"I don't feel so good," Bushra mumbled at the threshold as I rummaged in my bag for the key to my front door.

Bushra had been withdrawn all the way home. We'd been separated while at the police station, but if she felt anything like I did after the events of tonight she had to be exhausted. Was it still tonight if the sun was coming up, I wondered? When we left the station it was still dark, with hints of the day to come. Now, the sun had breached the horizon and was gouging the shadows with bright swaths of light between the gaps in houses. It had yet to pierce the chill, however, and my hands prickled as I finally slid the key into the lock.

Bushra huddled close, and I could see her shivering even in the protection of her puffy coat. I opened the door and led her into the front room, turning on the light as I entered. She sat down heavily on the couch, and I sat down next to her to get a closer look. Dark crescents like bruises were showing under her eyes, and her face was paler than usual.

I checked her Status.

Health: 40 [max 60]

Her condition was normal, but her Health was down. Was she hurt during the fight somehow? I started looking her over to see if I could see any injuries. She had curled up into herself, hands deep in her coat pockets, as if trying to hide in its volume. The shivering had faded now that we were in the warmer interior of my place, but her face was still drawn and tight.

"Does it hurt anywhere? Were you injured in the fight?" I asked, evaluating her state. Her health wasn't going up at all. It occurred to me that she had no recovery skills like I did. It reminded me that there were healing-type skills when she'd leveled up, but I hadn't chosen any in my rush to get free.

"I feel drained, bruised," she replied. "Not any specific place, just all over." She winced as she tried to sit up a little straighter.

I felt a hard knot in my chest form as I cursed my past-self. But I hadn't had time, and we needed to escape. My eyes flicked over her skills. We'd leveled up, so there were attribute points and one more skill available to select. I bit my lip, tempted to select one and fix her right now. But it was her body, her decision. I opened my mouth to let her know about the options.

"Ah. Has Ms. Patel used any new skills?" Iter interrupted. He had come up next to me and leaned over to peer past my shoulder at her Status. "This one, perhaps?" He pointed to Radiant Strike.

"Yeah, at least twice tonight," I turned to look at Iter. "Saved our asses." I frowned. I didn't like where this was going.

Iter nodded and pressed his lips together. "That would be the most likely cause, then. Radiant Strike sacrifices Health for its power."

What the fuck! "What kind of cursed skill is that!?" I exploded. So not only was her inability to heal my fault, but I gave her some kind of vampiric power that drained her life away? I glared back at Iter, eyes wide, the knot in my chest pressing against me, making it harder to breathe.

Bushra looked back and forth between us rapidly, her voice rising slightly in alarm. "What's all that mean? I'm cursed?"

I was unable to respond, struggling with the weight of my responsibility. What did this mean? Had I really crippled her in my panic? What the hell kinds of skills are these?

Fortunately, Iter answered in my stead. "As a Paladin, your class and skills are bent towards protection and service to an ideal or oath," Iter intoned. "A sacrifice is often required to make effective use of them. Do not be alarmed," he held up a hand to forestall my second explosion, and continued. "She will regain any health used in this manner with some form of healing, or after a period of rest."

I covered my eyes with my hand, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. The knot remained, but it had loosened. Healing or rest, I thought, relieved. I turned and looked over at her, attempting a grin that didn't quite reach my eyes. "But you might want to hold off on that shiny-kick thing unless you really need it."

Bushra toppled over, laying her head on the couch cushion next to her, with her feet still on the floor. "I could use some rest." She lifted her head slightly to look over at me. "Any chance I could crash here tonight? I don't think driving home right now is a good idea, and I really, really don't want to deal with my mom right now." Her face scrunched up and she let her head fall back down on the cushion.

"Sure," I smiled, squinting slightly. I patted her booted leg, and stood up. "Let me get some things ready for you. You'll sleep better in my room tonight than on this couch."

"By the way," Bushra asked from her prone position. "Why's your lawyer here? Is it okay to be talking about that stuff with him around?" She pointed at Lex, and lowered her voice. "Client confidentiality's a thing, but does it cover all this?"

Lex looked down at Bushra from across the coffee table stoically. I saw their eyes tighten as they glanced between Bushra and the TV, but they offered nothing.

"This is Lex." I explained. "They're not my lawyer. They're, uhm, another god." I grimaced. It would never sound not stupid saying things like that out loud.

Bushra's drooping eyes suddenly went wide. "The one that fired you?!" She gasped.

I winced, but replied in an even tone, "No, a different one. They showed up recently." I looked back and forth between Iter and Lex. When neither offered anything more, I added, "I'm not sure why they helped out, but I'm glad they did." I turned to face Lex directly. "Thank you." I paused, unsure how one thanked a god, exactly. Did I need to make some kind of offering, or light incense, or something? I settled for an awkward little bow. Lex inclined their head in response, but otherwise remained silent.

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After an uncomfortable pause, I looked around at each them, and clapped my hands together. "Well. I need to put down some clean sheets and tidy up a bit. But first, I need a drink stiff enough to bounce a Gold Maple Leaf off of it. Anyone else care to join me?"

✦ ✦ ✦

I ended up pouring two glass tumblers of roughly a double shot each of Hillrock Bourbon that I saved for special occasions. It was a beautiful rectangular glass bottle of caramel colored liquid, and it was definitely my favorite among the small cache of liquor I kept in the house. This wasn't quite the type of occasion I'd had in mind, but fuck it. I dropped a couple of ice cubes in each, and made my way back to the front room.

Iter had relaxed in the lounge chair next to the sofa. Lex was seated stiffly in my desk chair, turned to face the rest of the room. Taiga had made an appearance, jumping up onto the couch and lying in space in front of Bushra. Bushra was awkwardly petting the cat from that angle, and Taiga's eyes were narrowed in pleasure, her purring filling the silence in the room.

I crossed over and handed one of the glasses to Bushra, who sat back up, dislodging Taiga, who moved to take up the warmed spot Bushra had left. I settled next to Bushra on the other side of the couch cradling the other glass in both hands. I paused and took a deep sniff of the complex sweet and oaky fragrance by way of apology, and then took a big gulp of the amber liquid. The burning travelled down my throat, and then seemed almost to rise back up and fill my mouth and nose with its stinging vapors. God, that felt good. I breathed in slowly through my nose, then took another, gentler sip this time.

A bout of coughing erupted next to me. "Oh god, how can you drink this?" Bushra asked between gasps, her face scrunched up in pain.

"It's better sipped," I smiled gently. "Not a whiskey fan?"

"No," she replied immediately, nose scrunched up in aversion. Then she cautiously raised the cup to her lips again and sipped tentatively. "It burns like diesel fuel with sugar in it." She grimaced again. "I'm mostly a wine drinker."

"Mmm," I acknowledged, and took a third mouthful. I rolled the liquid fire around in my mouth, savoring the intense flavors and sensations. I was no whiskey connoisseur by any means, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. I saw Bushra eye her cup uncertainly, before lowering it to rest in her lap. No converts tonight, it seemed.

"Why aren't they drinking with us?" Bushra asked as I was contemplating what to do next. "Not against their religion or anything, is it?"

"We do not have a religion," Iter replied. "That is a purely mortal construct, but one We encounter from time to time. Some of Our kin engage with it more than others. But Belief is… messy." He frowned, his attention directed inward.

"There are many Laws governing the consumption of alcohol, but We are beyond their jurisdiction," Lex added tangentially.

"They don't like how it feels to swallow," I followed up with a smirk before taking another sip. "Don't know what their missing."

Both gods grimaced at my bald statement.

"What is a god?" Bushra asked, looking down at her glass contemplatively. I wasn't sure if she was talking to herself, or really asking.

"What are humans?" Lex countered. "Mammals. Mortals." He looked at Iter, and added after a pause, "Messy."

"Finite in existence," Iter elaborated. "Infinite in variation." He smiled pertly, his eyes twinkling back at Lex, as if picking up a long-standing argument.

"Troublemakers." Lex glowered.

"And gods?" Bushra persisted, looking up between them. I watched them as well. It had been over a week now, and I had yet to ask this question. Why? I wondered to myself in the pause that followed.

"Gods are…" Iter paused, and tilted his head. "… more enduring. Less ephemeral." He looked over at Bushra, a more serious look on his face. It was as if his previous friendly demeanor was stripped away, revealing something colder and ancient. Not threatening, but as immense and deep as an undersea trench, unfathomable. "We embody an Ideal, a facet of existence. We Are, Were, and Will Be." He gave her a complicated smile, but his eyes were old and endless. Even with that gaze directed at Bushra instead of me, I felt like I was being dragged into their depths. I unconsciously pulled back in some vague attempt to avoid that precipice.

Bushra seemed to have difficulty speaking for a moment, but I saw her fingers tighten on the glass she held as she refused to look away.

"What is magic?" she asked quietly, seeming to force the words out.

Iter blinked, and the moment was broken. The more genial expression settled once more over his features like a mask, and he put a hand to his cheek in a contrived gesture. "That is an enigma. Magic is foreign, alien to Us. It is a force, but it shows semblance of life. It grows, alters, spreads along Paths of its own."

"It follows no Law," Lex added, deep and disapproving. "It lacks purpose."

"It is Want without desire," Iter continued, "Hunger without need. Change without intention."

"It is dangerous," Lex intoned.

"And, it's here." I pulled the ring from my pocket and placed it on the coffee table before us.

✦ ✦ ✦

Lex was the first to react. They seemed to be standing over the table with no movement at all, glaring down at the ring as if they could erase its presence through antipathy alone.

"Where did you acquire this!" Lex rumbled. Their volume was no louder than before, but their voice seemed to reverberate inside my head like thunder.

"Bruce Paap, the man who attacked us." I set my drink down on the coffee table. "He held us immobile with that." I weathered the intensity of the god's regard, and nodded at the ring. "Appraisal says it is a Ring of Paralysis. But that doesn't exist here, outside of stories and games."

Iter was also on his feet, more slowly, intentionally. He leaned down to peer at the ring more closely, using what senses or skills I had no idea. A moment later, the dark red gemstone in the ring sparked. It jumped half an inch from the surface of the table, then lay still. Taiga hissed at the table, then darted from the room, and I felt Bushra jolt.

"It is indeed a vessel of Magic." He leaned back, his eyes never leaving the ring, his hand rubbing his mouth and jaw in such a human gesture it felt both reassuring and chilling at the same time.

"So how is that possible?" I asked the obvious question.

"It is not." Lex replied unhelpfully, then reached out toward the ring. A small globe of shimmering light encased the ring momentarily, before it faded to something resembling a soap bubble which rose from the table and hovered over Lex's hand. "But We intend to resolve this paradox. Iter," they added, looking at the other god. An unspoken conversation seemed to pass between the two of them.

"We shall accompany you," Iter finally responded in a defeated tone of voice. "But We shall return." His smile rebounded, his eyes lighting up in confidence as he nodded toward me. "Our Hero has demonstrated her capacity once more. We trust you to safeguard this world until Our reunion."

"Wait, what do you…" I began, but both Iter and Lex had disappeared, as if they never were there to begin with.

Taking the ring with them. I frowned at the slight scorch mark that now marred the surface of my coffee table not far from my nearly empty drink.

"Shit," Bushra gaped at the empty room, took her own glass, and gulped down the remainder of its contents.

✦ End of Act 2 ✦