They all stood in together in the ether, the space between the worlds. It was where they had been sent and why they had created the beings that inhabit the land they had made and ruled over. It is through them that they spread their influence so they can still play their games with one another . It was the first time in years that they had been together, as part of their banishment to the ether their communication with each other depended on their Avatars. The air was tense as deities who have not been in the same space for decades sized the others up. A wolfish man in robes and glasses was showing something in a large leather bound tome to a man wearing leather jerkin and leggings, his hair spiked and running the gamut of colors. Standing behind them was her, she had dark green and blue hair, two short horns protruding from the waves. Scales of the same color run down her body, her eyes the deep amber ringed in gold gazed absently around the crowd gathered there. In another group, three men with dark skin of various heights stood together. All three have the same dark eyes, black with no coloring. The tallest stood with his arm around a woman with curly brown, red and gold hair Her skin a ghostly pale with long black talons, and her milky white eyes. She was a good deal shorter than him and leaned into his arm. His skin was rough and scaly, like a lizard. His black hair has dark streaks of deep maroon shot through it and pushed back from his head with a wide red headband. The second tallest wore his black hair in a long braid down his back and his clothes a bright mix of red and purple. He was glaring at the silver and gold choker on the neck of the scaled woman. The smallest man wore his dark hair short and in spikes, dark blue edging the tips and roots. He wore a heavy fur lined jacket and thick leggings. He nudged the larger male with his shoulder. “You haven’t seen her in decades brother. Instead of wasting your time glaring you might want to go say hi.” He turned his glare on the smaller man then shrugged and moved over to speak to her. The woman’s eyes lit up when she caught sight of the man and she hugged him.

A tall thin man with long white hair full of feathers and red brown eyes watched the exchange with a small frown. Two short green and grey scaled bodies looked around him. The one on the left, who had short grey scaled spikes on his head turned his head to look up at the man, slitted eyes wide with curiosity “Why the frown Tosh?” The female on his right, her long green scaled locks fell over her face, her slitted eyes were narrowed “Yeah, what’s wrong with Shev talking to Ghala, we all know that he is crazy about her. With the whole thing that happened last cycle he hasn’t had the chance to talk to her in years.” Tosh sighed and looked down at the twins “Hiss, Scae, you two know what is really going on with that part of the world right?” The two shrugged in unison “Duh. Cruz told us a long time ago.” A tall man with gold skin and white and gold hair walked into the middle of the groups and cleared his throat. Only a few of the gathered there turned to look to him. His brows furrowed in annoyance. He let out a loud whistle. Again he was ignored. “No cause to be rude.” A low gravelly voice murmured softly. That caught the attention of everyone. The man threw his hands up “So Evrin speaks and everyone jumps to attention?” Scae turned her attention to the man speaking, “We like Evrin and the blind lady does not speak often. You are always trying to get attention Arnis.” The man scoffed, “The last cycle was a mess, assassinations, war and most of your chosen Reborns went off the rails and died in the first few months. We need to choose who gets to pick the new Reborns for each country. I will be choosing for Dirk.” Hiss jumped up “OOh it is my turn to choose for Paralta.” Darvin raised his hand “My turn to choose for Darva. Vedrin chose the last cycle” The three brothers all exchanged glances from their positions in the room. Rav shrugged as he still held Evrin close. Cruz had made his way to stand next to Hiss and Scae, while Shev was sticking close to Ghala. They all shrugged and Shev raised his hand. “It is me this time.” So it went. One God from each country raising their hands signaling who got to choose. It is that time again.