Aine pondered the grand sagas and epic tales that Leif had told her as she stood in her forge lost in thought. These stories were recorded within ‘comics’, some even spanned multiple comics, which were then listed as ‘Vol.1’, ‘Vol.2’ and so on to allow the order in which an individual Superheroes’s story should be read to be known. In the end, Aine did offer Leif a small discount, for his information, it was novel if nothing else.

Smiling as she recalled the bargaining that went back and forth between them. Leif was at a natural disadvantage, after all she had saved his live and he had little to no clue on the price of a sword, let alone an enchanted sentient one. Aine could have gouged him horribly if she had had the desire. But she had no such want or desire. She might have felt the inclination to rip him off if he had been a dick, but Leif had been nothing if not a gentleman to her. She liked that in a man.

Having tried the ‘bad ones’ once or twice herself but lost interest after that. Jillian on the other hand, was a serial ‘bad boy/girl’ addict, Aine had been forced to eat buckets of ice-cream on no few occasions due to Jillian after a bad break-up. Aine’s smile widened at the thought of her friend’s face covered in some kind of triple-chocolate or something ice-cream bemoaning the fact that all the decent hot guys were taken.

Utter bull. Jillian could get any man or girl she wanted, decent or otherwise, if so inclined.

She just liked fixer-uppers and the like. Both in love and in friends. Aine was Jillian’s only real success story, if it wasn’t obvious. They had been friends ever since Jillian decided to walk up to the girl, that had until that point, preferred her own company and asked if they could be friends. Aine was at a low point in her childhood at that point, having been just rejected from another foster home, and Jillian’s offer was her rope out.

Her father had explained that Jillian was much like herself, she didn’t belong among mortals, just in a different way. Jillian wasn’t a demi-god or even a descendant of a god.

She was the daughter of a Greater Fae, which one her father wasn’t clear on, he didn’t walk among his former race as much as he used to, but he did know that whoever she descended from was an enchantress or enchanter. They are one of the Fae that often moved among and mingled with, mortals. But by no means did they belong among them. Their presence often tore families apart, caused feuds to erupt between lifelong friends and started wars out of jealous passion between royal and heroic suitors alike.

They were doomed however, with a tragically short attention span for love, though lust would be the better word. Not that they themselves would agree, of course.

Aine knew from her father that Fae were tightly tied to Nature and the World itself. Enchantresses and their male counterparts emulating a less than pleasant side of both, despising the trappings of any and everything, constantly wondering all over and leaving a trail of broken hearts and chaos behind them.

Aine had scoffed at the idea that Jillian was even remotely alike or related to them.

Her father however had simply smiled and informed her that chaos often begets order.

The children of these kind of chaotic enchantresses are Fae that can be likened to bee queens or lion prides, while often just as unlucky, or rather self-sabotaging, in love, they do delight in settling down and forming communities. Now, just because they prefer not to sow chaos and then walk off while leaving a mess behind for others to suffer from, does not mean they are by nature, goodly beings.

They belong just as little as their more chaotic parents do among mortals.

Just for a different reason.

Cults, organised crime syndicates among other things are just a few things that this kind of Fae can get up to if they so choose. This is not to say that humans are not perfectly capable of creating all these types of organisations by themselves, just that these Fae do it better and often with far longer reaching consequences.

A few, like Jillian, find creating a healthier community more to their liking.

But they still do not belong.

And for the same reason as their less then kind members.

They are not, can and will never be, mortal.

They are other.

And even if they start with purely good intentions and wants, they will often become twisted by time, continued isolation and their desire to belong and fit in. The longer they feel themselves not fitting into the mortal communities they create, the worse their feeling of isolation becomes and the more dangerous they will become.

Now, Jillian is a baby in the terms of the Fae, she has centuries to go ‘bad’. But Aine’s father believes that Jillian is one of the lucky few. Because she has someone who is just as other, if not potentially more, as she is, in Aine.

Thus, Jillian’s chances of going ‘bad’ dwindled sharply.

But it will never vanish completely, as not even a human can remain unchanged over a scant few score years, let alone a being that will live hundreds if not thousands of years.

It will be up to Aine to help her, to keep her sane or so her father says. Aine could only roll her eyes at this sage advice from her father. How is that different to any other real friendship?

Aine paused in her remembrance, feeling like she had gotten lost and off topic. What was she thinking before Jillian? Aine taped her chin in thought, blowing her cheeks up like a blowfish as the wheels in her mind churned.

Which quickly draws a burst startled of laughter from her father, before he started awkwardly coughing to cover it.

Though embarrassing for her, hearing it allowed her pick up her previous line of thought.

She’d kicked her father out of the mines, so that she could let Leif get to work paying of his debt. That was the price her power told her to offer.

Working down in her mineshaft.

Sounds awful doesn’t it?

But it did fulfil both their needs, her need for a continuous supply of material for her to forge and he needed a way to work off his debt that was both reasonably safe, if he stayed on the first level of her mine, and profitable enough that he wasn’t forced be her slave for the next few centuries. Part of the deal they made also included her setting up a beckon of sorts for Asta, so that she could, if she was still in the Sideways Paths, find her way unconsciously to Aine’s door and to safety.

Aine liked that part of the deal the best.

Even after everything that had happened to him, Leif still had the presence of mind to be concerned about his friend and be willing to work off the price that needed to be paid to bring Asta to safety. Also, it brought her another customer. But mostly it was the friendship feels that Aine liked.

Yup, loved those feels.

Aine’s father stared at her, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully as he did so, before he started speaking.

“You seem to be terribly interested in that boy. Not trying to pry. But as your father I feel you can do better. You shouldn’t obsess over the first divine-blooded mortal you meet. There are tens of thousands of other potential candidates for you to choose your consort from, don’t limit yourself to the first one you meet even if he is an oddity.”

Aine glanced at her father, before making her eye-roll as obvious as possible for him to see as she looked away. Her father let out an awkward cough, as to cover his embarrassing overthinking, before taking another attempt at sounding out his daughter’s thoughts.

“Are you trying to figure out how to bait him into staying in debt? He is a hard worker; in just two hours he has already churned out three loads of ore. Fairly impressive, considering how weak of a demi-god he is. My first estimate of him was that he was barely better than a mortal in peak physical condition, which is the standard for the lowest rung of demi-gods having barely inherited the divine blood of their godly parent.”

She turned to stare hard at her father.

He promptly decided to verbally back pedal.

“Joking, just a joke my Alannah Aine.”

Aine watched as her father runs a hand through his golden hair ruefully. She couldn’t help but smile, even after all the time they had spent together, her father was still finding hard to figure out where he stood. It was clear he wanted to be involved now that he had the opportunity after standing on the sidelines for so long.

But his little girl was all grown up by the time he had the chance and had lived a far less then sheltered life as a ward of the state and now even his small part as her mentor had come to an end as well.

It was hard for him to find a place in her life. And to be a meaningful part of it as well.

Aine’s heart ached and her nose became stuffy. She walked up to him and put her arms around him, leaning her head against her father’s chest. Tall as she is, her father is still a miniature giant.

Which suited her just fine.

Her father’s strong arms slowly and carefully embraced her in turn, controlling his enormous strength so as to offer the safest of harbours for his daughter, as he gently kissed the top of her head. Aine looked up at her father, a smile gracing her lips.

“You don’t have to struggle to find a place in my life, you’re my father. Whether you want a place in my life or not, you already have one. There will probably come a day when you regret being so eager.”

Her father’s expression became deadly serious as he growled out.

“If such a day truly does come and I have truly become such a wretched fool, I hope providence offers me the opportunity to gut this future self like the mongrel cur he is.”

Aine rolled her eyes at the impossible logic and simply found happiness in the sentiment.

Her father offered a query, apparently having given up on guessing what his daughter had on her mind.

“So, what are your plans then my Alannah Aine?”

Aine stepped out of her father’s hug, though as she did, she had to laugh at her father’s suddenly devastated expression at her unexpected abandonment in response to his question.

“Firstly, I’m going to wait for this Asta to arrive, I have to fulfil my side of the bargain after all. Secondly, since she should be in better condition than Leif since I’ve started to assist in guiding her onto the fastest but least demanding path to here, I will see if I can do some business. Thirdly, I will try and see if I can pick up some inspiration from her. Then I can see if I can get her to make a deal for it.”

Aine pressed her fingers together, forming a bottomless triangle in front of her and tapped her chin with the tip, as she explained her plan to her father. Her father frowned in thought as he replied.

“But what are your plans for the far future, what do you seek to accomplish by opening up your Territory like this to the mortal realm, to Earth through the Sideways Paths? This will draw attention to you! Not only from these demi-gods, which I hope was actually intentional on your part, but from other gods and Earthly Divines. Remember that you and I are not the only members of both groups in existence.

“We went through the danger and the trouble to anchor your Divine Territory at the very farthest edge of Earth’s surrounding Sideways Paths, just close enough to still be considered a part of Earth, so it can still offer you its strength, but hidden far from the notice of the others. You are entirely self-sustainable within your Territory; you could have avoided the coming war and its dangers almost in its totality.”

Her reached out and with both hands gently held her by her shoulders, care and worry in his eyes as he leaned over to stare deeply into her own gaze.

“You could have still visited Jillian whenever you wanted and if you are worried about the taxes and rates on the land we used as the foundation for your Territory, you needn’t have, I have already seen to it, it will be taken care of for centuries. I have asked a friend to tend to it in return of a favour he owned me and trust me a few centuries is getting off light compared to the magnitude of the favour I did for him, but still surely long enough for the war to either blow over or for everyone else to be dead and thus no danger to you.

“You can be safe and far from the dangers of both the politics, schemes and general contemptable nature of the gods and from the machinations of Nexus and fate itself. You don’t have you place your self in danger, my Alannah Aine.”

Aine stared up at her father and knew he just wanted to protect her, that he loved and cherished her more than he did his own honour, pride or duty. But she also knew that she had a role to play in this war, if that is what was going to happen, and staying hidden at the edge of the world, concealed in some far branch of the Sideways Paths, would only delay whatever destiny fate had planned for her. It wasn’t out of pride or arrogance that she believed she had a role to play either, she wasn’t having delusions of grandeur, she knew because it was the World that first offered her a deal.

It would send demi-gods to her when It chose to and she would offer a safe haven, aid and succour, and It in turn would protect, hide and guard her from those that would seek her with ill-intentions, sending their efforts astray.

Seemed like a good deal to her, basically free advertisement and protection.

But there was a catch. There always was. But at least this one didn’t seem too terrible on the face of it - Complete Neutrality.

She would offer the same hospitality and guidance to all that enter her doors, unless someone acts to harm, detain, scheme, threaten or provoke either herself or someone in her care first and only after a warning to desist has been issued first.

So Aine knew that these demi-gods would make their way to her, they didn’t have any more choice in the matter then she did really, the World would have sent them to her regardless of if she had agreed to its deal or not.

It would have just been less polite about how they found their way in.

Aine smiled at her father and covered his hands on her shoulders with her own.

“I think I was marked the moment I was born, you said it yourself, you offered anything and everything that I might live on, that the three could at least continue on as one. What if that included being of service if it needed me?”

Her father flinched and reeled back as if she had struck him, his expression morphing into one of abject horror.

And then ruinous hatred.

Rage and fury actually burned in his eyes as he shook with immensity of his wrath.

“ACCURSED FATE!!! HAVE I NOT GIVEN YOU ENOUGH! I HAVE I NOT YET PAID ALL I OWED! WHY NOW MUST MY DAUGTHER BE YOUR INDENTURED SERVANT! NO, I REFUSE TO LET THIS BE! MY DAUGHTER WILL NEVER SUFFER UNDER YOUR YOKE! SHE IS NO ONES SLAVE!!!”

His ire was staggering and sharply reminded her of how terrifying it is to be near her father as his bottled-up emotions erupt. And with no clear target in sight for it to unleash itself onto either. Aine realised she had not only poked the still very raw wound of her birth in her father’s heart, she had ripped it open again and poured salt on it.

Aine reached out to hug him, words of apology and comfort on her lips, desperate to sooth his precariousness emotional state. Her father, however, sidestepped and turned away, walking for the door of her Territory. Aine shouted as she raced after him, struggling to keep up even at a run, in comparison to his walk.

“Wait . . . Daddy, please wait . . . I didn’t mean to throw any blame your way, I was just . . . I was just saying that I may have a part to play, maybe I always would have. That maybe the three, two, one or however many of us would have always had a part to play. I mean why should we get to be special. Everyone else is bound to this ship as well. Daddy please . . . don’t leave like this . . . I’m sorry, please don’t leave.”

That last part she spoke as barely more than a whisper. A prayer almost.

But her father heard it like thunder and it almost dropped him to his knees. Aine blinked and her father was suddenly in front of her, his chest covering the whole of her vision and he wrapped her up in his arms and held her tight. She heard his voice as he whispered to her, his tone as gentle and soft as it had ever been.

“I will always love you, my Alannah Aine. And I will never abandon you or leave you behind. You are my everything, my world. Without you I will lose the last of whatever purpose I have left. Never doubt that, whatever anyone says or what may happen, never doubt that.”

Aine nodded her head, the confident young woman and sly business-minded goddess was gone and just the scared little girl who longed for a family of her own, one that would never leave her, remained. Aine let her arms wrap around him and her hands twist themselves into knots in her father’s clothes as she gripped them tight, her silent tears soaking into his tunic.

Aine step away after a good long while, arms crossing themselves as she held herself, looking up at her father as she searched his expression. She was about to speak when the handle for the door of her Territory twisted down and the door swung open. Aine turned to look at the door as a woman stepped through. Aine’s eyes shook and her body shuddered as her Territory rumbled, her father glanced up and then back to Aine, before turning his torso to stare at the woman. Shock run through him the moment he laid eyes on her, the cold feeling of inertia coiling and twisting his intestines. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything, Aine spoke first.

“Why . . . do you feel . . . like family?”

The woman stares at the two of these tall, gorgeous and practically glowing beings nonplussed as the building they all stood with in slowly stopped shaking. She hesitantly responded to Aine’s question.

“I am Asta Brand-Hår, Daughter of Freya and I’m just looking for my friend. He got himself lost as per usual and I have to find him before he gets himself kill.”