Xavier froze mid-slouch, his body going rigid. In his twenty years of existence—both iterations—he'd heard his fair share of ominous phrases. "I'm pregnant" topped the list, a sentence that had once caused him to leap from a second-story window in Belgrade. The second worst was hearing his favorite café had sold out of their Kikufuku mochi before noon.
But "We need to talk" from a disgruntled goddess?
That might just claim the bronze medal.
"Not here," Xavier muttered, reaching out to catch her wrist. Her skin felt warmer than human temperature, like touching sun-heated marble.
Calypso tried to jerk away, but Xavier's fingers tightened. A small crowd of students passed nearby, their chatter about class assignments drifting over.
"Let. Go."
"No." Xavier stepped closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Whatever crisis you're having, we're not discussing it in the middle of campus."
He tugged her toward a small grove of cherry trees that lined the eastern edge of the quad. Their branches created a natural canopy, dappling the ground with shifting shadows and scattered pink petals. Xavier's eyes scanned for potential eavesdroppers before he finally released her wrist.
"Walls have ears," he said, leaning against the trunk of the largest tree. "Can't this wait until we get back to the apartment?"
"No, it can't wait." Calypso's voice quivered with something that might have been anger or fear—possibly both. She paced a tight circle, crushing fallen petals beneath her feet. "This isn't about us being stuck together or that stupid 'no goddess powers' rule."
"Then what's the emergency? Did they discontinue your favorite lip gloss? Run out of divine Netflix?"
"Don't." Calypso whirled to face him, one finger jabbing toward his chest. "Don't you dare make jokes. Not about this."
The venom in her voice gave Xavier pause.
"Alright, I'm listening."
Calypso glanced over her shoulder, then stepped closer. "That man. Dominic Black."
"The campus celebrity? What about him?"
"I know him." Her fingers twisted the hem of her dress, wrinkling the fabric. "Not from here, not from this world. From before."
"Before as in...?"
"Before as in my actual job. As in the Liminal Space." She lowered her voice further. "I processed his soul once."
Xavier stilled, the implications clicking into place. "You're saying he died."
"Everyone dies eventually." Calypso waved dismissively. "But he shouldn't be here. And he definitely shouldn't be..." She gestured vaguely, searching for words. "Walking around, breathing, being all charismatic and stuff."
"Maybe you're mistaken." Xavier shrugged one shoulder. "You've processed billions of souls, right? They probably blur together after a while."
Calypso's eye twitched. "I don't make mistakes about souls. Especially not memorable ones."
"And Dominic was memorable?"
"Very." She bit her lower lip. "He was... difficult. Refused traditional reincarnation. Demanded special treatment. Almost started a riot in the waiting room."
Xavier snorted. "Sounds on-brand from what I've seen. So what, he's a reincarnated soul who remembers his past life? Like me?"
"No." Calypso shook her head, silver hair catching the filtered sunlight. "That's the problem. He's not supposed be here. No one's supposed to be here except—" She cut herself off, glancing away.
"Except people like me." Xavier finished for her. "People who made deals with bored goddesses."
Calypso didn't answer, her eyes fixed on a point in the distance. Xavier followed her gaze to where Dominic stood, still surrounded by admirers.
"There's something else you're not telling me," Xavier said, leaning forward to catch her line of sight. "What's really bothering you about this?"
Calypso's shoulders dropped. "He died... wrong," she finally said. "His soul was damaged. Fractured. I tried to fix it, but..." She trailed off, then shook her head. "It doesn't matter. What matters is he shouldn't be here."
Xavier studied her face, searching for the lie. He'd made a career of reading people, of spotting the micro-expressions that betrayed deception. But Calypso's face gave away nothing except genuine concern.
"So what do you want to do about it?" he asked.
"I don't know." Calypso's voice cracked slightly. "I can't exactly walk up and ask, 'Hey, remember dying? Remember me?' You're not supposed to be here."
Xavier rubbed his jaw. "We need more information. If he's like me—a transmigrator with memories—then someone must have sent him here. Another god?"
"Maybe." Calypso didn't sound convinced. "But gods don't usually... interfere like this. We have rules."
"Rules? You literally bound yourself to a mortal on a whim."
"That was different!" Pink spots appeared on Calypso's cheeks. "That was a system glitch! An accident!"
"Right. The point is, we need to figure out why he's here and what he remembers without tipping our hand."
Calypso's shoulders relaxed slightly. "So you believe me?"
"I believe something weird is happening," Xavier hedged. "And given that I'm currently sharing an apartment with a depowered goddess because of a cosmic slot machine malfunction, I'm inclined to consider even the strangest possibilities."
A ghost of a smile touched Calypso's lips before vanishing. "So what do we do?"
Xavier pushed away from the tree, dusting cherry blossom petals from his shoulders. "We take our time. We observe. We gather information. We figure out what game he's playing before we make our move."
"That's your plan? Spy on him?"
"It's what I'm good at."
Calypso didn't look convinced. "And if he notices us watching?"
"Then I'll do what I always do. I'll charm the hell out of him until he tells me what I want to know."
"You can't just seduce information out of everyone," Calypso huffed, crossing her arms.
"I absolutely can." Xavier winked. "It's worked for the last twenty years."
Calypso rolled her eyes, but some of the tension had left her shoulders. "Fine. We watch and wait. But Xavier..." She stepped closer. "Be careful. If he remembers who he was, he might remember what he could do. And trust me, you don't want to be on his bad side."
"I'm always careful." Xavier placed a hand over his heart.
"You got shot in the face."
"That was an outlier."
A bell chimed across campus, signaling the hour. Students began moving with more purpose, heading toward buildings or down paths leading to the residential areas.
"We should go," Xavier said, glancing at the thinning crowd. "Before Adrian hunts me down for more 'networking.'"
"Who's Adrian?" Calypso fell into step beside him as they emerged from the grove.
"He sat next to us. Hunter encyclopedia in human form. Might be useful, might drive me to homicide within a week. Jury's still out."
They walked in silence for a moment, both lost in thought. If Dominic really was some kind of reincarnation anomaly, what did that mean for them? For this world?
And who was really pulling the strings?
"Xavier?" Calypso's voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
Xavier glanced at her, surprised by the sincerity in her voice. "Don't thank me yet," he said. "If this goes sideways, I'm blaming you entirely."
Calypso's lip twitched. "Naturally."