[DanMachi/Percy Jackson] Prytaneum

Interlude: Meeting of the Gods (1)

"It seems just about everyone's here."

"Took long enough. I get that it's hard to just drop everything and go, but shouldn't everyone have gotten here sooner?"

"It can't be helped. You were worried too, right?"

"A blast like that...we can't just send the children into something like that without any idea what was going on."

"Mm. But I suppose it's to be expected of one of Crozzo's magic swords..."

"To think she was keeping something like that under all of our noses..."

"Hm? Speaking of which, you said everyone was here, but where are Hephaestus and Hestia? Weren't their Familias at the center of this mess?"

"Couldn't find them."

"...Did you actually look?"

"Meh."

"It can't be helped, right? If they'd come running over, we'd have let them in, but it seems they can't be bothered."

"I heard Hephaestus is forging something."

"Oh? The Goddess of Blacksmiths herself...I'd like to see that. It's not often she does such things anymore, right?"

"Well, she doesn't have any more power than an unblessed woman after all. Even if she crafted miracles up in Heaven, she'd have a lot of trouble down here, right?"

"I heard Hestia's with her. I talked to a few of Hephaestus' kids when I swung by to check and they say Hestia begged on her hands and knees for her to craft something!"

"Ha! Well, that's Hestia, though. Or, that's what I'd like to say, but isn't that a bit unfair?"

"Must be nice being friends with someone like Hephaestus. She stayed with her when she first came down from Heaven, didn't she?"

"Uhuh. Not just that, I heard that Hephaestus did her a lot of favors after that, too. The two kids that started this mess today are from their Familias—supposedly, they've made a party."

"That's the Crozzo, right? Even lending out something like that, how unfair..."

"Is it like that, then? A member of her Familia showing a new member the ropes?"

"I heard something different; talk among the smiths is that they have a contract."

"Mm, if it's like that, I guess it's fine, but...having a contract with a Crozzo..."

"Do you think Hephaestus pushed him to do it? I didn't hear anything about a Crozzo in Orario, so she must have been keeping it hidden, but as soon as Hestia starts a Familia—"

"Actually, I heard that Hestia's child is something special, too—"

"Three weeks—"

"Minotaurs on the eleventh—"

"I heard he's already reached the thirteenth—"

"It's foolhardy, but—"

"And the magic sword that went off downtown? They said that he—"

"Impossible. But—"

"Yeah. You get it right? It's fine if those two aren't here."

"Serves them both right, hiding something like this."

"Oi, you lot," Loki said, cheek twitching as she watched them bicker and squabble. Any other day, she'd have been there right alongside them, going over the gossip and having a blast, but today? "Are ya' done yet!? We've got business to get down to and I don't have all night!"

"We're sorry!"

She huffed and shook her head, irritated but not really at them. The situation was interesting, she had to admit, and the fact that Hestia's Familia was at the center of it wound have just made it more fun to unwind—but that was that and this was this. Hephaestus' kid was in the middle of it, too, after all, but more to the point, both Aiz and Riveria had asked her to do something. Those two weren't the type to ask for things much, even with how hard they worked, and she had a hard time saying no besides, but still...

...Such a pain in the ass.

"My Familia was one of the first on the scene, so I promised Uranus I'd fill ya in," She continued anyway, having already resolved to see this through. "Ya'll should already know what happened by now, but encase anyone missed the explosions, here's the gist of it. Earlier today, there was an internal dispute in the Soma Familia and one of them—the Captain of it—wound up breaking into the Hestia Familia home while Hephaestus' boy was there, guarding the place. The guy roughed him up a bit and both kidnapped a girl from the Hestia Familia and stole the boy's magic sword. Since it looks like everyone already knows, I'll just come out and say it; the kid was a Crozzo and the sword was exactly what ya' think."

"So it really is true..."

"A Crozzo...Hephaestus, is this a bit...?"

"Before you lot get sidetracked again, remember that Familia business is Familia business," She interrupted, aware and uncaring of the irony in that statement. "Besides, the boy wasn't exactly hidin'—he's been in town for years now, putting his name on everything he made, he just didn't make any magic swords. Dunno why, but if you want to know, why don't you go demand an explanation from Hephaestus?"

"..."

She snorted at the brief silence that fell at that, rolling her shoulders to work out the tightness forming between her shoulder blades.

"In the end, it don't matter," She said. "What does is this. The Crozzo went to get Hestia's boy and tell him what happened and they told the boy's advisor, before going off to confront the Soma Familia directly. The advisor, a cute little girl named Eina Tulle, already had her suspicions about the Soma Familia and came straight to my Familia's home to ask us to assist. About the same time, the dumbass who stole the sword up and decided to use it in the middle of the damn city, so we agreed."

"Oh...I wondered why Soma was here."

"Has that guy ever shown his face at one of these things before?"

"Never. All that guy's ever cared about was making wine, but I guess even he can't ignore something like this. You'd have to be pretty brave or stupid to steal from Hephaestus—and even more so, to steal something as valuable as Crozzo's magic sword. Actually using it in the city, though..."

"Crazy bastard. I heard South-West Main nearly got wrecked."

"My Familia arrived on the scene shortly after the second blast, at which point the magic sword had already broken," Loki continued. "At that point, things resolved themselves rather quickly. I think Soma can take it from there."

The idiot god, who appeared to have been ignoring everything up to that point, looked up at the sound of his name and scanned the room with bored-looking eyes.

"My Familia and I were at fault," He said before closing his eyes and looking back down again.

Utterly stupid idiot god.

"Thank you, Soma," She said out loud. "But perhaps a little more detail, maybe?"

He pursed his lips but opened his eyes again, nodding.

"My Captain, Zanis Lustra, acted without my consent or knowledge," He said. "He endangered a member of my Familia, Liliruca Arde, using her as a hostage to try and force the blacksmith to make magic swords because they were friends. They arrived and challenged Zanis, rescuing Liliruca, at which point Zanis used the magic sword, killing many of my Familia in the process."

"So it was like that, huh? A traitor Captain..."

"Mm, but Soma's going to be in a tough spot, isn't he? Traitor of not, it was his Captain and the damage was still done."

"What happened to this Zanis guy, anyway?"

Soma apparently took that as a question directed towards him because he tilted his head.

"He was defeated," He answered simply, surprisingly smart enough to not draw too much attention to how or why.

"Thank you, Soma," She said before he said anything more and he immediately closed his eyes. She couldn't help but look at him oddly out of the corner of her eye, though, because despite her thoughts and his generally bland demeanor, he actually seemed to be putting a fair bit of effort into this. It surprised her. "Anyway, Uranus and his men will handle most of this mess, but for something this big, we were all contacted as well—mainly to make sure all of ya' know what's happenin' and to decide how we'll handle it. It should be fairly clear-cut, so—"

"Is that right?" Apollo interrupted her, smiling handsomely. She made a face at him in return. "Certainly, it seemed rather simple, but...didn't we brush over things a bit fast? You barely mentioned how the magic sword was dealt with. Your Familia arrived after everything was over, did you not?"

"That's right. I heard that Hestia's child was involved. Did he really—"

"Stop the blast?" Apollo asked, not giving her a chance to reply before going back to listening to himself talk. "That's what I heard, certainly. Several men and women on the street swore that he held back the second blast single-handedly. Indeed, that the sudden storm and much of the destruction on the street might have been his doing. It's especially curious because the Guild reports that he's a Level 1 adventurer—and that he's been one for less than three weeks."

Dick, she thought. Who's hard work do you think you're ruining here, huh?

The worst part was, she didn't want to do this. Hell, she was curious—suspicious—about where the hell Hestia's kid could have gotten that kind of power. Magic or not, she'd seen the destruction for herself and no Level 1 should have been capable of such a thing. Even with super-long chant magic, it would have been difficult and to do it fast enough to react to a magic sword...

That guy was about as fishy as the ocean. As mysteries went, that seemed like one that deserved a good unravelling. And what's worse, she was pretty sure both Aiz and Riveria had an idea why, given their demeanors. Those two could read the Status and the boy had apparently been naked, so it'd make sense, but they hadn't told her a thing, the meanies.

But...she'd promised them both and, like it or not, in her own little way, she supposed she owed him one for the bar thing. There was no way in hell she was going to be able to get everyone of his scent after the mess he'd made, but she had to give it a shot.

"I guess that's what you get for listening to the rumor mill," She said. "I take it none of them mentioned that the boy died doing that, huh?"

"What?" Apollo asked, seeming abruptly surprised.

"Yup," She said, smiling at him sharply. "His heart stopped beating and he got burned to a crisp it seems like. Miach here seems to be the boy's personal doctor, so you tell 'em."

"'Personal doctor' might be going a bit far, but it's true we're close friends," Miach said, her second trump card, after Soma. "I didn't see him until after he recovered somewhat, but it was clear that he was gravely injured to begin with. After the second blast, it would appear it required an elixir, seven High Potions, and three Magic Potions to get him breathing again, along with the immediate actions of his friends. Afterwards, it took several more potions and another elixir to help him recover, but he still collapsed a short time later. His associates then brought him to me, at which point I did what I could."

"Hmph," Dian Cecht said with a huff, looking at Miach with a sneer. The god had never been one to turn down a chance to criticize and he's held a grudge against Miach since being outdone ages ago, up in Heaven. "That's what you get relying on Miach's work, I suppose. To need all that..."

"Actually, Dian Cecht," Miach replied with a delicate sounding cough and gentle smile. "I'm afraid I can't take the credit—unfortunately, I couldn't afford to make such potions to begin with. Rather, it's thanks to your Familia's hard work that the boy was saved; both of the elixirs, as well as several other potions, appear to have been made by your Familia."

Dian Cecht looked like he'd eaten something sour, especially as the gods around him laughed.

"Is he alright?" Takemikazuchi asked, eyebrows furrowing. "To need that much to recover—"

"Ah, what are you saying, Take?" Dionysus asked, one eye closed. "After taking a hit from Crozzo's magic sword, isn't it impressive that he survived at all? Even Dian Cecht's elixirs can only do so much—and a dead man is a dead man."

"Dionysus is right," Demeter said. "Even if the boy was hurt that badly, isn't it still amazing? He purportedly stopped the second blast in its entirety despite that and whatever else, he still walked away from it. The power needed to overcome one of Crozzo's magic swords, even at great cost to oneself, is still..."

"That's right. And did you see South-West Main?"

"And that storm...you all felt it, right? It was strange and wrong, but for a moment I swore I'd felt something—"

"It's not just that, either," Apollo said. "If he was so badly wounded, isn't that all the more impressive. I was told the boy had made a complete recovery already and after such a feat...could you be concerned about your child's record, Loki?"

"Oi," She snapped, but before she could go any further, a loud voice interrupted her.

"I am Ganesha!" A god with an elephant mask proclaimed.

Everyone sighed but otherwise didn't react, turning to give the god their attention.

"It was very brave of the child to put himself in danger for the sake of the people," He said. "I, Ganesha, Lord of the Masses, applaud his efforts! However, I, Ganesha, have a concern! There were rumors of a monster sited near the scene, to the point that I, Ganesha, was contacted to make sure nothing had happened amongst the Monster Tamers! However, it was described as something I, Ganesha, was unfamiliar with—a giant hound-like beast made of shadow! From the descriptions, I, Ganesha, grew very concerned but could no such creature despite many witnesses!"

Oh. That. Finn had told her about the creature, but besides the fact that 'she' was on 'their side,' it seemed that the Crozzo hadn't been willing to offer up anything more. However, if it had been a monster, then it was one that Finn himself didn't recognize, which was a bit...

Besides, the thing had purportedly melted into shadows shortly afterwards, so the most likely explanation was—

"Magic," She said, honestly having no idea if that were true or not. "It seems to be one of the boy's spells—he animates shadows into the form of a massive dog. He used it to rescue the girl it seems and then used it to protect her."

"Storms, water, and shadow hounds...quite a mage, isn't he?" Apollo mused. "And a very destructive one, at that. Considering the damages caused, perhaps—"

"Isn't it fine?" A voice spoke and at once the entire room fell silent, all eyes turning towards the source.

Silent until now, even among the gods her beauty could not be denied. In fact, she seemed, if anything, to be beauty personified, an incarnation of perfection from her silver hair to her delicate seeming feet. Her eyes seemed somehow reflective and her smile alluring, to say nothing of her standard garb. But more than any of that, the mere fact that she'd spoken...

Loki tensed, opening her eyes slightly wider.

"Isn't it fine?" Freya repeated, smile as beautiful as ever. "As it happens, I saw the entire fight from my room."

By her room, Freya meant her second home on Babel's fiftieth floor, quite possibly the most expensive and luxurious place in the city. Due to Babel's design and the regulations upon the rest of the city, nothing else was allowed to rise high enough to block the view from the tower and Loki knew from experience that it was a sight to behold. Even so, the idea that she'd have been able to see anything from such a distance should have been laughable, but...Freya was special—and so were her 'Eyes of Insight.' Independent of the Arcanum of the gods, they were a natural ability she'd always had; the ability to see the soul of anyone she looked upon.

Simply put, she was a cheating bitch. Even when they were in Heaven, she would use them to quickly snatch up the brightest souls and not much had changed since coming to the mortal world. She'd use them to find and select members of her Familia, finding the greatest heroes to be. Though Loki didn't have those eyes herself, she had her suspicions that even a child's Status could be seen, if not directly then by how it shown within their soul.

She wasn't certain how many others were aware of Freya's eyes, but as a general rule, though, her attention was...

"Oh?" Ishtar asked, interrupting her train of thought with a snide voice. She seemed to be trying to project her hatred through words rather than actually participate in the conversation, though. "And what did you see?"

"I saw the child nearly die to protect others," She said. "And I saw him actually die, if only for a few minutes, and the first thing he did afterwards was try to rescue a friend. All the damages caused were to protect others from worse, and at great risk to himself. I'd hate to see such a child treated unkindly for his actions and what type of message would it send from us gods to punish such heroism. So...isn't it fine?"