Fanning The Flames 11.1

Lili would love to say with confidence that she wasn't sulking around in her room inside the manor, left alone to her depressed thoughts. But that would be a lie, she thought with a deep sigh, one of many she did during her stay. She knew it was wrong to stay inside like that, not doing anything productive, but her drive was on an all time low and with that, her focus. Lili was grateful that the others noticed that she needed some time alone to gather her thoughts, since not even Lefiya, her roommate, was in the room. Because of that, her mind began to wander.

After her father left the city to vent and saying half hearted goodbyes to her teammates, Lili followed Gareth back to the manor, more automatically than consciously as her head was filled with worry and self blame. Well, it still was, but it was worse before, considering she could only see her memories in a blur. Frowning in thought, she tried her best to remember the details.

Before Aiz fought the Monster Rex, they investigated a murder scene, where a level four was killed, formerly belonging to the Ganesha Family. Things escalated from there, from another attack by the plants from the festival and a monster similar to the one Aiz slayed during the expedition. But the worst was the murderer, that the Sword Princess confronted with Lefiya.

And lost. According to her, she barely did any damage with the mage and got thrown around like a ragdoll. If it weren't for Riveria and Finn, she could have died.

Lili chuckled darkly. Wasn't that nice to have in the back of her mind. At least she knew why Aiz would risk her life to level up. If the Pallum had to suffer such a lost, she would want to become stronger ASAP as well.

Anyway, that was all the information she could remember, aside from the warning of staying wary of their surroundings and focusing on becoming stronger and gathering materials and money for the next expedition. Lili was a bit confused on why she was even there for the "higher ups" meeting, but she chalked it up to being closer with Aiz and the rest than others and that she fought against the plant monsters and thus deserved to know.

Anyway, skip forward from that to the night and Lili could barely sleep due to noise outside. She wasn't the only one, but she had a different reason than just the volume. It was thunder, raging through the air and letting its presence known. And the Pallum knew for a fact that there were no rain clouds outside. The fact that Lili could hear it and that it was during the night time, meant that despite the distance he covered, Obsidian was throwing around strong enough lightning to let Orario hear it. Suffice to say, her father was venting a lot during the night and probably only stopped around early morning because he either got too tired or he was running out of things to throw lightning at.

Either of the two was terrifying to think about on its own. Well, he could have just calmed down, but Lili wasn't sure about that. Letting another deep sigh, she hugged her legs closer to herself, clenching her eyes shut as she saw the image of Obsidian, staring at her with rage, flash in front of her mind again and again.

A sudden knock against the door snapped her out of it and Lili turned to the entrance, blinking confused.

"May I come in?"

Hearing the familiar female voice, muffled behind the door, the Pallum bit her lip. She would love to say "no", but that would be too rude, even if she wanted to be alone. Because of that, she stretched her legs, her shoulders slumped, and she let out a sigh before forcing herself to smile.

"Sure, come in!"

With that, the door opened and Riveria entered the room, a neutral look on her face as she glanced around in the room, before her eyes rested on Lili's form. Seeing the smile, the elf narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. In response, Lili let it fall immediately and sighed as she looked down on the bed.

"It has been quite a storm last night, hasn't it?" The noble said in a calm manner, as she sat down on the edge of the bed. Lili let out a scoff and closed her eyes.

"You could call it that..." She muttered and leaned her head back on the wall. For a while, silence reigned between them, but it was swiftly interrupted with a deep breath from Riveria. Looking at her, Lili saw that she looked...wary in a sense, as she folded her hands and pressed her lips together.

"I know, we are not as close as you are with Obsidian. But I would be thankful if you told me..." She trailed off, before shaking her head and looking the Pallum directly into the eye with a frown. "Why he is out there."

Instantly, Lili's body became rigid.

Could she tell her? Lili knew for a fact why Obsidian was out there, but it delved into very private manners. His past, for one, and his emotional state for another, if their talk in the carriage was any indication. But the question was, could she tell Riveria?

Obsidian never told anyone else about what he told her. Sure, people had their ideas and heard about him, but he never personally told anyone willingly. He didn't have to tell her, after she heard the story from Ryuu and he didn't have to bare his feelings on the carriage.

Which meant he didn't want anyone else to know.

It wasn't her secret to tell, the Pallum decided then and looked at the woman with an impassive face, trained by years of being in the Soma family, as she crossed her legs.

"Why do you think I know the reason?" She asked calmly. To her surprise, Riveria smiled a little bit as she politely folded her hands.

"Because he is your father and probably told you more about himself than anybody else in this city."

Lili shot up from her sitting position, standing with a flushed face as she looked at the elf, whose smile turned a bit smug.

"F-father?" She asked hesitantly and Riveria tilted her head in a coy manner.

"Don't look so surprised, I went to the Hestia Family to share information and they told me," she replied, closing her right eye teasingly. Turning redder, Lili quietly sat down to the elf's left and put her hands on her lap with her lips pressed together.

Damn it, Lisa.

As if hearing her inner comment, the noble chuckled politely, covering her mouth with her right hand.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Having such a close bond with someone is something to be proud of," Riveria explained in a warm tone and all Lili could do was nod with a red face as she lowered her head even more.

Maybe she shouldn't call Obsidian her father all the time in public. It was a bit more embarrassing than she expected. On the other hand, she loved him, so she had to bear it.

Lili blinked. She loved him. So what was she doing here? Didn't she tell herself to help Obsidian, no matter what? That meant going behind his back if needed.

…The girl winced at that thought.

Okay, maybe she should phrase this better in her head.

She couldn't be selfish about this. If Riveria could help her in supporting Obsidian, then wasn't it her duty to accept it? Her pride had no place in this.

With a sigh, she leaned back, left arm behind her, and ran her right hand through her hair.

"Yeah, I know why." She awkwardly cleared her throat, averting her eyes. "Not sure if I can tell you. I mean, I trust you. You are probably one of the few in this family I am close to. But-"

Lili stopped when Riveria held her hand up, nodding calmly.

"It's his secret. I understand." She shook her head. "And I'm not offended. We all have our moments."

The girl nodded slowly and took a deep breath. This was one of her friends. She could relax in here. The elf tried her best to calm her down after all.

"He's out there to vent," she began to explain, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. "Because of Bell's and Aiz' level up." She scratched her right cheek a bit awkwardly. "It...triggered bad thoughts, so to say. Past thing. Bandages. All that."

Putting a hand on her chin, Riveria hummed in thought.

"I see...He is angry at himself for not putting up the same determination these two have showed."

Lili blinked at Riveria. Gods, she was good. Considering their talk on their way to Melen, that was her first guess as well. She already knew he wasn't completely okay in the head, but for her to pinpoint Lili's own suspicion like that...

"Now, the question is, why are you blaming yourself?" The elf suddenly asked, giving her a pointed look and Lili immediately held her hands up in defense.

"I'm not blaming myself."

However, she looked at the ground with a frown, slowly lowering her hands.

She wasn't...right? In her head, she began to go through the signs Obsidian told her to watch out for, else she would do "some stupid ass shit."

Let's see...isolating herself to brood, uneasy to talk to others, trying to keep secrets and taking on any burden alone, thinking that Obsidian was also mad at her…

Lili barely suppressed the urge to click her tongue. Gods. She was blaming herself. Well, lie was already out, might as well roll with it.

"Liliruca, I know my reputation in this family and so should you."

Or Riveria could call her out on it with a flat expression and tone because she had the insight of a goddess. Though the girl kind of disagreed on the reputation part, since it wasn't just that. She was basically a mother to Aiz and other girls around and would have the eye for "teenage drama", as her father would call it.

Lili hummed in thought. That would be one reason they got along so well. And having her as a mother wouldn't be so bad. She was good material after all and would mix well with Obsidian's own brand of-

Immediately, she shook her head frantically and shuddered, ignoring the confused look Riveria gave her.

Nope, not going to think about it.

Focusing back on the question of self blame, she sighed. Yes, she was blaming herself. But was she wrong? She didn't think so and decided to explain it in a low tone.

"I...just thought I should have done something. Not just...let him leave..." She weakly twirled her right hand with a scoff as she leaned back. "I'm sure he wanted my help as well, even if he said otherwise..."

"I doubt that."

The immediate, calm reply made Lili blink for a moment, before turning to Riveria with a tilted head. This caused the latter to giggle as she covered her mouth with her right index knuckle, before folding her hands on her lip. With a soft smile, she closed her eyes.

"Do you know about the story where I once ran away from the manor?"

At that moment, Lili had to gape at her.

"You? Ran away?" She asked in disbelief and the noble nodded, eyes still closed.

"It's been a long time ago and I was only starting as an adventurer. It was during a time where Finn and Gareth weren't my closest comrades."

The Pallum raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms at the vague description and Riveria coughed awkwardly, her right eye open as she glanced at the girl with a faint blush.

"Not my proudest time, but we tended to bicker more than actually talk normally." Taking a deep breath to calm down, she continued. "Anyway, it happened when Gareth leveled up after Finn did. I was the only one who didn't level up."

Lili's eyes widened in surprise and the noble let out a sigh, rubbing her forehead with tired eyes.

"Suffice to say, I was envious. Not to mention I had...quite an ego. So the pressure I put on myself became too much. One day, at noon, I just...ran away, without telling anyone."

The Pallum would like to say that it was a surprise to hear, but with understanding eyes, Lili knew what she was talking about in a sense. Not everyone was born with the experience and wisdom Riveria currently had, so her younger self would be less stable, so to say. Not hearing any interruptions, the woman looked up at the ceiling before continuing on.

"I've managed to avoid any contact in order to be alone. Once I found myself a spot, I started to go through all the emotions I had. Sadness, which led to crying, to rage, which led to angry crying, to sheer exhaustion and introspection." She glanced at Lili with a neutral expression. "I won't go into details, but I realized that I had to put more effort into changing myself. Which meant less comparing myself to others and let go of my pride. It wasn't easy and I didn't manage it immediately, but it was my first step. With that, I could go back with my mind clear."

Looking down on the ground, she took a deep breath.

"It's only been a day and I returned early in the morning. Nevertheless, I was away longer than I expected. The reception I received..." A light laugh escaped her as she shook her head, a fond expression on her face."The first thing they did was apologize. I was confused at first. It didn't even occur to me that others would blame themselves for my state. After all, they had nothing to do with it. I never blamed them, after all, for being faster and better than me at the time, for not noticing my hidden turmoil faster."

Silence fell between them, as Lili processed the information in her head. It was just an example, but the Pallum had a feeling it could be applied on her current problem as well. When a hand touched her shoulder, she turned to Riveria in surprise, who gently smiled at her.

"What I am trying to say here…People sometimes need to be alone. Even the strongest of us." She squeezed Lili's shoulder reassuringly. "You didn't make a mistake by letting him leave. You listened to his wish and I know he is grateful for it. Sometimes it is only us that we are mad at and not others. That is perfectly normal." Removing her hand, her smile became a bit teasing. "As for the fact you gave me some hints at best about his reasons...I am sure he won't be too mad, considering you only want to help."

For a while Lili stared at the elf, but in the end, she let out a deep sigh. Riveria was right.

Obsidian would never blame her. At most, he would punch her for being stupid and wasting her life away blaming herself, like he did. And the last thing she wanted to be was end up like him. Both were working hard to fix that for him, so she shouldn't be in such a dump.

With that in mind, she nodded quietly, causing Riveria to let out a breath of relief.

Still, there was one thing that bugged her.

"Why did you tell me this?" She asked in a curios tone, kicking her legs back and forth on the bed. Riveria blinked for a moment, before tilting her head.

"Because you looked like you needed to hear it. Why?"

"But you wouldn't tell this just anyone," Lili countered, knowing full well about her image as the perfect image of a high elf and part of royalty. To her surprise, Riveria nodded in agreement.

"Of course, I have an image to uphold." Her face became flat as she gave her a pointed, but flushed look. "An image that Obsidian has quite ruined for you already, so I do not see the point to keep up pretenses for you."

With a huff, she pushed some hair away, but Lili narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she saw the small smile on her face. She looked awfully happy about the fact that her less ideal sides were revealed. Maybe even grateful.

Anyway, there was one question left on the Pallum's mind, as the two of them sat in the bedroom in silence.

What now?

Lili looked out of the window, a contemplating expression on her face.

She didn't congratulate Aiz at all while she was stuck in her little depression, did she? Pressing her lips together, she nodded to herself and turned around to Riveria. Just as she opened her mouth however, the elf already pointed at a different window with a knowing smile.

"Aiz is in the courtyard."

Lili giggled as she scratched her right cheek sheepishly.

"Was I that obvious?"

"No, but you learn how to spot things with experience," the noble replied, shaking her head and Lili raised her eyebrow at that, crossing her arms.

"You mean old age?" She asked in a snarky tone. Seeing the elf freeze up and repeating the words in her head, she paled. Standing up, she bowed deeply. "Oh gods, I am so sorry. I-it was just a reflex, really!"

With no noise coming from either of them, Lili felt like she was about to be executed. For whatever reason, she nervously peeked up and couldn't help but whimper a bit.

She was visibly popping a vein, but her eyes were closed as well, as she took long and deep breaths. Then, she put on a smile as she looked at Lili.

Riveria made sure it was the most fake one the Pallum had ever seen.

"Well, I am older than Obsidian, I guess." After her mouth twitched a little bit, she let her fake smile fall, instead covering her eyes with her thumb and index finger, a depressed aura leaking of her. Then, she pointed at the door with her left arm. "Just go before I change my mind."

The level two didn't have to be told twice, so she quickly jogged over to the door. However, she stopped at the entrance and turned her head.

"Riveria." When the woman looked up, Lili flashed her a wide grin. "Thank you!"

Without waiting for a reply, she hurried down the hall to catch Aiz before she would leave without her. Still, she replayed the conversation with Riveria in her head and while she was very grateful for the advice and trust, there was one thing she wondered as she dodged some people on the way down the stairs.

How much older than Obsidian was Riveria?

Fanning The Flames 11.2

It may have been said many times, but the Twilight Manor was gigantic, even for Orario's standards. Only top families could afford something like this and it was understandably expensive. Still, being one of the biggest families, the Loki family had to provide space and the Twilight Manor delivered to give enough comfort for all the members.

Because of that, the courtyard had a lot of space, among other things. But despite that, it was mostly empty, with only the Sword Princess occupying it, as she said on one of the benches, Desperate leaning next to her. With her eyes closed, she seemed deep in thought as she leaned her head back.

Moving across the fresh green grass, Lili was somewhat nervous with her approach. The silence, aside from the occasional wind rustling leaves, didn't make it any easier. Still, she swallowed it up, just in time when Aiz opened her eyes and turned her head to Lili with slightly widened eyes. Smiling, Lili waved her right hand as a greeting.

"Hey."

Aiz blinked, but them gave her a small smile as well, as she raised her hand.

"Hi." She gestured to her right as she tilted her head. "Do you want to sit?"

Nodding at the invitation, Lili moved to the place and giggled awkwardly as she scratched the back of her head, grinning sheepishly at Aiz.

"Just wanted to properly congratulate you. Sorry for taking so long, I was kinda...you know." She wiggled with her right hand a bit and shrugged. The swordswoman stared for a moment, before bowing her head slightly in gratitude.

"I understand. Thank you."

With that, silence fell between them as Aiz closed her eyes again. However, Lili narrowed her eyes slightly at her. Something felt off about this. For one, the Sword Princess didn't relax despite her closed eyes. The smile itself seemed a bit forced. Lili saw it a few times when she tried to not make other people worry. She saw it often enough on her father after all. And, now that she gave the Sword Princess a proper look...

"You don't look that happy for someone reaching level six," she stated with crossed arms.

While Aiz wasn't the most expressive person in the world, Lili would like to say that she got rather good at reading her facial cues. Combined with her desire of becoming stronger, Aiz did not register to the Pallum as particularly ecstatic.

Speaking of expressions, Aiz widened her eyes in shock, somewhat confirming Lili's suspicion. Sure, it was different for each person, but the Pallum herself was giddy for days after processing her level up and only stopped grinning non stop until Obsidian finally called her out on it.

The following days were a bit embarrassing when others commented on it after she stopped, but that wasn't important right now.

Anyway, Aiz looked down on the ground, her hands forming into fists as she bit her lip.

"I am happy," she replied in a low tone and let out a sigh, relaxing slightly as she shook her head. "I just...have a lot on my mind."

Talk about parallels, the Pallum thought with a raised eyebrow. Scratching her chin, Lili furrowed her forehead in thought. Then, she perked up and grinned.

Lili knew exactly what would help Aiz right now. With a grin, she stood up, ignoring the confused stare she received and turned around. Then after putting her hand into her pocket, she pulled out Liberty and twirled it into its naginata form.

"Wanna have a spar?" Lili asked in a casual tone and shrugged sheepishly. "I mean, I won't be much of a challenge, but-"

Before she could finish, Aiz shot up, shaking her head violently with a faint blush.

"No, it's fine!" She smiled softly at Lili and bowed down. "I would appreciate it."

"Just don't smash me against a wall," the Pallum commented, crossing her arms with a smirk. In response to that, the swordswoman pouted at her, as they walked into the more open space of the grass. With a small distance between them, they both went into their fighting positions, Desperate held in Aiz' right hand in front of her, and Liberty held above Lili's head with both hands.

The standoff only lasted a few moments, before the Sword Princess blurred into motion. The Pallum moved her arms to the right side in order to guard with Liberty, but when she started to move, the blunt side of the sword already hit her.

Pain flared up in her rips and…

Lili blinked. That was it. While she stumbled a bit to the left and rubbed her side, she was still conscious and on her legs. She let out an impressed grunt when she turned to Aiz, who stopped in mid swing, blinking confused at the Pallum as well.

They stared at each other in silence, frozen in their awkward positions, before Lili straightened up her back, Liberty turning back into its non combat form, and put her hands on her hips.

"Huh. You really got better at holding back," she said, raising an eyebrow. Immediately, Aiz crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes with a pout.

"I thought you wouldn't tease me."

Lili in turn raised her hands in defense, smiling slightly.

"Actually a compliment."

While Aiz didn't look like she believed her, with the way her pout was still present, she didn't say anything and took her stance again. Then, their dance began anew.

Constantly by a hair's breadth, Lili managed to dodge the quick sword of Aiz. Weaving her head around her stabs a few times, ducking away or barely deflecting it by spinning Liberty, the Pallum could somewhat avoid any damage now that she warmed up.

After swaying back once, Lili took a deep breath and stepped in, moving past Desperate, swinging the naginata down from above. Almost effortlessly, Aiz quickly raised her arm and deflected Liberty to her left side. Not missing a beat, the Pallum used the momentum to spin around and throw a right back kick at her. This time, she hit, straight into the stomach, and she managed to cause the human stumble back a bit. After forcing herself forward a bit, Lili turned around, twirling Liberty and transformed it into the dagger form, standing ready to fight again as she observed Aiz' reaction.

The Sword Princess smiled, not looking hurt at all and Lili couldn't help but smile back, before they went at each other again.

The Pallum didn't delude herself that she actually stood a chance of making her opponent even sweat, much less hurt. Nevertheless, it was still fun, sparring with Aiz, their weapons softly clashing against each other as they tried their best not to overexert themselves, or break their opponent in Aiz' case.

All of a sudden however, the Sword Princess stopped, lowering her sword as she looked down on the ground, with her lips pressed together. As Lili tilted her head, the swordswoman let out a small sigh.

"The incident still worries me."

She was opening up to Lili. That was rather surprising. She nodded slowly, eyes wide, before clearing her throat awkwardly. Right, she couldn't screw this up for her

"I heard. Stuff got crazy. The plants were back, right?" She asked, crossing her arms at Aiz, who shook her head.

"That's not what I meant." She bit her lip, hugging her right arm as it loosely held Desperate. "The words the enemy told me are keeping me busy."

The Pallum winced, knowing full well this was going to be a tough topic. Without saying a word, the two of them sat down on the bench, just like before, and Lili raised an eyebrow as she leaned back.

"Words?"

Aiz nodded, folding her hands on her lap.

"Do you remember my reaction when you talked about Gaia?" She asked in a quiet tone, and after mulling over it, Lili snapped her right index finger at her.

"Yeah. Was kinda weird. Why?" Lili asked, tilting her head, and the Sword Princess took a deep breath, before she averted her gaze.

"She called me Aria, by my mother's name." She gave Lili a pointed look as her hands curled up into fists. "As you should know, not many people should know that, given my circumstances."

The Sword Princess looked at the Pallum with expectation, but she stayed awkwardly silent. How could she be anything but that? After all, Lili had not the slightest idea what the hell she was talking about. Because of that, she tilted her head, her face scrunched up in incomprehension.

"Uhm...What?" She asked dumbly and Aiz blinked.

"My circumstances," she repeated, but all she received was a blank look. Aiz' face paled slightly. "He...did tell you, right?"

Lili let out a small oh. Now she got it. Assumptions. The mother of all bad things in the world. Crossing her arms, she raised an eyebrow at her.

"Did you tell him he could tell me?"

"No, I didn't," Aiz replied dumbly, processing the fact that she basically spilled her secrets willy nilly. Lili sighed, shoulders slumping down, before she looked up with a face with disbelief.

"Then why do you think he would have told me?" She twirled with her right hand. "I mean, he isn't an asshole. He can keep secrets if he wants to and he doesn't tell me everything about what he knows." She paused, before touching her chin in thought. "Well, except that one time where he slipped up and told me about Gaia in the first place." Then she pointed the palm of her hand towards the sky, tilting her head to the other side with a cheap grin. "And then I slipped up." A depressed groan escaped her as she palmed her face with both hands. "Man, I am becoming like him, aren't I?"

Shaking her head, deciding not to think about her doomed future, she looked up again just in time to see Aiz blush at the lack of Lili's knowledge. The blonde coughed in embarrassment as she looked away.

"W-well. Now you know parts of my secret. My mother is Aria and Gaia is..."

Taking a deep breath, Aiz folded her hands on her lap as she looked down with a sad smile as her blush vanished.

"Gaia is a close family friend, so to say. She was like an aunt to me." The smile fell and she took a shaky breath. "I...haven't seen her for years." Quickly, she shook her head, before Lili could comfort her. Then, Aiz looked up at the rookie, frowning a bit."I talked to Obsidian after the incident and he didn't know much." She sighed and looked up at the sky, a solemn expression on her face. "The fact that the enemy knew something about my family...It can't be a coincidence."

The two of them fall silent. After all, Aiz finished her explanation and Lili didn't know what to say. Sucks to be you? You're right? Anything she would say would have no meaning. Not without getting more context about this and judging from how tense the Sword Princess was, Lili knew better than to push her, even if her curiosity demanded other wise.

Because of that, the Pallum let the silence remain, and calmly observed how Aiz began to relax. Once she was sure Aiz was calm, Lili let her head lean back.

"Do you know how Bell Cranel progressed so fast?"

Of course, she wasn't allowed to relax quite yet. Turning her head slightly, she was a bit taken aback by the intensity of the swordswoman's eyes.

Then she processed the question and bit her lip. Bell's skill was a secret, one she didn't share with anyone in the Loki Family. After all, it was a secret belonging to the team and Hestia. It was already dangerous enough that so many people knew about it, and they all agreed to get permission from each other before they would tell anyone else.

Because of that, Lili knew that. She couldn't tell Aiz. At least yet. Shrugging helplessly, her smile was a bit strained.

"You got your secrets, he got his. Sorry," she replied. For a moment, Aiz' expression was blank, unreadable to Lili. Then, she let out a sigh.

"I see." She closed her eyes as she smiled. "I am happy for him. He is a good fighter, after all. He deserves it."

"Right, you trained with each other." Lili smirked teasingly. "Anything good happen?"

However, Aiz only tilted her head innocently, blinking with curiosity.

"No. Why?"

Because he had a crush on you, Lili thought dryly, but she knew that she couldn't say it out loud. Sighing, she lowered her head and looked away.

"Figures," she muttered in an exhausted tone, before raising her head and tilting her head with a grin. "You get along well?"

Aiz gave a confirming "uhuh" while nodding. Then however, she lowered her head, her forehead furrowing in thought.

"I may have been wrong," she muttered, causing Lili to tilt her head. Noticing that she spoke out loud, Aiz pressed her lips together for a moment, before shaking her head and looking up at the sky. "I worried that he would lose it sooner or later, especially after I heard what happened with the minotaur. I thought only by becoming someone..." She hesitated, her hands curling up into fists on her lap, before she relaxed again. "Different, he would have overcome it. But the next day I met him...He wasn't different at all." She closed her eyes with a soft expression. "I was relieved."

The Pallum stared at her with surprise. It sounded surprisingly philosophical and she didn't know that Aiz cared that much for Bell. Though Lili focused on what Aiz meant with "different."

What exactly did she mean? From her phrasing, it was obvious some sort of personality change, in a negative sense. Maybe she meant her pursuit for strength Lili heard about in the family? Well, she doubted that Aiz would explain it to her if it caused such discomfort, but the line of thinking still intrigued Lili. Looking up at the clear blue sky, she wondered about one thing.

Was she different?

Thinking about it for a moment and she concluded, yes, she was. She didn't remain like she was after a near death situation like Bell, but she also didn't take a turn to the "worse" like Aiz seemed to believe. After all, Lili thought it was pretty hard to go lower than she was before being a proper adventurer.

The Pallum liked to think she became a better person. More optimistic and a lot more goals to strive for than just "staying alive". The freedom she gained was important to her and it motivated her to no ends. She became stronger, faster, better and tasted friendship and family.

And she had Obsidian to thank for it. Lili grinned as a thought came to her mind. Standing up, she stretched her back as she cracked her knuckles, letting out a satisfied groan.

"Well, I stayed here long enough. Gotta go back home."

"Home?" Aiz asked, tilting her head, and Lili pointed at herself with a smirk.

"Someone's gotta clean the house while the owner is away."

The daughter knew that her father didn't clean often, hence the dirt and similar stuff piled up. It would be a nice thing to do, as a thanks and to cause him embarrassment that a little Pallum like herself had to do his job. Try as he might, he still had some pride left and she was going to tease him when he came back, cheering him up at the same time. The thought caused her to giggle slightly.

Anyway, Aiz nodded slowly.

"Ah, I see." For some reason, her face was filled with worry and another emotion Lili couldn't quite place. Then, Aiz looked up with faint smile. "I hope that your...father comes back."

The Pallum blinked, but then bowed her head in appreciation.

"He'll be back." She said with a smirk full of confidence. "But thank you for worrying."

With that said, she jogged towards the exit of the manor, leaving Aiz behind.

After she left the manor behind and ran a small distance, her jog slowed down to a slow walk. In her excitement, Lili realized one thing she failed to remember. One problem that Lili failed to realize before leaving.

Cleaning alone was the most boring thing in the world. Lili slapped her forehead with a groan.

She could clean up herself, but it would be real awkward doing it alone, in silence. But she already walked such a long distance and going back now would be a bit embarrassing.

Sighing, she rubbed her hair, mulling over if she should actually clean now or not. Then, before she could reach a decision, she stopped and blinked. She stood right in front of the Hostess of Fertility. Tilting her head, she narrowed her eyes at the building.

Hm…

Ryuu did say she had a free day today, right?

Fanning The Flames 11.3

Brushing her finger over the table, Lili frowned when she saw the white dust gathered on her skin. If she wouldn't visit regularly, she was sure her father would just let the dust settle on anything that wasn't the ground. He always disliked cleaning and saw it as a bothering task that had to be done, only cleaning the ground and the areas he frequented. Judging by the half circle like spots that had less dust, conveniently the length of Obsidian's arms, he didn't even bother with water and a towel and instead utilized the skill "swing your arms wildly" to wipe it away.

In other words, he was a slob and Lili wasn't the only one who thought that. Hearing a huff behind her, the Pallum turned around to see her maid friend glare from the kitchen.

"I expected him to have no respect for hygiene with those bandages, but this is even worse than I thought." She glanced at the dried flatware with a sigh. "At the very least he cleans the plates." Then, she glanced back into the sink and her frown intensified. "Some of them."

Giggling in response, Lili scratched the back of her head sheepishly, before clapping her hands together and bowing slightly with her right eye closed.

"Thanks for helping me out here. On your free day, nonetheless."

Ryuu in turn shook her head and smile lightly at her.

"You came at the right time, actually." Her smile faltered a bit and she took a deep breath. "I do not like those...shopping trips Syr tends to bring me on."

Lili crossed her arms, raising a knowing eyebrow.

"Clothes?" She asked in a knowing tone. When Ryuu facepalmed in response, Lili snickered a bit and nodded. "Yeah, I get that. I like to look nice sometimes, but I don't need a whole wardrobe for that."

She didn't have a lot to begin with in her life and meeting Obsidian only solidified her opinion on saving money where she could. Which included not throwing all of her savings at clothes, like some girls in the Loki Family were trying to persuade her into, to no avail. Ryuu nodded in agreement, smiling with satisfaction.

"Exactly." She looked at the doors next to each other, before looking back at the Pallum. "I believe you take care of the bedrooms?"

"Yup."

After all, as much as she trusted Ryuu, private bedrooms were private for a reason. With broom, towel and a bucket full of water, Lili made her way into her own room as the elf started to clean the dirty plates first.

As it was her room, she didn't really pay much attention to her actions. After all, she did it so many times, it was second nature to her. Her room wasn't that decorated anyway, so there wasn't that much work to be done.

In no time, she finished dusting off the area, before moving on to the door next to her room. She bit her lip, staring at the name plate with "Obsidian" written on it, but Lili took a deep breath, before entering it. She had been in here before, so the room wasn't a new region to discover. Still, it reminded her how...empty this place was. It was not a nice feeling to have, she thought with a frown.

Overall, the room wasn't as different as her own. The only differences were the bookshelf, that had a lot more books in than her scarce one had and the lock on his wardrobe. Other than that, it had the same "boring" tone as her room. Not a lot of individuality and more focus on practicality.

Though as she went through the motions of cleaning, her gaze never left the lock. From what she could see it was high quality, but nothing super expensive like the material Aiz' Desperate was made of. Lili was sure she could break it, either by bruteforce or lockpicking, if she wanted to. A part of her was curious what he had inside. However, it was just a small part.

No, she thought as she shook her head. This was private and if he wanted her to search through it, it wouldn't be locked. On the other hand, the book shelf was not locked, so to say, and she never really went through the books herself. Since she didn't have anything better to do at the moment, she lazily took out the books, read their summary on the back, before putting it back in.

The usual stuff, like romantic adventurers or just pure adventurers, like Argonaut or Dungeon Oratoria, to those science books that were imported from Boundary and stuff that went over her head, like psychology or mythology she never even heard of. Not to mention that "sci fi" stuff, which was not her cup of tea after looking in. Far future stuff was hard to relate to after all.

She should probably read more books, if only to get into Obsidian's head easier. With that in mind, she put the last interesting looking book, a story about a man landing in another world and dying constantly, and left the room, ready to help out Ryuu where necessary.

The moment Lili stepped outside however, she stopped in her tracks, blinking at the sight in front of her. Ryuu sat at the dining table, gracefully drinking tea she heated up with her maid clothes not even slightly wrinkled. Her eyes were closed, as she relaxed with the taste of the drink on her tongue, her features even more beautiful than usual. The surroundings were sparkling, despite the fact it was wood that made up this building, not something like porcelain. For a moment, Lili thought she stepped into the vacation home of a high elf, royalty like Riveria.

Quickly, the Pallum managed to shake her dazing state off and coughed awkwardly. Ryuu opened her eyes and turned her head to Lili in small surprise. At the same time, Lili grinned, before whistling with her hands on her hips.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to be that fast," she said, putting her arms on a chair in front of the elf as she leaned forward. Ryuu in turn only smiled lightly, that oozed smugness as it was natural for her species.

"It is part of my occupation. It is natural."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, before they both giggled, shaking their head at their little joke. But suddenly, Ryuu's smile fell, causing Lili to tilt her head as her grin slightly wavered. The elf took a deep breath and folded her hands on the table after setting down the tea.

"Lili, there is another reason why I came here." She bit her lip, something Lili never saw her do, and gestured towards the chair the Pallum leaned on. "Can we talk?"

Blinking as her smile fell, the rookie followed the request and sat down, hands on her lap. With a small frown, she leaned back on the chair.

"What's up?"

"I consider you a close friend. Like I do with Syr," Ryuu started in an even, but careful tone, fiddling with her fingers a little as she looked into Lili's eyes. "Because of that, I believe I should tell you my secret. Remember what I have said about myself and Noir?"

One part of her knew she should feel flattered by the compliment. Another part should have been shocked or ecstatic at the fact that she was trusted so much. She should have probably also start up her brain to get her memory going.

However, Lili couldn't help but bite her lip as she focused on a different thing that Ryuu mentioned.

"Please don't call him that," she asked in a quiet tone, lowering her head. The maid blinked as she leaned back on the chair.

"Why not?" She asked, tilting her head and Lili cleared her throat with a blush, as she averted her eyes.

"Because he's not the only Noir here," she muttered, twirling her hair with her right finger, focusing on the motions in order to avoid looking at Ryuu

"O-oh. I...see," Ryuu said slowly and Lili could imagine the wide eyed look she would give her, maybe even with a bit of a flushed face. Because of that, the Pallum closed her eyes and frantically waved her hands in front of herself.

"I-it's nothing official yet! It's just…." She looked down on her fingers, as she touched the tips awkwardly, her voice becoming quieter. "W-we go-got this father daughter thing going on and-and we talked during the mission and..." She sighed, before glancing up shyly. "You get the point."

To her surprise, Ryuu looked at her with a melancholy smile and nodded in approval.

"I see. I am happy for you."

"T-thanks." Giggling awkwardly, she scratched the back of her head, before Lili coughed and tried to calm herself as she leaned forward, arms on the table. "Anyway, you and dad? Didn't you say something about having similar pasts?"

She hummed in thought. Obsidian got people killed in the dungeon, from his perspective, so that meant Ryuu had to experience something similar. It was obviously something traumatizing, which would explain why the elf "retired" so to say. Hopefully her family was there to-

Her eyes widened in realization and she slowly straightened up her back as horror crept into her expression.

"Oh gods. I am so sorry," she whispered, slowly shaking her head at her own stupidity. After all, the maid once told her that she belonged to a family.

Once.

Lili bit her lip and looked away. Now she felt like an ass for interrupting her with chit chat. When she glanced at her friend however, she took a deep breath, smile still in place, having gained a forced edge to it.

"I did hint rather heavily at it in the past, didn't I?" She shook her head at the younger girl. "I'm not mad for you not figuring it out sooner. I didn't say anything after all." Her smile fell and she looked down at her folded hands. "Yes, my family, the Astraea Family, has been slaughtered to the last person. In an ambush nonetheless. I was the only one who escaped."

The dark expression on Ryuu's face scared Lili a bit, but she suppressed the urge to back off as she curled her hands into fists. Instead, she processed the information as she tried to calm down with even breaths.

The Astraea Family. It was an exploration type family with rather strong and experienced fighters in their ranks. However, they were famous for being the "police force" of Orario, helping the population against crime and corruption. Lili wasn't as much of a fan of them as the rest of the civilians, but that was because of lingering resentment of being helpless at the hands of Soma. After all, drunks or not, they were relatively good at hiding their tracks. It didn't change the anger she felt as a little girl however, of the lack of attention the so called "helpers of justice" had in her young mind. Their disappearance were barely worth a raised eyebrow back then, as she was focused on earning her food and money to survive.

Looking at the elf, trying to maintain her composure as her fingers dug into her flesh, Lili couldn't help but feel shame for her past thoughts.

"I can remember how their leader was mocking us," Ryuu whispered quietly, her eyes filled with rage as she grit her teeth. "'Well, I wouldn't miss the heroes for anything.' This was his response when we demanded what he wanted. As if this was just a casual game for him."

A shaky breath escaped her, before Ryuu relaxed, her hands loosening up as they stopped leaving marks on themselves.

"I was filled with shame and rage after I left my people behind, like a coward," the elf muttered, as if talking to herself as her eyes were closed.

She wasn't a coward, Lili wanted to yell, but she knew better than to interrupt her. At least for now, not until Ryuu was finished. She needed to hear the whole story. Because of that, she pressed her lips together as her hand's grip on her clothes became stronger.

Anyway, the elf scoffed dismissively, shaking her head with a pained smile.

"I wish I could say what I did next was for them, but it wasn't. It was to feel better. Nay, it was the only thing I could think of doing at all, after I sent my goddess away."

The mix of dry amusement and self depreciation in her voice worried Lili. However, the girl latched onto the meaning behind those words and wracked her brain to remember the events five years ago. Her forehead furrowed in thought for a few moments, before it clicked on her.

"You are the one who destroyed the Rudra Family," Lili stated breathlessly, staring at the elf in shock.

Even as a young girl, it was hard to miss hearing about the terror that happened at the time. Sure, a family disappearing in the dungeon wouldn't make her care too much. Hearing adventurers, their friends and relatives disappear one by one like in a horror story was harder to forget. The last remnants of Evilus died a slow death and everyone knew about it. Hell, the Soma members tried to scare her with comments among the lines of "wonder if the Pallum is next". It worked, Lili remembered as she took a deep breath to calm down. The nightmares of a faceless murderer didn't help her sleep with the hunger and the abuse.

Either way, Ryuu nodded slowly, closing her eyes with the strained smile still in place.

"Destroyed...an apt word." The fake smile fell and she raised her head, staring up at the ceiling with an empty expression, emotions hidden as if she tried to avoid something. "I killed every single one of them. I didn't just go for the culprits, I went after their friends. Their family. Anyone that was associated with them. I wanted to exterminate all of them and I did."

A small laugh escaped her, more genuine than before, and her eyes regained some of the warmth Lili was used to.

"I only survived thanks to Syr. If it weren't for her, I would be dead."

The happiness lasted for only a short while however, and Ryuu's shoulders slumped as she looked down at the table. Her right hand gripped her left sleeve and Lili knew the elf well enough by now to notice the ticks of her body.

She was guilty about what she had done. Leaving her family behind and killing the culprits in blind rage. The Pallum stared at her friend with slightly narrowed, sad eyes. She couldn't help with the former. If she couldn't convince her father to discard his guilt, than Lili could definitely not to it for someone who lost people she actually knew and loved. The latter however, she could help with. Forcing her mouth corners up, she leaned forward, trying to appear as relaxed as possible.

"They deserved it, right? So you shouldn't-"

Unfortunately, she made the wrong decision.

The reaction was instant. Ryuu shot up, the chair falling down behind her, before she slammed down her hands with a furious snarl. The table cracked slightly and Lili jumped in her chair with a gasp.

"If they deserved it or not is irrelevant!" Ryuu screamed, her face red from the sudden action. The Pallum remained silent, her face frozen in place. In response to that, the elf blinked, as if coming out of a trance, before forcing herself to breathe deeply in a slow rhythm with closed eyes. With she opened them again once her breathing became steady, there was still simmering anger behind them. Quietly, she pulled her chair up again, before falling down on it. Then, she crossed her arms on the table as she looked to her right side, avoiding Lili's worried gaze.

"It does not matter. They did not matter. All that matters is what I betrayed." Her look turned to Lili and she recoiled by the amount of self loathing she faced, as tears ran down Ryuu's face. "I betrayed myself. I betrayed everything my family ever stood for. I spat on their names in so called justice, when it was simply mindless revenge!" Her voice became louder, as she threw her arms open in agitation. "I stained myself with so much blood, I sometimes still have to prevent myself from lashing out when somebody like you or Syr touches me!"

Exhaling as if she released her anger, the elf calmed down, leaning back on her chair as she folded her hands on her lap, a sad smile on her face.

"I have been branded as a criminal, forever blacklisted by the Guild. And I deserve it." She shook her head, looking up at the ceiling as she wiped her tears with her sleeve. "My goddess never returned. Not only because I never asked her to, but because she knows her family died. I died with them that day, the one who stood for justice."

Not even once, the elf sobbed, Lili realized with a pained face. Even now, Ryuu tried to be strong and Lili couldn't help but admire the way she managed to reign her emotions back, as no more tears came out. Only the reddish skin were proof of her crying.

"Why tell me all this?" Lili asked quietly, not having moved even a single finger on the table. The maid in return tilted her head, smile still in place.

"Because you are my friend. And you deserve to know who you associate yourself with. Syr is a gentle person, who would forgive anything." Her mouth corners fell, as she sighed, averting her gaze. "But you are not Syr. I would not be mad if you-"

Okay, that was it.

The Pallum shoved her chair back as she stood up, making sure it didn't fall. This action caused Ryuu to stop in her tracks, but she then closed her eyes, letting out a low chuckle as she hung her head low in acceptance. Lili grit her teeth at that. Another reason to do what she was going to do.

Her feet stomping on the ground, she made her way to her destination. As she walked, the elf's expression became more confused. Then, as she looked up with a raised eyebrow, Lili wrapped her hands around Ryuu, shoving her right arm between her and the chair back. Her body tensed in surprise, but the Pallum ignored that. And the fact that, despite being seated, Lili only managed to put her chin on Ryuu's shoulder. Damn Pallum genes.

Anyway, ignoring all that, she frowned as she ignored the confused noises that came from her friend.

"Shut up already, you idiot," she muttered, already imagining the wide look she received.

Honestly, Lili wanted to smack Ryuu for even suggesting that she would leave the elf. However, she didn't want to hit a friend, so the hug and words had to do the trick.

"I won't say that you are right, because I don't know enough about stuff like that," she started in a low voice. "I never lived through what you did, so I can't relate."

Lili moved her head slightly back to look into Ryuu's sky blue eyes. With the closeness they had, she could easily see the elf's shock at the sequence of events. Because of that, Lili giggled a little, smiling a bit.

"But what I know is that you are my friend. And I would never discard you for what you've done. You are a good person in my eyes."

In response, Ryuu's mouth thinned, her eyes slightly narrowing.

"Even if I killed all of these people like cattle?" She whispered and Lili scoffed in response.

"I would be overjoyed if you did that to the Soma Family." At the weirded out look she received, Lili shrugged sheepishly. "What? I'm not Syr, as you said. I'm not that good of a person. I'm very selfish. That includes keeping my friends, even if they say otherwise." Her grin fell and Lili moved her head back onto the shoulder, staring at the kitchen behind Ryuu. "It may not have been justice for you and you might have been going overboard, but you stopped, injuries or not. You didn't continue killing bad guys left and right, but you stayed at the Hostess even after you healed up. That tells me that you aren't as bad you think you are."

A small sigh escaped the elf as she remained motionless in Lili's arms.

"You shouldn't have to deal with this, after what happened with your father," she muttered and the Pallum couldn't help but groan.

"Could you just enjoy the hug and stay silent already?" She said annoyed and rolled her eyes. "And don't even get me started on the whole 'I'm stained with blood' thing. I'm not the cleanest Pallum in the world either."

Lili may have not killed people directly, but she knew that her hands weren't clean. A lot of people were probably hurt by her many acts, may it be stealing or guiding the thugs of her old family at them.

It did not compare to what Ryuu did, but if Lili could get a second chance in life, the elf did too, no matter what crimes she had committed.

For a while, the maid remained silent. But then, a small giggle escaped the elf and slowly shook her head slightly in what Lili assumed was exasperation.

"You are the third person to do something like this for me..." Lili grinned when Ryuu gently returned the hug. "Very well. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Lili said after a giggled and squeezed a bit more to reassure her. Not to mention because the elf was actually a pretty good hugger, her body feeling soft enough to be comfortable for the girl.

She smelled really good too, Lili had to admit with a faint blush as she buried her head into her shoulder. Closing her eyes, she began to relax in Ryuu's hold, enjoying the silence the two of them share.

"Hm."

Instantly, both girls snapped their head around at the familiar, deep male voice and their mouth opened slightly in shock.

Obsidian had his arms crossed, a tired, but neutral expression on his hidden face. His clothes were dirty and tattered, more than before, and his bandages were loosened up, revealing patches of skin here and there. His hands were completely free too, the bandages ending suddenly at his wrist as if they were burned off.

He raised his right arm as he gestured at the people in his home with a raised eyebrow.

"This is not what I meant with 'my house is your house', Lili," he said in a dry tone. Immediately, the two of them became red in the face, but Lili ignored the embarrassment and instead jumped at her father with a red face.

"Dad!" She shouted, ramming into him, who casually caught her into a hug, spinning around to minimize the impact. A few spins later, he put her down to the ground and put his hand on her head, ruffling her hair which caused the girl to giggle.

"Nothing blew up while I was gone, right?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and Lili snorted as she crossed her arms at him.

"Not in Orario," she replied and he let out a small hum.

"Neat."

After raising his thumb with his left hand, he removed his right and moved past Lili and Ryuu, the latter closely behind the former, and slumped down on the chair that the Pallum previously occupied. While the elf had a disapproving look on her face for some reason, Lili couldn't care less, as the giddy grin on her face wouldn't disappear. Soon, Ryuu couldn't help but smile as well when the old man groaned and covered his eyes with his right hand as his head lied on the back of the chair.

For a while, they remained like that, the girls standing in the room, observing the man resting. Then however, he removed his hand and rolled his head a bit to look at his daughter.

"When's the expedition?" He asked with a neutral expression. Blinking in confusion, Lili tapped the side of her head with her right finger, not sure where he was going with this.

"Uhm...the executives are still discussing this. With giving the family a rest, buying the supplies and getting the money to pay for the Durendal weapons, it's going to take a few weeks maybe?" She asked more than stated, before raising her hands with a shrug. "It's my best guess. Why?"

"Reserve me a spot."

Lili's mind froze at the words and could do nothing but stare at her father, who turned his back at her to reach for the tea boiler. As he poured himself a cup, Lili regained her working brain and couldn't help but tilt her head.

"What?" She asked dumbly and ignored the sigh next to her. Obsidian turned around just as he reached for his cup and raised an eyebrow at her.

"What what?" He asked, before glancing upwards, snapping his right finger at her and looked back at Lili. "By the way, do you know if Welf does discounts? I could use some maintenance for my axe and-

The daughter immediately raised her hand, stopping him in his tracks, and took an irritated breath before slapping her hands together.

"I mean, what do you mean?" She asked, moving her hands down on emphasis for the 'what'. Obsidian chuckled, shaking his head as he turned the chair around.

"I mean I am going back into the dungeon." He smiled widely, resting his arms on his legs. "Sorry it took so long."

Her eyes widened at the words, realizing what he meant. He was willing to overcome his fear at last. He was going to fight alongside her in the dungeon and be free of his guilt.

Immediately, Lili looked away and bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, trying to suppress the hope and joy in her chest.

No, she was not going to cry or squeal in delight! It would be too embarrassing and it were only words! Not a guarantee!

Despite her thoughts, she couldn't wipe away the grin on her face nor the tears welling up in her eyes.

As if noticing her emotional distress, Ryuu stepped forward, crossing her arms with a disapproving look.

"Noir, you look horrendous," she stated bluntly. Obsidian let out a 'meh' before he dumped the tea down his throat and gulped it down in one go. Letting out a satisfied breath, the chair creaked as he moved.

"Sorry, Shop At Nowhere had closed on the weekend," he said in a dry tone as he sat down the cup. "Besides, I already was a walking fashion disaster before and I don't wanna buy new bandages."

This time, Lili couldn't hold it back.

As if a dam burst, she exploded into laughter, causing the other two to turn to her in confusion. Lili held her stomach as she wheezed in between, forcing herself to breathe. Then however, tears began to fall, and she began to sob at the same time as she expressed her joy. Strength left her legs and she fell on her knees as she furiously tried to wipe away the tears from her cheeks, to no avail. When she felt arms wrap around her, she immediately turned around and returned the hug. The laughter disappeared completely, leaving her at the whims of her own crying as she buried her head into Obsidian's shoulder.

A part of her knew she was being too emotional. After all, it was barely over a day since he was outside Orario, all by himself. But Lili didn't care as her grip on Obsidian's clothes hardened as he softly rubbed the back of her head. His usual self depreciating humor removed any doubts in her mind left.

Her father was home. He didn't leave her.

Interlude: The Sorcerer

A polite chuckle rebound against the grey stone of the walls. A young woman stood inside with a smirk, leaning next to a closed window, covered by a wooden door. Her right index finger played with the tip of a certain staff.

The transparent orb, stuck between two black, wooden prongs, felt as smooth as ever to her skin. It was relatively simplistic, no extra symbols or ornaments on the long, black rod that reached her moderate chest. Overall, one would say it would be a rather boring looking staff.

Nevertheless, it radiated power, as did the owner with the false smile, as she held a rectangular device next to her left ear, black and clunky in design.

"I'll let you stew over it. This is just first contact after all. I am looking forward for our next call," she said in a polite tone and bend her knees a bit.

A click sounded through the darkened room and immediately, a long suffering groan echoed. Following that, the young woman fell down with a thud, landing in the many books that filled the small area. Putting the phone onto one of the book, she rubbed her forehead with tired eyes.

Well, that talk went well, she thought dryly. Her hand went through her brown hair, causing her short twin tails to wiggle from the motion. Here she thought that talking with a big bird who didn't speak any human language was hard. At the very least, Boss Chicken was polite and didn't ooze superiority, even if he would be justified if he did.

Shaking her head, she glanced to her left, narrowing her eyes at the clock. Ten minutes before ten. She let out a grunt, taking a deep breath and stood up with a sigh.

Time to get to work.

But first, she had to get dressed, the young woman noted as she flapped her arms, her blue sleeves flailing in the air. Couldn't go to work with pajamas after all, she thought with a giggle.

With her green eyes, she searched the area, somewhat disoriented with where the drawer actually was. When she spotted it, she carefully stepped over the books, maneuvering past them with big, wide steps in order to avoid a collapse. Once she reached it, she threw off her sleeping clothes and opened the drawer.

Moments later, she tugged at her white sleeves of trench coat, before buttoning it up, hiding her yellow shirt underneath. Then, she wiggled her legs a bit, judging the size of her blue jeans. With them fitting, she tugged her collar up with a frown.

So, where was her hat?

Looking around, she carefully stalked through the books, before she saw it's squished form at the place where she let herself fall. She chuckled awkwardly as she picked it up. Patting dirt off it and straightening it out as she kneaded it a bit, she put on the white wizard hat on her hair. With its tip pointing to her right side, she put her hands on her hips with a satisfied breath.

Now she felt complete, ready for the day.

"Magic time," she whispered and threw the doors of the window open with her right hand, while her left hand grabbed her staff.

Her grin immediately disappeared when the sun rays assaulted her face. She should really open the window more often, she thought with squinted eyes. Holding her hand in front of them, she hissed while her eyes had to adjust, before blinking away the spots.

With them gone, all complaints vanished as she smiled widely at the sight she saw.

Today, it was snowing, but not a single speck of snow landed on the city. Not only was the area heated up as usual, so that people could actually walk around in short sleeved clothing, but the snow slid away on an invisible surface. The tower she resided in was located in the middle of the city, so she could look around her with ease. Looking down, she saw the busy streets between the stone buildings with bright colored, wooden rooftops. Children playing, parents chatting, merchants selling and green robed individuals with books discussing stuff.

The peace she was witnessing...it was one of the reminders of what they managed to achieve. She never got tired of seeing this. After smelling the air one more time, cherishing the smell of progress, she cracked her neck.

Welp, enough sightseeing of her own city. She glanced down, looking at a silver colored building with a shield in front that said "Lab 3", before grinning widely.

With a "hoop", she jumped down from the tower, her body completely straight as she fell through the air. The fall lasted a few seconds, before she landed on a gel like object, dampening the impact as a muted 'plop' sounded. After she stopped sinking into it, the young woman climbed out of the yellow safety sack. After she dusted her legs off, she moved towards the laboratory she eyed from before, waving at the people passing by with a polite smile.

Then, without further ado, she threw the doors open. Reactions were immediate. Every single person inside, wearing the same green robes as some people from before, turned around. They stopped from what they were doing, from writing notes down, to handling different kinds of machines and having deep discussions. The young woman giggled and threw her arms open.

"Morning, my buddies!"

"Morning, Lady Lightbringer!" The room echoed back in unison in joy, bowing at her in sync. Her smile wavered and she sighed as she rubbed her forehead, with left hand on her hip.

"It's Luciel, damn it," she muttered, before grinning again and raising her right hand. "At ease."

They raised their heads, smiling at their leader, before returning to their work. Luciel walked past them, idly greeting individuals on the way, before she reached a wide open space, surrounded by scholars who stood behind metallic barriers. More eye catching however, were the two silver arches, decorated with different colored gems. They were slightly raised on podiums, which were ten feet away from each other. Looking down, she could spot that those podiums had several cables connecting it to different parts of the room. If one would look closely, they would see that the arches were not connected to each other in any way, instead having their own power sources and the like. Her mouth corners rose at the sight, but she also bit her lip at t he same time. Shaking her head, she decided not to wrack her head with conflicted feelings.

Instead, she looked around for a short moment. Then, she cracked her neck as she approached a console with several levers and buttons. More specifically, she approached the small man with dark brown short hair, checking the machine over. With a smirk, she put her elbow on the head and giggled when the dwarf groaned. Glancing up, he scratched his long beard in annoyance before putting his hands on his hips, not even bothering to remove her limb from his head.

"Boss, you didn't sleep in the tower again, did you?" He asked, his yellow eyes staring into her with exasperation. She in turn removed her arm and shrugged sheepishly.

"It's the closest sleeping spot to this place, Gregor," she explained and giggled when the dwarf rubbed his forehead with a sigh.

"You're causing my hair to go white with worry, you know that?"

"Well, up side to that is that I could call you Whitebeard then."

The man raised his eyebrow when she snickered a bit at her little joke. Not that she cared, since it was funny to imagine for her. He's got that earth magic down after all. He could potentially cause earthquakes, even if he would never do. Too much collateral after all. Though the size didn't fit. Whitebeard Junior maybe?

Anyway, the dwarf opened his mouth, before closing it and shaking his head.

"Not gonna question that reference..." He muttered, raising his arms in surrender, before focusing back on the console in front of him. Luciel crossed her arms behind her back, before peeking over his head, eyes narrowed at the black screen with the green letters. After her pupils traced the lines, she leaned back, nodding in satisfaction. From what she could see, the data and information on the screen fit their calculations. The question was, were they correct. It ran through Gregor's head as well, considering he turned his head at her, eyes narrowed and mouth thinned with worry.

"Boss, are you sure this is going to work?" He asked in a quiet tone, his gaze wandering to the more excited researchers in the area. She in turn scoffed at that and gestured with her right hand around.

"If I knew, we wouldn't have those barriers up and ready, would we?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Followed by that, she put the same hand onto his shoulder, nodding sagely with closed eyes. "Also, you asked me that question many times and many times you did not die."
When she opened them again, the dwarf gave her a flat look. After a while, he rolled his eyes and turned back around.

"This should not comfort me as much as it does," he muttered as he fiddled with the machine again. Luciel chuckled and patted his head with her free, right hand.

"Love you too, little beard man," she said, ruffling his hair. Without turning around, Gregor pushed her hand away with slight irritation.

"You are lucky everyone in here likes you or else we would be very offended," he said dryly, before he pressed a blue button. A ringing noise sounded in the area and the conversations died down, replaced by footsteps and paper shuffling as people got to their stations. Once the commotion died out, the dwarf cleared his throat.

"Eleven o' clock in the morning, seventh day of summer," he shouted, his voice echoing into the hall, and pens immediately started to write. "Starting test six on the Gateway Project. Modifications made to increase power by twenty percent, with only a three percent loss in control. Distance is ten meters, outside of the lab in a prepared area. Test object, an apple." He paused and coughed awkwardly. "If we even get to that stage."

Subdued chuckling rang through the halls and Luciel winced. Still, she shook it off and dug into her pockets.

"Get your goggles up!" She yelled, putting her own on as she tugged at the black rubber a bit. Seeing the others equip their own protection gear, she grinned at the two arches and pointed at them, throwing her arm around dramatically."Alright, light it up!"

Nodding, Gregor slowly pushed a lever up, causing the cables to light up in blue color. Like a river, the energy flowed through, soon reaching the podium. From there, the crystals began to glow in a greenish shine.

"Looking good so far," the dwarf stated in a gruff tone, staring intently on his screen. "Crystals not cracking yet, energy is flowing fine. Lasting longer than before."

A short while later, the crystals began to spark and their erratic lines clashed in the middle of the arches, but quickly disappeared after the impact. However, as the dwarf pushed the lever, the energy intensified and the sparks lasted longer, until they connected in the middle and created a ball the size of a walnut.

"Yes, come on..." Luciel muttered in excitement as the ball began to grow in each of the portals.

Unfortunately, nothing could worth so smoothly.

The first sign something went wrong was the fact that the ground was shaking. It didn't gradually appear, but instead came suddenly with enough force to shake books off tables. Not to mention, while the cross point grew, it lost its round shape and began to resemble a rampaging bacteria.

"Are the vibrations supposed to be there too?" Gregor asked with a gulp, sweat running down his skin. Then, he pointed at the arches. "Or the smoke?"

"Not to that extent to the former, hell no to the latter," she replied, clicking her tongue as she saw the gates' shaking intensify. Feeling the heat rising in the room, she snapped her head left and right. "You know the drill!" She yelled, before pressing her hand against the metal wall. Quickly, Gregor and others mimicked her action, human, werepeople and dwarfs alike, touching the protective material.

Then, they poured their magic into them. In a matter of seconds, the metal glowed. Light expanded from its edges and spread out, connecting to the wall next to it. This process occurred simultaneously between each of the devices and shortly after, a blue, flickering dome covered the arches.

It was just in time, as the two objects exploded violently, the colorful energy lashing out against the shields. Unlike herself, the other magicians grit their teeth and groaned as they put more energy into the barrier, that barely held on. Luckily for them, the explosion existed only for an instance and soon only left behind black smoke. Sharing a glance with Gregor, Luciel motioned with her head at the console, not even breaking a sweat. The dwarf wiped some sweat off his forehead, breath slightly heavy, as he looked onto the screen.

When he nodded at his boss, the woman whistled loudly and removed her hands from the metal. Immediately after that, the others distanced themselves as well, and the barrier flickered, before dying out. With nothing in the way anymore, the black smoke could escape into the room and everyone began to cough.

The leader waved with her hand in front of her, holding her breath to avoid the breathing it in, before tapping with her staff on the ground. The orb glowed in a green light and she pointed her right finger upwards. In an instance, a force shot up, through the entrance holes of the chimneys, carrying the smoke with it like the wind.

With the bad air gone, the coughing slowly died out, before everyone looked at the arches.
Or rather, what was left of it on the remnants of the podiums and the cables. The silence was deafening, as they saw their work destroyed just like that. As the chief of this operation, she knew she had to say something to break the bad atmosphere.

"Well, that went better than expected," Luciel commented with her arms crossed, frowning at the ruined devices. Her words worked as intended, as her loyal subordinate snapped his head at her with an incredulous glare.

"How did that work better than expected?!" Gregor yelled, waving his arms at the destruction. In response, she shrugged nonchalantly.

"We contained the damage. Duh." She shook her head and sighed, hands on her hips. "Well, breaking physics is as hard as I thought."

"Don't you have physics bend over your knee already?" He asked skeptically. Luciel scoffed at the words, making circles in the air with her staff.

"Yes, but it's still struggling."

This did the trick and amusement filled the air as people laughed with mixed intensity. Shaking her head in amusement, she clapped her hands loudly.

"You know the drill, boys and girls!" As the room got into motion, the sorcerer turned back to the dwarf, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms, leaning onto her staff. "So, any spontaneous ideas?"

"You could start with putting the energy in yourself," he replied dryly, crossing his arms. Rolling her eyes, she straightened herself up, her weapon in her right hand as she spread her arms open.

"Yes, but that would take away the purpose of making it self sufficient," she responded with a flat look and then pointed at herself with her free hand. "Can't have an uber sorcerer like me do it for the mass produced version after all."

"You can't even teleport yourself," Gregor countered and Luciel sighed.

"Because I don't wanna get ripped apart across dimensions. Kinda hard to test if I am dead," she replied in a sarcastic tone, before tapping her chin in thought. "I guess the problem we gotta handle for now is the containment. Better magic attuned material, more rune research. Other than that, did the machines catch any spacial warping?"

The dwarf peeked over his shoulder, leaning back a bit. After reading the data on the screen for a bit, he turned back, scratching his head with a frown.

"A little bit of a distortion, but not enough to actually punch a hole and connect the two."

Better than she expected, less than she hoped. The sorcerer scratched her chin in thought.

"So probably more power, more control." Shrugging, she breathed out before slapping her staff into her left hand, before twirling it. "Well, never expected this to be easy. We only started a few weeks ago with real testing."

At that, the man's shoulders slumped, a dark cloud forming above his head.

"After so much work put into the theory..." He muttered pitifully and she couldn't help but scoff in amusement.

"Call our science fiction session for what it is." After the dwarf chuckled at her words and raised his head, Luciel crossed her arms, leaning a bit to the left. "So, anything else on the schedule?"

Instantly, Gregor pulled out a note pad, turning pages on it, before putting his finger on the lines.
"Well, we gotta work out the hiccups for the Gateway, there has been some other minor projects you need to look over, attend the Soul Weapon project with Lady Katon and..." He hesitated and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and rolled his head a bit, before opening them again. "Discussing the Aevians with her. The latter also want to know if you were up for some talking again. Maybe even let them...visit."

Seeing his reaction, she gave him a sympathetic look.

"Still gotta warm you guys up for the idea, hm?" She asked gently. As the dwarf sighed, Luciel couldn't help but be reminded of the issues inter-species interactions had.

The only reason she and the others didn't get lynched for the mere notion of the idea was because of everything they have done for Boundary. Nevertheless, it was the closest thing to revolts since a long time. After all, people lived so long in fear of monsters and now they were told to make peace?

It was the reason she always had to make trips to Aevian territory, the first peaceful, bird monsters in Boundary. They were a tribe, just like their non human counterparts were, consisting of different types of monsters. From her own personal experience, they could be trusted, but she also knew it was too soon to integrate their societies with each other. Because of that, they kept civilian contact to a minimum. Shino recommended to let her soldiers bond with them via combat and team focused fighting. The idea had merit, since her warriors had more discipline than anyone else. Still, Luciel had to discuss it with her, since these very same warriors killed monsters like the Aevians. She had to make a picture herself of how Shino's people would react, since her own magicians were uncomfortable at best, and they were taught to keep an open mind to things.

Speaking of uncomfortable, it would be difficult to find way of letting them enter the cities anyway. Proper landing space to avoid trouble, especially for their king. A forewarning system, perhaps, and feeding stations for them in order to rest from the flight.

Luciel sighed. Braniac had all the plans, but even he couldn't take over planning for all cities, so she and Shino were mostly responsible for the infrastructure in their city.

What a pain. Scratching the back of her head, she closed her eyes tiredly.

"Well, I need to tell them I'll see when I can-"

She stopped short, her eyes snapping open. It caused the dwarf to raise his eyebrow, but she raised her finger, mouthing 'a moment'. Then she cracked her neck as she paid attention to the beeping noise in her head. Calling forth the 'menu' to the front of her mind, she frowned who was sending her a message. Seeing the sender's name, she raised an eyebrow.

Sid.

Luciel raised an eyebrow at that. He usually replied during evening, never in the morning. Not to mention one of the other two had to message Obsidian in order to get a reply, though he did got better lately. She crossed her arm, tilting her head. Well, except yesterday, where he didn't respond at all. Maybe it was connected to that? Narrowing her eyes, she searched if there was a topic title for the 'conversation'. They rarely used it nowadays, but perhaps today was one of those rare cases.

Then, her eyes widened in shock.

There wasn't a title, but something else caught her eye. Next to his name, the word 'message' was missing. Instead, it was replaced by 'call'. Which meant he wanted to talk, actually talk, instead of just 'texting'. She gulped absentmindedly.

Obsidian never called back.

Her mind exploded with possibilities, ranging from positive to negative. He was over his trauma. He was about to commit suicide. Something important happened that he had to call. He was trolling her.

Whatever it was, Luciel didn't hesitate to turn to Gregor with a serious expression.

"Clear the schedule." She turned her back to him, already walking away. "I don't know how long this is going to take."

It spoke volumes of how much he respected her, considering he didn't put up any fuss about her decision. She had to give him a raise someday.

Anyway, as she hurried out of the building, she raised her staff towards her window in the tower. The orb began to glow in a grey color, and an instant later, she pulled herself up with an invisible power. The moment she reached her book filled room, she slammed the doors shut, the room darkening immediately because of it.

Taking a deep breath, she let herself fall against the wall, her back skidding off on it, before her bottom touched the ground. With her legs stretched out and her staff lying against the window, Luciel closed her eyes.

At last, she shivered as she accepted the call, the beeping noise immediately stopping.

"Who's there?" She whispered in a low tone. For a while, she received nothing but silence. But just as she began to shake, gritting her teeth in frustration, she heard exhausted breathing inside her head.

"I didn't say knock knock yet."

Luciel's breath stopped.

His voice. His deep, deadpan voice he used for their jokes. It had been almost two entire years since she last heard them. She took a shaky breath, before sending a mental request for "video." She didn't have to wait long for it to be accepted, as light radiated from her right palm. An instant later, and a screen appeared, like a hologram, illuminating the room she was in. That was when she laid eyes on him.

Just as it was reported, he was hiding his face with those black bandages and his worn out black cloak. However, his brown eyes weren't as dead as she feared. They only looked tired.

"Hey," she said quietly, choking back tears. With a sniff, she forced herself to calm down and cracked a smile at her comrade. "You look like shit."

"Feel like shit," he replied, scoffing in amusement as he shook his head. "More than usual."

She chuckled at the comment, but stopped when she heard leaves rustling in the background. Her eyes narrowed for a moment, before she leaned back with an incredulous look.

Was that a tree he was sitting at?

"Where the hell are you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and the man shrugged.
"Seolo Forest." He lazily twirled his left hand with a sigh. "Outside Orario. Or...well, what's left of this area."

"What did you do?"

At her worried tone, Obsidian winced as he closed his eyes.

"Explode." He paused and opened his eyes again. "With rage."

Naturally, Luciel tilted her head with a frown.

"Context please."

With that, he began to explain. The event with the bandits she and the other predicted, the fighting, but more importantly, the reason for his outburst. With two people close to him, so to say, leveling up like the gang did in the old days? Yeah, she could see how that would trigger him.

From there, Obsidian began to vent, and she patiently listened. How he was stagnating for years while others could overcome their weaknesses with ease. How he felt he betrayed everything they stood for, to never give up. During all that, she didn't say anything, as much as she wanted to. No sign of happiness that he got friends in Orario. Not anger at his self depreciation. Not even slight irritation was on her mind over the fact that he didn't do a good job of establishing a foothold in the dungeon city.

Luciel was content to remain calm, as she had to for his sake. And hearing him talk made it easy, as it soothed her worries that she would have lost him for good. Once he ran out of breath, he wiped his eyes, as they were getting wet, and diverted to more pleasant chit chat. Now, the sorcerer could actually chime in. Some of their topics the two of them already knew, but letter couldn't convey the feelings they had at the memories.

For example, Luciel could obviously tell how much he actually cared for this "Riveria", only talking good about her, with the negatives being taken in stride.

Gotta remember that one.

But it went further than that. The team he was training, how he enjoyed beating them up and seeing them grow. The bullshit they apparently had or at least the potential of it. Other than that, he gave her details about good food spots, shops for comfort and the social climate of the city.

She in return told him the progress of her projects, including her last mishap with the gateway, more details about the Aevians, leaving out their leader with a giggle, and the growing of Boundary in general.

After what felt like hours of talking, he finally reached the topic of Liliruca Arde directly, the girl he took in. But for some reason he froze when he said her name and slapped his forehead with a groan.

"Oh man, I gotta go home to my daughter after being gone so long..." He muttered and Luciel's brain froze. Once she repeated the words in her head, she raised her left hand with narrowed eyes.

"Okay, we are definitely going to punch you later. Since when did you get laid?!" She exclaimed in shock. The way he was talking about the high elf made it sound like he didn't seal the deal yet! Fortunately for her sanity, he rolled his eyes and gave her a flat look.

"Talking about Lili. She's adopted. Or is going to be." He chuckled and shook his head. "Also, she is fourteen, so I skipped the annoying parts of parenthood."

"You lucky bastard," she commented with a smirk and crossed her left arm over her right. "You bonded that much?"

"Hm."

Despite the nonchalant shrug, she could tell that Obsidian was actually blushing. Giggling, she tilted her head at him.

"Good for you. Got worried you wouldn't make any friends without us." She blinked, before looking down with a hesitant expression. "Or...family...Real weird to imagine I'm an aunt now."

"Sorry about that," he replied, bowing his head a bit, not sorry at all judging from his grin. Then, his smile fell and he averted his eyes with a sigh. "Anyway...That's it. Have people here to help me out, sufficiently pissed off...I think I'll try the dungeon again."

Silence fell in her room and Luciel stared at him in shock. She knew from his rant that he was fed up with himself, but for his emotions to reach the boiling point like that? It gave her hope, but she wasn't sure what to say, as she pressed her lips together. Obsidian interrupted the silence, shaking his head as he stared down at the ground.

"I don't know if I can do this without you, but..." He sucked in air through his teeth and looked up, his face determined. "I'll try, damn it." His features softened as he chuckled. "Hopefully I didn't fall behind too much."

At that, Luciel couldn't help but giggle, before waving her hand in exaggeration.

"Oh, it's just about two years. No biggie. Just do what you always do," she said in a casual tone. Raising an eyebrow at her, he leaned forward at the screen.

"Being badass?" He asked sarcastically and her smirk only widened.

"Being retarded."

"We all are, I'm not special," Obsidian replied with a scoff and the two of them gave each other a pointed look.

Then the damn burst and they wheezed loudly, as their laughter became out of control. After such a long time and they were still on the same wavelength. Luciel had to cover her stomach, struggling to keep the screen steady with her right hand, while Obsidian hammered his fist down on the ground, fighting to do the same with his left hand. Still, as fun as this was, they slowly tuned it down, knowing that they had to stop. Both laughing and keeping up this call. The sorcerer spent enough time than she could afford to in this room and the mummy should really get back home. The two of them knew that they couldn't talk forever anyway. But she still had to get something of her chest, as she calmed down.

"I believe in you," she said suddenly, but gently. For a while, he stared at her with wide eyes. His mouth opened and closed a few times, uncertainty filling his expression. But in the end, he took a shaky breath.

"I love you," he whispered, his smile wide and genuine underneath those bandages, and for a moment, Luciel saw his real face. Because of that, she smiled back, not bothering to hold back her tears anymore.

"Love you too."

Interlude: The Hearth II

The Denatus. The meeting of the gods. Gathering inside the halls of the guild, most deities gathered to attend the regular meeting. It was held in order to share information and foster deeper relationships between gods and families alike. Negotiations were held, deals were made, and intel from inside and outside the dungeon was told. And at last, the title ceremony. It was one of the many tasks of the Denatus, to give their adventurers new names, aliases, to properly respect their achievements.

That was the official explanation anyway. Unofficially, it was a meeting of gossip, and a contest to figure out how to embarrass their rivals the most by giving their children the most stupid names they could think of. Few mortals could read behind the lines, actually thinking the aliases were cool and that their gods agreed. In some case, that was true, but in an ironic sense.

Suffice to say, Hestia played around with her thumbs as she sat at the round table, sweating nervously at the glee and schadenfreude the other gods radiated in prospect of the alias naming. While they didn't reach the point yet, the little girl couldn't help but feel nervous already, as she bit her lip.

Hopefully neither Bell nor Lisa would get dealt with bad names. But considering her ranking in the hierarchy of Orario, she didn't have much hope. Not to mention, their luck with names was horrendous after all, surname for the latter and the skill name for the former. The memory made her grin and she held her cheeks with a blush. Heavens above, why did Bell have to be so cute?! As if it wasn't enough that his face and general behavior was adorable, the blessing had to bend its back to ensure that his cuteness was overloaded! The others didn't have names that were set to cause direct embarrassment, like Welf Vision or Infinite Shift! His reaction was too cute! Revealing his dream and his face instantly turned red and he stuttered like the c-

"Hestia, you are making a scene."

The exasperated, female voice to her left snapped her out of it and she coughed awkwardly, averting her eyes with a red face when she noticed the stares she was receiving. Shrinking down on her chair, she laughed awkwardly at the flat look she received from Hephaesus. It was amazing how much a single eye could convey without even moving an eyebrow.

"Sorry!" Rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, she smiled sheepishly. "Just...kinda nervous. Two new kids, getting their alias..."

The blacksmith in turn sighed, but smiled fondly at her friend, patting her on the head.

"I know that feeling," she said, nodding at the memory while Hestia enjoyed the patting session with a blissful expression. She pouted when Hephaestus stopped and crossed her arms. "I'll do my best to help you out, but don't expect any miracles. I only have one vote, after all."

Despite the stern face, Hestia smiled at her friend and bowed her head as she folded her hands.

"Thanks!"

Then, her smile fell and she grabbed her left elbow as she bit her lip. Seeing Hephaestus, who tilted her head in confusion, reminded her of the debt she took to afford the Hestia Knife. Or rather, the debt she already got rid off, after her children insisted. It left a bad taste in her mouth. After all, she did promise to work it off on her own and days later, she spat on that.

"Are you mad?" She muttered and weakly twirled her right hand. "About...the debt thing. I mean, it wasn't my own money and it got paid off so fast..."

Raising her head slightly, she looked at her seat neighbor. To her surprise, Hestia only received a raised eyebrow as a reaction. Hephaestus crossed her arms and let out a scoff.

"I would have been mad if you had rejected it out of a sense of stupid pride." With an approving grin, she nodded at the smaller goddess. "Family comes first and I know you would have worked your bones off to settle the debt."

Seeing the compassion in her face, the twin tailed woman couldn't help but choke back a sob, as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Hephaestus..."

Chuckling lightly, the blacksmith crossed her arms as she leaned back on her chair.

"Still, I appreciate that you want to work part time for me."

Immediately, Hestia perked up, putting her hands on her hips as she puffed out her chest.

"Well, can't just sit around at home all day and I know how to sell thanks to Lisa!"

While the maid-like outfit she wore was kind of embarrassing, she enjoyed the customer service she did in one of Hephaestus' shops. Even though she didn't have to, she still wanted to repay her friend for the knife, if only out of her own pride. Suffice to say, she was rather good at her job, thanks to working at a food stall and at New Age respectively. The woman with the eye-patch agreed, as she nodded approvingly with a teasing grin.

"I was surprised at how good you managed to swindle people of their money," she commented dryly and Hestia huffed in response, raising her chin up haughtily.

"I didn't swindle, I advertised."

They remained silent for a while, before starting to giggle as they covered their mouths.

"Alright, people! Let's get to the main event!" Loki suddenly announced loudly as she clapped her hands together. Instantly, the atmosphere changed at the table and the two goddesses ceased any talk as they straightened up their backs in attention.

It was time to decide the adventures' aliases. With that, the chaos began. One by one, the profiles of their children were brought out and judgment was called upon them and their gods. Hestia expected it to be a blood bath.

Oh, how innocent she was.

"Hm, looks edgy...Dark Blade Master?"

"Please have mercy!"

"Super Shadow Warrior!"

"Black Edge!"

"Oh, that one is good!"

Leaning back with pale horror written all over her face, the goddess witnessed how everyone at the table essentially jumped at each other like sharks smelling blood. And that weren't even the worst names. Bun Bun Blaster, Cross X…It was even more horrifying than she ever imagined! A part of her wanted to speak up, to prevent some suffering for a few children. But then she remembered the smiling faces of Bell and Lisa in her head and she bit her lip, guilt filling her face.

"Yeah, I felt like that too." Hephaestus squeezed her shoulder with a wry smile and let out a deep sigh. "You get used to it."

"I don't wanna get used to it!" Hestia hissed back, her eyes not leaving the sight of gleeful and broken gods at the same table.

"Oh, Aiz Wallenstein! Level six, congrats!"

Immediately, her eyes narrowed as the mood changed to a more...disgusting aura, as far as the male gods were concerned.

Wallenstein.

Now, she knew that her behavior towards the Sword Princess was unacceptable. After all, she appeared to be like a sweet girl. Not to mention that she worked hard from what she heard. Judging from their interactions, Aiz seemed socially awkward, shy even, and was almost as innocent as Bell, if one would ignore the usual 'adventurer instinct'. Especially her reactions when Hestia mispronounced her name on purpose. Honestly, under any other circumstances, they would probably get along rather nicely.

But heaven forbid, if Wallenstein wouldn't stop being so damn attractive and hook, line, sinker her cute child every time she barely even looks at him, innocent or not, Hestia was going to choke someone.

Anyway, conflicted feelings aside, the goddess tuned back on the current discussion. She wrinkled her nose when she realized it was less of a discussion but more of a fanboy session over the Sword Princess. Glancing around, she could tell she wasn't the only goddess thinking that.

"How about 'Bride of the Gods', eh?" One god proposed and all of his fellow men nodded in approval.

"Yeah!"

Before Hestia could express her disgust at whoever came up with the idea, a chill ran down her spine. Shuddering, her eyes snapped to the goddess that 'owned' Aiz. For once, her smug grin was completely absent, a deep frown in its place, with her eyes open in a glare. It was rare to see Loki's eyes to begin with, which made the impact so much stronger as the talking died in an instant as they felt the death glare as Hestia did. For a while, silence reigned, before the trickster god took a deep breath.

"I'll kill you," she stated in a serious tone, not a hint of her casual self in her voice. Immediately, the male gods straightened up in attention.

"Message received! Moving on!"

Instantly, Loki closed her eyes and grinned as usual. Hestia rolled her eyes at the behavior. Serious in one moment, annoying in the next. She shook her head with a scoff, her mouth corners twitching a little.

To think that she would be on the same page as Loki one day. If people would act like that towards her own children, with such perversity, the goddess of hearth would probably react the same way.

"Now...Welf Crozzo...Wait, isn't that…?"

Heads turned towards her direction, and Hestia instinctively leaned away as everyone stared at Hephaestus. To her credit, the blacksmith smiled politely as she folded her hands in front of her, elbows on the table.

"Yes, it is my child." She tilted her head, eye closed in a threatening manner. "So I would appreciate if you won't give him an embarrassing name."

"Is that a threat?" Loki asked with crossed arms and a smirk. Hephaestus shrugged in response as she leaned back, smile still in place.

"Who knows?" She asked, casually twirling her hair in her right index finger. For a moment, the gods stared at her in silence, before Loki let out a chuckle.

"Not going to risk it," she muttered, before raising her hand lazily. "Ignis. All in favor?"

"Aye."

So that was the power of influence. Hestia gulped with wide eyes, before turning to her friend with a frown.

"Doesn't that sound kinda boring?" Her friend raised an eyebrow, pleased smile still in place. Hestia raised both of her hands, as if balancing two items. "I mean...fire...blacksmith..."

"Better boring than embarrassing."

Seeing the shrug, Hestia couldn't help but agree, before she focused back on the name discussion.

"Next up...Liliruca Arde."

The goddess smiled at that name. Unlike Aiz, or anyone in Flat-Loki's family really, she actually liked the Pallum. Hard working, relatively polite, not to mention helps out Bell all the time, ignoring the family issues between herself and Loki. Hearing tidbits of her past only caused her to feel more sympathy for the girl. She was even jealous of how well the girl ended up, considering that very past. Though it would be natural, she thought, considering the adorable relationship Lili had with Obsidian.

Hestia then frowned and crossed her arms. Though for some reason a small part of her had the same distaste towards her as most of her had towards Aiz. She wondered what the reason for that was, since Lili showed zero interest in Bell. She shrugged, deciding not to break her head over it. Anyway, the male gods were more wary this time from voicing their opinions over the Pallum's appearance, judging from their nervous looks they sent to the goddess that owned said girl.

"Might as well call her Liliruca Noir in the future..." Loki muttered with a fond grin, before crossing her legs on the table, hands folded behind her head. "My kid and she doesn't have any special wishes. You know what to do."

With that said, the stream of names broke through like a dam. Though it appeared that Loki felt picky today, considering she vetoed them in the same speed as they were put up.

"How about Braver Bride?" The goddess of harvest, Demeter, cooed as she clapped her hands together. "Don't you think that they would be cute together?"

Hestia blinked and tilted her head. Finn and Lili? Well, both were Pallum and from what she heard, the captain did spend time training her. She could certainly see it. But judging from the sarcastic laugh, the trickster did not share that opinion.

"Sure, Demeter," Loki said in an innocent tone, before her grin gained an evil edge. "If you wanna get snapped in half by her teacher. Or dad, really."

While the busty goddess' smile faltered and other god appeared confused, Hephaestus and Hestia shared a knowing, wry smile.

Right, there was that obstacle in the way. While Obsidian didn't admit it, he did act like a typical father from time to time.

"Okay, no go it is..." Demeter muttered dejected, slumping down on the chair. Loki on the other hand sighed and clapped her hands together.

"Come on, where is your creativity?"

"Dynamo," a young female voice Hestia couldn't place recommended and she tilted her head. That's a word she never heard of. Was it some story book term? Leaning forward at bit, she spotted the person who said that. It only caused her eyebrows to go up, as she did not recognize the green haired girl, grinning widely from side to side. With the white summer dress, she dressed as casual as she was seated, with her chin on her right hand and her elbow on the table. Hell, she even sat sideways, which Hestia believed was a little disrespectful. Despite the small height, gods were rather old after all. Then again, she thought with a wry smile, she looked around at the table and spotted not so wise acting gods.

"The hell is a-" Loki stopped short when her gaze moved to the girl and did a double take. Then, she slammed her hands on the table with disbelief as she pulled her legs back down. "Gaia?!"

The room exploded in hushed talked and whispers at the revelation, while Hestia's eyes widened in shock. Then however, she glared at the girl in question. So that was Gaia. The one who abandoned her own children to a death trap of a continent. Hestia would have loved to tell this newcomer what she thought about the small girl, but she knew that she couldn't do that in front of everybody. Though it was tempting.

"Sup," Gaia said, popping the p as she lazily raised her left arm.

Very tempting, she thought as she let out a small growl.

"Why are you here?" Loki asked as she glared at the culprit in question. "You never come here. You are an unsocial little brat!"

"Felt like it."

The shrug caused the trickster to bristle up, but before things could escalate, Demeter politely raised her hand, sweating nervously at the rising tensions.

"Uhm, what's a dynamo?"

"It's a device that generates electricity by doing specific motions with it. Like turning a wheel fast with your foot or something like that. The faster you move, the more energy is produced," Hephaestus elaborated and the room let out a collective "ooh" at the knowledge. While Hestia wasn't the most intelligent person in the world nor was she that interested in technology, she had to admit that the idea sounded nice, as a former poor person. Maybe she should ask Lisa to hook her up with one? Saving up money was always a good idea, she thought with a nod as she leaned back, hands on her lap.

Anyway, Loki seemed torn at the idea, judging from the way she bit her lip. Or rather, torn between taking the name or refusing out of simple spite. In the end, she let out a sigh.

"I guess Dynamo sounds good enough." She shrugged and wrote the name down lazily with her right hand. "Fits her lightning theme, so why not?"

"You could also make a pun of her being...dynamic."

The resounding, collective groan in the room made the room rumble and Gaia's smug grin only widened as she chuckled and stretched her arms forward. Loki looked like she wanted to say something through her gritted teeth, but in the end, she remained silent. Once everyone recovered from the pain, they moved on with business. Hestia's breath stopped when she saw whose name was next and barely felt the reassuring squeeze on her shoulder.

"Lisa..." The trickster trailed off and blinked. Then, she looked up at her 'rival' and gave her a look of disbelief. "Moneymaker? Is this a joke?"

The goddess of hearth laughed awkwardly as she scratched her right cheek.

"There is a reason they don't tell other people their last name..."

The snickering in the room made it clear that people shared the opinion and she regretted writing down the name in the first place when they came up with a name.

Coin Shield.

Obviously Hestia tried her best to object, but she got rolled over like a cockroach by a carriage. Hephaestus half heartedly attempted to help her. Obviously though, it was useless and all she could think was that it could have been worse. There was one close call about the fact that it only took her two months and a half to level up. Luckily, Gaia out of all people covered for her and stated that Boundary was the hell hole it was rumored to be. When some didn't believe her, she just shrugged and stated that she only said the truth and didn't care if somebody didn't believe her.

With that, the heat was off Lisa and Hestia was thankful for the brat. Maybe she could even forgive the callous behavior towards her own children.

However, she wasn't quite off the hook yet. After all, she still had a second child in her family.

"Bell Cranel. Leveled up under a month. Phew, that's insane," a god she didn't know said in an impressed tone and she bit her lip in anticipation. Perhaps nobody would notice?

Of course, her prayer went unanswered.

"Yeah, a little too insane," somebody just had to point out and furrowed his forehead in thought. "Like...I can somewhat get the other rookies. They all have a couple of years in the dungeon, while this Lisa has her...thing going on." In demonstration, he waved his hand at the paper. "But this? This is not normal."

Before she could even open her mouth, more and more voices chimed in, ranging from jealousy to straight up anger.

"Yeah, what's up with that, Hestia?! Where do you get all these overpowered kids?!"

"Yeah, what's so special about that kid?!"

"Cranel does not come from Boundary, does he?"
"Nope."

She did a double take at the last voice and she glared at the girl casually sipping on some juice. Hestia took everything back, the brat was going to get slapped after this! So much for backing her up! However, her glare didn't last long, as she shrunk back in her seat when the voices grew louder, demanding answers. Helplessly, she sent a pleading look at her friend, who bit her lip and remained silent.

Hephaestus hesitated and the Goddess of Hearth couldn't fault her. This was a heated situation and she couldn't really afford to paint a target on her back. But Hestia couldn't reveal the truth either or make them back off. She didn't have enough influence to protect Bell in this situation.

"You guys are yapping around too much."

The talking stopped immediately at the bored voice and while she was thankful for the intervention, she couldn't believe her ears.

It was Loki who spoke up, lazily checking her fingernails as she leaned back on her chair. Hestia blinked for a moment, before her mouth opened wide.

Did...did Loki cover for her?! Loki?!

"Hoh...I did not expect you to cover for Hestia. I thought you hate her?"

If he managed to provoke her, Loki didn't show it as she waved him off dismissively.

"Don't misunderstand. It's pretty simple why the boy leveled up that fast, isn't it?"

"Why?" Demeter asked, tilting her head and Loki spread her arms open with a smug expression.

"Why, my family of course. That's it." Laughing at the incredulous faces she received, she shook her head. "I mean...who gets to have the personal attention of my dear Aiz and do some good work during an expedition? Coupled with some other personal training on top of killing a strong opponent he shouldn't have been able to beat...Well, not so crazy anymore, is it?"

"Are you saying that your family is the reason he got so strong?" Someone asked in a skeptical tone, but Hestia couldn't place it as she was busy gaping at the trickster casually supporting her.

"Well, we are one of the strongest, aren't we?" She replied smugly and Loki twirled her right hand. "Besides, a record holder training another record holder...I just know the falna is a sucker for those stories."
"I agree," a smooth, female voice chimed in before anyone else could complain. Heads turned yet again and their gaze fell on Freya, who held her chin between her hands. Seductively, she tilted her head and made the male gods swoon immediately.

"Isn't it fine anyway? The status of someone is an internal affair anyway. By all means, we have no right to pressure poor Hestia like this." She turned her head to said goddess and bowed her head politely. "I apologize. I should have stopped them when they talked about your first child."

"O-oh, it's...fine?" She replied, raising an eyebrow in confusion. To be honest, she wasn't close to the goddess of love at all and she was creepy in Hestia's eyes. However, she would take any help she could get and didn't comment on that. Anyway, Freya chuckled and tilted her head ever so slightly, causing yet another mix of lovey dovey and jealousy in the room.

"Anyway...who can honestly say they ever saw someone fight a minotaur alone? A rare occasion warrants a rare level up."

With two most influential goddesses backing Hestia up, the other gods began to hesitate. It was in that moment, that Hephaestus decided to chime in with a stern expression.

"You can't just bully her because she's new in this."

This managed to do the trick and the gods backed off one by one.

"Well…"

"I guess..."

"If you put it like that..."

With that, the atmosphere changed back to casual, as they focused on actually giving Bell a name.

Little Rookie, which was luckily vetoed for being too generic, was only one of the many...demeaning names that were used. All of them were a variation of cute for Bell. As much as she agreed on his adorableness, she would not wish something like that upon her child. Naturally, her wish was not granted.

"I vote for Little Rabbit, personally," Gaia commented and to Hestia's horror, it gained traction as other deities gave it their vote.

In the end, it was the name Bell received and all she could do was sigh in exhaustion as the meeting was officially over. Feeling a hand pat her back, she gave a tired smile at Hephaestus.

"Well, at least it's cute.." She muttered. Noticing someone approach her made her look up and her smile vanished when she saw Loki walk towards her. She coughed awkwardly and scratched her cheek as she addressed the trickster. "Oh. Hey...L-Loki. Uhm-"

"Save it, it hurt me as much as it hurt you. Only did it for my kids, not for you," Loki immediately interrupted her, blushing slightly as she averted her eyes with crossed arms. Hestia huffed in response, crossing her arms as well.

"Good. I thought heaven was falling down on us." Her frown fell and she smiled a bit at her helper. "Seriously though. Thanks."

Lok felt as awkward as she felt, judging from the way she scratched the back of her head. For some reason however, her expression turned serious as she leaned in.

"Listen..." She whispered and glanced to the side, eyes narrowed. "Watch out for Freya."

Hestia in turn rolled her eyes and let out a scoff.

"I'm not that blind. She obviously wants my kid, so she'll have to go over my dead body to do so." After she waved her hand dismissively, she blinked when Hephaestus and Loki stared at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"You sure you're Boob-Loli?" The trickster asked and the blacksmith nodded in agreement. Puffing her cheeks up, Hestia glared at the two. As the two laughed at her reaction, she grumbled angrily, before remembering someone else. Slamming her hands on the table, she snapped her head at the seat of the target with a deep frown.

"Gaia! I got a bone- And she's gone," Hestia finished lamely, as she gave a blank stare at the chair that was now empty. Then she clicked her tongue in irritation. "Damn it."

"Does that always happen?" Hephaestus asked behind her and she could feel the tired aura radiating from Loki as she let out a long suffering groan.

"Every time I meet her, yes."

Huh, first time she ever felt pity for her. What a surprise.