Nea was having a good time playing with Marissa but she really needed to leave and do what she needed to track down the information she knew would make her daddy happy. She knew that mommy would be talking with Aunt Amanda and not come check on her for a while so she tried to figure out how to keep Marissa in the room while she went to find the answers she needed.
"Do you like dragons?" Nea asked her friend after a sudden inspiration.
"Not scary ones. I like the one on the movie, it's pretty."
Nea knew what Marissa was talking about because they'd watched that movie together a few weeks ago. Knowing that Bob would make Marissa happy she summoned the pterygsaura to her. The little orange dragon cheeped happily when it arrived and flitted about the room investigating the toys and furniture. Marissa clapped her hands together and bounced around as the tiny creature flew from place to place.
"C'mere Bob," Nea said softly, holding her arm up for the dragon to perch on. When he had settled in on her shoulder and tucked his head down against her neck he started whistling softly which made Marissa beam in delight.
"Oh it's singing!"
Nea smiled and motioned for her friend to come closer. Marissa eased over near the other girl and peered at the little orange creature on her friend's shoulder. Bob's iridescent scales twinkled in the sunlight streaming in the window and she was enthralled by the jewel tones that she could see on him. "He's so pretty. Can I hold him?"
"Sure you can, you have to be gentle with him until he gets to know you." Nea put a small hand under Bob's front feet and he eagerly climbed onto her hand, wrapping his tail around her wrist for support. When she held him over towards Marissa he sniffed at the other little girl and then wiggled in Nea's hand and uttered a soft squawk of recognition. "Okay, hold out your hands," Nea directed the other girl.
Marissa did so and Bob carefully stepped onto her outstretched palm and settled down as he had been on Nea with his tail wrapped around her wrist for support. Marissa smiled at the little creature and brought him up towards her face. When Bob stretched out and nuzzled her cheek she giggled happily, "Oh! He likes me."
"Yes he does," Nea said with a smile, Bob was going to be just the distraction she needed to disappear for a while with no on the wiser. She watched Marissa pet the dragon for a few minutes before she rose from the floor, "I'm going to go get some of Bob's toys from home. If I don't he'll chew up all of yours. That would be bad. Will you watch him for me?"
"Okay," the other girl said hesitantly. "Is it okay if I play with him?"
Nea smiled broadly, "Of course. I'll be back before you know it." She winked at her friend and snapped her fingers near Marissa's head making her forget what she had just told her. If her mother came into the room Marissa would simply say that she was in the bathroom, which should give her enough time to find the answers she sought.
OoOoOo
Nea found Misos deep in the blackness of his cave in the depths of Kalosis and startled him out of his blank faced reverie. He growled at first, unsure of who or what could be here without his consent, but when he saw the little goddess's face his own lips immediately slid into a smile. "Hello little one. What brings you here?"
She chewed her lip a little and shuffled her feet as she tried to voice the favor she was about to ask of the banished god before her. "I…I need your help."
Misos' booming laugh echoed through the cavern, "Oh that is amusing dearest. What could you possibly need my help for? I have no power anymore so that can not be the root of it." He mused as he paced back and forth in front of her briefly, then he saw the sad expression on her face and he stooped down in front of her taking her hands in his own, "Now, now sweet child, there is no need for that amount of sadness in one so young. Tell me what troubles you so."
Nea looked up at him with a quivering lip and the threat of tears in her eyes, "My Daddy, he's really upset and I don't want him to get mad but I don't know how to stop it," she said in a rush.
Misos studied her and reached out with the remainder of his god powers to get the full details of what she was too upset to say. What he found in her heart scared him more than a little. He knew exactly what the extent of the destruction Apostolos would reign down on humanity if he let loose his anger and it was currently threatening to erupt very soon. That wouldn't make his plan to escape his confinement worth the result. There was no point in escaping to a barren wasteland devoid of all life. "I see. Well, let's talk about this for a moment. Let me ask you some questions all right?"
He did ask her questions, for a very long time. Then he sat and stared off into space for an even longer time. Nea was about to get up and leave when he finally blinked and nodded once. "I've got an idea."
