Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
Consul of the Underworld: End of Disc 1
Chapter Four: Visiting the New Shinto Celestial Trinity
Beta: ShadowofAxios
"You two smell of sex," Alkaid heard Syaoran accuse Sakura and Tomoyo as she and Pyrrha walked into the lavish dining room of Sakura's mansion for breakfast. "Couldn't you two have had a wash before showing up for breakfast? Or put on some proper clothes?"
Tomoyo for her part just completely ignored him and continued spreading jam on slices of toast for Sakura and herself. The man's wife though was a bit more contrite as she adjusted the rather revealing kimono robe she was wearing. A robe made out of sheer netting and kept from being outright scandalous through Rose French Chantilly lace motifs that beautifully decorated the robe in clever places that both served to reveal and conceal.
"Ah, well," Sakura poked her fingers together, cheeks pink as she smiled. "We had a quickie before getting out of bed and well… We didn't have time for a shower or to get properly dressed after that. Can you forgive us, Syaoran-kun? I'll make it up to you later~!"
The seductive purr Sakura ended her sentence with left little doubt as to how she intended to repay him should he extend his forgiveness. Despite that and the small tent that was starting to form in his pants, Syaoran surprisingly held firm.
"Sakura, we have guests!" He hissed insistently as he gestured at Alkaid and Pyrrha, who were taking their seats and were honestly watching the whole scene playing out before them with amusement.
"So? They understand a healthy sexual relationship. No need to hide things. Plus, they're American. They've probably seen worse." Sakura said without missing a beat. Alkaid probably should've been offended but what the Sorceress Supreme said was true and she wasn't enough of a hypocrite to deny it, besides Pyrrha's snort of amusement would've taken the wind out of the sails of any such denial anyway. "So, do you forgive Tomoyo and I, Syaoran-kun~? I'll give you paizuri if you do. Tomoyo can help me. Right, Tomoyo-chan~?"
"If you want," Tomoyo, dressed in an identical robe to what Sakura was wearing, said disinterestedly as she continued preparing her and Sakura's breakfast by moving on from spreading jams on their toast to cutting up their hash browns.
"And since we're both lactating, you could even drink some of our breast milk." Sakura pressed, with a sultry smile. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Two pregnant beauties using their breasts to massage your dick and then letting you milk them?"
"I-I see." The man coughed into his fist, looking away with a flustered look. "I guess I can. But on one condition."
"Heehee~ I knew it, even straight-laced Syaoran is weak to this and that~" Sakura cheered. "And what condition?"
Instead of looking at his wife, he instead shot Tomoyo a look. "You'll stay when I have sex with Sakura? I know you don't like to be there when I do, and I don't want to have sex with you. But I don't like it when you just leave halfway. It feels like you're excluded. The two of us might not be romantically or sexually involved, but we are still a family. So stay."
"Mm, you drive a hard bargain," Tomoyo said with a frown, finally stopping her methodical breakfast preparations to look Syaoran in the eyes. "But if you insist, I'll stay. Happy?"
"Very," Syaoran replied even as Sakura applauded and cheered.
"Whelp, that was a thing." Pyrrha muttered to Alkaid, who giggled a little.
"It was a cute negotiation." Alkaid whispered back as she and her wife began helping themselves to the spread of dishes laid out at the center of the dining table they were all seated around. "Though, Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, was it really appropriate for you to have that with us present?"
"Why not?" Sakura asked, shooting them an innocent look that was belied by the mischievous glint in her eyes. "We've welcomed you into our home. That's not a privilege that we just extend to everyone you know."
Syaoran nodded at that. "Most of our guests are usually housed in a guest house. It is a sign of great trust on Sakura's part that she let you stay in our home."
"Oh? My most sincere thanks for such trust." Alkaid smiled at the three, even as she realized that the show earlier was, in part, put on entirely to emphasize that trust. It seemed that Sakura's reputation for being guileless was a lie. Or if the smirk Tomoyo sported was any indication, made up for by the cunning of her Mistress.
"Don't mention it," Sakura said with an airy wave of dismissal.
"Um, Lady Sakura," Pyrrha said, looking between Alkaid and Sakura in confusion for a moment, likely struggling to piece together the subtext behind the conversation that she'd obviously missed. Someone was still feeling a little sleepy it seemed, Alkaid was sure she'd have caught it otherwise. Pyrrha had learned much of politicking and reading underneath the underneath as the saying goes over the years and this shouldn't have stumped her.
I will have to fill her in later. Alkaid thought even as Pyrrha continued speaking.
"We would like to offer our thanks to Lady Marie and her husband and girlfriend for their help in the negotiations with the Shinto gods. Any suggestions?"
"You should go make a donation at Rise-sama's shrine." Tomoyo said as she fed a slice of toast to Sakura. "Marie-sama and Yu-sama's cults in their incarnations as Izanami-sama and Izanagi-sama respectively are very well established so they don't need it, but Rise-sama is a young goddess and all three of them would appreciate any boost she receives."
"Lady Rise's shrine?" Pyrrha asked, blinking in confusion. "Isn't that Lady Marie's girlfriend? Isn't she mortal?"
"She was at the start, but of course they made her a goddess. They love each other too much to let her mortality separate them! Though, she's what you'd call a minor goddess at the moment though with how popular she's becoming, that might change soon. And considering she's their lover and saved their marriage…" Tomoyo exclaimed, being a true gossip at heart, cupping her cheeks happily.
"It's not impossible that the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki gets retroactively edited soon so she becomes their equal." Sakura added as she finished swallowing the toast she'd been fed by Tomoyo. "I think that's what they're gunning for."
"Wait! Gods can do that!?" Pyrrha gasped. "Edit their personal mythologies?"
"No, mortals can. Through their faith." Syaoran corrected. "But in this case, Marie-sama and Yu-sama are gathering the growing faith devoted to Rise-sama so that they can then use it to cast mass hypnosis on the faithful to retroactively change human belief and thus reality. It's not something most gods can do, they are largely subject to whatever shifting beliefs mortals impose on them like how the traditional Roman gods with their almost Kami-like nature were transformed by Greek influence into the forms we know today."
Pyrrha nodded without comprehending what was being said but Alkaid nodded in understanding. This was something she'd known for some time, ever since she'd researched the true nature of the gods and their relationship with mortals back during her Hogwarts years.
"But Marie-sama and Yu-sama are no ordinary gods, they are the very gods who made Japan. Who the Japanese people trace their descent from. If anyone can rewrite the history of Japan, it's them." Sakura said with a nod. "And they'll do it too. They just need time to gather the faith and power needed. There is nothing they wouldn't do for the love of Rise-sama."
"The things they do in the bedroom are the parts I like the most," Tomoyo joked with a perverted giggle. "I've written the best things down on my wish list."
Ignoring Tomoyo, Syaoran nodded to Sakura's earlier statement. "Their love for her is truly incredible."
"Hm, I see. Then where is Lady Rise's shrine?" Alkaid asked the three.
It turned out that Lady Rise's shrine was located in her hometown. It was apparently also the same town where she'd met the two incarnations of the Japanese primordials who had ironically originally met there to fight as they did once every generation over their differences, only to find the little lynchpin that would do the impossible and save their marriage instead. Such was the momentous importance of the small rural town known as Inaba in the Yamanashi prefecture that Alkaid and Pyrrha teleported into.
The teleportation circle deposited them in the ladies' restroom of the Inaba train station and as they stepped out of the bathroom into the station beyond, Alkaid turned to survey her surroundings and was stunned by the sheer amount of divine energy saturating the air. It made the otherwise normal looking rural Japanese railroad station feel like something fantastical.
"For a small town, the ambient magic here is so strong. It even has a leyline nexus." The daughter of Hades stated, looking around as they exited the station.
"Outside of the magic though, it just feels like a sleepy little town." Pyrrha confessed, a frown on her face. "I think Dad would snap if he was here for five minutes."
"Let's not even think of that." Alkaid said as she shuddered at the thought of what the gods she and Pyrrha were here to meet would do if Ares did go on rampage in their precious town.
"Good idea." Pyrrha said as she probably realized the same thing if the way she paled slightly was any indication. "By the way, you sure we couldn't teleport nearer to Lady Rise's shrine?"
"Sakura advised against it," Alkaid said with a shake of her head as the two of them both exited out of the train station and began the trek towards Rise-sama's shrine. "According to her, the whole town is considered her sacred space. Teleporting any closer to her shrine would therefore be considered an insult or trespassing. We'll just have to walk the rest of the way to the shrine proper. According to the directions we received, it isn't that far."
"Yeah, I guess that might be seen as a hostile action. Rather be in one piece, ya know?" Pyrrha asked rhetorically as they walked side by side towards their destination through the quaint, rural Japanese town. "Though why is Lady Rise's shrine dedicated to an 'as yet unnamed' goddess? Why doesn't Lady Rise just declare the shrine is hers?"
"Doing that would be like declaring herself a messiah. That's a messy business. Plus Japan has a bad history with those kinds of cults, Aum Shinrikyo for example." Alkaid explained.
"Uh, context?"
"Short version? Their founder declared himself a messiah and eventually had his followers carry out some of Japan's most deadly terrorist attacks." Alkaid informed her wife. "Basically, messianic cults or cults dedicated to living people aren't looked upon well by most Japanese."
"Damn, yeah, good point. So they're trying to establish her myth in small doses?"
"More like they are following the playbook that is typically used to deify historical people. That isn't as uncommon as most people think. The Roman Emperors, Alexander the Great, Imhotep and Abe no Seimei being famous examples."
"Huh, neat." Pyrrha summed it up in her own succinct way, much to Alkaid's amusement. "So how do they do it?"
"You start building the cult in the form of a cult of personality before the subject dies, but you only announce their deification after or as they die or in this case, more accurately fake the death of their mortal life. Rise-sama's celebrity status helps with the cult building so now they're basically just waiting for her mortal life to 'die' then announce her status as a goddess."
"Then why the shrine?"
"Sakura-sama said it's because they couldn't wait to deify her and Shinto Kami all need some kind of shrine even if it's just an abandoned altar in the wilderness." Alkaid shrugged. "Not that Yu-sama and Marie-sama would ever let Rise-sama settle for that. Because of that they set up a shrine here in Inaba for her but have yet to link her name to it. Besides it adds mystery to her and that likely helps attract worship. Mortals love mystery."
"Okay, then why not come up with a pseudonym for now if she doesn't want to link her name quite yet? That works right?"
Alkaid shrugged. "It would. But I suppose she might not want to for whatever reason. Ultimately, it's probably a decision on Rise-sama's part."
"Gotcha." The redhead nodded as they turned a corner and reached the bottom of a small hill that was shrouded in thick banks of Mist. "This is it, isn't it?"
Alkaid nodded as they began making their way to a set of steps that would lead them up the hill and into the shrine proper, and as they did they got within earshot of a group of girls, high schoolers by her guess, who were happily chatting among themselves as they climbed the steps ahead of the demigods.
"I hope it works!" One of the girls said to her friends excitedly.
"I'm sure it will, the internet is buzzing about it. If you pray to this shrine, you have a super duper good chance to become an idol!"
"Duh, it's why all those actresses and budding idols are coming here in droves. Dad says it's good for business."
Pyrrha looked at Alkaid questioningly and she just shrugged. "Apparently, one of Rise-sama's domains is singing and she is a pop idol. So it would make sense."
"Man, the press is going to come in droves, aren't they?"
"More popularity to the shrine." Alkaid nodded. "So that's probably part of the plan."
"Wait a minute! Isn't Lady Rise also the goddess of polyamory and the saving of troubled marriages too? How does that work out?"
"Gods don't have to dole out blessings completely in line with their domains, you know." Alkaid reminded her wife with a shake of her head. "But even if she does, well, I suppose praying to her for help in saving marriages leads to said saving coming about through polyamory?"
Pyrrha chuckled at the joke before adding with a playful grin of her own. "Man, the more I hear, the more this new goddess sounds pretty cool. Hope we never have to pray for her aid though."
A hope she emphasized by bumping her hip against Alkaid's teasingly.
"I'm sure she'd rather not too." Alkaid agreed. "She might be the goddess of saving marriages, but as a goddess of marriage in general I'd imagine she prefers that marriages didn't need saving in the first place."
"Probably," Pyrrha agreed as they reached the top of the steps and reached the shrine proper which at first glance appeared like a normal Shinto shrine, but as they crossed its torii gate, the ever thickening banks of Mist lifted for them and their surroundings transformed into a concert hall.
And standing before them in the passageway between the various rows of seats they found themselves standing in was an orange furred talking fox with scars on its right eye, forehead, back, and left leg who was dressed in nothing but an red apron with a heart pattern on it.
Bowing low to them in greeting, the fox spoke in a polished Tokyo accent. "I am Fox, chief usher for the Siren of Healthy Marriage, Rise-sama! It is my honor to be at your service for your stay in Rise-sama's shrine today, Alkaid-sama, Pyrrha-sama."
"Well, isn't that just darling?" Alkaid beamed at the small helper. "A pleasure to meet you, Fox-san."
"Mistress has been expecting you. But before she meets you, she wishes for you to attend her concert. One is about to begin, she will do so once she is done appeas-ahem! entertaining her fans."
"It would be our honor to attend Rise-sama's concert," Alkaid replied with a bow that Pyrrha quickly imitated. "Would you be so kind as to show us to our seats, Fox-san?"
"Of course," the fox said with a roll of its eyes. "Please follow me."
Seated in seats in a private box with a phenomenal view of the stage that Fox had shown them to alongside her wife, Pyrrha fidgeted in her comfortable padded seat in anticipation. It wasn't everyday one got the chance to attend a concert by a goddess of singing after all! As far as the daughter of Ares knew there wasn't even a goddess of such on Olympus, the closest being the Muses Euterpe, Polyhymnia and Terpsichore but even their domains were limited to lyric poetry, hymns and choral songs respectively. The Greeks didn't have a dedicated goddess of the singing arts. At least none that she knew of. That being the case, being able to hear such a goddess perform was an opportunity that Pyrrha was looking forward to immensely.
"Calm down, Pyrrha. It's going to start soon, you just need to wait a little longer." Alkaid soothed distractedly as she surveyed the concert hall and its rapidly filling audience. A audience that Pyrrha, in a bid to calm her impatience, copied her wife in looking over and found was made out of a mix of mortals, all under the influence of the Mist, and Yokai of various different types.
"Wonder what those Misted mortals will think of all this," Pyrrha asked absently. "And what the Mist will make them think they went through."
"The Fog, or Mist as you call it, makes them experience different things based on whatever suits their needs," Fox explained helpfully from his spot by the door to the booth where he was standing patiently to assist them should the need arise. "The mortal visitors to the shrine that are lucky enough to be given the honor to attend her concert, not all of them are offered such, mostly see what they all see, the truth. That is my Mistress performing her concert. But they think it is a holy vision."
"And the elapsed time? How does the Mist account for that?" Alkaid asked, turning to glance at Fox curiously.
"That they passed out due to the vision." Fox explained with a shrug. "They will wake up at the end of Mistress' concert back in the shrine none the wiser."
"And people with them or come in search of them?" Pyrrha asked, her interest genuinely piqued as well.
"Are turned away by the Fog." Fox said with a smirk. "I am sure you are familiar with what it can do. Being Greeks, you two young ladies have ample experience with it, don't you?"
"We do," Alkaid nodded. "And yes, the Mist would be a very effective way to keep people away. What about those who come during the concert itself though? Are they just added to the audience? Or is the concert not temporally synced?"
"The latter," Fox explained. "My Mistress only holds one concert each day and anyone who receives the honor of her blessing from her shrine, which is her default means of bestowing her blessing, is required to attend it. So whoever they are will be transported to before it starts regardless of the time when they visit the shrine and once it ends, they are deposited back in it with the time commiserate to the length of the concert having elapsed for them."
"Sounds like tricky magic." Pyrrha frowned, being well aware from sheer osmosis from her talented sorceress of a wife just how difficult temporal magic in general was.
"Yes, it is. And my Mistress managed it all on her own too." Fox preened.
"Most impressive." Alkaid said with a nod even as the lights in the concert hall began to dim.
"Ah! My Mistress' performance is about to begin, if you'd be so kind as to turn your attention to the stage, Alkaid-sama, Pyrrha-sama?"
"Of course," Alkaid said with a grin as she turned towards the brightly illuminated stage, the sole such place in the otherwise dimly lit concert hall, prompting Pyrrha to do the same.
A stage onto which stepped out a beautiful young woman with long copper-colored hair tied in two pigtails, brown eyes and pale skin. As befitting a Japanese idol, her performance costume was an elaborate dress mainly in white but with blocks of pink and dark brown that gave her an aura of girlish innocence.
"Welcome one and all to my humble performance!" Lady Rise greeted her audience without a microphone, though she clearly didn't need it as her voice reached everyone in the audience with perfect clarity without one. A audience which let out enthusiastic cheers in response to her welcome.
The goddess smiled brilliantly at the warm reception and Pyrrha felt her heart warm at the smile. It was just such a wholesome thing that it touched something deep inside her and engendered a feeling of homely warmth. It reminded her of her family. Of Alkaid, Mina, Gracie, Bianca and Nico. And if the way Alkaid reached over to grab her hand was any indication, it did the same for her wife too.
"Now, I know why you're all here today." Lady Rise continued, still sporting that warmth inducing smile. "So without further ado, let's start the show! For my first song of the day, let's go with…. True Story!"
Play: "True Story" by Rise Kujikawa
At that declaration, Lady Rise struck a pose and as musical accompaniment filled the concert hall from various hidden speakers, she broke out into a dance routine as she began to sing.
"Mata kyou mo mune no oku tozashita Heart Beat.
Mite hoshii misetakunai dou dou meguri
Muchuu dake ja wakaranainda
Say Hello (Hello!)
Sen no uso zenbu ketobashite
(Again today, deep in my heart
Locked up Heart Beat
I want you to see
I don't want to show
I am going in circles
Being passionate about
Isn't enough to know
Say Hello (Hello!)
Kick thousands of lies)"
Pyrrha found herself mesmerized by Lady Rise's song and dance. Though mainly the former. The latter was spunky and cutesy and endearing in its own way, but it was her singing that really drew the daughter of war in. Which considering the goddess' domain was probably to be expected.
Lady Rise's singing voice was divinely sublime. It was the best voice that Pyrrha had ever heard, bar none. And even though she didn't know a single word of the song's lyrics, she still somehow knew its meaning. It was the true story of how Lady Rise became who and what she was today.
"Shout Friends honki no kotoba dake
Hibike sekai no kanata made
Ring Bells shiranai kane no ne ga
Kimi no DOA tataitara True Story
(Shout Friends, only words you really meant
Resonate all the way to the end of the world
Ring Bells, a sound of a bell you haven't heard before
Your door
If you knock, there's a True story)"
It was the story of how Lady Rise had come to open herself up to Lord Yu and Lady Marie. But contrary to what Pyrrha had expected it was not the two Primordials' story, it was Lady Rise's. It wasn't about two ancient gods charming some innocent mortal. It was how a young woman who was at a crossroads in her life and not knowing what to do, had found solace in getting to know the two, who she had not known were gods at the time, and how they had helped her open up and discover who she was. A story of how they helped her learn what she wanted and find the will to change herself through her own will without, somewhat ironically, the power of any god.
"Mune sawagi mushi shite mo kokoro ga Feel Blue
Kekkyoku wa te ni tsukanai asa ga kichau
Omou dake ja todokanainda
Change Yourself
Kami-sama ni makeseterannai
(Even if you ignore the excitement in your heart
My heart Feels Blue
In the end I can't focus
Morning is coming soon
It won't reach by just thinking about
Change Yourself
I can't leave it up to god)"
It was the story of how Lady Rise had found the strength and courage to decide on and forge her own future. Of how she'd grown up from a confused teenager into a confident young woman.
"Just Find hontou wa kikoeteta
Kimi no setsunai koe zutto
Shake Hands te wo tsunagu yuuki de
Hoshi ga ima seiza ni naru yo
(Just Find, I actually have been hearing
Your sad voice all this time
Shake Hands, with the courage to hold hands
Stars become a constellation)"
It was the true story of how the friendship of Lord Yu and Lady Marie helped her open her door to tomorrow. The door to her dreams. A door that she walked through hand in hand with her best friends and loves of her life. A dream that she now happily lived.
"Shout Friends honki no kotoba dake
Hibike sekai no kanata made
Dream Bells futari no kane no ne ga
Asu no DOA hiraiteku True Story
(Shout Friends, only words you really meant
Resonate, till the end of the world
Dream Bells, a sound of our bells
Door to tomorrow
Will open a True story)"
All things must end and as the last verse concluded and the last notes of the song's musical accompaniment trailed off, Pyrrha found herself gasping in shock. That was… Words failed her. She simply could not describe how wonderful hearing that song felt.
"I can't wait for more," she said, causing Alkaid, just as touched by Lady Rise's song, to nod in agreement.
It was about an hour of truly soul touching music later and Alkaid and Pyrrha found themselves meeting with Rise-sama and her family in a meeting room backstage of the concert hall.
There was Marie-sama of course, but also present was her husband, Narukami Yu-sama. Said incarnation of Izanagi, was a tall man with silver hair cut in a bowl-shaped cut and gray eyes that was dressed in a surprisingly casual set of clothes.
"It is an honor to see you again, Marie-sama. And greetings to you, Yu-sama, Rise-sama. And your children as well." Alkaid bowed her head, Pyrrha following her action.
Rise-sama's twin daughters, Yuri-sama and Juri-sama based on what Sakura told them, giggled at being addressed, but they bowed along with their parents as they returned the greeting.
"Oh my, what little cuties." Alkaid couldn't help but gush as she eyed the twins. "Whose are they if I may ask?"
"Ah, well, they're mine with these two." Rise-sama said with a smirk as she hooked her arms around her lovers'. "Creation gods really have some benefits, ya know? If you look, they're the perfect mix of us genetically. I mean, we are pretty hot~"
Taking Rise-sama up on the challenge, Alkaid gave the three gods' twin three-year old daughters a good look. She's right. They are a mix of all three of them.
The girls had identical facial features and builds, which seemed at least at a glance to take cues from all three of their parents but it was in their hair and eye colors where this fusion was most obvious and where the differences between the twins manifested. Both sisters had two toned hair but where Yuri-sama had the copper-colored hair of their birth mother on the right side of her head and silver hair of their father on the left, Juri followed a similar pattern but with her birth mother's hair on the left and the brownish black hair of their other mother on the right. Both girls also had heterochromia with one of their eyes being the same shade of brown as Rise-sama whilst the other took after one of their other parents with Yuri-sama having Marie-sama's green eye color in her left and Juri-sama had Yu-sama's gray in her right eye.
Leave it to creation gods to shape their children to be perfect mixes of them. It was endearing in a way.
"All I can say is that they are simply adorable. I'm sure they will grow to be splendid Kamis."
"Thank you, Alkaid-san." The twins said in cheerful unison. "But we're already splendid Kamis."
"And you'd grow into even more splendid ones, Yuri-sama, Juri-sama."
The twins pouted at that for some reason, like the wind had been taken out of their sails. Alkaid could only wonder why. Did she say something wrong?
"I'm curious," Pyrrha said, looking at the twin Kamis curiously. "You Kamis all need shrines, right? Where are Lady Yuri and Lady Juri's?"
"Right here," Rise said, nodding at their surroundings. "A shrine can house multiple altars and thus serve as the home for multiple Kamis. My shrine thus also serves as the girls'."
"I see," Alkaid nodded in understanding. "And their domains? Are they temporarily local land Kami?"
"We're land gods." The twins said, speaking together again. It should've been creepy, but when they did it, it was somehow melodious and even heartwarming. "We govern Inaba and protect it and Mama's shrine. It's a very important job."
"Yes," Yuri-sama said, continuing without her sister. "Especially when bakas like Kagutsuchi-nii show up and set things on fire everywhere he goes without even noticing!"
"Baka firebug!" They chimed in unison.
"Or when Ama-nee shows up in the middle of the night but forgets to turn off her sun aura so it's as bright as day and no one in town can sleep properly." Juri-sama added, taking her turn to speak on her own.
"Baka Ama-nee!" Both twins scolded the Queen of Takamagahara as if she wasn't the leader of their pantheon. The privileges of siblings, no doubt. Alkaid herself knew she could get away with things with Makaria and Melinoe that no one else, not even Father or Mother, could.
"Girls, please don't be so disparaging to your siblings." Yu-sama said, rubbing the bridge of his nose in long suffering exasperation. "I know they make a lot of work for you to clean up after they leave messes whenever they visit but they're still your older siblings, they deserve your respect."
"We'll respect them when they earn that respect, Tou-sama." The twins choursed defiantly.
Both Rise-sama and Marie-sama chuckled at this, even as the latter shot their husband a teasing look. "They get that from you, Yu-kun~!"
Yu-sama just sighed and nodded. "I know."
Alkaid and Pyrrha just smiled at the family, hoping that they kept enough of a lid on their amusement to avoid insulting their hosts.
"Before anything else, Yu-sama, Marie-sama, Rise-sama, Pyrrha and I would like to extend our thanks to all three of you for Marie-sama's assistance during our negotiations with Takamagahara." Alkaid said, offering the trio of older gods in the room a deep bow. One that Pyrrha imitated immediately. "Thank you."
"It was our pleasure." Yu-sama smiled, no doubt something that has broken many hearts. "We thank you for taking the time to join us. We wish you the best of luck in your war with the Titans and the wars ahead."
"The wars ahead?" Alkaid asked worriedly as Pyrrha sucked in a breath.
"Yu, spoilers." Marie-sama warned but the other primordial just shrugged.
"I gave no specifics, the Overgods will label it as mere foreshadowing." Yu-sama insisted with a quirked lip. "Though here's a couple other freebies. Olympus' next foe is my and Marie's 'sister' of sorts."
Alkaid paled at that. If it was one of Izanagi-sama and Izanami-sama's 'sisters', then it had to be a protogenoi. Likely one of the creators at that. And of those, the one who was most likely to fit the bill was… the Earth Mother. If she was awakening and was slated to be their next enemy…. Things could get very, very bad.
"I will be sure to take this advice most seriously, Yu-sama. We thank you for your warning." Alkaid bowed again, her mind working frantically to come up with a way to tell the Council of Olympus of this without it being dismissed out of hand.
"You do that." Yu-sama agreed and was about to say more before he was interrupted by Rise-sama.
"But not too seriously. Remember that Yu-kun didn't give a timeframe for the next war."
Yu-sama frowned at that but didn't correct his girlfriend despite the questioning look that Alkaid and Pyrrha shot him. Instead, he shifted the direction of the conversation. "And for my other freebie, when you start looking for recruits for your guerilla team, look up Caelus Vipsanius. He is a descendant of one of my incarnations. I can vouch for his ability and I am sure he will prove useful to you."
Guerilla team? Alkaid thought, blinking in surprise. She hadn't even considered the idea before, but now that Yu-sama had brought it, she could see the merits of having a team to engage in guerilla action against Olympus' enemies.
"Caelus Vipsanius?" Marie-sama said, tapping her chin thoughtfully before her eyes widened in realization. "Isn't he the grandson of that one incarnation of yours that was a woman? The one that was alive during the Second World War?"
Yu-sama nodded, even as Rise-sama and the twins looked at him in surprise.
"Tou-sama was a woman before!?" The twins gasped out in unison.
"I have been everything during my many incarnations. Man, woman, Yokai and more."
"Marie-chan?" Rise-sama said, looking at her girlfriend expectantly. "What about you?"
"I've never been male," Marie-sama said, shaking her head. "Unlike Izanami, I've never wondered what it's like to be the other gender. Though, like him, I've incarnated as almost every kind of animal and Yokai."
Rise-sama nodded at this and shot Yu-sama a firm look. "You're becoming a woman tonight and maybe the next few nights too. I want to try you out when you're a woman."
Yu-sama just smiled. "Anything you say, Rise-chan."
Satisfied, the copper haired goddess turned to her girlfriend. "And Marie-chan-"
"Yes, Rise-chan, I'll be a man for you." The incarnation of Izanami said without hesitation. "I'll be anything for you."
The twins made gagging noises at this, but their parents ignored them and Alkaid and Pyrrha just smiled politely, pretending not to notice the tangent the conversation had taken.
"With that settled," Rise-sama said, as she turned to Alkaid and Pyrrha with a pleased smile on her face. "Alkaid-chan, Pyrrha-chan, how did you like my concert? Did you enjoy it?"
Alkaid blinked. Why would a goddess of singing ask that!? It was a no brainer wasn't it? She was floundering, oh drat. What to say in response?
"It was wonderful. The best music that I've ever heard." Pyrrha said honestly. "I'm not much into pop, but I think I'll have to start looking into it."
Nice save, Pyrrha!
"And you, Alkaid-chan?" Rise-sama pressed, leaning towards Alkaid curiously.
"I'll most certainly join my wife in listening to it more."
"I'm glad you like it." Rise-sama said, leaning back into her seat with a sigh of relief. This prompted Marie-sama to pull her into a one-armed hug and Yu-sama to tenderly kiss her forehead.
Again Alkaid just blinked in confusion. Was she reading this situation right? Was Rise-sama insecure of her performance!? A goddess of singing insecure about a concert she'd performed!? How… That just didn't make sense!
"Mama was human once, Alkaid-san." Yuri-sama explained with an exasperated shake of her head.
"She still thinks and feels like a human does a little too much as a result." Juri-sama added with an exasperated sigh of her own.
Of course, Rise-sama was a mortal turned divine. Alkaid had forgotten that. And being far more used to divine beings confident in their domain where such a question would be silly, she'd wrongly applied that logic to Rise-sama. What a blunder!
"Isn't that a good thing?" Pyrrha asked, sounding thoughtful. "Still being human in ways, I mean. It keeps her from becoming detached from humanity like so many gods are, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it does." Rise-sama said, offering Pyrrha a grateful smile at her being so understanding. "But the twins were born as Kami and know no other state of being, not like I do. Not even like Yu-kun and Marie-chan do through their incarnations. So they don't understand."
"We're trying to teach them," Marie-sama said, shooting her twins a quelling look as they fidgeted mutinously at her words. "But it's not been the easiest thing to do."
"But we try regardless." Yu-sama added, adding his own stern look to the one his wife was shooting the twins, its added weight finally getting them to fully settle down.
"In thanks for your understanding, Pyrrha-chan, I would like to give you a parting gift." Rise-sama said as an envelope appeared in her hands. "Have this."
"What is it?" Pyrrha asked as she graciously accepted the gift as Rise-sama passed it over.
"Reservations for as long as you and your wife like at the Ginzanso ryokan in Ginzan Onsen." Rise-sama informed her with a grin. "Along with details for open tabs at every amenity you might like to enjoy in the town."
Alkaid gasped, having an idea of how expensive something like that could be. Ginzan Onsen was one of Japan's premiere onsen destinations after all.
"I know what you are thinking, Alkaid-chan, but money is no obstacle." Rise-sama said with a smile. "Not in the face of my gratitude for your wife's kind understanding."
"We thank you for your gift, Lady Rise." Pyrrha said with a bow that in an inversion of their usual pattern, Alkaid found herself being the one to hastily emulate. "We will be sure to make good use of it."
"Please do so before you leave Japan," Marie-sama said, her eyes unfocused even as she looked at Alkaid and Pyrrha, as if she was looking at them but something else as well, all at once. "I know you're tempted to head home to collect your daughter and apprentice then do so, but trust me, you'd be better off if you just went now without them. They'd appreciate it more too in the long run."
"Foreshadowing?" Alkaid asked with a sigh.
"Yup," the twins chirped in unison.
"Guess, we're going to have a second honeymoon then, 'Kaidy." Pyrrha said cheerfully.
"Looks like," Alkaid agreed, her happiness tempered by her worries about what exactly Marie-sama had seen that prompted her warning.
Guess we'll just have to wait and see to find out.
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless and Axios as always!
And so we delve further into our trip to Japan. Yeah, as we showed last time, we are taking more of the Persona 4 pathway for them. It fits too well from a narrative perspective I think and Rise's own rise is actually a lot of fun to delve into. Then again, Yu was rather generous with his love if you did what I know a lot of people did with the options.
And Rise bringing about the rise of idols through her shrine just tickled us as poetic.
Nameless: I'm not gonna comment on the chapter this time as it's time for my semi-regular rants against trolls. Bear with me as I vent. Again. So I'm quite a masochist about confronting them and have an overabundance of time sometimes, so I engaged with a recent critic who left reviews over on FFN about one of our older fics. During the course of which, they were just being a troll and pushing for a nitpicky change without any real justification. It was a legitimate critique but not one that warranted a change, not when the content in the fic they took issue with could totally be justified. I thus acknowledged their valid observations but pointed out arguments which justified why the change was unnecessary and they refused to engage with them, often just ignoring them and just barreling ahead with their own arguments. Essentially insisting on getting their way. Things got nasty when I called them out on it and culminated in them eventually, in a roundabout way, threatening us with the potential of getting in trouble with the law for writing fanfic by citing how we had lifted from canon in the aforementioned old fic. As if that wasn't enough, they then PMed E4E who was asleep due to timezone differences during the course of our PM conversation to accuse me of being in the wrong and questioning my rights as co-writer to the fic. A PM that starts off with a lie as proven by his own PMs to me. A PM designed to sow discord between us. I don't know about you but I find this person to be utterly intolerable. Furthermore, I know this is an impossible dream, but I really hope we never get other reviewers/readers like this again.
Yeah, I mean having differing opinions on things is fine. Truly. But if we state our reason why we didn't do it, no need to keep pushing the envelope on something that was 1) done years ago; 2) something that doesn't change much in the grand scheme of things; and 3) is just personal flair. And I've known Nameless for a decade, while prickly, he tends to do what's right. So discord was a moot option.
Nameless: I try to do what's right most of the time. But I'm only human and like you said prickly, the latter of which can't be helped. It's my personality. XD So I fumble sometimes, but the extent this reviewer went to… Overboard doesn't even come close to describing it, at least based on my experience. Even during my most bitter spats with hostile reviewers, never did anyone complain to E4E about my justifications for decisions we made in our writing. No one has ever threatened us with the law either. So yeah, I totally just had to raise this absurd incident with you all.
In the great words of somebody; that's plain whack.
Nameless: ROFL! [Calms down] Okay, E4E, enough of this. Why don't we be done with this and you sign us out for this chapter?
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!
