Chapter 24.

It seemed, with Bell, and now Mikoto hanging onto the Amazon, and simply not accomplishing much, that all was lost. I was in no condition to even walk, let alone help, and even the act of trying to talk the Amazon down had aggravated my injuries to the point of coughing up blood.

Haruhime was trying her best, but being a head shorter, and only level one, she could only ask Aisha to stop. I think I felt true despair when I saw the Amazon raise her wooden great sword, unable to ignore what ever charm the Goddess Ishtar had laid on her.

But, then the world itself seemed to pause. An instant of silence. And there, in the courtyard of the Arabic styled manse, was a pillar of light. Small at first, both blinding and beautiful, it grew, expanded, then rocketed skyward, growing until it parted the clouds, until it simply vanished, leaving not an aftereffect of light on my eyes, but a great sadness on my soul. I could only guess at what had just happened, my eyes crying tears of sadness for witnessing something that only my soul could comprehend.

Then Aisha dropped her sword.

The clatter of wood drew my attention back to her, and I watched as she dropped to her knees, covering her face. Haruhime, her red kimono some what rumpled, wrapped the sobbing Amazon in her arms, hugging her tightly.

Then I understood. Ishtar was gone. Not dead, for the Gods and Goddesses were immortal, but the corporal body Ishtar had been in, here in the realm of mortals, was gone. Her ability to directly effect anything here in this world, had come to an end.

Quickly, I looked back towards where the light had spring. And there, in that unmistakeable shade of purple, was a single person. She had two people near her, Ottar, for no other could be that size, and another. I wasn't sure, but it looked like some one I'd seen during my rage.

It was over. Haruhime was safe. Ishtar could never return from the realm of the Gods. And...

"Help..." I managed to say, as my eyes went dim.

Not for the first time, I woke up feeling like I'd done something incredibly stupid, while looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Unsurprisingly, everything hurt. My hand especially, my ribs almost as much, and... My heart, most of all. We had come very close to total failure, and only Freya's intervention, or rather, her taking some time from her day to end an upstart Goddess, had saved us.

Mouth tasting of blood, I looked around without moving my head. Where ever I was laying, it was comfortable, and the back of my head was the only thing not hurting. Even my tail felt like it had been stepped on.

Only able to see the ceiling and a bit of the walls, I figured I was in a cellar someplace. Wood above me, wide cut stone walls, the faint smell of alcohol... And the subtle scent of some kind of exotic wood. Having smelt that only once before, I moved my head a little, and found myself looking up at the sleeping face of Aisha. I wondered how many people in the world had ever gotten an Amazon Lap pillow. Raising my right hand, slowly, as my shoulder and elbow felt like I'd had them twisted backwards, I tried to brush her cheek with my apparently mummified hand. Some one had bandaged it and possibly splinted it as well, it was hard to tell under the oven mitt sized bundle of white cloth.

"Meh?" She said, opening her eyes and blinking at the hand about to boop her nose. "Oh, you're awake. Comfortable?" She straightened up her back, obscuring her face with her athletically perky bust, before realizing we couldn't really have a proper conversation like that, and leaning back again. "We're hiding out for now, in case you're wondering."

I worked my mouth around a bit, trying to get the taste of bloody sand out, then, "Why?"

She leaned over to her left, and I followed the motion with my head slightly, seeing a wooden door, a table, and a magic stone lamp resting atop it. She picked up something just out of sight, and a moment later she sat me up a little, and brought a cup to my lips. "Well... Hm. After you passed out, the fires, and Ishtar being sent back, brought the Guild." She helped me sip a bit more water, then put the mug down again. "Bell said," And she imitated his voice quite well here, "Ah, we're going to get in trouble with the guild again... Lady Hestia will be so mad..."

"Sounds exactly like him." I replied, "Then?"

"Well, being the sort of place it is, and being unable to resist the little Princess's sad eyes... I herded you all down here." We shared a quiet laugh. Haruhime had amazing eyes after all. "They're in the next room. Lilly too."

I nodded as best I could, Aisha helping me with another sip of water. "So, as much as your lovely legs make not only a pleasing sight, but pillow too..." I adapted to her open sense of humour, giving her one of my lamest attempts to flirt.

"Well..." She shifted her legs a little, the back of my head feeling the steel corded muscle under her skin, "Part of it is punishment. I hate sitting like this for too long." She scratched her cheek, "Haruhime thought, being a strong woman, you wouldn't want to be seen like this..." She motioned a hand over me, and while I didn't feel broken inside anymore, I probably still had more stripes than a zebra with all the bruising I'd suffered. "She's grown up around us Amazons, and well, we don't like showing weakness generally."

"I find a good humbling time being bed ridden reminds me to not be so..." I felt my words catch in my chest, and coughed to try and hide it.

"And I figured, you might want to talk."

"Help me sit up? I can almost hear your legs going numb." I replied, Aisha's strong hands gripping me under my arms and helping me shift about. I was apparently laying on a blanket that was over a couple of crates than had been slid together. Still half numb from exhaustion, I don't think I'd have noticed if it were roots and rocks.

I also noticed I was wearing a new bed sheet and pillowcase, and that a few others bits of me were bandaged in white, with more than a little red straining. "Better?" The Amazon was rubbing her legs and groaning as the muscles twitched.

"Not quite... You're heavier than you look."

"Ha ha." I sighed, "I... I'm not used to being helpless. My own idiocy, and recovery aside, that is."

Aisha looked at me, then nodded slowly. There was no pity, no sadness, no trace of 'I'm sorry' in her eyes. She knew enough, and that was not what I wanted.

"I'm... Not..." I felt the words tumble around in my head, "On my back, it says, 'May lose control'. And it's true. Whether I let it go, or I get angry enough that it gets free..." I paused, feeling my heart skip a beat, "Did... Back in that room... Did I..."

"I don't think so, no." She said.

I brought my knees up to my chest, hugging myself, "Good... That's something..." even my tail joined in, wrapping itself under my rear. "But, that control is a matter of discipline. I choose, or fail to hold it back." I shivered, "But for the first time since coming here, I had no control."

Aisha remained silent, simply waiting for me to speak, or not. "Can you do me a favour?"

"Name it." She replied instantly, "You gave me the strength to at least try and resist that..." She stopped herself from what was probably a very long line of swearing, calming herself with a deep breath, "If you hadn't..."

We both knew what it meant, to simply, not be in control.

"Yeah... Can you do that thing... with my ears?" I wasn't sure why, but I just... Needed this exact thing right now.

"Sure you don't want Haruhime to do that?" She made a halfhearted effort to tease me, before reaching out a hand and toying with one of my ears. "You know, the first night you met her, you made quite the impression."

I scooted closer on the crate, making it easier for the Amazon to reach my ears, "Not too much of one, it was unexpected to find out that..." It almost felt like I was trying to purr.

"She passes out when ever she sees a man's bare chest. You were her very first customer who didn't demand a refund." We shared a chuckle, "But...?"

"Oh... Well..." I really had to ask her how she was making my thoughts go all fuzzy from this. "Honestly, I seem to be the leader in Hestia Familia."

"Oh?" Her hands moved away from my ears, and to the sides of my head where my ears would have been.

"Bell sees me as a mentor, and rival. Lilly sees me as... Well, I'm not sure exactly. Big sister, maybe a mother figure. Lady Hestia looks to me for advice, and doesn't let her pride speak when I give it. Mikoto... A leader, or teacher, who's word is second only to Hestia, or even Takemikazuchi."

"Really?" I nodded, and her hands moved back up to my ears, "Being a big sister is hard." She said finally, laughing as my tail flicked out around one of her arms in its usual manner. "I understand."

I think I just wanted someone stronger than me to just... Acknowledge me. I felt incredibly selfish for it, but... "You can stop if you want... If you keep going, I might either sleep, or pounce you."

"Well, with Ishtar gone, I don't need to be on the clock for that." Her arms wrapped around me, but didn't really squeeze, just, held. "But I think Haruhime would hate me if I did something like that without her permission." She let me go and slid herself off the crates, "Cover yourself a little more, unless you want that adorable little brother of yours to explode." She grinned, "Unless you want him to explode."

"I'm not going to add to his list." I replied, readjusting the bed sheet around my hips.

We spent a few hours down there in that cellar. After letting the others in to see me, and collecting a hug from everyone, even Bell, who didn't actually hesitate like he usually did, Lilly saw to my hand, making sure the bones were still set properly before giving me another potion. After Lilly's hug, Haruhime nudged Mikoto forward, who as usual after I'd done something for her, bowed, then hugged me for helping her rescue her friend. For someone as stiff and formal as she was, who would thank me with the same graciousness for covering her back in the dungeon, as collecting her dishes after dinner, the hug was a welcome surprise. Haruhime didn't so much as hug me as glomp onto me, suddenly bursting into tears and sobbing about how badly I'd been hurt coming to rescue her.

Trying to calm the poor girl down by petting her head, I looked to Bell, "How bad was it this time?"

Lilly answered instead, "Miss Kodori had a broken hand, again... And a foot print on your side." She made a 'this big' motion with her hands that was bigger than her head, "Master Bell says Phyrne kicked you." She sighed, giving me her best 'silly big sister' look. "Many cuts too. But Miss Kodori has made Lilly good with bandages!"

"You are the best supporter Lilly." I reached over and gave Lilly's head a pat with my newly mended hand. "I suppose getting kicked by a level five would do bad things to a person..." Lilly nodded, looking up at Haruhime, who was wondering where her head pats had gone to. "Now now... I have only two hands to pat heads with, and one is holding you." I bent my legs a little, getting Haruhime's feet on the ground and letting her go. "Any other news, while I was out?"

"Not much. Miss Aisha has had a few others come by to tell us a few things, but..." Bell started, "The fires are under control, and Freya has been questioned by the Guild. But aside from that..."

"Chaos." Aisha said, "It's not often a Familia's God gets sent back. We have no Goddess, our leadership is in shambles, and soon there will be a mass of Amazons in the city looking for a new Familia. Phyrne apparently picked a fight with a half dozen of Freya's best, and was last seen crawling her way to a healer. Her biggest flaw was thinking strength was the only beauty."

"Just like that stupid war game." I mumbled, "Anything else?"

"Mr. Welf and the others of Takemikazuchi Familia just happened to be around for when the Guild asked for help to clean up and look for survivors." Bell said with a smile, "Not quite what we had in mind for them... was it?"

"No, but 'help if you can' is such a wide statement." I replied, "We'll have to take them out for dinner or something at the Hostess later."

"Oh? Big spender there little sister." Aisha said with a laugh, "Though, I suppose it is a great place."

"It was my first family, when I arrived." I said with a smile, "And I'm sure Syr will want to know Bell is okay too." I gave Bell a wink, turning him into a stuttering idiot. "So as much as I like not being in pain, and with most of my favourite people, how long are we waiting down here anyhow?"

"Miss Kodori needs to stop losing her clothes." Lilly commented as we all walked towards the Hestia Familia home, just as the sun was hinting at the new day.

"I dunno, I like that look." Aisha said, putting a hand on my hip and running her fingers over my tail. Instead of my usual reaction of locking up in place and making the usual noises, I took a half step away, and let my tail wrap around Haruhime's shoulders. "Aw, you're being adorable again."

"Careful, or I might get her to kick your ankles." I said, putting my hand on Haruhime's shoulder, "Besides, this is... A little too breezy for my liking." It had taken a few tries to wrap it right around my hips to allow for my tail to move about, AND not show off my rear at the same time.

"Good thing it's not raining then. I know for a fact those are see through when wet." Aisha laughed, making Bell blush, Lilly giggle, and Haruhime hide a laugh behind her hand. Even Mikoto was smiling, though her cheeks were red as well.

"Haruhime-dono." Mikoto started, then stopped as I looked at her. She took the hint, nodding to me as the gold haired Renard looked at her, "It is good to see you again. The others... They are all waiting as well."

"When we get back," I gave Haruhime's shoulder a light squeeze, "You can all catch up. I'm sure you all have much to talk about, right?"

The two looked a little nervous, like a pair of people wondering where to start in a difficult story. "Ahem." I gave them both my best stern look, muted a bit by the smile I was trying to hide, "Right?"

"Yes, Kodori-dono." They both replied.

"Good. Bell?" I waved the white haired boy over to my side, and put my free hand on his shoulder, "We are going to have to explain this to Lady Hestia." He gulped, but nodded, "But, no matter what she says, we know we did what we always do."

"We were out there, for her, trying to fix a problem." We nodded to each other, sharing our customary fist bump, "Yes, Miss Kodori."

To say Hestia was hysterical, was a gross understatement. She was happy, angry, and sad all at once, or randomly, many times during her lecture, and by the end of it, Bell, Mikoto and I were all kneeling on the floor foreheads to the stone, bowing to her for forgiveness. With news of the fire, the sight of Ishtar being sent home, and being gone an entire day longer than we were supposed to be, and some of the details of our report, it was no wonder she was so upset.

I honestly, would have wanted it no other way. Knowing that after everything that had happened, something hadn't changed, brought me some comfort.

After her pacing back and forth in front of us, our heads still bowed, she gave us each a karate chop of justice, and told us to go get cleaned up. Aisha had stayed for the 'show', earning herself a few questioning glances, but while we were getting lectured, Haruhime was staying close to her, so no one asked her to leave.

After, she spoke quietly to Haruhime, then looked up to us as we were standing up from our divine discipline.

"Well. I'm off." She said simply, "My job of getting you home safe is done, and now, I have to look for a new place in the world." She raised a hand as both Bell and I started to open our mouths, "No, not here. I'm more than a little flattered you would ask, but, I see what you have here, and it's too much for me." She grinned, "But, may I still visit?"

Hestia answered for us, putting a hand on both Bell and I's shoulder, "Yes you may, for taking care of my children, you are always welcome. My tail flicked around Hestia's hip in approval, though I used my own control over it to give her a hug too.

"Thanks, I'll be sure to visit, though I doubt my little princess will be lonely here." She smiled, though she looked very tired all of a sudden, "Take care you." She knelt and hugged Haruhime tightly, whispering something in her ear, though I only saw her lips move. Haruhime herself hugged her back tightly, giving the Amazon a shy smile. "Good, take care, I'll see myself out."

And she left, the rest of us waving goodbye.

I sighed, watching her go, I had hoped she would ask to join Hestia Familia, but, for an Amazon, this wasn't exactly the sort of place she would be looking for. "Lilly?" Hestia asked suddenly, "When do you think the others are getting back?"

"Lilly would think Mr. Welf wouldn't miss breakfast." She replied.

Hestia looked to Bell and I, then let us go and swept her eyes over all of us, "Then, just for today, I am ordering you to skip your morning exercises." She gave us her best 'serious finger waving' then said, "Welcome home, everyone."

I might have stayed in the bath until lunch, if someone hadn't come to get me. I hadn't realized I was still scrubbing my skin until I heard Mikoto gasp and her bare feet started slapping quickly over the stone floor of the bath room.

It was then I realized I'd been on a sort of auto-pilot, and my skin started to burn with that 'dragged over carpet' feeling of excess friction.

"Kodori-dono? What... Here." She plucked the now well worn brush from my hand, and picked up a cloth. "We, Haru-san and I, were wondering if you had gone for a nap. You skipped breakfast, and did not join us for any of the talking..."

"I..." No, I was a different person now, new body, new routine. "I've never had to deal with anything like what happened. Not personally." So long as it didn't bother anyone else, I never liked admitting there was a problem. She didn't reply, but instead started to lightly brush the excess soap from my skin. If I wasn't an adventurer, I'd probably have scrubbed myself bloody. "Careful with my ears, oh... You would know already."

"Yes, Kodori-dono." I saw her tiny smile in the mirror in front of me. "Thank you for helping me rescue my friend."

"Mondainai." No problem, I said. "She's my friend too. While our first meeting might have been mostly business, her insight into my magic has saved almost everyone I love at least once now."

I realized I'd said something a little insensitive, but it was true. The short relationship I'd shared with Haruhime did start off, literally, as business. Her time, my money. But, something about her wanted me to show her to my friends, to try and bring her out and show her something new...

"She was trapped in her room, after all..." I laughed, a bitter ironic laugh, "She reminded me, of me, and I hadn't even noticed. Ouch..."

"Sorry, you moved." Mikoto said, holding the tip of one of my ears and resuming to sprinkle it with water. "She is worried about you."

"Are you and the others caught up then?" I asked, my tail wandering off and finding one of Mikoto's ankles.

"No. But, we have time. She has asked Lady Hestia if she can join her... Us." She corrected herself, smile returning.

A little weight that had been sitting on my heart dissolved. "Good."

Unsurprisingly my apatite had returned for lunch, and I was, for once, the last to leave the table. This meant that I was stuck helping dry the dishes, but I hardly cared. I considered it due punishment for skipping breakfast, and worrying everyone with my spacing out in the bath. Afterwards I was kind of at a loose end. Welf had returned, and after being given a brief report on what had gone on, and being rather pleased no one was either killed or in prison, went back to his workshop. The rest of Takemikazuchi Familia had spent their time with Haruhime, and spent a lot of that time either smiling or crying over lost time.

Haruhime herself was now with Bell and Hestia, overseeing the transfer from one Familia to another, meaning they wouldn't be back for a little while yet. Knowing Eina, she would maybe let them cut in line a little, but with a very large Familia being suddenly left without a Goddess, the Guild would probably be swamped with such transfers today.

My thoughts were interrupted by one of the Takemikazuchi orphans running into the kitchen. A little human boy, he was rather excited when he told me some one was at the gate for me. Curious, and getting the exact number of people (one) I put my apron over a chair to dry, grabbed a pair of stone cups and filled them with tea.

The instant I opened the door of the main building, I saw the familiar mass that was Ottar, easily looking over the outer iron gate at me. Even more, he had a bundle under one arm.

"Ottar." I said, holding both cups in one hand, and unlatching the gate. "I am... Why are you here? Not to be rude but..." I offered him a cup of still steaming tea.

Without hesitation, he accepted, and traded me the bundle under his arm. "For the crime of..." He stopped, sipped his tea, the little cup laughably small in his hand, "No. Not important. The Guild has fined Freya Familia. And I am performing community service." I'd never heard him talk much. Even when he helped me put together the glider, he only spoke, maybe, four words at a time.

"Oh... OH! You found them!" I'd knelt down to unfold the bundle, and discovered my equipment inside. Neatly folded, my drake scale coat still showed signs of my fight with the Berbera, and my gauntlets hadn't been cleaned off either, but it was all here. Even my jitte, the simple sword breaking tool responsible for most of the shattered swords I'd left behind in that fight.

"Yes. Lady Freya..." He paused, and very gently pried me off of him. "No hugs, please. I have many more things to do."

"Sorry."

"Lady Freya said you would be pleased to have them back." He sipped his tea again, and handed me the now empty cup. "She asks that you take care, and be more careful."

"Part of the job." I replied, accepting the cup, "Tell her..." Thinking about the look in Freya's eyes, when she looked at me, I felt that same icy hot feeling that I had when Ishtar tried to charm me, but, I couldn't be impolite, "Thank you, from all of Hestia Familia."

He gave me a nod, turned, and left. I watched his massive form trundle away for a moment, then returned inside the compound and picked up the bundle of equipment. Welf would need to look at it and make sure it didn't need any serious repair. Humming happily, I walked around the side of the building to the workshop, sipping the last of my tea and enjoying the bright sunny afternoon.

"Welf? You in?" The workshop door still had a 'do not disturb' sign on it.

"That you sister?" I heard the sound of tools being set down, their metal clunks and clanks distinct through the heavy door. "You're just in time, come in!"

Well lit by magic lamps and a glowing forge fire, the workshop was currently a cluttered mess. Welf, who leaned towards a more Eastern style of smith, usually kept his tools and the like neatly arranged but... "Welf, what... Have you been doing in here for the past week?"

Diagrams, tools, bits of metal all littered the benches and floor. The man himself walked around the corner that lead into the storage area, where we would eventually, time permitting, put together another glider. "Is that your armour? Found it after all? Good good!" He had the air of 'just finished something big' about him. This usually made him excitable, and almost unintelligible. "Just needs some cleaning up, and these too." He gave my coat and gauntlets a quick look, and tossed them both over a chair. I blinked at him in surprise, but he just grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the back room. "Come look!"

His good mood was infectious, and I was chuckling as he all but dragged me along. "Okay okay, what's got you in... such... oh my..."

"I had to make almost everything from scratch, just to get it this size." He stood next to his project. "I talked to some of the people you mentioned, those merchants from out of town, to get all the metal I needed. Well? What do you think?"

I looked at it and smiled, "It's perfect."

"Good! You get to help with the last step."

It was only thanks to being super strong, and Welf having built some simple but sturdy machines that we were able to get it placed in time for Haruhime, Hestia and Bell's return. Using some iron brackets, and bolting it to the very stone of the main entrance's archway, I had just gotten a blanket over it when I saw the distinctive white mop of Bell's hair coming into sight of the building. Climbing down quickly, I handed the unveiling rope to Welf, and went to the gate to greet them.

"Welcome back, I said, grinning. Welf had really outdone himself, and I couldn't help myself. "I trust it went well, Lady Hestia?"

"Yes." Our Goddess smiled at me, and suddenly pulled Haruhime into a hug, the red kimono'ed Renard 'eeping' at the suddenness, "Little Hime is now part of our Familia. Not that I need to say it, but, please, make sure she feels welcome."

Bell and I shared a laugh, while Haruhime's big fox ears twitched as Hestia cuddled her on the spot. "HEY! CAN I PULL THIS YET?" Welf yelled from across the yard.

"Oh right. Welf finished his project." I said, stepping behind them, and herding them through the gate, before stopping and putting my hands on Bell and Haruhime's shoulder, with Hestia in the middle. As one, we all looked at Welf, then up the rope to the covered object. At my nod, the blacksmith pulled the rope.

A perfect circle of metal, bright and bold in the sunlight. At its centre, made of polished bronze, was a bell, shining almost gold in the sunlight. Around the bell's edge, not as polished as the middle, was an outline of flame, almost red with its lack of luster, and there, along the bottom of the bell itself, a black, resting fox, one paw on the circle of the bell's clapper, the one eye that faced outward polished gold. All the lines had been chiseled in, and stained black to make them stand out clearly.

A flaming bell, with a fox motif along the bottom edge.

Hestia Familia had an Emblem now.

Well! A little shorter than usual, but, its another sort of transition phase again.

You're probably tired of this phrase by now, BUT...

In the books...

The Hestia Familia gets its emblem right after they finish moving into the new home. And, it is of a Flaming Bell. Kind of what I have here, but well, its not JUST Bell, now is it?

Anyhow, the next chapter, I think, will be pretty much unrelated to the books. Now, for those who haven't read the books, (another one I'm sure you're tired of me saying), the arc of rescuing Haruhime was MUCH longer than what was written here. Bell gets captured, and that titanic frog lady ALMOST has her way with him. More than a few times, the other Amazons complain about her 'ruining' or 'breaking' all the good men before they get a chance with them. No joke at all. It's frightening just how close Bell got to having his hips broken.

Another part is the capture, and rescue of Mikoto. Our samurai girl had a good section of the book on how she ninja's her way about, before getting caught by some one who is simply better. Then, being rescued by Haruhime.

Back to Bell, Ishtar nearly rapes him too, but was too curious as to why Bell wouldn't submit to her (literally) godly charm spell. Because of the first person view, I am both limited, and liberated, to relating these events by summing them up with a few lines of recap.

So, if you haven't already, go get the books. Seriously. They are very good reads. If you can't find a physical copy, you could probably find the audio books.

Until next time.