“To anyone willing to put up with these assholes…here is the key. All the best, Former Head Priest of Hardy’s Temple.”, I read aloud, looking at a notice posted on the door to the temple, “Jeez, things went downhill fast after the patron deities died.”

 

“You sure we cannot just move everyone to your country Cole? It sounds like these Apostles are going to be a bigger pain than we need right now.”, Ciri commented.

 

“I can tell you from experience that the one who is the biggest burden is Hardy’s Apostle Giselle. She causes nothing but trouble wherever she goes, and uses her status to get out of it.”, Tyuule said, wearing a scowl, “She visited our people several years ago just to fill her stomach. We foolishly shared some of our supplies with her and before we knew it, all of our ceremonial wine was gone and she was eating our winter rations.”

 

“I am glad she never visited us…”, Yao admitted, tugging on her collar, “We did not have the luxury of stockpiling excess supplies where we lived.”

 

Ripping the notice off the door, I found the key to the temple stuck to the back. Uncertain what they used to stick it there, as glue had not been invented yet, kicking the door in was the most sanitary option for me. Doing just that, the doors caved in creating a thunderous boom that shook all the windows in the sanctuary as they hit the floor. Stepping inside to look around, we realized the place had been picked clean by the temple staff on their way out.

 

Finding signs of where items had once sat or hung, I began to wonder what they intended to do with the items. Since the deity associated with the items was dead, no one would buy them for that alone anymore. They could certainly scrap the items and sell the precious metals and jewels, but again not many people would buy those items at the moment.

 

“I guess they took their severance pay on the way out.”, Ciri laughed, shooting me a grin.

 

“You got that right.”, I laughed, aware that only we understood what severance pay was, “Alright enough snooping around, let us get the introductions over with quickly and be on our way.”

 

Agreeing with my suggestion, the five of us headed toward the dormitory at the back of the temple. Checking the rooms one by one once we were there, Yao was the one who found the Apostles first and let us know by letting out a horrified scream. Hearing her hit the floor hard, the four of us ran over to see what was wrong.

 

“Jeez lady, I know we are in a sorry state but that was uncalled for!”, Giselle spat, looking at her from an end table.

 

“Stop being rude, you are the reason the staff abandoned us in the first place.”, Rory shouted.

 

“I hate to agree with her, but Rory is right. Shut up and let us do the talking.”, Mabel bitterly agreed, looking toward us, “We apologize for her rudeness…please do not run away like the temple staff did. The five of us are running out of time, if we do not remedy our situation soon we will die permanently.”

 

“Yeah, I got that impression.”, I replied, stepping over Yao’s unconscious body, “Let me take a look at you.”

 

Assuming the women would take offense to me handling their heads, I went to the only male Apostle in the room and lifted his head off another table. Letting me do my observations in silence, the three conscious women quickly vacated the doorway when they saw the underside of his neck. Detecting traces of a curse at play, I analyzed the magic to determine what sort of curse was on them.

 

“I see…you cannot refuse back together again.”, I stated, breaking the curse down into its base components, “That was a smart move on Cedric’s part, it would have kept you from bothering him if I did not show up.”

 

“You are saying you can remove the curse?”, Mortar inquired, startled by how quickly I determined what was going on, “None of the priests or priestesses were able to do anything for us.”

 

“Yep, this is child’s play.”, I answered, using <Dispel> to rid them of the curse, “Done.”

 

“Bullshit, I do not feel any different!!”, Giselle hissed in annoyance.

 

Ignoring her comment, I started searching around the room for the rest of their body parts. Noticing what I was doing, Rory stated that their bodies had been thrown into the closet and to be careful when I opened the door.

 

“They threw our parts in there haphazardly so they may-”, Rory started to say, as I opened the door.

 

Waking up as I opened the door, Yao watched arms, legs, and torsos tumble out of the closet. Passing out again after looking at one of the legs, I wondered how such a squeamish person could become a warrior.

 

“Ouch!!”, Giselle spat, “You should be more gentle with my body!”

 

“I will get right on that.”, I said, kicking her in the ass, “Like this?”

 

“Stop it!!”, she squealed, as she winced in pain.

 

“Sorry, is this better?”, I asked, kicking her twice as hard.

 

“I am sorry, please stop it!!”, she cried, as her butt started turning red, “I am just tired of being stuck like this!!”

 

Laughing at her pain, the other Apostles took some joy out of her pain. Piecing the Apostles back together again, their bodies quickly began reattaching their limbs much to their relief. Jumping up out of her bed, Giselle began moving around with a happy smile on her face.

 

“I am finally free again!!”, she shouted with joy.

 

“Yes you are…”, Rory said, swinging her fist around and planting it straight into her gut, “That is for chasing off the temple staff and getting us thrown out of the castle.”

 

“I…am sorry…”, Giselle wheezed, collapsing to her knees, “Forgive…me…”

 

Straightening out their clothing once everyone’s body was restored, the five of them asked me who I was. Giving them the same answer I had given everyone else today the Apostles were surprised to find out I was an Otherworldly Deity like Cedric. Hearing my reasons for being here and what my plan was for them, Giselle was having none of it.

 

“Why can you not do it?”, Giselle asked.

 

“It is not my world and I do not need the extra work right now.”, I remarked, “I have a country to run, large territories to rule, and an entire planet to maintain by myself. Not only that, I want to have more time to spend with my family and watch my kids grow up.”

 

“You are the first deity I have heard say that.”, Mortar laughed, “Most of them are pretty greedy or power hungry, at least my patron was.”

 

“Lord Zufmuut was not like that!”, Mabel protested.

 

“Oh, I do not want to hear it from a brainwashed child.”, Granham chimed in, with a smirk.

 

Irritated by that comment, Mabel immediately reached for her blade ready to decapitate her again. Using magnetism to hold it in its sheath, she yanked on the hilt several times till she gave up trying. Taking a deep breath to collect herself, Rory took the chance to move on from the rude yet truthful statement.

 

“What can we do to speed up the transition? If we are going to become the new deities of this world, I would like it to be as intact as possible.”, Rory commented, looking at the others.

 

“Agreed…”, Mabel conceded.

 

“If you want to help, locate the missing seven Apostles so I can bestow upon you your patron’s powers and authority. While you track them down, I will go deal with Cedric and restore some semblance of peace.”, I stated, “Are they dead or just missing?”

 

“They are alive…”, Mortar grumbled, “They chose to return to their homelands and protect them instead of joining forces to fight with us. It will take some persuasion but we will make it happen.”

 

Hearing Yao begin to stir behind me, the six of us glanced over at her as she picked herself up off the floor. Helping her to her feet, I stepped aside so she could ask Giselle the burning question she needed an answer to.

 

“Did you have anything to do with the Fire Dragon’s awakening near the Schwartz Forest?”, Yao asked her point blank, “I need you to tell me the truth!”

 

“Schwartz Forest…”, Giselle said, thinking about it for a moment, “Yeah I did go wake it up, we needed extra firepower so I went and-”

 

Before Giselle could finish, Yao whipped Hardy’s Hammer out and bashed Giselle in the face with it. Still imbued with Divine Energy, Giselle let out a yelp as she stumbled backward and crashed into one of the beds.