The building that they walked into looked like a typical bank, exactly like any old bank that could be found in the mortal world. Val did not know what she was expecting, but she had imagined that they would have gone to some place a tad more exciting than a bank. Since a bank was indeed their first stop on the Summit of Ascension, Val would have thought that immortal banks would appear a little more extravagant than this.

There was a short line of people who waited for an open teller. Val, Foofy, and Tavras joined the end of the line and waited.

Meanwhile, Tavras drew in a deep breath and said, "It is time to be calm now. It would be rude of me to cut in line through these other people, but I totally could."

"Yeah, don't do that," Val said. As much as she did not want to have to wait around inside a bank when there must be so much more exciting things outside, some general principles of common courtesy still held. Using Tavras's status as a powerful god to cut in line would be rude.

While they were waiting, another person said, "Excuse me, but you cannot have a dog in here."

At the word "dog", Foofy knew that this conversation was about him. His ears pricked up and he stared with all intensity.

Tavras looked to the woman and stared at her just as well. "Are you really going to tell me that I cannot have a dog?"

The woman gulped hard and turned away.

For Foofy, leveraging Tavras's status would be worth it.

Even though he did not cut in line, the next teller still called him up. "Tavras, I can help you next."

His arms spread out wide in a shrug. "Look at that. They recognized me." The lesser demigods glared at Tavras while he strode up to the front of the bank.

"How can I help you today?" the teller asked.

"I want to withdraw money from my account."

"That's great!" the teller chimed. "Do you have your card with you?"

"No. Do I need a card to identify which one is mine?" Tavras pointed to his face and continued to stare at the teller, unamused.

"Er, I suppose not," she said at last. "But if an immortal mimics your appearance, they could steal from your account."

"I do not care about money too much. If anyone ever does that, it is fine by me. I am actually Tavras, so stop inconveniencing me and give me my money."

Why was Val standing here, listening to the strangest interaction at a bank in the world? She had to keep herself from snickering, especially given the way that Tavras hardly made a convincing argument as to his own identity.

"Okay," the teller drawled out slowly. "Could I ask you a few security questions since your account has not been used in over a hundred years?"

Tavras rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"What was the name of your first pet?"

"Sea serpent," Tavras said in a deadpan.

"Yes," the teller said.

"What is the name of the road that you grew up on?"

"That's a trick question. There were no roads back then."

"Great."

Again, Val had to keep herself from laughing. Those were the most unsecure security questions that she had ever heard. Val would have said the exact same things if she were the one answering those questions on behalf of Tavras.

"So, how much would you like to withdraw from your account today?"

Tavras scratched at his head. He seemed to genuinely think for a moment before saying, "All of it."

"Uh, Tavras sir, it is impossible for you to withdraw all of the money from your account, right this second."

"Why is that?" he asked. His anger seemed ready to boil over again at any minute.

"Well, you have a couple hundred million dollars in your account. We cannot just give you all of that money at once."

Her eyes drew wide, hearing that Tavras was a multimillionaire despite being the hermit that he was. It made sense enough for him to have built up a sizable amount of money over the years, since he had existed since forever and was seated in the Pantheon.

Apparently, an understanding of how banks worked never developed quite as well as his savings. "It's my money though," Tavras stated. "This is why I have always hated banks since their establishment. They make no sense. I should be able to have my money whenever I want!"

"Yes, that is exactly the case," the teller tried to explain. "Just if you want everything in cash, then that would require a few days' notice so that we have enough physical bills to even give it to you."

"If my money is at this bank, it should be here then."

The teller fumbled around for the explanation that she would try to feed to Tavras next.

"Tavras, I can explain how banks work to you later," Val said with a tight smile, trying to give the teller an easier time. "Just work with them right now. We don't need a couple hundred million, I'm pretty sure. How about you withdraw only what we need for today?"

"I know how banks work," he snapped. "I have seen the evolution of currency in dozens of civilizations! I can still disagree with how financial institutions operate."

In the end, Tavras got a thousand dollars in cash and a cashier's check for an amount that the teller had advised, which would be more than enough for a security deposit on a rental property in this area. He grumbled something about not knowing how much inflation would have affected the cost of everything these days, and so on. The good news was that they got to leave the bank with some money.

The very next place that they went was a convenience store. Tavras took her to an aisle that had wires and cheap technology. With a wave of his hand, he said, "I have no idea what you need. Do they have a charger for your phone? As much as I hate cell phones, I have to admit that one would be useful right about now."

Giddily, Val searched the rack until she picked out a charger with the necessary port. "This will work!"

Tavras bought it for her, and their subsequent stop was a coffee shop.

Here too, people gave Foofy some weird looks but overall, a dog seemed to be more welcome in this coffee shop than in the bank. No one tried to tell them that Foofy could not be here.

He quietly laid down underneath a table at Val's feet. While he crossed his front paws and laid his chin down on top of these, his eyes and ears stayed alert.

Per her request, Tavras bought her a number of fancy pastries and fussy coffees. By the time her phone charged at the available wall outlet, she would be buzzed on both sugar and caffeine. Val loved the taste of both, having missed these basic delicacies of civilization for so long.

Tavras bought coffee for himself too, and somehow expected of him, he took his coffee black. "There is no reason to taint the flavor of the coffee beans with any of those sweeteners that your drinks have," he said.

Val did not try to carry an empty conversation with him because she was much too focused on plugging her phone in. The first drops of electricity entered her phone, and it powered it on with a wash of blue light.

"Finally," she gasped.

It took a few seconds to connect to her cell service, and once it did, a barrage of text messages and missed calls streamed in from her phone. Val never had any friends who had her phone number. Rosamer ceased correspondence with her once he had disappeared from home. Every single notification came in from her mother, dating back to some months ago and getting more recent as they loaded in.

Unprepared to read a single word of what must be heartbroken texts, Val closed her eyes. She drew in a deep breath before setting her mind on replying to her mother.