Chapter 12
Family is where the heart lies, and Hestia was the most avid supporter of the phrase, however, she couldn't quite stop the subtle way her knees were jittering from tension as Thetis and Iris offered to buy the broke Goddess a new dress.
By all means, the dress wasn't the issue. In fact, she was quite flattered and eager for the helping hand, but it was why she needed a dress that was stressing her.
"Is this really a good idea?" Hestia asked Thetis while Iris brooded on the side. Her opinions and apparel choices were not as 'top heavy' as the other two Goddesses and it peeved her to no end.
"Oh, try this one, and this one!" Rather than answer Hestia straight, Thetis looked like she was playing a game of dress up, stuffing numerous articles of clothes that piled up over Hestia's head.
Although Thetis and Iris didn't possess the most influential or powerful of Familia, the two were rich.
Hestia pouted as Thetis undid her twin tails, calling them cute but too childish for the event to come.
"I-I like my hair, no wait! That isn't the point. Are we really doing this?!" Hestia widened her eyes and nervously pursed her lips. "They're hiding their names for a reason! They have enemies!"
Thetis furrowed her brows and turned to Iris who helped orchestrate everything.
"First of all, it's not all of them." Iris murmured before meeting Hestia's eyes. "Secondly, I did this after consulting Rider and Shirou-"
"I thought they were hiding their names?" Thetis interjected, peeved from something only her son could have said.
"Fake name." Iris answered without hesitation. "Shirou's features, aura, and demeanor don't match with eastern standards. It's just another way of hiding who he truly is. It's like if I changed Achilles's name to Nanase."
Thetis's expression soured in real time, made all the more crumpled as she was the one who chose that name. Then there was the moment Peleus woke up, listened to her talk about Achilles, and then fainted again. And even Achilles! He asked her to call him Rider in public as if ashamed of her affection!
What was there to be ashamed of?
If not for Rider asking her to just wait until during the coming event, Thetis would have argued tooth and nail.
Honestly, Thetis was here searching for dresses to vent while the boys had suits to pick out or tailor.
"No, no, no, go back," Hestia blubbered, pushing Thetis's issue aside. "I mean why are we convening a council of the Gods?!"
/-/
In the wake of the Dungeon Break, the official Monsterphilia festival was canceled.
Festivities could never arise amid the ruins of devastation and heartache, and the air surrounding Orario was too somber. With Babel's collapse, the way into the dungeon was also blocked by several tones of stone, wood, and foundation that made communication with Rivira impossible. The blockage could be excavated, but it would require higher leveled adventurers to devote their undivided time and effort into labour use.
Many had lost loved ones, and most of those loved ones were high level adventurers that had stepped forward against the monster that swept through their ranks like paper soldiers.
Personnel was limited, and most were focusing efforts on the hope of finding Caster and reuniting with the cherished departed.
A sudden commune of the Gods was of course heeded, but given the nature of events, the Gods weren't simply gathering to decide nicknames for new adventurers. Not all came. Gods like Hephaestus who had qualities focused on production were being overworked with orders that they couldn't ignore. The state of Rivera and its survivors could not be verified unless the debris was cleared, and as such, lives were at stake.
Rather than the specific Gods coming themselves, they sent their high-level Captains to serve as their proxies. It was therefore a unique gathering of the Gods that didn't just include the Gods.
A certain busty Goddess was doing her best to blend into the solemn crowd filled with hushed whispers and heated discussions. She was wearing a prime blue dress that rode low around her waist, emphasizing the appeal of her hips and generous bosom. She was wearing heels, well wobbling on them, and clearly unused to wearing them.
Hestia pursed her lips, and did her best to look small. She was a poor and broke Goddess with only a single Familia member. Her influence in the gathering was infinitely small in contrast to well established Gods, but her personality was what enabled her to hold her head up. At the very least, she couldn't let Loki see her dispiritedness, but this time was different.
Wetting her dry mouth, Hestia nervously tried to curl her bangs around her finger in a subconscious gesture of comfort, only to realize she wasn't wearing her usual pigtails. Thetis had done up her hair and fashioned it with a laurel crown made of silver. It looked neat, regal, and emanated the image of Greek beauty.
Hestia's appearance was a far cry from her prior showings, but she didn't even have the mood to puff her chest out.
No one was really paying attention to her, and for once she was okay with that knowing what controversy was to come.
Iris had arranged this gathering with Shirou and the others, but Hestia would not join them in their entrance.
It would bring undue attention onto herself, and Hestia had to think about Bell. Great potential lies within her sole Familia, and the thought of other Gods poaching him was what spurred the decision to attend the gathering ahead of the others.
Clapping her hands over her cheeks, Hestia roused her courage and observed the other Gods in attendance.
Freya was off in the corner, a social butterfly managing the attention of many Gods. By the drink bar, Loki's ugly face could be seen constantly glowering, and further off, Ishtar was inquiring about information pertaining to Rider and even Archer. Then again, Archer's demeanor screamed high-level by just standing in place.
Hestia shook her head and moved away from others who would recognize her, including a woman named Tsubaki acting as the representative of the Hephaestus Familia. Hestia had leached, ugh, yeah- bunked with Hephaestus when she'd first descended, and was quite familiar with Hephy's Familia. She didn't want to stand out or speak with anyone right now, but her thoughts gradually changed when a certain God made an unexpected entrance.
The Greek Sun God, Apollo.
Wearing a gray tailored suit with a red mantle over his shoulders, the pompous air he generally carried was heavily subdued. Even the look in his eyes was something fierce, more focused on himself than at others.
That God, the man always so full of himself, Apollo, was brooding.
No one would have expected him to appear considering all the heat he'd been taking after he and his Familia went into hiding.
All eyes turned to Apollo the moment he entered, many gazes inquisitive, others simmering.
Suddenly, Hestia realized Thetis had been right to be careful about not attending.
Thetis dared not come. She could not trust herself not to react if Apollo entered an enclosed space with her.
Iris had confided Thetis with the idea of future visions, and that the things she'd seen had yet to happen, but that was even more reason for Thetis to act. If Apollo was eliminated, the cause of death erased, her Achilles would never die. At least, in the case that other Gods didn't intervene. In that case, she'd make mortal enemies of them.
The matter of 'how' Thetis and Peleus conceived Achilles was still a mystery to Hestia, but Hestia surmised that other Gods who were born from more dubious means would have a better answer. Nonetheless, the bond of blood and divinity between Thetis and Rider was damning enough evidence.
They were family, and family mattered most to Hestia as the God of the Hearth and Home.
Then what was the deal with Apollo and Caster?
Hestia seemed to have some sort of idea, but she was ever evasive on the personal topic when asked because she had to verify it for herself.
She hesitated, weighing the thought of making a scene against keeping quiet, but her divine nature would not allow inaction on this aspect.
"Apollo!" Hestia broke through the crowd and screamed, squeezing through others who had their own bones to pick with the Sun God. The only difference was that Hestia had taken the initiative.
Moreover, if it was Hestia, Apollo was rather amicable in his blatant liking of her.
This time, there was no response. Apollo gave Hestia a vague look, before frowning and clamping up.
Something was wrong with Apollo, Hestia was now certain. He didn't even react to her when she was right in front of him…and if Hestia was right, it may have to do with that. The vague bits and pieces inferred from Caster's life came to mind.
It couldn't be true. Hestia couldn't accept it.
She suddenly grabbed Apollo by the scruff of his collar and shook him back and forth, rattling him out of his thoughts long enough to garner his attention.
"Tell me you didn't!" Scenes of Caster's past continued to flicker across Hestia's mind as she shouted. "Y-You couldn't have!"
Murmurs began to arise in the gala's hall. Freya folded her fan and shifted her gaze over, while Loki widened her eyes at Hestia's actions.
In some way, it would have been a comfort to Hestia if Apollo looked at her as if she was crazy, having no idea what she was talking about. However, the vague and fleeting look of shock that crossed Apollo's face was something Hestia could never miss when she was standing so close to him.
Frustrated and annoyed, Apollo glared at Hestia. He was not in the mood.
"Release me!" He demanded only to lose his momentum at a secret he thought only he should have known.
"That was Caster's mother!" There were tears in Hestia's eyes. Tears for a family that could have been, and the desecration of what made a home, a home.
A mother died. A child orphaned. And a father who didn't even realize what he'd done!
"..." Apollo flinched, the heat in his gaze slackening while noticing everyone's curiosities being piqued.
The attention of Gods was troublesome even for fellow Gods. Apollo swallowed, thinking about his image and how to best-
"She didn't do anything wrong!" Hestia could see now that what she'd seen from Caster had not simply been a forgery or a mistake. There was truth in it. "She was faithful!"
A part of Hestia was still trying to deny it. The union between God and mortal creating life was rare in of itself, forging a precious bond of family that bridges the gap between the earth and the divine.
"Tell me Apollo! Tell me you didn't!"
Apollo could not meet Hestia's eyes. He gnashed his teeth, but what was done could not be undone.
"...She's dead," he admitted the words even he didn't want to acknowledge about a past he'd thought done and buried in melancholy.
Hestia's eyes widened in sheer disbelief and sadness. She gripped tighter onto the scruff of Apollo's suit.
"S-She was carrying your-!"
"That's enough."
Apollo pushed Hestia away before the wiser Gods could speculate. Ishtar was already cooing while Freya felt a tingle go down her back. Regrets tinged Apollo's expression with harrowed feelings.
"You think I don't know that, now? You think I wouldn't have come back if I knew?!" Apollo hissed, revealing a fraction of his inner turmoil. A boy, his boy, had been born in an unprecedented development, and he'd never been there! He'd been denying it since the visions came, but seeing Caster in person had destroyed his doubts.
"Y-You orphaned him," Hestia weakly let Apollo go as she staggered at the truth. "You weren't even there to raise him."
Apollo ignored Hestia's accusations as he'd come to a realization. "You know where he is? You spoke with him?" There was no other way for Hestia to have known.
"He hates you." Hestia continued to back away, but she'd garnered Apollo's undivided attention, divinity flickering in his eyes
Apollo opened and closed his mouth. The answer was one he expected. Even still, "Where is he?" He stepped close and hissed in a voice only the two could hear.
Hestia backed away, shaking her head. Apollo's expression twisted as he advanced on her, but was stopped by Ganesh, Indian God of good luck, patron to artists and science, and the deva of intellect and wisdom.
Ganesh was a strong man who wore the mask of an elephant over his face. Unlike Apollo who was in a suit, Ganesh was wearing an orange toga strapped over his left shoulder.
"I know you were vying for Hestia's attention, but this is not the way to go about it." Ganesh grunted, stepping in-between Apollo and Hestia.
Anger simmered in Apollo's features, barely restrained.
"Do you not have eyes?" Apollo seethed at Ganesh. "She approached me first!"
Ganesh did not deny the chain of events, but still maintained his position.
"I do have eyes." Ganesh said, crossing his arms and raising his brow at Apollo's rising divinity. The man didn't even seem to realize what he was unconsciously doing. "But friend, why don't you look at a mirror and see your own reflection before making more of a fool of yourself?"
Apollo paused, suddenly feeling the pressure he was exuding in the air, and the way his expression was increasingly cold. No matter how anyone looked at things, his approach towards Hestia was mired with ill intent.
Apollo reeled in his emotions.
"Now calm down," Ganesh placated, deciding to divert interest away from the matter. "We are not the center of attention for this council."
With perfect timing, all attention abruptly turned toward a mist door that opened in the middle of the hall.
/-/
The moment Shirou accompanied Iris alongside Rider and Archer into the venue, it was evident that there was tension in the air. The sight of Hestia caught in the middle and looking awkwardly at them was properly conveyed at a glance.
Hestia's gaze shied away while Shirou stood with Rider and Archer, the three of them together, quirking many brows. From the start, this wasn't a gathering exclusive to the Gods. However, of the mortals allowed entry, all were proxies of their Gods that could not personally attend. Rider's presence could be reasoned as Thetis was absent, but Archer and Shirou were unknown faces.
Whispers echoed through the gathering of Gods.
Freya's eyes twinkled before her lips twitched at the way Ishtar was eyeing the three men with curiosity. Rider's performance from the Thetis Familia was already widely known from the prior event, but Shirou and Archer who stood shoulder to shoulder with Rider were not to be ignored.
Especially Archer.
If ever there was a man that screamed 'Hero.' It was him. A towering giant of a man with bronze sun-baked skin, corded muscles, and a wild mane of hair that framed his disinterested face. His presence rivaled and even exceeded that of Rider's to an extent.
Not to discount Shirou or Rider, but Archer's aura and energy reeked of a familiar scent of ozone.
How curious-
Iris cleared her throat, drawing attention back to herself before matters could stray off towards a delicate topic.
"Greetings, it's been a while, hasn't it everyone?" Iris said, projecting her voice through the gala.
Her words were met with muted silence. Considering Orario's present turmoil, few if any of the Gods in attendance weren't in states of stress or annoyance. It would do well for Iris to have convened a council of Gods for an arbitrary reason.
Knowing that she was working with a short fuse, Iris cut right to the chase.
"I thank you all for coming on such short notice," she said before gesturing to Shirou, Rider, Archer. "I have two things to announce today, one of which pertains to these three, and the other to the man who calls himself Caster."
Many gazes sharpened at the announcement, not the least of which was Loki who'd moved away from the drink bar and hummed.
If there was anyone presently at the center of the most controversy in Orario, it was Caster.
"I have come to let you all know of Caster's intention to welcome all who come in search of healing, but no form of resurrection comes without a price." Iris said, gauging the reaction of the others.
The few death Gods in attendance were annoyed, but many other Gods were listening intently.
"What Caster requires is the divine blood of a God corresponding to the Falna of those in a Familia. Otherwise, those without a Falna would require a copious amount of divine blood." Iris raised a hand as she noticed many open their mouths. "Yes, even Thetis offered to bleed in order to save Peleus, and no, Caster refused to extrapolate on how he could use divine blood to form a death-defying elixir."
Many mouths closed, but not all.
"Where do we get in contact?" Loki pressed, weighing her options; too set on Finn and Tione to just give up.
"To avoid crowding, Caster strictly wishes to conduct business by appointment through Hestia." Iris answered, fulfilling her role as a spokesperson.
The crowd broke into several minutes of personal discussion while Hestia shrank under the sudden scrutiny directed at her. The only consolation was the way Loki's expression cramped in an instant.
"What other matter did you have to discuss involving those three beside you?" Ganesh inquired. None of his Familia had died in the recent incident so he and several other Gods weren't as invested in Caster.
Here, Iris's eyes began to shine with old ambitions.
"Beyond the requirements to revive the deceased, the true purpose of this council is to make an announcement about the last of the three Grand Quests."
Silence suddenly echoed through the hall, none expecting the direction of the gathering to suddenly head to suicide.
Unperturbed, Iris had long since expected such a reaction, making it all the more important to provide a strong foundation of faith.
"The subjugation of the One-Eyed Black Dragon is once again recruiting for operation!"
What they needed was to garner support, but for that, they would require confidence.
Voices of opposition quickly rose, not the least of which were old affiliates of Zeus and Hera who'd lost their positions after the first failure.
"That's madness! Do you not recall the tragedy of the first subjugation?!"
"Caster has agreed to provide full support." Iris answered calmly. Ironically, she too had been in a similar position of doubt not too long ago. "Death will not be the end."
"You lack the power."
Iris was almost immediately shut down by voices of opposition. Death meant nothing if the effort was futile.
"You will also lack the proper weapons," Tsubaki logically joined the rebuke. Even in the first subjugation, the Hephaestus Familia had to equip the subjugators with adequate blades. "Lady Hephaestus is too backed up on orders to provide adequate services, and the ordinary work of our blacksmiths were proven not to easily pierce the black dragon's hide."
Iris listened and nodded, but she remained unmoved.
"Power?" She echoed first before proposing a question of her own. "What if it was the power of a God?"
"You plan to sacrifice yourself and use an Arcanum?"
The Gods mulled the question over before tentatively nodding. If a God were freed from the limitations of their lower world vessel, their true Authorities were not to be scoffed at.
"...That might be possible, but what God would do such a thing? You?"
"No, not I." Iris shook her head. "But what if it wasn't a God? What if it was only half?"
Apollo and Hestia were the only ones in the crowd who harbored differing reactions from annoyance and disbelief.
"Half?" Freya furrowed her brows, opening and closing her fan. "It seems that you still speak in riddles, Iris."
Making a face at Freya, Iris didn't answer and instead looked expectantly at Rider. His mother would throw a fit if he still refused to acknowledge his name after Thetis said she'd whole-heartedly shelter him under her name and divinity.
Rider stepped forward as agreed upon, flaring his magic energy. Strong wind blew with him at the epicenter, green and blue divinity forming a star and dolphin that on closer inspection, was not a Falna. They were actual symbols of Thetis's Authority and divine nature itself.
"My name is Achilles," Rider introduced, dispersing his aura and staring down the crowd. "Son of Peleus and the Goddess Thetis."
The 'half' Iris was speaking of suddenly dawned on many Gods present in the hall. The inexplicable feats Rider had pulled off, and his capabilities outside the parameters of a mere mortal were all answered if his statement was proved true.
"That's impossible!"
Denial was another expected outcome. Rider made a small cut on his palm and nonchalantly presented his hand.
"Blood does not lie."
The blessings of water surrounded him without conscious effort, healing the wound. Moreover, Gods had their own form of perception, and they could feel the divine nature of Rider's very body.
A God, yet not. A Demi-God.
Stiffly, everyone glanced at the remaining two, Archer and Shirou, with growing suspicion.
Lightning soon crackled over Archer's arms, revealing the moment he released his magic energy and the nature of his divine blood.
"Born Alcides, my name is Heracles, son of Zeus."
The hall fell deathly silent at the admission, but a squawking sound abruptly took away from the moment.
It was Tsubaki, Captain of the Hephaestus Familia.
She suddenly choked as she scrutinized Shirou's features and the rising scent of ash and steel of his magic energy.
Shirou did not explicitly reveal anything, as he was a terrible liar, but he simply showed his worth and let others come to their own conclusion.
"For weapons, leave that to me," he said, magic energy flaring.
Swords and shields formed and floated in the air one by one, the bronze of Shirou's eyes burning with the fires of an unlimited blade works.
"My armory is ready and waiting."
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