Fallen for a Reason

"No!" Kevin repeated again as he plucked the handle of a butter knife from Salem's tiny, toothy mouth. He pointedly dropped it back into the drawer where it belonged, which just so happened to currently be on the floor and spilled all over the place. Putting his hands on his hips, he gave the toddler a skeptical glare, waiting to see if she would reach for the cutlery again. Salem stared longingly at the toppled drawer before looking up at her father with big, woeful eyes, her lip quivering slightly "We don't eat knives." He stated unsympathetically before standing. Not trusting her to keep her grabby little hands to herself, he quickly scooped her up into his arms despite her protest.

He padded across the kitchen tiles to the open sliding glass door. It let in a summer breeze that was admittedly warmer than he cared for, but not enough to heat up the whole house. Outside, Lorem and Bailey rolled around in the grass, chattering amongst themselves and a few choice toys they'd scatted about "You play with toys." Kevin emphasized, turning a still-saddened Salem to ensure she could properly see the display of correct child behavior

"Eat 'em" She mumbled dejectedly, grabbing small fistfuls of his collar and tugging

"Uh-uh" He stepped down the rickety wooden stairs that were overdue for a replacement and onto the grass below. Detaching the toddler from his shirt, he plopped her onto her feet "Only food is for eating. Nothing else. Go play."

"Eat 'em..." She muttered, making an effort to sound even sadder than before. After one more puppy-eyed glance to make sure he wouldn't change his mind, she decided to waddle over to her older siblings. Both of which, he noticed, were staring back at him with strange looks in their eyes

"Hey, Dad," Bailey started in a meandering tone "Are the woods haunted?"

"No."

"But there's a ghost." Lorem butted in, rolling into a sitting position to dodge the clumsy baby heading his way

"Where?" Kevin eyed the shaded line of trees warily. It wasn't too ridiculous to assume another ghost was after some sort of vengeance. Zacaly had a way of ticking people off and collecting wrathful spirits...

"It was right there." Both Lorem and Bailey pointed into the trunks, obviously eager given their father's reaction. He looked over the area where they directed, but saw nothing of interest. Not willing to leave it there, he approached the dappled shadows and peered into the forest. The children picked up and excited chatter as he wandered in deeper, but he tried to dismiss it and focus his ears for any strange ethereal ghost-y sounds. Instead, he heard something big move in a nearby tree, causing some branches to snap and him to start

"So you're out here too." Zacaly was suddenly leaning down from the cover of green, a shifty look on her face and a few leaves trapped in her hair. Kevin made an exasperated noise, frustrated that she'd spooked him

"You said you were going to the village." He hissed

"I was." She dropped down to the ground into a half-crouch and started to stalk around, using trees as cover "But then I saw....something..."

"Uh-huh." Her air of mystery annoyed him further"I was making sure there was nobody here to murder you, but I suddenly don't care. Are you telling me you left me with the death-wish baby all morning so you could climb trees?!"

"I may have gotten distracted." She rolled from behind one trunk to another like she was in a bad spy movie "Kids in the woods to scare."

"She can pull knives to her!" He threw his hands up in the air "Some help really would have been appreciated!"

"Shh!" She held a finger out behind herself, a motion that tempted him to reach out and cut it off. Yet, his building anger was kept from bubbling over by something in the distance. Ahead of the two of them, an unfamiliar figure stood. It appeared humanoid if one looked at if from the right angle, but the next second it would change, and then change again. It was pure, bright white and seemed to glow from within, making it even harder to see correctly. The edges of it flickered and fluttered like flames or sheets of cloth in the wind. The thing noticed them and angled its head towards them. Kevin made an attempt to stare it down, but he found himself unsure if he was looking at a pair or eyes or just one. Maybe it was three...? None at all? Beside him, he heard Zacaly draw a knife. At the same time, he realized he'd unsheathed his fingers without noticing

"Hello." The shape spoke, its voice resonating in a way that made him unsure if he heard it or if it was in his head "I mean no harm."

"What are you?" Zacaly demanded before Kevin could even open his mouth, pointing her blade out from behind the tree she crouched behind. This, he thought, couldn't have looked too threatening considering her odd angle

"I am a young god." It announced clearly and without hesitation "I seek someone to aid me in returning to the realm which I belong, for it is not here."

"Oh yeah?" Her tone changed to a scoff "God of what? Why can't you just get there yourself? What kind of dumb god can't even go home?" The creature was obviously put off by the barrage of questions for a moment.

"I am afraid I know very little." It dipped its head towards the ground slightly "But I will do everything in my power to reward those who aid me once I return to the correct plane." Kevin saw Zacaly perk up at the word 'reward' and winced internally. She couldn't possibly consider--

"Reward, eh?" Her expression twisted up into a mischievous smile "Like whatever-I-want kind of reward?"

"Of course." The thing folded its hands together. If it even had hands "I will do whatever I can."

"Zacaly--" Kevin started to hiss from between his teeth, but was interrupted by her flying up from behind the tree to slap her hand over his mouth.

"We're going on an adventure, Kevin!" She said through a grin, which came off as more of a threat than cheerfulness "Just like old times!" He snarled and peeled her palm away from his face. She didn't seem to care, as she was already prancing towards the glowing mass of a person. Thing.

"Old times sucked!" He pointed an accusatory, still-sharp finger at the creature "That thing could be lying! It could be a trap or something!" She responded with a wide-eyed, shut-up-right-this-instant sort of smile as she reached out to take a hold of a white tendril that could have been an arm.

"Right this way, dud-god." She cooed as she ushered it past her bristling husband.

No matter what type of argument he threw her way, he was unable to stop her from parading the creature right up to their home. The children were thrilled at the find, ooing and awing at the spectacle until he shooed them off with his tail, insisting it could explode at any second. Or something.

"But Mom's touching it!" They complained back.

"Mom's an idiot." He grumbled before having to chase Zacaly into the house where she had invited the deity in. She plopped it down on the battered couch, looking ready to shove it there if it didn't sit itself. Afterwards, she straightened to face him, ignoring the hostility with which he stood in the doorway.

"We have to get rid of the kids." She announced. Without his input, she raised a finger and thumb to her chin in an exaggerated thinking pose "Oli's closest, he'll have to do." She shrugged after a moment. Raising her hands to cup around her mouth, she turned towards the back wall and yelled loud enough to be heard by the audience outside "Kids!! You're going to live with your brother, pack a bag!" Behind him, Kevin heard a small, excited cheer. Then, there were two little demons shoving past him and galloping off of their rooms. He glanced back to see Salem sitting alone in the grass, looking confused. Sighing, he went to go pick her up.

It didn't take the older two long to throw a few of their belongings clumsily into a couple backpacks. The contents were likely in shambles, but no one really seemed to care. Oli's house was just down the road from theirs. If the kids ended up needing something or totally forgot their toothbrushes, it wouldn't be a long walk to fix. Soon enough, Lorem and Bailey were shuffling eagerly about the living room, packs loaded and ready to visit their older brother who would no doubt spoil them with treats and puppies during their stay. Kevin was left to collect the needed items for Salem, as his wife was clearly busy keeping an eye on the white blob she'd let in and "making plans". The second it appeared their father was finished, the two kids could no longer contain themselves and rushed out the front door. For some reason, Zacaly followed after, leaving the deity, Kevin, and Salem behind.

"Hey!" He snapped, coming over to poke his head out the door "We can't all leave this thing here!"

"I can't hear you!" Zacaly yelled back without turning her head, raising her hands pointedly to plop them over her ears. He stared on in irritated bafflement for a moment. It was totally possible that if he didn't deliver Salem and her things, as he was holding her, Zacaly would just abandon the toddler in the house, assuming the best. Knowing full well the baby would play with every knife in the home during their absence, he sighed angrily before hurrying after the rest of his family.

Oli, of course, was not prepared to suddenly adopt three children for an unknown amount of time. He'd take them, as he was too nice not to, but his eyes said more than he did. Kevin didn't exactly help the situation. He had to throw a toddler into Oli's arms, as he was certain something awful was happening just down the road. But, for some Zacaly-based reason, his wife insisted that he couldn't leave right away. And "insisting" meant holding him hostage with a knife while she had a catch-up chat with Oli (who also looked like he had things to do). Frankly, Kevin didn't much care if she shanked him. Trying fiercely to return home, he ended up dragging her halfway down the road. Not willing to be one-upped, she continued her conversation by yelling louder as needed. She did complete her discussion and say goodbye before he managed to pull her in the front door, but not before a good ten minutes had passed.

"Augh!" She cried upon entering the home, which she had insisted she would do before her husband. Because Zacaly. "Get up, get up!" Kevin swerved around in order to see behind her, having a sense of urgency that she lacked. The creature still sat on the couch in the same position they had left it, but everything within a ten foot radius had a charred appearance to it. Carpet and fabric smoldered as the smell of burning cloth filled the room in waves.

"I told you!" He crowed as she shooed the thing up and into a corner. They both glared down at the mess for a few moments, Zacaly directing him to extinguish certain embers with his unburnable hands. Once it seemed the house wasn't at risk of catching fire, she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You've done worse." She announced casually

"That doesn't matter!" He cried in exasperation, but she was already waving a dismissive hand at him.

"Go on, get ready. We're leaving. Right now."

"Do you even know where we're going?" He made sure to sound as bitter as possible, lowering his ears to make sure sure she knew he was in the foulest of moods.

"Yes!" She clapped her hands together, suddenly excited "We need to find a shrine. God-stuff is strong there, so it should help Dud remember how to go away. Of course," She raised a finger while Kev raised an eyebrow "We don't know which shrine they'll like, so we'll just have to try ones until they work."

"So we can just teleport to the city and try there?"

"No!!" She squawked, appalled "We're walking! Just like old times!"