Interlude: A Little Knowledge is All You Need

Somewhere in the divine realm, on a hill within a forest, there was a small house. Within that house was Iris the goddess of knowledge doing an experiment in a lab, which was hidden in the basement. As for the result of that experiment, that’s a story for another time.

As Iris finished up her experiment, she sensed a familiar presence and glared in the presence's direction. “That bastard’s come to visit again I see.” She stopped what she was doing and went to get to the door. If looks could kill, that’s how mad Iris was as she opened the door. “Good evening, you know I hate your guts, so if you think you can stop here for tea, you are mistaken, administrator of reincarnation, or should I say, Orcus, God of death and trickery.”

“My, my, you aren't still mad about what happened with Lena are you? I was proven innocent of all charges you know.” Orcus responds gleefully, aiming to agitate Iris further. “Actually, I’ve run into a bit of a curious case recently, I reincarnated some brat, and they ended up with not one, but three skills that I couldn’t identify. I thought it might be right up your alley.”

Iris maintains her pensive and annoyed glare, “You were only declared innocent of all charges due to lack of evidence. Everyone agreed that you were likely the one who delt the final blow on my best friend Lena.” Her glare lessons somewhat as she continues, “However, I may as well see if I can figure out these hidden skills. You said there were three on this person? You sure you weren't mistaken? That should be impossible.”

Orcus, the administrator of reincarnation smiled thinly, “I promise, I am not mistaken, her name is Rinko Suzuki, and these are her current stats and skills.” He waves his hand, and a magic screen shows up revealing Rinko’s stats.

“Oh my, she seems like quite a handful for you, good.” Iris smiles for once as she looks over the stats, “May I see what she looks like?”

Orcus hesitates for a moment, as he thinks back on when he first saw Rinko after her rebirth. Remembering the faint memory of Lena that drove him to go out of his way to harass Rinko. It would be unlikely that Rinko could possibly be Lena’s reincarnation, after all, Alen didn’t react upon seeing my face. However, I cannot shake this feeling that something about this girl feels familiar, Iris’s reaction upon seeing her might be just what I need to know for sure. In that case, “Sure, here she is.”

The screen changed showing Rinko Suzuki, her silver hair, Crystal blue eyes, and pale skin. Iris stares for a hard moment, then says, “She looks just like her, but younger.” Iris clears her throat then checks the stats again. “Honestly, I might be out of my depth here, sorry. I don’t know anything about these skills.” That’s a total lie, but I am already struggling to hold back my emotions anyway. She’s back, she’s a mortal now, but she's back. I need to notify Hadrick and Sora as soon as I'm free. Lena, my beloved sister, is finally back. She has her divine destruction, divine creation, and one she didn’t have before as her hidden skills. 

Orcus watches Iris’s reaction and notes her stiffness. Like her sister, Iris was never a good liar. “Are you sure? You aren’t just trying to pull one over on me are you?”

“Ok, yea, I lied, I know one of her skills is divine destruction. I don’t know the rest.” Iris states falteringly, yet insistently.

Orcus shrugs, “Alright ill accept your word then.” She is absolutely withholding information, but I know better than to push. I don’t want that to come back to bite me after all. “Thank you for the information, I will take my leave then.” He turns around to leave and walks away, Iris glares after him until he teleports away.

I will reach out to Mina Sora first, I am worried how Hadrick will react, he was Lena’s husband before. Iris goes back inside and closes the door, then waves her hand, opening a gate to Runaria with the destination being the Kingdom of Mina.