Reina, Donna, and Leon passed through the market district on their way to the castle. While Leon and Donna were still in their adventuring gear, Reina had changed into something a bit more comfortable. Namely, a baggy gray tunic with a hood, a black skirt that hung down to just above her knees, and a pair of black leather shoes. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, and she had dark bags under her eyes.

When Reina had first spotted Donna after walking through the door leading into the Inn, she just knew that her friend had guessed what happened from the knowing smile she'd tried to hide. She'd been in a similar state once or twice, after all.

Leon, on the other hand, had no idea what had happened and so he'd spent the past hour bugging her about it. Thankfully, for the sake of Reina's sanity and Leon's continued existence, they had just passed through the castle gates and spotted a familiar face.

"Hey, Ayla."

The young elf looked up from the book she'd been reading on the castle lawn and smiled. "Hey~" She replied after closing her book and sitting it on her lap. "How're you feeling after your walk?"

"Like shit. My leg’s killing me." Was Reina's near-instant reply. Not only were her legs really sore, but so was a decent chunk of her other muscles.

"What happened to your leg? Did you fall or something?" Leon asked with genuine concern in his voice.

"Yeah, Reina. Did you fall or something?” Ayla replied in a mock concerned tone.

Reina narrowed her eyes at the younger woman. She'd learned at breakfast this morning that both Ayla and Findral had overheard her and Torga's reunion. Actually, it seemed half the castle already knew about the two of them getting together. That didn't mean she was going to just tell them what happened behind those doors. Nope, that information was exclusive to her and Torga. "Yeah, you could say that." Reina mumbled.

"From the way you've been walking, you must have banged up your knee pretty badly. Would also explain why they’re so red." Donna spoke up with an innocent smile on her face.

"I’ll say, you wouldn’t believe the screams and moans I last night. You’d think someone was trying to kill her." Ayla replied with a similar smile on her face.

"Oh, bite me." Reina let out a frustrated sigh.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but no thanks. I saw what happened to those poor ninjas, I have no desire to end up on the receiving end of that.” Donna hesitated for a moment, then a lecherous grin appeared on her face. “We’ll, maybe a little bit.”

“Hey, watch it.” Reina warned.

“Oh, c’mon, Reina. Live a little.” Donna threw her arm around Reina’s shoulders and pulled her in close. “I know you’ve thought about it once or twice.” She whispered into Reina’s ear.

The hot breath on her sensitive ear caused Reina’s face to heat up. She pushed Donna away before clearing her throat. “Actually, I’m glad I ran into you, Ayla. Have you seen Al— I mean, Torga anywhere? He was already gone when I woke up this morning.”

“Dad was? Oh, right, the royal families of Asgard and Greece decided to have their peace talks today. The king asked dad to join them, personally.”

“Any idea why?”

“Nope, but knowing dad, it’s probably Odin’s way of ensuring the Greeks won’t try any to stab them in the back.”

“See, Reina. I told you it was nothing serious.” Donna said reassuringly. “I’m sure everything will be alright. After all, Torga doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to cause trouble without cause.”

Reina and Ayla turned and gave Donna a wide-eyed stare.

“What?” Donna asked.

“Nothing, I just realized that you haven’t had the chance to meet dad yet, have you?”

“No, but I can usually sense these kinds of things.” Donna explained.

Reina and Ayla gave each other a glance then started to chuckle.

“Oh, sweetheart. I have got to introduce you— the both of you, at dinner tonight. I’m thinking you’ll be surprised.” Reina replied, not even caring that a bit of her former accent bled into her voice.

I grit my teeth and shoved down the all-consuming urge to punch Zeus in his perfectly sculptured face. The small meeting hall near the rear of Gungnir wasn’t nearly big enough for eight people plus his over-bearing ego.

Aside from myself and the blowhard in question, Odin, Frigga, and Thor were present for the Asgardian side. With Zeus came his wife: Hera, his daughter: Athena, and his son: Ares. A regiment of soldiers accompanied them across the border, but they were forced to wait outside Gungnir. Zeus protested this, stating that they needed their guards to prevent any assassination attempts, but Odin had given him enough face as it was.

The arrogant twat had showed up before sunrise with half his family in tow, demanding to know why the wedding hadn’t been called off yet. How he’d known the wedding was still being planned, we didn’t know. Though Odin didn’t want to admit it, I assumed the obvious answer was correct.

Zeus had spies inside Taranis.

This led me down the rabbit hole of thinking about the numerous other hostiles that could have all manner of spies inside the city: watching, waiting, and plotting against us.

Taranis wasn’t safe, for any of us.

“I’ll not have my daughter’s good name besmirched by some elf bimbo.” Zeus growled. His fist hitting the table with enough for to crack the wood. “You’ll hold up your end of the bargain, Odin. Or by the gods there will be war.”

“I’ll not force my heir into this political farce.” Odin calmly replied, not even deigning to use the other king’s name. “I told you from the beginning that the marriage would go forth, or be stopped, entirely at my son’s discretion. To which— need I remind you— you agreed.”

“That was before I knew of his— tastes.” Zeus said disdainfully.

“Okay,” I spoke up, unable to keep quiet any longer. “I was going to let the two of you argue this out, but I think I’ve heard enough.”

“No one asked for your opinion. Unless you’re an upstart king I somehow failed to take notice of, you have no right to involve yourself in a conversation between nobles. Begone.” Zeus dismissed me with a wave of his hand.

I tightly gripped the arms of my chair, accidentally fracturing the wood beneath my palms. I stood up and placed my palms on the table. “I’m in a good mood and do not wish to ruin it by staining my hands with your blood, I’ll give you a simple warning instead. Lose the attitude, or I’ll break you.”

Zeus scoffed. He stood to his full height of seven feet and looked down on me with a look of pure disdain. “Threaten me again, boy. I dare you.”

“It wasn’t a threat, your royal assness. I’m simply informing you that this course of action isn’t wise.”

“Is that so?” Zeus laughed. “Who is this, Odin? And why is he here?”

“He’s Ayla’s father. As for why he’s here, that should be obvious even to you.”

“So, you’re the elf’s father, are you? The one I was warned about.”

“He doesn’t look like much.” Ares said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting began.

“I’m a grower, not a shower.” I replied sarcastically. “Point is, I don’t want to hear another untoward word about my daughter fall out of that gaping pit you call a mouth. You said you wanted a war, right Zeus? Keep talking and you’ll get one.”

“You, I like.” Zeus smiled at me. “You’ve got courage, I respect that. But you’re still involving yourself in matters far above your station. So, why don’t you just— crawl back to whatever rock you live under and leave this to your betters.”

“Sure, let me know when she gets here, and I’ll gladly leave it in her capable hands. Until then, I see none.”

“Odin, this commoner is thinning what little patience I had left to put up with your outlandishness. Make a decision right now: Will there be a wedding, or will there be war?”

“Both, I think.” Odin replied immediately. “You have placed demand after demand at my feet, and in some ways, I acquiesced to them. But that ends now. My son will wed whomever he so chooses.”

“I see. Then there’s no need for me to continue wasting time here.” Zeus grabbed his wife by the arm and helped her to her feet, then he motioned for Athena and Ares to proceed him out the door. “You’ll regret this, Odin. Mark my words, you’ll regret this.”

“That may be, but if there will be a war, then I’ll deal with my regret over your maggot infested corpse.”

Zeus gave us one final glance before leaving the meeting hall.

“Escort our guests back to their soldiers.” Odin said to the table in front of him.

“At once.” A calm, almost emotionless voice replied from somewhere nearby. I assumed that to be Heimdall: Odin’s right hand and Guardian of Asgard— or what was left of it.

“I have got to get him to show me how he does that.” I said in awe.

“It’s his birthright. There’s nothing to teach.” Thor replied.

“Shame. That’s a damn useful skill.” I sighed. I patted Thor on the shoulder, sent a nod to Odin and Frigga, then left the room with a request for them to inform me if the Grecians try anything.

I stepped onto the deck and sucked in a mouthful of air. It wasn’t necessary for me to breath anymore, but the feeling still helped relax me. Not breathing just felt—wrong. I nodded to the few crew members I spotted on my way to the departure ramp and headed for the city.

Taranis was a beautifully strange city: Home to around fifteen million people, the city was built with technologies from multiple different eras. On one street corner you could see shops selling swords, spears, small handguns, and rifles that fired the magical equivalent of a fifty-caliber round. My trip through the market this morning hand me gawking like a tourist. I was sure I’d attracted my fair share of attention from the crowds, but I didn’t care. Let them stare and giggle at me all they wanted; it was just the opinions of the unimportant.

Through one of the windows, I spotted a black, skintight leather suit. It was on a female mannequin about Reina’s size, so I inevitably found myself imagining her wearing it— And then I somehow found myself inside the store.

“Can I help you?” A broad-shouldered older woman asked: She was wearing a stained white apron and had her hair tied into a tight bun behind her head.

“Sorry, I saw this armor through the window and couldn’t help myself.”

“Ah, good eye.” She said in a friendly tone. “That’s made out of wyvern leather. Tough enough to stop a blade or spear, though an axe could prove troublesome. More importantly: It’s resistant to magic, so most small caliber magic rounds will bounce right off of it.” She gave me a once over, then smiled strangely. “I must admit, I don’t think I crafted one in your size. You’ll need to give me a few days if you want one.”

“No,” I laughed. “It’s for my wife— Actually, I’d need one for both my wife and daughter.”

“I see— well, you’ll need to bring them in so I can make adjustments.”

“When should we come by?”

“Whenever, child. I’m much less busy since my daughter took over the business.”

I smirked at that. “I’ll drag them by this afternoon.”

“You know— when you said you’d drag them by, I never imagined you meant you’d literally drag them here.” The old woman said while looking at the two women squirming to get out of my arms. “I’d assumed it was merely a figure of speech.” She elaborated.

“It was, they’re just embarrassed about being carried—”

“On that note— put me the fuck down, Albert! I swear to Christ, I’ll kick your ass for this!”

“Who’s Christ?” Ayla asked. Compared to Reina, I thought she was taking this whole thing in stride, then again, she was used to riding around on my head so being carried wasn’t anything new to her. “Is that a human god?”

“I’ve never heard of them.” The old woman replied. “Must be some newfangled god.”

“What, no— Albert, put me down!” She sent a hard elbow into my temple— Or I assumed it was meant to be, it’s tough to tell when you can’t feel it. I put them down anyway and gave Ayla a wink. She giggled at me, then forced a frown on her face and stepped out of my arm’s reach.

Message received: don’t pick me up like that again. I didn’t think she truly hated it; gods knew I’d carried her around enough back in my mercenary days to get her used to it— Then again, she was fifteen the last time I’d properly carried her around… Maybe she was too old to be carried around? I was having trouble remembering what was socially acceptable and what wasn’t, specifically when it came to stuff like this. I suppose spending decades alone with only myself for company wasn’t the best thing for my already lackluster grasp on human culture, and probably knocked what few screws I had left loose.

I’m still surprised I didn’t end up as some hermit up in the mountains somewhere. But I think my ties to Ayla, Findral, and the others are what kept me from losing sight of myself.

I refocused on the conversations around me and caught the tail end of Reina and Ayla discussing price— Which I’d completely forgotten about until now.

“A suit of this craftsmanship is worth every coin; I can promise you that.” The old woman insisted.

“A suit of leather armor is not worth fifteen thousand gold. Especially not one made of wyvern leather— Drake leather, maybe— Dragon leather, certainly— but not wyvern.”

“Ah, but these suits were made out of the rare ice wyvern. They’re rarely seen outside of the Jötnar home world, and I only came across it by chance when a group of adventurers returned from the ruins of Asgard. You miss out on this deal, you’re not likely to get it again—”

“Wait, that’s where you got the leather?” Ayla asked.

“Surprised?” The old woman smirked at her.

“Seeing as dad’s the one responsible for killing them, and thus all proceeds from the collection—and sale— of anything made from their corpses rightfully belong to him. Yeah, a little bit.”

The old woman’s face paled. “S-surely you jest. The adventurers are the ones responsible for killing the creatures, they even had the quest tag to prove it.”

“I was there when he killed them.” Ayla looked up at me then. “Tell her, old man.”

“Did something like that I happen?” I asked, genuinely confused by her statement.

“Of course! Don’t you remember?”

“I think I see what’s going on here. You don’t wanna pay, so you’re trying to pull the rhinox skin over my eyes. Well, it won’t happen. Not to old Grissom.”

“Wait—” I interjected. “Was that when I killed the ice dragon?” I asked Ayla, to which she nodded. I turned my attention back to the old woman— while dutifully ignoring the wide-eyed look of surprise on Reina’s face— and nodded my head. “I do remember that. Sorry, my memory isn’t what it used to be, I guess.” I chuckled. “Old age will do that to you.”

Grissom harrumphed and folded her muscular arms over her chest. “How convenient.” She snarked. “Unless you can prove the wyvern and the d-dragon were killed by you, I’m not giving you one dull coin. You hear me— Not one!” She placed her hands on my chest and shoved— all she succeeded in doing was pushing herself backwards, and tripping over her own foot, but I got the message loud and clear.

I shrugged in response to the glare she shot me, and escorted Ayla and Reina out of the store. “Don’t worry, I’ll find something else.” I told them.

“Actually, old man. I don’t really need anything else. The tortoise suit suits me fine, anything more would be overkill.” Ayla waved my concerned look away. “I mean it, I don’t need anything.”

“Same here, Albert. I have my own weapons and armor.” Reina added. “The suit I usually wear is made out of Boreal Lion leather, and my weapons are made out of Quicksilver. Besides, I have my own money. If I want something, I’ll pay for it. No need for you to waste your money.”

“You’re sure?”

Reina quirked a brow and gave me a ‘really?’ look. “Yes, I’m sure. You know I’ve always hated people buying me things.”

“Oh- right. Of course.” I chuckled. I guess I’d forgotten that. Reina was always fiercely independent and hated receiving gifts, or what she viewed as charity, from anyone. Christmas and birthdays usually turned into a knock-out, drag-out brawl between us because neither wanted the other to buy them anything. “Well, in order to keep this trip from being completely worthless, would the two of you care to join me for lunch?” I asked. To be completely honest, I was relieved to know that aspect of her personality was as how I remembered it. Given my memory problems lately, it was nice to know some things still made sense.

“Sure.” Reina said with a kind smile on her face.

“I’d love too!” Ayla said happily. “It’s been such a long time since we sat down and had a meal together!”

That gave me pause as I tried to remember the last time we’d sat down together and just ate for the sake of spending time together, and I realized that I couldn’t. Has it really been that long? A horrified realization struck me, and I plastered a smile on my face. I haven’t taken her out for a quiet lunch- just the two of us- since I was inside the elf puppet.

“Where should we go?” Ayla asked.

“Don't know, you've been here longer than I have. Any recommendations?”

“There's a great little dwarvish place around the corner. Raina, have you ever tried dwarvish food?”

“I have, I've actually been dying for some sweet rolls.”

“I'm ... Kind of lossed here, girls. Dwarvish food?”

“C’mon, old man. Don't you remember that little restaurant we tried back in Tialarthas: The one with the earth basilisk steak?”

“Come to think of it, I do remember something like that. Was that dwarvish?” I asked, the vaguest memory appearing in my mind .

“Wait, Tialarthas: As in, the place that up until a few years ago was overrun by the undead? You guys were there?” Raina asked, tilting her head adorably and looking up at me.

“There? We were the ones who solved their undead problem- weren't we, old man?” Ayla proudly announced, seeming to puff out her chest a little more.

“I do seem to recall that happening, yes.” I laughed. It was nice to see Ayla acting her age again. Ever since I’d awoken as a Serpentine dragon, Ayla had been desperate to display her maturity. So, it was a good sign that she was acting like the young woman she was.

“Well, this sounds like a story I need to hear.” Reina winked up at me and gave me a crooked grin. She reached out and took my hand and we followed along behind Ayla as she recounted our adventures in Tialarthas.