Kazue shuffled in pd pyed with her tails as she tried to sort her emotions. There was so much going on in her head that it was hard to think, so she took a d pulled all of her attention here, drawing on her core as well.

  Which meant that she was trusting Mordecai to help keep an eye ohing in the dungeon. That was the first thought that cut through the clutter in her head, and that helped a lot. Whenever she got overwhelmed her head felt fuzzy, but her core had no such issues. So, she trusted him, that was good to know. And she saw a lot of sense in Moriko’s approach, but that wasn’t quite enough for her. She needed something more, and she was able to look at herself more clearly than she had been able to before she’d been a dungeon.

  With a huff, she let go of her tails and smoothed down her dress. “Mordecai.” She began, trying to keep her voice steady. “I uand what happened, why you felt that way and why it drove you to do those... things. But, I, I don’t do well with people being really angry like that. Even feeling it sed hand, it scared me. I know, I know, it’s stupid and kind of childish, and I’m not stupid or a child, and I o overe that because I now live in a dangerous world. But Mordecai, please, I don’t want to be scared of you. And I’m not truly scared, I know you wouldn’t ever actually hurt me, but still it scared me. So I want two things from you.”

  She wasn’t looking directly at him before, but now she did, holding his gaze as Moriko had before. “I want you to promise to try and not let yourself be like that. I won’t ask you to just ge, to just not feel something. No one do that. But I want you to try. And, and even more,” She could feel her voice wavering and the tears started rolling slowly.

  “Swear to me, swear to me and ohing, to never, ever, ever do anything like that again. Promise me to never put is in the line of fire. Even if something bad happens and you have to act, you don’t let is get hurt because of you, or me, or anyone.” Even the cooler, calmer thinking of her core wasn’t enough to keep her in check, and she ractically shouting at him. “Promise me! Please!”

  She could only stand there, trembling, as Mordecai slid off the bed and to his knees before her. She watched as he took her hands and kissed them gently. “Kazue, sweet love. I swear and promise to you, and on Ozuran’s name, my honor, my life, my heart, and my very soul, I will seek to curb that most wrathful part of my soul, and I will never willingly or knowingly bring harm to an i again, no matter the rage in my heart.” She could feel it, that heartfelt siy and the weight of his words, the deep affe for her that made him ache knowing that he had hurt her just by making her actally feel the depths of his anger.

  Kazue flung herself into his arms and sobbed, tahere on the floor as Moriko joihem, her arms ing around them both. It had hurt so much to be even briefly afraid of him, and she didn’t know if she could deal with ever feeling that way again. They held together that way for long moments before they were interrupted by the clearing of a throat.

  “Heard and witnessed. And I am going to hold you to that Mordecai.” Came a familiar voice, and the three of them broke apart to jump to their feet, then Kazue and Moriko started to drop back to their knees, Kazue's cheeks reddening with embarrassment at being caught in su intimate moment. “Stop that, this isn’t ceremonial and you aren’t in trouble. Follow his example if you have to deal with me.” Ozuran tinued, his voice cool but not filled with iger as it had bee time they met him. Kazue halted and stood back upright almost stiffly as her initial embarrassment rolled into frustration and irritation. Why was the Lord of Shadows here again? Even most priests never spoke directly to a deific avatar, let alowi as many weeks!

  “I am here to make something clear, though I think it’s best to start by expining something few mortals know." As Ozuran began this short lecture, Kazue wondered how much of it was to pcate her and Moriko. "Living dungeons were not part of my father’s inal iions for the universe, nor the willful i of any of those he gathered to help him create this existence.” Ozuran smiled somewhat ruefully, which did not make her feel aer about whatever great secret was about to be revealed. “he word willful. There are some gods whose power acts without sutent. One particur such deity exists in many pces, many worlds not only beyond this o beyond the reach of even my father’s power pletely. Li was invited in part t a helpful sort of chaos to this reality, to help offset the forces that would invariably try to influehings. After all, even fods, absolute perfe is impossible, all one ever strive for is to make things better.”

  Ozuran paused to s the three of them, and no one said anything. Kazue had heard some of this before, it art of the creation story in her holy texts, but it felt different being told the story this way. Then the ailed god tinued. “It was Li’s influehat created the potential for Living Dungeons.” Okay, that part was pletely new. “Father chose to not try to undo that potential and to work with it instead. But living dungeons could also pose greater risks without limitations. So it was me he turo; he asked me to create Rules for the dungeons to keep them more beneficial than harmful while leaving them with the free will to be people, not mere structs.” His eyes focused sharply on Mordeow.

  “These were the Rules you broke. Not arbitrary limitations that were byproducts of the world existing, nor mortal rules. No, you broke the fual rules I had fed so that you could even be allowed to exist.” Kazue retty certain she heard a hint of that anger again, and the room seemed a little less bright than it had been before. "Yes, you found a loophole, but you know damhat I hold to the spirit as much as the letter of any w or tract. You were a favored priest for most of your existence Mordecai, you knew of your responsibilities to me. If you were not one of my followers I wouldn't be so angry. You vioted my trust in you."

  Ozuran took a deep breath a out slowly. “Despite everything you are still one of my favored devotees, and holy I do hope you do well. When and where I , I will even help you in dealing with the Purity Idiots." He s that. "Given that my father is a dragon and my mother is a kitsu should be pretty clear that we don't hold truck with that idea, but those fools -" He cut himself off. "Well, you'll learn in time. But you did a whole l in your wrath. Sealing you away was the least punishment that was still sidered acceptable, and there were some who were calling for your immediate destru. If you had resisted the sealing, I would have had to upon Father's Enforcer myself to deal with you, rather thahis world wracked with even more war. Your restoration in su unusual fashion," here he gestured toward Kazue, "and with su increased capacity retive to your mutual growth, has others worried. There has been a push to restrain you once more. It's much better for both of us if I take care of it my way, you would very muot like some of the other proposals." Kazue was certain she didn't like the sound of that.

  “Thankfully, you being my priest means that I have priority in choice of intercession, and you just gave me an opening to make this easy. As a priest of mine, you'd have already been more bound by that oath than others. This will be more extreme than you would have been expeg. So here’s what is going to happen. Mordecai, if you break that oath you will no longer be given as much leeway mortals normally get regarding the foibles of existehout being able to see as far as we . I am holding you to that oath with a soul binding. Should you ever, in my judgment, break it, I will act immediately. My intervention start as soft as temporarily weakening you and increase up to and includirag your soul from your core. It will hurt them a lot, but they will survive and heal, and it will be your fault that they were hurt.” He raised a finger even though none of them were even thinking about interrupting him.

  “But I am a fair god. You are only responsible for your as, so long as you do your best to actually follow that oath. Only your choices bring harm to you through it. And I have tio aowledge you as a priest because I do have hope for you. So a boon: I will make sure in this your will is always yours. No charm, entment, or illusion ever make or trick you into breaking this oath. Mortal words and tricks are your own to deal with; you must still use wisdom to guide you. But no magic that affects your ability to choose freely be used against you in this way, though it may still affect you in other ways. You are no more immuhan you were before. And while yiven much less leeway, I will still allow for some limitations of circumstances. I will never demand the impossible but don't you dare do less than your absolute best." Sighing, he added, "By not stripping you of every power and booed to me, I am also responsible for your duct.” He tilted his head, fox ears swiveling thoughtfully. “And I have gifts to give as well. Not for you, but for the women caught up iangle of your life.” He grinned, his teeth briefly fox-sharp despite his human face. “sider them wedding presents.”

  Then his gaze slid over to Moriko. “Your path under my sister’s sway leads you to seek the skies, and I will not interfere with that. But I opeh to the shadows as well, without taking away anything. Will you accept this gift and boon?” Kazue could feel the tension in Moriko and she could pick out the faint st of her wife's nervous sweat, but Ozuran was known for not merely keeping his bargains but being fair about them. His judgment was one of the few ways a mortal could be freed from an unbanced bargain with the fey, devil, or other twisted tracts.

  After a tense moment, Moriko nodded. “I accept, Lord Ozuran.” He ined his head in her dire, and Moriko gasped as if suddenly doused ier. Then that gaze turo Kazue, and she saw kindness mixed with sternness in the eyes of her husband's god.

  “You were a shrine maiden to my mother, and are beholden to her, but never were a priestess. To be frank, in your previous life, I think her wildness would have intimidated you far too much to ever be her priestess. But yrowing, and I teach you the secrets of the shadows. Will you accept this boon and gift?”

  Kazue was nervous, she could still feel Moriko rec from his gift, but her own magic was more instinctual than about uanding its depths. Could she turn down this ce to bee stroo be more useful? She o make sure Mordeever had to worry about her agaihoughts paused a sed, and she caught the hint of a smile on Ozuran’s face, uood how in a way this was a gift to Mordecai as well. She might not fit the image of a trickster kitsu she’d grown up around more than a few of them, and she couldn’t help but fsh a grin at the god. “I accept, Lord Ozuran.”

  She saw his approval, then she nearly bcked out as darkness rippled through her mind, gifting her with knowledge and f new els of power in her mind. By the time she recovered, Ozuran was gone, and Mordecai was left supp both her and Moriko as they gathered themselves together. The knowledge she’d been granted gave her only the start of a path to shadow magic, but there was one new spell in her mind, and she could feel the way her training and growth would open up more paths for her. And with that knowledge came an awareness; she could have sought out these paths on her own, but as with all things, there was a bance. Pursuing them would have taken up the time she’d spent learning other aspects of her magical power. Now she had both options open.

  “Are you okay?” Mordecai’s words shook her out of her introspe, and she smiled up at him befiving him a kiss.

  “Yes, thank you.” Moriko was already standing on her own, and Kazue disentangled herself thten her clothes and begin ing her face, using minics to help remove the signs of tears from all three of them. “Alright, well, that was ued.” She tried not to giggle hysterically at that, her nerves were absolutely fried. “I’d say that you folloeculiar god, but well, I know who I follow, so I am not in a position to talk.” Oh, what was she saying? Eh, she didn’t have the emotional reserves to worry about it right now.

  “We do the room ges after dinner.” Mordecai's response made her feel a little giddy; despite hoy she’d been at Moriko’s suggestion on how to ge up the bedrooms, she’d not have gohrough with it if Mordecai hadn’t made that promise for her. She didn’t know what she’d have done, but she’d hat response. She was far less happy about what Ozuran had done, she didn't like the idea of a sword of judgment hanging over Mordecai, and that it was her fault. Ozuran had pretty much said he'd been looking for an opening, and she'd given it to him, the question was if he'd have found something even more dangerous if she hadn't asked for that oath? Something to be thought about ter, her head was feeling full from all this mental whipsh.

  “But Moriko’s parents are already being hosted and fed. We should go out and join them and talk about that visit ter. Everyone else should be trailing in soon.” Kazue moved to put herself in the ter and grasped both their hands, then paused a moment, gng up at Mordecai. "And sider yourself fiven for eating my book." She stuck out her tohehe way to the main hall, trying to not giggle too much from nerves. After all this, she wasn't going to begrudge him the mistake of having 'ed' her struct familiar when their soul-bond was fed. They had much bigger things to themselves with.

  Zagaroth