“When we get there,” Arius said with a gesture out to the most coastal part of the city, “make sure not to actively think about your identity. There will be security guards who specialize in mentally screening everyone who passes through the port. Since you do not have an elegant enough Mind Shield to evade detection, leave it down entirely. Think about things that make them want to spend less time in your head.”

Half a smirk crept onto Val’s lips, wondering what she should think about in particular to make security guards flee from the unbridled thoughts of a young woman. She had a few devious things in mind already.

Quickly, she had to check, “Can you read thoughts too or only intentions?”

“I can just Read Intentions,” Arius clarified. “Your aimless thoughts are safe from me, so long as you do not actually want to act on them.”

That was perfect because Val had absolutely no intention to act on this particular thing. To evade any thought police, Val would conjure up some terrible thing for a young woman of her age to think about. She would construct the ultimate fantasy with Arius the Ravager that belonged in cliché fanfiction.

Val and Arius landed at a spot along the port where security was clearly tight. A ship had come in recently with the masthead of a sweeping serpent. Once upon a time, she had boarded the Wooden Serpent and thought that she would arrive to the Summit in this manner. Instead, she stood on the other side of the bustling customs alongside a literal god—someone aside from Tavras who she had first befriended.

“It looks busy right now,” Val whispered up to Arius. “Maybe should we come back later?”

“That’s nonsense. I don’t wait for anyone. Everyone waits for me.” With a glint of a smile, he moved towards their destination: a row of official buildings.

A small cluster of nervous demigods and demigoddesses had been shepherded into a line. The vast majority were between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five, though a few preteens and children stuck close to what appeared to be an older sibling. For those demigods who had reached their mid-twenties, it was impossible to tell how old they really were.

Following Arius’s lead, Val got to skip past the line. All eyes trailed after them, frozen on Arius before taking notice of Val.

Her heart raced away. All Val could think of were those eyes. They had too many witnesses.

What was Arius thinking? Though he had boasted that he could strategize better than Tavras, this seemed like a simple-minded solution to a complex problem.

“Arius,” Val tried to hiss.

“Shh,” he hushed right back. “There’s no need reason to be nervous. Just follow my lead. I do stuff like this all the time.”

When Arius walked into the building, the lady at the front desk fell quiet. Her mouth clamped shut while the phone dangled in her hand. A sharp tap sounded as the only noise in the room as she hung up.

The secretary focused all attention onto Arius. “Welcome, Ravager. Did you already have blood tests performed on the children?” As her eyes scanned the front of the room, her eyes landed upon Val. “Is it just the girl?”

“Yes, unfortunately it is just the girl,” Arius said with a wry twist to his voice. “She’s from Herrick per usual.”

“Do you have the documentation for her lineage?”

Arius stared at the secretary with glazed-over eyes. “Are you new here?”

The woman flinched and started to fidget around. “Oh, um, I guess you could say that. I started six months ago.”

“Congrats on the job. Could you get one of your more experienced coworkers please?” Arius said that with such a smile on his face, the secretary did not seem to understand.

“What?”

“Paperwork bores me,” he said as a dramatic aside, as if between him and her. “I just want this girl set for her new life on the Summit outside of Herrick’s hands. Then I will be on my way.”

The secretary swiveled around in her chair and jumped up to get a coworker, returning with a second woman close in tow.

“Arius the Ravager,” the new employee hurried to say, “I am so sorry for the trouble.” She flung herself into the chair at once and started clicking away at the keyboard. “My coworker here is new. Hopefully I can be of assistance. What did you say about this girl?”

“She’s one of Herrick’s offspring.”

“Let me just copy a file over,” the second secretary mused.

“That goes against all protocols,” the first interjected softly, “especially because she is a girl. We are supposed to double check—”

The other secretary hushed her up as quickly as she could. “I daresay the Ravager would know better than to let the traitorous child slip onto the Summit undetected.”

“I daresay I do.” Calm but imposing, Arius stood with his arms crossed and his brow raised.

Both women let out a slight squeak.

In a hushed whisper, the more experienced secretary mentioned some points of training to her coworker. “Here is how we bypass the system. We have lots of IDs on file for Herrick’s children. Any one of them will do. Their mortal mother doesn’t matter. You only do this for the gods in Suvier’s cabinet: Arius, Nero, Herrick….” She trailed off, not having the time to list all of the gods right now.

As she finished up on the computer, the senior secretary announced, “I will get an aura manipulation specialist with you right away!” Just like her hands had clacked at the keyboard, her feet now clacked away in her high heels.

The first woman stood meekly behind the desk. While they waited, she dared to speak up to Arius. “I am so sorry for wasting your time earlier, sir. I heard that you bring in undocumented children from time to time, but I did not actually know what to do when you walked in.” Her fingers twirled around at her short hair. As an apology for being a nuisance to a god, she did an awful job at rambling on.

“I’m sorry if I came across as a little… abrasive.” The way that Arius leaned into his words, he did not let up on his intense demeanor and seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

Val did not know if it were her place to speak, but a quiet, “Arius…” was all that she had to say. The tone of disappointment sounded evidently in her voice.

At his behavior, the woman’s face flushed to a bright pink. At least some other woman knew how Val felt, angry and frustrated by this god acting like he was above everyone. So what if Arius actually was superior to everyone? He could still treat an average employee with a bit of respect. Val herself had worked some menial job last summer and did not take too kindly to self-righteous pricks like him.

From a hallway off to the side, the experienced secretary returned with a third female employee and a young man in their company.

“Please wait out here, mister,” the third lady said. “I will finish work on your passport shortly.”

“Okay?” the demigod said, the crisp note of a question hanging in the air.

“Arius the Ravager and daughter of Herrick, welcome to the Summit of Ascension. Please follow me.” The aura manipulation specialist sashayed back down the hall.

Val had one last hurdle to pass, then she would have her official passport.