Jack wasn't sure how long it had taken, but his cacoon ship approached the Earth. He could see it, clear as day in the distance. He could just barely make out the shapes of the continents and felt a sudden sense of longing to be back on the surface. But he had a mission, and it was time for the first step.

Jack flexed his powers, and Alpha suddenly expanded in four directions. Large sails of screen began rapidly expanding from the blue cacoon, growing in size every second. Words began appearing on the sails as they grew, [I need to speak to the Gods of Earth!]

His little ship continued to fly towards Earth, and the planet grew larger by the moment. Just as Jack began to grow nervous that he would crash into the planet, something happened. His forward progress stopped completely, and he felt a push against his ability to control Alpha. Rather than resisting, Jack silently ordered Alpha to retract the new sails. The cacoon returned to its normal shape, and then Jack waited.

It didn't take long before the cacoon began moving again. It slowly drifted down into the atmosphere, and Jack was able to see blue skies above him. Alpha typed out exclamations of wonder and excitement at the strange new world, but Jack was looking around for the Gods. He didn't have to wait for long.

Four beings materialized out of thin air in front of Jack, hovering just outside of the cacoon. The first was a human, but their features shifted as Jack observed them. Their gender, race, and age all seemed to fluctuate at random. The Deity wore simple robes but left their head bare, their hair changing just as much as the rest of their features. Jack didn't know why, but he felt drawn to this God specifically, he had a hard time tearing his gaze away from them.

The second God Jack looked at was a four-legged animal of some kind. Jack might have mistaken it for the pet of some other God, but the others gave it a wide birth as it curled its lip into a snarl. It didn't exactly resemble any animal Jack had ever seen, instead, it had a variety of features from animals that all came together. Like a chimera, the God had sections of body that didn't belong together. Multiple kinds of fur, each leg was different, and it had multiple tails. Its mouth also appeared to have fangs, mandibles, and several different tongues. Despite this, its form was imposing, and Jack couldn't help but feel like it was an apex predator.

The third God was a tree. Like...a tree just floating in the air. As if that wasn't odd enough, its leaves appeared to be made of a variety of flower petals. Its base was obscured by different grasses and fungus, but its roots hung down until they went into the ground far below. It had no discernable face that Jack could observe, but somehow it conveyed the idea of being minorly interested in him.

The fourth and final God was somehow the strangest. It was an outline in the air that seemed to contain something. Almost like someone had made a circle of string and dipped it in bubble mix. It shifted and undulated sluggishly, and Jack couldn't feel the same energy from it as the others. It seemed weaker, or less substantial than the rest of them. Despite this, Jack grew nervous at the sight of it, though he didn't know why. If anything, he knew he should probably be most afraid of the strange beast. But this odd blob in the sky set him on edge far more.

As he beheld the Gods before him, they seemed to be studying him as well. The ones with eyes looked him up and down, while the tree simply exuded a sense of curiosity. The blob continued to simply float in place, and Jack couldn't feel any intentions from it at all. There was a long moment where they all just floated in midair before one of them spoke.

The human God spoke in a voice that changed as much as their appearance did. "You are not one of the two we expected. Where did you get your power from?"

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"I got it from one of the Gods you were expecting. He tried to kill me, and I took some of the power he had to survive." Jack knew that his words made it sound more intentional than it had been, but he would rather be seen as capable than lucky.

"How interesting." The human God leaned closer to him, studying him more intensely than before. It tapped on Alpha experimentally. "This strange shell around you, is it alive?"

"Yes. It is a butterfly made of divine power. I have a connection with it and its kind."

The human God turned to the chimera-looking God. "What do you think? Whose domain does this fall into?"

The animalistic God snarled menacingly. "Both. It is mine and theirs."

Jack had no idea what they meant. Were they talking about property? Owning something? But before he could say anything, the beastly God stepped forward. The thick, muscular legs flexed ominously as it stalked toward the cacoon.

The God let out a loud sound, a mix between a roar, howl, and chitter. "SHOW YOUR TRUE FORM TO ME!"

Jack could feel Alpha shifting slightly, but he quickly reasserted his control. The cacoon pulsed but held firm.

The beastly God's expression was unreadable, but the human God seemed very pleased with this turn of events. "My, it's not often something stands up to you!"

The beastly God spoke again, "The guest gave it the strength to resist me. It would have obeyed otherwise." The beast's eyes locked onto Jack. "Why are you here?"

It was such a tangent from what the Gods had been doing that it took Jack a moment to get back on track. "I have come from another world. A world where the ones who ran from here rule. There is a problem there, and I hope that you all will be willing to assist me."

The human God smiled gently, but their words were not gentle. "And why would we help someone who wields the power of our dead companion?" The God gestured to the blob outline floating nearby.

Jack glanced over at it for an instant. That was the dead God? He quickly returned his attention to the human God. "I did not know where this power came from when I took it. I could...give it back? Would that work?"

Suddenly, Jack could feel an overwhelming amount of focus on him. The human, beast, and tree thing all seemed to drive their focus at him with ferocious intensity. The blob remained indifferent, but he was still more afraid of it than these three for some reason.

"You would...give your power to our companion?" The human God asked hesitantly. "Even though you barely have any power at all, you would give it in payment?"

Jack hadn't originally planned on giving it up, but if this would solve Drowls pressing issues then he saw little reason to keep the power. "If you would promise your help, then yes. Although, I would like to not die if at all possible."

The human God laughed. "Brave words for a spirit. If I'm not mistaken you are already dead, but someone built a container for you to live in."

It was an accurate summary, and Jack nodded. "Well, I would not like to be reincarnated then. I still have things that I need to do."

The beast God rolled their eyes dramatically. "This is the problem with people, they all think their lives can be bargained for." the God pressed a large paw against the cacoon, claws flexing against it ominously. "Why talk when we can take?"

Scratches appeared on Alpha's body, and Jack realized with horror that the God was going to rip the cacoon to bits. Making a split-second decision, he quickly had Alpha become a platform to keep him floating in the air. The moment the cacoon vanished, the beast God lunged at Jack, its huge claw moving to slice him to pieces.

The claw stopped. It didn't penetrate Jack's black cloak, nor did the force of the blow move Jack at all. The beast God looked stunned that the blow hadn't obliterated him. Jack let out an internal sigh of relief that that had worked.

Jack had figured something like this might happen, so during his trip through space, he decided to level up his [Deity Resistance] skill. By having Alpha shift into shapes that could squeeze or stab at him, he could train his body to resist the effects of divine power. While under the effects of the [System Buff] skill, his progress moved quickly. Once he obtained level ten in the skill, he could no longer be hurt by Alpha. He hoped that the skill would prevent him from being hurt by these Gods either, and his gamble had paid off.

Jack stared into the eyes of the beast God. "We talk because I want us to talk. Now get your paw off of me, and let's work out the details."