(Meanwhile)
Light years away from planet earth, in a realm where only the truly privileged are permitted to reign, the most unusual of structures floated. Surrounded by dozens of moons and sitting beneath a golden glowing nebula, as if piercing the heavens themselves, the enormous pyramid that was the home of the God of Destruction floated in the cold vacuum of space. Its multi-layered transparent base, topped with sweeping fields and forests, and a massive tree almost as big as the oddly shaped world itself, which jutted into the clouds, stuck out of the formation like a sore thumb. The fact that its sheer size also camouflaged the countless buildings stacked across the naturally grown constructs meant this was the ideal training spot for the ruling deity and a perfect means to showcase his grand image.
After all, when one possessed strength capable of wiping out entire galaxies, one needed a secluded place to train and polish their skills.
However, at this point in time the primary denizen of this particular sanctuary was still asleep, leaving his training grounds open for the other resident of the floating pyramid to do as he pleased. Standing out in the fields stretched out across the pristine landscape surrounding Beerus's temple, the teal-skinned man with the white curled hair that was his attendant, dressed in his distinguishable maroon robes, black cuirass with white and orange embellishments, and wielding the scepter characterized by the floating gem above its pommel, had taken up position near the lake at the top of the hill.
Able to see most of the lowlands making up this part of the region, the servant breathed in the fresh air and let out a relieved sigh.
"You seem to be in an awfully chipper mood today, Whis," a deep voice spoke up, drawing the attendant's gaze over to another part of the plain.
When Whis glanced over his shoulder, the martial arts master saw the large, muscular form of one of the other guardians of the universe standing nearby. Possessing a fighter's build with a thick, chiseled upper body, big arms, and golden feathers covering its entirety, wearing plated boots, a white Shendyt wrapped around his waist held up by an obi, topped with a white nemes headdress, arm guards, golden bands and necklaces, and bearing the face of a falcon, the King of the Gods Ra held his post several yards back with a smile on his face and his arms crossed.
"Is it something you want to talk about?" the deity asked curiously as butterflies fluttered around him.
The every dutiful assistant chuckled, "You wouldn't happen to have been standing there this entire time waiting for me to say something, would you Ra?"
A shrug was the golden God's immediate response. "Nah, I've just been standing here for the past half-an-hour watching the birds dance across the meadows while the bush-tails nibbled on their acorns in the background." The falcon-headed deity then smirked at him. "Of course I'm waiting for you to say something about it! It's been driving me crazy all morning."
"He's right, you know," a third, soft voice chirped from above, drawing Whis and Ra's gaze upwards. As soon as their eyes turned towards the clouds, they spotted a petite figure floating just several feet above them.
Hovering on her back horizontal to the ground and dressed in flowing, pink silky robes that hugged at her luscious body, a shapely humanoid female with dark brown skin, pointy ears, and long, flowing blonde hair, and a figure that was the inspiration for countless artworks in history, drifted through the air with her hands behind her head. Legs crossed and the toes of one foot pointed towards the sky, the gorgeous elven woman sighed as she gently kicked the ether, at the same time feeling the pupils of the two males fix upon her.
"Ra's been restless the entire morning. I can literally feel his intensity. Perhaps you could indulge him a little and let him know what's on your mind," the cheerful poltergeist exclaimed, at the same time raising her hand up to check her finger nails. "His edginess is kind of throwing me off my mojo."
Picking up the exasperation in the woman's voice earned another laugh from the teacher. "Well, I'm afraid you're just going to have to be a little bit more patient with me, Ra… Aphrodite. Until your other fellow deities arrive, the vault containing all of my little secrets has been sealed off until further notice."
The blonde woman identified as the Goddess of Love pursed her lips and rolled over, resting her chin on her arms as she glared down at her host. "Party pooper…"
Huffing irritably, the falcon God looked away with a grunt. "Ugh. It better not be something petty, like a new dessert you discovered that you plan on sharing with us later this afternoon."
Whis smiled innocently, "You make that sound like it's a bad thing."
"While I admit the worm-sundae special from Proteous Five was extremely delicious, the fact that you dragged twelve of us to that diner just to have tea and cakes together was kind of strange." Not to mention unorthodox.
It was a good thing nobody in that small county restaurant realized that they were having dinner alongside a group of the most powerful warriors in the universe otherwise they would've had some serious problems. Granted not being able to sense their ki was a big advantage on their part, that didn't mean the Gods were completely anonymous from the public.
"Well, considering the amount of work we've been doing over the last thousand years and the fact that we don't see each other very often, I just thought it would be nice for all of us to meet up for the day and have a little bit of fun together," Whis explained to the royal fighter with a good-natured smile on his face. "After all, the responsibilities of a guardian can be incredibly taxing on the body and the mind. It's good to get out there in the galaxy and let off a little bit of steam."
Aphrodite, seeing the reason behind his explanations, nodded her head in agreement. "That, I can agree. Making Love-Love arrows fifty-six hours a day, ninety eight days a fortnight can be such a pain…"
Shrugging a little, the falcon God then glanced across at his former master with a sour looking scowl. "For the record, that bowling match we had back on that moon a thousand years back was completely fixed. You and Artemis cheated on your last two turns."
The attendant, his back turned to the other two warriors, faked a gasp and turned to the deity with a look of shock slapped across his face, "How could you say that? Artemis didn't cheat." He then gave a very devilish smirk at the end, showing the falcon warrior that his astonishment was all an act.
His bullshit meter going off the scale, Ra pointed at the man in triumph, "Ah-ha! So you admit it!"
Humming cheekily, Whis looked away from the man coyly, "What? I didn't say anything."
"I want my fifty gold daleons back! All of them!""
"Oh, I'm afraid that that's impossible. You see… I spent it all."
"What?!" Ra shouted, his feathers bristling in outrage. "How? When?" His shouting had the goddess floating above them laughing in amusement.
"I used my winnings to buy several boxes of those delightfully milky confections they were selling at the front counter called marsh cakes. I'm sure you remember them; the little brown lathered treats topped with cream and dallen berries. They were quite expensive too if my current shopping bill is anything to go by, but so worth the extra expense."
Turning upside-down in midair, the laidback Aphrodite crossed her arms over her ample chest and smirked. "It's true. Those cakes really are delicious." She then took on a thoughtful look. "Perhaps I can pick some up for my subordinates on my way home."
Shoulders slumping as his once imposing image quickly deteriorated, the golden feathered warrior brought his hand up and ran it down his face and beak. "Ugh. You're more gluttonous than Dionysus back when he was the God of Festivities."
Whis giggled under his breath, "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Would you two stop arguing so loudly? I can hear you from the other side of the third moon," a new voice suddenly spoke up, drawing the trio's attention over to a nearby tree.
When Whis, Aphrodite and Ra looked towards the top of a large dead wood with the thickest branches cut down to form three ascending platforms, they saw a large man, about a head shorter than the falcon deity, with long, flowing blonde hair, silver figure-hugging chainmail outlining his muscular physique, silver and blue plated armor similar to a Viking's, with a fur lined collar and boots, sitting there with a hammer held tightly in his grasp.
One leg hanging from the side and swinging back and forth above the ground, the irked looking newcomer frowned. "I'm disappointed in you Ra. After all our years of fighting alongside one another, I always thought you were more composed than this. But it looks as though I may have overly misjudged your character."
The golden warrior grumbled and pointed at the armored fighter. "That's tough talk coming from the man who got his tail handed to him by Set in the first hour of the battle."
"She sucker punched me," the Norse God shot back with a dejected frown, "It was an unfair fight."
Aphrodite rolled her eyes as she turned back over and slowly floated down to the floor, "Yeah right."
Sensing a challenge, Ra smirked and placed his hands on his hips, "Whatever you say, sparky. Don't forget, I was there when it all happened. Just suck it up and admit that you're disappointed it was someone else that wound up defeating the God of Storms in the end and not you."
"Hence the reason why I'm visiting today," Thor spoke up while turning his gaze towards the white haired man standing on the hill. A smile formed on his face when his gaze met his, "Isn't that right, Master Whis?"
A nod quickly answered the warrior's question as the attendant held his post. "Any news from the others, Thor? Will the rest of the Gods be arriving soon?"
Reaching out with his senses, the blonde hammer wielder shook his head and slowly stood up from the edge he was sitting on. "I'm afraid that most of our kin are tending to other business and have been unable to answer your call. I suspect we will not be seeing them for another few days."
"Ugh, really?" the present goddess groaned as her bare feet gently padded along the ground. Hands on her hips, the dark elf then lightly kicked at the grass. "Damn…"
"Hmm. That's a shame," Whis murmured while turning his gaze towards the horizon. "And here I was hoping for a better turn out than this… what with the events that'd transpired recently. But I suppose if everybody else is too busy…"
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