Stirring awake, Vatra found herself alone and clutching an empty wine bottle.

At least being alone is the only thing out of place here, Vatra thought with a groan. She stretched her arms out over her head. The bottle fell to the marbled floor with a loud clunk, rolling until it hit the wall a few steps away.

Vatra winced at the noise. She'd managed to find a fairly quiet and dark place to hide in the far corner of the ballroom. It was tucked behind the thick, golden curtains. She was shielded from unwanted eyes while also protecting her own from the show that never ended. Though, no amount of pillows around her head could block out the sounds.

She sprawled out over the mountain of golden throw pillows she and Hisato had collected. It had been a rather comfortable place to sleep. Vatra stared up at the golden inlay in the marble ceiling above her, blinking a few times before she remembered Hisato was gone.

Curiously, Vatra looked at the curtains and wondered if he'd gone to find refreshments.

"Or did he..." Her voice trailed off, and she sat up with instant regret. The world spun around her, and a wave of nausea threatened to spill out the remnants of the few crackers she'd managed to snack on.

Vatra placed a hand on her stomach and crawled slowly off the pillows. She barely made it to the curtains before they moved just enough for someone to slip into the small hiding spot.

The war god looking down at her, just as smug grinned as ever, definitely wasn't Hisato.

"How the hell did you find me?" Vatra growled. She gave up on crawling on her hands and knees and pushed herself back to the pile of pillows.

Enyalius let out a soft laugh. "A very surprisingly muscular guardian spirit ignored his new friends long enough to point me in the right direction." He mimicked Hisato's usual gesture of fixing the sides of his mohawk, sweeping the sides of his hair towards the back of his head.

Vatra gagged. "I don't even want to know what was going on out there."

"I'll spare you the details," Enyalius said. He walked over and plopped down on the pillow beside Vatra. Plucking at the sleeve of his jumpsuit, Enyalius pointed at the empty wine bottle with his free hand. "You had your own unity party?"

"I'll never understand the traditions of you gods," Vatra sighed out. She held a hand to her forehead, attempting to quell the throbbing headache.

The curtain shuffled. Both of them looked up just as Revna stepped inside. Her wide eyes looked out over them, the once neat liner smeared as if she'd rubbed face without thought to the makeup.

"Let me guess, Hisato?" Vatra asked.

Revna nodded. "These unity events go on for too long if you ask me," she said. Revna walked over and joined them, falling down on the pillows beside Vatra.

"Wait, you've been to these things before?" Vatra looked between the two of them.

"Enyalius was invited to many back on Earth, but we haven't been to any since. I always get dragged to them since I've been stuck with him," Revna replied. "Gods take their unification to each other very seriously. They think it keeps their powers stronger, which is why the more 'powerful' gods attend them more often." She used her fingers as quotation marks around the word powerful, eyes rolling for added effect. A clear jab at Enyalius, or, at least his status as he once was.

"I can't believe gods invited you to anything," Vatra said, directing her statement to the war god.

"I was very popular," Enyalius retorted defensively.

Revna giggled, her hands falling out beside her. "Especially when you were stuck with me, and you couldn't go around hurting anyone. Like a collared dog."

Their conversation was cut short when Set entered. The gold colors of the curtains complemented him well, and Vatra admired how good he would look wearing something of a similar tone. Her attention was drawn from the taut expression of his face.

"Well, we certainly have a party now," Enyalius said. "Stick with the other lightning throwers out there? I didn't see you."

"I didn't come to swap stories," Set said flatly. "I came to let you know the Morrígan are requesting to see us back in the hall. None of the other gods are to be present. Only our crew, and them."

"Well," Vatra said, climbing unsteadily to her feet, "remind me to always have you deliver me bad news, Set. You have such a calming voice. Really."

"Thank you? I actually just felt like I was the only one that was presentable enough to deliver the message to you when we heard about it," Set commented. "The others will meet us at the doors to the throne room once they're all ready."

"All right, don't ruin a compliment," Vatra muttered. She pushed her way out of the hiding spot and headed toward the throne room, eyes on her feet.

–

Vatra could feel the weight of the three Morrígan's gazes upon her. Judgment. Insult. Exclusion. Vatra was not one of them, as it had been before.

"And why didn't you partake in the unity of body and soul?" Macha questioned, her gaze cold and heavy on Vatra's forehead.

"I didn't realize I needed to partake in anything, only attend," Vatra said. She lifted her chin, catching an even glance with each of them. "Forcing me to do anything I didn't want to do feels archaic, doesn't it?"

"We would never force anyone into a circumstance they didn't want to be in, especially copulation with another. But, it strikes us odd that you are the only one that didn't partake. You are the captain of your vessel, are you not? Is there something that makes you better than us gods here?" Macha's usual even tone wavered on the precipice of a shout.

"No," Vatra said hastily. She didn't look anywhere but ahead. "I just don't find myself interested in such activities. I never have, and I don't see myself changing even for your unity party."

Nemain blew air loudly through her nose. "It's an excuse, she just wanted a reason not to give herself fully to us. Now she has a way out of allyship."

"I wouldn't." Vatra shook her head. "This is just who I am."

The other two Morrígan fell silent. Macha's anger settled. She considered Vatra's words with visible thought. A finger twirled one of the curls bobbing over her shoulder. Macha turned her attention to those surrounding Vatra. Her scrutinous gaze drifted slowly over them, one by one.

"Ah, I see it now. Don't you, Badb?" Macha turned to the older Morrígan. Badb regarded her with a shallow bob of her head. "It's a powerful thing to have, isn't it?" Macha directed her question back to Vatra.

Vatra raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"You hold so much power in you, and you don't even know what to do with it. The desires of men and gods are all the same. Yet, you have none. There's a weapon to be forged in the fires of broken hearts," Macha replied.

After pausing in thought, Vatra scrunched her face up in disgust. "It's cruel to play with someone's expectations," Vatra said.

"You could be powerful," Macha continued. "It's clear already that you could be successful if you wanted to be. Bring people close to you, allowing them to fall in love with you. Desire you. All the while knowing you will never be able to give them what they want in the end." The Morrígan drifted her eyes to those behind Vatra.

Standing completely still, Vatra dared not follow Macha's gaze. She was afraid to see the reactions of the others. Was there veracity to Macha's words? Did someone amongst the group have feelings for her? 

Vatra could tell without looking behind her that Macha's words dug out some buried truth. A twitch to her right, no, an uncomfortable shuffle. Who was standing to my right, again?

Sweat beaded on Vatra's forehead. "We came to discuss the plan against Hephaestus, remember?" If she ignored the tension at her back, maybe it would dissolve on its own.

How naive.

"Think about what we've discussed. It would be better if we had an ally who knew a little more about herself and her crew before we went over our plans," Macha said.

A thousand arguments wheeled around inside Vatra's mind. She wanted to stand there and shout at the Morrígan, to defend herself. But, her strength was fading. There was only so long she could pretend to hold it together.

Vatra's hands shook at her side. She could feel a bead of sweat drip down the side of her face, pooling at her chin.

The alcohol had numbed as much as it could. Her emotions were flooding back.

"All right," Vatra said through clenched teeth. "I'll be back to discuss the plan once I've had time to think."

Even if it felt like the Morrígan were stalling, she needed the time to gather her own thoughts. There was much to unpack.

Vatra turned on her heel and walked between the others, avoiding all eye contact. She didn't even care if they followed her. Her direction of travel was straight for the Agkistrodon. For her bed.