The fight against the pearl had many causalities but none hurt worse than losing her avatar Correa. Correa resembled a small child and that was close to Angela’s heart. The avatar had forced Angela to take her life force back to deal the final blow and end the great suffering.

”Kiba, Angela gently called out as she worked on pruning her flowers in one of the many gardens.”Can you join me in the gardens? I have something rather important to discuss with you. As my Champion, it is very important that you hear this first before I let anyone else know… Just be prepared.”

For anyone else, it might have sounded pretty bad for the Goddess to be giving out a warning like that but maybe Kiba could sense the amusement in her voice. While Angela was sad over Correa life went on and so to did her duties.

Once Kiba was with her she handed him a basket to put her clippings in. “Thank you for joining me and please hold this.” There was a short moment before the Goddess realized Kiba maybe thought she had brought him in as her clippings holder. She shot upright and looked her Champion in the eyes. “I swear, this isn’t why I called you here… Just give it a few moments.”

A few moments turned to minutes as Angela hummed and pruned the peonies. The humming stopped when she heard an excited squawk from above. “Kiba… You might want to catch…” There was a rainbow phoenix coming in fast and then there was panic as the phoenix couldn’t stop her descent.

Losing focus the phoenix shapeshifted back into a pink-haired girl who was screaming her lungs off. “TOO FAST. I DESCENDED TOO FAST.” She was holding her skirts down as she fell and Angela lightly nudged Kiba in the right position for the girl to fall on him.

“You tried stopping a lot sooner than last time. You are learning how to bird correctly,” Angela said in amusement. Raine who was planted on Kiba.

“Oh? I did good?!” The phoenix got excited but then she noticed Kiba under her. “Oh, hello Mister.”

“Kiba, I want you to meet Raine. She is the sister of my other phoenix Arcus… Also, I’ve decided that she is my new avatar.”

Raine hopped up and bowed to him lightly, “Please take care of me. I’m not very good at being a bird and I haven’t left the temple grounds too much! SO PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME!” She got excited as she bowed again this time deeper. “And I’m sorry I landed on you~” The phoenix's prismatic eyes stared at him and then looked at her goddess as if waiting to figure out what to do next with this new information.

DThe Crusade had come to a conclusion, and Kiba could only say that he was grateful that it had ended the way it had. Many more could have been lost during the purge that had been designated by Lady Light. She had greatly overreached on her little escapade. The diowolf would not forgive her anytime soon considering it had put his family in danger. Their blood alone had put them on the ‘hit’ list. His canine teeth still grit together at the thought of them being targeted by the Annointed. Still, it had come to an end with the senses being brought back to the self-righteous. Kiba could only wonder what Angela would do with Sirona considering she had not taken this crusade idea to the Conclave. Raith and Seraphina had definite feelings on the situation since it was their followers that were largely targeted.

Alairia had remained safe in the temple of Raith, but she would not have been one of those in danger anyway. Unfortunately, not all had that luxury of hiding in a sacred home. It was then that he felt his goddess speak through their link. To insure she knew he heard her, he trailed a mental finger down their link as if in a caress.

The Champion uncrossed his arms from over his chest, and with bent knees jumped to the ground from his perch in a tree further along the temple edges. He enjoyed looking over the beach and the water beyond. It was a place where he could have some peace as well as search for any new arrivals. Sand sprayed up slightly around him as his feet landed in the sand. The diowolf dusted off his breeches before heading up towards the gardens.

It was a nice walk along the path as well as familiar. There was no denying that Kiba enjoyed taking some alone time when in between work in the realm. Calloused fingers tugged at the sleeves of his black button up shirt to make sure it was in proper order. ”Good day to you, Angela,” he greeted with a smile and slight bow. He looked at the basket, which he took diligently. There was a clear expression upon his face that told that this was not out of the ordinary. ”Uhh..huh,” he responded with a chuckle. ”I’ve been a chair holder and such while you redecorated. I’m used to it at this point.”. The tone used had a sense of teasing as he readjusted the basket to accept more clippings.

Instincts pulled at the back of Kiba’s mind as the girl descended upon him from above. Shifting the basket, the Champion was able to catch the girl in his arms. Thankfully he had been able to cradle her head to keep from any real injury. ”Hello,” he mustered as the girl finally realized that he was there. Kiba gently put Raine down while taking a slight step back. The clipping basket was still in hand that he offered to Angela anything else she needed to put in it.

The declaration that Raine was to be the new avatar made the mismatched eyes that belonged to the diowolf widen in surprise. This girl was still finding her way in different forms, and yet she would be the avatar for Life and Love. Kiba shook his head in slight surprise though he knew that Angela would not make a mistake in her selections. ”Welcome to the team, I guess,” he said with a smile that reached his eyes. Protector Vitae returned the bow.

His gaze turned to Angela as she seemed more somber than normal. ”Why the change?”. The question was flat, as if he understood that there was a deeper reason then what had been insinuated on the surface. He searched her features in hopes there would be a clue.

“Oh, I am sure,” Angela chuckled a bit at his little sass. She continued to do her clippings as she saw fit even with Raine’s arrival. Diligently the goddess moved with expert hands knowing where to trim. Raine’s energy seemed to make the area sing a bit more since she was blessed with a bit of Angela’s powers now. Though it looked like the girl had control of it, which surprised Angela from time to time since the girl lacked any other sort of control.

“THANK YOU, I WILL TRY NOT TO DISAPPOINT YOU!” Raine cried out with joy as he welcomed her. She had a bit of energy as her legs were restless and she was swaying a bit. Angela looked towards her and chuckled a bit more before Kiba had noticed the slight shift in her demeanor.

Raine became still as she waited for Angela to be the one to explain. Angela opened her lips for a moment to explain before she quickly trimmed a few more flowers in thought. “Correa gave up her life when the pearl took my sphere,” Angela’s green eyes turned to Kiba and studied him lightly. “I wasn’t trying to hide it but it is important that I keep weaknesses hidden especially when there are problems on the horizon like there were… but now that it is safe I can tell everyone about it. She returned her life to me so that I could have enough power to deal with the pearl in the end to save us all. I had forgotten how much power it took to make a life like hers. Such a silly thing limitations are,” Angela joked about it but her eyes were sad.

“So, I decided to make someone I already had my avatar instead. Raine is a very precious person to me and she is still learning about the world. She’s not left the temple many times in her life since she was born and in a way she is the perfect thing I need for inspiration. She will learn and grow just like the life I give. I have not molded her nor have I made her perfect. It is something I need to be reminded of and if Raine has a few hiccups along the way, well that is a very mortal thing.”

“I’ll try not to make too many mistakes,” Raine whispered to the small group as she moved her leg shyly.

“If you make mistakes then you will learn from them. No one is perfect Raine but make sure you don’t repeat mistakes. If you don’t repeat them then you are fine and doing exactly what I’ve asked of you.” Angela took a free hand and patted the girl’s head. “That being said, obviously what she is can be a problem. I know I can depend on you Kiba if problems arise. Phoenixes are rare and rainbow phoenixes like Raine are even rarer. She should be fine under my watchful eye but should I not be around I know I can depend on you. People will poach her at any given opportunity so it’s important that all of us are on our toes.”

Raine nodded furiously, “I don’t want to be parted out or made to cry forever.” She sounded hesitant but there was a part of her that was very brave about it all.

“She is very fond of Nemesis’s avatar Maalik and if often with him if she isn’t in the temple. So I suppose that both Nemesis and I keep an eye on her. I will be teaching her how to do most of my duties in the coming weeks as quickly as we can progress without sacrificing quality. I figured that I could depend on you for protection so for her I will teach healing.”