A few weeks had gone by in relative peace. Jay was sitting on his roof, taking in the sunrise.

Getting away from his wives had taken some magic on his part. Having defeated Gutok and the admins turned his wives into lovey dovey clingers, especially Brit. She would subtly work in tandem with YoAnna to block out Jay’s escape attempts until they were ready to get out of bed.

It was no big deal for Jay. Every morning became a fun exercise of how to slip away for some fresh air.

The Champions had celebrated that first night after succeeding the judgment. They’d celebrated the second night, too. Since Rick and Hailey were currently dead, the celebrations died down quickly and everyone went about the rest of the time wandering aimlessly.

The members of the Protectorates had celebrated a third night before settling into a more relaxed mood. Frank had used his command authority to order their military to function more passively. Just like the Champions, their pantheon needed to rest up. Everybody had been working hard and stressing over the Black Mark.

“We’ve accomplished so much in two years,” Jay said.

YoAnna’s birthday was right around the corner. They had plans to celebrate it before checking out their newly acquired universes. Never had there been a Pre-System Apocalypse test where a young deity not only succeeded an arbiter’s judgment, but absorbed other universes into her collection. Jay had taken a quick peek at the blue screens involved and noted they added a new level of complexity for YoAnna’s role. They weren’t attuned to deliver her small magic, either, but there were controls in place to get that started.

Jay soaked in the sunlight from the new day. He turned his focus toward different activities around Florida, especially regarding his Champions. Tim was back over in Emily’s room. It looked like he was more settled now after bouncing between Emily and Macy. Emily was warming up more, sometimes smiling. Macy was relaxing more than usual, which was good. Jay knew she was going to work herself into breaking once she got started on her major plans.

Dennis was staying in a spare room over at Frank’s place. The two of them were the best of buds, and they acted like war veterans around each other. They also got drunk a lot, less so now since Frank’s big sister was being a big sister. Agent Cabana was gradually encouraging Frank to go seek therapy, but Jay knew very well how delicate and long that process could be.

Gatanna, Fuzzy, and Cutie were out wandering Europe. They wanted to go on a trip for the fun of it. Jay figured they wanted time to consider if they would become [Godlings] or not. The Champions had discussed it occasionally. They might produce four new [Godlings] and four new half-gods similar to Jay. Not all the chosen candidates were set in stone yet, but they had some time before deciding for good.

Jay turned toward Mike and Lilith’s place. He was about to jump over there and join them for breakfast, which Lilith had sent in a formal letter to Brit to convince her to let Jay go this morning. YoAnna might stop by if she wasn’t too caught up with guiding her new universes. Before he departed, he noticed Casey exiting the house and looking up. He waited for her to join him on the rooftop. The two basked in the morning sun’s glow, saying nothing at first.

“I was hoping I’ll get a crack at Beren, you know,” Casey said with a low rumble. She stood over him, tall and mighty. The tiger-like pattern on her skin made her look exotic. She kept crashing at the Luckrun’s place, entertaining Victor with video games and sparring matches. Sometimes she would train Joyce in hand to hand. She was becoming a part of their home whether they wanted her or not, like a cat who chose you to be their human.

“He pushed me over the edge,” Jay replied.

“I wish I was there to see it. Tim did a good job of describing it.” Casey looked over at the moon where Jay’s palm ran all the way through. “And the evidence remains.”

“Things didn’t go according to plan.”

“When did they ever?”

“Fair. But here we are anyway.”

Casey combed her hand through her straight hair and nodded slowly. The tension in the air was thicker than usual.

Sometimes it was easy to confuse the tension for killing intent. Whenever Casey was close, Jay would always feel a little more mortal. A little more vulnerable. Others were paying attention. Kleo and Brit were watching closely even if they were pretending to mind their own business inside the house.

“When we start hopping around to our new universes, can you leave the hardest fights for me?” Casey asked with a small voice. “Once I’ve found my groove in the dungeons, it became easy. All I needed to do was fix the narrative in my favor. ‘They’re trying to take my kill,’ is what I say. It usually works.”

A chill passed down Jay’s back. He had no idea if there would ever come a time for Casey to cash in on her ability to kill him. He was glad for it, though. An authority should have something to check them for the sake of balance.

“Yeah, sure. YoAnna checked on how many Rank 7s there are in those universes. A good amount. Enough to get all the Champions to Rank 7.” And there were plenty of [Godlings] refusing to adhere to YoAnna’s directions as their matriarch. It looked like they would get to feed Joyce some [Godlings] after all and further refine her while she was still a Rank 1.

“Cool.” Casey turned to leave the roof. “Hey, Jay. Thanks for letting me hang around here. And thanks for that tough talk the other day. Things aren’t as bad with my sisters as I thought. We’re all just awkward.”

Casey twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “I can’t wait till we get Hailey back. I might just fall for YoAnna again once she pulls that off.” She waited for him to say something.

Jay smiled at her.

Casey jumped down and entered the house. She made a beeline straight for Brit in the kitchen. The two of them weren’t exactly friends, but they certainly weren’t enemies anymore. Now Brit became one of Casey’s favorite pastimes, which consisted of Casey being an annoyance and hanging around Brit throughout the day until something else took Casey’s attention.

Jay hopped down into a waking house. He spread some love and good mornings before exiting and making a move over to Mike and Lilith’s place. The R&D facilities were their home. Their parents lived in Lionguard Village with a nice penthouse suite. Because of Lilith’s preferences for keeping her work close to her, Mike and Lilith usually lived in one of their labs that were half-subterranean, half-domains.

Jay avoided the use of Kleo’s fairy teleport. He still wanted to adhere to safety and security even if the mood was more relaxed. Once he passed through the security checks and entered the right passcode, he was inside of their lab. There was a wide four-story cabin inside, and the air was heavy with roasted coffee and sweets.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Hello, Jay,” YoAnna greeted from inside the cabin. She was in her twenty-five foot form and wearing a white sundress and sandals. She beamed a smile like the sun peering over the horizon. Nobody could beat how happy YoAnna felt after Gutok and the admins’ defeat.

“I just can’t seem to shake you off my tail, YoAnna,” Jay said with a smile.

“I will hunt you to the furthest ends of the multiverse if you try to shake me away.”

“I know you would.” Jay hopped over slowly before falling into YoAnna’s lap. The inside of the cabin was made with YoAnna in mind. The center was an open space with plants and colorful flowers dangling from the ceiling above their heads. The second floor didn’t have railings and was leveled with YoAnna’s chest while she sat. Jay climbed up her body and dropped in front of a table spread with food. And there was still more coming along.

“Gladys, how’s it been!” Jay walked over to the timid woman sitting at the table.

She nearly tripped while trying to stand and reached over to give Jay an awkward hug. She was the only person on Earth without a System still. She was not exactly mortal, however. Her time spent developing the Multiversal Codex Numberer had changed her into a natural immortal.

“I’m still considering the offer, Jay.” She sat back at the table. Her eyes glanced from him to the matriarch looming behind him and back. “I’m just not sure if I’m worthy. Before all of this, I was just some government quack with too many cats. All my cats are gone, and I’ve given my life to you and, and, and, really, me, a goddess?”

“Well, first you’ll be a [Godling],” Jay corrected. “Work your way up, and you’ll become a [Goddess] of the System.”

Gladys opened and closed her mouth. The poor woman sacrificed much of herself. But Jay refused to say sorry. It was necessary, and Gladys was the perfect person for the job.

By locking away her System, the admins couldn’t peek at what she was doing. By keeping her in a domain with little to no contact with other System users, she could work undisturbed and without admin overwatch or meddling. Without her, they wouldn’t have been sure of pressing Gutok as much as they could during the judgment. They wouldn’t have known for sure if an admin had tampered with YoAnna’s blood and created the Yoroachians.

“Think of it as an opportunity to expand your research, Gladys,” YoAnna said with a purr. “You’ve gone far as you have now. But can you imagine how much further you can go with divinity? You have the honor of being this universe’s first [Godling], too.”

“Me, ahead of the Champions? I can’t believe it!”

“Please, do. Your work saved us. It would be an honor to make you a [Godling]. The process will be safe with Josuto and his wife’s help, too.”

Their super junior [God] was still settling in as a new member of the pantheon. He just brought his family over. His wife was a Stage 3 [Goddess]. They had a single child, a Stage 1 [Godling] who was less than two hundred years old. But the new [Godling] was so weak, he could only blow up an area the size of a town at his max power. Jay couldn’t help but size the new [Godling] up and figure Joyce could take the kid.

“I’d certainly love an audience with them,” Gladys mumbled.

Jay nodded before moving his attention to the two hosting them.

Mike was busy pulling something sweet and savory out of the oven. He walked over and placed it down on the table. He did so while having Lilith attached to his back like a baby koala.

“I think that’ll do it. The French press is already done. I might not be as graceful as Brit at this, but I think I did an adequate job.” Mike beamed a smile. With his glasses off, he looked a little more mature for his age. Especially with his hair slicked back. “Down, Lilith, down.”

“Mm, fine.” Lilith hit the ground and ran over to hug Jay. She gave YoAnna’s arm a hug before everyone settled into their seats.

YoAnna shifted onto her knees with a perfectly straight back. Lilith began things with a prayer to both YoAnna and Jay. Then they dug in together. It was a glorious breakfast made better by having the people Jay knew since daycare plus the hero of their universe.

Gladys took a while to relax since she wasn’t a part of their childhood friendship, but YoAnna included her into some of their conversations. The breakfast disappeared gradually. The French Press was drained and enjoyed. Then Gladys excused herself to go out and get some fresh air. There were only the four of them now.

The original childhood friends.

“So.” Mike served everyone another cup of French press. YoAnna took hers in a regular sized cup pinched between her nails. She took her time just like the others.

“So?” Jay prompted. He was full and happy. He wouldn’t mind if every day was spent with family and friends just like this.

“When will the other shoe drop?” Mike asked.

“After we tour through our new universes,” Jay said. “Kleo’s not saying much.”

“Is she okay?” Lilith asked. “She’s been acting subdued since we’ve gotten back from the judgment.”

Jay and YoAnna shared a look.

“You don’t have to say if you think it’s a detriment to reveal it now,” Mike added.

“We should be as forthcoming as possible now,” YoAnna said. “Especially with us. This is the core of our pantheon. You three have been my dearest of friends since I was a stranger to this universe.”

Jay and YoAnna hadn’t shared the information the arbiter had given them. Until now. To Mike and Lilith’s credit, they didn’t react strongly to anything that was said. Even with the revelations of [Freaks] having a touch of eldritch inside of them.

“I’ve had theories,” Mike said.

“Theories backed by my research,” Lilith added. “All the samples I’ve collected from the various [Freak-types] support the idea that there is an eldritch factor.”

“But to think that the Hell Circles were designed to stop a Freak of Freaks from spreading that eldritch touch is news to me.” Mike shook his head.

Lilith’s eyes gleamed with hunger. “Jay–”

“I’m going to do it,” Jay said. “I’m going to challenge a Hell Circle and become the 13th Freak of Freaks.”

“It’ll come full circle.” Mike chuckled. “In the end, we were all meant to be [Freaks]. Just don’t devour us, okay, YoAnna?”

“I have no plans for such. You are all too precious for that.” YoAnna smiled. “Besides, I have so many resources now. More than enough to fuel my evolution, plus more.”

“You’ll be gone for a year.” Lilith frowned. YoAnna had revealed this information at their party. Jay wasn’t happy about it, either. Lilith continued to lament. “Jay would be gone for a year, too. Based on his past evolutions, his Rank 8 would take nearly as long as yours.”

“It’s almost tempting to rush things. But I appreciate the weeks of rest we’ve had.” Mike reached over and squeezed Lilith’s hand. She squeezed back. “It’s almost like a dream. Or the potential of a dream. Lilith and I have become closer and–”

“We’re thinking about marrying,” Lilith said. “It’ll be an open marriage in case Mike fancies someone I approve of.”

“I really don’t need that.”

“You say that now. But we have eons to be together.”

“What about you?”

Lilith blinked. “You satisfy my biological needs well enough. My passions draw me toward more inspired interests.”

“She’s been fantasizing about genociding one of those universes,” Mike said with a sigh. “She wakes up in a strong mood after one of those dreams.”

“The more you talk about it. The more of a mood I get.”

The two sniped and flirted at each other, which Jay completely enjoyed. It was nice to have his closest friends just be happy and in love with each other.

YoAnna’s hand shifted beside him. His tail wrapped around her finger. He received a jolt of warmth and the curse in equal measure. He sipped his coffee and stole glances at YoAnna’s golden eyes.

“An entire Multiverse is going to come crashing down on us,” Jay murmured.

“There will be no negotiations. I really love how you said it,” YoAnna purred.

Jay nodded. “We should do a tour of the new universes. I’m excited to see how Joyce does against some [Godlings].”

“The girl has doubts.”

“Good. The power she wields could become greater than mine,” Jay said. “She’ll become a true hero.”

Everyone else groaned. “Shut up,” Lilith added. “You are a true hero!”

“But–”

“Shut. Up. You are a hero, Jay Luckrun.” Mike and YoAnna backed her up.

Jay snickered. “Dammit, guys. I guess I just have to believe you.”