The morning after the funeral, Daenyss woke me early for some pampering in the ensuite bathroom. It felt so good to have a nice relaxing bath after the past few days and my Attendant made sure that I was once again looking, feeling, and smelling my best. I still felt that sense of loss and guilt from Inanna’s and Ereshkigal’s deaths, but my talk with Danu the day before had helped to put it in perspective.

I was going to have to learn how to adjust the sex aura though because the closeness and intimacy were having a definite effect on Daenyss. Being a Nymph, she had a difficult time containing her sexual urges at the best of times but being constantly around someone who actively generated sexual desire through proximity and touch had to be driving her crazy. Hell, it was driving me crazy. My sex drive had definitely been amped up, which was a scary thought since I was Fae, to begin with.

I was beginning to think that the only thing that had prevented the funeral from turning into an orgy was how depressed I had been. Could my emotions be affecting the aura? So, while Daenyss was busy trying to get me clean, I sort of went on autopilot as I sent my thoughts out to Danu. ~Great Mother?~

~Yes, my dear daughter?~ my patron Goddess replied.

I sighed and decided to just come right out with it, even though I felt really bad about constantly interrupting whatever She was doing for my own little insecurities. ~I think that my sex aura needs a user manual.~

Danu laughed and sounded very amused as She teased, ~Having trouble adjusting to your new aspects, my dear?~ Her tone became more sympathetic though as She added, ~It’s not all that surprising. Until now, all of your aspects have been physical things; Magick, the moon, nature, the sea, and doves are all things that have a constant physical presence in the world. Your new aspects are all concepts though, and those work somewhat differently.~

~Umm… last I remember, sex is pretty damn physical,~ I pointed out.

~Yes, it can be,~ She agreed with a laugh. ~It is not a constant though, but merely a physical act. Love and justice can have physical expressions too but none that are as completely expressive of their concepts. Sex is complicated, it is like the Schrodinger’s box of aspects. At any given time, it can be physical, conceptual, or both. It is also interconnected with several other aspects; love, desire, fertility, and motherhood. As such, sex can be a troublesome aspect, especially for a Demigoddess.~

~Yeah, I’m figuring that out,~ I grumbled.

Danu ignored my snark and continued Her explanation. ~As a Demigoddess, you weren’t born with a godly aura. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. One on hand, you’re not freezing everyone around you with fear while in your true form, but on the other hand, you have no experience controlling such an aura. And because you have no fear aura and sex is one of your most powerful aspects, it will override your justice and love aspects except in cases where they are needed, such as presiding over trials or weddings.~

~In a manner of speaking. An aura can respond to your subconscious when there are very strong feelings involved. In that case, you were grieving and felt that sexual desire would be very inappropriate during a funeral, and that allowed your love aspect to take over,~ She explained.

Okay, that sort of made sense. It didn’t really help much though since I doubted that I was going to be that emotional very often. ~So, how do I control it?~ I inquired.

~You cannot,~ the Goddess replied in a sad tone. ~The best that you can do is make a small hole in it to make somebody exempt from its effects, as Ereshkigal did when speaking with your sister. That said, the Yseil’dhraí and the Sül’shael will be mostly immune to its effects, as will your sister. Your subconscious will keep many of those close to you from feeling the effects as well. Your Fae sensibilities will not allow anyone that you consider family to be affected by this so your original party will be spared the effects, as will those who are attracted to only men. Rei is somewhat more complicated since everyone that you consider a lover will be affected by your aura, but to a far lesser degree and able to block it out when needed.~

I breathed a sigh of relief causing Daenyss, who was rinsing my hair, to ask, “Is everything alright, Mistress?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Daenyss. Danu is just helping me figure out this whole sex Goddess thing,” I told her. I could still smell her desire though which prompted me to ask my patron Goddess, ~Why does it seem like Daenyss is affected? Other than her being a Nymph and practically always horny? She seems to be having more trouble than usual keeping a lid on it. You said that those that I consider family would be immune.~

~Do you consider her family?~ She teased. ~Do you think of her in the same way as say, Venika, Robyn, or Salem?~

~Of course,~ I began to object before I actually thought about Her question and was hit with a realization. Venika, Robyn, and most of my other party mates for Apocalypse Dawn were firmly in the family column. But when I really thought of it, Daenyss and Salem were both different. ~ Oh. My. Goddess. I think of her and Salem as really close friends that I want to get to know better and get closer to. But, like, in the Fae sense of getting to know them better. Oh shit, and she’s been touching my naked skin all this time.~

A sense of affirmation filled my mind as Danu said, ~Yes, dear one, you see them as friends and potential lovers, even if it wasn’t consciously until now. Perhaps not your favored lover, but very close friends who you are attracted to and would like a deeper relationship with.~

~Please don’t say ‘deeper’ when I have sex on my mind,~ I grouched, causing Danu to laugh. ~Is there anything else that I should know about this? You know, since my mind is already blown and all.~

~Just that it will only affect those who have some level of attraction to women, no matter how small. The closer you get, the harder that it will hit them. Touching someone with your bare skin will have an immediate and powerful effect,~ She cautioned. ~Oh, and you might feel an increase in power and divine energy from increased worship. They say that sex sells after all, and well, fantasies are a form of worship.~

I grimaced at that and tried not to nod since Daenyss was conditioning my hair. ~Just great, so it looks like I’ll be wearing gloves today while meeting new people. And now I’m not going to stop thinking about being the future fap material of every guy that I meet.~

~I hate to disappoint you, my child, but that ship sailed when you started posting the videos of what happened on that beach online,~ She told me in a teasing tone. ~Do not worry about your loved ones being affected too much, it will not be a problem for long.~

~What? Shit, now I need to check the internet. Thanks, Great Mother, I appreciate you taking the time to help me figure this out.~ I was kind of curious about what she meant with that last part though.

~I will always have time for you, my daughter. Be well until we speak again.~ Her presence slipped out of my mind and I relaxed into Daenyss’s ministrations as I considered how to bring up the newborn elephant in the room.

We had gotten to the point where Daenyss was using her heat spell to dry me off when she asked in a concerned tone, “Is something wrong, Mistress? You have been very quiet.”

“Sorry, Daenyss, I just have a lot on my mind. Are you… we’re friends, right?” I asked uncertainly, stumbling over my words. I knew that we were and I knew that since Daenyss only really had her Nymph memories to go on that she wouldn’t be opposed to getting to know one another better. At the same time though, I cared about her and I didn’t want to mess things up between us, though I might have already with my repressed feelings making my sex aura affect her.

A look of confusion graced my Attendant’s face. “Of course, we are, Mistress. You are my best friend except for possibly Salem. I love you and I would do anything for you.”

As luck would have it that was when there was a knock on the bathroom door. “Are you girls almost done in there? I need to use the bathroom and take a shower,” Rei’s male voice inquired.

“Umm… yeah, Honey. Daenyss just needs to do my hair and help me pick out an outfit so the bathroom is all yours.” We quickly stepped outside to let my fiancé into the room and then I sat in front of the vanity while Daenyss got to work drying and brushing my hair. Soon my hair was up in its signature style, though with the Nythrin hair ornaments that Xixie and the other Sül’shael had made for me rather than the old gold-hued ones. I had to admit that they were very pretty and the silvery-blue hue did go much better with my new coloring.

Once we were done with my hair, Daenyss did some light makeup since my new appearance didn’t need much unless I was trying to look less attractive. I wondered if I should ask about that, maybe there was a way for Daenyss to tone down the whole sex bomb look with makeup? I sighed as I dismissed the thought and put on the clothes that Daenyss was choosing for me. Glamours would probably be more effective, and it wasn’t like either was going to prevent my sex aura from doing its thing anyway.

Rei emerged from the bathroom as I finished putting on a frankly slinky plum-colored backless satin dress, a black and violet bolero jacket, and a pair of black suede knee-high boots. The outfit showed off a lot of leg and really showcased my new cleavage. I probably would have been embarrassed if I wouldn’t have much preferred being naked.

“Here, Rei, let me dry your tails and hair for you, they’ll take forever otherwise,” Daenyss offered the still wet Kitsune with a smile. As she used her spell to do so she inquired, “And what look shall I put together for you today? Or would you rather choose something yourself while I go make breakfast?”

“Um… actually… could we just… sit and talk for a few minutes? Just the three of us?” I uncertainly interjected.

Rei turned his gaze toward me in concern. “What’s wrong, Babe? I haven’t seen you act this nervous since you were still Caleb.”

“Is it about sex? I mean, is it related to the sex Goddess stuff that you were talking with Danu about?” Daenyss asked innocently as she sat beside me on the bed.

Unfortunately, at first, I only heard the first part of what she had said and turned as red as a tomato. “Yes, I mean no, not unless you… I mean, yes! It’s exactly about what I was discussing with Danu,” I sputtered. Dammit, maybe I should add awkwardness to my list of aspects.

“Was she able to tell you how to turn it off?” Rei asked, having heard me voice concerns about that before bed the night before.

“I… can’t,” I replied, my face still bright red. “At least not consciously. Nishalle, the Sül’shael, and the Yseil’dhraí are mostly immune and I guess in serious situations like the funeral it will change temporarily to another aspect, but anyone who’s even slightly attracted to girls is gonna get hit with it. I guess that anyone that I consider family is safe as well because that would just make things super awkweird.” Like the levels of awkweird going on right now.

“I think your subconscious needs some work, Babe because I’m still feeling it. And no offense to Daenyss but I have a really sensitive nose and with her not wearing any clothes, it’s pretty obvious that she’s feeling more arousal than even she’s used to dealing with,” Rei pointed out.

Daenyss flushed and looked down at her lap. “I’m in control. It’s just a little harder than usual and I’ll need to take the edge off once you all go off to run errands today.”

“Sorry, this is my fault,” I offered, looking away from the pair. “Danu said that you’re affected but not near as much as other people would be, and you should be able to block out the effect with a conscious effort when you want to. She also said something cryptic about it not being a problem for my loved ones for long but apparently, anyone that I think of as a lover, or potential lover is affected this way. Rei, you’re my fiancé, so that’s why you’re in this boat. As for Daenyss... Danu made me realize that I like you a lot, you’re one of my closest friends and while I may not have been consciously thinking about it, I’ve been wanting to get to… ummm… know you better.”

It took several minutes for the two of them to realize what I was talking about and it was Rei who spoke first. He knelt on the floor and took my hands in his, smiling up at me. “Tae, I already told you that I’m okay with us having an open relationship as long as we’re open and honest about who we’re involved with and you come home to me. I might even be open to a poly relationship if we could find people that we both liked enough. Daenyss is a big part of your life. Hell, she’s a big part of our lives, she does nearly as much for me as she does for you these days. It’s okay to feel that way and to be attracted to her. I am too.”

Daenyss just shook her head sadly. “Mistress, you know that I love you and I would do anything for you but as much as I would really like to get to know you better in that way as well, I have to think of your needs first. This wouldn’t be a good idea. You know who I used to be, what I did, you might not be able to handle such intimacy with me.”

I was about to object when Rei beat me to the punch. “That’s a load of crap, Daenyss. You get more intimate with her on a daily basis than I do some days. Stop blaming yourself for things that you might have potentially done in a former life. You’re not him anymore, you haven’t been since you lost your memory. You’re Daenyss now, and Tae and I both have come to care for you a lot, our whole team has because you’re a sweet and caring woman who is worth knowing. And from what those douchebag former guildmates of yours said when we tracked them down, you were against the actions they were planning and bullied into following along anyway.”

Daenyss still seemed uncertain and, while I appreciated her concern for my mental welfare, sometimes she worried too much about accidentally hurting me. I turned her face toward me and looked her dead in the eyes. “Daenyss, I’m going to kiss you now. If you’re right and I get uncomfortable, we can leave it at that, no harm done. If I don’t, then even if we do spend time together like that Rei will be with us the first time in case I do get uneasy, if that makes you feel better. I’m not going to get uneasy though because sometimes, I still know myself better than you do.”

I waited for several breaths, just in case she really didn’t want it but when she didn’t object or resist I pulled her in close and our lips met. Her lips were soft and warm and the kiss was electric once she lost her uncertainty and began to reciprocate. It was like kissing Rei when she was female and yet not as well. Daenyss is a different person and my feelings for her were different. Some people might say a kiss is a kiss or that love is love but there are flavors and nuances that make it different from person to person because people aren’t made from a cookie-cutter, so why should something as complex as affection or love be?

By the time I considered that my sex aura might make kissing her a bad idea the two of us were engaged in a very enthusiastic lip lock. What clued me in was when she shuddered in my arms and moaned into the kiss as she pulled me closer. I broke the kiss, gasping for air, and for a moment I couldn’t speak.

Rei had no such issues. “Um… Daenyss? Did you just…? From a kiss?”

The Nymph was blushing fiercely and at first, she could only nod. “I was really turned on already and then that kiss… wow. I… I will try to block out Mistress’s aura from now on, now that I know I can. I won’t be able to concentrate on much if I don’t. I’ll clean the bedclothes while you’re both out too. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, Daenyss, it was a nice kiss. I didn’t start freaking out about being intimate with you either so I would still like to get to know you better. Rei can be with us, and we’ll only do it if you both agree to it. Take some time and consider it with a clear head, I don’t want any of us getting into something that we don’t want to do and I don’t want you making that decision right now after you just…” I trailed off awkwardly.

“We should talk about it tonight, after we’ve all had time to think with clear heads,” Rei agreed. “Let me get dressed and we’ll all go have breakfast. Maybe just cereal, no need to put yourself out, Daenyss. Umm… before that, Tae, is there anyone else that you think might be in that ‘I want to get to know them better’ category? You might as well tell us now if there is, so we’re in the loop.”

I thought about it a moment considering my earlier thought about a certain Liyun’shael. “Maybe Salem? I mean I don’t really think of her as family, I don’t think. More of a good friend, but she’s not really here right now so it’s hard to say. We have a lot in common and she’s smart, sweet, selfless, and fucking adorable. I can think of some people who I might be interested in if I didn’t know for certain that they had no interest in women, so they wouldn’t be a problem anyway. Just because I have an interest in someone doesn’t mean that I have to pursue it though and it’s probably a good thing for them since they’ll be less affected by my aura.”

With the discussion over Daenyss went to use our bathroom to clean up a bit while Rei decided to get some breakfast. It was still early since Daenyss and I didn’t need much sleep as Fae and had gotten an early start, so only Venika, Kinara, and Nishalle were awake and eating cereal in the kitchen table area. Correction, Whisper was awake too for some reason and working on her laptop. Which reminded me, Danu’s little comment about ships sailing had me morbidly curious. While Rei went to join the others in the kitchen, I went to join the Witch on the couch.

“Hey, Whisper,” I greeted her as I took a seat beside her on the couch that was the only piece of furniture without someone asleep on it. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Nah, I got six hours and that’s usually good for me. I had an idea that I wanted to give a try anyway,” the tiny blonde Witch said with a shrug.

“Really? What are you working on?” I asked, my interest piqued.

She grinned at me. “Well, Grell said that since I’m a huge techie and a Witch, I would probably be pretty good at artificing. So, I’m trying to combine a computer program I’m writing with a sort of magick-induced intelligence. The idea is to create a program that will only follow my orders, or yours, and be intelligent enough to brute force its way past the security on certain three-letter agencies’ servers way faster than any living person could.”

“That’s a pretty good idea, I’m impressed,” I told her honestly as I returned her grin. “I figured that I’d check the internet for any mentions of me that we haven’t been responsible for. Danu mentioned something that got me curious.”

“You know, it still kinda weirds me out that you casually talk to a Goddess in your head. Not to mention your recent… changes. From the outside looking in, your life is fucking crazy. That’s a good idea though, we should see if any governments are trying to slander you or something,” Whisper agreed with a nod. “Here, let me pull up my web browser and do a search.”

“You think it’s crazy from the outside? Try living it some time,” I shot back as she opened the browser and typed in my name.

“No thanks, I don’t know how you handle it all, to be honest…” She trailed off as she looked at the search results. “Holy fuck, the perverts have been prodigious the past couple of days since you showed up online. I’m not seeing anything calling you a con-woman or an alien menace or anything but holy shit, the porn sites. How did they get so many photoshopped pics of you up so fast?”

“Ugh, even during the apocalypse Rule 34 is a thing,” I muttered in distaste. “You know; I’d do something about that but it’s probably going to make me more powerful. Well, that and I’d be so busy smiting perverts that I wouldn’t have time for world peace. Wait, what the hell? Taelyaships.com?”

Whisper clicked on the site in question and it wasn’t a ship, it was a damn fleet. There were already dozens of stories and various artwork shipping me with various celebrities. Stories with titles like “Taelya X Me”, “Taelya X Loki”, and ‘Taelya X Robyn”. Okay, that last one was especially disturbing to think about since she’s both a minor and like family. Then there was the artwork in all of its pornographic glory.

The first one was a fairly tame one of me and Rei. “Reilya? Is that really a ship since she’s your fiancée? You even said as much in the video clips from the beach,” Whisper said with a roll of her eyes.

They got progressively smuttier. The Taenyss and Taelem ships got me a little hot under the collar considering my thoughts from earlier but then we saw one that made me almost throw up in my mouth. “Tayshalle? Ewww! Scroll away dammit, she’s my sister. I did not need that visual in my head first thing in the morning.”

“To be fair, you didn’t really say that explicitly in any of the videos… at least not that I can remember,” Whisper pointed out as she rapidly scrolled down. In doing so she came across an image title that had her close the entire browser before either of us could actually see the image load. “Lissya? What the fuck?! She’s fucking fifteen, you assholes!” That little shoutburst, ironically from Whisper, had the others starting to stir and garnered the attention of Daenyss and those in the kitchen area as well.

“What’s up?” Lissany asked sleepily from the loveseat.

“Uh… nothing important. We were just searching for Intel and fell down the wrong rabbit hole,” Whisper explained awkwardly. “What should we do about that site, Taelya?”

I sighed as I considered it. If they weren’t using my name and didn’t have content that I found extremely distasteful, I would have probably just let it go. I didn’t want to be the thought police but some of that content went against my core values as a Fae and maligned my good name. “Track down whoever is running that site, just… be careful about it. Something is fishy about this.”

“What do you mean?” Whisper asked as she opened the web browser again.

I frowned as I went over what I had seen on the site in my mind. “A lot of the content on that site was tailor-made to piss me off, to get my attention and make me focus on it. And how did the person get so much content up so fast? How did they know the proper spellings of all of our names? We didn’t tag ourselves in the videos and the only name that I spelled out was my own. I think that I know who we’re dealing with, there were clues there. And now that I think about it they were obvious enough that he wants us to know it’s him for some reason.”

“You think that it’s a trap?” Nishalle asked from where she was sitting at the kitchen table. One thing about the open concept design of this house, it made conversations easier while we were all doing different things.

“I dunno, Sis,” I replied with a frown. “Given who I think it is, it could be anything. But it was something that Danu said that got me wanting to do that search in the first place. She wouldn’t do anything to endanger me. I should eat some breakfast though, if he really does want to be found, it won’t take Whisper long to find him.”

“Find who?” Harley asked, sounding a little confused as she was still trying to wake up.

“I’m sure that we’ll all see soon enough,” I said with a sigh as I sat down to pour myself a bowl of cereal and add some milk. “Kinara, when is our first appointment of the day?”

The pink-haired Yseil’dhraí quickly referred to her phone before replying, “Nine-thirty, Taelya, so we have almost three hours.”

I was right, I had barely finished eating my breakfast when Whisper called out, “Found them! That was way too easy. The computer has a webcam; do you want me to access it?”

“Go for it, Whisper,” I said as I stood up and walked back over to the couch that she was sitting on. The blonde Witch accessed the camera by the time that I made my way over to her. The webcam didn’t give much of a view of the room and there was probably nobody there regardless.

All that we could see on the screen was a computer chair with a note taped to it that said, “Roof of Pegasus Entertainment @ 7 a.m. Demigoddesses only. P.S. This is not a trap. P.P.S. I’ll bring the coffee and cinnamon buns.”

“Seven o’clock? That’s only ten minutes from now,” Nishalle grumbled. “Are we going, Tae?”

I nodded slowly. “I’ll teleport us to the conference room and we can make our way to the roof from there. I’m placing every protective spell that I can think of on both of us though.

Ten minutes later, Nishalle and I were covered with every protective spell that I could conceive of and I had removed my jacket. It felt weird to be back in this conference room, where I had first found out the truth about Apocalypse Dawn and the return of magick to the real world. I tried not to dwell on it as we made our way to the roof by the quickest method possible, we jumped out the window and flew the remaining distance upward.

We landed atop the building to see our ‘host’ already there. He looked just like the actor who portrayed him in those movies, right down to the costume and the smarmy grin on his face. “I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.” For a moment I just stared at him in confusion since he hadn’t made any threatening moves yet. In fact, he just started laughing. “Oh, the looks on your faces! Sorry, but I’ve been wanting to use that line since I watched that movie.”

I could sense Nishalle tensing up beside me as she growled, “You brought us here just to mess with us?”

“No, not really, but I am a trickster God, and this opportunity was just too good to pass up. No, wait, this is all wrong.” The last was said with an exasperated sigh and his features began to shift and flow until there was a petite blonde woman with striking blue eyes standing before us in a simple blue and teal skater dress. “Much better, I’m not really feeling the whole male thing today. It was worth it to see the looks on your faces though.”

“I want that site taken down now,” I told her with a glare. She was powerful, I could feel it, but I was in no mood for whatever pranks she was intent on playing.

“I like you two, you’re feisty, but do not threaten me. You may be powerful for a Demigoddess but thanks to comic book geeks and capitalism I’m no slouch in power right now either,” she said with a devil-may-care grin. That grin faltered after a moment though and she nodded. “I apologize for that site but I had to get your attention focused on me somehow and I couldn’t just walk up to your front door with all those mortals hanging around you. The site is being taken down and the data deleted as we speak. A word of warning though, I didn’t create that content, just collated it all in one place and ensured that the spellings of certain names would catch your attention.”

“I have a phone,” I retorted sarcastically.

“That wouldn’t have been near as much fun, but I will remember that in the future. We’ll have to exchange numbers for our mortal guises since we’ll be in contact fairly often. Come! Sit down! We have a lot to talk about and I brought refreshments!” She gestured wildly toward a patio table and a trio of chairs. As promised, there was a box of cinnamon buns and three to-go cups of coffee waiting. “Now I’m assuming that Nishalle likes hers as dark as she can get it and for yours, I thought a double-double would suffice, A bit of sweetness and a splash of milk for moonlight.”

That was exactly how we both took our coffee, she was obviously talking to someone. We all sat down just quietly looking over one another and sipping our coffees for a long moment before I finally broke the silence “What is this about, Loki?”

“Oh! Didn’t I tell you? I’m your new advisor. Your part-time teacher, if you will. With everything among the Gods going tits up and Zeus’s coalition making a mad scramble for power, Danu’s little rebel alliance thought that you two could use someone to prepare you for any mind games, trickery, or attacks from the shadows,” the Goddess replied casually. “Oh, and how to play the game yourselves.”

“So of course they chose you. You do have that reputation after all,” Nishalle muttered between bites of her cinnamon bun.

“Well, yes, but they didn’t choose me, I volunteered,” she offered with a manic grin. “You and your little group aren’t afraid to break the rules and shake things up to reach your goals, or for the common good. I respect that, and I have always thought that many Gods abuse their power. Do you think that I’ve fought the status quo for millennia for my health? It was time for a change long before Danu created the Veil and you, Taelya, are the instrument of that change. You are also terribly entertaining to watch.”

“So, you’re here to give us a lesson then?” I asked in confusion.

“Not quite yet,” Loki replied with a shake of her head. “There are some preparations that I need to make so I will come to visit your little safe house tomorrow. Which brings me to why I’m here, speaking with just the two of you. You see, there’s that pesky little rule about not showing ourselves to mortals. This isn’t just because our mere presence scares them shitless. There are other reasons that won’t go into. Usually, there is a loophole there that allows me to use my shapeshifting to do as I please but there is a chance that some of your companions may end up seeing me in all my godly glory. And so I have come up with an admittedly brilliant plan.”

“And just what exactly is this plan?” Nishalle asked pointedly.

“Well, the wording is that we’re not allowed to show ourselves to ‘mortals’. Granted, Fae don’t actually count as mortals, but some of your current housemates still do. That is why I come bearing gifts.” The Goddess reached down on the ground beside her and then placed a basket of gold-colored apples on the table. “Ta-da!” She gestured to the basket, like some sort of game show hostess, and waggled her eyebrows.

“A fruit basket, how nice,” I snarked. I could tell that they weren’t regular fruit though. They were teeming with mana and magick. She seemed to like hearing herself talk so I was sure that she’d explain.

Loki snorted and rolled her eyes. “Way to kill the moment. I think that I need to teach you, girls, how to have a bit of fun. Anyway, it took a little convincing and assuring Hera that this would really piss Zeus off, but she allowed me to gather these from the Garden of the Hesperides. There’s one here for each of your housemates, as well as the Moss Maiden, the pop star, and her fuzzy boyfriend. These apples will grant immortality to those who eat them, so I won’t have to worry about being seen by ‘mortals’. But wait, there’s more! Why give them to Fae, who are already immortal, you ask? Because they will also render anyone who eats them immune to the auras of Gods!”

“Wait, you want to give immortality to our friends? As much as I appreciate the offer, Lissany, Robyn, and Kinara are still teenagers. I wouldn’t want them to be stuck that way for eternity,” I said with a shake of my head.

The trickster’s head smacked the table and she groaned before raising her head once more to pout at me. “You were supposed to say, ‘Brilliant plan Loki, thank you so much! I’m so happy to be learning from someone as smart as you, Sempai.’ Who is the actual Goddess with millennia of experience in foiling the plans of the Gods here? Wait, just a moment, I think I’ve got it. Oh yes, that would be me! One, your junior miss friends would not stop aging until they reach maturity. Two, immortality does not mean that a person will live for eternity, as many Gods have been proving of late. Immortals can still die through accidents, murder, or stupidity. Tomorrow I will start teaching you how not to do that. For now, I must be off.”

She was still pouting when she finished her tirade and I felt kind of bad for being so untrusting and cynical. She was trying to help us and Danu would have warned me if she was up to something. So I sighed and said, “Brilliant plan Loki, thank you so much! I’m so happy to be learning from someone as smart as you, Sempai. I guess that we will see you tomorrow then.” Then I took the basket from the table as she grinned at my response and cast a teleport spell to take me and Nishalle back to the safe house.