Interludes 1
What the Goddess saw that day
Boredom.
That's the emotion that invaded the thoughts of the Goddess sitting at the top of the mortal realm.
She had had her fun in the beginning; starting from the bottom like any other Deity, like any other person.
That her charm made it unfair compared to other deities? She shrugged at the thought, since all the Gods and Goddess had their fortitudes; hers just happened to be the definition of absolute beauty.
But with time, things started to get boring after fighting her way to the top.
Her favorite pastime became looking down from the top of the tower. Watching the souls of people, taking interest in all of those that caught her attention; hoping one of them could become the one.
Sadly, none of them cut it in the end. Not even her strongest children, who deserved most of her love, wasn't what she expected of her destined one.
With time, she became envious of the people below; being ignorant of the freedom they had just made it worse. However, sneaking away from Orario on a whim resulted in obtaining something that could solve that.
Her life as Syr was a new fresh start for her. Yes, it had her downs considering her former 'Little Giant' could be an actual slave driver sometimes while working at the Hostess of Fertility, but it was well worth it. The life experience and people she befriended as Syr helped fill that little emptiness inside of her; forming mortal bonds was such a wonderful thing after all.
Not to mention that Syr was a better way of watching all of those who caught her eye, and persuade them into doing things for her; Syr was a nice girl, after all.
And so, things went on for a long time, until that day.
There had been a shift in the Dungeon, forcing all of the Gods in the city to attend a meeting that led nowhere. It had already happened once over a year ago and just like that time, they didn't reach any sort of conclusion as to why that had happened.
An interesting event had happened during that time as well, the news of the abnormal Goliath had reached their ears near the end of that day after it had already been killed. She had been intrigued about the event, so she had sent some of her Children to corroborate the event. It turned out that Tsubaki, Hephaestus' child, had managed to complete such a feat.
However, Freya couldn't help but sigh in disappointment when she heard the news. The Goddess had already seen her soul; red like embers with traces of black that represented the coal, and sparks of fire coming out of her. In other words, just like the fire on the forge.
'So dull.'
That had been her thought about the woman, and there wasn't any reason to think otherwise despite her most recent achievement; so, she ignored the whole thing.
But even so, The Goddess just happened to be staring down from the tower as part of her usual routine and spotted the blacksmith. Her soul had certainly become brighter, but nothing worth investing her time in.
And then, she saw him.
A sudden lighthouse of pure darkness next to the blacksmith. It was so abnormal and out of the ordinary that The Goddess had forgotten how to breathe for a moment. But, even so, she kept staring at it as if it were an abyss.
Her gaze went deeper and deeper into the person's soul, losing focus of her surroundings until she finally noticed everything around her had changed.
'Beautiful.'
She found herself standing on a vast grass field under a night colorful sky with a green tone filled with stars and a massive full moon that seemed to be awfully close. It was simply too beautiful a scenery in her eyes.
The Goddess looked around and noticed black mountains far away, but stopped once she spotted the massive tree next to a round table with eight seats around it.
Her analytical gaze narrowed on the tree.
There was a huge trace of pure green energy on the surface, as if it were a soul; far more beautiful as she got closer. The Goddess didn't notice that she had entered inside a self-induced trance, as if she were a moth following a source of light. Her cheeks had faint blushes, and her eyes were incredibly dazed; she had been completely induced by the tree with green light.
However, the Goddess did retain some semblance of herself to know that something seemed off.
The mountains around the area seemed a little closer. Her instincts as a Goddess of War made her stop, the night had suddenly become dull of all sources of light. She had only looked up for a mere moment before realizing the tree was no longer there, instead there was a mountain in her way.
'…No.' she thought, as she got a better look at it. The formation in front of her was pitch black, but it was close enough that she could determine those were not rocks; they were scales.
The 'structures' around her started to move just as she had realized that they were not mountains, but a single massive body that had surrounded her.
Freya looked in all directions, trying to find a way out; but she suddenly stopped frozen in place. The Goddess felt a chill run down her whole body as she realized someone, something, was staring at her.
Had the situation not been so out of control, she would have considered it ironic. Maybe it was her experience as a usual watcher, but her head moved upward as if she knew where the stare was coming from.
And she was right.
It had taken her a few moments as she stared into the abyss once more, and it glared back in the form of two massive glowing emerald colored draconic eyes as small growls reached her ears. It was still too dark for her to see the face of what she already knew was staring at her. It wasn't until its whole body started to be covered in lightning of black and green that she finally saw the head of the massive black dragon staring down at her.
The Goddess had ever only had a glance of the One Eyed Black Dragon from afar, the distance in which she did was extremely ridiculous. However, it had been enough for terror to take over, terror so large that a terrified expression took over her face: that would be the first and only time she had done that, until now.
The eyes of the dragon started to glow as a massive roar came out of its mouth, depriving Freya of all of her senses, making her experience a sudden burst of pain before realizing she was back at the top of the babel.
Her hair was a mess, the sweat on her body and her erratic breathing would have given anyone who just saw her a wrong impression of what she had been doing.
The Goddess tried to collect her senses as she fixed her composure, only to then stare back down at him; staring back right at her. And despite not being able to see his face clearly, she just knew he was smirking at her.
She sighed in delight.
All of her fears and concerns were wiped away at the thought of something new, interesting and over all strong popping into existence in front of her.
It didn't take long for Freya to figure out that the rumors about Tsubaki Collbrande were fake. The blacksmith was most likely covering for him, and for a good reason. He was someone that had been undetected until now, even from Freya herself for so long; his sudden appearance would only make many deities look for him.
It had been a wise decision, seeing as only she knew the truth at the moment. And it seemed like the Goddess of Luck had been on her side, as apparently the blacksmith had sent him straight to the Hostess.
However… her first interaction was not what she was expecting.
The blonde treated Syr like a pariah; it was almost as if the nice girl act disgusted him. And it continued that way, to the point he outright made his anger for her clear when she found out about his status as a former noble.
He was even outright ready to ruin Ryuu's second chance in life for eavesdropping said information in the first place.
To summarize it; Drake Aurion was as ruthless as he was honest. His dislike towards the divine being the best example, the second being his interaction with Loki Familia during his first night at the Hostess.
She honestly had a good laugh that night; seeing Loki being verbally abused and her Braver disregarded as if he was nothing, but then came the matter of Bete Loga. The Goddess wasn't a fool, she knew Drake had something to do with what happened to the werewolf; it was a shame she hasn't been able to figure out much about it.
There was also the matter of Allen, who had received sole instructions of only stalking him. Her child had suffered such an easy defeat that gave her a vague idea of how strong he truly was. But not enough to know if Ottarl would have a problem in dealing with him.
So she decided to approach him during his little outing with Anya; the girl had been the perfect subject to trigger him and have a reason for Ottarl to intervene if he decided to take the bait. But even so, she didn't expect him to resist her Charm at all; even though that had managed to get under his skin since it looked like he was about to assault her… only for him to do a complete one-eighty all of the sudden.
She gripped her fist at what happened after. He outright insulted her, verbally humiliated and degraded her in front of everyone present. It had been so bad that she forced her Charm on everyone in the area to leave and forget about the incident.
Freya had been so infuriated that ordering Ottarl to act right there came to mind, even though the orders never left her mouth; seeing as she was left speechless at what he had done to Aeshma with the mere flick of a finger.
The Goddess understood something at the moment. All mortals praised the very spot a deity walked on, even if they hated them. That didn't apply to Drake, whose hate for the divine had clearly been underestimated to the point she thought he would actually be willing to send her back to Tenkai; consequences be damned.
So, she decided to test him, using Aeshma and see how far he was willing to go… not realizing that would come to bite her back as Freya the Goddess of Love secluded herself into her personal chambers. So far only Ottarl and Hellum had seen the slight glass wound on her forehead, not willing to see the light of day or night until it fully healed; leaving her alone with her own thoughts regarding the blonde.
She found him intriguing, there was no need to deny that.
He was strong and well looking, only a blind person wouldn't notice that.
She hated him, for the humiliation and pain he had put her through. And even with that said, she could not lie; She felt completely attracted to him, even though that didn't mean things would turn out nice for him.
She would make him submit to her, beg for her love, be the only thing in his mind. And if he ended up being the one she had been waiting for; her Odr, then all the better. Because at the end of it all, she wanted to walk into that grass field again, walk on it without care in the world, and see what else laid deep into his abyssal soul.
Because she was a Goddess; the most beautiful of them all, the incarnation of love itself. Everything fell into her grasp in the end, no matter how long it took.
'And this isn't an exception.' She thought to herself, low chuckles only for her to hear… or so she thought.
'… How predictable.'
The Wolf's usual duty
"I am sorry, but I fail to understand your response."
Eina Tulle mentally gulped, looking down at the most important Pallum in the city, who just happened to be accompanied by her race's future queen.
"The Guild's willing to reward Loki Familia as it was initially agreed." The half-elf replied, pretty much repeating what she had previously said.
Finn Deinme on the other hand simply stared at her, his usual smile gone; only an expression of a man which meant business remained.
"I understood that part. What I want to know is information regarding the person you, your associate, and Ganesha Familia met on an early morning around a week ago." He smiled. "We heard from our fellow Familia members that he was somehow involved with solving the incident in the dungeon regarding the unknown type of monsters. We would just like to know with which Familia he's affiliated with."
A drop of sweat started to roll down the Half-Elf face. The smile The Braver was giving her was anything but a friendly smile, even if it looked like one on the surface.
If anything, it made Eina feel like prey ; waiting for her to do something with the sole intention of fully taking advantage of her.
"Eina," The Guild member snapped, looking at her mother's best friend with a frozen expression. "Breath." And so she did; not out of being something natural of her, but because her princess had ordered. But even so, it had managed to calm her down a bit. "We just want to have a word with that person, that's all."
Eina put a professional front, even though she was a mess of nerves in the insight. "I am afraid that's out of my hands, Lady Riveria. That would mean I would be giving away personal information about a Familia without the proper procedures being followed."
"I see." Finn rubbed his chin. "So, he's at least from a Familia inside the city." He voiced , recalling that the person of interest had stated he wasn't an Adventurer, and yet Tione and the other stated he was in the Dungeon; meaning he at least wasn't registered. But it looked like his God was at least in the city.
"Actually," Finn shifted in anticipation. "His deity isn't in the ci-" she bit her tongue, noting the narrowed gaze the Loki Familia Captain was giving her. His expression returned to his 'friendly' one.
"So, his deity is not in Orario, which means they are not registered in the Guild." Eina started to become pale. "But you stated you couldn't give information regarding another Familia, which means he's being employed by them."
Eina's expression told him everything he needed, so he decided to keep using that as an advantage.
"Is it perhaps Freya Familia?" he asked, leaving the girl in a stuttering state, but no clear change in her current expression.
"Demeter?"
Nothing.
"Dian Cecht?"
Nothing.
"Hep-"
"That's enough, Braver." A cold voice stated as someone put a clipboard in front of Eina to hide her face, which was taken by the Half-Elf.
"Good day to you, Rose."
Rose Fannett looked at the Pallum with indifference, and instead gave a slight bow to the High-Elf behind him before staring back at the Familia Captain.
"Are you trying to get Eina in trouble? I don't think there's a need to remind you revealing personal information regarding another Familia is prohibited."
"Hey, hey," Finn rubbed his cheek with a low laugh. "That was never my intention,"
'Of course it wasn't.' she mentally rolled her eyes. His intention was clear, getting information he needed.
"We just want to properly have a talk with that person and ask him about what happened in the Dungeon." Finn adopted a neutral expression, seeing as he was dealing with one of the most experienced members of the Guild. "I thought the Guild would be interested as well, seeing as you commissioned the quest in the first place."
"We would be, if Lord Ouranos hadn't ordered us to stop everything regarding that incident." She narrowed her eyes. "The fact that you are getting a reward is nothing but the Guild being generous seeing as your Familia didn't even deal with the problem."
Finn internally flinched; seeing as that last comment could be interpreted as the werewolf calling them useless.
"Why would Lord Ouranos do that?" Riveria asked, ignoring the underhanded insult.
"We don't question his word, Riveria." Rose gave her a blank expression. "Or do you perhaps do the same to Loki when she barges in drunk in various places, this being one of them?" The werewolf recalled a time in which the Trickster Goddess had barged in near closing time, drunk. She had then proceeded to grope most of the female staff, her included.
"We deeply apologize for that one more time." Both executives said in perfect sync, giving a solemn bow to her.
"I suppose we can't do anything about it then." Finn stated, seeing as the Guild clearly wasn't interested in the Dungeon's matters.
'At least at first sight.' The Pallum thought, knowing full well that Ouranos knew something they didn't; he wouldn't have intervened otherwise. But there were more important matters at hand.
"Even so, if you can't reveal which Familia he's working under, could you at least tell us something about him?"
Rose couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "And why are you so interested in him? It can't simply be because he was involved in that Dungeon incident a week ago."
Finn sighed, but it was Riveria who answered. "Many reasons. One of them being a very bad start with him."
The corner of Rose's lips moved upward, the only thing missing was a snort from her part. "Let me guess, Loga?" she asked, recalling that he had expressed his experience and disdain of dealing with the werewolf.
"Among other things." The High-Elf eyed her Captain, the Pallum couldn't help but release a small sigh. "So, we would appreciate any information you have regarding him, that way we can at least be prepared when we have the chance to talk to him again."
Rose gave Riveria a careful look. "It almost sounds like we you were gonna take him out."
The Elf maintained her stoic expression. "If it comes to it, we will." But her voice still carried too much authority behind them.
"I see…" Rose stated, recalling Tsubaki's words regarding him, covering the lower part of her face as she did.
'He's strong.'
She smiled behind her hand, thinking about how sure Tsubaki was sure about her statement. The blacksmith might be carefree, but she was serious when she wanted to.
"Nothing relevant comes to mind." She lied, revealing her face to show her usual stoic expression. "We don't even know his name," Rose looked to Eina, who had been hiding behind the clipboard until now. "isn't that right, Eina?"
Eina Tulle lowered the clipboard slightly, to meet her princess's eye and nod, seeing as that part at least was true.
"I see." The High-Elf closed her eyes and lowered her head for a moment in acknowledgment. "I suppose we will be taking-"
"I am sorry to interrupt," Rose looked to the side to see a silver haired Elf, who quickly looked at Riveria and bowed. "Lady Riveria."
"Sophie." The High-Elf nodded in acknowledgement before the silver haired one looked at Rose before handing her a piece of paper.
"And this is?"
"The information about that giant sword every blacksmith is talking about. The owner finally registered with the Guild."
That got the interest of the Loki Familia executives as Rose read the paper, not being able to smile as she read the contents of it. "I see." She looked at her colleague. "Thank you, Sophie. I will take care of this."
The Elf nodded, and then proceeded to give a slight bow to her princess before leaving.
"Giant sword?" Finn got her attention. "I have never heard of a drop item like that." He gave her that smile. "Mind sharing the information with us?"
Rose forced herself to return to her stoic expression. "I am afraid that isn't happening, not until we have properly validated this and it's revealed to the public as the regulations state."
Finn sighed, before giving her a soft smile. "You are playing a hard bargain today, Rose."
Translation: "Why do you have to be a stubborn bitch?"
Rose adopted a kind smile. "And you are as persistent as always."
Translation: "Get a hint you overgrown brat."
Riveria couldn't help but sigh at the underhanded insults between the two. "Thank you for your help." She addressed both Rose and Eina before giving a little bow. "We will send someone to collect the Guild's reward." She looked at Eina. "Please do take care."
Eina nodded; half of her face still hidden behind her clipboard.
"And please, do tell us if you find something about him." Finn did the same as Riveria before turning around and finally retired from the premises, making Eina sigh in relief as she revealed her whole face.
However, she became nervous, mentally preparing herself for another scolding from Rose. But that never happened, instead all the Half-Elf could see was an almost uncharacteristic smirk on her face, only for it to be wiped out before she looked back at her; causing Eina to flinch in return.
"You did good for the most part." Rose suddenly stated. "However, you need to practice keeping a stoic expression. Especially with that runt," she replied, making both look at the form of the retreating Pallum. "You can already see there's nothing honest about that smile of his… the same applied to most Adventurers." She sighed. "If you feel you can't keep a blank face, retrieve. Better to be called out for lack of manners than for letting information out."
Eina nodded, mentally taking note of Rose's words as if it was coming from a deity. "Um… Do you want me to take care of that?" Eina asked, looking at the paper regarding the new drop item.
"Don't worry about it." Rose replied. "I will take care of it" she motioned her head, indicating for Eina to go and continue her work, which she did; leaving the werewolf alone with the piece of information, smiling as she reviewed it once more.
The item was the Udaeus Black Sword, a rumor she had heard as well around here. However, what she didn't know at the time was who had managed to get it.
The item was registered under 'Tsubaki Collbrande', and the date was the same day the incident with the earthquakes and the mysterious monster in the Dungeon had been solved; the very same day she had met Tsubaki and him at the entrance of the Dungeon.
The blacksmith hadn't entered the Dungeon that day, but he did.
It had only taken her a moment to figure things out when she first read the information.
Rose didn't know if he had received help or not fighting Udaeus, but it was clear he was involved. She scowled, recalling he was also somehow involved in resolving the incident with the weird monster. However, she quickly discarded the thought, following the order of the Guild to forget about it.
But going back to the topic at hand. She thought about Tsubaki's words about his strength, and Loki Familia's insistence about him. So she decided to postpone the publication regarding the information of the item, seeing as Braver would most likely figure things out just from this.
'You two owe me one.' Rose thought with a small smirk, thinking about Orario's best blacksmith and her unknown friend.
Tsubaki's dilemma
Gareth Landrock, Level Six.
Whenever someone mentions the executives of the Loki Familia, people would usually first think of Finn 'The Braver' or Riveria the 'Nine Hell'. But even so, he was well known in Orario; especially for being the most approachable/normal of the three.
However, he usually maintained a neutral expression on his face so nobody really knew what he was thinking. And truth to be told, he was exhausted given the current situation within his Familia.
So, he decided to go and clear his mind by doing some choirs; performing maintenance on his Ax was one of them. Weirdly enough, Tsubaki wasn't at her shop. One of her employees had sent him to her home, when Gareth asked why she wasn't at her store the worker simply said she was working on a personal project of sorts.
Suffice to say, that got the Dwarf attention. He acknowledged that the woman was the best blacksmith in the city, and if there was something she was working on then it would be something big.
Too bad that whatever image of a respected blacksmith he had in his head, quickly crumbled in an instant at the sight of her room. The servants at her manor had let him pass, but only because he could take care of himself.
That didn't raise any red flags in his mind.
Summarizing, her room was a complete mess. There was a ton of paper on the floor with which Gareth could only identify as doodles at first glance. His perception changed when he picked one of them and checked it.
'Energy Reflecting Shields.' His eyes narrowed as he looked at the symbols under the title. Realization came to him as he recognized they were runes, but of what kind? He didn't know.
'Elemental Attribute Weapons… Altering Weight Combat Boots… Weapons with Explosive Wave…'
He continued reading piece after piece, picking up one random paper off the floor as he got closer to a massive pile of them in the corner of the room.
'High Frequency Blades…' Gareth raised an eyebrow at the title, looking at the runes below to see they were scratched halfway, just like the rest. 'Looks like the lass is having a hard time with this.'
He looked at the pile, his hand reaching for another one. 'Divin-' Gareth never managed to finish reading the title seeing how his instincts screamed at him to step away, but it was too late as a hand had suddenly burst out of the pile of papers to get a firm hold on his beard.
His eyes widened, letting the paper fall from his hand as he spotted a single red eye looking at him with a narrow look. "I said-"
Gareth recognized Tsubaki's voice. "Hey, hey, hey! It's me lass!" he stated in panic; the grip on his beard tighter as she started to pull it, hard.
"-that I didn't want to be disturbed!"
But it seemed that she wasn't listening as she pulled part of his beard off him, making him shout be heard around the whole block.
"NOT THE BEARD!"
"I am just saying, this is why you don't get into a woman's room without announcing yourself." Tsubaki stated, not daring to look at Gareth while her arms were crossed.
They were currently sitting around a kotatsu, with the executive of the Loki Familia staring blankly at the blacksmith, completely ignoring the Takoyaki and green tee she had served him as an apology.
"I did, you didn't answer." He narrowed his eyes, only to sigh before taking a piece of food off the table. "Forget about it. I am already dealing with Familia stuff, adding more stress outside of it will not do me any good."
Tsubaki internally sighed, finally staring his way; but not daring to look at the asymmetric hole visible in the Dwarf's beard. "Really? How so?" she asked, taking the chance to divert the topic somewhere else.
"Finn's been stressing out as of late." He started to recall the most recent incident. "A Guild issued quest went wrong. And by wrong, I mean we have no damn idea what's going on." he took another piece of food. "I won't go into details, but apparently our only source of information is unapproachable thanks to Bete and Finn; seeing as the Guild has pretty much left the whole incident in the air."
He took a sip of his tea before continuing, not noticing Tsubaki had started to sweat; knowing full well who he was talking about.
"Finn and Bete have already put the whole Familia in a bad light in his eyes a month ago for an incident that happened in the Hostess of Fertility. We haven't been there since then because something young Ais felt."
Tsubaki raised an eyebrow, recalling that the Sword Princess was also another anomaly according to those that interacted with her.
'Not Drake's level of weird though.'
"And what did Orario's more expressive ray of sunshine have to say about this person?" sarcasm was evident in her voice.
"Don't worry about it." he stated, not wanting to worry the blacksmith by saying Ais compared him to the One Eyed Black Dragon. "Loki has been throwing tantrums about going to the Hostess, it only got worse when we found out he started working there." He started to laugh. "I know you don't frequent that place. But still, can you believe that Mia hired a man?" He started to laugh, as did Tsubaki in a rather low manner.
'Been going there at least twice a week now.' She thought, thinking of checking on Drake in a frequent manner.
"However, things got worse after that Guild quest." He looked at the ceiling, his eye twitched at the thought. "That damn Elf suddenly got interested in seeking that guy after hearing he had on his possession some kind of… what was it again… oh yeah, magical knives."
'Storable Spell Knives.' Tsubaki mentally corrected him, pulling her best poker face as he continued.
"It was funny at first, seeing as that stuck-up Elf kept twitching while maintaining that stoic face of her. It became annoying when she made her dislike for keeping away audible. And Finn didn't make things any better by still keeping a distance from him, bah!"
He took his remaining tea in a single shot. "Worst of all, I have been irking myself to go to the Hostess as well. I heard the food has gotten really good, but I can't eat it thanks to the damn Pallum."
"Speaking of food," he looked at a piece of Takoyaki. "Where did you get these? Did someone open a Takoyaki stand in the city?"
"A friend made it for me." She replied calmly, even though her brain thought something else. 'They were cooked by the same person we are talking about.'
"Huh." He ate more. "Mind introducing us? You know I love eastern food."
'Not happening.' She thought. 'Especially with what I am hearing at the moment.' Tsubaki knew their relationship and him being confronted by Loki Familia would be revealed and happen eventually. But until that happens, she would stay quiet.
"We shall see."
Gareth hummed, letting himself go for a second as he savored the food.
"Leaving that aside. That damn quest made us realize there's something weird going on in the Dungeon, and that blonde seems to be at the center of it." The Dwarf released a heavy sight before looking at Tsubaki, the Half-Dwarf was sweating bullets despite her stoic face.
"What's up with you?"
"Nothing." She replied calmly, "it's just the heat." She replied, having been quiet about Drake and what she knew until now had been a pain.
"Anyway, what have you been up to?" he asked, recalling the papers in her room. "Learning something new, perhaps?"
Gareth noticed it right away, her eye narrowed with such a gaze that it looked as if she was gonna kill him. "…Having a hard time?"
"Tch." She made a motion with her mouth before looking away. "Is it that obvious?" Tsubaki knew Gareth had taken a peek at her 'Runeing exercises', all of them unfinished.
"Orario wasn't built in a day, lass."
She snorted. "And Freya didn't manage to fuck her way to the top in a day either… metaphorically or literally."
Both chuckled for a moment.
"Still trying to reach the realm of the Gods?" He asked with the same humor, even though there was a glint of seriousness in his eyes. Because he knew what her dream was, so he wasn't gonna mock it out of respect.
"I think I already know how to cross that massive gap… building the bridge to cross is the fucking problem..."
Drake's notes were clear, really clear. There was a reason as to why he named the end of his book for 'idiots'. Maybe it was because there was something she was overlooking, but she just couldn't complete a damn sequence. Singular glyphs, easy. Two different kinds of glyphs, easy…ish. But beyond that, Tsubaki can't help but metaphorically pull her hair out of frustration.
"And don't you think you are being rather ambitious with that bridge?" He sighed. "I saw some of your ideas, all rather ambitious considering I didn't understand some of them-"
She snorted.
"But I understood enough to know you are just learning this, and yet you are trying to fly instead of cradling."
Tsubaki groaned, rubbing the side of her head in annoyance. "You sound just like the asshole that gave me this knowledge."
"He sounds like a wise guy."
"More like a wise ass." She chuckled. "He wasn't as merciful with his words as you; he was far more honest." The blacksmith cleared her throat. "Stop trying to be so ambitious you dumb bitch. Dwarven Vow #6: Learn before taking action."
Gareth raised his eyebrow. "He's a Dwarf?"
She shook her head. "Partially raised by one, so he knows all of the vows like a bible."
He rubbed his beard, or what was left of it. "Interesting. And I take it you didn't take his words to heart."
"Of course, I didn't." She tried her best not to whine. "I answered by with #4; Don't depend on others. Walk on your own two legs."
Gareth sighed. "I will do you one better, #5: The more you add, the worse it gets. That bridge is gonna keep falling before you even reach the half of the gap if you continue going the way you are now."
Tsubaki rubbed the bridge between her eyes, groaning in annoyance seeing as there were no smart words to reply to that.
"Has your friend offered to lend you a helping hand?"
There was a silent nod.
"And I take it you rejected it."
There was another nod. "He told me he would come back when I decided to start acting my age… I kicked him out after that… literally."
He narrowed his eyes at the last statement, having a good idea she said more in the literal sense than anything. 'Never mess with a woman's age.' It was kind of a golden rule among most men, and it still proved true.
"I think it's more a matter of pride on your part, lass." He sighed. "Your friend is trying to do good for ya, he wouldn't try to teach you this otherwise."
"I know, believe me, I know." She recalled the night when Drake had given the book he himself had written for her, and all the contents on it. "I just want to reach the end of the line without someone grabbing me by the hand as if I was a missing child, with my own effort, no stupid bullshit inherited talent to carry me there… I just want to make something I can proudly say: 'It's mine.'"
Her inner resentment for people like Welf surfaced. She didn't have any problem denying it now seeing as she accepted her negative thoughts, but that still didn't make it any easier.
"No one ever has managed to achieve something great alone, Tsubaki." He started to ponder out loud. "This city, babel, even Rivira. None of those things were built by a single person in the span of a day, week, month or year. Not even the Heroes in the books managed to do anything alone, doesn't matter how much the script is biased towards the Hero." He knew a certain amazon would chew him alive for saying something like that, but she wasn't here at the moment. "You want to reach your goal, do it. But not alone, otherwise you will just die midway."
Gareth's mind thought about Finn for a moment, and his dream of being a symbol of hope for his race; a dream the Pallum knew was impossible to achieve alone.
"…" Tsubaki sighed, making Gareth's lips move upwards, seeing as his message might have reached her. "… I will talk to the asshole the next time I see him."
"Good… having had our heart to heart, why don't you offer me some of the good stuff so we can talk about something else?"
Tsubaki snorted before standing up to look for a bottle of sake in the next room. "You really want to avoid going back to the Twilight Manor, huh?"
"I have only ever had the urge to punch that stupid Elf twice in my life; when I first met her, and just recently." He could hear Tsubak's laugh from afar. "But enough about that, tell me about those rumors I had been hearing about."
"Please don't." she shouted, already knowing which rumor he was talking about. "I am not fucking anyone, ok?"
The Dwarf laughed. "Although I am curious; is your friend and the person in the rumor the very same?"
"Nope."
He been with Loki as long as he had been made Gareth able to think twice about what people said. "You answered too fast, lass."
He heard a sigh all the way from the other room. "Whatever you say, old timer."
"And another rumor I heard, about a giant sword dropped from a monster." He stated, hearing the rumors from the blacksmith near the Hephaestus Familia district earlier in the day. "That sounds like a story to tell."
There was a long silence in the other room, which made the Dwarf feel confused. "Someone gave it to me, so there isn't much to tell really."
"Oh." He was about to press for more, but thought that perhaps her silence indicated it was something personal. "Mind forging something with it."
He heard a snort. "Sure thing! Don't expect it to be cheap though! But don't worry, I will give you a discount."
His eye twitched, her discounts were anything but kind.
"Tell you what, why don't you add something of what you are learning into it, and then we can talk about your prices being good."
"… We shall see."
"By the way, what's taking you so long? Trying to find the worst sake in your storage?" he asked with a laugh.
In reality, Tsubaki had just found the bottle and was about to go back with it to Gareth. But his last question had frozen her in place.
'I am sorry, old man.' She thought. Despite being his personal blacksmith due to a contract, and despite her belief that as a blacksmith she should always arm her client with the best of her capabilities… she was never gonna do that for him with her new found knowledge; at least not with the best of her abilities.
Drake's knowledge given to her was too much. He had even given her knowledge on how to forge something that could kill him, willingly. That's why she would keep the darkest part of it all only between them. That's why she would never forge something at her highest potential in the future, knowing full well Loki Familia might look for a fight against him.
And if that day ever came… well… one didn't have to ask her which side she would pick.
"Do you really think I am so heartless?" She replied, entering the room with her usual smile.
"Only a little." He replied, receiving the bottle while Tsubaki started to ponder about something else.
There was another reason as to why she would keep her best only between them. She was going to cross that gap all right, and achieve something that could be considered worthy of being called divine by forging Drake something that could fully keep up with him.
That's right.
The gap had been given a name, her current and hardest challenge.
Its name was Drake Aurion.
Hephaestus's Mistake
"One kick. All she did was one kick to leave you like that?"
Drake Aurion groaned, laying on a sofa inside of Hephaestus's office with the Goddess looking down at him with a concerned expression.
"What can I say, 'Dragon Slayer' is such bullshit." Drake replied, seeing as Tsubaki's skill had been able to break his Aura Forcefield with ease, break his nose, and knock out some teeth in the process.
Suffice to say, he was already healing. "My teeth growing back has been the most annoying thing of the whole process." That earned a confused look from her.
"Dragon Faunus physicality."
The Goddess snorted. "The same dragon physicality that put you in this state."
He shrugged, putting another piece of cotton in his nose seeing the bleeding still hadn't stopped.
"What the hell did you do anyway?" She asked, sitting on a chair next to him.
He groaned, retelling the events that started earlier on the day, and how it all ended up a drop kick to the face.
Hephaestus couldn't help but sigh. "That girl." She looked concerned. "I hope you realize she didn't do it with a bad intention."
The blonde snorted. "Hephaestus, I had to grow up with seven people, some far more stubborn than others."
'Hey!' Some of his brothers complained.
"People not wanting to accept the field of thorns which is their lives, that's normal." Hephaestus couldn't help but wince as he cracked his neck, in a rather unnatural manner. "This is just the first time I end up in a poor state."
The Goddess leaned back.
"Well… from what you told me, she's really putting everything in studying that book you gave her… maybe a little too much" both recalled their most recent visit to the Hostess of Fertility, the two blacksmiths almost had a catfight over a book for crying out loud. "I don't remember her ever being so… stingy with her stuff."
He sighed, raising his hand lazily. "Partially my fault." She raised an eyebrow. "I made her realize her jealousy towards… certain, more talented individuals."
Hephaestus narrowed her eye after a moment, it wasn't hard to figure out who that person was.
"Welf." Drake nodded, making the Goddess sigh as she understood what her child was going through. "Tsubaki wants something she can call her own. And that pride isn't letting her accept any helping hand offered to her."
Drake started to ponder out loud. "Not sure about that, indirectly calling her old might have earned that dropkick as well."
The blonde didn't need to look in her direction to know he was receiving an empty glare.
"But don't worry about her, Tsubaki will figure out she's rushing things eventually, and I will start tutoring her a little." She heard a groan coming from him, but it seemed like it was not out of pain.
"Despite saying you want to help her, I feel a lot of reluctance towards the act of it." His response came in the shape of glaring at the ceiling. "Was learning from your brother really that bad?"
"He had me locked up in a forge with him for a full week, only so we could start forging right away for the next three days non-stop." He groaned, not noticing the look the Goddess of the Forge was giving him, she wanted to pry into what exactly had they forged together; but she knew there was a very high chance he would not answer.
"There was honestly one time I thought we were gonna kill each other while in there."
'It wasn't that bad.' Lloyd stated, making Drake growl at him.
"Easy for you to say you fucking drill sergeant." Drake replied out loud, to which Hephaestus figured out was arguing with his brother. The Goddess couldn't help but ponder about what he said.
'One week. It only took him one week to master those runes while Tsubaki has only started to grasp the basics; I don't know whether it was Lloyd being such a good master, or Drake simply being a genius when it comes to learning.' She thought to herself, recalling the moment of their first meeting he had a lot of reservation about sharing his knowledge, he even rejected the idea of opening Tsubaki's Aura.
"Why go through this if you dislike it so much?" her tone held honest curiosity towards him, to which he simply kept staring at the ceiling before shrugging.
"I have always helped my friends achieve their objectives, Tsubaki is no exception." A smile graced her face without realizing it. "That doesn't mean I am gonna guide her by the hand all the way through."
"Oh, I am sure that's not gonna be a problem with her though." She stated, recalling something he had asked of her regarding this little subject. "I seem to recall you needing to forge something for her so she can use the runes in her creations."
He ran his hand through his face in response. "Right. I am gonna need at least ten ingots of your best metal, since the natural minerals in this world lack Aura, I don't know how many trials and errors I will go through the process of forging."
Hephaestus moved and placed her elbows on the chair's arms, she leaned in a little and covered the lower part of her face with her intertwined hands with a very dangerous analytical eye; she had fully entered blacksmith mode.
"Right. Since all of the things in this world lack Aura, even the strongest metal might not suffice. But I take it you have something to fix that?"
The only reply she got was a simple nod from him.
"I am also gonna need a lot of expandable tools at hand, feel free to charge for them."
She smiled behind her hands. "Don't worry about it. This is for Tsubaki's sake, I will take the full cost of it all."
Her eye noticed his lips moving slightly upward, she could feel a little hint of mischievousness out of that smile. "I am gonna have to apologize in advance then."
The Goddess forced a kind smile on her face, already knowing she was gonna set a new full set of forging tools by the time his forging was over. "I will accept it begrudgingly then."
The blonde couldn't help but laugh at her honesty. And speaking of which-
"By the way, has Loki come over to ask about my knives?" he asked. "Figured she would come to meet with the 'expert' about it."
Her eye twitched at the clear quotation on the word expert, which she accepted seeing as he was the actual expert around those knives. "Do you really have to rub it in?"
"I am an asshole by default, you take what you get."
She sighed. "Not really. My best bet is that she's trying to keep it to herself and consult through her trusted sources about it." she snorted. "I am more surprised Nine Hells hasn't gone straight to you at the Hostess."
He adopted a blank look at the thought, Hephaestus continued talking.
"It's only a matter of time before they go directly to you though," her face shifted for one full of worry. "What are you planning to do when that happens?"
Drake snorted. "Offer them a table, rudely." She deadpanned a little. "Force them to make their order, and if not, just ignore them. They can't really do anything to force me, in all honesty."
He took his eyes off the ceiling to look at her, her state of being worried clear in her single eye. "Relax. I am not gonna pull an Aeshma on Loki," her eye looked confused a little, but decided not to stop him. "I am aware they are one of the three pillars in the city; that's also the one reason I haven't dealt with Freya in a permanent manner, I don't want to have to fill the hole that power vacuum will cause." he stated, and this point Hephaestus wasn't really surprised by all his declarations, nor by the fact that he could keep them. But even so-
"Actually, I was more worried about you."
"…oh." If Drake was surprised, he didn't show it. Their first meeting had gone without problems, but that didn't mean there hadn't been tension between them thanks to his hate towards the divine, despite being one himself. It was funny really, seeing as she had made her dislike and wariness towards him really noticeable.
"… You do realize I pretty much set a deity to endless torture not too long ago, right?"
The Goddess groaned internally. "The less I know about that, the better." She sighed, only to notice him eyeing her from the side, waiting for her to say something.
"To be honest… deep down I am still afraid of you." He chuckled, not being offended in the slightest.
"I would be disappointed in myself if you weren't."
"And there's also the fact that your lack of common sense-" he gave her a small glare, which she understood instantly. "Our common sense, makes it stressful for me seeing the stunts you pull come back to you eventually."
His stunts against Loki and Freya came to mind. The most recent one with a pair of shovels had made Freya lock herself in the tower ever since, waiting for her inevitable return with one of her famous demonstrations of love; that didn't stress her, not at all.
"But leaving that aside, you have done nothing but help Tsubaki. And Mia has been speaking nice things about you,"
'Even if she sighs every time your treatment of the clients comes to mind.' She thought to herself.
"And what about Aeshma? Are you really gonna overlook what I did to him and the fate of his Familia?"
Was he testing her? she didn't know. His face was at peace as he laid down on her sofa, eyes completely closed.
"… It's complicated. I know he did something terrible, something completely unforgivable, so I know what happened would have come to him eventually. However, you also did something unspeakable, going as far as making a bloodbath of the scene-"
"That wasn't me." He corrected her, but she still continued.
"To go as far as… doing something to Aeshma… I honestly can't reach an honest conclusion about it."
She could justify it for his divine side. Some of his domains included Revenge and Despair, so his actions could be explained through those. However, she knew all of it came from his human side, his mortal side. She, as a Goddess, just couldn't get her head around the fact: it didn't matter how she tried.
But then, a very recent memory came to mind. One of Aeshma's former children, bowing to him and smiling in a very solemn way. Mia had mentioned the girl had arrived at the Hostess before her Familia's massacre as a complete mess of a person, and yet there she was thanking Drake for doing something inhuman. It was really ironic.
However, that sight made the Goddess understand one thing.
Gods were flawed.
Not because they could be petty, selfish and self-centered; those were traits that a lot of mortals also had. No, they were flawed because they would never truly understand the lengths of a mortal's mind. That purple haired woman was the proof of it, not acknowledging or thinking about her suffering until she had seen her.
'He's not a good person, but he isn't a bad one either.' She recalled Tsubaki's words about him, coming to fully understand them now.
"I feel I am no one to judge you about it." she stated. But in reality, it was also that she didn't want to judge him, she didn't have it in her to do so seeing what he had done until now.
"Really?" he deadpanned at her. "Three full minutes staring intensely at me and that's the conclusion you reach?" He snorted, not noticing the blush that invaded her at the mention of how she was staring at him.
"This is why I hate dealing with people…" she leaned in her seat, her face gaining a contemplating look. "Say, may I ask you something personal?"
His eyes narrowed a little, seeing as the tone of her voice seemed to carry a certain weight behind it; as if she was debating whatever to ask or not.
In the end, he simply nodded. Not expecting what her question would be.
"Your mother, how was she?"
Drake Aurion blinked once, then twice, and so many, many times trying to process the question; no real result in hand.
"…huh?" he asked, the half scowl and look of annoyance on his face made her flinch a little.
"I mean, you don't have to answer if you-"
"She was divine." He said suddenly, making her gaze at him after recovering from her shock. He returned to focus on the ceiling, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Hephaestus on the other hand, couldn't help but become tense at the gaze in his eyes, waiting for him to continue.
"A divine mess." He stated, making Hephaestus almost fall off her chair at the unexpected, and highly rude, description of his mother.
"… Could you please elaborate about that?" she asked, trying not to be snarky about how the blonde in front of her didn't seem to even respect his mother, deity or not.
"I don't see why not… but why the sudden interest though?" he moved his head to see her, honest curiosity in his eyes. The Goddess simply sighed as she prepared to answer, but someone decided it was the right time to interrupt them.
"I am sorry. I am looking for a blonde, tall and brooding asshole, has anybody seen him?" Tsubaki Collbrande stated, entering the room as if she owned the place; her usual smile on her face.
"Damn, what happened to you?" she asked, making the blonde pop a few veins on his forehead seeing that the person responsible for his state was just playing the role of the innocent fool.
"Some bitch dropped kicked me in the face." He stated, his eyes narrowing dangerously at her, his accusation being clear as day.
"I kicked you!?" she had the audacity to fake shock.
"Yeah."
"I mean, we were arguing. And we did a lot of arguing. I mean, I am not saying I drop kicked you in the face," she got closer, taking a better look on her face. The marks of her footwear were still a little visible. "Damn! Somebody drop kicked you in the face."
"Tell me about it." he rolled his eyes. Tsubaki on the other hand was mentally wincing, she had completely forgotten about the effect 'Dragon Slayer' had on him, not expecting the damage would be so grave.
"Why don't you kiss it?" Both looked at Hephaestus, elbow on the chair's arm and head resting over her palm. Looking at both completely amused by the exchange. "You know, to make him feel better. Just pretend I am not even here."
Tsubaki narrowed her eye dangerously. "Isn't Apollo giving a recital?"
Hephaestus returned the glare before standing up. "No need to go racial."
The Goddess walked to sit behind the table, eyeing the two the whole time.
"Come on." she gently pulled him to properly sit, a sudden migraine invaded him by the sudden move. "Let's go back to my mansion, need your help to study properly."
Both Guardian and Goddess looked at her as if Tsubaki had grown a second head.
"What?"
"… just surprised… we thought you would be stubborn about it for a little longer." Hephaestus replied for Drake, making Tsubaki give a ghost smirk at the thought of the two talking things out.
"Well, at least you two seem to be getting along just fine." she chuckled, not caring for the glare her Goddess was giving her. "As for me, let's just say I had a very enlightening talk with someone." She stated, giving her back to Drake so he would hope over. "Now, come on. I will buy you lemon ice cream as an apology."
His eye twitched. "Do you really expect me to be bribed that easily?"
Tsubaki sighed, looking over her shoulder with a solemn look in her eye. "Fine… I will give you two ice-creams."
Hephaestus mentally snorted. Keeping a gaze between their bickering.
'It must be nice.' She thought, recalling Drake's words about wanting Tsubaki to succeed. 'Having someone to back you up, breaking his own rules for your sake, helping you be better… or just simply being by your side… damn it.'
Hephaestus knew what the feeling that was eating her right away was. She was very familiar with it.
'Great… I am getting jealous of my own Child.' She internally sighed, running her hand through her face to cover the look of emptiness her eye was reflecting.
"Hey Hephaestus." His voice brought her back into reality, lowering her hand off her face, a normal look in place. "I think I will be fine by tomorrow, mind if I drop by to do what we talked about?"
The Goddess stared dumbfounded. Not at his words, but at the sight of Drake Aurion being piggybacked by Tsubaki; the former giving her a blank look, while the latter simply smiling like a child at the whole situation.
"Sure thing." Hephaestus replied, giving them a neutral smile as they started to walk out of the room. "It's a date."
The door closed behind them, Tsubaki didn't move a single muscle as a mischievous smile appeared on her face.
"So, you know her more than me," Drake whispered, resting his head on her shoulder, pretty much making contact with her cheek out of pure tiredness. "How long until she realizes her little mistake?"
She chuckled, starting to walk away from the place. "Three… two… one-"
The Captain didn't manage to finish the count as a hard sound came from her Goddess's office. "There it is!" She stated, both of them recognizing the sound of a face hitting the surface of a table without a problem.
The Secret Circle
"… He's late." The First God that descended to the Mortal Realm, Ouranos, thought out loud as he gazed at the center of the room, not really paying any attention to the other individuals in the hidden room inside the Guild.
"…I am Ganesha." The second deity in the room made his name known, for the sixth time. "Has Adam or any of the Xenos contacted you?" his eyes darted to the cloaked figure in the room.
"Nothing. I will contact Lett and-" his words died down as the doors of the room opened to reveal Adam Taurus slowly entering the room.
"You're late." Shakti couldn't help but think out loud. "We have been waiting for-" her eyes narrowed as all of them spotted another individual entering the room. She was about to question him about it, seeing as in the past only Adam had assisted these meetings in the name of his deity as an intermediary However, her God stopped her by placing a hand over her shoulder.
"… You left the Dungeon." Ouranos's eyes opened a little at the sight of the cloaked figure. "Ratatosk."
Shakti's eyes widened, seeing as the final deity in their little 'circle' decided to appear. But it wasn't as if it was by choice.
The Ganesha Familia had been working with Ouranos in order to aid the Xenos, with the hopes of being able to integrate them into their society. However, it all changed over a year ago, when the first shift of power in the Dungeon happened.
The First God suddenly felt as if a massive weight was lifted off his shoulders, as if a great part of the Dungeon had submitted to another deity. So, he had tasked Ganesha Familia to investigate and consult with the Xenos if possible. To their surprise, the sentient monsters had already made contact with the unknown deity; they even started to refer to him as their God.
When Shakti Varma had first requested an audience with the deity, all she got was his representative instead, Adam Taurus. A man that at first glance screamed danger, raising every alarm in her body due to years of being an Adventurer. However, he had instantly stated he wanted to meet with the deity responsible for submitting the Dungeon until now.
She had replied there was no problem with it, but his deity had to come with them as well. He had refused, stating his lord needed to stay, otherwise the Dungeon would take the advantage to recover some of its domain. Shakti recalled she had been stubborn about it, saying the Dungeon was no place for a God to be in.
He simply snorted, shoving her aside and stating, 'It looks like your Gods are really limited.'
That had confused her greatly. And until this day it still did, even though in his talk with Ouranos it was revealed that both him and his deity were from a whole different plane of existence. And seemingly, the rule about a deity not being allowed to use their arcanum in the mortal world didn't apply to him.
"I take it you being here is related to what has been happening recently?" Ouranos' voice brought the woman back to reality.
"That would be a partial answer." Ratatosk replied, a certain amount of power behind his voice.
"Then let us start the meeting. Explain to us, what exactly happened a month ago."
"… Do you recall what I told you during our first 'meeting'?"
The God did, remembering they had spoken through a strange plate-like device called 'Scroll' since he couldn't leave the Dungeon.
"You had stated that both you and your Knight had suddenly woken up here after being killed in your world." Ouranos recalled not asking more about the subject, seeing as it was irrelevant to the events during that time.
"Well… the person responsible for that is here."
The room grew silent, seeing as the meaning of the words were clearly understood by everyone in the room.
"… And do pray tell, how exactly is the person that killed you both responsible for what happened in the Dungeon? Is he another deity like you?"
"Again, a partial answer, and a rather complicated one at that." Ouranos managed to see a pair of red glowing eyes under his cloak. "But I can confirm for a fact that he has total control over my domains. Which includes-"
"Your domain over monsters." The God concluded, remembering the foreign deity had mentioned which were his domains, and that it had been ripped apart from him. But even so, he still had some power related to them seeing as he could partially submit the Dungeon. "I take it you could no longer freely use that domain since its actual holder appeared."
Ratatosk simply nodded.
"And also, it's for that very reason that he was able to subdue the Dungeon-"
Ouranos stopped, his eyes narrowed after hearing a low growl coming for the foreign deity.
"He didn't use my domains." The room became tense. "As a matter of fact, I think he isn't even aware he has them, it was never part of his original plan to keep them."
"Then if it wasn't divinity that subdued the Dungeon, what was it?" Fels asked, being intrigued by what could possibly overwrite the Dungeon's authority with such ease.
"His anger and power alone."
It took the skeleton in disguise a full minute to comprehend what was said, the same could also apply to the rest of the people in the room.
"You can't be serious."
"I am afraid I am not. He despises the divine, even though he's partly one himself." The Gods in the room narrowed their eyes at the statement. "Also, do not underestimate his rage. He may not look like it, but he's a monster in human skin if he so wishes to be."
Ouranos started to ponder. "And your estimated thoughts about him? If what you have said is true, it has been a month since he's arrived. Yet I have heard nothing about him."
"There are many factors at hand. My best bet is that he managed to settle down in the city somehow. Thankfully, avoiding the annoyance that are Orario's deities."
The God twitched, not liking the possible meanings behind Ratatosk's statement.
"We believe he made contact with an Adventurer that gave him the basics of how Orario operates, luckily it was a nice one."
Shakti mentally snorted, agreeing with the previous statement; most Adventurers were just greedy like that, taking advantage of someone's ignorance was not beneath them.
"So he's not the type to look up for trouble?"
Adam shook his head. "If anything, I can say he's the most rational person I know. Unless of course he's bothered. Saying that, I do have to say he's one that holds grudges."
Ratatosk nodded as his retainer's statement. "Knowing him, he's just trying to live his life at the moment. Even with the knowledge of us being here."
The God raised an eyebrow. "So, you have crossed paths then?"
Adam nodded. "I did. During the incident with the monster causing the earthquakes in the lower floors."
Ouranos started to ponder, but Ganesha beat him to it… in his usual manner.
"I am Ganesha!" Adam internally groaned, something Shakti seemed to be aware seeing she herself did the same. "Is it possible we could ask for his help? It would be-"
"No/No" both Ratatosk and Adam stated, a serious edge behind their answer.
"I was about to ask the same thing," they looked at Ouranos. "But it seems you have your reservations about it. Explain, is this related to him killing you? Are you perhaps holding a grudge?"
Ratatosk snorted. "I won't deny it, I am a little bit salty over a near four thousand year old plan ruined. However, I know when to swallow my pride." Ganesha's eyes narrowed behind his mask. Not only at the part about a plan he had years in the process, but at his statement about pride, something every deity had, and stood back from. Even the God of partied admitted he couldn't go against it, even if he knew it was a detriment.
"It's actually the other way around. I am afraid he would go straight for my throat the moment he sees me." He looked at Adam. "As a matter of fact, Adam confirmed this when they crossed paths."
"His rage, it wasn't directed at me. But rather at the knowledge of my lord being alive."
"I understand that all of you might be enemies." Ganesha stated, in one of his few serious moments. "But you said he was a very rational individual! So maybe it would be possible to join forces if we speak about this peacefully."
Ratatosk released a heavy sigh, looking at Ganesha with a boring look under his hood. "Do you want to hear the reasons as to why that's not going to happen in chronological or impact order?"
The Elephant God fought the urge to step back after seeing how low and dead Ratatosk's tone was.
"I put his mother in chains on the surface of a broken moon, destroyed the place he had been living at until he was six, took control over his father's mind, placed a curse on him, made sure to orphan most of the people he would call brothers, I was indirectly responsible for the death of his step sister, put his older brother in a coma for three years when the initial intention was to kill him, made his father break his ribcage…" he took a deep breath. "Do you want me to keep going? Because I can, if you so want me to."
No one wanted to reply to the question, and instead opted for the next best thing.
"Why?" he asked. "Why make someone suffer so much?"
"Because he was born." No one dared to say anything, even though Adam could see Shakti's hand twitching, wanting to say something. But she didn't, most likely because she would be going against a deity's divine will. "One of my domains was related to nature. As such, anything that could be considered unnatural-"
"And there's nothing more unnatural than a God being borne by natural means, is there?" Ouranos narrowed his eyes dangerously, making Ratatosk chuckle.
"Mortal father, godly mother, but what gave it away?" Ganesha and Shakti looked in shock at Ratatosk's confirmation.
"You gave me plenty of hints; confirming he was a deity aside, stating his age a minute ago gave me a pretty good idea. After all, deities do not age." The God closed his eyes to ponder. "Seeing as you think of it as something unnatural, I assume that deities giving birth is also impossible in your realm."
"Creating a mortal out of thin air, sure. But by natural means, it was impossible; at least until he was born."
The First God felt a migraine coming with all the information being delivered to him. "Anything else you consider important?"
"He was raised as a mortal. He didn't know anything about divinity or even the existence of deities until he was seventeen, so that pretty much allows him to empathize and understand the mortal mind."
Ouranos looked at him with an analytical eye, spotting something that confused him. "You respect him."
"I placed a curse on him when he was six; with it I was able to see his life through his eyes for most of his life. So I can say I know what he's capable of."
"Despite your distaste for him? Even more, how do we know you won't compromise our objective and the safety of Orario to get even with him? Or even more, take back your former domains?"
Ratatosk shrugged at Ganesha's question. "Only a fool would overlook someone's potential because of a personal hate. Also, the current me would never be able to hold a candle to what I was before coming here."
'I don't think that's possible even with all of my Centurions with me.' He thought to himself.
"But leaving that aside. I am not fully aware how the domains in this world work, but ours are sentient. My domain of nature accepted him as its rightful owner; therefore my rage for him for being something unnatural no longer has any basis."
The God narrowed his eyes. "You still hate him though."
"Oh yeah." Ratatosk replied, with a little more enthusiasm that he should.
Ouranos sighed. "Then I ask you, what do you propose we do about him?"
Adam sighed. "My lord will never be able to appear in front of him, doing so would be detrimental for everyone. I will approach him when the time is right, and share what we are trying to do with him."
"And the chances of him agreeing?" Shakti asked, narrowing her eyes at him for some reason.
"Very unlikely, leaving my lord aside, he just dislikes deities overall at first glance; as if they were his natural enemy." He replied, recalling him and Ratatosk had made a bet regarding which deity would trigger him first between Loki and Freya.
"I wonder why?" she muttered under her breath, trying her best not to look at the foreign deity.
"Then, my final question regarding this subject," Ouranos gave another analytical gaze. "Despite you saying he would not do anything unless provoked, we still have to account for the worst-case scenario. So, how strong is he really?"
Both Adam and Ratatosk looked at each other before addressing the God. "Yes/Yes." Both replied.
Ouranos on the other hand had the urge to sigh seeing it wasn't a clear answer.
"We could be here all night explaining what he could do; as a human he's already strong enough to beat an empowered abnormal Goliath or Udaeus with the help of one other." Adam replied, recalling they still have to deal with the possible fact that all of the Guardians were here.
"Whether he intends to kill his target or not. Independent of that, I can say with full certainty that he's strong" He replied, unaware of the look Shakti was giving him.
Ouranos groaned.
"Then I suppose there's no better choice than to leave this matter on your hand."
"Is this wise?" Everyone looked at Ganesha. "Leaving a powerhouse alone like that? It's only a matter of time before a God sets his eyes on him."
"If that's your biggest fear, then you have nothing to worry about. He is someone who's completely disregarding towards your kind, your opinions, beliefs and wishes. They are naught to him."
"That doesn't make me feel more assured about his situation." Ganesha crossed his arms. "But I will take your word for it. However!" he pointed at Ratatosk. "I ask you to reveal this unknown individual's appearance and identity! We need to be aware of-"
"No." Ratatosk stated, blandly. "I think I know you enough to know you will somehow screw this up."
"I am Ganesha! I will not-"
"I second the notion." Ouranos interrupted him, taking Ratatosk's side in the matter. But even so, there was a faint glare between the two gods. Ratatosk knew the God would most likely send Fells to find traces of Drake, and eventually find out who he was.
"Having said that, let's move on to the next topic of the meeting. What exactly happened with the monster creating earthquakes in the Dungeon, Adam? I did as you asked me, the Guild will no longer focus on that matter. However, I would still want to know the details of the events from that day."
Ratatosk took a step forward, deciding to explain his little predicament with his divinity.
Meanwhile, Shakti kept staring at Adam with narrowed eyes; comparing everything she had learned today with what the red-haired bull had told her on the night of the Aeshma Familia massacre. And the more she thought about it, the more her theory made sense.
Adam hadn't been there that night solemnly because he felt a spike of divinity. He had been there to check on how bad the damage was, and the way he described the scene felt awfully familiar for him, almost as if he knew the one responsible.
'It had to be him. There's no other explanation about it.' she thought, deciding to bring the theory to her God when the meeting was over. Despite all Adam and his God had said, someone like that, capable of such atrocities could not be left unchecked.
And despite how Adam and his deity had been careful about not revealing the identity or any physical trait of the unknown, the redhead had made a little slip out when he mentioned the abnormal Goliath. The incident of a month immediately came to her mind when Adam mentioned it; along with the detail about Tsubaki Collbrande taking care of it.
Shakti knew at that moment who that unnatural being was, she had even spoken to him a week ago by chance and compared him to Adam. She still didn't know him, but she knew paying a visit to Tsubaki would change that.
The Seven
A small black dog opened its emerald eyes, a small yawn left its mouth and his ears twitched at the sound of several footsteps approaching them.
The individuals stood under a massive tree; the dog laid under it with a tombstone behind the small animal; as if it was guarding it.
The group stared at the tombstone, each with an unreadable expression on their faces as they gave a small bow and turned around. Behind them, there were chairs for every single one of them, positioned in a way that it looked like it was a semicircle.
The black dog gazed at the group as each sat on their respective chairs.
"Three… two… one…" the one sitting in the center started the countdown, a face full of determination in his face. "Now!"
All of the chairs suddenly reclined back, leaving everyone in a very comfortable position as each groaned in relief with the dog rolling his eyes at the scene; it had been only two weeks since the last time, and yet here they were again, exhausted.
"I am gonna fucking say it… peace sucks." Yuri Lowell muttered under his breath, watching the leaves dancing in the wind as they rested under the giant tree.
"I second the notion." Luke muttered, closing his eyes trying not to think of anything else but the present.
"Please, don't complain." Jude said suddenly. "Every single one of us is working equally hard to preserve this peace and move forward."
"Buuuuuullshit." Yuri replied, still in the same tired tone. "I have been entrusted with the fucking seat of Emperor, if someone has to deal with the toughest shit here it's me."
Jude's eye twitched under his bandana. "Let me remind you that my duty as a Great Spirit is making sure everything's running smoothly. I have to be more attentive in my job than any of you."
"True. And there's also the fact that I have to look over you, Yuri. Otherwise you would just try to ditch the spot." Flynn said, with no grudge or anger in his voice. "And that's only one of my jobs as Commander, so stop complaining."
"For Origin's sake, don't turn this into a competition."
"Too late." Luke stated, his eyes opened with a deep scowl in place. "I had to give ten speeches just this week alone about how we have to strive and accept the casualties of the Second Great War and how peace with the races is something we have to achieve; it's already carved into my brain."
Guy sighed. "I had to accompany Sienna to all the Faunus settlements so we could pretty much give a similar speech to yours."
"Are you seriously bitching about being partially a poster boy right now?" Zelos asked, looking boringly at the tree.
"It's become a little stressful, especially since my beautiful wife subtly pinches or taps my ass while I am on the stand." Various eyes moved on him. "Do you have any idea how much effort I am putting in not counter attacking right then and there?"
Zelos snorted. "In recent news, Former Leader of a terrorist group and Noble of Zaphias decide to consume their loves in front of group Faunus, proof the relationships between the races really it's possible."
Everyone snorted. "Believe it or not, I thought something similar at one of those moments. The only difference being that mine sounds like the title of an AV."
"Tigress going wild?"
Guy narrowed his eyes. "Fuck you. What the fuck have you even been doing anyway?"
Zelos threw an offended look.
"Excuuuuse me, princess. Running and maintaining Drake's and Mithos' information network ain't easy. Nor is running a conglomerate."
"Bullshit." Everyone stated.
"Mithos, Torchwick and Cruxis are working on the network." Jude said.
"And Whitely is doing the hard work with the Schnee Dust Company-"
"Wilder Dust Company, thank you very much." The red head interrupted Flynn, who rolled his eyes. "Also, I have to keep up face and show to deal with meetings, not to mention rejecting the advances of many people offering the hands of their daughters for marriage to me."
"Oh, the tragedy." Everyone said, sarcasm being clear in their voices.
"I know right!" said the former scumbag. "Being faithful has been a real challenge for me." The bastard had the audacity of shedding a fake tear as he said that.
"I am starting to agree with Drake's statement about redheads." Flynn muttered before eyeing the member in the center of the semi-circle. "Tired, Lloyd?"
"Nah…" Lloyd Aurion smiled. "Just enjoying this little moment, thinking how he would enjoy it." Everyone adopted a neutral face for a moment, only so Lloyd could ruin it in an instant. "And cursing his name every single time I can." He forced a smile on his face.
"Killing Ratatosk is the hardest part, my ass! Maintaining this peace is the real fucking challenge!"
"In his defense, he did leave everything prepared for us, including contingency plans." Zelos said, going for his best friend's defense.
"And there wasn't a damn plan against dealing with stupid people in the councils?" Lloyd ran his hands through his face in exasperation. "Atlas is especially annoying asking for shit that doesn't belong to them."
"Hate to break it to you, but Drake stated in his notes 'beware, dealing with retards is a day-to-day challenge. Sorry, Lloyd, not sorry.'"
Lloyd stared at Flynn, seeing as it was one of the non-mischievous brothers who said that, he believed him.
"… fuck my life." He thought out loud, laying back on his chair.
"You know," everyone shifted their gazes to the tree. The Dog lazily moved his eyes to the side and saw a female figure with bright green hair appear in a flash of the same color.
"Four thousand years ago people used to mourn their fallen friends with laughs, songs and even dances. I can't help but wonder if you are mourning or complaining."
"Yes."
Martel Yggdrasil sighed at their synced response. She may have never met her nephew before being turned into the Spirit that guarded the Great World Tree; people in Remnant considered him as a selfish, arrogant and cruel individual. But those who knew the truth, called him a 'Good hearted asshole.'. and to this date, she's been wondering whether that was a good way to define him or not.
"Don't overthink it, auntie." Zelos said, nonchalantly. "We were like this when he was here, and still remain the same now."
"The only difference is that there's no smartass comeback this time." Yuri said, making everyone chuckle before Jude addressed the Spirit.
"Can you tell if he's dreaming?" the Lord Of Spirits asked. "I used to feel waves of emotions during the first week when the new tree was planted, but now… he's just calm."
Martel softly nodded. "I am afraid it's the same as well. I am afraid my nephew has fallen into a long, dreamless sleep."
Lloyd frowned. "At least he's finally sleeping peacefully."
The Spirit started to ponder. "Maybe you could ask Origin if he could let you speak with him? He's the Ruler Of All for something."
Jude groaned. "I don't see that happening anytime soon. He's… indisposed." The eyes of all of the Guardians narrowed. "He's taken interest in someone."
Everyone but Jude fixed their chairs in an alarming manner as they focused on him. "Should we be worried?" Luke asked first. "Because the last person that got him interested in anything turned into a giant ass tree."
"I asked Chronos. He seemed nervous for a moment, but confirmed with me and Milla that his focus is another world far from the center."
There was a sigh of relief before everyone reclined back. "Not our problem then… feel bad for whoever gained his interest, though."
"Amen." And so, silence took over. Martel simply smiled softly, seeing as only the breeze and the dance of the leaves could be heard as they started to fall asleep.
'They deserve some rest.' she thought, ready to disappear and leave them to their earned time. However, a sound that could be considered an alarm stopped her.
"For fucks sake. Who forgot to put their scroll in silence?" Luke looked in the direction of the sound and noticed Jude reaching for his pockets. "Also, what the fuck is up with that alarm?"
"I set this to sound only in case Milla started to pop into social media with indications of being in a fight. Could someone please check your scroll? I don't want to use my eyes only for this."
The eyes of the rest slowly opened all of them with blank expressions. "Didn't the girl have a 'Only girl day' today as well?"
"…Shit." Everyone fixed their chairs again before looking at their scrolls. "…Velvet and Milla are fighting again."
"In the middle of the mall in Vale no less. Wait, Rita just posted something." Everyone looked at Zelos. "In the mall with my 'besties' #ThisIsWhyIDontGoOut"
Everyone sweat-dropped.
"Looks like they are only pulling each other's hair at the moment." Zelos said as Lloyd and Jude stood up.
"We better go then, before they decide the use of blades is good enough." Lloyd looked at Zelos with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't want Rita nagging me about being forced to go out again only because this happens. So now, I am going on an impromptu date." To his credit, he didn't sound disappointed at all.
"Wait a second, Judy is calling me." Flynn said, answering his phone as Luke and Yuri groaned.
"Free time? What's that?" Yuri asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, we saw the alert. Lloyd, Zelos and Jude are on their way… lunch after everything is settled?"
Yuri narrowed his eyes while Luke started to groan.
"All of us?" Flynn asked, making both facepalm while Guy stood up.
"It was good while it lasted, gentlemen. But I don't want to feel Sienna's scowl for the next days because I left her alone on a group date."
Luke sighed in resignation, standing up as well. "Knowing Tear, she would be like that as well."
"Well good luck, brothers. I am gonna take my well-earned rest like a champ." Yuri was about to lay back again, but a notification on his scroll stopped him.
Celsius: You are coming. Or else…
He made a blank face as he stood up looking at the giant tree. "You were right, Love is a fucking curse." Everyone seemed to agree as they laughed.
"Everyone get closer," Zelos said, taking a familiar transparent crystal out from his jacket.
"Give me a moment." Lloyd suddenly said, walking to the tombstone in front of the tree to place a red can in front of it. "Gonna be a while before any of us can visit you again… sleep well, D." The First Guardian muttered before petting the small black dog to the side of the tomb, making it yawn before he ran back to his brothers.
"Everyone realizes we are gonna end up paying for everything right?" There was a collective groan at Zelos' statement just as he crushed the crystal.
And a couple of seconds later, they were gone. Leaving only the spirit and the small dog under a giant tree; with the former narrowing her eyes at the red can left by Lloyd before she picked up the floor.
*tssSSS kr-POP*
The Spirit opened the can and took a long sip of it, exhaling in pleasure with a childish smile on her face. Her smile suddenly became a pout, looking to her side to see the dog giving her a bored glare.
"Oh, don't be like that, Noir." She sat on her knees next to the dog. "I only get to leave once a week, even I deserve something, don't you think?"
The Dog, Noir, simply sighed.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, my lady."
AN: By the time I had written and beta read (with the help of a friend) this chapter, it was when I decided to start posting my story. It has been a ride writing this one volume of a continuation of a story I never finished; and will most likely never finish.
All I can say is thank you for the support seeing I am not that far from beating the favs and follows count compared to the original story.
Now, to the important part of the AN. I have good news and bad news. Good news is, I have some chapters for the second Volume already written, I think I can say I am almost half-way done with the second volume. The bad news is, not all of them have been beta read, but I think I will not fall behind schedule If i continue with my current pace; it all depends on my friend though, seeing as my English is -as he puts it- wonky.
Now, to the worst news -yes, those exits- like everyone else in the world, I have to deal with real life problems, which has been affecting my writing. So there will most likely come a time during which the weekly releases might come to a stop. When that time comes, I will have to choose whatever I just post when a chapter is ready, or apply the same strategy of finishing the volume and then start updating weekly. But I will cross that bridge later when the time comes.
Anyway, that's all. Thank you for your support, and feel free to comment your thoughts about the story.
Fun fact: that scene with Tsubaki and Drake was inspired by the aftermath of the initial shootout in bad boys 2, with some obvious changes applied.
