Chapter 17
Sylvie blinked up at X, a bit taken aback by his reasoning for bringing her into the darkness of a creepy-ass cave. Asking ghosts if she was an enemy operative. Could things get any more ridiculous?
She'd been on edge since they'd driven through the aperture, afraid her own body would somehow betray her and cause the shield to fail and everyone in the crowded hub to drown.
If all the safeties had failed and the hub had flooded with water, she would have been the only one to die, scary enough. Now she was in an underwater cave that was intentionally haunted by the ghosts of dead regents.
For such a technologically advanced race, they seemed a bit prone to flights of fancy.
Still, the place creeped her out. So did the two guards who stood silently, looking off into the distance.
They don't like me. No one here does. If it weren't for X, I'd be so much medical waste right now.
Still, the crowds in the hub had been more reactive, drawing back, making faces. These two just stood there. Watching as if waiting for something to happen.
"What do we do next?" Best to get this test over with.
"We invoke the spirits and ask them for advice."
Invoke the spirits. Right.
"So do we ask for one particular regent? Like Supreme Regent Reginald the Righteous? Or Wendell the Very Wise?"
His expression said he didn't think she was funny.
"The regents will decide whether they speak. Requesting a specific one doesn't mean that regent will want to talk to you."
"With my luck, no one will want to talk to me."
"They'll talk tome."
Sylvie almost rolled her eyes at his arrogance, but something stopped her. They probably would want to talk to him. Was it still arrogance if he was right?
"So how do we invoke the spirits?"
X thrust his hand into the flames.
Sylvie screamed and turned her head as he spoke softly beside her.
"It's holographic. See?"
As she watched, the fire transformed, becoming a ring encircling a dark metallic surface. The surface split open, and a column of rock rose out of it. In the center of the column was half a cloudy sphere. The column stopped a few inches above X's palm.
Waves of light rippled over the surface of his skin, then expelled themselves from his hand, straight into the half sphere. Tiny lightning bolts struck out from the sphere, hitting the energy being put out by X. The energies entwined, then vanished.
Around her the cavern began to glow with lights of different colors. Light blue. Mauve pink. One would shine for a few moments and fade, only to be replaced by another somewhere else in the chamber.
"What's happening?" While the display was lovely, it had done little to lessen Sylvie's trepidation.
"The spirits are convening to decide who should speak for them."
Sylvie shivered, glancing over at him. X's face was expressionless, but his skin did have a faint reddish tint.
He's nervous too.
Sylvie moved closer to the regent. Just then a voice boomed, a pink light bursting over the chamber.
"Xiv! Look how you've grown!"
