Ernest sat alone on one of the benches near the edge of the garden, as was her habit every day since Angela had disappeared. She didn't know why she was still waiting. Every day that passed meant Angela was less likely to return, and every time she went out here it was another hour she could be using to try to get the goddess back. But still she waited. Some small part of her refused to believe that Angela truly would not return, and to humour that part of her, she waited.

As she sat watching, she felt a sharp increase in magic behind her, and turned just in time to see a tall, dark-haired woman vanish in a cloud of dark iridescence. Who was that? Her first thought was that it was Dalanesca, but that made no sense. If Dalanesca was here, she would be trying to kill them, not just disappearing, and, anyway, what would she want here? No, that made no sense at all.

She saw a flicker of movement, and a young girl, perhaps five or six, sitting roughly where the woman had disappeared. Slowly, she stood up and walked over to the child. "Iva?" she asked, but after a moment, she knew she was wrong. It wasn't Iva, although this girl looked similar. "Who are you?" she asked, trying to keep her voice gentle.

Angela felt like she could burst into tears. Dalanesca had left her all by herself, well not all by herself but she didn’t want to be separated from her sister goddess. With sniffles and tears, she let the Triune Goddess leave her temple. Ang had a lot to catch up on but mentally she couldn’t do it. She got up and dusted herself off as Ernest came to see her. Green eyes zoomed right up to Ernest’s face as she grew a giant smile.

“ERNEST!” She screamed and ran over to the girl as she hugged her leg. “I missed you so much. Don’t you recognize me, Ernest? It’s me, Angela.” She squealed as she twirled around in her dress and reached up so she could grab at Ernest’s arms. “We should play and sing… and dance!” She jumped up and down as she held onto Ernest’s hands.

“We should get into the sweets and get all of them. Then we can play with stuffed animals and dance more.” Internally Angela was screaming, this wasn’t how she normally was at all. Ernest made her so happy as she danced and spun around while holding Ernest’s hands. “Do you think everyone missed me? I would miss me! I missed being!” There was a slight look of being tired on her face as she curled up near Ernest. “I am tired but I am not tired… but I am excited!”

Ernest couldn't help the smile growing on her face. Angela! Angela was back! Sure, she was a five-year old, but, honestly, she was cute. And she was back! Really back!

All the same, a tiny part of her didn't trust the little girl, was convinced that this was all a cruel trick. She wondered, briefly, if there was any way to tell without the girl - Angela, she corrected herself - noticing. She pushed that thought out of her mind. Knowing gods and goddesses, it didn't seem abnormal that she would come back as a little girl.

She laughed as Angela babbled on about all of the things she wanted to do that day, and how happy she was. "Of course we missed you, Angela. How could we not?" She smiled again as the little girl curled up near her. "It seems like you have a busy schedule," she said. "What do you want to do first?"

Angela watched Ernest for a little bit before pulling on her hands. “Come on,” She took her all over her temple and chatted away about random things. She stopped her after a while when no one was around and looked at the girl who had waited for her to come back.

“I’m scared of the dark you know.” It was odd at how brightly lit the temple had been since she had come back. “Gods aren’t supposed to be afraid of something like this. I just want to be me but I’m stuck like this.” She angrily pulled at her dress and there was a pout on her lips. “I have a sister trying to kill me but luckily Dalanesca will help. Well not kill me.” She pointed at herself. “But the little savages… she would hurt them. I can’t have her hurt my savages. Or you. No one.” 

There was an evil that she couldn’t understand. “I understood Dal because I went through it but my sister… pure evil with no reasoning.” She whispered up to Ernest. “And she doesn’t care who she hurts.” She pulled Ernest with her again. “I am being happy so not to hurt the earth. The Voice doesn’t take into account my motherly nature as life.” The child was talking large words but in truth, she knew what she should not. For a child, she was highly educated and that did not change. She had two hundred years of experience as a goddess.

“Will you help the savages? I’ll teach you in exchange. Magic. Knowledge. Healing. Swordplay. Whatever you want.”

Angela suddenly seemed so much older than she looked, and Ernest blinked at the oddity of her going from acting like a five-year-old child to a two-hundred-year-old goddess. It wasn't so much that she had thought Angela incapable of it - far from it, there was little Ernest thought Angela could not do. It was merely odd to watch the little girl talk like this.

"What do you mean, Angela?" She asked the question before she could stop herself. "I mean, I'll help you no matter what, I just don't know what you're talking about. Who are your savages? And who is your sister?" She paused. "You have a sister?"

She sighed. "I'm sorry." To be honest, she couldn't bring herself to tell Angela what she was sorry for. She was sorry for being stupid, for not understanding, for just… not being right. She felt as though there was something there that she was missing, and she had learned from Angela's disappearance that those feelings were almost always right.

Angela blinked a bit and chuckled. “I suppose you really don’t know a lot about me to process my request. My savages are my children. I have 100 or so children and four sisters. My four sisters going by age are Cathrine, Cyprus, Lily, and Toya. We each rule a sector of Arri, my home.”

Reaching up she patted where her arm could reach which wasn’t very far on Ernest. “It was a silly request to make when you know nothing of what else is going on in my world. I shall answer your questions to the best of my ability. My sister Cyprus is the definition of evil… we had sealed her in Parvpora but when I got killed… someone let her out. She sent me a bear head… My husband Drae is a werebear and my child Rohan… he is also like his father.”

She shifted uncomfortably. “As I am small I might be easily overtaken if I tried to pursue her. So I need someone here with my children or at least to look over them.” She tapped at her chin. "So I am offering to teach you what I know. The world will always be a dangerous place even if all the gods get along with each other."

Ernest looked at Angela, worried. "Of course I'll help you," she said, "but what do you mean to do? Are you going to go hunt her down?" Ernest sincerely hoped that was not the case. A five-year-old girl travelling alone - or even with someone - being as powerful as Angela was would be easy to track, and Angela seemed worried enough about Cyprus that Ernest was pretty sure she was a decent threat.

Her eyes narrowed in anger when she heard about the threats to Drae and Rohan. She knew how much they meant to Angela. Threatening Angela's children was actually crueller than threatening Angela herself. All she said aloud was, "That's awful. Why would she do that to you?"

She listened carefully to Angela's request. "I would be glad to learn what you have time to teach me," she said. "You've already taught me a lot, you know, just by being who you are. You're so… different than anyone I was used to." She paused. "Every time I'm about to do something rash I remember your advice."

Angela gave her a smile and tilted her head. “Not at the moment. I will Dalanesca figure out the details for now. I have requested my Triune Sister to help me and she owes me for killing me.” It was true in her words that she and Dalanesca were best friends. There had just been a tiff, at least in god lingo it was a tiff. It was really only someone like Angela who could forgive being killed like that. 

Letting her nails softly thump against whatever was nearby at the time, a marble column as it was, she looked thoughtful. “Because that’s what true evil does Ernest. True evil doesn’t need a reason for anything. They aren’t evil because of an event in their life… they just are. From the time she was born until the time she died, she had always been evil. Soulless. Heartless. Cruel.”

Angela took Ernest by the hand and smiled up at her. “I have a lot I can teach. I may be small and lack my reasoning skills but my powers? My knowledge? What I know isn’t gone.” She pointed up at her head of red curls and tapped softly.

“Those were the words of a healer. A good healer knows not to panic.” She remembered what she told Ernest and smiled. “We have to look at the situation calmly or mistakes will be made. Everyone should look at things the way we do Ernest but the fact is most Mortals are rash beings. Like with Dalanesca, anyone else would have hated her and would have killed her. I calmed myself and knew that it was a pain that no one should have to feel. As the Mother, I know her pain. I understand. Therefore from the deepest reaches of my vast soul, I can forgive.” They were big thoughts from such a tiny body but this was adult Angela escaping the best she could.

She led Ernest through the halls. “What do you want to learn? Magic? Swordplay? All of it?”

A smile grew on Ernest's face when Angela spoke so casually of how Dalanesca owed her one. "I'll say." It was odd, she thought, how easily Angela joked about being killed. She couldn't hold back her grin. She was just still overjoyed to have Angela back.

The smile died abruptly at mention of Cyprus. It saddened her that there would be people like that. "I have never even heard of someone like that. If people like that can truly exist… I think people overuse the word 'evil.' I've heard many people be called evil. People even call me evil sometimes." She paused. "Sometimes, I think I might deserve it." She shook her head to clear it. "Sorry. I got lost in my thoughts for a second, there."

"I'm not saying you can't teach. I know you still know everything. You've probably forgotten more than I know. I just thought, well, you're probably awfully busy. Being a goddess and all."

"I never will understand you," she said. "How do you manage to never get angry? I get angry much too easily. I can't imagine what it must be like being you." She sighed. "It's probably best you're the goddess. I'd probably blow up the world." She studied her free hand. "Note to self: stay away from explosive spells. That wouldn't end well."

She grinned at Angela. "Everything!" She paused. "Okay, I don't know. Magic? Someday, I want to learn everything."

Angela turned on her heel and took a long look at Ernest. “Evil is one thing you are not. Evil is taking a child from his mother and ripping it to shreds because you don’t get your way. Evil is killing almost all of your children for some end goal that makes no damn sense. EVIL is tearing families apart and killing their beloved to get your way through ruling with fear. Evil is not what you are. Misguided yes but you are young and that can change. You do not deserve it. You are here are you not? You are working for the greater good, are you not? Then that makes you a good person Ernest. Damn anyone who would tell you otherwise.”

She tapped the side of her head after a little bit. “I haven’t forgotten much over the years. Some things can’t be forgotten. Once you learn them you get rusty but you can hop right back into the saddle and do it again. I am busy but I can make time. Frivolous things can wait. People can wait. Learning cannot because you are young and that is the best time to teach someone like you.”

She blinked a bit and tilted her small head. “Good that means I am still interesting. Things that are not understood are interesting. I do get angry but when the fate of the land rests on you not getting mad… you tend to shrug most things off.” She smiled a bit and chuckled. “You can learn to master your temper and that will best guide you. Emotions are the best catalyst for magic. Love is one of the best things. For instance, I love you as one of my own. You could use that to channel many spells.”

The child laughed and pulled Ernest with her. “Then we shall start with simple spells and incantations! Maybe some swordplay will do you good as well.” She brought her into a small room. It looked more like a study. “We’ll have private time here then.” There was a desk and it had many piles of papers and books on it. The walls were decorated with many different magical items.

“What do you want to learn first when it comes to spells Ernest?”