The streets of the merchant district were packed at that hour, especially this time of year.
It was the season of flowers. Birds sang, trees burst into bloom, the heavy rains had finally stopped, and the sun shone bright.
With the change came the awakening of the great forest spirit, claiming its brief dominion over the world's lesser spirits.
Around this time, the holy ministry held its second baptism ceremony in major cities, drawing huge crowds.
Merchants never missed a chance to cash in on the influx of visitors.
Prices crept higher as the day went on, and the district filled up from early morning.
Parents dropped their children off at the ceremony and headed straight for the shops.
Others tagged along just in case they spotted some early-morning bargains.
Even late in the morning the streets stayed crowded.
Alioth stared in fascination.
People of every kind filled the space: tall, short, every hair color imaginable, some with animal ears, others with horns, and more unusual features besides.
It was almost impossible not to bump into someone, but Nora made it look easy.
She tugged him and the white-haired girl along, weaving through the throng.
"Come on, we're almost at my mom's stall," the blonde said.
Alioth let out a small sigh of relief. His arm was starting to ache from being dragged so much.
He glanced at the white-haired girl.
Her face was completely blank; she just let Nora pull her forward.
She looked like a broken doll.
How much pain had this poor girl endured to end up that way?
A pang of sympathy hit him, but he quickly pushed it aside.
'No, I shouldn't worry about her now.'
He told himself. He had enough problems of his own right now.
Thousands of demons suffered every day, and he couldn't save them all. It wasn't his burden.
For the moment, his priority was to stop being a drag on his teacher.
"Here we are!" Nora said, voice bright with excitement.
A small wooden stall stood in front of them, piled high with all sorts of strange fruits.
Behind the counter was a tall, plump woman in green checkered robes. Her brown hair, catching a reddish tint in the sunlight, was pulled into a messy bun.
When she spotted them, her eyes widened and she threw her arms up in surprise.
"Daughter! By my grandmother's slippers, what are you doing here? Shouldn't the ceremony still be going on?"
Nora launched herself into her mother's arms, nearly knocking the woman over.
"Hi, Mom!" she said with a huge grin. "Actually, I already finished it. And when it ended, a bunch of people swarmed me asking questions and stuff, but I ignored them and left. I was dying to test my power!"
Her mother's eyes went wide. She grabbed Nora by the shoulders.
"What do you mean they swarmed you? Nora, what did you do?"
Nora just shrugged, unbothered.
"When I pulled my head out of the water, everyone rushed over asking what happened. Some were muttering about a champion or whatever, but honestly I didn't care. I was way too excited to listen to a bunch of strangers."
"Champion?" Her mother's eyebrows shot up. She started looking her daughter over carefully. "Let me see has any mark appeared? What did you see during the ritual? Do you feel different?"
She kept inspecting Nora while firing off questions, though the girl looked thoroughly bored by the whole thing.
Alioth scratched his head, feeling a little awkward watching the scene.
Champion... where had he read that before?
He rubbed his chin, thinking. Then it clicked.
He had studied Devastra extensively, not just in hopes of finding a way to grant Ka, but because the topic fascinated him.
A Devastra was the crystallized authority of a god one was tied to.
Each heir's Devastra shared the same core nature, though the way it manifested often differed: some gained a special power, others a weapon.
A champion was something else entirely.
In extremely rare cases, a person inherited the full, unfiltered authority of a god.
They could wield it directly, in all its glory, without any intermediary tool.
"Mmm, excuse me," a voice said, pulling him out of his thoughts.
He turned.
He didn't recognize her.
She looked a bit older than him. Long, straight hair fell over her shoulders, and two black horns curved from her head.
A demon, clearly, but that wasn't what caught his attention most.
White bandages covered her face completely.
'Is she blind?'
He wondered.
"Yes? Something wrong?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.
The girl startled at the sound, turning her head left and right as if searching for the source.
"Who just spoke? Is someone else waiting to be served?" she said nervously.
He sighed and gently reached out, touching her shoulder.
She jumped.
"What was that? Did someone touch me?"
"Yeah, it was me. Don't worry," he said, trying to sound calm.
Her posture relaxed a little, though she still seemed surprised by something.
"I'm sorry, sir. I'll help you right away," she said in a steadier voice.
Alioth shook his head.
"No need. I didn't come to buy anything. Nora just dragged me here."
Tiny greenish lights flickered in the air, unnoticed amid the market's clamor.
"Oh? So you're a friend of hers?" The girl tilted her head with interest. "I'm Latisha, by the way. Nice to meet you. Any friend of Nora's is a friend of mine."
"Nice to meet you too, Latisha. I'm Alioth." He paused. "Though I wouldn't say I'm really her friend yet. We only just met."
Latisha gave a soft chuckle.
"Don't worry about it. Nora's like that, impulsive. I'm sure she's already fond of you."
There was real certainty in her tone, but Alioth wasn't so sure.
After all, the first thing Nora had done was punch him. Not exactly a classic sign of affection.
Besides, he didn't plan on sticking around her much longer anyway.
"Ugh, enough already, Mom! We can talk about this later. The important thing right now is getting Alioth healed!" Nora cut in loudly.
Alioth turned. Mother and daughter were still arguing.
"Alioth? Who's that?" The woman looked confused, then spotted him. Her eyes widened. "By all the spirits, what a hell happened to you?"
She hurried over and gently touched his face.
His face was a wreck: half swollen, split lip, crooked nose.
Before he could answer, she spun toward Nora, cheeks flushing red.
"You did this, didn't you? I bet you picked another fight! I can't believe it. Not only do you sneak out of the ceremony, but you beat someone up again. I've told you a thousand times to stop getting into fights!"
She waved her hands emphatically while scolding her daughter. Nora, far from cowed, fired back with her own excuses.
Alioth stepped back a little to avoid the passing crowd.
Looks like this could take a while, he thought. Maybe I should slip away while they're distracted.
Then a familiar fruity scent reached him, the unmistakable trace of Anansi, his teacher.
He scanned the crowd but saw no sign of her.
A gentle hand settled on his shoulder.
"So this is where you ended up. You had me worried," a calm, almost detached voice said.
Even so, he knew the concern was genuine.
"Yeah... heh." He gave a nervous little laugh and turned to face her. "A lot happened."
Her purple eyes studied his battered face. For a split second, real worry flickered across her features, something only he would notice.
"Did someone hurt you?" she asked, reaching out to lightly touch his cheek.
He let out a long breath.
"It's a long story, teacher."
His whole body relaxed. With Anansi here, he was finally safe.