22 - ATHENA
“You couldn’t send a single message in eight months?”
I shook my head with a frown. “I tried! They didn’t go through.
We were on the hunt, darting around the galaxy, hardly remaining on a planet for more than five-to-ten hours at a time.
But I warned Arachne this could happen; she was there when your mother called me in… Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re through, Ath. Finished for sure,” Zet replied, running a palm over their box braids.
“We’re eternal immortals! Eight months is like eight blinks,” I replied, likely far too defensively.
As much as I loathed it, the sinking sensation in my gut was insisting they were right though.
I arrived last night and hoped Arachne’s nonresponse was due to the lateness. It was now past noon the following day. And worse, when I tried Blossom, her phone went straight to voicemail like I’d been blocked.
“Good luck trying that with her,” Zet volleyed. “You might as well give up on ever speaking again. This explains why the Nymph cut us both off.”
What a clusterfuck.
“But I put in my resignation,” I groaned.
Zet’s brick eyes widened as they shouted, “What?!”
“It wasn’t just a miserable assignment. I just…
I dunno. It’s difficult to explain beyond something clicking into place with Arachne before I left.
Not specifically with our relationship, just life in general.
Happiness is what I’m striving for and my role isn’t what it once was…
Your parents took it well. It’s being announced next week once Zusicia names a replacement. ”
“Fuck,” they replied. “Did you decide this before you left or during?”
I frowned. “Why does that matter?” Instead of replying, my dragon friend urged me to expand with both hands. “Before, I think. It was torture saying goodbye to her. Arachne was all I thought about while I was gone.”
“That’s perfect.” Zet’s face was struck with a grin as my frown deepened. “I think I might know how you fix this.”