Before they could make their escape, Arius intercepted their path. He beamed alongside Foofy, whereas Val and Tavras had failed to reach him in time.

Red binds ensnared Foofy who toppled over at once.

All tied together, his four legs moved in unison as he struggled. His neck thrashed around while his muzzle disabled him from chewing at any of his restraints. Miserable moans and groans emitted from Foofy as he tried to set himself free.

“I told you not to hog-tie Foofy again!” Val screamed.

“Whoa, there,” Tavras said, immediately grabbing at her to haul her up. “We will save Foofy later. We need to get out of here for now!”

“No!” Val struggled against his attempt to force her into abandoning Foofy. She was not about to leave him here, least of all thrown like a sack over any god’s shoulder. Val fought to stay on her feet.

“Relax, Tavras,” Arius said. “Don’t touch her! I’m not going to fight you right now. Just look at what you did.”

Dripping wet, he held out both hands and shook some of the water from his sleeves. “This was very rude of you.” Steam started to rise from Arius, leaving his hair poofier than before and his clothes wrinkled but dry. “I will fight you for plenty of reasons, just I will not fight you over that demigoddess. Can we agree to that?”

Tavras leaned back with a glare. “If you think that I will just standby and let you have your way with the traitorous daughter, you’re dead wrong.”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Arius said. “Gah, never mind.” His hand waved downward in dismissal.

“I really do have good intentions here,” he continued. “In fact, as an expression of my good will, I will let Val and Foofy leave here together!”

Slowly, Tavras processed that and drew away from Val. Arms crossed, he said, “Who’s to say that I am not going to fight you right now?”

“The Weaver says so,” Arius said with an upward nod to the sky. “You would be destined to lose.”

“What if it’s not about winning or losing, but just the principle of the thing?”

“You have morals?” Arius asked this with an exaggerated tilt of his head. The pleasant smile on his face could almost make it look like he enjoyed his rivalry with Tavras, if not for the sheer red eyes.

With his own eyes narrowed, Tavras looked irate with what he had just witnessed and overheard. “Do you realize what you were just doing with a literal child?”

“I was holding a knife to her neck and threatening her,” Arius said slowly. “Plus, she is an adult woman, eighteen years old—not a child.”

“And you’re what, one-hundred and eighteen? I literally heard the conversation! You were doing a lot more than just threatening her. I draw a line when it comes to sexual predators.”

Arius held out both arms. “Uh, yeah, me too. That is why I was trying to convince Val to stop living with you.” His attention turned to Val. “Before you said some untenable things, you had just agreed with me. Let’s get out of here. I can arrange a new place to live for you.” His thumb stuck back over his shoulder.

Biting into her lip, Val tried to think of her options. She needed Foofy back, but she could not isolate herself with Arius again. Her attention shifted to Tavras for help.

“Why should you care about the girl’s living arrangements anyway?” he asked.

Arius replied, “It would feel wrong not to do anything. She has no way to know any better about you, but I do happen to know what you have done to women in the past.”

“And I know what you have done to women in the past.”

Though the issue with Evalaite should have been cleared up by now, it looked like old feelings died hard. The way that Arius and Tavras glared at one another, Val would assume that they had referred to Evalaite, unless one of them was privy to a broader pattern of behavior. Maybe Val should attempt a more thorough background check on them sometime.

“I really am trying to help,” Arius said, breaking into a nervous laugh. “I don’t know what else to say. Val, you feel that I’ve been helpful so far, right—more helpful than Tavras?”

“Yes.” She murmured the unfortunate truth.

Tavras’s disappointed gaze met her eyes, turning back to hostile when he looked back to their adversary. A protective arm draped around Val’s shoulders, and he said, “Arius, I know what your intentions are with Val. I am not letting that happen to her.”

“Ah, yes, I didn’t know that you could Read Intentions, Tavras. Tell me what you think that I’m planning.”

Oh no. Knowing exactly what he would say, Val turned away and hid her face in both hands. Through her fingers, she peeked to watch Arius’s reaction.

“You plan on using her for breeding purposes!” Tavras said, entirely serious with his voice full of accusation.

Silence held across the field long enough that the tension almost dissipated from the air.

If Arius had looked dumbfounded at her submission joke earlier, he looked positively stupefied now. His hand lifted to point at her. “Oh no, he has already talked to you about this, hasn’t he?”

Unable to bear uncovering her face, Val simply nodded.

“I’m even more uncomfortable now,” Arius stated. “Look at how uncomfortable you’ve made Val too. Nether, Foofy is uncomfortable!” Both of his hands gestured down to the dog in binds, his own doing. With a shake of his head, he finished by saying. “Tavras, you are such a pervert.”

“No, I am the only one looking out for Val’s safety and well-being! You know her heritage. You’re the pervert for pursuing her in that way.”

Arius looked around as if he might find anyone else to help him. “Uh, by that same logic, you know Val’s heritage, so therefore you could try that too—much more likely, I might add, given your age. You’re the real pervert for even thinking of this! Old gods like you are terrible. It makes me very unsettled that you think about me in that way, at all.”

Unflinchingly, Tavras maintained his position. His stoic voice said, “It is impossible for me to ever take interest in Val for that reason. My only children are the creatures of the sea and the lost demigods who I have adopted. I will never have biological children.”

Arius blinked a few times. “You would be a terrible father, so I mean, good for you.”

Tavras and Arius held each other’s furious glares, a new spark of energy between them. It was only a matter of time before their banter would turn into a battle.

Meanwhile, Val sulked in her own ire. “Could you let Foofy go? I want to leave already. Both of you are terrible.”

Though Foofy had mostly given up the struggle to free himself, he still lurched and twitched whenever the conversation came to a spike.

“Oh yeah, I suppose so,” Arius said, crouching down to pat Foofy’s side. “I want to get out of here too. You are coming with me though, right Val? You can’t possibly want to stay with Tavras. Remember what we talked about.”

As much as she needed Foofy, Val could not agree. The tightest swallow slid down her closed throat. “Give Foofy back to me, please.”

With a shrug, Arius said, “If I can’t keep you safe, then I ought to keep Foofy safe at the very least—”

“No!” Val had her hands balled into fists, ready to smite him if he dared to leave with Foofy. “Arius, do you want compromises? I will consider forgiving you for your behavior today, only if you give Foofy back to me right now.”

Glancing back to Val, the look in his eyes became more sad and dejected before flashing to anger. “Fine. Just know that my threat from before was not empty. I will kill you once you get on my last nerve.” The way that Arius’s eyes burned, Val had never hoped to expect an empty threat.

When the red binds melted away, Foofy got up with a grunt and ran towards Val at her calling.

“Come, Foofy!” She knelt down to hold him in a big hug once he arrived. Already, her tears started to kiss his fur. This entire interaction with Arius had been overwhelming, and relief washed over her now that it had concluded.

The imposing form of Arius lingered in the area, looking down to Val.

So as not to let him see the beginnings of her tears, she kept her cheek pressed to Foofy’s short fur.

“I’m going to go now,” Arius said.

If some part of him hoped that she would change his mind, he really was insane.

“Wait, Arius,” Tavras said. “I have one last thing.”

In that pause, dread rushed to fill Val. Her sense of foreboding was fulfilled by his next words.

“It always makes me happy to recall how I killed Rakurruankathor. You never deserved him in your life.”

Those words grated over Val’s ears, nowhere near as badly as they must cut at Arius. As she leaped up with Foofy jumping to attention likewise, she was prepared to flee from an immediate, violent reaction.

Instead, Arius remained emotionless. “I’m leaving,” he said more firmly and leaped into the sky.

With her head tipped back, she watched the red trail go. It was inevitable that she would have to deal with him in the future. When she would see him again, Val did not know and tried not to wonder.