Carl looked at the merger stats with a deep curiosity. "Thank you for watching over me, I hope you and Tsukiyomi had some time to talk."

"We did, he wasted most of it mocking my stubbornness towards you in the beginning... There's something else, I have some information that I don't know how you will react to. He said that Susanoo was given Ishtar's journal, it chronicled the specifics of your origins,"

"I'm guessing that means it is now lost forever since Susanoo is dead. It's fine; Right now I don't care and if one day I do, then it's out there somewhere. I'm willing to bet that he left it somewhere it couldn't be stumbled upon accidentally, but someone looking for it will find it."

"What makes you say that?"

"Ishtar called him Su-Su, I don't think he would have wanted to let her down..."

Bahamut nodded, then opened a portal back to Haven.

As he did however, a wild Klaire stepped through and punched Carl in the face. "You couldn't send a bloody message!?"

Carl sacrificed some MP to heal his completely broken nose. "You're right, I just wanted to get back to you so desperately I turned into an idiot."

"Don't flatter yourself... You've always been an idiot."

Bahamut asked if she could kill him back on Haven and she thanked him for the suggestion since it meant she wouldn't have to carry the corpse to the grave if she takes him there first.

When they all stepped through, they found themselves on the beach outside their home where Carl was immediately dog-piled by his children, then they wished him good luck and got out of the way as Leanna emerged from the home and approached.

It wasn't just the children either, the only ones who were apparently given permission to attend this reunion were Klaire, Kyubi and Alisha. Tiamtael even dragged Bahamut away with some final ominous words. "Come on, you don't want to be here for this. Grandma is really scary when she wants to be."

When Leanna finally came to a stop, the first thing she did was hug Carl. "I'm so glad you're okay..." Then her demeanour changed and she gripped tighter and tighter. "...Now please tell me what you were thinking when you told the others I wasn't allowed to return to work. What gives you the right to decide that for me?"

No matter how tight her grip got, Carl was simply too relieved that she still had both arms to crush him with to be upset about it. "I'm happy you're okay as well Mum, when I saw him hurt you, I was so scared you'd die. I don't know what I would do if I lost you..."

Carl broke down and sank into her like any boy giving his mum a hug, It had been a long time since he clung to her like a little boy, but it was not enough to curb her anger. "Answer the question Carl..."

"Don't be stupid Mum, nothing gives me the right to say what you can and can't do, I was selfish and hated doing it and didn't want to do it, but I decided I wanted to keep you safe more than I wanted you to be able to keep working there and I stand by that."

Leanna's arms relaxed slightly. "As long as you recognise that, now why were you so stupid? You saw him pull me apart like a doll and you thought it was a good idea to charge in alone?"

"No, I didn't, I asked the law of Divinity to help me keep everyone alive and it took over. I don't even remember everything, just wishes in the moment that it was either immediately granted or denied. It couldn't heal you because I wasn't a hundred percent sure on the structure and materials."

"Yes, Nergal and the others were nice enough to explain what it means to become a devoted conduit to a law. Next thing we all want to know is why you immediately ran off to go finding creatures."

"I know why, but actually on that note, I need Aegis and Sis to explain why they wanted me to have those specific powers."

Carl summoned the two in question and they happily explained. "In short, we needed to make sure Carl was able to exert his will over all of your territory, we wanted him to be able to breathe in space because it stand to reason that some ten-star entities might destroy a world just to kill you, the ability to intimidate those who don't see you as a threat, the ability to effect those you otherwise have no way to harm. Finally the ability to defend mental invasion."

"Okay, but why did he need to get those immediately, we could have split up and all focused on one?" Leanna asked the question just to make them say the plan out loud.

"I'm going to go make a point. The committee let you get hurt, they put their cards on the table and I need to call them on it."

"No, absolutely not, these variants made the gods think twice and immortal or no-"

"Mum, I know, but if I don't do this now they'll just double down and maybe even take the chance to find Dracula, or even make life difficult for hybrids in my name."

"Don't do that Carl, don't make it seem like you want to do anything more than lash out."

"I'm not, think about what would happen if they chose to announce that everyone's favourite director was almost killed by that parasite. I won't say that I don't want to make them pay, because I do. They let you get hurt and I want to make them know how it feels, but that doesn't change the fact I have legitimate concerns to consider."

"Fine, but you have to promise me you will remember that fact, because if you forget and over play your hand they'll demonise you as well."

Carl nodded ambiguously, then sent out a faction message.

[ HOUSEHOLDER MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL: ALL HOUSEHOLDERS TO HAVEN HOME IMMEDIATELY FOR BRIEF AND PLANNING... I'M GOING TO GO PAY A VISIT TO THE COMMITTEE. ]

Within half an hour everyone had arrived back at the haven home, the meeting had a tense atmosphere but everyone was happy to see Carl.

The first thing he dealt with was the formal contracting of the twin dragons.

[ TIAMAT HAS JOINED THE FACTION ]

[ BAHAMUT HAS JOINED THE FACTION ]

"Sorry, we'll have to celebrate later first of all we have to deal with the committee. We have already taken longer to prepare than I would have liked, but it was necessary."

He continued by explaining the plan that Gillian had pitched him and everything that happened after he and Bahamut left to get the mergers finalised.

When it got to the events of Cocytus, Lillim became uncharacteristically sombre.

"So you freed Eckro?... Thank you Carl, the boy was the best of us crowns, the heart of Samael's realms. Carl, if the time ever comes where he becomes a genuine enemy, I ask for permission to handle it."

"Why would he become a genuine enemy?"

"The only reason he wasn't chosen to be a villain, was because of his ability to experience his entire life simultaneously. Now you have unburdened him from the weight of that role, he is free to be his beloved Father's son."

"Fair point, I agree, but I'm taking on Cocytus since he can't harm me at all and then I'm punching Samael for letting Eckro feel like a tool whilst being treated like a father."

"Don't say things like that lightly." She warned with a dire tone, born of both her respect for her king and concern for Carl.

"Actually... I'm a walking chunk of traitor's ice, so I might well be the only one who can stop him."

"What do you mean?" As Lillim asked, Carl shifted into his ice-form.

"I figured out the main effect of the law of Divinity, which makes me able to overwrite, absorb, analyse and replicate another's divinity. I need to understand it on a fundamental level though, Cocytus' was easy because I could empathise with the desire to punish traitors."

"What about Eckro's!?"

"Unfortunately he couldn't use it without Cocytus catching on to the fact he was purposely trying to make me more powerful."

"Damn, that would have been a great boon to us indeed. You could told a past self how to make yourself stronger..."

"What do you mean? How would it help to tell me I needed to find a jupiter-dragon egg?"

"Idiot, have you still not figured it out?"

"I guess not..." Carl stated with no small amount of indignation.

"You needed something descended from Ishtar to kickstart your growth... We never discussed that book of yours in as much depth as I would have liked, but every creature in there was in some way descended from her. Whoever penned it and sent it with you, was leaving you a clue."

"So all that time, if I just cultivated with a piece of Squidge..." Carl turned towards Sis.

"Hey! Don't look at me, I didn't know that either."

Carl groaned at the lost opportunity, but then continued explaining his journey with Bahamut.

"So you met Tsukiyomi as well?" Kyubi seemed incredibly saddened. "He was the patron of the fox spirits, the one who elevated me, that is why I conjured an illusory moon in my lands. I hate that wretched sister of his for killing him..."

"Amaterasu was not to blame, actually I'm more responsible than her..." Carl said, realising the truth in the words as he spoke them. "...All three of them went to ask Ishtar for help, but she was either too heavily pregnant or unwilling to leave my creation. She asked me to stop her if she became a bad villain, but I wasn't there to do so."

"Did he tell you that!?" Kyubi immediately did a flip and practically refused to speak his name.

"No... I remembered..." Carl then explained the recollection he had, making Klaire feel bad for punching him before finding out if he was okay.

"Carl, it isn't your fault, that woman was wrong to ask that of you. If you really wish to accept that responsibility though, I insist on being at your side when you face her."

"Sure, you can come with me when I go to stop her."

Klaire groaned on Kyubi's behalf, then suggested they take a short break so everyone could process what they had just heard. She then told everyone to reconvene in a bit to catch Carl up on everything he missed over the last couple of days.

She then walked over to Kyubi and led her outside. "I really hope that wasn't your attempt, you should have known that you would need to be more direct with him."

Kyubi was blushing like a flustered teenager. "Give me a break, I haven't had a crush in centuries." She huffed, much to Klaire's amusement.

"I lost our duel. Don't waste your chance, I'll consider it an insult if you do."

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