The runes were older than she thought. Kaia had hoped that a god on Death's side would be able to decipher them or, in the very least, give her a way to do so herself fast. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. It was never that easy. Nox was nice enough to capture the runes into the carpet. That would save Kaia from asking Death for another demonstration or five to copy them down. The two doltish reapers were also free again, which was good. She wondered how long it would take for the magician to realize his carpet was gone. He'll be so focused on losing Death, it might take a while for him to notice. Kaia listened as Nox spoke. 

Hermes. The messenger god. She might've been in a more favorable position had she gone into journalism. Travel is also one of the many things she always put off. She sighed as the next thought crossed her mind; she's officially a thief now. Just [i]maybe[/i] that would earn ten seconds with the god. No. That's way too farfetched. It's like playing fetch with a stray dog and expecting Gula to appear and give you her thanks. Although, since he can move so easily between the worlds, maybe he'd be curious enough to show up? Death goes missing and is found in a mortal body alongside a mortal after being trapped by a different mortal. Hermes is sometimes seen as a psychopomp, after all. On the other hand, it might not be an excellent idea to put too much trust in him. He's no idiot and might even be aiding under the table at a chance of enforcing that title of his.

Thoth, however... he might be the good choice. There's a full moon in two nights. That should make reaching out somewhat easier. And Kaia's always had a passion for broadening her knowledge, so that might give her some additional points. Also, the fact that Thoth is a god of reckoning, he should understand the importance of freeing Death and having him return to his throne. Unless his idea for reckoning is "fuck around and find out", then he might not be of much help. She's barely just met Death and her entire world feels upside down. She's a mortal! What is she doing standing next to [i]the[/i] Death. There's no time to think about that now.

Athena is completely out. There's no way Kaia would have enough knowledge or experience to think she'd be able to out-strategize the literal godess of wisdom and war. She was nowhere near that stupidly arrogant. It felt a bit confusing, though. Athena was said to be an advocate for peace, unlike Ares. Is it possible there was a different reason for Athena to go after Death's throne? But who was she to speculate on the motives of gods? 

Kaia's shoulders suddenly felt a lot heavier, "Please, dissolving is not on my to-do list for today." She gladly accepted the charm, removing her necklace to slide it on next to the stone, hoping she wouldn't need to use it. She thanked Nox with a weary smile. Was it too late to reconsider the dissolving part? Then, everything went dark again. That sickening spinning sensation overwhelmed Kaia's senses. She was [i]not[/i] build to withstand the drawbacks of travel like this. She again changed her mind on the dissolving. She had a feeling it would be a slow and painful way to go out.

Home. How she wished she could go sleep. Pretend that it was just a dream, and she hadn't unintentionally involved herself in the business of gods. And [i]Death[/i]. She dropped the rug in the center of the living room. It rolled itself out as she passed by to the kitchen. This was going to be a long night. Wordlessly, she made coffee. She didn't know if Death would want coffee, much less if he actually drank it. Regardless, she made two cups. If he didn't want it, she decided she'd just drink it, too. She put a cup in front of him, slumping down next to him, eyes on the carpet.

After a sip, Kaia speaks, "How I see it, is we have five choices. Hermes could be a pain in the ass and we don't know his position. Thoth, we'd need to convince him to leave his studies to aid us. Athena's motives are unclear and we might fall into a trap with her. Doing it myself could take fuck knows how long. And then there's my father..." She scrunches her nose, "He's a language professor, but it would take almost a week to get to him. Then he'd need time to decode this rug, too. He'd have a faster time at it, I'll admit, but I guarantee you won't hear the end of it."

Part of her would rather face Athena than her father. She hasn't seen him in a while and would prefer to remain out of his sight. "Fuck!" She jumps up, "We need to hide ourselves! Stupid!" Kaia rummages through her things, hastily grabbing ingredients to preform a spell. She ends up with two small jars, enfused with magic and encased in the spell. She stuffs one into her own pocket and the other into Death's hands, relaxing as she does. "That man has my blood and who knows what of yours. Keep this on you at all times. It will hide you from his eyes should he attempt to locate or scry." She looked Death up and down, leaving the room, returning with a t-shirt, "No shirt, no service. Put that on."