Welcome to Volume 2 in my Series of Joy! If you read Saving Joy you'll be all caught up, and if you haven't, I'd recommend reading that story before reading this one!

I hope you enjoy the sequel, and please don't forget to let me know what you think in the comments!

"Summer next time we're hiding in a Clorkian Echo nest can you do me a favor and turn your ringer off?!" Joy Sanchez smiled hearing her grandson Morty shouting at his older sister. Okay, so maybe he wasn't technically her grandson, he was her step grandson, since she had married his grandfather but she still counted him as her grandson. Or at least family.

The redhead set down the last box she'd carried from the room across from her husband Rick's old room that he still kept in his daughter's house. Next to the door were the last of Jerry's- her step daughter's soon to be ex husband- things and the mover nodded to her. As she walked out to the garage where she heard Rick and the kids arguing she smiled to herself.

Rick had taken the kids earlier that day to get them out of the house while Jerry moved out, Beth and Joy had finally gotten Jerry to commit to moving out after he'd gotten a new apartment across town and she, Joy, was relieved she wouldn't have to hear Jerry and Beth arguing anymore.

As she stepped out of the house into the garage she saw Rick opening a portal onto the ground. "I'm ready when you a-" Summer, the elder of the Smith children jumped through the portal.

"Bitch, I was ready yes-" Rick jumped through as well, leaving the younger son of the Smith's, Morty to look awkwardly at his father.

"Well, I- I better…"

"Sure. Sounds… Important." Jerry said with a sigh as Morty jumped through the portal, the portal closing. He looked at Joy and narrowed his eyes, Joy crossing her arms as she walked over to the door of the garage going into the house.

As she approached it the door opened to show Beth, Joy's step-daughter standing there looking confused.

"He's in the driveway," Joy mumbled to Beth who looked over at Jerry.

"If you're looking for our kids, your father did a- a portal? Uh-"

"Okay." Beth said simply and then held the door open for Joy who took a moment to look back at Jerry, making eye contact with him before lifting her hand and hitting the garage door button.

While the door closed Joy walked into the house, closing the door and grinning. "Holy shit, he's actually gone!" she grinned at Beth who sighed.

"Thank god." she said before looking out the window as Jerry got into the moving truck with the movers who were much larger than he was. "Do you know where dad and the kids went?"

"Hm?" Joy looked over at Beth before shaking her head. "Oh, no, I'm going to Feeloria later, I'm sure if your dad needs anything he'll call me."

"Oh, back to your planet huh?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, we're dealing with a little bit of an issue trying to find the ex head of the church," Joy explained. "He and my father disappeared and are wanted."

"Wanted by who?" Beth asked with interest.

"Wanted by me," Joy replied as she looked at her phone. "They both need to stand for crimes against the gods."

"I thought you were god."

"I'm a god," Joy explained as she looked at Beth. "Not the god. I'm like… Are you familiar with Greek gods?"

"Yeah."

"I'm like that." she shrugged as she looked back at her phone, finishing her text to Rick before she picked up the beer she'd gotten for herself. "Okay, well, I should go, I'll be back in a few hours," Joy told Beth who nodded before Joy opened a portal into the ground and hopped through it, landing in her quarters in her temple.

It had been a surprise when she'd realized the ring that Rick had given her contained a miniature portal gun inside of it, but it made getting from one place to another without waiting around for Rick a breeze.

"Lyra!" she called and heard a door open and close in the hallway before the sound of rushing footsteps. When her door opened the maid looked surprised to see her there.

"I didn't realize you wouldn't be coming in your ship," Lyra commented breathlessly. "I've been watching the skies waiting for you."

"Go ahead and draw me a bath," Joy smiled as she took a drink of her beer. "I'm going to go let Elio know I'm here- in case he's watching the skies as well."

"Of course." Lyra was a good maid, she was young and sweet and seemed thrilled with the direction Joy was taking Feeloria, a planet on the edge of what was known, untouched by war and the Galactic Federation, but unfortunately very backwards in their thinking.

Walking to the highest room in the building Joy found Elio, a sixty year old man who was the planet's only demigod working on a large computer system. "Hey," she tapped the door with her beer bottle gently and he looked over, his sweaty and grease smudged face breaking into a grin as he looked at her.

"Joy," he smiled as he stood and walked over, putting his hands on both of her arms. "It is good to see you are well."

"It's only been a week Elio," she pointed out with a smile before looking at the system. "What's all this?"

"We have been hard at work, building the machine Rick designed with the plans he gave us before you left last week," he explained.

"And what does this machine do?" she asked as she looked it over.

"It creates a field of protection for the planet," he explained as he looked back at the machine and then to Joy who nodded thoughtfully, sure there was more to the story than just that, but she'd ask Rick about it later.

"Well, you clean up and I'm going to go get ready then we can have our talk and then go out to the planet and see the people." she said and he nodded.

"We've had a small change in plans, but we will talk about that when we're both ready," he told her and she nodded.

"Okay, sounds good." she replied.

She went back to her room and let Lyra help her undress, before she got into the steaming bath that smelled amazing because of the oils that Lyra had poured into the bath, sinking into the water with her beer bottle. Taking a drink of the beer she sighed at the feeling of the hot water before tilting her head back, getting her hair wet and letting Lyra start washing her hair.

It had been very awkward at first, having someone else do this, but over the two months she had spent on Feeloria had helped her become slightly more accepting of this situation.

Lyra finished washing Joy's thick red hair and then held out an arm, Lyra began scrubbing her arm, before Joy let her scrub the other and then Joy leaned forward, letting Lyra scrub her shoulders, neck and back.

After Joy stood and let Lyra scrub her legs Joy scrubbed the rest of her body before stepping out of the bath as she finished her beer, handing the bottle to Lyra who set it on the counter and then returned, wrapping Joy's hair in a bath sheet and then began to dry Joy off with another bath sheet.

After being dried off Lyra covered Joy in a floral smelling lotion and then helped Joy into a pair of silk underwear, a silk bra and then led Joy over to the pouf in the bathroom, Joy sat down and looked ahead in the mirror as Lyra started to comb her hair.

Her thick hair took a while to comb out, and then Lyra dried it off with a towel again before combing it through once more, and then starting braiding five small braids into the crown of Joy's head, letting the braids go until her mid head, not all the way back, the braids were more to keep the hair from Joy's eyes, and after the braids were finished Lyra started to hook some beautiful gold rings into Joy's hair.

After her hair was finished Lyra stood in front of Joy and began to apply makeup to her face, Joy closing her eyes as Lyra worked.

"Do you enjoy this Lyra?" Joy asked, voicing the question she'd been wondering about for some time now.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Do you enjoy being my maid?"

"Of course," Lyra said quickly, sounding scared of upsetting Joy who opened her eyes. "I would like nothing more-"

"Lyra," she said quickly, touching Lyra's hand gently. "Relax, I'm not going to dismiss you." Lyra seemed to relax a little and she smiled gently at the girl. "I just want to make sure you're not unhappy here, I want to make sure you enjoy this work and that you are okay working with me."

"Of course," Lyra nodded. "It is a dream come true being able to work so closely with a living god- and it is a dream come true to have a living god," she added with a small smile. "I have never known any of the gods, they were all used before-"

"Murdered." Joy cut her off, Lyra looking at her curiously. "My people were murdered. I believe you people will be able to begin to feel when you aren't using us as a crutch." she explained, and Lyra nodded.

"I hope you're right." Lyra said before she resumed the makeup process.

After the makeup was over Joy's hair was dry enough and Lyra helped her get into one of the gold silk dresses, then the jewelry it was custom for her to wear.

After helping her into her gold sandals Lyra stepped to the side, then hearing a knock on the door went to the door and opened it, smiling softly at the Temple Keeper of Joy's temple who walked in.

"Delta," Joy nodded to the Temple Keeper, a young man who nodded to her before handing a package to Lyra.

"Our Lady," Delta said to Joy who smiled at the title slightly.

"Is that what you all landed on?"

"It is our current choice," he shrugged. "No good?"

"Let's try it out, it's a maybe," she told him and he nodded.

"Well, Our Lady, some of the Temple Trainers have made this for you," he gestured to the package he'd handed to Lyra who walked over to Joy who opened the cloth around the package, running her fingers over the beautiful silk cape that had been embroidered with stunning attention to detail.

"This is remarkable," Joy said as she ran her fingers over it lightly before looking at Lyra who nodded, unfolding the cape and helping clasp it around Joy's neck.

"It's perfect," Delta said softly, Joy smiling at it before nodding.

"I agree," she said as she looked over her shoulder at it and then looked at Delta. "Tell the Temple Trainers I thank them and will wear it with pride."

"They will be pleased," he nodded before leaving the room.

"Lyra, find out if Elio is ready for me,"

"No need!" Joy smiled as Elio walked into the room, his strong arms were now covered in a white silk tunic, and he wore a pair of white silk pants. His dark hair was brushed back and he had trimmed up his black trim beard that was trimmed closely to his strong jaw.

"You're ready?" she asked and he nodded, offering his elbow.

She stepped forward, slipping her hand around his elbow, walking from the room with the demigod. "We've made some changes to today's schedule," he told her. "There is some push-back against the new law of no laying hands to the gods," he explained. "So for your safety, we will be holding meetings with members of the public in the temple throne room." he explained.

"That will ensure my safety?" she asked.

"That and the temple keepers and myself," he told her, Joy nodding as they made their way to the temple throne room

As they stepped inside Joy looked around, realizing the room was so much brighter than it had been before.

"It's different," she said in awe, the sparkling walls looking much larger than they had before, statues of the gods previous, statues that had been covered by sheets last time she had been there were now washed and polished, the throne was large and centered on the far wall, another throne, slightly smaller to the side of it.

"The windows," Elio gestured to large windows towards the ceiling of the room. "They had been boarded up by order of Gordon,"

"It's beautiful," she said with a smile, looking at Elio who nodded.

"We thought you would like it. The temple keepers have been working very hard to please you."

"They've done an amazing job of it," she smiled as she walked to the throne, stepping up the stairs before running her hand over the beautifully polished rosewood. "No shackles," she smiled with relief as she looked at Elio who smiled before offering his hand to Joy who took it, sitting at the throne.

"May I be the first," Elio said as he moved to stand in front of Joy before sinking to one knee. Joy smiled softly at the symbol of fealty before nodding to Elio.

"Stand up," she said as she waved a hand at him, crossing one leg over the other, Elio grinning as he stood.

"You accept my fealty?"

"I accept you,"

"Thank you," he said softly as he moved to sit on the throne next to hers. "As the head of your church I will sit here, until the day your husband joins you."

"I think Rick would prefer to work upstairs rather than sit alongside us," she told him, Elio nodding in response.

"I think you're likely right," he told her and she smiled at him before looking to the doors as a Temple Keeper entered the room.

"You are ready?" he asked and she nodded.

After letting in a line of people Joy was greeted with one member of the community at a time, listening to their pleas to lay hands on Joy, begging her to give her life so they might feel something new, but Joy turned down every request.

After a long day of talking to different members of the public from her planet she went upstairs to the bedroom in the temple where she was undressed, redressed in her normal clothes and then bid farewell to Elio and Lyra, promising to come back soon and to be in touch.

"We will let you know when the machine is finished," Elio told her. "And I will speak of the importance of letting our gods live at church,"

"Sounds good," Joy nodded. "Don't be afraid to take some Temple Keepers and speak on the streets, build a underground and find any information you can, especially about Gordon and Castor."

"The chatter is quiet at the moment, but as trust in the new way comes, so will the information on those who we seek," he told her.

"Keep me in the loop," she nodded and he nodded.

"We will see you soon," Lyra beamed at Joy who nodded.

"We will, and remember," she pointed to Elio. "No-"

"No Gromflomites, no outsiders," he nodded, repeating what he had heard many times in the past week. "I remember."

"Okay." Joy nodded before she opened a portal for herself and jumped through it, landing in Beth's garage at the same time as a portal closed to her right, looking over as she heard a loud crunch and then:

"Nope, regular blood."

"What the fuck?" Joy asked as she looked at half of a car and a crushed man wearing what looked like leather pants under the car.

"Hey Baby," Rick said as he looked over at her. "How was work?"

"Work was annoying," she replied as she walked over, Rick wrapping his arms around her and Joy wrapping her arms around his neck, giggling as Rick turned, dipping her and kissing her deeply.

They kissed deeply before the door opened to the house and they heard Beth clear her throat. "Hey kiddo," Joy grinned at Beth, knowing it annoyed her when she called Beth that.

"Dad? Joy?"

"Hi, sweetie." Rick smiled at her.

"Where are the kids?" Beth asked and Rick looked at Joy quickly before looking at Beth.

"Oh, th-they aren't with you?" he asked and she narrowed her eyes.

"I thought they were with you." she replied and Joy nudged Rick with her elbow.

"Oh, y-you know what? Uh, I just remembered. They're out doing something completely ordinary and kid-related. Don't panic." he said quickly, Joy sighing softly at how fake that sounded, even to her, but either Beth didn't notice how fake it sounded, or she didn't want to notice.

"Not panicked. At all." Beth replied as Rick took his flask from his inner pocket and took a drink before handing the flask to Joy who took a sip as well, making a small face as she looked at the flask before handing it back to Rick.

"So, what's going on?" Joy asked.

"Just...Oh, God, what's the divorce doing to the kids? What's it doing to me? Did I make a mistake?" Beth asked, getting a little emotional, both Joy and Rick's eyes widening at the question.

"No!" Joy held her hands out as Rick shouted quickly

"Not a mistake, no!" Rick put the flask back into his pocket before looking at Joy with a slight smile and then looked back at his daughter. "Look, I mean, it's not like we have a horse in this race, but the divorce decision liste,"

"It's great," Joy nodded as they both walked closer to Beth. "Seriously, it's great."

"Seriously, good for you, good for the kids." Rick nodded. "I mean honestly, they're…"

"Flourishing." Joy provided and Rick nodded.

"Yeah, flourishing, I mean, you'll see. When you- when you see them. That- that they're totally flourishing."

"Totally flourishing, you'll see tonight, at dinner." Joy nodded with a smile as Beth walked back into the house before turning around and grabbing Rick by the lapels of his lab coat. "Where the fuck are they?"

"Fucking post apocalyptic version of earth, refusing to come home." Rick rolled his eyes, Joy groaning softly.

"Fuck, do you have any clones of them?"

"No I don't have any clones," he groaned as he brushed Joy's hands off of his coat. "I guess, we'll just say they uh… Ran away." he said and she rolled her eyes as he started to walk away, holding her hand out she caught him in the air, it wasn't normal for her to use her abilities on him, as her husband she tried only to do it when they both wanted to try something new, but this was serious.

"Well you better figure something out," she told him as she turned her hand, turning Rick around in the air, Rick looking non too excited about her using her ability against him. "Because otherwise she may go back to that idiot Jerry!"

"Okay, fine!" Rick grumbled and she let him go, Rick landing on his feet. "You know it's sexy when you do that," he told her and Joy smiled before shaking her head.

"Figure out what to do about the kids then you can tell me how sexy I am." she told him and he grinned.

"Is that a promise?"

"Honey you keep Beth from freaking out, I'll let you do that thing we did on our honeymoon," she told him and Rick's eyes widened before he nodded, straightening up and getting to work.

"I'm going to hold you to that." he told her and she nodded.

"Feel free to." she said as she ran a hand through her hair, ignoring the feeling of the braids that would normally bother her when she was off Feeloria, but in this moment she was hoping Rick would be able to cover for the kids for a little while in a way that would keep everyone happy so she and Rick would be able to get the kids back safe and sound.

All right! So welcome to chapter one of Worshiping Joy! I hope you enjoy it and I hope you enjoyed the start! Let me know what you think in the reviews!