"Why would the Tower of Providence lead Captain Jack to Bob?" Velma asked herself as she watched the crew play amongst themselves, her pencil tapping the notepad in her lap.

She had learned a lot since joining the alliance, which included things about the Tower of Providence, as well as the ongoing war between the Paths of Order and Chaos.

This was a war that had continued from the earliest years of the Enlightenment Age, and possibly even the Primordial Age. Neither side was able to win, although throughout the ages the advantage kept shifting between the two sides.

A little known secret that she had managed to ferret out was that the entire war effort from the side of the Path of Order was actually being controlled solely by the Tower of Providence. No one else had the power, the prestige, or the influence to control so many powerful races for a unified purpose. Everything the tower did was for the Path of Order, even if it was not obvious to those involved.

So the question was... why had the Captain been led to Bob by the tower? What was so special about him? What role would he play? More importantly, what benefit did the Innkeeper see in keeping all this secret? She didn’t know, but it was the first taste of universal level gossip Velma had gotten a taste of and it was so delicious it threatened to force her to break through to the next level.

Velma licked her lips as she controlled her urge to delve even deeper into these secrets.

Within her sight, Bob still stood at the window looking out.

What she didn’t know was that Bob was not looking outside the window. No, his gaze transcended the realm and fell upon his people in the Midnight realm. Some time ago, he had passed a new commandment for them - he had asked to set sail.

So instead of the verdant garden in front of him, Bob saw hundreds, no, thousands of ships of all kinds filled with even more Drama-cats leave the boundaries of the Midnight Inn.

Some set out on the Chaos Sea, some flew into the air, and some went into the little explored underground continent within the Midnight realm.

But most of them availed the Privilege ability granted by the Inn, and left the Midnight realm altogether.

Some went to Earth, and some went to Nibiru. Others went to the Crystal realm. A grand pilgrimage was being undertaken as the Drama-cats were spreading from the original realm and going to every single place the Inn was connected to, and from there going even farther.

All of a sudden, Bob became one of the very few Deities in the universe with a unified faith that existed in more than one realm, and the only Deity who had achieved as much without the support of a Major power.

Bob, the Deity of Chaos, had unleashed the Drama-cats onto the universe, and this was an action that could never be reversed. It’s repercussions would only be known to the historians who have yet to come.

"...the weapon of the future has been revealed," Bob muttered, recalling what he had said he first saw the divine ore, "and her name will be Faith..."

In his mind, he saw another scene, and it was that of Jack with a body deeply entwined with the divine ore.

"...and she will be wielded by the Captain."

Bob smirked, and finally turned to look at the human who had been spying on him.

"You have good taste, human. I am Bob, Namer of Cool things, Speaker of Awesome words. Who may you be?"

"I am Velma, the Listener of Secrets, the Guardian of Gossip. I’ve heard that if I want to hear cool things and awesome words about the Captain, I should come to you."

Bob’s smirk grew into a grin.

"You have heard correctly."

*****

"Honestly, your situation isn’t as bad as you’re probably imagining," said Oroo as they walked deeper into the building. "The alliance also wants to see you succeed, so you’ll be getting a lot of support."

"What does that support look like? Because I don’t intend on being anyone’s puppet," said Jack nonchalantly.

"Oh, fret not. This is the kind of thing that cannot be interfered with, or else the alliance wouldn’t have waited till you to set up a race leader for the fairies. Your support is going to be fairly straightforward. There’s a number of conditions that the alliance will set for you, and as long as you agree to them, the alliance won’t hesitate in mobilizing its full force to give you as many tools as you need to overcome any obstacles you might face."

"Very well. Tell me your conditions," Jack said.

"Well... that’s a little beyond my paygrade. Here, through here. We had a special chamber prepared for the meeting you’re about to have. Worry not, it’s perfectly safe, and it cannot be spied upon even by the Artica race."

Oroo led Jack to a set of double doors made out of carved stone with an elaborate mural of various humanoid races carved on it. Jack looked once at Oroo, and then pushed open the doors and stepped in.

The room was completely dark, with its boundaries completely undetectable. The only thing Jack could see was a round table in front of him, so he walked up to it and sat on the only chair available. Yet when he sat, he found that there were numerous cloaked figures sitting at the table, their appearances completely hidden from him.

"Captain Jack, I’ve heard much about you," said one voice, though he could not tell where it was from. "You are unlike any other fairy I have ever seen. Your fight against the curse that has brought your entire race to its knees, and the incredible thing is, you’re managing to succeed."

"Maybe you have questions," said another figure. "Maybe you have resentments. Why didn’t we save you? Why was your race left to fend for itself? I can offer you some answers, but first you must make an assurance. One single assurance, and you will gain the support of the entire alliance. But make this assurance with care - every word you speak here will have a binding power over you and your future."

Jack raised an eyebrow. He wanted to ask what the assurance was, but if every word was going to affect him...

As if detecting his concern, yet another figure spoke.

"You need not work for the alliance. You need not even return on our investments. All you need is to swear that if you ever become a race leader, you will never act against the Humanoid Alliance, and never betray the Path of Order."

Jack was stunned. That was genuinely an extremely simple request for what was being offered in exchange, but it also had great room to restrict him. He thought for a moment before speaking.

"I can promise you that if I become a race leader, and as long as the Humanoid Alliance doesn’t work against me or my interests first, I won’t act against the Humanoid Alliance first. Likewise, as long as the Path of Order doesn’t attack me or my interests first, I won’t go against it either. This is the best I can offer."

There was a moment of silence, followed by a small chuckle.

"I look forward to seeing your future Jack. The Alliance will give you all the rewards you asked for, and in a greater way than you can imagine. Go back, Oroo will guide you."

Jack shrugged, and left the dark room, unaware that he had just met every single race leader that the alliance currently had within its ranks.

Outside the room, Oroo looked at him expectantly.

"Hand over your ship to me, and then follow me. Oh, before we begin, do you want to awaken a treasure spirit for your ship, or do you want to make sure it never comes to life? Either way, once we’re done, the Jolly Rancher will be improved dramatically, and will be bonded to you."

For a moment Jack was genuinely stumped by the question, but then shook his head.

"No, keep it from coming to life," he finally answered. He was going to have to use the ship to carry out some secret missions, and the fewer living beings that knew about them, the better.

"Got it. Follow me. Back then, you asked the alliance for a few things. You wanted to be undetectable, you wanted your karmic curse suppressed, information on fairies and your ship improved. All of these, we will give to you, and a few perks for your crew members as well."

"Looking forward to it," said Jack with a smile. "I’ve never had a training, or well, gearing up montage. I’m looking forward to it."

"A montage? What?" Oroo asked, confused.

Jack shook his head.

"It’s nothing. Let go."