Let's Celebrate!
~Bring your good times...and your laughter too!~
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Loki stood up on the back of the recliner as she twisted the corkscrew and popped out the cork from the wine bottle in her hand, the drink bubbling out already to her delight as her cheeks flushed in excitement for the long night to come. She raised the bottle in the air and hollered.
"Come on kids! Let's get this party started in here!" She yelled as everybody in the Memphis Manor hall lifted their glasses and cheered.
"Sit down and get your filthy shoes off of my furniture!" Ptah thundered as he used his sceptre to swipe at Loki's heels, making her fall back into the recliner on her ass as the bottle top flipped and fell into her mouth.
Her eyes widened in surprise before she began chugging it down with loud exaggerated gulps before pulling the bottle out of her mouth with a pop and waving it about as she let out a happy and contented sigh.
"Man I love this stuff!" She said as she already began swaying with delight. "On par with some of Soma's leftovers...so tasty!"
"Then how about you sit down, pour it in a glass and sip it you barbarian?!" Ptah grumbled as his personal chalice was handed to him by Noor who had filled it with some of the party punch.
"Alright, alright. Settle down, Your Worships." Steve called out as he lifted his own glass in the air while his other arm was snaked around Ais's hips. "We're here to celebrate and celebrate good tonight. I would say it's the perfect time to cut back on the formalities and let ourselves go for the day." He looked to the rest of their guests. "Am I right?"
"AYE!" They all shouted back, their loud cheers blaring out of the open main doors and into the Inner Sanctum as the rush of cool air came through to keep the partygoers supplied with fresh oxygen and to let a bit of the moonlight in.
Gathered there was the Ptah Familia hosting a celebration with the Loki, Ganesha, and some members of the Hephaestus Familia, and the respective gods of those Familia were also present, partying just as merrily as everyone else. They all drank and ate as they saw much to be grateful and happy about as they celebrated their new alliance.
The doors to the kitchen suddenly burst open as Makena came through in a kitchen apron while holding a gigantic platter in her hand, resting on which was a whole roasted cow, still studded with garlic and spices and smelling of corn oil. She hummed as she walked up to one of the tables and slid it right in front of four certain girls who just stared at the thing in amazement, both because of the lavishness of such an offering and because of how good it smelled.
"And of course there is much more to be celebrating." Alex added as she sat opposite those girls. She peered at them over the roasted cow. "Such as you four officially joining us. A beginning to a second string group in the Ptah Familia.
Daphne and Cassandra looked at each other in amazement. The two of them had been studying the Ptah Familia manor for some time since they hadn't been among the members that came at the last invitation to a party in Memphis Manor. But now upon seeing it, they could do nothing but gawp at the complex architecture and the sheer beauty and wonder of the carvings and the statues in the great hall, the ones depicting the Ptah Familia executives. And now an almost equally magnificent meal had just been plopped down in front of them by one of the prominent brawlers of the Ptah Familia who only a few hours ago had been rampaging across their shared battlefield with unrestrained velocity and momentum as she left nothing but destruction in her wake.
Aisha and Haruhime on the other hand had different reactions. The Amazon was impressed by the Manor for only a short while before she fell upon the food like bacteria to scraps and began inhaling whatever she could find. Who could blame her? Makena's cooking was divine.
Aisha made no sign of hesitation as she grabbed onto one of the cow's legs and tore it right off as she relished the taste of meat in her mouth.
The Renard was a lot more reserved and with a slightly flushed face, bowed and thanked Alex as her tail flittered about nervously.
"Thank you for having us, Lady Alex." Haruhime said. "The two of us will be forever in your debt. Please take good care of us."
"Nonsense." Alex waved it off. "You're a part of us now, and we have always looked out for each other, long before we became adventurers. Welcome to the family you lot." Alex beamed at the four girls, and they all blushed a little. Alex was after all one of the most beautiful girls in the city. Already she was the talk and dreams of many as most agreed that her beauty outstripped women like the Sword Princess and Nine Hells by far amongst the famous personalities.
There were many betting that she could even rival Freya in terms of looks. She was just that beautiful, so having such an angelic beauty bestow such a radiant smile and expression on you would make any woman flush with awe and envy. Alex's smile then suddenly seemed to take a different nature. Her lips didn't move one bit but suddenly the air around her seemed very cold, and the four girls shivered as the temperatures dropped a little.
Surprisingly, Haruhime was the one to speak.
"I-Is everything okay, M-Miss Alex?" The Renard stuttered out.
"Oh, nothing at all." Alex said. "Just that while I'm happy we have four extra pairs of hands in the Familia now, I should warn you that I do have rules in this place and I hate laziness." Makena who was sorting out the girls' desserts and about to place them in front of them suddenly sensed Alex's mood and froze up completely, her eyes wide and twitching in fear, something that did not go amiss by the four girls at the table who all curled up at seeing a level 8 show such apparent fear towards someone.
"You can ask Makena here..." Alex said as she stood up and walked behind the dark skinned girl. "...I'm generally a nice person, so I won't be sniffing around you lot. But if I find that any of you are slacking in the chores or on your adventurer duties...well, Makena here can tell you..." Alex put a hand under Makena's chin as the chef's lips trembled little bit, while Alex's other hand snaked their way up to Makena's large right breast. "...just how strict I can be."
Alex squeezed, making her Familia member gasp suddenly as her breast oozed out between Alex's clenched fingers due to just how massive Makena's chest was. It was just that the sweater she was wearing tended to hide a lot of things.
Makena's breathing became noticeably louder as she had learnt from experience by now to never move when Alex was behaving like this. She did not want to be reminded of the time she had last pissed the older girl off and how Alex had 'punished' her thereafter. The four girls sitting at the table all sweat-dropped before hastily nodding.
...
Steve looked over at what Alex was doing and he chuckled to himself, shaking his head before returning to his drink and downing the last of it. He then looked down at Ais who was munching down on some curly fries that Makena had fried up and served with just a bit of salt.
"You really do like fried-potato foods don't you?" He asked her.
She nodded.
"These are nice." The Sword Princess said before she held up one of the springy potato fries. "But how do you get this shape?"
"You can ask Makena to show you later." He said. "
"Croquettes are still my favourite though." Ais said.
"Next time we party, I'll have Kay whip up a bowl of them just for you." He offered, to which she smiled and nodded.
"So...you wanted a demonstration of my real strength at some point." He said to her and she looked up at him fully focused. "Are you happy after today?"
"...Yes."
"Why the hesitation?"
"It's just..." Ais sighed. "...I thought I had an idea of how strong you really are. But now I see you're even further than that...so much further. I don't think I'll ever catch up..."
"Hey." He said gently as he turned her face to him a little more. Knowing by now what he was going to do, Ais turned to him and tilted her face up to give him access to her lips, on which he placed an affectionate kiss. "You're one of the most strong-willed people I know. I have full confidence that as long as you keep trying, you will get exponentially stronger. I have no doubt about that in my mind." He said to her in his sincere kind voice that both she and her 'sister' loved so much about him. "Your sword work alone has improved so much Ais. You're making progress. Never doubt that."
"I know." She said. "But you're still so much better."
"Don't use me as a standard Ais." He said to her. "It will never work out good for your motivation. Instead...try and see me as a very high stepping stone. That's what Ottar did."
"The King?" Ais said.
"Yep." Steve winked. "And trust me, I'm sure we'll be hearing about him quite shortly."
"...I'm happy I met you Steve." Ais said to him as she twiddled her fingers a little bit, her cheeks flushing a little bit.
"And I'm ever so elated that I got to meet you." He said to her as he pulled her into his side a little bit more to cuddle her a bit.
Tiona was a cuddler through and through once you were done with the dirty with her, as he'd come to learn in his own experience. Once she was depleted of her stamina, which was an arduous task, Tiona would use him as a body pillow while she slept. But Ais also seemed to have a strange fondness for hugs and cuddles, especially when he wanted to cheer her up.
"By the way..." He said as he scrunched his brows. "Where's Albie?"
"Here." Ais pulled her top out to his surprise, only by just a pinch, though enough to reveal soft flesh that he wondered if they were as warm as they appeared. But just like the last time he'd inquired about the little white bunny, the fuzzball pushed through her cleavage, making her breasts jiggle a bit as a tiny head with long ears popped out.
"Is that where you keep him all the time when you're out and about?"
"Yep." She nodded. "He likes it there."
Steve made eye-contact with the bunny, and it seemed to look back at him as if to say 'This is my place!'.
'We'll soon see about that.' He thought before loud clapping from Ptah sounded out as the Primordial stood on a coffee table in the middle of the whole gathering to grab everyone's attention.
"Alright you lot, settle down, settle down." Ptah announced. "I have a few things that need to be said aloud before the Guild publishes the information tomorrow."
"Something to do with the alliance cha-cha?" Ganesha leaned over the edge of a couch as his face flushed from the golden apple wine.
"No you wasted oaf." Ptah said. "I'm here to announce the new aliases of my children after our victory at the War Game against a triple front opponent."
"Well this had better be good." Ari said as she swung her legs up on another table. "They'd better not be anything crappy."
"Wait, how did you manage to do that in the first place?" Sunny asked. "Surely you can't just come and tell us. Those things are decided by a gathering at a Denatus right?"
"You'll find that I can be very persuasive." Ptah grinned as he took out a scroll from his tunic and unrolled it. "The first to be named was of course Steve, seeing as he was my Firstborn and the Captain of our Familia." Ptah cleared his throat. "For his indomitable power, as well as his cunning ruthlessness, and the tenant of not showing mercy to his enemies, as well as displaying obvious pride in himself and his creations, his adventurer alias shall be henceforth...Ozymandias!"
There was a series of interested noises of acknowledgement, as some wondered at the fancy name, while those that did know the implications of the name just began clapping, which was followed suit by more claps as they celebrated Steve's new name. Steve himself leaned forward with intrigue.
"A King of Kings. That's not a bad name" Steve said as he put a hand on his chin. "And I do take great pride in the things I've built as well. I guess you've been making quite good use of that 'book' I gave you."
"You bet." Ptah grinned. "For Alex, I chose a name befitting of her breath-taking beauty as well as her ability to sway the hearts and minds of people while also being able to conduct herself like a military leader. You shall be known as...Nefertiti.
Sunny. Your ability to reap bountiful harvest as easy as pulling water from a flowing stream and in such beautiful quantity and quality makes you deserving of a name that reflects those qualities. For that, I have decided to call you...Min.
Kai. Given your love for high speed, and delivering justice to evildoers just as quick while also being very vigilant in the protection of your sires and your charges, such hasty response and loyalty, and steadfastness in pursuit of comeuppance urges me to bestow upon you the name...Mafdet.
Makena, you also bear great beauty just the same as Alex does though it takes a different form. Your beauty appears more firm and stoic, which makes you tower over even the bravest of men as you make them fear you. You have an iron hand and you prop up the wealth of your Familia with your creations, which will soon be available to market I'm sure. And from what I can see, your family dearly loves you for how much you take care of them. For that, I name you...Cleopatra.
Zuri, you..." Ptah paused as he looked around. "Hang on, where is Zuri?"
"He said he was going upstairs for a bit to get away from the noise for a little while." Sunny said. "Traits of being a bookworm. Can never stay away from the silence for too long."
"Lady Riveria also said the same thing." Lefiya said, making Finn and Gareth glance at one another knowingly. Gareth held out a discreet hand while adorning a satisfied smile, to which Finn rolled his eyes before quietly placing a small money bag in the dwarf's palm.
"Just carry on." Steve said. "We'll tell him later."
"Huh." Ptah huffed. "Anyways, thanks to his abilities and talents with magic, I have decided to call him Heka.
Efe. Given your life of fanciness and the fact that your main abilities as centred around the manipulation of precious minerals and metals, and that you love extravagance so much as to even incorporate it into your fighting style, I will just call you Nebu.
Ari. Seeing as how easily you fall into the throngs of war and how you are able to so seamlessly weave elaborate traps for your enemies. How adept you are at hunting prey and your penchant for fiery displays of your superiority, you will be known throughout the city as Neith.
And lastly Noor. Given how you are able to twist monsters around your finger and do their bidding, and you swiftly you are able to devour the hearts of enemies by inspiring natural and innate fear into them through the use of your beasts as you weigh them against the scales of judgement for their conduct and what they do, it is only fitting that you be called none other...than Ammit."
Ptah rolled up the scroll again as loud series of claps ensued as the Ptah Familia gratefully accepted their names, happy that it had not been something stupid as first names tended to be. This was quickly followed by another round of drinking as they quickly lost themselves in festivities while Makena continued to bring out more delicacies from the kitchen.
---
Steve climbed the stairs as he prepared to go to his room, knowing that Tiona was 'waiting' for him in order to spend the night with her.
Ais had followed Makena into the kitchen about something to with potato snacks and whatnot, and seeing as he'd given one girl plenty of time, he now saw fit to grant the other his undivided attention too. As he was about to enter another stairwell that would lead to his room, his ears caught a sound nearby.
Looking over, he saw candlelight coming through from one of the booths above the main hall, the ones they'd built for when guests wanted some alone time. From what he could hear, there was a lot of heavy breathing and shuffling noises followed by little hums and moans as a screen covered whatever was going on in there.
Smiling to himself, Steve decided to activate another command he'd been wanting to try for now.
[ /vanish ]
And like that, his presence was completely erased from the world as his body completely disappeared. No sound could be heard from him even when he screamed at his loudest, nor could he ever be seen no matter what kind of vision anybody had. Not even Freya would find him with her soul-sight...probably. And he could see himself perfectly and still interact with the world.
Because he was still there after all...it was just that reality seemed to ignore his presence for a bit even though he certainly did not ignore it. With little care for being quiet since he couldn't be heard anyway, he walked up to the screen and stepped around it, only for his eyes to widen at the sight before him, preceding a sly grin as he took it in.
In one of the loveseats, Zuri was sat against it in a slouched position with his glasses discarded to the side as his shirt was opened at the top. His hair was messy, even in its curly nature and his face had become red with his current 'labour' as he tangled his tongue with the elf sitting on his lap.
Riveria's white cloak was on the ground leaving her in her usual green get-up. She was sat on Zuri's lap, facing him as her knees were on either side of the Sage's thighs while her hands were dug into his hair as she pulled his head towards her, while she traded deep and passionate kisses with him. And passionate was an understatement here, as she seemed like she wanted to dissolve into him or something with how tight they clung to each other, her chest pressed against his as his arms wrapped around her back.
Each kiss seemed like she was trying to suck his soul out of him as Steve could see the tongue exchange between them. Her face was a bright red from both arousal and embarrassment as it became clear that both were still trying to find their way around and get used to each other, even in this vigorous make-out session.
"'Purely Academic' my hairy brown ass." Steve scoffed, not afraid of being heard.
Zuri and Riveria broke away momentarily as they stared at each other, huffing and panting as a string of saliva connected their mouths together. Riveria then sat up straighter as Zuri held her waist to keep her steady, while her hands went to the buttons of her green coat and began unfastening them. Seeing this, Steve decided to make himself scarce as he didn't want to see anything about his friend's girl that he wasn't supposed to.
You did not do your homies like that.
But Steve did have one thing to say about this.
"My n*gga." Steve nodded to where Zuri was. "You cooked." He said proudly.
...
Undoing his command, he 'returned' to the physical world. But doing that made him remember something he should have done long ago; he'd made a vow after all. So without further ado, he typed in another command.
[ /kill_PhryneJamil ]
He entered the command, waiting for the confirmation message to come up to tell him that the toad's life had ended...only to frown as something completely different came back to him. Something so unexpected that it made him blink for a moment before he rubbed his eyes and stared at the message.
He typed in the command again and executed it, only for that message to come back. And then again, and then again, and then again. More confused than ever, he could do nothing but just stare at the interface and repeat the words that kept on being sent back to him.
...
>Target Not Found<
...
What had happened?
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