“Did someone call for me?” Cassy asked cheerfully.

She took a moment to look over everyone before saying anything more to the tired group. “How did protecting the towns go?”

“We only ended up doing one,” Charles replied, looking away from the screen. “We ran into a rather nasty daeva and exhausted ourselves defeating him. After taking care of him, we decided to come back up here and regroup. That was only a couple of minutes ago.”

She frowned and her eyes unfocused for a brief moment. “The tethers are connected properly. Didn’t you feel a surge of power when some of your divinity came back?”

“What are you talking about? Nothing like that ever happened.” Charlotte commented from behind them on the floor. She was laying down, sprawled out on the floor same as the rest of them.

Cassy’s eyes began to glow before suddenly widening in understanding. “Ah, I forgot about that. The seal my parents put on you. They have to be the ones who lift or make any changes to it before you would feel the changes. It would have been a different matter if the seals had been placed by you.”

“So, we’ll just get them to modify the seals the next time we see them then,” Charles suggested. “Speaking of which, where are they?”

“Good luck with getting them to agree to that.” Their mother muttered under her breath. Louder, she said, “They’re still with Gaia in the tower. I decided I no longer needed to hide myself away, and besides, the system should be coming back online in about an hour.”

They each sighed in relief at that piece of news.

“That means that whatever Dantanian is planning is on a time limit, then, right?” Kate asked.

Cassy shook her head. “Not quite.” She proceeded to tell them everything that had happened on her end and how it affected the mad God’s plan.

“Wait, that means you’re the new High God of Earth then?” Beth wondered when she had finished.

There was a slow nod in response. “I guess I am.”

“Does that mean I have to pray to you now?”

“Um, I’m actually not sure. When we create worlds, our powers integrate with the people that end up inhabiting our worlds. It’s through that connection that prayers can get heard and answered. It’s all an extension of a High God’s powers and will, not their actual consciousness. For instance, if I was a vengeful person, then any prayers aimed towards vengeance would be more likely to get answered than any other.”

“That… answers a lot, actually. What is the High God who created Earth like?” Kate asked with a sly grin.

Cassy waved a finger at her. “None of that you… Not that it matters anyway. No one knows. We’re not actually sure who created this solar system. Gaia knows but she can’t say, as for mom and dad well, they either don’t know or have forgotten. It’s weird, but not entirely unheard of. Some people like their privacy.”

“What are we doing now then? Should we be helping James in destroying those markings?” Charles asked, refocusing the conversation.

“No, I don’t think so. You all would be a lot more noticeable than he would. I think you should relax for the next little while. Once the system comes back online, then you can better use the telescope to find towns that actually need your help instead of just guessing and exhausting yourselves.”

“Alright, in that case, I guess everyone can disperse for the next hour or whenever the system comes back up.” Charles agreed with a nod from the others.

Kira helped the still blind Sierra from the room as the others trickled out. A minute later, only Charlotte and he remained behind.

“Okay, now tell us what this really means for our fight against Dantanian.” He demanded once they were alone.

“I’m not sure, at least not until he completes his own preparations and makes his moves. Only then will we know how much of an advantage I hold over him. No matter what, I will be stronger than him and have access to more of my divinity. However, I’m also a few years out of practice.

“Moreover, it could mean all he needs to do is leave and wait me out again.” A hint of tired vulnerability crept into their mother’s eyes. “I just want this to be over. I’m tired of running.”

“Alright then. All we need to do is think of a way to finish him off before he can run then.” Charlotte said as if it was so simple to do.

“And I suppose you have a plan?” Her brother quipped.

“No, but there are five of us who can help if you count our grand-“ She screwed up her face, unable to call the two of them her grandparents just yet. “Conor and Clara. Not to mention we also have Alli and Kira. They aren’t exactly weak either.”

“That at least gives us a fighting chance, not a way to keep him from escaping.” Charles acknowledged her assessment of their combined strength.

“Let me and mom worry about that. All those insights from Gaia finally finished settling into place. If mom can help me construct a strong enough runic language of our own -one that he hopefully doesn’t know- and I can get some items printed with it in time, we could potentially create a closed space with them. There would be no escaping that for him, or us for that matter. Only the winner would be walking away from that battle.”

Cassy inhaled sharply and looked in wonder at her daughter. “It might be possible to trap him if it’s an unknown or powerful enough language. Do you really think you can create something like that?”

“If you can help me with the language, then I have no doubt we would be able to make something like that. I won’t say it will be a piece of cake, but it is certainly doable, I believe.” She finished, only a little uncertainly. “Maybe.”

“Then let’s go with that plan for now.” Cassy agreed.

“Alright, but what about me and the others?” Charles asked, annoyed that their plan didn’t include him in any way.

“Keep rescuing the towns that need it.”

He growled at his sister and gave her the finger before stomping off to find the others. If they only had an hour to relax, then he was going to use it just like the others. So what if his mother and sister didn’t want his help? He had Kira, Alli, and Myri he could spend some time with.

Well, he had Kira at least, along with Sierra. It turned out that Silvi and Myri and gone off to do their own thing almost right away. Sierra was sitting on the couch staring blankly at the TV, waiting for her sight to return.

Kira looked up as he entered the apartment. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re waiting for the system to come back up and then we go help the towns that need it. Meanwhile, Charlotte and my mom will be designing something that will hopefully help in the fight against Dantanian. On Earth, we’ll be leaving the marks to James, and hope that whatever he is doing has enough of an effect to make a difference.”

Kira cocked her hip and waved a wooden spoon at him. “That seems like a terrible plan. I’m sure we could help with those marks, if nothing else.”

He raised his hands in mock supplication. “Hey, talk to my mom and sister, not me. It really just depends on how many towns down there actually need our help.”

Kira went back to stirring and breaking up the meat in the pan. “I’m more curious about what upgrades to the system Gaia is going to sneak in. Do you think we’ll even notice anything, or will it all be on the backend?”

Charles poured himself a glass of water from the fridge and offered some to Sierra before answering. “I doubt she will change anything in the user interface. More than likely most of the changes will occur in places like the backend where we will never see them. However, there might be a couple of additions if we’re lucky.”

“That’s kind of what I was thinking. All these upgrades are mostly for her benefit, not ours.” Kira tilted a platter of cut tomatoes and onions into the pan to begin cooking.

“Is there really anything you would want her to change? I like it for the most part. Everything works and I know where everything is.”

“True,” Kira began seasoning everything, while she thought. “I don’t know, I guess there is simply a lot that just never made sense to me. But that had more to do with the gods than her and the system.”

“I think she should change how the towns work,” Sierra said, turning her head as the white film covering her eyes began to fade. “What is going on right now is demonstrating just how ineffective it is.”

“No, all it’s doing is showing how little people have been training since this began.” Charles countered. “I’m sure the town system can already support defensive measures. We just have to create and install them first, just like we have with everything else. Besides, why should the defense of the towns fall on Gaia instead of us?”