The initial attempt at a meeting with the Orario leaders was unfortunately denied, and General McClellan had decided to write back to the Rest of the command of this roadblock.

To the High Staff of the Army of the Free, General Richard Jackson, General Phillip Custer, General James Washington, Founder Jacob Aberham,

Regarding the task to gain audience with the leading powers of the city of Orario. We have been denied in our current state. When attempting to arrange such a meeting, Colonel Matthew Johnson and I were Informed that the deities in charge of Orario were not to be called upon unless extremely important. After attempting to explain the seriousness of the current climate regarding the traitors and their new ally, we were still turned away. I believe that if the founder were to call such a meeting, that it would be better considered, as once told of the position held by the Colonel and I, the representatives seemed much less interested. I am sure that the Founder has something he can pull regarding his knowledge of the city, and its current events.

I fully recognize that exposing our Founder to the city so early is extremely reckless, but I am all but convinced that his presence is needed to even gain the audience we need.

Also, regarding the Colonel's secondary objective, the rabbit-boy has been given the letter and the instructions for handling it. I would like to express my concern that such information should have been given later.

Closed, General Harry McClellan

With the Letter written, Harry blew to dry the ink, and sealed the paper inside a featureless envelope with a green wax seal.

He arose from his desk and exited his tent. He called for the nearest runner and handed the report to the lad and sent him off to the Home camp at once.

Since the initial request was denied, the Men of the Army were told to ensure that any of their persons was found within the city walls after sun-down, that a fine would be charged and the offending soldiers would be held overnight in a cell. The Colonel from the cavalry Detachment had been irked by how they were also no longer allowed to stable their horses in the city. Harry Decided to try and encourage the men to be merry and personable inside the city at daytime, hoping to maybe engender some sort of trust with the populace, or at least calm the evident paranoia towards the Army.

The men were however told to try and somewhat refrain from too much singing about their Religion if able, as considering that these deities are rather childish and brash, they would not want to risk losing all hope of warning or allying with the city over it.

It was a day later he received a response from the High Staff, and they were sure to express their objections towards bringing the founder to Orario, even if they did report that they were unaware of any alternative and decided to do so. In a week's time, the entire Army of the Free, and its resources, would arrive in the nearby dales, to set up a more permanent camp on top of one of the taller hills.

He would be lying if he had ever considered them to do something like that. Looks like he would have to be on FOB duty and the logistics for that always annoyed him, so tedious.

He did have to explain why his fighting force was now moving, to the ever-watchful eyes of the adventures that had been watching the Camp since Harry and his men had first arrived.

Harry eventually remembered, while designating the corner-posts for the palisades being planned, that at least this meant that the Berdan and his marksmen would be coming. At least with that band of colorful snipers around, things would not be so dull for him. Berdan's men were very well liked for their tendency to bring with them, almost endless shenanigans.

And Harry had to admit, a little drunken shooting contest here, and company prank-war there, would certainly liven up the time between all the paperwork and inventory he would now need to take.

Eventually, the rest of the Army had arrived as told. The caravan of horse-drawn wagons, carrying all manner of materials, wood, luggage, ammo-crates, smith-ing tools, and much more, stretched far past the horizon. This did surprise the adventurers keeping watch over the hill-top camp, because along with the expected columns of uniformly dressed men with 'rifles', just as many women and children were traveling with them. Cattle were with this caravan as well! This was not just an Army; it was a large township too!

Freya was watching too, from her throne in Babel tower, with keen eyes. As the image of countless soldiers and their families was becoming boring for the goddess, she spotted a quite peculiar light among them. When she focused in on it, she sees a human that was more puzzling than her current prize – Cranel – but this human was not young (far from it), not untainted (nowhere near pure), not even that powerful, but they were truly unique. She needed to see what this human was to be so… unprecedented.

The four generals of the Army High Staff had spent the next day with their Founder, readying for his play to gain a meeting with the city's deities. The Founder eventually exited his tent with a letter, and with a purple wax seal, He ordered Wash to deliver the letter to the man called Ottar of the Freya familia. The founder specifically referred to him as her 'enslaved, and willing lapdog'. If Harry's experience with the brick shithouse of a Faunus was anything to go-by, he would call the man a less flattering name.

But the letter was delivered, and the day had ended, their founder told them all to rest before tomorrow, they would be talking with this city's ruling class.

The Assembly of gods and goddesses of Orario was filled with chatter and gossip about the Visitors and their leader, after all he would be attending this meeting.

"For a Human to attend our meetings, is unheard of. Whatever could call for thus cannot be good, it just can't" said a goddess to the god next to her.

"Wasn't Freya the one who authorized this person's attendance?" The god Inquired aloud. The goddess in question just sat at her usual seat with a slight smirk and her eyes closed in a form of un-nerving contemplation.

Freya was thinking about what the letter had detailed, it spoke of events past that only She and her children should know, it spoke of Bell and his need to stay with Hestia for the sake of the future (whatever that meant), and it spoke of events potential to come. In all, this was either a spy to be eradicated swiftly, or an entity with far too big of a nose for its own good. Even though the letter spoke of the one to arrive soon as a human, she did not believe that for a second. But she would not let on about her thoughts in front of the other gods and goddesses, it was just far too early to take such actions. She would soon see for herself what exactly this was all about. Oh, how exciting.

Hestia was speaking with Miach on the subject. Hestia herself was worried about her child, Bell.

"What if my Bell gets dragged into some war, or some dangerous adventure by these people? My Bell is a great Adventurer, but he still has his way of getting involved in things that nearly kill him! Oh, Miach, what should I do?" Hestia moaned to her friend.

"If what your Children have told you about the people in this so-called 'Army of the Free' is true enough for the group generally, then I am certain you have nothing to worry about Hestia." Miach assured the little deity.

"But Bell tends to focus too much on people's goodness, even if he can't be sure of that goodness! He was not wrong about Lili in the end, but not every stranger he meets is like her. I just-"

A chime sounded, cutting her off, and starting the meeting. Freya rose from her chair and gestured to the doors, announcing the human attendant.

"This Man is the reason we are gathered together now; I must say that he has convinced me of his merit to even be here. I hope that is enough to convince you all to listen to him, or at least be quiet, I find myself rather in suspense to hear for myself." Freya's words were in fact enough to assure at least the male gods in the room, while the goddesses were too – however, they were as such for different reasons.

The doors were opened, and through them a frail figure appeared.

The Man must have been in his late 80's or Early 90's, with a face so wrinkled and tired as if it had seen many faces and forgotten most of them. His neck jutted forward from his spine, giving him a small hunchback.

His attire was far too young for a man so old, he wore a uniform like those of his 'army'. He wore Black Shoes that looked better placed in a Formal ball than a battlefield, White Pants with thick red lines running down the seams of the pant-legs, a white Coat with a large red ribbon tied in a large and ornate knot over his waistline, Brass button adorned the coat and it's cuffs, and his face bore a pair of round glasses that looked to be about as old as the man who wore them. The man's Hair was greatly thinned and was whiter than his well-cleaned Uniform, what was on the top of his head was neatly combed over the right side.

By all markers, this Man was ancient. Even his walk to his assigned chair was tired, only taking the smallest of steps he could and leaning on a cane in his left hand. Due to this unexpected visage, the room had gone silent for the most part, and thus his heavy breathing was heard all the way to his seat. What could such a human have that Freya would be interested to obtain?

The man, now seated next to Freya and Loki, looked up to the congregation of deities and spoke.

"I am Jacob Aberham, Founder and leader of the Army of the Free. I am sorry for all this ruckus me and my boys have stirred up, but I can promise it is only because it is of great importance to your city as well as our Army." His voice was deep, but so very strained to maintain a projectable volume. Hestia had to even strain her ears to properly understand him. The age and weariness of his voice was one to one with that of his face.

Loki spoke up to the man, now named Jacob. "Spit it out then, I hear all the gossip and blabberin from these deific bozoes about you and your group, I can't be here all day after all, not with my sweet Ais at home" the red-haired trickster just could not go without bragging about her sword princess, earning a collective groan from several other deities (Hestia among them).

Jacob looked to Loki and replied. "Yes, yes, the reason you are here is because my Army has recently suffered a mutiny. A rather considerable number of my men have rebelled and have fled into the countryside, we have been dealing with their treason for almost 3 years now, however We have not been able to find out where they are. That was, until we caught wind of a group that matched these rebels being rumored to have just recently joined up with a god from outside Orario." His tired and shaky voice managed to convey a level of sadness and seriousness with his words.

"And just how does this squabble of yours involve Orario at all?" Hephaestus questioned.

"Yes, it probably would not, if they had joined up with a different deity than they have. I believe the deity named Aries has been trying to take over your city with failure for a very long while, has he not?" Jacob asked

"Yes, he has, but he has never gotten past our adventurers and without access to the dungeon, he never will be able to match any of our high-level children" said Freya.

"My Army, and by extension these rebels, have weapons that are capable of breaking down city walls from a considerable distance, there is also our weapons that can kill people quite easily without getting anywhere close enough to use a traditional weapon. Normally, we would keep to ourselves to combat these men as they are our responsibility, however, now that they have access to falna and magic, they become a greater threat to all people, even Orario." Jacob spoke

"I am sure you have heard of our recent siege of your neighbor city. Not one of our soldiers have access to any magical abilities, and we were able to defeat Familias there without many casualties. Imagine if the technological capabilities of our Army were given the numbers that Aries can field for battle, AND magical enhancement to add to much greater funding?" Jacob Asked rhetorically.

The image was becoming clearer for most of those present.

"Thankfully, this partnership is very recent, but given that our weaponry is not nearly as hard to master as a sword, or bow, and much more destructive, our time limit to stop this dangerous alliance before it can't be undone is very short." Jacob said with great concern.

"Okay, but even if what you say is true, why can you not simply engage with these traitors of yours on your own before such time as it is a threat to Orario?" Freya asked the man.

"Because, the same reason why this is a threat to Orario, is why my Army can no longer ensure victory against them. They now have access to Falna and the magic users of Aries' familia have access to our weaponry, my soldiers are not able to be equipped with any reliable counter to such unknown variances on the battlefield. I am not above admitting being outgunned. I am responsible for those men of mine rebelling in the first place, and now that your city is in the crosshairs of real danger, I cannot responsibly attempt to stop this threat on our own. I request that My Information gatherers work with your personnel to track the movements of Aries and by extension, my wayward soldiers. I must also request that once they are found, my men work with some of your Familia's to combat any magic users among Aries' forces." Jacob requested this alliance with his frail hands clasped and head low, as if almost pleading.

"If we are to make this alliance with you, I would like to sort out some more details about your 'army'." Asked Hestia.

"What is it you want to know?" Jacob replied

"Why did you create such a group?" Hestia inquired.

"Yeah, and why did you give it such a corny name?" Loki blurted out rather rudely.

"I would like to know more about these weapons you have spoken of." Hephaestus jumped in.

"Alright, alright, I am still an old man you must remember. The reason I created my Army of the Free was to combat violations of free will and free agency across these lands. I named it as such because it's precursor was called the 'Knights of Liberation', when we decided to become a proper force, one of my children suggested it be called the Army of the Free. And our weapons, well, they are ranged weapons, to get to the basics of them, they control a small explosion to fire a metal projectile at high speeds towards a target. The small one that soldiers carry is called a rifle, and the big ones hitched to horses are called cannons. I designed them when I first arrived in this land, it was soon discovered that due to the way the rifles and cannons work, that they are useless for adventuring. They can kill pretty much anything just fine, but since the projectile is separated from the weapon itself and the skill required to master it's use is so low, that the amount of excellia gained would be next to zero. Where a Bow and Arrow requires years upon years of training and experience to master, a rifle can be trained for in under a week to be highly effective using it." Jacob explained, very slowly might I add.

after some less than quiet deliberation among the deities, it was decided that: It would need further deliberation before accepting the requested alliance. While this visibly made the Old Jacob downhearted, he politely got up and bid farewell to the room of gods and goddesses.

However, Freya stopped him and asked, "Why is your soul like that?"

Jacob was slightly surprised by that line and replied, "Excuse me?"

Freya continued, "Your soul, it is not like any I have seen before. Other souls are different in their color and size, but they are all the same shape, like an ethereal fire. Your soul is as if it is woven throughout your Body, it is as if your soul and body are one in the same. Why is that?" Freya's questioning is now underlined by a hint of frustration, for what exactly could not be said, but it was clear it had greatly intrigued her.

"I am sorry miss, but I can't tell you that if this ends up without any alliance between my army and your city. You may wish to see my hand, but I will not show it unless necessary. Farewell." Jacob remarked.

For Freya, she had seen souls clear and untainted by rebirth a few times, the most recent being a cute rabbit of a child, Bell Cranel. But like she had told the Elderly founder, His soul was one of a kind. Normally this would have just excited her to no end, but the fact that his soul and body seemed to be woven together told her that this man was probably unable to be re-born, and if he could not be reborn after his death, his soul could not be her own forever afterward. If this man could have a soul like that, something had to have done it to him. So, that something could do the same thing to Bell or any of her beloved Children too. She would need to find out what was responsible for this man's being so that none of her precious children would end up the same way.

What was frustrating about all of this is that it seemed the man did not tell her what had done such a cruel thing to his being.

Jacob managed to leave the room and make his way to his High staff that had been waiting for him.

McClellan spoke up.

"Pa, did it go alright with them?" McClellan asked Jacob.

"they decided to deliberate further on the request" Jacob told them.

McClellan was not surprised, he was not one for such bureaucratic systems, seeing them as a waste of time. While pretty much everyone in the Army of the Free held an opinion of the various deities that ranged from, mild distrust to total vilification, The General of the infantry held a hatred for the immortal creatures.

"Of course, probably discussing if we are even worthy of licking their boot-prints." Snarked Jackson.

General Custer stood silent at the window, no-doubt surveying the Cityscape below, making up plans to place defenses of all kinds in the event of various situations he was playing out in his head.

"I still don't think that Freya was the right choice to approach with this issue, sir." Wash told the Old man.

Jacob held up a hand to calm the Exceptional spymaster. "I did not want to involve Freya in this either, but after considering the situation, and that she is the most powerful one of these deities in this city, She was the best chance to gain audience with these deities on more neutral ground."

Wash simply sighed and looked down to his feet, clearly disappointed with the circumstances.

Jacob decided to try and appeal to his more pragmatic, and less paranoid, side. "I too long for the days when Zeus still held that position and we could rely upon his discretion, but those days are long past. She is still the greatest potential threat to really anyone, should she deem them an enemy, and it is because of that, we really have no practical outcome that does not involve going to Freya."

McClellan then brought the old Jacob, a wheelchair. Jacob less than graciously sat in it and the group began to head toward the elevator. But it seemed one of them had not taken notice.

"Hey, Custer!" Jackson called to the fellow General.

"Hm?" was the man's reply.

"We're leaving, you can worry about fortifications some other time!" Jackson chided.

"Sorry, I'm going." Custer muttered as he quickly walked to re-join the group.

(A.N. – if a human's soul is one with their body, then not only can they not be re-born, but they will not be able to go to even Tenkai once dead. Tenkai is not a place that human bodies can enter, even the forms the deities of Orario take can enter Tenkai. So, to an entity as Freya, such a being with such a soul and body seems to be totally dead once their body dies. While that is not the whole picture, even one such as Freya can't grasp that picture. And that unknowing really scares a 'god' as Freya.)