Walking to his car, Kaz opened the door and climbed in. The dress tugged at his legs, but not so far that the Mini's interior would trouble him. He wound down his window. "I'll get us something for breakfast tomorrow and then we can do some hunting for Queen. That way she can have everything we catch."

Jerking his head up, Claws felt excitement buzz through him. "That's a good plan!"

Putting his key in the ignition, Kaz started the car and pulled down the driveway and out into the street. "So, do you think it's more or less dangerous driving with me being invisible to normal people or the whole car being invisible?"

᱿Is this another rhetorical question? I don't like those. Why don't you find magic that just makes people less likely to hit your car and combine it with this invisibility trick?᱿ Miaow could feel her time approaching. Kaz wasn't sleepy or anything, but he got an air about his mind when he was ready to pass over to her. ᱿So, my idea is that you will be too busy focused on sensations and panic to worry about things like actually sleeping. The trick would be getting you to pass over control in that state.᱿

"Yeah. We'll give it a try, though, whatever you think up." Kaz navigated traffic without too much concern for the spells in place on him and the car. Most people would expect to see someone driving, so they would see someone behind the wheel—though probably not a harpy.

The restaurant wasn't too far into town, but Kaz had been past it a few times and had been planning to take Abigail there. He let out a stiff breath as he pulled into a car park beside the restaurant. "Okay, if you have a plan, we should probably do it soon."

᱿You trust me, right?᱿ Miaow waited for Kaz to nod. ᱿Right, so I can feel you ready to give control, let's make it simple. Fly. Get some altitude.᱿

"Just remember I've never flown before." The thing Kaz had learned about magic and transforming was that sometimes you have to do things for the first time by just doing them. Spreading his wings, he was about to pump them when a little bird landed on his shoulder.

᱿Puff!᱿

"Oh! Hey, Puff. Just trying to do the changeover to Miaow." Kaz reached across his body to rub her on the head. After the second stroke she jumped down and grew out into a human-sized harpy just like him. Her dress was long and flowing, blue to match her plumage, and with a lot of skirt for her to be able to dance in. Kaz promised his masculine sensibilities that he didn't know all that because he was wearing dresses himself now.

"Oh my gosh! That dress looks so good on you! Give me a sec to take a pic." Puff jumped back a few steps, forgetting she was wearing a dress that could get tangled. She started to fall, only to be gripped in a strong pair of wing-arms. Looking up into Kaz's eyes, her heart beat a little faster—though she told herself it was excitement at being hugged and not almost falling.

"Are you oka—?" Blinking, Kaz felt a push in the back of his head. Before he could stop thinking of the photo or Puff tripping, Miaow was in control and helping Puff upright. ᱿Miaow?᱿

"It worked! I was going to try making you dive-bomb the ground, but then I felt you get really distracted with Puff against you and thought it would be the best time and now I'm rambling and—Hi, Puff!" Straightening up, Miaow waited for Puff to be steady before she stepped back and did a little turn. "What do you think? Come on, take pictures."

᱿This is weird, Miaow. I can feel what you feel, but I can't—Can you even hear me?᱿ Kaz asked.

"I can hear you, silly. Get comfortable, we're going to have a night of magic." Putting her wing around Puff's back, Miaow drew Kaz's phone from the purse he'd brought with him. Holding it at arm's length, she took a selfie of the two of them that Puff reacted to as if she were born with a phone in her wing.

"Wait, doesn't he normally sleep, though? You mean Kaz will be awake and watching us?" The thought took a few turns in Puff's head before she tossed out it being worrying. After all, Kaz and Miaow trusted each other so much to share a body. "Eh, whatever. Hey, Kaz, did you come up with that body?"

᱿I can't exactly reply, but—᱿

"He totally did! Here was I thinking I'd have to do all this work corrupting him into liking gorgeous dresses and showing off—and he goes and does the most amazing thing for a straight guy and buys me bras and dresses and everything!" Miaow led the way. She knew the place Kaz had planned for them to go and felt amazing about having someone to enjoy the night with. ᱿Sorry for cutting you off, but I really meant all that. You're amazingly flexible.᱿

᱿Thanks, Miaow, that means a lot coming from a cat. So what can I do in here? I mean, can I still do magic?᱿ Kaz mentally squirmed around in his own head, but any time he got close to manipulating anything external, it was like there was a solid wall around it.

᱿Yeah, that kinda sucks. That's why I try to relax as much as possible. You know, cat-stuff.᱿ Walking up to the corner of the footpath, Miaow realized Puff might be missing something. "Do you have a spell to disguise yourself?"

"Oh, even better. I have this talisman Jaybird made me. I squeeze his belly and he squeaks, it's so adorable." Pulling a little fuzzy toy bear from her pocket, Puff showed Miaow. "Did Kaz do yours?"

"Between wizardry and witchcraft, he's amazing to have around. I mean, I knew some neat magic, but what he can do with things just makes me purr." Miaow turned the corner with confidence, sure that no one would see either of them as anything but two gorgeous women out for a good time.

Kaz mentally chewed on his lip before asking, ᱿Do you ever get hints as to what I'm thinking even when I'm not thinking at you? I just felt like you were thinking of you and Puff as humans.᱿

᱿Huh. I might not pay enough attention to get that. Interesting. I'll have to test it myself.᱿

"Purring is good?" Puff asked.

Miaow let out a laugh. "Purring is very good."

"Hrmm, maybe I should try to spend some time as a cat to try it out?" Rolling her hips with each step, Puff didn't mind putting on a show, particularly when she noticed Miaow did a fair bit of looking. She wouldn't have expected a normal person to notice it, but she quickly realized that Miaow's eyes kept flicking to mirrors and glass—catching a look at the pair of them walking. "Oh! Did I tell you I started vlogging?"

᱿What's vlogging?᱿ Miaow asked.

Kaz hadn't had a lot of experience with it either, but he knew some things. ᱿When you upload videos regularly online.᱿

᱿Huh. Wouldn't that reveal what she is?᱿ Miaow, unlike Kaz, wasn't as used to dealing with two conversations going on at once—and being involved in both. "Wouldn't that reveal what you are?"

"Well, it would, but we're using a trick, right. At first I'm going to use this vtuber software to make me look like a harpy. Then I'll tell everyone I got better software, and use a low-res setting on my phone. Finally, I'll just go with it and tell everyone that 'this is me' and let them assume I got better software." The idea of it was silly, Puff knew, but she'd spent time working on it. "Oh! You and Kaz totally have to be on it. We can use a catgirl vtube model for you and maybe just go with leaving Kaz as our token human."

The idea intrigued and terrified Kaz at the same time, but mostly the former. ᱿Or I could keep using a different form each time? Oh! I could keep changing my hair color. Maybe even do it between takes.᱿

"Kaz wants to keep mixing things up, though. You'd be better off talking to him about it." Miaow made room for Puff beside her as they entered the restaurant.

᱿I'm starting to feel a bit woozy.᱿ Kaz was having trouble focusing, feeling constantly like he wanted to yawn. ᱿I think I'm getting tired.᱿ Darkness closed in around Kaz. It didn't feel dangerous, just like normal sleep. ᱿G'night.᱿

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

Waking with a jerk, Kaz realized that Miaow was asleep—deep asleep. Unnaturally asleep. Jerking upright, he saw someone in a cloak standing over him.

"Ugh! What does it take to knock you out?" He was annoyed. He'd just cast his most powerful sleep spell and now Kaz was awake again. "Well, it won't matter. I'll just let you have another and—"

Kaz heard no more. The second sleep spell hit him, though not as hard as he would have expected. He slumped back down to the ground, but his mind still worked. ᱿Miaow? Are you there?᱿

There was no answer in Kaz's head.

Fumbling for an idea or plan, Kaz realized he could hear water nearby, a lot of water.

The guy checked his phone again, the time hadn't even moved to the next minute since he last looked. "I don't even know why she likes you so much. This is stupid, where's Stef?"

His blood running cold, Kaz tried to stir himself into motion, but the best he managed was to wiggle his toes and clench his rear. ᱿Miaow! Tell me you got a message off to someone?!᱿

Looking at his phone, the guy groaned as the time showed only one minute later. "I can't believe this. How hard is it to understand? I got the hunk you wanted to drain, why don't you just get your ass over here and make him your thrall?"

A chill ran through both men that was only peripherally related to the icy waters of the river nearby. Both heard a soft, feminine voice. "What is going on here?"

It wasn't Stef, that was for sure. Kaz wished he could roll over and at least see who it was, but he was stuck looking the wrong way.

"Nothing that should bother you. My friend just had too much to drink and he's sleeping it off until our ride gets here." It was an easy lie for the man. He turned to look at the woman, only to see her Japanese features. When she took another step closer, he tensed up. "I said—"

"You have poisoned him, that's not something a friend would do. Step away, let me help him." Keeping her voice steady, the woman walked right up to Kaz's side and looked at the other male. She recognized that Kaz was not in his proper form easily enough, but it really didn't matter to her. "Go. Leave or I will force you."

"Hey! Now just hold on here. You can't jus—" He'd had to reach out with a shield spell as quick as he could as the woman swung at him, fingers out and raking like claws. The shield should have stopped anything mundane and most magical attacks, but her nails raked against it with orange sparks. "You know what, this ain't worth my neck."

"So impulsive," the woman said as Kaz's attacker ran away. "Now, let's find out what was truly going on here." Rolling Kaz onto his back, she smiled down at him. "Hello there. My name's Yui. He wasn't your friend, was he?"

Kaz couldn't move until the woman leaned down and pressed her hand to his chest. A blue light burned and he felt his body come back under his control. He was still in a dress and was still a harpy—and now he had no obfuscating spell either. "N-No. He wasn't my—" the blue glow continued, and though Kaz felt that it freed him, he could feel it drawing on his strength. "What are you doing?"

"Freeing you from all that disgusting little mage's spells. This isn't your form?" Yui kept her hand planted right where she wanted it, slowly drawing away Kaz's power.

"L-Let me change back. Uh, can you stop doing that?" Looking down at her hand, Kaz watched the blue light fade and the porcelain fingers draw back. Now, able to look at her with more clarity, Kaz realized she looked Japanese (black hair, pale skin), but it was her eyes that he found himself fixated on. "You're beautiful."

"Thank you."

Kaz had to focus to remember what he needed to do. First he sat up, which made his head feel a little funny, then he stood up and felt positively dizzy, but Yui's hand helped steady him. "Thanks. M-My name's Kaz."

"Well, Kaz, why don't you take that dress off and get back into something more comfortable?"

It made all the sense. Thanks to having put it on several times himself, now, Kaz knew exactly how to slip out of the dress. With all his feathers, the cool evening held no problems for him. "M-My bra too?" His wings were already reaching up and back to unhook the bra.

Leaning closer, smelling the vitality that rushed through Kaz like a river, Yui nodded. "We certainly won't need it."

Breathing out a sigh as he felt Yui's hand find his chest again, Kaz slipped loose of his shape and back into his human one. It was harder than normal, far harder. "That idiot must have done a n-number on me. I can't think straight and my magic's all w-wonky."

"Come, I have a place where we can be wonky together." Yui felt amazing. The raw, burning life force in the human she'd found was a sweeter meal than she'd sampled before in her long life. Beckoning to him, drawing him onward, she drew Kaz toward the cave she'd taken ownership of. All the while her hand pressed to his chest, channeling his magic and life to her.

The further he walked, the less Kaz worried. The wonkiness was good, after all. The glances Yui sent back to him filled him with hunger. The oddest thing for him was the way her hand seemed attached to his chest.

Once in the cave, Yui seemed much closer to him. Her hand on his chest never left, but when her lips touched his neck it was like the wonky feeling doubled and doubled again. He didn't care, though, because while she kissed him and touched him, he loved her more than he loved anything in his life—or his life.

Even as his eyes fluttered closed, he couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be than in Yui's arms, the blue glow fading slowly against the darkness of his eyelids until, with a gasp, he couldn't breathe. But he didn't care, because he could feel Yui against him.

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

Kaz woke with a blood-curdling scream. Everything hurt, from his feet to his fingers to the top of his head. Even his spirit hurt. All there was to do was scream at the pain, scream at the agony, and fight whatever it was doing it all to him.

"Stop that." The voice was feminine, soft, and commanding. "If you awaken the side of me that likes to hear men scream, then we'll both be in trouble."

He tried to stop screaming, but he just couldn't until an inky black hand pressed itself over his mouth and a beautiful woman's face leaned over him—into his field of vision—and kissed the back of that hand. Once the hand left him, Kaz couldn't scream, even though the pain hadn't stopped.

"You are alive again," she spoke. "This wasn't easy, nor cheap. Why would a young man, not even yet a warrior, be worth saving?"

The pain inside Kaz doubled, and his eyes widened when he felt a hand push into him, though he couldn't feel a wound.

"Ah, I am starting to see. Eaten something mortals shouldn't. There is a story here I wish to hear."

When the hand slipped out of him again, so too did the pain. Kaz panted without making a sound, just staring up at the ceiling of darkness above him. No stars, no lights, not even a shadow. Opening her mouth and leaning over him again, the woman breathed out a whisp of chill air that shot down into Kaz's open mouth. He didn't know how he knew, but he could feel the ability to speak again. "What did you do to me?"

"Just like a mortal. What should you say to someone who brought you back to life—who stole you away from a soul-devouring monster?" she asked.

There was only one thing Kaz could think of. "Thank you." The smile she gave him looked so pure, so wondrous, that Kaz almost thought he was being enchanted again. "What happened?"

Now he could look at her without the blinkers of pain, Kaz saw a woman wearing what looked like a shirt made of gray linen and a skirt made of animal skins. Her skin was strange, her right side being nearly ebony black while her left was white, but the real strangeness lay in her eyes that seemed infinitely deep and hungry. Her long hair—hanging almost to her waist—was likewise monochrome in nature to match her skin.

Laughing, she leaned back on her knees and reached up to push her hair back from her face—giving Kaz a view unlike any he had seen before. One side of her face was bone white and glowing with life, the other inky black—but both looked part of a beautiful whole. "You are welcome, and what happened was you died."

Kaz gulped. The way she spoke inspired him to think more like dead-dead than resuscitated-dead. He knew one thing for sure, though, and that is you show respect to someone who can undo dead-dead. "Sorry, I don't know your name."

"Telling you that would be cheating. Tell me your story first, and I'll tell you what happened next, and you can try to guess my name." Smiling, enjoying a game, she reached out a hand to Kaz that had an upside-down skull in it.

Looking into the skull, Kaz could see only a black substance. "Should I drink this?" At her nod, he shrugged and gulped it down. It was worse than the most horrid thing he'd ever put in his mouth (diesel engine oil), and it burned all the way down to his stomach. Even there, his body seemed to rebel against having it inside. "What was that?"

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Something to keep you alive for a day. Tell your story."

"How much of my life do you want? Where should I start?"

"We have time. Tell me everything you want to."

"I lived a normal life up until I graduated high school. I guess I always knew Dad didn't have the money to send me to college—and my scores weren't good enough to get me a scholarship. Then my aunt came along and offered to pay my way. She said she would send me to a particular college and if I wanted to go, to just say yes.

"I said yes, of course. I didn't know she was sending me to a magic college—I didn't even know magic existed. I'm not supposed to tell you my name or—"

"Kazuma Wilson, son of Bradley Wilson and Makishi Shimizu, grandson of…"

Kaz slumped back down onto his back as he listened to her trail off before getting to his grandparents. "Right, well, Yukako paid for everything and I wound up neck-deep in magic on my first day of school. Figured enough out not to die, made some friends. I was just getting to the fun bit, making enemies, when—Miaow!"

"The other soul. I have it safe."

"But I can't hear her." Kaz tried to sit up again and found himself unable to—weakened more than he thought.

"Your own soul is only pinned to your body by my will, and your body only works because of a potion from Hymir's own cauldron. I have your partner's soul safe, and when you can hold both your own and hers again, I will reunite you."

Lost in the twin black spheres of the woman's eyes, Kaz tried to pick out the name she'd dropped, but couldn't place it. His lips mouthed the words, "gods, you're beautiful," but he dared not put his breath behind them—his luck with beautiful women lately was not good. "Miaow was and still is my protector. She teaches me the ways of shapeshifting and I give her the body my mother took from her."

"You say that so diplomatically. Anyone would think you have my father's tongue. Go on."

"One of the enemies I met was Stef. A vampire in the school. Not exactly an enemy, I guess, but she was interested in me. I didn't want to be interesting to her. But anyway, Miaow was on a date with a friend, and I let her have control while I slept.

"Next thing I know I'm waking up with the remains of a powerful sleep spell around me, some guy standing over me. He seemed surprised I was awake, maybe he didn't know that sending Miaow to sleep would wake me? He used the spell again, but I had some protection.

"He gloated about calling Stef. He probably thought catching me for her would make Stef like him, or something stupid like that. He got interrupted by—" Kaz shivered and trembled. He was surprised when the woman leaned over him and pressed her hand to his chest. For an instant he panicked—it was just how he'd been attacked.

"Calm yourself."

Instead of the blue light of his soul being drained, Kaz felt a rush of ice shoved inside him. The cold was energy, though, and it calmed the agony of the monster's memories. "Yui. Its name is Yui."

"Was. Old Garmr didn't like the smell of it, when he hunted down your body. That beast cannot harm you again."

"She—Yui—was feeding on me, wasn't she?" Turning his head from the ceiling above to the woman that knelt beside him, Kaz watched her nod. Her eyes stole his attention for several seconds now, enticing him to look deeper and deeper into them. "I can't blame her any more than I blamed Miaow, then."

"Blame is not required to feel angry. When you are fighting for your life, or even fighting for something important, you don't have to take your enemy's feelings into account."

"Can't help it. It's what I do." He had to pause a little bit, and in that pause he felt darkness close in around him. It wasn't the darkness of death, but that of the woman at his side.

"Sleep."

Kaz did.

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

"… over there. Be careful of him, nephew."

Kaz woke feeling far too groggy. The woman's voice seemed to come from nearby, but try as he might Kaz couldn't move all that well. A moment later he felt a sense of something big nearby, then his vision was filled with a black, canine face and hungry eyes.

"Are you sure this is alive and not a snack? There's nothing of him left," the big wolf said. "He has what, six hours before he dies?"

"Five, but I have another potion for him by then. Hymir's potions are amazing things," the woman said.

"Why would you waste them on such a weak life? What's so special about him?"

"Several reasons, but the biggest one right now is someone powerful on Midgard has made an offering of a promise to me, should I save and restore him."

"You like him, Aunt?"

"There are few enough gods who have looked at me with the intensity he has, and less still mortals."

Kaz watched the two looking down on him and felt, somehow, twice as naked as he was. Which, given he was naked, was quite a bit.

The wolf looked over Kaz, sniffing wherever it would to gain a measure of him. "He stinks of death."

"I know." Her voice deepened and she raised an eyebrow at Kaz. "It is a sweet scent to me, Skol. Will you guard me while I work on him?"

Another name. Kaz tried to focus on it. Skol. His mind was still drawing a blank. When she crouched over him, and pressed her hand to his chest, Kaz knew what was coming.

It was a cold agony that sank into him as her left arm slipped inside. He finally had enough strength to move and all he did was tip his head back and bite back the agonized scream that was bubbling in his throat. It felt like she pushed her hand around inside, seeking something, before she finally found what she was looking for.

Kaz could not hold back his scream as she grasped something deep inside him and set it on fire with magic. After several seconds, though, the fire felt warm and right. Despite the pain and despite how hard it was, he tilted his head forward to look the strange woman in the eyes.

It was a strange turnabout to his normal intimate moments with women. She was elbow deep in his torso with her arm, and her eyes burned with a similar fire to what he felt now ignited within. But, despite the weirdness of it, it felt intensely personal.

"Your magic wasn't coming back. I gave you part of my own and it seems to have ignited within you. That creature's work was thorough." She slowly drew her arm free of Kaz and watched him gaze into her eyes. "You have given me your part of the story, let me give you mine."

Sitting down, the woman rested her back against a table and took a breath. "I don't have many visitors, and I have less still that resemble me as much as mine did. She appeared astride both death and life, and she looked in a panic. A favor she asked for and offered."

Astride death and life was an odd enough phrase, but there was only two people Kaz knew that resembled that, and only one of them would ever help him. "Mal?"

"Yes. A magess named Mal. She smelled of life and death and worry. She told me a kawa onago had gotten its hooks into a young fledgling immortal, and she had no idea where it was. She promised me a boon whenever I ask for it, and for that I agreed to find you.

"Mal furnished me with something you had touched, and I sent Garmr to find you."

Hearing his name, a huge hound padded his way into Kaz's view and leaned his head against the woman's side.

"He's a good dog. He found you with your demon still attached—dragged you both back to me. I escorted her to her rest and pulled you back. Do you know my name yet?" she asked.

Kaz managed to shake his head—quite the feat for how he felt. "No, but I think I have narrowed down your pantheon. Norse?"

"Consorting with wolves and dressing like I won a fight with a bear tipped you off?"

Laughing, then regretting it, Kaz nodded. "The names too. I don't know enough about your kind, but the names you've used don't sound like anything else."

"Since we've made this a game, I'll give you one thing to ask before I continue."

Given the woman asking was almost certainly a god, Kaz figured he'd have to be careful with his question. "This isn't my question, I'm just trying to think things out, okay?" When she nodded, smiling, Kaz continued. "So from what I do remember, there are a few afterlives. There's one that fighters who are slain in battle go to, but that wasn't how I went. There is probably another, but I can't remember the name for it."

When he looked into her eyes, she looked like she was about to start laughing. "Okay," Kaz said, "so there's a second afterlife, but why would I end up there? I wasn't particularly religious to any one pantheon or deity." Clearing his thoughts but for the one he'd latched onto, Kaz asked, "How was it you were able to find my soul?"

"That's what you want to ask of me?" She waited for his nod. "Souls of the unclaimed end up in a collective underworld. Each of us—gods of the dead—have limited access to that underworld. I had to travel there to wrench your soul back, and when it comes to such an act, it was good you had no affiliation. Gods of death can get clingy."

"It didn't help me figure you out, but I'm fine with that." Kaz slumped back on the bed and stared upward at the unseeable ceiling.

She had to bite her lip to avoid laughing at the way he'd so easily taken one of the underlying truths of the universe from her. "You were dead. Your body had no spark of life and your soul wanted nothing to do with it. I had to use both of my natures to force the two back together, and a rare potion to force your body to live. You woke up about then."

"What of Skol?"

"What about my nephew?" she asked.

"Why does he need to guard me?"

"Souls like fresh meat. Your bond to your body is tenuous enough without having a hostile spirit try to steal it. Some are good at it, but none will get past Skol." Standing, she fetched the second skein of potion and poured it into the skull-bowl, then crouched back at Kaz's side. "Drink."

Steeling himself, Kaz managed to force his body to move, lifting his back from the ground and sitting up. He tried to reach for the skull, but she held it to his lips for him. Opening his mouth, he let the horrid stuff pour into him.

Unlike the first time, his body didn't fight the potion. It didn't like it, but it didn't fight it. He gulped and gulped until the disgusting stuff was all gone. "Tell Hymir to add some honey to it."

"He saves that for his mead. Trust me, it's better that way." Putting the skull down to one side, she turned her attention back to Kaz. "I can feel an echo of my magic inside you, but your body and soul are slowly changing it to be your magic. Try not to use any of it yet."

Blowing out a breath and laying back down, Kaz cleared his throat, or tried his best to given the mess he'd just drunk. "So, what's your name?"

"Just like that you would ask me?"

"I mean, you saved my life—kinda—and I think I need to at least know the name of a goddess to worship her, right?" Tilting his head to the side, Kaz saw real surprise register on her face.

"Sleep. Think on what I have told you about myself, and contemplate what it would mean to worship me."

Kaz was about to rebut her argument, but dizziness stole away his focus and he fell back into the waiting oblivion of sleep.

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

Waking up to the feel of a dog licking his cheek was not what Kaz expected. Opening his eyes, he looked up into Garmr's intelligent face and copped two more licks that he was sure smelled of blood.

"Hel."

Kaz tried to sit up, but Garmr chose that moment to lay down across his chest. Given his current strength, he couldn't move the hound that weighed the same as he did. "Huh?"

"My name." Hel couldn't stop herself from letting out a laugh at Kaz when she saw his immobile state. "Garmr usually has his reasons for things. Do you feel strange at all?"

"Actually, I think he just wants pets." Kaz had already reached up to the huge hound's shoulders and started rubbing at them. "And I'd be lying if I said he didn't deserve it. He saved me, you said?"

"Well, your body. That monster was probably going to discard it." Hel reached down to rub Garmr's ear nearest her. "In another eight hours you should be able to live on your own, but first I need to check a few things."

"Live on my own? So that potion is—?"

"One that will keep a body alive for a day and a night no matter what. It can be used for great good or greater evil. Garmr, make room. I need to see to him." Hel was thankful that Garmr only moved a little—it meant the act of reaching through Kaz's body wasn't quite so intimate. She pressed her white palm to his belly, worked magic along it, and sheathed her entire forearm in him.

She knew it hurt, she could see the agony on Kaz's face, but Hel had no choice. She examined his insides organ by organ, feeling each and giving them all the slightest jolt of her magic. Each time she fed life-giving power into him directly, she heard Kaz scream.

It was always a balancing act between her natures. Hel could feel her darker side growing with each act of pain, but for the moment Kaz's screams were enough to keep her from losing to that side of herself. Each part of him felt stronger now, but there was one part left to check. "This will hurt more."

"Got it," was all Kaz could get out.

Hel closed her hand around the core of him. It was no organ but a central part of a being where their magic and soul lived together. She felt it, let its magic tingle and dance along her fingers, and when she had a measure of it she timed and tuned her own magic with its ebb and flow—then pushed.

The pain in Kaz's scream caused Garmr to arch his back and howl and even earned a distant howl from Skol. The whole world seemed to tremble for a moment before Hel stopped and drew her arm from Kaz.

Seeing her charge unconscious, Hel sighed. "You shouldn't do that or you'll start something that will be regretted."

Lifting his head, Garmr looked up at Hel and just snorted.

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

Kaz felt dead, but for some annoying reason he could see and hear and feel still. "Am I alive?"

"Hymir's second potion wore off about thirty seconds ago, so I'd judge you as officially alive again." Hel crouched down at Kaz's side and rubbed Garmr's ear again. "He didn't seem to want to leave you. Next thing I know he'll be your bloody hound."

"He's fine. Just protecting your hard work." Kaz found Garmr's other ear and started rubbing it. Seeing the big hound just melt in canine bliss made Kaz smile a little.

Both nervous and curious, Hel looked past Garmr at Kaz and, after several minutes of silence, managed to ask, "Were you speaking the truth about following me?"

"Where I grew up was mostly Catholic. Lots of churches and stuff. Dad told me to pay it no mind, so I didn't. In school we learned about other religions, but it wasn't really anything in-depth. I definitely didn't feel any attachment or belonging to them."

"You don't belong to me, Kaz."

"Not that kind. Uh, brotherhood? Kinship? That kind of thing. I don't know a lot about you except that you took a job from a friend—"

Jerking in surprise, Hel tried to get her head around that revelation. "Mal is your friend?"

"I guess. I make friends easily. When I realized that I was going to be around a while, and she seemed to be going nowhere but forward in time, I figured why not make friends? I guess it worked, if she got you to help me." Finding more strength in his arms, Kaz lifted the other up and started rubbing up and down Garmr's back. "Where was I? Right, Mal is my friend. The other things I know about you are you're exceptionally beautiful"—Kaz had to expand that to gorgeous when she blushed—"you have an easy manner of making friends, your family is important to you, and you saved my life—soul, whatever."

Trying to fight back her feelings was something Hel did every day of her life, but it was normally strong feelings about life and death she had to struggle with, not this. "Making friends?"

"Me. Garmr doesn't have to hang round, does he?"

"He could leave if he wants, but he hasn't yet." His questions almost made Hel think as hard on her own situation as his statements. "And, I didn't save your life. You were dead when Garmr found you. I brought you back to life."

"Well," Kaz said, "that counts for double, then." He waited to see if Hel would reply, but when she didn't, he went on. "So, how does a mortal like me show thanks to his goddess for bestowing her favor upon him?"

"You're not mortal anymore."

The words stunned Kaz. "Huh?"

"Not exactly. You would have been if you weren't a mage or if your magic reignited on its own. I had to ignite your magic." Pulling her legs up against her chest, Hel rested her head on her knees and looked sideways at the world and Kaz. "Your magic is now reasserting itself upon your body."

"Is it normal for magic to do that?"

"No, that's part of what has changed. Your magic will work to keep your body exactly how you wish it to be. But that power is—"

"Still partly your power?" Kaz asked, and got a nod in reply. "So I'm not mortal, but I'm not an immortal. I figure I'll just keep taking my days one at a time, then."

"It's more than that. Your power is tied to me. That's why you aren't immortal—independently immortal—but also aren't likely to die soon." Hel looked away from Kaz, forcing herself to look at the wall and not the young man that she'd invested far more in than her deal with Mal had allowed for. "You can grow old and die if you wish, but it takes just a quick transformation to become young again."

"But that breaks all the rules they taught me." Kaz had to deal with Garmr for a moment, since he'd stopped rubbing the hound's ear. "Mages can change their form, but their base self is always aging, and you can't change that."

"You can, now."

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

Giving Kaz some time to absorb what had happened, Hel approached a water skein and carefully lifted it up. Holding the leather bag, she felt the contents and smiled. "Your body is your own now, and that means your contract must be fulfilled once more. It's also time you stood up and walked around."

"R-Right." Kaz tried to stand, though Garmr seemed reluctant to move. "If you let me up, I'll give you more pats."

Garmr wasn't one to accept a bribe, but Kaz smelled enough like home now that he trusted him to make good on the deal. Standing up, he waited for Kaz to use his shoulders to lift himself upright—and then came the promised petting.

"Thanks." Kaz was generous with his pats, but now he was standing he could see Hel on a far more eye-to-eye level, and he was struck dumb by how beautiful she was. It wasn't the kind of beauty, he could concede, that supermodels possessed. Hel was beautiful because of who she was, what she was, and how she bore both.

"Open this and drink it."

Taking hold of the water skein, Kaz felt something familiar inside. Opening it, he held it to his lips and used his free hand to tip the bag up.

᱿KAZ!᱿

The feeling of having his brain pounce-tackled by a purring fiend was a surprise for Kaz, but not an unwelcome one. There was still something left in the bag, so he made sure to do as he was told and finished it. ᱿I'm so glad you're alive, Miaow. Sorry I couldn't deal with that shit-head.᱿

᱿I don't care! You're okay! Who is that?᱿ Miaow's attention fell on Hel, and though the goddess felt like she'd met her before, Miaow was a little lost. ᱿She's hot.᱿

"I can hear both of you." Hel took the skein back and sealed it. "I am Hel."

᱿You say that like it would mean anything. Wait, we died, didn't we?᱿ Miaow asked.

Hel felt a momentary sting of annoyance, but the thoughts were honest enough that it made Miaow's earlier comment even more surprising. "You did. Both of you were in the afterlife and this body had failed."

"Hel did a lot of stuff to help us, Miaow. Mal, apparently, got involved. I don't know how." Kaz felt complete now in a way he never would have before making his contract with Miaow. "You still didn't tell me how I can worship you. I figure, with what you did, I need to do that more than ever."

᱿What do you mean? What did she do?᱿

"My magic died with me. She brought this body back to life, she brought both of us back from wherever we were, but my magic was gone." Kaz couldn't help but look at Hel with some semblance of awe. "She gave me some of hers."

Miaow was confused and a little curious. ᱿That's impossible.᱿

"No. Feel what our magic is like now. It's different." Kaz drew up his magic and created a ball of flame in his hand. At least, he'd intended it to be a small ball. Green and black flames licked around his palm and Kaz stared at the stream of fire that grew nearly six feet from his right hand. "Aaand stopping that."

"Try it with your left hand," Hel said.

Not exactly feeling any good reason to say no, Kaz formed another sphere in his left hand, and it appeared fairly normal. "Uh, does this have something to do with you?"

"You're quick of wit. It does. Your magic still has remnants of my magic. In my right hand I wield the power of death, in my left had I wield the power of life. If I neglect one for the other, I start to feel out of balance."

᱿Okay, so this means you have two completely different magics you need to learn. Crap—we need to learn.᱿ Feeling around Kaz's body, Miaow could feel the tug of each of the types of magic. ᱿I wonder if it will affect your transformations depending on which magical energy you feed the spell with?᱿

The speed with which they both examined the situation and broke it down astounded Hel. Astounded and delighted. "I'll have to introduce you to father before you go. He'll definitely want to meet you both."

"Ahem." Mal didn't generally like making a habit of sneaking up on gods, but she felt she was hardly sneaking with a seven-foot-tall-at-the-shoulders wolf beside her. "Perhaps another time? I'd really rather get Kaz back to—to Midgard."

Spotting Mal, Kaz couldn't help himself. He rushed over to her and wrapped her in a hug. He hadn't actually hugged a skeleton covered in tight leather before, but that's exactly what Mal felt like through her clothes. Part of her was literally just skeleton. "Thank you."

Startled at the emotion, Mal wasn't sure exactly how to return it, but in the end reached around him with her fleshy arm and hugged him in return. "We have a lot to discuss, but first I need to thank this lady."

Squaring herself to face the lich, Hel watched her break free of Kaz's embrace and walk toward her. She kept her mouth tight as the abomination of all that life and death meant stopped and knelt before her.

"As per our agreement, you have a bargain from me. Name it at any time, and so long as it doesn't affect my students negatively, I will grant it." The words physically hurt for Mal to say. She'd never given any creature dominion over herself, let alone a deity.

Silence filled the cave to bursting. It crowded around the beings within and pinned their mouths closed. After several minutes, Hel finally had her solution. She could have honestly said she would welcome never having to see Mal again for the rest of existence, but given Mal's tenacity, that was probably a given. "Kazuma Wilson requires extra training. His magic died with him that day, and now he bears my own. Even as his left hand can still work the magic of the living, his right will seek another path. Teach him as he will."

Mal was confused. What had been described seemed impossible. She turned her head and looked back at Kaz, then pondered if Hel was telling the truth. She had to assume it was fact because she couldn't think of a reason for the goddess to lie. The agreement was binding, Hel didn't need to concoct a story to make Mal go through with it. "We don't normally offer such schooling, but these are hardly ordinary circumstances—and I'm sure you're aware Kaz is no ordinary mage."

"I was going to say the same thing. Very well. If you train him in these arts, I will consider your debt to me paid in full. As for you, Kazuma." Hel stepped around Mal and walked up to Kaz where he still stood beside her nephew. "In a year and a day you will return to me. I will inspect my work and you will visit my father and brothers. Like it or not, you are bound to our family. When the end times come—Ragnarok—I am sure there will be a part for you in it."

Kaz was almost scared to ask, "Who is your father?"

Hel only smiled back at him. "You are going to school. You can research it and surprise me with what you can learn and what has been forgotten over the years."