The Innkeeper

Under the cold, white light of the spaceship, Z found himself walking through a busy corridor. All around him were various races with hardly any humans around, though a majority of the races were humanoid - or elvish as it was referred to as here. Some were the staff and crew of the ship he was aboard, but majority were either soldiers and mercenaries, doctors, engineers, or from any other profession that would in some way aid in battle.

The warriors were in the greatest number, obviously, but the most reverence received on this ship was by medical professionals. Not all doctors had the courage to treat patients inside an active war zone - though admittedly not all who were here had come by their own choice. Followed by doctors were the formation architects, and engineers. They would be sent down to various strongholds on planets where battles were taking place, and they would construct either incredible formations or build amazing spirit tech which would greatly help the soldiers.

Comparatively, it was the soldiers themselves who were at the bottom of the food chain in terms of reverence and respect.

Of course, the Midnight Battalion was the exception to that rule, as were all those who stood out from the masses. The secret stares and ogles he received as he walked to his room dictated just how much the fame of the battalion had spread. They had been at war for a few months now, and were already moving towards their third battlefield.

They were evacuated from the first battlefield after the entire planet became unstable, although they managed to conclude the fight. On the second planet the war was much fiercer and they were unable to change the tide on their own, but their hard earned merits had made them quite popular as a result.

They had played a significant role in turning the tide of battle as they protected a crucial stronghold from a never ending siege. It was only once the tide had turned, and their role completed that they were pulled from that planet, and were now being sent to the third planet.

Z didn't mind. To him, all fights were the same. They were hard and hot, and extremely uncomfortable. He was not ashamed to admit that they were also very dangerous, and that if it weren't for the suits provided to them by the Innkeeper many of them would have already fallen in battle.

But in life, there was no such thing as 'what if' and only 'what is'. The Innkeeper had given them a formidable uniform, and through its assistance, not only had they all survived, many of them were growing stronger rapidly. 

Z himself was a prime example, as his lethality had shot through the roof, and now he no longer considered anyone in the Foundation realm his foe. Unless, of course, they were also members of the Midnight Inn. After all, Luthor had also grown incredibly strong after gaining a mysterious ability to control fire, and his flames were not in the least normal.

Many others had also grown much stronger under the trial of war, either unlocking latent abilities or encountering unusual treasures that gave them extraordinary powers. Suddenly Z was reminded of a particular Inn member who had recently begun to shine, and blushed. Her name was Sandra, and she was positively electric! Literally!

During battle she encountered a strange enemy, and upon killing him she somehow absorbed a mysterious stone from within his body. Since then, she had unlocked the ability to control electricity, or lightning. Moreover, because she had spent so much time observing the lightning tribulations at the Inn, her compatibility with the ability was phenomenal, and she was quickly becoming incredibly strong. She also had pretty eyes.

Lost in his own thoughts, Z eventually made it to his own room and lay in bed, looking out at the cosmic cloud they were traveling in. When they had started out, they were still at the periphery of the cosmic cloud, but as their battlefields changed, incidentally, they were moving deeper and deeper within.

The deeper within the cloud they progressed, the more dangerous it became to traverse, so it would take a while before they reached their destination. Somehow, they had gotten a break from all the fighting, and everyone was taking their time to rest.

Z was still lost in his thoughts, still playing with the space bubbles above his fingers as had become a habit. But because he was doing it absentmindedly, he failed to notice that the bubble sometimes failed to form a perfect sphere, and became slightly deformed. The occurrence was only one out of a hundred though.

A few days later, when they reached their third battlefield, and had progressed deeper in the cloud, the rate of the sphere deforming became one out of ninety nine.

*****

Pvarti Noel, Joseph Noel (Pvarti's father), Jess Phillips and Jolene Philips all sat in a private room with Lex, who wore a warm and cordial smile. Yet he was the only one smiling. This was the first time they were meeting in a group like this, and they came with the intention of sharing some last minute details with Lex.

Due to the increased intensity of the Kraven war, the scale of the wedding had been drastically reduced. Moreover, many of the initially planned VIP guests would no longer be able to make it as almost all of the immortals in the empire were being summoned. The previously festive mood had been killed thoroughly, for all except Jess who was still madly pining over Pvarti.

Instead, what awaited them was Lex sharing with them the news that not only would the wedding serve as a front for a secret meeting between the royal families of all the top races in the realm, but that the topic of their discussion was the very fate of their realm!

To say that they were shocked to their core was an understatement. Everyone of them was extremely stressed due to the war, and the fact that they did not even know if they themselves would survive. Now, faced with this sudden bombshell, they were not able to cope quickly enough.

The fact that even Jolene was not instantly maneuvering the situation for political gain was a testament to how dire the situation really was.

As if to add credence to his statement, Lex also had Rick bring in one of the invitations and present it to the families. The aura of the Innkeepers words gripped their currently fragile hearts, and they became dazed.

"My apologies for extending invitations to the wedding without consulting you. I thought the leaders of the races won't exactly be unwelcome at the event," said Lex casually.

"Also a representative of the monsters," Rick quickly added, with no noticeable change in his expression, as if he were talking about something mundane, like the weather.

Even Lex was surprised to hear that last statement, but he did not show it. He made a mental note to interview Rick thoroughly later. Originally he was worried about Rick's competency while undertaking this task, who knew he would perform a few extra-credit tasks!

"Of course, we cannot openly share this information, for security purposes. So externally, everything will appear to be as per usual. Some of the… guests might arrive a little early, though I expect most will only reveal themselves on the actual day of the event."

"Lex… no, Mr. Lex, I think you should have kept such details to yourself," said Joseph weakly. "Even we are not qualified to know about such matters. Our weakness may compromise the meeting."

"Impossible. You see, the invitation officially invites everyone to the wedding. What kind of wedding guests would they be if they did not at least extend their greetings to the bride and groom? There's also the wedding presents. To be honest, if the presents they give are unremarkable, I'll be quite disappointed personally."

Everyone looked at Lex dumbfounded. They did not know what to say. Was wedding presents really the thing that needed to be focused on right now?

"Of course, as the host, I still need to make some preparations for their arrival. Joseph, I have some questions for you regarding Babylon. Perhaps we should continue this meeting in private, as it might touch upon some sensitive matters."

Joseph shook his head and said, "you can ask me questions right here. I have no secrets from my children, and I see no point in keeping a secret from my future family either."

He glanced at Jolene as if acknowledging her.

Lex smiled, knowingly, and then asked, "well in that case, I wanted to ask you if there are any more unstable factors underneath Babylon. The last time you gave me the Blue Crystal Essence which was being fostered under Babylon. If there are more such crystals, or other unstable or volatile factors underneath or near the city, can you share them with me? I am not greedy for your resources, I just need to prepare sufficient security so nothing unexpected happens."

Joseph suddenly coughed and said, "perhaps we should talk privately."