The vibration of her phone could not have been a more welcoming sensation. Val lit up at once just like her phone flashing to life. The contact for her mother appeared on the lockscreen. "My mom is calling me!" she cheered.

"Great." Tavras looked around. His eyes flitted around and rested on the door. "I will let you take that call, then. In case there is any screaming, I will make myself scarce." He saw himself out.

Val stood alongside the wall in the barren apartment, alone. There would not be a lot of screaming, she did not think. After two months of not talking to her mother, Val could not be certain, but she imagined that she would feel more relieved than angry. Most likely, Tavras had just intended that as his funny way to let her have some mother-daughter time.

"Hello, Mom?" Her voice sounded shaky as she answered the call.

"Oh, Val. It's really you."

"Yeah, hi." Already, this was shaking out to be the most awkward conversation ever, yet Val felt incredibly happy, finally able to sit on a phone call with her mother. She sighed into the phone which would definitely not carry over as the prettiest sound in the world. "Here. Actually, can we switch to a video call?"

Obviously, Val and Tavras did not have an internet router set-up here yet, but she received good enough cell service that the video should go through. It was kind of crazy to think that the same cell service provider had towers on the Summit of Ascension to serve the gods. Despite their immortal lifespans, gods and goddesses must not like to wait around for slow connection speeds. Her reception in New Gate seemed amazing.

Val swapped the mode of the call, and within a few seconds, her mother's weary face appeared on the screen with a broad smile.

"It is so good to see you." Her mother was on the verge of tears. She sat at the kitchen table, exactly where Val had imagined her sitting over these stressful months.

"It is really good to see you too." The more emotive feelings within Val were welling up, so she felt the impulse to cry too. "I know that I have texted you this already, but I am so sorry that I was not able to contact you sooner! A lot has happened."

Over these past two months, Val had felt overwhelmingly busy. When it came down to explaining what she had gone through, her situation sounded much simpler. She retold the story of how Tavras had plucked her from the Wooden Serpent and had taken her under his tutelage, all of this time. There had been no cell service on his Paradise. That really was it.

"I suppose that it is a good thing that another person with divine blood has taken you under their wing. To think, you have met a god as notable and powerful as Tavras." A small smile peeled onto her mother's lips, more sly than anything else.

"Yeah! It really was a stroke of good luck." Val swallowed hard, knowing that she had not merely gotten lucky. Her mother must know that, too.

Whoever her father was, he held the status as an influential-enough god to warrant others to take interest in her. Val knew better than to ask about her father. Even before all of this business with her mysterious, powerful heritage that was too dangerous for her to know, Val had been conditioned in her family to not speak about her father. As always, she did not focus on the man and instead smiled at her mother's face, comprised of pixels.

How Tavras could bring himself to hate technology, Val would never understand. This cell phone allowed her to connect with her mother back in the mortal world.

"Foofy, come!" she called.

From somewhere in their new apartment where he had gone adventuring, Foofy came scuffling out. He trotted up to Val and joined her at her side.

"Why, that is the Doberman from the shelter," her mother cooed. "It is good to see that the two of you are still together, at least. I hope that Foofy has been looking after you."

Val ran her fingers along his snout, between his eyes, and scritched at his forehead. "Yes, he is a very good boy." Her voice shifted into her doggy voice in which she gave him praise.

Foofy closed his eyes and basked in it, both her soothing words and the loving pets.

"He is a divine beast now—my dog god!"

"Wow," her mother hummed. "That is truly astonishing. I've heard that divine beasts are rare, even among immortals."

"I don't know, for sure. I guess that I will find out." For the time being, Val beamed. No matter how many other divine beasts they might come across, Foofy would always be special to her.

This first conversation with her mother turned out surprisingly pleasant. There was no beratement or fighting, only the happiness and gratitude that they could finally talk to each other again. Today, her mother had received confirmation that Val was still alive. The guilt of her behavior as a horrible daughter had partially lifted.

The two of them chatted for a while. Both of them needed to catch up on how the other was doing. Naturally, Val had more to talk about. She had made it to the Summit and could update her mother on how much stronger that she had gotten since she left home. Their call carried on until Tavras came back with groceries.

"Hi Val. I'm back! Are you done with your call yet?" With a few steps into the room, Tavras saw her sitting on the floor. "Oh, I see that you're not done yet. Do you want me to leave again?" He shot one thumb back towards the door while he balanced the bags in one arm.

"No, you can stay," she said with a smile to him. This entire time, Val had not spoken about anything particularly sensitive that Tavras could not have overheard. It had been kind of him to give her some time to talk to her mother alone, but it would be acceptable for him to stay in the apartment, just as well.

In fact, her mother took an interest in him at once. "Is that the Sea Itself? Can I talk to him? I would like to meet the god that is looking after my daughter."

A tight gulp slid down her throat. Apparently her mother wanted to talk to Tavras, and she felt obligated to honor that request.