...a while back...
"Where is he going?" Fire asked, watching Sun depart.
"Probably to Earth, " Gaia replied.
"Right." He didn't need to eat as a God but still preferred to do so. Moreover, Sun was never satisfied if the blood was not fresh.
The phoenix and Gaia turned to look at him.
"What?" he said, utterly confused.
"Don't you have to go pick up the Almighty?"
Fire blanked for a second.
"Oh, yeah...I forgot about that." After being informed about the return of the sealed Gods, he had gotten distracted and forgotten the mission that Life had assigned him.
Gaia threw him a disdainful look.
Scrambling to his feet, Fire was about to run toward the portals when he suddenly recalled something.
"What about the sealed Gods?"
"I'll look into the matter," Gaia promptly replied.
"'kay." He turned to leave and happened to spot a certain owl flying towards Life's Palace. Raising a finger to point at Ibis he began, "What about-"
"Just go!" they both yelled.
"Fine, fine." Putting his hands up in surrender, Fire cast a simple levitation spell and flew off.
***
He arrived at the portals to find Sun conversing with a low God. Looking around he couldn't find Neo anywhere. Neo was the guardian of the portal to Earth and rarely neglected his duties. So why was there a low God in his place?
He oriented himself after landing (he was never good at those). Going up to them, he asked, "Hey, what's goin' on?"
"Lord Ignis." The low God greeted Fire. "Sir Neo went over to the Underworld portal."
"The Underworld?" Fire raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, some shadows wanted to get through."
In the background, Sun indignantly murmured, "You could have just told me that before."
The low God, who clearly did not recognize him, ignored Sun and continued his explanation. "Sir Ray (the guardian of the Underworld portal) would usually handle it, but as there was little activity at the portal for a while, he thought it wouldn't matter if he took a day off so..."
"I see," Fire said, "I'll just open it myself." Mid-Gods and High Gods did not require the permission of a guardian to open the portals and could travel freely between the five worlds.
Giving a nod, the low God stepped aside.
While entering the coordinates he had been given, Ignis cast a glance at Sun. "When we get there don't cause too much trouble."
"And why should I listen to you, exactly?" Sun crossed his arms and glanced at him dismissingly.
"You're not even supposed to go down to Earth in the first place. In fact, I'm supposed to arrest you. So be grateful."
Sun snorted, but eventually acknowledged him.
"After I finish my business, I'll wait at the portals for a day or so. You better come back by then."
Sun nodded reluctantly. He didn't want any trouble and it was not like he had an ulterior motive for going down to Earth. He just wanted to confirm the Almighty's words (about magic on Earth being nonexistent) and grab some food.
The low God at the side was alarmed by their conversation but chose to remain quiet. He did not want to risk offending Lord Fire.
As the portal was stabilizing, Fire casually asked, "So, umm, who released you?" The phoenix had said that the sealed gods were back, but he did not know much more than that. He could use this opportunity to find out what happened.
"Oh, it was the Almighty," Sun replied as he stepped through.
"What!" Fire exclaimed. But, before he could question him further, Sun was already gone. He hurried to chase after him, leaving the low God all alone.
Still a bit confused at the turn of events, he suddenly realized that he had never figured out who Sun was. Even if he did not want to offend Lord Ignis, asking such a question should have been fine. I can't believe that I let an unidentified individual (a criminal at that) go through the portal that Sir Neo entrusted me to take care of, he thought. "I'm so dead."