Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

Some time passed, and Nox decided to take Cirrus back to Orario.

"Do you need help?" Artemis asked Nox as she carries Cirrus in her arms.

"Nope!" She then dropped him onto the wagon.

Thud!

"All good!" Nox said, smiling. "I am stronger than I look!"

"...Uh huh."

They had spent an accumulated of nine days in the town. Nox contacted Fels and informed them they were returning, but that Cirrus was still recovering from both his physical and mental fatigue.

"So yeah, he's currently sleeping right now."

"I see. Then the Nuckelavee must have been tougher than expected." Fels said.

"Yeah, he even had to use a special antidote to combat the poison."

"I assume he is in a stable condition, yes?"

"Yup!"

Artemis and her Familia join Nox to go to Orario. It seemed she wanted to understand the city and the current situation in the world, as well as have her children explore a bit of the dungeon.

"Oh yeah, and Artemis and her Familia are coming along." Nox said, stroking Cirrus's hair.

"Let me speak!" Artemis said, following behind on her horse.

"Was that Artemis?" Fels said, hearing another voice.

"That's not important."

"Yes, it is!!" She could not hear what was being said.

"Anyway, Zephyr should be up by the time we return."

"Well, I will inform The Guild of the arrivals. Take care of Cirrus for me."

"Of course, I will!"

"Nox let me talk with—"

"Bye-bye! He will give his report when we get back!" The Occulus dimmed. "Oops! Seems the call ended." Nox said, smirking at Artemis.

"... Why are you like this?"

"You're not my master."

 

A day later, Cirrus regained consciousness.

"Mmmm…." He slowly sits up. "Why is the room bumpy?" he asked groggily. "Ah fuck, I’m blind."

"Don’t worry." Nox said, removing the blindfold.

"Oh, thank god." The first thing he saw was Nox's charming face. Nox was giving him a lap pillow.

Cirrus looks around himself to find he was in the back of a carriage.

"So…" Cirrus dragged himself to the corner of the carriage, off of Nox. He move his hair so his bangs cover his face. "Do you mind if you tell me what happened since I was out?"

Looking out the back of the carriage, he could see the passing of the trees and the dust the carriage was making.

"No problem!" Nox replied happily.

After Nox explained to him what had happened, he collapsed into Artemis' arms. The poison of the Nuckelavee had taken its toll, and Nox used the antidote Lenoa gave him.

Even with the poison being treated, the injuries he suffered remained. Artemis quickly did first aid to help stabilize his condition and set the bones right before Nox poured potions down Cirrus’s throat and on his wounds.

They then spent the next few days waiting for him to wake up, but Nox felt he was stable enough to return to Orario. She reasons that if Cirrus was still asleep when they returned, she would have him checked out, and if he woke up, they would already be on their way to give Ouranos a full report.

"And the town?"

"It's fine; they used the materials used to build the temporary homes to help quickly rebuild the buildings that were destroyed."

"That’s good… but I’m still sore. (Exousía, Adorn)."

The armor quickly equipped itself and Cirrus could feel some of his bones getting fixed and placed in their right places. The wounds were all healed, leaving only scars behind before he disengaged the armor.

"Better?"

"Yup…  So is Artemis in a carriage up ahead? "

"No, she's riding up on her horse with her Familia, including your horse."

"So she’s coming with us to Orario?"

"Yeah, she’s coming to see about Evilus and other matters she can help with. Seeing the damage the Nuckelavee did, she wants to avoid that from happening again."

"How lucky of us, so how far are we from Orario?"

"About 3 days off."

"Hmm… I’m going to take a nap. "

"Come on, really? You just woke up! You can at least eat!" Nox said, handing him some dried meat and water.

 

Three days later.

"Waaaah!!!" said Artemis and her Familia, entering from the west of Orario’s main gate.

"Follow me; word of your arrival in the city will spread quickly if your divinity hasn't already been felt throughout the city by the other gods," Cirrus said, with his hood up.

"Where are we going?" asked Rethusa.

"To bring you first to Astraea, her Familia is primarily female, just like yours."

"I-I see, but why bring us to them?"

"So you can have a place to stay while you’re here, seeing as your Familia is nomadic and our business here won’t be for long but stick close. This city isn’t safe."

Cirrus leads them to the Astraea Familia’s home in the southwest section of Orario, named the Stardust Garden.

"Sorry I can’t enter with you, but we will meet again," Cirrus said, walking away.

"You’re not coming with us?" Artemis asked.

"No... They prefer it if men stay away, and well, my standing with the other members is better now than before, but I still prefer to stay elsewhere. Don’t worry, it’ll be alright!" Cirrus says, giving a thumbs-up as he leaves.

Cirrus enters an alleyway and turns invisible; he removes his deer mask without the antlers and enters a secret passageway.

Cirrus arrives at Ouranos’s room of prayer with Fels and Nox already waiting.

"So did you bring them to Astraea’s home?" Nox said.

"Yup, so they should arrive here eventually," Cirrus said, walking into the middle of the room next to Nox and Fels.

"How are your wounds, Cirrus?" Fels asked, looking around for Cirrus.

"There's fine, just a few more scars, but that’s fine."

"Then shall we discuss the creature while we wait for our guests to arrive?" Ouranos said.

"Heh~," said Cirrus. "Lord Ouranos, are you curious?"

"That I am Cirrus. You have slain a monster the heroes of old had to seal away using water spirits. We heard about the fight from Nox, but we wanted your thoughts on it. "

"Well… the son of a bitch was way stronger than it looked. Its hits were like the goliaths, but if there were 4 of them!"

 

Cirrus told his part of the fight and how fearsome the monster really was. Its putrid blood was as poisonous as it was corrosive and nightmarish. Its green fires burned poison into the body. Cirrus didn’t know which of the poisons did what, but he had to use an antidote made from the Amphisbaena's dragon liver.

Nox told them that the monster had an enraged state, where its muscles became as black as its blood, with green bursts of fire springing here and there on its body. Its muscles were bulging with power. Cirrus assumed that only indestructible blunt weapons could kill it without the risk of damaging one's weapons.

In the end, he told them he had to use his magic [Dia Dikastí̱s] and his Cerberus armor to finally kill it.

As he finished his part of the fight, Ouranos could feel three divinities coming.

Cirrus noticed the slight change in Ouranos’s face and equipped his deer mask. Nox turned into an owl and landed on his antlers while Fels took their leave.

Walking down from the guild were Astraea, Artemis, and Hermes.