I woke up in a soft, warm bed. It was nicer than I had felt in quite a long time. The sheets smelled clear and the pillow under my head was nice and fluffy. The duvet was thick but light, like a cloud rested over me. The temperature in the room was cool, air conditioned. That was nice because the last time I was conscious, I was...

Then I remembered why I was unconscious in the first place. I had been in that alley, and that strange woman had found me there and offered me a bed for the night. I still felt groggy as I often did after I had been asleep awhile, but I forced myself up as alarm sparked through my body.

Instantly, I felt a very gentle hand on my shoulder, pushing my back down. "Hey, hey, calm down, dear, you're alright!"

I looked towards the voice, my heart racing with fear, but when I saw them I relaxed a little. I had never met the man before. He had fluffy, short black hair and brown eyes that were smiling kindly at me. He took my hand in his own soft ones. "Relax, honey, you're not in any danger..."

I stared at him for a few seconds before I looked around me in confusion. "Wh... Wh-Where...?!"

"Shh, shh, relax, deep breaths, okay?" He made me take some slow breaths with him in through the nose and out through the mouth, and after, I did feel less terrified. I especially felt better when, in the middle of one breath, my new baby raccoon friend hopped up on my lap safe and sound and looked up at me, chirping fondly. "There we go..."

I was able to look around me this time without panicking. The room I was in had white walls and a marble floor, and a wooden door on the left side which was closed. A lamp was on the bedside table and it was lit, casting a warm glow on the room. All the sheets and pillows on the bed were white, and I was wearing white clothing too. I swallowed. "S-So... Where am I...?"

"Hear, me out, alright dear?" The man said. "You're in God's Realm. This is the home of the gods who watch over your world and all the others like it."

I stared at him blankly.

Thorn breathed a sigh. "You're rather lucky, you happen to be a Demist though you didn't know what it was at the time, so we were looking over you. We were planning on making an inquiry of your health to your parents soon, but when you ran away, sudden action had to be taken, which is why Grey went and got you like that."

I nodded very slowly. "A... A-Am I dead...?"

The man smiled kindly. "No, dear, you're very much alive." He said. "What's your name dear?"

I swallowed. "V... Veronica... Veronica Wolfiven..."

"Veronica? What a lovely name, I'm Thorn." The man, Thorn, said. Funny, Thorn seemed like an awfully tough name for a man seeming so gentle. Thorn smiled down at the raccoon. "What a cutie. Does it have a name yet?"

I hummed in thought, petting the very happy-looking raccoon behind the ears. "Hm... I'm thinking Rocket."

"Rocket? Interesting! I like it, it's a very handsome name." The raccoon trilled happily as Thorn scratched it under the chin. It really reminded me of a cat – which was anything but a bad thing.

"So... This place is like Mount Olympus or something...?"

"It's a home of the gods, but not those gods – here, I'll take you on a walk, alright? Keep an open mind darling – you're an author, aren't you? Let the impossible become possible to you and you'll be less overwhelmed." He said as he stood. "Ready?"

I took a deep breath before climbing to my feet out of the bed. I still felt tired after the long day I had yesterday, my legs sore from walking, but altogether I wasn't half bad. It felt nice not waking up to a house of chaos and noise, and Thorn seemed so kind and warm, like a mother.

He led me through the only door that had been in the room, and I was met by a lot of light – the corridor was full of windows. More white walls that looked like they were marble stretched on and on in the hallway. Thorn guided me down the hall with a supportive hand on my back while I looked around at everything in wonder. Everything was white and gold and reeked of light – I definitely had to be in heaven or some shit.

Then I caught sight of the strangest thing I had witnessed all day. A man – shirtless by the way – walked right past me. But the shirtlessness wasn't what caught my eye, not to say I didn't notice it. The thing I really paid attention to, though, was the pair of mighty golden wings growing from his back.

My eyes widened in shock and I looked behind me to stare at his wings a little longer. To my utter disbelief, they were really growing right out of his back and they moved and swayed with every step he took. Those were real, probably working wings. I could hardly believe my eyes.

Suddenly, just as I was about to turn back around, something grabbed my attention. A soft rapping, as if on glass. I looked towards the sound, and what I saw made me stop in surprise. Thorn stopped as well and glanced back at me. "Veronica?" He followed my gaze to the window and gasped as what he saw.

A person just like the one we passed up moments before – a person with wings – was clinging to the windowsill and gently tapping on the window, asking to be let in. Though, strangely, her expression seemed rather emotionless despite the fact she was hanging from a windowsill just before the boundless blue sky opened up behind her. Before Thorn could react, I ran right to the window and opened it as fast as I could, grabbing the winged person's hand and dragging them inside. I grew up with a whole bunch of little siblings – my reflexes were pretty damn good.

The person tried to spread their wings to drift elegantly to the floor, but it didn't seem to go as planned. One of their outstretching wings hit me right in the face and made me fall while setting them off balance so they fell hard to the ground on their side as well. Thorn just watched, half in amusement as the two of us groaned on the floor. Well, I groaned. The other didn't really seem to mind the fall. They stood and reached over the me. They grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me up with all the ease of picking up a feather, only using one hand.

I stumbled a little in surprise at being put on my feet again so easy, but I didn't fall because of the creature's grip still on my arm. I looked at them, and finally got to take in her appearance.

She was a little bit shorter than me, and pretty pale. Her eyes were emerald green, and the wings stretching out of her back were a soft blonde color mostly except for the feathers at the tips – those were jet black. Her hair was chin length and a light brown, almost blonde color, and then there was a streak of golden yellow at the front of her bangs, which were parted to almost cover her left eye.

"Thank you for your assistance." She said to me, pulling me from my entranced stare at her wings. "I will forever remember the favor you gifted me – how can I call you, miss?"

I blinked slowly. "...Uh... I'm... I'm Veronica..."

"I shall not forget it." The strange person said. "I am Cab, and if you should ever require my assistance, you can call my name and I will aid you."

I nodded slowly, feeling very confused. What the hell kind of a name was Cab? Who named their child Cab?! "Th... Thanks...?" I said, while Thorn watched with an amused smiled.

"No, I believe I should be thanking you." Cab dipped her head respectfully before spreading her wings and taking off down the hallway. I stared after her with wide eyes, completely lost by now.

Thorn smiled knowingly and patted my shoulder as he rejoined my side. "You must be wondering who the people with wings are."

"Yeah, that would be nice to know..."

"They're Valkyrie, the servants of the Demigods." Thorn said. "Sort of like angels. I nodded slowly. I was starting to get the gist of this place now – the open mind thing helped, but I would probably have a few existential crises later. "Come, we're almost there."

I blinked and looked up at Thorn as he continued pulling me gently down the hall. "Almost where?"

Thorn only smiled. It was a few more minutes' walk before Thorn pulled me through a door and into a new room. There were several people inside there besides us. The room looked less elegant and more cozy than the rest of God's Realm, or what I'd seen of it so far. It had wood floors and walls with a fluffy white carpet on the ground. There was a television mounted to the right wall and a comfy-looking couch with a coffee table facing it. Two people sat at the couch, arguing on what to watch on Netflix – one of the two was a woman with long black hair, who looked very elegant. The other was a male with brown hair and thick-framed square glasses, and a scythe leaned against the couch on his side.

The left wall was covered in bookshelves, except for a window in the middle that showed a great view of the vast, clear sky. A woman with red hair in a messy bun and sitting in a wheelchair was browsing books and humming to herself contentedly. Past the couch, a ping pong table was pushed up against the far wall, where a big window shone through. A younger male – a teenager with black hair – was sitting cross-legged in the center of the table with his eyes shut. The two players, one on either side of the table, seemed to be trying to play around him like it was making the game harder, or maybe they got bored of the normal net or something. The player on the right was tall and tough looking with black hair in a quaff and a lot of piercings. She probably had a lot of tattoos around somewhere. Her opponent was a man, shorter than her, with light grey-blue hair and gentle brown eyes.

As we walked in, the male at the ping pong table hit the ball so it hit the teenager in the center of the table right in the side of the head. His eyes opened to reveal a deadpanned, agitated expression. The man who hit him took a nervous step back. "I-It was an accident!" Meanwhile, the woman on the other side laughed loudly and the girl in the wheelchair smiled in spite of them.

Then the teenager who was hit by the ping pong ball looked up and blinked as he saw the newcomers. "Thorn!"

The man with blueish hair ran behind Thorn. "Thorn, s-save me!"

Thorn rolled his eyes affectionately. "Eliot, you should stand up for yourself."

"Why do that when I have a perfectly good Earth Mage at my disposal?!"

The man on the couch looked up to say something teasing to Eliot, before he noticed me and blinked. "Who's the kid?"

"The kid is the item of today's meeting." Thorn said, mocking the man's tone. "This is Veronica. Veronica, this is Tyler," He gestured to the man he just spoke to, "Irene," the woman next to Tyler on the couch, "John," the boy sitting on the ping pong table, "Millie," the scary-looking girl still at the table, "Margaret," the girl in the wheelchair, "and the little coward behind me is Eliot."

"I'm not a coward!"

I looked up at Thorn in confusion. "A meeting? Meeting for what?"

Thorn smiled gently. "A meeting to determine whose custody you'll be in now that we're in charge of you.

"That's not fair!" Grey snarled.

"Grey, sit down." Notch interjected.

"No, I'm the one who found her and brought her back here! I should be allowed to take care of her!"

"She's a human, so it's Bodil's job to take care of her. You should know that."

"No, I don't know that, because that rule came about a few decades ago and I wasn't here because someone stabbed me in the back." She shot a glare at Bodil, who flinched. "Literally."

Hero huffed. "Well, those are the rules, Grey."

"I don't care!" Grey snapped, standing. "I have wanted a child for so long, you all know that – this is my chance! I can take care of her, please, I can!"

"You could have had several kids by now if you got up the guts to talk to him..." Azrea muttered, looking away.

Grey heard and took a step towards the Demigod of the Faerie, eyes blazing with anger. She probably would have struck a blow if Hystoria hadn't pulled her back down into her seat.

"That's enough of that." Notch said. "Things like your hot temper are the reason why we are not trusting you with her care. Bodil will be her caretaker – that is my final word." He stood up. "Dismissed."

Grey sighed and covered her face with her hands while the others stood and filed out. A few Demigods patted her shoulder sympathetically as they passed – Azrea wasn't one of them. The others all left until the only ones sitting at the table were Bodil and Grey.

After several seconds of silence, Bodil looked up, an easy expression on his face. He set his hands on the table. "...Sestra..."

As soon as she heard him speak, she stood roughly and stormed out of the room without casting him a wayward glance. Bodil didn't watch him go. He stared forward, then rested his forehead miserably against the table, cursing under his breath.

"So... Why aren't you guys at the meeting?" I asked. I was sitting on the couch now with Thorn and John, who was flicking through channels on the television while Tyler and Irene played a game of ping pong to determine who would pick what to watch. Margaret and Elliot were discussing books after he had reached up and gotten one for her that she couldn't reach.

Thorn blinked. "Only Demigods can attend the meetings, dear."

"I know, so why aren't you there? Aren't you Demigods too?" John snorted loudly and Thorn giggled a little, covering his mouth with his hand. I looked between the two in confusion. "What?"

"No, my dear, we're not Demigods." Thorn said.

"So... Are you Valkyrie then?"

"No, kid, we're Soulmates." John said. He cast a sideways glance in my direction. "Meaning, we're the lovers of the Demigods, and we have nothing better to do so we sit here and wait for them to be done with their meeting so we can go home and bang some more."

Tyler choked roughly, causing Irene to score a point.

"John!" Thorn scolded. "Not so crass!"

John rolled his eyes at the mage. "Honey, my boyfriend is literally death, I can say what I want." He sighed, looking back at the tele. "Besides, it's true..."

I snickered a little. "Sorry I interrupted."

John glared at me. "You should be you little cretin."

I laughed, and he smirked slightly and looked away again so I could tell he was joking.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and we looked up to see a very tall man there. "Meeting's over!" He smiled at Thorn with kind pink eyes. "Wanna go to the pottery place I told you about?"

Thorn smiled wide. "Yes, I've been looking forward to it!"

I stiffened a little as Thorn left. Thorn looked at me and blinked. "Oh, honey, don't worry! You're gonna be okay, your new caretaker will pick you up any minute, okay?"

I bit my lip. "What, so you're gonna leave me with him?" I gestured to John, but he was standing.

"Nah, kid." He said, messing with his hair. "I'm going home too. Me and my god got some unfinished business, remember?"

I didn't say anything, anxiety starting to make a show in my gut as the others in the room left as well, one by one, Eliot gently pushing Margaret along. Thorn smiled at me kindly as he locked arms with the much taller man who had come for him. "Don't worry dear, it won't be long. Oh! Before I forget – Chariot, dear, could you find out a little about Veronica's friend there?"

Chariot blinked, before he smiled as he noticed the baby raccoon Thorn was referring to. "Of course." He said in his low, heavily accented voice. He held out his arm, and hesitantly, Rocket climbed over to him. Then Chariot started talking to it in some strange tongue I had never heard before. Rocket chirped back for a good long while till Chariot suddenly gave him back to me. "He told me he had no family before you and he believes you're his mother. He's harmless, so I don't see why you can't keep him." He smiled.

"Thank you!" I smiled, holding Rocket a little closer than before. Poor baby... I would protect him. I was determined. I stood more nervously as Thorn waved and left, and then it was quiet. I could see people walking past the open door in the hallway – Demigods, judging by their wingless state. They probably just came from the meeting room. I took a step back, my mind racing with thought. Who would my new caretaker be? What would they look like? Would they be nice, or ever worse than where I came from? Would I have any foster siblings? Would they like me? What if they didn't? What if they gave me up again?

"Hey, don't worry, kiddo." I blinked as I heard a sudden voice behind me. I turned and looked, and saw that Tyler was still in the room with me, sitting on the edge of the ping pong table. "Notch will have made sure that you have good parents."

I swallowed. "Notch...?"

"He's the leader of the Demigods." Tyler explained, before he got up. "Well hey, see you round Wolf."

I blinked in confusion. "Wolf?"

Tyler looked at her, stopping at the doorway. He seemed to realize something. "Oh! Sorry. We've been calling you Wolf here. You know, like your last name?"

I hesitated, before smiling slightly. "I-I like it..."

Tyler smiled and turned to leave, and then stopped because the doorway was blocked by someone. Tyler looked up in surprise, then smiled. "Bodil!"

Bodil looked up and for a second he looked sad, before he smiled softly, in a weary way.

Tyler took his hand. "Ready to go home?"

Bodil stared him softly, before he looked past him at me. I blinked at the look and Tyler followed his gaze. "...You mean...?"

Thecouple looked at each other and Bodil smiled a little more and nodded. Tylersquealed, before he hugged Bodil tightly. I just watched the two in confusion.After a few seconds, Bodil pulled away and walked over to me, smiling kindlyand holding out a hand. "Ready to see your new home?"