Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the soundtracks. Danmachi belongs to Fujino Ōmori, Final Fantasy XV belongs to Square Enix.
Is it wrong to seek answers?
Chapter 26 : lunch and talk
INSIDE OF THE WHEAT MANOR – DINING ROOM - AFTERNOON
When they entered the manor, Noct expected it to be some kind of expensive royal interior designs but was surprised seeing that it looked more like a large regional countryside ranch interior design, especially the dining room they were right now.
Everyone saw now a large table with many chairs around with already prepared plates, forks, knives and spoons, and more for a fitting meal.
(OPENING: Promare OST – Gallant Ones by Hiroyuki Sawano ft. Mpi & Benjamin)
While Demeter took the first table on the front, everyone else started putting their jackets and weapons on the staying clothes hooks before taking the other seats. And thank heavens everyone present could fill a table.
On Demeter's side, on her left was Hephaestus sitting, followed by Tsubaki; on the right side was Hermes.
Noct's took a seat on the left side of the table the point of view from Demeter, in the middle.
On Noct's right side sat Luniore, then Welf, who was now seatmate with Tsubaki.
On Noct's left, there was first Lily, then Bell.
On Noct's opposite side, there was first Asfi, who was now seatmate with her God Hermes; then Lucia, third Ravus, who was now directly on Noct's Opposite; then beside Ravus on his right was Leo, and lastly Anya.
On Demeter's opposite side were four chairs, taken by Hestia, who was now seatmate with Bell; on Hestia's left was Syr, followed by Ryu and finished with Chloe, making her seatmates with Anya.
Since everyone thought the food will take a while, everyone started small talking with each of their close friends/comrades about how they've fought. Tsubaki, for instance, asked again how he got that black eye from before, which bothered Welf of course.
Or Noct asked Lily if she's okay because of her capture, only for her to answer that she's more than happy before she touched Bell's right hand, which was immediately noticed by the near sitting Hestia, who looked angry towards the pallum supporter. Noct then turned right, facing Lunoire.
"and how are you, did you got away without any serious injuries, since you don't seem to use any weapons, except your fists if I'm not wrong," Noct asked Lunoire curiously.
" I-I w-well, I guess I was lucky since the storage wasn't damaged too much, except for the entrance, which means we need a new door," she said with a shy expression.
"now that I think about it, Allen pointing his spear at you after Lady Demeter has been mentioned, didn't he ?" Noct asked while remembering the Freya Familia's vice-captain behavior.
"you didn't know, right ?" Lunoire asked, "even though it's been a while, I still consider myself still being part of Lady Demeter's Familia" she happily declared towards Noct.
"I see, and do you, by any chance, know what he meant by 'the casino'? " Noct wondered.
"Actually, that's what I also want to ask Lady Demeter myself later." Lunoire said while looking towards Chloe for a moment who also seems to know what Allen meant by 'the casino'.
"so you also have no clue I see," Noct realized, "let's hope it's nothing unpleasant."
Lunoire looked towards Noct, wondering why he said the word 'unpleasant'. Then she remembered what Allen as well as that bad guy Eleazar mentioned. Eleazar mentioned something about a princess leaving their home, to which Noct reacted angrily.
'did he also lost a lot ?' Lunoire thought while making a slightly sad expression because she didn't want Lady Demeter or her Co-workers to ask her about it. She now understood why Noct and Ravus didn't want to talk to Allen, because obviously, that matter seemed very personal, Especially since Noct has been addressed as 'your majesty', does that mean that Noct is a prince or something like that. And what's more, the way how Noct reacted to the word 'princess', it seemed that he and that 'princess' were very close, which made Lunoire sadder.
'Stop thinking about that' she said to herself because she suddenly felt jealous of the fact that Noct might already like someone else like said princess, even though she barely knows Noct herself.
Both then remained silent to wait for lunch.
Surprisingly it didn't take that long for the first course to be served to everyone, which were bowls of salat consisting of Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, and each one an olive.
While everyone started eating, Noct looked briefly towards Ravus, whom he never expected to see again, let alone eating lunch together with.
This was seen by the two cat maidens Anya and Chloe, who finished eating the salat first and just couldn't stop thinking what they saw recently.
As if that wasn't enough, there was also another female adventurer with blue hair who also felt jealous seeing how Noct talked with Lunoire.
"Lunoire seems somehow disappointed" Chloe realized while looking towards her brown-haired co-worker.
"did she screwed up? " Anya wondered.
"I don't know honestly" Chloe answered.
"maybe Noct became afraid of her fists like most boys do when they see her in action," Anya suggested while remembering how they fought against those monsters and how Lunoire fought without weapons.
"I doubt that Noct is that type of man, I mean he's obviously stronger," Chloe suggested while remembering how Noct could finish many of the thunder bombs, Galvanades and one Iron-Giant, even though the latter has been finished by him, Bete and Allen together.
"Anyway, what do meow think about brother's question to him and 'Silverlight'? " Anya asked again, this time more quietly.
"I'm certain, that that bad guy called him 'your majesty', and seeing Noct's and Ravus' reaction, it could be true. " Chloe said, also rather quietly so that said adventurers couldn't hear them, along with his comrades.
Anya and Chloe suddenly imagined how they were in a castle full of gold and inside a room with a wardrobe full of fancy clothes while being treated by Noct and Ravus, who they imagined having different clothes, looking more like a real prince charming, with each a large dish of Fish on a golden plate and each a golden spoon, fork and knife.
" " meowwwww... " " happily meowed while being in their daydreams, which was noticed by Syr, who just smiled and Ryuu, who just kept her eyes closed while they both also finished eating the salat while still thinking about who that Eleazar is, what Vito and Jura meant by 'being chosen' and why Eleazar sought for Noct.
When Goddess Demeter has finished eating her salat, she looked towards everyone.
"since the main dish will take for a while, how about telling me what exactly happened out there..." She said before looking towards her child, "... Lunoire, please start".
Lunoire started explaining her, as the other waitresses, point of view of today's unusual event.
After the waitresses were about to open the pub, they immediately noticed that Ryuu and Syr weren't present. Anya first suggested, with a devilish expression, that they may go stalking. Lunoire didn't mention Bell and Noct for obvious reasons, but Anya saw how both went outside yesterday, which was confirmed by Chloe.
Meanwhile, Syr was 'smiling' towards Anya and Chloe for what Luniore said, which scared them both to hell.
But then Luniore told them, that Ryuu took the trash outside and that Syr was just following her, but Anya and Chloe just complained, why they couldn't go along them while they 3 had to clear the tables while Mama Mia was watching them. But Luniore could see that even Mama Mia became slightly restless for some reason while looking towards the direction where Ryuu and Syr went outside, but then ordered the remaining three to go sleep, saying that they surely will come back.
At this point, Ryuu started explaining, that she didn't go outside, except for the trash only, but that she could feel something around the dark alley. She shouted out in the alley, waiting for a reaction while Syr hid behind her. It was at this point where Ryuu and Syr didn't remember what exactly happened since it became dark around them.
And when they woke up, Ryuu and Syr not only saw more hostages but also their kidnappers. Besides the man named Eleazar, there were also two familiar faces: two men, one named Jura, and another named Vito.
The last name was, as Noct could see, immediately recognized by Bell and the other waitresses.
At this point, Ryuu confirmed that they three may belong to the terrorist group called 'Evilus', which shocked everyone, even Noct since he remembered what Astraea already told him, especially how Ryuu is involved with them.
Lunoire continued telling her story from around the morning when the three sleeping girls have been suddenly woken up by Mama Mia.
At first, they all complained about why she woke them up since they already know when to wake up punctual.
But then, Mama Mia said, that not only Ryuu and Syr didn't return, but also that she got two letters, which she showed towards them: a very clear picture of a sleeping Ryuu and Bell's Pallum comrade named Lily tied up in a dark room.
It was very understandable that the three waitresses were shocked. Not only there was a perfect picture of Ryuu, but also the fact that a previous Adventurer at Level 4 has been taken, hostage.
The three waitresses didn't hesitate long and went looking for their previous adventurer equipment and weapons, putting them on immediately.
Before they left, Mama Mia reminded them that the culprit, or culprits, weren't some simple Thugs, since it was Ryuu whose image was seen on the letter, and that they need to be more careful than last time with some little girl named Noel.
"and after we started looking out for them around, the letter started glowing and flying on its own. And after we followed it, everyone else here came along, until we came in front of the manor, that's it from my view." Lunoire finished, before looking towards her Goddess,
"and how was it for you, Goddess, we noticed that the barrier has been activated," she asked.
Now, Demeter started explaining.
Around morning, Children of Demeter have been sent to the western storage to bring fresh barrels. Then, they encountered three individuals with black clothes, who noticed them as well.
The first one was a human with red hair, the second one a cat-man with only one ear on his head, but the third one, as Persephone said, was the scariest, since his face was hidden behind a tagelmust and probably the leader of them.
It was at this moment, that the leader appeared directly in front of the Guards, telling them that they will borrow the storage for a while.
Noticing that they were probably thieves, Demeter's Children took out their knives, only to be suddenly punched away by the other two opponents.
The tagelmust man then suddenly started somehow glowing his hand, he said that this is their last chance going back.
Since Demeter's children clearly didn't stand a chance, the nodded before running back.
After her children told her about the occupation of the western storage, Demeter ordered all her children to hide inside the building before activating the barrier and sending an emergency signal to the Ganesha Familia, since Demeter herself could feel a rather strong, dark and frightening presence, even from afar.
"and, well you all know the rest," Demeter said.
"Now I think we should talk less about bad stuff" Demeter declared, now looking towards Ravus, "Say Ravus, you and your comrades returned from an Expedition in the deep floors, right ?"
"that's right, we could reach the 54th Floor as planned, and thank heaven everyone of us returned safely" Ravus explained
"so that means the Expedition was a full success, right ?" Lady Demeter asked.
"yes, even though we run out of items on our way back, luckily, Emma and her party were waiting for us with supply in Riviria" Ravus answered with a relieved expression.
"We still would have enough items if you wouldn't have fought that mini-boss, brother," Lucia said rather slightly upset while looking towards Leo.
"MINIBOSS ?" Hephaestus asked as everyone else watched towards Ravus.
"on which floor was the mini Boss? " Ryuu asked curiously.
"the 54th Floor, the one we reached" Leo answered towards her. now, everyone, even Noct, looked towards Ravus in disbelief.
"If I may ask, What kind of boss was it ?" Hermes asked out of curiosity.
"it was a so-called 'Titanus Rodan', a very large Pterosaur like monster" Ravus explained while looking towards Hermes.
"and you fought it on your own? " Hestia asked
"I defeated it, yes." Ravus declared.
"and did you already updated your status? " Syr asked since there was no way that Ravus would remain at his current level after such an achievement.
" I intended to until Goddess reminded us about today evening's party and that there's still work to be done, like the needed supplies, so she ordered us 3 directly to come here, she mentioned that someone familiar to me, from my hometown, is there too, " Ravus said while looking towards Noct.
At this moment, Demeter could see a young man with spiky black hair, a white shirt with a black jacket, and a brown bag around his body.
"oh right, we didn't introduce to each other properly," Demeter said while also looking towards Noct now, "my name is Demeter, Goddess of the Demeter Familia" she introduced now towards him.
Since Demeter was not only a Goddess but also the host of the lunch, he didn't hesitate and stood up, about to introduce properly:
"Hello, I'm Noct Gar, member of the Hestia Familia, pleased to meet you, and thank you very much for today's meal, Goddess Demeter" Noct bowed in front of Demeter, who smiled because of his polite introduction.
Noct also looked towards Demeter's chest for a second before staying straight.
's**t, that's really no imagination at all, Prompto, Gladio, and Iggy probably would think I'm seeing things or that my puberty is still going on. And Prompto wouldn't stop staring at all' Noct thought.
While Noct took his seat again, Demeter turned towards Hestia,
"so he's your child, Hestia ?" Demeter wondered, "didn't know you had a new one, what's more, someone that strong, am I right to assume that he's your Familia's captain ?"
Hestia was silent for a moment while watching towards Noct, like everyone else. Bell especially wondered what his Goddess's answer will be.
"well, he joined recently, and it was a fluke, to be honest, getting a Level 6 adventurer for my Familia, but since he's my second child, I don't see the need for the word 'captain' right now," Hestia said towards Demeter.
While Noct didn't care about that matter, Bell wondered if Noct should become their Familia's captain for real. Bell made a note to himself to talk with Noct and his Goddess about that matter later.
Ravus was about to ask something, until everyone could hear an opening door, revealing several waiters and waitresses, ready to serve the main dish, so he decided to leave it for a while, maybe it was better to talk to Noctis later alone.
The first thing the waiters and waitresses did, was removing the empty bowls which were on the tables.
Secondly, they served large marmites while everyone suggested the main dish will be soup.
After the new sets of cutlery and dishes were served, the marmite's caps were removed, revealing cabbage rolls as the lunch's main dish.
(ENDING: Jacob Lee – I Just Know (New Immunity Remix) )