When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (best ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

the walls, she couldn’t make out where the central lighting was coming from. Regardless of the source, she could see just as easily as she did on the surface.

Though Gemini had initially opposed, they’d shadowed the children to their parents. The espionage took them back to the family’s hotel room, where Avia burned a small peephole in the door. The father had pulled out an invitation, then handed a second to his wife. Both cards glowed bright yellow as a baritone voice asked:

“Identification?”

“Manuel Javier,” he responded. “Herbalist trader between the Northern and Southern kingdoms. An invitation was extended to my family by Sir Rayeluk as appreciation for our continued service.”

“Approved. Place one card on the floor. Step left foot first, then wait for your family on the other side. Your children shall enter second, then your wife. She will keep the second card. That will be your gate back to this location. Given the volume of guests that will be arriving, we cannot provide a replacement gate. When you are ready, you may begin.”

For whatever reason, the card never asked Avia for identification. Instead, they were just sucked down into the floor like a ghost in an old sci-fi movie.

Avia shivered as she shoved past a glacial couple to the area demarcated as “Staff.” She’d been on edge since they’d gotten down there. Her faint connection with the aether was enough to tell her they were beneath Ys, but that was about it. The air wasn’t really air, but a mist; a thin shadow-like substance. She couldn’t see it unless she tried, but she could feel it. It wasn’t thick like smoke or water, but an amorphous cloud that put her on high alert.

Avia’s breath caught as a large man in a matching orange shirt marched towards her with a giant crate in tow. She quickly side stepped out of his way, but he never looked down. A small sigh escaped her lips and she continued weaving through the crowd.

As much as she loathed these situations, the masses were an invaluable cover. There were too many people swarming about for anyone to question the legitimacy of her employment. Even finding the shirt and headset had been a breeze. With the show starting in less than thirty minutes, the chaos had left the staff lounge unlocked and empty. Her gear was either spare equipment or belonged to someone running late. Either way, she was happy that she didn’t have to resort to locking a guard in a storage closet as she’d seen on TV.

She zig zagged her way past jugglers, clowns, and what she assumed to be a lion tamer (though its beast had three heads and looked to be crossed with a bear). It was unbelievable how diverse the crowd was. Obviously, there were Selkie, Atlanteans, and other Ys natives, but so much more as well. Oni, aziza, harpies, ents...

Her shoulder was pulsing like crazy, and it took everything in her not to reach out and grab it. Given her typical healing patterns, she had until morning before her skin was back to normal, but she didn’t dare risk messing with her Mark and speed up the process.

“Oy! You over theeir! Dragon geirl!”

Avia turned to see another worker, a Selkie, walking towards her. “Where’re you headed?”

“To check ‘Freya’s makeup!” Avia said quickly, surprised at her fast reply. She hadn’t had time to think of a particular excuse, but was happy to find that lying came back so naturally.

“Peirfect! Can you take this to her dressing room?” He handed her a large bag, and before Avia could respond, he was off. She stared after him a moment, then peeked inside of the bag. There were hundreds of letters and cards.

We miss you Eya!

You’re my idol! Keep it up!

“Damn,” Avia muttered. “Still worshiped without even being a god…”

She closed the bag and rounded the corner to the dressing rooms. She got to the end of the line and stopped in front of the two rooms at the end. Unlike the others, whose names were just large font on white paper, these were dazzled in multicolored lights.

Freyr and Freya.

Avia took a deep breath and knocked on the ex-goddess’ door. Even if the woman was no longer a deity, it was still intimidating. Not only had she been powerful, but she had held divine wisdom and clairvoyance. Avia didn’t know how much of those powers Freya still retained. If any, her dragon-guise would be seen through in an instant. Then again, what was a goddess-made-elf queen doing performing trapeze acts at a traveling mirage circus in the first place?

Avia’s thoughts were interrupted by a woman yelling “come in,” followed by the door swinging open. A gust of magical energy wafted out the open door. It was duller than Michael’s aura, but had a sweet fragrance to it.

Avia looked Freya over and found she was a perfect resemblance to the flyer. White-gold hair fell down her back in a tight French braid. A wide smile spread across her face. There were scars and open wounds across her greyish body, but none looked unseemly. In a strange way, Freya looked more beautiful undead than she probably had alive.

“Can I help you with something?” she asked in a sweet, thick Swedish accent. Avia scolded herself again for getting distracted and smiled back. Before she answered, Freya looked down at the bag and beamed. “Wonderful!” She took the bag and set it next to three identical ones on her table.

When she turned back to see Avia still there, she blushed. “Was there something else?”

“Just here to check your hair and makeup!” She spoke in the peppiest, Latina-show-biz voice she could muster.

“Sure!” Freya cleared a space by the vanity table and motioned for Avia to come in.

“Reason number two why you should go—hang on.” Castor paused and his sister’s