“I still don’t think this is a good idea.”  Fenrir’s “voice” sounded less worried and more unconvinced.

 

“Oh, just think of it as further practice,” I said.  “It’s a ‘team-building exercise!’”

 

I patted the large dragon I’d created on its translucent, green head one final time.  “I’m sorry in advance, Mr. Dragon,” I told it. I’m not sure why I cared so much. The dragon was going to cease to exist in a moment anyway, and I’m not entirely sure it even has anything resembling a mind.

 

I hopped aboard the Fenrircycle and rode back down the street far enough to give us enough room to build up speed.

 

“Ready, Fenrir?” I asked.

 

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” answered Fenrir doing his best imitation of Eeyore.

 

And we were off.  Speeding down the street, we zoomed past the old, worn out houses that made up the lower income neighborhoods of Santa Ana.  Mr. Dragon lowered his tail to the ground and raised his head, providing us with a perfect ramp. Fenrir’s front tire thumped as we made contact with the tip of the dragon’s tail.  We rode up the dragon’s spine and launched into the air towards our destination, the roof of a small house. I drifted off of Fenrir into the cool evening air as Fenrir shifted back into his wolf form.  I broke my concentration on the dragon and created a new construct, this one in the form of a large, troll-like creature, doing a cannonball dive towards the roof of the house ahead of us.

 

“FOR GREAT JUSTICE!” I cried.

 

The troll crashed through its roof, clearing the way for us, and I let it dissipate as Fenrir and I landed perfectly in the middle of a group of screaming, panicked cultists amidst a room full of lit candles.  It would appear we landed in the middle of some sort of pentagram, and they were performing some sort of ritual in praise of Loki before we arrived.

 

“Yes, run!  Scream in terror!” I shouted with a mad laugh.  Fenrir snarled menacingly.

 

The cultists, for their part, just screamed and ran.  We didn’t really need to give chase, because they had a nasty trap waiting for them outside.

 

“Don’t you think you’re overdoing it with the theatrics?” asked Fenrir.  I didn’t need to ask if he was only speaking to me or a general broadcast.  The cultists didn’t react, so I could be reasonably certain they hadn’t heard his “voice.”

 

“It’s all about selling the idea that I’m a mad terror goddess on a quest for revenge,” I shouted, cackling madly.  I figured the cultists wouldn’t take the time to parse my words so long as I continued with the visage of madness.

 

“If you say so,” Fenrir acquiesced.

 

Once the cultists had all fled the building out the front door - none of them had any hope of escaping through the backyard, as it was bricked in by cinder block walls separating it from the neighboring yards - I dropped my act and casually walked outside, Fenrir following behind me.  The cultists were all being slapped in handcuffs by a line of MAB agents set up along the street.

 

The past couple months hadn’t been terribly active for me.  I’ve been training a lot, and I’ve mastered a few tricks with my powers.  With Fenrir no longer trying to capture me, I had a lot of extra time to train.  I’d even had time to take up some “consulting” jobs for MAB. And by “consulting,” I mostly mean “aggressive negotiations.”

 

Don’t tell anyone I referenced the Star Wars prequels.

 

It was one such job I was on now.  The Disciples of Loki had mostly been laying low since the betrothal ceremony.  MAB had been tracking them and arresting them when possible. They believe this was the last coven hidden here in Orange County, so Rick had called me and asked if I wanted to assist on this one, since this was technically in my “jurisdiction.”  I wasn’t exactly proud to be working for the cops, but I liked the idea of Loki getting the upper hand even less.

 

“Nice entrance,” Rick said, leaving the rest of his team to handle the arrests and approaching me.  “Could have done with a little less property damage, but what do I care? All their assets are forfeit anyway, and I don’t work for the banks.”

 

“It was a ‘team-building exercise,’” Fenrir commented dryly.

 

“Seriously, though.  ‘All your base’ memes?” Rick chided.

 

I shrugged.  “Eh, the catch phrase is a work in progress.”

 

“Well, good work flushing them out of there,” Rick commented.  “You can stick around, but I doubt you’d want to. It’s mostly just paperwork from here on.”

 

I pulled my phone out of it’s shielded pocket.  I had pockets on my suit before, but I had to get Agni and her boys to create a special case for my phone to protect it from being shattered by me getting into a fight.  The case is apparently rated for the weight of an eighteen-wheeler focused entirely on it and not breaking, so I have a feeling it’s safe. My phone said I had one missed call.  From Dad. Can’t skip out on this one.

 

“Yeah, that’s alright,” I told Rick.  “Something’s just come up, and I have to go.”

 

“Alright, then.  I’ll call you if these morons give us any useful info, but most of these cultists are just dumbasses who think they’ve got an in with the big guys when really they’re just cannon fodder.”  Rick gave a casual salute and headed back to assist with the booking.

 

Fenrir looked at me with a concerned expression.  “What is it? Did Cat accidentally create life again?  The toaster keeps trying to cook my tail.” Cat had done more experimenting over the past couple months, and once accidentally gave life to our toaster.  I had named it “Dan.”

 

“It’s Dad,” I said.  Fenrir had not met my father, but we’d talked a bit about my family situation, so he understood what that meant.

 

I hit the call back button and put the phone to my ear.

 

“Chris?” came Dad’s voice.  I hadn’t even heard a single ring.  He was probably waiting with the phone in his hand.

 

“Dad?  You called me?”

 

“Yes.  It would seem I need a place to sleep tonight.  Possibly for more than tonight.”

 

Okay, that didn’t sound good.  “What happened?”

 

“Y-your mother kicked me out.”  Dad was always the picture of stoicism.  That his voice could shake this much had never seemed like a possibility.

 

“What?  Why? Wait, no, that’s not important right now.  Where are you?”

 

“I’m at Luigi’s.”

 

“Hang tight.  I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

 

****

 

After having Fenrir open a portal home and hopping in the car with Cat, we drove to Luigi’s and found Dad standing outside, looking lost.  It was like he’d been operating a train engine for his whole life and suddenly found himself driving a car with no roads. He had always seemed to know where he was and where he was going.  Now he was looking around like he didn’t know what to do. It hurt to see him like this.

 

The car ride back to the house was quiet.  I didn’t want to push Dad to find out what had happened until he was ready to talk.  So far, he mostly spoke in brief sentences with a shaky voice, like he wasn’t sure if the words were shaped properly.

 

Once we got him home, I helped him to the couch.  He wasn’t physically infirm or anything, but I honestly wasn’t sure if he could figure out which direction was forward any more.

 

“You want to talk about what happened?” I asked as I sat down beside him, trying to put on a comforting voice.

 

“I… guess?” he said.  It seemed he wasn’t entirely unaware of his state of unsurety.  That’s good. Hopefully I can engage his tendency toward logical and direct thinking to help him plant himself firmly on the ground once again.  “We were celebrating my birthday,” he said, and I immediately felt a pang of guilt for having forgotten his birthday. “I told your mother I was thinking of going on a trip by myself.”

 

Ding ding ding!  All those alarm bells I’d spent so much of my life training were going off.  Mom never liked anyone in her family having their own lives. “Oh, Dad…” was all I could say.

 

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked.  The fear and pain in his eyes tugged at my heartstrings even more than the situation already had.

 

“No, Dad.  You didn’t do anything wrong.  In fact, for once in your life, you may have done something very right.”  I hugged him. He seemed startled by the hug, but didn’t pull away. This wasn’t the first time I had hugged my father, but it was the first time in a very long time, and somehow it still felt like the very first time I’d ever really hugged him.

 

“You can stay here as long as you need to,” I told him.  I didn’t think Cat would object, and I was honestly starting to think Justin was a ghost, since I hadn’t seen him in months, despite his room still clearly being lived in.  “You can even take my bed if you need to. I… I actually spend a lot of my time these days in another world.”

 

“Oh.  Are you sure you don’t mind?”

 

“Of course!” Cat said enthusiastically, coming in from the kitchen, having left us to have some privacy.  Apparently not MUCH privacy. “It’s not a problem. Nuestra casa es su casa.”

 

“That is very kind,” Dad said.  “But, um… why is the toaster humping my leg?”

 

I laughed.  “Oh, that’s just Dan.  If you think that’s weird, wait til you meet the dog!”