You know, as I write this one, I'm thinking of a card game I played a while ago. It basically revolved around a bunch of adventurers, and a bar fight. Used a D20 and everything. Chairs, magic, fists, good, evil, lots of fun.

Chapter 18

With our Amazon chauffeur, Haruhime and I drew a LOT of looks. One, a tall, muscled beauty who, if asked nice, or if angered, could turn a person into a pretzel. It didn't help that she was showing off as much skin as what passed for public dressed code allowed.

Then, there was Haruhime. Almost gold hair, perfectly pointed fox ears, smooth white skin and dazzling eyes. Her outfit was something a noble would wear, and her poise and manner were flawless.

And me. While not as brazen as the Amazon, or as portrait perfect as Haruhime, I was good looking, and striking in my own way. Recent rumours about me were already drawing looks before this, and now, after the Gods meeting, I was already hearing my various nicknames being mumbled as the three of us walked by.

"Interesting names you seem to have gotten." Aisha said with a chuckle. "The last one especially."

I grumbled, then sighed, "Earned, unfortunately. I honestly would have gone for something Lady Hephaestus tried for."

"Oh? What's that?"

"See that guy over there?" I pointed to a well armoured Dwarf, wearing metal scale armour with shoulder plate marked with Hephaestus's symbol. "I gave Lady Hephaestus a quick and simple way to mass produce those scales. She wanted to call me 'Dragon Kit', for it."

"Ohhhh." Haruhime and Aisha said together, "Strong, flexible, and you don't have to kill a drake to get them." Ashia continued. "Speaking of..."

"Yes, I did kill a drake, with my fist." I put a hand gently on Haruhime's shoulder, "And some advice. I found the words, thanks to your help."

She smiled a shy but dazzling smile at me, until Aisha chimed in, "So it wasn't just fun that you two were having? That's great." She laughed as the both of us started blushing furiously. "The two of you are so adorable together." Followed by more laughter as we blushed even more.

"This is the place I think." I said, holding up a bit of paper with the address and name of an unfamiliar tavern. Welf came her fairly often, and it had a decent reputation and good food from what he'd said of the place. My ears picked up Welf's voice from inside. "And our man of the hour is here."

The three of us entered, pushing open the saloon style doors. And silence.

I had guessed this was going to happen, but Haruhime suddenly hid behind me as the entire tavern looked at the three of us. Welf saved us, calling out, "Hey! Sister! Over here!"

Bell, Lilly and Welf were all there, sitting in the biggest round table with really good smelling food already laid out on it. As we approached, I was briefly worried about what the three of them would think of my two additions to his little party. I felt a little ashamed at myself when the three of them simply smiled and waved us to have a seat.

"Whoa! She's the other Renard?" Welf started, "Like night and day, the both of you. Welf Crozzo." He extended a hand to her, "That's Bell, and the tiny one is Lilly." Haruhime was a little overwhelmed by Welf's loud but good natured greeting, but took his hand and shook it. "Haruhime right?" I noticed that our Familia smith was gentle with her hand. "And you... Wow. Who's this?" He looked up... and up... at the Amazon.

"Aisha. I'm just babysitting." She grinned, "Make sure nothing happens to our little princess and her friend." She took Welf's hand and they shook, the tendons on both their forearms standing out. "Not bad. So you're the guy this party is for?"

"Yes! Mr. Welf reached level two." Bell said with a smile, moving over a little so the three of us had a little more room to sit.

And so our little party started. Any fears I had about Haruhime enjoying herself, or even more, fitting in, with my Familia and friends, was washed away. Bell was too kind to judge her, though he couldn't bring himself to look at Aisha directly. Lilly knew who they were already, and what they did for a living. But she'd seen all that before, and understood. Welf was just Welf. He knew me, trusted me, and if I brought some one to a party, they belonged there.

Even though she was an 'escort', Aisha fit in like the corner bit on a puzzle. Chatted like we'd all been friends for years, handed people food and drink like a pro, and simply got along with everyone. I had been a little worried she would be overprotective of Haruhime's personal space. Or start telling some of the more suggestive jokes I'd heard, but she had picked up on Bell's sensitivity to such things, and didn't seem to mind that she wasn't sitting next to her ward.

Haruhime... Was nervous. Just sort of there. She had warmed up a little to everyone, but she was still a little reserved about it all. I guessed she wasn't one to get out much, and her looks made almost everyone stare, even Bell, though, instead of looking at her, he was looking at the both of us. Welf had said we were like night and day.

The festive mood at our table was infectious. Most of the rest of the bar was loud and rowdy, with frequent calls of 'what ever they're having!' being called across the room to the busy wait staff. It wasn't like the Hostess of Fertility, with the festive but orderly atmosphere. But a proper place to just relax, unwind, and drink until you were satisfied. The various serving girls were occasionally the victim of stray hand or two, but seemed resigned, or even playful about it, though extra grabby patrons were glared at by the man behind the bar, who had a very large spiky mace hung above the collection of liquor bottles.

Considering he looked like he could snap a horse in half, not to mention an obvious, though unfamiliar to me Familia emblem on his apron, I never saw a repeat offender.

I became aware, sometime in our second hour of partying, that the table next to us was oddly quiet. Well, not quiet, just not 'festive'. More than once, I'd caught a few glares from the six of them sitting there. It was about the third time I'd looked that way, I heard one of them say, "Isn't that Hestia Familia?" It was just loud enough to be heard over the noise, but not loud enough to carry much further than say, a table over.

"The one with only three people? Some sort of runt, and two upstart rookies?" Another said. My ears were turned towards them, and I could see Bell and Lilly both being distracted by the words.

"Level two in a month? Yeah right. That runt Goddess of theirs must be lying, or the two of them are cheating."

I made eye contact with Aisha, who very carefully put down her knife and fork, but made no other outward moves. Welf had gone silent, and I could see Bell almost starting to vibrate angrily in his chair.

They had picked up a little volume now, or rather, the rest of the tavern was quieting down a little. "And that little runt. Wasn't she some kind of criminal with Soma Familia before?"

I felt a little twinge of emotion at that last one. Sure, the other comments were purposefully rude and hurtful, but I was old enough to see it as basically what amounted to schoolyard bully talk. This time, I made eye contact with Bell, my eyes going wide for a moment, my magic twisting inside of me briefly.

Poor Bell switched from being angry at them, to worried for them. He settled down, if only just. I winked at him, then stood up with a sigh.

"I don't know who you are." I started, turning and looking at the half dozen men. As a whole, they were handsome. Not dazzling, but clean cut, well maintained equipment, no stains on their clothing. They also had, in the exact same place for all of them, the symbol of Apollo Familia on their left breast. A sun containing a bow and arrow. "But if you have something to say, stand up and say it. We are trying to have a good time here."

One of them, not the biggest, or the best equipped, stood up, "Fine then." The bar went quiet as he rounded the table and stood in front of me. The effect of him trying to intimidate me was diminished slightly by me being taller. "Your Familia is weak, your Goddess is either a liar or a cheat, you've got a known criminal, a cowardly runaway, and you, a mutt with anger issues, as members." He paused for breath, "Your smith apparently doesn't know what end of the hammer hits the metal, and because of how badly you beat that man down on the eighteenth, you had to buy a couple of WHOR..."

That was about as far as he got. My ears felt the change in air pressure as something big moved behind me. I moved my head out of the way, and watched as Aisha punched him right in the nose with one decidedly not girly hand. The noise as the back of his head snapped the table behind him in half, then bounced off the floorboards was rather satisfying to hear.

"That's Courtesan." I said, before the bar erupted.

I knew it was a setup. As soon as I saw the Familia emblem, I knew we were just being picked on for Hestia making the right choice, and not giving in to a cowardly bully. Still, in the chaos of the bar fight, I regretted not just sitting down and continuing to enjoy myself as best as possible. Welf Bell and I stood in front of Aisha, who had Lilly and Haruhime behind her. I didn't begrudge the Amazon for starting the fight, or staying out of it to protect them. I would probably have started slapping the guy around in a moment anyway. Or Welf. I heard how much that insult to his craft riled him.

I knew all this. Yet there I was, trying not to catch a chair to the face, or a punch to the ribs. The rest of the bar, now that the five at the table were fighting the three of us, were also inspired to start fighting. It didn't seem to matter who was fighting, everyone just started beating on the guy next to them, while the non-combatants fled to the edges of the room.

I had just gotten my hands on someone with the Apollo emblem on their breast when I saw a flash of metal our of the corner of my eye. My almost victim drove a fist into my gut, and I was unable to yell to Bell about the dagger coming his way from behind.

There was a 'clicksnap' and a little metal tipped bolt suddenly appeared in the forearm of the dagger holding hand. I fought to get my breath back and threw the guy I was holding at the knife wielder. I followed him, elbowing my way towards the two on the ground and reaching for them, when something hit me square between the shoulder blades and I was suddenly flattened to the floor. Reflexively, I put a hand flat to the ground and started to push upwards, but the room went totally silent as the point of a blade buried itself next to my head.

"Now now. Naughty foxes should keep their hands to themselves." A pause, the only noise that of people relaxing, lowering chairs and people back to the floor, "After what you did on the eighteenth, I don't want you touching my Familia, who knows what would happen?"

I looked up with one eye at the man standing on my back. This one was handsome. Devilishly so. Dark hair, smooth looks, and arrogant smile. "Get off my back, and you can find out." I said, only now remembering where I'd seen him. He was at the bar, away from the table of the rest of them, never once looking back or letting on he was in on this. Now I was getting angry.

"You have no chance, and you know it. And if you keep trying to move, my blade might slip." I felt a sudden heat near my face, the wavy blade, its point within the floorboard was starting to glow red.

"Get off her." Aisha said. "Now." No one had gotten near her during the fighting, and with the sound of popping knuckles, I heard most of the tavern back away. "What sort of cowards draw steel in a bar fight?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to anger one of the famed Berbera." The sword left my vision, though the boot didn't move, "But you must understaaaaaaaND!"

Fuelled by anger, I slammed both palms against the ground and pushed upwards. No matter how strong this twit was, he could only weigh so much. There was a nervous chuckle as I stood, and the man was steadied by his friends. Making a show of dusting off before facing him, I turned and looked at his angry face. "No. You must understand. Say what you want about Hestia Familia, but now everyone in this room, and everyone we meet on the way home, is going to know that his Familia are just a bunch of Cowardly Bullies who Can't Even Have a Proper Bar Fight." I punctuated each word, "Just like their God who is still so childlike, he resorts to intimidation and slander to get what he wants. What are you? What is He? Five?"

His handsome face was starting to go purple, so, I backed up, turned to the others, and said, "You might call me a mutt, but you're the one who's barking like a dog."

His voice was absolutely livid. I could almost feel the heat of his anger on my ears. "You will regret talking me, Hyakinthos like that! And our Lord Apollo will not tolerate your insults."

I didn't think he would try something like stabbing me in the back, but I kept my eyes on Aisha, who was watching Hyakinthos like a hawk, for any sign of warning. I heard them gather themselves up and leave, waiting until the remaining half of the saloon style door had stopped swinging before relaxing.

"Fuck." I said, in English, though I'm sure my friends all got the idea.

I had walked back part way with Aisha and Haruhime. Partly because I honestly felt safer near the big Amazon, but also because Haru was clinging to my arm and I rather liked it. It made me feel a little better about what I could see coming. Apollo would probably mention this at tomorrow's Gala, and if Hestia was right, there would be a fair number of highly influential guests there. Haruhime hugged my arm when I sighed, reminding me I still had things to ask.

"Sorry about that. Apollo wants my Goddess to bend over for him, and she won't. So he is trying to force the issue." I explained, leaning on the smaller girl slightly. She even smelt nice, none of the evening's excitement had left a mark on her.

Aisha grumbled, but Haru simply smiled up at me, "It's okay, Kodori-san. I had a wonderful time."

"Glad to hear it. Oh, something I've been meaning to ask..." With a little effort, and a couple of swishes to get momentum, my tail wrapped around her waist, her free hand not quite able to catch it, though it felt rather nice as my fur slid through her fingers. "My tail seems to be... um... About twice as long. You said something about growing more?"

"Oh my..." She stopped walking, bringing our little trio to a halt within sight of the 'entertainment' district. "Maybe instead of two, you have twice the tail?" She managed to take hold of my tail finally, "Tsk... You need to take better care of it..."

Aisha chuckled as the smaller Renard scolded me. "I've been busy?" I tried, earning myself a gentle tug on my tail.

"No excuses." Haruhime removed a brush from her sash, "I was meaning to give this to you, since you asked the Madam." It wasn't as bristly or dense as the usual brush for say, animal fur. The back was a pale wood, and the bristles looked to be made of soft wire. "Thank you for the wonderful, if more exciting than I'd hoped, evening."

As I accepted the brush, my tail decided to try and escape, curling around her arm before sliding off and settling behind me again. "Thank you. I have something for you as well." I removed the iron bracelet from an inner pocket, the highly polished surface shining almost like silver. "It's a simple craft, but..."

Aisha snatched it away from my hand before Haruhime could take it. I couldn't figure out why until she sniffed it, then held it in her hand, as if testing it. I suppose any gift might be dangerous, if some one were to enchant it. But since I had no such skill that I knew of...

Aisha, satisfied, handed it to Haruhime, patting her on the head as she accepted it. "Sorry, had to make sure." She mumbled to her. "It's iron? Right?"

"Yes. My very first project." I said, smiling as Haruhime slipped it onto her wrist and 'oooo'ed' at it. She then gave me a hug, almost jumping into my arms. "You are very welcome." I also gave her ears a pat.

"Yup, very cute together." Aisha said, making us both blush again with the tone she said it in, "But, you're not on the clock, so not tonight." She winked at me as the girl in my arms tried to hide her face in my bosom. "But seriously, you'll be okay on the way home? That guy seems like the one to hold a grudge."

"He doesn't need to now. You're aware of the Gala tomorrow right?" She nodded, "I'd bet you almost anything you could name that he'll play the crowd and try and push his war game on Lady Hestia again."

She frowned, and took Haruhime's hand after I let her out of my arms. "I hope we can see each other soon, Kodori-san," Haruhime said, bowing, "Maybe just the two of us?"

"Or three of us!" Aisha chimed in, "You seem like a lot of fun to be around."

"Is some one feeling left out?" I asked, trying to tease the Amazon, "Would you like a hug too?"

She thankfully didn't make her reply a crushing hug, but it was a close thing. "I will be careful on the way home though, just in case. And yes, I'll be sure to arrange something, soon, Haruhime-chan."

"Lipstick again?" Were Hestia's first words as I opened the door to the basement.

Arms crossed, usually gentle face frowning, it didn't take a genius to see that my Goddess was upset. "Bell already told you about tonight then?" I tried to dodge the question as I put my things away.

"Yes. He did." She answered still looking at me. Bell was no help, his back turned and very studiously doing dishes.

I sighed, "Yes, lipstick. But it was only a kiss. And a hug." I answered, "As a thank you for bringing her along for Welf's party."

She seemed be determined to pout at me, but broke down when I gave her a hug too. "Fine, I won't punish you."

"My Goddess is kind." I said.

It was very fancy. From the moment we left our humble little abode, we were greeted by a fancy carriage, complete with a white horse. Bell, Hestia and I boarded it, and the driver, dressed in perfectly tailored clothing, guided us to the party itself. It made sense that Apollo Familia home be a Greek styled building. White marble, pillars, windows, almost like they had been taken from a history book back home. Aside from being almost sparklingly clean, the property itself was rather large. Big courtyard, high walls, neatly trimmed trees...

"To say nothing of his Familia." I commented, "He has good taste." Hestia 'harumphed', but I continued, "Don't worry. You just have quality, over his quantity."

We stepped off the carriage, Bell taking Hestia's hand, while I walked just behind them. It was hard to describe how... grand it was. More carriages were arriving, and there were guests in front of us as well. The level of fancy clothing was far higher than I was used to as well, though I did recognize the familiar hair of Ais Wallenstein as she walked next to Loki. "You weren't joking, Lady Hestia, Apollo did invite a lot of people."

The inside was just as fancy as the outside, even more so really. Red carpets, beautiful paintings, fancy pottery, it was all here. Every sort of thing you could think of that held some kind of beauty was on display. At least, inanimate objects. The Familia members were also dressed perfectly. Both man and women were dressed in white and gold, but in such a way that if you looked at them, you would notice. But when you turned away, they seemed to blend in to the background. A clever use of colour to make the wait staff as invisible as possible.

"Ah, you must be Kodori." It was just a voice, but it felt like her words traced a finger down my spine, right to the tip of my tail. I turned around, Hestia and Bell continuing on without me, and spotted the owner of the voice. "My little princess described you as a tall woman with raven ears and tail."

She wasn't quite as tall as me, but she had far FAR more curves. Everything about her tan skinned body practically radiated sexuality. I felt myself wanting to step towards her, but my tail decided to wrap around my leg suddenly, distracting me from what I was about to do. Shaking my head to clear the sudden warm feeling I was getting, I replied, "I am." I spoke English, to keep myself from being misunderstood. It also helped distract me from wanting to suddenly carry the lady off someplace. "You must be Lady Ishtar. You received my letter, I hope?"

"Yes I did. I didn't expect Apollo to suddenly have a party, but I had a feeling you would be there as well." She smiled, and I felt another touch on my spine, though this time, my logical mind told me something was up. "He does this occasionally, these parties. Invites all of the gods he knows. It gives them a chance to show off their most prized Familia member."

"I notice, you are without a companion for tonight?" I did find it odd that she was alone, that helped distract me from what ever it was she was doing to make my skin feel almost electric.

"Oh, I find my companion for the night, instead of bringing one." She smiled at me again, her entire body, wrapped in a just barely decent robe, like the one on her Familia emblem, nearly bursting at the edges with her display. "We should chat again, alone some time."

I felt her words like a spike going through my heart. The little cage that I imagined contained my magic, feeling like some one had kicked it. It was almost like some one had dropped an ice cube into my boxers. "Yes. Some time, soon." I tried not to let my internal struggle show on my face, and Ishtar's expression said I might have succeeded. I felt the need to hide some place and hyperventilate for a moment or two.

She was about to say something else, but she suddenly looked behind me. Her smile, divinely perfect, changed into a frown. "A shame, it seems she was invited too."

Another voice, softer, said as I turned to look, "Why would I not be, Ishtar? Are we not both prominent Familia?"

To describe Ishtar, one would have to know what the perfectly 'ripe' woman looked like, to even get an idea. Curves that were exactly the right size and shape, hips meant for childbearing, but only just. A body that simply radiated passion.

To describe this one, you would need to know what the perfect queen looked like. Dressed in a dark blue gown that clung to her body, yet was open in the front almost down to the groin, she merely offered a suggestion of perfection. As if the wonder underneath her clothing was a simple question away.

She also had a very VERY large man behind her. Easily two meters tall, this wall of muscle was dressed in, of all things, a tux. The tux looked like it wanted to explode. His passive face was topped by a bit of brown hair and cat ears, but I noticed no tail.

"Ma'am Freya." I said before I could stop myself in case I was wrong. Turning away from Ishtar, who was herself turning to leave, seemed to at least soften the effect her presence seemed to have on me, but now I was looking at the OTHER Goddess of beauty.

"Oh, have we met, young fox?" She asked, her voice like a gentle pat on the head.

Struggling with the urge to run away, I bit my lip almost hard enough to draw blood, and defaulted to being formal. I bowed, fist in palm, first to her, then to the giant beside her. "There is only one person he could be. And that means only one person would be next to him, at a party like this." I diverted my eyes to the floor momentarily. It was a breach in etiquette, as you are supposed to look at the person, but it was only for an instant. It seemed to work, and I felt the little fire in my belly settle again.

Very quiet laughter from the Goddess, then, "Oh? Well, you aren't wrong. I am indeed Freya, and this one, is Ottar."

I stood straight, my mind feeling a little less scrambled. Looking up at the giant, I extended not a hand, but my gauntleted fist to him. He regarded me for a moment, before extending his own fist and tapping mine with barest hint of a smile on his face. "I heard you killed a drake." He said, returning to his passive stance beside his Goddess. "And the other one, a minotaur."

"Is it true then?" Freya asked.

"Yes. We were both lucky to live that day." I replied, feeling embarrassed, but also a little pride in what Bell and I had done.

"And both level two as well, beating the record holder, by a very wide margin." Again, that smile. So perfect.

"Yes. Ais Wallenstein, at one year." Ottar supplied. "A month, and you, three weeks."

"How did you ever manage?" Her question seemed innocent enough, but there was a little hunger in her eyes now.

"A little luck. A lot of risk." I said, "We both broke through our limits that day." I had my suspicions about how it all really worked, but I kept them to myself.

"Still, well done." Freya said, her hand reaching out for me, reaching for my face.

Something in my mind told me that as much as I wanted her to touch me, it would be a Bad Idea. But her smile, and looks, and well, everything about her, seemed to disconnect my body from my brain. Something else started to replace my inexplicable want for her to touch me, as her hand seemed to move in slow motion towards my face.

Fear. I wanted to run. Far FAR away. I didn't know why, I didn't CARE why. I just could not let her touch me.

"THERE you are!" Again, the simple presence of my Goddess saved me. Snapping my brain back to the top of my spine, I shied away from Freya's touch and turned to face Hestia. The sudden need to either go to her, or run away and hide under a rock went from 'yes please' to 'crushing'.

Freya smiled at me, as I looked at her from behind Hestia. I didn't recall moving away, I was simply there, behind the simple comforting presence of my Goddess. Even my tail wrapped itself over her hip, seeking shelter.

"You stay away from her!" Hestia pointed at Freya, "First Bell now her? Have you no shame?"

Still smiling, Freya covered her mouth with her fingertips, "My my, such a jealous display, Hestia dear." To me, she said, "Another time, we should chat, you and I."

I couldn't speak. My mouth was too dry to even dare the attempt. So I simply nodded, and the two of them turned and left, Hestia still 'grr'ing at them like some sort of small angry kitten. Once they had entered an adjoining room, I felt all the tension in my body leave.

All of it.

I almost folded over Hestia's shoulder as my entire body simply stopped wanting to support me. It only lasted an instant, but poor Hestia wasn't very strong.

"Are you okay?" She asked, worried.

"Lady Hestia... Just to be clear, you will always be the Goddess I follow." She smiled, a little nervously, hearing the 'but' in my sentence. "But I have never, in my entire life, wanted another woman that badly."

The look on her face could have melted stone, but when she looked into my eyes, she probably saw the fear I felt. I was shaken, and she knew it. Her anger at my words vanished, and gently, she put her hand on my cheek and pat my head. "Wait... Another woman?"

"The second date with another woman wasn't a big enough clue?" I asked, my sense of humour creeping back to its usual place.

"But... We... Umm..."

As my Goddess sort of short circuited, I put my hands on her shoulders and gave her a tiny little shake.

"But..." She tried again, "You never asked me... And Bell, you..."

Quietly, in English, I replied, "Lady Hestia, if you wanted something from me, you would, like any other person, have to ask me. Just like if I wanted something like that from you, I would ask. You are my Goddess, but you are your own person too. Just because I have... experience... with women, doesn't mean I will push myself on any woman I get close to."

That seemed to snap her back to the usual 'understanding Goddess.' "But, when Ishtar, and now Freya, were talking to me, I wanted to do something I would never willingly do. And by ALL the Gods, with you at the front, that scares me." her eyes hardened as I spoke, "As for Bell. Yes, I kissed him. Five times. And it was at the end of that fifth kiss, his heart started again, and he remembered how to breathe on his own." I paused for effect, reminding her that while some might think I took advantage of the young boy, he was technically dead, "If he ever wants an actual kiss from me, he would have to ask." I tried not to think too hard about that scenario, but it needed mentioning.

"I understand." She said, turning an angry look towards the door Freya had went through.

"And speaking of Bell, where is he?"

Dancing with Ais Wallenstein apparently. I had to stop Hestia from stomping over there to separate then, and a moment later, Loki looked up from one of the food laden tables, and I had to stop her as well. I gathered a few giggles from the crowd as I held them both, my grip unbreakable, off the floor AND away from each other, so they couldn't interrupt the two dancers, or start a cat fight with each other. Once the music ended, I gave each of the Goddesses an 'are you going to be good now?' look, and set them down so they could collect their Familia member.

Both Goddesses were clinging protectively to their Familia member, while simultaneously growling at the other Goddess. Both mortals in the equation looked resigned, but I gave them both a thumbs up while the two Goddesses were distracted.

When Hestia returned to my side, Bell being clung to, there was a ripple of noise through the room. At the top of a double half spiral set of stairs, the centre of which was a combination balcony/landing, stood a man. Golden hair wreathed with a green laurel, pure white robes, athletic build, blazing blue eyes. Like the face of a Greek coin come to life.

"Greetings!" His voice was noble, not quite deep, but certainly attention grabbing. Behind and to his right, was Hyakinthos. "I do hope you are enjoying the party? I see many new faces here today, so I shall introduce myself. I am Apollo, and welcome to my home."

There was a quiet cheer, kind of like a large party version of a golf clap.

"As many of you know, I hold these parties, not just to show off, which I must admit, I am doing." The crowd was fair, a ripple of laughter followed the comment, "But, also to bring together all of the Gods and Goddesses, outside one of those terribly dull meetings." He leaned over the railing, eyes sweeping the crowd, never settling on anyone, but simply taking it all in. "And to allow each of you to bring your most prized among your flock." This time, for an instant, his eyes settled on Bell and I, standing side by side with Hestia in the middle.

"Some of you, I've seen before, showing more polish than the last time we met." His eyes, intense, moved over people like Ais, and Ottar, "And I welcome you back."

Another cheer, this one from many of the mortal guests, wine glasses raised.

"But, not all is cheer tonight." His tone lowered, and I felt like I was suddenly watching a bad play, "Last night, some of my Familia were assaulted, while innocently unwinding after a day in the dungeon." He stepped aside, and another of his Familia, pushing a wheelchair, brought out the man Aisha had floored with the first punch of the bar fight. Aside from the bandages on his head, and the neck brace, he was some what... over done. It looked like he had been hit by a truck. Both arms in casts and braced out at weird angles, both legs too, one bent at the knee the other braced straight out.

The crowd ate it up though. Internally, I sighed, but outwardly, I couldn't say anything.

Fucking politics.

"This was done to one of my number, by one called the Demon Fox." All eyes were suddenly on me. Being one of the taller people in the room, it wasn't hard for anyone to spot me either. I did my best not to flinch, and Bell took my sudden squeeze on the shoulder with expert stoicism. "Don't let her beauty fool you, she nearly beat a man to death on the eighteenth floor, and again, last night."

Okay, I was done playing nice.

"HEY OTTAR!" I called out, looking for the huge man, spotting him easily, our eyes meeting. He grunted a 'Hm?' at me, and I continued, "If your Goddess was being held captive, right in front of you, and you were told the only way to her was through some one else, what would you do?"

The sound of the back of his tuxedo splitting was like a gunshot in the room. Answer enough.

I looked to Ais, still beside Loki, "As much trouble as she is." A ripple of laughter from everyone but Apollo, who was realizing where I was going with this, "How about you?"

Her answer was more subtle, as a small breeze drifted through the room, the fine lines of her muscles hardening slightly.

And for the finishing touch, I looked up at the man standing to Apollo's right. "And you, Hyakinthos?"

If he answered, he supported me, and if he didn't he'd be seen as a coward.

Apollo glared at me as his Familia member answered a begrudging "I would go through them, of course."

"And I would do it again." I put a hand on Hestia's shoulder, "For her, I would be the Demon Fox. If that's what it took to keep her safe."

Trying to recover a crowd now totally sympathetic to me Apollo reached out again, "And what of your foul assault upon my child here?"

"Actually." The honey sweet voice of Ishtar said from one side of the room, "He dared call one of my Amazons something most foul." She winked at me as my eyes spotted her, sitting with three of Apollo's wait staff, two men and a woman. My tail clung to Hestia without my control.

"There is no need to cover for her, fair Ishtar. As the Goddess of the only other Renard in the city, I understand why you would want to protect her too."

Ishtar had given a token resistance for me, more than she needed to, but she didn't reply to Apollo, leaving the verbal spar in his favour again.

"So again, I ask you, Lady Hestia, I think now, you are obligated to accept my challenge. To balance the scales of this insult to my Familia." He paused, and said the exact wrong thing next, "Or you could simply surrender, yourself, and your Familia to me."

Gently, my Goddess removed my tail from her hip, and simply went off on the other God. Full on angry little Goddess. "You think I would be stupid enough to fall for this? You just want another possession in your collection, that you would get bored of and leave on display. I REFUSE to let you do that to my Familia, OR me!" Both Bell and I had to put a hand on her to keep her from rushing at the other God.

He said nothing. He simply smiled, ignored her refusal, waved to the crowd, and then said, "Please, guests, enjoy the rest of the party."

The show over, I sighed, angrily. I had only just now realized I couldn't win that fight. I'd forgotten just how much the Gods wanted entertainment. I couldn't have won over the mortals in the crowd, as I only really knew one, and had met and earned acknowledgement from one more. Ishtar was, for some reason, an ally, but aside from Loki, and Freya, I didn't know any of the others.

And even if I did, for them, it was simply entertainment.

"Sorry, Lady Hestia." I mumbled, "I tried."

"But, will he stop at that?" Bell asked, "Some thing seemed..."

Hestia grumbled, availing herself of some of the fine food laid out on the tables. "I don't care." She said between angry mouthfuls, "I will never accept his stupid challenge."

Bell's doubt was a sign of two things, first that he was learning. Apollo was known to chase relentlessly for the things he wanted. And second, that he was finally admitting to himself, that not everyone fought fair. He was learning to at least question his first glance at something or someone.

"We can talk about this on the way back. I'm going to get some air." I said, looking at a large balcony door. Bell? Keep an eye on Her?" He nodded to me, red eyes looking at me as if I had just issued a command in the dungeon.

Since the only drinks offered were alcoholic, I hadn't had anything to eat, or drink all night. The foods looked amazing, but I'd suddenly lost my appetite. As I stepped onto the balcony, the cool night air brushing over my ears and tail, I heard some one's voice catch, as if surprised.

"The fox eclipses the moon." said a timid voice, sounding suddenly on the edge of tears. "While the rabbit devours the sun."

Turning, I saw two of Apollo's wait staff. One, looking fearfully at me, with long black hair, fine features and light green eyes. The other had shorter hair, not quite as dark, but sharing similarly fine features and eyes. Not alike enough to be related, but maybe from the same region of the world. She was alternating between cautious looks at me, and worried looks at the long haired one.

Curious, I approached, almost wishing I wasn't so damn tall compared to them. It made the timid one even worse, and the other start to step in the way defensively. "Just ignore her, she sometimes spouts nonsense like that." The short haired one said.

"Mind of reason, body of rage." She whimpered.

"She sounds like she is making sense to me." I said, kneeling down carefully, so they didn't have to look up at me. "Taking a break from all the formality?" I asked, holding out a hand, "Kodori, Hestia Familia."

"I'm Daphne, this is Cassandra." She replied, holding the other as she shied away from my hand. Was I really that scary? "She's been like this since she saw you. Is it true?"

"That I nearly beat a man to death for getting between me and my Goddess?" I sighed.

"That you plan to resist Apollo?" She asked instead, surprising me. "You would be better off giving up." Her voice was bitter as she looked at my offered hand.

"The fire, caged, breaks free." Cassandra said, her face hiding in the other woman's shoulder, her one visible eye looking at me.

"Yes, I do. I won't give in to a bully. Neither will Bell." I frowned, realizing what the look on Daphne's face meant. "Not everyone goes willingly, to his side, huh?"

"We ran too. But were only tired when he caught us, in the end." Daphne replied sourly.

I was about to drop my hand, when Cassandra looked into my eyes. It was odd, as she had only been giving me sideways looks, glances, all but hiding behind her friend. I returned the look, removed my gauntlet, and offered my hand again. Her fingers, damp with nervous sweat, touched mine, and she seemed to come back to herself. "Given an open field, the fox chooses... her path."

"I'm not one for prophesy but, you have gotten two out of three so far." I smiled at her, closing my hand over hers lightly then letting go. "I will resist Apollo until he gives up, or he catches me. But I will never be his. I will take the last way out if that is the only choice between staying with Hestia, and being owned by Him."

"Is she really that great?" She asked, not as an insult, but at the conviction in my voice.

"I was a slave once, held down by invisible chains the people called a system." I nodded my head to Cassandra, standing. "Now, I serve Hestia, not because I must, but because I want to. She gave me the strength to choose a path, and a reason to follow it."

Neither of them replied, so I gave them both my warrior's salute, put my gauntlet back on, and finished my walk to the edge of the balcony. Replaying the conversation in my head, along with the rest of the night, I had to stop myself from gripping the marble railing of the balcony too tightly.

We were given the same treatment leaving, as we had while arriving. A fancy carriage with a single white horse, driven by a white with gold trim Apollo Familia member. Hestia was still grumbling, but she had taken revenge on the food table. Bell simply looked worried at the condition of his Goddess, and I...

I knew that something was coming. I didn't know what. But I knew, from meeting Daphne and Cassandra, that Apollo wouldn't stop chasing us. He would use what ever he deemed necessary to force us to join him. A few things came to mind, but all of them involved Apollo Familia breaking the law of the Guild to do them.

Would that stop him? It was easy to guess that the Guild was really just a facade. A governing body, made of mortals, who were only in power because the majority of the Gods felt it necessary. Without them, the city would be a war zone. After seeing Ottar, I held not a single doubt that if Freya wanted the city, she could take it. In a day, maybe two.

But, she knew, like most of the other Gods, that a neutral party was needed. A mortal party to handle the adventurers, the infrastructure, and all the fiddly little things the Gods didn't want to bother with while they sought their own entertainment. Soma was the best, and worst example of this.

Bell and I carefully put our fancy clothes away, our adventurer instincts knowing there was another shoe waiting to drop.

I woke with the feeling of every single hair on my tail standing on end. Without even knowing why, I quickly rolled over, covered Hestia's body with mine, and then rolled the other way, off of the bed and onto the floor. I noticed Bell was already on his feet, running towards us, even as something came crashing down above us, the ceiling over the other half of our little apartment, with the kitchen and living room caving in with a rumble of magic and falling stone.

Using my bigger body, I tried to compress Hestia's confused body into a ball under me, while Bell stood over me, about to try and make sure the three of us didn't end up crushed.

More stone fell, Hestia screamed in alarm under me, Bell used his firebolt to open up the ceiling above us and keep most of the debris from falling on us. As the dust settled, the three of us coughing up dust and rubbing grit from our eyes, we stood up amidst the crater that was our home, and looked around at the surrounding rooftops.

There, in full battle gear, each wearing the emblem of Apollo on their chest, stood no less than a dozen warriors. Swords drawn, bows ready to fire, magic circles rotating around the staffs of mages, they were ready to strike. The sun was just coming over the wall, catching the gold trim on the man standing on the highest of the rooftops. Hyakinthos.

"Didn't I tell you, that you would regret insulting Apollo and I?"

Ignoring him, I held Hestia close, and looked to Bell. Whispering, I asked, "Options?"

"If we can make it to the guild, we will be safe." Bell mumbled back, "But with so many..."

"You're faster," I nudged Hestia to Bell, who held her in his arms protectively. If we weren't about to do something so dangerous, she'd have enjoyed it. But Bell was in his battle mode, his usual nervousness set aside by his 'be a hero' mindset. "Go!"

And then things got noisy.

Notes!

So, by now, you may have noticed my lack of fine detail. For anyone who's read say, the Hobbit. Or even more so, the Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time, you'd know what fine detail is.

I tend to skip a great many of the fine details, trusting my audience (That's you guys/gals) to have a healthy imagination. I mean, if you're reading this, or any fanfiction, or enjoy a good book from time to time...

An example. When I say, 'I went to see the old Wizard.' What pops into mind? I'm willing to bet 'old man, robes, staff, wise look, tomes on the book shelves.' As the writer, I could write that, but as the reader, you are probably already thinking it. So, why bother? Sure, I put in details, and when I break the 'archetype' I write the extra bits. Here's another one. 'Dragon.' Or, 'winged dragon'. Again, I'm willing to bet, after I describe how big it is, you as the reader have already filled in the gaps. Scales, wings (or not) mean looking, lizard.

Now, if I wanted to change your first impression of the thing in question, I do so after. 'It was a dragon, except instead of a lizard's head with great big teeth, it had an eagles head'.

There, job done. Monster described. I don't need to tell you how many legs it has, what colour scales run down its back, etc etc. It's not important. What IS important, is that it's an eagle headed dragon, and it wants to eat the hero. (Or what ever. Maybe they are going to talk to it and have tea, but you get the idea.)

To any aspiring writer, (like me, even though I've been at this a while now), this is my advice. Trust the audience as much as you can. If something is supposed to stick out, then write it down. If not, then chances are, you don't actually need to put it there. This helps save time (for you and them) and keep your work from seeming dry.

Now, it doesn't always work! But, that's where you (the writer) ask for advice from people reading your work. Proof read, make sure important things are written down. And if you DO write in that extra detail, make sure it makes at least, one more appearance. (If the villain has a ring that catches the hero's eye, make sure that ring is mentioned later. Even if it is only to be used to punch the hero in the eye.)

Anyhow. Until next time, dear readers. :)