"Don't mention it, child," Nyx told him.

She continued, "Shouldn't it be time for you to go back?"

Alex nodded and once again thanked her. He then incarnated into Hermes and swiftly flew away.

Nyx waited for Alex to be far enough and then, she spoke to the sky, "Erebus, let us go back."

Suddenly, a dark mist surrounded her and when it was gone, Nyx was no longer there.

Meanwhile, Alex flew towards the city of Ctesiphon with the ruby in his hand and complicated thoughts in his brain.

Before this trip with Hermes, Alex was always under the impression that Olympus was invincible.

But, even as they only crossed a portion of the distance before they reached the realm of the Jade Emperor, Alex already realized he needed to humble himself and his status in this world.

He thought that as a deity, he was lofty and exalted, but tonight, he came to the conclusion that even gods weren't invulnerable and even the demoness, who wasn't a true goddess, threatened to severely harm him.

'I know I'm immortal, but would my immortality really have saved me from this horrifying ruby?' Alex pondered as he looked at the bright red gem in his hand.

It was gorgeous, but it contained sin and atrocity, and even the system went so far as to label it 'A ruby that contains all of the evils in the world.'

By now, Alex had entered the city and looked around attentively to find the house of Behrouz and Esfir.

After a while of searching around the dim metropolis, he found it and entered through the open windows.

It was still quite dark, and Alex made sure there weren't any paranormal creatures before closing the damn*ed window for good.

He lurked quietly and went down the staircase to the hall where everyone else was sleeping.

Hermes was fully asleep. Alex carefully approached the couch and laid down.

However, Hermes slightly opened his eyes and whispered, "Alexei-boy? Where were you?"

Suddenly, a lot of thoughts streamed around Alex's head, but Hermes interrupted his thinking.

"You totally didn't fight off paranormal creatures and then encounter one that way too strong for you only to be saved by someone else and now you wouldn't want to tell me because you don't me to be worried, right, Alexei-boy?"

'What amazing intuition.' Alex gulped at the precise guess.

"Of course not, Hermes, I was just hungry." Alex shook his head and waved in dismissal.

"Alright, there's still a lot of time before sunrise, go back to sleep." Hermes closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

*Grumble*

As it turned out, Alex was actually hungry, but he calmed his stomach's protests and fell under the sleep of Hypnos too.

__________________________

The first rays of the sun awoke Alex and he proceeded to wake up Hermes.

They went to the kitchen and found Behrouz and Esfir already awake.

Behrouz was preparing tea whereas Esfir was opening up a pomegranate and separating the edible seeds from the firm membrane.

When they saw them, they greeted, "Good morning, did you sleep well?"

Alex fervently answered, "Totally, I slept like a baby. Really, really well."

'Totally false.' Alex rubbed his head.

Behrouz smiled and said, "Glad to hear that you felt comfortable."

Esfir, on the other hand, commented with her hand on her chin, "However, it felt a bit chilly at night, like all of the windows were open, even though I closed everything."

Alex replied anxiously, "Oh, it must be the wind, you know how strong the winds can get at night."

Hermes told him in Koine Greek, "No, Alexei-boy, you don't know, you've never been here..."

"Hehehe"

After that, the three merchants also woke up and everyone cooperated on preparing breakfast.

It was a simple meal, consisting of flatbread, cottage cheese, honey, tea, and pomegranate seeds.

Alex couldn't help but remember his experience with pomegranates in the Underworld and wasn't able to take a single bite of those.

However, they all ate until their fill and the guests thanked the couple.

Following breakfast, they sat around cups of tea and started discussing.

One of the merchants asked the couple, "Do you worship any gods?"

Behrouz nodded his head and replied, "My mother was a Yunanite who worshiped Helios and the other primordial and I inherited it from her. My wife worships Mithra."

"If you can live together harmoniously, then why are the Parthians so hostile to us?" Alex asked with unmasked curiosity.

Hermes hummed, "It's always Alexander."

Esfir answered him, "Mithra grants the monarchs rulership over Parthia. If fewer people worshiped Mithra, then the legitimacy of our kings and queens would be put into question."

'That's a...comprehensive answer' Alex thanked her.

Suddenly, one of the three merchants interjected, "I finally remembered who you look like!"

He pointed at Hermes.

Hermes put a hand over his head like he was expecting something troublesome.

The merchant said, "Your appearance is eerily similar to Lord Hermes!"

One of the other two merchants also exclaimed, "Now that you say it, he does look exactly like Lord Hermes."

The third merchant stood up, coughed, and put a finger into the air.

"I think, I suppose, I believe only Lord Hermes would come to here as to save us, the merchants from the tyranny of the Parthians!"

This entire strange conversation was in Greek, so Behrouz and Esfir only looked confused.

The three spoke amongst themselves and then abruptly, bowed to Hermes, "Thank you, Lord Hermes, for always thinking of us. We will spread the word of your presence to the tyrants of the city."

Hermes facepalmed and Alex sneakily laughed.

The three merchants stormed out of the house and into the streets of Ctesiphon.

"Do you think we should check up on them? L~o~r~d Hermes?" Alex mocked the latter.

Hermes glared at him and said, "I'm not the protector of merchants for nothing, L~o~r~d Alex. Let's move."

Alex told the couple, "We'll come back in a bit."

Behrouz rubbed his head in confusion and said, "Umm, don't get caught by the guards!"

The two gods left the house and parkoured into the roof of a house to see where the merchants had gone.

They didn't have to look very far, as a crowd of armed guards surrounded the three and was taking them in the direction of the beige palace in the center of the city.

Hermes and Alex sneakily followed them until the group was at the entrance of the palace.

They both flew into a crevice in the large structure and soon enough, screams could be heard from inside the palace.

"Preposterous! You dare bring your foreign devils to our court!"

The two followed the source of the havoc and entered a large throne room.

"The foreign devils make their entrance." Hermes declared as he landed gently on a luxurious red carpet.

There were numerous guards in the throne room, and they all charged at the two newcomers.

Nevertheless, Alex put them all to sleep.

In the center of the throne room, a man sat upon a throne.

His eyes widened when he saw Alex's abilities and their wings and he shouted, "Devils of Angra Mainyu that wish to corrupt our lands!"

"Dare to kill me, Shah Arsak of Parthia, and Lord Mithra and Lord Ahura Mazda shall get their revenge for this!!" The man kowtowed on the ground.

'Is there a misunderstanding here? Why is he trying to be a martyr?' Alex was confused and forgot that they literally intruded upon this throne room, with large wings on their back.

"We're not really here to cause any harm, if anything, we want to know why you are so hostile towards our people." Alex gently proclaimed.

Arsak held up his head and shouted, "I will never believe the enticing words of the servants of the great devil, Angra Mainyu! You devils sent us the wicked Alexander to turn our people and land into the brainless servants of evil!"

'Umm, is it just me, or is the name Alexander coming up way too often during this trip?' Alex remarked to himself.