One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.

A very famous and evil man once said that when…well, he probably got done doing something really evil. It was supposed to say how reading about a million people dying is easy to brush off. But, this was coming from a guy who wouldn't have cared if he let children starve to death right in front of him while he ate lavish banquets.

The truth of it is, any loss of life is a tragedy. While it's harder to wrap your head around the larger numbers and absolute deviation that would cause those deaths, you can connect with the loss all the same as long as you have a shred of empathy. Especially when that big number was made by adding the lives of all the people you had ever known.

Everyone and everything I had ever known was gone.

I had been afraid of hearing something like that. I had been gone for so long. I knew nothing was left for me to come back to, aside from maybe an ice cold queen that owned my life. But getting yourself ready to hear something horrible never makes it easy to brush off.

While I was gone, the Outside had broken in. The bad guys had won. I wanted to ask her more, but she got up and left before I could. I could just barely run some comment on auto-snark as some kind of poor defense mechanism before Syr disappeared behind the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts, so I did the best I could not to think.

It didn't work very well. I wanted answers to my questions. Like, what about all the other supernatural creatures in the world, why did I experience a rebound when I tried to enter the Nevernever, how the hell do you rebuild reality?

When the door opened again, it was the tall woman I had seen before. "Still not finished?"

I looked down at the plate of food that had grown cold. "I was just…lost in thought," I told her. After looking at my plate for a few more seconds, I pushed it away. Armageddon always killed my appetite.

"Well, if you're not going to eat, you'd better come with me. There's a cot in the attic I'll let you use," she told me gruffly. "Oh, I don't know if that girl told you, but I don't like anyone gossiping about my girls. So, keep whatever details she went on about to yourself."

I ran the woman's words through my mind and considered them with that Syr had said earlier. "Syr, what is she hiding from?" The last thing I wanted to do was make some supernatural heavyweight angry just by talking to her. She said she was a goddess, but the number one rule when dealing with anything supernatural is to make yourself seem as big and bad as possible. I could have used the Sight on her, but…after what Mac had told me at his bar, I had the feeling that gazing at something too big for my human brain to handle might be dangerous.

Plus, it wasn't as if letting her lie to me for a night that I got a bed out of was a bad thing.

Mia snorted. "Just herself," she said before thumbing at the hallway. "Now come on. It's closing time, and I've got to get to sleep soon myself."

"Syr said you had a room and a bed," I said as I slowly got to my feet.

"The attic is a room, and you can sleep on a cot," Mia told me before I followed her out the door. I followed her into the kitchen, and found the Goddess of Hospitality at the sink, cleaning dishes next to the blonde elf from earlier.

When we got out to the main room, I saw the catgirl with the brown hair from earlier sweeping up. There was another girl with the selfsame ears and tail stacking chairs. There was also a brown haired human-looking girl with them wiping down the tables. I managed to take three whole steps before the catgirl took notice and just about leapt across the room. "Hey Momma Mia! Are we finally getting a busboy?"

The large woman groaned. "I'm just putting him up for a day or two as a favor to Syr," Mia told the girl. "Now get back to work, Anya."

The girl gave an exasperated groan I would have expected from my old pet cat before her ears fell and she slunk away. "Nawww, I'm tired of moving dirty dishes."

When we got up to the second floor, Mia pulled down the ladder to the attic and looked at me with a stern expression that softened. "Hey, I know it might not mean much right now, but I've seen people who've lost their familia before. It's tough, and it feels like the world is going to crush your chest. But little by little, you learn to bear the weight, stand up again, and walk forward."

I looked over to the woman, unsure what to say. So I just went with the classic. "Thank you."

When I got halfway up the ladder/stairs, Mia called out to me. "So uh, what god were you with, anyway?"

In my defense, I was honestly out of it and just barely moving when I looked back down to give her an answer. "Oh…um…" Mab wasn't really a deity, so my mouth just gave the only fitting response. I didn't see the need to hide it. "Odin."

I didn't want to keep the conversation going, so I ducked down as much as I could to find the cot in the corner of the small storage area and climbed on top of it. Sleep came not long after.

-Dresden-

Dreams are a strange thing for a wizard. Our minds work slightly differently than a normal person's does. For ninety-nine percent of our existence, this isn't really a problem. But as we grow into our power with age, a prophetic sight begins to develop, allowing us to see through time. Sometimes, that means we get portents of the future, and sometimes that means we get perfect dreams of the past.

I dreamed about Murphy. But it was all pretty much just snippets of our time together, from when we met over the troll bridge to when she tried to kill a werewolf with silver bullets that were made from her grandmother's earrings. Then, I flashed ahead to see her dead body laying on the ground with a tall idiot in a trenchcoat standing over her while leaning on his staff. Which was when I opened my eyes to the light coming through the attic window that was about at eye level with.

You're never more less depressed than when you first wake up. I've dealt with really hard stuff, so I was an unofficial expert of this phenomenon. Science journals say it's because of an interruption of your internal rhythm that causes a natural release of happiness hormones people need to get going in the morning.

I just think it's because you have to switch from a state of relaxation to movement, and who in the hell wants to get moving when they are aware how much life sucks? Which it did. Something I was aware of because I stayed in bed that extra second and let the depression move back in.

So, I just pulled the blanket over my head and tried to pretend that it was still nighttime outside.

It was a futile battle. The forces of get the hell up summoned reinforcements, and I was treated to the sound of Mamma Mia poking her head up into the attic. "Hey boy! That's enough sleeping in, get your lanky butt down here. I want you washed and dressed before the lunch rush starts!"

I moaned and turned away from the woman. "Go away."

"Not going to happen," the woman told me before I felt someone grab me by the back of the shirt I had slept in and dragged me out of bed and down the ladder while doing an impressive job of not letting me touch the ground.

The dark thing inside me started to rear its ugly head as Mia dropped me feet first on the ground, only for me to lean back against the wall and slump down. "Woman-" I practically growled before I realized what was happening and clamped down on the ancient Fae magic that was more predatory than a wolf.

"I let you sleep in enough. Get your butt into the shower and put on the uniform I left for you in the changing room. It'll be a tight fit, but it'll keep you covered until you can get some real clothes on," she said before turning away and leaving me alone.

I got up and went back up the ladder stairs. The cot called to me, but since I was already up and moving, I was able to ignore its siren song and simply grabbed my duster with the spearhead that was wrapped up inside a pocket. I wasn't letting that get more than ten feet away from me until I could find a proper hiding place for it.

When I got to the dressing room, I saw the clothes in question were a male version of the uniform I saw the girls wearing the night before, with pants that looked like they would barely reach my ankles. Nevermind how tight they would have to be in the crotch.

Then I got to the bathroom, it reminded me of some interesting discussions I had with a few other wizards over the years in regards to technology. The price of having magic was that an imbalance was caused in the natural world. In layman's terms, it turned wizards into walking bad luck charms when it came to any technology beyond the eighteen hundreds. The more advanced, the less chance it had. So, a smart phone would catch fire if it was within a ten foot radius of me for more than five minutes, while a classic car that still had its cassette player would only break down once a week. Landline telephones worked, but the reception was always horrible. So, a bunch of younger wizards new to magic always liked to theorize how to keep the lights on and hot water running while still having the ability to throw around fireballs and lightning.

The answer that the gods had found was one several wizards theorized, but never had enough manpower and resources to try: just make everything run on magic. I could feel an enchantment on the nozzles to make hot water come out of the sink and shower faucet. The pressure wasn't the best, making me think that they might be using gravity fed wells or some kind of aqueduct system. but the tiny crystals with lamp shades didn't suddenly blow out when I twisted the knob beneath the crystal to properly align the magic cycle so it could feed on mystical energy.

By the time I was cleaned and dressed, I had a few new questions for the waitress goddess. My boots covered up enough of my legs so the pants wouldn't make me look like a nerd, as long as you didn't count the horrible shade of green, and my coat made sure the shirt's much too short sleeves couldn't be seen either. Both were annoyingly tight though.

I got down to the maining dining room and found the silvery short goddess sitting at the bar with a little frown on her face and a carefully wrapped box in front of her. Instead of her uniform, she was wearing a pure white dress with her hair down. When I got close to her, thanks to the lack of food anywhere around, I reached for the small box. "For me? You shouldn't have."

Syr's hand moved with the speed of a viper to slap my hand away. "Don't touch that!"

As I was rubbing my damaged appendage, Mia came out of the kitchen with her apron on and a laugh in her throat. "You might as well let him have it, I don't think your little rabbit is coming by today."

"You don't know that," Syr told her in a pensive way. "He could be running late."

"After the dungeon was closed for a whole day?" Mia countered. "Are you just going to stand around here on a day off, just waiting around with a lunchbox for the chance he might show up? Do I need to tell you how desperate that looks?"

The comment made Syr flinch, and she slid the carefully wrapped box of food my way. I unwrapped the thing and grabbed the fork that was inside to start eating it. There was a spiciness to it and then…nothing. My tongue went numb and gave off the same light tingling that told me I should be in pain. Apparently, Mab didn't like it when I ate another girl's cooking. If she was even still around.

I…didn't want to know the answer to that. As long as I didn't know the details of the world, it made it easier to continue forward. After I had gotten a foothold in town, I could decide if I would just keep focusing on the hear and now, or go looking for answers about the people I used to know.

"So, um…" I asked before taking a mouthful of food and swallowing. "About the dungeon."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mia raising an eyebrow at me, but it was Syr that did the talking. "I told you about that last night."

"Yeah, calling it a focal point for evil and destruction doesn't really tell me anything," I told her. "How about some actual details? When I woke up in there, it felt like the Nevernever, but-"

"Wait, you came from the dungeon?" Syr asked in surprise before giving me another quick once over in a way that made me feel like she was doing more than guessing my measurements. She got off the stoll she was on and started walking around me before letting out a small gasp when she got to my back. "You're not corrupted, but that mark on you… Okay, I was a little sympathetic last night since you looked like something a dog had spat out. But now, you tell me exactly how you got here, or Mia is going to crush your skull."

Mia's body stiffened and she frowned at the last part, but I didn't know if she was objecting or getting ready to do something she didn't want to.

I, on the other hand, checked the magical items I still had on me. My staff might have been left upstairs, but I still had all five force rings on my right hand and my shield bracelet on my left. I didn't like being threatened by supernatural types and reassured myself I could punch back. "Why should I tell you-"

"You have the mark of a Walker on your back!" Syr told me fiercely before I could say anything else. "NOW START EXPLAINING!"

Oh…that… I thought to myself before calming down and waving the question away. "That's got nothing to do with the dungeon. My…the man who taught me magic tried to kill me by calling He Who Walks Behind in from outside. I got away from it, sort of. Nobody really gets away from a Walker."

"And the dungeon?" Syr pressed.

"I…don't know," I admitted. "I…do you know about Ethniu attacking Chicago?"

Syr relaxed a little and rolled her eyes. "Yes. I also know the sky is blue and rocks are hard."

"...right," I said after a little effort to keep from snorting as I started to consider everything that had happened to me. "During the battle, I was hit by a death curse. It wasn't worded to kill me. It was more like a banishment spell." A shiver ran down my spine when I thought about everything the goddess had told me. I recounted my experience as best I could and gulped when I was finished. "It sent me to the Outside, didn't it?"

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Syr shook her head and got back in her seat. "If you had been there, you wouldn't be sane enough to form words. It sounds like you were caught somewhere on the edge. And when the banishment ended, you landed where the dimensional barriers are their weakest. Like water flowing down the path of least resistance." She looked back up at the massive woman, almost as an afterthought. "It's okay, he's not dangerous."

My manly pride wanted me to protest that I was indeed dangerous, but my stomach growled and I got back to eating. After a few seconds, I decided to get the conversation back on track. "So, the dungeon, what is it?"

Syr was quiet for several seconds, and when she talked, it was as if each word was a tooth to be pulled. "We're not exactly sure," she admitted. That even made Mia look at her with an expression of barely contained surprise. "But, there's some theories."

"Like?" I baited.

She leaned over on the table and propped herself up on her elbows. "We can't use the fires of creation, and The Almighty wasn't going to lend us any angels when it came time to rebuild. I told you before, we patched things back together. But, we needed something to use as a…linchpin to keep it that way," Syr told me in an uneasy tone, like a girl having to admit she broke the rules. She looked over to me. "Do you know the legend of Ymir?"

Luckily, I did. After meeting Odin, I had read up a great deal on Norse Mythology. Others too, just in case I ran into someone from Greece or Mesopotamia, but most of my deity knowledge was based on Norse mythology. "Are you saying you chopped up a giant and used his bones as mortar?"

"Sort of," Syr told me before taking in another deep breath. "The material had to fit the need. So, the goddess we used was Gaia, one of the oldest around. She wasn't very agreeable to dying. So, the prevailing theory is, something of her is left down there. It's why the dungeon can birth an unlimited number of monsters on top of all the other oddities encountered inside, like the ability to cause minor fluctuations to space and time."

Like I said. I wasn't as read up on Greek mythology as I was Nordic since I had no intention of ever meeting Hades again after stealing from his vault. But, I had read D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths back in high school, and remembered Gaia had shot out plenty of nasty things to try and get revenge on Zeus back in the day.

Then, something occurred to me. "Wait…birthed? Are you saying that the entrance to the dungeon is basically Gaia's va-"

"This conversation is over!" Syr told me before she grabbed my wrist extremely firmly and dragged me towards the exit.

-Dresden-

I wisely kept my mouth shut after Syr dragged me out of the tavern to explain what was going to be happening today, as if I had no opinion on the matter. Which was just about par for the course when it came to supernatural women and me. She wasn't even letting me go back to get my staff, something I felt next to naked without.

We walked and talked, with her giving me a basic rundown as to how the town and universe worked at large whenever I asked for clarification. The number of gods in Orario could vary from time to time, but usually numbered between thirty to fifty. Other gods, spirits, and various other mythological races lived everywhere from the North Pole to the southern continents, but Earth as it was now didn't resemble the old one in the slightest. Although, there were lingering remnants of the old world in the strangest ways. Like some desert kingdom way out in the middle of nowhere being called Shaharazad.

Technology was a weird mix between modern to middle ages. They didn't use gunpowder or gas, but had magic to provide light, basic locomotion in things like elevators, and a few other comforts. Some places used magic to power ships capable of traveling on sand but air travel was a thing of fantasy. Medicine was still pretty archaic, but they had magic to treat wounds in a way that had me asking questions that Syr couldn't answer beyond the fact that since their magic was divine in nature, it could heal things easier than what I threw around. She only built part of the universe after all, not all of it.

The magic system, for want of a better term, was disturbingly simplistic. As was the means in which the gods empowered their mortal champions. She talked about how people leveled up by killing monsters, stats and skills.

"You're going to have to give me more than that," I told her as we came to a shop with several outfits in the window. They looked almost modern, but not quite. More like someone had given a person a design for a modern t-shirt to be made by hand rather than machine. "People don't just level up after killing something. Experience is built by practice, failure and more practice. Life doesn't work like D ."

Syr looked back to me with a raised eyebrow as we continued down the almost empty street too far from others to hear us talk. "It does when the people making the universe want it to," she told me before sighing. "Look, we had to fix everything. You're lucky gravity works the way it used to. I'm sorry if some things were a rush job.

"But if you want a more technical explanation…we use a drop of divine ichor as a medium to inscribe the enchantment on the back of our children. It gives them increased strength, durability, vision in dark places, and the ability to recover from damage more quickly. The magic also lets our children manifest certain abilities that function as spells. We can't just make someone a mage. The humans we made are…lacking in certain aspects like that. Even if we could, training someone like you takes decades. But the enchantment allows for a pre-programed effect, such as healing or shooting a fireball. All of which is based on the unconscious desires of the child. If someone wants to be a healer, then our divine power grants them a spell to close someone's wounds, while if she, I don't know, wants to be a ninja, a spell that lets her become invisible will manifest.

"But, you do have an inkling of the truth. There's a reason people can only gain real power by going into the dungeon," she went on with a little smirk. "We designed it that way. Someone who practices swordsmanship can get better at using a sword on a technical level of course, and someone can get up to level two by training hard. But the blessings were made to fight monsters. We're not going to give people power unless they use it the way it's supposed to be used."

I digested the longer explanation as we went into the store, and Syr picked out some clothes for me to try on. My mind was distracted by all the thinking, otherwise I would have protested the fact that she basically turned me into her life sized doll. Something she took obvious joy in, judging by the look on her face.

Personal experience told me to be wary and that Syr might be faking her emotions to throw me off guard, but the adult with a daughter in me knows what things would have been like if Maggie had grown up to come home from college one day and decided to update her square old dad's wardrobe to keep from being embarrassed with me in public.

"So, the falna, is it anything like…say…a mantle?" I asked. "What's the price people have to pay for super powers? Do people become your slaves?"

Syr face twisted into a grimace. "Ugh, Heavens no!" she said before hesitation clouded her face as she led me to the changing rooms. "Well, I suppose you could think of it as a rament of power we drape on our children. But, it doesn't…twist them into something they're not. They are free to make their own choices."

When I gave her a skeptical look, Syr rolled her eyes again. "Okay, if you absolutely must know. The price of power from a god is…" she said before pausing and looking around the store before leaning in close. I had to lean over to the point I was about to fall on my face before she would say anything more. "Our children have to amuse us."

Then she grabbed my nose and yanked. With me already being in a precarious position, the tiny bit of force was enough for me to lose my balance and fall flat on my face. Which left the little goddess giggling and looking rather smug with herself as I stood back up.

"Real mature," I said before I took the clothes Syr offered and went inside the changing room. I took a look at the clothes. All of the shirts were basic and comfortable looking, but the pants…I wasn't sure what they were made of, but they sure as hell weren't jeans, khakis, or modern in any way. They didn't even have pockets, and were maybe made of cotton?

After some examination of the merchandise, I opened the door back up and nodded. "They fit."

The little goddess crossed her arms and frowned at me. "You're supposed to put on each outfit and show it to me," she said with a look that spoke of anger simmering just below the surface.

Oh God, I am her dress up doll.

After an hour of a one man fashion show that had Syr doing everything from clapping happily to sticking out her tongue in disgust, we gathered up most of the clothes to take them to the counter. When we got there, she grabbed one last item of clothing and handed it to me. "Put this on."

I looked down at her. "I don't wear hats."

"With that rat's nest on your head, you need a hat," she told me.

After the fashion shop, I was starting to reach my limit and put my foot down. "Make me."

Syr frowned back at me for a moment. "I could, you know," she said in a dangerous tone before reluctance slowly made its way onto her face and she slowly put the hat back on the counter. "But I won't. Because I'm generous. See how generous I'm being?"

When we got out of the shop, I saw something that left me momentarily speechless.

Across the street, stood Superman.

Yes, Superman. The Man of Steel.

He had a bit of a beard, but pound for pound, it was him.

It wasn't just a guy that looked like Superman. It was Superman. There were no tights or cape, but he had this aura about him that made him stand out to anyone who bothered to look his way. And to me, I could tell he was just oozing magical power. He didn't have any fancy death stones floating around his head or a three headed dog at his lap, but the guy standing across the street was on the level of Hades.

He was talking to a pair of men with quill pins and scrolls they were writing on as fast as possible to keep up. "So, I was thinking. The hero, we could have him use two different swords. One would be a normal sword, and a silver one for fighting monsters."

"What is it?" Syr asked before she looked over and groaned when she saw what I was visually obsessing over. "Ugh, Hercules. What about him?"

I took a second to process what she said. "That's Hercules? Are you telling me, Henry C-"

"You do remember that a lot of us became actors, rockstars, and other types of celebrities?" Syr told me. "He just didn't grow out of it like the rest of us. Now, he runs the city's theater district with his familia."

That made a bit of sense. Not the 'grow out of it' part. I knew the White Court of Vampires ruled the porno industry, but something kept them from going mainstream in Hollywood. A very nervous silence followed that bit of information as I tried and failed to hold back my curiosity. "So uh, were there any other gods that I might have watched on screen?"

Syr took a moment to think. "Well, Hermes had a pretty successful career until his nature got the best of him and he started up that mobile phone company, but other than that, we mostly stuck to European productions."

That made a weird amount of sense. The Hermese started a telephone company, I mean. It also made me curious about something else. "So…I take it Syr is a pseudonym, and you're not going to give me your real name, but what are you the goddesses of exactly?"

"Lots of things," as she led me down the street while I carried the clothes. "Love, beauty, fertility, sex, gold and war to name a few."

Although I wasn't an expert on mythology, I only knew one goddess in the entire world that had both love and war in her resume. "Are you Ishtar?"

Now, while I had gone up against a good amount of supernatural creatures with super speed, nothing beat the down to earth advantage of surprise. Plus, I did have my hands full carrying a whole new wardrobe. So, I was caught off guard when Syr turned around and promptly kicked me in the crotch.

The Mantle of the Winter Knight would always take away any crippling pain to allow me to continue functioning, but I had to actually feel the pain for a second before it would kick in, and that was enough to make me fall to the ground. When I looked back up, Syr had taken on a terrifying visage that seemed to suck out the light all around her and leave nothing but a shadow with angry, glowing eyes.

"No." The dark goddess replied as her presence seemed to swallow the light of the world around me and-

"Oh Ms Syr, it is you!"

At the sound of a happy boy's voice, the world suddenly turned back to normal and Syr flinched before her expression changed to a tense smile. She turned around and happily clapped her hands together. "Bell! It's you and…oh, you're the goddess Hestia, right? What are you two doing here…together?"

Another female voice responded. "So you're the girl giving my Bell those lunches. Well, he leveled up the other day, and we're out on the town to celebrate."

Instead of answering, the boy on the other side of Syr poked his head around so I could actually get a look at him. He was outside the normal human norm, but far from the oddest person I had seen since walking more than ten feet down the street today. Although, the red eyes and white hair made me realize just what Syr meant by not getting things quite right when it came to rebuilding the universe. "Are you okay, sir?"

"Fine, it was just a little trip," I said before I slowly picked myself up. As I got all the way back up on my feet, the boy shook off a startled look and gave me the shopping bags while the goddess that had walked up to us was going on about her Bell leveling up in under two months to Syr, who feigned interest and politely engaged in the conversation with a word here or there.

Now that I got a look at the kid in front of me, all I could think was, he's a child. Not just short or what the gods liked to refer to people as, but an actual child. What the hell was a kid his age running around caverns where things tried to eat you?

I picked up enough from the discussion this morning that the disguised goddess had her eyes on a mortal that went into a den of monsters for whatever reason. But going by Syr's apparent age, I had thought the person she set her sights on would have at least been old enough not to warrant a visit from the FBI. Part of me got that it was an old time world and all, but that very small part was also told to shut the hell up.

"Ms Syr, is this a friend of yours?" Bell asked.

Syr looked over to Bell and gave a slightly nervous smile. "Sort of. A friend of a friend. He's new to Orario and I was helping show him around and maybe get set up."

The obvious goddess standing next to the hidden one let out an excited gasp and practically teleported past the two people to get in front of me as she rubbed her chin and smiled. Hestia was almost comically short. She would have had to look up to meet Murphy's eyes. I would have thought she was a little kid if not for the pair of round body parts sticking out in front of her that said puberty had focused all of its efforts in one area. It didn't help that her hair, done up in two tails on the side of her head, looked like something a kid would do as well.

"New to the city huh? You know, my child, if you're looking to join a familia, the Hestia family just got a new level two adventurer! We could show you the ropes, keep you safe as you gain some experience. I'm sure Bell wouldn't mind covering the basics as he gets used to his new abilities either."

I had to hold up my hands to try and shield myself from her enthusiasm, but that turned out to be a bad idea. My sleeves fell down enough to reveal my shield bracelet, which drew the goddess's attention. "Huh? A magic item?" she said before her eyes moved to my other hand and the force rings. "And so are those! Really well crafted too." She looked up at me with in consideration. "Are you from a monster-hunting familia outside of Orario?"

Since I didn't want to arouse too much suspicion when I came up with a stupid explanation that didn't make sense, I just went with it. "Um…that's right," I told her with a nervous laugh. "So, I already have a familia. Sorry."

Hestia crossed her arms and took a step back, annoyed disappointment evident on her face. Behind her, I saw Syr's eyes widen in terror for a moment before she zipped past Hestia to jump up and smack me upside the head before forcing me into a bow thanks to our size difference. "Hehe, Dresden! You know you can't lie to a deity! They see through it every time," she said before looking over to the other goddess with the big boobs. "I'm sorry Lady Hestia. He had to leave his familia and the whole story is pretty embarrassing. Best not to bring it up."

"So you are a free agent then," she said with a hungry gleam in her eyes.

As my nervousness grew from the way the tiny girl was practically salivating over me, Bell stepped forward. "Um, Lady Hestia. Shouldn't we get something to eat now? I still have to find some new armor too."

"Oh!" Syr spoke up happily. "Well, don't let us intrude. We've got more shopping to do, and I need to show Mr Dresden the housing district so he can find a place to stay."

Hestia let out a tiny laugh and licked her lips. The eyes that looked like they wanted to devour me whole didn't change. "Let's have lunch together. I know you're busy, but you do have to eat, right? It's lunchtime, and you've fed Bell all those times, it's only right I pay you back."

A shiver of fear ran down my spine. The girl wasn't really frightening, but having to engage in conversation with a supernatural polygraph machine was not a good idea.

This time, it was Syr's turn to hesitate a tiny bit. From the earlier exchange and the fact she was supposed to be hiding, it wasn't hard to figure out that deities could lie to each other just fine. So all she needed to do was give an excuse and-"That sounds like fun!"

Bring any hope I had of safety crashing down.