A/N: If Oren had a nickel for every time he was helping a deity get to their hideaway... you get the idea.

  -x-X-x-

  As they traverse the sewers, Oren keeps his eyes and ears open and his head on a swivel. His nose, however… not so much. You know, Oren hadn’t really had time for too much entertainment back on Earth. What with studying for a life he would never get to live and everything. But it was impossible not to pick up on some stuff via simple cultural osmosis. And he was pretty sure that no tv show, movie, or comic ever really showed the downsides of having enhanced senses.

  The smell down here was bad. Really bad. Even breathing in through his mouth didn’t fully prevent the overpowering stench from hitting his brain. In the end, his only real recourse is to hold his breath entirely. Which he actually can do for several minutes at a time, but eventually he has to take in another breath and deal with the smell for a few moments again.

  It would have been better if they’d just gone with Sophia’s pn and let her transport them all out of the city. The City Guard might have mobilized a little faster than he expected, but it wasn’t like they would have been able to hunt them down, nor would they really have had any reason to venture out of Goldriver to try to find them. Now though? Oren wasn’t so certain.

  Sophia had never seen the sewers of Goldriver before, so instead of just teleporting from the catacombs into the city sewers, they’d been forced to find a shared wall and Oren had smashed it open. The City Guard would almost certainly make their way down to the God Hunters’ makeshift dungeons eventually, and they would probably find the hole into the sewers as well.

  Whether they would realize it was an escape route or not was more of a toss-up, but it was still far too iffy for Oren’s liking. Unfortunately, even after his and Sophia’s talk about what the God Hunters might have done to her if they’d followed her pn… the goddess was less than interested in listening to what he had to say. In the end, he hadn’t even tried. Aureo had convinced Sophia that he couldn’t leave the city, and so now here they were.

  Of course, Sophia didn’t exactly have the physicality to drag along an injured god. And the River God, while he’d been healed a little bit by Sophia’s infusion of divine power, was still very injured. Missing an eye, several fingers on both hands, toes on one foot, and the entire goddamn foot on the other… yeah, Aureo had certainly seen better days.

  Oren was forced to help him along as they made their way through the sewers, searching for what the River God described as ‘something he’d recognize as soon as he saw it’. Frankly, Oren was starting to have his doubts. But at the same time, what else could they do? They needed Aureo to survive so he could answer their questions, and that mean staying ahead of the City Guard. Especially since the City Guard were working for the leadership of the city, the same exact people who sold Aureo out to the God Hunters all those months ago.

  Even now, Oren can hear a lot of movement over their heads. They’ve definitely moved away from the Temple District at this point, but every once in a while Oren hears men marching in armor down a road towards said district from elsewhere in the city. He’s not sure if the City Guard is expecting a fight from the God Hunters, or if they stopped the moment they found the first bodies and immediately called for reinforcements.

  Either way, it doesn’t matter too much in the end because hopefully they’ll never find them. Even if the City Guard did try to search the sewers for them, this pce is byrinthian in nature. Aureo keeps telling him they need to turn left or right, but while Oren can at least tell they haven’t turned around at any point, he has no clue where they’re going or if they’ll actually get there.

  It's entirely possible that the River God he’s helping to limp along is already lost. After everything Aureo has been through, Oren wouldn’t even bme him or be that mad. Worst case scenario, they could always still have Sophia transport them all out of here and-

  “H… Here.”

  Oren blinks as Aureo suddenly pulls to a stop and speaks up. The injured god is still very weak and this trip hasn’t been any better for him, but he’d refused to entertain the idea of having Oren carry him in any shape or form. He’d even ruled out a piggyback ride. His pride simply wouldn’t allow it, so Oren had been reduced to a crutch instead for the god to lean on as they’d made their way.

  Looking around, this section of the sewers doesn’t look any different from the others, Oren has to admit. He furrows his brow as he studies the walls… and then he sees it, his eyes widening slightly. There, hidden beneath the muck and grime is the faintest outline imaginable for a doorway.

  “I see it.”

  Aureo peers at him with his one working eye before grunting as Oren turns them both, orienting perfectly onto the hidden doorway. After a moment, the River God snorts derisively.

  “You do, do you? Good eyes. Yes, it’s right here. And I, thanks to the lovely goddess at our side, have just enough power to activate it.”

  Sophia blushes lightly, preening a little bit under Aureo’s praise. Of course, she’s not too pleased about it… mostly because this sewer trek hasn’t been something she’s enjoyed anymore than Oren.

  Reaching out with his hand, Aureo pces it ft against the wall in the exact center of the faint outline that Oren can just barely makeout. Then, he pulses his divine power and the entire door becomes far more visible as it glows from the infusion of energy. Until slowly, with a grinding noise that fills the sewer, the section of wall comes away, pushing down into the floor until it reveals another passageway.

  This one is hewn from natural rock and the ground is fine sand instead of… well, instead of what they’re currently dealing with. Aureo slumps against Oren in relief and excitement, but he doesn’t push for them to rush forward. Instead, he gestures to Sophia.

  “Ladies first.”

  Oren clenches his jaw at that, not liking the idea of Sophia taking lead in unfamiliar territory. However, before he can say anything, she’s already giving Aureo a polite curtesy and stepping ahead of them into the cave tunnel. Frowning, Oren makes sure he and Aureo follow right behind her so there’s no foolish cliché like the door closing and cutting them off or anything like that.

  Not that it would have worked to separate them if it had happened anyways, but it would have been better not to have to destroy the door if the City Guard decided to investigate the sewers after all. Indeed, once he and Aureo are into the passageway as well and out of the sewers, Aureo reaches to the side and grabs an innocuous-looking rocky outcropping, sending another pulse of divine energy out and closing the door behind them.

  With that… it was like they were never there. Or so Oren hoped. As the three of them begin moving down the tunnel again, Oren can’t help but raise some concerns.

  “This pce we’re going to… does anyone in the city know about it?”

  Turning, Aureo peers at him for a second.

  “If you mean those treacherous fuckers who sold me out to the God Hunters… nah. None of them know about this pce. It predates them… predates any living mortal, in fact.”

  Oren just grunts.

  “And you didn’t have any information about this pce in your holdings up in the city? You know those were almost certainly ransacked and salvaged for spoils after your capture and imprisonment right?"

  The River God grimaces at that, either because he hadn’t thought of that yet or because he didn’t like being reminded. Still, his answer is satisfactory when it finally comes.

  “… No. Nothing up there would have exposed my hideaway down here.”

  Okay good. Content for the time being, Oren falls silent as they continue on. Unfortunately, it seems he’s roused Aureo’s curiosity.

  “You’re certainly an inquisitive one, aren’t you? And if I’m not mistaken… mortal as well. Strange company, goddess.”

  Turning to regard them as she keeps moving forward, Sophia forces a smile onto her face as her eyes flicker to Oren.

  “He’s my bodyguard… and a skilled one at that.”

  “Yes… I couldn’t help noticing when you said earlier that the God Hunters were all dead. That’s a lot of men for two people to sughter their way through.”

  Sophia’s smile falters a little at that, but the goddess is too honest for her own good.

  “Just one, actually. I’m… not much of a killer.”

  Her wince at the end makes it clear she’s thinking of what happened with Raythe. Oren itches to reassure her and point out that he struck the killing blow there technically but coming from him he’s not sure it would really help. And besides, the injury that Sophia had dealt Raythe HAD been lethal, Oren had just… sped things up a bit.

  Still, its obvious that Aureo is getting somewhat suspicious. Oren doesn’t quite know how to aly those suspicions though. In the end, he’ll just have to leave it to Sophia to-

  “Oh!”

  In an instant, he’s blurring forward. Sophia had still been looking back over her shoulder at them as she walked forward, biting her lower lip and clearly just as deep in thought as him. As such, she hadn’t seen the cave tunnel coming to an end and opening up into a rger cavern… or the drop just beyond it.

  Faster than the blink of an eye, Oren has deposited Aureo against the nearest wall and dashed forward, his hand reaching out and grabbing the front of Sophia’s top near the small of her back. Moduting his strength so he doesn’t just rip her top open and let her fall anyways, he pulls her away from the edge she’s tipping over. In the process, she spins around and winds up pressed ft against him, her hands ft on his chest.

  For the briefest of moments, the two of them stare at one another, wide eyed. And then Oren remembers himself and lets go of her, pulling back and coughing into his fist.

  “Apologies, Goddess.”

  Sophia blushes before making a show of brushing herself off.

  “Y-Yes… well, don’t let it happen again.”

  Whether ‘it’ was her nearly falling off a ledge or him ‘saving’ her, Oren doesn’t know and doesn’t ask. He’s silent as he helps Aureo off of the wall and they move forward to join Sophia on the ledge overlooking the cavern. It’s… admittedly very beautiful, Oren has to admit. There are glowing crystalline structures in the ceilings and walls, providing a strange sort of lighting that is as gorgeous as it is unnatural. The fine sand from the passage fills the cavern below as well.

  Finally, there are two major features to the cavern aside from the crystals and the sand. On the left is an open ‘bedroom’ of sorts. The sand has been covered in stone sbs and upon those stone sbs sits a rge four poster canopy bed along with a desk and a wardrobe. On the right of the cavern, meanwhile, is a small stream that ends in a pool filled to the brim with the clearest, brightest, bubbliest water that Oren has ever seen.

  After a long moment of allowing Oren and Sophia to silently admire the pce, Aureo speaks up, his voice filled with unmistakable pride.

  “The stream is technically part of my river. Not part of the main river, that’s all above ground, but there are some underground caves that the river opens up into. One of those caves is thin but deep, going far enough down to find pockets of heat that then push the water back up into that pool you see there. I’ve imbued the pool with enough of my deific power over the centuries that it’s a divine healing spring by this point. For mortals, just a drink of its waters could cure any ailment or injury in seconds. For a god though… you’ll have to help me in.”

  Oren gnces to Sophia for permission first. Not that he thinks she’ll say no, but it’s not his decision. The goddess blinks and then hurriedly nods.

  “O-Oh! Of course, let’s get you in so you can begin healing then!”

  If it was Oren’s choice, he would have made their continued assistance and Aureo’s healing contingent on answering their questions. After all, having sughtered an entire garrison of God Hunters, he really did want them on the road away from Goldriver sooner rather than ter. This was so much worse than Oakvale…

  But Sophia was the boss and Oren wasn’t so emotionally stunted that he didn’t recognize the ck of morality in his thoughts. Helping Aureo down the winding path from the ledge to the cave floor below, they make it over to the healing spring soon enough. Luckily, it’s like a bowl. The sides aren’t too deep, though now that he’s closer Oren can make out the seam along the bottom of the spring where the heated water is bubbling up from deep within the earth.

  Easing Aureo down into the side of the hot spring until the god is submerged up to his neck… the effects are almost immediate. First, all of the blood, grime, and other disgusting remnants from his captivity and torture fleck off of Aureo’s godly figure in mere moments. But rather than muddying up the hot spring and ruining the crystal clear waters, it’s almost like all of it just… dissolves away into nothingness.

  From there, a light glow covers the River God from head to toe, even the part of his body that isn’t submerged under the water. Aureo closes his own remaining eye with a sigh as he leans back in contentment.

  “Thank you, both of you. I confess, part of me still wonders if this might be a hallucination.”

  Sophia makes a noise in the back of her throat at that, but Oren is forced to acknowledge that it’s fair assumption. Aureo was extremely fortunate to have sted long enough for them to save him.

  “But by now, I kind of have to admit… you both are far too strange for me to have thought you up.”

  Opening his one good eye, Aureo looks between the two of them.

  “Apologies, but it seems my paranoid mind can’t accept the ck of answers any longer. Please tell me how a Minor Goddess of the sughtered Heavens and a mortal capable of sughtering an entire God Hunter garrison came to be traveling together.”

  While Oren appreciates the polite fa?ade, he’s not so unobservant that he doesn’t notice the crystals on the walls and ceiling glowing with power… or the water of the healing spring as well. Damn it… Aureo had said it himself, hadn’t he? This stream and hot spring were part of his river. They’d effectively put the diminished god back in the center of his domain… the center of his power.

  They would have to tread very, very carefully from here on out.

  -x-X-x-

  A/N: Ruh roh.

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