Been a while. Been in a slump because irl things happening. Needed good things and found a few things here and there to cheer me up.
I'm planning on ending this war with the Empire soon. I've dragged this arc long enough.
For the song in the Orario section, look up Genshin Impact The Diagnosis song which is the inspiration of why I put a song there.
Also for Honkai Star Rail fans...Start rolling the gacha now! Mommy Kafka is on the banner!
Baobhan Sith danced in the rain, and by rain one would mean a shower of blood. The vampire fairy had a different goal to accomplish. She was the saboteur of reinforcements from different sectors of this campaign the Empire had launched. Of course she went solo, for she was a fellow daughter of Queen Morgan and had to prove she was just as capable as her 'little' sister Hakuno was. These dogmatic humans from the Empire were as bad as the fairies of the Britain Lostbelt by cruelty alone and their capability of slaughtering each other.
Mother always said that every other race is capable of the same cruelty the Lostbelt fairies had and Baobhan Sith believed her, but at the same time there was the lesson that they weren't all as bad as those fairies were. Some people were just as good, as her adoptive niece Primo proved to be.
These human screams were more delightful to hear, for the fear in their voices was more primal, more alive than those of evil fairies she tortured and killed. But then again, mortal lives were limited to one life compared to the countless spares a spirit could have so that was probably the reason why their terror was more potent. As she continued her musings, Baobhan Sith noticed the remains of a burnt down forest. Judging from the coloring of the burnt trees, this was months ago but it emitted an aura of sorrow.
It disturbed the vampire fairy, for one time it reminded her of Orkney. Well, she never went there, but she had seen it from afar a few times and it emitted this sadness and sorrow that remained till the land's final moments by the Abyssal Wyrm. She walked towards it, feeling like this was someplace important but she couldn't tell why. The closer she got to the burnt forests, she smelt it, dried up blood, burnt flesh, and the wretched sight of a butchered elf village. She sensed the same aura that the spirit Diabound had from this site and Baobhan Sith needed to confirm one last thing before she left. She looked around for anything that could have been a sign, a sign that held the name of this place before its destruction and there she found it.
This was the place where it all began for that elf child, the elf community of Libera Forest. Quietly, Baobhan Sith put her hands in silent prayer before turning to leave. Her once good mood is now ruined by the sorrow this forest emitted and what she learned of here. She had a feeling Hakuno would want to learn of this place for funerary rites.
*War Camp-Night*
Hestia was relieved, because when there was a situation of keeping the rescued people in a safe place until the war was over that was solved. It was all a long shot actually, as Hestia suspected Hakuno might have some sort of answer to their problems and decided to ask: "Do you have anything to keep the rescued civilians safe?" It was vague when she asked that, but Hakuno delivered an answer that should leave Hestia mentally stressed and exhausted by Hakuno's antics only to just accept it as it is. Given what she saw of Hakuno's past, something like this Throne World, a personal dimension was now a casual Monday for Hestia who could only smile and nod along. Doing the impossible is a thing Hakuno has been known for doing and Hestia learned to accept it and just roll with it. Only when others do it should she worry, plus Hakuno had gotten Asclepius to reside in the Throne World to take care of the patients. All while Apollo is taking a break from his constant experimentations (read as torture).
Thus the Goddess of the Hearth's sanity is stable.
"...That girl's stares are starting to irritate me." Hakuno spoke up, causing Hestia to look at the one elf girl who was laser focused on Hakuno as she had this nasty aura around her and was gritting her teeth. Jealousy was not good for that girl's health and hoped that whoever's child that is taken care of. Now is not the time for jealousy.
"Just leave it alone Hakuno, she'll get over it…eventually." Hestia sheepishly laughed as she pushed her daughter towards the cafeteria line, just in time to hear Hakuno's stomach rumble. The witch's cheeks were dusted a slight red, yet Hestia could not resist but laugh, feeling that tonight would be calmer than most.
*Lefiya's table*
"Listening to that human's orders is one thing, but seeing her getting along with everyone else is just…!" Lefiya fumed while Tsubaki and Gareth-san listened to the elf girl's frustrations. "Not to mention she's been using my bath towel!"
"Lass, why would she use your bath towel?" Gareth-san questioned with a raised brow. "She's got a rich husband. If she wanted to, she could have dozens of fancier towels than the one you have." the dwarf reasoned.
Lefiya grimaces while clenching her stomach. "It doesn't help that I feel as if I'm getting infected with something horrible…" she mentioned.
"At the mention of Hakuno maybe." Tsubaki said while giving a smirk to Gareth-san who chuckled and cleared his throat.
"Lass, let me do a quick diagnosis for ya. I'd be sure to find something." Gareth-san suggested as Lefiya looked up in surprise.
"Is it serious?" the elf asked in concern as Gareth-san examined his fellow familia member and rubbed his chin in thought.
"Cheeks are sunken, like an old man's as he dies." he began noting in a sing-song tone.
"What?!" Lefiya exclaimed, shocked and surprised by what the elder adventurer was saying.
"And from the bulging of your eyes…You've got the most severe of cases." the dwarf noted.
"...Everyone has been saying that about me recently." Lefiya admitted, starting to worry about her own health.
"Posture's shrunken, nausea is your new routine." Gareth-san continued as Tsubaki smiled.
"It's up to us to intervene." she declared.
"And shed a light on what your symptoms mean!" they exclaimed in sync.
"All the indicators tell us…you're jealous!" Gareth-san declared as everyone was turning to this sudden musical with bemusement. Lefiya could only gap at the audacity of this so-called diagnosis she was given by Gareth-san. "It's safe to say that Hakuno's great renown," he notes before biting into a nicely cooked chicken leg "-in Orario brings you down."
Now the Thousand Elf could only scowl at this as Tsubaki was joining in on this song. "They tell us you're jealous. You're diagnosed, let's toast to nature's laws. Your symptoms have a cause." she told Lefiya.
"You're all crazy!" she snapped, slamming her fists on the table and knocking down the flagons from the force by doing so, spilling the precious alcoholic beverages. "What makes you think I'm jealous of her?!" she demanded.
Tsubaki was the first to respond, and she was not happy her drink was spilt. "It's her looks! It's her might! It's the fact she's got a knight!" she spat out the facts like a machine gun, each fact piercing Lefiya's heart doing so. "You're nothing but a mouse. Especially when she's already got a house!" Several adventurers winced at that, since some familias still use lodgings for their familia home.
"It's the rep she's got as she's revered as a sage! You're snapping because her youth reminds you of your age! Turn the page! It could be the fact you want her wage! Since you're always short of moola!" Tsubaki breathed down at Lefiya who was cowering at the ferocity that Cyclops was spewing.
"You know debt like I know flora!" Gareth-san joked at his junior's expense while other members of the Loki Familia shook their heads in exasperation of their antics.
"You better stop and reflect, and respect our intellect. Our theory isn't off-the-cuff, it's obvious!" Tsubaki finished as Lefiya's boiling point was reached as she already had her staff out.
"I've had enough of you!" the elf girl decided, already getting ready to fire off her spells at the two higher level adventurers who looked pretty amused by the girl's denial of her feelings.
"Fellas, she's jealous~!" Freya sang aloud, startling Lefiya as she looked at the goddess with utter dismay. The goddess didn't care as she was going to have fun with this, especially since Tsubaki and Gareth-san were just as surprised that she joined in on their little musical stunt. "No wonder why! If I was as broke as you…I'd feel pathetic too!" she said while wiping away a fake tear.
"As clues accrue!" Tsubaki carried on with a renewed flagon full of beer.
"They tell us…You're jealous! You're diagnosed! Let's toast to nature's cause. Your symptoms have cause." The unusual trio sang as other adventurers and gods began to beat to the tunes as they were beginning to relate to Lefiya's situation with Hakuno. The elf girl slumped in despair as Tsubaki patted her shoulder in comfort.
"You've been in denial for a while." Tsubaki told the now crying elf, "But it'd be best if you'd confess the way you really feel~" Everyone began to choir to the song as the lights dimmed for the performance. "You'd share it, we'd hear it. Your spirit would soar!" The smith looked Lefiya directly in the eye with a knowing look. "There's no need to conceal what could help you heal."
"So tell us…You're jealous…We're zealous…" Everyone sang in chorus before raising their drinks and the dining area was lit brightly "Cause we've been there before!" they shouted in harmony.
"You'd share it! We'd hear it! Your spirit would soar!" they were cheering her on, and Lefiya suddenly felt like her spirit was soaring. "Tell us you're jealous!"
"The truth is a useful tool!" Tsubaki assured her while gesturing to an empty table.
"Tell us you're jealous!"
"Let's move on so we can duel!" Gareth-san told her with a smile and holding a deck of a new card game.
"Tell us you're jealous!"
Lefiya smiled, began walking towards the table and stood atop it.
"You don't have to pretend!"
"Tell us you're jealous! Or this song will never end~~!"
"I'M JEALOUS!"
That admission from Lefiya was heard all around, just as the sound of a platter of dishes was set on a different table, unphased by the singing going around the area. "I knew it." Hakuno sighed, mildly amused and exasperated by the reason for the stares Lefiya had been giving her every time they're near each other. All Hestia did was chuckle at the silliness going around.
"Kishinami?!" Lefiya exclaimed in shock as she felt a knot inside her stomach form as everyone clicked their drinks together with a cheer of success.
"...Is this always a thing?" Asherah asked in a confused tone.
"Ahaha…I guess whenever Captain is involved?" Bell answered the confused goddess's question of the absurdity they just witnessed with a sheepish laugh.
"Senpais always have it rough…" Primo nodded sagely at the issues her senior elf was dealing with.
*Empire-Lilith*
"So tell me Archdeacon," the veiled queen of the Empire spoke, her delicate finger nail tapping on the carved marble statue of a saint. "Why is it so hard to capture one witch?" she applied only a small amount of pressure on the fingernail and the statue began to crack from its tip. The man of the cloth began to sweat slightly before giving her the answer.
"Said witch is using Ghost Liners, Heroic Spirits to be precise." he answered. Lilith looked at the man, knowing he was a Drifter of Pan History and knew of terms and concepts she was not familiar with.
"They are the souls of heroes removed from the cycle of reincarnation, summoned by mages for a bloody ritual meant to grant them a wish. They are powerful in their own rights and are backed by the power of their legends. Knowing who they are is the only way to discover a weakness in defeating them. But even then, normal humans of Pan History are not strong enough to best even the weakest class without careful preparations. Only another Heroic Spirit could defeat another Heroic Spirit under normal circumstances." the man explained while Lilith placed a finger under his chin.
"And…?" she questioned the implications of what the last sentence implied.
"The Falna elevates one's being, making them closer to the Servants the witch summoned at higher levels from our studies. Not to mention we do have a Servant on our side, the one who invents those devices everyone is using." the Archdeacon told her as the finger withdrew from his chin as he inwardly sighed in relief.
"I take it that the invention to negate the Falna was its idea?" she questioned, recalling the reports on the machines that she read.
"Yes. By using the chains that Evilus used, the Presi-King created a machine version that negated the Falna within a certain range. We've tested it on a few adventurers we've caught from the Artermis Familia."
That made Lilith pause as she looked at the man oddly. "What of their goddess? Did she escape?"" The Archdeacon had a smile on his face at the question. The answer that left his lips made Lilith's day.
"The device caused the goddess pain, strong enough for us to capture her. We intend to harness her power to be used against the other nations."
Now that was power, Lilith was aware Artemis's Arrows were the strongest due to the goddess seeking nothing but purity. Purity itself was power, something not most people, even the divine didn't understand. But Lilith did. Purity had abilities and strengths that were rare and unheard of that made them dangerous. That was how Father was able to repeal the Umbral Star by Himself and why the Angels of Heaven were formidable beings. But since she and Adam sired children, they'd lost the ability to use Purity as a power.
Having this goddess that specializes in purity like that will definitely be useful. Soon mankind will bend the heavens to their will.
A/N: When it comes to the Abrahamic religion, mainly Christianity, the legends of saints usually involve slaying some sort of animal associated with some sort of element. Symbolically, it symbolizes man's triumph over nature, which a handful of gods are associated with. Now in Pan Human History, the actions are harmless since Mystery (magic) is already in decline. But in the Danmachi Lostworld, a world were Mystery never lost its strength since Velber never came is a bad thing. Because humanity has one bad habit that never changes. When discovering something new and useful, they always want to try and see if they could use it as a weapon. A captured goddess for example? Well, I'm sure you all know where this is going.