The Lost City of Atlanta, now known as the Amaryllis Enclave, had traveled across Grief in their absence. Floating a mere two hundred meters above sea level, the residents of Inexoria had a beautiful view of the city and the choppy waters beneath it. Telos, Arkaziel, Kallos, and Bobbi stepped out of a silvery blue portal into one of the highest towers in the futuristic (for Grief) magitech city. A brief (weeklong) stop in Malkuth had given Arkaziel and Bobbi time to sleep off their power gain caused exhaustion, although Arkaziel remained in the form of a kitten riding on Telos’ shoulder while Bobbi had resumed her humanoid form.

“Let’s see. Werylin is… already on his way here,” Telos laughed, surprised but not disappointed.

“I’ll prepare a small spread. It appears to be lunch time here,” Bobbi offered graciously.

“Thank you, Bobbi. We’ll do some quick decorations to make this a suitable good-bye party, then.” Kallos offered, as she and Telos conjured furniture, tableware, and decorations for the empty walls of the grandiose suite. Bobbi handled her own cooking apparatus.

“Don’t even think about it,” Bobbi hissed at Arkaziel as he stretched out, seconds from jumping off to help Bobbi. “I don’t need a sous chef who eats more than he cooks, or who puts drugs in everything he cooks. You stay over there.”

“She’s still bitter about me beating her? How long do you think that grudge is going to last?” Arkaziel asked no one in particular.

“You did cheat to win a cooking contest, Ark.” Telos patted his head with one hand, while she created streamers, and a banner that said Von Voyage.

“For the greater good!” Arkaziel defended himself vigorously, but also started to lick his paws with his tongue.

The doors to the suite were pushed open after a knock, and there was Werylin. The elf’s pale face had turned flushed from his rush to get there quickly, but otherwise he looked just as he had upon their last visit. His purple hair hung in a ponytail, and he still wore the sylvan hakama he’d acquired on their adventurers, along with the katana Harmonious Tempest, and the wakizashi Stormshimmer, which Telos had forged for him.

“When Aetherius brought a bevy of refugees to us, I thought you would be along to see us before too long. I didn’t expect it’d be weeks later, though!” Werylin couldn’t restrain himself from making sure the adventurers knew he’d been worried.

“Werylin! I’m sorry we didn’t stop by sooner, but I wanted to be able to tell you not only is Oizys dead, but so is the Age of the Gods is over.” Telos didn’t bother to be reserved, she darted across the room to give the elf a big hug, and even spun him around once or twice. Werylin endured it with dignity, then readjusted his clothing when Telos set him down.

“The Age of Gods is over? How did you get to there, from toppling Oizys?”

Werylin’s face paled as he met Kallos’ golden gaze. The Nephilim radiated power unlike any Werylin had ever seen. “Bloody hell, Aetheria said you were an Ethereal Lady, not an Ethereal Sovereign! Err. I mean, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” Werylin nearly tripped over himself between trying to sit in a chair and bow at the same time, but a hand of darkness stabilized him.

“She just ascended. No big fuss over me? I’m so much more amazing now! Behold, I am a Beast Sovereign, God-Eater, Tiamat-descended Dragon of the Apocalypse! I’m even bigger than Atlanta! I can jump out the window and show you, even.”

“NO!” Telos caught Arkaziel as he started to leap towards the window. “You’re a very big, scary boy, and we don’t want to terrify everyone who lives here, do we? Werylin believes you, don’t you, Werylin?” Telos gave Werylin a look that said there was only one right answer to that question, and a warning to everyone not to egg on Arkaziel’s look at me behavior.

“I don’t recall you having so much black lightning dancing in your eyes either, Ark.” Werylin complimented the walking calamity sincerely.

“I stole some of Nergal’s Destruction authority, and Black Lightning is the direction my authority coalesced. It’s great, you really missed out on murdering gods and stealing their powers.” Bobbi slid a tray of bacon wrapped asparagus onto the table at this point, and Arkaziel’s attention shifted to food, but when he reached a paw towards the tray Bobbi bopped him on the head and shook her finger.

“No paws. Eat like a civilized being or not at all,” Bobbi scolded Arkaziel, to approving nods from Kallos and Telos.

“Sorry you still have to teach him manners, Bobbi,” Telos apologized, and Arkaziel hissed at both Bobbi and Telos as he transformed into his own human form.

“Bigger than the Enclave, and authority over destruction? That’s impressive, Arkaziel!” Werylin mustered as much enthusiasm as he could to banish the tension.

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“Feel any different, with vengeance upon Oizys delivered?” Telos had to ask.

“Honestly? It’s a weight off my shoulders. We’ve been waiting for something calamitous to happen ever since we left the Tower of Aetherius. That’s how Grief is, tragedy and suffering strike sooner or later, but this time things have been different. The modern nations of Grief are willing to attempt to work together, and Inexoria joining early helped, although they’re in something of a refugee situation in the long term. What did you do after your battle with Oizys?” Werylin finally asked, tired of being redirected by the antics of the StarManes or more pressing questions.

“Well, we killed the Overgod, nipped Chaos and Sophia in the bud, and destroyed the God Cradle, so no more will be popping up in this reality. That might cause some dimensional instability, especially since this reality is atop the axis, but it should pass shortly.” Telos waved that all off, as if it were unimportant.

“Telos killed the Overgod. It wasn’t even a fight, and I didn’t get to rampage at all. I feel so cheated,” Arkaziel lamented to Werylin.

Werylin choked on a piece of asparagus, and a shadow hand patted him on the back until he cleared his airway.

“You’ve become that powerful?” Werylin asked as he eyed Kallos and Telos.

“Little bit,” Telos lifted her left hand to hold her fingers less than a centimeter apart. Her attempt to be humble seemed to agitate Arkaziel and Werylin both, while Bobbi’s attention had shifted to making kebabs.

“What’s next, then? Staying on Grief? Purging more gods?” Werylin seemed doubtful she’d be staying on a world such as Grief, but a glimmer of hope remained in his heart. “If anyone could help accelerate the restoration of Grief, it’d be you, lass.” Werylin noted with only a sliver of hope.

“Sorry, Werylin. We’re here to say good-bye. I maybe, possibly, made a new level of reality above this one, but beneath Pleroma. We are going to settle down there for a time before we grow too strong to remain even there, at which point.. well, that’s way off yet. This universe is in for some interesting times. The rise of Mortal kind. More spacecraft, and with the Towers breaking, you’ll have to form new magic networks between worlds. A step back, and a step forward, all at once.” Telos shrugged, and pulled a few bottles of a sparkling elven winter wine from her storage.

“Won’t the gods just attempt to consolidate their power and prevent their downfall?” Werylin asked the obvious question.

“Hah, they wish! If they do that, I’ll just swoop down here and eat a bunch of them.” Arkaziel patted his chest. “They aren’t much, but a snack is a snack.”

“Ignore him,” Kallos said with a deep sigh. “Fate has been put into motion, they cannot fight the inevitable. It may take a thousand years, but the last god will fade into the realm of memory in due time.”

“Won’t this cause chaos? What will keep people in line, without the threat of divine retribution?” Werylin’s worry flooded his face.

“There’s always chaos, there’ll be the same amount. There’s the Great Cycle that will keep spinning people out by their karmic burden, no gods involved in that. Reach Gnosis and ascend, or embrace Qlippoth and descend, or remain mediocre and stagnant. People are free to make their own decisions. Undoubtedly some will take advantage of others, but I’m giving you all the freedom to stand up to it or not.

“If this is your going away party, shall I call up some old friends? Many of the Masters from Solace currently reside here in the Enclave, Aetherius dropped them off in quite a hurry. Ascyn and his children would love to see you, I’m sure.”

Telos clapped her hands together and laughed excitedly.

“Think you could cook for a whole gaggle of people, Bobbi?” Telos asked hopefully.

“It’s not a problem, but I’ll need a sous chef,” the Sultana of Spice admitted begrudgingly. Arkaziel practically vibrated in his chair, even as Bobbi looked around the room at everyone other than the StarMane.

“Oh knock it off, you know it’s going to me, I’m the best!” Arkaziel couldn’t take it after thirty seconds, and stood up.

“No adding drugs to the food, no putting Void in the food, and no magic in the food that would kill or maim a first tier for life. Do you understand me?” Bobbi asked in a slow, drawn out voice, to make sure Arkaziel followed her every word.

“Fine, no drugs or magic. Blue, did you finish my sushi knife?” Arkaziel’s heart might as well have been in his eyes while he begged for a new knife set.

“I did, go ham buddy!” Telos dropped the bound set of knives from her inner realm onto the table next to Arkaziel.

Bobbi stared at the knife set with jealousy.

“I don’t suppose you could make me a set too?” Timidness didn’t suit Bobbi well, and it made Telos feel a little bad for not giving her a set at the same time as Arkaziel, luckily she’d foreseen this occurrence. Well, most of it.

Thud. A large block of unmalting ice appeared, and an example of almost every cooking knife ever made by any species was sheathed into. Arkaziel’s set had built in dimensional storage magic and folded into a folio like earth knife sets, but Bobbi’s used a different storage method where it would bring whatever style of knife she desired to the fore.

“I’ll go get everyone, then, and bring some more help for food and drink,” Werylin shook his head at the antics of the two StarManes, but he also couldn’t bring himself to stare too long at the knives. Kitchen implements though they might be, they had been forged on an entirely different level than Aetheria Telos had managed with Stormshimmer.

“Leave your blades with me while you go get the party rolling, we’ll call it my parting gift to you.” A gentle tug from Telos on the sleeve of his hakama prevented Werylin from darting out of the room.

“Are you sure?” Werylin felt that he hadn’t earned such a thing.

“Yeah, I’m sure. You helped me climb my first Tower, but far more important than that, you were a good friend. Now go on, this shouldn’t take me more than a minute or two.” Both weapons vanished the moment Werylin handed them to Telos.

“You’re doing the crafting in your Inner World?” Werylin couldn’t resist asking.

“It gives me more control, and the concentration of power is greater than out here, even if I blast an area with power. It’s safer, and less likely to make every Diviner in the solar system fall out of bed screaming about the apocalypse.” Telos laughed, as if that should be a concern everyone has to face in their daily life.

“……right,” Werylin nodded, and backed away, to rush out of the suite and find the Masters and others that Telos might want to say good-bye too.