I feel the need to put in those who are currently visiting the Old Zeus manor (Aside from the Hestia Familia) so you guys and gals know who are there from the get-go (even though it's probably unnecessary
Loki Familia: Finn Deimne, Riveria Ljos Alf, Gareth Landrock, Bete Loga, Tione Hiryute, Tiona Hiryute, Ais Wallenstein.
Freya Familia: Ottar, Hedin Selland, Hogni Ragnar, Helun
"Why don't we start with... why have you come to Orario?" it was a simple question, but he was also cautious because he the prum really didn't want to know why she was labeled as 'the most feared deity'.
"I needed to retrieve an artifact that I lost, and a little crow told me that me and my children would find it here" she explained her reason with a small smile "Although, that isn't my only reason".
Finn wanted to question her other reasons for coming but was cut off when Loki asked a her question.
"What level are your kiddos?" everyone, except Nyx and her children, looked at the flat goddess like she was crazy "Why're ya lookin at me like that? We're all wondering the same thing" she huffed her non-existent chest in response to the stares.
Nyx took a thinking pose and looked at her children to ask for confirmation.
"Well, seeing as me nor my children have any reason to lie, I'll allow them to tell you their levels, along with a formal introduction, and I suppose their race as well" she said before taking a sip of her tea.
"But how are we gonna do it?" the male Renard asked while chewing on his sandwhich.
"The way we usually do!" the red haired girl excitedly exclaimed before getting into a cutesy pose.
"The cutest and the absolute bestest blacksmith at your service! Tina Crozzo! Level 7!" she finished her introduction and her Familia mates clapped for her.
The guests were bewildered, especially Finn.
'A level 7 smith? That should be impossible, adding into the fact that most smiths only spend a small amount of time fighting, surface monsters shouldn't produce enough excelia to allow anyone to reach a level that high' he picked up his cup of tea, despite his hands shaking.
'No no, I'm just complaining, I bet she's worked just as hard as us, maybe even harder, and despite her young appearance, I'll bet she's just about my age' he finished his thoughts and took a sip from his drink, conveniently, Riveria and some of the executives of the Freya Familia and Hestia Familia took sips from their drinks as well.
'A Crozzo smith. I wonder if her work is similar to the Hestia Familia's smith' Were Riveria's thoughts as she drank her tea.
"Also I'm 14 years old and a human" Tina said before going to town on the absurdly large ramen bowl in front of her.
All those that took a sip from their drinks spat it out, and somehow, it all hit Bete, resulting in him yelling out an angry "WHAT THE HELL!" which was promptly ignored.
"Is something wrong?" Nyx asked with slight concern, but they weren't her children, so she really didn't care much.
"N-no, please continue" Finn begged as he coughed and pumped his chest.
Next was the man in the purple hooded outfit, who placed his foot on the table and dramatically put his hand on his chest.
"I go by many names, but for your feeble minds to understand, you may call me Raven Nighthart, chosen by the winds of the night to accompany our wonderful Goddess on her quest, I am but a simple level 8, and the Dark Elf prince of Alfheim" he ended his introduction (monologue?) and tried to sit down, but he somehow missed his chair and fell flat on his ass on the grass "Like my crimson friend over there *Points to Tina* I am also 14".
The Loki Familia didn't take it well to being called feeble minded, but the Freya Familia was more composed, considering they had Hogni who spoke in a similar fashion.
The blue haired Elf stood up next.
Riveria somewhat had hope for this one, after all she was an Elf.
It was also a matter of pride because she would be devastated if a younger elf was already levels higher than her while she had spent years as a level 6.
"Yo-Ho, the name is Yuuki Hikari, try to steal the Bell from us and I'll cut off your fingers and feed the to you" she said with a not so nice smile "I'm 17, level 8" Riveria's face hit the table hard "and I'm the firstborn Princess of the Light Elves of Alfheim".
They all stared silently, waiting for the next introduction.
The silver haired 'human' stood up next.
"Stella Grey, 15, Level 8, Vampire" she sat back down immediately and snuggled into Bell's comfortable arm.
Naturally they were most confused by this, the flat chested amazon though, was somewhat excited, seemingly forgetting the events a few nights ago 'A vampire huh? I wonder if she's similar to the books I've read'.
The Male Renard spoke, while lazily poking at his chicken.
"Names Shiro, Level 8, I'm 15 and going to bed" he promptly stood up, and went back in the still smoking manor.
"Zatch wazh a bi' ruu wan et?" Tiona said, with some meat still in her mouth. (Translation: That was a bit rude wasn't it?)
"Be respectful you moron" Tione smacked her sister before bowing towards the Goddess in front of them, who waved it off.
"Please forgive my brother, he gets cranky when woken up early" the female Renard spoke up "My name is Vixen Yakumo, I am 16 years old, a level 9, and me and my brother are Renards".
Finn and Ottar were more intrigued now, since they were now apparently stepping into level 9 territory.
'But you haven't introduced yourself yet, I wonder why that is, my little rabbit' were Freya's distant thoughts as she stared at 'her' rabbit, though if he did belong to Nyx, she'd need to ask permission to stay by his side.
Everyone stared at the armored giant, who sat there silently like a machine, before hearing Bell chuckle a bit.
"Sorry about him, he's not much of a talker, His name is Geld, he's a Boaz and also a level 9, he's the second oldest out of all of us in our group, being 18 years old" he explained with a smile.
Hestia grit her teeth when 'her' Bell said 'our group' which was referring to the children in front of them, and not her Familia.
And now was the awaited introduction of the albino boy, who petting the Vampire beside him.
"What about ye, lad, we all know the basics with ya but yer the last to introduce yerself" Gareth asked after downing a mug of beer.
"As you probably know, I'm Bell Cranel, 14 years old and a human" they were all at the edge of their seats, waiting for him to reveal his level.
Would he he Level 3? or would it be another insane number that they haven't reached yet.
"A level 9 and the captain of the Nyx Familia" he smiled at them as he finished his introduction.
It was silent at first, but the one to break the ice was expected.
"What do you mean captain of the Nyx Familia, Bell-Sama?! Aren't you our captain?!" was the jealous outbreak of Lily.
"That's right! Aren't you supposed to be in bed resting?!" the 2 of them kept yelling with Welf and Mikoto trying to calm them down, and the other guests were amused by the argument before them.
Suddenly, they felt an immense pressure coming from Yuuki and Stella, while Raven and Vixen looked like they were preparing for a fight.
"Liliruca Arde, am I correct?" Stella stared at at the Prum, with her empty looking eyes.
"W-What's it to you?" her voice was shaking as she tried to glare at the silver haired girl.
"Well..." Yuuki was the one that spoke this time "A little birdy told us, that you betrayed OUR Bell, and tried to kill him" she had a smile that was definitely not friendly.
"Eliminate" Stella robotically said, before she and Yuuki disappeared from everyone's sights.
Lili felt as if her life flashed before her eyes.
She saw a hook-like weapon centimeters away from her eye, ready to pierce it and gauge her brains out.
Luckily for her, the female Renard had stopped the hand holding it.
"What do you think you're doing Stella?" Vixen's authoritative tone would've normally scared the vampire, but now, she was on a mission to eliminate the one who had attempted to kill Bell, if it weren't for Vixen she would've succeeded already.
Yuuki went behind the prum and tried to stab Lily with her Spear but a Scythe got in the way.
"Out of the way, Raven!" before she could retaliate, the Dark Elf smacked her head.
"Don't you think you've embarrassed the Captain enough?" those words made the Elf and Vampire freeze, and they slowly looked at Bell, who only smiled at them.
They hurried back to their seats and tried to act like nothing happened, while the guests were baffled.
"I'll forgive you two" that irritated Lily at how the person she loved somewhat threw her aside so easily, while the two were relieved "But you're training will be tripled" they could live with that, as long as their hugs and kisses weren't taken away, they'd accept any punishment.
After a few moments of silence, Nyx asked them.
"Does anyone have any more questions?" she saw how the Elf from Freya's Familia raised his hand and urged him to go on.
"I believe that Mr. Cranel is from the Hestia Familia, am I correct?" Hestia and Nyx nodded "Then why did he introduce himself as the captain of your Familia, Lady Nyx?".
Before Nyx could answer, Hestia added a few words of her own.
"Yeah what's up with that?! Bell is my child you know, you can't just go and steal him from me!"
Nyx seemed to be confused as she tilted her head.
"Steal? Whatever do you mean Hestia?" she leaned on the table with her hand on her cheek with a smug smirk "It's not stealing if he was never yours in the first place".
"What are you talking about?! I can still feel my blessing on him!" Hestia angrily pointed at her.
Bell was getting annoyed at Hestia's petty tantrum and was about to stop her, but Freya beat him to it.
"Now now Hestia, don't you think you should let her explain first?"
She miraculously some logic in that, and allowed Nyx to explain, despite being unhappy about it.
"Bell has been in my Familia since he was a child, being the 5th member and current captain" she explained "And about you still being able to feel your blessing on him... let's say it's one of the benefits of being a dependent of mine".
"Benefits? What are those?" Tiona asked after finally finishing her steak.
"Added bonuses when a mortal makes a pact with a deity" Nyx said "The ability to receive multiple blessings with no repercussion is one of the benefits of being my dependent".
"Do all deities have these benefits?" Finn asked, intrigued at the idea.
"Yes, an example would be Loki, being the goddess of deception and lies, anyone granted with her blessing would be gifted the ability to lie, as if it were as easy as breathing".
They took a second to digest the information given, and after a while, Welf raised his hand.
"You said 'one' of your benefits. Does that mean there are-" he was cutoff by a surprising sound.
"Woof".
They all looked towards the creature that made the sound.
It was a dog holding a bat in its paw.
"Did... Did that dog just...?" Alfrigg hesitantly asked.
"Yes he just said 'Woof" was Stella's quick answer.
"Woof" the dog said.
"No, we're just having a chat, Bon-Chan" Bell replied while petting the dog.
The guests were bewildered at the animal that entered the conversation.
"Any more questions?" Nyx asked again, and this time, it was Hestia who raised her hand.
"Yeah... What's your relationship with MY Bell-Kun?!" her bizarre question and unjustified jealousy were honestly expected at this point.
"Hmm... While that is quite personal, I will indulge you"
Bell is my 5th child, and I'm..." they waited for her answer "his 1st lover" she smiled at them with a small peace sign, which was uncharacteristic of the Goddess.
And so problems once again rose, Ais was having a mental breakdown on how Bell had a lover, Mini Ais was berating Big Ais, as well as crying with her stuffed bunny, Hestia and Lily started yelling nonsense about cheating and whatnot, Haruhime had a blacked out and Mikoto had to hold her, Finn and Riveria were wondering how Bell was in another Familia, while having the blessing of another, Freya contemplated on she would ask Nyx if she could also be Bell's lover or continue watching over him, Helun was having a headache because of her goddesses constant thoughts, and Gareth was enjoying his beer while trying to start a conversation with Geld.
"T-THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE! BELL-KUN SAID HE'D NEVER LOVE A GODDESS IF ONE ASKED HIM!" Hestia yelled at her.
"Quiet down ya damn shrimp! She could crush ya if she wanted to!" Loki warned her, but it was ignored.
"WHO CARES?! AND YOU BELL-KUN!" she pointed at him while he was biting a biscuit "IF YOU WERE FINE WITH LOVING A GODDESS, WHY DID YOU REJECT IT WHEN I ASKED YOU?!".
Now that was a shock to the guests, because while it's common for a deity to fall in love with their dependent, it is unusual for a virgin deity to do the same.
They all stared at Bell, waiting for his answer and he just looked back at her innocently.
"If you're referring to your feelings towards me, then I apologize, I don't feel the same" he said bluntly as she became as stiff as a stone "You were a good goddess, but our relationship will always be that of a goddess and her dependent, nothing more, nothing less" he said as he finished eating his biscuit and grabbed a piece of bread.
Hestia could do nothing but cry as she ran off to Zeus knows where, and the Hestia Familia members followed her.
"Sorry Bell, but even after this I hope we can still be friends" Welf told his best friend. "Of course" Bell smiled at him as he went after the others.
They sat in an awkward silence until Loki decided to speak.
"I ain't really the type to say this, but wasn't that a bit too harsh?" she was referring to the earlier event.
"What do you mean Lady Loki?" he asked back "I was simply stating what I felt".
"I know that, but couldn't you have been little softer with that rejection?".
Bell was a bit confused by her question.
"Being soft, would only give her hope, which in turn, would hurt her more in the future".
That was something that Bete could somewhat empathize with, because he knew that not getting straight to the point with something would only lead to something worse in the future.
"Does anyone have anymore questions?" Nyx asked, to get away from the silence.
Finn was the one to raise his hand this time. "This is not much of a question, but more of a request, is that alright?".
"And what would that be child?" the Goddess of the Night was interested to know what request the Prum had.
"Would it be alright if we had a small spar?" Loki turned her head towards the captain of her Familia and thought he was insane for even asking such a thing.
"And for what reason, Mr. Deimne?" Vixen asked him, curious to what his intentions were. "It's nothing serious, I just wanted to test my abilities against someone stronger than me".
They gave it some thought, and after a few minutes, Bell answered. "I'll do it, I'm sure you're curious about my true abilities, and I am curious about abilities as well, Mr. Finn".
"Would it be alright if I joined as well?" the Boaz of the Freya Familia was the one that asked this.
"Ottar?" Freya was naturally surprised at this, since he never really liked interactions.
"I would also like to test my abilities on someone who is stronger than myself" was his short answer.
Bell just smile confidently and said "Bring it on".
"But Captain, you don't have your spear" Tione reminded her oh so beloved captain.
"You can use one of our spears" Bell offered to the Prum, who accepted.
They got into their respective battle stances, and remained still, looking to see any available openings.
"You think they have a chance?" Tina asked everyone on the table.
"No" her friends immediately answered.
"Oi! We understand that you're probably strong, but don't underestimate our Capt-" Tione was cut off by a sudden crash.
They all looked towards the place of sound and saw Ottar and Finn passed out on the ground.
"Aw crap, I forgot to hold back" Bell innocently said as he looked at the twitching bodies on the ground.
Seeing that, Ais pouted as she remembered the times she and Bell spent on training.
Mini Ais was also smacking her stuffed bunny for being a liar.
Tione rushed immediately towards Finn and pushed his face into her bosom.
"So you really weren't lyin' huh" Loki said.
"What reason would I have to do that? I'm not so weak to be afraid of others, Loki" Nyx retorted.
That pissed Loki off, but kept she somehow her cool.
"Then that just begs the question, how did your Familia get so strong? Especially when monsters up here are much weaker than the monsters in the dungeon?".
'So Loki's finally asking what everyone really wants to know' Riveria thought 'Though, I am also curious as to why their answering our questions. Surely they'd want something after revealing things that are very personal to their Familia'.
"I assume that all of you have common knowledge of surface monsters, correct?" they all nodded to her question "The knowledge you have obtained... barely scratches the surface".
They tilted their heads, not knowing if that was intentional or not.
"You suck at making puns, Lady Nyx" Yuuki said as she took a sip of her ale.
"Hmph" Nyx pouted and crossed her arms, which was an unusual sight to the two other deities.
"Anyway, you are familiar with normal surface monsters, which makes me assume that you've never faced other types of monsters" she said, and Vixen continued her explanation.
"There are any types of monsters, a few examples would be an Elder Monster".
"Is that like a really old monster?" Tiona asked with great interest.
"Yes, a common Elder Monster would be The Great Dragon, Nidhogg".
"What other monsters are out there?" Freya asked her.
"Another would be Chimeras".
"Chimera are monsters that can gain the abilities of other monsters they eat. A way to identify one is if it has the limbs of multiple monsters, for example, a Lizardman tail, Minotaur feet, Snake arms, Dragon scales and a Wolf head" Yuuki chimed in and explained to them.
"Are they strong?" Finn, who woke up in the middle of the explanation, asked.
"Some of them are, but it really depends on how many monsters they've eaten, and how strong the monster they are was" Bell was the one that answered his question.
Ais wanted to ask a question, but Hedin beat her to it.
"Lady Nyx, while we appreciate the information you and your children have given us, surely you'd want something as compensation for revealing all of this".
Nyx looked at him for a second, before chuckling.
"Why yes child, there is something I'd like" Freya was ready to pour out every secret her Familia had, while Loki was drinking some booze.
"I'd like to have an Alliance with the both of you" she smiled sweetly at them.
"Wait wha? That's all? Ya don't wanna peak at our little secrets as well?" Loki drunkenly asked.
"I would like that, but I already know a secret of yours" Nyx smiled at Aiz "Of course, I may ask for assistance in the future, and you are free to do the same with me".
Ais wanted to ask a question, specifically to Bell, but he had stood up abruptly.
"What's wrong, Bell?" Vixen asked him.
"Lady Nyx, the scales will drop by at the gate to the city right?" he asked their Goddess.
"Yes, I told the guards not to go near it, why?"
"They'll definitely try to examine it, and I'd rather be their to explain it, than have them come over to ask questions" he left quickly with Raven following him.
"I'll join you chosen one!"
"Uh, could we-" Hedin tried to ask but was cut off
"Unfortunately, we cannot disclose that information yet, as it is something that we don't know what to do with at the moment" Vixen explained to him, shutting down any further questions about the matter.
"Are you planning to go on an expedition in the dungeon?" Dvalinn asked them
"In a two weeks, yes. While we could go now, we are waiting for one more member of our Familia to arrive" Vixen said.
"Tina's also gonna make some sweet gear for us!" Yuuki exclaimed excitedly.
Once again, they were met with silence.
Nyx was gonna close the meeting, but Tiona stood up and pointed at Stella.
Stella, thinking it was gonna be another rant about the other night, was about to punch the Amazon, but was quite surprised with her questions.
"You're a Vampire right?!" her eyes were sparkling like a child in a candy shop.
"Yes".
"Does that mean you get burned when you're under the sun?".
She looked at Tiona.
Then at the sun.
Then at Tiona.
"No".
"Huh? Then do you need permission before going into someone else's house?".
"No".
"Then can you turn into a bat?".
"Only at night".
"Do you say 'Bleh bleh bleh'?".
It took all of Stella's willpower, to not go ahead and kill her right then and there, but Bell would be disappointed in her.
"No, that's dumb".
"Do you howl at midnight?".
"Those are wolves" Tina chimed in, before going back to her conversation with Gareth, about how axes were cool.
"Oh right, hm, let's see, let's see" Tiona took up a thinking pose before a light bulb lit up in her head.
"Do other people become Vampires when you bite them?"
"Only if I give them a drop of my blood within a minute".
"So all the books lied to me" she whispered to herself as she cried a little.
"If that's all, I would like to close this meeting, to allow everyone to go about their day" she kindly smiled, as they slowly left.
"What's wrong, Ais?" Riveria asked her surrogate daughter, who looked like she wanted something.
Ais only shook her head and decided to interrogate Bell another time, while Riveria was a bit confused.
When everyone left, Yuuki, Geld and Tina started cleaning up, while Vixen question her Goddess.
"Was it alright to not inform the child of Lady Aria?"
"Don't worry" Nyx smiled at her child "She feels some sort of connection between us, so she'll definitely come and ask more questions... How she'll move forward after being given the information she wants, is up to her".
Published: June 1, 2022
Here's the new chapter, sorry it took a while, I had to remake it a lot.
Hope you guys like the new character, he will join the expedition that I'll make in 2 chapters.
Hope you guys enjoyed, thanks for reading, and feel free to criticize and correct any mistake that I may have made.
Bye.