Bunny and the Moon

Cedric grinned wickedly. "Word on the street is that the Goddess was seen in the company of the Ancient gods. Heading to the Sky God's residence, possibly for an orgy."

Moon growled loudly at that. "Fuckin' gossips. Gross," she grumbled in annoyance.

"Nope, no orgy here," Aero responded with a sardonic smile. "The Moon Goddess would be the last person I'd invite to one of those. Right, Sky?" He knew to move aside before the Sky God could elbow him again.

Sky glowered at all of them. His study was quickly becoming a circus. It was one thing to see your coworkers at work, but to have all these unique characters gathered in his home, discussing his private matters was another story. 

"Still doesn't explain why you guys are here," Axel said, crossing his arms.

"Ced just wanted to make sure that you guys weren't holding our Goddess hostage," Eureka responded. "We understand that she can get quite mouthy at times. Wouldn't want to think that she was kidnapped by Ancient gods, for retribution on past actions that may or may not have been her fault."

"I do not get mouthy," Moon whispered loudly to him, while poking him in the arm.

"I apologize for not being a gracious host, but I do hope you all weren't planning to stay for dinner," Sky said, arching an eyebrow at them. He wasn't feeling very hospitable at the moment.

"I sure as hell wasn't planning to, but if you're cooking then I'm staying," Eureka declared slyly, as he planted himself down onto a cushioned chair and propped his boot-clad legs onto the table.

"Oh oh," Cedric started with a gasp. "Are my eyes deceiving me, or do I spy the Mortal Mirror in that corner of the room? Moon, you didn't tell me you moved back in with his lordship."

This situation was becoming a bit of a comical mess. She knew why her friends were here. They sure do love a good mystery and poking their nose where they don't belong. When something enters their radar, they won't let things be. 

"I did not move back in," she replied, frowning at the God of Humanities.

"But she is welcomed to, at any time she wishes to," Sky interjected quickly, with a grin. He figured if he couldn't push these scoundrels out, might as well join their banter.

She glowered at him. Sky flashed her his most charming and cheekiest smile in return. 

Moon preferred the moodier Sky. When he's being flirty like this, it becomes much harder to resist his allure, rather like an unfortunate moth to the flames.

"You should be careful, Goddess," Cedric whispered, loud enough for the whole room to hear. "If he keeps looking at you like that, you'll get pregnant."

The Goddess gasped indignantly and tried to smack the back of his head, which the God of Humanities expertly dodged while laughing.

"We are not together!" she declared loudly. 

Not one of the gods in the room looked convinced.

"And gods can't get pregnant!" she shouted defensively at them.

"Just say the word, and I'll make sure it happens," Sky mused innocently.

Moon tsk'd at him, who laughed and ruffled her hair. She clawed his hands away. 

"Oh that would be so cute! Imagine a little Sky and little Moon running around, tearing out the hearts of gods," Axel said with a slight cringe.

"Don't encourage them," Aero grumbled under his breath. "It's honestly the last thing we need right now."

The Moon Goddess felt outnumbered. She let out a very long and exasperated sigh, plopping down on the couch. It was a hopeless battle from the start.

Eureka cleared his throat loudly, interrupting that hot mess of a conversation. "Uh… I hate to be the person to kill the mood, but is that Sky's captain I see in the mirror?" 

"Oh my, and is that Lady Tuzi I see?" Cedric asked with a hint of scandal in his voice. "How did they end up together in the Mortal Realm?"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly grew heavy as Axel's eyes shifted to Aero, who looked to Sky, and then back to Moon. They all knew that Atlas's decision to enter the Mortal Realm would be seen as a direct challenge to the Creator. For a little immortal soldier like Atlas to pull a stunt like this was gutsy as hell. This was not information they would want to be made public. It is what Axel would refer to as "covert operations."

"It's a bit of a long story…" Moon said hesitantly, looking over at Sky.

"We have the whole night, don't we Eure?" Cedric said, sinking down on the chair next to the God of Innovation.

"Whole night? We have all of eternity," Eureka responded with a chummy grin. They were obviously not going to leave, until they found out every detail.

"Okay," the Sky God started with a resolute sigh. "But what we tell you, stay in this room. Are we clear?"

"Crystal clear," Cedric responded, getting comfortable. "Now do spill the tea."

It was a moment later, when the group was all seated in somber silence. Now that Tuzi and Atlas's story had been thoroughly retold to Cedric and Eureka, a round of drinks and tea were being passed around to the deities to help with swallowing the complicated details. Some of the gods were taking their drinks straight from the bottle. 

"Yikes," was all Cedric could say in response to it all.

"Now that we know they are together, we are trying to figure out a way to bring them back here," the Moon Goddess said, while clutching a cup of hot tea in her hands.

"And you would have to do it, preferably before Tuzi's kidnapper comes back for her," Eureka added cryptically. 

"They're both in danger," Sky said quietly, taking another swig from the bottle.

"Moon, I have to ask," Axel contemplated warily. "Was there anyone you pissed off recently? Or maybe in the last thousand years perhaps?"

The Goddess shifted uncomfortably in her seat, choosing to take a slow sip from her cup. Her face was slightly flushed.

When no answer came from her, Aero leaned in next to Axel and whispered on the low, "The question should be, who hasn't she pissed off in the last thousand years. No god can enter the Mortal Realm these days."

"That's not true," Cedric retorted, side-eyeing the God of Sky. "There are maybe one or two gods who can do it. One of them is in this room."

As if the atmosphere wasn't somber enough, that pointed statement layered a veil of tension in the room so thick, that even Axel coughing awkwardly couldn't shake it off.

Sky did not enjoy being called out, as conflicting feelings began to tie knots in his stomach again. That feeling of shame and guilt prodded at him even as he replied, "I can't at the moment."

He cast a glance at Moon, expecting her to be hurt or perhaps angry with his response. Instead, his eyes met with her blue ones and they were mired in profound concern.

"That's fine. It's perfectly understandable. We will find another way," she said reassuringly.

Sky was genuinely surprised by her understanding reaction.

Cedric opened his mouth to respond to the Sky god, but Moon gently shook her head indicating that he should stop. He sighed and dropped the issue, but the questions were still prodding at him. Why wouldn't Sky just go and retrieve them?

"I guess now that we know Atlas is with Tuzi, I should visit her dreams. Let her know that he is there and will keep her company in the Mortal Realm. At least until we can bring them back," Moon said, pushing herself up from the couch.

Cedric gasped and immediately rose to pull the Goddess back down on the cushion. "Oh no you don't! We agreed that you wouldn't do that anymore."

"That's not what I agreed to," she protested, trying to get up again.

"You are not doing that. You barely just started recovering your health."

Sky looked visibly alarmed. He looked to the Goddess with concern. "What is he talking about? Did something happen to you?"

Moon looked slightly uncomfortable and flashed a warning look to Cedric not to say anything. But the God of Humanities pointedly ignored her.

"For the past few weeks, this Lady Goddess has been casting divine dreams to her pet continuously. Non-stop."

This created a stir from the deities in the room, as the look each person casted her was one of shock. 

Moon let out a long exasperated sigh, shaking her head. Cedric really did it this time.

"Are you crazy?!" Eureka shouted at her. "That's insanely dangerous!"

"When I saw her," Cedric continued, to the annoyance of the Goddess. "She was nothing but a waif of her former self. Her celestial energy was almost completely depleted. She hardly has any color on her face. Look at her!"

The Goddess frowned at his dramatics. There was really no reason to bring that up and get everyone all shaken up. But Cedric matched her frown with one of his own.

Sky placed his hands on her shoulders, assessing her from head to toe. Why didn't he notice how pale she was? Or that there were light circles under her eyes. Maybe the reason why she was so calm towards everything, was because she was exhausted. Why hadn't he noticed sooner? 

His face was full of concern as he addressed her sternly, "Never do that again!"

Moon wanted to say something, to assure him that she was fine, but even Axel agreed, "Moon, you know he's right. Divine dreams are rarely used by deities because they suck us dry. Casting even a small one is hard. But to do it non-stop for weeks… That's dangerous."

"And foolish," the Sky God added grimly. "Don't do that again. If anything happens to you, I'll never… Just please don't."

Moon stared at his worried face. Millennials ago, she used to love it when he fussed over her about small little things. But now, seeing how sad he looked made her heart ache. She couldn't bear it. 

She nodded her head and said softly, "I won't do that anymore…" At least not continuously like she was before. She knew she could never just abandon Tuzi in the Mortal Realm. She would just have to cast dreams intermittently.

Sky took a deep breath, not taking his eyes off of her face. The Goddess was having a difficult time meeting his gaze, which only meant that she wasn't planning on keeping her word. He knew her that well. 

Well then… He will just have to strive harder to keep her close. Losing her could never be an option for him.