Our trip to the temple of the gods ended up taking us back to the western side of town, nearer to the residential district again. Not “true west,” but “island west,” or “relative west,” which I learned was how directions were conveyed on islands that were alive and technically always moving, even if ever so slightly as was the case with Torgard and the other major islands. True directions were based on the world’s actual compass, while relative directions referred to the island’s “head” as north, and followed suit from there.

“Wait, so, that book showed the major islands but nothing else, but there are other islands out there?” I asked as we turned down another much calmer, much emptier street, having left behind the bustling crowds and upscale architecture as we moved closer to the docks again.

“Of course,” Mel said, laughing. “Our world would be pretty empty if there were only eight islands. There’s thousands of islands swimming around out there.”

“Why weren’t any of them on the map in the book then?” I asked, then, immediately realized the answer and brought a hand to my forehead. “Oh, duh, you just said, because they move around a lot more. Okay, so, in that case how does anyone ever find any of them?”

“Well, if an island is big enough and developed enough to be of note, it’ll end up in charts and atlases, with a description of it and a general idea of its territory and usual travel paths,” Mel said, tapping her chin. “Though, if an island is very important, there’s that ritual that can be done, right?”

Mel turned to look at Elle, clearly prompting her. Elle sighed good naturedly and nodded, holding up a hand and beginning to gesture with it. “That’s correct. It requires harvesting some of the island’s blood, and using it to enchant a special compass that only points back to the island it was taken from. Here in Torgard, it’s generally not done on anything but medium to large islands, and even then not very frequently. Because of the potential consequences to both the island and its inhabitants, both the permission of them, and the island itself, are required before it can be performed.”

“What, like, the island could get sick?” I asked, tilting my head.

“Absolutely!” Elle nodded gravely. “The health of an island is a very real and very important thing to consider, because it takes hundreds and hundreds of years for new islands to form. A sea creature has to grow large enough that it's capable of sustaining itself on mana alone before it can even be classified as a newborn island. You’ve seen the druids around, right?” I nodded. “Well, aside from everything they do to keep our villages and towns and cities running smoothly, they also look after the health and growth of islands.”

“Wow,” I said, a little stunned. I had thought they just handled simple infrastructure, but it seemed like their scope was much broader than I’d realized, if it was their job to keep entire islands from dying. I made a note to more frequently leave a tip whenever I used the public restrooms.

“Speaking of the druids, do they like, work for the kingdom or something?” I asked another of the questions that had been lingering with me for a while.

“Oh, no,” Elle said, shaking her head. “The druids don’t work for any one nation, they serve The Goddess of Reap and Sow herself.”

I could practically feel the special emphasis Elle put on the name that told me that wasn’t simply a description, but a name in itself. Before I could ask for clarification, Mel snapped her fingers and pointed up.

“Hey, good timing,” she said as I followed her finger.

I’d been watching Elle as she explained, so I missed our approach to the temple, and the building before us was both more and less than I’d been imagining. It didn’t resemble a church at all; it had no tall arched roof or steepled towers, but was instead more wide and boxy, taking up the entire end of the street. It sat on a rise of open, grassy earth dominated by, of course, another sprawling garden, with a set of wooden stairs leading up to the open double doors that looked to be about ten feet tall. The whole building was rectangular, and multi-tiered, like a trio of increasingly smaller shoe boxes stacked on top of one another, with the flat roof of each tier below serving as a wrap-around balcony for the floor above, all but the final floor; instead of having a flat roof, it was topped by what appeared to be a large glass dome.

“Holy shit,” I whispered, awestruck, then winced. “Oh sh-uh, shoot. Probably shouldn’t swear here, right?”

“No, why?” Mel asked with a snort, raising an eyebrow. “The gods don’t care if you swear. If anything, they’d be more confused on the ‘holy’ part, I’ve never heard someone proclaim the divinity of shit as much as you do.”

“Oh,” I said, blinking. “Uh, that’s not… it’s just an expression where I’m from, we don’t actually think shit is literally holy. There’s a lot of them like that, actually: holy shit, holy fuck, holy cow, holy… well, you get the point.”

“Huh,” Mel said, clearly nonplussed. Beside her, Elle shook her head.

“Just because the gods don’t care doesn’t mean the temple staff won’t,” Elle pointed out, and I looked again, noticing the people in various colored uniforms and robes walking the balconies overhead, or tending the garden around the temple, some of whom were indeed looking our way.

“Good point,” I said, flushing slightly.

We resumed our approach, reaching and ascending the steps that led up to the entrance. As I got closer, I noticed more things, like the fact that the outer walls were mostly wood covered by masses of creeping vines, or that the garden surrounding the temple also featured a spacious pond over which a willow tree drooped, much like the one at the fishing hole Bart brought me to. I also began to pick out the differences in the outfits worn by the people I saw walking around. The vast majority were simple short-sleeved tunics and loose pants of a green, orange, and brown color schemes, here and there I saw some flowing robes with sleeves and cloaks sewn to resemble leaves, but I also saw outfits in dark blues and sea greens with geometric patterns of waves on them. Lastly, and the type I saw much fewer of, a handful of people in outfits consisting predominantly of different shades of red and white.

Just as we crested the top of the final step, a woman appeared inside the doorway to greet us. At first glance I thought she was human, but quickly realized what I’d mistaken for an antlered headdress were actual antlers, growing out of the sides of her elaborately done-up auburn hair above a pair of brown-furred spade-shaped ears, like a deer’s. Her skin was acorn-colored, and she wore an intricately-sewn leaf-patterned green and gold dress that ended above her knees, allowing me to see that her legs were covered in glossy brown fur and ended in a pair of split-toed black hooves.

“Greetings, and welcome,” she said with a small bow, her voice warm like a cup of tea on a cold day. “I am High Priestess Irvine, pledged in service to She Who Sows, but you may call me Emilia. Is there anything I can help you girls with today?”

Ah, right, I had still been speaking Elvish since we left the bakery. I made sure to switch back over to Common while Elle returned the bow and smiled.

“Thank you, your verdancy, we’re just showing our friend Sam around; she’s new in town,” Elle said, motioning to me. The woman turned her eyes on me and smiled wider, nodding, making the collection of wooden ornaments dangling from her antlers and hair clatter like a windchime.

“Ah, yes, our new visitor,” Emilia said, looking me up and down. “I must admit, I have already heard many things about you, and am eager to learn which of them are truth and which are idle gossip.”

“O-oh yeah?” I said, chuckling nervously. “Like what?”

“Ouh, hmm, let’s see,” she said, pressing her hands together and steepling them in front of her, her smile growing coy. “Is it true you ran circles around a whole crew of trained pirates determined to catch you?”

“Pffha!” Mel burst out laughing, earning her an attempted shush from Elle, but Emilia seemed not to mind. On the contrary, she seemed amused as well as she waited for my answer.

“It wasn’t a whole crew,” I said, shaking my head with a smile. “It was just one, and I wouldn’t say I ran circles around him, I just ran away from him.”

“Yeah, straight up a ten-foot beam and into the rafters,” Mel added, and flushed a little more.

“I see, I see,” Emilia said, nodding slowly, then turning and waving into the wide open space that made up the first floor of the temple. “Well, thank you for indulging me. Feel free to wander as you wish, and don’t be afraid to seek out myself or any of the other acolytes if you need anything.”

With that, she turned and stepped gracefully back into the temple, and I noticed as she went that she had a tiny little upturned tail, the underside covered in snow white fur.

“You know, you of all people should know it’s rude to stare at someone’s tail,” Mel said slyly in Elvish, and I tore my eyes away to narrow them up at her, which caused her to just snicker and ruffle my hair.

We proceeded into the temple and I got a more proper look at the interior of the first floor. The ceiling was high, and I saw that it was mostly to accommodate a large oak tree that stood at the center of the far wall, forming the backdrop of an enormous altar. There were three such altars of similar size, together taking up the entirety of the far wall. To the left of the tree was an impressively elaborate water feature, and the right was a…

“What the heck is that?” I asked, pointing to the third altar, which appeared to be set up before a towering statue of a nearly naked woman holding a gigantic sword in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. It was only after closer inspection that I saw the statue was not entirely naked, its modesty preserved by artistically placed folds of the billowing cape she was wearing.

“That’s the altar of The Goddess of Love and War,” Elle said, her tone insistently hushed, like the way someone might talk in a library. Or, I realized, a church, which this was this world’s equivalent of.

Already tired of embarrassing myself, I lowered my voice to match hers before continuing. “Is that why she’s…”

“Well, it’s kind of in the name,” Mel said, chuckling and nudging me forward, then walking towards the center altar. “I guess if we’re going to start anywhere it should be these three, c’mon.”

I followed her and Elle, passing by several more alcoves set into the walls on either side, the altars inside them smaller than the grand three at the head of the temple. As we approached the center-most one, I began to make out more details, like the fact that there was a statue in front of this one too, but one I’d missed because it was formed from wood the same shade as the tree. It depicted a figure with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a horse or a deer. Her left arm was wrapped around a basket overloaded with fruits and vegetables, and her right arm was holding a sickle, and she was kneeling on all four legs in the grass surrounding the trees, her branch-like antlers mingling with those of the tree.

“This,” Elle said solemnly, “is The Goddess of Reap and Sow, and one of the three supreme deities who created our world.”

For a moment I didn’t say anything. Something as simple as a “Huh,” or a “Wow,” didn’t seem right, especially with how reverently Elle and even Mel were looking up at the statue.

“So, uh, I guess she’s… all about nature and stuff?” I asked, hesitantly, wary of offending either of them or the other members of the temple around us.

“Ah, oh, yes, we’re supposed to be teaching you,” Elle said, giggling into her palm then clearing her throat. “That’s right, The Goddess of Reap and Sow or, depending on the situation, She Who Sows or She Who Reaps, is the goddess of all things to do with life and death, birth and growth and decay and renewal. If you need help with anything to do with plants or animals or health or anything like that, she’s who you’d pray to first.”

Looking from the statue to the space in front of it, I saw a low, wide table, littered with bowls containing various fruits and nuts, as well as several lit candles.

“I guess that’s for offerings?” I asked, motioning down, and Elle nodded, smiling brightly.

“Yup!” She then knelt in front of the table on one of the many pillows that was layered in front of it, reached into one of the bowls for a handful of nuts, and tossed them into her mouth before closing her eyes and bowing her head.

I stared, blankly, while Elle chewed and… prayed? Eventually, I turned to Mel and whispered as quietly as I could, “Are you… allowed to eat those?”

“What? Yeah,” Mel said, smirking and also moving to rest on one knee, grabbing what looked like an overlarge raisin from the bowls, chewing it while explaining, “She’s the goddess of life and pretty much everything food is and comes from, seeing people enjoy the products of the land is one of the best ways to praise her.”

“Oh,” I said simply, and then, because I felt it would be unspeakably rude not to, I knelt down onto an empty pillow and, after scanning over the selection, grabbed a few dark red grapes and tossed them into my mouth.

I closed my eyes and chewed, slowly, wondering just what the hel— heck I was supposed to do now. I’d been avoiding bringing up the subject of religion on Earth because it seemed like such a massive can of worms to open, even without getting into my own thoughts and feelings. My family had been the archetypal American “just go on holidays and Christmas,” type, and whatever it was they got out of our infrequent church outings, I didn’t.

Still, it seemed like things were… different in this world, and like I’d said, there probably wasn’t any harm in trying, right?

Elle and Mel had just been sitting with their heads closed and their eyes bowed, but for me, it didn’t feel like I was doing it right if I wasn’t doing something with my hands. I didn’t want to press them together flat so, instead, I clasped them in front of me.

Uh… hey there… Goddess…

I winced inwardly. I was so getting smited.

It’s me, uh, Sam. Well, I’m called Sam now, I don’t know if you’re supposed to be omniscient or what, but, a lot of stuff has happened since I came to, uh, your world. I don’t know if that was you or what, and I still don’t really know how I feel about it, or the cat girl thing. Well, the girl part is good, but the cat part…

I shook my head. I was getting sidetracked, and the grapes in my mouth were mush. Was I supposed to wait until I finished praying to swallow? Damnit, why was this so unintuitive!

Anyway, uhm, if it was you then, uh, thank you for dropping me here in Rower’s Rest. I’ve met a lot of really really nice people here, and I’m happier than I think I’ve been in a long time. So, uh, Ame—oop, wait, no, that’s probably not right. Uh, bye!

I swallowed, and opened my eyes, looking up. The eyes of the statue, I realized, were downcast at just such an angle that now that I was kneeling, I could look directly into them. The expression on the statue’s face was warm and comforting, and the longer I looked, the more I realized I was actually beginning to warm from the outside in, like I was sitting directly in the path of sunbeam. I looked around, but none of the high windows were pointed in my direction. Elle and Mel were looking at me curiously, obviously finished before I was.

“Something wrong?” Mel asked, and I shook my head.

“No, uh, I just… feel really warm all of a sudden, I thought the sun was—”

“Oh!” Elle gasped, cutting me off and placing her hands on my cheeks. “Really? You feel a warmth?” Too confused to answer in words, I just nodded, and she beamed, jumping to her feet. “Sammie, that’s another blessing!”

“I… What?” I asked, moving to follow her, and finding that my body felt lighter, refreshed like after one of my cat-naps. I blinked, hopping on the balls of my feet and holding up my hands, wiggling my fingers in front of me. The warmth had faded, but not entirely dissipated, and I no longer felt the fatigue that had started to build up in my legs from all the walking around.

“A blessing from the goddess,” Elle repeated. “A sign that the goddess heard your prayer! Tell me, what are you feeling?”

“I, uh, I feel… like I just woke up from a nap?” I said, rolling my shoulders and rubbing at my neck, finding not a trace of stiffness to be found. Realization of what exactly just happened dawned on me, and hurriedly asked, “Does that happen every time?”

“Of course,” Elle said, then, seeming to remember we weren’t exactly alone, lowered her voice and switched over to Elven to explain. “All of the gods have their own blessings to bestow, and specific prayers to ask for specific ones, but it doesn’t usually happen if you’re not a follower of theirs. For her to give you a blessing even though you’ve not pledged yourself to her has to mean something!”

“...huh,” I said, letting my arms drop to my sides. Slowly, and a little fearfully, I turned to look up towards the statue again. At my height, even without kneeling, I could see into its eyes. “Uh… t-thanks.”

Whatever else I expected to happen, nothing did, except Elle and Mel both chuckling behind me. Cheeks reddening again, I turned and looked to either side, at the other two altars.

“So, uh, should we check out the other two?”

“Yeah, might as well,” Mel said, patting me on the back as she turned to the left, leading us over to the quietly burbling water feature.

Just like with the first altar, I noticed more about this one as I got a closer look. The fountain wasn’t simply a single stream of water, flowing from top to bottom, but an elaborately carved work of art, made to resemble a massive scaled creature, a snake or a fish or something else I couldn’t recognize. The head, from which the water poured, was long and triangular, like some kind of lizard, and had three eyes, two on the sides and one in the center of its forehead, all made of deep blue sapphires. Water poured out of its mouth and cascaded down its body, and I saw that it split and forked down many different paths carved between the scales, all of them eventually emptying out into the shallow pool at the bottom. I was shocked to see movement inside the fountain, as several tiny silver-bodied minnows darted about while larger, copper-scaled fish swam in more sedate circles.

“We’re not allowed to eat those too, are we?” I asked, pointing at the fish. Elle bit down on her lip, and Mel pressed a fist to her mouth, snickering and snorting into it in an attempt not to burst out laughing inside the quiet temple.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no,’” I said, hunching my shoulders while Mel let out more muffled snickers into her clenched fist. Turning to Elle, I asked, “So, uh, this is…?”

“The God of Time and Tide,” Elle said, more matter-of-factly than she’d introduced the previous deity. “I don’t know as much about him because Mel and I aren’t regular followers of his, but he’s the god of everything to do with the ocean, traveling in it or on it, the passage of time, as well as things like plans and fate, and so on. You’re supposed to pray to him when you want to get something done on time and for your plans to succeed, but lots of times people just pray for their enemies' plans to fail instead.”

I nodded along, taking in the explanation, then moved towards the row of pillows in front of the shallow pond and knelt down again.

“Oh, you’re going to pray to him too?” Elle asked, and I realized neither of them had followed.

“Well, I don’t want to be rude,” I said sheepishly, motioning at the pool. “And, I know you said the other one was in charge of all the animals, and that includes fish, but the ocean is where most of the fish live, so I figure I should say something to this guy too.”

“Heh,” Mel chuckled again, shrugging. “Fair enough. Well, you have to have a part of you in or at least touching the water, but some people say the only way is to have it be your face, and others say you have to be totally underwater. Then again, most of his followers are seadwellers.”

“I… don’t know what that means,” I said, shaking my head. Well, I could ask later. Sitting up on my knees, I leaned down over the pool, gripping the sides and peering at my wobbly reflection past the constant ripples. Better make this one quick.

“Uh, Sammie?” Elle asked behind me. “What are you doing?”

I thought that was fairly obvious, so, instead of answering, I just sucked in a deep breath and plunged my face into the fountain.

Hey there, I began, no longer that worried about receiving some kind of retribution for a lack of decorum in my prayers.

I’m Sam, and I gotta make this quick. I don’t really have anything for you but you seem pretty important so I just wanted to say ‘hi,’ and, uh…. Oh, I have a really important fishing competition coming up in the middle of summer, I guess if you could maybe help make sure that works out for me, I’d really appreciate it, okaythankyoubye!

Just as I felt myself starting to reach the limits of how long I could comfortably hold my breath, I pulled myself back out of the water, gasping for air. Before I could reach up and start trying to wipe my eyes clear, a fluffy towel was pressed into my hands.

“Mmf… thanks,” I mumbled through the thick material as I wiped my face dry.

“The Lord of Time thanks you, as well,” a cheerful voice that belonged to neither Elle or Mel replied, and I felt my ears perk. Pulling my face out of the towel, I looked up and was greeted by a figure I initially took to be another elf, because his skin was blue, but upon closer inspection I realized it was also covered in very fine scales.

The… fish man? standing before me had mostly blue scales, but there was a stripe of black across his eyes like a mask, as well as down his arms and legs, which were bared by the short robes he wore, and two bright streaks of yellow that ran from the corners of his eyes and down his face, disappearing below his collar. What I took for the pointed ears of an elf were actually a pair of two pronged fins, and they weren’t the only pair on his body; there were another two running along his forearms, and two more flanking his calves. His feet, clad in sandals like mine, were webbed, as was the hand he held out to help me up. His robes, I noticed, almost as an afterthought, were blue.

Oh. So that’s probably what a “seadweller” is.

Realizing I’d spent far too long just staring wide-eyed up at the man, I took his hand and scrambled up to my feet. It was, as I expected, cold or clammy.

“Uh, s-sorry, I mean, thanks!” I said frantically, handing back the damp towel, which the man took and folded while smiling, showing off an impressive set of fully pointed teeth.

“Oh no, you’re fine,” he said, chortling and draping the folded towel over his shoulder. “If they realized you were planning to deliver your prayers the old fashioned way, they would’ve sent me over sooner. I’m Junior Tide Minder Fynn, but just call me Fynn.”

“F-Fynn?” I asked, unable to help myself.

“Yeah,” Fynn said with a good natured chuckle. “Trust me, I know, but despite how silly it is, it’s still a crazy popular name for seafolk. There’s a even saying down here: For every human named ‘John’ there’s a seadweller named ‘Fynn.’”

Beside me, Mel snorted. I couldn’t help but snicker a little as well, which caused Fynn to smile again.

“Oh, I’m Sam,” I said, realizing I’d still not returned his introduction, then tilting my head to either side. “And these are my, uh, my girlfriends, Elle and Mel.”

“Hey Fynn,” Mel said, grinning.

“Nice to see you,” Elle said, bowing her head slightly.

“Hey again,” he said, giving a little wave, then to me he explained, “Well, they’ve been coming to this temple for years, we have met. It’s great to meet you, though, I hear you’ve been making quite a splash around town.”

For some reason, I suddenly felt like groaning.

“Eheh, yeah…” I chuckled, shrugged, and scratched at the back of my neck. “I guess I have. Not intentionally or anything, but, I do kind of stick out down here.”

Now that I had a bit more context on what people who met me would assume about my backstory, I figured it was a good idea to play along a bit.

“Nothin’ wrong with that,” Fynn said, moving past me and approaching the fountain, reaching into a pouch that was dangling off one of his hips by his belt. “As the God of Time and Tide says, a still pond is one lacking in life, and I think it’s safe to say Rower’s Rest has been still for a while.” Drawing his hand from the pouch, he tossed out a mix handful of thin, dried flakes of something green, as well as several red lumpy orbs the size of pebbles, both of which bobbed on the surface of the water. Whatever they were, the fish in the pool apparently loved them, as soon a tiny feeding frenzy was taking place, the commotion causing the surface of the water to churn and bubble.

“Huh,” I said, tearing my eyes away from the swarming fish before I could get any ideas. “Well, happy to help make things more exciting, I guess.”

“You’re planning to make a prayer to The Goddess of Love and War too, right?” Fynn asked, jerking his head towards the final large altar.

“Uh, yeah, that’s the plan,” I said, since there was no way I was risking offending a goddess who was depicted as a nearly-naked woman carrying a gigantic sword. “Why, are there other special preparations we need to take care of first?”

“That depends,” Fynn said, grinning again. “Are you planning to do that one in the old style too? Because if so, we’ll need to get a few more towels ready.”

“Of course not!” Elle gasped, suddenly blushing furiously.

“We’re not,” Mel said, rolling her eyes. Before I could blurt something out that might give away that I had no idea what he was talking about, Mel dropped one of her hands onto my head and gave it a quick scratch.

“You should be fine then,” Fynn said, chuckling and looking from side to side. “Well, if there’s nothing else I can do for you, I’ll leave you to it, yeah?”

“Yeah, we’re all set,” Mel said, returning his smile and waving with her free hand.

“No, but thank you again,” Elle said, shaking her head, cheeks still faintly green.

With that, Fynn departed, and we turned to cross the room, but before he'd gone three steps he turned around and called out, “Oh! One more thing!

Curious, I looked back, and he once again flashed me a grin. “Put in a good word with Sera for me, would you?”

“Pff, shut up, Fynn,” Mel said with a mix of a scoff and a laugh. Fynn picked up the pace of his departure and quickly became absorbed with helping someone waiting by one of the smaller altars.

“I don't get it,” I said, turning to Elle, who also had a hand pressed to her mouth, failing to hide a smile.

“It's a dumb joke,” Mel said, shaking her head. “I'll explain it in a minute. Looks like they're waiting for us over there.”

As we turned back to the third altar, I saw she was right. Someone else must have correctly guessed our intentions, because this time there were already two people in red robes waiting for us. An older, taller, human woman with blonde hair in darker red robes, and a younger, mousier-looking girl with brown hair and a paler red and white uniform.

“The Lady of Love smiles on you, my children,” the blonde woman announced as we came within comfortable speaking distance, pressing one hand to her chest and holding the other out to the side. “I am Elder Sister Senna, this is Sister Juniper. It is my understanding you will be entreating the goddess today?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said, nodding, a little thrown off by the sudden shift back to a formal atmosphere after Fynn's casual tone.

“Then will you be needing to avail yourselves of the complimentary healing ointments?” she asked, at the same time motioning to Sister Juniper again, or rather, at the circular silver tray she carried with several tiny glass vials of a viscous, dark rest liquid resting on it. They were about the same size as those little sample bottles of alcohol they sold at gas station counters.

“No, thank you,” said Elle, politely.

“Yeah!” I said at the same time, excitedly plucking up one of the vials from the tray and holding it up to the light. Mel eyed me and Elle outright boggled, so I took a split second to switch to Elvish and explain, “Hey, if I'm gonna do it, I wanna do it right. Plus, free potion!”

“My, my,” Elder Sister Senna said, giving me a slight smile. “It has been a while since I've seen someone express such… enthusiasm to worship my lady, especially here in Torgard.” She looked expectantly at Elle and Mel, who exchanged glances. Shrugging, Mel reached out and accepted a vial as well.

“Sure, why not,” Mel said, then she and I both looked to Elle, who brought a hand to one of her cheeks and sighed.

“Very well. I suppose it has been a while,” Elle said, delicately lifting one more vial from the tray, giving Sister Juniper a smile and a “Thank you.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” I added, nodding my head at the suddenly uncomfortable-looking girl, who squeaked out something that might have been a reply and might have just been a noise.

“Well, we will let you have some privacy now,” Elder Sister Senna said with another smile, settling a hand on Sister Juniper's shoulder and nudging her to move. I waved after them, then turned and grinned sheepishly at Elle and Mel.

“Come on, I wasn't going to pass up a free potion,” I said, mostly to Elle’s mildly exasperated look. “I haven't explained what video games are yet, but trust me, this is a big deal for me.”

“First of all, it's not a potion,” Elle said, turning and moving towards the altar. “It's an ointment, which means it goes on the wound, please don't drink it.”

“Aw, what?” I asked, deflating slightly as I followed Elle, kneeling onto one of the plush red pillows before a low slung wooden table. “Well, still, magic liquid.” Tilting my head up to finally take in the full effect of the final altar, I asked, “So, what's the deal here?”

Staring down at me was the statue I'd seen already, a woman wearing a cloak and a smile and nothing else, standing with one hand resting on the hilt—or is that the pommel?—of a sword that was taller than she was, the tip disappearing into the base around her feet. In her other arm she held an impossibly large bouquet of flowers, her back slightly bent and her arm slightly extended, as though to offer them to the people kneeling before her. Long hair that had a slight curl to it fell down her back and framed the sides of her face, and both the pose and the smile she wore somehow managed to make her look kind and compassionate, rather than imposing.

Huh… she looks kinda familiar too…

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Now that we were closer, I could also see that the area around and behind the statue was decorated with a mix of both actual flowers, and actual weapons. Swords and axes and spears were hung on racks, next to decorative pots overflowing with beautiful, fragrant flowers.

“Well,” Mel grunted lightly as she settled down on my opposite side. “Like I said, this is The Goddess of Love and War. Anything to do with courting, relationships, or romance falls under her domain, but she's also the patron of other kinds of love too, like the bonds between family members, or lifelong friends. She's also who you pray to in all matters of conflict, but though people like to focus on just the exciting, blood kind, she also presides over like, contests of skill and friendly competitions too.”

“Oh, wow, that's kind of a lot for one Goddess,” I said, glancing at the statue again and muttering, “Hmm, maybe I should ask her for help in the fishing contest too then… is that allowed? Double dipping on prayers?”

“Double what?” Mel asked, furrowing her brow.

“Yes, Sammie,” Elle said, resting a hand on my shoulder. “You could visit every altar in this building if you wanted to and offer the same prayer, that is why the temple is here. Though whether you'd get a response is up to the gods themselves.”

“Ah, alright,” I said, smiling back at her, then holding up the vial of healing ointment. “So, what was that ‘old way’ to pray Fynn was talking about, and does it have anything to do with these?”

Elle's hand disappeared from my shoulder and when I looked, she had turned away, but the tips of her ears were green. Beside me, Mel chuckled and lowered her voice.

“He was joking, people haven't done that in thousands of years.”

“Well I figured the part, but still, what was it?” I asked, intensely curious.

“Are you sure you want me to tell you? I'm kind of afraid if I do you'll just turn into a tomato,” Mel said, which obviously didn't make me any less curious.

“Well now I have to know!” I said, sitting up on my knees and staring intently at Mel.

“Okay, okay, but don't say I didn't warn you,” Mel said, putting a hand on my shoulder to nudge me back onto the cushion. With that last warning ignored, Mel sighed, scooted closer, and lowered her head to whisper into one of my ears. “Well, first, we'd have to fight each other.”

“What, like, physically?”

“Mmhm. Obviously not seriously or to the death or anything, but more as a show of strength, for the goddess. Depending on the occasion we'd either be armed or unarmed, but we wouldn't stop until we were all at least a bit bloodied.”

I felt my eyebrows slowly creeping higher and higher the longer she went on, surprised, but not at all embarrassed.

“That's it?” I asked, tilting my head, and heard Elle groan behind me. Mel, savoring the chance to be dramatic for once, lowered her voice even further and brought a hand up to cup the side of her mouth, leaning closer to one ear.

“Of course not. After the show of strength, we'd have to put on the show of love...”

Mel then proceeded to elaborate on what exactly that meant, and it took every ounce of strength in my small body to not let the words “Blood orgy?!” burst from my lips at full volume. By the time she was finished, my cheeks felt like they were on fire, and I couldn't stop staring up at the statue, expecting it to come to life at any second and try to explain itself.

“So… the potions?” I asked distantly, turning back to Mel, who was looking far too pleased with herself.

“Ointment,” she said, and pointed to the low table in front of the altar, which featured only a single decoration in the form of an oval shaped copper bowl. “And, it's for after. Thankfully, these days we know you can get by with just a few drops of blood spilled and a quick kiss and still get the goddess's attention. There's a lot of debate over whether that was always the case, or if the goddess herself has just changed over time.”

“Huh,” I said, eyeing the bowl. For something that apparently strangers dribbled blood into on a semi-regular basis, it was remarkably clean. “Okay, that's still kind of metal. I wonder what my friends would say if they could see me now, about to perform a blood ritual.”

“Oh, it's hardly a ritual.” Elle scoffed. It was the first thing she'd said since Mel’s history lesson, and she seemed to have gotten ahold of herself. “For one thing, it doesn't take hours to set up, and only has one component instead of two dozen.”

Before I could ask, Mel leaned over and explained, “She’s had to sit through a lot of boring rituals.”

“Gah, stop telling me about cool magic stuff when I can't take notes!” I grumbled, jokingly, and refocused on the bowl. As soon as we were done here, I was getting back to questioning what they'd said about the availability of magic. I held up one hand, staring at my palm, and asked, “So, how are we supposed to do this?”

“With something sharp, hopefully,” Mel stated, like it was the simplest thing in the world. Once again preempting my question, Mel reached into her satchel and drew a wood-handled knife in a leather sheath. I blinked as she drew it out, revealing a short, slightly curved blade patterned with moons and stars, and continued staring as she leaned past me, over the bowl, and pricked the pad of her index finger with the very tip of her knife.

Turning my head to ask Elle… something, I found she'd already done similar, holding a tiny leaf-shaped knife with a handle carved like a coiling vine in her hand. She winced, but still resolutely squeezed the tip of her finger, forcing out several thick drops of—

“Your blood is green?!” I asked in a frantic whisper as I watched the disturbingly-bright forest-green droplets splash against the bottom of the bowl next to Mel’s blood, which was a rich navy blue instead. The scent of berries and lemon had increased significantly, and I realized it was coming from the blood.

“Did you think Elle was joking when she said thirty percent?” Mel asked, smirking and lifting the vial in her other hand. Pulling out the tiny cork with her teeth, she held the opening over her finger and tilted it slowly until the syrupy red liquid inside oozed out onto her fingertip, adding the smell of cherries mixed with a doctor’s office into the mix.

“Apparently,” I said, sighing. There’d be time for more questions later.

While Elle and Mel rubbed the healing goop into their fingertips, I sat up on my knees again and leaned over the bowl. I didn’t have a knife of my own, but, in a way, I had ten perfectly good substitutes growing out of the ends of my fingers. Bracing myself, I held up my left hand and, with a moment of confused flexing, extended just the claw on my left index finger. The tips of my fingers seemed a bit too small, so instead I pressed the tip of my claw to the pad of my right thumb, taking one more deep breath before forcefully stabbing it in. I hissed through my teeth and quickly pinched the sides of the wound between my thumb and forefinger, squeezing out several drops of blood that I was actually relieved to see was just the normal, default red, and didn’t glow or smell like anything except a handful of pennies.

Sitting back on the cushion, I popped the top off my own bottle and dribbled the healing ointment onto my thumb, shivering slightly at the immediate cooling sensation. Using my other fingers to rub it into the wound, I watch in fascination as the tiny opening closed right up before my eyes, leaving smooth skin with not a single trace of injury.

“Wow…” I whispered to myself, tilting my thumb this way and that, inspecting it. It wasn’t even sore, and the remaining red goop was either evaporating or being absorbed into my skin, so that within seconds my hands were completely clean without so much as a sticky residue left behind.

“You’re so fascinated by the simplest things,” Mel said, lifting my attention back to her and Elle. “It’s really adorable.”

“W-well to me it’s not simple at all,” I protested weakly, feeling myself flush again and lowering my eyes to the bowl. I’d joked about it earlier, but it really was hard to believe I was sitting here, offering up blood to a goddess in exchange for… what was I even going to ask for?

“So what happens now?” I asked, and Mel gave me a meaningful grin. I realized with a start that she’d already said what comes next.

“...a few drops of blood spilled and a quick kiss…”

“O-oh, right,” I said, then glanced side to side. I was, in what was rapidly becoming a pattern, once again sat between the two of them. “W-well, there’s three of us, so m-maybe you two should go first, or…”

I trailed off as the pair collectively came to the decision to reject my suggestion and, in a repeat of the move they’d pulled when we were seated on their couch together not too long ago, leaned down together and pressed a kiss each onto either of my cheeks. I saw it coming, but that didn’t make it any less flustering, and I almost missed both times as I turned my head to return the favor.

“I hope you’re happy up there,” I said, casting a glance up at the statue looming over us and its kind, benevolent smile.

With the preparations apparently complete, Elle and Mel bowed their heads, and I did the same, once again clasping my hands together and closing my eyes. I sat that way for several moments, not actually sure where to even start. Even though Elle said it was okay, I didn’t want to lead off with just asking for more help with the competition.

Hey th— uh, I mean… greetings, goddess, my name is Sam and… and basically, two really nice, really amazing elf girls who honestly should be out of my league just asked me to go out with them today, and I really don’t know if I should be thanking you or begging for help or what, but…

I frowned, losing my train of thought. This was a terrible prayer. Shaking my head slightly, I started over.

Sorry, sorry, what I mean is, I… I’m glad they asked me out, but I’m scared of disappointing them, or letting them down. I… don’t know if I’ve ever been in love, or how it’s supposed to feel, and they obviously love each other, so I guess I’m worried I won’t be able to… catch up? I mean, I like them both, a lot, and they apparently like me too, but you’re the Goddess of Love, not the Goddess of Like, so… shit, shit, this is so not helpful…

Scrunching my face up in concentration, I took a long, deep breath and let it out slowly.

What I’m trying to say is, if it’s meant to work out between me and Elle and Mel, then… Thank you. I’m not just asking you to make sure we all fall in love and live happily ever after, I don’t think it works that way and I wouldn’t want it to either, but… maybe a little help? I’m not asking for the world’s most exciting love life or anything, but just like, make sure our dates go okay, and that we don’t end up in some bizarre love triangle or something stupid like that… and, uh, I guess that’s it. Bye.

I really had to learn a better way to close out prayers if I was going to do this again. And, well, since I was already here…

Oh, and if you could maybe help me with the fishing contest too, please. Okay, bye now for reel… I mean for real.

Lifting my head and blinking my eyes open, I glanced furtively to either side. Elle and Mel were there, both of them smiling gently at me in their own ways, obviously having finished their own prayers ahead of me. Before I could say anything, a flash of light in the corner of my eye drew my attention to the bowl, and I watched, wide-eyed, as the tiny quarter-sized puddle of blood in the center of it caught fire. The flame was tiny and narrow, like a candle’s, and an odd reddish-purple color instead of orange. In the time it took me to blink twice, the puddle of blood had burned away, the flame winking out and leaving behind a fragrant wisp of smoke that dissipated into the air.

“Huh,” Mel said, and I tilted my head to stare at her.

“W-what?” I asked nervously, gesturing at the now empty, spotless bowl. “That was supposed to happen, right?”

“Oh, yeah, don’t worry, that’s normal,” Mel said, chuckling. “But, usually the fire is more of a blueish-green, since mine and Elle’s blood is, you know, blue and green.” She motioned between herself and Elle, then grinned. “I guess adding yours into the mix made it a different color.”

“Huh,” I said, echoing Mel’s remark. “Neat…”

After that, we sat for a few more moments in pleasant silence, enjoying each other’s presence and the scents of flowers that clung to the air around the altar.

“So, why did she, uh, Sister Senna seem so surprised that I was excited back there?” I asked after a moment. It hadn’t stood out as strange at the time, but now I couldn’t help but wonder what she meant.

“Oh, that,” Mel said, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder before taking a deep breath. “Yeah, you should probably know before the next time it comes up…” She trailed off, visibly collecting her thoughts while tilting her head back to look up at the statue. “So, you asked about the Empire earlier, and we told you the basic gist of it, but left this part out. The reason that things have gotten so bad, the reason people have become less enthusiastic to show devotion to the Goddess of Love and War, is because the Empire has been claiming for over a thousand years now that everything they’re doing is in service to her. Somewhere along the line, their royal family got it into their heads that they’re descendents of the goddess herself, and now their churches worship a version of her that is completely at odds with the rest of the world. They claim that humans are her favorite, and that anyone who doesn’t believe them or follow their ways are wrong.”

“Oh…” I said, my brow slowly furrowing as I took in the story. That was… that was some serious shit, and for perhaps the first time since I’d come to this world, I felt real, actual fear at the thought of such a threat existing out there, across the ocean. Elle, quick to pick up on my distress, leaned over to loop one of her arms around my shoulder and pull me to her side.

“Mmhm.” Mel hummed in agreement, nodding and reaching over to rest a hand on my head as well. “Listen, don’t worry, we’re still safe here in Torgard. They’d never make it to us, and even if they did, we’d know well before we were in any danger.” She scratched at my head gently, almost absently, then let out a resigned sigh. “But, they’ve still all but declared war on the whole world, and, well, they’re powerful enough that no one kingdom has the resources to stop them alone, and nobody is willing to risk provoking them into going all out. Except the pirates, of course, and they’re doing everything they can, but they’re still fighting an uphill battle. Even with how far away it’s happening, it’s still not great to think about.”

“No kidding,” I said, giving Elle a squeeze and leaning my head into Mel’s fingers. My eyes were drawn to the goddess’s statue as well, and I frowned. A part of me wanted to ask, if the gods of this world were as real as they seemed, and they had the power to affect and influence it like I’d seen and felt, why hadn’t one of them stepped in and done something about this Empire. Were there limits to their powers that I just didn’t understand? There was no way the Empire was just getting away with it because they were actually right, was there?

A shiver ran down my spine. Now that didn’t bear thinking about.

“We should probably… get moving now. Don’t wanna hog the altar, right?” I asked, looking back and forth from Elle to Mel.

“Yeah,” Mel agreed with a dry smile, giving my head one more scratch then pushing herself to her feet. Elle nodded and stood, helping me up as well. She seemed somewhat clingy after the somber moment, as she kept at least one arm around me even as we walked away from the altar. There wasn’t anyone waiting to take our place, and as we passed by I caught sight of Elder Sister Senna and Sister Juniper, standing and talking against the far wall. The former caught my eye and gave me a smile that seemed much sadder than it had before, and gave her a little wave in return.

Stepping down from the raised rear of the main hall, Mel stopped and motioned to the sides of the room, which were lined with many recessed alcoves containing smaller altars, the ones we’d passed on the way in in favor of visiting the largest three first.

“Guess we should go over some of these before we leave, huh?” she asked, and I brightened up a little, nodding and fishing my journal out of my bag.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” I said, looking to Elle and giving her a smile. She seemed alright, if a little withdrawn, but she smiled back and squeezed my shoulders again.

“Yes, then after that we should get you back to Felda’s. I’m sure she’ll want to hear that you’re doing much better,” Elle said, keeping pace with me as I followed Mel towards the first of the alcoves.

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure it’ll be a load off her mind,” I said, nodding. I would be glad if I could just stop causing disruptions in Felda’s life entirely; between her taking me in and having to defend herself on my behalf, and then having to deal with… all of my baggage, she really deserved to be able to relax a bit.

As we made a quick circuit of the temple, Elle and Mel gave me a crash course on the minor deities; gods who served more narrow, specialized roles and had actual names, unlike the big three who covered much broader concepts in comparison.

First I learned the names of possibly the five most important gods, as they were the ones the days of the week were named after. Even though I already knew the goddesses of day and night, Soliel and Seras, we still visited their alcove, since their altars were always built together. I learned that the first and last days of the week were named after them as well, Solday and Serday, respectively. Elle delighted in pointing out that their meeting up together at the end of every week was the same as their meeting at sunrise and sunset from the story I’d read, and I think she took a bit of extra delight in how merely mentioning it almost made me cry again. After that were the three remaining days, Ferday, Kourday, and Colday, named after Ferros, Koura, and Colin.

“Okay, slow down,” I said, putting a brief pause on Mel’s explanation. “There’s a god named Colin?”

“Yeah?” Mel said, raising an eyebrow. “Why, what’s wrong with Colin?”

“Nothing, it’s just… it’s just a very normal name,” I said, shaking my head and raising my journal again. “And you said he’s the god of… jokes?”

“Jokesters, pranksters, and trickery,” Mel said, clarifying, and I scribbled it down next to the rest.

“And Ferros is like metals and forging and making stuff, and Koura is selling stuff,” I said, wanting to double check I’d gotten both right.

“Overly simplified, but yes,” Elle said, still sticking close to me, but now seeming to have regained her spark. “That’s why Solday and Ferday are considered the best days for working hard, Kourday is the best day for taking the results of that work to market, Colday is best for parties and celebrations, and Serday is for resting.”

“I still can’t believe your weeks are only five days long,” I said, trying to jot down a condensed version of that explanation.

“I still can’t believe your weeks are a whole seven days,” Mel said in response, sounding genuinely confused. “I mean, what did you do with all that extra time?”

“Not a whole lot, really,” I said, lifting my head. “I guess, to put it your way, weekends are like two extra Serdays where you don’t have to go to school, but adults still had work on the weekends. Me, I mostly just used them to sleep in, watch cartoons, and generally loaf around and be glad I wasn’t going to school.”

“I’m going to start making a list of all the things you still need to explain to us,” Mel said with a playful sigh, turning back to the alcoves. “Right, well, this is Ferron, god of exploration and travel, he’s Ferros’ brother.”

“Bet he’s mad he didn’t get a day named after him,” I said, earning a round of snickers and giggles from my companions.

We continued on until we got to another altar that was unusually laid out, and Elle once again jumped in to drop another revelation on me.

“And this is the altar of the moons,” Elle said cheerfully, ushering me into another alcove and pointing to the mural that took up the entirety of the inner wall. Instead of an image of the god it represented, it was a depiction of the world, with four colored spheres floating at each of the cardinal directions, one green, one pink, one orange, and one blue. The spheres were connected by a golden ring running between them, with a series of many tiny notched increments running the edge of the ring like a ruler that had been bent into a circle.

“Did you say… moons?” I asked, narrowing my eyes and flicking them between her and the mural.

“That’s right,” Elle said, grinning as she pointed to the four circles and listed off their names in turn. “There’s Abun the Spring Moon, Dala the Summer Moon, Jenn the Autumn Moon, and Fros the Winter Moon.”

“But… I’ve only seen the one moon?” I said, motioning towards the pink one.

“Well of course, it’s summer right now,” Elle said, and when she saw I clearly still wasn’t getting it, she pointed back the way we’d come. “Okay, you remember how Soliel and Sera learned their lesson about sharing the hours in the day, right?” When I nodded, she again pointed at the mural of the four moons. “Well, when they had their four daughters, that meant they already knew exactly how to split up the time each of them got to have influence over the world. That’s why every season lasts exactly one hundred days.”

My pencil, which had barely begun moving again, stilled, and my mouth opened slowly. I wanted to focus on the second, more impactful thing she’d just revealed to me about this world’s calendar, but I also couldn’t ignore the first part.

“D-d-daughters?” I spluttered out, eyes wide.

“Oh, yeah,” Elle said, grinning even wider and pressing her hands together in front of her. “You must not have gotten to that story yet, but, yes, Soliel and Sera had four daughters, and they became the moons.”

Aw, spoilers!

Despite myself, I felt my eyes start to water, and bit down on my lip. “T-t-that’s… that’s!”

“I knoooow, it’s so sweet, right?” Elle cooed, finishing my sentence and swooning backwards into Mel, who caught her with an awkward cry.

“U-uh huh!” I nodded, taking a deep sniff and doing my best to try and suck the unshed tears right back into my eyes, not wanting to be caught getting reduced to tears by a children's fable for the second time.

“C’mon, you two,” Mel said in mock exasperation, rolling her eyes then yelping as Elle sat up and gave her a sudden kiss that I could only describe as “vengeful.”

Still, while Elle playfully teased Mel out of her usual taciturn state, I couldn’t help but ponder the other half of what she’d revealed.

Every season is exactly one hundred days…

It made sense with what I’d already heard, really. There weren’t “months” in this world that I could tell, just the four seasons, split up into four quarters each, which, like their names suggested, were twenty five days long with five weeks of five days. Added up, if everything were to be truly equal, that meant the years in this world had to be four hundred days long, a whole thirty five days longer than on Earth.

While not immediately useful, that seemed like incredibly basic everyday information, and I was glad I’d learned it before anyone could catch on to my ignorance. I had just enough time to note it down in my journal before Elle turned back to me and, clearly not satisfied with just reducing Mel to a mess, gave me a quick peck on the forehead that threw my thoughts entirely out of focus for a few moments.

“Alright, really, come on, we got one stop left,” Mel said, urging us to our feet, and mumbling a hushed apology to the elderly couple who filed into the alcove after us. “I saved this one for last, because I know you're gonna have questions.”

“Oooh?” I said, perking my ears up.

The altar Mel brought us to last was, like most of the others, a short table tucked into an alcove, with candles lit at the edges and a space in the center for offerings, and a tile mural of the god it was dedicated to set into the back wall. The figure in this alcove was robed, its eyes obscured by large round lenses, a staff in one hand and a book in the other. My eyes lit up, and I turned excitedly to Elle.

“God of wizards?” I asked, hopefully.

“Well, actually,” Elle said, hiding a giggle in her hand. “Vidya is the god of scholars, but after the discovery and proliferation of magic as we know it, people began to see him as a god of mages as well.”

“Ah, he’s the god of nerds then,” I said, crossing my arms and nodding sagely.

“You’re doing it on purpose now, aren’t you?” Mel asked with a grin.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said innocently, once again lifting my journal and pencil. “So, if you’re finally ready to go back to it, what was that you were saying? Not everybody had magic?”

“That’s right,” Elle said, settling down into the cushion across from me and letting her back rest against the wall of the alcove behind her. “I guess I should start from the very beginning. We have records from multiple civilizations that tell us that there was a time when the only beings in the world known to be able to cast magic were magical creatures, though back then they were just called monsters.” Turning her head to the side, Elle grumbled, “Though, some people still call them monsters, which is completely unfair, I mean, would you call Clover a monster…” Catching herself and clearing her throat, she continued, “A-anyway, for a long time that was the norm, until suddenly, and for no reason anyone’s been able to determine, things changed.”

I nodded along to Elle’s words with rapt attention, sitting with my back to the opposite wall and taking notes as fast as I could.

“At some point, certain mortals, seemingly at random, began to be born with the ability to cast magic the same way magical creatures could, with nothing but their will and the mana inside them.” Elle paused for a moment, catching her breath and, when Mel offered, taking a sip from her canteen before continuing. “You can guess what happened next; those mortals who awoke to these powers used them to establish themselves as rulers, or tyrants. They discovered that these powers could be passed down to their children, and they built entire dynasties on the backs of their ability to overpower just about anyone except another magic user, and for a time, they went completely unopposed. Until, according to the legend, Vidya helped the scholars who would become the world’s first mages make an incredible discovery.”

Elle paused again to motion to the mural inside the alcove, and she spent several moments just staring distantly into it.

“It was magic, right? Like, ‘new magic?’” I asked, prompting her, too on the edge of my seat to help myself, and she turned back with a smile.

“Yes,” Elle said, nodding. “Vidya helped those scholars discover the… source, I suppose, of magic. Or maybe the key to finding it, it’s been a while since I learned this myself and the different stories get a bit muddled. Suffice it to say, they discovered that by dissecting and closely examining the remains of magical creatures, and later plants as well, they could learn what we now know as ‘sigils,’ symbols that make up a language that controls the natural laws of the very world around us and makes magic possible.”

“Woah!” I gasped, sitting forward, my eyes going wider than I thought possible, my notes momentarily forgotten. Elle’s smile grew at my excitement.

“From there the rest is, well, literally history. The scholars worked in secret to discover as many sigils as they could and compile them into the world's first spells, learning how to cast them and how to imbue them into objects and, when they were ready, revealing to the world at large that magic was now within the grasp of anyone and everyone.”

“They did that by blowing the head off of some guy who called himself ‘The Immortal King of Flame’ in front of his whole kingdom,” Mel cut in from my side, momentarily taking over the story.

“That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard,” I said, turning to Mel. “Were they just way more powerful than him from all that secret practice, or what?”

“No, see, that’s the thing,” Mel said, grinning and holding up a finger. “So, alone, one person with a magic bloodline might be able to take on a thousand normal people, and a hundred novice mages, but the thing about those lines is, the magic they granted was powerful, but rigid. Any one bloodline only ever had command over one element, like fire in his case.” Mel held up four fingers on her other hand. “But, with sigil magic, a sufficiently skilled mage can cast spells that do all sorts of shit. Fly, shoot fire or ice or lightning, throw things around with their mind, turn their body to metal, the list goes on.”

I was practically drooling by now, and for the first time it wasn’t over a piece of fish.

“So, you put four fully-trained mages up against a guy who can only throw fire around, and has never had a real challenge in his life, and he topples like a tower with the base blown out of it.” Mel folded her four fingers over the one, then with a grin twisted her grip to crack one of her knuckles for dramatic effect, then nodded back towards Elle.

“And that’s why we’re in the Era of Magic now,” Elle said, opening her hands and holding them out in front of her. “The mages spread the resources to learn magic to the people, and… most of the worst of the kingdoms that were founded on the back of a magic bloodline were overthrown and replaced.”

“Wait, but, if everybody had magic now, what was to stop someone else from just doing it all over again?” I asked, in between trying to find out how I was going to fit everything I’d just heard into my notes.

“Well, for one thing, like you just said, everybody has magic now, or has the ability to learn it,” Mel answered. “It takes a lot of hard work to get good enough at magic that you could be dangerous, and thankfully most places that teach magic professionally try to instill some of the lessons that the first council stood by in their students. That way, nobody could get it into their head to declare themselves ‘Supreme King Dick of the Bloody Dynasty’ without there being tons of other people ready and willing to step in and stop them, and if they weren’t enough, then the Council of Mages would be. Even today, they do their best to prevent misuse of magic, but…”

She trailed off, and I nodded, pointing back to Elle.

“You said ‘most,’ right?” I asked, already pretty sure I knew where this was going. “But the Empire is…”

“The Empire is one of the last remaining bloodline dynasties, yes,” Elle said with a sad smile. “Most of the other remnants fled the surface and now their descendants exist as part of High Society, and whatever they’re up to, they haven’t returned to try and reclaim their former positions down here, but the Empire and the kingdom of Yuusha are still led by a family that maintains a direct line to the old bloodlines. Thankfully, Yuusha keeps mostly to itself, but, well, you’ve heard what the Empire is getting up to.”

“Geez,” I said, slumping backwards against the wall again. “That is… that’s so much, how am I ever going to learn your world’s entire history before someone catches on?”

“Hey, to be fair, a lot of this isn’t stuff everybody has on hand,” Mel said, leaning over and bumping my shoulder with one of hers, then nodding at Elle. “I only know all this because she knows, and she only knows this much because she went to the academy to study it.”

I was still reeling too much to sit up and gasp, but my eyes still fell on Elle, who flushed green hunched her shoulders up, nodding shyly.

“Yes, yes, I went to the royal academy…” Elle said, sitting up and starting to rise from her cushion. “It’s one of the reasons I came to Torgard, but that story seriously can wait until another day. We need to get you back, and we’ll need to start helping Felda set up for the evening.”

“Awwww, fine,” I mock-grumbled, snapping my journal closed and stowing it in my satchel before springing to my feet. Smiling up at Elle, I reached out for one of her hands and nodded. “But seriously, thank you. Not just for the story, but for everything today. I had no idea just how much I needed this.”

Elle took my hand and beamed, using it to pull me to her side and wrap her other arm around me, hugging me tightly, and after a moment I felt Mel at my back, my vision momentarily going dark as I was smushed between the pair once again.

I had to shield my eyes for a moment when we finally emerged back into the sunlight, standing on the edge of the steps that led up to the temple.

“Wow, we were in there a while, huh?” I asked, noting just how much further across the sky the sun had drifted since I’d last seen it.

“Yep,” Mel said, stretching her arms over her head, twisting her back to either side a few times and grunting. “I’m actually pretty glad we stopped by here, this blessing is going to feel real good by the time we’re closing up.”

“Ah, sor—” I began to apologize, but Mel shushed me, her hand appearing in front of me in a flash and pressing a finger to my lips.

“Don’t you even think about it,” Mel said, grinning as I flushed and flinched backwards. “We wanted to do this for you, and if it means we both hit the hay a little harder tonight, then so be it. As long as you had a good time and you feel better, that’s what’s important.”

“O-okay,” I stammered, lowering my eyes and biting my lip to stop myself from immediately trying to apologize again for the first apology. “Well, then, yes on both counts. I feel so much better than I ever could have hoped, and I had a great time learning all this stuff, and I…” My throat, suddenly dry, seized up with nerves at what I wanted to say. Swallowing, and lifting my gaze from the smooth stones of the temple steps, I met Elle and Mel’s eyes.

“And I’m really glad you two asked me out.”

A chorus of “Aww”s and another, much quicker group hug followed after that, before we set off down the steps together, finally due to return to Felda’s tavern. Just before we reached the bottom, a stray gust of wind blew across my face, and a glass-like tinkling sound drew my attention to the left. Turning my head, I noticed a figure across the grass, standing in the shadow of one of the large trees that dotted the courtyard. I figured they were one of the temple staff, as they were wearing a hooded robe that gently fluttered in the breeze, but under the shade I couldn't tell what color it was.

The figure had their arms raised over their head, doing something to a low hanging branch. When they stepped aside, I saw that there was now a wind chime made of clear glass tubes and colored beads dangling from it, and the figure turned to look at me. As the wind started to play through the newly hung decoration, a smile slowly spread across the lower half of their face, and the sounds of glass chiming grew louder and louder in my ears.

“Sam?”

Mel’s voice snapped my attention back to the pair, who had stopped a few feet ahead of me and turned around.

“Something wrong?”

I turned back towards the tree, and saw that the figure was gone, leaving only the gently swaying wind chime.

“Uh, no,” I said, scratching my head. “I thought I saw someone doin’ something… weird, but it’s probably nothing.”

“Ah, alright.”

Elle and Mel waited for me to catch up again, and we resumed our journey back to the tavern. As we went, the sounds of the tinkling wind chime seemed to follow me much further from the temple than should be possible, even with my hearing, and I continued to cast glances over my shoulder until they finally faded.

■

“Welcome back, girls,” Felda said brightly as we filed into the Tavern, leaning over the bar with Bart seated to her right. It appeared we’d arrived after she’d already finished setting out the chairs and lighting the lanterns, and I felt the briefest twinge of guilt that I’d kept Elle and Mel long enough that they weren’t here to help. I quashied those feelings just as quickly, and smiled back at her in return.

“Heya,” I said, waving.

“Hey,” Mel said, unslinging her satchel.

“Hello Felda, sorry we’re a little late,” Elle said, earning a playful scoff.

“Nonsense! How was the day out?” Felda asked, coming around from behind the counter to meet us, and I couldn’t help but grin and pick up speed, my sandals slapping against the wooden floor as I hurried to cross the tavern.

Startled, Felda held up her arms and braced herself, catching me as I skidded to a halt and all but crashed against her. I threw my arms around as much of her larger frame as I could, and hugged her like I hadn’t just seen her before I left. Overcoming her surprise, Felda leaned down to wrap her arms around me in return, squeezing a quick purr out of me.

“It was great,” I said when I finally lifted my head again, smiling up at Felda. “Elle and Mel helped me figure out some… really important stuff about what was bothering me, something I never would have found on my own, and I’m feeling a lot better now.”

“Oh? That’s fantastic, Sam,” Felda said, beaming brightly and giving me another tight squeeze. I thought she might press even further than that, maybe actually ask for an explanation, but it seemed she was letting me decide whether I elaborated, something I appreciated greatly. I knew I wanted to tell Felda the whole truth someday soon as well, but there was no way I was going to go through all of that twice in one day.

Thankfully, there was something else I could tell her instead.

“That’s not all,” I said, releasing Felda and walking backwards to where Elle and Mel were waiting for me, grinning wide. Clearing my throat, I reached up and took one of their hands into each of mine, gripping them firmly and holding Felda’s gaze.

“Felda, Elle and Mel have asked me to join their orchard,” I said, smoothly switching from Common to Elvish mid sentence, something I’d been practicing for most of the walk back. I told the pair I thought it would really help the presentation, and they agreed emphatically.

The reaction was immediate, and gratifying. Bart, who had been quietly sipping something from a tall wooden mug, suddenly choked and bent over his stool, coughing and hacking, while Felda’s jaw actually dropped.

“O-oh!” Felda stammered, struggling through a clear loss of words, reaching out and putting a hand on the bar beside her. “That… that’s great, Samantha! I… Sorry, I’m just… shocked, to be honest. So, are three of you going to be…?”

“Together, yeah,” Mel finished for her, grinning and obviously savoring seeing her boss thrown so far off balance. “Believe me, if we hadn’t both been so nervous wondering how she’d actually react, we would’ve told you too, but we didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up but our own, y’know? Though, now that she’s said ‘yes,’ we wanted you to be the first to know.”

“Hey, what?” I asked, scandalized, tilting my head to stare up at her. “You really thought there was a chance I’d say ‘no?’”

“We very much didn’t want to assume, Sammie,” Elle said, ruffling up my hair before turning back to Felda. “And, yes, we’re trying it out, and like we told Sammie, it’s at her pace. We’ll be taking things as slow as possible and always double checking that she's comfortable.”

“That’s… that’s wonderful!” Felda said when she finally managed to pull herself together enough to finish a whole sentence, and a sense of relief I didn’t realize I’d been waiting on washed over me at seeing how happy she was for me, for us. A part of me had been scared that Felda might disapprove, or have some other reservations, but I sensed none of that as she proceeded to fawn over the three of us.

Worming my way out from between Elle, Mel, and Felda and leaving them to talk amongst themselves for a moment, I excused myself to step over to the bar, where Bart had recovered from his coughing fit, and was watching the display with a reserved smile.

“I took your advice,” I said, hopping up onto the stool beside him.

“Seems you did,” Bart said, turning in his stool to look down at me. The smile remained, but I could see it threatening to slip as Bart’s eyes bored into me, studying me closely. I grinned back at him, flashing a single fang, but otherwise waited for him to get to whatever he was going to say in his own time.

“Felda is… perhaps too overcome at the moment to think to ask you this,” Bart began, his tone hesitant and his voice quiet. “She’s known those girls for a long while, and she and I both know they’re trustworthy. You’d be well within your rights if you wanted to tell me I'm stepping way out of line here, but…”

“Are you going to ask if I know what I’m doing?” I asked, slowly swinging my legs off the edge of the stool.

Bart, looked a little chastened of all things, cleared his throat and nodded. “Aye. I mean no offense, but… well, you can not say it is not a valid concern, considering your… situation.”

“Heh,” I chuckled, tilting my head back and staring up at the ceiling for a moment. Not today, I repeated. “No, you’re right, that’s fair, and to answer your question: No, I don’t know shit about what I’m doing, Bart.”

Bart’s brow furrowed, clearly not having received the answer he’d been expecting. Resting my chin in my palm and learning on the bar, I glanced sidelong at Felda, Elle and Mel again. At some point their conversation had turned to discussing the upcoming night’s business, with Felda currently going over the menu. Elle noticed me looking their way and broke into a cute little smile, wiggling her fingers at me before returning her attention to Felda.

“You said so yourself. My ‘situation’ is that I’m lost, and confused, and far from my home, and I don’t know how just about anything works around here,” I said, sighing and closing my eyes. “But, like I said, those two helped me come to a realization recently of just how much of my life up until now has been wasted on feeling awful for myself for what turned out to be no good reason. And since coming here and meeting them, and you, and Felda, that’s finally starting to change.” Opening my eyes, I turned back to Bart, giving him my most genuine smile. “So, even though I’m scared, and there’s a lot I don’t know, I do know this; those two make me happy, and I want to make them happy back.”

Bart sat in silence for several long moments after I wrapped up what wound up becoming something of a speech, eyes boring into me as he studied me, as if searching for something. Eventually, he reached for his mug, and slowly raised it to his lips, taking a long pull of whatever he’d been drinking, continuing until he’d drained it dry. Setting the mug back on the bar with a hollow, wooden thumb, he let out a satisfied sigh and smiled back at me.

“Well said, Sam,” Bart said simply, taking a sniff and running his hand across his beard to clear it of non-existent residue. “As long as it doesn’t get in the way of your lessons, then I suppose I’ve nothing else to be concerned about.”

I let out a chuckle that quickly grew into a laugh that proved too infectious even for Bart to resist, though he did try to use his empty mug to hide it.

“Thanks, Bart,” I said after we’d both settled back into our stools, leaning over the bar and resting on my elbows. “For, well, for actually caring enough about me to ask something like that.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bart shift in his seat, his posture suddenly stiff, and I worried briefly that what I’d said had been just a bit too dour and brought the mood down. But then, Bart moved again, the arm that had frozen awkwardly at his side extending jerkily, and then I blinked in surprise as I felt his large hand come down between my ears.

“You’re welcome, Sam,” Bart said quietly, face turned forward as though all the bones in his neck had fused together. Clumsily, he lifted and then dropped his fingers three times in succession, then scratched at my head for a single second before retrieving his hand and crossing his arms, tucking it away into the folds of his coat like he was ashamed of it.

I turned my head and stared, eyes narrowed and one eyebrow raised, up at Bart, who was once again looking for all the world like a statue, mouth set in a perfectly neutral line. It wasn’t like I hadn’t noticed that Bart seemed hesitant to follow Felda’s lead in displaying affection for me via pats to the head, and I’d kind of just chalked it up to being against his nature, or that he just didn’t perceive me the same way she did, more like he was just my mentor and I was his student. So, for him to step outside of what I assumed was a pretty narrow comfort zone must have taken some real effort on his part, and I wanted to make sure he knew I appreciate it.

But that also didn’t mean I wasn’t going to have some fun first.

“Five out of ten,” I said.

Bart’s brows twitched and he turned his head fractionally in my direction.

“Pardon?”

“I give that headpat a five out of ten. It wasn’t the worst, but, it also wasn’t the best either,” I said, crossing my arms and nodding sagely. “Technique needs work.”

Bart made a noise between a grunt and a sigh and dipped his head, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and fingers, while I snickered and reached up to pat him on the back.

“Anyway, speaking of my lessons,” I said, sitting up on my stool and slapping the surface of the bar. “We should talk about what we’re gonna do tomorrow, to make up for what I missed today.”

■

Sometime in between mine and Bart’s planning for the day ahead, a yawn slipped out of my mouth, and Elle and Mel enjoyed a good bit of fun at my exasperation at the fact that I could even be tired when I still had a literal divine blessing refreshing my body. Bidding a quick and momentary goodbye to the four of them, I slid off to Felda’s room for a nap, and once again woke up to the tavern absolutely bustling, full to bursting with pirates. Duke and Captain Zevrelos were there, and I made sure to pay their table a visit, just to chat.

From there, the night progressed as it usually did, with a few notable differences. I sat with Bart in the corner booth, as usual, and enjoyed the dinner that Felda cooked for me, also as usual. Elle and Mel bustled around the tavern, Felda churned out dish after dish, and Viktor the bartender served drinks with his usual unwavering stoicism. The evening wore on, and eventually drew late, and when the patrons and pirates finally filed out into the night, I was on my feet before Elle could finish locking the doors, already helping to carry the last of the dishes from their tables to the kitchen. This time, it was Mel who I helped do the dishes, and we chatted as we worked, and when we were done we joined Elle and talked a bit longer, until Felda reminded me that the two of them needed a full night’s sleep, unlike me. She paid them, and me, and before they departed I once again got a kiss to either cheek.

As I settled onto the edge of Felda’s bed and waited for her to finish changing out of her day clothes, I glanced over to the side table, where the brush had been left waiting the night before. It was nowhere to be seen.

“Felda,” I said, turning around when I felt her weight settle onto the bed.

“Hmm?”

“Do you… still have the brush?” I asked.

“Oh, ah, yes, I have it,” Felda said, her eyes widening for a fraction of a second, concern radiating off of her. “But I put it away, you don’t have to worry…” She trailed off as I shook my head, holding up a placating hand.

“I… I want you to try again.” I said, swallowing and attempting to hide my nerves. “Brushing my hair, I mean.”

“Oh, Sam…” Felda said, brow furrowing deeply. “You don’t need to force yourself, just give it time.”

“Please,” I said, insistently. “I… I know what it is that set me off last time. It wasn’t the brush, not exactly, and knowing what I know now, I… think I’m capable of handling it.” Felda still seemed unconvinced, and I didn’t blame her. I wasn’t even sure I was convinced myself. “Just, as long as you promise me that you’d never… do anything to my hair that I didn’t ask you to do?”

I could see the gears working behind Felda’s eyes, clearly trying to slot some new information into her mental blueprint of me, before she jolted slightly and nodded, reaching forward to rest a hand on my shoulder.

“Of course, Samantha,” she said, softly but insistently, firmly holding my gaze. “I would never, ever do anything like that, you have my word.”

“Thank you,” I said, resting my hand on top of hers and nodding.

With her fears hopefully allayed, Felda stood up again and moved to her wardrobe, opening the wide doors and reaching inside. She withdrew the hair brush, and I did my best to lock my eyes onto it and take in every detail I could make out in the dim candlelight of the bedside lantern. It was such a simple, ordinary thing, and even though looking at it did stir loose the memories that had started this whole mess, I found that in light of recent events, those memories lacked the teeth they once had. The shame, and confusion, of my younger self not being able to comprehend the things I’d been feeling had been replaced with understanding, and support. Elle and Mel knew the truth, and accepted me with wide open arms, and I no longer had any doubts that Felda would too, once I did finally tell her.

Felda returned to the bed and once again sat beside me, and the thing held in her hands was a simple hair brush. Nothing more.

“Here,” Felda said, indicating the spot on the bed directly in front of her, rather than the short stool I’d perched on the night before. I nodded, and slid into place with my back to her. “I’ll go slowly,” she said, and I nodded again, and one of her arms came down to wrap around my side. “If you want me to stop, if you feel anything is wrong, don’t be afraid to say so, or if you can’t, just squeeze my hand as hard as you can, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, taking Felda’s much larger hand in both of mine, holding it softly and just waiting for her to begin.

I jumped slightly when she did finally touch the bristles of the brush to the back of my head, and she jerked away just as quickly, but I assured her I was still fine, and she once more brought the brush close. She worked slowly, even slower than she had before, and I could tell we were both holding our breaths like we were waiting for a bomb to go off, for me to make a repeat performance of the breakdown I’d had last night.

But it never came. Slowly, I stopped sitting with my back straight and my shoulders hiked up, a position that I hadn’t realized I’d adopted. I relaxed, leaning back against Felda, and actually started to enjoy the slow, deliberate movements of the brush gliding through my hair. The already feather-light grip I had on her other hand eased up until I fully let go, and she tentatively lifted it from my lap, using both hands now to work my hair, softly petting my head and nudging my ears as she went. Felda continued to regularly ask if I was still doing alright, but stopped when I closed my eyes and began to purr.

I was asleep before Felda was finished brushing my hair, and that, too, would become the usual in the days and weeks that followed.