"Really, was that necessary?" I stood up and faced the angered face of Deventus. Her hands tightened into a fist. With only a little bit of effort, one could almost see her contemplating throwing the second blow. I didn't intend to block. After all, the first hadn't hurt me.

After 120,000 years of cultivation, I was sure that she could throw a punch that could genuinely hurt me. Her not doing so meant she wasn't trying. There was a silence as she continued to stare at me. The other new gods had surrounded me, weapons at ready.

I paid them little mind. More numbers wouldn't change the ultimate outcome of a fight if one was to break out. The silence stretched on for quite a while, to the point that it was almost deafening.

The sudden hug and tears were not expected.

Neither I, nor the new gods had anticipated it in the slightest. Their faces were a varied mixture of surprise and confusion.

I had no idea what to do with the sudden change of events. I had expected a couple more punches and perhaps a thorough verbal thrashing. This had not been in my calculations at all. I had only ever seen a scene like this in works of fiction. So, I think it's understandable why I was caught off guard.

For the first couple of seconds, I was unsure what my hands were supposed to be doing. Eventually, I simply hugged back.

Honestly, my surprise came from the fact that she cared so much even after such a long time. I was sure that I would not feel the same way she did.

Eventually, she pulled herself out of the hug. Her gaze swept over me. Happiness and a trace of surprise could be seen in her eyes. "What happened." She was calm, yet the worry could not be kept out of her voice. She levitated away and gave me a bit of space as she spoke.

My reply was not immediate. I glanced at the other gods before looking back at her, eyebrow raised.

No words nor thoughts needed to be exchanged; she understood.

Without a moment's delay, she turned and dismissed the other gods with a wave. Their original expression of surprise turned to outrage.

Deventus was having none of it.

She flicked her hand, the winds howled, and the gods were sent flying down to the world below.

"So what happened?" Without a single pause, she turned to me and restated her question. The sigh that escaped my throat was genuine. This was not going to be easy. Deventus was no longer a naive young goddess. A slight slip in information would immediately be dissected by her.

I summoned a table and two chairs before taking a seat.

She followed my lead, eyes still on me. Her gaze nearly bore holes into me. With a dramatic flick of my hand, the table was populated with food. The exact same food we'd had when I'd last been here. The quirk of her lips told me all I needed to know. This time she took the offered food without resistance.

"Where do you want me to start?" My voice was low and steady as I spoke. All the while, my mind raced through possible stories to tell her.

Her gaze was no longer on me but on the food that she was helping herself to. " Wherever makes sense." She only glanced briefly at me before continuing to help herself.

Finally, my mind settled on an explanation. I took a bite out of the meat before speaking."I was summoned by something. The exact nature of what it was is still unknown to me. All I know was that it felt as if I needed to be somewhere." She had no visible reaction to my words, so I continued to speak.

"When I finally arrived at this..." I paused, seemingly as if in thought. "... void. I was attacked by a being of great power. Before you ask, no, I do not know what this being looks like nor what domains it is connected to. What I do know was that it wanted to kill me. And it did." Her gaze snapped back to me.

"You died?" Her voice was level, but the disbelief was still palpable.

"Yes, I did." I continued to eat my meal. Could she see through my bullshit?

"Then how are you sitting here with me, in the flesh." Gulping down the food, I replied in a sickeningly sweet voice. " I resurrected, of course." There was a light snort of laughter before she shook her head and returned to her meal. " Still the same old Teno I see."

I shrugged my shoulders and grinned at her. "Why fix something that already perfect?" She rolled her eyes in response. "If you were perfect, you wouldn't have been killed."

"Point noted" I was surprised at the response but relieved at the same time. It looked as if she wasn't going to be investigating deepe...

"So, where does Izupu fit in your story?" My heart sank at the question. This is why you don't jinx yourself. I feigned ignorance and looked at her in confusion. "Who's Izupu?

"That's the name of the giant mist that covers Malum. Its master also seemed to nearly fade out of existence when you did." The look on her face was a calm and non-pulsed one, but to me, it looked rather devilish.

"Perhaps we were both targeted by the same being or something of that nature." I leaned back in my chair as I sampled the wine that I had created. It tasted exquisite.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Teno?" She looked at me as if she was genuinely curious.

"No, I don't think so." The conversation was not going in the direction I wanted, but I found myself enjoying the whole thing.

"I think you think I'm stupid. Otherwise, you wouldn't give me such a dumb answer."

"Why would you think that?" A look of amusement crossed her face at my response.

"It's simple, Teno. Why would the being that supposedly killed two gods not kill the third?"

"Perhaps it's sexist. I wouldn't know why don't you ask it?" Her amusement turned to disbelief before returning back.

"You are so full of shit, Teno. I know you're bullshitting about something. I don't know why you're lying, and frankly, I'm slightly hurt that you don't trust me enough to speak on it, but I don't care. You're a god. You can handle yourself. I would like to know, but if you don't want to tell me, that's okay. I won't pry. I'm just glad you're back."

We sat there in silence as she finished the last of her meal. I felt slightly guilty as I watched her eat. She seemed to genuinely just be happy I was there. Though I was still worried about her newfound experience. Hiding things just got much harder.

"Well, I'm glad to be back." There was a silence as we both finished the food.

Unlike the previous tension-filled silence, this was one of comfort. We didn't need the sustenance, but for some reason, it just felt right.

Only after we finished our meal did I speak again. " So why are you in this floating city rather than in the divine realm." The question had been burning in the back of my mind for a little while now.

"This is the divine realm."

"Last I was here, the divine realm was an entirely separate realm separate from the rest of reality."

She rose up from her seat, and with a flick of her wrist, everything I summoned was gone. "Follow me." She did not wait for me to start moving. Instead, she levitated towards the massive buildings in the background.

I followed and quickly caught up to her. Upon my arrival, she began to speak again." Around 100,000 thousand years ago, another divine being was born."

I nodded my head as she spoke."That being was known as Mevreus. He was the representation of the hatred that the humans and the lizardfolk had for each other."

"I understand what you're saying, but I can't help but feel as if there's a lot of context missing." She glanced at me from the corner of her eyes.

"I'm not going to explain several thousand years of conflict to you, Teno. Go read a history book."

"Okay, lady sass" I raised my hands in mock surrender. All I got was a slight shake of her head. "As I was saying, this new divine entity came into being, and due to its nature, it couldn't help either of the races. So instead, it sought to give them both power."

"How'd it do that?" We arrived before a large door and continued on down a hallway.

"It sacrificed itself and dragged the divine realm down to the mortal universe. Which is why I'm here."

It was a fascinating series of events, but it still left quite a few questions.

"Why didn't you stop it?" I was genuinely curious as to her reasoning. Deventus was precognitive; she must have seen this coming.

" Apart from the fact that other divine beings are slightly blurry to my powers, I was also too busy saving a certain someone." There was a slight bitterness in her voice.

"Well, thank you for that."

"No problem, now enter." She pointed towards another door that seemed to lead into a courtyard. I walked in and was surprised to see the storm still raging.

"You preserved my old body?" The lie slipped immediately of my tongue.

"How do you think I was helping you?"She asked as she continued towards the storm.

"I didn't really think about it." She rolled her eyes at my response. "Of course you didn't."

Arriving before the little generic storm, I was unsure what to do. It wasn't actually my body. That had simply been a lie that I'd told deventus.

One that she apparently still believed wholeheartedly. I quickly came up with a solution to my problem.

With only the barest flicker of power, the storm started to expand again. The lightning that flashed boomed with force, and the winds roared greater than before. Space warped around it, and the surrounding qi was drawn into it.

Simulateanliuly I made my pretend body, that of Teno; change. The winds and storms that compromised my body grew more powerful, and an aura of power leaked out.

The look of relief and joy on her face told me that my little act had worked. Once again, I found myself enveloped in a hug. This lasted for much longer. Several thousand years of work and dedication had finally paid off for her.

"Thank you for everything you've done Deventus, I appreciate you."There was no reply, but the tightening of the hug was all the response needed.

Eventually, she let go. This time she looked much younger and so much more relaxed. Now that I looked at her, I realized that she had been guarded before. Now she finally believed that what was happening to be reality.

Poor girl.

"I'm glad you're back. This place has been lonely without you." The genuine happiness in her voice was heartwarming.

"Lonely? From all the changes and new gods, I wouldn't think you would be lonely."

She shrugged at my reply. " The changes really only affect the mortals. Even though the arrival of the divine realm gives them hope to potentially catch up with us, the chance is too slim. We simply cultivate too fast, and the tribulations are never life-threatening to us."

She started to play with lightning flashing out of the storm as she continued to speak." The new gods rever me too much to be any good as companions, and Izupu is too strange to really talk to."

I chuckled at her response. " When you say it like that, you make me think that you just want me to be your entertainment man."

"Why, that's exactly it." Her voice was exaggerated and teasing. I couldn't help but laugh. Much of the conversation continued like this as whatever barriers had been there slowly melted away.

It was nice to talk to her again.