After the party, everyone helped take away the leftovers and headed to bed. Everyone expect Theanore. She took a sheet of paper and began to write to Luca. A letter she had to write days ago, but had not.

Dear Luca,

How is the seed drill and the hoe machine coming along? How are Timothy and Aleria? The goblins? They don’t want to pillage anymore, do they? Elm wrote and said that an inn, the Swamp Heaven inn, needs a teleport set up to the Apple Grotto dungeon. Can you do that?

Anyway, you won’t believe what I have now. A speaking doll! I named her princess Strawberry. She is very demure, but she only repeats what she is told. Can Aleria make it, so princess Strawberry starts talking on her own? Not that she is not my friend now, but if she can talk, I’ll know what she requires!

Many hugs,

Theanore the nymph.

Theanore sent the letter and went to sleep, tired of the day’s festivities. Pochva was very kind. And had a nice real name too, Persephone. She looked like a nymph. More so even than Theanore. The apple nymph hoped to be as graceful as her patron deity one day.

At the Canyon Rush dungeon, Luca stared at the letter he had just received, and he yawned. Well, he supposed that there was no harm in connecting an inn with the Apple Grotto dungeon.

And, since he didn’t want to go to sleep yet, he teleported to where Elmar was. Only to appear in a house with an olive-skinned man pointing a sword at him. Luca raised his hands high and spoke.

“I come in peace. Is this the Swamp Heaven inn?” Asked Luca. The man lowered his sword, but did not let go of it. It was a strange weapon. Ancient and with dark green mana pouring out of it. Poison, if Luca had to guess.

“Elmar, come down here. I think this one is one of your friends!” Yelled the man, and then Luca heard someone running down a flight of stairs. He saw Elmar with hair sticking every which way, but an excited look on his face.

“Luca!” Said the blonde, and he went to the olive-skinned man and had him sheet the sword. “It is good to see you again, but to what do I owe the honor?”

“Theanore wants to connect this inn to her dungeon,” Luca looked around. As far as inns went, this must be the smallest he had ever been in. Not that he had been in many.

“Oh, this is not the Swamp Heaven inn dungeon. This is wizard Rozimer’s house,” said Elmar with a chuckle. Luca made to get outside the house when Elmar grabbed him. “The rain outside is poisonous. I can’t go out anymore since I am a human again. Can’t you teleport to Diana or Dereck?”

“I suppose I can,” said Luca. Then, remembering his manners, he bowed to the olive-skinned man. “My name is Luca, sir. A pleased to meet you. And you are?”

“Hades, God of the Underworld and the dead in general. Elmar’s father,” said Hades. Even now, when his son had mostly forgiven him, he still felt a sense of happiness when he claimed the last title.

“I… Elmar, a minute?” Luca took Elmar by the elbow without waiting for him to respond, and he took him towards the staircase.

“Gods are dangerous,” said Luca, worried about his friend. “First Theanore decides to hold ceremonies for two, now one claims to be your father? I will age beyond my years!”

“You are one hundred, Luca. You are yet to age. But it is the truth. Hades and Persephone are my parents, well, sort of. I got reincarnated. I died soon after my birth the first time around. They found me, mostly Hades, and they want to be a part of my life. I don’t see why I should bar them from it,” Elmar smiled wistfully at the possibility of settling down in the Apple Grotto with his parents. That would be like a dream come true.

“But, the God of the dead, Elmar. That is bad news,” Luca send a worried glance at Hades who send him a toothy smirk.

“He likes to play games, and sometimes people end up hurt because of them. But he loves mom and he cares about me. I have decided to give him a chance. You won’t talk me out of it,” stated Elmar firmly.

“Well, if you say so…” Luca then disappeared without another word. He was met with the sight of a worried trio consisting of Dereck, Diana and Lucius. Lucius did not know him, so he regarded him wearily.

“Luca!” Exclaimed Diana, much like Elmar. “Do you have any news from Elmar? He writes, but his letters are more like notes. And this blasted rain stops us from going out.”

“He is well. Found his family, in fact. Now, who is the dungeon core of this inn?” Asked Elmar. Then, as if in an afterthought, he offered. “And do you three want a lift home? Elmar seems to have done what he needed. Theanore tells me he will go to the capital, but if you three don’t want to follow him…”

“I’d like a lift to castle Orlock,” said Lucius. This has been quite the adventure, but if everything was sorted, then his debt has been repaid. Besides, he was bored stiff playing board games all day long with the rest of the guests.

“We will stay, right, Dereck?” Asked Diana as she looked at her brother.

“You bet, but, hey, Luca. Do you have normal food on you? If I have to eat one more baked apple…”

Luca’s eyes shone with excitement.

“Baked apples? They are my favorites! I’ll trade you a roasted chicken for a platter of baked apples!” Now, Luca might have been a marine core, but in the land of plenty, where he was captured, there had been many apple trees. He had learned how to bake their fruits by himself, using sugar grass that grew by the river as sweetener.

Dereck looked at him like he was a messiah come to deliver him from some Hell. He nudged an untouched platter with baked apples with cinnamon, ginger bread and a pitcher of soda.

The rest of the guests, having listened in, too offered their platters to Luca. And so, the first trade between the Swamp Heaven inn and the Canyon Rush dungeon commenced. The first of many and the reason for a teleport between the two in addition to the one with the Apple Grotto dungeon.

As anyone could tell you, Luca had a major sweet tooth, and he took to ordering large portions of Aleida’s specialty for both himself and his goblins, much to their satisfaction.