The Red Hand

As the Sun started going down over the Imperial Capital, that didn't mean that the streets got quiet. People moved back and forth between buildings, and a number of adventurers could be seen dipping in and out of taverns. According to both Halifax and Amakusa, the Imperial Capital had a very active nightlife. Though a not insignificant part of that was due to the City having a very well-developed Red Light District that also doubled as a Gambling Area.

"So where is this restaurant?" Akagi asked as she watched a number of children run up and down the street, figuring them for orphans trying to get in before the Sun went down.

"We're coming up to it soon." Halifax commented as they watched the group of children duck down an alley. "It's a nice little place, and it tends to get really busy in the evening, which is why I was adamant that we get a move on."

{I once missed the timing and was forced to skip out on that amazing Drothboar soup they had! Argh! I'm still mad about that twenty years later!} (Halifax)

"Is this place really that good?" Yumi asked. "I mean, I suppose it must be if it gets that crowded on the regular."

"Honestly, the food is just okay, it's the booze that makes it worth it." Amakusa chimed in. Akagi had returned her to being a beastkin, much to her chagrin. “Though plenty of people swear by the cooking, so maybe its just me.” She shrugged.

"I'd definitely fight you to get one of their Malt Pudding cups, so lets agree to disagree on the food quality.” Halifax laughed. “But the fact that it's also run by a Demi-God helps somewhat with sales." She glanced over at Elariel, which Akagi noticed

"One of your children, I presume?" Akagi said, looking back at the Goddess

"Nisha is one of mine, yes." Elariel nodded. "From what I've been told, she's quite a good hostess."

"You haven't been here before?" Yumi figured that Elariel would've visited her daughters eatery at least once or twice.

"A Goddess just walking into a business tends to cause a commotion, so no." Elariel sighed. In her current outfit nobody would think that she was actually the Goddess of Time, since such a powerful being acting as a maid was unthinkable. Though under normal circumstances there was actually a pretty high chance that she'd go by unnoticed as well since the average person had only seen the Gods from their depictions in artwork.

"Well, that's the canned line that you say to act all professional and curtious, but also you just don't tend to visit your children very much anyway." Halifax said with a cough.

{Cough, left me alone in a crazy Demon infested hellhole, cough.} (Halifax)

"You say that like I'm some kind of deadbeat parent. I believe that I took good care of you for all those years." Elariel scowled at her.

{Don't go acting like my number one problem child! She wouldn't stop calling me a terrible Mom and a tyrant right up until the day she ran away to elope with someone! I'll bet good money that dumb girl is probably living in some run down hut teaching her children about how evil I am!} (Elariel)

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. but you do dump them on whatever poor sap you made them with." Halifax retorted, Akagi's interested in things peaking. "I've met plenty of my 'siblings' and most can count the number of times they've seen you on one hand."

{Hell, some were JEALOUS with how much time I, a non-blood related child, got to spend with her.} (Halifax)

"Nice." Akagi rolled her eyes. "Just another reason to dislike you."

{Gonna have to start making a list.} (Akagi)

"Halifax's wording makes things sound worse than they really are.” Elariel huffed. “I make sure that my children are safe and well taken care of, and it's not like I don't check on them at all during their lives. Perhaps I could stand to see them more, and I'll admit that being involved in their lives more than I am wouldn't hurt, but I will reject any claims that I'm a bad mother." Elariel didn't see the problem with her actions or method of child rearing. "Raising a half-mortal child would be difficult for me anyway, they're better off remaining with other mortals since that lets them have a normal life."

{And yet you held me so close. I get that I'm not exactly a Demi-God, but how could you treat your own flesh and blood so distantly while holding me so dear? Its no wonder that Elmy ran away from you.} (Halifax)

"If you say so." Akagi shrugged as they continued up the street.

"Here's the place!" Halifax pointed to a multi-floored restaurant that had tons of large glass windows. Inside, one could see countless people sitting at tables, and Akagi noted that it was similar to many fancy restaurants on Earth. "And it looks like we got here before the rush, sweet!"

{TIME FOR SOME DRAGON STEAK!} (Halifax)

After taking a moment to get inside, the five women were given a table and got to work looking through the menu.

"Ok, what the hell." Akagi looked at the very Earth restaurant-looking menu with suspicion.

"What's wrong?" Halifax asked, her eyes almost glued to the Ice Dragon Steak menu item.

"Well, I've already been thinking that this world has some similarities to Earth, and while I can waive away architectural coincidences, I can't ignore the fact that this looks like a laminated restaurant menu from Earth." Akagi pointed to the item in her hand.

"Huh. Now that you mention it..." Amakusa scratched her head. She'd been here before and never really questioned it. "It does, doesn't it."

{Coincidence? I think not...} (Amakusa)

"Is this just another coincidence?" Yumi said what Amakusa was thinking. "Do other places have things like this?"

"Nope, this kind of stuff is unique to Salmires." Halifax hummed as she mulled things over. "Strange..."

{Now that I think about it... This is strange...} (Halifax)

"I don't think it's that strange at all. Nisha's father was also from another world." Elariel's comment came out of nowhere and caused both Amakusa and Halifax's eyes to go wide. "He must have taught her things like this before he died, which wouldn't surprise me one bit."

"Hold up, what?!?" Halifax had to stop herself from shouting too loud. "Her father was summoned?!?"

{The fuck?!?} (Halifax)

"Nope. He wasn't summoned." Elariel shook her head. "I dont know exactly how it happened, but he just wound up here one day somehow."

{I think the term for that is transmigration, right? Or is that just a fancy way to say reincarnation?} (Akagi)

"Ok, well, that answers my question." Akagi shrugged, not caring about terminology. "People slipping between worlds is possible, so I can buy it."

{Though that then begs other questions.} (Akagi)

"Whatever caused him to suddenly appear here seem to do a number on him. He couldn't really remember much of his past at the time, but perhaps something like this was just ingrained in his memory." Elariel shrugged.

{He did eventually regain some memories, and he did mention that he'd been some kind of chef in the past.} (Elariel)

"I'm surprised a Goddess would just casually have children with some random guy from another world like that." Amakusa thought that such a thing was reckless and problematic.

"What's so surprising about it? He was a unique specimen, and that alone made me more than interested in seeing what kind of child we would make." Elariel's comment, again surprised everyone, except for Halifax. "I ended up having five with him before departing. It was an interesting experience and I think our children turned out lovely." She smiled.

{Oh yeah, that's right...} (Halifax)

"Just... Having children... because it's interesting." Amakusa's face turned slightly red.

{WHAT?!?} (Amakusa)

"Hah! I suppose Gods' doing that kind of thing is as much a part of reality as it is fiction." Akagi laughed. The Greek Gods were known for similar things, and she could point to more than one who did exactly what Elariel did.

"I simply enjoy seeing what happens when an interesting or unique mortal merges their genes with that of a God." Elariel continued while Amakusa's face started getting even redder. "I've found the experience to be quite fun, and I'd say the mortal in question tends to be happy with the arrangement." She'd only run across a few mortals who refused to lay with her, male or female, and they usually had some unique reason.

"Yeaaaaaaaaah... It's been so long since I've seen her that I forgot that Elariel is one of those kind of people." Halifax sighed, wishing this conversation would die in a hole. "I don't even want to imagine how many children you've made over the years."

"I'd have to think about it for a minute, but the number is easily in the thousands." Elariel answered without hesitation.

"T-Thousands?!?" Amakusa squeaked.

{HAVING ONE IS BAD ENOUGH!} (Amakusa)

"Jesus! That's one hell of a family tree!" Akagi laughed.

"Yeah, and it doesn't help that our 'free love' Goddess here doesn't believe in using contraception." Halifax rolled her eyes. “You wouldn't believe how many one night stands turn into lengthy engagements.” She'd dealt with such things many times when she traveled the material plan at Elariel's side.

{How many times did we come down here on some business only for you to end up taking a fancy to some pretty boy in a village...} (Halifax)

"What?!?" Amakusa squeaked again.

"Why should I?" Elariel huffed. "The creation of a child is a beautiful thing, and knowing that it's possible only makes the experience much better." Akagi saw a glint in the Goddess's eye as she said those words.

{Oh my fucking god! Does this Goddess have a kink for that?!?} (Akagi)

"It's a good thing you're not a man. Otherwise, this world would've been overrun with your progeny." Halifax groaned.

{Though technically, the Gods are neither an can assume any form they wish. Luckily for the mortal world's gene pool, Elariel is uninterested in being on the other end of things...} (Halifax)

"You act like my actions are wrong." Elariel commented. "But I've not hurt anyone. In fact, many were grateful and even overjoyed to spend time with me. Being asked to make a child with a God tends to greatly please most people."

"You think that you've hurt no one? Sure, I guess you don't hurt anyone, well if you dont count the children you make." Yumi's comment came out of nowhere, and her words were laced with venom. "Having children means that you're responsible for them, but from what you've said, you leave them without a mother!"

{How could you just abandon your children like that?!? As a mother its your job to take care of them and raise them, not dump them on the father and run once your interest fades!} (Yumi)

"I stay for a while, sometimes years after they're born, it just that I have to attend too many things for any lengthy entanglements with mortals, and it's not like I never check in on them." Elariel still saw no issue with her behavior. "I mean, Halifax was raised with no father, so I think it works out, and it's not like I don't love each of my children." She loved them in her own way, but both Halifax and Akagi knew that such a love was not the kind a mortal child needed.

{Yeah, she keeps adding on to my reasons to dislike her. She really is a prick isn't she? God or not, to do something as reckless and irresponsible as bringing a child into the world only to leave them in a one parent home for most of their life is disgusting. Saying that you pop in every now and again is no different from the deadbeats on Earth who pay child support yet make no effort to connect with their children beyond that.} (Akagi)

"Just drop it, Yumi." Halifax could see that the Priestess had more to say, but didn't want things to escalate into a pointless argument. "All of the Gods are like this, it's just that Elariel is a bit more proactive in the 'creation' department than the others." She knew for a fact that the other Gods were no better, and that it was just the amount of bastard children that separated them.

"It's a wonder that there aren't more Gods with how active you all apparently are." Akagi snickered.

"Creation of new Gods is strictly regulated to prevent issues." Elariel explained. "There hasn't been a new one born in thousands of years, and I highly doubt that our numbers will drastically change, even if this world had infinite time."

"Gross..." Amakusa's face paled. "Aren't the Gods... Like... Siblings?" She recalled her own time in history class and how the Greek Gods were all brothers and sisters.

{…} (Amakusa)

"We are, yes, at least broadly speaking." Elariel nodded. "Though we don't have quite the same relationship to each other as mortals do so what you are thinking is inaccurate." She had enough sense to understand Amakusa's squeamishness.

"Don't try putting Earth/Mortal logic on that one, Shiroe." Akagi leaned forward to speak to her, looking around Yumi. "Gods are a bit different when it comes to morality and such, so I wouldn't think about this particular issue that much. As you can see from this one here, there's a big gap between what you and they think is normal."

{Again, this is why I dislike Gods. I don't doubt that some can be nice and actually act like reasonable people, but their self inflated egos and refusal to understand the mortals of their world gets on my nerves. For all my posturing, I'm not blind to how people think and I try to keep that in mind, despite my own admittedly alien mindset.} (Akagi)

"I guess I never really thought about it like that." Halifax thought about Akagi and Shiroe's comments, realizing that it was strange that the Gods did such things amongst themselves. "But now that I think about it, I guess it is strange that you and Aunt Reflia have that kind of relationship." She started to turn slightly red as she recalled past events.

{Such a fun conversation we're having... I just want to order my soup...} (Yumi)

"Reflia makes for a good lover." Elariel smiled. "It's just too bad that said shut-in Goddess is absolutely terrible at taking the initiative."

{Though I suppose that's what makes her cute.} (Elariel)

"Can I go home?" Amakusa raised her hand, begging to be sent somewhere else.

{Please... This conversation is killing me...} (Amakusa)

"Oh no, you're staying for this. The absolute look of cringe, horror, and disgust on your face is too good to let go!" Akagi laughed.

{You bitch!} (Amakusa)

“Getting past your desire to poke fun at me, this conversation does lead me to something else though." Elariel looked over at Akagi. "I would like you to leave my children alone, they have nothing to do with this fight. Take out your anger on the Gods all you like, but please don't involve our children in the coming war.” As irresponsible she was, the last thing she wanted was for her children to be pulled into the conflict due to her own mistake.

{Well I'll be, I guess she CAN be a mother when she needs to be.} (Halifax)

"That's fine." Akagi waived her off.

"R-Really?" Elarield hadn't expected Akagi to just leave it at that.

"I don't hold the relatives of people who mess with me to account, so I have no quarrel with them as long as they don't get involved." Akagi shrugged. “Why would I harm unrelated people?”

{Just because they had the unfortunate luck of rolling you as their mother doesn't mean that I'd kill them.} (Akagi)

“Thank you.” Elariel said quietly.

"To add to that, when we find Reflia, give me a chance to talk her down before you go killing her. She's not a bad person at heart, so I think that we can flip her to our side." Halifax interjected. "Having both the Goddess of Time and Space on our side will be a massive boon, and we might even be able to get you into the Heavenly realm with her power."

"I'll admit that together we could do a lot." Elariel nodded. "Though the problem is finding her. She almost never comes down to the Material world, and last I knew she was deeply involved with Gale's preparations.”

{Most of the Gods are deep within Gale's realm helping to create the ritual that will sacrifice the people of this world, and even though the Heroes were defeated, I'm confident that Gale will try something.} (Elariel)

"If we find her we find her, if we don't we don't." Akagi waived them both off. "For now let's focus on dinner and then after that..." Her lips curved into a nasty smile. "Assassination."