Drowl slowly slid into orbit, hovering above the Earth menacingly. The inverse planet wasn't much to look at, appearing only as a rock to the casual observer. Save for a few specific points on the exterior, the shell of Drowl was simply a rock sphere that hung in the sky, closer than the moon. Jack idly wondered if Drowl being so close would affect gravity on Earth, he was pretty sure that the moon did something like that, and it was both smaller and further than Drowl. But he supposed that the Gods would probably intervene if there was a downside to Earth.

  Jack gazed up at Drowl, more visible in the daytime than it was at night, and shook his head in wonder. It was absurd to see something that large in the sky, partially obscured by clouds. It made Jack shiver uncomfortably, years of apocalypse movies about giant meteors replaying in his mind unbidden.

  Alpha still wasn't back, the human God had gone to find the butterfly before returning Jac to the surface of Drwol. There had been some small discussion about Jack potentially serving as some sort of ambassador between the two worlds, but Jack had insisted on checking on the mercenary camp and his friends as soon as possible.

  When the human God did return, the beast God came with them, Alpaha in tow. Alpha was quick to start typing messages into a defense screen it made in the air. [Jack! Did you see how cool I was? I stopped those crazy explosions!]

  Jack was glad to see the little butterfly and was quick to tell it so. "I didn't see, but I'm very impressed. I wasn't sure if you'd be alright. Those missiles are some of the most dangerous things this planet can make."

  The human God seemed a bit smug at Jack's statement and the beast God harrumphed in displeasure. Alpha didn't seem to notice though. [They were super crazy strong! They blew up when they hit my screen, and the explosion lasted a really long time. I got flung away, and the beast God brought me back!]

  Jack turned to the hulking God. "Thank you for saving Alpha. But I'm a bit surprised you helped out at all. The human God indicated that none of you really cared if Drowl survived or not."

  The beast God turned its predatory gaze on Jack. "I saw an opportunity to lay claim to something, and I took it." A heavy paw reached out and landed on Alpha. "These bugs are intelligent animals made of magic. They're half mine, half the god of Magic's. I offered to help the bug in exchange for it and its kind to belong to my domain entirely."

  "But what does that mean? I've guessed that you each have things that you're totally in charge of, but what does that entail exactly?"

  The human God was the one who answered this time. "In the past, we would appear before the things we were in charge of, giving guidance, help, and even punishment to those we ruled. In the modern age, we supervise and watch. With the death of the God of magic, we decided to be more proactive about making sure that our domains do not wither and die of their own accord."

  That was a lot to unpack but seemed to imply something Jack had been wondering about. Being from Earth, he knew that magic wasn't really a thing, or if it was, it was incredibly restrained or low-key. But if magic used to exist, and gradually faded from use, then the God in charge of it would suffer and grow weaker. So the reason the dead, blobby God had died was because magic didn't exist anymore. Deis had taken most of the power of magic and used it to shape a magical world.

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  Jack decided to voice his thoughts. "So, if the God of magic is getting its powers back, does that mean it will come back to life?"

  The human God nodded. "We believe so. We say that it is dead, but that simply means it cannot act or think. It still can express interest or desire, but they are muted feelings that barely hold any weight. Even recovering the fragment of power you held had strengthened it a great deal. We believe that fully recovering its power will welcome an age of magic back into the world."

  Jack stared as he processed that. Earth? Becoming a place of magic and powers? He was hit by a sudden realization and groaned internally. He had kicked off one of those cataclysm stories where some crazy magic place showed up and people started getting system-related powers. The only way it would have been worse was if he had made a space elevator or something that people had to climb like a tower of magic.

  The human God smiled knowingly. "Well, it doesn't really matter at this exact moment. We will retrieve the power soon, but we owe you a trip back to your world. It's close enough that the beast God and I can take us all there. Are you ready?"

  Jack nodded, and the four of them teleported to Drowl. They were in a populated city, full of people. Jack had no idea where this was, but he recognized the sudden stares and gasps as he stood there. He heard whispers of a tri-internal type bore-bot, and felt a small measure of relief to be back in a familiar setting.

  Jack turned to the human God, "where are we?"

  The human God shrugged. "I took us to the highest density of humans in this world, Is that not specific enough?"

  Jack thought for a moment. "Can you find a human named Mills? He's mute, about five feet seven inches. Dark hair and skin?"

  The human God cracked their neck in a very exaggerated manner. "What do you take me for?" There was a small moment of concentration before they teleported again.

  They appeared in the compound that had been Jack's home for most of his time on Drowl. It was still totally demolished. There were tents strewn about, but no actual buildings. The tents all bore religious iconography, and Jack inhaled sharply. The True Church had completely taken over the area, and there was no sign of the mercenaries or the bore-bot trio. Mills stood with a handful of people near one of the tents, now wearing robes that indicated his allegiance to the church. He noticed Jack and froze.

  The others around him all noticed and turned. Shock ran through all of them before a call to arms rose through the camp. People burst out of tents holding weapons or readying spells, shouting and staring at Jack and the others.

  "Get us out of here!" Jack bellowed.

  The human God seemed amused at the threat of violence, as if completely unconcerned, but did as asked. They all disappeared again, moving to a small village in another place Jack didn't recognize.

  He let himself collapse to the ground, feeling lost and hurt. "Are they all dead? I don't understand. What happened?" Jack could feel his body getting worked up, his robotic form growing more tense and strained as his emotions boiled.

  The human God seemed completely unconcerned, stroking their chin in thought. "There were many sentient beings there that weren't human or beast. I wonder which domain they would fall into?"

  Jack ignored the words, his body shaking as steam erupted from his vents and his gears spun rapidly. Had it all been for nothing? Was it all over? Would he never see his friends again?

  Alpha tried to type something out, but Jack couldn't focus on the words. He tried to think, but his brain felt overwhelmed. His trip, working with these Gods, all of it had been hard, harder than he wanted to admit. Had it all meant nothing in the end?

  Something in his body broke, and he felt his robotic form drop to the ground. The last thing he saw was the human God looking at him with an interested expression.

  Then Jack woke up in the white void.