After her rather embarrassing injury at the hands of Sirona during their confrontation, Serafina had found little motivation to leave her private chambers in the Hall of Indulgence. She had left all topside business matters in the hands of Jasuin, who she knew was more than capable of handling things. This had allowed her not to worry about whether the Second Circle would be functional in her absence or not.

The Second Circle had been repaired and restored to its former glory following the disruption that Sirona’s minions had caused. Serafina had been more bothered by the fact that her business had been desecrated than the utter destruction that had been brought upon the land by the holier-than-thou goddess’s tirade. Jasuin had seen to much of the repairs, leaving Serafina to heal. While the gods were essentially immortal, being wounded by one of their own always took much longer to heal than being wounded by a mere mortal.

While her physical wounds had healed without even a scar, her pride had yet to fully recover. She had spent much of her time just lying in her bed, alone. She had instructed those in her employ not to allow anyone, and she meant anyone, disturb her. She hadn’t been feeding, and although she did not require blood to survive any longer, she was most certainly weaker for it. Several times one of her handmaidens had come calling with a decanter of fresh blood, and several times she had thrown it back out into the hall, screaming at the handmaiden for disturbing her.

Such a thing had just happened, and Serafina was just going to lie back down on the black satin sheets that covered her bed. She was clothed only in a black nightgown, if one could call such a scant garment such. She hadn’t bothered dressing in her regular attire, as she was not trying to uphold any sort of image. With a sigh, she lay her head back on the pillows and closed her eyes.

Moments later, another knock sounded at her door. With an exasperated breath, she sat up. ”For Inferos’ sake, what!?” she screamed towards the door. A timid voice on the other end replied to her.

”M’lady… you’ve a visitor who insists you see him,” she said, sounding rather worried about having to bother Serafina again. Serafina pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed.

”Fine,” she said, not feeling the will to put up a fight any longer. ”Send him up.” She assumed it must have been someone important, as the girl would have most likely not chanced the goddess’s wrath by disturbing her again.

The war with Sirona had taken its toll on everyone, especially those who were on the ‘wrong’ side of her crusade. Kebeche’s Tavern Death’s Resting Place had been ransacked, but miraculously still stood - probably thanks to the fact that most of his patrons were, in fact, assassins. The entire Tavern had turned on the Goddess’ Anointed, fighting back and turning them out on their backsides; Kebeche had left the Tavern in the more than capable hands of his patrons so that he could go and check on Serafina… sadly Sirona’s band had hit his Goddess far harder, knowing she would be the bigger threat… and having underestimated the double meaning of his bar’s name. 

The Anpu’s main concern following the fallout was Serafina. He had seen Jasuin when he’d arrived at the bar, the pair had exchanged a look and a nod that spoke volumes as to the current state of their Lady. The hand-maiden had attempted to discourage the colossal jackal-like man when he had insisted on seeing the Goddess, but he was having none of it. Serafina needed to show herself, Sirona had been sent back to her Temple with her tail between her legs and Serafina needed to show her that she was the victor in this. She’d been injured, but it was a war, injury was inevitable. 
As the girl returned to give him permission to see the Goddess, Kebeche noticed the tears in her eyes. Silently he put a hand on her shoulder and nodded to her reassuringly, before making his way to Serafina’s room.

Kebeche knocked on the door and entered before Serafina could dismiss him. ”Sera, enough is enough, I cannot have my Goddess lock herself away in her domain and hide in the shadows. Not when Sirona still holds her head high. I need my Goddess on my arm, showing this world exactly who she is, Death’s Commander and beauty of the world,” he stated in his usual, husky monotone as he moved across the room to her,
”When did you last eat?”  He asked, crossing the room to sit on the bed beside her, he had no fear of her wrath, if she hurt him he would take it. He was not the Son of Anubis for nothing.

Serafina snapped her attention to the door at the sound of the knock, intent on volatile behavior towards whoever decided it was necessary to insist on disturbing her. Yet, when her eyes met the face of Kebeche, her expression softened somewhat, as though she were glad to see him. She was not angry with him for coming, nor was she angry with him for how long it had been since the pair had last seen one another. For a brief second, as her gaze fell upon him, she felt the urge to rise quickly from her seated position and throw herself across the room towards him, falling into his arms – though she fought that urge.

”What Sirona did to me is a complete and utter embarrassment. And what punishment did she receive? Little to none,” she scoffed. Of course, the Voice had hardly punished Sirona. Serafina found herself wondering what purpose the Voice actually served. It seemed that no one ever received dutiful punishment for their wrongdoing, but rather a slap on the wrist. ”If I were to hold my head high, as you’ve put it, I’d be carrying Sirona’s head on a pike,” she said, her teeth gritting together as she hissed the words, her expression hardening briefly.

Her expression softened once more as Kebeche sat beside her, and she instinctively shifted her body so she could be as near to him as she could. ”I… don’t remember,” she answered him honestly as he asked when the last time she had eaten. In all truth, she really did not remember. As a vaewolf, she did not need to feed nearly as often as a typical vampire would – and as a deity, the need was even less. She hadn’t tested the limits, but she knew she could go for a very long time without doing so. Eventually, if she waited too long, she would not necessarily die, but she would begin to petrify. Too long, and she would essentially become a living statue.

Not wanting to dwell on her lack of feeding, Serafina leaned her head into Kebeche’s chest, inhaling his scent deeply and closing her eyes. How ironic, for the literal Goddess of Death to need this comfort from another being. ”But… I suppose I should. And, yes… I will admit that you are right. It is much easier for me to lock myself away here under the guise of being busy with business manners than it is for me to face the public, the public that knows that little bitch bested me,” she said quietly. Her eyes brightened up suddenly. ”But if I remember correctly, I got a good chunk out of her arm,” she said with a smirk, remembering the taste of Sirona’s bloody flesh in her mouth.

Serafina’s face grew still for a moment as she mentally summoned one of her handmaidens to bring her blood from her stores. ”It won’t be as good as something fresh, but it’ll do for now,” she said, sighing, though a hungrier look grew into her eyes. She sat back up, looking at Kebeche. ”How you sway me with such simple words… I’ll never know,” she said with a smile, bringing her hand up to touch the sight of the Anpu’s face. ”Perhaps, one day, you’ll let me see how you taste,” she added, a hint of seduction in her voice. ”I can make it painless, pleasurable even, you know,” she added, a dark grin on her face.

Serafina let out a laugh and allowed herself to rest again Kebeche once more. The relationship between the two was still new to the goddess, and she knew that he felt rather protective of her. There were many facets they had yet to explore, and it seemed that even the idea of something remotely related to it brought her back to somewhat of her old self. ”Just your presence makes me feel like, well, me, again,” she said, relaxing against him.

”Tell me, how did things fare for you since I have seen you last?”