The balcony’s cold air knifes open, and ink-black shadow spills into the stormlight. Eris steps out of the dark as if she has always been there.
Her gaze hooks on the ledger in Ares’s hand, then flicks to Hades and Zeus with delighted contempt. The wind seems to listen around her.
Eris
Well. This is messy even for you gods.
She circles half a step, smile sharp as broken glass, and the shadows at her feet twitch like eager hounds.
Eris
That book is whispering of duty, debt, and a name that does not want to stay hidden. I wonder who it means.
Hades
State your purpose, Eris. Not all storms are welcome here.
Eris lifts her hands in mock innocence, but her attention never leaves Ares or the ledger, as if she is measuring how much trouble one page can still cause.
✓ Quest Accepted
Rebuff Eris’s attempt to stir trouble
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what the black ribbon duty-claim means
“I step between Eris and the ledger, shielding the duty-claim from her prying eyes.”
SUCCESS (Superb Strength, rolled +0)
Ares shifts across the space in one clean motion, planting himself between Eris and the ledger. The black ribbon at his wrist twists once, then stills against his forearm.
From Eris’s angle, the page is gone, blocked by Ares’s broad back and the hard line of his arm. The duty-mark is hidden from view.
Ares
She cannot see the page now.
Eris
Oh, that is adorable. You really do know how to stand guard.
Hades
Enough, Eris. He is not your instrument.
Thanatos
Step lightly, goddess. The dead are not a game.
Eris
No, but they are such fine kindling.
Her smile widens as she lifts one hand toward the hidden ledger, but the angle is wrong, the path cut off by Ares’s shielded stance and Hades’s watchful line.
Quest Complete
Rebuff Eris’s attempt to stir trouble