Gi flew away from the destroyed Illusor Clan estate, wondering what impact his actions might have at the Assembly. His [Unstoppable Nobility] passive felt buoyed by the rain, making the act of keeping him in the air feel even more effortless than it had in the cave. He swam through the air, feeling at peace for the first time since the First One's Will had left him.

With his new power of flight, it didn't take him long to arrive at Elizabeth's estate. The mercenary hadn't even arrived back from her attack on his clan yet so he hovered above the repaired estate that used to belong to the Ferrous Clan.

When Elizabeth and her Elites finally walked down the path towards her estate, she stopped and looked up into the air. A smile perked at the edge of her normally dull appearance and Gi had known her long enough to know that she expected violence.

That wasn't his aim though.

He floated down to her. One of her Elites started to fire one of their ice attacks at him, but Elizabeth cuffed him. Gi just waited there, watching her. It had been one of the Father's favorite tactics when dealing with someone. For him as a child, it had been enough to let his guilt build. For angry business men, it gave them enough time to err.

"I suppose this means you found my gift," Elizabeth said dully yet carefully.

"I believe the term you're looking for is 'trap'. How do you think I should respond to this?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "If it was me, we'd be fighting already."

"I am not you."

She gestured for her Elites to enter the estate and leave the two of them to talk. The sea dwarf from the Dungeon eyed Gi nervously, but ultimately, he left as instructed. Elizabeth returned her attention to him. "You must have come for some reason. If it's not to fight, what is it?"

"You made a point not to injure myself or the Elites."

"The Illusor Clan paid extra for me to lure you to them. Glad I got paid up front."

"And my Elites?"

She shrugged again. "Hedging my bets. I thought there was a chance you pulled through. I clearly underestimated you."

"Good. Don't forget that for our next job."

"Oh?" Her eyebrow perked up. "When's that?"

"We're attacking the Spiked Eagles. You'll get an Encampment Crystal and nothing else. That's my discount for getting lured into this trap of yours."

Elizabeth considered that for a moment. "Let me do some research on them first, but I tentatively accept."

"And I'm not paying you the fifty silver."

A dangerous glare entered her eyes. Elizabeth was a mercenary to her core and any debt that was owed being forgiven was against her very nature. It took her a second to get control of herself. She was confident in her abilities, but there was obviously something about Gi that she had no knowledge of and more than anything she was careful.

"It's such a small sum. Consider it forgotten," she lied.

"I already have," he said. "We'll talk more later."

Without letting her speak again, Gi swam through the air, heading back towards the Underbridge. He hadn't forgotten his anger at Elizabeth for enabling the attack on his clan, but a tool was better put to use if possible and that's all she was. Now when her use ran out...

His eyes found the Bridge after only a short flight and he kept his eyes out for the monster he'd come to see. The Bridge from the air looked incredibly intimidating and Gi realized for the first time that the planks that lined the giant bridge were each only a single plank. The kind of trees that could only be had from a cooperation with Myshk.

What ancient monster civilization had ruled here before the Queen?

He floated down underneath the Bridge and stopped outside of the house that Krayli sometimes stayed in.

"Krayli," Gi said and shortly after she poked her head out of the dark wooden door. She took in his glowing appearance and opened it all the way.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"The Brain and Illusor Goblin clans are done. Now I need you to kill any of their survivors. Assuming they worship Noctua Dominus, you can hunt them down with your new skill, correct?"

Krayli nodded, subconsciously obeying him before she caught herself and scowled. "I said I'd do it and I'll do it. I don't take orders from you."

Gi smiled. "Of course." His touch was light in a way that the Father had mastered. The manner of speaking that was too truthful on the surface to be contested, but disingenuous enough to cause doubt. If nothing else, his time as Richard beneath the Father had trained him to be the monster he was now.

This dominance was his heritage.

"I'll end them," Krayli growled.

"Good. That will be all I need for now," Gi said and then started to float off. He could hear her grumble, but she didn't speak up again.

He had one more stop for the night. He returned back into the rain and kicked off, swimming as fast as he could through the air. His full Agility seemed to be truly realized in the water and even now as he swam through the air. He hadn't been spawned to fight on the ground like some common goblin.

It was only a moment before he arrived at the former cavern of the Brain Goblins or Possession Flowers depending on how you thought of them. Gi drifted inside and only a single Templar was there as most of their number had been at the funeral.

At his approach, the Templar readied their weapon. "Stop. This is the domain of the Underbridge Clan."

Gi didn't know the name of this Templar nor did they recognize him in his new golden state, but he could see the confusion as he started to realize that Gi was an otter and even further confusion when he connected Gi with his arm tucked into his robe.

"Progenitor?"

"It is me."

"My apologies, Boss," the Templar said and adopted the Sign of the Mother. Gi stopped himself from laughing. That had been blatantly stolen from a story that he and Danna had read. He still felt some simmering anger at her, but what was the point in expressing it?

Religion was a good way to tie the clan closer to him. The Father had used his "faith" in Christianity the same way with the family. It was a good lesson.

"Guard the entrance. There's something I need to take care of."

The Templar rushed to obey and Gi drifted into the main cavern that had been reconfigured to more closely align to what the Gang Otters needed with a river running through its center. That wasn't Gi's goal though.

He floated past that cavern into the last tunnel. Above him, small vines with pink flowers still dotted their surface as Tiria hadn't been sure what to do with them. Gi hadn't understood then, but at the time, he'd been too much like Richard.

Now, he knew better. There was only one thing you did with enemies.

[Divine Ire] shot out from his summons as he watched the small vines trying to scramble away.

Possession Flower defeated!

0 Soul Orbs received because monster was a Child. Current Soul Orbs: 2145.

That prompt showed over and over as he let his summons complete their grim work. Some memory of Noah appeared in his mind, but Gi stomped it flat with a growl. He wouldn't let any part of the coward and weakling Richard exist in his new life.

He was a monster and monsters had no space for human sentiment.

*****

The fragments of light that were Danna drifted in the river of Truth. Flashes of understanding popped into her consciousness as those fragments collided with others. Sometimes, she understood that she'd been defeated by The Father. Other times, she had no sense of self at all.

Slowly over time, more and more parts of her being crashed together and stuck. Flickers of thought mixed with memories that built and built as the pieces of herself slowly coalesced together, but the memories that came to the forefront... were not happy ones.

Danna applied the last stroke of her eye liner before she capped it and looked at it with a smile. She picked up the bottle that she'd placed beside her labeled "benzodiazepine." It was the first day that she'd taken it and it was not supposed to work that fast, but still she wondered if it could be responsible.

Last night had felt so visceral and raw like there was no hope for their relationship. Her desire for Richard to help her more hadn't been wrong, but her words were... harsh. She couldn't take back what she said, but she could make amends and explain what the doctor had told her yesterday. He'd worked so late again that she hadn't even gotten the chance.

Finishing up her makeup, she grabbed the snoozing Noah, buckled him into her SUV and made her way to the grocery store. She picked up a few items they needed and then grabbed some of Richard's favorite snacks and a bouquet of roses. He'd always loved getting flowers.

The older gentleman at the register cooed over the well behaved Noah and Danna preened. She was so proud of her family. Her phone rang while she was getting out her card to pay, but it wasn't a number she recognized so she let it ring to voicemail.

She pushed the cart out of the store, loaded up her car, making sure the roses wouldn't get trampled by the groceries. Noah got all buckled in and his head started to droop. Danna pulled out her phone and saw the voicemail from earlier. Shrugging, she pulled it up and listened to it.

This is Genesis General Hospital. We're calling to speak to Danna Mills regarding her husband Richard Mills. Please give us a call back at...

Dawning horror in the memory shocked those fragments of light back together like children huddled together in a cold rain. She remembered who she was and what had happened. In an instant, she reformed her body and found herself in Noctua's cave, the one that was set aside for their talks.

Noctua Dominus himself waited patiently on a rock nearby. His rich scarlet scales seemed to shine from a light in the cave that had no origination. On his draconic face, his eyes looked tired and all too human.

"You're back."

Memories of her heaven being invaded swam up to the surface of her mind next as she finished recoalescing, but there was only darkness after The Father had struck. "What happened?"

"You perished.... temporarily."

Danna shook her head and tried to access the river of Truth, but her hold was more tenuous on it than it had been when she'd first come into being. Even as she pushed to view the aftermath in her heaven, the events were little more than blurs in her mind. "No, what happened with The Father? What happened to my followers?"

"Most of them perished after your fall though I was able to rescue a handful as The Father left. I have them here." Noctua raised his hand to stop the question from her lips. "They will reincarnate, but their soul hasn't had time to rest. It's likely that most of them will spend the next cycle as a lower life form."

Anger didn't overtake her heavenly form, but it was there simmering beneath her divine surface. She was glad that her followers wouldn't be dead permanently, but she still lamented their loss. "What can I do now?"

"For now, I can protect you, but as your husband's task continues, my power will wane. Once you've recovered, we should strike back before it's too late."

"Why do I feel so weak?"

"That's a common side of effect of dying, but..." Noctua looked her over. "Something does seem particularly off."

Danna dipped back into the river of Truth. Nothing seemed wrong with her being itself. Her inner light lacked a little luster, but otherwise, she was fine. Confused, she followed the source of her power and found a few dozen dim lights that worshipped her.

She'd looked at this hundreds of times before and every time there was a single bright light that stuck out, but this time... Richard wasn't there.

She pushed further into the river, trying to find her husband and she stopped, horrified. With a thought, she brought an image made of light into being between the two gods.

Gi floated in a cave, light dripping off of his body like water, as he systemically shot beams of light into the child Possession Flowers. The young vines tried to scramble away from him, but he was ruthless.

Throughout it all, he looked bored. If it wasn't for the tiny shrieks as one child after another was gunned down, you might have thought he was simply trimming hedges.

"That does not seem good," Noctua said mildly.

"He blocked me out. I... can't feel his worship anymore."