[b]Eater Of Pancakes![/b]

Swish swish. Bella is sitting down in front of you, but her eyes aren't her own. She's looking at you with an intense, searching expression, staring deep into your eyes that she might imagine the truth below. 

"I can't tell if you've changed, Redana," said Bella softly.

She takes your chin in your hand, so lonely, so distant. You see a ripple across her fur and your heavy eyes fall closed again. You feel the prick of antivenom fangs on your mouth and you don't know if she bit your lip as Bella or as Mynx.

She's Mynx when your eyes clear, leaning back on her chair, balanced on two legs and her tail, leather boots up on the table and with an expression like a joke is growing amidst the melancholy.

"Holy shit you're in so much trouble," she said, white teeth grinning with just a flash of your red. "Re[i]da[/i]na. Did you know? Did you [i]know[/i] that you were running towards the Hunt, the Harvest and the Heart? Would it have changed anything if you did?" She's halfway towards falling to easy teasing but the weight on her shoulders and in her heart weigh against the helium of her smile.

[b]Alexa![/b]

"Your wrath is irrelevant," said the Hermetic. "It is as plain as day that Athena has turned her face from you, and I do not require relics to deal with you. Simple Coherent should be enough to eject you and teach you a lesson about respect."

A withered finger raises and points and half a dozen improbably bulky Coherent enforcers approach you, picking up pipes and wrenches, flexing and scowling and striking poses. And, true to the Hermetic's words, Athena is not with you in this. Your mind is filled with fog; you cannot see the angles, you cannot calculate the tactics, you do not know how to smoothly and flawlessly win this battle.

But deep in your secret heart you feel a burning sensation that tells you that an ugly win can still be a win.

[b]Vasilia![/b]

"Oh, you're [i]fucked[/i] if you want to keep doing the hero thing," said Hestia brightly. "You've lost the favour of Zeus and she's not the kind of god who takes 'I've thought about what I've done' as an apology. You probably can't even comprehend how much you were coasting on sheer divine favour. Like, that ramming maneuver? Shooting a Hermetic Evoker in the face? That whole thing with Demeter? People [i]way[/i] more skilled than you were nothing but blood vapor by this point on your insane journey. Frankly right now you'd be lucky to get steady employment, which I nevertheless suggest attempting because if you pull your husband back into this shit then you will [i]not[/i] be able to protect him."

[b]Dolce![/b]

"If she is your Captain then she owes you your wages when you arrive in the next port," said Hera, gently touching her forehead against yours. "If she is your king then she owes you her sword when evil threatens you and yours. But if she is your wife then she owes you [i]everything[/i]. And if you do not get your due, the interest in each case will be pain."

[b]Bella![/b]

"Don't you dare move!" 

You've had that yelled at you before. But this... isn't being yelled [i]at[/i] you. It takes you a moment to orient as the overweight Azura woman jogs up to you, huffing with the exertion and mopping her forehead with her immense cravat. "Oh! You poor dear! You've injured your neck and you might be paralyzed for life!"

She's still not talking to you. She's talking to the crowd - she's making some kind of [i]show[/i] out of this, but you can't comprehend what her game is. "You, ser! And you! You saw the whole thing! You saw this poor girl almost killed by this deathtrap, and as Themis is your judge I declare you are all witnesses! I'll have you write your names, and may any woman who does not be held in contempt of the gods and their law!"

And then she's ducked her head into the cockpit to look right at you - and her watery eyes fill with a hard cunning, and she gives a firm wink. "Listen," she hisses. "We play this right and you could be a rich woman. I am Thelis Thist, Path of the Attorney," she tucks a business card into your dress out of sheer habit. "How much can you ham up your injuries? If you're actually injured that's even better."