All around me was the sound of peaceful silence as I lay in my bed. It had been relatively peaceful in the kingdom since the winter was almost here, as people were much more concerned with finalizing their preparation for winter than stirring up trouble. My job as goddess answering prayers still went on of course but with the last biggest issue, the werewolves, sorted out there weren't many big crises to worry about. As such I was taking some time to relax in my castle dimension.

It was the middle of the night and would I have been outside in the real world there would've been an entire sky filled with brilliant stars to look at. The peace and quiet of the domain was its own pleasantness sometimes though. Not that I was ever truly alone. Thankfully my continued efforts to get along with and listen to my inner voice in Sub-Chan had resulted in a healthier mental state, at least as far as I could tell.

My peace and contemplation was soon interrupted however as a particularly worrying prayer came in. Suddenly I was receiving multiple prayers from people in Quarely's castle about saving them from a monster that had ran through the castle. The vampire was escaping?

Immediately I jumped out of bed and shrank down to human size, while at the same time changing into my normal outfit from my pajamas. Then I opened up a portal to a pair of nobility types that were standing in the hallway of the castle and it slid over me taking me to their side.

Upon my arrival the hysterical woman jumped in fear initially but once she recognized me she fell at my feet. Her husband was holding her and trying to keep her calm.

“Oh goddess!” She sobbed. “Thank heaven you've come!”

With her on the ground my small child body actually made me taller than her and I looked down at her with glowing eyes. Honestly I was pissed and confused in equal measure. There should've been no way for the vampire to escape those chains. So how in hell did it happen? My frustration was leaking into my voice as I replied to her.

“Have no fear. You're goddess is here.”

My tone combined with the comforting words was a slight disconnect for the poor woman and she just clung to her husband while still weeping. He looked up at me with his own fear as he held her close.

I let out a long sigh and crouched down so I was on the same level as the woman, my tone of voice softening.

“There there. Stop crying alright? You're safe now.” I then looked up at the husband. “You can take her away. Nothing is gunna happen now that I'm here.”

He nodded. “Yes goddess.”

The two of them stood up, the wife with no small amount of help, and started walking down the castle hallway to their room. With them now leaving I did a throughout scan of the area. Nearby there were several guards but they were the only other people that came up on my radar. Down in the dungeon below the vampire was nowhere to be found but Yoko was still there. He was in her cell in fact which was worrying. A scan of the surrounding area came up with no results for the vampire at all. She was long gone. That's not good.

The two guards that had been in the hallway with us had been waiting patiently as I dealt with the two nobles. Now that they were gone I turned to them and slowly approached. Both of them stood to attention and tried to avoid eye contact. They were quite shaken and not from my presence this time.

I held my hands together behind my back and looked up at them with a sharp gaze.

“Well? Report!” I said sternly. “Is anyone hurt?”

This direct and dominant approach was a good idea in my mind as these men were used to receiving and following orders. Having a authority figure bark orders at them would hopefully get them to fall back into their training and therefore occupy their minds enough they wouldn't panic anymore. The gamble ended up working out and the two of them seemed to calm down as they saluted me.

The taller of the two men shuffled his feet and spoke first. He kept his eyes looking forward over my head, probably not wanting to look down at me for several reasons.

“G-Goddess!” He stammered. “So far n-none of the nobility were harmed.” He then took a deep breath. “The mage who was posted below w-we don't know...” There was a short pause. “And... Well the two guards on duty were found in the stairwell.”

I looked to the other man who nodded with a small gulp. His face was pale which meant whatever he'd seen was still troubling him. I put my attention back on the taller man and nodded.

“Take me there.”

“Yes goddess!” He said with another salute.

The tall one walked in front of me while the shorter one followed up behind. It was clear neither of them wanted to go back down that stairwell even with me here. Their minds were filled with fear and the presence of their goddess couldn't dispel it completely.

As we walked the tall one spoke again.

“Great Goddess. We sent a report to Lord Quarely already. H-He should be coming to address the situation as well.”

I nodded and kept my hand behind my back. “Very well.” I then turned to the man behind me. “You go send for the head mage Ferherlyn as well. Go on now.”

“Yes goddess!” He said with a salute.

That one really didn't want to be here anyway so sending him to do something useful was better than dragging him along here. Besides I'd need Ferherlyn here eventually anyway as he'll have his own way he wants to address whatever happened with Yoko.

We reached the stairwell and started walking down it, our footsteps echoing in the relative silence. The only sounds were the crackling of the torches on the wall and the sound of something dripping further down.

Quite quickly I found out what that dripping sound was as we descended the stairs. Turning around the circular stairwell we came upon another guard standing over two dead bodies. My sight was quite gruesome and clearly was a lot for these two men to handle. Even I found myself feeling sick to my stomach, though I've been desensitized to violence thanks to movies and books I'd seen in my old life.

As we came to a stop the man who had come to me stood there in silence. Meanwhile the one who had been posted there looked to me with the eyes of a fearful puppy. He was average in height and had long blonde hair.

“G-Goddess...” This new man said.

I looked away from the mess on the stairs and the two broken bodies. My face was expressionless as it was taking everything I had to keep from being full of rage. Within me Sub-Chan was telling me to go and hunt down the vampire but I reminded her there were people here to take care of first. There would be retribution for her. I'd get the information I wanted out of her too.

With a short breath I turned to look at the second guard while keeping my tone flat.

“You've done well. I'll go investigate below.” I then looked to both of them in turn. “You two go get help to take care of this. Put them in a proper burial. Oh and tell me when Quarely arrives.”

Wordlessly the two nodded in obedience and I left them to their task. With a small hop I jumped over the two bodies and floated down the stairway like a falling leaf on the wind. My mind was racing with what I might find at the bottom and in what state the mage would be in. He was still alive according to my map after all.

After floating to the bottom of the stairs I found myself in the dungeon hallway again. It was quiet and dark as several of the torches had gone out by now. It had only been about twenty minutes or so I'd guess since this all went down but these torches wouldn't have been changed out when they needed to be due to the situation.

My hair was glowing faintly in the dimmer light of the stone cave and I walked forward to where Yoko was waiting. I could see the bars of the cell were bent out of place and he was inside sitting at the table on one of the chairs. He could easily leave as the vampire clearly had and yet he sat in there hunched over in his seat.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

I stopped outside the bent bars and softly spoke to the still figure. His face was in his hands and he was leaning in over the table.

“Yoko?” I asked gently as to not agitate him.

There was no response. He did move however as the sound of my voice caused him to jump slightly.

He was clearly not himself at the moment so I decide to approach. Slowly I stepped through the bent bars and starting walking up to him.

“You doing ok there?” I asked. “Want to tell me what happened here?”

There was only the muffled sounds of sobbing as a response mixed with illegible mumbled words. This was clearly a broken man with not even madness anymore, only anguish.

I kept walking until I was standing next to him. Across the table at the other chair one of the chains lay broken on the floor while the other seemed untouched. Somehow the vampire had gotten one hand free and then managed to free to other as well. Then she had pulled apart the cell bars and evaded Yoko somehow, fleeing up the stairs and killing the guards as an opportunity. Vampires could move very fast so none of this seemed too far fetched.

The vampire would have to wait for now as the situation with Yoko was the most pressing matter at the moment. It was clear he was in the middle of a mental break and he would need to be handled carefully. Not only because of his volatile magic but because he deserved the good treatment as a person regardless.

Without another word I walked over to the chair and sat myself down across from him, lifting up the chair slightly with magic so I was more at eye level with him. There was a splatter of blood on the floor beneath it which I ignored as I rested my elbows on the table and held my chin in them. I said nothing and just looked at the mage.

Yoko started mumbling more coherent words, his head still held in his arms.

“I... I'm sorry goddess.” He choked out. “F-Failure- I'm failure... Released her...”

This was quite unlike him. Something was deeply different about this man sitting before me. He always seemed a bit schizophrenic so perhaps he really did have another personality hidden beneath. It made sense honestly as the crazy was usually a defensive mechanism for people. This would be his true personality then and it seemed very childlike and at least innocent. I had an idea on how to comfort him enough to get him responsive.

With a deep breath I closed my eyes and started drawing all the light in the room towards me. Like a black hole of light I sucked every flicker in until all around us was a pitch black void. All the light was then collected around me in a brilliant halo of radiant power. Now all the mage could see is darkness with his goddess surrounded by light. His focus would be on me and me alone in overwhelming divine might.

I spoke softly. “Open your eyes Yoko.”

Yoko did open his eyes and at first looked confused, his head still hidden in his arms. Then he slowly lifted his head as his arms dropped below the table. He looked around in bewilderment but within a second his eyes snapped onto me. It was clear from his expression that he was experiencing wonder and fear, though not the kind of fear of terror. Instead he was fearful in a way that was mixed with adoration.

The mage stared at me as his mouth hung open, his ability to speak robbed from him as the little girl across from him dominated his entire perception with radiant divinity.

I smiled and lifted my hands onto the table.

“Are you focused now little Yoko?”

Yoko gulped and kept ogling me as if he couldn't believe it. His fear was clearly fading and true peace was returning for perhaps the first time in years. This true personality was looking at me like an young boy might look at their mother. Pretty embarrassing honestly but it can't be helped.

Slowly he found his words again and his eyes were filled with sorrow. His gaze moved down to the tabletop as he avoided eye contect.

“I-I'm so sorry goddess...” He whimpered. “I let her escape...”

“Look at me.” I replied gently. He obeyed and I smiled again. “Why don't you tell me about it?”

After being commanded to Yoko looked up at me but still refrained from eye contact. The mage was still quite nervous and was clearly worried about my reaction to whatever he was going to say.

“I promise I won't be angry.” I reassured him.

This seemed to be convincing enough for Yoko and he gulped before looking down at my hands to keep from accidentally looking at my face. He was clearly very ashamed.

“W-Well I...” He started. “I just wanted to help her feel more comfortable...” He paused for a moment as if waiting for me to say something. Since I didn't he continued, the tears beginning to return to his eyes. “She was so kind goddess... At least she acted that way.” He sniffled and rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. “I've never been around someone who- who actually cared about me.” He then looked down at the table in front of him and frowned. “She tricked me...”

That was enough information fro me to understand the situation. The vampire woman had clearly seduced him in some way even though I didn't think it possible with his madness. Clearly she had discovered this underlying personality and taken advantage of it. This was my failure ultimately. I never should've left Yoko alone with her.

He had been the reason the chains had broken which also gave me the information that some of my magic items could be broken by powerful magic. Void magic was likely an outlier which made the fact he of all people had been assigned to her a perfect storm for the vampire's escape. If I had known this beforehand those two guards could've been saved but I suppose the good news is only they had been killed. The vampire had probably fled as quick as possible knowing how easily it was for me to get here.

While I thought I slowly released the light back into the room. The cell and dungeon beyond lit back up to what it had been before and the radiant halo around me faded away leaving me my usual self. I then stood up and walked around the table to stand next to Yoko.

“I'm not going to punish you for this. I forgive you.”

Yoko looked down at me with disbelief in his expression.

“R-Really?”

I just nodded and smiled gently at him. “Yes really. I should've never left you alone with her.” I then turned away from him and started walking away. “Come on then. Follow me.”

Like a small child following the directions of their parent Yoko stood up and obediently followed after me as I walked from the cell. He stopped however as I did, having realized how seeing the bodies on the stairs might affects him. Instead he was treated to the surprise teleport as I portaled both of us directly to where Quarely was.

Quarely was jogging down one of the hallways on the ground floor. He was dressed in his nightgown with a chain mail shirt hastily hung over his body and a simple helmet on his head. Doubtless he was told to suit up for battle before going into a dangerous situation and his concern for his people resulted him taking only the bare minimum to make greater haste.

When the two of us appeared before him he came to a stumbling halt in pure surprise. He quickly recovered and stood up straight, turning to us and addressing us with the shortened breath in his voice.

“G-Goddess!” He stammered. “And Yoko!” There was then visible relaxation in his body language as he took a deep breath. “If you're here then the danger has passed.”

Yoko stood behind me and displayed quite timid behavior, clearing letting me do all the talking. This true personality was much more reserved than even I figured at first.

I sighed quickly and crossed my arms over my chest, looking up at Quarely and nodding.

“Yes Quarely I'm here. Everything's taken care of.”

Quarely put one of his hands over his chest and then leaned back against the wall in clear relief.

“Thank heaven!” He exclaimed. “So what happened?”

“The vampire woman has escaped.” I replied curtly. Then I raised my left hand as Quarely's eyes widened. “Don't worry I've got it handled. There were two causalities regrettably however. The two guards on duty at the time. That's also being taken care of.”

Quarely looked at me and then at Yoko in shock.

“How did this even happen?” He demanded. “I thought Yoko was there!” The man paused and looked at Yoko a bit closer, some confusion on his face. “What seems to be the matter with him anyway?”

Yoko looked down at the floor and stepped closer to me while remaining behind me. He then replied quietly.

“Nothing lord.”

The look on Quarely's face showed he was less than convinced so I spoke up again.

“What happened was my fault Quarely.” I said with a frown. “I apologize for my mistake. Believe me the lives lost weigh heavier on me than they do you.”

My apology made the lord look down at me in confusion at first but he quickly accepted my explanation. There was still a look of fear in depths of his eyes however as he addressed me again.

“Very well goddess.” He said standing up straight again. “But does this mean the vampire escaped?”

I nodded and put my hands on my sides.

“Yes Quarely. She escaped and killed two guards on the way out. No one else was hurt.”

“Does this mean that monster is out there in my city?” Quarely asked in horror.

I shook my head and sighed.

“No Quarely. She's fled far from here. And wherever she's fled I'll find her don't you worry. I underestimated her once and it won't happen again.”

The next time I catch her I'll be less than kind to her. She'll give up all her secrets even if I have to torture her for real. I showed her mercy and kindness and she repaid it with the blood of innocents. Honestly I should just smite her immediately but I do want information out of her first. This was all for later when I had more time to think about it. For now the situation with Yoko needed to be handled.

“I sent for Ferherlyn.” I continued. “When he gets here I'll need to speak to him about Yoko here. The vampire did something to him in case you were wondering which is why she was able to get past him.” I then shrugged. “Nothing you need to worry about though got it?”

Quarely looked at the mage and then back down to me.

“Yes goddess. I'll trust your word for it.”

“Good. I'll leave you to your business. Have a good night.”

Quarely adjusted the chain mail on his shoulders and gave me a slight bow. He was still confused but had no choice but to believe I had it under control.

“Of course goddess. And thank you for coming here.”

I nodded in response and then turned to Yoko. With a softened tone I spoke to him. “

Come with me Yoko. We're going someplace quiet to wait for Ferherlyn.”

The mage nodded and responded with an affirmative. He was still nervous and shy it seemed, though the absolute childishness had seemed to be gone. Now he was acting like an adult, although a very shy one. He was like Timothy in a way but less developed. Probably some cursed trauma due to his magic.

With Yoko following me obediently I left Quarely to deal with the aftermath in whatever way he saw fit. For now I'd have to wait for Ferherlyn's arrival to discuss Yoko with him. The mage would need to be specially cared as his mental faculties recovered. Maybe the madness would return as well, maybe it wouldn't. Either way he didn't seem like he'd ever be the same after this.

As we walked to a small waiting room I wondered if this would be a good or bad thing in the long run. I also wondered just how much blame I should put on myself for what had happened tonight.