ALL NOVEL Quest 81- Aftermath
Many of the gods watching and even more, people were awestruck. It was as if a hero had finally descended into the world.
For a few, they knew the cause of it. They knew it wasn’t Cirrus, but the owl who did that.
Back in the remnants of Hecaton Village.
"Thank you so much, Lady Artemis!" said the village chief. "We will make sure we remember what you and that boy have done!"
"N-not at all! But you should really thank Zephyr! He did most of the work!"
"Yes, but it is your Familia that has been helping us rebuild! For that, you can consider this as a second home! Now, if you excuse me, I need to go and help as well!"
Leaving, Artemis went to the house that Cirrus and Nox were at.
She poked her head through the door to find Cirrus still sleeping deeply with a towel over his eyes, while Nox was sleeping next to Cirrus in her owl form.
"… You sure put on a show that every god will want to see again… Astraea seems you will be having a handful back in Orario."
Back in Orario, everyone was talking about the fight they saw as the rage of the town. So much so many now wished to join the Astraea Familia but were denied.
People even asked Ottar if he wished to fight Zephyr again. After this, he simply said: "I will win next time." And then he headed back into the dungeon with some of his Familia.
Freya for the time being, Freya was gazing out the window with a glass of wine.
Back in Eupheme’s workshop.
"So you want a weapon like Cirrus, huh?" said Eupheme. "Sorry kid, but that weapon is one of a kind. Even if you somehow brought me the material, I still wouldn’t be able to make it on my own."
"R-really!?" said Ai. "Well, do you have something like this!" She took out her katana and handed it to Eupheme.
"Hmm… it's well-made and maintained… to be honest, Katana’s aren’t my best weapons, but… if you’re willing to test them out, you can have the finished product, of course, I will be taking the drops to fund this expense."
"Will we be sharing it down the middle? Big Sis Kushida said, "When making a deal, always get more or make it fair."
"Storm Blade taught you very well. Alright, but you know I will be doing more of the work, right?"
"O-oh, I didn’t realize! Well, you can have 60% of the profits!" She said with a smile that hurt Eupheme down to her soul for how she was taking advantage of her.
"Ugh! That’s more than fine! How about we go and get some material alright!"
In the Loki Familia’s home.
"Yooo! Finn! How goes the investigation?" said Loki.
"Slow." He said. "Ever since Alecto’s Familia had managed to get away, Evilus had gone underground, their members rarely moving."
"Well, isn’t that because without Alecto’s Familia, their muscles are gone?" Loki said.
"Yes… with some of their strongest members gone, the rest of Evilus really had to be smart about how they approached things, especially now that Zephyr had shown his prowess. They're wise in their choices. By the way, have you seen Riveria?"
"She’s reading. Seems the way Zephyr used his magic lit a fire in her."
"Well, she was complacent about just being called Nine Hell. Now there is someone who could use more than her." Finn then also gets up. "And as for me… I do have a fire lit in me. Zephyr is far younger than me, but he has already made a name far grander than mine." He then grabs his spear. "I’ll be blowing off some steam in the Dungeon. I’ll go find the others and see if they wish to come."
Inside Rakia, in a room within the royal palace, overlooking the city.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
Hera watches the city lights as she taps her fingers against the wooden chair.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
‘That child…’
After the fight had concluded, they watched as Nox opened her wings and both she and Cirrus crashed landed. Soon after Artemis arrived. Many gods ended their mirrors, Ouranos had concluded that this was enough, but not Hera. This child who streaked across the sky as lightning reminded her of someone, a feeling she was keenly interested in seeing.
As Artemis moved Cirrus off Nox’s back, she saw his face. For a moment, before her Nox covered it and her Divine Mirror was forcibly closed, she saw her child, her pride and joy of her Familia.
"Nephele…" she said as she picked herself up and walked towards the open window. "So... This is what you wanted to keep to yourself, a secret you took to the grave… Mm… Mmm-hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!" she laughed out loud, with a smile stretching ear to ear. "You live on my child!!! Your legacy!!!!" She clenches her fists in sheer joy. "One day you’ll meet grandma!! But…" a sudden calm fell on her, and she sat back down. "Alfia, Malion… seems we still have family… I wonder if you can face the child of the woman you so wished to toss into the mud from her hard-earned pedestal. Fufufu… especially when he has one of Nyx’s first spirits."
Back at Hecaton Village, Cirrus is deep asleep.
‘Ah… this is nice… the calmness, hmmm this is nice….’
Sleeping comfortably in bed, something races through his dream.
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
A familiar and unpleasant sound rang in his head.
Cirrus, in his dream, opened his eyes and saw the source of the sound. A mountainous red figure with several arms, legs, and heads. Its muscles were as strong and massive as thick as towers of stone.
"… What do you want?"
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
It let out a weaker sound.
"Are you angry that you died?"
"!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Uhh… raise your right hand for yes and left for no, you understand that?"
The Hecatonchires raise their right hand.
"Ah… you can understand well, alrighty then, so… are you angry you died? "
The Hecatonchires raised all of their arms.
"So 50/50 on that, huh? well… sorry you uh died. You're smarter than I thought? Sucks you can’t talk with all of those mouths. "
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"… Is it due to you having so many heads? It would be weird to have more than one head… like how would you process information? Would each one be delegated to one thing? But then, with so many limbs, they must be pretty busy."
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"What do you want me to ask you yes or no questions? Is that what you’re saying? "
"!!!!"
It then raised its right hand.
"I’m a bit concerned now that I’m slowly starting to understand you?"
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Uh, well, do you like songs? Will that make you feel better?"
"Probably."
"!?"
A deep, smooth, and refined voice rang through Cirrus’s ears.
"D-did you just fucking talk!" Cirrus was very, very shocked by this new development.
"I wish to hear you sing." It said in a tone that implied it wouldn’t answer any more questions until a song was sung.
"Fine… lucky for us, it was in a dream. "
Cirrus dreamt up a guitar, and the world around them changed to a field of flowers lit up by a clear night sky.
"Also, do you like a rock?"
Suddenly, several blank people appeared on instruments that started to play.
"♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪"
He sang to it a song from his previous life; he sang it to the best of his memory.
The Hecatoncheires’ boundary thinned.
"What a beautiful song… for one who moves on… We are now one. The primordial spirit has absorbed my being and turned it into you. Allow me to break through the cracks of dark eternity."
"Wait what?"
"It’s nice to speak with you once… Sir."
As the Hecatoncheires’ boundary vanished, its colors whirled around Cirrus and were absorbed into his constitution.
As the last of the colors soaked into Cirrus, he felt his lungs were filled with water, his body as heavy as lead—
"!?!?"
—and then light as a feather.
"G A S P!!" He looked up with open eyes. "Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!" He looked around to find himself in bed and again in a room he had never seen.
He looked out the window to see the hole where the Hecatoncheires’ hand had left. From what Cirrus could see, it was past noon.
".. Fuck… how long was I out—" His voice had cracked, and Cirrus remained still for a second to process this. "N-no way I couldn’t be—" it cracked again. "…… fuck."
Cirrus had hit puberty.
