You know, maybe this is why Artemis chose to have this conversation sitting down. Was that how it always happened, when learning from the gods? The stories, well, now that he thinks about it, they leave details like that to the listener. What does it matter whether the Knight and the god were conversing on a leisurely stroll, sitting in a grove, or lying back and gazing at the distant stars? The Knight spoke with a god, divine wisdom was granted, and that was that. Sitting felt a lot more convenient, in hindsight. Less limbs to lose track of in a critical moment. 

The Lethe…it makes sense. Even as it sounds impossible. Him? The little chef from Beri? Take on a quest from Hades, pledge his allegiance to royalty, cross the great river of death? This is a joke, right? You’ve gone and picked one the least suitable souls on all of Beri for the most dangerous quest imaginable. Except. Bits and pieces of the past gone missing. Misplacing the unforgettable. Two goddesses to vouch for it.

“I do not suppose…no, there is no reason to expect I would get it all back now, is there? ‘What one god has done, no other may undo’ and all that.” And think about [i]that[/i] for a moment. A god saw fit to carve up the memories of Dolce of Beri. He wraps a shudder in his wool and refuses to let it go. Stillness. He is stillness.

Around them, Demeter goes about her work. The grove is undisturbed.

Folded arms unfurl to folded hands. “First and Greatest of Huntresses. I have left all I had behind in Beri, though I did not know I was doing so at the time. My house is no more. I am barred by forces far stronger than me from returning to my family. I am in hostile territory that seeks to swallow me whole.” His nose wrinkles. Words are weighed, carefully. “It is the second time I have left home behind. I set out the second time as I did in the first; in pursuit. If all obstacles disappeared tomorrow, and I could return to my cafe with no trouble at all, I would be returning empty-handed.” Of what, he couldn’t say exactly. Thank goodness she didn’t ask him to put that part into words. “I do not know if it is something I long for within my heart, or that building a home without it is impossible. But I suspect that if I were to return, I would leave a third time before long.”

Dolce, from somewhere, bows his head to Artemis.

“Which is all to say: It is also necessary for me to finish what I have started.”