"Wait a minute," the Pheonix exclaimed, "I know who you are!"
"You do?" All three of them turned to him and questioned.
Neko was surprised she didn't think that the Phoenix was this smart. Did he really figure out the Almighty's identity?
Her hopes were shattered the very next second when the Phoenix said, "You must be that criminal from Earth who was experimenting with portals. Did you really think you could fool us by pretending to be a low God?"
I knew it. There's no way he could be that smart, Neko thought.
"That...does not make any sense," Ibis commented.
"Yes, it does. I heard that the criminal has black hair. And look—black hair," the Phoenix said while pointing at the Almighty who, indeed, had black hair.
The Almighty was stunned. Did the bird not know how common black hair was? Even if he did not want to stay here, he couldn't admit to being a criminal. What if he was thrown in hell or something?
"And the criminal is a low God as well so it all makes sense."
"What makes sense?" They turned to the direction from which the voice came to find Time leaning against the frame of the door.
"Yes, what makes sense?" Archcia asked, emerging from behind him.
Time spun around to face her. "Why are you here?"
"To pick up my feathery little companion."
"And the Almighty?" Time pointed at the raven head.
Finally, Neko thought. She was getting bored of this little game.
All of them turned to look at Quan.
"What!" The phoenix shreeked. There's no way that could be true. But, that would explain why he could not sense any magic from Quan earlier. The Almighty was immune to most, if not all, detection and analysis type spells.
"He is the Almighty?" Archia asked with doubtful eyes. "Didn't you say that he was with Stars? I was going to pick him up after this."
"Well, now he's here."
The owl's beak flew open. Isn't he supposed to be a low God? Since when was he the Almighty? Why didn't Quan say anything earlier?
Running a hand through his mop of white hair, Time stifled a yawn and said, "Now what everything is clarifi-"
Poof.
A scroll and quill appeared in front of him.
Groaning, Chronos extended his arm and grabbed it. Of course, this had to appear now, adding to his pile of work.
His initially foggy eyes cleared up as he read the message though. Though he had sent a wraith over, he didn't think it would find anything.
"What is it?" Archia asked, leaning forward to get a better look at the message.
"A wraith found traces of a used time seal in the Underworld." He proceeded to pick up the accompanying quill and signed the scroll. "I need to deal with this. You handle the Almighty." He turned to leave then paused. "Neko, come."
"Just when I thought you would forget, again." She leisurely strolled to the edge of the table which she had been lounging on previously and jumped into Time's outstretched arms causing him to stumble and nearly fall.
"I swear that you get heavier with each passing day," he said as she twisted around in his arms.
"If you're suffering from hallucinations, you should go see Love. He's been playing therapist lately. Maybe he'll know why you're delusional."
Time rolled his eyes.
The duo made their way out leaving two birds, a confused Almighty, and an annoyed Archia behind.
"Archia?" Ibis called out, flying to the chair closest to her and piercing the wood with his claws to get a stable footing. Knowing her, it was surprising she hadn't stopped Time to interrogate him.
"Even if he doesn't want to tell me now, he'll have to submit a report later."
Ibis made a note to himself to inform Knowledge as soon as the report was sent.
Archia directed her gaze at the black-haired boy with color-changing eyes who looked like he had decided to bathe in Star's lake with his clothes still on. "Dry yourself off and meet me outside," she said before moving her feet toward the door. The Almighty would need to earn her respect if he wanted her to be polite.
"Wait, do you have a change of clothes?" Quan asked.
Archia froze, her foot dangling in the air. She spun around and gaped at him. "You…"
Quan was confused. Did he say something wrong?
"He doesn't know how to use magic," Ibis quickly explained. He himself was still trying to process that bit of information. Quan looked nothing like the Almighty he was expecting and his lack of knowledge on, well, everything, made it even worse.
"Didn't the previous Almighty teach you?"
"N-not that I remember, no. I don't recall meeting him at all actually."
"You don't hear his voice?"
Quan didn't. But he couldn't say that. Chances were that the owl's guess from earlier was right and he was a low God who had inherited some magic. He was no Almighty. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time. But, what would they do if they found out?
"I hear a voice. But it's faint and I can't make out the words."
"Hmm, alright. It's better than nothing. Ferox, fetch some clothes for him."
"What? Why do I have to do that?" The phoenix hated being ordered around by Archia, especially when she called him by that name. He had made it clear that he didn't want to be referred to by the name Life gave him, but she just ignored his words.
"Life is the only one who invites guests to Heaven. And he's bound to have some spare clothes lying around."
"Can't you just dry him off yourself?" Why did he have to fly all the way to the palace for some low God turned Almighty?
"It's one of Heaven's rules that magic can't be used on the Almighty."
"Surely you can make an exception." Quan could hardly be considered a proper Almighty.
"I would prefer to break this particular rule now as well, but you know how Time is. Our relationship is already delicate. If he finds out that I broke a Heavenly rule, he's unlikely to cooperate if I need his assistance in the future." She glanced at Quan, causing him to flinch. "It would have been fine before but we have a new Almighty to worry about now."
"Ugh. Whatever, I'll do it." He flew out the door, still grumbling in protest.
Quan shifted his weight around nervously. He needed to find a way out of this — fast.