[AUTHOR NOTE: I accidentally uploaded the wrong chapter before. This is the correct one. Sorry about that and I hope you enjoy.]
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Universal Year 3229
Tephe Two actually had the same reaction as Tephe did when she first saw the wings on Adam's anti-gravity armour and the several high-profile figures in the chat.
As Tephe observed Tephe Two deciding to head to Terran Five of her own occurred instead of being invited by Tessa and Becky like she was, her vision began to fade until she found herself in a place that had become very special to her, the mess hall of Adam's ship.
Tephe tried to look around and happily discovered that she was once again in control of her own body; however, her mood soon soured as she discovered that she was alone in the mess hall.
After looking around for a moment, Tephe moved towards the food processor and said, "Chocolate ice-cream."
As soon as she finished speaking, the food processor began to work and quickly produced the chocolate ice cream she had come to love. She quickly picked it up and took it over to the nearest table, where she sat down and began to eat.
"Mmmmm," Tephe said as she savoured the delicious flavour before quickly taking another bite.
"That looks good. Can I have some?" A voice suddenly said that caused Tephe to jump slightly before her head swung in the direction of the voice to find a handsome male with short white hair standing nearby watching her eat.
"Who are you?" Tephe asked in surprise.
"Hmmmm," The white haired man looked up for a moment before saying, "What was it they used to call me? Pale, snowy, ivory, grey…"
"You don't know your own name?" Tephe asked in surprise.
"You don't know your own memories, so I guess we're even," The man replied while winking.
"Don't know my own memories?" Tephe asked in confusion.
"White, that's what they used to call me," The man said as he suddenly remembered.
"Because of your hair?" Tephe asked.
"Because of my scales," The man replied with a smile, causing Tephe's eyes to widen in surprise as she said happily.
"I have white scales."
"I know you do, White Dragon Tephe."
"You know me?"
"Of course, you and I are the same, though I was the first."
"The first?" Tephe asked in confusion.
"The first White Dragon…. Well, the first Dragon actually."
"The first Dragon?" Tephe repeated in shock.
"That's me, the first Dragon, White," White replied before pointing at the ice cream and asking, "So can I have some of that?"
"It's not my place to say yes or no since it's not my ship, but knowing Adam, I think it should be fine," Tephe replied.
"Great," White said with a smile as he approached the food processor and said, "Chocolate ice cream."
Once again, the food processor worked its magic and soon another bowl of chocolate ice cream was ready, which White picked up and carried to the same table Tephe was sitting at before sitting down opposite and taking a bite.
"Wow, this is good," White said with glee before taking another bite.
"Right," Tephe remarked.
"What?" White asked.
"What?" Tephe remarked.
"You just said my name."
"No, I didn't."
"Yeah, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"You did. I said, 'Wow, this is good,' and you said, 'white.'"
"Nah ah, I said right, as in right you are."
"Ohhhh, gotcha. That was always a problem when I was alive."
"Wait, you're dead?" Tephe asked as the spoon of ice cream she was about to eat from stopped partway to her mouth.
"Didn't I mention that?" White asked.
"No, you didn't."
"Oh my bad. Well, you are the first person I have spoken with on the mortal plane since I passed, so you can't blame me."
"If you're dead, and we're talking, does that mean I'm dead?" Tephe asked with concern.
"I did just say, 'on the mortal plane'. You wouldn't be on the mortal plane anymore if you were dead."
"Errrr, rig….ok," Tephe replied as she almost said right again.
"So, how did you like the memories of the other timelines, Tephe?" White asked before eating some more ice cream.
"Other timelines?" Tephe asked in confusion.
"Hmmmm, how should I explain this?" White asked as he looked up at the ceiling again while thinking.
"You and Adam travelled back in time to the Siege of Fenix Nest and altered history by saving the Phoenix race from extinction, correct?" White finally asked.
"You know that?"
"Of course. I know everything that has happened to you in your life, Tephe…. Both of them."
"Both of them? You mean Tephe Two?"
"Hahahaha, Tephe Two, hahahaha," White burst into laughter at Tephe's response.
Finally, White managed to calm down and wipe the tears from his eyes before saying, "That was you, the you that you replaced after you and Adam changed the timeline. She is or was the original Tephe from the current timeline."
"She was me? But she's so mean," Tephe remarked with a frown of displeasure.
"Yes, she was, compared to you at least. Compared to some others in the universe, she was tame," White replied before asking, "Do you know why her personality was so different to yours?"
Tephe thought for a moment before asking, "Because of her white dragon prophecy?"
"Correct," White said with a smile before continuing, "Tephe Two's hahaha. Tephe Two's white dragon prophecy was so... inconsequential because she was always meant to be replaced by you so that you could awaken as the Iridescent Dragon."
The what?" Tephe asked.
"Iridescent Dragon, you didn't notice how your scales and breath attack turned iridescent in colour as you and Maya helped Adam defeat the mech?" White asked in surprise.
"No," Tephe said while shaking her head.
"Well, no matter, your friends will tell you all about it when you awaken," White replied before saying, "What I'm here to discuss with you is your new prophecy."
"New prophecy?" Tephe asked in shock.
"Yes. After she witnessed your transformation into the Iridescent Dragon, Oracle Andromeda received a new prophecy about you. Would you like to hear it?" White asked with a wink.
"Not really," Tephe replied, making White's gape open in surprise.
"What? Why not?" White asked as he himself became confused this time.
"I don't like prophecies," Tephe replied.
"Ohhhh," White replied as he understood what she meant before smiling and saying, "You're worried that this prophecy will cause your family to take you back home to Devatov Seven and not allow you to leave again."
Tephe nodded in response with a sad look.
"Don't worry. That wont happen this time. You're old enough to receive your prophecy directly from Oracle Andromeda, allowing you to tell who you wish, so your family doesn't ever need to find out if you don't want them to know."
"Really?" Tephe asked as her eyes brightened.
"Really," White replied while nodding and added, "The only reason your family knew the original prophecy was that you were too young to learn it yourself since you had just been born and so it was given to your mother, your closest relative."
"That's great," Tephe said happily.
"Haha, so do you want to know now?" White asked after laughing, to which Tephe nodded.
White smiled before saying in a voice that sounded exactly like Oracle Andromedas, "The time for the birth of the Iridescent Dragon is nigh.
The race once thought to have reached its pinnacle will learn that it still has more room to grow.
The Iridescent Dragon, her mate and her sisters will bring great change to the universe in ways that no one is expecting."
There was silence in the mess hall for a few minutes until Tephe finally asked, "What is the Iridescent Dragon?"
"It's you," White replied with a smile.
"I get that," Tephe replied while rolling her eyes before saying, "But what exactly is it? I have never heard of it before."
"That's because before you, it had never existed before; you are the first Iridescent Dragon, just as I was the first dragon. The Iridescent Dragon marks the coming of the dragon kind's next stage of evolution."
"But I thought the dragons had already reached their full potential? My mother told me that no significant change has been seen in our race for hundreds of years," Tephe replied.
"She's not wrong; no significant change has occurred in the dragon race for centuries; however, that didn't mean our race had reached its peak. We dragons were one of the first existences in the galaxy after all, how could our evolution be so simple?"
"How does this evolution change me?" Tephe asked.
White was about to answer when he suddenly paused and looked at Tephe before sighing and saying, "It seems our time is up."
"Huh?" Tephe replied in confusion.
"Take a look down at your body."
As Tephe looked down, she found that she seemed to be disappearing and so asked in panic, " What's happening to me?"
"You're waking up, since we don't have much time left. Make sure you remember this last piece of advice. People will ask you about your iridescent form, as many people saw it through Adams' stream. Be careful who you tell, as not all of them will keep it a secret."
"I will," Tephe replied with a nod before saying, "Thank y.." However, she was unable to finish her sentence before she vanished completely.
"So how do you suppose they plan to sneak into the Nosferatu estate?" Aphrodite asked with interest as Lorelie returned and sat down with the other three women and continued to watch Adams stream on the large holographic screen in the living room of Lorelie's suite.
"Fly maybe?" Eri suggested.
"Doubtful," Lorelie replied before adding, "Remember that they are trying to keep a low profile and that Rowena is pretending not to be a Brood right now."
Stacey was about to say something when they suddenly heard a door opening behind them, causing them all to look in the direction of Tephe's room, where they were surprised to see Maya flying out of the room and towards them.
"Is something wrong, Maya?" Stacey asked with concern since she was the person who had spent the most time with Maya besides Tephe and Adam.
Maya nodded quickly before waving one of her whiskers towards the group and signalling for them to follow.
"You want us to follow?" Stacey asked in surprise.
Maya nodded urgently before turning and quickly flying back towards Tephe's room.
Aphrodite, Lorelie and Stacey look at each other before quickly following. Eri wanted to follow and see what was going on, but she knew she was not close enough with the group yet to do that.
As the three women entered the room, they saw Tephe lying on the bed with her eyes glowing iridescent, while each strand of her white hair was changing, switching back and forth between white and iridescent.
The three women looked at each other again before Lorelie called out in a concerned voice, "Tephe."
As if she recognised the voice upon hearing it, the iridescent glow in her eyes started to fade until her eyes and hair returned to their natural white, except for the very tips of her hair, which stayed iridescent and seemed to randomly change colour.
Tephe turned to the three women before saying with a happy smile, "Good morning."