It was odd but Celeste could tell just from the way things were that not all was out in the open for a few things. For instance, she knew recently that something had happened in Angela’s life because Angela was at the Bastion almost every single day now. Not to see Nemesis but just to talk to her. Maybe it was because she was the closest thing to a friend outside the conclave and her champion that Angela had. The goddess had begun to stress knit and work on her medical journals. Their friendship revolved around a lot of small talk like most married women and she had noticed that Angela was quick to cover up her tracks on a few different things.

The past few days had been the roughest on Angela. She wasn’t sleeping, she was serene, and she wasn’t overly talkative. Her crimson eyes watched as Angela messed up the knit and undid it. She did this several times before she got it right. Apparently handicrafts weren’t something Angela was particularly good at but she was making the attempt at making her new grandchild some little clothing pieces. “Do you want to talk about it today?” Celeste’s voice was quiet and calm as she grabbed her own needles and began to help Angela. She had made Sergei clothes when he was younger and it was a skill she found to be fun at times.

The Goddess paused and sighed a bit looking up at her friend. “You’ve asked me that question every day for the past week.”

“You’ve given me the same bogus answer every day for the past week,” the vaewolf matriarch replied coolly. “Besides you lie enough and you are bound to get wrinkles.” The two women chuckled at the banter but it appeared that Angela was finally ready to talk.

“Drae and I decided that things weren’t working out. I don’t want to lose him and he me but… Things happened. Or rather didn’t.” Angela appeared sad now but she had more time to process it than when she had spoken to Kiba.

Celeste’s eyes got wide for a moment before she hurriedly knitted a few more notches. “Is that so? You two didn’t seem to be spending the quality time you needed together… and now he’s fallen.” The vaewolf had at least gotten that much out of her friend in the past week. “But that isn’t what is really bothering you. I can tell.”

This was why Angela didn’t speak to those older than herself. She gave a displeased look before she too continued to knit. “Just thinking about some things about myself.”

“Like what? A goddess like yourself has everything.” Celeste baited the goddess and it finally got her another sigh as Angela’s red and green eyes looked up.

“I most certainly don’t have everything. I can’t even seem to keep a stable marriage or to even keep myself feeling satisfied in one person.” She had told Kiba she was okay with it but deep down while she knew she needed it she was also unhappy with herself about it.

“Your sphere of influence is vast. Nowhere is it written that all of your love goes to one person. You should know this, you are every bit as wise as I am.” Celeste looked up at the goddess and held a stare with her for but a few seconds before looking down at her knitting. “You certainly aren’t inadequate. You are very intelligent and powerful. You are beautiful and have a charming personality. You do like to be mischievous but I think it’s because you get bored easily. It’s alright to have a flaw.”

“But one like this? Where I can’t stay happy with the ones I love?” It was an honest question and Celeste shrugged a bit.

“Angela, for everything that Nemesis is… He had two wives and before that countless lovers in your world before. He is just as capable of loving one person or many as you are. I think it isn’t a matter of you needing to love several as much as it is that you haven’t found someone who can give you all the attention and happiness that you need. Knowing your spheres I think it will be difficult to ever find anyone who can give you all of what you need. From what you told me of Adraejen you two loved each other out of convenience and you still do but it’s not as strong as before.”

Angela made a grunt and Celeste knew she was right on the money. She moved the needles a bit more so she could start the foundation for a little hat for baby Emry once she was born. “Angela?”

“Hmm?”

“Why didn’t you and Nemesis ever try to court?”

There was a choking sputter from Angela and she was giving the elven woman a bewildered look. “Because he hates me and I find his personality to be appalling sometimes.” It came out as if it was all one word.

Celeste chuckled a bit. “I don’t think he hates you at all. Nor do I think he is actually bothered by you being around. He is just dramatic.”

“Besides even if it was a possibility and it wasn’t… It would have been a taboo for him.” Angela continued her knit a bit slower now. “It was a taboo to even have the twins and we hid them until we knew we could keep them safe. The Shiras would have had my head or his. He was already married to you when we crossed over pretty much.” She waved her needle at Celeste. “It just wouldn’t have worked. Never mind the fact that we can’t get along to save ourselves. We fight all the time over little things. I used him as a means to keep my daughter safe and I didn’t even need to do that. That’s all there has ever been to our relationship. We co-parent the best we can and that’s it. I don’t think we could stomach each other long enough.”

Celeste helped finish up Angela’s knitting and before long the goddess had made her way home before Nemesis could come back from whatever business he had. She did her best to avoid the man whenever she could to avoid arguments over the little things she did or said.

It had been brewing in her head for a while before she asked Nemesis to meet her in the parlor after a few days. Once he was there she kissed his cheek and sat him down. “I want to talk to you about something but we’re waiting for someone.”

Angela came in and held a basket in her hand. She paused briefly when she saw Nemesis and looked at Celeste. “I brought the knits as you asked.”

“Good, we can finish them after we all have a talk.” Celeste got a chair and put it next to Nemesis. “Please sit.”

The goddess looked confused and she moved over and she sat down. “What’s this about Celeste?”

Celeste shook her head and tilted it. “How are you feeling today? You look a bit better than yesterday.”

Angela wasn’t amused by Celeste’s dodge of the question but she shrugged. “Kiba got me to eat some breakfast today and got my mind off of everything. It’s a process. I’ve made my decision with it though.”

“That’s good. Progress is good. Did you know Dearest that Angela has lightly split from her husband Adraejen?” Celeste let it slip on purpose and Angela groaned a bit more.

“Don’t have to tell him everything, Celeste. I understand that I’m a failure of a wife already.” Angela sounded a bit hurt that her friend went and just told Nemesis how she was feeling. “Like he needs anything more to hold over my head.”

Nemesis and Angela…their entire story had been one that most found weird. Polar opposites they were- while Angela was seen as a radiant goddess, loved and adored by all and her healing abilities were second to none, Nemesis was a dark god that craved destruction and used his strength as a former knight and deception to crush those that got in his way. Despite their differences, there was a matter of respect that many didn’t get from either side. They were both ancient creatures who did agree that the world wasn’t black and white even though there was plenty that they argued about. As time passed these days, he began to notice that she would come around and keep Celeste company. Just one night of him returning to the manor from a hunt and there she was- with his wife partaking in meager things. While he wasn’t sure why she was there, he didn’t push the subject too far and left them be.

Of course, this wasn’t the last time he would catch sight of his fellow goddess randomly in his abode.

A few more appearances made the Dark Lord question what her latest angle was, but it seemed genuine that she wanted to spend time with Celeste and he wasn’t bothered whatsoever so in time he merely paid her no mind. And life went on as far as he was concerned.

It wasn’t shocking when he was asked to come to meet Celeste about something, and as the dutiful husband, he showed up and greeted her before taking a seat. “Who are we waiting for, and for what?” He assumed this might something to do with Sergei or perhaps one of their allies in Kurayo. His thoughts even went to his brother Reaver who was the latest addition to the family. But the moment he saw Angela, he frowned and tilted his head at the alpha female. What was going on now? Apparently, she was just as bumbled about the situation as he was. His eyes were now cutting at the sly little wolf. “Angela.”, he seldom acknowledged as she took her seat right beside his.

His mood shifted from annoyance when he was made aware of Angela’s relationship. “No…I did not.” So that would help explain why she was coming over here as much as she was. The god rolled his eyes as he heard her speak and his arms folded tightly against his chest. “Not that it’s any of my business, but what’s the point of mentioning that, love? Clearly, she doesn’t wish for me to know, not that I had wanted to.” Besides, what the hell was a lightly split?

A bigger question was what was his wife up to now?

Angela was perplexed, to say the least. Celeste had pestered her for a good week to get her to open up and now she was taking all of that progress and losing it. She didn’t know what Celeste’s angle was but it felt wrong but also it felt like Angela was also taking it wrong. She was in Nemesis’s realm so she didn’t dare to take a peek at her motivations and violate what wasn’t hers. For once she stayed in her boundaries. It made her mouth dry because she simply was confused.

“She didn’t want anyone to know Dearest. It took me a week to get it out of her. Well… Drae and her splitting I don’t think was actually what bothered her… Is It Angela?”

The goddess’s eyes narrowed on the delicate vaewolf. “You got me to open up to you for what? So you could make fun of me? Is this some kind of punishment for what you view as me annoying you?” The tone of the woman came off as threatened and it was interesting to see what a cornered Angela looked like. She almost sounded pissed and Celeste’s eyes focused on her for a moment. The redhead went to get up and Celeste put up her hand.

“Stay. I promise I’m not making fun of you Angela.” Celeste realized the way she had come off and she chewed the side of her mouth slightly. She didn’t realize how sensitive Angela was to the topic and more importantly why.

“Then why do you insist on parading my failures in front of Nemesis like I am the evening’s entertainment?” Deescalating the situation with the goddess was turning out harder than she thought. Celeste had managed to threaten her existence or rather shame it. There was a slight intake of breath before Celeste let it go.

“Because I’ve become interested in the two of you.” The vaewolf wasn’t playing coy and it took Angela back.

“What?” The threatened voice that Angela held earlier faded and now she just sounded rather confused. “Drae and myself?”

“No, your relationship with Nemesis.”

“What relationship Celeste? I told you there never was one and there will never be one.” Was Celeste threatened by her? Was this what this was about?

“That’s just it… Isn’t it wrong? That you two never were together at all?” Crimson eyes looked between Nemesis and Angela as she asked the questions.

“Not really? I used him. We co-parented. That’s it.” There was hostility now at being accused of something. “Besides he hates me.” Angela brought up her arms to showcase Nemesis to his wife. “How the hell would we ever get past that.”

“Because he doesn’t hate you. On the contrary, I think it is the opposite for both of you.” Celeste adjusted herself and put one leg on top of the other. “I suppose I am beating around the bush. I wish to be supportive and I grow tired of watching both of you.” What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Nemesis knew very little about Drae other than he was a fellow deity that was with Angela. But sometime again, a little before her nightly visits, he did feel a pain run through him unlike any other. For a god, it was unnerving but the pain only lasted for a bit. From what he could gather from past experiences in his dealings of deities back when he was mortal, it might have been a falling. Perhaps Drae had been the one to. But if that was true, what did that have to do with the relationship falling out? Not that it was any of his business…

Soon he would witness a side of Angela that he had rarely seen- that of anger. The last time he could recall such a feeling from her was when her stupid sister had inadvertently taken her son away, the very one that he ushered Aaryona to kill. He was surprised that after all that, she bared no grudge against him. He sat by quietly, ready to defuse the situation by sending their guest home and then speaking to his wife in private when Celeste caught on how she was coming off. “Calm down Angela”, he spoke, taking a deep breath. Why of all things would she care about his opinion about the matter? He had no idea of what went on and certainly, it wouldn’t make him think any less of her. Nemesis looked to his wife and wondered if her ever-growing curiosity may have gone too far this time.

But he had no idea of the depths of it until she voiced an answer that made him give her the same look that the goddess held briefly. “Darling, what in the hell are you speaking of?” Aside from their children and his business arrangement with Aaryona, there wasn’t anything more between them. Was she jealous of his past lover? He had hoped to avoid a situation like that again after Serafina, but apparently, she delved deeper into prying through something that wasn’t in existence.

Glancing over to Angela again, he spoke with a bit of irritation in his tone. “I do not hate you, woman. How many times have we been through this? You do bug me sometimes, but I have never said those words ever. But I do agree that something like that would never happen…” At least in this lifetime, he had believed and even stated to her before. “We are connected through the children- yes she used me, and I didn’t complain until afterward, but why are you curious about such a thing?”

But Celeste spoke of something that made him dart his eyes at her and groaned. There was so much to question about her train of thought and why of all times was she stirring the pot? “Of what? A friendship? We are such because of our past, but that’s not what you mean. Spill it, Celeste. I am no mind reader.” He couldn’t believe that they were actually having this conversation.

Of all the people to tell her to calm down, it was Nemesis? Nemesis who had a hard time calming down himself when he was in a mood. He would dare tell her to calm down? Angela found herself biting at her lip. “Fine.” She would be ‘calm’ for now but this prying into her business and putting it so readily open for everyone was starting to get on her nerves. What would this possibly accomplish and why?

Celeste looked at her husband and rolled her shoulders. They would see things her way if they would just stop being so stubborn but perhaps she hadn’t been clear enough yet with what she was trying to get at. Nemesis would find that Celeste wasn’t jealous but quite deeply saddened by the situation.

“Yes, spill it because I’m tired of bea-” Angela found herself cut off by the vaewolf matriarch at this time.

“I wish to say that I am open to having Angela as a sister wife if that is something you two would be interested in.” Celeste folded her hands in her lap. She was the first wife now and she would get to decide what Nemesis could and couldn’t do as far as their relationship was concerned. It didn’t go against the gaes if she willed it to happen.

“What?” Angela was not breathless and staring at her. “Are you insane Celeste? Listen to yourself.”

Celeste’s red eyes looked at Angela then to her husband. “Angela is a good friend of mine now. I will only allow those who I see as a good match to proceed forward with something like this. Content as I may be as being the only wife I don’t really require all the attention I get. I much prefer to be left to my research.” It was true even in the years Nemesis had been married to Serafina. “Besides, I think had things been different in the other world that it is Angela who would be your wife and not Serafina or myself.”

“That’s preposterous.” Angela felt herself getting a bit sick from everything as it seemed to overwhelm her.

“No, it isn’t.” Celeste shook her head. “You two actually care about each other. I don’t think it was Aaryona that was the reason why you made the deal for me with Nemesis. I think you wanted him to be happy.” Angela had a shiver a bit as she looked away. “You aren’t too much of a redheaded devil once a person figures out how you work. You use deals and strings to get what you want yes, but you also hide your feelings by making yourself look like a monster.”

“I just wanted my daughter safe, the same as before.”

“No, you used it as an excuse because you knew Nemesis would buy it because he did once before. He had no reason to believe you had any other motive and I wouldn’t have realized it until we had our talk the other day. Just like how you barely even questioned me about why I needed you here for Reaver and again you used your child as an excuse. You want Nemesis to be happy.”

“Even if that is the case what you are suggesting can’t work.”

“And why not? Because you two fight like cats and dogs? I think the reason why you fight is very simple. You know how to get under each other’s skin and you, in particular, do things to push people away when you don’t want them too close.” Celeste’s eyes narrowed in on Angela. “You also do it when you are bored so it’s easy to cover things up.”

Angela hated being read like a book and she hated it when she became unraveled. “That’s why you’ve been poking me all week with these strange questions.”

“Putting together your pieces was a bit harder than everyone else’s. I’ll admit it took me a lot longer to figure out just how you worked. Your web of deceit goes far deeper than most people I’ve ever met but your web isn’t one for malice and it threw me off quite a bit.”

Angela leaned in and she had a soft voice. “So why do you think I do it then?”

“To protect yourself. You are afraid of being hurt. You fear abandonment above all over things. You’ve had so many children it never feels like you are alone but I bet when you are cooped up in your study that you feel very alone. You probably felt it massively these last few months and that’s why Drae and yourself drifted as far as you have.”

Angela didn’t respond and Celeste knew she was right.

Nemesis couldn’t believe how all of this was playing out; why if he wasn’t as stony as he was right now, he would have fallen from his seat. Angela was becoming increasingly annoyed as he witnessed the cracks in her usually poised and calm demeanor. While he couldn’t very well say that he had the zeal of a monk, he was trying to see reason in Celeste’s logic. What she came up with made the vaewolf’s mouth hang down, utterly speechless at the proposal to take…Angela as a second wife. They had been down this road before and he thought that it would be just the two of them. But she wanted a third person in their relationship?

He didn’t want to side with the redhead on this, but perhaps she was moonstruck after all. Gods they needed to get her help; if only she could stop speaking long enough to not piss Angela off any further. Besides, he had made the deal with the geas to prove that he would only be loyal to his wife. She knew this and yet he had forgotten that the deal wouldn’t be broken if she had given permission. She read the fine print that he missed, but what was the point? He understood that the two women were friends, but…

Nemesis was taken back before he lifted a hand and shook his head. “Darling, I don’t…” He stopped immediately and lowered his eyes slightly; she had said what he once did about his whirlwind relationship with the mother of his other children. He couldn’t very well lie to her and it would only serve to be a calling card that she could play on to continue this ridiculous charade. “A good match. How are we a good match?”

Gods, who knew who felt more disturbed by this idea between the two of them. By this time, Nemesis bolted right up and stared down at Celeste. Her words were undoing Angela slowly as a torturer would flay his victim piece by piece. “Of course I wouldn’t have any reason to believe otherwise. Her daughter needed my assistance and we wanted to conceive a baby and…” He ceased speaking and clenched his jaw tightly the longer he thought about this. The fact that it looked like Angela was caving into this silly idea wasn’t helping matters. She had turned many a blind eye onto his actions and despite his attitude at times with her, she seemed to hang around for whatever reason. Part of him thought that it was because of Lucian and Nerezza and his reluctance to let them go was what kept their connection together. He couldn’t be wrong, right?

Nemesis couldn’t help but roll his eyes and wish that this was some sort of cruel joke. But his wife wasn’t kidding around, he could read that much as she read into their guest more and more. For such a brilliant mind, Celeste as just as cruel when she was making her point. She was able to do in days what he couldn’t accomplish in years- understanding Angela. Eventually, he had enough of this and started to walk away to clear his mind. “Even if that’s all true, you can’t possibly believe that she…that I…” He wanted to say that he didn’t feel that way about her, but why said what he had back when they met in Adeluna when she was healing Celeste from her attack? He paced around feeling that he was going to be next to be evaluated, knowing how she was.

Celeste held up her finger to Nemesis as she formulated a response quickly. “Because for as different as you two are you both have similar core beliefs. For how good Angela is she also understands the other side of the coin and sees where you come from with what you do. Rosenites, in general, have a good understanding of the need to feed for vampires so it doesn’t rank on their morality meters like most. She knows what you are like and even if she might not like some she doesn’t try to convince you to change yourself. She even let Adraejen continue his black market trade and his work as long as he didn’t bring it into her house near the kids.”

Angela was so engaged with Celeste that it actually scared her a bit when Nemesis bolted up. “Aaryona was doing fine by herself and if Angela really wanted to do a safe route she would have asked Raeguel to help her. She protected both of you by going to you instead and offering us the one thing that would make us happy. It’s taken me a while to realize she can sense death and she can tell pain. It would also mean that she could tell how many times I have conceived children and lost them. The potion she made would have taken a long time to make… and just when do you propose that Angela had started to brew it?” Celeste looked at the goddess who had her eyes closed. “How long?”

“Since I found out you were Nemesis’s wife in Adeluna. It’s an aged brew that takes a long time to generate the magic needed for the spell. Months are needed for the years required to add to the body. The plants that are required grow in isolated spots and I would need to scale mountains and dive into caves for most of it.” There was no point in lying now. She had been found out. “You found the recipe for the potion?”

“I was curious. It isn’t anything I could ever do only someone with an expert hand and godly disposition could make a temporary potion work the way you did. I was curious about you and you seemed the exact opposite of Nemesis and yet you were so willing to help. You could have gotten the world from us and yet you just asked us to help your daughter. Anyone else would have exploited what you did.”

Once Nemesis was up and pacing Celeste let out a sigh. “But I can and I do.” She crossed her arms now as she stared at her husband. “I heard every word in Adeluna. I saw her give you the mirror so you could see your children. I know that you look at it and are sad that you can’t be part of their lives. She does everything for you to get you as close as possible without actually interfering because she doesn’t know what would happen if you and your light side met. That’s dedication and love.” Angela scoffed a bit but Celeste ignored her for now.

She was looking at her new target. “You are just as bad as she is. Never once have you ever raised your hand at her even when she annoyed you. Most people when you get annoyed you go right for them and it wouldn’t matter their position or rank. The fact she is a goddess wouldn’t even register if you cared. Angela isn’t a fighter and you know that. She might not be weak but she isn’t on the same level of absolute poweress the others are.”

Celeste adjusted herself on the seat and thought about it more. “You’ve probably always held her in some sort of light since you met her. You like women like her. Women who can stand on their own and are strong. She probably annoyed you back then too but still, you didn’t send her away. You are patient with her in your own way and I’ve seen that with Serafina too up until she betrayed you. I imagine it didn’t help when the twins wanted you two to play nice and act as a family when you visited. You two were forced into roles but I bet neither of you really ever minded it. They are fond and good moments for you both. I can tell when you talk about it. The scene wouldn’t have been complete if either one of you were missing. That’s loyalty. Also, when Angela was depressed you went to see her on your own accord. I didn’t have to prod you. I was going to but you had already left. You want to make sure she is okay and happy too.”

The elf was going to stop but she decided not to. “One more thing: I don’t think she would be in your garden just because she is the mother of your children. She holds a much more precious spot than that to you. You have lied to yourself for a long time I think. Also, she makes life a little more interesting for you when she is around even if you complain. Her vivaciousness is something that is sorely lacking in our house and it’s attractive for that reason.”

There was a snort from Angela but still, she was quiet which was unusual. “Also, I think you have complained on more than one occasion about her husbands. I don’t think you’ve ever really approved fully. You have high standards even for Serafina but you accepted their choices. At the end of the day, you don’t treat Angela any different than you do me. You just don’t spend time with her in the same capacity. You love her and you always have in some way, shape, or form probably from the first time you met. Even as vampires or vaewolves we’re capable of it.”

Celeste finally turned her attention to Angela and the goddess looked up. “Don’t say it.”

Defiant Celeste smiled a bit. “And she loves you too in her own way. Maybe not since the first time you met because I don’t know her truly that well yet but I think she did overtime. Also, I never did say I would keep you to myself always. I am just being picky about who I want to let into our little circle. We have Sergei to think of and I can't allow chaos to come in destroying our close-knit relationship."

If he hadn't known any better, Nemesis would have thought that Celeste was an expert when it came to Rosenites and studied them for years with how she desiccated the situation. Of course, he wasn't too thrilled with this or of her opinion that there were deeper feelings involved between himself and Angela, even though he had devoted his life to Celeste not too long ago. Although he loved her for her brilliance, sometimes he would admit that she was too smart for her own good. Every argument against it that either of them made, she had the perfect defense laying and waiting to sprout on them. He didn't quite believe that the goddess felt any sort of romantic feelings for him whatsoever. Nothing had been shared between them other than one night of passion that happened out of circumstance. Whether or not she had really used him remained questioned, even if he had thought so before and she claimed it to be true. 

He had believed that she had made the deal to protect her daughter, but when it was revealed just how long it would take for the potion that she made really took, and with the effort put into it, he just gave Angela a blank stare. Celeste was right- nothing in this world was free and asking for him to teach and protect Aaryona seemed like a small price in comparison to what she could have wrung out from them. He had been willing to pay any price, after all. The only reason why he didn't see was that, at the time,  she was a deity and could get whatever she wanted. 

Slowly after that, he was starting to put in the boiling water. "It was just a thought that ran across my mind at the time", he said, trying to deflect it. It was merely a thought, though explaining why it came out in the first place was plenty difficult. He bit his tongue when she went deeper, and though Angela did get on his nerves at times, he had never done anything against her as he had with less fortunate souls. He fell back into his seat, the back of his heel bouncing against the floor. He couldn't argue that she was right about his taste in women; there had only been a few exceptions to that and none of them were carved forever in stone in the garden like those closest to his heart for one reason or another. Which Celeste had no problem speaking of, much to his dismay. "You are wrong about something", he pointed out as he shifted head to look away from either woman. "Not sure about Angela, but I was never forced to get along with her for the sake of the children. We had a pleasant relationship when the twins were involved, even before they were born. Sure, I wasn't thrilled with the idea and tried to corner her and blow up some random cave but I never hated her. The only thing I could remember hurting her was when I said that the children couldn't bear my surname, for their safety." As far as his last visit with her went, he didn't speak anything of it; there was no point if she had already known that too. 

His stubbornness continued, but his eyes lowered more. "The first one that I met, whatever his name was, didn't seem to hold your interest anymore. Otherwise, you wouldn't have had me that night. Could you simply say now that the only motivating factor was your daughter's safety?" Nemesis looked at the two, first Celeste then Angela. His meddling wife was having the vaewolf second guess things, certainly not such that he had tried to think of.  "I hardly know Drae, so I can't form an opinion on him either way. Even if what Celeste says is true, I wasn't going to do anything about it then. I respect you that much not to."  

Nemesis didn't like to reveal what he didn't have to, much rather keep on the mask instead of admitting the possibility of what was being said was true. He thought back to her statue; his reasoning for it was because she was the mother of their two children, but he also remembered brief bits of time he spend with her, involving a night of sneaking into her home just to make sure she was alright when news arrived of her injured during a fight with Cyprus' forces. Nothing more happened other than him watching over her sleeping body and stroking her hair before leaving. The time spent with her at that carnival and then when the children were born, his frequent visits to her shrine to watch over and raise them in a safe environment. He enjoyed her company even now, if seemingly a slight bit less. 

He was starting to grow conflicted about this now. "Even if you are right about my feelings, Angela has a say in this too. Obviously she doesn't have to do anything if she doesn't wish it."

Angela nodded a bit and smiled. “Wasn’t ever really forced. We can get along.” He wasn’t wrong about the surname but at the time she felt like it was a valid part of the twins’ existence now? They were their own people far greater than they could have ever wanted for them.

There was a steady thought process for Angela as she shrugged it off. “Taylef and I were a couple out of circumstance. It’s true we loved each other but Aerkai wasn’t ever known for their love. Hell, their language doesn’t even have a word for love. He did the one thing you never did or would: hurt our children. I don’t know if he did it deliberately but he was never into having a son. Taylef cared more about Aellie than he ever did Rey. I have always put my family first and so for me it was blasphemy.”

The goddess looked at Nemesis long and hard. “Maybe not. We had many times between us before that night. Some of them good and some of them bad. Never did you ever raise your hand to me though and when you found out about our child you did everything in your power to make sure nothing happened to any of us.” She rubbed the back of her neck and looked sad. “For Adraejen, he had always loved my children and only after that could he stomach me. He thought I was a whiner for the most part. Not the most pleasant man before the kids won his heart.”

Angela folded her hands in her lap for a few moments. “I never held a great number of feelings for you past the typical lust we shared.” Celeste looked a bit disappointed but the goddess closed her eyes. “You remember that day that the twins insisted on having me on Nerezza’s swing holding both of them? They wanted to have you push us and see how high we could go. I kept telling them it wasn’t a good idea but it was dozens of please mommy, please daddy just try.” There was a sigh that left her lips. “And so we tried and you pushed us. We got far but then the ropes snapped just like I said they would. I had grabbed hold of the kids and landed on my butt. The kids were laughing hard at me but especially Lucian. So I had blown raspberries on his belly while his sister was giggling. Then once she realized how broken the swing was she looked so sad that you climbed the tree yourself and fixed it.”

The redhead let out a laugh as she finally looked at Nemesis. “I had loved you more at that moment than I ever had before. I had never even seen you climb a tree before but you were determined to make Rezza happy. They were amazed at how well the swing was and everything. Rezza even said I wasn’t allowed on it because she felt like it might break.” Angela shook her head laughing some more. “We ended up curling up altogether to read a book. You had Rezza in your lap and I had Lucian. We were sitting all bundled in front of the fireplace before bed. It was some silly story about knights and Lucian, I think, decided he wanted to be a knight then. Our time as a family was my happiest. It tended just to be the four of us and we would make the best of it when you visited.”

Celeste seemed more please and Angela didn’t look like she was done just yet. “Then there was the time Rezza stole my wedding band and gave it to you. She told you that you should give it to me that way you didn’t have to leave. I still don’t know how she managed to get it off my finger without me noticing. I think that was the first time we had to explain to them why we couldn’t do that. I had never seen the twins more depressed in my life. ‘But we’re happy Mommy… Isn’t that all that matters?’ and I told them ‘I wish my babies but no.’ I was sad about it too now that I think about it. They were right. We were happy when we were all together.”

That was one thing they agreed upon completely so far; the welfare of the children wasn’t forced upon them. No, he had chosen to be a part of their lives as much as he could. Although he was a horrible man, he wasn’t going to be a monster to his blood like his human father had been to him. He visited whenever he could and spent time with them, which also meant spending time with Angela as well. There was no pretending on his part and even to this today, he was sure that she was just as genuine. His lover at the time had grown jealous, first of that he had slept with another woman and then had children with her. Surely Taylef was just as angry at his own wife stepping out of the marriage like that. Of course, neither of them was about anymore and even so, he had a responsibility to the children that he didn’t even think he’d had in the first place.

While some had favored Lucian because of his future purpose, Nemesis had loved him as much as he loved Nerezza, who clearly favored him greatly.

A small smile couldn’t stop itself from forming when remembered the swing incident. The twins were even then full of energy and tried all they could to enjoy life with the two of them. “Yes, they wouldn’t stop until we agreed. Things were alright until you got too high and then as you said, the rope broke and the three of you came tumbling down. The next thing I know was that I was up a tree, re-tying some rope to fix that blasted swing.”

He rolled his eyes, but it wasn’t in a rude gesture at all. It was a simple thing he did, yet it did bring smiles on their faces once he was through with the mission in hand. “I hardly make it a habit to do so, but I can climb. It got Nerezza to stop crying over it before she hopped back onto it and wanted me to push her until she reached the sky.” Of course, he didn’t have her go that high but enough to make her think otherwise. As he fed off the memories, he could still hear the little girl’s giggles and it was one of the few things that could touch his heart, as dark as it was. Another was when Lucian wanted to become a knight, and Nemesis had been sure he would stay on that path alot more than he ever could.

The smile only grew as another memory ventured into his mind as he eased himself into his chair. “Don’t know where she got the talent for that from, but I was just as surprised as you were. I didn’t even know it was yours until she said something and Lucian backed her up. They wanted us together so badly; it stung a bit when we had to explain in a way for them to understand as young as they were.” They tried not to hurt the twins, but it didn’t stop their disappointment from happening. They didn’t know of the situation or why their parents weren’t together.

Still, he would visit and watch them grow into young adults before the sundering happened. Lucian was being trained as a knight and Nerezza was expanding on her powerful magic the last he recalled before their world came crumbling down and he had to start anew. Was there regret in that he hadn’t seen them in recent years? Of course, there was. Raeguel maybe their father, but it was Nemesis that had been there since the beginning of their lives and even before that.

He fell silent after a little while, struggling internally on what he felt versus admitting it. He wasn’t the sort to voice his feelings often, but he supposed there was no harm in this in the end. “I’ve had plenty of lovers, but whether by death or desertion, many didn’t last too long. It was only one night, but you’ve been one of the few that lingered about. I have a few fond moments back in DaeLuin, but I did enjoy spending time with the twins, and you. Celeste may have been right- it probably wouldn’t have been the same without you, Angela. I hardly know many that wouldn’t have taken advantage of the situation and spin it into benefiting themselves. You hadn’t done that, not once and it vexed me as to why you didn’t use me.” He was used to a world where deceit, selfishness and betray was commonplace; yet Angela was a polar opposite of all of that and it presented a situation that he couldn’t figure out. “I’m sure that if things were different, we could have given the twins what they wished for. I can’t say that I would have been against young Nerezza’s idea then, as naive and innocent as it had been", he laughed.