Annabelle’s mother began their meeting. “To get you up to speed, Melody, we stayed here to assist Gyyanrel and the beast-kin in cleansing and saving as many of the beast-kin as possible.”

  “What are you cleansing?” Melody asked.

  Gyyanrel created an orb that acted like a video feed. It showed the decomposing remains of a massive creature. “You are looking at the Titan that nearly destroyed the world long ago. The corpse has long been cleansed, but we are still getting rid of the remaining amounts, a part of which is acting like a disease, draining their life force. I share the power of nature with them to help keep them alive, but should they leave here, they would die.”

  “We have been helping to maintain their weakened health and make sure that they are able to give birth safely.” Annabelle’s mother stated. “There are many medical professionals and healers spread throughout the city.”

  “I am curious, Anna, why did you come here?” Her father asked.

  “Lord Gyyanrel told us that my power would be helpful here.” She answered.

  “It will be. Your connection to divine power is quite powerful. Since you were reincarnated, the gods will be able to channel their divinity through you and cleanse the entire area, the beast-kin included, of the dark power of Tartarus.” Gyyanrel stated.

  “We waited until all three of you were ready,” Lyuten added.

  “Will it be dangerous to Anna?” Annabelle’s mother asked.

  Lyuten shook her head. “If it was just her, yes. But we have three reincarnations here, each representing the various powers of the world.” She pointed at Violet. “The Arcane and Elements.” Then to Melody. “Nature.” Lastly was Annabelle. “Holy.”

  Annabelle’s parents were confused. “What do you mean reincarnation? Annabelle is our daughter!”

  Lyuten laughed. “Yes! She is your daughter. Her soul is that of someone from another world.”

  The couple moved over and hugged Annabelle. “That’s right! She is our daughter!”

  Annabelle beamed happily.

  “How soon will we do the cleansing?” Annabelle’s mother asked, looking hopeful.

  “Tomorrow morning,” Gyyanrel stated.

  “What? Is this too soon?” Her father asked.

  “We cannot wait. There is a new pawn of Tartarus in the world. We need to cleanse the remaining power as soon as possible before it finds this place.” Gyyanrel stated. “My children are doing their best to keep him trapped in the ravine Melody buried him in, but we are afraid he will escape eventually.”

  “So he is alive…” Melody felt disappointed.

  “Don’t worry, Melody, we will find a way to destroy or seal him,” Gyyandel stated. “For now, Annabelle, spend time with your parents today. Melody, come with us.” He stood.

  Lyuten stood and joined him.

  Violet looked unsure of where to go, but Annabelle requested she stay to help her share stories of her youth.

  Melody wanted to stay but knew that she had responsibilities to fulfill.

  Gyyanrel chuckled. “You can come back here in a few hours.”

  The three left the hospital, and Gyyanrel teleported them to his tree.

  Melody sat down on her giant lap with Lyuten, who cuddled her. “So, what’s up?” She asked, now seeing why others liked sitting on her lap so much. It was really comfortable.

  Gyyanrel sat down before them. “To catch you up to what is happening at the ravine, my children are successfully keeping Rul trapped within.”

  “That is good to hear, but what will we do long term?” Lyuten asked.

  “I have contacted the Dragon Empress for assistance. Several Emerald and Ruby dragons are heading to the ravine now. The plan is to have the Emerald dragons fill the bottom of the ravine with their acid breath, which we hope will overcome much of his regeneration. Then, we will have the Ruby dragons explode the acid with fire. It is our hope that the subsequent explosion and fire will be enough to destroy him. I also have the dwarves working on making shackles to hold him. This will buy us time to work on a proper way to seal him away.” Gyyanrel explained the plan.

  Melody sighed in relief, thankful she had such a capable family. If, with the dragons’ help, they could kill Rul, that would be the end of things. If it didn’t work, she would help to capture him until they could seal him away. She only hoped that we wouldn’t find a way to escape.

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  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “FUCKING WEED!” Rul fell back into the depths of the ravine, smashing into the jagged floor for the hundredth time. The damn forest spirits were keeping him in the ravine! He was so close to evolving that he knew he was.

  After healing again, he stood, picked up a boulder, and threw it toward the top ravine, but it did nothing.

  “You need to escape, now,” Kraul stated.

  “What the hell do you think I have been trying to do!?” Rul yelled. “Those damn weeds are keeping me trapped here!”

  “You think I don’t know that. Dragons are en route to your location. If they attack you in your current state, it is possible that you will die.” Kraul reported.

  Rul cursed and punched the ravine wall, heavily cracking it. “FUCK!”

  “Wait,” Kraul stated, pausing.

  “What?” Rul stopped his tantrum.

  “Keep punching that wall!” Kraul excitedly ordered.

  Rul wanted to question it but decided not to. He was not strong enough to take on this god.

  He began punching the wall repeatedly, cracking and fracturing it bit by bit. After a few minutes of pummeling the rock face, his fist plummeted into the wall. Rul flexed his hand and moved his arm around, an evil grin coming to his face.

  Pulling his arm free and stepping back a bit, he activated one of his skills, Charge, and broke his way through the wall into a tunnel he had to hunch over in. “Well, well, well. This looks promising.”

  “An Earthen Worm tunnel, a big one,” Kraul stated. “These tunnels can go for miles.”

  Rul laughed. “Is it worth a lot of experience?” He asked.

  The God of Tartarus chuckled. “Yes. They are worth a sufficient amount.”

  Rul began his trek into the darkness, his eyes lighting up with Dark Vision. “Then let’s get to the slaughter!” His victorious laughter faded into the darkness.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “What did you say?” Melody asked her great-grandfather.

  “Lend me Okan’s Bow so that I may improve it.” He held out his hand.

  “O-Okay.” Melody pulled out the bow and handed it over.

  Gyyanrel carefully accepted the bow, seeing it was quite important to her. Holding it up, vines lowered and raised the bow above. Branches extended, intertwining the shaft of the bow while thin vines reinforced the bowstring.

  “Oh! I’ll add a bit of divinity, too!” Lyuten flicked her wrist, sending a small ball of golden light up into the bow.

  “How powerful is it going to be now?” Melody asked.

  “Well, it may be able to kill the pawn as he is now, but if he manages to escape and evolve into a titan, it would be enough to at least harm him,” Gyyanrel answered.

  “Though, that hatchet of yours is quite impressive,” Lyuten commented, eyeing the beautifully made tool.

  “Oh, this?” Melody pulled it from her belt. “It was a payment we got for medicinal herbs.”

  “Hmm?” Gyyanrel eyed it closely. “It seems to be made from a powerful metal… not from this world.”

  “It’s not?” Melody was surprised. “It was given to us by Lord Tulsen.”

  Both Gyyanrel and Lyuten tensed for a moment.

  “Um, Melody, dear, you know of him?” Lyuten nervously asked.

  “Yes. He is a friend and often trades with Mother. Even Grandpa knows of him.” Melody answered.

  The goddess sighed in relief. “Thank the Omni. It sounds like you are on good terms.”

  “The people of Halfen had the same reaction. They said he was dangerous.” Melody said.

  Lyuten sighed. “He is well known amongst us gods by many names, the most known being God Slayer. Even us gods tread carefully around him.”

  “It is best to associate him with Death itself.” Gyyanrel sighed, lowering the new bow down to Melody. “All done.”

  Melody took hold of the bow and felt a powerful surge of natural energy emanating from the bow. “This is… amazing.”

  Gyyanrel chuckled. “After the ritual to cleanse the beast-kin of the remnants of dark power, you are more than welcome to head back to the ravine to test it out.”

  Melody gripped her bow with determination in her mind. She would soon put an end to Rul permanently.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Annabelle finished getting her parents caught up with her life and time with her grandfather.

  Dad slammed his fist on the table while Mom cried. “Damn them! After everything we had done for the temple, and this is how they repay us!?”

  Mom hugged Annabelle’s head to her chest. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Anna…”

  Annabelle warmly returned the hug. The scent of her mother was both unfamiliar and nostalgic. “Grandpa was there for me, and…” She snuggled her head into Mom’s chest. “I now know you two were alive.”

  Dad sighed. “Once the ritual is done, we will return immediately to reclaim what is yours and punish those bastards.”

  Annabelle giggled. “No need to do much. Grandpa might have been keeping it a secret from me, but I know he has been planning to get back at them for the last ten years.”

  “Did father really need that much time?” Dad asked.

  Mom giggled. “You’ve forgotten how where I get my meticulous planning from.”

  Dad paled. “If you learned from him…” He seemed to dread what was to come.

  Violet laughed. “Seems like there will be quite the show in the capital!”

  Annabelle saw her friend’s expression, knowing full well that she couldn’t wait to tell her mother the news.

  Mom sighed. “Though I have to admit, your old world sounds amazing. To think you had a family and everything.”

  “I wanted to ask, is the giant also from your world?” Dad asked.

  Annabelle nodded. “Yes. Melody was a very close friend of ours. We… lost her to an illness, only to find out she had been reincarnated into this world.”

  Violet jumped in. “It took us forever to find her. It literally took me almost getting killed by a dread wolf to finally make a connection.” She huffed and remembered the group of traitorous adventurers. Annabelle wondered if the guild was still messing with those guys.

  “So you two became human, but why did she end up as a giant?” Dad asked.

  “AH!” Violet yelled. “We had a literal goddess present! We could have asked her!”

  “Do you think Melody might ask?” Annabelle asked.

  Violet thought for a moment. “Maybe? If she finds out, she is going to be pissed.”