"I'll drop by the guild tomorrow morning to meet Emmi for another tour. I'll be happy to discuss details before we depart."

Daire held out a hand for Tabitha to shake. Tabitha eyed his hand for a moment but sighed and relented. Tomorrow would be better anyway. She'd need to run a few more errands beforehand, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. If only she listened last night without getting jumpy...

"So, was the part about you just wanting a map and an escort a lie?"

Daire shook his head with genuine shock.

"Not at all! I just mentioned part of the package. I'm looking forward to meeting the others, that's all."

Tabitha clicked her tongue. He knew way too much to be normal. Every sentence was laced with multiple meanings. It was as if he was trying to hide the ripples and following raindrops in the splash he was making. It's been a while since she met his type. Brutes she could manage by twisting their arms and sleuths by pinning them in a corner, but schemers always had agendas within agendas. Her next step involved figuring out if his schemes lined up with hers or were antagonistic in nature.

For now, she decided to prepare.

"Tomorrow, then?"

Daire bowed his head and was about to respond, but his smile turned into confusion. He squirmed in his seat.

"Hrm."

"Is something wrong?"

"Nah. I'm fine, it's just..."

Tabitha watched Daire become increasingly uncomfortable. He started scratching at his pants.

"Tch. Ow... Ow! Hey!"

He erupted from his seat and began patting at his legs. Something writhed underneath the fabric, skittering up and down his skin. Daire smacked his legs, spinning in place and shouting curses as he felt a crunch each time his attacks landed.

Heat spread out from his face. Cognitive thought ceased its function.

His heartbeat pounded in his ears.

Panic and...

Fear.

"GET Them out! Get them out. OUT!"

Daire spun, nearly bowling into the crowd. His legs twisted. Falling. He rolled on the floor. Soft crunches of carapace could be heard with each rotation.

Startled, Tabitha tried to understand the what and why. Daire was in a full-blown panic.

Violet watched with satisfaction at first. She was guided to use the seventh water and pour it down Daire's pants. Seeing him squirm and jump was funny and deserved. It was payback.

"Daire?"

But it wasn't stopping.

It's not stopping.

Daire writhed on the floor. Throwing off his pants, down to his boxers, Daire tossed off hairy centipedes and crushed cockroaches in his fists, sticky yellow ichor staining his skin.

"This? This isn't what I wanted. Why?"

Veil's water told her that the seventh water was whatever someone wanted it to be. People drank from it earlier and marveled at the taste.

Violet had wanted to play a prank with bugs.

Stop it. Stop!

The crowd was stunned silent as larva sprouted from their mother's wounds, growing to maturity in seconds.

"DAIRE!"

Violet swooped in, scorching the insects, frying them all until they lay twitching, and continued until they were no more.

"Daire! Daire? Look at me. Look at me! They're gone, all gone. See? Look. I made it better."

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His panic-filled eyes ceased their rapid movement, and his arms slowed in their spasms. His hectic breaths became regularized, and he finally comprehended Violet as she smoothed his cheek. With deep breaths, his head slammed back into the marble flooring.

"Gah... Damn it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. The water was supposed to be funny."

There was a prolonged silence as Daire caught his breath.

And then the unexpected happened.

Daire began to laugh.

He laughed deeply with an arm draped over his forehead.

Then the laughter evolved into a fit.

"What are you talking about? That was hilarious? MAN! You got me. You really got me."

"But you were just writhing on the floor!"

Daire rolled his neck so she couldn't see his face.

"Ughh, that's what makes it so good. Holy moly, that was scary. Hahaha-ha-haaa..."

Chuckling. The useless background characters began to laugh along. Then they began to nudge each other and pat each other's backs as they doubled over, pointing at the pantless Daire.

It became contagious as Daire laughed even louder as he tried to retrieve his pants. Putting them on with a straight-face was nigh impossible as he began to tear up and had to wipe his eyes away to see clearly.

Musical laughter bounced off the walls, echoing acoustics.

Violet began to laugh nervously at first. And it wasn't long before she joined in fully. Relief that everything was okay washed over her. She found the hilarity in the entire situation.

The only one who didn't crack a smile was a retreating Tabitha.

=

A Diety of Creation.

Most referred to it as Wish.

They had no gender. No physical idol to worship. They were a concept more than a person.

As the 7th God invited to the Pantheon in Milton, they kept the balance. They were neither powerful nor weak. Not a Leader or a Follower.

Most of the gods had demeanors. Personalities. Whims and goals. Things they hated.

But the nameless Deity of Creation was a wildcard. Pure chance. Pure Neutrality. The most frustrating divine entity to serve or run into. With evil beings, you can expect them to act a certain way and prepare in advance. True neutral characters were the worst because they could be a staunch ally one minute and flip on a dime to become your most hated nemesis.

There was no guessing what it was thinking.

Tabitha wasn't a religious zealot. She said a short prayer here or there when she thought it wouldn't hurt. But she didn't neglect the gods either. They were tangible beings with true power capable of fucking up your day. Disregard them, and your expedition into a well-explored dungeon turns into a slaughter fest.

As her long strides carried her away from the church, she had to reevaluate.

Oh, most of her assumptions were correct. But they were too correct.

Tabitha had observed Daire the entire time. She understood fear and trauma as she had seen it on the haunted faces of survivors of expeditions. Adventurers encountered all sorts of things out in the field, and if they didn't have some sort of trauma, they can't rightly be called adventurers.

Bugs? It wasn't an uncommon one. Running into bug-infested nests. Watching enormous maggots eat away at dead flesh, or god forbid your own flesh.

Giant spiders and arachnids. Creepy crawlies getting into the wrong places during an adventure. Starving and being forced to eat worms to survive.

On a scale of 1-10?

Daire exhibited a solid 7, in her opinion.

The fear he had was real. You can't fake it. Not to the extent of losing control of your own actions. When he started flailing and rolling around on the ground, it could have been panic. But what sold it to her was how he handled it after it ended.

He laughed it off.

That would normally be a two-four if it were natural. But his laughter was forced. He forced himself to laugh. He hid it so well that he fooled everyone, even his pixie friend.

Abyss, he almost fooled me!

It was so well done to the point where she couldn't tell if the tears resulted from him forcing the laugh or if he was subtly releasing the pent-up fear he was holding back. Or Both!

"Hmm."

Tabitha could see the Guild building at the end of the street.

Best to fill the others in first.

=

Daire and Violet exited the temple immediately afterward. Daire explained the true nature of each god and their beliefs. A few of them were more active than others and had differing goals. Violet mostly enjoyed the explanation. Learning more things was fun.

Seeing the sun fully in the sky, her expression brightened.

"So, What are we going to do today? Shopping? Playing? Go back and sleep with Trinket? Read books? Oooh! We can play tag with Pebbles!"

"Sure, why not? Let's do all of that."

Violet did a double-take.

"Really? All of it? What about training?"

Daire's face indicated that was obvious.

"Definitely. Why wouldn't we?"

"And... And what about drawing? Can you teach me to draw better?"

"Of course."

"I want to learn how to make things look like this!"

Violet stuck her arm toward Daire's face. It took him a second.

"Foreshortening? That's pretty advanced, but I can show you a trick or two."

"And I want to eat food. Good food! Can you make food for just us?"

"Trinket too?"

"Eh..."

Violet scratched her cheek.

Daire's expression softened.

"I can buy him something else to eat. It'll be dinner for just the two of us."

Violet jerked. She was about to shout for joy but cunningly responded instead.

"You don't have to. But...

She paused with drama.

"I suppose that would make the food tastier. I'll accept the offer."

It was the sort of begrudging acceptance you might expect from someone who was hiding their eagerness.

Daire raised a hand to counter-point.

"Then again. Trinket does like the taste of rabbit. He may refuse to eat anything else. In that case, I may have to feed him."

Violet pursed her lips.

Daire stared. Waiting.

Almost...

A long groan sounded as Violet's head tilted back in agony. She darted toward Daire and started to undo his hair.

"Hey! What's the big idea?"

Violet didn't respond as she continued her macabre hair makeover.

"You're supposed to be General Harry, so why are you acting like Captain Worth!?"

"Ow. Hey. Stop that! Who are you talking about?"

"ARGH!"

A pixie's frustrated harrumph.