Chapter 25 #2
"It's a pleasure seeing you again, Nephew," Circe said to Zeus. "Don't be a stranger, and come visit us sometime. No one likes being the only one making the effort to visit family."
"Of course," Zeus said, with a friendlier smile than he’d had since we had entered. "But I expect it's easier for you to travel than for me."
"That's a bad excuse." Circe wrinkled her nose. "Come for the holidays. I hear that the Mul Branova are trying to make Bran Day a new holiday."
I turned to Circe, an incredulous look on my face. "No," I said quickly.
"Yes," she retorted. "Bran Day is going to become a holiday whether you like it or not."
“I get no say?" I pressed, raising a brow.
"It's Bran Day… I suppose maybe Bran should get a say in when his own holiday exists," she said, but then she gave a sad shake of her head. "Not how it works, unfortunately. Especially given that the Mul Branova know that if you get a say, it'll never happen."
I opened my mouth to argue, only to snap it closed, realizing they knew me better than I knew myself if they'd already come to that conclusion. I let out a breath, reminding myself they were doing this because of how much they cared.
"Well, then, I suppose I'll just have to suffer through Bran Day, and whatever exactly that entails.
" I gave Circe a look, hoping she'd fill that in, but it seemed my curiosity would go unfulfilled for the moment based on the way she mimed zipping her lips.
She gave me a smile that told me she was enjoying teasing me with this information.
"Well, perhaps Bran Day will be amusing enough that I'll have to take the trip." Zeus looked on with amusement.
"Oh, it'll be spectacular. The Mul Branova hope to make it the greatest holiday in the New World," Circe added.
"Of course they do," I murmured to myself.
"As they should," Circe continued. “It is a celebration of their Lord, Bran Heros.”
I stared at her blankly. "I swear, all of you are becoming more and more trouble the less I'm able to give you individual attention."
Circe just grinned, enjoying this far too much.
"There's a lesson in there somewhere, but I'm not sure what it is," I told her.
"It depends how much you like our brand of trouble," she said.
"They aren't too bad," I admitted carefully.
Zeus chuckled, watching the two of us. "Ah, young love. Well… not so young, in your case, Circe," he said. The jab was paired with a charming grin and a slight flinch, as if he expected to be smacked over the head for it more than once by Circe.
"Something like that," Circe said slowly, as if deciding what her next move would be with the careful judgment of someone who could make it incredibly painful.
Zeus watched closely. "I do hope you're finding joy in each other," he said, nodding to Circe.
"As much as I'd love to say she's a pain in my ass, and thank you for taking her off my hands—though she does need a firm hand to keep her out of trouble—it's been a long while of Circe being lonely in this world simply because few have been able to match her.
Oh, and I do keep getting asked… is there going to be a wedding? "
"Not anytime soon," I said diplomatically, even as I felt Circe's eyes boring into my back with enough power in her gaze that I wouldn't be surprised if it could split mountains.
Circe gave up a moment later. "I suppose not. Come, Bran, let's go explore and see if we can't figure out the location of the vault. That way we can get you back to killing demons. That's so clearly your calling over being a wedding planner."
I wasn't oblivious to her feelings, but weddings weren't really a concept for me in the world after demons.
At least, they certainly had not been in my past life, and it was not like I immediately forgot everything from that time.
Weddings, by and large, were an administrative affair, an announcement to the world that two people were together.
Although, I supposed, for my loves, I'd be more than willing to go through whatever pain was required to plan a wedding.
There would certainly be plenty of people interested, and it would make them happy.
I looked at Circe's smile out of the corner of my eye. "Do you have any idea where the vault might be?" I asked, more to restart the conversation than anything.
"Inside the instance seems like the most secure place. And from everything you've told me about our ancestor, he was a very cautious individual." She thought through it aloud.
"The Wukong ancestor seemed to think him a coward," I said. "Which, I suppose, isn't inaccurate."
"It's just hard to think of something as powerful as the Leech being afraid of anything," Circe said, with a shake of her head. “But I suppose everything is afraid of something. Including you."
She watched me out of the corner of her eyes.
I wanted to deny her claim and opened my mouth to do so, but then I shook my head in acknowledgment. "Yeah. Even me."
Her eyes practically glowed at that admission. "What could the great Bran Heros be afraid of?" Circe swayed her hips, nearly bumping them against mine.
I turned and kissed her on the cheek. "Losing all of you. I've gotten lucky in this life. Too lucky, if I'm being honest. Some days I wonder if that luck is finally going to catch up with me."
Circe gave me a sad smile, linking her arm in mine. "It'll have to get through me first," she said with a serious bite to her words.
I grinned at her ferocity. "Well, if that's the case, then I doubt it'll ever happen. No one's going to get through you, are they?"
"Nope," she answered with a smile that injected pure cheer into her face and into my heart.