Triumphant return

You emerge into a forest. After a moment you recognize that you’re in Ruka’s miniature forest in your castle! You look around, enjoying the peaceful quiet for a moment, before the quiet is shattered by an exclamation.

“Joshie! You’re back! Yay!”

You’re suddenly tackled by an excited Sadie. Laughing, she kisses you. “How did you get in without anyone seeing you? Where’s Ruka? We all missed you! Did it go well?”

You chuckle, gently shushing her with a finger on her blue lips. “I’ll explain everything with all the girls. Ruka is fine, but she stayed behind. Let’s gather everyone together and I’ll explain.”

Sadie bounces up, grinning. “Sounds good! Let’s go! I wanna hear the story!”

You laugh, walking alongside the excitable djinn. Sadie giggles, skipping and chattering about her day. You bring her to the dining room, stopping to gather the rest of the girls. With everyone together, you smile reassuringly. “So, a lot has happened in a short time. Ruka has new responsibilities now.”

Maya, seated beside you, looks at you curiously. “What happened?”

You sigh. “It was a trap. Koras had cut a deal with the demon lord. Fortunately, they didn’t expect Daigo and Ruka to stick around, and they definitely didn’t expect Ruka to be as angry and as powerful as she was. We won.”

Clarissa shakes her head. “Koras was a traitor? The forest god himself?”

You nod. “Former forest god, now. Bast showed up. Long story short, Bast removed Koras’ godhood, and gave it to Ruka.”

Gasps all around. Lynn looks at you in shock. “Ruka is a goddess now?”

You nod. “There’s a lot more to the story, but yes. So in the end, we got the alliance we wanted. Ruka will be learning about being a goddess for a week or so, and then she will rally the forest to fight.”

Rachel smiles. “At least everything worked out in the end! So what do we do now?”

“Well, this week we rest up. I’ll send a message to general Ochiba to prepare. As soon as Ruka tells us she’s ready, we begin the campaign.”

Elys nods. “And we should contact the other leadersss. They should know your plansss.”

You smile. “I will. We will need everyone for this.”

Soon, everyone is floating ideas. The discussion keeps going into the afternoon, but for now, everyone is mostly happy to find out you’re safe, and excited to begin the big campaign.