Chapter 106

Zoey started from the beginning. There wasn’t much to go over. The difficulty of the conversation came from the sheer outlandishness, not the quantity of content.

She laid it out in quick, practical terms. Her first meeting with Ephy, her transportation to the shard, then today, the new discoveries: more about the ‘threat’, Mel, and briefly how Zoey had been purposefully arranged to meet Rosalie.

That last part made Rosalie go quiet. It danced around her past, whatever it was, and made it clear Zoey knew something was going on. Though Ephy’s intervention had hardly been what gave that away. Rather, Rosalie’s behavior itself had. Even Delta had picked it up—though what ‘it’ meant specifically eluded them.

Zoey didn’t expect any explanation—not today, at least—and Rosalie didn’t provide one, though she seemed hesitant, as if warring briefly with herself over whether she should. But they had more pressings topics to go over, so they silently put it to the side.

When Zoey was done, she sat back and waited, concerned, for how Rosalie would respond.

For a few moments, she chewed over the topic. Finally, she said, “It does explain a lot.”

“You believe me, then?”

Piercing blue eyes scrutinized her, a frown tugging the edges of her lips. “Of course I believe you. There’s too much supporting evidence. Your runes alone might have sold it.”

Zoey relaxed. That this wouldn’t end up with her girlfriend thinking she was crazy came as a surprisingly large relief. She’d been prepared to navigate that result, but that she didn’t have to was obviously preferable.

“Okay. Good. I’m glad.”

“Another world, though,” Rosalie said. “Not just a splinter, but separated entirely from the rest. It’s hard to take in.”

“At least I remember most of it,” Zoey said. “The memory scrambling was mostly personal stuff, not general knowledge.”

Rosalie frowned. “And I’m not pleased about that, either. Or your involvement with a goddess. That’s troubling. Dangerous.”

“The world’s apparently ending, so compared to that...” Zoey shrugged. “Plus, we should be happy we have an ally.”

“But why her?”

“The goddess of sex? Good question.”

Why not any of the others? For that matter, did they all exist? Ephy apparently had a place in this world’s pantheon, but did that mean the entire pantheon was real? Zoey hesitated. Religion was, obviously, a touchy subject, and while Rosalie didn’t come off as a pious person, questioning her on whether her gods were real could be a thorny conversation.

“Is there one named Ezariel?” Zoey asked. “In your pantheon?” That was the safe place to start.

“No. There isn’t. I wanted to bring that up, too.”

During Zoey’s explanation, she’d simply gotten through all the reveals, rather than fielding questions. Now that the basics were in the open, they both had plenty of clarifications they wanted.

“But Ephy called this world his,” Zoey said. “More than hers. And she’s an actual goddess of yours, but he isn’t?”

Rosalie’s frown deepened. “You’re asking me if the others are real, since Ephythithys,” she pursed her lips, “Ephy, is apparently the only one looking to help.”

“I guess.”

“There are instances of members of the pantheon descending and intervening in mortal affairs,” Rosalie said, “but, admittedly, I don’t know the validity of such stories. And not many are recent. My father, at least—”

She stiffened, then continued. Zoey pretended not to notice the slip, though what it meant, exactly, she couldn’t decipher.

“—hasn’t interacted or heard of interactions with any divine beings. And he is,” she paused, looking for how to put it, “rather informed compared to the typical person, so perhaps they really are stories. Or he never mentioned it to me. This simply isn’t a topic I, or he, I suspect, spent significant time considering.”

“I see,” Zoey said. “Well, I suppose it’s all irrelevant. Real or not, it sounds like we can’t count on them. Or whoever Ezariel is. Ephy is the only one with halfway interest in helping.”

“The question is why.”

Zoey shrugged helplessly. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry. Fixing the problem in the first place.”

“Moreover,” Rosalie said dryly, “discovering what it even is.”

“Whatever’s hurting Mel is clearly part of it. So we need to get there as soon as possible. What’s the travel time?”

“Even at a quick pace, a full day.”

Zoey grimaced at that, but Rosalie hesitated.

“Though ... with our recent advancements, and how we share a small percentage of our stats, now...” She considered. “Less. I’m not sure how much so. We could probably jog a good portion of the trip instead of walking it. Your stamina should be vastly improved from your advancement, and physical stats siphoned from us.”

“But we’ll make it in time, for sure,” Zoey said, relieved at hearing it. Mel had said she could last a day or two, so while not overflowing with time, they weren’t at risk of not making it.

“Yes. We will. But we should get going immediately. Besides, further discussions can happen as we walk. There won’t be much else to do.”

Zoey wasn’t looking forward to another full-day hike through varying pocket-realms, but she didn’t have much choice. She’d have liked their so-called vacation to have lived out properly, but the burgeoning end of the world had a tendency to throw wrenches in plans.

“That brings up an important point,” Zoey said. “Delta. Maddy. What’s the plan?”

“You want to tell them?”

“Delta, at least,” Zoey said. “She deserves to know what she’s getting into.”

“She’s getting into? I would figure there are others significantly more qualified to handle this. Whatever ‘this’ is.”

Zoey paused. She supposed that was true. Why would she, Rosalie, and Delta be the ones tackling a world-ending threat?

“Assuming it can be handled through conventional means,” Zoey pointed out. “Ephy might have chosen a champion deliberately.”