"Well," the bartender said, slightly lowering the glass he had been cleaning. "I am not sure where to begin with this." He hesitated for a moment, his eyes flicking from Aperio to the two large Minotaurs at the back of the bar. "You don't look like you… are from around here."

"I know enough," Aperio replied as she asked her love for a bit of money so she could buy something from the man. "And I'm also aware that the [Ancestral Guard] has some, shall we say, problems."

Caethya slipped her hand into one of the pockets of her dress as she continued to speak with the golden-furred Beastkin, a few curious looking coins appearing in it a moment later.

The All-Mother offered the bartender a smile as a touch of her magic brought the coins Caethya had produced into her own hand. She placed them on the counter, making no attempt to hide the fact that she had just summoned them. Having to show the two bull-horned men that they did not stand a chance against her was not something she wanted to do, so doing what some of the lower nobles had done to some of the staff during her time as a slave seemed proper. Who would have thought that I would bribe people…

"Payment is not needed," the man replied as he placed the glass he had been cleaning in front of Aperio. "And you do not have to show me more than you already did. My men would not fare well in a fight against you."

"I have no intention to fight, but I will defend myself." She tilted her head slightly, her eyes wandering over the various bottles that lined the wall behind the bartender. "I would also like to order two of whatever you recommend."

The man did not question her order, simply nodding and yelling a few unintelligible words over his shoulder. A second glass — identical to the one in front of Aperio — appeared on the counter a moment later. "An acquaintance or a friend?"

"My… partner," Aperio replied with a small smile. Perhaps it was not the best choice of words, but it seemed to do the trick just fine as the man stopped for a moment before yelling something else into the back. "It should not be long until she comes."

The man's eyes wandered towards the door and the mortals who waited beyond before settling back on Aperio. "Will she be okay?"

"Caethya can take care of herself," Aperio replied, following the bartender's gaze. She narrowed her eyes at the group, one of the mortals who had been looking inside quickly averting his gaze. "And should they try anything she cannot handle, I can take care of it from here."

"Alright."

The All-Mother's smile widened a little as the man simply moved on from the matter, not questioning her ability and neither being subservient to her simply because she was stronger. Just treating me like a customer.

A moment later, a set of cat-like ears emerged from the door behind the counter. The person they belonged to was too small to be seen with mortal eyes, but Aperio's aura happily informed her that the person was not a child but a short and stout Beastkin — likely having a good part of Dwarf in him. After a moment of struggle and grunting that caused Aperio to raise a brow and almost use her magic to help him, the small mortal emerged from behind the counter as he had successfully climbed a bar stool.

"Two of my finest," he said as two bottles of what the All-Mother guessed were wine appeared on the counter. The Dwarven Beastkin looked at Aperio, his eyes narrowing slightly before a third bottle appeared. "I only have one more, and that one will cost you."

"When I said two, I had meant two glasses," Aperio replied, tilting her head slightly. "And I will not require your last bottle either. I do not plan on getting drunk." I doubt I even can.

The man grumbled something she did not understand as he grabbed the extra bottle he had placed on the counter and let it disappear again. He said something to the bartender that sounded a bit like a word of caution before he disappeared into the back room again.

"So," Aperio began, not quite sure if the mortal truly wanted to share what he knew, "why did the [Ancestral Guard] decide to send glorified bandits in place of an actual guard?"

"Officially? To rein in the rampant spending of the city," he scoffed. "But we all know they sent them to drive any that do not agree with their proposed changes away."

"And what are those changes?" Aperio asked as she slightly pulled back the stool next to her and a touch of her magic caused one of the bottles to open itself and pour two drinks. "I only know that they are looking for the [Keeper of Relicts] and that she is not happy with them."

The man hesitated slightly. Maybe it was because she mentioned that she knew something about Moria, or maybe it was the bit of magic she had used to pour the drinks. I doubt it's the latter… Did I offend him by doing it by myself?

"Well," he began, the words slow and measured, "they would take issue with an Elf like yourself walking the city as freely as you do. Especially if you are as strong as I think you are.

"There are also some other things," he continued. "Such as the outlawing of various religions and essentially forcing everyone to offer their worship to Chellien."

Aperio narrowed her eyes at the words, staring at the wall that lay in the direction of the main building of the [Ancestral Guard]. How did they expect to restrict people's beliefs when it was widely known that the God they were supposed to worship was dead, while the ones they were supposed to leave behind actually existed? Well, used to…

"He would not like that," Aperio mumbled to herself as she turned to look at the approaching form of Caethya. She heaved a sigh. "I suppose you would not know if this is something that is fundamental to the [Ancestral Guard], or something that their leadership decided on their own?"

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"I'm afraid not," the bartender replied, his gaze joining Aperio's and his hands looking for another glass to clean. Silence reigned for a moment before the man looked back at the All-Mother. "Is she really going to be okay?"

"Yes," Aperio replied with a smile, Caethya's voice already echoing through her mind as the Demigoddess contemplated adding to the wounded Aperio had created. "She would win even if they fought her all at once."

The man stopped his cleaning at her words, the beat of his heart quickening by quite a bit. "Is that so?" he asked as he slowly lowered his hands, the movement undoubtedly meant to mask his shakiness.

Aperio gave a nod in reply and opened the door with a wave of her hand. A moment later, Caethya stepped inside.

"They are really asking for a beating," she said, loud enough that the mortals outside could hear, before closing the door. "Idiots."

"We can remove them if you wish. They are only here to drive this tavern out of business, anyway."

"I'll take care of it when we leave," Caethya replied, taking a seat next to Aperio and leaning in to place a quick kiss on the All-Mother's cheek. "For now, we have a few things to talk about."

"We do," Aperio agreed. She motioned at the bartender. "This gentleman here was also nice enough to offer me a bit of insight into what the guard has been doing." She would not repeat what she had been told, as simply showing Caethya the conversation was easier, but she felt that she should at least mention the man's efforts.

"That's good; the two guardsmen weren't very helpful. Their alertness spiked as soon as they failed to [Identify] me, and did not really engage in conversation at all." Caethya shifted her gaze towards the bartender. "I did manage to overhear some of the people in the streets, though. Apparently the [Ancestral Guard] is trying to take over the city."

"It would appear so," Aperio said. "I still do not quite understand why, however. There must be something they will gain from all of this, otherwise the trouble would not be worth it. I doubt the other tribes will sit idly by when one of the others tries to overthrow a city."

"It would be war," the bartender said. "The [Ancestral Guard] is supposed to be a neutral party that protects Foderys, enabling all the tribes to find a common ground. If they try to take over, the Federation would fall apart and we would go back to being warring packs."

"So they want to destroy their own nation?" Caethya asked, taking the glass Aperio had nudged towards her. "That seems stupid."

The All-Mother gave a dry chuckle at her love's observation, her voice somehow sounding more ethereal than ever. "That seems to be a trend, one stupid decision after another. Makes me wonder if they are connected somehow."

"Probably not directly. But I would guess the absence of their Gods spurred many of them to act sooner."

Aperio nodded at the words, her wings moving ever-so-slightly as she wanted to wrap one of her feathered limbs around her love. Instead of breaking the illusion of only wearing a feathered cape, she wrapped her arm around Caethya's midsection instead and took a small sip from the beverage she had purchased. Like most food stuff, it tasted fine but garnered little reaction from her otherwise.

The bartender coughed lightly, no longer trying to distract himself by cleaning glasses. "Who, exactly, are you?" he asked. "I would usually not complain about information I can glean from the conversations of my guests, but this seems… dangerous."

The All-Mother tilted her head ever-so-slightly to the side. "I am Aperio and this" —she pulled Caethya a little closer— "is Caethya." She closed her eyes and offered the man a smile, knowing full well that it did not answer his question. "We are just here to help out a friend."

"Okay," the man said, the word stretching on for a few seconds as he lingered on the 'O.' He scratched his wrist as his eyes wandered from Aperio to Caethya. "I hope your friend has better plans than the [Ancestral Guard]."

"I did say that she is very unhappy with them," Aperio said. "And now that I have a better idea of what they are doing, I can tell you that I am not particularly fond of them either." Well, even less so.

The fact that they had tried to hold Neria hostage had already lowered their reputation with the All-Mother to near rock bottom. Now that she knew that they essentially wanted to wrest control of Foderys — the only neutral place for the various Beastkin Tribes, apparently — away from whatever government it had, they had managed to actually hit the bottom. Did I deliberately make mortals to be this stupid?

That was a question she had asked herself a lot over the past while. No matter how she looked at it, all the problems she was currently trying to fix stemmed from mortals that tried to force a hair-brained idea on everyone within their reach. Of course, there was the chance that the deities she had removed had done something to them that only began to show effects now that they were gone, but Aperio doubted that. Her time as a slave had proven that mortals did not need the divine to make their world a worse place.

The bartender had frozen once again, only blinking as he tried to parse what Aperio had just said. It should be easy enough to understand; her friend was the [Keeper of Relicts] and neither of them were happy with what the [Ancestral Guard] was trying to pull. Just have to wait for Moria and Neria to be ready.

Aperio would take joy in dismantling the guard. They had chosen this route, and she would gladly show them where it would lead. Maybe once the mortals had seen her act often enough, they would understand that any rule she made was not to be taken lightly.

"I need a break," the bartender finally muttered to himself as he shook his head. "This is just getting crazier and crazier."

"We really need to work on your interactions," Caethya said — mostly in jest, Aperio was sure. "Can't bewilder every person you come across."

"Maybe," the All-Mother replied. She let out a small sigh, a few wisps of mana floating from her mouth. "I am tired of hiding myself, though."

"Well, you can let loose a little when you deal with the [Ancestral Guard]," Caethya said. She brushed a few hairs out of Aperio's face, tucking them behind her ear. "You could also show the idiots outside that their delusions are just that."

"I thought you wanted to take care of them?"

"They deserve whatever you or I give them," her love replied. "But I am also pretty sure they would not actually try to fight us. They are stupid, but probably not that stupid."

"They are that stupid," the bartender cut in. He nodded towards the two minotaurs at the back of the bar. "The first ones they sent tried to stop them from coming in. It did not end well for them."

"Guess we will find out," Aperio said as she removed her arm from Caethya's waist and stood up. She wanted to stretch her wings but restrained herself; a crack of her knuckles would have to do. Well, the motion of it. Her knuckles did not actually crack as her body was always in peak condition.

A thought opened the door and the All-Mother stepped outside, Caethya following shortly after. "I have been informed that you are not welcome here," Aperio said, the weight of her swordstaff comfortably settling into her hand as she took a step towards the armoured mortals. "Please leave."