with anyone about," Tethys hissed before rushing the pair into the command room and locking the doors behind her, "When you were knocked out, I met Athos. He said that I have the Void sphere."
Emory frowned, "I thought it was had, like you used it all up. Did you ask him what he meant?"
"I didn't get the chance to with everything going on," Tethys shook her head, "I honestly didn't realize it worked like a regular sphere in that way. I thought, between the account you said and not seeing it in me anymore, that it wasn't a real sphere I could learn." Emory took a step back and circulated her magik, activating her golden eyes, then looked Tethys over top to bottom.
"I can see it now. Not a lot, but it's there. You clearly have two spheres. Have you tried using it since he said something?" Emory checked.
"What does this mean?" Tethys began to panic, "I have a sphere that is a fabled evil sphere. What will people think when they find out? How do I even use it in the first place without hurting someone else?"
Emory put her hand on Tethys's shoulder and moved the pair into chairs, "Don't panic. We'll figure it out. For now, don't do anything with it; let's get set up with the current order of things and then I'll help you work through it." Tethys took in a few more sharp breaths before finally calming down a little.
"Okay, that'll be fine. Focus on the task before me. So, what news did you bring?" Tethys continued to calm herself down.
"Most importantly, I became the Supreme Witch, and because of that, a thousand Witches from Clan Knoll and their leader Cath will be here in the next couple of days. You'll still be in command here as she will be here for support and training," Emory started, "Soon, though, I'll be asking Shepherd to bring the rest of the army to our four outposts. And after I'm done catching you up, I'll be heading off with Athos to see how the Elandrian are faring on the big battlefield."
Tethys mouth gaped open as she tried to say, "You're the Supreme Witch?"
"Yes, I even had to battle another clan leader to become it," Emory grinned, "It's been three wild days."
"So how many people should we be planning for?" Tethys cleared her throat as she tried to regain her composure.
"I'd suggest at least twenty thousand to get started," Emory informed her, "There may be more, but that will be a good starting place. Oh, I have one of these for you as well. It's called a link stone. If you hold it and focus on a person who has one, you can call them like a phone. I think, in an emergency, it'll be quicker than the RRS." She handed Tethys a small opaque crystal like she had.
Tethys nodded, "I agree. I'll make sure to keep it with me always." With the business concluded, the girls chitchatted for a while about the adventure Emory had been on. They shared a laugh when Emory told her about the brewing relationship Innes and Nephenee had. Tethys was also astounded when Emory described the dueling arena for her and Zephiel's match. But the encounter with Lady Cassandra took the cake as speaking with a dead person was the craziest concept imaginable, even with the reality of magik. However, Emory didn't share the story of the tower with all the heads of the Aurelias clan; one specter from the dead was a special magik while many was a broken trick to be exploited.
After conversing for more than an hour, Emory decided to eat lunch with Tethys before continuing on to Temia. Although she had to hide her displeasure with space food since she had been spoiled recently by wonderfully cooked dishes made from fresh ingredients on Earth. Emory explained how she had given parts of her magik to everyone else, so several of them had the Arcane sphere now. Like Emory, Tethys found it interesting that the Arcane sphere replaced a primal sphere entirely instead of adding a second sphere. Yet because she already had the Creation and Void spheres, Tethys would be the only friend that didn't have the Arcane sphere. Emory also expected one of the groups coming to show these fresh faces how to activate Meta Form as most of them would be ready to learn a second sphere soon.
Once they finished their food, Emory stood up, "Well, I suppose I'd better be off. It was good to see you."
"Don't be too chaotic out there," Tethys joked, "Good luck."
"Please call, if you have any problems at all," Emory smirked. Then she vanished in a blinding light before appearing in another sea of grain.