"Well," I said as I frowned at the empty seat where the young brunette goddess had been sitting up until a moment ago. "I suppose she's living up to her 'Kid Chaos' name."
May Hawthorne frowned slightly then slowly shook her head, "I had no idea Cassandra was behind those enchanted toys. I didn't even know she was associated with the domain of chaos until a few weeks ago. It seems she did a very good job of hiding that aspect of herself from me."
It was just after five o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, or at least that was the time back at home. Here in the little pub in east Kent it was just past ten in the evening, and both May and I were more or less finished our dinner.
Originally there'd been three of us at the table but Cass, aka Kid Chaos, surprised the two of us by suddenly teleporting away in the middle of dinner in the middle of the busy pub. Fortunately she kept her magic subtle, otherwise there'd have been about two dozen witnesses all wondering what they just saw.
I picked up my glass and had a sip of wine. We were drinking another of May's fancy selections again, and I wasn't sure if it was French or German. The label looked French but the name sounded German. Either way it was pretty good, and I liked it better than the stuff we had last time we met.
The older goddess was right about the food too, it really was excellent. The pie was tasty and flaky while the filling was rich and perfectly seasoned, and the chunky hand-cut fries were cooked to perfection.
After another sip of wine I set my glass back down then asked, "So you were friends with another goddess without knowing what she was a goddess of?"
For just a moment there was a look of alarm or worry in her eyes, as if she realized she'd revealed something she meant to keep secret. She recovered almost instantly though and responded calmly, "I understand the value of both privacy and secrecy Amethyst. Some have even said I can get carried away with both of them. Either way, I know when to ask questions and when not to pry."
The dual nature of her reply wasn't lost on me. Beyond the face value of what she just said it wasn't hard to read between the lines, she was either telling me not to pry or suggesting she wasn't going to tell me regardless.
"Fair enough," I nodded. "So what can you tell me about Cassandra? Do you know anything about the emergency that she rushed off to take care of?"
May was quiet for a few moments as she drained her wine glass. Then she spotted the waitress and gestured to her, before focusing on me again.
"I don't know exactly why she was called away," she replied, "But I can speculate. In addition to being girlfriends with a kitsune, Cassandra is also friends with demons werewolves and witches. I expect one of those friends may have gotten themself into trouble, so Cass decided to go and help out."
At that point the waitress was by our table again, she gestured to the dishes and asked "Are you ladies all done? Can I get you more wine?"
"Another bottle of the Gewürztraminer would be perfect thank you," May told the middle-aged blonde woman. Then she glanced at me and asked, "And I believe we're all finished eating?"
I nodded, "Yeah I've had enough thanks. It was delicious."
"Will your young friend want to take the rest of hers home?" the waitress asked as she picked up my and May's plates.
"I don't believe so," May told her. "She was called away and I don't expect her to return this evening."
The waitress nodded, "All right luvs, I'll be back in a minute with your wine."
We both watched as she left with the dishes and cutlery, then I looked back at May Hawthorne again. I commented, "So Cass is friends with all sorts of supernaturals? And she's responsible for, what did she say? About two hundred demi-humans over the past year? That definitely sounds like what I'd expect for a chaos goddess, but she sure doesn't look the part."
I was tempted to make a comment about Cassandra appearing so young, except in my limited experience that wasn't actually all that unusual. Kai looked like a teenager, so did Lenz. When Siggy was in human form they looked about the same age as Cass, even if their preferred form was a house cat. So far May was the oldest-looking deity I'd encountered, and she only appeared to be in her mid-twenties.
May and I remained quiet until the waitress returned, she topped up our glasses and left the bottle on the table between us. Then after she left the ravenette goddess had a sip of her drink before asking, "Were you serious about collaborating with Cassandra?"
"Sure," I nodded. After enjoying some more of the wine I shrugged, "I can't say I approve of her methods exactly, but I'm all for helping trans people. And every single one of the demi-humans I've met has been happy with their transformation. If she's not going to offer those people assistance with their ID and documentation then I'm happy to help. And if that means we're sharing a growing base of faithful, that benefits us both as well."
May nodded slowly as she continued to enjoy her wine. She had a thoughtful look on her face as she seemed to be considering that, and perhaps the other things we discussed earlier over dinner.
She finally responded, "I'm not sure I'd be willing to participate in this venture, not that I've been invited. It feels a little too risky, a little too public for my taste. I'm sure I'll continue to hear how it's progressing though, either from Cassandra or yourself, should the two of us stay in touch."
"My working with her doesn't mean I'd be turning my back on you May," I told her. "I get that we barely know each other, but I'd like to remain on good terms with you. I'd like to be friends, if that's something you're interested in."
She almost seemed surprised by that, and once again it took her a few moments to process and come up with a reply. "Thank you Amethyst. May I ask, do you have many divine friends?"
I shook my head, "I guess not? But I'm not opposed to the idea. I don't know that many other gods, but of all the ones I've met so far there's only been one I really disliked."
She nodded slowly, but didn't have any more questions on that topic.
Meanwhile I was thinking about something she said a moment earlier. I asked, "You mentioned Cassandra's plushie project was too risky and too public for you. Are you worried it might trigger some sort of retaliation from the status quo?"
"Yes," May nodded. After another sip of wine she added, "You already know of my daughter's fate, I have no desire to experience that myself."
I asked, "Sorry if this is insensitive of me, but I'm curious about how exactly the status quo might manifest in this situation. Do you know if there'd any sort of warnings ahead of time? For instance if this project did reach some sort of threshold where the status quo might intervene, would there be a warning? Or just boom, banishment?"
The ravenette goddess sighed and drained her glass, before topping it up once again from the bottle. Then she looked at me and responded, "My understanding is there may be warnings, but you would need to pay attention to them. They may be subtle, and come in the form of small setbacks or minor failures. Indications that the greater scheme is starting to run into trouble. There won't be any sort of blatant warning. You wouldn't be contacted, there's no communication. Just subtle signs of trouble."
"Like sailing through dangerous waters," she added quietly. "You might not see the rocks, but if you're paying attention then the water will reveal their presence. You either change course, or you run aground and sink."
I watched her for a few seconds before responding, "Thank you May. And I'm sorry about what happened to your child. I don't know that it's possible, but I hope she can be saved somehow."
"Thank you Amethyst," she replied softly. Her eyes were downcast, she was staring at the table as she had another deep sip of her wine.
After a second or two she quietly admitted, "I was in fact reunited with my daughter a few weeks ago. I'd prefer not to go into any details, but suffice to say she is not the same person I lost a century ago. The ordeal has changed her, and the manner by which she escaped her exile has left her... diminished. I'm grateful to have her back, but it will take time for both of us to adjust to her new circumstances."
My eyebrows crept up as I stared at her, while I started putting a few things together in my head. Cassandra was a chaos goddess who was not May's daughter, but was apparently friends with her. May didn't know Cass was involved with chaos until a few weeks ago, and a few weeks ago May's child somehow escaped her exile, but at a cost. It wasn't hard to make the connection.
"I take it Cassandra had something to do with your daughter's return?" I asked.
May sighed, "I'd rather not speak any more on that topic Amethyst. Perhaps you'll have a chance to meet Sasha yourself at some point, particularly if you and Cassandra are going to be working together."
"Sorry May," I apologized. Then I frowned, "I thought your daughter's name was..."
She shook her head, "She changed it to Sasha upon her restoration. Perhaps to indicate that this is a new chapter in her life?"
"I understand," I nodded slowly. "I'm sorry it's such a painful subject for you. If there's anything I can do to help just let me know, ok?"
May Hawthorne gave me a wan smile, "Thank you Amethyst. And now I think I shall retire for the evening."
She left a small stack of twenty pound notes on the table to cover all three meals and all the drinks we'd had, plus a sizeable tip. Then she drained the last of her glass again before finally getting up out of the booth.
I finished off my wine as well then got to my feet. I thanked her for the meal, and for introducing me to Cassandra. The two of us exited the pub together and bid each other a good night, then I teleported back home while it looked like she was going to visit her nearby cottage.
"Hello cutie, welcome home!" Tess greeted me as soon as I appeared in our living-room.
My tall gorgeous girlfriend was sitting cross-legged on the sofa wearing nothing but a tank top and a pair of panties. She had a chilled glass of wine on the coffee table in front of her, and a bowl full of leftover pasta in one hand. There was a very contented-looking torty laying on the sofa next to her right thigh.
The sun was still up outside, and according to the clock under the TV it was a few minutes before six in the evening.
"Hi love. And hello Siggy," I greeted them both with a smile as I headed over to the kitchen.
Rather than more wine I helped myself to a bottle of spring water, before making my way back to the living-room. I sat down at the opposite end of the sofa so as not to disturb either the cat or my girlfriend's dinner.
Tess waited until I was comfortable then asked, "So how'd it go? And did you get dinner? Sorry I didn't wait for you to get back, I thought you'd be out later than this."
I smiled, "Yeah I've already eaten. It was actually really good, I want to take you there some time? Maybe for a date."
"Really?" Tess raised an eyebrow as she looked at me. "You want to go all the way back to England just to visit a pub? You know we have one of those here, that place your dad took us to."
That made me laugh, "Yeah good point. We'll have to go back there so I can try their meat pie, just to see how it compares."
"Anyways it was a pretty good evening," I added. Then after a gulp of my water I gave her a wide grin, "You're not going to believe who May wanted me to meet! It was none other than the mysterious Kid Chaos herself, the person who's been distributing those enchanted plush toys that turn people into demi-humans?"
"Seriously?!" Tess gasped in surprise. "So was she a demon like you figured?"
I shook my head, "Nope. Turns out she's a goddess of chaos. She seemed nice though, mostly? She's also a little secretive I think, and maybe a bit impulsive? We might actually start working together. I told her how I've been helping a few of her demi-humans, but it sounds like I've only scratched the surface there. According to her there's over two hundred of them out there now?"
"Oh and another wild coincidence," I added before Tess could respond. "She actually lives here in Ontario, in a little town about thirty kilometres north of us, if you can believe it? So who knows, maybe we can all get together at some point on a double-date? You and me, Kid Chaos and her girlfriend?"
Tess continued to stare at me as she munched on another forkful of pasta for a few seconds. Then she asked, "What about the whole thing where this Kid Chaos is transforming people then abandoning them? Without your help they're stuck without ID or anything? I'm assuming you talked to her about that?"
I smiled, "Of course I did. She claims she's helped anyone who specifically asked for it, but I don't know how often that really happened. I tried to call her out on it but she kind of dismissed my concerns? She said it's because she's chaos, the demi-human transformations and the lack of ID is all meant to stir things up?"
"And she doesn't mind me going in and helping folks after the fact," I added. "The two of us need to get together again to talk about it, but she's not opposed to some cooperation. She supports trans and queer folk too, albeit in her own chaotic way."
My girlfriend looked thoughtful as she continued eating her dinner, but she finally responded "Just be careful Amy? Until you know for sure this Kid Chaos is safe. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I can't help think with a name like that she's going to be a little unpredictable."
That made me smile, "I know love. And don't worry, I'll be careful."
"So how was work, how was your day?" I asked.
"It was alright," she shrugged as she munched on another forkful of noodles. "I had a nice conversation with Emma today, we sort of cleared the air a bit I suppose?"
Then after some more wine she mentioned, "I also got an email back from my mom. She was surprised but happy about seeing us, and suggested a park right downtown where we could meet. Apparently there's a nice cafe there? So maybe we can go Saturday morning and meet her for brunch?"
I smiled, "Sounds good. Forward me the info and I'll look it up online."
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"Well," I said as I frowned at the empty seat where the young brunette goddess had been sitting up until a moment ago. "I suppose she's living up to her 'Kid Chaos' name."
May Hawthorne frowned slightly then slowly shook her head, "I had no idea Cassandra was behind those enchanted toys. I didn't even know she was associated with the domain of chaos until a few weeks ago. It seems she did a very good job of hiding that aspect of herself from me."
It was just after five o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, or at least that was the time back at home. Here in the little pub in east Kent it was just past ten in the evening, and both May and I were more or less finished our dinner.
Originally there'd been three of us at the table but Cass, aka Kid Chaos, surprised the two of us by suddenly teleporting away in the middle of dinner in the middle of the busy pub. Fortunately she kept her magic subtle, otherwise there'd have been about two dozen witnesses all wondering what they just saw.
I picked up my glass and had a sip of wine. We were drinking another of May's fancy selections again, and I wasn't sure if it was French or German. The label looked French but the name sounded German. Either way it was pretty good, and I liked it better than the stuff we had last time we met.
The older goddess was right about the food too, it really was excellent. The pie was tasty and flaky while the filling was rich and perfectly seasoned, and the chunky hand-cut fries were cooked to perfection.
After another sip of wine I set my glass back down then asked, "So you were friends with another goddess without knowing what she was a goddess of?"
For just a moment there was a look of alarm or worry in her eyes, as if she realized she'd revealed something she meant to keep secret. She recovered almost instantly though and responded calmly, "I understand the value of both privacy and secrecy Amethyst. Some have even said I can get carried away with both of them. Either way, I know when to ask questions and when not to pry."
The dual nature of her reply wasn't lost on me. Beyond the face value of what she just said it wasn't hard to read between the lines, she was either telling me not to pry or suggesting she wasn't going to tell me regardless.
"Fair enough," I nodded. "So what can you tell me about Cassandra? Do you know anything about the emergency that she rushed off to take care of?"
May was quiet for a few moments as she drained her wine glass. Then she spotted the waitress and gestured to her, before focusing on me again.
"I don't know exactly why she was called away," she replied, "But I can speculate. In addition to being girlfriends with a kitsune, Cassandra is also friends with demons werewolves and witches. I expect one of those friends may have gotten themself into trouble, so Cass decided to go and help out."
At that point the waitress was by our table again, she gestured to the dishes and asked "Are you ladies all done? Can I get you more wine?"
"Another bottle of the Gewürztraminer would be perfect thank you," May told the middle-aged blonde woman. Then she glanced at me and asked, "And I believe we're all finished eating?"
I nodded, "Yeah I've had enough thanks. It was delicious."
"Will your young friend want to take the rest of hers home?" the waitress asked as she picked up my and May's plates.
"I don't believe so," May told her. "She was called away and I don't expect her to return this evening."
The waitress nodded, "All right luvs, I'll be back in a minute with your wine."
We both watched as she left with the dishes and cutlery, then I looked back at May Hawthorne again. I commented, "So Cass is friends with all sorts of supernaturals? And she's responsible for, what did she say? About two hundred demi-humans over the past year? That definitely sounds like what I'd expect for a chaos goddess, but she sure doesn't look the part."
I was tempted to make a comment about Cassandra appearing so young, except in my limited experience that wasn't actually all that unusual. Kai looked like a teenager, so did Lenz. When Siggy was in human form they looked about the same age as Cass, even if their preferred form was a house cat. So far May was the oldest-looking deity I'd encountered, and she only appeared to be in her mid-twenties.
May and I remained quiet until the waitress returned, she topped up our glasses and left the bottle on the table between us. Then after she left the ravenette goddess had a sip of her drink before asking, "Were you serious about collaborating with Cassandra?"
"Sure," I nodded. After enjoying some more of the wine I shrugged, "I can't say I approve of her methods exactly, but I'm all for helping trans people. And every single one of the demi-humans I've met has been happy with their transformation. If she's not going to offer those people assistance with their ID and documentation then I'm happy to help. And if that means we're sharing a growing base of faithful, that benefits us both as well."
May nodded slowly as she continued to enjoy her wine. She had a thoughtful look on her face as she seemed to be considering that, and perhaps the other things we discussed earlier over dinner.
She finally responded, "I'm not sure I'd be willing to participate in this venture, not that I've been invited. It feels a little too risky, a little too public for my taste. I'm sure I'll continue to hear how it's progressing though, either from Cassandra or yourself, should the two of us stay in touch."
"My working with her doesn't mean I'd be turning my back on you May," I told her. "I get that we barely know each other, but I'd like to remain on good terms with you. I'd like to be friends, if that's something you're interested in."
She almost seemed surprised by that, and once again it took her a few moments to process and come up with a reply. "Thank you Amethyst. May I ask, do you have many divine friends?"
I shook my head, "I guess not? But I'm not opposed to the idea. I don't know that many other gods, but of all the ones I've met so far there's only been one I really disliked."
She nodded slowly, but didn't have any more questions on that topic.
Meanwhile I was thinking about something she said a moment earlier. I asked, "You mentioned Cassandra's plushie project was too risky and too public for you. Are you worried it might trigger some sort of retaliation from the status quo?"
"Yes," May nodded. After another sip of wine she added, "You already know of my daughter's fate, I have no desire to experience that myself."
I asked, "Sorry if this is insensitive of me, but I'm curious about how exactly the status quo might manifest in this situation. Do you know if there'd any sort of warnings ahead of time? For instance if this project did reach some sort of threshold where the status quo might intervene, would there be a warning? Or just boom, banishment?"
The ravenette goddess sighed and drained her glass, before topping it up once again from the bottle. Then she looked at me and responded, "My understanding is there may be warnings, but you would need to pay attention to them. They may be subtle, and come in the form of small setbacks or minor failures. Indications that the greater scheme is starting to run into trouble. There won't be any sort of blatant warning. You wouldn't be contacted, there's no communication. Just subtle signs of trouble."
"Like sailing through dangerous waters," she added quietly. "You might not see the rocks, but if you're paying attention then the water will reveal their presence. You either change course, or you run aground and sink."
I watched her for a few seconds before responding, "Thank you May. And I'm sorry about what happened to your child. I don't know that it's possible, but I hope she can be saved somehow."
"Thank you Amethyst," she replied softly. Her eyes were downcast, she was staring at the table as she had another deep sip of her wine.
After a second or two she quietly admitted, "I was in fact reunited with my daughter a few weeks ago. I'd prefer not to go into any details, but suffice to say she is not the same person I lost a century ago. The ordeal has changed her, and the manner by which she escaped her exile has left her... diminished. I'm grateful to have her back, but it will take time for both of us to adjust to her new circumstances."
My eyebrows crept up as I stared at her, while I started putting a few things together in my head. Cassandra was a chaos goddess who was not May's daughter, but was apparently friends with her. May didn't know Cass was involved with chaos until a few weeks ago, and a few weeks ago May's child somehow escaped her exile, but at a cost. It wasn't hard to make the connection.
"I take it Cassandra had something to do with your daughter's return?" I asked.
May sighed, "I'd rather not speak any more on that topic Amethyst. Perhaps you'll have a chance to meet Sasha yourself at some point, particularly if you and Cassandra are going to be working together."
"Sorry May," I apologized. Then I frowned, "I thought your daughter's name was..."
She shook her head, "She changed it to Sasha upon her restoration. Perhaps to indicate that this is a new chapter in her life?"
"I understand," I nodded slowly. "I'm sorry it's such a painful subject for you. If there's anything I can do to help just let me know, ok?"
May Hawthorne gave me a wan smile, "Thank you Amethyst. And now I think I shall retire for the evening."
She left a small stack of twenty pound notes on the table to cover all three meals and all the drinks we'd had, plus a sizeable tip. Then she drained the last of her glass again before finally getting up out of the booth.
I finished off my wine as well then got to my feet. I thanked her for the meal, and for introducing me to Cassandra. The two of us exited the pub together and bid each other a good night, then I teleported back home while it looked like she was going to visit her nearby cottage.
"Hello cutie, welcome home!" Tess greeted me as soon as I appeared in our living-room.
My tall gorgeous girlfriend was sitting cross-legged on the sofa wearing nothing but a tank top and a pair of panties. She had a chilled glass of wine on the coffee table in front of her, and a bowl full of leftover pasta in one hand. There was a very contented-looking torty laying on the sofa next to her right thigh.
The sun was still up outside, and according to the clock under the TV it was a few minutes before six in the evening.
"Hi love. And hello Siggy," I greeted them both with a smile as I headed over to the kitchen.
Rather than more wine I helped myself to a bottle of spring water, before making my way back to the living-room. I sat down at the opposite end of the sofa so as not to disturb either the cat or my girlfriend's dinner.
Tess waited until I was comfortable then asked, "So how'd it go? And did you get dinner? Sorry I didn't wait for you to get back, I thought you'd be out later than this."
I smiled, "Yeah I've already eaten. It was actually really good, I want to take you there some time? Maybe for a date."
"Really?" Tess raised an eyebrow as she looked at me. "You want to go all the way back to England just to visit a pub? You know we have one of those here, that place your dad took us to."
That made me laugh, "Yeah good point. We'll have to go back there so I can try their meat pie, just to see how it compares."
"Anyways it was a pretty good evening," I added. Then after a gulp of my water I gave her a wide grin, "You're not going to believe who May wanted me to meet! It was none other than the mysterious Kid Chaos herself, the person who's been distributing those enchanted plush toys that turn people into demi-humans?"
"Seriously?!" Tess gasped in surprise. "So was she a demon like you figured?"
I shook my head, "Nope. Turns out she's a goddess of chaos. She seemed nice though, mostly? She's also a little secretive I think, and maybe a bit impulsive? We might actually start working together. I told her how I've been helping a few of her demi-humans, but it sounds like I've only scratched the surface there. According to her there's over two hundred of them out there now?"
"Oh and another wild coincidence," I added before Tess could respond. "She actually lives here in Ontario, in a little town about thirty kilometres north of us, if you can believe it? So who knows, maybe we can all get together at some point on a double-date? You and me, Kid Chaos and her girlfriend?"
Tess continued to stare at me as she munched on another forkful of pasta for a few seconds. Then she asked, "What about the whole thing where this Kid Chaos is transforming people then abandoning them? Without your help they're stuck without ID or anything? I'm assuming you talked to her about that?"
I smiled, "Of course I did. She claims she's helped anyone who specifically asked for it, but I don't know how often that really happened. I tried to call her out on it but she kind of dismissed my concerns? She said it's because she's chaos, the demi-human transformations and the lack of ID is all meant to stir things up?"
"And she doesn't mind me going in and helping folks after the fact," I added. "The two of us need to get together again to talk about it, but she's not opposed to some cooperation. She supports trans and queer folk too, albeit in her own chaotic way."
My girlfriend looked thoughtful as she continued eating her dinner, but she finally responded "Just be careful Amy? Until you know for sure this Kid Chaos is safe. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I can't help think with a name like that she's going to be a little unpredictable."
That made me smile, "I know love. And don't worry, I'll be careful."
"So how was work, how was your day?" I asked.
"It was alright," she shrugged as she munched on another forkful of noodles. "I had a nice conversation with Emma today, we sort of cleared the air a bit I suppose?"
Then after some more wine she mentioned, "I also got an email back from my mom. She was surprised but happy about seeing us, and suggested a park right downtown where we could meet. Apparently there's a nice cafe there? So maybe we can go Saturday morning and meet her for brunch?"
I smiled, "Sounds good. Forward me the info and I'll look it up online."
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