Catching Ais out of the air, Tiona suddenly shouted, "Ah, that's not fair, Ais! Nobody said anything about using transforming!" Ais, while hanging around Vahn's neck, simply lifted up two fingers in a victorious gesture with a smile on her face. As for Vahn, he held one arm around Ais' waist, holding her body as if it were perfectly natural while asking, "What is this about? Did you have some kind of competition?" Tiona nodded, pointing to Ais as she said, "Yeah, we were racing to see who got to spend the night with you! But, Ais, she cheated! I want a do-over~!" Ais shook her head in response, hugging Vahn with both arms as she said in a curt and calm tone, "No. You never said the rules and tried to cheat from the start. This is my win..."
Hearing Ais' explanation, Tiona looked like she had turned into a statue with her finger still pointing towards the golden-haired girl. Realizing she had indeed set the 'precedent' for cheating, Tiona suddenly felt all the tension release in her body as she plopped down powerlessly to the ground. Tione, who had shown up almost immediately after the two, just stood at the side with her arms crossed, clearly dissatisfied with how things had turned out. Vahn just shook his head in response, holding Ais in his embrace as he said, "Don't be too upset. Now that we have the orb, there is plenty of time for us to spend together. After all, we have six days in here every single day that passes in the real world."
Jumping up from the ground, Tiona also clung to Vahn's body with a happy smile on her face, laughing as she said, "That's right~! Even if we spend a day training, we still have five more days just to play around!" With the rules that had been established for the orbs use, a proper balance between work and play was very important. After all, though everything within the orb was real, it wasn't the same as living a 'normal' life in the real world. Cooping yourself up inside the orb all the time, while efficient, could cause you to feel out of touch with the rest of the world.
It was originally proposed that the orb should only be used at night, essentially making the eight hours people usually slept equate to 48 hours worth of time. However, as there was currently a lot going on in the real world, these restrictions had yet to be implemented and the only ones that weren't allowed to spend all their time in the orbs were the young girls, the children, and anyone that was pregnant. Today was an exception to the rule, but only because everyone was very curious about what it was like inside the orb.
Promising to make time for them once everything was finished, Vahn returned to his work while Tiona, Tione, and Ais all sat with Tsubaki and talked amongst themselves. What Vahn was currently working on, other than laying the foundation, was allocating space for various facilities. The girls would spend a lot of time in the orb for training so Vahn needed to make sure they had a place to rest and relax. There also needed to be living quarters for everyone, including an area where they could enjoy some 'privacy'.
More importantly, however, Vahn needed to make sure there was a system in place so the girls could have a place to 'relieve' themselves, meaning he needed to lay the framework for a water and waste management system. Fortunately, such things were relatively easy to take care of by implementing wards that produced clean water, sanitized an area, and 'destroyed' waste products. By setting the ward in a secure area, similar to a septic tank, Vahn could set it to periodically 'destroy' everything that accumulated inside. Hopefully, there would never be a time when he had to replace the system as it would be buried within the sturdy foundation he was currently laying.
Everyone that had gone out to explore the orb had eventually ended up congregating around the area where Vahn was working. There wasn't much they could do to help him, as he was using various unnamed spells and abilities like telekinesis to move things, so they just sat at the side while eating snacks. Under the insistence of Erika, they even started discussing magic since all of his daughters had been completely enamored by watching him move materials around through the air with slight movements of his hands. However, the biggest catalyst behind their sudden interest in magic was watching Terra literally moving acres of dirt and mulch while floating lazily through the air. If she had been doing such things in the real world, it would have looked like a natural disaster with how terrifying the sight was.
Erika, sitting between Eina and Tsubaki, asked, "How can Papa and Terra use such powerful and unique magic? I've read a lot of books about the subject and it doesn't cover most of the things they're doing." Thus far, none of the children had started training and, while their education was progressing, it didn't go into great details about magic and trades. Erika had mainly been going through the books in the Library, meaning she didn't have an understanding of the unique system of magic that the girls had actually been developing under Vahn's guidance.
Tsubaki, playing with some loose strands of Erika's hair, had on a soft smile as she patiently explained, "Before you were born, your Papa learned magic from a powerful mage named Evangeline. Because of her teachings, he is now one of the most powerful people in the entire world. Now, he has been teaching everyone else how to use magic while developing a curriculum that will allow people all around the world to do the same." Erika, who understood that magic wasn't something that anyone could use, at least according to what she read, asked, "Papa's magic can be learned by anyone? Really?"
At this point, Tiona burst into the conversation with an excited smile on her face as she said, "Yeah, your Papa is super amazing! My entire life, I've never been able to use magic at all, even to the point where my Magic Parameter is still listed as 0! But, your Papa wanted my dream of using magic to become a reality so he made me an awesome wand and, even though I didn't think it would be possible, I've slowly been able to learn some basic spells. Here, watch this~!" Wagging around her index finger in a peculiar pattern, Tiona happily chanted, "Practe Bigi Nar "Burn", "Breeze", "Light"~!" When her words finished, a 'very' tiny flame appeared on the tip of Tiona's finger.
Erika, understanding what it meant to have 0 for a Magic Parameter, was rather impressed by Tiona's simple display. However, there was one person who didn't seem too impressed and actually took Tiona's display as some form of challenge. With a little too much excitement in her voice, Vana suddenly shouted out, "Ah, I can make fire too~!" Then, even though she was sitting in Eina's lap, Vana spontaneously made a fireball the size of a grapefruit that radiated a surprising amount of heat. Unfortunately, as impressive as it was to create fire from nothing, Vana was still lacking in control and the fireball quickly started to destabilize.
Several of the girls were about to get rid of the orb but, before they even made a movement to do so, Vahn suddenly appeared out of nowhere, directly grabbing the fireball in his hand and stabilizing it. Vana's eyes widened greatly as he smiled back at her and said, "Vana, I've told you its not good to play with fire. Not everyone has the same amount of resistance as you so you have to be very careful with it, okay?" Vahn had originally been intending to disperse the ball of fire but, deciding to teach his daughter a lesson about control, began forming it into the shape of a tiny bird. The details weren't that clear but everyone could very obviously tell the small 'flittering' figure in Vahn's hand was a bird.
Vana looked completely mesmerized by the small bird, asking in a dream-like tone, "Can I do something like that?" Vahn nodded his head, explaining, "Raw firepower can be very useful in some circumstances, but it is far more important to learn how to control your power. If you master it, you can do all kinds of things that would be considered impossible by normal people. Here, I'll show you one more thing, but you'll have to behave if you want me to teach you later on, okay?" Vana nodded her head, practically jumping out of Eina's lap as she shouted, "Yes, I promise! Teach me some cool magic Papa!" Before he demonstrated his spell, Vahn kneeled to Vana's level, holding out his hand with his pinky finger extended, saying, "This is a pinky promise. Promises made this way should never be broken or it would betray the trust people have in you..."
As if the details didn't matter to her, Vana happily linked her pinky together with his, smiling vibrantly in the process. Vahn lightly shook his head before ruffling Vana's hair and saying, "Vana is a good girl. Papa trusts you..." Before he stood up, Vahn kissed Vana on the forehead then, after creating a bit of distance, began casting one of the spells he thought was more interesting, "I summon the Spirits of five Lance-Wielding Salamanders~!" The air around Vahn began to waver with the increasing temperature as five flames spontaneously ignited from the void. A few seconds later, the flames formed the figures of five vaguely humanoid creatures with flame-like wings and fiery red spears in their hands.
Vana practically had stars in her eyes as she shouted, "Whoooa, so cooooool~!" Vahn smiled, taking his outstretched hand and surprising her even further as he shouted, "Fixate. Seize. Load magic, 'Armament'!" The five Salamander Spirits around his body broke down into fire elemental energy, coiling around Vahn's body as it converged into his hand. When his hand completely closed, the spell was completely absorbed into his body, causing Vahn's skin to take on its onyx-black coloration with red flame-like tattoos covering his body. His hair, instead of outright increasing in length, became flame-like in structure without losing the semblance of hair. The most striking feature though was how, much like Vana's eyes, Vahn's now looked like vibrant flames.
Not only Vana, but everyone watching was awed by Vahn's current appearance, especially Ryuu, Lefiya and, to a lesser extent, Eina. Though their basic structure was different, Vahn had essentially summoned actual Spirits into the world and, now that he had consumed the spell with his [Magia Erebea], his aura was the same as a Spirit. Even in the record of Danmachi, flame elemental spirits were known as Salamanders so it had been very surprising to see Vahn suddenly call them into existence. Spirit Magic was one of the rarest forms of magic and very few people ever had the capability of interacting with the spirits directly.
Vahn slowly regulated his energy until the flames around his body were almost completely contained within. With a smile on his face, looking somewhat demonic and handsome at the same time, Vahn said, "There are no limits to magic, only limits to our imagination and how we make use of it to generate the phenomenon known as magic. If you study hard and practice your control, you could do all kinds of things, not just create fire." Though it wasn't as impressive as when he was in his Xuánwǔ form, Vahn began to make orbs of water form around his body. Generally, it was nearly impossible to use elemental spells that contradicted the affinity of his [Magia Erbea] but this was just pure control and water elemental manipulation.
While Vana was perpetually starry-eyed, Ina and Erika were also watching their Papa very closely. Ina found her elder twin's behavior to be a little silly but, after watching her Papa do so many amazing things back-to-back, she couldn't help but think about learning how to use magic herself. As for Erika, she had a very serious look on her face with her eyes slightly parted, doing her best to memorize everything she was currently witnessing. She was constantly thinking about the future and, after hearing her Papa say the only things necessary were knowledge, control, and imagination, Erika believed she could become a powerful Mage one day...
Canceling his transformation, Vahn picked up Vana and carried her back to the others. It was around time for lunch so Vahn figured it was a good time to take a break as he began explaining, "Ina, Erika, Vana. I will never decide your path for you so it is up to you what you want to do in the future. However, until you demonstrate you are ready, there are certain restrictions that you have to keep in mind. For now, even if you want to start learning magic early, you need to wait until your body matures first. The most appropriate time would be to start in around a year from now, which would put you at a similar age as other apprentice mages. Keep in mind, however, that your training will be very difficult since the optimal period for your development is much shorter than normal."
Vahn already had several methods that he had been preparing if his daughters actually wanted to become stronger in the future, including helping them build a foundation as cultivators. As Vanir, they might be limited in the 'normal' means by which people would gain strength but, at the same time, they also had no upper limit to their potential growth. This didn't mean it would be easy for them but, where other people would have encountered nearly impossible to overcome bottlenecks, their only restriction was the efforts they put into their training.
Each girl, hearing their Papa's words, had very different reactions while fundamentally coming to the same conclusion. Vana, after seeing the other girls training all the time, wanted to become a powerful Adventurer in the future. She also saw how hard her Papa worked and, after learning he was also very strong, wanted to help him out by also becoming strong. As for Ina, she didn't care much for personal strength but, after seeing several 'visions' of her Papa fighting against enemies, wanted to be able to protect him. Lastly, possessing a powerful thirst for knowledge and a strong desire to increase her own capabilities, Erika wanted to learn magic as soon as possible. She was very clear of some of the restrictions that had been placed on them and, considering they were a completely new species in the world, Erika didn't disagree with the decisions. However, in order to protect all the things she cared about, and alleviate some of the burdens on her Papa's shoulders, Erika was determined to increase her power to the extremes...
Over the course of the next few days, Vahn continued to work on building the residence with the help of Terra and, after she had shown up in the orb, Fenrir. Eina had eventually left with his three daughters, taking Tsubaki and the other pregnant women along with them, while the rest of the girls stayed inside. By the end of the third day, Terra had completely filled the orb with a 3m thick layer of bedrock, dirt, and subsurface mulch, now covered in a dense layer of grass that had been nourished by her natural energy. Ais, Tiona, Tione, Lili, and Naaza had moved into the first boundary layer that had been designated by Vahn, training their bodies under the increased pressure caused by the compression of space laws. As for the other girls, they had teamed up with Terra and started arranging things like a herb garden, a swimming area, and a large earthen veranda where they had all been gathering for meals.
With his immortal body, which could keep him going without tiring for a single instant, Vahn worked without rest until, at the even of the fifth day, he had finally completed one key aspect of their home within the orb: several bathrooms and a massive, heated, bathtub. The girls had been leaving the orb for short periods in order to relieve themselves so it was a very welcome change when he finally got everything in working order. As for why he worked on the bath first, it was because the girls were already training hard and Vahn wanted them to be able to relax and wash their bodies. It also had the added benefit of allowing him to soak his own body as well, enjoying the company of the girls in the process.
The bath itself was almost entirely constructed of smooth stone with wooden borders creating an interesting contrast between the beautiful brown wood and the dark grey stone. It was made to be around 50cm deep and had perfectly square dimensions with a length and width of 10m. It could easily hold all of them at once and was kept at a temperature of around 42 degrees, ensuring it was hot without being scalding. Because of the difference in temperature between the water and the outside air, it always had a light layer of mist coming out of it which, when coiling around the girls' bodies, made Vahn almost feel like he had wandered into a dream-like paradise.
To that end, Preasia, who hadn't initially entered the orb since she had been sleeping, showed up on the second day. Ever since then, she had been spending the vast majority of her time just sleeping on a sofa until the veranda had been completed. Every now and then, some of the girls would go over and stay with her, having something of a slumber party where they all played together in her Dreamscape. Vahn was somewhat curious about what they were all dreaming about since their smiling faces, which were especially adorable while they were sleeping, had caught his attention. Unfortunately, though she used to tell him everything that went on in her dreams, Preasia simply said, "It's a woman's secret..." when he asked about it. With all the other girls seemingly in on some kind of agreement, it became one of the various mysteries surrounding the life and legend of Vahn Mason...
The morning of the sixth day, having taken a rest the previous evening, Vahn woke up with Lili's very unladylike figure clinging to his body. She still had terrible sleeping posture so Vahn peeled her away before releasing a long yawn, forcibly kept silent so he didn't wake the other girls. They didn't have individual rooms set up just yet so, after saying he was going to bed, Vahn ended up in the veranda with everyone else as they all shared a massive futon. Ais had ended up sleeping on his left side while Lili, seizing the opportunity, had taken his right. His center was left free, which was actually rare during such situations, but Vahn still ended up becoming a body pillow for Lili. Much like Hestia, she had a tendency to be very clingy whenever they slept together.
After extricating himself from the sleeping girls, alerting several of them without actually stirring them awake, Vahn returned to his construction site and continued working. He was trying to build a residence that could comfortably accommodate between twenty and thirty people so it would take several weeks to finish. Fortunately, now that the 'important' parts were taken care of, Vahn just needed to focus on making all the rooms aesthetically pleasing and comfortable for everyone that would reside in them. Unfortunately, though he would have earned himself a punch if he ever said such a thing, just as he had started to get into a good groove, a light blinked nearby as Eina walked over with a somewhat panicked expression and said, "Vahn, Tsubaki's water just broke...!"
(A/N: For clarification, the last sentence was saying that Tsubaki would have punched Vahn if she knew he, even for a moment, felt inconvenienced by the fact she was going into labor xD.)
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Ais is Victorious v(^_^)','Waterworks are Important','Tsuprise~!')
https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu <-(p.atreon link)
paypal.me/Einlion
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Making his way out of the orb, Vahn quickly found his way to Tsubaki's side. Fortunately, after waking up early in the morning, Tsubaki noticed that the crest on her abdomen had started glowing. Taking this as a sign that her daughter was due, she had already moved to one of the delivery rooms near the maternity ward. By the time Vahn reached her, she was already laying down with her legs propped up, waiting for his arrival with a light layer of sweat present on her healthy brown skin. The moment she saw him, Tsubaki smiled with a very soft and loving look in her eyes, saying, "Vahn...it looks like Sakuya can't wait any longer...hahahaha..."
Seeing Tsubaki in high spirits, Vahn relaxed a little bit, smiling to her in return as he came to her side and said, "Leave it to me..." After placing a kiss on her brow, Vahn stroked Tsubaki's cheek for a brief moment before getting himself ready for the delivery. After washing his hands, he used an unnamed spell to sanitize them before proceeding to position himself near Tsubaki's feet. Juno, as had always been the case until this point, was watching at the side. During the long nine-hour delivery, she gave bits and pieces of advice to help guide him along. However, even if she hadn't been there, Juno, along with Epona, believed that Vahn would have handled things just fine.
Though it had taken a long time, Tsubaki's delivery was one of the smoothest any of them had ever seen, primarily as a result of the fertility crest located on her lower abdomen. Vahn had seen it glowing with a vibrant pink coloration throughout the entire process while a form of energy he didn't fully understand 'assisted' in the delivery process. This was very fortunate since, when he had first inspected Sakuya within Tsubaki's womb, she was at a slightly odd angle. Under the guidance of the unknown energy, however, Sakuya was repositioned properly and slowly eased out of Tsubaki's body without any real complications.
Vahn, holding his youngest daughter in his arms, once again felt the same overwhelming sense of happiness that had accompanied all the previous births. She was a very healthy young baby with brown skin, much like Tsubaki's but slightly fairer in complexion. Though sparse, there were tufts of black hair growing near the top of her head and, while her skin was a bit wrinkly, Vahn thought she was a very cute baby. Unfortunately, he didn't have too much time to look over her himself as Tsubaki, seeming to have recovered some of her energy, impatiently said, "Give me my baby...I want to see her...Vahn...!"
Having just handed Sakuya to Juno, Vahn used a combination of his old cleaning magic with his unnamed sanitization magic to remove some of the fluids from his hands. To ease Tsubaki's anxiety, he came to her side, holding her hand firmly between his as he softly said, "Shhhh...it's going to be fine, Tsubaki. She is perfectly healthy..." As if to emphasize this face, a very loud crying sound began to echo within the delivery room. Hearing this, it was almost like all the tension in Tsubaki's body had been released, accompanied by a very emotional sigh. Tears had long started building up in her eyes and, by the time Juno brought Sakuya over to her, Tsubaki was almost bawling. She held the small bundle in her arms, not minding in the least that Sakuya was practically screaming her lungs out.
Tsubaki, having a great deal of stamina and willpower, didn't end up sleeping for several hours after the birth, even after delivering the placenta. Vahn helped ease her burdens while accelerating her body's natural healing processes all while Tsubaki cuddled with her new daughter. During the breastfeeding, which finally calmed the screaming infant down, Tsubaki had been very quiet as tears continued falling from her face. Having given up on having children of her own in the past, Tsubaki felt very emotional now that she was face to face with her own daughter. If she could, Tsubaki would have punched her past self in the face for being foolish enough to have 'given up' on creating something so beautiful...
For several hours, Vahn just stayed at Tsubaki's side, bringing her as much comfort as he could while observing the mother-daughter pair with the most loving expression he could manage. During this period, they talked a great deal about the past, present, and future, both related to themselves and the hopes they had for Sakuya herself. Many of the other girls came by to visit, interested to see the new life that had been introduced into the Manor. However, sensing the atmosphere in the delivery room, few people stayed for long and, after seeing the healthy baby in Tsubaki's arms, returned to the larger group to prepare for the coming celebration.
Finally feeling the exhaustion catching up to her, Tsubaki handed Sakuya over to Vahn, saying in a quiet voice that almost sounded like a whimper, "Thank you, Vahn...truly. I don't know how else to express what I'm feeling right now...just...thank you so much..." Though she had cried a lot earlier, tears started pooling in Tsubaki's eyes once again. Vahn, keeping the same soft and loving smile on his face, leaned down and kissed Tsubaki's forehead once again before saying, "Silly girl...after giving me a beautiful daughter like this, it should be me thanking you...however, I'll compromise and tell you something else instead..." Briefly staring at Sakuya, letting the tension build a little, Vahn's face transitioned into an even larger smile as he said in a firm and decisive manner, "Tsubaki, I love you. From now on, let's do our best to be good parents...together."
Tsubaki made a face that bordered on anguish and gratitude, nearly bursting out laughing while crying at the same time. The two contrasting sounds mixed together in a manner that made Vahn's heart melt and, if not for the fact he was already holding Sakuya, he would have tightly embraced the emotional new mother. Fortunately, Hestia had been silently waiting at the side with Fenrir, both quietly observing everything that had been happening over the last few hours. Understanding Vahn's intent, Hestia had come to his side, taking Sakuya safely into her embrace so that Vahn and Tsubaki could share a moment together.
Hestia moved to the side, laying Sakuya in the crib while alternating her eyes between the beautiful newborn and the emotional scene taking place between Vahn and Tsubaki. Unlike in the past, where Hestia had been full of insecurities about her own feelings of love, she now felt truly blessed to have descended from Heaven during this period of time. Even though she didn't have a child of her own, Hestia felt like all the children within the Manor were a part of her family and, witnessing the amount of love shared between everyone, Hestia believed she had found the purpose she had been seeking for a very long period of time. No matter what anyone tried to do, she would protect this place with all of her power...
---
Several hundred kilometers north of Orario, on the outskirts of a small village called Shalia, an elderly man sat on a large tree stump. After wiping the sweat from his brow, he picked up the rather weathered looking hoe at his side while a young boy with white hair and peculiar red eyes ran over carrying a wooden canteen. With a bright smile on his face, almost as if it was contending against the vibrancy of the sun, the boy shouted, "Grandpa! Here, I brought you some water." Releasing a hearty laugh, the elderly man accepted the canteen and said, "Thank you, Bell, my boy. You're always so kind to this old man, hahahaha~." Bell, beaming in response to his Grandpa's words, suddenly became very confused with the latter suddenly spat out the water he had been drinking.
With a fretful and concerned expression on his face, Bell began patting his Grandpa's back as he asked, "Grandpa, what's wrong? Was there a bug in the water!?" The elderly man shook his head, coughing a few time to clear the fluid from his lungs while simultaneously using his divine power to ease the discomfort. This man was none other than Zeus, currently in the guise of a humble farmer that lived with his grandson, Bell Cranel, on the edge of the village. They generally kept to themselves and, though Bell was a very personable boy, his shy and skittish nature had ensured he had no real friends. Of course, Zeus had actually made sure to pick a village that had just recovered from a famine so there weren't any children Bell's age from the start...
After clearing the fluid from his lungs, Zeus smiled towards Bell and laughed, saying, "It's nothing, my boy, just got a little water down the wrong pipe. Here, be a good lad and go fetch me some more water, will you?" Bell, still showing concern on his face, accepted the canteen and started running towards the river located more than 2km away. Zeus watched him run off with a smile, feeling gratified that his grandson was such a kindhearted boy. However, once Bell had gotten down to the bottom of the nearby hill, the soft expression on Zeus' face melted away. Within the crystal clear blue skies, where only a few wispy white clouds had been previously, black storm clouds began to brew.
Turning his back towards the direction Bell had gone, Zeus made his way over to the small single bedroom house that he had shared with Bell over the last few years. There was a small well nearby but, as a result of his training, Bell was required to get all of their water from the river. Zeus made his way over, pulling up the bucket of water to wet his parched throat while looking up at the storm clouds overhead, a fierce glint in his sky-blue eyes that crackled with indiscernible bolts of electricity. After having his fill, he allowed the bucket to fall back into the well, wiping his mouth that now had a large grin as he mumbled, "I wonder which god is taking action to bring about such a large shift in the tides of destiny...well, no matter. As long as the flow of fate around the boy remains unchanged, everything should turn out well..."
Sitting down to wait for Bell's arrival, Zeus began contemplating the best course of action to take since, as of late, there had been a lot of unexpected changes in the world. Most of these events revolved around the young 'hero', Vahn Mason, and, trusting in his instincts, Zeus believed this also had something to do with the somewhat troublesome boy. Remembering the report from Odin, Zeus wondered if he should try to approach Vahn in the future to test his character. If he was a perceptive and good-natured as Odin claimed, Zeus believed Vahn could be a good mentor to help prop up Bell in the future. It helped that Vahn surrounded himself with numerous women since, even if Bell couldn't meet his expectations, there was a chance his children might inherit his mutation. It was for this reason that he had tried to not only cultivate Bell as a 'Hero', but also emphasized the importance of saving damsels in distress and building a harem for himself in the future. Of course, as Bell was still young, Zeus had disguised things so that Bell was more focused on making a 'family' than actually gathering girls for the purposes of reproduction...
After waiting for several minutes, Zeus could see Bell beginning his return trip, breathing heavily as his rather frail frame carried him forward. The one thing Zeus didn't understand was, even though Bell had such a powerful soul, his body itself wasn't very masculine. He also didn't possess any of the raw talent seen in most heroes and, even when Zeus had lured Bell into a situation where the boy's life was endangered by a Goblin, the latter had seized up instead of taking to the fight. Zeus had stepped in to save him at the last moment, fortunately inspiring the boy to begin training in earnest after the fact. Unfortunately, even after nearly two years of guidance, Bell hadn't made much progress and, if not for the fact that the flow of fate around his grandson had actually gotten stronger, Zeus would have believed he made an error in judgment.
By now, the clouds overhead had turned into a powerful thunderstorm and heavy raindrops began to fall onto the earth below. Zeus stared up unblinkingly towards the storm and contemplated if the action he was thinking about taking was the correct one. Things were changing very quickly within the world right now and it may be prudent to set Bell on his journey sooner, rather than later. Zeus had wanted to wait until the boy reached adulthood in a little over a year but, considering the tensions between all the countries, it may be difficult for Bell to get a good foothold in the City if he waited too long. Sending him into the thick of things while there was so much political turmoil could end up getting Bell killed or, depending on the circumstances, have him exploited for someone else's personal gain...
Pulling out a strange shimmering piece of parchment, Zeus wrote down a few words before the parchment folded itself into the shape of a bird. Releasing it into the sky, Zeus watched it fly away as he wondered what the answer would be. He was sending a message to Odin, requesting that he get Frigg and those three troublesome girls to divine the future once again. It was unlikely he would get a clear answer, as those bearing a powerful fate seemed to be impossible to predict, but it would at least make his decision easier. The last time he had divined Bell's future, the young boy had become a powerful Hero surrounded by a large entourage of beautiful women. Unless something happened to change Bell's own mentality, this was still very likely to be how things turned out. After all, with such a powerful flow of fate surrounding him, Bell would almost undoubtedly reach the goals he had set for himself.
Though completely exhausted, Bell managed to reach the porch of their small house, covered in sweat while shivering from the cold rain that had completely soaked through his body. This far north, only a few hundred kilometers away from the Northern Tundra, the rain could nearly reach freezing temperatures. There were also several pieces of ice raining from the sky, called hail, many of which had pelted the frail-looking youth during his return trip. Even so, Bell had a smile on his face and showed clear concern in his expression as he handed over the canteen and said, "Here you go, Grandpa...sorry it took so long...haaaaaa..." Zeus simply smiled in return, denying the offered canteen as he said, "I'm fine, my boy, please, have some water for yourself. Since its raining, I'll make an exception and let you draw water from the well for your bath."
Bell, though it didn't show on his face, had been lamenting the several trips it would have taken to draw water for his bath. With how cold the rain was, it was necessary to warm up his body and, running back and forth to get the water, would have taken him more than an hour. Thus, with a smile that seemed to make the clouds overhead dim slightly, Bell shouted, "Thank you, Grandpa! You're the best!" Drinking some of the fresh river water, Bell spent a few minutes catching his breath before taking the pail and filling up the large cauldron-like tub in the shed next to their small cottage. Zeus had already moved over, tending to a small fire underneath the cauldron that would warm up the water that had been added. To prevent the user from burning themselves, there was a thick wooden platform on the inside of the cauldron that kept them from touching the scaling hot base.
Once he had completely filled up the bath, Bell began to take off his water-logged clothing before carefully hanging it up to dry. They lived a very frugal existence so Bell only had a total of four tunics, a single pair of pants, two pairs of shorts, and some very worn-down boxers that he didn't wear often. Zeus watched as the boy carefully arranged his ragged clothing, making sure it would be able to dry properly to be used the next day. However, after seeing Bell's frail, almost feminine figure, Zeus couldn't help but let out a small sigh. His grandson was only around 150cm tall at this point and, though he made sure the boy had plenty of protein in his diet, weighted a meager 42kg. With his fair complexion and slender body, the boy looked more like a young girl from behind than anything remotely resembling a man. However, after stripping off his boxers and turning around, Zeus couldn't help but grin and comment under his breath, "That's my grandson..."
After leaving Bell behind, even though the boy had offered to let him take a bath first so that he could wash his back, Zeus went out into the now torrential storm. It was almost like a typhoon had unexpected appeared in the area, leaving most of the nearby farmers seeking shelter inside their homes. At this point, Zeus had completely changed his appearance from a humble farmer into that of his true form, one of the few gods that possessed a Divinity related to Thunder, Lightning, and the Sky itself. He was one of the few second generation gods that possessed such powerful Divinities since Ouranos, possessing the 'primary' Divinity of the Sky, was still alive.
Waiting in the middle of a field, letting the cold rain beat down against his powerful looking body, Zeus continued to stare towards the sky until three figures appeared from within the clouds. Moving like the lightning shrouding their bodies, they all landed heavily on the ground in front of him, kicking up a large volume of dirt and grass while a loud thunderclap sounded throughout the area. Once the shockwave faded away, three beautiful women with off-white hair that had undertones of blue in them stood up. Each held ornate halberds in their hands and wore a dark-blue armor that glimmered with a blue hue, accented by silvers and golds along the edges. Their most notable feature, however, was the dark-grey wings that protruded from their backs, glimmering with a metallic light while small arcs of electricity danced between the feathers. These were none other than the prided Valkyries, considered to be amongst the most powerful races in the mortal world.
With a somewhat lecherous grin on his face, Zeus laughed and said, "Truly, Odin is blessed to have such fine daughters. What say you, Róta, care to tend to these tired old bones for a change?" The leading woman, whose armor was adorned with gold, snorted through her nose with a look of profound distaste in her expression. Ignoring his invitation, she coldly stated, "Zeus-sama, the Allfather has sent us to inform you about the inquiry you had made. Lady Frigg and Lady Urd had looked into the future of this boy, Bell Cranel..." From within a pouch at her hip, Róta pulled out a sealed scroll and handed it over to Zeus. She and her sisters waited patiently for him to open it up and read the contents, watching with stoic expressions as the powerful god's expression changed several times.
Reading the contents of the scroll, Zeus' hands trembled slightly since, according to Frigg's and Urd's findings, Bell was no longer surrounded by women. Fortunately, he seemed much stronger than previous predictions, making Zeus feel a small amount of relief. While Bell had always been very powerful in the future, it wasn't at the level where he would have ever been a match for monsters like Heracles and Gilgamesh. Fortunately, he seemed to have a way with women, unlike many of the more arrogant and talented Heroes, so there had been many supporters at his side. Zeus even anticipated that Helen and Jeanne would have stood with Bell, making up for what the boy lacked. Now, however, this didn't seem necessary...at least until he read the last few lines within the message.
Urd's prediction of Bell showed the boy fighting directly against Theseus, standing within the ruins of the once proud City of Heroes. She predicted, much to Zeus' shock, that Bell may one day bring about the destruction of all they had worked tirelessly to obtain. There was even a line where Odin suggested potentially 'culling' the boy to prevent future problems. However, as fate around such individuals as Bell was constantly changing, it was only a suggestion and the final decision would be left to Zeus. When he read this, Zeus' eyes had trails of lightning radiating from their center but he still fought to retain his calm. Odin was, after all, a very wise counsel that had shared with him a lot of wisdom over the eons. Zeus had a lot of trust in the god known as the Allfather and, seeing the very last line in the message, couldn't help but smile slightly as he passed it back over to Róta.
Róta, receiving the message back, frowned slightly as she began reading it over with a look of disbelief on her face. In truth, unlike when Zeus was reading it, there were only a few lines visible for her to read over. There was a very powerful enchantment attached to the scroll that protected the important information from prying eyes. Róta, having carries such messages hundreds of times, understood this very well so, seeing there were lines she could read, a small feeling of dread settled inside her heart. When she got to the line that caused Zeus to smile, she couldn't help but sigh out in exasperation before matching the lascivious gaze of the elderly god. Her sisters showed very small signs of confusion on their proud and stoic faces but, after reading the letter themselves, released similar sighs. After each understood their 'duty', the proud Valkyrian women began undoing the clasps of their armor while Zeus watched with undisguised anticipation in his eyes...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Tsubaki really deserves to be a Mother...','It's a Trap!','I think Odin just lost a lot of points with Vahn (o,....,o)')
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