CHAPTER 4: Confrontations
World of Adventurers, Night time.
The Day Stars, white lights that defy even the sun itself and win. At night, they are the brightest stars the adventuring world has ever seen, and now, on this night, they are shining their brightest, so bright that night has become the day
All adventurers, traders, and even the gods stopped everything they were doing to watch the sudden dawn, watching the Day Stars become equivalent to the Sun.
FOOOWWMMM!
Suddenly… both Daystars disappeared, again plunging Orario into a night of crescent moon and a faint glow.
"What is happening?" A god asked upon seeing this and looked at Apollo who came to the middle of the street equally surprised but with a smile on his face "Damn you! you dare use your divine powers just because two stars are shining brighter than the sun ?" The god interrogates Apollo by grabbing him
"Let go of me! I have nothing to do with this" Apollo counter-arguments, removing the other god's hands from his clothes.
Elsewhere, adventurers were running through the streets heading towards the Guild to seek information about the sudden disappearance of the Daystars. Even to the oldest members of the guild, this was a mystery and nothing seemed to make sense regarding this disappearance.
The situation reached a point where Ouranos needed to call all the gods and gave them a high-level mission: to appease public tempers while he prepared a speech to affirm everyone's safety.
Meanwhile, in a small clearing two days journey from Orario
It was a night like any other for the animals of the forest, until a strange light lit up in the sky and turned night into day. Leaving several animals confused and disturbed and then the light went out and night returned. The animals relaxed and went back to doing their thing, whether they were nocturnal or daytime until an earthquake started.
A distortion manifests itself in the middle of the forest; first, the space started to distort in the middle of the clearing, then a light appeared in the middle of the distortion and small lightning started to manifest from within the light. The distortion began to grow in size until the distortion became a portal and from within that portal emerged two figures: two knights in white armor.
The two white knights walked out of the portal and after that, the portal closed, they both looked around and saw that they were in a small clearing.
"Haha… we… we're back…" one of the knights speaks, the woman, as she puts her hands under her chest.
"Yes… we… are home…" The second knight, the man, says looking up, seeing all the stars in the night sky, stars he has known since he was a small child living with his sister, the knight, on the small farm where they grew up.
They both look at each other before yelling and jumping, saying things like 'we made it' or 'we'll see her again'. Their little celebration ends with them hugging each other joyfully at the end of their journey, but now, the next journey awaits.
"We'd better keep the armor, don't you think?" The female knight asks with certain humor in her voice
The male knight is confused for a moment before understanding and consenting "Yeah, she'll love the surprise"
With that both begin to walk, looking for the exit of the forest; not that they need it, the light of their dearest person's heart is visible to both of them even from here.
a few hours later
"Calm down citizens of Orario. This event certainly raises questions and doubts but rest assured that everything is ok, we gods have a sacred duty to protect you and for this reason, we are temporarily lifting the restriction on the use of our divine powers"
the ruling god of Orario and leader of the Guild, Ouranos, tells the crowd with the use of a magical artifact that amplifies his voice and broadcasts it throughout the city.
The people are surprised by the revelation and some malicious gods are already starting to smile and plan how to abuse this situation-
"HOWEVER!" Ouranos' voice takes on a harsher and more severe tone "To all the gods who did not attend the emergency meeting. Know that the use of your divine powers is RESTRICTED to PROTECT the city and its inhabitants! Make good use of your brief freedom to the good of the city and its citizens and they will be justly rewarded" Ouranos ends his speech by letting the gods contemplate their current situation and also letting the citizens feel safer
"Make sure that no god gets stupid ideas and ensure that no one enters the dungeon, until further notice, the dungeon will be isolated. There is no doubt that this event has also affected it" Ouranos orders Ganesha, one of the gods with the most numerous family of orario and is also one of the closest allies of Ouranos.
The god of the masses bows in reverence before leaving the room of Ouranos to carry on the orders he has been given as the old ruling god leans wearily back on his throne.
Now there's no turning back, he must use his divine power to protect the city and ensure the situation is under control. Still… he couldn't help but feel as if something much greater was coming, but while the other gods could only guess and speculate, Ouranos was hard and cold certain that the presence he, like an ancient god, felt coming from the stars for the past two years and now intensely during the glow they generated, it wasn't strange. almost as if-
"Ugh!" Ouranos' eyes widened "is it… no… that's impossible…"
"My lord, what ails you?" Fels, the mage who paid the price for immortality by becoming undead and confidant of Ouranos, asks leaving his hiding place in the shadows.
"The presences that we have felt in the daytime stars in the last two years and that intensified for a brief moment before they went out" Ouranos begins already feeling fear, fear that he has only felt once in his life "those presences… I know such presences..."
Fels is intrigued to hear Ouranos with such fear and concern "Who could have such power? A renegade god?"
"No… not even a god possesses such a level of power. In fact… no god of this world…" Ouranos says with a faraway look.
"'of this world'? What do you mean of this world, my lord?" Fels can't understand what the old god is saying
"this… is part of the history of the universe…" Ouranos contemplates whether it is correct to say the rest, but if his premonition is correct… "a long time ago… there was only one god… the Creator… he created a single world and filled it with life when he finished his work, he was turned..." the old god pauses for a moment to recover his memories, memories that he has been repressing for a long time.
"He… turned? Turned into what, my lord?" Fels was curious but something wasn't right
"He turned into a moon… a moon in the shape of a heart and to ensure that order in his creation was maintained… he created a weapon… a wea-we-weapon… so terrible…" Ouranos put his hand over his mouth. to try to hold back the vomit that was rising in his throat, while the memories of a bloody war, a war he had lived through "so many… dead… so much blood…" the governor of Orario whispered in terror
Fels approached the throne of Ouranos and placed his hand on the god's back trying to help him "my lord, calm down. Please leave it, the important thing now is to protect the city, regardless of what this presence is, nothing can with the power of a god-"
"If that's what I think it is, not even all the gods in Orario or the Tenkai will be enough to stop it" the old god interrupts Fels, causing the mage to walk away in shock "when the weapon was created, a war broke out Through her control, countless lives were lost and the world created by the first god disappeared, destroyed in the flames of war"
Now was the mage truly terrified, an entity with the power to destroy the world, and from an unrecorded age? How dangerous this entity can be
"But from the destruction of the original world, our world was born and the elder gods, like myself, swore to protect this world" Ouranos completes looking up to a spot on the ceiling in his room, where, despite the shadow that permeates the ceiling, there is a mural with engravings of gods facing armored warriors, wielding strange weapons; weapons that resemble keys
"And if they have returned, then a new war is imminent!" Ouranos says looking furiously at the warriors of the keys.
Hestia familia home
"Goddess please don't do this" Raux says desperately, he didn't believe for a minute Uranus' words
Not that he is against the governor of Orario, but ever since (for him, many adventurers and citizens) the gods are forbidden to use their divine powers while in the mortal realm, and if they dare they will be sent back to the Tenkai (the realm of the gods and paradise of mortals) and will never be seen again by the mortals of this age.
"Raux..." Hestia speaks already manifesting her divine power "this is something that we gods must do to protect you, our children. How can I call myself the goddess of family and home if I don't do the least of it?" Hestia is serious but still loving.
Since Bell and Venna have gone, she has matured as a person and a goddess, although she is still somewhat lazy.
Hugging her captain and giving him a kiss on the forehead, like a mother, Hestia reaffirms that nothing bad will happen to her and with that, she releases all her divine power covering her body in an aura of light and power that lives up to the fact. of her being a goddess
Both Poux and Cort are also worried about Hestia but before either can say anything to stop their goddess from leaving and meeting the other gods, she interrupts them.
"Don't worry my children, I'll be fine. All the gods have agreed to bend the rules this time for everyone's sake, which means none of us will be sent back to the Tenkai."
Young adventurers are still not comfortable with the idea of their goddess using her powers, as the risk of her being sent back is too high for them. Even so, the goddess leaves the house and heads through the streets of the city she has come to love and joins the other gods heading to the Tower of Babel. Upon arriving at the tower, which is not only the largest building in the city but also the place where the gods gather for important meetings and events that concern them.
The highest floor of the Tower of Babel
All the gods were ready, whatever the event that blotted out the day stars would not threaten the people of Orario, not as long as they were here to stop it.
As one, the gods lifted their hands and released their divine power to the sky. The divine energy generated by them focused on a single point before expanding and covering the entire city on a huge glowing dome before it disappeared but its presence was still perceptible.
"Wait" one of the gods interrupted Ouranos, this was Loki, the goddess of cheating and one of the two most powerful and influential families in Orario "I think I speak for everyone here, but Ouranos you are not telling the whole truth about this situation "
"... I don't know what you're talking about, Loki. Seal your powers and return to your family" Ouranos denies and tries to leave, but the gods surround him.
"Now now… is old Ouranos keeping secrets again?" Ishtar, the goddess of lust and "ruler" of the red light district, scoffs "come on old man, you've lived longer than all of us and seen more too, what do you know about this event?"
Instead of answering, Ouranos ignores the question and with a surge of power that none of the gods and goddesses have seen, the old god sealed the powers of all the gods again, including his own.
"There's nothing to know about this incident. Just do your duty and protect the city."
With that, the old god withdrew from the precinct leaving the gods to discuss what they could about this situation.
Orario, two days later
It's been two days since the strange event happened and the gods, adventurers and the guild still couldn't say what that strange phenomenon was.
People continued to go on with their lives as usual but the event still resided in their memories and the conversations, speculations, and rumors pointed to something strange that had been encountered by merchants coming to Orario.
They say that on their way to Orario, they passed an abnormal landscape; a pillar, but not just any pillar, a pillar made of the purest, most transparent, and coldest ice they had ever seen, the ice was so cold that even the fire of torches went out next to it. the merchants tried to extract this mysterious ice but it was so strong that none of the merchants could, however, they marked the place on their maps to return to the place when they had an escort of adventurers to try again.
Others talked about the rare packs of monsters found on the surface, descendants of monsters from a bygone age, which suddenly seem to have become more reclusive and harder to find. It was nothing new, in recent years these monsters have been acting strange and appearing in smaller numbers, and some believe they are going to extinction.
It was to this kind of scenery that two travelers finally arrived in the city of Orario.
Orario main street
the people were going about their days, as they were surprised by the sight that now graces their eyes.
"Who are they?"
"Are they from another country?"
"What are these armors made of?"
"Are they soldiers? I don't see weapons"
these were some of the things people said as they watched the strange travelers walk down Orario's main street, watching the vendors and adventurers stop as soon as they got close.
"they think we are deaf" the female Knight whispers to her companion
"Let them" the male Knight whispers back patiently "I don't think they've ever seen armor with these designs before"
"maybe… but they also don't have to stop everything just to look at us" she comments again, noticing the looks of some adventurers who are staring at them, a look of distrust and challenge
Moments pass with the people giving the two travelers passage, when a child gets in their way, a small cat child, who is transfixed by the imposing appearance of the two white knights. the child is scared and starts to whimper, which makes several people look surprised and also angry, but before the situation could escalate, the female rider approached the child, kneeling down and putting a hand in front of the child, did something surprising: She created an ice flower without reciting any incantations, let alone using a catalyst, such as staff or magic stone
Not only that, but the male knight also approached and handed the child a beautiful necklace, on it the coat of arms of a strange bird that she had never seen. with a huge smile on her face the child accepts the gifts, thanks to them both, and runs back to her mother, who watched everything with her face locked in shock but seeing the smile on her daughter's face, she was also overjoyed. both knights continued their walk down the street
Hestia Family House
"aaa…" Raux breathes a sigh of relief after a good shower, nothing better to end the day than a good shower.
today was a relatively good day, although only tomorrow the restriction on entry to the Dungeon will be removed, ok, he managed to take advantage of the last two days to get a new sword; Poux got a new ballista and some potion-making ingredients and Cort bought a round buckle shield, which officially makes him the shield of his group. all in all, things were going well for them
*knock-knock*
"I'll answer" Hestia warns, since she's the closest, when opening the door she comes across two white knights "... can I help you?" she asks politely
"Yes, we are looking for a goddess," the male Knight says, his voice strangely familiar to Hestia.
"Yeah, she's a little goddess, she wears a very short white dress that hugs her chest" now it was the female Knight who was no stranger to her
Hestia doesn't respond as their voices are strangely familiar to her.
"Goddess? Are you alright?" the Knight Man asks, sensing the goddess's hesitation
"Hmm? Excuse me, I… I got distracted for a moment. Could you repeat your question please?"
both knights look at each other and both decide they better get on with it. then the two put their hands on their helmets and remove them, revealing their faces to Hestia.
The home goddess couldn't believe what she was seeing, right there in front of her, clad in gleaming white armor.
"Bell… Venna…?" The goddess asks, hesitantly and with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
The twins smile before replying "Goddess, we're back home!/Goddess, we're back home!"
Hestia's heart fills with joy and she jumps into the arms of her first followers
"you guys came back!"
Never had the goddess of the family felt so happy, it was like a piece of her soul had returned to her, and indeed it was, finally after two long and excruciating years, Bell and Venna Cranel finally returned home.
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!"
Hestia feels a hand pulling her away from Bell and Venna and suddenly, she is thrown into Poux and Cort's arms as Raux draws Cort's short sword.
"BACK!" the captain of the Hestia family bellows furiously
"Raux, what are you doing?" Hestia asks trying to break free from Poux and Cort
"Goddess, please stay back here, he might end up hurting you!" Cort says worried about his goddess, as he has felt the anger of his enraged captain before.
"Talking to him is practically impossible now. just a miracle for him not to attack you" Poux also warns, even for her, the captain's current state was huge and if nothing was done, Raux could end up killing the two who are in front of him.
Next Chapter: The Duel of Captains
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