"Gina knows who I visit when I do this," Cyrus told Lyda. "She won't say it aloud, though. A way of saying that if it's not said aloud, it doesn't matter."

"Oh," Lyda responded as they entered the building, which turned out to be a shower house.

"Here's your bag," Cyrus handed her the pack she had brought with them.

As soon as she took it, Cyrus walked into a shower stall and stripped off his board shorts, then turned on the shower. He scrubbed himself clean and shut off the shower, then dried himself off and dressed.

Cyrus sat on a bench and pulled out his tablet to wait for Lyda, who finished a few minutes later, stepping out of the stall in jeans and a tee. She sat on the bench and began drying her feet with the towel she had taken from a rack before beginning her shower, and Cyrus felt her gaze upon him after a few moments.

"What?" He looked at her.

"You're dry."

"I used a spell which heats the air touching my body," he told her. "It dries me much more quickly than than a towel does."

Without waiting for her response to that, Cyrus turned his gaze back to his tablet as he used the spell on her, drying her instantly, though leaving her hair partially wet.

"If I completely dried your hair," he explained. "It would be messy as a result."

"Th-thanks," she said. "Where did you learn such a spell?"

"Rynovar came up with it, back when he was young," Cyrus answered. "He created the spell I used to see underwater as well."

"You've met him?" She asked.

"Once, a long time ago," he answered. "The spells were learned from a book he sent my brothers. We are gods, after all. He wanted to ensure that we knew how to use our magic, since we were awakened from birth."

"He seems like a pretty nice guy," she pulled on her socks, then began to pull on her shoes. "So he noticed four brothers who awakened when they were little, and gave them a book on magic to help them?"

"He's a nice guy," Cyrus stood. "And he gave four gods books on magic to help guide them in learning how to use it without causing too much chaos for him to handle. There's a difference between intentional chaos and accidental chaos, and he'd rather not deal with the latter. Let's go."

Cyrus left, and Lyda hurriedly followed him out. They made their way to the boat which took them to the islands, and Gina greeted them on it. Once they were boarded and seated, the boat began sailing towards the mainland.

After they arrived, Cyrus took Lyda to his car, then began the drive home.

"Where are we going now?" She asked. "To visit a Blessed One?"

"Home," he answered. "I need to talk to my brothers and drop off the discs."

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

"I'll grab a Dungeon Token while we're there, too," he said. "So that you don't have to risk your life in a Dungeon. It wouldn't matter with me present, but it doesn't matter."

"Aren't those insanely expensive to buy?" She asked. "They're the most common part of the quest that's completed, but even still, getting them takes entire parties of people."

"Or one god," he said. "Would you rather have to travel down into a dungeon just to get one?"

He could tell she was hesitant over that.

"I have twenty of them," he said. "They're literally sitting in a box at home, doing nothing else. The challenge is meant to be a test. Ordinarily, to obtain a Dungeon Token, you would need to go down with a party. It risks your life, and there's a chance of betrayal. Will you continue to seek it, even knowing that you may have to try several times just to obtain it because someone in your party stole it or abandoned you? They may even kill you to ensure you can't come back for them. For the people who fund obtaining them, they have to invest a lot of money into it, and there's no guarantee of success. It's meant to show perseverance and dedication."

"That doesn't support the idea of you just giving me one," Lyda told Cyrus.

"It's also meant to show," he continued. "Who knows the right people. The Silver Oracle will only give a token to someone she knows will pursue the quest. If she finds that someone will just hand it off to someone else, she will withhold it. You're the first to receive it from her, even if not the first to find their way to her. Rynovar created several ways of completing the quest. You know the right person, someone who is willing to simply give you a Dungeon Token to save you the task which will take you most of your lifetime to attain. Chances are, you'd never acquire one otherwise."

Lyda fell silent, and the rest of the drive to Hemis was made in silence. When they arrived, Lyda watched as the city's buildings streets passed by, until they came to a street of shops only one or two stories in height, even if the majority of the buildings around it stretched six or more stories in height.

Cyrus parked in front of a shop with a green sign above the door, blue letters declaring it The Gods' Collection. The windows at the front allowed them to see inside to the seemingly disorganized store full of knickknacks, collectibles, devices, and various other goods on tables and shelves.

"Here we are," he stepped out of the car, and Lyda followed him to the front door of the shop.

"What is this?" She asked.

"Hell," he answered, opening the door and entering as a tone sounded out.

Lyda looked around at the shop's items as Cyrus walked straight to the front counter, another tone sounding out as the door closed, though slightly different from the first.

Cyrus walked behind the counter and punched a few keys on the register, the cash drawer shooting out a moment later.

"Are you robbing this place?" Lyda looked at him in shock.

"I'm worth more than the shop," he snorted. "As if I'd resort to something like that."

He pulled out the tray from the drawer and inspected a paper underneath, then returned the tray and closed the door. Cyrus walked back around the counter and to a shelf, inspecting a figurine standing on it.

"Cyrus!" A voice exclaimed, and Lyda turned in time to see someone charging Cyrus, wrapping him in a hug as the other teen stiffened.

The teen looked similar to Cyrus, with the same platinum-blond hair and dark blue eyes as him, his features only slightly different. The teen wore only a pair of dark blue briefs with black trim, revealing a body as fit as Cyrus's.

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"Cyrus!" Another teen exclaimed, appearing from behind the counter, then charging and adding his hug to the group.

The second teen was identical to the first, except he wore a pair of red shorts with green designs on the bottom.

"Cyrus!" A third teen came out from the backroom, then charged Cyrus and hugged him.

The third teen was identical to the first two, except he wore a pair of khakis and a green sleeveless with dark blue designs on it.

To Lyda, it appeared like Cyrus wanted to kill them, and she assumed they were his brothers based on their similarities to him.

"You three knew I was coming," Cyrus's voice was low. "Owen, Max, go get dressed. Luke… let go of me, or I'll break your hand again."

The triplets released their older brother, the two who weren't dressed returning to the back as the third moved to inspect Lyda, a light smile on his lips.

"We aren't an item," Cyrus said. "So stop giving her that look. She's performing Rynovar's quest, and I'm helping her. Get me one of my Dungeon Tokens."

"Yes, Father," Luke rolled his eyes.

The next thing Lyda knew, Luke was halfway across the store, shelves toppled over and items scattered about, many of which were damaged as if a fight had broken out.

"What happened here?" Lyda exclaimed, jumping back.

"Clean this up," Cyrus pointed at the mess angrily, glaring at Luke. "Now!"

"Yes, sir!" Luke exclaimed, not a trace of mocking or mischief in his voice, then placed his hands in front of him, fingertips touching.

A green glow enveloped him as Lyda realized the triplet was covered in various injuries, his clothes half-destroyed. As she attempted to figure out what happened, all of the items thrown about by the event began to glow with green light, then returned to their previous positions, mending at the same time. Even Luke's clothes began to restore, bits of fabric or ash flowing back to it, the ash and charred parts returning to cloth.

"He's rewinding time!" Lyda exclaimed.

"Yeah," Cyrus said. "My brothers are good at time magics. He's targeting only the objects damaged by me beating him."

"You attacked him?" She asked. "I didn't see any thing happen! One moment-"

"They slipped out of time for it," Max returned, wearing an outfit identical to Luke's. "It was fun to watch. Cyrus hates it when we say that."

"Why does he hate your father so much?" She asked as Cyrus continued to glare at Luke, who walked to the back, the shop restored.

"It's not hate," Max answered as Cyrus followed Luke to the back. "But more of an extreme anger. We all hold anger towards him, though Cyrus has the most. Being gods born to gods, we were awakened from birth, and didn't hold the standards of mortals for our progress. We aged like normal, but our minds were more advanced. My first memory is from when we woke up the first time after arriving at the orphanage, Cyrus looking down at us. I remember being curious, and him manifesting several orbs of light and water to entertain us. He wasn't even a year old yet. To us, we're happy to have our big brother around to care for us and watch out for us. He'd learn something, then turn around and teach it to us. To Cyrus, however… our father put a burden on him that wasn't necessary. No mortal could truly hope to raise us. We left the orphanage when we were seven. Cyrus bundled us up in coats one winter night, loaded us into a wagon, then covered us in a blanket. We slept through the whole thing, waking up several hours later, when we were already long-gone."

"You guys, too?" She asked.

"Hm?" He gave her an inquisitive look.

"Cyrus claims you four are gods," she said. "I can understanding claiming it because of how powerful and talented you seem to be, combined with your looks, but-"

"No!" Owen laughed as he rejoined them, dressed identically to his brothers. "We actually are gods. Max, Luke, and I are gods of time. That's why the Silver Oracle mentioned us last night, saying we could peer through it better than her. I can see the past better than my brothers."

"I can see the present better than them," Max said.

"And I can see the future better than them," Luke returned without Cyrus.

"Though we all knew that Cyrus was getting ready to have sex with you," they said in unison.

"He's been depressed lately," Owen told Lyda. "And as soon as you started hitting on him, Max told us and we tuned in. We realized fast that he was going to give in, so we watched the whole thing."

Lyda stared at them in shock at finding out they had been watched, and they started laughing.

"Where's Cyrus?" She asked.

"Burning the cotton balls we bought," Luke answered. "It seems he's in a rather bad mood. It's not like we'd severely inconvenience the mortals."

"I thought Rynovar didn't allow gods on this world?" Lyda asked.

"He doesn't allow them to try to stake out claims for themselves," Owen shook his head. "But they can stay here temporarily if they want, as long as they don't cause hassles for the mortals."

"Is there any way to prove you're gods?" She asked.

"We're effectively immortal on this world," Max answered. "Since we're part of Rynovar's pantheon. Only a god can have a natural healing rate as powerful as we do. If you cut off our head, we'd literally regrow a new one."

"They've done that before, too," Cyrus returned from the back. "Severed their heads, then cast a time-stop spell on them so they wouldn't rot. Then, they lined them on the counter of the apartment upstairs."

"He then burned them into nothingness," the triplets said in unison. "When he came back that afternoon."

"So you," Lyda pointed at each of them in turn. "Actually are gods?"

"Yes," Cyrus answered as she began to realize that he hadn't just been making a claim. "I told you before they were gods of time, didn't I?"

"I'm finding it hard to believe you're gods," she said. "What are your parents gods of?"

"Our father," Max said as Cyrus set the briefcase with discs in it on the counter. "Is a god of order and chaos, life and death, light and darkness. He's one of the five most powerful gods in the universe. Our mother is a god of war and peace, and is another one of the five most powerful gods in the universe. Our father's only other godly harem member is a god of scholars and students, research and studies."

"Your father has a harem?" She asked.

"Several mortals, two gods," Cyrus nodded as he opened the case and began pulling the discs out one at a time, placing each one into its own plastic CD case from a series of stacks of them that appeared when Lyda wasn't looking.

The cases had clear fronts and translucent, colored backs. He used green for movies, red for shows, and blue for music.

"Oh, cool!" Luke exclaimed.

"You got more of them!" Max added.

"And an unaging human or two," Cyrus finished saying his father's harem's contents. "He does his own thing, and decided to just abandon us here. He's going to get a fist to the face when we meet."

"Supposedly," Owen said.

"We inherited power," Max said.

"From the other god in the harem," Luke finished.

"As if transferred via the soul," the three said at once.

"That's… interesting," Lyda said, then looked at Cyrus again. "So what are you the god of, if you guys really are gods? Magic?"

"That falls into our uncle's domain," Cyrus shook his head. "The god of research is also the god of magic."

"So what are you a god of, then?" She asked.

"Cyrus?" The triplets asked, then laughed. "He's the god of reality and fantasy. Only our father and the two gods in his harem are more powerful than us."

"Uh," Lyda said. "Wait, did you say that the other god in his harem is male?"

"Gods are bisexual by nature," Owen said.

"Yep," Max nodded. "In fact, Cyrus's one and only relationship was with a guy."

"And it ended when the three of us met the guy," Luke said.

"The day he turned legally old enough for sex," Owen continued.

"When we stole him away from our brother," Max said.

"And taught him what it's like to have sex with a trio of gods."

"They seduced him within ten minutes of being introduced," Cyrus said. "And that's part of the reason I'm not interested in a relationship. Even if I didn't have to keep a lid on their antics, they'd just steal away anyone I get into a relationship with."

Lyda appraised the triplets, who were grinning at her, as Cyrus continued sorting the discs.

"Yes, they slept with him together," Cyrus answered her unasked question. "With them, they're a package deal. They get a new lover every month, mostly because that's the longest anyone is willing to go with three guys like them. It's also not an exclusive deal, meaning they can get with others during it, too. There's no shortage of hot young guys or women willing to give them a try, and they don't hurt anyone, so I let it go."

"The most I've ever done was a threesome," Lyda admitted. "And I get the feeling that you're meaning triple penetration, even in guys."

"Even in one hole!" The triplets confirmed.

"They know," Cyrus said. "That if they do something bad with a lover, it'll be the end of their sexual fun, so they're keeping it within what the partner enjoys, male or female."

He paused for a moment, then pulled out the guide his father left for him and set it on the counter.

"Father left that for me at Aunt Lena's," he said. "You three can have it, I'm sure there are a few things you don't know in there."

The triplets crowded around the counter as Lyda tried to wrap her mind around it. She couldn't imagine taking three guys at once in different holes, much less the same one, but supposed everyone had their preferences.

"If you're really a god," she decided to ask Cyrus what else was on her mind. "And you're a god of reality and fantasy, what does that mean?"