Interlude I: Is it Wrong for a Goddess to Rig things in her Favor?

Ugh.

Ugh…

Uuuuuggghhhh…

"Anpu, if I wanted to listen to your groans, I would've stayed home while you 'wait' for Selah to come home." Bast swatted the Guide of the Dead behind one of her ears, getting the dark-skinned goddess to flinch away and stop grumbling under your breath. "I swear, even now you act too much like those corpses of yours, moaning and groaning at the mildest disturbance."

"Don't tell me you're enjoying this party, Bast-titty." Anubis said, the faintest twitching of the corners of her mouth being the only evidence that she was teasing her friend.

"I will spank you in front of this crowd, so help me." The promise of retribution was as swift as it was harmless.

"Speaking of spankings…" The cat-eared goddess' sharp eyes widened at the non sequitur, panic plain to see as they both knew exactly what she was about to talk about. "Flirting with my first and only child? Behind my back, no less? For shame."

In Anubis' humble opinion, have a poker face stiffer than the dead made teasing everyone so much funnier, as her laughter would give the game away. And seeing her best friend's skin burn with embarrassment at being caught was a treat she could never give up on.

"How the fuck- right. Falna." The far-more experienced goddess sighed, already well aware of the flashes into their child's lives the Updates give them. "Damn, why'd that have to be what you saw? And why did you bring it up in the middle of a banquet?"

Anubis shrugged before turning around and gazing at all the food laid out for the various gods. Pointedly ignoring a random shortstack in rags bagging up all the food she could find as soon as she entered the building, Anubis herself began sampling the many delicacies available.

"Anpu, I know the food looks nice, but we came here to socialize." The accursed word formed a grimace on the goddess' face, causing her to face the so-called friend who used it.

"Bastettie, let's be honest here. There's barely anyone here worth talking to, and I only came here because you said you wouldn't bring back any food if I didn't." A threatening rumble came from the goddess' throat, but was quickly silenced as she regained her composure.

"Anubis, can you honestly say you think anyone is worth talking to? Aside from me and Selah."

"No." The statement was simple, plain, and unequivocally truthful. "Most people are only honest when they're dead and buried. Why should I waste time with lies, when the truth is less than a century away?" Dead men tell no lies. Why should they, there is no longer any benefit to deception. Spirits do not hunger, fall ill, or end up exposed by the elements. There is no reputation to upkeep, no status or title to uphold.

But in Bastet, and her only child, she found an honesty that emulates that of the dead. Not to say neither of them never lie- Bastet constantly says she'll eventually kick them out, despite the fact she hates being on her own, and she doesn't let her Familia stay with her.

Selah says that the reason he doesn't ravage her at every opportunity is because of his respect of Bast, and while that is true, the main reason is he doesn't view himself as 'attractive enough' to fuck a goddess. Despite being perfectly willing and able to shamelessly grope her in the shower- while asking permission.

Men are weird. But, this one's her weirdo, so she'll have to deal with it.

"Anubis." The Guide of the Dead snapped to attention at the Goddess of Protector's tone. "I… understand why you don't want to talk to people if you believe they are all liars." Anubis recognized how she very deliberately didn't say her beliefs were bullshit. "But if I hadn't dragged him off the street, would you think your idiot was a liar too?"

The thought sent shivers up the Goddess' spine- the thought of someone she genuinely cared for being left alone on the streets of Orario, without any hope or plan of his own. Even worse, the thought of possibly running into him and writing him off as a liar without second thought. Those were the things nightmares were made of. Still…

"You… may have a point." Admitting that to the eternally smug goddess was like pulling teeth, before gargling saltwater. "But, honestly, how many decent gods could there possibly be?"

"I am Ganesha! Welcome!" A conversationally loud shout came from the side, as the god in the elephant mask walked up to the two goddesses with a friendly wave. Anubis felt a smug look from her best friend, and her brow furrowed.

"Doesn't count." Too stupid to lie, has no off button, extrovert. Ew.

"Fuck you mean doesn't count-? Hello, Ganesha." Bast spoke up with a conversational smile, waving the God of the People over. "How is your Familia handling the policing business lately?"

"Haha! Work gossip at a party? Excellent!" The two then immediately split off from Anubis, a pointed look from the so-called Bast-friend asking the jackal goddess if she wanted to come along. She shook her head, and the two began talking about Familia business.

Anubis sighed as she felt her fingertips begin to chill, her ears standing straight as the sounds of the party came flooding in like a wall of sound.

This was why she hated going out- the noise of the living buzzed through her mind like a swarm of locusts. Not to say Bastet or Selah were quiet- both tended to be easily excited, which naturally made them raise their volume.

No, loud was completely different from noise. It was chaotic, unfettered, and agonizing on her ears that were so used to the quiet wails of spirits confessing their sins. Her mind naturally fettered between every conversation with no way to stop.

Things like this is why she never wandered out- the only things that bothered to have anything worth listening to were the people who already spent all their free time at home with her. Going outside with them… it was a distraction. But going alone, where life was happening all around her?

It was like a flare to the senses. She knew this.

But she split off anyway, because by Ra if her only child was pushing himself to his limits and risking his life in that ditch, she could handle a crowd filled with immortals who were high on mortal life.

Still, at least the food was a decent distraction.

"- my children have been finding a lot of Soma's children acting amuck lately. More than usual, even." Bast couldn't help the grimace on her face as the god spoke, helping herself to a sip of wine as they spoke. Not Soma's of course- that obsessive man wouldn't have a speck of valis from her or her Familia.

"And we can't do anything about him?" She asked, immensely concerned. While Ganesha's Familia was substantially larger than hers, both their Familias worked in policing Orario, though in different ways. Ganeshaa generally worked to enforce the law on entire Familias alongside the Guild, while the feline goddess worked to target specific lawbreakers, and otherwise just acted as protectors to places or businesses more likely to get attacked.

And despite the obvious animosity between Bast and the Guild, considering she refused to work for the extremely callous organization when it came to policing and bodyguards, she and Ganeshaa were still friendly on account of being the only people stupid enough to try and dictate laws to gods.

"No. Punishment of a specific God in particular is out of our jurisdiction." The thought of intruding on Ouranos' authority sent a shiver down both of their spines. "And anything else we could do would drastically make the situation worse." Bast was forced to agree, because if they didn't go after Soma, what then?

Crimes undertaken in the Dungeon are almost completely unpunished. Almost, due to the fact that sometimes witnesses to the crime get away, and they sometimes decide to report the crime. The very thought of this infuriates the Protector Goddess, but such things are out of her hands.

What could be done? Arresting an entire Familia based on crimes they may commit is so ignorant it hurts to consider. Doing so to specific, suspected members without any proof would reek of Divine Politics or the like. Even if Soma is too busy working to perfect his damned wine to care about anything aside from the fact, every Gekai native in Orario would jump at the chance to accuse them of bias.

The fact it could happen to them, and 'ruin the game' as it were, was enough of a threat to send the Familia's of the pettiest of gods into a frenzy. Hell, even a War Game wouldn't be surprising in those circumstances.

And Bast believed going to Tenkai would free her of the politics and ego-managing her kind were oh so fond of. How naive.

"Then, what can we do about all this, Ganesha?" She asked, washing down her words with a glass of wine. "Every action will be dismissed, or actively make everything worse."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong, my friend." He boasted as usual, and Bast once more had to keep from snapping at his boisterous attitude. "If we cannot act directly, then we must be indirect. While we as a police force cannot act, that is not all we are, right?"

"Yes, I'm sure a plant-based balm will fix the criminal unrest in our city." The biting sarcasm flowed naturally, and Bast was almost disappointed when he flinched without fighting back.

Pussy.

"A-ah, right." At least the masked god was quick to regain his confidence. "No, I'm speaking about the Monsterphilia occurring three days from now. My lovely children have managed to collect an Infant Dragon from the Dungeon."

Bast's spine straightened at the mention of that monster, pupils dilating slightly as she turned to Ganesha. But she regained control of herself, and nodded to the god before her for telling her plainly.

Still, anger and frustration burned in her chest at the statement.

"An Infant Dragon? You plan on bringing-" One of them, she didn't say. "- a Level 2 Monster to Orario, to parade around like a pet in front of thousands?"

"Yes. And you know why."

Bast did. It was a show of strength- a declaration to all the people of Orario that despite the supposed anonymity within the Dungeon, that Ganesha was more than capable of utilizing strength beyond anything they could prepare for.

Not to mention the usual solidarity and increase in Adventurer numbers the Monsterphilia brings every year- never underestimate what a live execution of your enemies can accomplish in front of the right crowd and under the right circumstances.

Truly, the half-dressed elephant-man was a master of appeasing the masses.

A harsh breath slipped past her lips, knowing all too well that despite her many gripes with his plan, she wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. Logic be damned, he must already had the thing in a cage, or he wouldn't have mentioned it to her.

"Fine. I'll… hold my tongue for now." The goddess took another gulp of her wine, knowing the only reason they had this conversation was so she was prepared to see that… thing in person for the first time. "But I swear, if even a single person is hurt…"

One person in particular flashed in her mind- the big, stupid man that stayed rent free in her house and had the audacity to talk back when she 'talked shit' as it were.
"Bast, if that comes to pass, there is not a single thing you could do that would be worse than what I'd do myself." She nodded at the uncharacteristically ominous words, before finding her attention dragged to a crowd.

"... Is Hestia slapboxing Loki again?"

Ganesha merely laughed boisterously, and the gods both turned to watch the free entertainment, completely unaware of the intense gaze of a goddess of unparalleled beauty.

She smiled at the opportunity laid out before her, before continuing on her way, a heartfelt scheme brewing in her mind.

And just maybe, she'll find the time to see her beloved on the way.

A/N: Foreshadowing is sometimes obvious.

Was going to add more to this, but decided instead of a random time skip in the middle of it all, I'd make the other half after the main chapter.

Also writing this was a struggle, given the gap between updates. I just wasn't feeling these characters- or maybe I'm just bad at third-person. Who knows.

Anyways, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. Peace.