Christalm: If I ever feel not-lazy enough to remember to do that, I will!
haziqsaffari2: Heavy. Foreshadowing.
"Alright!" Hephaistos stood up before announcing before her assembled Familia members, "I'm going to be gone for a few days! Tsubaki is in charge!"
"Eh~? Where are you going, Goddess-sama?" Silber asked innocently, drawing a few light-hearted snickers at his obliviousness.
Hephaistos smiled down at him, "I'm going to the God's Banquet, essentially, it's a gathering of various Gods and Goddesses that happens every so often. It's bad manners not to attend."
Silber nodded, and leaned back in his seat.
"Keep yourselves out of trouble until then!" Hephaistos waved to him before exiting the house.
As the Familia watched her leave, Tsubaki cleared her throat loudly. "Ahem~! Just because Hephaistos-sama left doesn't mean we slack off! She'll be back in just a few days, until then, don't do anything that'll put this Familia into a tough spot!"
Hephaistos's carriage pulled up to the mansion, and she stepped out of the carriage with a red dress with a white cloth rose adorning her hip, and similarly white gloves covering her hands.
"Ah~! Hephaistos-sama!" A man wearing a blue victorian style suit with a feathered hat bowed before him.
"Hermes." Hephaistos acknowledged, "Actually, I wanted to see you today."
"That's a surprise. Should we take it inside?" Hermes offered Hephaistos a polite hand, which she accepted.
"So, why do you want to see me?" Hermes asked,
"I was wondering, have you seen R̶̡̼̲͖̬̫̣̰͌͊̇͑̔͂̉̉̍̊̐̽̈́̽̓̀̀̋̿͑́̎̔̐̈́̈́̈́̃̚ͅơ̵̧̡̼̠̖̖̠͚̙̩̥̘͇̣͚̬̥̹̯̩̱̺̻̤͍̬̪̘͂͊̊̓̈̾̈́̔̍̉͑͛̉͊͌̿̍͊͋̕̕̚͜ͅs̴̨̡̛͖̼̭̙̓̃̓̏̄̾̈́́̑̚͜͠ͅȇ̸̛͈̩̯͇͉̭̺̃͗̌̄̈́͐̀͗͋͛̍̔̄͐̌͌̚̕͝͠͝ anywhere?"
"Her?" Hermes asked in surprise, "No. I haven't. Probably off collecting spirits or meddling with the fate of random worlds. The usual. Why do you ask?"
"I figured if anyone knows where she is. It'd be you." Hephaistos shrugged, "I was hoping to speak with her."
"Sorry to disappoint. But she rarely shows up to these kinds of events. She hardly appears in Gekai as is."
"Why you~!" A shrill shriek came from over near the food table,
"Ow! Ow!" Came a smaller, pained scream.
Both Hermes and Hephaistos sighed,
"They never change…do they?" Hephaistos said in exasperation,
"Well, we are unchanging deities." Hermes shrugged,
Hephaistos didn't respond, but approached them and stood next to Freya, who was quietly overlooking the scene.
"You guys are still at it…huh?" Hephaistos looked down at the black haired goddess with swollen cheeks.
"Hephaistos-sama!" The girl said cheerily, her pained cheeks forgotten. "I was looking for you!"
"Listen Hestia, I'm not loaning you one more valis-" Hephaistos began quickly, but Hestia cut her off.
"How rude! Do I look like the type of person to use her friends in such a way?!" Hestia said indignantly,
"Well, you free loaded off my Familia forever-"
"Guh!" Hestia made a strangled sound as Hephaistos continued,
"Then when we kicked you out, you came crawling back to us complaining about how you had no money, shelter, or a job!"
"Urk!" Hestia made yet another strangling sound as Hephaistos continued her triade,
"-so of course I'm going to think that!" Hephaistos finished,
"W-well that may be true, but things are different. I have a Familia now!" Hestia said proudly,
"True…Bell Cranel, was it?" Hephaistos said thoughtfully, "Well, alot of gods change - for better or for worse - when they have a Familia."
As they spoke, a well-dressed man came up and whispered in Freya's ear. Freya gazed at him out of the corner of her eye, and nodded.
"Hestia. Hephaistos." Freya finally addressed the women in front of her, "I'll be taking my leave now. Besides…" Freya cast a gaze over the crowd before proclaiming, "I've already had my fun with all the men I've wanted."
With many of the men now white-faced from rejection, Freya left the reception hall with her escorts.
"So." She crossed her arms, "Hestia, what did you want to see me for?" Her eyes narrowed, "I hope you realize that depending on what it is…"
"I may never speak to you again."
"I know…but please…"
"...make Bell a weapon! I'm begging you!"
"How long do you plan to keep doing that…?" Hephaistos finally asked, "I'm pretty busy, and you're distracting me."
Hestia didn't respond or move, and Hephaistos continued: "What are you even doing in the first place…?"
"Prostrating myself." Hestia said steely, "It's the ultimate technique for begging and apologizing. Takemikazuchi said so."
"Takemikazuchi needs to learn to keep his mouth shut." Hephaistos sighed, "Hestia…why are you even willing to go this far?"
Not getting up, Hestia stated "I want to help Bell! He's found a goal, and now he's following a long, harsh, path…I…I can't let him travel down it alone! I want to help him in anyway I can!" Hestia gripped the carpet as she said this,
"Heh." Hephaistos said simply, 'We are unchanging deities after all…' Hephaistos turned over Hermes's words in her mind,
'Changing yourself for your childs sake…we might not be so unchanging after all.' Hephaistos stood up straight. "Fine."
"What?!" Hestia finally got up into a sitting position.
"I'll make your weapon." Hephaistos nodded, "For your child's sake."
Hestia's face brightened, "Thank you! Hephaistos-sama!"
"And just so we're clear…you're paying for this, even if it takes decades…or even centuries."
"I know!" Hestia chirped.
"Alright." Hephaistos nodded, "Speaking of, I asked Hermes, but have you seen R̶̡̼̲͖̬̫̣̰͌͊̇͑̔͂̉̉̍̊̐̽̈́̽̓̀̀̋̿͑́̎̔̐̈́̈́̈́̃̚ͅơ̵̧̡̼̠̖̖̠͚̙̩̥̘͇̣͚̬̥̹̯̩̱̺̻̤͍̬̪̘͂͊̊̓̈̾̈́̔̍̉͑͛̉͊͌̿̍͊͋̕̕̚͜ͅs̴̨̡̛͖̼̭̙̓̃̓̏̄̾̈́́̑̚͜͠ͅȇ̸̛͈̩̯͇͉̭̺̃͗̌̄̈́͐̀͗͋͛̍̔̄͐̌͌̚̕͝͠͝ recently?"
"R̶̡̼̲͖̬̫̣̰͌͊̇͑̔͂̉̉̍̊̐̽̈́̽̓̀̀̋̿͑́̎̔̐̈́̈́̈́̃̚ͅơ̵̧̡̼̠̖̖̠͚̙̩̥̘͇̣͚̬̥̹̯̩̱̺̻̤͍̬̪̘͂͊̊̓̈̾̈́̔̍̉͑͛̉͊͌̿̍͊͋̕̕̚͜ͅs̴̨̡̛͖̼̭̙̓̃̓̏̄̾̈́́̑̚͜͠ͅȇ̸̛͈̩̯͇͉̭̺̃͗̌̄̈́͐̀͗͋͛̍̔̄͐̌͌̚̕͝͠͝? No, I haven't." Hestia shook her head, "Why do you ask?"
"I just wanted to ask her something." Hephaistos shrugged.
"Good!" Tsubaki said, as Silber dodged her slash and thrust at her abdomen, forcing her back several steps as she jumped back to dodge it.
Of course, Silber was quickly back on the defensive as Tsubaki lept forward and struck at his hand, forcing him to lower his sword and parry the blow.
Silber, then, however, struck at Tsubaki's arm, with Tsubaki only barely dodging the blow. However, this cost him as Tsubaki quickly thrust upward and caught him on the chest.
"Not bad! You know, I might even enter you into Monsterphilia!" Tsubaki said right as Silber fell on his but onto the ground.
"Monster…filia?" Silber said in confusion,
"Oh~ that's right. You don't know." Tsubaki scratched her head, "Monsterphilia is essentially a show where a bunch of monsters captured by the Ganesha Familia are put through a bunch of matches and games. People bet on it, and it brings almost as much money as Elegia or the Goddess Festival. Although you probably haven't heard of those either. In fact, I could spend all day explaining all the different events in Orario, but it's best you just experience them yourself."
Silber nodded, and stood up. "I think Hephaistos-sama is back."
"Really?" Tsubaki cocked her head, "How would you know?"
In response, Silber simply shrugged.
As it turned out, Hephaistos had returned from the God's Banquet, albeit somewhat more exhausted than before.
"Did something happen, Hephaistos-sama?" Silber asked,
"Not really." Hephaistos sighed, "Hestia kept bugging me to make her Familia member a weapon."
"Hestia?" Silber asked,
"A Goddess friend of mine. She freeloaded here some months before you came." Hephaistos explained, "Anyway, she has a Familia now, and I need to forge a Divine Weapon before Monsterphilia at least."
"I see…but why you specifically? I'm sure Welf or Tsubaki-," Silber began, but Hephaistos cut him off.
"There's no way I can do that!" Hephaistos said suddenly, causing Silber to jump.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice, but you see. Hestia came to me…this is something between Goddesses. I can't just pass it off to my Familia. You understand?" Hephaistos looked at Silber warmly,
"I understand, Goddess."