A slim woman wearing an exquisite black dress stood leaning against the side of a stone archway. Her long golden hair which cascaded down her back fluttered slightly in the wind. Her soft blue eyes gazed out towards the distant valley far below the mountain where her feet were firmly planted. She licked her plump lips and felt the night breeze graze by her tongue. The sweet taste of the mountain air sent a shiver through her body and she swayed slightly.

"I see that you're as beautiful as ever, Alula," a male voice interrupted the lady's silent reverie.

"If you're one of my disciples, you would have been severely punished for a compliment with such lack of imagination," the goddess yawned and turned to look at the arrival.

"Then, thankfully I am not one of your disciples, am I?" the man said with a mischievous grin. "I have a hard time keeping my male followers away from you. I wonder if you would entertain the possibility of moving your temples a little further away? I could make it worth your while."

Though rather short in stature, the figure in front of her projected an aura of confidence. He was dressed finer than any mortal lord. Overlaid on a tunic dyed a rich purple was a golden robe studded with precious gems of a myriad of rainbow colors. Whether he or his clothes was the source of a spherical bright light that illuminated the darkness around him was unclear.

"Yuano, do you recall that you asked me the same thing half a century ago. The answer is still no by the way," Alula replied with an arched eyebrow. "I would have hoped that by now that neither I nor my followers have any use of your money."

"I was suggesting the offer of my finest ships in order to better spread your faith," Yuano said. "There are many heathens on the other continent who have yet to hear of the Goddess of Beauty."

"Hmph, there is enough happening here which occupies my time. That damn heartless Mara just stole one of my acolytes. I don't know how she manipulated the poor girl to abandon me for her shoddy temple. There were some words about how the girl was better suited to be a healer than a ..."

"Whore?" a new thundering voice said.

"Good to see you, Thuro. I have heard that you tried to lay with one of my 'whores'," Alula said with a coy smile.

"What mortal will not want to lay with the God of War?" the giant named Thuro said emphasizing each word.

The thundering low voice sounded like a pile of boulders falling slowly down a mountain. The figure was a giant in the literal sense standing well over half the height of an oak tree. He was completely enclosed in a glittering silver armor of divine origin. The helmet that covered his head only let room for his eyes and mouth. In his hands was an enormous battle axe finely polished with a deadly keen edge.

"To answer your question, that would be anyone with any modicum of intelligence or beauty. I was very glad that she did not entertain you with her body. I must add that I feel insulted in the manner you call my disciples. My so-called 'whores' are more than just pretty objects. I have taught them to be the finest musicians, dancers and artists in the world."

"But can they slay over ten thousand men in one night and slay over twenty thousand the next day?" chuckled Thuro as he hefted his axe to emphasize his point.

Alula said nothing and waited for him to continue.

"And do they possess such fine armor?" Thuro added and gestured at his chest and head.

"I fail to see your point in this kind of comparison. I am curious though...do you ever take your helmet off?" Alula asked.

Yuano gave her a look which clearly signified that he was begging her not to go any further in provoking the giant.

"I take them off when there is no battle to fight," Thuro answered.

"I completely understand your desire to always wear them."

"You do?" Thuro said in surprise at her concurrence.

"Of course I do. With a face like yours, no wonder you choose to hide it. If you take that off, you might accidentally kill a mortal if she catches sight of you. Of course, if you wish, I can turn you into a girl for just one day. That might be a good experience for you considering that I highly doubt you ever use your thing down there."

"You b..." Thuro roared.

Yuano groaned while Alula laughed. Thuro never finished his words for she was prepared for the consequence of provocation. With an inhumanly graceful leap to his face, she reached out and lightly touched his lips. Immediately, the god of war stopped roaring and stared blankly ahead.

"You used Mesmerize again?" Yuano said with begrudging admiration. "A century later and he falls for the same trick. I suppose I shouldn't have doubted that you were well-prepared."

"Intelligence has never been our brother's strong point," Alula said. "Call me sadistic if you wish but I do find this scene very entertaining."

"I suppose we all have our methods of amusement. Speaking of entertaining, it looks like the rest of us are here," Yuano said as he pointed down the slope.

There were several figures that were walking slowly up the mountain to where the three deities were standing. When Alula saw the short plump goddess walking in the middle of the group, she hissed in distaste.

"Alula, Yuano and Thuro, we are all glad for this reunion," a regal voice boomed from a tall man carrying a wooden staff dressed in a simple white robe.

"Good to see you too, Catiano," Yuano said. "Have you considered getting a new robe? The one you're wearing appears to have a hole on the left shoulder."

"I do agree with Yuano here, Catiano. Do you not wish to impress the ladies at my next social?" Alula said.

"I will have to graciously decline. I believe in simplicity and I will not cast aside the attire the Creator gave me. This hole is so small it's barely noticeable," Catiano said with a smile. "And on your note, Alula, you know I already have a lovely wife. One is enough to handle."

"In that case, she may appreciate it if you choose to acquire a new attire," Yuano said.

"I know she does not mind," Catiano replied.

"I think Catiano is fine the way he is," the short plump goddess who wore a white and red tunic jumped in. "I would also like to bring attention that the real reason we are gathered here is not because of Catiano's clothes. I am sure Alula can return to her socials once our business here concludes."

"Mara, has anyone ever told you that you are incredibly obnoxious?"

"Alula, besides you, no. I am quite sure that I have heard many mortals refer to you as one who is both vain and capricious. In fact, before I left, Sofia was giving me quite the monologue on this very topic."

"You're a disgraceful failure as a goddess, Mara. Clearly, you can't find your own followers so you have to take from others. Sofia's beauty and charm was second to none among the mortals that I have found. Then, you go and tempt her impressionable heart with noble-sounding phrases of saving people's lives and other such nonsense. Really, I know it's all to just enrich your coffers and ..."

"Now now, enough squabbling! I have seen mortal children more mature than you two!"

The interruption came from a brunette with short straight white hair. In contrast, her eyes were deep pools of the night. Her petite facial features were perfectly proportioned. Overall, she was eerily beautiful. She wore a short stylish black tunic and a golden chain around her neck.

"Serina, I did not notice you there!" Alula said and smiled genuinely.

"That's because I had to spend the last minute dispelling the spell you put on Thuro," Serina sighed. "Oh, he won't be happy when he's fully conscious,"

Alula shivered at the thought of that.

"No need to worry. I'll calm him down," Serina continued. "I won't even need Karren or Sludomo's help."

Sludomo, a corpulent large figure with small mouse-like eyes and a disproportionately large nose, has been sitting on a rock calmly watching the scene unfold. At the mention of his name, Sludomo stood up, bowed and then sat back down. Karren, who was leaning against the rock, nodded silently in acknowledgement.

"I'm not the one to speak up typically but there's a heist going on that I was going to watch over which is much more exciting than this. Actually, just about anything is better than hearing you guys talk. Can we just get going and finish?" said a small man wrapped in a dark cloak.

The god had suddenly materialized from thin air or rather he stepped out from the shadows where no one has been watching. At first glance, he looked to be little more than a teenage boy with spiky black hair and dark brown eyes. Upon closer inspection though, there was a strange dark aura projecting out of the figure.

"For a thief, I would have thought that you would have more grace in speech, Edayth," Alula said.

"I can but I choose not to," Edayth replied. "Let's get this over so we can all go back to what we're doing."

"I agree with Edayth. Let us proceed to the atrium," Catiano said. "There is no need to wait for Thuro. The walk up by himself may help cool his head."

A short while later, the gods seated themselves on their respective thrones in the large room at the center of the palace. The place was neglected with dust everywhere. After the dust have been cleared though, the regal atmosphere was exposed once more.

"This place does bring me memories," Catiano sighed nostalgically as he gazed around.

"Plenty of terrible memories here," Alula said. "I prefer to look towards the future. The primal gods' days are long gone."

"Their days in the mortal realm are no more but they are still here," Yuano pointed out.

"We all know we can't kill or imprison any of the three primal gods," Mara said. "But with their powers dormant, they are no threat to us. We face here a different problem."

"I just cannot understand why God would do this! We are the perfect creations. Why another god from another world?" Alula said in frustration.

"Maybe the world needs change? Every deity is created when a need arises," Serina pondered. "The question is what that need is."

"I hope it's not the Goddess of Love again," Alula said.

"I think you've convinced God that you could undertake that role better than the one our creator brought over," Mara said sarcastically and then added with a scowl. "What you did to that poor goddess was beyond terrible."

"And yet you did nothing to stop me which merely proves your hypocrisy," Alula retorted.

"Enough!" Catiano yelled and banged his staff. "Are we all children or are we the appointed gods of Urth? If any of you have issues, discuss this outside of this forum. We are not gathered here to deal with your personal squabbles."

Alula and Mara glowered at each other but both chose to remain silent this time.

"Thank you," Catiano said. "As we all know, in the last day, there has been a new god or goddess who arrived in our world. We have experienced this before and we have learned to deal with each case. Typically, in the past, we have voted on having one of us handle it. However, with what happened last time, I suggest a different approach."

"What are you suggesting?" Serina asked.

"I suggest that each of us take a role in observing the new god but that no one can act until we reach a consensus on what to do," Catiano said.

"I don't know about all of you but I am far too busy to spend my time observing a new god," Edayth said. "Thuro may be able to take a break since there's no major wars happening at the moment but there's still plenty of smuggling and crime."

"I am not suggesting that we spend all our time observing the new deity. I suggest that we take turns," Catiano said.

"In other words, you wish to have one of us observe this deity every cycle?" Serina asked. "I like this idea. Then at the end of the observation, we can all reconvene and decide what to do with this god or goddess."

"This is going to take an eternity!" Alula complained. "I admit that I was a bit harsh on the previous goddess due to my impatience but why not resolve it like how we handled the other cases?"

"By that do you mean destroying all their temples, killing their followers, and then threatening them with eternal torture unless they agree to never interact with the mortal world?" Mara said sarcastically. "I'm sure that's an idea Thuro would be very happy to agree with."

As if the mention of his name conjured him, Thuro thundered into the atrium and sat down at the largest stone throne. His head almost touched the carved ceiling. He looked at Alula and glowered. Then he turned his attention to everyone else.

"I would be very happy to crush the followers of the new deity," Thuro boomed.

"No threats of violence are permitted this time unless deemed absolutely necessary," Catiano warned. "I do not want a repeat of the last case or even the two cases before that."

"Hmm, what did happen to the Goddess of Sky or the God of Fools?" Alula asked.

"I heard that the Goddess of Sky is residing on a floating palace far above Urth," Yuano said.

"My guess is a different planet," Serina remarked. "I have not investigated which one. As far as I know, she hasn't set foot here on Urth since we agreed on mutual non-interference."

"And the God of Fools? He was trying to steal some of my followers several centuries ago but I had heard nothing since his pathetic efforts failed," Alula wondered.

"Befitting his name, we had no hand in his ultimate fate. He foolishly provoked Poden about three centuries ago and has since then being imprisoned within the deepest trench in the ocean." Serina replied. Then, she turned back to Catiano, "I agree with your proposal."

"Serina agrees. Are the rest of you on board?" Catiano asked and looked at each of the remaining gods.

Every head nodded or bowed in agreement except for Thuro and Alula.

"From what I see, I will be outvoted. I'll concur," Alula consented.

"We can try new thing. If new plan fails, we can go back to old plan," Thuro finally said.

"Wonderful! Now the question is who would want to be the first observer?" Catiano asked. "Any volunteers?"

"I will do it," Alula said.

"I am afraid that I find my faith in your sincerity severely lacking," Catiano said. "On second thought, for the sake of fairness, let us take a vote. Whoever is chosen would be the observer for the first cycle. We can then proceed clockwise around the room for each of us to undertake that role."