Love

It was a fascinating sight, to wake up to the blankness of white, and be met with the sight of an unknown being staring down upon him, like a god.

It was a willowy and tall woman who seemed to be 12 feet tall, with deep blue hair filled with white stars—though on closer observation is was millions of strands of code—and baleful black irises that seemed irked by his presence. Her skin was pale, and subtly fluctuating, and as Wisdom inspected it with keen eyes, he realized it was lines of white code that had been woven so tightly together, it passed off as white skin without the use of a keen eye. A black dress that seemed similarly made of code draped around her frame in an almost greek-esque style, as if to denote her as some greater power.

So she was a god.

'Even Markle would have noticed without such attire.'

"So, you're one of the laggers."

Wisdom broke from his thoughts and focused on the woman, relaxed but alert as to what she would do.

She sneered, and her hair flared to a red for a moment as she exclaimed with burning red eyes, "Do you have any idea how annoying you people are?! Heaven's sake, just come when the opening debut happens! Factions have been drawn, patronages assigned, players settled! Latecomers like you ruin the immersion! By the pantheons, you are so annoying!"

"..."

Wisdom just stared blankly at the women, his expression adapting to a poker face while his eyes became analytical, noting the power dynamic that the women revealed—so, there were factions and politics at play already?

It had only been a month back at home, so he might have to factor in a time difference in-game. That, or people were really going at it to build up factions, which meant deception, planning, and aggression.

He could already tell it was going to be an tedious task.

'...Quite the blabber mouth. Criminal organizations would hate her.'

"You're not even listening, are you? Ugh, you're seriously the worse you know! First Hela ignores me, now a ratty human isn't even listening to me... Why, if I had half a mind, I'd explode your soul, but since you've been recognized as legitimate, I can't do that or causality will bite me in the butt, again! That darned serpent, making me give him compensation for trying to kill that girl off..."

Hallock blinked at that, registering the information for later use before he stepped forward to ask his first question.

"So, what do you usually for pests like me?"

The woman glared at him before huffing, "I let you take one item for your world to keep with you and assign stats that average with the general populace, before letting you choose a patronage... at least usually but..."

Hallock paused, wariness entering his eyes before encouraging, "But...?"

"The slots for the major ones are full for the most part. Too many players will tip the balance, and then they'll get mad at me for interfering or favoring another faction too much. So, I'll just assign you a faction—oh, do you want to keep the cigarette's and lighter with you?"

Subconsciously, Wisdom had reached for his lighter to light a cigarette, hesitating at her words.

"...They'll run out, so..."

She tilted her head, her hair returning to a deep blue with lilac tips.

"No they won't. I can just enchant them to never run out if you want. I have to compensate you somehow for taking away your Patron choice—"

She stopped abruptly, her eyes widening then narrowing as a thought came to mind.

"Say, do you like fire?"

"...?"

"She's out of the way, neutral, accepts men, and has fire... She's perfect for you! Then, I'll send you on your way~!"

"W-wait, who are you—"

He couldn't even finish his question before disappearing with a snap of the System's fingers.

———

"Hmm... interesting..."

Asta shifted uncomfortably as she was being examined by Anubis, and she wondered—not for the first time—why she had agreed to be studied by the jackal god, but the answer would remain the same.

"'Don't you want to know why this baby serpent chose you?'"

'...This stupid curiosity..."

Ever since meeting and even being acknowledged by Jörmungandr—his bloody hands holding her corpse as he quietly sobbed, only able to touch the corpse and unable to derive comfort from her spirit that could only watch him with tears in her eyes, while a monsters corpse had begun to rot behind them—she had been driven by an unsatiable curiosity, and she could only assume that her Patron, who was so innocent and unaware, was the cause.

"Y'know, soul serpents spawn in my location, the eighth server, "Duat", and that's due to the heavy influence of a certain serpent in our stories. They aren't native to this server at all, hence the interest."

Asta listened carefully, while she waited for him to get to the point of the matter.

Seeing as the spirit resisted asking anything, and instead passively sat there for answers, Anubis sighed. He had taken a young appearance to be less threatening, and here she was as far away from him as she could be while being examined, with the said serpent wrapped around her neck like a scarf, watching him warily.

'How anxious is she to react like this?'

He did not know the reason, but as she was not part of his patronage—which, yes, he needed to get back to and face both the wrath and loveliness of his priestess—he found it hard to care for yet another human tragedy.

It was hard to care when every human was equally pitiable in his eyes.

"Do you have any souls that would be attracted to you? Any person who would want to be there for you?"

She froze, and slowly nodded, seeming hesitant to answer his questions that related to her personal life.

'Touchy subject then.'

"Soul serpents are born when souls have a will to be a companion with someone strong enough to shake off the pull of the underworld. Most lose their memories when transitioning to a serpent, but this one clearly kept enough of its past life's feelings to find you during your time as a human. It is now also the reason you're still here, as it acts as an anchor to your soul to stay in this world. Of course, since you're a god's priestess, you'd naturally resist the underworld but... suffice to say, they keep you here."

"...So... i-if Levi... d-dies..."

"Yup." Anubis smiled, his eyes gleaming as Asta began to shake. "You'll probably die for real!"

Asta curled into herself, holding onto her little Levi gently, as if finding comfort in him.

'Thank you—without you, I wouldn't be here still... thank you... I'll protect, so that we can both live as much as we're able... thank you, thank you, thank you...'

The serpent simply rubbed its head against her jaw, affectionate in a way that made Anubis's eyes narrow.

'Still, it's unusual that such a serpent would find its way to her and show such affection to her without that being its sole purpose..."

As he gazed at the serpent and the spirit, who had somehow become companions in life and death, he pondered on how deeply the spirit, who became a serpent to give comfort to the broken girl before him, had loved this little girl.

'A parent? Or...'

He did not know, but he felt that if he told this girl his suspicions, she would cry, and if she cried, Jörmungandr would get angry at him, and if he was angry he would attack him, and then Fenrir would join, and so many problems would pile up in one great heap that frankly, Anubis was astounded at how deeply loved and surrounded by love this little soul was.

He just hoped such a love would not become the weakness that would become the downfall of both her and her beloved patron...