Author´s Note: Shoutout to those who wrote they wouldn´t like to read chapters where Bell isn´t doing much, you can skip this chapter. *wink* Here it´s mostly about what the other familia members do and interact with each other, even when he appears a few times.
There will be another PoV part in this chapter, but not from Cerberus.
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"Buäääääh...a man saw me naked the moment I came down...*sniff*"
"There there..Hestia...I´m sure Bell didn´t look."
"You bet he did! Of course, he did! I appeared right in front of him!"
Hestia sat on the couch in the living room of the Stardust Garden in an oversized pullover. Under the pullover, she wore underwear and an oversized shirt, which looked like a fluffy dress. It was a huge surprise when Bell came back home right away, half-naked, with Lunor and the small goddess.
Astrea gently patted Hestia´s head, who halfway hugged the other goddess and had her head buried in Astrea´s lap.
"But Hestia, Bell is a gentleman, he closed his eyes and gave you his clothes."
"True..."
Hestia felt something sniffing her hand, a wet nose, she raised her hand and gently patted the snout that it belonged to.
"Thank you for cheering me up, Cerberus."
The small goddess eventually sat up, still looking flustered, as she looked at the living room. Most of Astrea´s familia was here, including Bell.
"Aren´t you surprised to see Cerberus?"
Hestia shook her head. "Mh-hm. Hades told me that he sent him down. Originally it would´ve been Hades´ turn now to come down."
"Why did he let you go first?"
Hestia smiled warmly. "Why do you think?"
"So much to do with his kingdom?"
"Mh-hm, he waits for two spots to be open. He refuses to leave without his wife, saying it shall be their overdue honeymoon."
Astrea chuckled. "He really loves Persephone."
When Hestia sat up more, still patting one of Cerberus´ heads, she saw someone small, fluffy, and insanely adorable, patting one of the other heads.
"Oh-ma-gosh! Who is this adorable floof?!"
"Ehehe~~ This is Haruhime."
"Haaah~~~ She is so cute!"
Hestia looked at the other members, Iska wasn´t in the room, she was currently busy changing a few of Astrea´s clothes for Hestia. And someone else, with black hair, was also missing, Kaguya was in her room, preparing to face the ultimate shame.
"Woah, you have so many pretty girls here, Astrea. If it weren´t for the young man, I would´ve thought you would be like Artemis."
"Well, Bell is special."
Hestia looked from Bell to Astrea, back to him again, and at Astrea.
"No way!"
"Hm?"
"My little Asti has a man?!"
Astrea suddenly got deep red. "Hestiaaa! Don´t call me by that nickname!"
"Huh? But you loved it when you still were a child?"
"I´m an adult now!"
The Astrea familia looked amazed, they had never seen their goddess like this before.
"Hah...and here I still clearly remember how you sat on my lap as a girl, looking up to me with shining eyes, calling me "Aunty Hestia!".."
"Th-That was long ago!"
Alise´s hand shot up. "Lady Hestia! Please tell us how Lady Astrea was as a child!"
Many of the others nodded to agree with Alise.
Astrea was about to protest, but Hestia puffed her chest and chuckled. "She was adorable. About as tall as Haruhime here, very shy, and curious. She often came to visit me and wanted to play games with me. Hah...you were so cute...now you´re so tall...why is everyone taller than me?"
Hestia described a bit more how the small Astrea was, how adorable and cute. Astrea was more than a bit flustered, but she saw that her followers loved to hear about it, and adored their goddess even more.
Heith sighed. "Hah...I wished I had known how Lady Freya was as a child...wait, no! F-Forget you heard that!"
Astrea tried to avert the attention from her. "You could go to Melen and ask Njordr, he is her father after all."
Heith got red. "H-Hearing about Lady Freya as a child...n-no! I mustn´t! Don´t lead me astray!"
Hestia smiled. "Freya was a cutie as a child."
Heith squealed more.
Hestia slowly looked at Bell again, then at Astrea. "You didn´t deny that you are with him, Astrea."
Astrea blushed a little again. "Th-There isn´t anything to deny...I love Bell."
"Hah...my little Asti...being a grown-up woman...having a boyfriend now..."
"Hestiaaa! Don´t make it sound like I just recently became an adult!"
"Hey, for me that is the case."
While Hestia kept petting Cerberus with one hand, she looked at Bell, her cheeks still pink. "Th-Thank you for helping me...and...for not staring."
"I would never do that, and helping you was the right thing to do."
Now Hestia looked curious at Lunor. "You´re Demeter´s child, right?"
"I am, Lady Demeter was so kind to take me in...and protect me."
"Hehe, that´s my sister for you."
"Lady Demeter is your sister?!"
"Jup, my little sister."
"Eh?"
"Hey...I´ve seen your eyes just now...body height has nothing to do with that."
While Hestia let her eyes wander around the room, she noticed a certain pattern in the mortals´ behavior, whenever one of the young women looked at Bell.
"Hah...you really are like Zeus incarnated as a mortal. Just more charming."
"Eh?" Bell got red.
Hestia waved her hand slightly. "I don´t mean it in a flirty way, but I know who you are. Hades told me, and Persephone...warned me to be wary of you...of your...effect on women."
Astrea gently put a hand on Hestia´s. "Hestia, that´s not fair, Bell is much different from Zeus."
"Is that so?"
Hestia noticed one thing, the women looked differently at Bell, than Zeus´ affairs had looked at each other. The women here all knew about Bell and their shared relationships, she was surprised that they could accept it. But when she noticed how the young, scarred woman looked at the blond elf, with clear affection in her eyes, she understood it a little. Or how the amazons behaved with each other and the others.
This here was more than a familia, it was a big family.
"By the way."
"Yes, Hestia?"
"Why are Demeter´s child and the young cat lady over there wearing maid outfits?"
Lunor stood close to Astrea, while Chloe stood behind Bell, as usual gently moving her tail at the back of his neck, looking at him with very obvious affection.
Astrea smiled. "Due to some circumstances, they work here as maids. While Chloe became part of the familia, she likes her clothes."
Chloe smirked. "Meow will become a battle maid, Nya!"
Hestia sighed. "Wow...that sounded really cute just now."
Then the small goddess turned her head to look at Lunor, who bowed slightly forward with closed eyes, she wouldn´t lose the title of the best maid against Chloe!
"I made a terrible mistake in the past, as my punishment, I work here as the familia´s maid, even when I´m mostly helping Lady Demeter at home. Lady Astrea was so kind to give Chloe and me a second chance."
Hestia´s smile filled with warmth. "Heeh...that´s my little Asti for you."
Astrea pouted. "Hestia...I will throw you out..."
"Eeeeeeh?! My little Asti would throw her beloved aunty out? *sniff* How cruel!"
"Mouh...of course, I won´t...what do you plan to do now? Starting your own familia?"
"That would be nice, so...if you would allow me to stay for a few days until I get a place to stay?"
"Of course."
When a certain door opened in the house, everyone grew quiet, as two figures came slowly out.
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Filvis and Aura walked carefully, both didn´t need a crutch anymore, but they still took it slowly. Celty followed them, she had changed their bandages again.
"Lady Astrea, may we have a moment?"
"Of course, Filvis, do you want to sit?"
"No, thank you."
Both still had a few problems sitting down, and their elven pride forbade them to look helpless in front of others.
"We..we thought about what to do with our old home."
Everyone was quiet now, Filvis looked at Aura, who nodded. A noise came from behind, meowing. Filvis crouched down and let Mina jump into her arms, where the cat curled up and purred.
"We heard that Lord Ganesha took all of Orario´s orphans in, but that they´re short on houses. So, we decided to give the house to him. It surely will let Lord Diyonisus smile in heaven, and our fallen comrades surely would like it too. Like that, the place might get filled with joy and laughter again."
"That is a wonderful idea, shall I accompany you to him?"
"That would be kind of you."
Ardee raised her hand. "I will come along, I want to visit Shakti."
Hestia looked a bit surprised, since she was still in heaven when Diyonisus returned, she knew what he was originally up to. But she wouldn´t tell the children here, nor Astrea. It would only pain the children, and force Astrea to keep a secret from them. Plus, and that gave the small, normally so nice goddess a thrilling kick, it would surely drive Diyonisus mad in heaven.
Hah! Serves you right!
Ryu raised her hand. "I would also come if that´s alright."
A voice came from behind, with a slight "nasty" tone to it.
"What´s that? Does Ardee want to introduce you to her family?" They heard the grin in Kaguya´s voice.
But Ryu´s outburst or reply died out when they looked in Kaguya´s direction.
In fact, Ryu´s reaction was far worse for Kaguya than any angry reply.
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"Oh my...so cute..."
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"Nah!" Kaguya´s cheeks turned pink.
And it got much...much worse.
"Oh my gods!"
"Dear heavens!"
"Kaguya, you look so cute!"
"So proper!"
"Like a maiden!"
"A true maiden!"
"That looks like something Leon would wear!"
"Is that really Kaguya?!"
"Heeeeh~~~ So Kaguya found her maiden side? Adorable."
"Cute!"
"Sweet!"
"Lovely!"
"Adorable!"
"Charming!"
"Enchanting!"
"Glamorous!"
"Gorgeous!"
"Ravishing!"
"Captivating!"
The more words came, the more red and embarrassed Kaguya became. "B-Be quiet!"
Hestia´s eyes widened. "Woah, a real maiden...she looks so cute..."
Kaguya grit her teeth, small tears appeared in the corner of her eyes.
The reason for their reaction was her outfit. Kaguya wore an elegant, chaste, and very proper, white dress, together with white gloves, a small hat, a handbag hanging from her right forearm, a closed, white umbrella in her hand. Even her shoes were white.
""""""""""She looks so innocent!"""""""""""""
"Kuuuuuh!"
Never before in her life, not even when she had experimented with Bell in bed, did Kaguya feel so ashamed before! This was the exact reason why she wore these clothes, for his wish for Kaguya, Bell had promised to make Kaguya really embarrassed.
It was part of their relationship, what gave them a small kick.
But Kaguya didn´t think he would make her embarrassed in that way! She had expected all kinds of kinky stuff, but not this!
Astrea smiled. "You look really cute, Kaguya."
"Even you, Lady Astrea..."
Bell got up from the couch, walking towards Kaguya. When he stopped in front of her, he bowed forward, raised her left hand, and kissed the back of it. When the others sighed, and Haruhime giggled, Kaguya almost fainted, so hot did her face feel.
She mumbled so low that only Neze and Ryu heard her.
"I will make you pay for this..."
Bell just smiled and got up again. "Milady...will you do me the honor of joining me today?"
"F-Fine..."
He raised an eyebrow and smiled amorous.
She almost bit her lower lip, remembering what he asked of her for their date...for his wish. "G-Glady, noble Sir. My knight, my love."
Not only would she dress like a lady, but Kaguya would also act like one, and was forbidden from using her "foul mouth". Since it wasn´t her nature to be like that...she just thought what Ryu would do, how she would act.
Many of her fellow familia members sighed when they saw how Kaguya fidgeted slightly, this side of her was very adorable.
"Then, shall we go, Milady?"
Bell offered her his hand, and Kaguya placed her hand gently on his. "Let us go...my..knight."
The others saw how much Kaguya shivered, shooting Ryu a glance to dare her to say anything. But Ryu didn´t.
She...just grinned.
A smug grin.
No one had ever seen Ryu making one. For the first time, Kaguya got her teasing returned to her by her rival.
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After Bell and Kaguya left for their date, Tiona looked at Maryuu and Iska, with her hands crossed behind her head.
"Neh, Iska, Maryuu...can we leave already? Tione is ready too."
Maryuu nodded. "I´m done with everything, we can leave."
Iska went to her room to get her stuff.
Heith raised a hand. "May I come along?"
"Did you ever do a quest before?"
"No."
"Then it will be a good opportunity to learn."
"You have my thanks."
"Go and get your stuff, we will wait at the door."
While Heith went to her room, Neze and Haruhime went to their room, preparing to go shopping for some things together, meanwhile, Lyra went to her workshop, and Asta to the small forge she had in the garden.
"Asta, are you finished with "that" later?"
"Give me a few hours, I´m almost done."
"Thanks a lot."
The only ones who were left in the living room, were the two goddesses, Alise, and Cerberus, who lay at her feet, curled up.
Hestia looked curious at Alise. "You´re the captain, right?"
"Yes, Lady Hestia. And..hah..."
"Is something wrong?"
"It's just...I´m not allowed to do anything...all my work was taken from me, I just don´t know what to do."
"Why that?"
Alise put a hand on her lower belly. "There is a good chance that I´m pregnant, we will know it next week or the week after that."
"Oooooh! Congratulations! Is that why Cerberus is so attached to you?"
"We all think so."
"And...who is the father?"
Alise smiled. "Who do you think it is?"
"Oh, so you´re young Bell´s wife?"
"Not yet, Ardee holds the title of the "legal wife"."
From one of the rooms came Ardee´s voice. "I heard that, Alise!"
Alise turned her head in that direction and raised her voice. "As if you aren´t happy about it!"
"Oh...so Bell and...what was her name again?"
"Ardee."
"Ardee...they are married?"
"Only engaged, but they will marry in a few months."
"Oh...ahm..."
Astrea smiled. "Hestia, the situation is special. I know for a fact that Bell intends to marry Alise too. And most of the others."
"Only most?"
"Well, elves don´t marry."
"Oh. Wow...he is something else."
"That he is."
"And you, Astrea?"
The goddess blushed. "Oh ahm..eh...h-he didn´t ask me so far."
"Hah...to think I would see my little Astrea like that, it's like it was just yesterday when you were sitting on my lap as a little girl. And to think you fell in love with such a guy..."
"Hestia, Bell is the best man I know. You will surely get to know him."
"But I won´t fall for h-!"
Hestia was startled when a loud crash came from the outside, followed by a child-friendly curse. Astrea went to the window and opened it.
"Did something happen?!"
"Sorry, Lady Astrenya, just slipped, Meow."
A different voice replied. "Slipped, my foot! I´m just better than you!"
"Unya! Nyou are paying for nyat!"
Astrea chuckled and closed the window again.
"Lunor and Chloe are just training in their maid outfits. Originally, Bell wanted to train with Lunor this morning, until you came down, Hestia."
"Battle maids...now that´s something else."
"I think it´s quite cute."
Alise grinned. "And cool in a way! Imagine if we would later go into the dungeon, having our own battle maid squad!"
Hestia leaned curiously forward, watching how the middle head of Cerberus rose and slowly went down on Alise´s lap again, licking for a moment along her shirt.
"There goes another shirt into the laundry..."
"Does he do that often?"
"Yes, due to this behavior, and what Lady Freya guessed, we got the idea, that I might be pregnant."
"Oh, Freya was here?"
Astrea smiled. "Yes, to see Cerberus, she is my friend after all."
"Hehe~~ Gonna visit her soon."
"Her familia is a bit overprotective of her. But I think she will maybe come to visit you when Heith goes to visit her home one of these days."
"Heith isn´t your follower?"
"No, she is Freya´s. She is here for an internship, for various reasons."
"Wow. Hm...Astrea?"
"Yes?"
"Does Demeter live far from the city?"
"Not really, it's easy to go there by foot. When Lunor is done with her training and work at the house, she will go home again, do you want to visit Demeter?"
"Absolutely! I haven´t seen her for so long!"
"Hm...Alise?"
"Yes, Lady Astrea?"
"Would you and Cerberus accompany Hestia?"
"Gladly!"
Alise´s eyes sparkled, finally, she was allowed to do at least something!
"Oh, by the way, Astrea?"
"Yes, Hestia?"
"Is that fox over there your familia´s pet?"
"Fox?"
Astrea blinked and looked in the direction that Hestia pointed.
"Eh?!"
A pure white fox sat there, the one with heterochromatic eyes, it was about twice as big as a normal fox would be. The fox slowly got up from where she was sitting, walked slowly to the armchair where Alise sat. One of Cerberu´s heads looked at the fox and grunted softly, the fox replied with a sound like a squeak.
"E-Eh?" Alise blinked as the fox put her front legs on the armrest...and sniffed at her belly.
"Another one?..."
The fox raised her head, it looked almost as if she was smiling, then she softly nudged her snout one time against Alise´s cheek.
Welcome.
It was a female voice that they heard, a very soft, gentle, calm, warm, caring, loving voice.
Then the fox got down again, turned around, and vanished into thin air as she walked.
"What was that now? Another spirit?"
Astrea shook her head. "This fox...she is part of Bell´s summoning magic."
"So was Cerberus."
"Yes, but Cerberus was sent down by Hades. Though, I wonder..."
Hestia looked curious, as did Alise.
"Astrea?"
"Lady Astrea?"
"This part of Bell´s magic is called...the sisters of death."
Hestia shivered. "That sounds scary!"
"Not really, they represent both sides of death, the frightening and the calm side."
Alise put her hands in a protective way over her belly. "Don´t scare me like that..."
"That´s not what I meant, Alise. Maybe she slipped out due to Hades´ intervention?"
Astrea had a guess who that fox actually was, whose soul it was. And the reason why it said "Welcome" to Alise...
To welcome her into the family maybe?
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It didn´t take long for Maryuu, Iska, Tiona, Tione, and Heith to arrive at the guild. As the "oldest sister", Maryuu had decided she would teach Tiona and Tione about quests, it was good that Heith used the chance to come with them.
The guild hall was filled with the usual amount of adventurers, some standing closer to the blackboard.
"We should look on the left side, here are usually the quests that no one takes."
Tione raised an eyebrow. "Why that?"
They knew that Tione still learned Koine, so she kept her sentences mostly short. For Maryuu, it was the situation with Iska from the past all over again.
She loved it.
"Most adventurers in Orario, I think nine out of ten, are level one. Those like our familia, who leveled up one or more times, are the stronger ones. So the quests that no one takes will r-...Was that too much?"
"Bit slower, easier."
"Alright, like Iska would say it...or in Amazon terms. They are weak, they don´t take hard quests. We are strong, we take them."
Tione nodded. "Makes sense."
Heith was the first at the blackboard. "The question is now, outside of the dungeon or inside?"
Iska put her hands on her hips. "We´re always going into the dungeon, let´s take one outside."
Tiona raised her hand. "I agree!"
Tione nodded. "Want to see land of Orario."
Tiona leaned to her sister and whispered. "I. The land. Around, not of."
Tione just nodded, glancing at Heith, Iska, and Maryuu, who pretended they didn´t hear it.
Each quest note was written in Koine, what the quest was about, and some drawn pictures below, as well as the reward. Since Tione couldn´t read most of the words, she just looked at the pictures, some showed flowers, other stuff that could be found in a forest. One showed strange eggs, with a drawn banana next to it, which was much smaller than the egg, so probably a really big egg.
But one picture caught Tione´s immediate attention, she took the note and held it toward Tiona.
"What here? Tell."
Tiona looked at the note, reading it, then her eyes widened and she grinned wide. So that she wouldn´t make a mistake, Tiona switched to the Amazonian tongue, explaining it to her sister.
When Tione cried out, the other three turned around to her.
She held up the note. "Take! This one, take! Have to do!"
Maryuu took the note, Iska and Heith looked from the sides.
"Hunting giant black and red serpents? Two appeared in a forest and fight for territory?"
Tione looked beyond determined. "Hunt! We hunt!"
"Their strength is higher level two, no wonder no one takes it...why hunt them, Tione?"
"Taste good! Serpent taste good! For Bell."
"For Bell?" Maryuu looked curious.
Tiona explained it. "Tione wants to hunt the serpents and present them to Boss Bell as a gift, and she wants you to help her make food out of it. Giant serpents taste really good."
"You ate serpents?"
"Yes. Hunting giant serpents and feeding them to your husband is normal for amazons."
"But Bell isn´t her husband..."
Tiona grinned. "My sister has chosen him."
And that was that Tione was an Amazon, they weren´t known for accepting a no.
"Hm, we are five people, we should be able to carry them. What do you say?"
Maryuu looked at Iska and Heith.
"I´m following where you go, Mar."
Maryuu´s smile filled with warmth.
Heith slightly shrugged her shoulders. "I have no complaints, but can I have a bit of the meat? I would like to give it to Lady Freya if it's really tasty."
Tione looked a bit displeased, so Iska explained to her what being part of a familia meant, especially when they went to hunt together. After she understood it, Tione nodded.
Then she put her fist onto her chest. "But me hunt red one, only me."
Maryuu looked a bit worried. "That´s dangerous, you know?"
Tione just nodded, her eyes and expression already switched into her pre-battle mode.
Tiona grinned. "It´s important for her, the red ones taste better than the black ones. So she wants to be the one to hunt it for Bell."
Maryuu chuckled. "Oh my, amazonian love is kind of sweet."
"It´s also a very strong aphrodisiac and helps him regain his juices."
"Oh!"
Of course, it did...they were amazons after all. While Iska chuckled, Maryuu was a bit interested in that topic, she too wanted to have children after all. Meanwhile, Heith got deep red.
"J-Juices?! A-A-Aphrodisiac?!"
Maryuu made a serious face. "Don´t mind it, Heith, ehehe...But that´s a no-no, Tione is a bit too young for "that". And Bell doesn´t know her well enough."
Tiona nodded and continued to translate for her sister. "Oh, no problem here. Only some parts of the serpent are like that, and only if done right. And they have to age for a while."
"That´s good..."
"Still, Tione really wants to hunt it for Bell and make a serpent dish."
"Can she cook?"
"Not...not really."
Maryuu chuckled. "Then in the name of love, let us take the quest. And I will help her with the cooking."
Heith smiled. "I hope Lady Freya will like the meat."
After they informed the guild that they would take the quest, the five young women set out. While they left the guild building, a movement caught Tione´s attention.
She saw a big, white fox sitting in a corner.
"Wha-"
The fox vanished into thin air, it looked as if it was...smiling?
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"So, what do you say, Lyra?"
"Hm."
Lyra whirled around what she held in her hands. "The balance is perfect, I love it."
Asta giggled. "More than Bell?"
"Pff, no chance. But they´re in place three."
"Only three?"
"My familia comes first."
Asta laughed softly, she was one of the few that Lyra showed her caring side to openly, not hiding it behind her usual nature.
Lyra whirled her new weapons more around.
"Hm, somehow...seems like Bell was right." Asta smiled.
"You think so?"
"Yes, you´re a natural."
"Hm."
Lyra didn´t have her usual fist weapons or a new version of them. Instead, she had asked Asta to forge her two new weapons, so she had something to change. It was only possible since Bell had erased all their debts, and even showed them a few materials and drop items that he had inherited from his uncle and aunt. They were inside their vaults, as well as the money.
Asta showed Lyra a wide, extremely excited grin.
"Uuuuuh, my fingers itch to test out more of these things."
"Heh, going full smith now?"
"No, but it´s exciting to work with such super-rare items. Not even Loki familia goes deep enough to get their hands on these things! So I´m the only one in the city!"
Lyra smirked. "Sorry to pop your bubble, but Bell has given a few to Tsubaki, so she will forge one or two things for him."
"But why that?"
Lyra could only watch in awe, as Asta went to a table, took an...for her size...enormous tankard, easily fitting two liters of liquid, and started to chug it down.
"Wow...you dwarves are really something else, where does all this beer go?"
"Hm? It´s nothing special? Bell says it´s quite the sight, that it´s appealing, I wonder why?"
"Is that so? Well, back to your question, Tsubaki has much more experience than you with smithing, don´t be mad."
Asta shook her head. "Why would I? You´re right."
Lyra showed her a grin. "Also, I´m fairly sure that Bell and Tsubaki do it."
Asta raised an eyebrow. "Looks like we got ourselves a rabbit...or a stallion."
"Does that make you mad?"
"No? I´m the only true dwarf in Bell´s life."
"I mean, don´t you want to spend more time with him? Alone?"
"Hm.." Asta emptied her tankard and looked at the ceiling, letting out the cutest burp anyone had ever heard.
"Hm...no, I like it like this. I have so much to do, having him for myself for a while now and then is fine, but I don´t think I´m the type to have a man constantly around me."
Lyra moved through Asta´s forge, twisting and twirling her body, while she tried her new weapons. It was a set of short twin spears, with the perfect size for a prum. Bell had shown her a book he had, it was basically a sacred tome, had surprised Lyra without end.
The story about the Knights of Fianna.
Fianna wasn´t a goddess, never was one. She was a saint, a "normal", female, living prum. All her knights were prums, all of them wore spears. And Bell had shown her an old drawing of some of the knights. Fianna´s "right hand", was a prum named Helga, she wore such a set of spears. Lyra had like the sight, wondered how it would´ve been to fight with them. Bell had shown her another book, with descriptions about the fighting style.
He got that book from Zeus, who had watched the Knights of Fianna back then from heaven. So...it was authentical, everything.
Asta pointed with her thumb to a table. "Your new armor parts are ready as well."
"Really?! You´re fast, Asta."
The dwarf just showed her an excited grin.
Until now, Lyra just wore special gloves with armor plates on the backs of her hands, knee guards, and a small protection on the left side of her ribs. But now her knee guards were part of special plate boots, which left her feet free. She had short plates on both sides of her hips now, as well as two fitting shoulder guards, and a cape made from goliath robe.
"I got a bit surprised when Bell came up with this idea, they will definitely raise your defense."
"I guess so, he also showed me the illustration that Lord Zeus had drawn, saying it would look awesome on me."
"It surely does."
Of course, Lyra had been excited and put the new armor parts on.
"Will take time to get used to them."
"Then take your time to train, with Bell I guess?"
Lyra grinned. "You bet!"
Lyra loved Bell, with every fiber of her being.
Curious, she looked at some of the tables, where different armor parts lay.
"Is this Leon`s?"
"Yeah, it took a while until she agreed to give me her sizes."
"Hah...our silly elf again."
"I mean, how else am I supposed to forge her armor?"
"You know how elves are."
"I know how Leon is, Celty doesn´t have these problems."
"Well, from what I saw so far in Orario, I would say Celty is more the oddball among elves."
"Don´t say that too loud."
"Ah, no problem. Celty knows how I mean it, isn´t the first thing I said it."
While Lyra kept moving with her two spears and the armor parts, Asta cleaned up her forge. She never allowed anyone to help her with that, the forge was her personal sanctuary.
"Lyra, how are our finances looking?"
"Excellent! No problems anywhere! Thanks to a certain someone."
"That sounds good, then I can keep working."
"Don´t do too much."
Asta smiled. "Oh, don´t worry, if I do too much and my hands get tired or numb, Bell will give them a wonderful, relaxing massage. He is good with his hands."
Lyra nodded. "I feel you, he does that for me too when I worked too long in my workshop."
"Iska said his feet massages are pure heaven."
"I felt a bit of that when he gave me a full body massage."
Asta suddenly grinned. "Didn´t take him long, I guess? There isn´t much to massage."
"Pff, right back at you, shorty."
It was a joke between the dwarf and the prum.
Lyra stopped her movements at some point. "It feels a bit like my caestus weapons."
"That´s good then."
"And it´s pure adamantite?"
"Jup, only the purest, mixed with Mythril, to make it a bit lighter."
"Good, I don´t want to get massive arms from using them."
Asta cleaned the last bits of her forge and put a few more coals into the forge fire. These were special coles, from deep in the dungeon, the volcanic area of the 44th floor. They didn´t have any special or magic abilities, they just glew for a very long time but also needed a long time to even start glowing.
She didn´t use them to light up her forge fire, just used a few pieces to keep the fire glowing at a light pace. Since she didn´t want to ask Cerberus again and again to light up her forge. He was a bit too eager at the first time...leaving most of her forge scorched...
"Hehe~~~ To think I can forge with spirit fire.~~"
"Hm...Asta, do you have anything to do right now?"
"Hm, no. I wanted to relax a bit."
"What do you say...are you in for a little fun and teasing?"
"But everyone is out of the house?"
"What do you say, want to take a few of the coals and bring them to Tsubaki? Imagine her reaction when you tell her it´s spirit fire, and her expression when she realizes you could already forge with it for a while."
"Might make her upset."
"Ah, doubt it, she will be overjoyed. And gives us a nice discount in the future.~~"
"You´re always looking out for our finances, aren´t you?"
"You bet, now even more than before."
"Because of the house?"
"And the land we have to buy, and...well you know...babies need a lot."
"Oy, oy, don´t tell me you too?"
Lyra shook her head. "No, I checked after Alise´s announcement, just to be safe. Also...I think I want to wait for a few more months, maybe a year. I don´t want to rush this, taking my time."
Asta nodded. "I understand that."
"What about you?"
"Hm, didn´t think about it so far, I guess it´s too early for me. I just...it doesn´t feel right at the moment for me. And...well I want to use the chance when Alise will be really pregnant and have a baby to learn first."
"Yeah, it will be much to learn. Heh, I bet Lady Astrea will be overjoyed."
"Oh, we all will. I keep my fingers crossed for Kaguya."
"Hopefully Amid finds a cure."
"If it´s Dian Cecht familia? Most likely."
Asta used a small shovel and a special metal "lantern", to fill it with glowing coals.
"So, let´s welcome Tsubaki to the family!"
"Hah!"
The cute dwarf and the cheeky prum laughed while they went to the entrance of the Stardust Garden.
Unseen by them, the fox appeared, sitting in a corner of the forge.
What nice girls.
The fox was happy. Happy that she got this chance, to stroll around on her own, it was good that her sister currently slept, otherwise she would feel lonely without the fox.
She disappeared again, strolling around invisibly. Not even a magic item that could spot invisible beings would be able to see her.
Nothing made her happier that Bell got so happy.
Well...maybe the fact that he would have many children.
A big family was what she ever had longed for.
Following her instincts, the fox kept strolling around.
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For a normal person, the trip to the forest would´ve taken three to four hours, but the five women made it in under an hour. The forest was quite big, big enough for two giant serpents hiding in it.
Iska leaned to Maryuu.
"Hey Mar."
"Hm?"
"Isn´t this the forest where Leon and Bell went for their ritual?"
Maryuu chuckled. "You´re right, but it wasn´t a ritual, they just confessed their love here."
"Hah, she is so extremely romantic."
Maryuu smiled. "No comment here."
She would never make fun of how romantic Ryu was, also, Iska was also quite romantic, she behaved in ways towards Bell that were quite unlike a normal Amazon. Even Tione was more straightforward.
Which soon would be shown again.
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Heith backed a bit away when Tione prepared herself for the task.
"Why are you stripping?!"
"Stripping?"
"Getting naked!"
"Hm? Amazons hunt naked."
Iska looked at the forest, not bothered that Tione stripped. "I wonder how far away the serpents are from each other, doesn´t sound like anything is currently fighting here."
Heith looked with red cheeks away from Tione. "Was...was there a description, how big they are?"
"No, but at least a few meters each, giant serpents are usually around eight meters long."
"Oh...will you be able to face that, Ms. Tione?"
"Hm?"
"Ugh...you strong enough?"
"Oh, yeah. Piece of Bread."
"Cake."
"Cake of Bread?"
"Piece of cake..."
"Ah, got it."
As a good sister, Tiona picked up Tione´s clothes and put them in the backpack they had with them, switching into the Amazonian tongue.
"Shall I take your Kukri´s sheaths?"
"Yes, thank you."
The four watched how the, now-naked, Amazon walked into the forest, holding a Kukri in each hand.
Heith still blushed. "How can she strip down so easily..."
"We´re all women here? I don´t see a problem."
"Hm, Amazons are something else."
Tiona shrugged her shoulders, grinning. "For us, you all are the weird ones. I mean...you wear all white."
"That´s the sacred uniform that Lady Freya bestowed upon us! I won´t tolerate you badmouthing it!"
Tiona grinned wider. "Heeeeh, you can bark and bare your teeth, thought you´re more the soft one."
"I will take you on if I have to! To protect Lady Freya´s name!"
"Tione and I are upper level three, you know?"
"Oh...still!"
Maryuu clapped her hands. "Alright, no fighting, let us go. In case Tione gets hurt, I don´t want to be too far away."
Tiona grinned. "She will be fine, my sister chose her man, no way she is backing down here."
Iska smirked. "What about you?"
"Hm, Boss Bell sure is nice, quite handsome, strong. He has quite the knowledge about stories, but I´m not so desperate for love as Tione."
A loud shout came from the forest.
"I HEARD THAT!"
Tiona just laughed and went with the others into the forest, searching for the giant black serpent.
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Tione couldn´t help but grin as she walked through the forest, her feet easily found a path. She had been seven years old when the others had taken her on her first hunt, doing it earlier wasn´t allowed. Not because it was dangerous, but because she would´ve gotten in the way. Amazons had to learn early how to fight and hunt their food. Of course, she didn´t do much during the first hunting trips, but she learned pretty fast.
And now, to go on a giant serpent hunt again, alone this time, was pretty exciting! And from what she heard it was a pretty big serpent! To give herself an advantage, Tione started to stomp on the ground and jogged. Stomping on the ground would attract the serpent faster, she couldn´t risk losing against the other four to get her prey first, her Amazonian pride forbade it. Somehow serpents were able to feel the vibrations in the ground.
It had been a long time since she was able to eat a giant serpent. She really wanted to show the others what she could do, especially Bell! Even as an upper-level three, a giant serpent would be a challenge! They belonged to the stronger monsters on the surface.
She would become even stronger, worthy of Bell, Tione was glad that he was such a strong and fertile man! While she loved a strong man, Tione wouldn´t allow him to be constantly much stronger than her! Despite her excitement about the hunt, Tione felt her cheeks and heart getting warm when she thought about him.
Tione ran deeper into the forest. Not only would the vibrations of her stomping feet attract the serpent, but her body would also start to heat up, which would also lure it to her.
Her ears heard the fine noises of the forest. She couldn´t hear the serpent directly, but birds noticed the giant animal and fled from it, so Tione focussed where she couldn´t hear birds or other animals.
Thankfully, the serpent was still a monster, so it was much more aggressive and territorial than a normal animal. Tione didn´t have to look long for the monster, the forest got quiet around her, and she still ran fast, but this time in the other direction. Not straight ahead in one direction, Tione ran in this direction, then that. She acted as if she was scared by something, just like a panicked animal that was about to get attacked, Bache showed her this trick in the past.
When she arrived at a small clearing, too small to be called a glade, only one tree here had fallen, Tione stopped and slowly looked around. Even when the Giant Red Serpent wasn´t a monster from the dungeon, its kind was a subspecies of the Worm Well, which adventurers called Lambton. While Giant Serpents didn´t have the same holes in their head as the Lambtons, they had horn combs to protect their head. So while these monsters weren´t as strong as a true Lambton, even the red ones could still be compared to a monster of the 25th floor, so more than a fair fight for Tione, especially since she was naked and only had her Kukris with her. Like a true Amazon should do when she hunted such prey.
There was a slight movement ahead of her, Tione almost stopped to breathe so slow did she do it. A movement, no doubt, something big moved in front of her behind a tree. Her Kukris hang low in her hands. Tione waited, would it attack from the front? Unseen by her, the long, red tail of a titanic serpent slowly rolled out of the tree behind her, ending in a sharp, hard bone spike. The tail made no noise at all, no leaves rustled.
The tail moved a tiny bit backward, then it shot towards Tione without making a noise. If that spike would hit her, it would burst out of her chest and kill her immediately. Tione bent her extremely flexible body to the side and evaded the spike just barely. She had listened to the smallest sounds since this tactic wasn´t something new for her. The movement ahead of her came from the head, the serpent did this on purpose to distract the prey from the tail. Tione made a fist and hammered it with her full strength into the spike from the side, shattering the bone there. It was a trick that another Amazon taught her in the past. This red serpent couldn´t know this, but now it got really angry.
It didn´t take long for the serpent to explode out of the bushes and attack her head-on. And what a serpent that was! A really big one, easily ten meters long! Otherwise, it wouldn´t be able to use the tactic it had used.
Good Prey!
This fight would get interesting for Tione since she couldn´t risk slashing the serpent all over, it would ruin the meat and the skin! She charged at the serpent head-on, the jaws of the monster opened unnaturally wide, it was a snake type after all. Tione rammed her hands against the upper and lower jaws without hurting herself at the fangs. Holding it back for a moment, before she moved herself to the side and slammed the serpent´s head to the ground.
Stopping to move could mean getting caught by the massive body. Since the serpent was so angry that it got hurt and was in full movement, its head slammed into a tree, shaking it violently. With an enraged hiss, the serpent´s head shot around and went at Tione again, at the same time the broken tip of the tail shot towards her again. Even when it was hurt, it would use this weapon. Instead of trying to block the head, Tione let herself push backward by it, evading the tail tip barely.
The serpent tried to slam her against a tree, but Tione´s feet found the tree first, she used all of her strength to push back and ran up backward at the same time. The serpent bent its body up, but Tione kicked herself off the tree, pulled the head with her, turned her body around, and slammed the head onto the ground, with the horn combs first, in a perfect German suplex, changed to work with the serpent.
All amazons learned how to fight barehanded, even monsters. And Tione loved this move, called a "German Suplex", the name and technique came originally from a god. Argana had shown her this in a quite brutal way, and Kali had told her the name of this move.
Before the serpent could recover, Tione grabbed the head and ran forward, smashing it into the next tree, breaking a huge part out of the trunk. The serpent recovered and attacked Tione with a rapid series of snapping jaws and the tail. Tione still barely used her Kukris. She had dropped them close to a tree, at first she had to fight the serpent with her hands, to make it dizzy. Eventually, the serpent managed to sling the tip below the bone spike around Tione´s ankle. Immediately the serpent started to coil around Tione with immense speed. Tione tensed her muscles and held against the enormous strength of the monster.
Her lips parted into a murderous grin.
"Nice trick, won´t help you though."
The serpent opened its maw wide to devour Tione in one piece.
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About an hour later, the others noticed birds rising from the forest, in a way as if something was moving towards them. They found the black serpent pretty fast, since it was more aggressive than the cunning red one, relying more on brutal strength. Their fight had also ended much faster, Tiona and Iska had jumped the body, and pressed it onto the ground, while Heith had fought the flailing tail. Maryuu came with her gentle smile and massive mace, then smashed the black serpent´s head with it. Only that Tione´s prey remained mostly intact was important.
Slowly...
Eventually, something appeared from between the trees.
It was...
An amazon.
An amazon that was completely drenched in blood, red from head to toe. At only fifteen...almost sixteen..years of age, Tione had successfully hunted the giant red serpent.
Bell had thought the twins were only fourteen or fifteen, but both were close to become sixteen. While both had quite fitting bodies for their age, Tione would soon enter the growth spurt that would make Tiona cry...
Her Kukris stuck in the monster´s eyes, she had used the blood that flew from the wounds to paint her body all over with it, marking herself with her prey. When Tione came out between the trees, she raised her right hand, showing them all the head of the black serpent, the head was bigger than her upper body.
And then...Tione screamed.
Raising the serpent´s head as high as she could, throwing her head back, and screaming like a true Amazon. She shook the serpent´s head while hammering her free fist onto her chest. Tione bent her extremely flexible body backward, they saw the red blood of the serpent glistening on her body.
Tione screamed.
Louder and louder did she howl, screaming up to the heavens, trying to scream so loud that even her beloved in Orario would hear her. She shook her head from one side to the other, shaking the serpent´s head, and screamed even louder, while she hammered her free fist onto her chest again.
In Telskyura, it was normal for an amazon to announce her victory, when they had hunted a strong prey.
And normally they would offer the blood to their goddess...Kali was a goddess of blood after all...but now she wouldn´t do that anymore. Since, Tione somehow doubted that Astrea would like that offer, or smearing the blood onto her body.
It should be impossible for a mortal to scream that loud. When the howl reached its peak, Maryuu, Iska, and Heith had to cover their ears, even when they were about two hundred meters away from Tione. Tiona just laughed, happy to see her sister so happy Tione didn´t howl like an Amazon anymore, it sounded like something different.
Much different.
The sound echoed in a strange way, as if not one, but multiple screams echoed at the same time. A scheme appeared behind Tione, a scheme that all who knew Bell´s summoning magic recognized.
The Lernean Hydra.
Only those who loved Bell and were a chosen partner could use one of the summonings in a way. But normally only when Bell was close by...and he had to choose the partner too. Tione was obviously too young for Bell to see her as a partner.
But...
The white fox was different. She sat invisible in a small distance, seeing how much this girl loved Bell, how far she went for him. While Bell would need time to see Tione as a partner, to have love bloom for her too...the fox already gave Tione her blessing...
While the serpent wasn´t even close to being as strong as other monsters in the dungeon, it was a special foe for Tione, since it meant so much to her.
Hunting it, fighting it, slaying it, dragging it here and announcing her victory, for Amazons this meant she was now an adult.
But only for amazons...
Her emotions boiled so strongly, that she would not only be able to use the Hydra in a way, but she also would receive magic and a skill on her own.
Which would lead to her often bragging to Tiona about it, with a smug grin. Leading to Tiona chasing after something like that too, letting her get more interested in Bell later.
As much as the twins loved each other, they were also each other´s greatest rivals.
Tione had such a strong crush on Bell, that she would go even further to impress the man she had chosen.
Her love for him knew no end and the fight with the giant serpent let her blood pump and her heart jump. It had been a while since Tione felt truly like an Amazon. And since the blood covered all of her body, the people of Orario wouldn´t see her naked skin. It was a tradition from her home country, to cover herself with the blood of worthy prey.
Still, Maryuu wouldn´t allow Tione to return naked to their home, not only would a naked amazon outside of the Pleasure Quarter cause a ruckus in Orario, but her age was a whole different problem!
So, while it would lead to Tione having trouble getting her clothes clean again, she refused to wipe off the blood and insisted on dragging the red one back on her own. With its weight and the distance, this would become quite exhausting, even for an upper-level three.
The body of the giant serpent had a weight of over three hundred kilograms, but Tione still was able to drag it with her, the strength of an upper-level three adventurer was no joke. This giant serpent had been extremely strong, despite not having a magic stone inside it. And since Tione didn´t use her weapons to kill it, just to blind it...killing it by snapping its neck, it surely was a worthy deed.
She would be overjoyed when Astrea would tell her, that this counted as a deed worthy to level up, Tione just had to raise her status more.
Which would let Tiona think of a worthy deed on her own.
Her deed would be a very different one. Fighting Bell in a serious training fight, forbidding him from holding back, except for the use of magic. No matter how often he hammered her to the ground and overwhelmed her with his strength, Tiona wouldn´t back down.
Taking him head-on for over an hour.
Even when her muscles would scream to give up, a fire would burn in her eyes, her blood pumping. Since...it would just be so much fun to fight Bell!
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"You´re telling me this is spirit fire?!"
"Jup, straight from Cerberus´ maw...or stomach? No idea from where he pulls it out."
Tsubaki´s hands shook, she almost drooled.
In fact...
She did.
"Mwehehehehe~~~ *gulp* I will make so many amazing things with that, mwehehehehe~~~ I have to thank Bell for that!"
"Hey, we´re the ones who brought it."
"But Cerberus came because of Bell, right?"
"Hm, true."
Asta giggled, seeing Lyra a bit disappointed, that she couldn´t tease Tsubaki. "Anyway, it´s our welcome to the family for you, Tsubaki."
"Hm? I´m not gonna change my familia?"
"We didn´t mean that."
"Ah, you mean me and Bell."
"Neze told us that your smell was all over him when he got attacked by Chloe and Lunor."
"Well, yeah." Tsubaki shrugged her shoulders. "He´s quite handsome and packed."
"Just a small warning."
"Hm?"
"Bell isn´t on birth control the next two weeks, he will take stuff to even increase his fertility, and shouldn´t have sex during that time, it´s important. But in case he gets too horny, just be warned."
"Ah, my thanks. Don´t wanna get pregnant, would be a hassle."
"So, you don´t want children?"
"Ah, maybe later, but not now. And sex with him can wait, now that I have this stuff here! Mwehehehe~~~"
"You´re drooling again..."
Tsubaki went to her special forge and put the heavily glowing coals in it. The special one was cold for the moment, so it was perfect to light it up this way.
"I wonder how it will affect the forging, any experiences there, Asta?"
"I used pure adamantite and Mythril for a weapon. Has never been easier to get it nice and hot."
"Wonderful!"
Lyra looked around the room. "It´s quite big in here."
"I need a lot of room."
"Hm."
"Something wrong?"
"We actually come with a request."
"Oh?"
"From Bell."
"Tell me more."
"While Cerberus is strong, Bell is worried about him, as are a few of us. You simply have more experience in forging than Asta."
The dwarf nodded to agree with Lyra.
Tsubaki raised an eyebrow. "Don´t tell me, Bell wants an armor for Cerberus?"
"Exactly."
"Hm, could be challenging."
"He is too big to fit in here, if you will take the request and measure him, you would need to come to our home."
Tsubaki grinned. "And this surely has nothing to do with introducing me to Lady Astrea, hm?"
"We´re not trying to recruit you."
"Didn´t mean it in that way."
Lyra shrugged her shoulders. "Well, we´re currently planning to make our home bigger. Something might happen to you if you get it on later with Bell, and our home will be filled with children sooner or later anyway."
"Hm...well let´s take this baby-making back for now, but the request sounds thrilling! And the boss wants to see Cerberus herself anyway."
"Lady Hephaistos?"
"Jup."
"Then you have to wait at least for tomorrow. Lady Astrea told us that Cerberus will visit Lady Demeter together with Alise and another goddess, who almost crashed down on our home."
"Ah, so that meteor this morning was a goddess, the boss thought something like that. Does she have a name?"
"Lady Hestia, also an Olympian."
"Ah, gonna tell Boss about this, I guess she would like to know. Is tomorrow a good day to come over?"
"Should be."
"Then we will come tomorrow."
"Until then."
Lyra waved over her shoulder while she went to the door, Asta remained for a second to admire the forge, before she followed Lyra. This got Tsubaki even more interested in Bell!
Unseen by Tsubaki, the white fox appeared for a second at a corner of her forge, eyeing the half-dwarf, before disappearing again. Her instinct carried her to all of Bell´s partners...and possible future partners.
She looked forward to seeing how big the family would be!
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I can´t thank Lord Hades enough for the chance he has given me and my sister. First, he let me watch over my little angel and my sister from heaven, saying I could pass on when I felt like it. That he would owe at least this to Hera and Lord Zeus. When it was time for my sister to come to heaven, Lord Hades made sure to guide her towards me.
I was so happy to have my sister back, that I could hug her, even feeling healthy while doing it. Lord Hades...or rather Lady Persephone, allowed us to remain in her garden as long as we wanted. They don´t have children on their own, maybe Cerberus could count a little, but both enjoyed it to dote on us.
Then, when my baby was in danger, my beloved sister immediately jumped into action when Lord Hades offered her the chance. But the conditions were, that she was bound to Bell´s magic, he wouldn´t turn her or me into a spirit.
When my baby was in danger again, I pleaded with Lord Hades to let me help too. So, we forged a pact. We would act as guides for souls, who would be trapped in the dungeon so that they could go up to heaven. Like this, the other gods could accept what he did, what we were.
And so that I could do my job, he gave me this wonderful body, I feel beyond healthy! I can stroll around in Orario a bit, making myself invisible, or rather...I can sometimes become visible and touch some people.
I just follow my nose, following Bell´s scent, to see where it lingers. It lingers in quite a lot of places...at quite a lot of women.
I know my sister complains about this, and I think Hera might faint if she ever finds out, but it makes me quite happy. He will have such a large family, there will be so many grandchildren!
His childhood...I couldn´t be part of it, my beloved sister told me everything, how it felt for her, since I could only watch from above. But Lord Hades promised me our contract would hold for quite a while, I want to see at least some of my grandchildren.
So, I couldn´t hold back this morning, due to Lord Hades´ gift, I could feel the young pulse of life in that red-haired girl, it´s for some reason quite hard for me to remember their names, maybe it´s part of the contract.
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I follow my nose, it leads me to quite an interesting place, a house that is built like a god I heard about. While I wander through the hallways, invisible to everyone, the scent gets stronger, eventually, I stop in front of a closed door before I walk right through it.
Being a ghost is quite convenient at times. My sister and I sometimes enjoy the big, hot bath in the home, but only when Bell isn´t in there. No one can see us, sense us, feel us, or touch us, but we see them. It´s sometimes funny, sometimes a bit scary how my dear sister fumes that Bell has so many partners.
Maybe Lord Zeus had a stronger influence than I thought. Then again...my husband was also like that...he just didn´t have Bell´s charm with other women, and thankfully after he saw me, he never went to even look at any other women.
There is one man and five women in this room.
Lord Ganesha is as impressive...and loud...as always. He is shedding manly tears over something they told him, next to him is the older sister of Bell´s "legal wife", I don´t know why they call her that, but I like her quite a lot, she is cute, friendly, and loves my Bell so much.
Next to her is the blonde elf, I can sense a bit of her nature, she too loves Bell very much, apparently she is the most romantic of them all.
And then...there are the two elves that I helped to save. Poor girls, I´m glad that Bell and Cerberus could save them and carry them away. It´s good that they´re alive, even when it´s sad that their friends died...and that both have scarred bodies now. As elves, it must be hard.
I can´t put my finger on the feeling...wait, I don´t have fingers anymore, I have paws now. So, I can´t put my index claw on it, but I somehow don´t have the feeling that they will see Bell in the same way as the others...I mean...at some point he should have enough partners...
But I have the feeling...what their future holds to them will be related to Bell.
I have to see that.
Having seen his partners, I follow my curious nature and move swiftly into another part of the city.
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Ah, there she is, dear heavens...she is so cute!
The small, golden fox, her tail is as fluffy as mine! She holds the hand of the tanned werewolf so that they don´t get lost. The werewolf talks to another partner of Bell...oh my...this one smells strongly like Bell, she has his scent all over her, at least for my nose.
A red-maned werewolf, quite rare.
Both talk about something, I wonder what...and I wonder why the small fox is looking over her shoulder, right at me.
Can she see me? When I move my tail to the left, she does it too. To the right, she does it too.
Can she...really see me?
She frowns slightly and looks up to the two adults again, it seems like the adult werewolf can also smell Bell all over the red one.
Hm, I´m curious where they go now, I should follow them.
Alfia is still asleep, even when she is slowly waking up, so I should still have some time. Also, when I want to return to her side, I get faster than the fastest bird, diving down from the sky to catch prey.
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Haruhime had the feeling as if something or someone was watching her, but only for a moment. Neze was talking to Rose, Haruhime´s teacher to learn Koine. For Haruhime, she smelled a bit like Bell, but only very faintly. They told her that Rose is Bell´s advisor, so maybe they met today, and that was probably it.
She liked it to walk around with Neze like this, and maybe by chance...or just because it was this place, they met someone again.
"Hello Haruhime."
Haruhime smiled. "Hello, Ms. Ais."
"Ais is fine."
"Ehe~~ Okay."
Ais was munching on a potato snack, while Riveria stood next to her, talking with Neze about something.
"Do you really have a spirit dog at your home?"
Haruhime smiled brightly. "Yes! Cerberus is so warm and fluffy! He lets me pet him as much as I want!"
"Mh...I would like to see him...is that allowed?"
"I...I don´t know...I think so. Mother´s...I mean Lady Astrea´s friend came to look at him."
Ais´ eyes widened slightly when she heard how Haruhime called her goddess.
"Your...mother?"
"Ahm...Lady Astrea...she said...she adopted me...just like Neze did."
"Oh."
Ais looked for a moment up at Riveria, who noticed that Ais was looking at her and returned the gaze with a slight, gentle smile. The small Ais was the only person who managed to make Riveria smile so easily.
"Neze?"
"Haruhime?"
"Can we let Ais look at Cerberus? She wants to see him."
Riveria looked up when Haruhime asked the question, then looked at Ais again.
"Hm, Lady Astrea didn´t forbid it."
Neze looked at Riveria. "If you want to, today should be alright."
"Hm..."
Ais looked up at Riveria, showing her...perfect puppy eyes.
"Ungh...don´t look at me like that...hah...fine. But you will listen to what I say."
"Yes!"
Ais smiled to Haruhime, to thank her for asking.
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"Cerberus, stop! Stop!"
Demeter didn´t move when the massive dog charged toward her, letting a few of her followers scream in fear and run away. He looked quite threatening, due to his appearance, but Demeter knew this glow in his six eyes, he was just happy to see her.
She had both hands on her hips, raising the left one up in a comanding way, he stumbled a bit but managed to stop in front of her.
Demeter pointed down with her index finger.
"Sit."
With an audible thump, sat he down in front of her, and panted. Her followers watched in awe as their goddess stood her ground and easily commanded the massive beast.
Demeter still looked at him in her special, comanding way. None of her followers had ever seen the goddess like that, but she had to show that she had the situation under control.
"Paw."
Cerberus raised one of his paws, letting Demeter touch it. Then she opened her hand and made a gesture as if she was pressing someting down with her palm.
"Down."
He lay down immediately.
Demeter raised her hand, and moved the index finger in a circle.
"Roll around."
Cerberus did as she said, rolling onto his back and showing her his belly. Demeter crouched down and gently scratched Cerberus´ belly and chin.
Finally, the goddess smiled brightly. "Who is a good boy?! That´s right, you are!~~"
Cerberus barked softly and enjoyed Demeter´s touch with a heavily wagging tail.
"I´m sorry, Lady Demeter, we couldn´t stop him." Lunor panted, looking quite awesome in her maid outfit.
Alise followed a bit slower, and apologized too.
"It´s alright, Lunor, Alise, I was halfway expecting this to happen. Alise, how are you?"
"Pretty good! The others finally let me at least do something, and be it only walking Cerberus here. But Lady Astrea insisted that I could only go when Lunor was there too."
The goddess chuckled. "Take it easy, Alise. A few of my followers have experienced the same thing as you do now. They insisted on still working in the fields, but soon noticed what their body demanded of them. And thank you, Lunor."
"I´ll try my best."
Demeter nodded, then she looked at the small person who finally arrived, since even when she was just jogging, Alise was much faster than Hestia.
"Hestia!"
"Demeter!"
Hestia stopped next to Demeter and Cerberus, panting a bit, but still hugging the taller goddess.
"It has been so long!"
"Ehehe~~ It´s good to see you again!"
"So that was you who came down this morning?"
"Jup! Hades said I could go first."
"Oh?"
"He waits for two slots to be open."
"Ah." Demeter smiled warmly. "Then...Persephone will come down too?"
"They´re the next ones."
"I can´t wait to see them again too."
"Oh, by the way."
Hestia lowered her voice and whispered into Demeter´s ear.
"Both would like to help you out here, Persephone really misses her mother."
"Oh, my little girl...thank you for telling me, I will prepare something where they can stay."
When Cerberus grunted loudly, demanding more attention, Demeter scratched his belly and one of his chins again. All three tongues hang out, his behavior changed to that of a puppy again.
With an uneasy look, a few of Demeter´s followers came closer, led by their captain. Lunor used the chance to slip to the main house, to change into her usual clothes. A maid outfit wasn´t the best choice for field work.
"Lady...Demeter?"
"It´s alright, Persephone, Cerberus won´t do anything."
Hestia looked confused.
Demeter sighed. "The others wouldn´t listen to me, they insisted on giving her the alias Persephone."
"Well, that could be awkward when Persephone comes down."
"Maybe, Charles?"
A man stepped forward. "Yes?"
"Could you please bring a chair for Alise? She walked quite a lot to come here."
Demeter pointed at her belly, the man understood.
Alise sighed. "You too, Lady Demeter?"
"Since one of my major aspects is fertility, yes. Even if you think you´re strong enough, Alise, think of your child first."
"My...child..."
Suddenly, Alise´s expression cracked into a bright, happy smile, with red cheeks, while she held both of her hands over her belly.
"My child..eheheh~~~"
"See? By the way, where is the father?"
"On a date with Kaguya."
"Oh my...what a greedy man...I hope Lunor will be safe."
Alise winked in a playful way. "Who knows."
"Don´t tell me...he...she..."
"Nah, not yet."
"Yet?!"
"Wouldn´t it be kind of romantic? For Chloe at least it is."
"But my pure, innocent, shy Lunor...with such a beast of a man..."
Alise raised an eyebrow about Lunor´s description but didn´t say anything.
Hestia looked around in amazement. "Woah, Demeter, your fields are so wide, just how big is your familia?!"
"One of the two biggest familia´s, we provide Orario with vegetables after all."
"Kuuh...I´m so jealous."
"Well, you just came down, Hestia. Do you have a place to stay?"
"At Astrea´s house."
"Just make sure you don´t stay too long, alright?"
"Ah, don´t worry, I plan to look for my own followers, starting tomorrow!"
"That´s good. What kind of familia do you plan? Dungeon exploring?"
"Hm...I didn´t think about it, if they were adventurers...I would constantly be worried about them... How is it for you?"
"Oh, I´m still worried plenty of times about my followers. When one gets hurt during work, gets sick, or other things. We have a lot to do, is there anything you can do especially well?"
Hestia smiled wryly, Demeter knew how her sister was in heaven.
"Then...Hestia I might have an idea for you."
"Hm?"
"Ganesha lately got a secret donation from someone who wants to remain anonymous. Due to this money, Ganesha could help to repair a lot of the damage that happened in Orario during the dark times, which thankfully ended. He also took in all of Orario´s orphans."
"All of them?!"
"Yes, but I hear he has some trouble dealing with so many people and finding places for the orphans to stay; he could need help."
"Did he take the orphans all in his familia?"
"From what I heard, no, but he told me that they can join later when they´re older, his familia protects Orario after all."
Demeter showed Hestia a special, warm smile. "These orphans could really need a good home, not just a home...but a "home"."
Hestia´s eyes widened slightly. "Oh...Ooooh!"
The small goddess jumped up and ran towards the city gates. "I need to talk to Ganesha, right now!"
Alise looked baffled at how the small goddess ran...then turned around after two hundred meters and returned, panting again.
"Where does Ganesha have his home?!"
"Ehehe~~ Calm down, Hestia. He is busy today anyway, I think it would be alright to talk to him tomorrow."
"Mmmh...then I will do that..."
"A few of my children will deliver vegetables to his familia later, I will ask them to inform his followers about it."
"Thank you, Demeter!~~"
"I do everything for my big sister."
Alise blinked. "Big?"
Demeter giggled. "She may not look like it, but Hestia is older than I am. In fact...she is the oldes-"
"Shh! Shh! Shhhhhht! Demeter, you chatterbox!"
"Wow...no wonder you treated Lady Astrea like that."
"Oh, Hestia...you didn´t treat Astrea like a child in front of her followers, didn´t you?"
"I c-can´t help it! My adorable Asti grew up so much!"
"Hah..."
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Thanks to Demeter´s idea, and Hestia talking with Ganesha on the next day, the small goddess would get a massive jump start with her own familia. Getting a woman named Maria as her captain, and a lot of followers at once.
And even...due to Filvis´ and Aura´s kind offer...a place that she would turn into a true home, feeling a "dark" thrill by tormenting Diyonisus like that from the surface.
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Astrea was startled when the door to the kitchen got pushed open and a very frightened elf burst inside.
"Lady Astrea!"
"R-Ryu?! What happened?!"
"Where is Alise?! I can´t find her!"
A voice came from the garden, Ardee´s. "Leon, I can´t find her here either!"
"We need to gather the familia immediately and search for Alise! Heaven knows what happened to h-Mufu!"
Astrea knew how Ryu could be and how to calm her down, so she turned to her and put her hands on Ryu´s cheeks, squishing them slightly.
"Ryu, calm down. Alise is alright, she just went on a walk with Cerberus and Hestia, to visit Demeter, nothing more."
"Oh..."
Astrea let go of the elf, opened the window, and leaned outside. "Ardee, Alise is fine, she is just visiting Demeter."
"Oh! Phew..."
The goddess smiled at Ryu. "It´s really touching how worried you all are about her. "
"C-Can you blame me?"
"Not at a-!
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"EEEEEEEEK!"
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"Ardee!"
Ryu was like the wind as she dashed outside, reacting to Ardee´s cry. This time Astrea quickly followed, soon seeing why Ardee had cried out. Ryu was always fast to react when someone in her familia was in trouble or danger, especially when it came to Ardee. Both had always gone along well, Ardee had been Ryu´s best friend outside of the familia. After Ardee got almost killed in the explosion, Ryu had spent a lot of time at the hospital, caring for Ardee. They grew even closer, and only more since Bell joined the familia.
Astrea had more than just a strong guess that Ardee had romantic feelings for Ryu too, she acted differently towards Ryu than to the others. Ardee wasn´t into women in general, just Ryu...well, and Bell of course.
But judging from what happend lately, that both had held hands at night, outside in the garden, maybe those feelings bloomed in Ryu´s heart as well.
If that meant her dear followers would become even more happy, Astrea was all in.
When she arrived after Ryu in the garden, Astrea´s eyes widened in shock.
"What happened here?!"
It was rare for Astrea to shout, but she was just too surprised by the sight.
"Tione?! Are you hurt?!"
The blood-soaked amazon grinned. "All good!"
Two enormous corpses of the giant serpents lay in the garden, Tione was the only one who was that dirty. And Astrea could see that Tione´s arms and legs were shaking, but the sweaty Amazon had an almost crazy grin on her face.
Tiona laughed. "Tione dragged the red one all by herself, all the way from the forest."
"What forest?"
Maryuu explained to Astrea about the quest, and the reason why Tione insisted on taking it.
"Oh my." That was quite cute for the goddess.
Ryu got deep red and yelped when Tione started to take her clothes off...again.
"What are you doing?!"
"Get naked?"
"I see that! But why?!"
"Butcher serpent."
"What?!"
Tiona raised her hand. "She hunted the red one alone, it´s our custome that she has to butcher it, and she has to do a good job."
"But why naked?!"
"Tradition, and she doesn´t want to get blood on her clothes."
"They are already bloody!"
Tiona shrugged her shoulders. "Tradition."
Ryu didn´t know how to respond, it felt wrong to see this, but Tione wasn´t an elf, she was an Amazon. Amazons behaved in certain ways, and while Iska was much different from a usual Amazon, she would still respect their culture.
To a certain degree.
There were things that Amazons tended to do, even in Orario, that would let Ryu draw her wooden sword and knock them out.
Maryuu looked a bit green in the face when Tione held the red serpent´s head to her.
"Brain mine."
"A-Alright...I´ll do my best...*hulp*"
Astrea looked a bit worried. "Tione, why do you want to butcher it here?"
The Amazon looked like she thought about how to reply, then looked at Tiona.
"We checked at a local butcher, but they never dealt with giant serpents. In Telskyura, we learned how to butcher them, while not perfect, it should work."
"But the garden will become a bloody mess..."
"Shall we butcher it in front of the gate?"
"No...that might scare the citizens. How...how heavy are these serpents? How much meat do they have."
"Hm...I´m not good with the weights you use here."
Iska went to Astrea. "If I had to guess, they´re around three hundred kilograms each."
"Oh my..."
"If we count out the bones, skin and innards, it should still come down to over two hundred kilograms each."
"We can´t eat all that before it gets bad."
"Tione said some parts of the meat have to age and get better first. Also, we drained the blood at the forest, don´t worry."
"That´s good...I wonder if Cerberus can eat some of that meat..."
Iska grinned slightly. "Tione said that the best parts are reserved for Bell and Bell alone. Except for the brain and the heart, these are her prey."
"That´s surprisingly cute."
It was good that no men were around, not that they would´ve been able to see much from Tione´s body, due to all the serpent blood. But she used her Kukris and the big kitchen knives that Maryuu had brought her with quite a good amount of skill.
How she skinned the serpent was an interesting sight, Tiona and Iska were only allowed to pull, while Tione cut.
"I wonder if we can do something with the skin, is it...like a drop item?"
Ardee, who had calmed down after the initial shock, now watched with interest, even when her face was a bit green too, just like Ryu´s...it was cute how both had moved closer to each other, maybe seeking comfort in each other´s presence.
The one who looked the most calm was Heith, but she was used to quite bloody sights during the baptism.
"Ms. Tione said she wants to keep the bones of the head and save the best skin parts for Mr. Bell too."
"Amazonian love is quite the sight."
"I have to agree."
The knives in Tione´s hands almost danced while she cut the meat from the bones. Thankfully it wasn´t very hot today, in the end, there was a small mountain of serpent meat, separated into two piles, the one from the black serpent was a bit darker.
Tione looked at Maryuu again. "Show me how cook."
Maryuu shook her head. "No, first you need to shower, thoroughly!"
"Mmh..."
"You know, Bell gets troubled when he sees a woman covered in blood, he might be worried about you."
"Will go shower!"
Tione almost ran into the house.
Answering Astrea´s surprised gaze, Maryuu winked. "I learned an easy trick in handling Amazons with Isy in the past. Don´t try to go against their will, but point it out in other ways."
Maryuu smiled. "That´s how I convinced Isy to eat her vegetables, no matter what kind we got."
Iska´s cheeks darkened, of course she heard Maryuu. "D-Don´t talk like I´m still a child, Mar! I´m a grown-up woman!"
"Ohooo? Is that so? Shall I go and check under your bed if everything is clean there?"
"Y-You don´t need to!"
Iska fled into the house after Tione, Astrea couldn´t help but giggle. "Then I´ll leave it to you, to help Tione and Tiona getting used to everything hear, and teach them Koine?"
"I will do my best."
For Astrea, it looked like Maryuu was quite happy to be a big sister once more, not that she ever stopped being Iska´s big sister.
"And you will help Tione how to cook the meat?"
"Yes, she has experience in butchering them from her home, but except from grilling them, the Amazons didn´t do much. I will see in which ways it can be used. And..keep the special parts sealed for now."
"Special parts?"
Maryuu leaned to Astrea and whispered, explaining what the special parts did.
"O-Oh! Yes..keep them sealed for now."
"Apparently, it doesn´t only affect men."
"Amazonian knowledge can be quite...dangerous."
"Hm, we should probably get rid of the innards as soon as possible, or they will start to stink."
"Oh, I know a way of doing that, just wait for Cerberus to come back."
"He will...eat that?"
"Surely, he ate a whole serpent in the past, that was much bigger than this one."
"Then it surely is convenient to have him here."
"And he can help us with all the meat that we can´t eat."
"How about we sell some of the meat? Or exchange it for vegetables with Lady Demeter? Otherwise, hm...I´m sure many gods would like to try giant serpent meat, since they never had it before."
"That is an excellent idea, Maryuu."
Heith heard how they talked. "Then, how much will you charge Lady Freya? I don´t have that much money here..."
Astrea shook her head, smiling. "I won´t charge Freya. Maryuu, can you cut off a few different pieces, wrap them in paper and give them to Heith?"
"Of course, but probably not the special parts from the red one, or Tione might get angry."
"Good, but give her parts from both serpents."
"I will."
So that Freya had more than enough, maybe even giving it to her high executives, Maryuu packed a bit over ten kilogram for Heith, which was a large amount, but small compared to the rest of meat they had.
Heith bowed slightly toward Astrea. "You have my thanks, I will go and bring it to Lady Freya, she will surely be excited and thankful."
"Will you be back for dinner?"
"I..would like to eat and sleep at home a night, if that would be alright? I´m sure Lady Freya has a lot of questions."
Astrea smiled. "It will be no problem, give her my best wishes, will you be back for breakfast?"
"Yes."
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A while after Heith left, and Tione had showered thoroughly, having her set of clothes soak in a tub of soap water, Haruhime and Neze returned home, with company.
"Oh my, Riveria and the young Ais? What brings you here?"
"Good day, Lady Astrea. Ais wanted to see the spirit residing here badly."
Neze winked. "And Haruhime pleaded to me to let her see Cerberus."
Astrea smiled. "I don´t have a problem with that, does Loki have anything against it?"
Riveria didn´t shrug her shoulders, that wasn´t her style, but her reaction was similar. "Ais wanted to see Cerberus, that is all that matters to me. Loki said she wouldn´t come to that "ferocious and unfair beast" anyway."
"Oh my, I wonder if she has a past with Cerberus too."
"Knowing Loki, I would guess so."
Ais looked a bit curious around, it was her first time being in the home of a different familia.
"Ah, it´s you."
She pointed at Ryu.
"Huh?"
"You´re the one who stole my potato snack that other day, two months ago."
"I didn´t steal anything, I just bought the last one of the stall."
"Muh..."
Riveria put her hand on Ais´ head. "Ais, don´t accuse people of stealing. Also, you have your special snack every day now anyway."
"Mh.."
"I´m sorry, Leon."
"There is no need to apologize, Lady Riveria."
Astrea looked at the clock. "Cerberus should be back soon."
"He isn´t here? Are you letting him walk freely around in the city?"
"No, that would cause a panic. But Alise went for a walk with him to Demeter."
"Oh."
"You can wait here if you want, it shouldn´t be a problem."
"I wouldn´t dare to intrude."
Astrea smiled in a special way, a playful smile like many gods had.
"Ryu, do you think Riveria is intruding?"
"Not at all, Lady Astrea! You´re very welcome here, Lady Riveria!"
Riveria noticed a green-haired head poking out from a hallway, Celty was a bit too overwhelmed by the princess and didn´t dare to come closer.
The door of another room was only slightly opened, but Riveria´s ears picked up the noise behind it, and felt eyes on her. She turned with a serious face to that door.
"It is quite impolite to spy on someone like that, show yourself."
It took a moment, then the door slowly opened, revealing two elves. Aura didn´t have a problem to be seen by Riveria...only Filvis did.
"G-Good day, Lady Riveria."
"You´re...Aura Moriel, right?"
"Yes!" Aura looked happy that Riveria knew her name.
Then, Riveria´s eyes wandered to the elf who hid behind Aura.
"Filvis Challia." Her name was of course known among the elves in Orario. "I don´t give anything about the rumors of black hair, I refuse to believe in them. You are who you are, not just someone with black hair."
Filvis still remained shy, despite Riveria´s words.
Astrea chuckled. "Looks like you have quite the influence on my followers, Riveria."
"Hah...I just wish they would treat me like a normal elf, it would feel way better than the other way."
Astrea´s eyes wandered along her elven followers. "Do you hear that, my dears? Would you do Riveria this favor? For me? Or for her? Or for both of us?"
Ardee put her hands on Ryu´s shoulders. "I´m sure you can do it, Ryu!"
"Mh...I will try my best. Would you like some tea? M-M-Ms. Riveria? *gasp* Or should I say Ms. Alfr?!"
"Ms. Riveria is fine, Leon. Thank you."
Ais sat on the couch next to Riveria, looking around, until Haruhime walked to her, Neze followed and carried a large book for her. Before Ryu could bring any tea, Chloe already appeared with a tray, a picture of pure elegance and grace, showing the elf a smirk.
"That´s meow job, Nya."
"Kuh...I wanted to bring her some tea."
"Nyufufufu~~~"
Haruhime beamed all over her face when she carefully opened the book, that Neze had placed on the table in front of them.
"Ais, that´s the special book that big brother Bell gave me, about Albert the Great."
"O-Oh."
"Do you want to take a look at the story? It comes with illustrations!"
"Mh...Unh..."
Riveria felt Ais slightly tensing up, her small hand clutched into Riveria´s robe, unseen by the others, as Haruhime opened the book...and there was a perfect illustration of Albert Waldstein, his eyes hidden behind his bangs. Hidden from the eyes of the others, Riveria moved her hand down to let Ais squeeze it, which she did pretty hard, but Riveria didn´t complain.
Ais managed to fight her tears when she heard how amazed Haruhime spoke of Albert the Great, how heroic he was, how brave. There were even illustrations of Celdia, the high-elven queen, Riveria´s ancestor. Then the Amazon Empress, and the other members of Albert´s party.
On some days, when Ais felt really bad again, Riveria wished that some ancient rumors were true. Some nasty people had rumored, that maybe there was a reason why so many strong women were part of Albert´s party, that maybe they had all fallen for the hero of old. Riveria made sure that Ais never heard these rumors, it would hurt her to no end.
But on some days...if these rumors were true...maybe Ais would feel so much better...if she had a few siblings, half-sisters maybe. Sure, it would look strange to have a human, a half-elf, and an Amazon all being related...but it would really help her little girl.
While they waited, and Haruhime read the story for Ais, stopping whenever Ais wanted to look for a while at a picture, Riveria heard a strange noise, two noises. One came from Ais, it was like a faint whisper of wind, the other came from a room in this house, it sounded similar, yet different.
Just as they were about to come to the end of the story, the door opened and a very fine lady walked inside, a picture of pure elegance.
Her face was a picture of pure shame...
Kaguya was still dressed and acted like the finest lady, when Bell entered behind her, acting like a true gentleman, he smiled at her.
"Would you like to have dinner with me, Milady?"
"Glady, good sir."
Riveria wondered why Kaguya looked so...ashamed.
"I will just need a moment to refresh myself if you would excuse me."
"Of course."
Kaguya went to her room and closed the door. Riveria easily heard her curse in a very unladylike manner.
"Oh, Ms. Riveria, young Ms. Ais, welcome."
Before she could reply, Riveria heard how Chloe started to purr softly when Bell came close to her. The adult elf couldn´t help but blush, remembering what she heard yesterday at Rose´s door...
"Th-Thank you, Bell Cranel."
Ais looked up. "Hello..."
The eyes of the blond girl followed him, as he walked through the living room and opened his door. Riveria´s ears twitched as the whisper got much louder than before.
Much louder.
As if she was in a trance, Ais slipped down from the couch and evaded the people standing here and there, following Bell.
"Ais!"
But Ais didn´t react to Riveria calling her out, tears streamed over her cheeks, Riveria and the others saw slight movements of green wind around Ais.
Riveria went quickly up to her feet, as she heard Ais cry out...very loud.
"Ais!" The elf moved faster.
Bell looked surprised when he saw Ais standing at his door, looking past him...at his wall.
Where one of the two swords hang that he had with him as he came to Orario. It was a gift from Zeus, who kept this sword for almost a thousand years.
"Why...Why...*hic*"
"Ms. Ais?"
Ais tears streamed out of her eyes, down her cheeks, she trembled. The wind around her got a bit stronger, the whisper from the sword turned into a low howl.
"Why?!"
"Huh?"
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.
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"Why do you have my father´s sword?!"
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Author´s Note: Hello everyone, a late happy new year to everyone.
Sorry to end this chap on a cliff hanger, originally I wanted to write the whole evening and the next morning, before a small time skip of two weeks in story time would happen. (the start of a few time skips, most of them only going for a few months), but then the chapter would probably go past 20k words.
In this chapter, I followed what some people wrote in the Reviews, focussing a bit more on the other familia members, their relationship to each other, how they see Bell, themself, and everyone else in the relationship.
The penultimate partner that Bell will get, will mostly fall for him next chap (you can guess who). The last one didn´t appear in the story so far (I planned for Anya, but she will play a role somewhere else).
What about Aura and Filvis? Well...maybe there will be someone else for them? Someone who will be in some ways quite a lot like Bell, almost like...a sibling...something like a big sister? Who knows... And in what ways will she be similar to him? Maybe...also charming multiple women? We will see.
Temsen: Looks like you were right with your guess, how Bell made Kaguya flustered.
Shadowleon: No, he won´t defeat the dragon in "that way", but it will be quite flashy and over the top (this here is my crack fic after all)
Erebus: Glad you liked the terminator references. I just thought it would be a funny idea. Bell´s relationship with Hestia will be different than in the original story, but what I have planned with her, doesn´t go in the direction of his lover, yet Hestia will still get one. Thanks for that about Garm and Gram. Forgot that Gram is a sword. And no, that with Chloe wasn´t a mistake. Since Bell´s butt is also called "Chloe´s treasure".
Riftpowers: First, glad you got your account back, hacking sucks. About little Ais, I don´t want to spoil the story, but Bell will become someone for Ais that can´t be replaced. I showed a bit of interaction between the girls here, but there will be further in the next chapters, also between Bell and Asta, Bell and Lyra and so on. Maybe I made a mistake to make the harem that big, makes it harder to include everyone. But by letting them interact with each other instead of just Bell, it gets a bit easier to handle.
