The late afternoon sun set a golden glow on Jason's face that reminds me of the safety of a campfire under a desaturated afternoon-blue sky. He sits down on the grass outside the tent and motions for me to do the same. I plopped down next to him, heart racing, and wondered what he could possibly be doing this for.

     "You okay?" He asked.

     "Y-yeah..." I answered, reflexively.

     Jason raised an eyebrow.

     "Okay... not entirely."

     "Do you want to tell me what's up?"

     I rubbed my arm, "Bundi's reaction... nobody ever told me it's uncomfortable. I... it makes me uncomfortable. I..."

     Jason's pale blue eyes softened like the midday clouds. "You can tell me."

     It was quiet out here. The air was still, the clouds were at peace. Nature was holding her breath as I held mine and looked him right in the eyes. His face like the constellation of mitra poul, the maternal vulture, I could connect his freckles into the shapes of wings. I wanted to just brush my fingers across his jawbones ever so gently, maybe trail my thumb across the top of his lip. My heart hurts.

     "Like Apophis," I forced out. "It reminds me of Apophis."

     "You're not like Apophis," he comforted, his voice as gentle as the creeks back home.

     "No?"

     "Since when have you ever been like her? All you care about is helping people," he laughed gently and my heart skipped a beat.

     Kosmos, I could feel my hands started to clam up.  I felt almost dizzy, but I couldn't tell if that was from the fact Jason was staring into my eyes or I had just exerted an immense amount of my energy closing up Bundi's wounds. Maybe I should lie down.

     Opportunely, Nole pushed open the tent flap and looked down at us, slicing through the moment with the clean blade of a mood shift.

     "They're resting now, they told me they remembered a little more and the woman they saw might be the same one you described. We both want to know everything," Nole explained.

     Jason looked over at me, I nodded, "we can do that."

     "It's a little bit of a long story."

     "I've got long while," Nole sighed as he sat down next to us.

     "Oh Kosmos," I gasped, "where's Percy?"

     Nole let out a soft groan as both of us stood up, "okie doke, we'll release her first. But then I need everything you know on Apophis."

     Percy was a little ruffled, and definitely not happy when Nole cut the ropes that had bound her and she walked out of the prisoner's tent. She had the posture of a cat who'd just been shook upside down and had her fur rubbed backwards. The upside? She seemed happy to see us.

     "I've never been happier to see you two kids before in my life," she sighed, fixing her composure and brushing off her dress. "Even you... it's Nole, right?"

     Nole's mouth twitched, "yes, it is."

     I flicked back and forth between the two, trying to determine what the current mood was as the two stared each other down. Percy wasn't angry anymore, less hissy. The grace of a butterfly really shone through her in that moment. Nole was just watching her, almost waiting for her to say something so he could mold his reaction accordingly.

     "I hear you know a lot about this...Apophis figure."

     Percy's eyebrows flew up, "oh? You guys want me to tell you about her?"

     "If you will," Nole perked up and stood up straight.

     The Percy did something very unexpected.

     "Yes, anything I can do to help. I realize I've been a bit of a thorn in the butt, and I want to apologize. It wasn't very queenlike of me to act like that, and I'm sorry I let my prejudice get in the way of my job." She folded her hand against her waist and smiled thinly.

     Nole blinked, "apology accepted, I'm sorry we gave you a bad first impression but—"

     "It was expected," Percy finished for him.

     Nole smiled, "follow me, we have a lot to discuss."

     The tent was lit by soft scented candles that remined me of Ryan's tribe in the South. Nole seemed at comfort with the scent and the lights flickering back a forth across our faces created a soothing atmosphere. Percy folded her hands and closed her eyes, the orange tinted light flickering off of her butterfly's blue scales.

     "I met Apophis on a diplomacy trip across the country, she was a resident in Zestos, a witch who based her small business in fauna magic. She spoke to me briefly about coming on as a healer, and that's when she revealed to me she had the green hand."

     "She's a Daímonas?" Nole raised an eyebrow.

     Percy's mouth twitched, "I wasn't aware bearers of the green hand were considered Daímonas."

     "They are, it's the same excess of magic—never mind, just keep going." Nole waved it off.

     "I... I invited her into my healing regimen, it's a high paying job, full of honor, she accepted of course—"

     "Hold on, I have a few questions," Jason stopped her, the firelight bouncing off his thin nose and making him look impish. "I thought you had never heard of Apophis? That's what you said when we first met. Also, you said you had only seen Craig's powers once before, but know you're telling us you have a whole squad of tree hugging medics?"

     Percy frowned and her lips pressed together into a thin line. "I wasn't aware she was the same person as the woman I met all those years ago, Apophis is a pseudonym, it's not her real name. And as for my elite, it's a highly secretive and special force, I don't like to advertise it."

    "Apophis isn't her real name?" I blinked rapidly.

     Percy snorted, "of course not, it's ridiculous. Anyway, she worked on my force under the name Asclepius, though I knew that wasn't her real name either. Then... then she figured out if she reached deep enough into a person's mind she could actually control it, and became drunk on this ability. When she used it on her superiors to gain promotions, I was forced to exile her from my court. Now she holds a bitter resentment against me and my people." 

     Nole brushed his fingers through the scraggly orange beard in the edges of his chin. Moriah, Bundi's familiar had crawled up into his lap and he was stroking the medium sized rodent thoughtfully. Moriah had a lost, somewhat glazed over look in his eyes.

     "Thank you, I would like some time to think about this situation over and then confer with Bundi when they are well," he muttered, brushing back Moriah's short stubby ears. "If you will excuse me."

     We left the tent, I retired back to my cot, still feeling dizzy from the healing experience and Jason's intense, unreadable gazes. Peri was waiting for me there and I felt his start to sift through my unkempt hair as I tried to drift off.

     "You saw something when you went into their memories, didn't you?" He asked.

     I nodded slightly, "are they really memories?"

     "Yeah, and they're not always going to be good."

     I groaned, and ran my hand through the front of my hair, gripping my bangs and centering myself on the sensation, not pain or pleasure just... a feeling. "I know I don't have it as back as the fire-handed Daímonas, but this kind of sucks."

     Peri was quiet for a few moments, "you're not evil, Craig."

     I bit my tongue, "I know."

     "You were thinking about it."

     "I know."

     "I've seen a lot of humans come and go under my care Craig, and very few have had a heart as big as yours. You're not a bad person because bad people don't try to be good, you're just trying to help people."

     "Okay..." I let his words run on repeat in my mind as my eyelids got heavy. "Thanks Peri."

     He bit my ear so gently it didn't even hurt, "no problem kiddo."