“Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Kingdom Newerth, Capital City***

***Marcus***

I follow Seria into her shop. After we cleared things up with my family, we left my parents and let them take care of the army and issue orders. We also ensured that the portal stones are ready once Seria's parents decide to show up. I hadn't thought about it before, but my father had the bright idea that the cornerstones which were used to summon the portal at the university grounds could also be helpful. Once Shade arrives, he will have more than enough artefacts to work with.

My eyes wander involuntarily to Seria's backside and I hum in appreciation. One day that woman will make me lose my mind. At least she decided to have a quick battle with me. We used a small closet to get some privacy before we came here. Though I am not a fan of doing it in odd places. Gods, I am also beginning to fear that our sexual relationship might develop in the wrong direction. We are doing it in too many random places, instead properly in a bed.

Seria's staff is hard at work when we enter. Adea is in her usual place, but when she sees us, she jumps up and hurries to Seria and hugs her. “We heard that you fell through a portal! They all said that you have to be dead, but I never believed them. I am so glad that I was right!”

Seria pats Adea's head while she greets Jimmy and Patricia. “I am happy that you folk are fine. And I see that you followed my instructions regarding the shop.”

Jimmy's expression turns to an uncomfortable smile. “I am glad that I didn't have to give my life in protection of the store.”

Patricia furrows her forehead, but decides not to comment on the subject. Instead she serves come coffee and chocolate cake for all of us. “You gave my daughter a real fright. And me too. Please try to inform us in case of future absence. We think of you as family.”

Seria chuckles. “I am sorry, but I think I can't predict when I'll fall through random portals. At least I got to see my parents. My mother sends you greetings, Adea. She says that she will be coming to visit you soon.”

Adea stiffens with her arms still around Seria. “I thought they were far, far away?”

“That's still the case. But they decided to pay this realm a visit when we asked them for help.”

My comment was intended to clear up the situation, but Adea lets out a shocked gasp. “They are coming here? When?”

“As soon as they are able to. Don't worry, Adea. Mom didn't sound as if she is angry with you.” Seria returns the hug and squeezes Adea.

The girl turns even paler. “No. I didn't mean it that way. It was just... this life. At first it sucked and then it got so much better. I thought that this might turn out to be a genuinely good lifetime. But now I am becoming involved with your parents again... and... and...”

“Oh, please. They aren't that bad,” I try to appease her in order to comfort the girl, but it has the opposite effect.

“Of course they aren't that bad! But there is always something going on with them! Isn't there? Once, we had this night and we got really drunk. Then we had this contest and talked about our previous lifetimes. Ascathon and Celestial are always involved in something! From rampaging gods, to soul eating monsters. And if they aren't being attacked by some monster, they try to take over the multiverse! I had my fair share of power hunger, but even on my peak I only ever thought about taking over a world, or two!”

At that moment, Adea realizes that she had an outburst. She turns around to peek at her mother who is looking at her with new eyes. “Hahaha... not that I ever subjugated a world. I would never do such a thing.”

Seria snorts. “Yeah. Just a continent or two. Don't deny that you aren't much better. And right now you are snuggling up to one of this country's princes, setting yourself up for a position of power. I wonder who is the one with power hunger.”

Adea pales and opens her mouth like a fish, but I step in. “Why don't we stop this and enjoy our time while we wait for new information. Without any leads, all we can do is to wait.”

Seria sighs and lets the subject go, instead she sits down at the bar and digs into the chocolate cake. Then she takes a sip from the coffee and groans in pleasure. “Ohhh. I really missed this. Just a few days without coffee and I felt like some addict on withdrawal.”

While Adea opts for a silent retreat, I take the seat next to Seria and forego the fork. Instead I pick up the cake with my fingers and indulge myself. Yep, I never complained about Dedessia's food, but this is definitely better than salted meat strips and bread.

I wasn't in Dedessia for long enough to really feel the lack of different food-stocks. But from what Seria told me, their entire food industry stands on just two legs. The first one is spirit meat, mostly salted or cooked. The second one are the fruits of Yggdrasil and some wheat from the safe zones. Spices and sugar are rare. There are projects to create them artificially, but without the proper plants to mass produce them, people have to do without.

Seria's mother already started a revolution in creating sugar plants and industrial methods to recreate what many remember from other worlds. But those projects can only be executed in a limited quantity. Things are a lot better from what I heard, but there still isn't much room for luxury.

A sudden explosion stops my daydreams. I blink and look around, noticing that a lot of people outside the shop are pointing at the sky. I get up and hurry to get outside where I join the crowd of spectators. They are all watching the sky, where a large, blue rift of energy was formed.

Only then I realize that the explosion wasn't so much an explosion, as more a very loud 'crack'. As if lots and lots of air was suddenly displaced from one moment to the next.

And that's exactly what happened. Somehow, someone tore a hole into our dimension. As I eye the spectacle with suspicion, I am joined by Seria and Adea.

“It seems like Dad couldn't wait any longer and went for the brutish method,” Seria comments on the scene with a raised eyebrow.

As if on command, the large, central disc of Dedessia's capital city shoves itself through the widening rift and reveals a network of glowing pathways in the netherworld between the worlds. I force my attention to the people around us and realize that the whole city stopped moving in order to watch. “Great. Your parents could have given us a little more warning,” I complain.

Seria tries to downplay the situation. “Aw, you know how they are. Sometimes I have seriously considered hiring a PR-manager for the sole purpose of limiting their stunts to manageable levels.”

As Seria ends her complaint, the last part of Dedessia's capital floats through the rift which promptly closes behind the city. Once that's done, I watch the gigantic construct as it hovers above my city, throwing its enormous shade onto us. I hope that nobody overreacts. With all the recent attacks, all we need is one trigger happy person to cause a panic.

Then the rippling effect of a teleportation spell influences the air in front of us and Shade and Elona appear out of nowhere. “Butterfly! I was so anxious about letting you go back alone. I simply had to speed up the process. I hope you stashed away some chocolate for me.” Shade raises a hand in greeting, hugging Elona's waist with the other.

Errr, yeah. A guy with golden, glowing eyes and horns on his head. And a woman snuggling to his chest with horns, wings, and a tail draped around him. This isn't going to work.

“Kyaaaaa!” It starts with one hysteric scream from a woman who was sitting close to Shade and Elona. In the next moment all the civilians are running, emptying the street in record time.

Shade doesn’t seem to notice the chaos around us. Instead he strolls forward and plucks the chocolate cake out of my hand. I didn’t realize that I was still holding it.

He takes a hearty bite and a smile which covers his face blooms while he is chewing. Apparently that’s all it takes to appease this invader.

Seria huffs and places her fists at her hips. Then she slowly looks around, taking in the scene. Her eyes stay for a moment at the now empty shop. Well, except for Jimmy and Patricia, who are still holding their positions at the bar. The latter one with a broomstick in her hands. I wonder what she thinks she can do with that against the godking. Adea must have also fled the scene at some point, since she is hiding behind her mother.

At last, Seria returns her attention to her parents. “You two are bad for business!”

.