Chapter Three "The Warning"
"How come I never heard any of this?" Shirou asked.
"The news spread not more than hour ago," said Hephaestus in an unsurprised tone. "The news have been restricted to gods only. The mortals will likely never know about it as Ouranos that issued the gag order with the penalty of banished from Genkai. I doubt Ouranos even needed to act when no one wanted to offend him."
Shirou was about to ask who Hephaestus meant by "him" when she produced a special magic stone that acted like a camera. His eyes widened when saw the hologram. It showed was a colossal being more than two and a half meters tall with an immensely muscular body and his appearance was beyond human that of a human as he looked more like a statue of a god. Shirou recognized that identity of the hologram instantly.
"That cannot be–" Shirou said in disbelief.
"Yes, it is." Hephaestus nodded her head. "My half-brother, Heracles, considered by many as the greatest Greek hero. His feats made more impressive that his deeds and ascension to godhood happened before the invention of Falna."
The appearance of Heracles was a shock to Shirou beyond another person would if they were in his place. Shirou was different from others, who had grown up learning about Heracles myths, because he had talked as friends and fought together on the battlefield together during his time as a Chaldean Master. Heracles' displayed appearance might have been mortal blow to Shirou. He was not looking any regular iteration of Heracles as a Servant. This Heracles' current form looked exactly the same as what Chaldea had dubbed the Ultimate Heracles. It was Heracles in his peak form. A form of Heracles seen as one of Chaldea's trump cards capable of slaying gods.
"Heracles is wearing the Nemean Lion, right?" Shirou asked as he spotted Heracles' leather armor.
"It is," Hephaestus nodded.
"His armor which is impervious to all mortal weapons and only attacks without the use of mortal weapons have the slightest chances of harming Heracles?" Shirou asked.
Suddenly, Shirou felt the trustworthy and reliable friend disappear. Hephaestus now looked at him suspiciously. It was worse than a someone treating a stranger with suspicion. She looked at him as if he was a traitor.
"How do you know that? That part that the Nemean Lion armor is not invincible against attacks without the use of mortal weapons. Heracles would never tell anyone but only those he trusted with his life." Hephaestus asked in a dangerous tone.
He acted quickly and decisively despite his wishes to keep his past a secret. If Hephaestus doubted him so much as more than a second longer he felt that his friendly relationship would be irrevocably damaged beyond any reconciliation ever possible.
"I know him very well," said Shirou as he gestured to a nearby table where motes of light gathered. "Take these as proof of my words."
"This… H-h-how…? Impossible!" Hephaestus stammered and shouted in disbelief. She quickly rushed to investigate the questionable objects. "All these are near perfect replicaes of my brother's precious belongings… Who are you really, Shirou Emiya?"
"I'm sorry that I lied to you but I do remember my past. The reason why I haven't told anyone my past is because it will create to many problems that I don't want to deal with at this time. I will not tell you about my past, but maybe in the future." Shirou replied with a sorry smile. "What is important is that I am someone that your brother trusts." He mentally noted to himself, assuming the hologram Heracles I am saw is really the one I knew from Chaldea…
"I don't like being lied too but you must have your reasons," said Hephaestus in a disappointed tone. "Your secrets will remain exactly that, secrets. I will not ask about your past. The fact my brother trusts you is enough for me." She started to curiously at Shirou while holding up several long and large pieces of black and gold cloth. "I don't know to much about cloth but if I am right these should be made out of the Nemean Lion's skin. Am I, right? Stranger is that my brother never showed or told me about these."
"Yes. Those cloths are made from the skins of the Nemean Lion." Shirou nodded. "I should be asking you the same. I have only seen your brother wear armor using the original cloths you are holding. Heracles never showed me the Nemean Lion leather armor I saw in the picture."
"Whatever. Leather or cloth, it doesn't matter." Hephaestus shook her head. "When was the last time you saw my brother?"
Shirou frowned as he tried to recall the answer. "I last saw him before my ascension. So at the shortest several months or maybe longer. You know that ascension to godhood is not instantaneous. Some are immediate while others take a long time. I do recall the longest ascension taking several centuries."
"You're right about that. The god you were referencing was my niece, Hippolyta." Hephaestus spoke in affectionate tone. She let out a sigh and said, "My younger half-brother is so inconsiderate. He disappears for so long and not heard of until many considered as dead then he suddenly pops out of nowhere and goes on a rampage in Orario."
"He did WHAT?!" Shirou shouted in disbelief as that piece of information went against what he knew of Heracles.
"You don't have to worry. My brother didn't kill anyone, no innocents were harmed or their properties damaged." Hephaestus said quickly to calm Shirou. "A long story made short; Heracles went on a rampage in the Freya and Loki Familia's HQs. He knocked everyone out, damaged or destroyed property in his rampage. My brother left the unconscious Freya and Loki Familias in body piles and left several messages which were the same at multiple locations. The message was, 'This is a warning to any those who seek to harm or reveal their backgrounds of my mother's chosen, Aflia, and Aflia's newphew, Bell Cranel, that they are under my, Heracles', protection. Those who fail to heed this warning will have their Familias destroyed and Gods banished from Genkai.' All the gods have been scared shitless by Heracles show of force."
Shirou noted – on the assumption the Heracles that was being talked was the Heracles that he knew – Heracles would never go on such a rampage unless he had a good reason or lost his temple, which was nearly impossible to do given how intelligence and experienced Heracles was. It was likely Heracles had a good reason for his actions as a mad Heracles left bloodbath in his wake. He sighed in relief at that conclusion of his.
"So the news of Heracles' action haven't spread because the gods are scared of offending Heracles?"
"There are few gods that are not afraid of him so they would disregarded his warning just to insult him," said Hephaestus. "The situation changes if my brother was not a god."
He was surprised by that news but not shocked. Shirou had kind of half-expected that news. The fact Heracles had gone on a rampage without being punished for breaking the rules for using divine powers had been evidence that he had used mortal abilities. Shirou didn't know how Heracles had done it as the Greek hero wouldn't have had the same abilities and knowledge as him to return a mortal state but Shirou had the strong suspicion that Heracles' Alcides persona might be the answer. The Alcides persona was after all when Heracles discarded his divinity to embrace his mortal human heritage.
"Hence, only gods know about it Aflia and Bell." Shirou concluded.
"That's right," Hephaestus nodded. "The only thing the mortals know is that the Freya and Loki Familias' HQ had been attacked. Loki and Freya ordered their Familia to keep silent on the matter. As a result, the general public thinks from the lack of explanations that the Loki and Freya Familia went to war but mutually suffered so they are keeping quiet on the matter of their HQ remaining in ruins."
Shirou could guess how the public would react and he resisted the urge to laugh.
"So, what do the gods think about Heracles right now?" Shirou asked as he thought about how he could meet the greatest Greek hero.
"You would likely know more than anyone. What the other gods could do is only guess and gossip. The common narrative going around is that Heracles might haven up his godhood, not the first time it has happened but rarely known as that is a permanent and irreversible decision. That Heracles did so because his ascension to godhood had come before the invention of Falna so he waited to try being an adventurer. This is the supposed reason why Heracles had disappeared and been unheard of for centuries. There are some merits to this idea as strongly believed that he has reached the near-limits of Level 10, purposely suppressing himself so he doesn't surpass Level 10 and become a god again."
"How possibly true is that last part?" Shirou asked curiously.
"Quite possible as even if my brother regains his godhood he would need to get familiar with his divine powers again and Loki, Freya or anyone connected to them could possibly hurt or kill Heracles if they were to somehow get him back in Tenkai and fight. So to avoid this, I don't know how but somehow suppressing his possible ascension to godhood." Hephaestus replied.
"I wonder how the Loki and Freya Familias plan to react to Heracles? If they don't do anything their reputation would be sullied and I don't they are the type to allow their reputations to be harmed so badly without so form of retaliation."
- O -
"Freya-sama, I have come as you requested." Mia Grand, a former adventurer and current owner of the Hostess of Fertility, asked as she bowed to her goddess.
"You must have some idea, Mia." Freya replied.
"Yes, I do." Mia nodded. "I might have retired because I no longer wanted to be an adventurer or in a leading the Familia, but I will come out of retirement if the Familia needs me."
"I do require you, but not in the same capacity before your retirement. Ottar and Allen are doing are marvelous job. If you were to retake your previous position it would only hamper our operations. What I do require you is establish an intelligence network." Freya responded.
Mia became confused and was about to ask when Ottar, who was standing by Freya's side, spoke up.
"The Familia's intelligence network is unable to acquire the information that Freya-sama is requesting." Ottar explained.
The owner of the Hostess of Fertility was stunned by Ottar's statement. She found it hard to believe. The Freya Familias' intelligence network might not be the best compared the Adventurer's guild or the Hermes Familia, but it was amongst the top few in the Genkai. For the Freya Familias' intelligence network to be unable to meet Freya's demands was impossible. Hardly anything escaped the Freya Familias' intelligence network.
"That is exactly what is happening," said Freya as if reading Mia's mind. "There is someone I want information on but no one has it."
"Who could that possibly be?" Mia asked.
"Heracles." Freya said bluntly.
"Impossible…" Mia breathed. "He is dead."
"No, he is not dead like what many believe." Freya shook her head. "Ottar."
"Yes, my lady." Ottar replied as he produced a special magic stone. "You will have to watch to believe and understand."
Nearly an hour passed as Mia watched the special magic stone displaying a long recording of Heracles assaulting the Freya and Loki Familia HQs.
"I would help in whatever capacity I can but my impromptu intelligence network, which I had made to keep update with the most accurate and update news, is limited to the businesses related to the Hostess of Fertility." Mia replied.
"Expand your impromptu intelligence network into a proper one." Freya replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "A second intelligence network not connected to my Familia's activities is likely able to produce information that my familia's intelligence network might have missed or overlooked. A second source of information will only help."
"If that is what you desire, Freya-sama." Mia bowed.
"Now, Mia," said Freya. "As my former righthand woman, what is your opinion about Heracles' actions?"
"I believe Heracles acted as Captain of the Zeus Familia," said Mia seriously. "We must prepare for the possible reappearance of the Zeus and Hera Familias. While our temporary alliance with the Loki Familia didn't destroy, but only drive the Zeus and Hera Familias out of Orario, the vengeful surviving Zeus and Hera Familias might think otherwise. If the Zeus and Hera Familias past requirements for adventurers to join them still remains the same we must expect Level 5 adventurers at the minimum acting as their weakest soldiers."
"You're might have retired for a long time but your mind is sharp as ever." Freya remarked happily. "Ottar still has more to learn from your example instead of relying on his own strength of a Level 7 adventurer."
"I promise to learn from my predecessor example so that I live up to your expectations, Freya-sama," Ottar vowed.
"That good to hear," said Freya and her expression turned to anger. "Heracles doesn't know what is good for him! If we were in Tenkai, I would have taught him that I am not someone to be trifled with."
Ottar and Mia remained silent as Freya continued to voice her frustration to them. The Norse goddess of love continued her tirade until she finally when her anger side.
"What Level would Heracles be?" Mia asked.
Freya stared at Ottar and Mia for several seconds, scrutinizing them before coming a decision. "You should thank me for the knowledge I am about to bless you with as it is a secret of the gods." She huffed. "Heracles is Level 10 or also known as demi-godhood – not the demigod definition referring a child of mortal and god. After surpassing Level 10, he will become a god."
"Freya-sama, isn't he already a god?" Ottar asked in confusion.
"Once a god. Otherwise how could Heracles have used so much power without Ouranos and the other Monitors (gods that are allowed to use their divine powers on Genkai to enforce the rules restricting gods on the mortal world) captured and banished him back to Tenkai." Freya snapped angrily. Her anger soon started to grow until she couldn't handle it. She vanished and paper was left she had left. "That paper describes what demigods are, capable of and ways to capture/kill them. Use it to make plans to deal with Heracles."
- O -
"My precious Ais-tan! Are you okay?" Loki shouted as she grabbed Ains and inspected her favorite child.
Ais nodded. The Sword Princess stared at the lack of injuries on her body. In theory her wounds were supposed to have been healed. There were no marks left on her body yet for some reason despite no signs of damage her body didn't function anyway near her state prior to fighting Heracles. It was like the legendary Greek hero had used a method unknown to Ais Wallenstein from fully recovering despite the lack of wounds.
"Ais, there is no need to hide it from me," said Loki in a serious tone, which was very unusual of her as she was normally the playful and excited. "You and all my executives of my Familia might try and hide it from me but I have noticed. The higher leveled the adventurer who had fought Heracles the more of their fighting ability hasn't recovered."
"Do you know how Heracles are preventing our fighting prowess from recovering?" Ais asked curiously.
"Heracles pulled a very dirty trick. In a combination of rare Pankration techniques, special blend of Hydra poison and exotic materials he has suppressed your fighting prowess from fully recovering. His plan was likely to weaken my Familia and buying more time the Zeus and Hera Familia for whatever plans they have." Loki explained.
"Will the Zeus and Hera Familia really seek to massacre our Familia like I have been hearing?"
"Hard to say," Loki shook her head. "When I ordered the Familia to chase out the weakened Zeus and Hera Familia there were some that ignored my orders at using excessive force. Had a couple of cases of unpleasant activities too. The fact that they were forced out and suffered at our Familia might make them vengeful."
Ais frowned as she thought about fighting fellow adventurers. She was no stranger to fighting non-monsters but that was more limited to self-defence and subduing common criminals. Fighting non-monsters to kill wasn't an experience she had unlike the more older and experienced adventurers of her Familia. If what she heard about the act of killing non-monster was anything to by Ais didn't want to experience it.
"I hope it doesn't come to fighting the Zeus and Hera Familia." Ais said in wishful tone.
"We will have to wait and see," Loki sighed. "How was it fighting a demigod?"
"Scary. It is unlike anything I have ever hope. Even when I have been outnumbered or fighting a vastly superior enemy my experience fighting Heracles doesn't come close. A finally kind of understood what it must have been like to fight the slain Behemoth and Leviathan." Ais replied.
"You should be proud of your father, Albert Waldstein, as he was in the same league as Heracles." said Loki in awed tone. "He was after all someone that achieved what the Zeus and Hera Familias failed; to inflict a permanent injury that hasn't healed to this day on the One-Eyed Black Dragon."
"My father was as powerful as Heracles?!" Ais shouted in surprise.
"It's hard to tell exactly who is more powerful as there are so many factors that depends victory in a fight, but Albert would be the only mortal in the last few decades to have any chance of defeating Heracles." Loki replied.
Ais nodded in agreement. She might still be far from mountain peak of fighting prowess like her father but the fundamentals of fighting didn't change. The notion that her father even had a chance of defeating centuries old legend like Heracles was something to be proud of.
"Wait… if my father had reached the state of demigodhood wouldn't that mean he could still be alive since he had touched upon the realms of deities?!" Ais shouted in shock.
"It's difficult to determine how likely your father is alive. Demigods gain immortality upon reaching Level 10. Immortality comes in many forms. He might have gained the immorality from aging, disease or whatever limited immortality but that doesn't mean he is undying. To reach the point of undying would be true immortality, only possible upon reaching godhood (Level 11)." Loki replied honestly. "Still there is a chance he might be alive depending what limited he had gained before his death. Who knows he might be alive somewhere but so badly injured that he is still recovering from the wounds inflicted by the One-Eyed Black Dragon?"
The chance of her father still being alive invigorated hope inside Ais. She even thanked Heracles despite the wounds he had inflicted on her. If he hadn't appeared and forced Loki to reveal knowledges normally limited only to the gods, Ais might have learned about her father's status as a demigod or ability of immortality.
"Maybe Albert had the immorality of reincarnation. That would have allowed him to reincarnate without losing his memories of his past life." Loki added cheekily.
Ais blinked in confusion before blushing in embarrassment. The thought that her father might come back as someone younger than her would be really awkward.
"As long as my father is still alive, I am okay with that." Ais spoke with strong conviction.
"I didn't mean to tease you," said Loki apologetically. "That example was just to make you aware to be open of any situations if your father is still alive and returns to you."
"How many different forms of limited immorality did my father possess before his… supposed death."
"Don't know. I never met your father and only know from secondhand sources." Loki shook her head.
"I hope he is still alive," said Ais wishfully as she stared into the night sky and focused on a shooting star. "Father, I hope you alive and well. I really miss you."