The sky was as black as night as the wind blew fiercely. Tristana did her best as she struggled through the storm. She had a heavy and soaked backpack, wore a grey robe, wore worn purple slippers, walked with a bow staff, and had a hood that covered her head. She ended up having to push herself against the powerful winds and rain. Yet she had to make sure she was on the old narrow path at all times. One misstep could easily seal her doom. The wind screamed more than howled. The rain fell as stones. Tristana was drenched in water that was as cold as ice itself. She couldn't help but shiver and did her best to warm herself up with her arms as she continued to push herself forwards up the path. Her hair blew in the wind and she had to constantly push it out of her face so she could actually see. To be perfectly honest, she was frightened. Terrified that she might get blown off the path and end up struck by lightning. Or that she might fall to the winds and end up falling off the mountain. Each time a lighting bolt struck she couldn't help but jump a little. Tristana ended up placing her hands over her ears in an attempt to stop herself from having to hear too much of the thunder. It only worked so well. There were lightning towers that lined the way of the path and had made it safer to walk. Yet that didn't make it completely safe. Tristana could feel the way her legs were almost screaming out in pain. She had been traveling for a very long time and hadn't brought a horse or a way of transportation. She had walked the majority of the way. Now Tristana was truly regretting that. But she persisted on, knowing that there was no way she could turn back now after coming so far. She had something she needed to do and was going to do it. No matter what. Her stomach growled with hunger but she refused to stop to eat. She felt if she stopped now then she would end up never getting back up. Besides her food was most likely, soaked so it wasn't as if it would be a good meal anyway. 

Eventually Tristana had finally made it to the door to the temple. It was a grand door that seemed to be made from white jade with intricate designs carved on it. It was one of the most fantastic things she had seen. There was also a plaque in the middle of the door but it was difficult to read with such dark lighting. Only the light of the lightning allowed her to see it so she stepped a bit closer to properly read it. 

"Enter freely of your own will?" Tristana read outloud with confusion in her voice. 

Was there a history of people being forced to enter temples? Is that why the sign was there? She took a step forward to see if she could read it again and touched the white jade door. Tristana didn't really have too long to ponder the message before before the door split into pieces. Tristana jumped back with alarm. 

"I broke it!" She exclaimed with alarm.

Then the door pulled back and retracted into the wall. The plaque vanished. Tristana realized that this was just how the door opened. 

"Oh…" She said out loud, mostly to herself. 

There was light and a sort of warmth coming from the temple. Tristana stepped inside and passed through the doorway. Then the door closed up behind her. Inside she was amazed by almost everything. It was brightly lit but Tristana couldn't find the sources of the illumination. It was almost as if she was outside in the daylight. The walls seemed to be made up of marble and howlite. Tristana spotted some stone statues and rushed over to them with curiosity. She acted as if she was an energetic child who had never seen anything like this before. She went to each statue observing every part of it from it's weapon to it's face. She then rushed over to the windows and looked through them. The windows seemed to show clear skies despite there being a raging storm outside. Tristana deduced that it had to have been some sort of magic. After exploring almost every part of entry hall she plopped down onto one of the benches with increased exhaustion. Now she thoroughly regretted running around to look at everything since her sore legs began to hurt even worse and her head was feeling a little dizzy from wearing herself out so much. Tristana was soaking wet and was even dripping water all over the clean floor. Tristana quickly took off her pack and opened it in search of something to clean herself up a little. To avoid more of a mess. But everything in her pack was also soaked. So she really didn't have any good options. She felt too tired to perform any magic to dry herself. Tristana then looked for some sort of food option. But she had foolishly brought along bread with her. Which was now thoroughly soaked and mushy. Not the best option for food. It would probably taste disgusting. So Tristana left it wrapped up in a soaking wet cloth. Then she let herself relax on the bench. Feeling completely tired. There seemed not to be a single part of her that wasn't exhausted. 

Shiloh was sitting face-down at her table, resting her eyes for a moment. The crackle over a small device came before a female voice spoke through it: "Lord Steward, we have a visitor." She sat up. "A visitor…well that's rare." Her temple–or workplace as she preferred to call it, had less traffic than most. First, it was hard to access with the awful weather and isolated location. Next was the unwelcoming landscape and uncomfortable climb to the door. Aside from her employees, she didn't see many faces. This was how she liked it. Even though she was a deity, she wasn't a people person. She liked her privacy and personal space, so if somebody really needed to see her–they'd think twice to bother her. She didn't want to be called unless it was important.

Pressing a button on the speaker device, she relayed back a message to the person on the other end. "Thanks, send someone over with some towels and dry them off. I'll be right there." Ending the communications with a click, she got up from her seat and cleaned up the mess on her desk. There were designs for a new water feature to be added into the greenhouse, which was turning into something more like a miniature biosphere with the climate-controlled areas designed for various plants from around the world. Drawing up plans to remodel the place for a magical crystal-studded riverbed meant changing the pipework in the whole wing. But that would have to wait. She shouldn't keep the guest waiting. 

There were many statues in Antikythera, which Tristana had seen in person. These served a dual purpose; they were decorations as well as a means for her to see what was going on in the Machinarium. Looking through the statue's field of vision, she saw a girl not much older than she was when she came into Revaliir. Damp reddish hair and soaked clothes, and a noticeable scar on her face. "…I wonder why she's here?" Shiloh mused aloud.

The sound of footsteps clacking against the polished floors revealed one of the attendants of the Machinarium. An automaton with the build of a lithe woman in simple and practical garb approached. From a glance she looked like an ordinary human woman, but if one had a keen eye they would notice her wrists were ball jointed like a doll's. Most of her clothes covered up the most obvious joints such as the elbows and knees, and she wore a pair of short gloves over her fingers. Waving to the girl, the mechanical woman smiled. "Hello, miss! Welcome to Antikythera. Here, dry yourself off. Did you come all the way up from Via Fulminis?" The attendant handed Tristana some dry towels. They were warm, like they had just been baked dry over an oven. "The Steward has just been informed of your arrival. She'll be here any moment now."

Walking down the Marble Corridor, Shiloh chose to change her appearance into one of the armored myrmidons. Lately she'd been showing her face too much to people. It would be better if she didn't for security purposes.

Tristana closed her eyes for a small moment. Although she hadn't ever been here before, she felt as if the area was safe enough for her to rest for just a moment. She could remember when she first arrived at the stormy mountain and how intimidating it seemed. Now she had finally reached the top. Of course to anybody else it might have not seemed remarkable but to Tristana, she felt just a tiny bit of pride that she managed to get there without a single mount or using magic to teleport. Not that she had the ability to teleport with magic but she didn't try to use it. Of course if she had the option she would but she didn't have that choice. Nobody was willing to take her up to the temple and so she had to climb it herself. She then reopened her eyes and took a look at her slippers. They were muddy, worn, and there was even a hole that had developed in the heel of the slipper. Such a shame. She would have worn other shoes but she forgot to buy other shoes. Her slippers until now had worked just fine for her journey. But it seemed it was time for some new ones. Tristana would have to buy them later. For now though, she would rest. 

Her mind wandered to the subject of why she was here. She had to ask something of the goddess of luck and storms. It was mostly about luck though. Tristana had been pondering what she would do next when she climbed the mountain. It was obvious that most people, even the gods would need or rather want something in exchange for their services. Tristana had gotten lucky with the first god she had met, Zanar, when he decided to help her out for free. But it had been a long time since that happened and Tristana had many journeys after that. She had learned that the majority of people were not that generous and usually required something in return. Although she hadn't met another deity since, it was safer to assume that the goddess wouldn't help her out for free. But Tristana was resistant to the idea of damaging her own life for the request she was about to ask. For example to give up an arm or three years of her life. Tristana had her own goals and her own life to figure out. She couldn't risk hindering her own future for this. However that didn't mean she wasn't going to work for the request. Her plan was to ask what she would need to do for the goddess to get the goddess' help. If it turned out to be some sort of quest or a challenge, she was far more willing to do that. So many thoughts swirled in her mind as she sat on the bench. 

Tristana then suddenly heard the sound of footsteps clacking against the hard polished floor. Instinctively Tristana pulled down her hood so she could hide her face. Shame filled her eyes as she looked down to avoid the gaze of the woman approaching. Tristana didn't exactly want anybody to see her ugly face. Or rather scar specifically. Which made her whole face ugly. Then Tristana looked back up again to see what seemed to be an ordinary woman. But when Tristana looked harder she could see the woman's wrists looked as if they were a doll's wrists. Tristana couldn't help but stare in wonder. This wasn't a woman, it was an automaton. However Tristana hadn't ever seen an automaton before so she didn't have the words to describe it. And she was completely amazed by it. At the moment she just wanted to rush over to the automaton to inspect her but Tristana did not since it would be rude. The mechanical woman waved to Tristana and Tristana waved enthusiastically back. 

"Hi!" Tristana exclaimed with happiness as she took the towels,"Thank you so much. Yes, I came through the path of lightning." 

Tristana wrapped the warm towels around her body and quickly felt better. Even though she had just received them. The towels were as warm as an oven. She quickly rubbed the towels on her face and head. Then she continued to dry herself off so she wouldn't continue creating puddles everywhere on the floor. After all she didn't want to be the reason that somebody ended up having to clean the whole floor. And it seemed like it was just polished too. Then the mechanical woman explained that the steward would be here in a moment. At first Tristana was confused but then she quickly realized that must have meant the goddess was coming. Tristana felt a sense of guilt. After all she was visiting and looked horrid. Her hair was messy, she was dirty and less drenched than before. And now a goddess was going to have to look at her. Well… Tristana would have to just deal with it. First impressions weren't everything after all. She hoped. 

"Thank you." Tristana said politely to the automaton. 

To be fair, Shiloh didn't look much better than Tristana did after walking out in that downpour. Her hair was unkempt, she hadn't slept in days, hadn't left her quarters in Serenitas for just as long, and she wore the same clothes all the time. Using a quick illusion was a temporary fix when she didn't feel like actually cleaning herself up. Even though Shiloh still didn't understand why people thought meeting her was such a big deal, she did know that nervous jittery feeling when she had went to see the other deities of the Conclave in person for the first time. The 'mask' she had on gave her a bit more freedom and helped make visitors less uncomfortable when interacting with her. A featureless, helmet like visage was less threatening than her unintentionally intense stare and poker face. And making herself look just like the other myrmidons meant they would be less disappointed. 

But why would she bother with the disguise at all? It allowed her to see people more clearly. People come in with preconceived notions, and if they are met with something that matches or opposes those notions, they experience a reinforcement or break in that mental image. Shiloh had no interest in improving or degrading her reputation, she just wanted to know what they wanted and why they wanted it. Tristana would see Shiloh as some sort of metal knight-like figure. When she was in the entrance hall proper, the automaton attendant gave a polite bow and stepped aside. Shiloh in response gave her an affirming nod.

Turning to the visitor, the deity crossed her arms and spoke through a distorted voice. Disguising herself even further added to the layers of precaution in shielding her true identity. "Welcome, though I'm sure you've been told that already. We don't get many visitors here, for a lot of reasons. So, what are you here for? That's why most people come to visit deities, right? Normally they want to ask for something."

Antikythera didn't advertise itself to the world the same way that others did. She had a more hands-off approach when it came to being a deity, and didn't want any of the religious haze that came when people thought of the divine. This was subtly apparent in the temple's interior design. It had no religious symbols or images of the deity it belonged to, even in the Chapel. The last thing she wanted was for people to put her on a pedestal. Shiloh was direct, blunt, and informal. No mincing words, no unnecessary fluff, no monologues on who she was or her titles. Right away she got down to business, and went straight to the reason why this girl had braved the long way to the Machinarium.

The automaton led her to this knight looking figure and bowed. The figure was covered in armor and a helmet covered the goddess' head. Tristana hadn't really thought about what the goddess might look like since her main focus was actually getting to the temple. But now… it seemed right. For she was not only the goddess of luck but was also the goddess of storms. Perhaps the armor was protection in case of any attacks? But who would have the daring or rather stupidity to try to attack the goddess? Even Tristana knew not to do that and Tristana barely knew anything about the world. With the exception of the places she has traveled so far. Perhaps the armor was meant more as a disguise than protection? Well it certainly worked.

Tristana had no clue what the goddess looked like. Although why a goddess needed such protection or a disguise was unknown to her. If she thought more about it she was certain she could come up with an answer but she needed to focus. Quickly Tristana gave the knight goddess a bow before rising again. Tristana really hoped that was the proper way to greet a deity. She didn't exactly know how these things were done. Then the knight goddess turned to Tristana and spoke to her in a distorted voice. Now Tristana wouldn't even be able to recognize her normal voice. But now it was time for Tristana to explain why she was here. Since it seemed that the goddess prefered direct questions it seemed best to go that route. 

"What would I need to do in order to get three of my friends some luck?" Tristana asked, "I know that help probably doesn't come for free. So I am willing to carry out some task in exchange for three of my friends to receive some luck. The first one is an orc, by the name of Delanac. He would need some luck in his cooking career. The next one is Ozzet, he needs some luck in finding out who he is. And the last one is Serci, he needs luck when he fights. So what would I need to do in order to grant them some luck with their journeys and goals?"

Tristana knew that this was probably a strange request. After all she wasn't really getting out of this herself. Most people didn't even bother with helping others out. They especially don't go climbing up a mountain for the possibility of helping a friend. And Tristana didn't doubt that these friends probably wouldn't do the same for her. But that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was that they were able to achieve their hopes and dreams. That's the important part. Tristana knew that Delanac had enough skill to become a master chef but the way people treated him made it difficult. She sometimes worried that his orc appearance wouldn't allow his career to go far. So she wanted him as much luck as she could give so that he stood more of a chance to begin his career properly. Perhaps it would even take off and he would become the most famous chef in Adeluna! As for Ozzet. Well, it seemed he was incredibly lost. When she first met him he made up his name and had no idea where he was.

Tristana quickly felt pity for him and wanted to help him find out who he is. But in order to finish his journey he would need some luck as well. Then there was Serci. A man who was constantly fighting battles for the goddess Angela. Tristana worried for him often since he was always fighting against monsters. She feared one day he would end up getting killed. Of course Tristana also fought against monsters and bad guys but it wasn't her actual job so she wasn't as concerned with that. Tristana wanted to give him luck so that he would be able to stay alive. However despite all her good intentions she thought she wouldn't just be given luck. That's not how most people worked so she doubted that's how the deities would act. With the exception of Zanar. Zanar was nice. Still, Tristana felt it would be more fair if she did something for the goddess in exchange for these requests of luck to be fulfilled. That way the goddess and Tristana would both be getting something out of it. 

Tristana, of course, was as easy to read as a book. She didn't bother or really knew how to hide her emotions. At the moment her eyes were filled with hope that the goddess would agree to the deal. But in the back of her mind she wondered if the goddess was willing, what would she end up doing? Perhaps fetching something? Or destroying some monster? Or something along those lines? Whatever it was Tristana was determined to do her best and to work with all her heart. 

The first question out of the girl's mouth made Shiloh want to groan. Right…of course she would ask that. It seemed like everybody who wasn't employed by her in some way had this particular mindset about luck. 'Luck' was a very nebulous and vague thing that most associated as success. Luck didn't just happen, it was more like chain of serendipitous events lined up in such a way that things went as expected in a positive light. And so contrary to what everybody in the world thought, she couldn't give luck even if she wanted to. That wasn't how things worked, otherwise she would've tried using it for herself. The next thing the girl said helped alleviate Shiloh's misgivings, as she understood that nothing in life came without a cost. This was good. At least she had some sort of foundation to start from without having to explain basic economics.

The girl wanted to help three of her friends: an orc named Delanac, a man named Ozzet who was currently experiencing an identity crisis in progress, and a very familiar name that she knew. It was a good thing Shiloh had her illusion on, so the girl wouldn't be able to see her expression after hearing Serci's name. The next time he came to visit, she'd leave this little tidbit of information out and keep it as her own personal secret. Now it was time to respond, and she let out a drawn-out sigh. 

"So it's that kind of a request then? Alright, before we start I'd like you to give me a brief explanation on why you want to help these three people and what would be your idea of the best way to help them. The first two are pretty vague, and I'm not a mind-reader–contrary to what some of my employees would believe." Taking a seat on one of the benches in the entrance hall, Shiloh leaned back with her arms still crossed. "For the last one, I can already think of a few ways to make that happen." 

This was turning out to be less obvious than she had expected. At least the visitor wasn't asking her to do something ridiculous or impossible, like finding their soulmate or striking it rich. Those requests were the worst, and made her want to sit them down and slowly dismantle whatever delusional fantasies they had about life–then send them back where they came from. Unfortunately, her staff said that she couldn't knock some sense into them literally so this was her remaining option. The last time somebody commented that they expected her temple to be a casino, she was miffed. 

Tristana was completely oblivious of Shiloh's reaction. After all the goddess did have a disguise on so Tristana had no clue of her emotions. Not that she would pick up on it without a disguise. Tristana was pretty oblivious when it came to that kind of thing unless it was clear sadness or clear happiness. Then the goddess spoke again and Tristana took a moment to think. Then she discovered her answer to Shiloh's question. 

"Well. For Delanac, I am concerned about him because of the fact he is an orc." Tristana explained, "I know that many people treat him poorly because of this and it will be a hindrance on him when he tries to achieve his goals. That's why I think the best course of action would for him to receive money. After all people are more likely to be friendly to somebody if they are rich. No matter their race. Or at least that's what I think. I'm not completely sure."

Then Tristana moved onto her next friend.

"As for Ozzet, he's more complicated. When I first met him he came through this odd portal and had no clue what Canelux even was. Even though he was right in Adeluna City. He named himself right then and there. And now he seems to be wondering, not even knowing where his home is. There are two things that could be done. Perhaps he can be convinced to take up a hobby. That way he will have something to do with his time and perhaps he will even develop a passion. Then a goal. But that's still a slim possibility. Or he could be left alone until he finds a purpose in staying here. If that happens then maybe give him something he really could use? Like if he end up a bard maybe he could receive a really cool instrument."

Then came the hardest person to figure out. 

"As for Serci, perhaps a really tough armor or convincing a healer to follow him on his journey. That way he would always be healed and protected." Tristana suggested. 

Then she faced the goddess again. 

"Now for payment." Tristana said, "I want to know what I would need to do in exchange for this before we confirm anything. I do not want to end up losing my eye or my first born in exchange for that." 

Of course that probably didn't happen with normal deals with deities. But Tristana had listened to enough fairytales where that was a thing. A woman, typically woman sometimes male, makes a deal and ends up giving up her first born. Of course for the male versions they usually lose a limb. Which Tristana never understood since both children and detached limbs were incredibly useless. Unless you were a cold hearted necromancer. 

An orc who wants to move on up in the world that was struggling with discrimination, a man who had no idea who he was and came from another world, and a holy knight who'd likely kick the bucket all too easily–being the nice person he was. An interesting group, the variety was something Shiloh approved. She wasn't entirely on board with all of Tristana's suggestions, but who was to say her ideas would be any better? Making decisions for someone you've never met was like hunting with a bow and arrow while blindfolded. And unfortunately for the visitor, at least one of the three was something she couldn't really help with. Now it was time to discuss the terms and conditions for their agreement. Normally she'd bring out a folding table with parchment and quill at the ready, but since the girl already had some thing in mind she waited to hear what she had to say.

What she heard was enough to make Shiloh respond with blunt frankness. "…Why on earth would I want your eye or unborn child? If I wanted payment shouldn't I ask for something reasonable in exchange for my services? I have no need for such things like body parts removed from their origin or future promises without guarantee. If we're talking about material services, then we'll deal in material terms. If I want to get paid, then I'll ask for something you can give me right away."

Shiloh could understand why she would've come to this conclusion though. Most children had grown up hearing tales of fairies and otherworldly beings asking for outrageous and ridiculous forms of payment out of sheer pettiness. The 'firstborn child' agreement was one of the oldest examples in the book. In reality, fairies didn't really care what birth order the infant they wanted to take had. If they wanted a child to spirit away as a changeling, they'd take whichever one they could get their hands on. Besides, the entire idea of brokering a deal on a child that didn't even exist as of yet was foolish. The signing party could just circumvent the entire deal by preventing themselves from ever having children–and would never have to hold up their end of the bargain.

Opening a small portal, she pulled out a folding table and opened it. Placing it between her and Tristana, she followed up by producing a fresh sheet of parchment and a dipped quill. "Now that you've given me your personal ideas on what you want to ask of me, I'll give you my own opinions before we start working out the terms of the contract. First, about your orc friend. Whatever problems he has, I can say with a straight face that money isn't going to solve it. When people are friendly to someone because they are rich, they're just looking at the money–not the person it's attached to. Those types are the scum of the earth anyway. And next, about your friend from another world. I can't really say much since I don't know him on a personal level, so the best I can say is for him to try to recall anything about his past and try to work up from there. Maybe see if he can find a diviner who can give him some information, unless you don't mind sending him here to let me pick his brain."

She casually mentioned it, somewhat hoping she'd get the chance to do so. Though the deity expected the girl to decline the offer, since most people wouldn't agree to having anybody delving deep into their subconscious. For the last friend of hers, she already had a few ideas to fulfill the girl's desires. "The last one's the easiest of the lot to handle. There's a hundred and one ways to make sure you win, provided you don't kick the bucket first. And there's plenty of options there too. Here–" Taking the quill and a piece of paper, she quickly wrote something on it, folded it, and sealed it in an envelope. Handing it to Tristana, she continued. "Give that Serci friend of yours this. It'll help him no matter what situation he's in, I'm absolutely sure of it. But–before it enters into his hands you are to never ever unseal the contents." 

The faceless metal helm stared at the visitor with complete seriousness. "Have I made myself clear? Do not open the envelope under any circumstances. If you open it, I will know. You'll keep your promise…won't you?" The deity's last words were spoken with somewhat sinister undertone. 

Tristana hoped that her suggestions weren’t too… stupid. She worried about that sometimes. It didn’t help that she had little knowledge about the real world but sometimes she wondered if she was actually dumb. It was hard for her to concentrate on one thing for a long period of time. Even her thoughts were often jumbled so her words itself were not that much better. Tristana really liked to think but she came up with silly ideas or rather ideas that weren’t thought out very well. Did this make her a moron? She liked to learn so she dearly hoped not. Because she had been told that stupidity was not something that could be cured. Or at least that’s what she was informed growing up. Then again he was wrong about a lot of things. So perhaps he was wrong about that too. 


Then Tristana listened to the goddess and her blunt frankness. Tristana realized that the idea was rather stupid. After all reality wasn’t like some fairytale. She hoped that the goddess wouldn’t think that she was foolish. Tristana had heard these stories recently. Of course she didn’t take them seriously but at the same time she wondered if there was any truth to the stories. Maybe there was but the truth was lost now it seemed. Tristana then watched as the goddess opened up a small portal. Tristana was amazed by the magic. She was impressed by all magic but she hadn’t seen portal magic before. Her eyes were wide with wonder as she observed the portal. Then Shiloh brought a table out from the portal and set it between herself and Tristana. Soon enough there was a fresh sheet of parchment and a dipped quill on the table. That was useful!


Shiloh then began speaking about her opinions about helping out. Tristana listened as the goddess and her opinions. Tristana was a bit saddened by how it seemed she would be unable to help her orc friend Delanac. Perhaps she would have to figure out to help him some other way. But if the goddess couldn’t help him, what hope did Tristana have? Tristana didn’t even have impressive magic or power to help her friend. It seemed in that area she would either have to support him in another way or just give him verbal support. Then she listened to the goddess speak about her next friend Ozzet. 
“I can ask him if he would like to come down here.” Tristana said. 


Tristana planned to ask Ozzet next time she saw him. She didn’t know what he would think about the whole idea but she would certainly asked. After all it was an option but he would have to be the one who ultimately decided whether or not to come down here or go to a diviner. Actually it was, go up here, since they were on a mountain. Finally her last friend, Serci. Apparently he was the easiest friend to help with. She then listened to the goddess as Shiloh explained her plan. Then the goddess wrote something onto a piece of parchment and then sealed in an envelope. Shiloh gave the envelope to Tristana. Tristana looked to the goddess with a mixture of confusion and curiosity in her eyes. However the goddess told her not to open it and the curiosity seemed to vanish. 


If the goddess was willing to give Tristana the envelope that must have meant that the goddess trusted her. Trust. That was something that Tristana believed to be incredibly valuable. And whenever she made a promise she knew that it was something meant to be kept. She took this very seriously.


“I swear that I will never open the seal.” Tristana said gazing at the metal helm before her, “That is a promise I won’t break.” 


Tristana had been up until now very sweet and cheery. Even though she was talking about serious things like helping her friends she always had a childish way about her. Her emotions were easy to spot and very clear. It still was. But this time there was something different. Instead of fear, shyness, or happiness there was passion. Not in the love sense but in the sense of determination. A sort of fury that seemed to never relent. As if no matter what Tristana did she would never give up or surrender. That’s the kind of determination that was filling her heart at the moment. Of course this hasn’t been tested yet. There was a chance it could be diminished. Then Tristana’s had realized she had forgotten about something. One, her bag was soaked so she had to continue holding the envelope. Two, Tristana didn’t exactly have a way to keep the envelope dry through the storm. Three, they hadn’t discussed payment. 

“Before I forget, what do you want as payment, if you want payment?” Tristana asked. 


Tristana was perfectly willing to give up something of her own for her friends. But most of the items in her bag were soaked so she wasn’t sure if the goddess would even want anything of hers. Nothing she had was special or amazing. She didn’t have any jewelry and her clothes were…. Less than impressive to say the least. After all her slippers were worn and had holes. Her robe was grey and dirty. She did have some interesting things she had collected along the way. Things she didn’t really know the value of. She had found a Quatl Feather on her travels but had no idea how important it was. She had a soapstone, fulgurite, leather, jade, conch shells, a bolt of silk, lacriumium, nevermelting icicles, corals, star sapphires, ammolite, a tent, bag, pheonix feather, rose hips, a shrunken head, pouch, wyvern’s heart, whetstone, some wood, a wand, dragon scales, and some other stuff. 


All of these things she had just came across along the road. Tristana was unaware of the importance of most of these things. For all she knew they amounted to about the same. Either it was useful like a tent or a pouch. Or it was just some pretty thing she had found like the sapphires or the shells. Of course if the goddess didn’t want payment then Tristana would accept that too. After all Tristana didn’t exactly have anything that a goddess would probably want. Besides this was a deity after all. Weren’t they just able to get whatever material item they want through heroes or something? Or was that not how it worked? Tristana had no idea.

Beneath the faceless facade she wore woven by magic, the deity smiled. "Good…very good." For someone so young she had some sense after all. Promises were meant to be kept. The intimidating atmosphere dissipated, as she handed the sealed envelope off to Tristana. Returning to her usual business-like attitude, she began to write on the parchment. As she did so, she read the contents of what was being put down in ink for the girl to hear. Shiloh knew that basic skills like reading and writing weren't always the norm for the common folk, especially for women. She herself had been lucky to have a certain degree of education before her parents passed away, and despite the cold treatment from her distant relatives they at least sent her to school. Many children her age in less fortunate households would never see or touch a book their entire childhood.

"This legal and binding document states that I am fully aware of all the terms and conditions of this contract, agreed upon between myself and the Steward of Antikythera. As the signing party, I agree to the discussed payment in exchange for three favors on behalf of the additional related parties: Delanac, Ozzet, and Serci–champion of the Goddess of Life and Love. I have been fully informed of this transaction, and consent to relinquish what I hold closest to my heart in equivalent exchange."

Once she finished the last line, she turned the freshly-inked contract around for the girl to see. There was a line at the bottom where she would place her signature, or mark if she had none. "Take your time; read it carefully. The deal will not be completed until everything is satisfactory. If you have any questions, I would advise asking them now. Aside from asking about the payment that is." She gave the girl some time to read it on her own. There was no hurry. Things like these needed time. One of her principles in her contracts was to never have someone sign unless it was out of their own volition. She could not force them to sign; that would defeat the purpose and render it meaningless. Regardless of the circumstances, everyone who signed did so because they chose to. It was her own form of fairness. Hardly anyone else would do things as she did, especially not in business.

When she felt she had given Tristana adequate time to read every word, she cleared her throat. "Now, for your payment. The way I take payments is a bit different from most people. To me, money is simply a construct formed from a preexisting system of value. People only accept money when they believe it is worth something. In other words, it only has its value because people want it. What I want is simple: what is valuable to you in turn is valuable to me. Give me something that you hold close to your heart." Leaning closer, her voice resonated in the silence of the entrance hall. "Do you have any burdens you cannot bear? Do you have any wishes you desire? Hopes, fears? I can grant you all these things; I can make the heaviness in your heart disappear. The pain…the memories. I can take them all, and make you forget. Will you let me?"

Her voice was quiet now, like a whisper. Reaching out a hand across the table, the helmed visage looked at the girl and gave one last question. "Will you give them to me?"