"I've come to fulfill my end of our duty," Celeste called into the room. The door closed behind them, and Celeste pulled Mary close to her.
"You've brought a mortal with you," A deep voice said.
"She will not interfere."
Unless you hurt Celeste, then I'll find you and punch you. Mary thought, hostile. She pet the star, more for her own comfort her in this strange and dark room.
"As you say so," The voice said. "Then shall we begin the exchange?"
"Yes," Celeste said. She reached into the folds of her robe and withdrew what seemed to be a sack.
Mary watched Celeste and the sack with interest, not having much else to do other than watching.
The star in Mary's hand shook violently when it saw the sack, clearly distressed. Silently, Celeste opened the sack; inside, stars were huddled at the bottom.
"Is it the exact amount that is needed?" The voice asked.
"Yes. I counted them personally, as usual."
Mary looked horrified and covered the star in her hand, she didn't know if it could see anything, but just in case.
Celeste glanced at Mary for a moment, wrapping her arm around her. She held the sack out, and a dark, clawed hand appeared.
"May Balance reign," The voice said.
"And keep the worlds safe," Celeste finished. With that, the hand disappeared, taking the sack of stars with it. The star in Mary's hands pushed against her, terrified.
"Shhh, it's alright little star. You're safe, that hand thing can't hurt you." She said, turning to push her head into Celeste's side.
Celeste pulled Mary close to her, leading her back out the door.
"That 'hand thing' was Halm, God of Souls."
"What kind of stupid name is that?" Mary laughed shakily, letting the goddess lead her.
Celeste stifled her laughter.
"None of us really know. Trust me, it's not the weirdest."
"He should be renamed. I vote Handjob." She muttered, wrapping her arms around the goddess.
Celeste chuckled, putting her arms around Mary tenderly.
"Sounds good to me," she said, resting her head on top of Mary's. The star that was with them settled to floating around Celeste's head with the several other already there.
"You should bring it up to the other gods." Mary laughed, feeling a bit better now that they were out of that weird room.
"Ah, it wouldn't be the other gods I would bring it up to," she said, smiling.
"It would be Mother."
"Who's that? Sorry, I don't really know a lot about the gods…" Mary admitted sheepishly.
Celeste thought for a moment, considering something.
"Most humans don't know who she is," she started.
"Mother is the one who created me, and the other gods." She had a far off look in her eyes, like she was remembering something.
"Oh, so she's the creator, I see why you call her Mother," Mary said, nodding. Sounds legit.
"Hm? Oh, yes." Celeste was brought back to the present by Mary's words.
"So, shall we go back to your room or should I give you a tour?"
"A tour would be awesome! I want to know how big this place is." Mary hummed, pushing her hair back from her face.
"Well, we're not going to see the entire thing; as far as I know, this place stretches on forever." Celeste chuckled, absentmindedly cupping Mary's head with her hand.
"I forgot that you were a god for a second and that your house is magic." She muttered, leaning into the touch.
Celeste rubbed Mary's cheek with her thumb.
"I'm glad to hear that. I really don't want to have to act like what mortals expect me to act like around you," she said quietly.
"Well, I think you're not just your title, so that's good." Mary said, actually purring a bit.
Celeste gave a soft smile.
"You're amazing, you know that right?"