“Uh, I think it’ll be better if I come with you, what’s your name again?” Aurora watched Rita with an amused smile. It was almost adorable to see her once-friend be so careless and not be hardened by battle.

Still, she had never taken Rita to be someone careless. She was still somewhat surprised that Rita had even agreed to go with her in the first place. The Rita she remembered had been somewhat paranoid.

But it had also been the abyss where they met so Aurora was not sure it counted. But she did decide to tease the poor girl at her side.

“Ehhh. You didn’t even know my name and you still decided to follow me down here? My, you must be really brave” Aurora’s voice had just a hint of that tease she always used.

Not that she behaved like this often. Her more playful side mostly came out when she had been with Clove.

To be like this with someone who was not Clove should have been tough but it felt freeing to Aurora. She had spent so much of her life focused on Clove that she had missed a lot of other experiences. One she could make up for before she met her wife again.

“I, it’s not like that. I know you’re a good person and Ikindoftrustyou” the last words took some effort to understand but once they did Aurora felt touched.

Trust was something that was difficult to come by in their world. The abyss was hailed as a place of destruction and power, not of trust and friendship. Rita might not have known it, but her one sentence had made Aurora’s day.

She would like to treasure Rita’s friendship this time around and even give her a second chance at life. She would not let Rita die this time around. Still, she needed to have words with Rita about stranger danger.

“It’s good that you trust me but don’t just follow any person offering to help you out. God knows there are not a lot of good people left in this world” Aurora was only half-teasing by now.

“I know all that. Doesn’t change the fact that it was you who decided to take me along. Take a little responsibility here” Rita replied back with just as snark. For the first time, Aurora could see the flash of her future friend in this young girl.

Maybe there was hope for the future to shape out as the way it had been. But was that really for the best? As for the present, it was better to live in the moment.

“Responsibility? Aren’t you a little young for me? Also, are you sure? Once you bind yourself to me, there is no going back” Aurora teased even further, not being able to stop herself.

She might be getting too much into it all, her face almost at chest level with Rita’s eyes. And Aurora could see the interest shining in Rita’s red eyes. The girl was familiarly eyeing her and that meant that playtime was up.

As much as Aurora would love to keep this play up, she did not want to encourage Rita to start something she did not understand.

“I-responsibility? What do you mean?” Rita’s gulp was audible and so loud that it caused Aurora to scoff. Yup, it was getting out of hand alright.

“Oh, nothing much. Stick with me for a bit longer and I’ll take you back home. For now, though, I do need to get my work in there done” If Aurora had time, she would have taken Rita back to her home first.

But time was something even a goddess could not control (at least Aurora did not think so). And there were things Aurora had to set in motion before she could start searching for Clove’s souls.

She would not only need resources but people as well. She would need trained soldiers who would be her shield and allow her the connection needed to live out her life in the shadows.

“By the way, what could you possibly need in a place like this that you could not get above here?” Rita asked as she eyed the buildings with a disgusted look.

Aurora felt sad that Rita was only looking at the surface to judge this place. She had no idea just what kind of hidden gems these underbellies were, brimming with talent. It attracted all kinds of crazy that could not exist in the normal society.

“The upper surface has wealth while this place? It had talent. Don’t underestimate these people just because they don’t have the means to get a proper education. Most of them outlive normal people in the abyss” Aurora knew of a few people who had ventured into the abyss’s depths.

The brightest of diamonds really were forged by the harshest of the conditions. And Aurora was about to recruit one such entity in a matter of minutes.

The first stop would be the last place one could think to look for such a person.

“Your ID. I need to check if you are of age or not” The bouncer asked as he guarded the door. The muscular back and the huge body made him look intimidating but Aurora knew she could take him out if she really had to.

Thankfully, she was not here for the same thing the normal people were.

“I.D? I’m sure there is no need for the I.D to get into the lower floors?” Aurora flashed her arm, her magic making ink disappear from her arms as a familiar sign pulsed beneath it. She had sensed it when she had first come into this body.

It was her old one, the one that became the goddess. It had retained each and every mark she had ever born and yet they did not show up on her skin unless she willed them to.

“And her?” the guard asked, not even beating his eyelashes at the mark. Rita looked confused, as did the others in the line behind Aurora. She had cut line and it might have been thanks to her goddess’s allure she had barely let out.

But now people were starting to notice and they would complain if she did not hurry.

“With me. We’ll take the backdoor so there is no need to see us off” Aurora dragged Rita, not waiting for the confirmation. She knew her mark would allow her the entry since it had retained its original magic.

“What happened? How did you get past the guards?” Rita asked in a confused voice. The pair watched as the bouncer thrashed another client for presenting a fake ‘I.D.’ Man, these people were strict with their protocols.

“That’s a trade secret. I’ll tell you once you’re old enough” Aurora spoke as she placed her hand on her lip in a teasing way. But she knew she would take her secrets to her grave this time as well.