and the avatar between.

The last time Alex had been in this room he lacked the presence of mind to admire the simple elegance. The room itself was smaller than some of the taverns that Alex had been to, yet the vaulted ceiling gave it a larger feel by adding volume to the room space without increasing the floor space.

There were a few murals around the walls, none of which held any significance to Alex or held any inference to anything he had read from the dairies of the Avatar. There were also a few magic lanterns that hung from the walls and gave off a warm glow without emitting any heat. But the main source of light for the room was the large open doors and the multi-colored window over the door. From the inside the window presented another form of mural, and one that again Alex could gather no meaning from.

What passed for a dais consisted of only two steps up to a small area with a bulky-angular throne of gold with a few dozen pillows piled around it on the floor. The avatar himself sat on the throne with the veiled women who had met Alex at the gate lounged among the pillows with passing interest in the situation.

An awkward silence had been hanging in the air without anyone saying anything. Alex stood before the throne, and the Avatar sat on the throne more or less eye-level to Alex with an amused expression, yet neither of them chose to break the silence as the studied each other.

At great length the Avater spoke, "You are aware that you can take you helmet off in my presence, I hope."

Alex calmly undid the clasps, "I wasn't instructed on proper formalities for your audience."

"That's because I don't have any. And Shershi finds them bothersome. So we leave formalities up to each person who seeks our audience, not that there are many of those."

(Can't imagine why no one wants to see either of them.) Demon mentally quipped to Alex.

(Mind your manners, Demon.)

(I can do that too you know.) An unexpected voice chuckled into Alex's head, like a spider crawling up the inside of his skull. Even Demon pulled back in alarm.

The expression of the Avatar warped into a genuinely inhuman grin as a voice much different from the Avatar's smooth elven tongue, "Welcome to my little home, Great Hero and Tiny Demon." The god of chaos cackled with glee watching Alex and Demon in their discomfort.

The Avatar's face reset as he asked in his own voice, "What brings you back to our house, Hero. You seem to be in a much clearer frame of mind. I trust you haven't come here to kill any more of my cats."

Alex shifted a little and shrugged, "You said you needed a fresh corpse to rid my mind of the demon's mind. Your cat was right there." Alex pointed.

"Have you never heard of animal cruelty? You killed a perfectly healthy animal it the prime of it's life without any hesitation."

"Would you have preferred I chose one of your wives?"

The Avater's lips pursed as all the women around him turned their heads to him. Alex couldn't see their faces but he could imagine the looks they might be giving their immortal husband. "No," the Avatar conceded, "but I did expect you to at least go hunt a bandit or something more heroic than throwing a dagger into an unsuspecting cat."

The face twisted again as the chaos god took over, "I for one thought it was hilarious when you did that."

One half the face became normal, "Of course you did, it wasn't your cat he killed."

The god half of the face spoke, "Of course it was. Everything that's yours is also mine, you're my Avatar after all."

"We're getting off topic." the Avatar assumed full control over his face. "Alexander. You have come to the temple of Shershi, the god of change, with a request. What fate do you wish to change this time?"

Alex looked off to the side for a moment before he unfastened his gauntlet and pulled it and the glove from his hand. "I once asked to free my mind from the demon's presence, however I didn't know then that I would also need to rid my body of the corruption separately. I seek a cure to the demonic corruption before it consumes me."

The face of the Avatar twitched and shifted back and forth rapidly before the avatar spoke with his own voice, "There are a few options. But the god and I will discuss them at length. Return tomorrow for our guidance."

Alex bowed and walked to the door where a temple guard was waiting to escort him back to his room.

(That went better than expected.) Alex thought.

(If they were anything less than hospitable we'd be floating in the blood sphere for eternity.) Demon shot back.

(If we wanted you dead we wouldn't have invited you into our house.) the god of chaos replied.

"Fucking burn in hell." Demon huffed as she curled into a ball.

The god of chaos laughed into the minds of his little playthings.