Attending classes was strange. Miaow normally paid as much attention as she could to them, because despite her century or so of practical knowledge it was always good to learn, but the twist to Kaz's form was distracting.

Being male most of the time had been the first itch she'd had to deal with, though Kaz spent some time in female bodies more often than he used to. She'd dealt with an almost-dysphoria whenever Kaz used the bathroom, but she'd grown used to it.

Now that she was a dragon disguised as a human—packing a lot of magical body into a relatively mundane appearance—she got that again. She liked being a cat, she enjoyed being a griffon, and dragon was similar levels of playful/predator to the both of them that she could slide into a dragon body without trouble. This, though, with a magical appearance of humanity wrapped around her—constantly reminding her of what she could be—was annoying.

᱿Do we have to keep this disguise up all the time?᱿ she asked Kaz.

᱿Yeah, I don't like it either. It feels like I'm—I guess it makes me feel cramped. But it's the best solution so far and, when classes are done each day, we get to fly home.᱿ He was taking notes, absorbing the lecture material, which was ironic since it was about using magic to absorb clothing and then restore it.

᱿Maybe,᱿ Miaow thought to Kaz, ᱿we could pay Fafnir in gold to just hang out with us and kill anyone annoying?᱿

᱿He'd probably enjoy it—I might even be able to get him to do it for nothing if I let him claim their stuff as trophies.᱿

Purring a giggle, Miaow relaxed a little. ᱿Kaz, you still think of yourself as male, right?᱿

Leaning back a little more, Kaz shook his hand to bring some life back to it before continuing to take notes. ᱿Yes, but not as much as I used to. You've worn me down, okay? I guess—I'm just more flexible.᱿

It was the closest Miaow had gotten to him admitting that he liked looking pretty sometimes. ᱿Good enough, for now.᱿

᱿What's that mean?᱿ Kaz's question only got more giggles from Miaow and silence besides.

----------------------------------------

"You're getting a C. That's a passing grade." Professor Medusa narrowed her slit eyes down to bare lines. "That will be—"

It was finals week and Kaz was trying to recover what grades he could, but his favorite class teacher was not having anything. "I couldn't study. You read what happened!"

"Lower your voice." Waiting for him to back down, Medusa nodded her head. "Better. The reason I am giving you a passing grade is that I can see quite obviously you have mastered several magical forms and even their abilities. Perhaps you could make up a grade or two over summer?"

"What about a special test?"

The desperation in Kaz's tone was unmistakable to Medusa. She flicked her tail-tip and pondered the situation. "If I give you the chance to show what you can do, what do you expect out of it?"

"An A-minus."

"Not an A-plus? Not an A? Just an A-minus?" Going dead still, Medusa nodded. "Very well. The test will come in two parts. The first is you show off every, and I mean every, magical form you have learned since starting my class, along with at least one of its supernatural abilities. Go."

Rushing to his first form, Kaz became an undead draugr by letting the shape overcome his draconic one as the illusion spell dropped. Reaching out, he took hold of Medusa's wrist and started to flex the form's abilities. "You will spill your coffee on your way out of here."

Medusa nodded, accepting that he had likely twisted fate to do that. "Next."

His second was his nixe form. He felt far too dry and without the attachment of a river. Looking up into his teacher's eyes, he put a little pressure on her to ruffle his hair—and she did.

Berating herself for letting him have a form with mind control, Medusa nodded. "Keep going."

Growing and firming up all his muscles to an absurd degree, Kaz became his own version of a redcap, now towering above Medusa. "This form's special abilities are almost all physical. I am showing off my experience with the mental aspect by not punching something."

The smirk pulled at Medusa's lips. She knew well what a redcap was predisposed to. "I believe I have seen you become a dragon, but not work draconic magic."

Pouring himself back into a draconic shape, Kaz called the mana swirling around him to make a delicate spire of light and air that scattered pretty light-flowers around them.

He kept going, flowing down into a young winter wolf shape. Blasa was smaller than Kaz's normal wolf form, but she was no less fun for him to walk in. He didn't have much else he could do as her except to exude cold and ice to the extent that rime appeared on the metallic fixtures of the office he was standing in.

"You never learned my form. That will be the second part of this. Now, firstly, become human again." Medusa waited while Kaz shook off his fur and, naked without a hint of modesty, stood before her as human. "Lean your head forward and picture a lamia, picture myself. I know you probably have all these parts down, but this is something you won't have seen before."

Standing there, Kaz leaned his head forward as instructed, knowing that sometimes physical situations mattered to make shape changing for the first time easier, and just as he started to build the lamia shape in his head, he felt hands close around his throat.

Eyes widening, Kaz jerked back from Medusa, seeing her already collapsed in a heap on the ground. He tried to shout for help or scream or use magic, but the icy hands around his neck seemed to deny more than just the air from his lungs.

"She was so easy to manipulate. One little push into her mind and she wanted to help you get a better grade." Stef squeezed a little more on Kaz's neck, pouring magic into him that blocked his magic. "Don't struggle so much. The funny part about all this was that I don't even care about you. All young vampires are given a target, though, to either seduce, turn, or kill. Father gave me you."

Unable to use any magic, Kaz tried to grab the hands that felt like iron bands at his throat, to no avail. She wasn't laboring under the effects of anti-magic fields—she was projecting one onto him.

"I told Bret that if he could seduce you, to do so. To claim you, bring you to me. You would have been a powerful young vampire, Kaz, but you died in a way that removed you forever from my embrace—my vampiric embrace." Letting out a little chuckle, Stef could feel Kaz's life wearing thin. "I need to keep this short though, now, so—"

Miaow had been learning a lot of mage magic since bonding with Kaz, but she had something else, too. She'd had to push him out from being in control so she could ball up her feline essence into a potent sphere and push it into Kaz; willing him into his redcap form. The energy it had drained from her left her too weak, but that was perfect to hand off to Kaz again.

Flexing neck muscles that could have resisted a chainsaw, Kaz turned in Stef's grip and threw his arms up to force her hands away from his throat. He'd controlled his rage for Medusa, but for Stef he was perfectly happy getting a little out of control.

This wasn't how things were meant to go. Stef used her speed and strength to deflect Kaz's blows, but each punch she checked made her slide back a little more. "There's a fourth option, though my father wouldn't be happy. Become my partner. You have more raw talent in one finger than any eligible vampire on this plane. Together we would be—"

The feel of his fist striking the perfect features and pale cheeks of Stef's was different. When he'd sparred with Robin, her body had been as hard as his and just as resistant to impacts. Stef's face wasn't. Kaz felt bones break and smelled blood in the air. Doubling down, he sent another swing at her face from his left side.

Rage filled Stef. She brought her claws to bear and started slashing at Kaz's arms. But, as she raked and raked at him, she realized that his wounds kept closing. "To the pit with this and with you. Stop!"

The command hit Kaz like a hammer. It battered at his mental defenses and threatened to pull him away from control of his own body. When she stepped closer, smiling, he threw himself away from Stef and landed not far from Medusa.

His first idea was to just run. To go and tell Mal and get her to deal with Stef. That this course of action would probably result in Medusa's death at Stef's hands—likely blamed on him—was why he hadn't. Echoes of his friends and family kept telling him what he had to do. He hated it. He wanted to keep his hands clean of death.

It was a no-win situation. Either he killed Stef or he killed Medusa by leaving her to Stef. Squaring up his shoulders, Kaz focused on Stef and let the song of violence fully flow around him. She reached out to claw at his face, Kaz punched her in her exposed shoulder. When she grabbed his wrist and crushed it—breaking the bones—he brought the other fist back around and shattered her ribs.

Stef couldn't make use of her more powerful attacks because she was spending all her energy on defense and regeneration. Every blow that hit her was like a sledgehammer, displacing bones and organs, wrecking her body in ways she had never experienced before. It was no longer about recruiting him—she knew now she had to kill Kaz and the professor and get away before anyone found them.

Noticing Stef's return strikes becoming more focused and actually painful, Kaz made the decision that redcaps had made forever through history—he ignored the pain of broken bones and kept punching as hard as he could.

Two things happened at the same moment.

The first was Mal stepping into the doorway. She saw the two students wailing on each other as well as the lamia on the ground behind Kaz, and quickly put two and two together.

The second was Kaz connecting a solid blow to Stef's temple, caving-in her skull, just as a second came up from below and connected with the left side of her ribcage.

The sickening sound of bones crunching didn't come entirely from Stef, however. She'd picked her moment well to break Kaz's knee with a sharp sideways kick, but her follow up to shove him down to the ground never came.

Instead, Stef seemed to fold, her body tumbling down and then to the side like a puppet with its strings cut. Eyes wide with blood coloring them, she hit the ground just as Mal swept forward.

"I'm only going to ask once, Kaz, did you start this fight?" The cleanup was already playing out in Mal's mind. She was going to have Stef's progenitor threatening her with politics and, if she did anything to Kaz for the fight, she'd have several gods coming to town to have words with her.

Kaz was panting hard. His eyes were still narrowed to points and he couldn't stop thinking about how it had felt to punch someone to death. ᱿Miaow. Miaow, please, help?᱿

It wasn't easy for Miaow to finally push Kaz's mind aside and take over. She didn't like the idea of using force, but Kaz had sounded terrified. In a rush of magic she became a slim, fur-covered feline woman that hid most of her assets with her own coat. "Sorry, Mal, but Kaz is in a bad way. I can tell you what happened."

Mal listened to the description Miaow gave her of the events that'd taken place. Without any deception on Kaz's part, she was ready to give him a pat on the back and a tub of ice cream for finally standing up for himself, but she couldn't be public about that yet. Her attention slipped to Medusa, who was still laying in a heap of coils.

Not wanting to lose even a few minutes of time when rumors would already be spreading, Mal worked a brief and simple cantrip that had the lamia jerking awake with a gasp. "Madam Medusa?"

At her core, Medusa was a predator. That day she had encountered a larger predator and it had completely overpowered her. With her instincts screaming to retreat, she froze at the sight of that predator dead in the middle of the room. "Kaz?"

"He is alive. He took care of—" Mal wanted to say your attacker, but she was acutely aware that there were multiple scrying spells hooking themselves to her location.

"… Stef." Medusa spat a glob of searing venom on the floor. Slithering toward the dead vampire, she prepared to spit more but felt a paw touch her hand. Turning her head, she saw the feline form of Miaow. "Kaz?"

Tapping her head, Miaow said, "He's in here right now. He's horrified at what he did." She managed to turn the furious lamia toward the door. "We should go somewhere less provocative to discuss things. Madam president?" Looking toward Mal, Miaow hoped to get away from all the tingly spells she could feel in the room before someone with more power than patience decided to act.

Mal smiled—something she did to terrify people and make sure they knew that she was in charge. She didn't, however, smile at anyone in the room. Gesturing at the corpse, she teleported it to a chamber in her sepulcher under the school and began walking to the doorway. "Follow me, both of you."

Following Mal all the way back to her office, Miaow kept silent—not just her voice, but her steps. ᱿Kaz?᱿

᱿I killed her, Miaow. I actually killed her and it—it felt so easy.᱿

᱿It didn't look easy. I managed to give you the only form I knew that was easy to shift to and could stand toe-to-toe with a vampire—and you used it as intended. It was my—᱿

᱿No! Miaow, it doesn't matter what you managed to do, I threw those punches.᱿

᱿Don't forget, someone manipulated you into being there and being helpless. Anyway, when the time comes and I nudge you forward, please take control.᱿

᱿I don't—᱿

Miaow growled into her head. ᱿Kaz, you can't stay in here forever.᱿

᱿I'll be okay eventually. Maybe. But I can't do this right now, Miaow. I—᱿

᱿Kazuma! You will come out, when I ask!᱿ Navigating the hallways of the admin building, Miaow was trying desperately to pull Kaz from his pity party. She sauntered into Mal's office and waited for Medusa to enter too before closing the door behind them. "So, Kaz is freaking the heck out. This was the first time he had to kill someone, and he really doesn't know how to deal with that."

Medusa felt more than a little surprised at that. "Can you tell him—"

"Hold a second." Miaow nudged at Kaz. ᱿Come on out. Medusa wants to tell you something.᱿

᱿She's alive?᱿ Kaz felt curious at that. Accepting Miaow's invitation, his mental self flowed forward and his cut-off senses he'd imposed were forced to see, feel, hear, and more. Perched on a seat, he looked over at Medusa. "You're okay? I wasn't sure if you—"

"Thank you. Kaz, she told me she was going to kill me and frame me for your death. She would have had to, or there would have been evidence against her." Reaching up, Medusa tapped her own head then. "I have to ask, though, how did you do it? She was so powerful—unstoppable."

"I—" Kaz felt all the memories of the fight crash into him again. It hurt emotionally, but he strained to pay attention. "She blocked my magic, but Miaow managed to feed me enough that she could shapechange me.

"She picked the best form she could think of that would let me have a chance—redcap." It made him smile to think of, given how much time he'd spent with Robin learning the fighting techniques that took best advantage of a redcap's ability.

It was right up Medusa's alley. She had to respect that particular form, because if you didn't you would die to a redcap. "Highly resistant to physical damage, unstoppable in a fight—but what of your mind? Didn't she try to work you over too?"

"She tried, but I guess having two minds to fight with made that harder for her." Kaz shrugged. "She was strong, she had way too much speed, but a friend taught me that whenever there is a fight with a redcap, the redcap picks the pace. I threw my punches with as much strength as I could. She couldn't block them, she couldn't swing back with any force that would hurt me, so I bided my time and wore her down."

Clearing her throat, Mal now had a big smile on her face—again, it was hard to pick it as a warm smile given how little flesh there was left over her skull. "That is a delightful fact to know, Kaz. I will investigate that and, if I can prove it, you will be free to go about your time here."

"Huh?" Kaz felt confused. "But I killed her!"

"You said it yourself. Tell me, Kaz, what would you have done if she'd turned and run?" Mal steepled her fingers.

The question was a surprise. Kaz searched himself and had to admit, "I'd have let her run."

"Therein lies your answer," Mal said. "She was there, fighting to kill you. You were only there fighting to protect yourself and Medusa. I just need a way to prove that. Do you have anything to hide, Kaz? Would a memory scan be too invasive?"

"Yes!" Kaz shrank back into the chair a little. "Sorry. I mean yes, it would be invasive because I have things to hide."

"I'm not just talking about a girl—"

"These are related to a girl, but she's also a goddess of death." Kaz tapped his chin and was only mildly surprised to find it fuzzy from the form Miaow had assumed. "Uh, and a goddess of war. A goddess of… Huh, I am not sure what she's a goddess of. Then there's a goddess of hunting, though we weren't keeping any secrets. You know what, just imagine like half the goddesses of a pantheon having confided something to me, and you'll get an idea why I shouted."

The little outburst and, to him only a little, oversharing drained Kaz of much of his emotional energy. He slumped back in the chair and yawned. "Maybe I should ask Ang—"

"No. Please, Kaz, we don't need to know about your conquests." Mal knew he wasn't intimate with most of the goddesses she suspected he was involved with, but it wasn't going to stop her hinting that such a minor thing was the reason. "I'll come up with another method. The only thing I ask is that you don't leave this plane."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Ooh. That's going to make my weekly training with Fafnir more exciting for the city. Anyway, I'll be going. Next time, Mal, I'll bring some ice cream instead of my fists." Feeling trapped, now that he thought about it, Kaz stood up. ᱿Miaow, I'm getting out of here and going home—as a dragon. Do we need to pick anything up?᱿

"Ice cream?" Medusa asked, looking from Kaz to Mal. "What am I missing?"

"A ritual. A recent one, but still a ritual." Turning her attention on Kaz, Mal added, "And you will attend class. Come as a dragon. Don't bother with disguise magic."

"Kaz," Medusa said as she turned her head to look at him. Their eyes met and she smiled. "You passed, but if you want to learn how to become a lamia, keep attending my classes."

It was a small thing, in the greater scheme of his life, but Kaz could appreciate it. "Will I get an A?" He shapechanged to his dragon form and, though he laughed on his way out, the moment the door was closed behind him, Kaz slumped to his belly. ᱿I don't want you to take over, but if things get too tough, coul—᱿

᱿Just tell me if you do need me to.᱿ Miaow wasn't purring, not a hint, but she was spreading herself out as much as she could in Kaz's head so that he knew she was there.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Kaz let it out—causing rime to form on the wall beside him. It only took a flick of magic to remove, but he enjoyed the simple pleasure of making patterns with his breath for a moment.

Standing back up on his four legs, Kaz navigated the hallway to the front door and pushed it open with a wing—only to see half a dozen people standing there and waiting. None of them looked like students, and with Kaz's draconic senses pushed to their limit, he could tell they were all vampires.

"You killed my daughter." It had been a sudden and startling way to wake for the day. His retainers had come with him, of course, all but his most trusted—who remained behind should anything strange happen.

"Yeah. You told her to kill or turn me." It took everything Kaz had not to get angry and attack. This was who Stef had been talking about—the vampire who'd ordered her to attack him. "She tried, with every power and minion available to her. She even tried to convince me to become her partner." Taking one step forward, then another, Kaz kept his eyes locked on the vampire who'd spoken. "She was amazing, too. Faster than anything I've fought before, mind sharp enough to cleave through a trained shapeshifter's, and she managed to deny me access to my magic.

"You forced her to come after me, to fight me, and to die trying." The words just flowed, and Kaz was not willing to stop them—they felt right. "Her death wasn't her fault and it wasn't my fault. Her death was your fault. If I see another vampire doing anything but ignoring me, I'm going to lay their death at your feet too."

Miaow could feel the fury burning within Kaz, but it wasn't a hot fire. Kaz's anger burned with ice and a chill so deep that she imagined herself with twice the fur coat she had to buffer against it.

One of the vampires moved. His indignation at having a human talking to his elder in such a fashion making him grow angry on the elder's behalf. "You can't—"

Shaking his head, the eldest vampire stepped back and held out an arm before his junior. "The vampires within my domain will ignore you, though I cannot speak for others."

᱿I can feel the anger on them. They want to kill me.᱿ Stepping forward, Kaz tilted his head to the side just enough to see behind himself as he walked away from the tense scene. ᱿Except for their boss.᱿

᱿This won't be the end of it, Kaz. There are many factions of vampires in this one city. Are you going to fight all of them?᱿

᱿Yes. No. Ugh. This is all stupid and I don't know why I even acted like that. I think it might be getting closer to the full moon again or something.᱿ Walking until he was clear of anyone being too close, Kaz spread his wings and drew air-aligned mana around him—then shot into the air like a bullet from a gun.

"If you step out of line in this matter, you will be doing so alone. Know that that boy has allies and enemies alike that could end your re-life in the blink of an eye in the same way a child steps on an ant—without even thinking of it." Clenching his fist so tight that his nails bit into his flesh and drew blood, Stef's father lowered his eyes from the disappearing dot in the sky and started walking toward the entrance of the school.

----------------------------------------

Robin poured Kaz another glass of water and added some drops of blood for him. It was odd to see a dragon sitting as upright as he was, but she wasn't going to argue with his chosen form. "So that's it? Vampires are out of your hair?"

"Those ones, at least. I don't know if I can do it, you know? What if some way more powerful vampire comes at me?" Kaz sipped the drink, the blood making his mana do strange whorls and trails around him. "What blood is this?"

Turning the small bottle of blood around, Robin revealed a photo of a young woman with an eager smile. "She's amazing, isn't she? She's not dead and she's making good money out of donating this, so don't complain about that. Pure, non-mage human."

Kaz held up his glass that had the little red swirl in it and tried to think of the morality. "How much does she get for this?"

"Enough that she can live comfortably and eat an iron-rich diet. Like I said, Kaz, don't argue about it." Pouring herself a vodka, Robin added four drops of it and picked up her glass. "Slainte."

"Same." Kaz lifted his water and blood and drank it down. A shiver ran through him at the taste. Human, he realized, agreed with a draconic palate. "I'm still conflicted on the blood, it tastes too good, though. Way too good."

"Doesn't it? Well, I should be closing up in an hour. You still want to work out some tension with me?" Robin set her empty glass down and looked into the bottom of it with a mild sadness. It had been very good indeed.

"I think—I think I'll be okay. It's been a rough day and I might just head home." He downed the last of his drink and looked up at Robin with a tooth-filled smile. "Thanks."

"Kaz, you want a ride home?" Robin asked, her hand reaching out to the bar's landline phone.

"Nah. The walk will do me good." Sliding down to the floor, Kaz ruffled his wings and thought about it. "Maybe tomorrow, Robin." He knew she enjoyed sparring with him, but right now Kaz didn't want to feel his fists battering someone until they bled and broke.

The cool night felt good to Kaz. He could withstand heat, sure, but the snap in the air outside was soothing to him. Despite that, though, he was looking forward to getting home and—

"Hey."

Kaz thought he'd been wrapped in a don't look at me weave of mana, but the young woman seemed fine seeing him. "Uh, hi. What's up?"

She was wearing a tight pair of jeans, some stylish shoes, a top that looked like a silk shirt that had a cat-head-shaped hole right where her breasts met at the front—giving an enticing view of the fact she wore a lacy bra. "Just exploring the night around here. Don't see many dragons around."

"Most of us tend to keep ourselves hidden." He had no intention of telling her he wasn't born a dragon—particularly when Fafnir seemed perfectly happy to call him a dragon too. "What about you? Cold night to be out and about in so little."

"Sometimes just being out in the night is enough." Walking, she kept glancing down at Kaz, giving the perception of interest but not incredulousness. "I hope I'm not a bother—I just don't often get to meet someone as interesting as you."

"Interesting? I mean—" Pausing a moment before he said he wasn't interesting, Kaz laughed. "You know how it is. Always be yourself, unless you can be a dragon, then always be a dragon." He part-spread his wings and gave them a flap. "Going to a party?"

"Actually, done with one. Was trying to set one of my cousins up with a date, but things have changed." Crossing the road with Kaz at her side, she reached the opposite curb and her heel caught on a drain and she started to fall.

Moving fast, Kaz knew his draconic form was not suitable for catching someone—he was all spines and hard scales. Calling up his human form, he barely managed to catch his companion before she hit the ground. "Are you alright?"

Cradled in Kaz's arms, she looked up into his eyes and smiled. "Th-thanks. I—You're really good looking."

The blush on her face was consistent with what Kaz assumed was on his. He couldn't just drop her on the pavement, so instead he tried to help her stand—only the angle she was at and with all her weight in his arms, he had to be very careful about not touching her in places that would make him blush more. Finally, though, he almost got her straightened up and found himself with his chest pressed to her back.

Reaching her hand back to Kaz's naked hip, the woman looked back over her shoulder at him. "Human too?"

Kaz quickly backed away, aware how much of her he'd been touching. "S-Sorry!"

"You don't look sorry."

When her eyes dipped down for a moment, Kaz realized he was naked. Naked and just a little aroused. She didn't look or sound offended. "Okay. I'm a guy. Kinda hard not to respond to someone beautiful."

"You think I'm beautiful." It wasn't a question, not the way she said it or meant it. "This is my place. I have some things you could change into if you need some clothes?"

For some reason, Kaz's eyes kept getting captured by that little window in her shirt. White lace trailed up each side of the softness within. "That'd be"—he wondered what felt just a little off, but then dismissed the worry—"nice, actually."

The apartment building looked to be four stories tall, and she'd told him she was on the top floor. It was an odd sort-of daze that Kaz put down to the blood he'd drunk earlier. When he reached the top floor at last, there was just one open door and no hallway.

"Come in!"

She sounded so nice and he really, really needed to start carrying a change of clothes around with him more. Walking in the door, he barely got inside, then the door swung shut and the woman, without her top on now and clad only in her jeans and bra, pressed against Kaz and kissed him.

It wasn't a soft, chaste kiss—her lips on his felt amazing, and he wanted nothing more than to push her back against the wall and show her how much she meant to him. Hunger rose inside Kaz, and that hunger would not be sated.

Looking into Kaz's eyes, Aphrodite let herself be pushed, kissed, held, and pinned against the wall. He was forceful enough and had enough divinity in him that she'd completely given up on her plans to reunite him with Artemis.

Her plan had been to make him fall for herself, then cast him off to Artemis—bind them together and let a few hundred years settle their mental complaints while their bodies figured the rest out.

But Aphrodite was hungry. She was the goddess of love, lust, and a lot more, and the little immortal that was doing his best to grope her and rouse her own pleasure was—he was doing a surprisingly good job of it. She moaned, groaned, and shivered until he finally unclipped her bra, picked her up, and carried her to the first horizontal surface he could find.

Aphrodite was relieved it was a bed, but was sure things would only progress from there.

----------------------------------------

Miaow had felt odd the moment Kaz left Robin's bar. It was like there was something slowly seeping into his head and spreading around. It was selective—she saw the infection coiling around parts in Kaz she knew to be his self-control, his mental cohesion, and her own connection to him.

By the time she felt someone find him on the streets, she couldn't even make out their face, their voice, or whether they were male or female.

The strain to push through the strangely pink mist became too much, and Miaow lost contact with Kaz completely. Alone and trapped, she tried to push to him to no avail. Even when Circe was bespelling Kaz, she hadn't been locked away this completely.

Scared, Miaow curled up tighter and tighter in Kaz's mind while the strange pink mist seemed to press in around her. She could feel it reaching to delve her own mind too, but there was something, one little ideal that didn't work—her own mind was far enough from human that it couldn't find what she wanted.

There was a spark within her. It defied even the plaguing tendrils of pink that threatened her mind. Strangely, to her, it had not always been within her. She'd gained this spark from living with Kaz and learning from him what it meant to care about others.

And that, oddly, made her remember that others cared about her. Drawing on the one thing of Kaz she could still contact—his magic—Miaow opened herself wide to it and drew on a large wave of his life magic.

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᱿HELP ME᱿

The cry rang out like church-bells and thunder, at once shocking Kaz into stillness and surprising Aphrodite. She'd soaked him in her magic, bound his needs to her desires, and was about to reap the success of her efforts when his very potent magic had let loose the cry.

Gathering her mana around the room, Aphrodite was in the process of locking away the magic that had radiated out when there was a knock at the door. There were things in the many universes, Aphrodite knew, that could cause problems for her—she was just sure there were none living close enough to have answered the cry for help so quickly.

"Wait here, stud, I'll be back very soon." As Aphrodite stood from the bed, she noticed the pathetic, hungry look on Kaz's face. Smiling, she reached her fingers out to tickle his chin as the door-knocker repeated their effort to gain entry. "I'm coming!"

Snapping her fingers to produce a sheer and mostly translucent negligee as she walked, Aphrodite pulled it onto her shoulders and around her front just in time to open the door. "Hell—"

"Not in my city, Aphrodite, and certainly not to someone I promised safety to." Bacchus glared at the woman before him. "Let Kaz go."

Sizing up the god before her, Aphrodite took in his flip-flops, cargo shorts, Nirvana shirt, and jacket (all faded) and snorted. "I saw no mark, no touch from you, and certainly no collar or holy item. Leave before I grow upset with you."

"How long have you been here, Aphrodite?" Bacchus leaned against the door jam. "Because I have some advice for you. This ain't a world where we're top dogs."

"Bacchus? Are you going to go tattle on me to the mages here? Will they come with their magic and try to fight me?" The sneer on Aphrodite's face, she felt, would cause a blemish if she let it linger. Straightening her features, she let her power flow out to warp reality around her. "We got rid of you for a reason. You couldn't see that power and our own wills make right—not your petty rules and obligations."

᱿HELP ME᱿

"That one was louder, and your wards are weaker. Do you think she'll reach his goddess with that one or maybe the next?" Bacchus asked.

"'She'? Who are you referring to, you drug-addled half-wit?"In her head, Aphrodite was counting down how many seconds she would tolerate Bacchus for.

"Do you even realize who you subdued? What role both of them have to play in the realms' future?" Bacchus smiled. "Or that I was buying time for her to take control again and kick your ass?"

Spinning around, Aphrodite expected to see Kaz standing, coming for her, but he was still writhing on the bed where she'd left him. "Wha—?" The blow to the back of her head was swift and sharp. She started to turn only for another blow to come. "Bacchus!"

When Aphrodite forced her will into place to shield her, it wasn't Bacchus she saw but a pair of humans. Though they looked at her with dulled eyes, each bore a medallion around their neck that filled them with power. The young man swung another fist at her, which she dodged, while the half-naked woman ripped through Aphrodite's shield and drove her head into the goddess' stomach.

Setting the joint back between his lips, Bacchus took a long pull of the magical smoke and carefully leaned out of the way and around Aphrodite. "Stupid cow." In the haze of smoke, invisible to the raging goddess, he approached the bed and winced at what he saw.

Kaz felt as arms scooped him up. He looked up into the face above him and let out a happy sigh. "Please, come back to bed with me. I need you more."

"You need something, but sex with me—or her—is not going to help you." Turning with the young man in his arms, Bacchus winced as he watched Aphrodite send a spear of magic through his male disciple. It was a stab in his own heart he felt at the man's loss, but he couldn't let the sacrifice be for nothing.

Aphrodite now only had one opponent. She slashed and raked at the drug-mired woman with her power, but somehow she was always just out of place enough to avoid the strikes. She was surprised when the human woman stepped back and, with a slight smile, closed the door.

Grabbing the door and opening it again, Aphrodite gathered her power to strike the mortal down—only to find her gone. "What have—?" Turning, she marched back to the bedroom and found Kaz missing.

Kissing his disciple on the cheek, Bacchus winced at the feel of furious magic blasting out of the building behind them. In his arms, Kaz slumped, insensible with the joint in the corner of his mouth and its smoke obscuring him. "You were so careful to follow the rules of my house, even when I didn't require them of you."

----------------------------------------

Miaow wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but the pink tendrils had fallen back and weren't trying to strangle her anymore. Time, though, was hard to follow. She reached out to find Kaz, again and again, but found him lost and indistinct.

It was hard to fight back, but without the threat of being invaded, and with time and nothing else to do, she began fighting the pink within Kaz's head. Kaz, though, always seemed too far away. Instead of him, though, she fought to take back at least a little control.

When she felt a tug pull her out and into the driving seat of their body, she opened her eyes and was staring directly into Bacchus' own slightly bloodshot ones. "What—?"

"Whoah. You made it. How's he doing in there?" Bacchus asked. "Aphrodite really did a number on him."

"Aphrodite?" Miaow was struggling to focus. She blinked a few times, but there was a different haze confusing her. "She—I know that name. Where do I—?" When Bacchus leaned forward and blew at her face, the haze she felt cleared. "Aphrodite! She did this to him—to us?"

"Mmhmm. It's taking time for her poison to leak out of him, but it is leaking out. It's addictive, you know, this isn't going to be easy on him. You can trust me on that, too. Believe me when I say I know addiction."

Miaow opened her mouth to demand something, but as she tried a pair of arms reached around her and hugged her. The woman beside her, insistent about the hugging, kissed her on the cheek. "What—?"

"She misses her bro. Just let her hug you—she gave a lot to help me get you out." Walking over to his own chair, Bacchus slumped down and scratched his groin. "So, why was she gunning for your bud?"

"For—For Kaz?" Miaow wasn't sure about the woman, but she did seem to just want a hug. Reaching around her, Miaow drew her into a cuddle that seemed to placate her. "We got caught up with a bunch of stuff in Gr—in your pantheon. She didn't play into…"

"Sounds like you're remembering something. Spill it." Closing his eyes for a moment, Bacchus strengthened the protections on his home. If Aphrodite had lived in her apartment as long as Bacchus had spent in his house, he'd have never been able to get inside.

"A spell hit Kaz just before leaving. Something that took a god to remove. It—It felt a little like this. Too sweet and oily. Couldn't get it off." She shivered and was welcome when the woman hugged her a little tighter. "Just like this—but this is worse. What is it?"

"Love." Pausing to take a hit of his bong, Bacchus drew the smoke into himself and then, slowly, breathed it out and made a blue-gray figure in the air with it. "Aphrodite normally inflicted this on a couple, making each love the other. It would fade, eventually, but by then the couple were so addicted to each other there was nothing to save them.

"She didn't do that this time. She poured all this shit into Kaz to make him love her. It might not be able to be removed fully. Not even by your friendly god."

Miaow was partially fixated on the smoke-figure hovering in the air. Her mind wasn't swayed, but her body—Kaz's body—knew the woman well. Squeezing her eyes closed, she said just two words, "Thank you."

"At the moment, for Kaz at least, it might have been kinder to just leave him there." Setting down the bong and snapping his fingers, Bacchus produced a can of beer from thin air. "But I couldn't leave you there—not knowing you were still sane enough to cry for help."

"Can—Can I shape-shift?" Miaow asked.

"You probably can, but I wouldn't suggest it. His magic is a little polluted right now. How is he dealing with it all?"

"He got mind-raped and sexually assaulted, and he's still high after—" Miaow looked at Bacchus meaningfully.

"A month and a half."

"He's still high after a month and a half of trying to get rid of that shit. He still wants her and I don't know if I can bear denying him, but—"

"But letting him go back would mean you surrendering to her, too." Bacchus drank the can down in a single pull, crushed it, and tossed it into nothingness. "Out of all the people who might come running to find out what has happened, who would you want to actually come in here and see him? Who might actually help?"

Names ran through Miaow's head. The person she most wanted to see, Puff, wouldn't help. Bringing Jaybird in, too, probably wouldn't help. "Or would she? Would bringing someone in who Kaz loves help?"

"Unless they're a god, probably not. More romantic love isn't going to make him love less."

She sighed. "Hel. Hel is the only one who could help him now. She's his source of magic, she brought him back from the dead, she welcomed him into her family—she would help."

Bacchus winced. "Six-foot four, black and white hair, dressed like a warrior in leather hides, invites huge wolves and dragons to try breaching my home?" He waited for Miaow to nod. "This is going to be tricky, then. She has made several oaths to see me dead."

"Then stand behind me and let her in." Miaow stood up, the woman at her side helping her to move and stop from wobbling. Bacchus' strong arms curled around her from behind and she felt a little better. The moment the door opened, she felt a chill fill the house. "Hel!"

Like a force of nature Hel swept into the living room. She glared through Miaow—at Bacchus—then realized what she was seeing. "Kaz?"

"No. Miaow. Kaz is—" Miaow paused for a moment and reached inward. ᱿Kaz? Can you hear me?᱿ When whimpers and screams filled his thoughts, she pulled back a little. "Kaz is not doing so great. He needs your help."

Just a moment ago Hel had been glaring at the entrance of the house, studying it for the slightest flaw in its defenses—and finding none. The moment the door had opened, she'd rushed in to find Kaz. "Who did this to him? Was it you, Bacchus?"

"Of course not. Kazuma abided by my rules. When I took him from Aphrodite, he was already poisoned by her." Stepping out from behind Miaow, Bacchus worked his shoulder under her arm and helped her back to the couch. "I've been working to get the poisons out and let him recover, but I have never seen one person infected by her this much. He will take centuries to heal from this."

Hel was angry, but the anger was directed away from Bacchus now. "I'll destroy her. I'll burn away everything she loves and leave her a wreck—but first I need to heal what she did."

"There is nothing short of death that would banish that woman's poison." As soon as he said it, Bacchus remembered what kind of god he was talking to. Widening his eyes, he took a step back.

"Miaow, you're going to need to leave Kaz's body for a time." Glancing from Miaow to Bacchus, Hel asked, "Allow my hound in here—she needs a mind to share and I only trust him to take care of her fully."

Shrugging his shoulders, Bacchus flopped back on his couch seat. "Sure, whatever. If you can help him, go ahead. Not like I haven't had to put up with a huge, stoned wolf twice already. What's one more?"

Raising an eyebrow, Hel watched as Bacchus took another draw on his bong. "You took care of him."

Coughing, Bacchus nodded. "Y-Yeah. It wasn't his fault my pantheon's all fucked up. Ask Persephone and Hades, you're in a similar circle to them, right? Anyway, Artemis was probably his best hook-up, but Aphrodite is bad news about a hundred percent of the time."

Finding his way unbarred, Garmr walked into the strange house and sneezed several times before he reached his mistress' side. Sitting, he leaned his head against her thigh and looked up at her.

Miaow looked at the hand Hel offered her. She could feel it seething with the magic of death, even as the one resting on Garmr's head was charged with life. She'd never in her life, or her time as a spirit after it, trusted anyone as much as Kaz, but Hel was a close second. Shakily getting down to one knee, she leaned her head forward for Hel to touch.

"I probably should have been more vocal about it, Miaow, but I am glad Kaz has you." Touching Miaow's head, Hel eased the bakeneko from her home and poured her spirit into Garmr. "Keep her safe, Garmr."

And then, with Miaow looking out through Garmr's eyes and Bacchus watching from his couch, Hel killed Kaz.

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This story is released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. If you are paying money to see this or the original creator, Damaged, is not credited, you are viewing a plagiarized copy of the story.