"The seventh token?" Lyda asked. "I thought there were only six?"

"There are seven," Cyrus said. "I accidentally hinted at it before, when I said you had three left."

"Oh," Lyda said, then looked at the triplets. "And Rynovar won't be mad that you're just giving it to me?"

"No," Owen answered.

"But Cyrus might be," Max told her.

"Since he technically has a claim to it," Lucas told her.

"But we want to do it!" The triplets exclaimed.

"Stack the tokens on top of each other," Cyrus told Lyda. "And hold them on your palm like that."

Lyda obeyed.

"No fair!" The triplets exclaimed as Cyrus placed his hand on top of the stack.

Then, he pushed his hand down, and Lyda found herself surprised that the movement didn't put any pressure on the tokens, her hand remaining where it was. When Cyrus pulled his hand away, Lyda discovered why: the six tokens had merged together, forming a single token.

The new token was black with a green hexagon filling it, lines moving from the corners to the center, giving it the illusion of being raised, like a gem.

"A Jewel," she said. "That's the emblem of the Jewels, of Specialists, people with-"

"Affinities to magics other than the six elements," Cyrus told her. "Correct. This is the Divine Token, and only a god can merge the six tokens together to form it. Even if Mother never put you on the path to meeting me, you'd have met either me or the triplets."

"Most likely Cyrus," Owen told her.

"But things would have been different," Max told her.

"Because he wouldn't have fallen in love with you," Lucas added.

"But then again, you wouldn't have met us anyway because you'd have never managed to go on the quest without her putting you in his path," they told her in unison.

"Right," Lyda said, then looked at Cyrus. "So if someone manages to collect all six tokens, they have to then seek out a god to have them turned into the Divine Token?"

"No," Cyrus explained. "Rynovar would ask a god to seek them out, if their paths haven't already crossed. The triplets were made aware of this a few years ago, I figured it out when we were little, and Kylnar confirmed it to me when I asked him."

"Oh," she looked at the token again, then back to Cyrus. "So what now? It magically sends me to the island?"

"No," Cyrus told her. "Now, we go get some food, get some rest, and then, we go to meet Ty."

"Ty?" She asked.

"Ty," he nodded. "An old friend."

"But what about the island?" She asked as he and the triplets began walking. "My request for Lord Rynovar?"

"That comes later," Cyrus told her as she began walking as well. "Ty comes first. You have to meet him before you can go to the island, but he won't see you unless you have that token. Normally, the god who fuses the tokens into the Divine Token would just tell the quester just enough to set them on the path to finding Ty, and that's it. But given the circumstances, our deal, and the fact that Rynovar hasn't sent Kylnar to tell me not to, I'm just going to take you to him."

"Why do we have to meet Ty first?" She asked.

"Because he's part of the quest," Cyrus told her. "Specifically, he's the one who has the transport enchantment that sends the questers to the island."

"And it requires the Divine Token to activate," the triplets told her.

"But it only works," Cyrus added. "For the person it was transformed for. The person who was holding it when a god merged the six into one. To anyone else, it's just an extraordinarily rare coin. Screw this walk. Hold your breath."

He placed a hand on Lyda's shoulder, giving her just enough time to inhale, then teleported them to his car sitting in the parking lot outside of the campgrounds.

"Didn't we take a cab here?" Lyda asked, looking at the car in confusion.

"We brought it because we knew Cyrus wouldn't want to do the walk," the triplets told her immediately after appearing beside them. "We're going back to the restaurant, see you later!"

The triplets vanished, and Lyda gave Cyrus a confused look.

"They can be nice sometimes," he said. "And they're still recovering from Mother's punishment for destroying the Dungeon. Come on."

They entered his car, then Cyrus drove them back to Madam Mara's Crimson Restaurant. When they entered, they found the triplets talking with three women in a curved booth over some drinks. Cyrus felt the shock in Lyda's mind as she saw the young man working at the bar, which confused him a little.

He looked at the man, who looked to be around two years older than Lyda, with black hair and dark brown eyes, a splash of freckles on his pale cheeks. The bartender was scrawny, to the point that his uniform hung loosely on him.

"Why do you seem surprised to see him?" Cyrus asked Lyda. "He works here."

"He didn't last I knew," she shook her head, her voice quiet, and Cyrus could tell she was hopeful he hadn't noticed her yet. "I knew him a few years ago, before he graduated high school and disappeared from my life entirely. What's he doing here?"

"That's our newest worker," Sabbie approached. "Madam Mara found him last night and took him in as a sort of project. Sort of like you, but worse."

"Thanks, Sabbie," Lyda rolled her eyes.

"So you crushed on him?" Sabbie gave her a sly look.

"Yes," Lyda responded. "And if you tell him, Sabbie, I'm dying your hair in your sleep."

"Oh, come on!" Sabbie mock-whined. "It's not like you're going to be working here anymore if you get your wish!"

Cyrus rubbed his eyes and approached the bar, sitting as Sabbie and Lyda moved off to their own seat to talk. The young god placed an order with the new bartender, Drake, and made small talk with him.

It wasn't hard for Cyrus to notice the young man's crush on Lyda, even if the bartender was good at hiding his emotions, remaining quiet with a mostly-neutral expression. To Cyrus's empathy and mind-reading, however, the fact that Drake had noticed Lyda the moment she walked in was obvious, as was the man's interest in her.

While there was a slight arousal, Drake had a more romantic and loving interest in her. Her crush was reciprocated, and Drake was surprised to see her walk in and disappointed to find it was with a guy.

"I'm just taking her on a trip," Cyrus said, and Drake gave him a confused stare. The young god touched his temple. "I'm empathic, I know how you're feeling, and who it's in regards to. Yes, Lyda and I are having sex, but it's just until our trip is over, because we aren't denying our primal feelings. The journey is almost over. She'll be back here after our trip finishes, make your move then."

With that, Cyrus felt good. He had used his magic to peer through time to see what would happen if Lyda and Drake got together, and the result pleased him. She would have eighteen biological children in the next fifteen years and the two of them would live in a rather large home by the time the fourth was born within three.

As for how they managed to afford the house, she and Drake would start sharing an apartment soon after they got together, and Lyda would save up money for them to move down to the islands. There, she would figure out where to go in order to meet the Silver Oracle again, then advertise herself, within the rules given to her by Kylnar, as an escort down to the Silver Oracle.

That job would earn her plenty of money, and her celebration of her first pay celebration would result in her first pregnancy, a pair of twins.

He felt pleased at that, as she had helped him plenty with things and deserved to have something good in her life as a result of it, something more than just her wish being granted.

Aware of this future for her now that he had ensured it would happen by telling Drake to approach her – something his magic told him was necessary for that future to play out – Cyrus ate quietly, using his tablet to make more arrangements and contact SnK regarding something unimportant.

When the night drew late, Cyrus walked over to Lyda, who was still talking with Sabbie in a booth, neither of them working and both turning down everyone who approached them for sex.

"I'm going to the hotel," Cyrus told Lyda. "Mother booked me a room. It's the same one we stayed at before, Room 1412 if you want to join me. Or you can do your own thing, it looks like you want to hang out with your friend."

"I do, thanks," she told him. "Should we meet up here, then?"

"Yeah," he told her. "I'll be here at nine, after I eat breakfast."

"I'll be here," she told him. "Goodnight, Cyrus."

"Goodnight," he told her, then dipped his head to Lyda. "Goodnight."

Cyrus left and drove to the hotel, checked in, and went up to his room. He pulled off his sneakers and socks, then pulled his hoodie off, before immediately throwing it at the god who appeared a few feet away from him.

"You mistimed it so that I'm in just my pants, not naked," Cyrus told Kylnar.

"I didn't realize you were undressing," Kylnar held up his hands defensively. "I wasn't expecting you to prepare to go to bed immediately, Cyrus. I mean, it's not like you actually sleep every night."

"Peering through time exhausts me," he told Kylnar. "What did you want, if you were just popping in because I was alone?"

"Just to talk," Kylnar tossed the hoodie back, and Cyrus pulled it back on, then sat on the bed. Kylnar sat on the air, a chair forming on its own beneath him. "I was curious about what you were planning on doing after Lyda talks with Rynovar and he grants her wish?"

"Return to the shop," he answered. "Back to my old life. Now that the triplets are going to behave better, I'll probably look for a relationship, go out and do stuff I enjoy. They'll probably try to steal him or her from me again, but… I'll deal with that. They're currently occupying themselves in the second floor of Madam Mara's Restaurant."

"Madam Mara's Crimson Restaurant," Kylnar corrected, and Cyrus rolled his eyes. "Find yourself a human lover? That doesn't seem like you."

Cyrus understood Kylnar's tone and implied question.

"Yes," Cyrus said. "Once I'm certain my brothers are going to behave for awhile, I'm leaving Earth. It probably won't be too long, but I'm going to look at other gods, see if there's one I get along with, male or female, and pursue something with them. Bring them back here if it works out."

"What do you think your father-"

"My father can take a white-hot poker up his ass and burn for all I care!" Cyrus exclaimed in a fury. "He doesn't have a say in my love life, and if he tries to interfere or play games with me when I'm serious with someone, so help me, he's going to suffer for it!"

Cyrus realized he was clenching his fists and yelling, then took a few deep breaths and let himself fall backwards onto the bed.

"Your father won't do that," Kylnar told him. "Trust me. As much as he tries messing with you, Cyrus, he loves you quite deeply. If something makes you happy, he would challenge the universe itself if something came between you and that happiness."

The two gods fell silent as Cyrus thought over Kylnar's words. He wasn't sure about that, but knew that Kylnar wasn't in the habit of lying to him. That made his question to Rynovar all the more important.

"Also," Kylnar said. "I wanted to visit you to let you know that your brothers sent me a bunch of recordings of waterfalls and fish eating instead of the videos and shows I asked for."

"I'll talk to them after we visit Rynovar," Cyrus snorted. "You know they'll show up while they're there, just to see Lyda get her wish granted."

"Yeah," Kylnar chuckled. "What do you think the odds are of Rynovar having to tell them to calm down and back off?"

"They'll probably be thoroughly intimidated by him," Cyrus said. "It's their first time properly meeting him, after all, and he's the most powerful god in the universe."

"Yours, too," Kylnar said. "Are you nervous?"

"No," Cyrus told him, then covered his mouth as he let out a large yawn. "I'll see you up there tomorrow, Kylnar, but for now, I really am tired. I peered fifty years into the future for several possibilities, and I'm not used to that."

"Alright," Kylnar rose from his seat, which dissolved into nothing. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Kylnar disappeared, then Cyrus stripped naked and lay back on the bed, falling asleep immediately. When morning came, he took a shower, dressed, ate breakfast, and drove back to the restaurant. He found Lyda sitting at the bar, chatting with yet another bartender Cyrus didn't recognize.

"Good morning," he greeted her.

"Good morning," she responded. "Are we leaving now?"

"Yes," he told her. "The drive to Ty's place is a few hours, and I'd like to be there before lunch."

"Okay," she told him, then looked at the bartender. "Goodbye."

"Bye," he told her.

Lyda followed Cyrus to his car, then they climbed in and he began driving.

"What's Ty like?" She asked. "You've only said he's an old friend."

"Because he is," Cyrus told her. "And it depends on his mood, as with everyone. He's generally rather cheerful, and has a somewhat playful personality. But it's possible you won't see that side of him, since we're going there for the quest."

"Okay," she said. "And once we arrive, he's sending us up?"

"No," Cyrus said. "He'll have to wait for the signal from Rynovar first, but that's basically just so that Rynovar is ready for you. It'd be strange if you showed up and Rynovar was, say, in the shower. Though most people won't know about the signal, thinking Ty's just delaying things."

"Okay," she said.

Lyda looked out the window, and fell asleep soon after. Cyrus wasn't surprised by that, as he guessed she'd not slept much that night, her anxiety over meeting their godking making rest difficult.

Just before noon, Cyrus pulled up to a gate set into a stone wall, then waited for a few seconds before the gate opened. He pulled onto the property and drove around the fountain splitting the road, parking in front of the steps leading up to the house.

"We're here," Cyrus woke Lyda. "Come on."

They exited the car, and Lyda looked at the neatly-manicured lawns and fragrant gardens of flowers with vivid colors. Cyrus tossed his keys to the servant who greeted them, who then entered the car and pulled away, to park it in the mansion's garage.

Cyrus walked up the steps, Lyda following him, and he felt her nerves radiating out of her.

"Just take a few deep breaths," Cyrus said as he rang the doorbell. "You really don't have anything to be nervous of, especially not yet."

She nodded, and the door was opened by a man who appeared to be only eighteen, with platinum-blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was dressed in khakis and a gray polo, feet bare.

"Hello," he greeted them.

"Hello, Ty," Cyrus answered. "You answered, not a servant?"

"I was right here," he shrugged. "I wasn't expecting a guest."

"I forgot to call," Cyrus told him. "This is Lyda, she has the Divine Token."

"Ah," Ty smiled at Lyda. "Come on in, you two. Rynovar's been talking about the quest you've been doing. I should have realized, but I only just woke up, and that was to Rynovar sending one of his pets to jump on me. His name was Poseidon."

"It changed again," Cyrus rolled his eyes as they entered, and Ty closed the door, then looked at Lyda.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself," Ty said. "My name is Tyler Novaranamis, and I'm the final gate for the quest for a mortal to meet Rynovar."