A/N: What's this? Another update so soon? Well, a cure for writer's block, having time on my hands, and not having any games I really want to play means I get to do some writing! Still, updating this quickly is getting harder than it was when I started.

I have no clue when the next one will come out. Could be later this week or considerably longer. No more than a month though. I spent a lot of time outlining what's coming, so I've got a decent amount already written down.

Speaking of my cure for writer's block, if you missed it last chapter, I posted a short little one-shot story in the RWBY fandom for any of those who are interested. It was just a way to step back from this story and do something else.

This one is a bit shorter, only around 5k but considering what I'm building to and that I posted one yesterday, I'm ok with it. The next one should be interesting.

I love seeing all your comments and reviews, and I really hope you'll keep them coming. They really help motivate me.

Hearthfire

Chapter 28

Daphne

Daphne struggled not to fidget under the stares of the members of the Hestia Familia. They'd been caught just outside their home by a large, older man who just so happened to be friends with the Captain of the Loki Familia. Now they were sitting here under the eyes of a Familia that their own god, Apollo, was planning on declaring war against! Now, considering that they were there to warn the Hestia Familia, she wasn't as nervous as she might have been. Still, as the short goddess Hestia stared at them, with the larger man and the Rabbit Foot to either side, Daphne could only swallow, nervously.

"So," the goddess asked, "what was it you wanted to speak to us about?"

Daphne tried to swallow the lump in her throat as she began to speak, glancing at Cassandra who was sitting nervously beside her. "My name is Daphne. This is Cassandra and we… wanted to warn you about what Apollo is planning."

"Oh?" Goddess Hestia raised an eyebrow.

Daphne decided it was probably best to just get it all out at once. "Earlier today, I was passing the office of the captain and overheard him and Apollo talking. Apollo caught wind of the rumors that have started circulating about us and… what our members did to you."

"You mean when they pass-paraded us?" The redheaded man sitting to the right asked, angrily.

Daphen nodded before looking down, ashamed. "I was the first person to see Luan after they got back. When he told me what they'd done, I smacked the little bastard but Hyakinthos, our Captain, stopped me from punishing them." She looked up, pleadingly. "Please, you've got to believe me! I've tried all week to get him to punish Luan and his party, or at least make them apologize but the Captain is insane! He's convinced that the Apollo Familia is the best in the city and that we can do whatever we want just because we're part of it! Once Apollo got wind of the rumors going around the city, it only got worse!"

Goddess Hestia glanced at the two people sitting on either side of her before speaking. "What has Apollo done?" She asked.

Daphne sighed. "He plans to invite all the gods in the city to a party. At which, he intends to publicly confront you and force you to admit to your 'lies.' He's likely to try and demand you compensate him for the effort too."

"What kind of compensation?" The Rabbit Foot asked.

"Probably handing over several of your members." Daphne admitted. Judging by the looks of outrage they were now sporting; the members of the Hestia Familia were not too fond of that idea. "He doesn't expect you to actually do it," she pressed on, "he probably intends to use your refusal as a pretext to declare a War Game. He's already planning on making the challenge, but that's the most likely way he'll do it."

"That does fit with his personality," Goddess Hestia mused.

"It also fits with what information we've gathered," the man who'd caught them said.

The Rabbit Foot looked at them for a moment, before speaking. "Why are you telling us this? You do realize you're essentially betraying your god?"

Daphne almost spat in disgust. "Some god. We were both forcibly conscripted by him after he ran our old Familias out of the city. He's not cruel to us, but we weren't exactly given a choice to join." She sighed and set her hand on top of Cassandra's, who squeezed it tightly. "Apollo is beyond obsessed with himself and extremely possessive of those who are sworn to him. The captain is almost worse! If you were to ask him, Hyakinthos would likely tell you that Apollo is the only true god and that all the others are just pale imitations of Apollo. Both of us have wanted out for a long time and we know our Familia can't win this fight so we just… thought you needed to know what was happening."

"How do you know?" The large man asked. "How do you know we'll win?"

Daphne scoffed. "Are you kidding? With all the rumors going around about your Familia, you'll have the whole city on your side. Not to mention the fact that when we tried coming by before, you were clearly having very a friendly chat with the entire leadership of the Loki Familia! I just… don't want Cassandra or myself caught up in the aftermath when we lose." She leaned back. "Don't get me wrong, we both love being adventurers, we just… want to be part of a Familia we chose. Not one we were conscripted into that's run by an egomaniacal god and a delusional madman!"

The entire Hestia Familia was silent in contemplation, watching them. Daphne began to fidget in her seat again as the silence continued. Finally, the Pallum girl spoke up.

"Are they telling the truth, Goddess Hestia?" She asked.

The goddess nodded. "They are." She smiled at them. "Thank you for telling us this. I know it can't have been easy. As thanks, I swear to you that we will do our utmost to keep the two of you away from any backlash or punishment once it's all over. We will help you find a new Familia as well, if that's what you wish."

Daphne felt as though a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders but before she could speak, Cassandra started talking.

"Could we join your Familia, Goddess?" She blurted out. Daphne's own shocked exclamation was mixed with the shouts of surprise coming from the members of the Hestia Familia. The goddess herself was smiling, while the large man's eyebrows had disappeared into his hair.

"Cassandra, what are you talking about?" Daphne demanded.

"Please, Daphne I… I had a dream about this last night! The two of us were sitting happily in front of a hearth, watching as the sun went down!"

"Oh, not this again," Daphne sighed in exasperation. For just a moment, she'd forgotten their audience. "You don't have prophetic dreams, Cassandra! I'll admit, it's a very nice dream but we watch sunsets all the time! It's not prophetic!"

"What's this, now?" The large man asked.

Daphne sighed. "Cassandra is convinced that she has prophetic dreams. I'll admit some of them have seemed vaguely accurate, but only after the facts. Most are complete nonsense!"

"Prophecies are rarely straightforward." The man said, causing Cassandra to perk up. "Prophetic dreams rarely make sense until the prophecy has come true. They need deep interpretation to be understood."

"You really believe in prophecy?" Daphne asked him skeptically. The man nodded.

"I was the direct subject of one and involved in several others. Prophecy exists, but it is rarely so straightforward."

Cassandra's eyes were shining as she looked at him, overjoyed that someone finally believed her. Daphne could admit that some of Cassandra's dreams were weirdly accurate, and this sounded like a nice one but still… she wasn't sure prophecy really existed.

"As to your joining us," the man said. "I have no personal objection but this is not a decision for me."

"I have no objection." The Rabbit Foot said. "They're clearly unhappy with their current Familia and they are risking themselves to warn us. I think that means we should give them a chance."

"Anybody who punches out that bastard, Luan is welcome in my book." The redhead added.

"Agreed." The Pallum spoke up, with the others quickly piling on.

Finally, the goddess spoke. "It would seem my Familia has no objections to your joining us but, unlike Apollo, joining us is entirely voluntary. We will gladly accept you, Cassandra, but your friend joining us is entirely up to her."

Cassandra turned to look at Daphne, her eyes pleading. She sighed. "I've never even considered where we might go if we somehow got free of Apollo," Daphne admitted, "but… I don't want to leave Cassandra." The blue-haired girl's eyes began to shine. "If she joins you, I will too. If you'll have me."

"We would be thrilled to accept you both," Goddess Hestia smiled, drawing a smile out of Daphne too. Sadly, it didn't last long.

"You do know that we will have to fight against you, right?" She said, causing Cassandra to droop, sadly.

"Why?" One of the others asked. A taller man, around Daphne's age with a strong build and short, dark hair. "Could you not hide out until the fighting is done?"

Daphne shook her head. "Apollo is beyond possessive. The few times members have tried to hide or run; he's sent the entire Familia to hunt them down. Failing to catch the runaway's is punished almost as harshly as trying to run. We won't be able to evade them and it would look really suspicious if we just suddenly disappeared."

"She's right." The large man said. "Anything suspicious could force Apollo to change his tactics or strategy. Right now, we know what his plans are. The second he gets wind of a sudden change; he'll switch up his tactics and we'll be in the dark. I'm not overly worried, but we should not underestimate him."

"Besides," Cassandra spoke up, timidly. "If we stay, we could continue to pass you information about Apollo's plans."

"That's true," Daphne glanced at her, impressed. "It would make it easier to win. It won't be easy though. We have over a hundred members, many of which are Level 2. The captain is Level 3. Depending on the type of War Game, it could get difficult… why are you laughing?" The members of the Hestia Familia had all started to chuckle as she spoke. Daphne glanced at Cassandra, confused.

"Allow me to introduce myself." The large man said. "My name is Torrhen. I am the Semi-Retired Mentor of the Hestia Familia and… I am Level 10."

Cassandra squeaked and Daphne's heart stopped.

"10?!" Her mind thought, blankly. "You… you're joking…" Her jaw was on the floor.

"I am not," he declared, seriously. "I have already sworn to come out of retirement if we are challenged. Still…" he glanced at the other members. "Perhaps I would be better served as a distraction. Bell is nearly ready for a rank-up and fighting a Level 3 might just be the push he needs."

"Don't take all the fight out of it!" The redhead demanded, while the dark-haired man nodded along. "We want to get a good fight out of this too!"

"Don't get too excited," the girl with the ponytail said. "We don't even know what kind of War Game it might be. They can be almost anything."

"True." Goddess Hestia said. "Monster hunting challenges, one on one duels, naval battles. Loki even told me about one that was a pie-eating contest. The type of game is determined by random draw after the challenge is made. Neither the challenger, nor the challenged has any say in it." She glanced at Torrhen. "You should hold off coming out of retirement until the last possible second. Afterall, you may not be needed."

"Fair enough," he conceded.

The Rabbit Foot glanced at Daphne and Cassandra. "Thank you for coming to us with this. I promise that we will do our best to keep you out of the crossfire. Still, no matter what happens, your place with us after the War Game is guaranteed." He smiled. "I look forward to having you join us."

Daphne couldn't help but return his smile.

Bell

With Daphne and Cassandra having left, the Familia returned to the conference room to have a more private discussion about what to do. "What do you think we should do, Goddess?" He asked Goddess Hestia.

"Well, I am definitely going to that party." She replied. "It's like Torrhen said. We can't counter his plan if we just continually disrupt it. He's expecting me to show up and be confronted so that's exactly what I'll do. He won't realize that he's made a mistake until it's almost over."

"We could still turn things on him." Torrhen added. "Make him seem like a petty aggressor, rather than an aggrieved victim of slander."

"Goddess Loki did say she could run interference for us," Lili spoke up. "Not to mention that Lady Wallenstein could at least vouch for finding us after we hit the 18th floor."

"We were pretty badly banged up," Welf admitted. "We just don't need to tell anyone that our injuries were caused by Goliath rather than the pass-parade."

"To be fair," Bell said, "we were all pretty hurt after the pass-parade too. If it wasn't for our potions, we wouldn't have made it."

"We should inform Goddess Loki about what has happened here," Mikoto joined in. "If she is to help us defend ourselves, she needs to know ahead of time."

"Lord Miach too," Chigusa added. "He was our first ally and will likely be there. He should be informed as well."

"Alright, here's what we'll do," Bell said, his mind racing. "Mr. Torrhen, you're the closest to the Loki Familia so you should probably be the one to tell them. I need to speak to Naaza about an order anyway, so I'll let her and Lord Miach know while I do. The rest of us should just keep quiet and train. Welf," he glanced at his friend. "Just in case this involves a lot of fighting, you should probably speed up production on everyone's armor."

"You got it, Captain." Welf smirked. Bell could feel himself turning a bit red in embarrassment, totally missing the proud smile Torrhen was giving him.

Torrhen

Torrhen stealthily made his way into the home of the Hermes Familia, easily evading the guild official posted outside. He'd made a brief stop at Twilight Manor to fill in Loki and the others about Apollo, but now he was trying to make progress on unraveling the mystery Aisha of the Ishtar Familia had given him. Whatever K.S. meant, Hermes had the answer and that would let them figure out Ishtar's plan.

Torrhen also had plans to free Aisha from her mind control, but that would have to wait a little while longer. He slipped into the god's study, not all that surprised when Hermes turned around to face him. He was a god of thieves after all.

"Torrhen!" Hermes said, happily. "What brings you here? I wasn't sure you'd want to see me after that fiasco on the 18th floor." He sounded genuinely remorseful about that.

"You turned yourself in and accepted your punishment." Torrhen admitted. "I may not like your actions, or their unintended consequences, but I can respect that you kept your word and took the blame."

"Well, I must say, that is a weight off my shoulders." Hermes smiled. "That can't be why you're here though. I am an information broker after all. What are you looking for?"

Torrhen leaned up against the god's desk, looking down at him. "I had an interesting encounter the other day," he said. "One that led me to you with a single name and a pair of initials. I was led to believe you'd know what they mean."

"Oh? How intriguing."

"Ishtar and the initials K.S." Torrhen said. "Mean anything to you?"

Hermes' eyes went as wide as dinner plates, and he started to sweat. "Now… you… you have to understand, I sometimes deal in less than… legal items and information. Even so, I was very… reluctant to procure this particular item…"

"Speak plainly, Hermes." Torrhen demanded.
The god sighed, dejectedly. "K.S. stands for Killing Stone. It's an object used to house the soul of a Renard, enabling anyone who holds even a small piece of it to wield an extremely powerful magic, unique to that race."

Torrhen glared at him. "That sounds like an extremely dark item. Why would you hand that over to anyone?"

"You have to believe me!" Hermes was frantic. "I didn't know Ishtar already had a Renard until after I'd delivered it! I thought I'd have time to get information and hopefully stop her!"

"She already has it?!" Torrhen demanded, alarmed.

"N…Not anymore!" Hermes stammered. "One of her executives smashed it! Belta… Belka… something like that!"

"Belka. She's the one that led me to you." Torrhen sighed. "The Renard is an old friend of our members from the Far East."

"Ishtar approached me not too long ago about procuring another one but… with me being on house arrest and all…I haven't exactly been able to procure it. Not that I would!" Hermes declared frantically as Torrhen glared at him.

"Will Ishtar sell the girl?" If Ishtar's plans were stalled, perhaps they could get her away easily. It wasn't as though Torrhen couldn't spare the money.

Hermes put a hand on his chin. "It's possible," he admitted, "but not for anything less than a huge sum. Millions of Valis. Even then, it's highly unlikely that she'd just stop. She'd find a way to get another Killing Stone and a Renard, no matter what it takes."

"What does she need them for?"

"If I had to guess…" Hermes paused. "War with Freya."

Freya

Freya looked down at the invitation in her hand. It seemed Apollo was having a party later in the week. An odd decision, given the rumors circulating about his Familia and the damage that was being done to his reputation. Perhaps he was planning to make some kind of spectacle? In the end, it mattered little to her. She might get the opportunity to get a little closer to Hestia, but there truly was no controlling Apollo.

He was so obsessed with himself that he was oddly difficult to charm. Not that she could charm gods in quite the same way she did mortals. Still, she had more important things to worry about at the moment. The Dungeon would be reopening soon and her Familia was nearly ready to depart.

They would set off on an expedition the very day the Dungeon reopened and hopefully not return until they'd killed some truly impressive monsters. She'd already confirmed that the Loki Familia had managed to avoid Balor, which would give her dear Ottar the chance to kill it, level up, and regain some confidence. He really wasn't the same after his encounter with Torrhen. Not that she could blame him.

Still, the balance of power had been disrupted and her Familia had been given strict instructions to do whatever it took, save for killing themselves, to see it righted.

Torrhen

Torrhen stood silently in an abandoned building, waiting as the sun went down. After he'd left Hermes, Torrhen had snuck into the home of the Ishtar Familia and invisibly slipped a note into Aisha Belka's hand. She had, of course, been startled but managed to play it off well enough.

Bell and company were having dinner at the Hostess, while Hestia was having a private get-together with Miach to discuss a few things. This gave him the perfect opportunity to slip away alone and meet with young Haruhime's protector.

He'd done a great deal of research when first arriving in the city, wanting to know about the different cultures and races he would encounter. Thanks to this, he had learned a decent amount about the Amazons and their culture. Fascinating, but not for the faint of heart.

Still, at the very least he knew she was honorable. If her defense of the young Renard was anything to go by. He'd been utterly furious when Hermes had explained just what a Killing Stone was, but now that he knew Ishtar's plan, he needed to hurry. Getting the girl out before Ishtar murdered her was a priority. Thus, the reason for meeting with Aisha. Clearing her of Ishtar's mind control would go a long way to helping him figure out what needed to be done.

It wasn't long before she came walking into the building. It was an abandoned warehouse far from the Entertainment District and mostly isolated from everything else. Private enough that he could use the Clear Mind Shout without being caught. Aisha's revealing clothes reminded him of some of the Forsworn he'd encountered, though even they had worn more clothes than she did.

"I'm here." Aisha declared from the door. Torrhen dropped down from the rafters.

"Thank you for meeting me." He said, simply.

"Your note said you had a plan." She certainly wasn't beating around the bush. "Very sneaky, by the way, slipping it into my hand. What have you got in mind?"

"First things first," he drew his hood back. "My name is Torrhen. I am a member of the Hestia Familia and we wish to free Haruhime from Ishtar and offer her a place among our ranks. She has friends there, who are desperately worried about her."

"She's mentioned the ones you told me about before." Aisa admitted. "I haven't said anything to her yet. Don't want to get her hopes up. What do you want with me, though? Thanks to… Ishtar" she spat the name, "I can't do anything that might disrupt her plans."

"That is why I wanted to meet with you so far away," Torren told her. "I believe I can break her hold on you."

The Amazon's eyes went wide. "You're serious? You can reverse godly charms?"

"The technique was enough to cure Soma of the built-up side effects of drinking his own perfected wine for decades." Aisha grinned, ferally at him.

"What do I have to do?"

"Just stand there." Torrhen said, before breathing in deep. "HAH DUR FEIM" The shout rippled across the room, colliding with Aisha, who stumbled back and almost lost her footing. She swayed on the spot, her hand going to her head, as though she was in pain. Then she seemed to straighten herself, blinking.

"I… I can't feel the charm anymore…"

"Try telling me something that it would have stopped you from saying." Torrhen told her.

"Ishtar plans to murder Haruhime with a Killing Stone and then shatter it so that she can go to war with Freya and actually have a chance at winning." With each word that came out of her mouth, Aisha's grin grew wider.

"Looks like it worked." Torrhen said, satisfied.

"Yes, it did." She was eyeing him hungrily before turning serious. "What's your plan?"

"We are willing to buy Haruhime's freedom," Torrhen explained. "I do not like the idea of letting Ishtar try again later with someone else, but for now we need to get the girl out of harm's way."

"She's safe enough, from death at least, since Ishtar can't get her hands on a new stone."

"Hermes mentioned you smashed the other one."

She nodded. "I did. It's what got me charmed, along with… other punishments." She shuddered. "Still, it's going to cost a lot for Ishtar to let her go. How much can you pay?"

"Handing over a few million will be easy enough."

"Then you just might have a shot at it." She smiled. "It'll be a lot though, probably enough to buy herself another Renard and a Killing Stone. Not to mention the fact that you'll need to be very convincing."

"Hestia will arrange a meeting as soon as possible, to determine her price at the very least, then we will hand over the money. Can you keep her safe until then?" Torrhen asked.

Aisha nodded. "She'll be even safer now that you've freed me. I do need to thank you for that." She leered, lecherously at him.

Torrhen chuckled. "I think not." She was extremely attractive, but his days of going after any pretty girl who was interested were long behind him. Having a real connection was far more important. "You should probably tell Haruhime about what's happening. She'll need to know."

Aisha nodded, a little disappointed. "I will." She nodded.

"You might want to tell her just what you've done to protect her." He added. "If it were me, I'd want to know what you'd done."

Aisha stood silent for a moment. "I'll think about it," she said, quietly.

Bell

Despite all the looming issues and potential War Game, Bell was having a wonderful time. He and the rest of his Familia, sans Hestia and Torrhen, were having dinner at the Hostess and having a grand time! It really was shocking just how much the Familia had grown in so short a time. It might grow even bigger soon enough, given their plans for a recruitment drive after the issues with Apollo and Mikoto's friend were dealt with.

They'd already come up with a decent enough plan for the drive, including several tests of skill and potential, not to mention a direct meeting with Goddess Hestia to make sure that everyone who joined them was genuine. They didn't want to accept someone who was only in it for themselves or would backstab their other members. Especially if Torrhen's status got out before they started recruitment.

Bell himself had gone by Naaza's shop to meet her new members and put in an order earlier that day. While there, he'd warned them about the coming conflict with Apollo. It was strange having that kind of responsibility. He was in charge of making sure everything in the Familia ran smoothly. Sure Lili, Goddess Hestia, and Torrhen helped him with that but he was still the leader. Him. It was a weird feeling. He'd spent part of that morning doing paperwork of all things!

Now though, he was just having a lovely meal in a tavern surrounded by his new friends, with a few others like Syr and Ms. Ryuu coming by to say hello when they had a chance. The conversation ranged all over the place, from discussing their training, to Mikoto and Ouka telling stories about the hijinks they got up to back in the Far East. They were having a great time, until the door swung open.

Striding in as though he owned the place was a tall man with brown hair, wearing the uniform of the Apollo Familia, who seemed to turn his nose up at everything that caught his eye. Especially when he caught sight of Bell and his party. The man moved to take a step further inside, but his path was blocked by Mama Mia herself.

"You ain't welcome here." She grunted, angrily.

"Excuse me?" The man sneered.

"I heard all about you Apollo people. Pass-parading? Using other adventurers as bait? Not even apologizing for it afterwards? I don't want people like that in my place."

"How dare you!" He growled. "You would deny me, the Captain of the great Apollo Familia entry solely because of the baseless accusations of a little harlot of a goddess and her worthless, weak Familia?" Bell nearly shot out of his chair, old held down by the lessons Torrhen had given him and a sharp glare from Lili across the table.

"Keep calm," Welf muttered from his right.

"Hestia, the worthless little twit is doing nothing but spreading lies about my Familia and our glorious god! Look!" The man gestured wildly towards Bell's table. "Her own members won't even say a word to refute me!"

This time, Bell couldn't stop himself, but he was strategic about it. He stood calmly, with a neutral expression. He spoke soflty, but let his words carry through the air. "I do not appreciate your comments about my goddess, but we have no quarrel with you. Nor with Lord Apollo." The rest of the customers were watching with wrapped attention. "We hold no grudge, nor do we blame you as Captain for the actions of your subordinates. I would be happy to explain our side of the story, if you are willing to listen. We have not tried to start rumors, simply explain to our friends what happened to us that day. Neither you, nor Lord Apollo are in any way at fault and all we truly wish for is an apology from those who harmed us."

"The Apollo Familia did nothing wrong!" the man shouted, spittle almost flying from his mouth. "You and your filthy whore of a goddess are spreading lies!"

The crowd was clearly on Bell's side. They'd listened to his quiet, measured explanation. His deference to Apollo's position and understanding about the captain not being involved. Then they compared it with the anger and vitriol coming out of Hyakinthos' mouth and could clearly see which of the two was being more reasonable.

"Get out," Mama Mia demanded, taking a step forward. With one final scoff and a glare at Bell, Hyakinthos stormed out of the restaurant.

"You handled that well," Mikoto said as Bell sat back down.

"Nice going, Captain" Welf smirked from his seat.

"It seemed as though he was trying to start a fight." Ouka commented.

"He probably was," Bell replied. "If I'd responded on his level, a fight probably would have broken out and Apollo would have reason to call us liars and aggressors."

"It's a good thing Mama Mia blocked the door," Lili chimed in. "I think I saw Luan just behind him outside."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I could keep my cool if that little shit walked in here." Welf grunted.

"Thankfully, he didn't" Bell said. "We should probably let Goddess Hestia know about what happened though."

Torrhen

Everyone was gathered in the lounge the morning after his meeting with Aisha, to discuss the events of the day before though, this time they were joined by Finn, Loki, Miach, and Naaza, who had all come by to discuss Apollo's party, given the fact that they had received invitations, and how to handle things based on Daphne and Cassandra's information.

"It says here that we're supposed to bring a member of our Familia with us?" Miach said, confused as he read his invitation.

"He'll probably try and use that as a way to provoke Hestia." Torrhen said. "Taking your captain with you just makes sense and he could try and use Bell to provoke Hestia."

"Then I shouldn't go." Bell responded.

"No, you definitely should." Finn told him. "If you go and keep your cool, then it will take the wind out of Apollo's sails even more. From what you've told us about last night, he's likely trying to make you seem like the irrational one. You handled yourself well then, aided by Mama Mia keeping Luan outside, but you'll need to do even better."

"I'll probably bring Ais along," Loki mused. "If push comes to shove, she's the first person who saw your group after the pass-parade. She could help vouch for you, and I know she'd do it."

"Good idea." Finn smiled. "I didn't want to go anyway." Loki stuck her tongue out at him.

"Still, about the confrontation." Loki continued. "I can back you up about the pass-parade and all that, but if it comes to a direct challenge, my hands are tied. Apollo will never agree to me helping you, and it would look really weird if I tried. Nobody's supposed to know about our alliance yet. I'll have to play it so it looks more like I'm messing with Apollo than siding with Hestia."

"I'm afraid there isn't much I can do to help." Miach admitted, sadly. "I can refuse to sell any potions to them, but that's pretty much it. None of my members are fighters, so I won't be able to help in a combat scenario but we can do plenty on the logistical side of things."

"We want Apollo to see us as weak." Torrhen said. "In the grand scheme of things, to most of the city the Hestia Familia is far weaker than Apollo's. That underdog status will help in making sure Apollo is seen in the worst light possible. He'll look like a petty aggressor, rather than the injured party. Like Bell did to Hyakinthos last night." The boy blushed as Torrhen nodded in his direction.

"Once we know what kind of War Game we are facing, we can really start planning. Still, the party isn't for another few days so we don't need to concern ourselves with it too heavily now." Hetia said.

"True," Torrhen agreed. "Besides, in the interim, we have other things to worry about."

A/N: There we go! What did you all think of it? Things might be moving a little faster now, but that's because I'm excited to move forward.

Any guesses on how things will go with Ishtar?

Should Aisha join Loki, Hermes, or Hestia?

I do still welcome suggestions or guesses on what type of war game we'll see. I'm leaning towards a siege, but that's just because I've got a couple scenes in my head that'll be fun to do in that setting. I'm very open to suggestions.

What about Dian Cecht, any ideas?

Answers to Questions

On FFN

Christalm: I really do love your comments. I know I don't always go the way you guess but reading them has given me several ideas. Some of which I've already used.

nephilim015: Your demand has been answered!

Selet: I do think the timeline got away from me a little but I wasn't all that worried about it. The whole two months thing was because Hestia didn't want to invite Loki over until the house was finished. Hearthfire Hall was finished a bit early and I think you could safely say their interactions with the Loki Familia really pushed things along a bit faster for that. Plus, I did say at the start that I would be messing with the timeline. Some things will happen faster than canon, some slower. Bell leveled up while the Loki Familia was on their expedition so it was at most two weeks between him leveling up and the 18th floor. So, I guess by this point he's been Level 2 for three/ three and a half weeks. I'll go back and take a look at things though. Just to see what I should change to make it fit a bit better.

Swiftcaliston: I'm not sure how you could have read it before? It didn't exist before yesterday. Weird.

Fronsky: Mayuri strikes me more as a Dian Cecht kind of character. Maybe I'll include him there? Not sure.

On Ao3

Ksc_UwU: I'll probably add the images in the next chapter. Maybe the one after it. Thanks.