As I stood atop the floating mountain, I basked in the sensation of the elements around me with a satisfied smile. I was about to reach out for my cosmic mana when I suddenly sensed a familiar presence.

A grin spread across my face as a spear hurled through the sky, landing mere meters before me. A flash of light followed, revealing the form of a beautiful yet cold-faced lady with long golden hair and deep azure eyes. The spear transformed into light particles, which disappeared inside her body. She glanced at me with her usual deadpan expression and spoke, "Was getting stuck in the Astral plane once not enough for you?"

My grin widened in response, "Good to see you too, Breta."

The goddess hesitated for a second and averted her gaze before answering, "En..."

"I honestly did not think I'd be seeing you any time soon. Especially after you ran away so fast last time."

"I did not run away! I simply had things I needed to take care of," she stuttered but still managed to retain her dignified expression.

"Sure, sure," I approached her, "Well, I'm happy to see you are doing well."

Breta took a step back and answered, "Stop it."

"What?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"You are being awkward. Stop it."

"Hahaha, oh, but I'm pretty sure it's you that's being awkward. And here I thought our whole near-death experience would have brought us closer together, past this stage."

The goddess sighed and rubbed her temples, "That's exactly what I meant."

"What?" I shrugged, "I honestly thought you forgot about me."

"Of course, I haven't, you idiot!" she snapped back.

"There she is, that's the short-tempered goddess I know."

Breta rolled her eyes in annoyance at my response, muttering, "Why do I even bother?"

"So, does this mean you finally came to accept that we are friends?" Curious, I lowered my head closer to hers and asked.

This time, the blonde goddess did not avoid my gaze; instead, she stared directly into my eyes and nodded, "I do not dislike your presence..."

"Oh, for the love of heavens, Breta. Just say it straight, why are you beating around the bush so much? It's not like I asked you if we were lovers," I said, instantly regretting my words.

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Breta's eyes suddenly widened as her usual mask of indifference crumbled. She subconsciously summoned her spear and swung at me. Although her strike had no real force behind it, I still moved back, giving her some space.

"What are you talking about, you stupid dragon!"

"Woah, calm down, I was joking," I replied with a smile.

I didn't know why, but I was able to relax and not overthink too much around her. I didn't have to be careful with my speech, nor did I have to think about what I had to say. Perhaps it was because of the time we spent in the astral realm, but somewhere down the line, I grew comfortable with her presence.

And although by mortal standards, it has been a while since we had last seen each other, for us, it didn't feel that long since we escaped that plane.

"I'm already regretting coming here."

"Oh please, I didn't say anything. Besides, me and you together, how would that even work? I mean, look at me. Whoa, eyes up here, what are you doing?"

"By the heavens, I will murder you. Stop testing me, you imbecile."

"Yes, yes," I said and moved to sit by the edge of the mountain peak. Breta silently followed after me and sat by my side. We both watched the world that stretched before us in serene silence for a few minutes before she spoke;

"It's a mundane view."

"Huh— What do you mean mundane, it's beautiful."

I was ready to argue with her, when she answered, "En, mundane, but beautiful..."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means the land of the Gods is better."

I clicked my tongue in annoyance and refrained from responding.

"But it's still beautiful," she repeated, only this time, her voice was nothing but a small whisper.

After a few seconds, I turned to glance at her and asked, "How did you manage to find this place? No, how did you even cross the land? Although I didn't meet a lot, I'm pretty sure, there are a few dragons that still live here, and I doubt they'd take kindly to a goddess in our lands."

Breta nodded and replied, "I met your grandmother and little sister,"

"What?" her reply caught me off, guard.

"What the hell is grandma doing there with Essie?"

"Something about training your sister. I met them when I went to visit Loen,"

"The giant tree Goddess, right?"

Breta shook her head in disappointment, "Giant tree goddess, heavens help me..."

"What, she is a tree, a very big one if I do say so myself."

"Anyways! I met them there. Loen is a close friend of my father, so I often spent a lot of time with her as a child."

"Hmm, and let me guess, grandmother was teaching Essie how to change into a human form?"

"Oh? She already mastered that a while ago, I believe. Other than that, I don't know, nor do I care about the details of their training."

"I see, and grandma was the one to help you come here?"

The goddess nodded, "Yes. I did come across a couple of unsavory overgrown dragons, but once they found out I had your grandmother's permission, they all begrudgingly allowed me passage."

"Makes sense, grandma can be very scary," a sudden shudder ran down my spine.

The goddess simply glanced at me before she turned back to the view below.

"I-" She hesitated, the words seemed to fail her as she lowered her head. I could sense that whatever she wanted to say was serious, and so I refrained from cracking any jokes and patiently waited for her to speak.

"I cannot stay in the Land of Gods,"

"Did they kick you out?" I asked with a frown.

"No, nothing like that," she sighed and raised her head to the sky, "It's just that— there is no place for me there anymore. I've been gone for so long,"

I was about to speak when she suddenly interrupted me, "Don't you dare say anything stupid,"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, I just had a feeling you might,"

"Huh,"

"I'm planning to join the front lines against the Shades," she suddenly dropped a bomb.

"You, what now?!"