Thrice Great

Learning

Hermes enters Thoth's safe house, shutting the door behind him and placing his shopping bag on a table in the foyer.

Rini and Thoth sit in the living room, kneeling around the coffee table. A game of three-dimensional Chutes and Ladders emits from a holographic game board on the table. Rini pokes her avatar, which is a miniature version of her, and giggles when her finger goes right through the hologram.

Thoth moves his hand towards a spinner to the side of the board.

"It's my turn!"

He flicks the spinner, and it spins around for several seconds, before the arrow slows down and lands on the number five.

Thoth points at the number.

"What number is this?" He asks Rini.

Rini takes a moment to lean over and inspect it. "Pénte."

"And in English?"

"F-f-fi-" Rini stumbles over the word. "Five!"

"Good job!" Thoth exclaims, holding out his hand to Rini. She slaps it, before watching the game as Thoth's avatar moves up five spaces.

"We need to talk," Hermes says, approaching the table. Rini waves at him.

"Hi Hermes!"

Hermes waves back. "Hi Rini!"

"What do you need to talk about?" Thoth asks, adjusting his glasses. "We're in the middle of a game here."

"Not in front of her," Hermes whispers, gesturing to Rini with the corner of his mouth.

Thoth presses a button on the game board, pausing the game. "Rini, let's take a break. Why don't you try and use the bathroom?"

Rini gets up from the floor and bounds away and up the stairs to the bathroom. Thoth moves himself up onto the couch.

"What's going on?"

"Well, as you know, the Disgraced are after us," Hermes begins, "and now The Order of Alternate Louisville is, too. And both are in Alternate Adapazari."

Thoth frowns. "TOAL? Why them?"

"They got Demy. He's alive and in their program for orphans and mortal-borns. And now, they want Rini. They know she's powerful. And they know powerful can be dangerous, so they want her so they can control her power and use it for good, whatever their version of good may be."

"Tell them that if this whole teach-Rini-magic thing doesn't work out for us, they can have her. At least there she'll be safe and with her brother."

"No," Hermes says. "It's not safe."

"Why not?"

Hermes takes a deep breath. "At the toy store, I ran into a group of TOAL's teenage agents. They were the ones that told me that they were looking for Rini and that Demy was alive. I intercepted a message from them to the head of TOAL's Program for Orphaned and Mortal-Born Children. They said they were trying to discretely kill Rini."

Thoth sinks into the couch. "Well, forget what I said. This is bad."

"Very bad," Hermes agrees. "One of the girls in the group of teens said that TOAL will stop at nothing to get her. And they're aware that you and I, two major gods, are protecting her, but that's not deterring them."

"How strange. By now, humans should have learned not to mess with the gods. They never learn, do they?"

Thoth pops some of his knuckles.