When Kaia first spoke, Nox whirled to glare at the girl, however her face faltered then broke when she complimented the goddess. Nox slid her hands along her silken gown to smooth it before giving her star encrusted hair a flip. She grinned broadly before peering at Death as if to say, ‘see, even a mortal girl can appreciate my beauty.’ Death frowned at her and turned his eyes to Kaia as she went on, explaining their situation and not giving Nox the time to respond properly. He had to give it to the girl. She was good. She knew what to say and how to say it. The way she handled Artemis and now Nox, she had a gift, this little witch. Death couldn't help but smirk slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest. He lucked out getting her to help him. 

Death watched Kaia as she asked Nox for any kind of assistance, punctuating Kaia's statement with a little demonstration. He called on his magic, causing the runes to flair up along his body. Nox's eyes grew wide as she watched him grit his teeth in pain before she ran up to examine the runes as quickly as she could. She traced them, her dark marks lingering in the air long after Death stopped and the runes faded from existence. She hummed in thought as she spread the runes out before her, eyeing them intently. 

“These are indeed old. We are talking about the creation of paper, old. Unfortunately, I am not the god to be able to read them or even tell you how to decipher them. You are looking for Hermes or Thoth. Possibly Athena. They could help you. Language is not my area of expertise.” She pointed and the rug shot out from Kaia's hands. With a wave of her hand, the rug rolled itself out, floating in the air just before them. The two trapped reapers resumed their humanoid shape and peered out at them. Nox looked at the two of them before looking back at Death who just gave a half hearted shrug of his shoulder. She sighed before snapping her fingers, the trap shattering and the two reapers vanishing. She then sent the runes to the rug with a flick of a wrist. The black runes settled into the fibers and embedded themselves into the rug. “There, now our sweet Death doesn't have to hurt himself each time to show the runes to people.” She gave a flourish of her wrist and the rug rolled back up before settling down by Kaia's feet. 

“Now, our options are pretty limited. Hermes is notoriously difficult to get a hold of. Thoth is usually always locked away in his study and Athena is currently trying to get your throne so I can't imagine she'll be much help.” Death was taken aback to hear that Athena was actively going for his throne. 

“She's doing what?” 

“Oh Death, honey. You would not believe the people going for your throne. Right now, let's just focus on getting you free so you can get to it, yes?” She had a point, of course. So he just nodded solemnly and she flashed him a sad smile before giving him a light part on the cheek. “We shall free you from this. Fear not.” He just nodded again and she gave a soft sigh before turning to Kaia. 

“I can not transport the two of you all the way to Thoth's study. It's too far of a way. Your mortal bodies would dissolve into my darkness before you ever got there. However, I can at least get you out of the house you were in and give you a head start. Normally, we gods are to be more hands off with mortals but when one of us is trapped in the mortal realm, the rules get thrown out the window. If you need a quick escape,” she reached into her hair and grasped one of the many stars before pulling it out. The flickering star condensed and shrunk in Nox’s hands until she held a small star charm. She held it out for Kaia to take. “Pour some magic into this and I will come to you. I will pull you out of whatever situation you find yourself in. As long as there is darkness there in some form, I can retrieve you but it has one use. I imagine the gods would not be pleased if I continue to interfere too much. So only use it in extreme emergencies.” 

She turned to face Death, wrapping her arms around him and crushing herself against him again. “I would give you every star in the sky if I could but you can't use magic right now. The other god wouldn't care if it was you asking for help.” She sighed as she finally released him before stepping back. She pointed to the rug and made sure Kaia picked it up before she spread her arms, her wings spreading wide behind her as well. “Until we meet again. Be safe, be smart and be quick.” She clapped her hands together and the previous spinning sensation consumed Death once more as everything disappeared. 

When the world was finally returned to him, the two of them were in the middle of Kaia’s apartment. He sighed deeply as he dropped down on his rump with a groan. So Athena was going for his throne. That didn't bode well. If the goddess of strategy and wisdom was going for the throne, that meant she had to have a plan or six. How were they going to go up against that? He aggressively scratched his scalp out of anxiety. This mess was getting worse by the second.