Author´s Note: This chapter takes place during Bell´s and Ryu´s travel to Solingen, the end part is separated and takes place while they are in Solingen.
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"Hedin, your advice?"
"I would move the knight into this area. The rook can watch over the knight and the queen from his position in the corner."
"A good idea, but what if the queen moves away? The queen has all the right to assign new areas for the knight, following her movements."
"But it could stress out the knight, and that would ruin the meeting with the other knight."
"Indeed...in that case, also, the rook shouldn´t observe the meeting of the two knights, or he could intervene, you are aware of the rook´s temper."
"You´re right, in that case, the queen shall move when the rook´s attention has to be elsewhere."
"I would then recommend the use of the black bishop."
"But I have to make sure that the queen is then in the same direction as the black bishop."
"And I´m sure you will."
"Thank you for your help, Hedin."
"Did you think about my other suggestions?"
"I entrust you with everything."
Currently, Freya and Hedin were in her personal chamber, both sitting on opposite sides of her chessboard, moving pieces along. Of course, the topic wasn´t chess at all. They planned the upcoming party, where to place which group. While the visitors would move how they felt, the waitresses would get areas assigned to them, as did the guards.
While it was sad that Ryu and Bell weren´t there, Freya would use this chance to drive her other plans forward.
"What about your plan with the saint?"
"I made sure there were enough hurt people so that she wouldn´t get the chance to leave the hospital, before that I made sure that "he" would work too on that day. While she could leave, judging her personality, she won´t."
"Excellent, Hedin."
One of Freya´s plans was to get Amid Teasanare involved with another member of her familia. Freya had observed the souls of Dian Cecht´s followers. It was easy to see that this young man felt great affection for Orario´s saint, and she at least liked him. Since she was such a workaholic, Freya knew her best chances would be to get them together while they worked together.
Other plans also were in motion, it wasn´t only to eliminate all of Ryu´s possible rivals.
Hedin knew this, he had never before seen his goddess having that much fun.
I guess her side as a Goddess of Love is now very dominant.
"Absolutely, Hedin."
He didn´t need to speak his thoughts out loud, she could understand him easily.
"I also got other pieces of information about the saint."
"Oh? Let me see."
Hedin handed her a few notes, all of them written in the finest handwriting that he was capable of.
"Hm...hm...hm...these sure will come in handy. So the saint likes to swim naked in her familia´s pool at night? Interesting."
"It´s not a sight I needed to see."
"I thank you for your sacrifice."
Such information could only be used later when there was already much affection between Amid and the young man of her familia.
Hedin had observed a lot of people for the last days, except for Freya and him, nobody would ever know what he had seen.
"What about Lunor?"
"My eyes tell me there isn´t any extra work necessary. What I observed in the fields is enough to be called affection."
"Hehe~~~"
Freya´s eyes gleamed happily for a moment, she wanted all of her friends to become happy in life. And to think that one of them was now head over heels for someone, so heavily in love that it even got Freya a bit embarrassed...one was on the step of affection, Chloe showed interest in Allen, and Anya surely wouldn´t dislike the young half-elf from Ganesha´s familia...everything was going well so far.
In Lunor´s case, Freya would have a secret meeting with Demeter before the party. Telling her openly about what she witnessed and her plan, since Lunor was Syr´s dear friend. The goddess was all in on the plan and would make sure to bring the follower that caught Lunor´s eyes with her to the party.
This small thing would bring Demeter a bit of joy. If Freya knew what kind of pain Demeter was currently feeling, which horrors she was going through...her wrath towards Dionysus would know no end.
It brought Hedin great joy to see his mistress happy and joyful like this. Also, it would help to "eliminate" other rivals of her affection. While he thought highly of himself, Hedin was as jealous as most of the other followers. Freya still tried to look for someone who could fit Heith, and the witch knew this. For now, she wasn´t happy about this, but this would change in the future.
Hedin also knew that Freya had plans for him, for some reason she liked the idea of seeing him and Loki familia´s elven princess, but he didn´t even know why. Maybe it was just her having fun and fooling around.
"Hm, that leaves May and the others..."
"Won´t the dwarf get angry if you get partners for all of her staff?"
"Openly, yes. Secretly, it would make Mia very happy. Also, it is even beyond my talent to get partners for all of them at the same time."
"Won´t Syr be sad when her closest friends all spend time with their partners?"
Freya showed him a smile that was so unfitting for her, it was a perfect fit for a simple town girl, who worked as a waitress.
"It would make Syr so happy.~~~"
"Milady, what about the Thousand Elf? I didn´t have time to look at her too."
"Oh, forget that. She is out of the plans, that topic is already dealt with."
"I understand."
Since she knew Hedin couldn´t be everywhere at once, Freya had used her mirror a bit to look around. By chance she saw Lefiya and Filvis sitting next to each other on the bench, sharing the strawberries. Lefiya´s soul made it very obvious to Freya what she felt for Filvis, even when she wasn´t completely aware of it yet.
Elves are always so overly complicated in that matter, but that´s also what makes them precious.
But the sight of Filvis´ soul let Freya stop for a few moments. It was also obvious that she felt affection for Lefiya, but if it was in a romantic way, Freya would say it was getting there. Yet there was also a lot of pain in Filvis´ soul...and it looked strange in a way.
"Hedin."
"Yes?"
"Have Hogni keep an eye on the Banshee and her familia."
"As you wish."
"Now, what have you seen about Loki?"
"I can say with absolute certainty, that you can cross the Purus from Hathor familia from your list. While I looked for a place to watch, I saw her chasing Vanargandr. She clearly feels great affection for him and his how you call it "head over heels"."
"Excellent~~ One less to worry about."
"Since you told me to report you about these things, it looks like the High Novice and Alchat are going along with each other very well."
"Oho?~~ I have to look at this. Tell me more."
"For the Sword Princess, I can´t say I saw anything related to romantic feelings on her side."
"Hm, yet she still is one of the greatest dangers, since Bell definitely had feelings for her beforehand. But one thing after the other."
"On my way back, it caught my attention that some gods were talking about a certain topic. It seems like the Hringhorni is returning to Melen."
"Ah, perfect. It should be time already. Among the students, there might be a few to join some familias and cross out some "rivals". I still have to take care of Hestia, her fox, and the pallum girl."
"I also heard that the Cyclops was very nice towards Bell Cranel."
Freya had ordered Hedin to report even small things like this. For Freya, a one percent chance would be taken as an absolute! That was not how math worked, but she didn´t care.
"Didn´t she also show interest in Alfrigg?"
"Apparently she likes "cute and small things"."
"Hm."
It was good that Freya mentioned Alfrigg on her own, if all her plans would bear fruits, he could cross out Heith, Hogni, Alfrigg (and maybe his brothers), as well as Allen from his rivals.
"Alright, Hedin, continue your excellent work, I´m very thankful to you."
"As you wish, Lady Freya."
He took his leave, while she still thought about her plans. As soon as the door closed, she smiled. Freya knew about the problems of mortals, especially adventurers. Many of these possible couples would never come to be if she wouldn´t help. And the good thing was, she saw in all of these souls clear affection for each other.
For her plan about Hedin and Riveria...well that would be a long one and she had to carefully observe. If no such feelings would ever come to be, she had to abandon it. After all, her plan was to help mortals to become happy, not to force them into something.
"My friends, I will make you all happy."
Freya couldn´t know this at this point, but she would indeed make many people very happy.
And in return...she would also become very happy. Even when she didn´t find her Odr at this point, maybe it was just...because her Odr wasn´t born yet?
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Eventually, the great evening was there, and Freya had prepared everything as perfectly as possible.
She smiled like a warrior queen. "Now, let´s get started.~~~"
Ottar didn´t show it in his expression, but he was very happy that Freya had so much fun.
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"Girls, ears up! The party is going to start, everyone gets on your positions, and remember the areas you´re assigned to. Flirting with guests is allowed according to that goddess, but not with the gods. Yet you still work for me, so don´t stop working and go flirting all the time, understood?!"
""""""""""""Yes, Ma´am!"""""""""""""""
"What was that?"
""""""""""""Yes, Mama Mia!"""""""""""""""
"Good, now get to work."
"Fueeeh! This is unfair! Why does Lily have to work, but Lady Hestia can enjoy the party?!"
"Because she is our goddess, Lady Lily."
"But Welf can enjoy the party too!"
"The flyer said, female staff only."
"Grml..."
A new voice came, a stern one. "Lady Lily, Lady Mikoto, please stop chatting, we have work to do."
Haruhime was different from normal as if a flip got switched. She wore her maid outfit with great pride, for the evening she would be the head maid. No fooling around was allowed, not when it came to maid work. She was a bit like a more gentle version of Mia in that way. It had only been planned to let Haruhime work as an extra staff member on that evening, but they needed more staff, so Mikoto, Chigusa, and Lily got "forced" to work too. The payment wasn´t bad...
And like this, since Takemikazuchi would get accompanied by Ouka, Freya could make sure that Mikoto and Chigusa had to serve them. Both weren´t possible rivals, but Freya was going all out as a Goddess of Love.
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But not all was going perfectly for Freya, she wanted to at least observe some of the couples she was interested in, on their first, awkward steps, maybe shyly handholding, and kisses. But for one couple she would never get this chance.
Roughly ten minutes after Loki left the Mansion with Riveria, while Ais was playing a card game with Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya...Raul and Anakitty got a bit lost in their fear about another Knossos encounter, the first attack was already horrible.
Aki had decided to take a tiny step forward, not meaning too much with it. She had slowly entangled one of her hands with Raul´s, leaning her forehead against his chest. Both were afraid, both liked each other more than they dared to say out loud. But fear needed comfort, they needed comfort.
So one thing led to the other, and now both were cuddling on Aki´s couch, holding hands, kissing lovingly and passionately. Both needed this, both deserved a bit of peace. Both had finally found an outlet for their fears and comfort in each other. All their emotions broke free when the dam shattered. They didn´t plan at all to go further than cuddling and kissing, but what happened...happened.
They found peace and strength in the other´s embrace. Raul would have the most awkward morning, since he fell asleep at Aki´s side...and would manage to leave her room in the morning...right when Loki walked past the rooms of her cuties.
Showing him the biggest smug grin possible, since she would immediately understand exactly what both had done because Aki´s smell was all over Raul!
But so far Loki didn´t know about her luck and the enormous fun she would have in the morning.
"Riveriaaaa! Let us dance when we arrive there!"
"No."
"Fueh! Why not?!"
"Because you already ogle me."
"Can you blame me?! You look gorgeous!
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As the hostess, Freya had to be there from the very start. Normally she would wait for a while until her entrance was perfect.
Before most of the guests came, she went into the kitchen, where Mia ruled with an iron fist.
"Mia, is everything prepared?"
"Of course, what do you take me for?"
"The best cook in Orario?"
Mia raised an eyebrow when Freya chuckled.
"You´re distracting my staff."
"I´m sorry for that. Everyone, please give your best, yes?"
""""""""""""""""Y-Yes...Lady Freya..."""""""""""""""""""""
Most of the staff members hang at her lips, looking pretty weak. Anya looked a bit awkward to the side.
"Mia, can I have Anya for a moment?"
"Hm."
"Please?"
"Be nice to her."
"Of course I will."
Anya looked for a moment as if she wanted to be somewhere else, but she still went to the corner that Freya waved at.
"Hehe, my cute little kitten.~~~"
"Lady Freynya..."
"How are you these days, Anya?"
"G-Good..."
Freya showed her a motherly smile. "I´m glad that you found friends and family, Anya."
"Me too..."
"Where is your elven friend?"
"Nyu is outside of Orario for a while."
"Do you miss her?"
"Nyes..."
"Hehe, I´m sure she will come back to you all."
Anya turned to the side, not knowing what to say.
"Anya?"
"Meow?"
Freya stepped carefully and slowly closer, gently putting her arms around her follower, Anya startled and went stiff.
"I missed hugging you, my cute little kitten."
"Meow..."
"I´m really proud of you, you know?"
"Meow?"
For a moment, Freya gently stroked Anya´s back. Heith and Horn, who both saw this, were absolutely not jealous at all! Not one bit! Nope!
"Enjoy the evening, alright? I told Allen to be nice to you, in case you talk to each other."
"Nyou did?"
"Mhm, I want you two to get along."
She leaned closer and whispered.
"I can´t let my cute children be on bad terms, right?"
"Lady Freynya?"
"I always saw you as my daughter, Anya."
Small tears appeared in the corner of Anya´s eyes, and her lower lip trembled.
"Now now, don´t cry, alright?"
Anya sniffed. "Meow.."
"Hehe, go now. Or Mia will get mad with me."
Anya looked like she felt a lot better, even her soul sparkled more. Horn, in Syr form, smiled brightly to Anya, showing her a thumbs up. On her way out of the kitchen, Freya walked past Heith, and playfully blew into her ear, letting the red-haired healer squeak loud.
"I´m counting on you to do good work, Heith."
"Mhhhhh!"
Freya finally left the kitchen, the others could see how red Heith was, and the healer quickly turned around until her breathing calmed down again.
Mia sighed. "Alright, back to work!"
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"Heh, Welf, you really dressed up tonight."
"It is a fine evening, and I accompany my goddess."
"Mhm, sure. And your true reason doesn´t happen to have red hair?"
Welf wasn´t that easy to fluster. "I won´t lie, that is a reason too."
Hestia grinned. "Hehe, I´m rooting for you, Welf."
"I have already decided, I will confess to Lady Hephaistos once I forged something worthy to be called a masterpiece."
Hestia showed him a motherly smile. "Just don´t let my friend wait too long, hm?"
"I will do my best."
"Also, I absolutely expect you to dance with her tonight."
"Only death could stop me from that."
Hestia truly saw his burning determination. "Hehe, good boy.~~"
Both were one of the first guests to arrive, Hestia wanted a moment to see her cute children in their working outfits, without getting bothered by other gods.
The one who greeted them had a nearly divine aura.
"Lady Hestia, Sir Welf, be welcome to this banquet."
Haruhime showed them a perfect bow, with closed eyes. Her behavior was on a whole different level than normal. And her outfit looked slightly different, there was a white cape added, with a certain symbol on it.
"Oy, Freyaaa! Why does my super cute Haruhime have your symbol on her back?!"
Freya chuckled while she came closer to greet Hestia, Ottar was at her side, as always. The other Freya familia members watched from the shadows, Hestia gulped a bit to feel so many eyes on her. Even when they were watching their lady, instead of her.
"Hehe, don´t be worried, Hestia.~~ Your cute Haruhime is a special staff member for tonight, and like this the others won´t bother her."
"Hm, yeah, I could see some of the others trying to flirt with her, even when it isn´t allowed."
"See?"
"Then I will let this pass."
Freya giggled. "You´re too generous, Hestia."
The first waitress from the Hostess came with a tray, offering Hestia and Welf glasses with various drinks.
"Enjoy the evening, Hestia. I´m sorry but I don´t have much time to chat, the next guests have already arrived."
"Then I will do exactly that, come Welf."
Freya would´ve loved to chat more with Hestia...but the game was on.
Ganesha had arrived...and his follower.
The young man had an interesting hair color, blond with red strands. Just like his god, he wore a mask, but not of a specific animal. And his ears gave it away, he was a half-elf.
Hm, young, strong...and with a half-elf it should be possible for Anya to become happy...and even have children.
"Ganesha, good evening."
"Mwahaha! Truly a good evening, Freya! I, Ganesha! Am very impressed by what I see!"
"Ehehe~~ Do you mean the hall or my outfit?"
"Both of course!"
"Hehe, you really are a charmer, Ganesha."
"Gnihi!"
"And who is this young man at your side?"
It looked like the half-elf was looking around a bit, it was impressive how he could take his eyes away from Freya.
Is he looking for Anya?
When Freya noticed the shine of a certain soul coming from the kitchen, and how the young man´s soul lit up, it was obvious. The moment he saw Anya, his soul started to pulse in the rhythm of his heartbeat.
How cute.
Ganesha put one of his massive arms around the shoulders of his follower. "This is Haltorin, he recently reached level four!"
"Oho? Impressive. Be welcome, Haltorin."
As good as possible with his god´s arm around his shoulders, Haltorin bowed slightly, but kept a surprisingly calm face, at least the part she could see behind his mask. "I thank you, Lady Freya. The hall is truly impressive tonight."
Oho? He really isn´t startled one bit by my appearance in this dress?
Freya´s dress was very elegant, she was used to drawing in many eyes. Behind his mask, she could spot his eyes twitching in Anya´s direction more than one time.
"Good evening, Lady Freya. Thank you for your kind words."
"Have fun at the party, you two. Oh, and Ganesha, your captain is over there."
"Thank you! I can´t wait to see Shakti in her working dress!"
For the members of the Ganesha familia, who would openly be the guards at the banquet, Freya had ordered for them to wear more fancy clothes. While Shakti did wear a dress, it still looked strict, almost giving her the aura of a teacher...and her whip at the hip was clearly visible.
What a nice taste this woman has, I wonder if she uses her whip for other activities too? Ehehe~~~
While Ganesha and Haltorin walked past Freya, she leaned to the side and whispered so that the young half-elf would hear it.
"My little Anya loves snacks."
"Eh?" He looked confused.
Freya winked slightly, a sight that most men would die for, but she held back a bit and tried to show him what she meant. He nodded understanding.
He has a quick and sharp mind.
The next guest that arrived was a goddess with one of her new female followers.
This goddess wore a white, red, and golden-colored outfit, not really fitting to be called a dress. What let her stand out among the other gods, was her very long, black hair, which reached below her knees.
And the black mask she wore on her face.
On first glance, it looked like a jackal, but on second glance it was actually a stylized cow head.
"Good evening, Hathor."
"Freya, you sure did something to the hall."
"Thank you, your outfit is quite nice."
"It´s my favorite one."
"Say, Hathor?"
"Mh?"
"I was always curious...how can you see with this mask? There are no holes for your eyes."
"Training, I can see and hear fine."
"Is that so? Hm. And who is this young lady next to you?"
"One of my new followers."
The young Amazon raised her hand. "Name´s Lena Tally!"
"Oh? So you´re the young woman that was spotted with Loki´s Vanargand?"
"Jup! That´s me!~~"
Hathor turned her head to Lena. "You never told me you have a boyfriend."
"I didn´t?! Well, we´re not exactly there yet, but almost!"
"I can give you tips, you know?"
"Really?!"
"I´m a goddess of Love, Fertility, and Sex, of course I can. Also, I have still some moon blood."
"What´s that?"
"A kind of perfume if you want. Makes male werewolves go crazy when it mixes with your body odor, but only if he feels drawn to you anyway."
"Go crazy?!"
"Yeah, he surely won´t let you sleep if he reacts to it."
"Awesome, you´re the best, Hathor!"
Freya raised an eyebrow, surprised at how Lena talked to her goddess.
Hathor´s lips curled into a slight smile. "I told them to call me just by name. By the way, I have to thank you, Freya."
"Me?"
"Yes, for sending Ishtar back, got me quite a few new, nice followers."
"And I heard you take a part of the Entertainment District for yourself?"
"Yes, teaching the children music and art."
"I didn´t know you like art besides music."
"It´s a hobby, I like painting."
"Then you should talk with Benzaiten, she likes that too."
"That´s good to know, will she be here tonight?"
"I think so."
"Good. Lena, come."
"Coming!"
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Hedin gave Heith a sign from the shadows, that all of his plans and orders would go through her or Horn, in Syr´s form, to the staff members. Since it made Freya very happy, both would go along with taking orders from Hedin.
Heith turned to Mikoto and Chigusa. "You two, we need two at the entrance to greet the guests."
Mikoto looked confused. "But Lady Haruhime is there to greet them?"
"They will also need something to drink right away. Don´t let Lady Freya look like a bad hostess!"
""Hiii!""
Mikoto and Chigusa followed the fearsome healer´s order. Both would get sent back to other areas during the evening. But in this very moment, they needed to be at the entrance, since someone arrived right now.
"Ah, Takemikazuchi, and your captain, be very welcome."
"I thank you, Freya. You sure look nice this evenin-"
Takemikazuchi stopped when Mikoto and Chigusa arrived at the entrance, both holding trays with drinks. While it made him happy to see both of his followers, even when Mikoto still belonged to Hestia at this point, his eyes widened slightly more when he saw Mikoto in her elegant outfit.
This was the reaction Freya had hoped to see from him. And Ouka´s eyes were all over Chigusa. Freya didn´t need to see the pulse of their souls to get the affection they felt for each other.
She wanted to say something, but now a larger group of guests arrived all together.
"Oooooy! Freyaaa!"
"Ah, Loki, welcome."
"Look at this! My adorable Riveria is all dressed up tonight! Only for me!"
Riveria looked abashed, because of Loki´s behavior. "Be quiet, Loki."
Still, Loki´s eyes lit up when she saw Haruhime in her outfit.
"Riveriaaa! I want a professional maid for the mansion too!"
"No, we don´t have the money for that."
"One of you can be my maid!"
"You already forced Ais to do it for a while."
"Excellent idea! I should get her doing it again!"
While Riveria sighed, Freya chuckled and greeted the other guests. After a while, most guests were there. Now Hedin´s and Freya´s masterful chess play would start.
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Allen´s ears twitched slightly when he noticed someone coming closer, it was one of Freya´s friends.
"What do you want, waitress?"
"Lady Freya told me to brrrring you a drink, Nya."
She talks like that too...
"I don´t want a drink."
"But she insisted."
Allen glanced over to his goddess, who returned his gaze and smiled slightly in a special way.
"Fine..."
He took the glass from Chloe´s trail, then he turned halfway around and leaned at the pillar again, pretending not to notice her. But her eyes remained on him for a few moments. Well actually on a certain body part of his, it was very nice of him to turn away from her.
Nyufufufufu.
"Do you want something?"
"No, nya will returrrn to worrrk.~~~"
Allen noticed how Freya looked at him again, showing the slightest smug grin. He rolled annoyed with his eyes and took a sip from his drink. It wouldn´t be the last time that Chloe came to him this evening, and not every time because Freya, Syr or Heith told her to. There was something at Allen that drew in her attention.
His butt. His smell. His whole figure. His butt. Even his slightly dangerous glare. And of course...his butt.
Not even Bell had such a "purrfect" butt in her eyes.
After a while, when Chloe was busy with her work, someone else approached him. Someone who got a break for fifteen minutes, and decided where she wanted to go in these fifteen minutes.
"Allen..."
"Ugh, what do you want..."
"I...here is some water."
He wanted to reply that he didn´t want it, but he noticed Anya´s pleading expression. And further behind her, Freya, the expression of his goddess was very different compared to it when Chloe was nearby him. Her eyes spoke clearly to him.
Don´t you dare be rude to her.
When he took the water, Anya still held the tray and looked at him.
"What?"
"Allen...how are you...these days?"
"It´s the usual, training."
"You don´t get hurt often, right?"
He glared at her, but a sharp reply remained unsaid, she looked worried.
"Do you really think one of the others is fast enough to actually hit me?"
"No, I know you´re the strongest and fastest."
As usual, when she was in his presence, Anya talked normally, which was quite hard for her.
"I..go back to work now."
"Do that."
"Th-eep!"
Anya wasn´t used to her outfit and the boots she had to wear. According to Freya, a maid wearing boots had a charm on her own. Allen moved faster than anyone else when she tripped, catching his little sister.
"Be more careful, birdbrai-Oy, stop hugging me!"
"I don´t want to!"
"Let go!"
"No!"
He could push her away, he had the strength...but in reality, he couldn´t.
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The evening went on, Freya was like a slowly moving whirlwind, a silent storm. Without anyone noticing it, she moved in a special pattern, sometimes glancing the Hedin, who moved his hand in special ways to show her where attention would help.
Not one of her followers had ever seen her having so much genuine fun. Her smile, grins, and laughter, never looked and felt so real, so true before.
She made sure that Mikoto was the one constantly serving Takemikazuchi. After she whispered a few things into Demeter´s ears, the goddess did her best to have Lunor constantly around her and her follower, and it looked like Lunor was quite friendly towards him!
It became a very long evening, Freya was extremely tired when the banquet ended deep in the night. But happy.
So happy.
She saw Hephaistos dancing with Welf, and Takemikazuchi with Mikoto, who claimed it wasn´t flirting at all. Lunor didn´t go as far as to dance with the guy she got interested in.
But Freya could see how Allen ground his teeth, murder was in his eyes.
Anya was dancing with Haltorin! She was clumsy, it was awkward to look at, but she looked like she was having so much fun! In the end, it was Freya´s advice to him, that helped him talk to Anya and eventually gather the courage to ask her for a dance.
Anya loved to dance, she often did it in her free time on her own, dancing more than she was walking while she went somewhere. And the snacks he brought her, which the maids and waitresses were forbidden from taking by themself while they were on duty, these snacks made Anya really happy.
Allen watched from the shadows, a lot of conflicted feelings in him.
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Inside Knossos...someone was not have a good mood.
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"Revis."
"What?"
"Why did you kill Valetta?"
"Because I hated her."
"We still had work for her, she was useful."
Revis snorted at the black-haired, masked figure in front of her. "As if I care, Ein."
"Enyo is quite angry with you."
"So what? I´m doing my job. And Valetta was weak, I heard her plan was to lure that Loki wolf into a trap. I already know how that would turn out."
"We will have to change plans now because of you."
Revis shrugged her shoulders, she was currently standing in a room in Knossos, getting new clothes. She didn´t care one bit about who had seen her walking naked through Knossos.
"I will take care of all the hard work anyway."
"Enyo said you have to take over Valetta´s secret work now."
Revis stopped, still only clothed in a new top. She had a habit of dressing from top to bottom. Revis didn´t like Ein one bit and it felt nice to see how unpleased this masked figure was because Revis showed her nudity so openly.
"What do I know or care about Valetta´s work? It´s useless anyway."
"Order from Enyo."
"I don´t like your tone."
"I don´t like you."
"I could end you, right here and now."
"Try it."
Revis showed her a diabolic smirk. "Or I could go and end my work of the other day, killing that elf from L-"
"IF YOU EVEN DARE TO TOUCH MY LEFIYA, I WILL MURDER YOU, YOU BITCH!"
"Hooh~~ Someone learned how to bark, is she your prey or did you take a liking to her?"
Ein raised her left hand, and a golden magic circle rotated slowly around her wrist, while she held a sword in her right hand.
"Get even close to bringing her in danger and you will regret it. Not long though."
Revis made a few steps toward Ein, cracking her knuckles, her headache was coming back again when she looked at this figure. Ein didn´t even move an inch, she knew if she did that, she would die.
Revis eventually stopped in front of her. "Maybe I should tear this mask from your face..."
"Don´t you have anything better to do? Get to work! The demi-spirit also demanded it!"
Silence followed for a while, Ein was prepared to fight for her life at any moment, but a male voice from the door saved her.
"Revis, don´t bully Ein so much, she just does what I tell her."
"Enyo."
"Yes, what you did hindered some of our plans, so go and take care of Valetta´s work."
"I shall go into the city and slaughter these amazons? Killing that Loki wolf?"
"No, we will change that plan, you go here."
Enyo handed her a map of Knossos, with a cross mark at a certain spot.
"What is there?"
"Valetta´s laboratory, her chamber. Go and check on it, if it is useful, we will use it."
"Ugh...fine."
"And put some clothes on first."
Revis rolled her eyes and did as Enyo said.
One day she might murder these two too...
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It took a while for Revis to move through Knossos and find the hidden room. A sealed door separated her from the laboratory, but since Revis didn´t have any patience, she simply cut it open with her sword.
Afterward, she looked down at her hands and feet, for some reason they were on fire now.
"What the fork?"
This was also one of Revis´ strange habits, she never used curse words. She shook her hands and feet, the fire went away.
"Weird."
She went into the secret laboratory, looking around.
All possible devices were housed here. Huge centrifuges, strange metal balls swinging around surrounded by lightning, containers of bubbling liquids, and so on.
And further back, huge glass cylinders, big enough to accommodate people. Most of them were filled with greenish-black liquid and organic matter, as if there had once been bodies in them but had now decomposed.
Only one was filled with a milky green liquid, in which a body was vaguely visible. From what Revis could see, a massive body, much larger than a normal mortal.
She leaned closer to the glass and could vaguely see the body inside, one part of it looked human, it twitched sometimes, maybe it was sleeping or so...
"Whatever you are supposed to be, whatever Valetta planned to do to you, I doubt you deserved this fate. This woman was a sadist after all...so just to screw all her work..."
Revis raised her sword, mumbling by herself without noticing it. Flames burst out of her hands, feet, and her back. The two wings formed again, looking oh so similar to the wings on the banner that Valetta had damaged...
Her sword came down and she cleaved a big part of the glass, breaking the whole cylinder. With a few quick steps she moved backward, as hundreds of liters of whatever this liquid was gushed out of the breaking cylinder, the body also fell out.
With a loud splash, the body fell out of the broken cylinder onto the floor, it wriggled like a stranded fish for a while before it came to rest, twitching.
Revis considered destroying the body, but that wouldn't be worth the effort, she turned around and was about to leave.
A choking, coughing sound made her turn around again. The creature on the ground choked and coughed up the brackish liquid, vomiting repeatedly to clear its lungs and everything else. Then the figure doubled over and groaned in pain.
What Revis saw wasn´t meant to be, it was sort of a chimera...
The upper body was that of a human woman, a special magic stone stuck out between her bare breasts. It looked like the arms ended below the elbows and got replaced with that of a Vouivre, but they looked not like normal ones. Revis´ eyes wandered over the upper body, down to the hips of the woman, everything below that point got replaced with the lower body of a Lamia, but that part was at least five meters long. Her genitals seemed to be gone, but the shape of her butt was still visible, even when it was completely covered with scales, maybe so that she could excrete in some way? A humanoid creature wasn´t completely like a monster, even Revis had to do these things.
The long tail twitched slightly, and Revis´ eyes wandered up again. Two curved horns grew from the forehead of the creature, long hair covered most of her face.
Long...slate blue hair. The tail had the same color as the hair, the horns and arms were darker.
Her headache returned with a heavy shock, somehow this woman looked familiar. Did she see her before somewhere? She didn´t think so, yet...
She raised her sword to end this thing´s suffering when a new cough shook the whole body, then the two eyes opened, and the mouth opened impossibly wide for a moment, showing way too many razor-sharp teeth, it opened from ear to ear...
"What the fork did she do to you?"
Against her will, Revis knelt down and wiped away wet hair from the creature´s eyes, she didn´t know why she was almost gentle.
Two cerulean eyes returned her gaze, filled with confusion and panic.
"Ah."
"You can talk?"
"Aaah..."
The voice of the creature sounded very strange, sometimes as if it was doubled, like a mixture of a young woman´s voice and a monster´s.
"Aaaaah..."
Maybe this was the only sound it could make?
The creature groaned again, then the mouth returned to that of a normal woman, her teeth looked also normal again.
"Aah...Shak...ti..."
She groaned more and her body spasmed for a moment, the massive tail flailed around, smashing the glass to pieces without getting hurt. Revis put her hand on the left shoulder of the creature and held her down.
"Stay, you will hurt yourself."
Nothing made sense anymore...why was she...nice...to that creature? She should just kill it, but something held her back.
Again she saw a picture in her mind, of a young woman with short, slate-blue hair. Who she saw vanishing in an explosion. An explosion that left behind a laughing Valetta...and the picture of legs and arms laying around...
Revis still looked down at the creature when it slowly calmed down. One of her claws came to grab Revis´ leg, but it didn´t hurt her. It was weird, normally Revis broke every hand that tried to touch her.
But something in her couldn´t hurt this one.
The creature...the young, tortured woman...looked up at her, not knowing where or what she was.
"Come with me."
The lamia tried to move, but she didn´t know how to control the tail.
"Fine, hang on."
Revis pulled her up, and put her arms around her neck, being careful with the horns.
"I will bring you to my chamber, hold tight."
"Aah.."
Revis would pay a lot to know what was wrong with her, why she was almost friendly to this lamia creature...
Due to the long tail, the lamia was quite heavy, but Revis was strong enough. And kind enough to make sure that she didn´t drag her through the splinters of glass.
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Author`s Note 2: The chapter isn´t as long and detailed during the party as I had planned at first, but I´m not so good at writing long parties, plus there is only so much development between people that can happen in one night.
The next chap of the story will be in Solingen, Ryu meeting Astrea will be hard for her.
chucho12405: There will be more drama in this story, but not in that way. Since Bell doesn´t even know who Alfia is, or that she is related to him.