Chapter 11 - …and Make It Double

Lady Loki enjoyed spending her evenings leisurely, so as not to worry about what the other Familia were up to. In the meantime, while her Familia were squabbling about their respective behaviour and ancestry, the Goddess had a moment to herself to think.

However, her head was splitting from the last Denatus. After the last expedition of the Artemis familia, hearing of them was lost. From what the Gods have been able to determine they were cut off on the 18th floor, but at this point half the city knew about it. What is not mentioned is that the Goddess herself was with them. As the dungeon doesn't like goddesses it was obvious that something was going to happen.

Yesterday it was confirmed that Artemis had returned to heaven, and an indefinite ban was imposed on the dungeon itself until the matter was resolved. This further meant that her entire Familia would probably share her fate.

Today, however, something unusual has happened. Two adventurers escaped from a restricted dungeon. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing strange about it, especially since they supposedly belonged to the Soma Familia. But after hearing the story from Riveria, the whole thing began to change tone. Firstly, someone tried to seduce a member of her familia. Secondly, this person supposedly belonged to the Soma Familia, and that meant they had access to wine.

Goddess knew all the favourable customs of mortals, and if someone was seeking her daughter's favour they should bring a suitably valuable gift. Like this sweet wine. It was the only thing that resembled the taste of nectar on Earth

Loki furrowed her brow

'However, the real problem is that I don't know who he is. Someone with such a colourful description had no right to go unnoticed in Orario.'

'So it could mean... that he is not from the city. What follows is that we have a stranger who came out of the dungeon after the death of Artemis familia which makes him dangerous'

Then she saw her eternal rival sitting down at the table. Unfortunately she was with Hephaestus so she decided to give her a break today.

Ryuu gracefully made her way around the tables to complete the orders. Like most elves she preferred to avoid physical contact with others. She was very selective about who could touch her.

She had just served 3 pints of beer when she heard a familiar voice ["Well, why do you seek Lord Soma?"] and saw Syr talking to a mystery customer.

She looked across the table towards the pints that had been ordered. Looking at the quantity, Mama Mia wouldn't cross her, but one should also be wary of this man.

Ryuu looked for Chloe with her gaze and nodded, giving her a sign to watch him and give a signal if anything was supposed to happen..

She began, while continuing to serve drinks, to listen to the conversation.

["There was a group called Evilus consisting of familias led by gods who were supposedly evil and wanted to destabilise the situation in the city"]

"Evilus!" she turned her head towards the two. 'By Rudra Familia she lost all her friends, and her Familia left Orario.'

["A ridiculous name, as if someone was strenuously trying to attach 'evil' to their name.]

'As if they weren't evil!" thought Ryuu clenching her teeth, standing motionless and staring in their direction.

["Gods are not bad or good. Their job is to exercise authority over the domain entrusted to them."]

Ryuu reached towards the hidden dagger and tightened her grip on it.

As Ryuu stopped in the middle of the room in the stillness, more and more people began to measure their eyes in the direction she was looking.

Lunoire had just escorted Lady Hestia and Lady Hephaestus to a table when she saw Chloe giving her some strange signals.

She turned her gaze towards Ryuu and saw that she was standing like a pillar while staring at a certain table. On the table was an emptied 10 mugs of beer and Syr with some stranger.

["Why do you have such eyes?"] she heard Syr's voice and looked at the mysterious guest.

His right eye was the colour of a black abyss with a bloodshot lens, giving a feeling of the end, of death. The second eye, on the other hand, was the total opposite, a promise of life, of harvest. She could not explain it, but these eyes seemed familiar, as if something in her resonated with them.

["I've got them after my parents"] 'He received it from his parents, but that is impossible!'

She had never heard of anyone having black eyes. It felt as if darkness was emitting from them. The only creatures that emanated a similar feeling were monsters.

At that instant she noticed that Ryuu was prepared to attack at any moment. 'What's going on here' she thought.

She started to look around and to her surprise Chloe also looked like she was about to jump, only she wasn't sure if it was by chance in Ryuu's direction.

Behind her she saw the Loki Familia, where all the people were looking in the same direction as the rest of the bar. Additionally, she could have sworn that both elves were red in the faces.

So she turned again towards the mysterious adventurer and almost didn't scream.

The prince was leaning over Syr and whispering something in her ear, and from Loki Familia side she heard a quiet cry of "It's him!"

A bang sounded and Mama Mia appeared from behind the counter, holding her fist on the table. "No flirting during working hours."

"And I would be careful where you keep your face, boy - she looked at Zagreus"

It could be said that this was the first time the city had heard about Prince Zagreus, a story that was on the lips of all Orario the following day. Narrated starting from the vegetable vendors to the gods themselves.