"Lord Zeus..." she spoke with awe. He was the first deity she met in person, after all. "It's an honor to meet you."

"The pleasure is honestly all mine. Who would've thought I can meet Wishe in person, although only their reincarnation."

"Ah, no, no, I'm not that great compared to the Gods."

The two then laughed. After that, Zeus asked her again.

"Tell me, Ryuu the Bard. How did you regain your memories?"

"I hit my head on training. But that's only me. Maybe whether I hit my head or not isn't important," Ryuu answered with a small laugh at her younger self's clumsiness.

"I'll take note of it. Thank you for being forthcoming."

"If it isn't too presumptuous, Lord Zeus. Would you regale me with the tale of your Familia?" Ryuu took out a bunch of empty papers and a pen from her belongings. "I suppose pen is something I have to thank the Gods for. I never have to write with ink and quills again!"

Zeus laughed at her joke.

"You're quite the joker yourself, Miss Ryuu. Very well. I shall tell you the tale of my Familia." He looked at the sky of the house, but to Ryuu, it was as if his gaze pierced the wood and went straight to heaven. "Maybe this way, their memories will be preserved not just by me."

"Of course, I shall write many songs and poems about their struggle and triumph. Rest assured, Lord Zeus."

And so midnight passed and Ryuu was forced to close her eyes and sleep because her body couldn't handle all-nighters. Zeus told her to sleep in the guest room (which he said would be Bell's room in the future) instead of looking for an inn.

"Here, Bell, say '." With a spoon in her hands, Ryuu was spoonfeeding Bell his lunch. It had been a few days since she met with Zeus and Bell. At first, she wanted to just quickly leave the town, but the promise of Zeus Familia's story held her down. What could she say? She was a bard. There was no way she would pass this kind of opportunity.

Living with the Cranel also meant that she had her part in raising Bell. Honestly, he was so cute! It would be suck if he grew up and remembered his memories as Argonaut, losing his cuteness. She walked him, fed him, and bathe him, while Zeus worked on the farm.

This was her weapon if Bell recovered his memories as Argonaut in the future. He wouldn't dare try anything if she hold such dangerous blackmails over him.

"Aaaah," opening his mouth, Bell received the food and chewed them.

The door opened and she saw Zeus enter the house.

"Good work. Taking your break, Lord Zeus?"

"Yes."

"Say, Lord Zeus. I haven't gotten the chance to ask this from you. I assume you are quite familiar with Loki Familia." Ryuu saw Zeus nod at her assumption. "Then, have you seen the Braver with your own eyes?"

Zeus thought for a second before clapping his hands. "Ah! Don't tell me he's the reincarnation of the Finn from ancient times?!"

"So you do know him. If you quickly arrive at that conclusion, then my assumption is correct. I honestly thought it was just someone using his name, but being a reincarnation myself, I always wondered if he was also one," Ryuu nodded to herself.

"Heh," Zeus snorted. "No wonder he actually opposed exiling Hera's and my Familia out."

Ryuu blinked. Now, this was news to her. "Can you elaborate, Lord Zeus?"

"It was a few months after we lost to that Dragon. Orario's morale was low. Finn visited our place and asked for forgiveness because he couldn't control his Goddess' ambition. Sometimes later, the alliance of Loki and Freya Familia took our place as the beacon of hope for Orario," Zeus recalled the event. "After we were banished, he took time to visit each of us and said sorry once again."

"I take it some felt slighted by him?"

Zeus nodded. "Yes. You can guess what happened. After that, I took him aside and talked with him. I can see the wisdom behind his eyes. He did not want Orario to lose resources at an important time, but Loki said otherwise."

"A shame," Ryuu frowned. "I never think of it this way, but the descent of the Gods brought another factor to humanity's survival, doesn't it? I remember back in my time, everybody might have their own goals that did not align with each other. And yet, everyone could band together to fight monsters plaguing the land."

"Whereas now all of you are beholden to our whims. That certainly wasn't my intention when I first descended one thousand years ago." Zeus had another melancholic look on his face. "I wanted to raise more heroes."

"I think you don't need to feel so regretful. Other Gods aren't you, after all. Just like how you want to raise more heroes, the others have their own ambitions. Who knows, in the future, another deity that wants to see heroes will emerge?"

Zeus looked at her as if trying to find something in her face. "You really are unfamiliar with the Gods, aren't you? Never mind that. It only gives credence that you're a soul from thousands of years ago. So wise yet so ignorant."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

After that, Zeus returned to the field and she continued taking care of Bell. Now, with the confirmation of Finn's status, Ryuu let out a hum of amusement. She needed to plan the inevitable reunion with him.

After a month, she felt she had a sufficient amount of tales from Zeus. It was time for parting.

With her belongings in hand, Ryuu stood in front of the door of the Cranel household. "Thank you for everything, Lord Zeus."

"I can say the same to you. Raising a little kid alone is tougher than sneaking my way to the Hera Familia's bathhouse," Zeus grinned. "You're a big help, Ryuu. Maybe I should hire someone to babysit Bell when I'm working."

"About Bell, Lord Zeus. I will keep him a secret. Just like you, I also want to see Bell's own journey, whether he would be influenced by Argonaut or not."

"Thank you, Ryuu. Where will you be going now?"

"I don't actually know. I suppose I shall let fate guides me to the destination."

"Spoken like a true bard on a journey."

"I am a bard on a journey, Lord Zeus," Ryuu chuckled. "Farewell, Bell. I hope to see you grow up to be a hero."

Ryuu patted Bell's head, who looked at her with sadness. It seemed that even Little Bell understood the situation.

"No need to be sad, Bell. I'll see you again in the future."

And with that, Ryuu left to continue her journey.

A/N: Maybe later I'll make a chapter about Finn's interaction with the Zeus Familia. But that requires making characters and personalities and plot points about Zeus Familia from zero, and that'd be a chore. Oh well...