>>337628
>as Anu walked through the lush grass and trees he came upon a woman leaned against a tree
>although motherly in form, her eyes betrayed the glint of calculated intelligence
>"Will she do it, Anu?" she asked
>"Her son will, and I have hopes for his girlfriend, a young gremlin as well."
>Your deal should be satisfied well enough" Anu grunted in return
>"…she has a son?" asked the very surprised Ishtar
>that night Philip retreated back to the shop
>his parents were acting very clingy and they climbed to their room right after the meal
>opening the stable, Philip broke open one of Anu's amphora
>the stench of rotten wine assaulted his nose
>he carefully dipped a small earthen bowl into the water and scooped a small amount out
>as he entered the shop, he noted that Aziz had preceded him and was again sitting on the table
>at least this time she was more modestly dressed in a functional robe and headscarf to cover her ears
>after explaining the situation as best he could to the disgust of Aziz, they set to work on their task
>various metals were tested against the water, and many failed, rotting away to nothing
>toward the darkest of the night, Aziz had gotten efficient in her testing
>picking up the ends of two remaining chunks, she let out a surprised yelp
>dropping the pieces on the table she jumped back, pawing furiously at her arms
>Philip bolted up to her with a bucket of water but she waved him off as she stared at the bowl
>grabbing two more chunks of copper and iron from the pile she wrapped her robe around her hands
>the two pieces of metal went into the bowl but she slowly brought the two top ends together
>just as the pieces were about to touch, a spark of the bluest fire leaped between them
>Philip couldn't believe his eyes, after blowing out the lamp, Aziz did the experiment again
>and again a small blue spark crackled between the metals
>all night this went on, with bigger bowls of the water
>Philip hammering out the pieces of metal into different shapes, resulting in larger or smaller sparks
>until Aziz' robe couldn't prevent her from getting shocked, the blue spark racing through her
>in one hand and out the other as she collapsed on the floor
>she was alive, Philip could hear her heart, but it was a long while before she woke up
>with sleep creeping into their minds and the shock of discovery wearing off, the two collapsed into the hay
>the creak of doors woke Philip to find Aziz wrapped around him snoring peacefully
>light streamed into the stable, silhouetting Anu against it
>a grin formed as he closed the door and turned back to the house
>"Both of you come to the house for breakfast when you get up."
>waking a gremlin is a challenge as Philip found out
>her grasp got tighter and tighter as he tried to pry himself up
>her face buried harder into his chest "why do you hurt me?" she would plead
>finally she relented and both stumbled into the house, but took some pleading and dragging from Philip
>they both entered the house to find his parents and Anu sitting at the table
>both were completely unprepared for his mother, who was most decidedly not human anymore
>gone was the elderly woman who raised him, in her place was a seemingly ageless gremlin
>her hair turning slightly white at the tips was the only sign she was older than Aziz
>turning to Anu, Philip demanded to know what he had done to his mother
>this earned another laugh from the god, "This is your mother Philip!"
>"She has simply decided not to be human anymore."
>"To give your father what he wanted, I would have to leave my kind behind" began the older woman
>"I would have been run out, so why not become a human? I made a deal with Ishtar to be made again as a human."
>"I thought that would make my husband happy to not have to hide his wife" she paused
>"But I was wrong to do that, so Anu kindly broke the will holding to human form"
>Anu waved her words away with a hand, "A childish mistake, hardly one worth mentioning."
>"And Ishtar is still calling in her side of the deal?" Philip interjected
>"Yes, a deal is a deal after all." replied the god turning to the boy "I cannot void her arraingements."
>"Tell me, have you had any interesting discoveries last night?"
>Aziz hissed slightly under breath, "We're being used at toys again"
>Anu's eyes drifted to the girl, "My child…" he began before being cut off by Aziz
>"We are not your children!" she huffed
>"You're right, dear Aziz, your origins are blocked to even us gods. But you still inhabit this world."
>"As such, the gods are still responsible."
>"Being that, I was told that I'd find love here! Instead I'm being used for payment!" Aziz defiantly rebuked
>Anu started rubbing his eyes, as if tired "Can you honestly tell me that you haven't found love here?"
>Aziz' mouth dropped open, her ears flattening to the side "N… No. I can't say that."