Anubis nodded once and made a gesture with his hand that she reciprocated before tapping her sistrum and strolling off.
“Diana.” He waved her forward, and she approached, hands clasped affectionately.
“He was the Mage of Gray when I accepted his call. It was not against the wishes of Bastet he called upon me but at her suggestion. He did not ask me for power, only for intervention in a special case, a mother and child that would never live. He’d already bartered his soul, but I accepted his heart and guided a woman through my domain. And that woman became a devout follower, as did her child and children that came after. And for me, Gre treats those with child that medicine has no cure for. And he cannot charge any more than they can or will pay. By my order, he only keeps a bowl on his counter, and what they put in it, even if only spit, is all he takes. And for his intervention, I gain new followers. He also sets wards of protection in my lands as I deem fit. And now that I have entrusted his heart to a wonderful caretaker, he is fulfilling a need I have to come of a spirit to guard my lands. A creature of power and righteousness. My vassal will need a father, and as such, I believe he should be sent back to the mortal plane to fulfill my duties.” Diana nodded once and walked away from Anubis with only the barest nod of her head.
Without being asked, a limping old man spoke up as he barreled forward. “I am Odin, God of The Hanged, Jolnir and wanderer. I am Allfather and spear wielder and blind of one eye.”
“I know who you are, deceiver.” Anubis stiffened but made no move to stop him.
“The Mage of Gray sought justice and called upon me by name of Grimnir. He asked for the ability to see truth and to know what is right. And while I cannot say I show him what is right, the visions I give him show him the paths he may choose,and he chooses that which always has the most good. And for my gift, as I hanged on the ash tree for nine days, I asked for the souls of nine hanged men. And he still owes me five.”
“And where did he get those hanged men?” Anubis’s eyes flared with red intention, for giving a god souls diverted death from their path. He defied his own goddess Bastet.
“The bastard finds their passed ghosts that refuse to move on and sends them to me. Nothing left on them but sin and anger, bitter the way I like them. Too rotten even for Ammit. But it is when carrion reeks the worst that my ravens feast the hardest.”
Anubis settled and gave a nod. “And why does this matter?”
“He still owes me five souls, dammit! Send him back to Earth so he may pay me back!” Odin pounded his walking stick into the ground with a boom like thunder and lightning.
“That certainly is a point.” Anubis nodded and took a breath.
A whispering group of gods, Horus, Osiris, some forest spirits of lesser gods, and Hermes sat in the back, if I wasn’t mistaken. I wasn’t the greatest with the pantheons, but the wings on his temples told me much. They rabbled and spoke quietly, waiting their turn to be called. Their combined sentiment was to send Gre back to Earth, where he could continue holding their names in honor and calling upon their power. For a mage that did good in a god’s name, lifted them up.
Before Anubis could speak, another voice interrupted, a dry one full of life and charisma. “I have claim over his body and destiny!”
“Faunus?” Anubis sneered at the male I’d mistaken for a forest spirit, a beautiful and built man with leaves in his hair like ivy, skin porcelain pale. He sported a set of golden horns, curled back like a goat and legs that stood digitigrade and melded into beautiful hooves. And from his belt hung many simpleinstruments: a pan flute, a horn, a bell, and a lyre that chimed pleasantly as he moved.
“Many years ago, I traveled to the mortal plane, as I am fond of doing. And in boredom, I sought to be human for a time,” Faunus started, but Diana swore under her breath and slapped her face.
“Fuuuuuck thaaat,” Hermes spoke from the back with a huff. A gorgeous woman I’d missed earlier snorted and fanned herself, apple cheeks and flowing hair held all the beauty and lust in it that Diana vying for her days of the hunt and fertility did not.
“Hey! You’ve all done it,” Faunus said, pointing at the gathered crowd.
Odin nodded sagely. “My sons have made quite the ruckus and legend in my name for me on the mortal plane.”
“And you knocked some mortal up,” Bast said, her tone rough and exasperated.
“Hey! No, I—” Faunus waved his hand about and cleared his throat. “I happened to be an omega at the time and found myself in good company with a great many shifters and not being familiar with—eh…”
“You went into heat. Naughty boy,” the gorgeous woman spoke up.
“Can it, Eros.” Osiris glared at her from beady birdlike eyes, and she stifled a giggle. “You have no stakes in our mage.”
“Oh, I do. See, no blessing was asked of me, but I was there when they first met. I was occupying a mouse in the wall, watching the procession and driving the two together. His daeva came after me, and it was by sheer luck that the Mage of Gray decided to pin the shadow out of harm’s way and spared me humiliation or injury. So, I blessed them with lust to draw them back together.” Eros giggled, and Hermes elbowed her right in the tit, earning a shriek of protest.
“In any case! Eros. I found myself with child. It was the hardest year of my life. I was sick and not sick, and my magic was on the fritz. I didn’t even know which giraffe was the father, so it wasn’t like I could drop the baby off in his lap—directly.” Faunus twiddled his hands. “So once I knew it was a giraffe, I hunted down the men I’d laid with, and it turns out that the father was a participant in a ménage-à-trois I’d participated in… So I persuaded them to adopt.”
Gre raised his eyes to the god, narrowed his gaze in an expression of pure confusion. I’d grown very accustomed to reading the emotions in a shadow’s face.
“So which one was my father?” Gre’s hoarse voice spoke up.
“That’s difficult to say. Their essences were bonded, so I could only say it was one of them. Well, you know, knowing my powers, it could very well have been both of them? But they both participated.” Faunus coughed.
“Alllllll night long.” Eros made a hip thrusting gesture, and Hermes made quick with the elbow again.
Anubis gave the world’s loudest and longest sigh. “The gods invented paternity drama reality TV. Humans merely echo it. So, Faunus, by body and destiny you claim him as an heir? You vest him as a recognized son, a demigod?”
A god was only allowed to claim one heir at a time until their mortal days ended. And Faunus? The father of shifters. The king of animal spirit in mortal form? He’d siredmanychildren but never claimed one. But he stared at the shifted mess of my mate with bright golden eyes full of thought. “I vest him with his powers as a demigod. He has earned the right to wear my name.”
