Dungeon.
- "Now, now, Lady Loki," I chuckled. "Your hostility isn't helping the situation."
- "Shut up!" she shouted back. "I don't want to hear a single word out of your filthy mouth!"
Not much time had passed since our scuffle, and now we were all sitting at the entrance to the eighteenth floor, the same place where we had fought. Of course, all the damage to the floor had been undone, and my closed fields had been removed.
Loki gathered all the newly revived members of her Familia into her arms and hugged them tightly, while they themselves looked at me with fear and caution. Bell and Liliruca sat next to Gestia, who was completely silent, and Griselda sat next to me, glancing at me with disapproval.
In short, I was the only one who felt completely calm, which probably infuriated almost everyone else.
- "Well, I apologized," I said with a smirk. "Can't the gracious goddess forgive one weak mortal? So I made a mistake, so what? Why make such a fuss about it?"
- "A weak mortal?! Who would believe such nonsense?!" Loki flared up. "You are a god, even if I don't know which one! Only a god can possess such power and abilities! And only someone at the level of Uranus or higher!"
As soon as she uttered these words, the members of her Familia stared at me in shock, as did the members of Hestia Familia.
- "A god..." whispered the adult elf.
- "And at the level of Lord Uranus..." added the dwarf.
- "Or higher..." said the long-haired Amazon.
- "You are insulting me, Lady Loki," I said indignantly, striking a pose as if I had been wounded in the heart. "Oh, well. Aren't you interested in why I started all this?"
- "That..." She froze and fell silent, clearly interested in the topic, as could be seen from her gaze.
- "Well, first of all, I was bored..."
- "Get lost!" Loki interrupted me immediately, and I smiled. "And that proves once again that you are a god!"
- "That was really offensive," I shook my finger. "Gods don't admit their mistakes, they don't clean up the mess they make, and they certainly don't apologize, do they?"
She was about to say something in response, but when she opened her mouth, she quickly closed it, realizing that I was right. Of course, she knew, as I did, that there were exceptions, but they were just that: exceptions.
- "Secondly, it's going to get VERY noisy on the surface soon," I continued, to which Loki was initially surprised, but then instantly became serious. "And since you are a friend of Lady Hestia, I decided to, let's say, test you first, and then warn you."
- "Noisy?" she asked. "What do you mean?"
- "Let's agree that I can see the future," I said, which increased her level of surprise. "This 'noisy' period will be relatively short, but definitely destructive. So here's my warning, as well as my advice. The basement, specifically the eighteenth floor, will be the safest place during this period. You can ignore my words or listen and pass them on to the other gods, I don't really care. The rules for staying here will be more or less the same, but stricter than on the surface, but that's definitely better than what's going to happen pretty soon."
Of course, I could have said nothing about it, but I wanted to help Tamait a little. After all, she was actually part of Tia for a while, so it was my duty to do something like this.
Some selection among the gods and their Familias, as well as subsequent personal communication with them, would allow her to find her place in this world, and not only her, but also her children, who are xenos. And the sincere desire of the latter would only be a plus in this whole situation.
- "What rules?" Loki asked. "And why is your wording so vague?"
- "It's always like that when it comes to predictions about the future, isn't it?" I smiled. "What about the rules? No Arcanum, unless you want to provoke the Underworld. And just so you know, the payback will be much stronger."
- "Sounds... not bad," Loki said and thought for a moment, then suddenly froze. "Wait, Arcanum! Why hasn't the Underworld sent monsters after us yet if I used Arcanum? You did something, didn't you?"
- "Yes, and it was a one-time thing," I nodded. "Now it's time for you to go back. After all, you don't have much time."
Loki Familia quickly exchanged glances with their goddess, and they were all about to leave, but suddenly stopped.
- "Hey, what about Ais?" Loki asked, turning around. "I already understand that you had nothing to do with this, but what did Morgana do? What made Ais raise his sword against me?"
- "Hmm..." I muttered and scratched my chin. "I wasn't lying when I said I didn't know. But I'll add that Morgana mainly uses the most common form of manipulation. At an absolute level, but still manipulation, consisting of simple words or actions that any unremarkable person with enough experience in such matters is capable of. All her other methods... it's better for you not to know about them, as I'm sure this isn't your case."
- "Why are you so sure of that, Lord Romani?" Bell suddenly spoke up.
- "Because her other methods are based on her resentment, regardless of the reason, and her attempt to harm what she values. And in this case..." I began and fell silent, trying to think of a method Morgana would use. "Remember what she did to Captain Freya Familia?"
- "Yes," nodded the werewolf. "Ottar looked like a bag of meat with holes in it."
- "Trust me, knowing her, physical injuries were the least of his worries. Because I'm sure she added something absolutely terrible that neither you nor he, nor anyone else, can even imagine. Not even me."
- "Are you afraid of your wife, Romani?" Loki asked mockingly, immediately receiving a slap on the back of the head from the same adult elf.
- "Yes, and absolutely deserved," I admitted calmly. "But, getting back to the girl, that's all I can say."
- "That is, nothing," Loki crossed her arms, to which I simply shrugged. After staring at me for a moment, she sighed and headed towards Hestia. "Let's go, chibi. It's time to go back and warn the others."
- "...Huh? Yes, let's go," Hestia replied, as if coming out of a trance, and headed for the exit, leading Bell and Liliruca with her. Of course, both Loki and I found her sluggishness, silence, and unusual detachment suspicious. But while Loki had no guesses, I did...
Oh? So she had penetrated Hestia's mind as well? Well, knowing the Beast's methods, the final frontier must be crossed by the host. And I think Hestia will be able to make the right choice. At least as long as Bell and Liliruca are with her.
And when the group began to slowly move away from us, I decided to give a little hint in the style of vague fortune tellers from some cheap movie.
- "One more piece of advice," I began, drawing their attention to myself. "The dungeon is the door to salvation, and the crystal sky is the key to it."
- "What a terrible way to put it," Loki grimaced. "But I will remember your words."
- "Have a safe journey," I waved goodbye, then turned to Griselda, whose face said it all. "I understand you have something to tell me, don't you?"
-0-
As soon as Romani and his companion disappeared from view, Loki slowly stopped and met the eyes of the group members.
- "Is something wrong, Lady Loki?" Finn asked.
- "Before we continue on our way, I want to warn all of you. Don't forget this for a second, not even you, Hestia, and your children," she began, then took a deep breath. "Beware of Romani. He is very dangerous to all of us, not to mention you mortals."
- "But he's a god, right?" asked Bete. "Surely, you and the other gods can..."
- "We can't," Loki interrupted him. "Even when I started using my Arcanum, he still didn't take me seriously. But that's not the most dangerous thing, is it, Hestia?"
- "...he could control souls..." Hestia said quietly, and everyone present heard her, but did not understand the meaning.
- "Um... Can't all gods do that?" Tiona asked, putting her finger to her cheek.
- "No one can," Loki said seriously, shocking them all. "Controlling souls is on a completely different level, because it allows you to influence fate itself. In other words, Romani is capable of ignoring one of the fundamental laws of the universe, one that even we gods are subject to."
- "The soul is sacred," added Hestia. "And if Romani can pull it out of the body and then return it harmlessly..."
At that, she fell silent, because both Hestia and Loki understood how dangerous this information was. For when someone's soul left their vessel, it became beyond anyone's control and went to the 'Well of Souls', where all the souls that ended up there mixed into a single entity, from which new souls, and therefore new lives, were born. And this applied not only to mortals, but to the gods themselves.
It was for this reason that Loki and Hestia were frightened by Romani. It was for this reason that they now knew for sure that he had influence over this place and, in essence, could 'correct' the world as he wished. And this fact was extremely frightening. And so...
- "Now we're going upstairs and doing as he said," Loki stated firmly. "He has no reason to lie to us, and besides, we can't oppose him, can we, Hestia?"
- "...yes..."
-0-
A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.
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