Chapter 37

"So... After you fell off the cliff." We had gathered inside, had dinner, and then had a little gathering for storytelling. Hestia and Bell had finished their story and I was summing it up just to be sure I understood it all. "Good catch by the way little brother." I said, holding out my fist to Bell, who gave it his usual tap. "So you were washed down stream. Lady Hestia caught a cold, and the three of you stayed in a little remote village while she recovered."

"Yes! I'm sad you weren't there with us, all of you, they had a little festival and everything." Bell added.

"Then there was the festival, so you stayed for that." I continued, "Then you came back on foot even though Asfi offered to give you a lift."

"There was more too, but yes." Hestia said with a little sniffle. I'd never have guessed that the Gods could catch a cold, and she sounded like she was almost over this one. "Asfi said she could only carry one of us at a time anyhow."

"That I don't mind." I said, "She's a good person, who hasn't thought to say no to Hermes for anything. But, you didn't think to send word back at least?"

Everyone, Takemikazuchi and Hestia Familia both nodded, with various versions of 'we were worried' sounding out from around the circle we had made.

"Well... I wanted to walk?" Hestia said with a pout, shrinking a little under the gazes of the mortals in the room. "And I figured she would have told you anyhow."

"She works for a messenger god. And is very professional. You didn't ask, she didn't do." I replied, "But. It's good to have you back."

More of that communal noise from everyone in agreement. All of us lifting up a teacup in cheers.

"But you are so grounded." I grinned. Making everyone laugh.

Finally, that little nagging feeling had vanished from mind. Hestia had returned, Bell as well. I'd hardly call it women's intuition, but it also seemed like there was less... distance between them. They sat together in the circle, shoulders touching, but not seeming to notice. Had it been before they left, there would have been the usual cascade of blushing, stuttering and possible boob arm hugs from Hestia to keep her rabbit from running away.

As punishment for their absence, they did the night's dishes, and even then, there was a little less distance between them. Almost like how Bell was while we worked in the dungeon. It gave my heart a little warm fuzzy feeling to see the two of them get over some of that crippling shyness towards each other.

"Lilly wonders what happened." She said quietly from near my elbow as I peeked into the kitchen on my way to the work shop. "Miss Kodori sees it too?"

"Hard to miss, considering I've been here from the start." I mumbled, my tails gravitating towards her and finding places to perch. "You can't interrupt them tonight, okay?" I said, looking down at her brown hair and patting her head, "Tomorrow, you can ask, but give them their moment."

"Lilly understands." She smiled up at me, trying to pet all of my tails at once, "It's good to have Master Bell and Lady Hestia back. Even if Lilly is behind now."

Gently, my tails held onto her, and lifted her up. I continued on my way to the workshop, so our chat wouldn't be overheard. "I'm not sure 'behind' is the right word. I think it might be an... understanding of what they mean to each other. For now at least."

Lilly dangled thoughtfully, "Lilly hopes so." She giggled as I put her down again, "Maybe she will try giving him a hug later..."

"Tomorrow." I said firmly, patting her head again, "But you should definitely try." I grinned, "I already miss seeing Bell turn into a stuttering idiot." We both shared a laugh, "I'll be in the shop, we almost have your new armour ready too."

"Lilly looks forward to it!"

"Ko-san!" Surprising me, Haruhime was already in the shop when I arrived. "I was just helping Master Welf. He's waiting for you."

We shared one of those 'I'm dirty and don't want to get dirt on you' hugs, "Working the bellows for him?" I motioned to the thick leather apron she was wearing over one of my oversized shirts.

"Yes!" She tugged my sleeve and I followed her back to the metalworking room. "He's come up with some ideas, and said he needed the furnace extra hot."

I thought about what he might need to do that for, but simply followed without question. The steady clang of hammer to steel was ringing thought the workshop with its familiar music. He'd been very busy while I was at the Guild hall it seemed. There were flat bars of metal leaning against almost every patch of bare wall. There were spools of wire, bits of bone, monster teeth, horns, hide... And most of it was all scrap material. Not every bit of hide Lilly cut, or tooth that ended up stuck in me, or claw that was left behind were perfect. These imperfect materials had a tendency to get passed over when we wanted to use that bit of material.

"Oh... You know, I had no idea we had so much spare stuff." I said as I looked over some of the bits, picking up a hell hound tooth with an obvious cavity in it. "Or all of these leather scraps..."

Welf stopped hammering looking at the bar of metal he had been smashing. "Yeah sister. After Asuka and I went through our supplies... We really needed to go through it." He shoved the bar of metal into the forge to heat up again, Haruhime perking up and quick stepping towards the bellows to feed air into the fire. "One, two, right?"

"Yes!" She replied.

"Well, I didn't want to waste any of it." I commented, picking up weirdly cut up square of orc leather. "But I suppose there are limits. Not much we could use stuff like this for without getting really creative."

Welf nodded, leaning down a little to peer into the forge before grabbing the tongs and sliding the bar out again. "When Lady Hestia returned, Asfi came by too. Just to say she would be by tomorrow."

"Is that why you have..." I motioned towards the dozens of metal bars leaning on the walls. I picked up the sledge as well, though he shook his head at me, so I put it down again.

"Yeah. She said have some spare material ready. She wanted to get an idea where I was on my own, and to use clean material."

"Right." I hmm'ed, watching Haruhime as she eagerly kept an eye on Welf's motions. It looked like he was making the beginnings of a blade, though I wasn't sure what kind yet.

"Also, I'm planning to work on Marius's armour tomorrow too. That mass made junk they wear is easy to make." He chuckled, putting the bar back into the forge, and motioning Haruhime to resume her work. "But because you are asking so nice." He gave me a raised eyebrow, but smiled when I shrugged, "I'm going to make him something that will make him look like a proper general."

"Gotten over your dislike of him then?" I sat down at my usual workbench and picked up the gold tinged bar of 'Hime steel'. I ran my fingers over it, feeling a little tingle of magic under the surface. I picked up a thin saw.

"Well... Screw it, yes. After we went out for drinks, and a talk with him while I took his measurements... He's a pretty good guy. I think he has a chance to turn that wasteland of a country around when we send him back." He admitted, rubbing the back of his head, "I'm glad I didn't bet against you on this one sister."

"Me too. I hate seeing potential friends not getting along for silly reasons. That Guild master... Let me tell you..."

So the three of us worked for a couple of hours. I talked about my day, then passed the storytelling rights to Haruhime, who talked about her day, as well as telling us a few amusing tales from her time in the 'entertainment' district. Welf picked up after that, making Haruhime blush with some very bawdy jokes Aisha had told him on one of her visits.

By the end of the night, I had in fact gotten creative with that odd little leather scrap. The small square slice I'd taken off the end of the Haru steel was turned into a flat backed oval, polished to a mirror shine then set into the leather scrap by heating it up until it started to become soft. With a bit of pressure, and a rapid cooling, the metal was now set inside the leather as if it were metal. Any serious twisting would pop them apart, but for the moment, it was a mildly magical pendant.

That did pretty much nothing but feel magical. Kind of like Haruhime herself when she was sleeping.

"You're here early." I commented as I let Asfi into the gate, offering her Chime since we were still doing our morning training and Hestia, our usual Chime holder, was still sleeping. "Friend." I said before she accepted the critter.

"I..." She paused to pet Chime, giving the tracking pendant on its chest a close look, "Kind of threw Lord Hermes to the wolves today." We walked back to the training yard, where Mikoto and Ouka were having a furious spar, spear and sword ringing off of each other.

"Oh?" I certainly wasn't sorry for Him, but was curious as to what sort of wolf would nip at a God.

"Shortly after my return, a letter from the Guild... Firmly requested, his presence. Something about some misfiled paperwork... Why are you laughing?"

I couldn't help it. Even my tails were wrapping around me as I broke down. The best Karma is the kind you set in motion yourself, after all. I was still giggling as I managed to reply, "My fault, but I am so not sorry."

"What... How is it your fault?" She was still petting out micro rabbit, and not even aware that she was doing it. Poor girl, I'd have to invent a stress ball for her.

Bell had gravitated towards me to see what I was laughing about, and I put a hand on his shoulder to try and recover from my sudden laughing fit, "Well, heh heh... Yesterday, the Guild called me in too. For all of the... things that Bell and I seem to get caught up in." I raised an eyebrow at Asfi, and she nodded slightly. "Yes, those, but also some of the other things, like how he's already level three... Oh..." I hugged Bell tight suddenly, putting a hand over his mouth, "And I'm level four, after the fight with Phryne."

He struggled a moment, first embarrassed at the sudden hug and silencing. After he calmed a moment later, his eyes widening, I let him go and nodded. "Mikoto already guessed it, but yes. We can chat about it later, okay?"

"Yes, Miss Kodori." Bell replied, holding out his fist to me. "Congratulations."

Inwardly I was relieved he took the news so well. I tried not to let it show as I tapped his knuckles with mine, "So, yes. After some explaining... And you've met the Guild master?" Asfi nodded ignoring Bell and I's little byplay. "Well, we had some... Choice words for each other, but after that we came to an understanding. But I also taught him a few things..."

After my explanation, Asfi handed Bell the little rabbit, and hugged me. Not just for a moment, but a full strength hug of joy. Caught off guard I could only accept it, my arms pinned to my sides. "I've been trying to figure out how to straighten out that ..." She used a long string of words here I didn't know, but could easily guess, considering Bell's face was slack with shock at the language used, "Lug of a God."

"Can't breath!" I gasped, happy but in severe distress as my ribs made those subsonic noises they did when you can only hear things through the water in your body. "I give I give."

Putting me down, she adjusted her glasses and accepted the rabbit back like nothing had happened at all. She even did an uncannily similar version of Eina's "ahem". "Well, he will be busy at the Guild for a long time today. Who ever was in charge of our Familia when it came to records at the Guild, is no longer doing so."

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me." I took a deep breath to make sure I still had all my insides in order. She didn't look like it, but she was quite strong. "It's my turn in the circle. Better warm up a little more Bell. I'm skipping the dungeon today, so I'm getting ALL my exercise in now." I adjusted my gauntlets and made sure to crack my knuckles for effect as I smiled at him, then turned to face Mikoto in the circle, hearing Bell gulp behind me in worry.

Mikoto, despite her loss, was smiling at me. As always, I had to be extra careful about her total skill with her weapon. Two levels under me or not, if I wasn't respectful of her skill, it would be like my sparring with Takemikazuchi. Strength meant nothing against absolute skill. I looked forward to her eventually reaching level three.

Welf started with his usual 'Go easy on me sister! Still have work to do later.' line. But then continued, looking over to Haruhime, "A little help?" My opposite looked first to me, then to Welf. I gave her a thumbs up, and waited for her to chant her spell, a second tail glowing into existence behind her. I noticed that Asuka took on the same glow as Welf, telling me who my next partner would be.

Except they both charged. But if Bell could do it against two level six adventurers, I could fight two level two and a halfs.

And I did. Though, Welf's strength was very close to what mine was, without pulling on my magic. His hard work at the forge, choice of weapon and Haruhime's magic, boosted his physical power to amazing levels. Asuka was like a mini tornado, with my hand me down gauntlets. Aside from her bow, she trained in a martial art that reminded me of caporia and muay tai. Not nearly as strong as Welf, she had VERY pointy knees and elbows and her new armour didn't seem to hinder her at all.

But aside from hardening my skin to absorb the shock of blocking Welf's sword or deflecting Asuka's kicks, I had won without too much trouble.

"Phew... Well Bell, lets see if you've gone soft while you were away?" I took a deep breath, my lungs expanding, the feel of air, and magic filling my body. "I'm not going to hold back. Bring everything you have." At my words, everyone backed up. Except Asfi, who stood there wondering for a moment before she took the hint and backed up as well.

He stood across from me, rolling his shoulders, his armour shifting over his torso soundlessly. Welf had done amazing work on Bell's armour, the plates not hindering him at all. With that, he drew his daggers, the flame red minotaur horn blade, and the black, purple glowing Hestia knife. "Yes, Miss Kodori."

And he vanished. He had set his feet firmly, tensed his legs, then vanished from my sight. My eyes caught up an instant later, as his incredible speed closed the ten pace gap between us in less than an eye blink. I pulled in my guard, the air pressure against my face and ears telling me more than my eyes were at that point, and I deflected his first strike off my right arm, and his second against my left shin, mostly through intuition.

Furiously, we traded kicks and punches, slashes and elbows. And slowly, with each breath, I was pulling in more of my magic, feeling the ember inside the cage ignite, then blaze. But even as I slowly started to pressure him back, to predict each of his moves a half step ahead of him, his speed compensated for it.

"FIREBOLT!" He crouched down under a kick aimed for his ear, dropped the red dagger and held his open hand at my face, just under my chin.

Eyes wide, I grinned down at him and slammed my forehead against the open palm, my tails whipping forward to touch his chest.

Ears ringing from the sudden explosion, forehead feeling sunburned, the fur on my tails standing on end, Bell was sent backwards as if he was shot by a cannon. Blinking rapidly to try and clear the spots from my vision, I dashed after him. Executing a perfect 'got thrown tuck and roll' Bell was on his feet again just as I got to him. But he'd lost momentum, as well as a dagger. Quickly, I started to punch and twist around his desperate dagger swings and punches, trapping him in the motions of 'sticky palm', before I finally grabbed an elbow and slapped my other palm against his chest lifting him off the ground slightly.

Then with a quick sweep of my leg, I leaned forward and pressed him into the ground with a final KYA!

"Ow." He said as the air around us seemed to settle back to a normal thickness. "Miss Kodori, you have a hand print on your forehead." He said as I recovered my breath, "You've gotten so strong big sister."

"And you've gotten faster..." I sat up, touching my forehead. "That itches..." I stood up, offering my hand to him, "Let's keep practising together."

"Yes!" He said, taking my hand and getting back to his feet. "We might have to fix the yard..."

I looked around at the devastation only two high levelled fighters could make on an innocent grass field. "Yeah..."

"You're right." Asfi said as I held out the little bit of polished Haru-steel. "Magical, but useless." Brushing her thumb over it carefully, her face thoughtful, she added, "That you even made magical metal out of a bit of base iron and some fur is amazing in itself, but this has no... What's the easiest way to explain..."

Welf and I waited patiently. Asfi, for all her scholarly looks, was not a very focused teacher. It's hard to call any teacher a bad one, but she was like an actor with no lines to read from. She had gone over all of Welf's bar stock, touching each with a finger and thumb and testing them for something. I guessed it had something to do with magical conductivity. Next was Welf's prize creation, the magic sword eater. The obsidian and blood red blade he had taken on the old Crozzo relic his father was threatening the city with. She was genuinely impressed with the blade, surprised that it not only worked, but worked how it did. The look she gave me after we told her what went into it made my tails nervous.

"Part of enchanting, is that you need direction. What were you thinking of when you made this?" She handed the little token back to me.

I'd read enough fantasy books that I caught on instantly, "It was a shiny bit of metal that I'd put into that scrap of leather. Pretty, but with no other purpose." I brushed my thumb over the metal, smiling, "Well, that's not true. It's a perfect reminder of who helped me make it." Smooth, gold, and calming. Yes, that described her perfectly.

This got a chuckle from Welf, and a tiny smile from Asfi, "Be that as it may, since you had no purpose in mind, it has no purpose in the end." She picked up the raw bar of the Haru-steel, "I'm shocked you thought of using your fur for these."

"I'm not." Welf said with a laugh, "If you've seen her soak up magic the way she does, you'd know those aren't just for show. You saw what she did this morning right?" He waved his hand to indicate my tails as they swished about lazily.

"Hard to miss. But that gave you the idea to bind it to the metal?" Welf nodded, "And you made this second..." She put her hand on the Ko-steel, and froze in place a moment, "This... You don't have the Mystery skill correct?"

"I have 'Crafting'." I replied, "Rank F. I've compared my work to others with a more focused skill, and my F is less than say, Welf's earlier works at the same rank. I seem to be capable at any craft I pick up, but am less skilled than someone with the true skill." Welf gave me a look, most likely because I was telling her about my status. But I figured that full disclosure in this case was harmless so I returned his look with a shrug.

"I see... This metal is also enchanted... Though it would be more appropriate to say, 'holds potential for enchantment'." Welf and I gave her a blank look, making her sigh, "If someone wanted to enchant this, they just... Could. Provided they had the right mindset, they wouldn't need any other skill." She put the metal down carefully, "A rookie smith could make that into a magic sword or minor artifact. A very weak one, but one, none the less."

"Oh... Wow..." I managed, idea's going through my head, most of them with dollar signs attached to them. "No, that's terrible. For the..." I was about to say 'love of God', but I'm sure they would laugh at me, "Great..."

I started pacing, "What's wrong sister?" Welf asked, "I mean, you have basically an unlimited supply of fur, people would be... oh... crap, okay, I get it."

Asfi adjusted her glasses, "Ah. As a Crozzo I'm sure you get that sort of attention already."

I sighed, sat down, and hugged my tails, except one, which got away and curled up around the bar of Hime-steel. "Well, lets put that topic far away for now. Please continue, Asfi?"

"Indeed."

Until almost lunch, Asfi gave us 'direction' on how to enchant. I can't really say she taught us, as magic was a very personal thing. But just like Haruhime did when I was trying to put words to my magic, she tried to give us hints at how to do it for ourselves. It was around the time my stomach was telling me it was time to eat, when one of the orphans knocked on the door to the shop.

"Big sis! Big bro!" He said, "There's a strange man outside the gate. He was asking for Miss!" He pointed a finger at Asfi, who raised an eyebrow while Welf and I chuckled.

"Strange man. Yes, that sounds like Hermes." I said, "I suppose that concludes today's lesson?"

"Yes. I am sure he will be... Distressed about his time with the Guild." Asfi replied, standing up.

"Still not sorry." I mumbled.

The three of us went to meet him at the gate, carefully stepping around some of the craters Bell and I had left in the yard. Hermes was his usual scruffy self. Not quite clean shaven, worn feathered hat, travellers clothes. His eyes were sunken in however, as if he'd seen something he shouldn't have. Or gotten one of Eina's lectures.

"Rough day, Hermes?" I teased, earning a backwards glance from Asfi, "You look like you ate something bad."

"Asfi! Help! The guild is going to audit us agaaaaaain." He broke down as soon as Asfi opened the gate, trying to cling to her, though she had put a hand on his forehead and kept him at arms length.

"If you weren't so sloppy with your reports to them, you wouldn't be having this trouble." She replied, as cool voiced as ever. "Thank you for showing me Hyakinthos's sword. I hope my lesson was helpful." She replied over her shoulder, "I suspect the rest of my day is spoken for now."

"Thank you for the lesson." Welf and I replied, bowing to her as if it were Takemikazuchi, fist in palm with a bow.

Welf locked the gate up behind them as they headed off, and looked back to me, "Think we can forget to send that jerk's sword back? I mean, he did try to kill you, twice. And even Asfi was impressed by who ever had made it."

"He'd just come after it. Besides, I promised. Lets get some food and get back into the shop." I grinned, "I'm looking forward to the dungeon again, and we have more armour to make. Yours too!"

"But I hate wearing OW leggo my ear! No pulling!"

"You sure you want to try this?" Welf asked me later. It was getting late in the evening, the others due back soon. "I mean, sure, you shrugged off Bell's magic, and you said Hyakinthos's magic hardly stung..."

I was looking into the forge, keeping my eye on a chunk of Haru-steel as it changed colour from gold to bright red. "Just be ready with the potions." I had survived literal dragon fire, and molten stone from where the gunk was so hot that it had softened the dungeon floor enough that my legs sunk into it. "If it doesn't work, then you get to tell me how stupid I am and watch my fingers grow back." The emergency potions were Nazza's best work. Not as good as the best alchemist Familia, but enough to restore missing fingers and toes, ears and tails, so long as the wound was fresh.

"Alright sister..." He backed up a little, hand on the blood red potion bottle.

I put a scrap of orc leather in my mouth and bit down on it, reaching my hand into the forge to pick up the little cube of metal.

"Oh that feels nice." I said a little later. My hands were fine, on the surface at least. Just as slender and girly as my adventuring allowed them to be. Except it felt like I had Scorpion Pepper juice on them. A deep burning ache that only settled in once I had stopped concentrating on what I was doing. And even though my hands were now soaking in the oil filled quench trough that Welf used for his blades, that throbbing ache wasn't going away.

"Well, you didn't need the potion at least. And you even managed to make something too, with your bare hands! Do you have any idea what I'd give to be able to do that?" He was sitting at my usual workbench, looking closely at what I'd left there. "If I could put detail like that on something without tools... I mean sure, WITH tools, we could both do better."

"For my confession they burned me, and I found I was for endurance made." I said clenching my fists a few more times, remembering a bit of flavor text on a game card I owned once, long ago. "That being said, what do you think? Oh, I think the pain is going away... Nope." I took my hands out of the oil, then went to the water basin to scrub them some more under cold water.

"I say Apollo better be thankful. You didn't have to make these for him. Though, I like these..." Welf commented.

I'd made two small foxes. Black and gold. Both were the size of a child's fist, and in a position of rest. Before they had cooled, I had pressed them together, so it looked like a sort of Yin-Yang symbol with the two foxes connected at the throat. They still needed polishing, and I planned to do that. "They aren't a gift." I shook my hands out, drying them on a rag, "But a reminder of something He will never have."

"Oh... When I think of it that way, that's rather cruel." Welf grinned, "And these... Earrings? Or pendants?"

"Too big for earrings." The second item, or items, were also a pair of foxes. Though, these were solo, in a sort of 'chasing their own tail' design. I was surprised my fingernails could etch metal, but the detail work on them was pretty good considering the lack of any tools. They were also about the size of a dollar coin. "I think I might go over them with tools later. Bring up the detail."

"You used your metals for it though, did you try and enchant them?" He asked, getting out of my chair.

"Not yet." I grinned, "But I have an idea or two. Or three. Maybe I'll make a whole set, representing everyone."

"Only three suits of armour left to do too." Welf grinned as I started polishing the two foxes, "Just Marius, yours and mine. I mean, you killed it, you wear it, right sister?"

"Should be some left over too." I replied, scrubbing the surfaces of the black and gold emblem I'd made. "I mean, unless we want to save it for when I eventually get my armour wrecked, again, we could make a vest or two."

"Don't jinx yourself sister. That stuff is almost as hard to work as that Goliath hide. And don't even think about saying you'll kill one of those..." He finished scrubbing the worst of today's work off his hands, coming over to inspect my work.

"What? The one on floor seventeen is much OW! Leggo my ear!"

"This..." Marius was looking at what we had brought him after everyone had returned for the day. We called him into the workshop for the final fitting of his armour. But also to present him with something else.

"Like it?" Welf asked, "It was her idea." he pointed at me, and I grinned, "But I have to admit, its a nice effect."

Holding it up, I stood next to a massive shield. Looking like a classic Roman scutum, it was easily as wide as I was across the shoulders. Tall too, from the ground up it was level with my nose. On the taller Marius, it would be ankle to chin, as he described. But, I think it was the design on the front he was most stunned about.

"The next time we face a drake, you can stand in front of it." I laughed, "hold out your arm so we can get the straps right."

Using some of the drake scales that weren't going towards my new armour, Welf and I had covered the front in scales. The metal behind it was an adamant alloy Welf had worked on and hammered flat. I'd quickly slapped together a wooden form that would let us bend the plate of steel to the right curve, then we padded the back where the arm would go with salamander wool and leather. We had lucked out on the scales too. They were almost uniformly rust red, a properly intimidating colour for the big fighter.

I described all this, while pointing out the other things the shield could do. There were only so many things you could make a shield do, aside from say, get in the way of things, but, Welf and I had put a pair of triangle studs on the bottom, in Marius wanted to smash the bottom into a skull, or plant it into the ground as a barrier. They weren't sharp, just sort of pointy, we didn't want him to accidentally cut off his foot in case he couldn't brace the shield properly.

The shield could be worn two ways, like a proper shield of course, but also at an angle, in case he wanted to use those two bits on the bottom as an actual weapon as well. Not exactly orthodox, but if you had a choice between punching, or smashing a heavy steel spike into something...

"It..." He was still rather overwhelmed by our creation it seemed. "I hope, at the end of my year here, I truly can bring this back with me."

"We haven't even shown you the rest of it!" Welf laughed.

The rest of it, or rather, his replacement suit of 'segmentata' was made from most of the bars of steel Welf had set aside for Asfi to look at. Aside from having a really good smith make it, there wasn't much different about it, over his old suit. The metal was a little thicker, the rivets more secure, there was a salamander wool lining, and a few of the plates had been adjusted for better mobility. Orc leather and smaller plates covered under the arms and gut, where flexibility was important without sacrificing protection. In the spirit of the original, every part was made of easy to replace parts, just that the parts were of much better make. We'd also made him some leg armour and grieves. Standard metal coverings with the usual leather and wool backings.

"It's a little heavier than I'm used to." He admitted, flexing this way and that, strapping on the shield again and taking a few steps around the workshop. "No pinching, no tightness at the joints... I should be able to march for hours in this without getting rubbed raw anywhere." He picked up a bar of metal we had on the work bench, holding it like a sword and taking a few exaggerated swings. "Shoulder moves well, no hitches, no restriction..."

"And you look good in it." I added. "Well Welf? Proper armour for our king in training?"

The smith laughed as Marius gave me a raised eyebrow, but he recovered and said, "Definitely. We even made sure you could replace everything, just like the old one. We'll make you a new helmet when we get a chance. The old one is just fine as it is."

"Thank you both." Marius said with a bow, "I will try to live up to the equipment you've made for me."

"No, don't do that. Just live. Seriously. Don't be a hero, be a survivor." I said, giving him a tap in the chest with my knuckles, "Come home at the end of the day. That's a win. If the armour gets left behind, we make new armour. If the shield gets destroyed, we make a new shield."

Welf nodded, "Now, lets get to dinner. All this work, and I'm starving!" He growled, "And I think it's Lilly's turn to cook."

"Hm, spicy food night." I mumbled, "You have spicy food back in Rakia, Marius?"

"Not... Really. Being a military state, luxury foods are... well, a luxury." I was happy to note that his armour, as we walked back to the main house, didn't make too much noise.

"We'll get some cheese cut up then. It will help if it's too much."

Dinner was indeed spicy. Lilly herself was surprisingly into spicy food. Something about living with a Gnome, a humanoid earth spirit, and its penchant for spicy foods, had rubbed off on her. It took a little getting used to again, in this new body of mine, but once I'd adapted to this world's version of a hot pepper, I'd helped Lilly 'invent'... Taco night.

I was not sorry about this, at all.

I was fun to watch the various reactions of people as they tried out Lilly's latest attempt at taco night. Welf loved it, his face almost as red as his hair, but he didn't seem to care at all. Most of the Easterners were okay with it, though they had milk or cheese on hand. The two Gods at the table were opposite sides of a coin. Hestia couldn't do spice, apparently, and Takemikazuchi ate it like fine cuisine. Bell was sweating, and aside from a bit of a red face, and the glass of milk next to him, he ate like a person twice his size.

Then there was Marius, and Haruhime. The two of them sat side by side tonight, nearest the milk pitchers and wheel of cheese. I could tell they wanted to say something, but were too polite to do it. Watching them react to it was almost as good as just eating. As one, they both took a bite of the wrapped up mix of ground meat, lettuce, cheese, and tomato. And as one, they chewed, squinted their eyes shut, wiggled side to side a moment, swallowed, and took a gulp of milk. They would then sigh, as if all was right in the world. Then do it again.

Then there was Chime. Who very carefully hopped around the table, stealing bits of lettuce and tomato that had fallen to people's plates.

"You've all grown so much recently. Even while I was away, or especially, for some of you." Hestia said from behind me as I sat in 'the chair' (version 3.0). My tails were all resting in her lap, a small fox made of black mist sitting perfectly atop them. "And you've learned something new."

Eyes closed, to better focus on my manifestation, I chuckled, "Why wouldn't we? We all wanted to make sure you came home to a Familia you could be proud of. Just as we support you, using your blessing to bring you what ever it is you desire, we care for each other too."

"Just having you all alive and well... That's enough for me." Hestia said, her hand petting the ears of my manifestation, making my own ears tingle. "I certainly won't complain if you take a break, from time to time. You've all given me a good home, warm friends, a soft bed, good food... Well, most of the time."

"You'll get used to it." I dispelled the fox, opening my eyes again, looking back over my shoulder, "Eventually. Once you get used to the heat, the flavor is so much... more alive."

"Bleh." She stuck her tongue out at me. "I see your effort mirrored in the rest of my Familia too." She held up the little silver knife, touching it to her fingertip. I turned my head forward again at the sight of the almost golden 'blood' that appeared there.

"I do what I can." I replied, feeling her finger trace down my back, and the familiar heat rising from under my skin, "The day after tomorrow. Maybe the next day. And we will all be ready for the dungeon."

"You really are determined, just like Bell." I heard the rustle of paper before she pressed it to my back, "Asuka getting wounded... It worries you, doesn't it?"

"Nearly getting killed." I corrected her, her hand on the paper flinching, "Yes. It does. At first, I didn't bother worrying about it. Takemikazuchi Familia has always been poor. Up to now, at least. So they relied on skill to win the day. But, a single moment of ignorance, nearly got one of them killed." I thumped my hand atop the wooden back of the chair, "So, no matter the complaint, I won't have any of them, or your Familia, go into the dungeon without something between them and the next moment of ignorance." I put my shirt back on, then took the paper, glancing over it. "Of all the wonder I've seen since coming her, a single life is all we get."

I turned around, sitting in the chair properly. "Yes. And even then..." She sighed, eyes closed. "I took your advice, with Bell, I mean."

"Oh?"

"We had an argument, the morning I was captured. Or... A misunderstanding." She started to twiddle her fingers nervously, "I just... Got so frustrated at how he sees me. I know he sees me as his Goddess. A living embodiment of something to be worshipped. But I just... Wanted him to see me as a person. Just a person. A woman. Just once." My tails had wandered over again, and she paused as she had to pick one to pet. "We all love differently. Us Gods."

"You are all different, after all, just like us." I replied, turning a little in the chair so my tails could get more attention.

"Ganesha, loves the people. Not personally, just... Universally." She started, "Apollo loves beauty. Men, woman, art, they all capture his heart. Ishtar was all about love..." She blushed but pushed out the words anyhow, "on a personal level."

"In a twisted sort of way, yes." I agreed, shivering, "In a brittle way."

"Yes. But I'm... Not sure." She looked up at me, "I know, that even if one of you dies, I will wait and once your soul returns, I will find you again. The mark on your back is mine, always, even if you die." She mumbled, "I'll ask again, if you'd like to join my Familia."

"That... Brings me an odd sort of comfort actually." I admitted with a smile. "If you remember, I didn't really believe in any Gods, when I got here."

"I hope you do now." She giggled, the gloom broken.

"If I say no, are you going to ground me again?"

"Yes."

"My Goddess is wrathful." I chanted, earning a karate chop of justice. "But on a more personal level?" I asked.

"I think we have... An understanding." She said finally, "I'm not sure if I even can love him... Like a normal girl."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "I have vowed to remain neutral, in the 'who gets Bell' thing that is going on." I reached over to give her a hug, then let her go, standing, "But, I know you, like all the other gods, have the capability, if not the courage, just yet at least." This time I gave her a karate chop of justice, "No breaking. If you ever want to take that step, even if it's not with Bell, you will have to think about it. You have time to think about it, but we might not. I'm sure even a Goddess can regret something."

"Yes. You've said it before, we are a lot like you children." She waved at me as I went to the door, "Send in the next person."

Notes!

Well, I think I have the next story arch plotted out. I'm hoping all this 'filler' isn't bothering you, my readers too much. But I have a time table to keep for content, and I don't want to just... Stop writing. Getting momentum back is the hardest thing to do, be it physics or creativity.

But, as said above, one more day of 'prep' and then its down into the dungeon again.

Also, the last bit with Hestia. For those who haven't read the books. Bell and Hestia do come to an understanding. Her entire reason for getting upset at Bell, was he couldn't seem to 'get over' her being a Goddess, AND wanting a mortal's affection. It just didn't click for him. She has ALWAYS been a sort of Icon for Bell. But during the end of book Eight, they come to a sort of half way point. All the Gods love differently, but no matter what, do not reject that love. Something like that at least.

Until next time.