บท 231: CHAPTER 230(For Love)
Please read the author's notes.
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CHAPTER START---
Hephaestus glared at her sister, as best she could with one eye. "Explain!" she slammed her hand onto her desk and stood up.
"I'm challenging you to a War Game, simple," Freya says casually, not batting an eye at her sister's rage.
"Why?" Hephaestus asks with a deep scowl.
Freya calmly takes a seat, eyes never leaving Hephaestus as she sits back in the chair. "Because I know everything, and I can't allow what is about to happen, to happen."
Hephaestus looks confused. Only a few things can make Freya resort to such drastic tactics, it only takes her a few seconds to figure out what happened.
Hephaestus releases a deep sigh and slumps back into her chair, tapping her fingers on her desk as she tries to will her anger to flow away.
"How much did he tell you?" She asks Freya.
"Everything," Freya says. "From his old life, to coming to this world with The Angel, to his adventure to go home, everything."
Hephaestus massages her temple, an annoyed look on her face. "Honestly I'm surprised it took him this long," she sighs. "I was banking on him deciding to stay, but that became more and more far-fetched as time went on."
Freya is surprised by this, "if you want him to stay then simply stop his adventure!"
"You know I can't. As his goddess, my duty is to support him not control him. He is my familia, not my servant."
"Even for me?" Freya pleas.
"Even for you," Hephaestus looks at her sister. "If I cancel his adventure he'll get resentful, he'll never forgive me. Just like we both know he'll never forgive you for this."
"I don't care," Freya says. "He can take as long as he wants, but he will learn to love me again, and he'll never leave me, that's what matters."
"What about him being happy?"
"We will be happy!" Freya takes a moment to calm herself again. "We'll just need a bit of time, that's all."
"Freya," Hephaestus pleas. "I'm not going to war with you, this is ridiculous. You, Loki, and I, we aren't supposed to fight each other, ever."
"Then answer me this," Freya challenges. "If it was Welf, if he was leaving instead of Yang, if you were in my position, would you act any differently? I know I'd shut his adventure down for you."
"Freya..."
"Answer the question," she challenges again, narrowing her eyes at Hephaestus.
Hephaestus bites her lip before responding, with much hesitation, "no, I wouldn't."
"Then accept the challenge," Freya gestures to the document on the desk between them.
"No, I'm never going to fight you."
Freya's facade breaks for just a moment, subtly, but it was impossible after all this time for Hephaestus to miss it. The rage and bloodlust that was always subdued within the goddess bubbled to the surface as she asked her next questions.
"Can you protect them from me?" Freya's words are dripping with venom.
Hephaestus doesn't back down, much more subtle, preferring to conduct her more hostile operations in the shadows compared to Freya. But Hephaestus did have a ruthless side. "What are you implying?"
Freya taps her chin, acting as if she hadn't already considered this, although they both knew she did. "Thalie is strong, she'd be a problem. But that's about it, right?" Hephaestus narrows her eyes at the implication. "Of your two hundred adventurers, only two dozen are dedicated combatants. Your Dungeon Emperor can barely walk, and Thalie can't protect everyone, in all of your shops, all across Orario."
"Freya---"
"Sign the form," a sudden chill hangs on Freya's words. "Or I walk out of this room, and my familia will hunt down every single person, man, woman, and child, with your Falna on their backs, excluding Welf of course."
The sisters stared at each other in tense silence for minutes. Hephaestus ran dozens of scenarios to finality in her mind, and only one conclusion ever appeared. Freya was right.
Her familia may stand at the top of the world's combat forces at their peak. But that was largely because of Yang. Without him they could likely match strong familias but not Freya, Ottar was level-8 and stronger than ever, all while Yang could barely walk.
Aside from her executives she only had a dozen level-4s, and they weren't particularly good against other people, only leveling up to collect their own resources for crafting.
Hephaestus groans and picks up the paper. Freya smiles as she begins properly reading it.
"Good choice."
"Fuck off," Hephaestus mutters.
"This doesn't specify a date," Hephaestus says. "One month."
"One week," Freya counters. "That's not up for negotiation."
Hephaestus glances up from the paper to look at her, "afraid of what Yang would do to your familia when he's healed?"
"I'd be a fool not to be," Freya says. "Your champion is hurt, I won't wait until he's healed like some idiot."
"And the prizes?" Hephaestus asks.
"Yang Shen for me, obviously."
"And what do you have that would be worth him?"
"Nothing," Freya admits. "So you can have everything."
Hephaestus is taken aback by this. "W-what?"
"You can have everything, as it says there," Freya gestures to the paper. "You get Folkvangr, all my assets, including adventurers, and the top ten floors of Babel. I keep Yang, Ottar, and one million Valis," Freya shrugs.
Hephaestus stares at her, stupefied, for a solid minute. "You'd seriously go that far?"
"He is my Odr," Freya says. "There is nothing I wouldn't do."
"Enough money to start over, and Ottar to keep him in line when he receives your Falna?"
"No," Freya shakes her head. "Giving Yang a Falna will only lead to him running off into the dungeon, and Ottar wouldn't be able to stop him anyway. He will never receive a Falna again, he will remain by my side, for the rest of his life, and when his lifetime is done I will follow his soul to heaven so we may spend all of them together."
"Even if he's miserable and resentful?"
"He'll get over it," Freya retorts.
"How he survived this long with you, I'll never understand."
"I can be a bit much sometimes, but he understands me, we were meant for each other after all."
Hephaestus chuckles at hearing that. "For the record, just so it's clear. I was really hoping you convinced him to stay, seeing you happy for a change was... it just felt right."
"Yes, it did, and I know you only want us both to be happy," Freya says somberly. "But unfortunately only one of our dreams can survive, and I need it to be mine."
"What happened to 'if you love something let it go,' you've heard that before, right?"
Freya scoffs, "that's what weaklings who can't admit they lost their love tell themselves to cope, pathetic. If you love something fight for it and take it."
Hephaestus shakes her head and shifts her focus back to the document.
For a few minutes, they both sit in silence until she asks another question.
"No allies allowed?"
"Yes," Freya says. "I don't want anyone else getting involved."
"Afraid I'll recruit Loki?" Hephaestus asks.
"That was a possibility, yes."
"And you aren't willing to change this, right?"
"Right."
A minute later Hephaestus comes to the final section of the declaration. "Touch Point, really?" she asks.
Freya nods, "one of the only War Games that doesn't require any combat or bloodshed to determine a winner. I know Yang doesn't like fighting people, and especially not killing them---"
"And you know I'll really never forgive you if you hurt my people," Hephaestus points out.
"Correct, this way I can win without hurting his friends, your adventurers will be spared as much as possible," Freya assures her.
"Good, but you do know Yang is alright with hurting people who get in his way intentionally, right? He doesn't hurt people who haven't done anything to him."
"Then luckily he won't be on the battlefield," Freya says.
With much reluctance, Hephaestus takes a pen from her desk and signs the paper, directly below where Freya signed.
Both women get up as Hephaestus hands her the form.
"Thank you, I'll see you in one week," she says while reaching out.
The moment she's about to take the form to hand it to the guild Hephaestus pulls it back, "one more question."
Freya raises a brow at this, "you should have asked before signing," Freya says.
"This isn't about the war game," Hephaestus holds out the form, " but what about after?"
"After?"
"When the dust settles, if you win I mean. Do you think you can handle this victory, the cost of it?"
Freya scoffs, "I don't need my familia, I just need Yang, I'm only keeping Ottar in case Allen or one of my soon-to-be-former adventurers tries to attack him."
"No, not that," Hephaestus says. "Can you deal with Yang? His adventure, his familia, it's all he cares about, can you deal with taking that away, with breaking him. With all the hate and resentment he'll have, your precious Odr. You spent eternity searching for him and now you'll turn him against you."
Freya's elegant facade falters, and Hephaestus can almost feel waves of sorrow flowing from her sister.
Hephaestus continues, "can you take him looking at you and instead of the love in his eyes, love that he still has right now, the love that will turn to hate the moment you make this official," she waves the form around. "Can you handle that all being hate and bitterness?"
Freya scowls, watery eyes threatening to overflow as she snatches the paper out of Hephaestus's hand, "y-you don't need to worry about me, about us," she insists with a cracking voice, fighting a wave of sadness. "We'll be fine, we're meant to be together, we'll be fine," she repeats, trying to convince herself all over again.
Freya turns on her heel and storms out of the office, but before she reaches the door she hears Hephaestus call out one last time.
"I'll keep this between us until you make it public, just in case you change your mind!"
END CHAPTER---
Sorry about the delay, stuff happened. Any bets or ideas for the war game?
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keanu_eugene
keanu_eugene Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
---Freya and Hephaestus discuss the terms of the War Game...
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