53 Triangles...
~Follow everywhere I go~
~Top of all the mountains or valley low~
~Give you everything you've been dreamin' of~
~Just let me in, ooh~
~Everything you want in gold~
~I'll be the magic story you've been told~
~And you'll be safe under my control...~
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Finn switched his spear to his other hand as he led his Familia down Main Street, Loki herself nestled in the middle. The large gathering of the entire Familia executives and their goddess and a few others caught much attention from the public, not just because of their high statues but also because this was not their 'territory', so to speak.
Their main headquarters was Twilight Manor, which was located in the exact North of the city, not a single degree off and perfectly in line with Babel tower. One the other side of that alignment, was Folkvangr in the exact South and the famous headquarters of the Freya Familia, the biggest rivals of the Loki Familia.
The personal relationship between the two goddesses was amicable at worst, but their children were two different sets of peas in their own respective pods. It was more often than not that when the two Familia found themselves face to face with each other even in the most random coincidence, a fight would break out because of their competition.
And what could look more like a declaration of challenge than the entire Loki Familia executive group crossing into the Freya Familia's territory in the South? Especially under the current climate of Orario. It was public news now that the Loki Familia had allied themselves with the single member of the Ptah Familia.
Before it had only been known by the adventurer's populace since the notice was posted in the guild. But now the ordinary people knew too, and it had a few people scratching their heads over the confusion of why an S rank Familia would back a new Familia of a single member. Finn and his friends showing up in the territory of the challenger could be seen as some sort of challenge to circumvent the issue from last night and if that kind of gossip reached the ears of the Freya Familia, there would most definitely be a confrontation.
Others took this as a sign that Steve was a genuine level 9. And that possible truth made the prospect of the upcoming competition all the more exciting.
Word of the War Game had already spread like wildfire and the public, now having their most upfront request sated, were drumming their fingers in anticipation as they waited for the Denatus results to take place today and the eventual War Game. Because whether or not Steve was a genuine level 9, the mobilisation of an entire Familia was always something fascinating to watch.
The only reason Finn had agreed to Steve's request was because the Minecrafter had personally promised in the letter that the owl had delivered to Tiona was that if the Freya Familia tried to intervene and make trouble in any sort of way, then he would, and in quote, "personally prematurely pulverise the pissants". The colourful alliteration of that statement sounded just like something the gamer would say, and Finn would have recognised Steve just from that line alone. But fully aware of just how powerful Steve was, and how much he was STILL probably holding back, Finn resolved to come and visit.
Though he hoped that would not be the case. Fights breaking out before a War Game between the two contestants was heavily frowned upon, and with the majority of the public on the side of the Freya Familia, the person who would be put to blame would most certainly be Steve. Even the fans of the Loki Familia regarded this alliance with great scrutiny, viewing Steve as some sort of leech preying upon the clout that this alliance gave him, and so were hopeful that the Freya Familia whom even they vehemently hated would give Steve a good beating.
It was almost like a football game.
The most attractive part about this meet-up however was the confidential information Steve had shared in the letter. Besides Tiona and Ais who had both gotten specific details about Steve's friends, everybody else had only been given vague comments and snippets of information of Steve's old party. To learn that those same friends had joined the Ptah Familia certainly peaked the Pallum's interest as he himself wished to meet the kind of people that had surrounded someone like Steve in his youth.
A big part of a person's accomplishments included the kind of people they surrounded themselves with after all. And if they were anything remotely like Steve, then they would for sure be exceptionally powerful in some way or another, or exceptionally unique if they were not as strong as their leader. The point was, making new friends was always a nice thing. The socialization between the two Familia would further strengthen the bonds between them.
And nobody was more buzzed about meeting Steve's buddies than the two 'best girls' in the Familia, a term and sentiment which Finn noticed was rapidly growing with surprising candidness in the Loki Familia. Ais had always been the Familia's poster girl since she was their prodigy, but the inclusion of Tiona in that category based solely off of her romantic relationship with Steve was swift to materialization in the past two days.
Seeing them shake a little with excitement, their fingers curling and wringing in their impatience, Finn sighed with a fond smile before gesturing ahead of him with a hand.
"Go on." He urged. "We'll be right behind you shortly."
Tiona beamed at him while Ais gave him a small smile and the two immediately rushed off in the direction of the grotto. Since only they knew the way to the place, Finn had kept them to direct the way but he didn't have the heart to keep them if that was the kind of eagerness gripping them. He supposed that Bete using his nose to track them would get them to the grotto just the same.
...
The girls rushed along, avoiding the people and choosing to take to the roofs to avoid bowling people over. After all, they were running with the velocity of a moving train and it was quite possible that people would get killed if they accidentally stepped in their way. Both girls had their personal reasons for wanting to see Steve again but their eagerness was a testament to the already deepening relationship between them all.
"I wonder what his friends are like!" Tiona said giddily as the city wall appeared in the distance. "Gods, I am so excited."
"Me too." Ais said. "He said they're strong."
"Well they have to be if they are his childhood friends." Tiona said. "I also have to thank him for the books he gave me."
"Are you finished already?"
"Hell no. I'm not even through the first!" The Amazon exclaimed. "There's just so much to get through, so much detail to absorb. But the story is so good that I don't mind going back and re-reading a few things just to make sense. You should give reading a try one day Ais."
"...I think I prefer sparring."
"Oh Ais." Tiona shook her head before focusing as they reached the edge of the houses and landed upon the open ground between it and the city wall where the grotto was located.
Off the side at some distance, they could see Folkvangr and it made Tiona wander at how two rivals in an upcoming War Game could be situated so close to each other. There would most definitely be some sort of power struggle even after the Ptah Familia inevitable won the Game. Because both Familia were located in the South, they would find influence over the South being divided between the victor and the loser. Tiona would not be surprised if that influence transferred entirely into the Ptah Familia's hands and they became the overlords of the South.
...
As they crossed over the open land that they both knew Steve intended to buy up for his Familia and they neared the grotto, they became an audience to quite a spectacle as they found the ground shaking a little even though they were almost a kilometre away. They easily recognised the colour of Steve's clothes from that distance but it was moving around in rapid progression as it repeatedly collided with somebody in green and brown colours.
Each contact made visible shockwaves in the air, and the dust in front of them was repeatedly displaced. As they came closer to the scene, they were taken aback as for the first time, they saw visible sweat on Steve's face as he tussled with his opponent.
An extremely beautiful girl, with orange hair and shapely proportions, in green colours was engaged in a bare fisticuff with Steve. Her fists were clenched tightly, drawing up very prominent muscles in her forearms and very profound biceps, defined by her baggy clothes which were drawn up tight against her skin. Her green eyes were bright and lush like a bountiful jungle and her beauty shone like sunlight even in the day.
Tiona and Ais came to a stop in shock as they saw how attractive this girl was, and even they blushed a little as they were taken aback by Alex's beauty. Immediately Tiona was worried about Loki who was on her way. Because this girl's proportions were sure to attract Loki's wriggly fingers.
But what they were surprised most about the girl battling Steve was how clearly strong she was. Each of her blows sounded heavy and painful, like two mountains were clashing against each other as she exchanged blows with Steve. Her legs were long and lithe, enough to make any woman jealous, and she used them expertly and repeatedly with deadly kicks towards Steve's face.
Tiona who herself was a brawler immediately recognised the immaculate technique and precision of those kicks which capitalised on both speed and power. She knew instantly that if even one of those kicks landed on her, the Amazon would be instantly killed.
Moreover, they were both using violent yet complicated techniques that suited only master fighters in constant effort to overpower one another. What was apparent was that Steve was under a much heavier labour against this girl than he had ever been when against other opponents. The girls started to sweat themselves slightly as they saw the ferocity of this girl and how powerful her punches were.
But with that fear came excitement as both saw new heights. Because even though Steve was straining, their expert eyes could see that he was leading Alex along as she was the more tired and ragged one, which meant he was still holding back. Alex seemed to realize this herself and as she found herself nearing the limit of how much she could do in these risky settings, she began to aim for more fatal attacks.
Alex was the closet bridge so far between them and Steve's level. A stepping stone going down from the top instead of the other way round for sure, but a stepping stone nonetheless. And seeing how powerful Alex was, both were not surprised that Steve was as powerful as they had seen.
Steve and Alex both found themselves locked in a hand grapple in the end. Differences in physiology as well as levels became clear as Steve pushed her back and Alex grunted as she threw her weight, power and force in full against him for one last time. The strain of that movement shattered the ground beneath them as rubble began to levitate above the ground. The subsequent crater sank into another, even greater crater as cracks spread out even further. To the shock of the girls, they saw the ground between Steve and Alex completely split in two as a large fissure was created.
As the ground split beneath Steve and Alex and attempted to pull them apart, they naturally leaned into each other to continue the struggle but this made their feet press into either side of the fissure. This served to pry the fissure apart even more as it grew even larger, both sides being pulled apart as the splitting travelled even further as the entire terrain was changed. The fissure split between Tiona and Ais, and they both looked at each other as they found the distance between them grow even more as the crack in the ground between them grew larger.
At last Steve looked off to the side and recognised his girlfriends being affected by the split and decided to end his fight with Alex. He looked back at his vice-captain and headbutted her in the face with such force that it created a blast wave, absolutely decimating the area around them and nearly knocking the girls off their feet. Ais looked behind her in alarm as she was afraid the shock wave would destroy the houses behind her. But to her surprise, the visible shock-wave was prevented from reaching civilian establishments as it collided with some sort of intangible barrier. Momentarily Ais saw the barrier's appearance. It was a wall of blue rippling light that flickered into life as the shockwave hit it before the pressure died down as the barrier disappeared.
Tiona saw this and suddenly realised it was the same for the other side of the fight. Because Steve and Alex were both scrapping in front of the grotto but Ptah's home itself was left untouched by the destruction completely. In fact, the fissure itself seemed to to extend only to the limitations of the barrier they both assumed correctly that Steve had something to do with.
Alex, stunned by the headbutt, let go off Steve as her head was knocked backwards in a whiplash before Steve wound up and socked her in the face. The impact was so hard that it created an even more powerful shockwave that actually made the ground sink in a little more and the girls were forced to their knees as the ground underneath them crumbled. Alex's body flew backwards and her back slammed into the temporary world border Steve had created with devastating force that it sent ripples throughout the already rippling barrier. Alex crumpled to the ground, signifying the end of the fight.
Steve sighed in relief as he wiped his brow and flicked the sweat away. The girls saw his mouth utter something, and they both felt something change in the very air itself, as if the reality they were living was bent to somebody's will. And that was exactly what happened as all the damage in the battle area reversed itself. All the dislodged rubble and dust rolled back into place as the fissure in the ground closed itself and the ground became flat. The craters and cracks disappeared, becoming smooth surface again as the sunken land raised itself to its previous level once more.
Steve hummed in pleasant satisfaction. A few directions from Ptah, and already {Tongue of the Laws} was being used to work wonders, even going so far as to manipulate the default functions of his world borders and reversing damages done within them. He walked over to Alex and using his admin privileges, pulled up her interface beside his own on his screen. He watched her hearts flicker and slowly fill out again.
It seemed that 'Regeneration' in Minecraft became quite literal when reality mixed with the game physics. Because as the hearts filled out, the cuts and bruises on Alex closed up and healed completely and she came around the concussion he'd given her. She picked herself up with her hands and shook off the dust. Steve held out his hand to help her up and she accepted it with a smile.
They exchanged a few words with one another before they turned towards the girls and looked at them expectantly. Tiona and Ais cautiously approached the pair. They knew that Steve was capable of a good deal of nonsensical miracles but it never really failed to surprise them when he pulled a new one out. Steve's eyes twinkled and his smile grew wider as they approached.
Alex simply eyed them as they came closer to him, and they could practically feel her judging them. Steve opened his arms.
"Don't worry girls." He assured them as he pointed to Alex. "Unlike Wilbur Soot, she doesn't bite."
All three girls gave him confused eyebrows as he chuckled to himself at the internal joke but the message came across them and Alex only gave him a stink eye while the two girls were eased.
Immediately Tiona rushed forwards and flung her arms around his neck. Steve saw the bright hungry look in her eyes as he complied with her silent request and let her devour his lips as she poured as much passion as she could into the kiss. She tried to suck the air out of him as she pressed forwards and Ais stared at her in jealousy as she herself did not have the guts to approach Steve so passionately. Steve felt Tiona's tongue poke at his lips seeking entry but he pressed his fingers a little tightly into her back, indicating his refusal.
He felt her slump a little in disappointment at his rejection, but she respected his decision understanding he did not want to start that kind of practice there in that setting. She pulled back, her lips swollen a little as she stared at Steve and gave him the biggest smile she'd ever given anybody in her life.
"Missed me that much, huh?" Steve asked.
"Yep." Tiona answered without hesitation. "Don't pretend you weren't thinking of us all night yourself."
"Guilty as charged." Steve said as let go of her and held out a hand to Ais. "Are you as eager Ais? I'd be surprised if you were honestly considering we spent the bulk of the night with each other at the party."
"...I wanted to see you too." Ais blushed a little as she approached him.
Steve understood what she was really saying behind those words. He held her clasped hands in each of his own and leaned forwards, placing a gentle yet meaningful kiss on her lips as her blush deepened. Her stomach fluttered at how Steve always seemed to show her affection on the level she wanted of him.
A polite cough from Alex brought them out of their collective lover's haze and they looked at the orange haired girl. Alex had a closed fist on her hip as she leaned to one side with a flat look on her face. Steve waved her off with a laugh and let go of Ais's hands.
"Girls." He said. "Especially you Ais since I told you about my friends. This is my best friend, my vice-captain and my oldest friend, Alex. And Lexy, these are my girlfriends. Ais and Tiona, both of them level fives."
"A pleasure." Alex said as she held out her hand. Tiona and Ais shared a look, debating silently who should shake her hand first. Even now, Alex's gaze looked like it was piercing their very souls.
Tiona eventually shrugged and clasped Alex's outstretched hand. As they shook, Tiona felt Alex's grip tighten on her hand, just before the point where it would hurt. Tiona naturally felt intimidated as Alex's attention zeroed in on her respectively.
"Tiona Hiryute. Loki Familia, level 5." The Amazon said although there was a slight wobble to it.
Alex's green eyes were naturally sharp in appearance, and the kids (the other seven players) often described that most terrifying part of her when she was angry was her eyes because of how predatory they became. One would say that when Alex got pissed off, she assumed the appearance of a green snake with a fiery crown...a sight that even made certain monsters sweat upon encountering her.
Of course nothing Tiona or Ais had done warranted that kind of intensity and so Alex was not doing it. But the girls could not help but draw many parallels between her and their own vice-captain Riveria. Both were very beautiful, and they both had sharp features and carried the same aura, demeanour, air and mannerisms...but Tiona was right now very much of the opinion that Alex's wrath was possibly even worse.
She was not the first to draw this line. Steve was very much of the opinion that Alex and Riveria would become fast friends.
Ais went through a similar experience as Alex's judgement fell upon her, but being the person she was, she felt the fire of competition in her gut and she tried to grip Alex's hand tighter, succeeding in some measure of resistance. Of course it was dashed away instantly the moment Alex effortlessly cancelled it out with a stronger grip.
"Ais Wallenstein. Loki Familia, level 5." The half-spirit said, meeting Alex's gaze head on.
Ais Wallenstein was infamous for her cool beauty. It was so unique to her and fittingly so, that she was hailed as among the top beauties in the whole damn city, going as far as to be passed against goddesses. Regardless of that beauty, her emotionless kuudere face tended to lower the guards of people as they would not really expect anything threatening out of her. They would regard her as an airheaded simpleton who was not capable of intimidation.
Of course Steve would knock the teeth out of anybody who outright called her that in a malicious way, but they would be entirely wrong on the second point. For Ais could indeed become quite intimidating when she was faced with a monster or an enemy she knew she had to be serious with.
Her eyes would suddenly draw quite sharp and focused, much like a predator fixing upon prey and her cool beauty only seemed to amplify that scary image as her face would become the epitome of a living contradiction; a deadly, terrifying beauty.
Now in the face of Alex's efforts to establish who was greater in this exchange, Ais's face morphed into the face she reserved for enemies she knew she had to take seriously, and her pupils glinted as her eyes became sharp and scary. Alex was taken aback a little before she smirked.
"You might be worth something." Alex said to Ais with a smile as she quashed all of Ais's strength as the girl hopelessly tried to counter this new burst of strength but to no avail. "I hope we become good 'friends' from this point on. I am Alex, vice-captain of the Ptah Familia...and I am level 8."
Tiona and Ais's mouths fell open in shock as they immediately looked to Steve for clarification. He nodded, confirming what Alex said and they looked back at her with shock. Alex herself became confused at their expressions.
"Is it really that incredible?!" Alex said as she observed their flabbergasted expressions. "I know you said that it's supposed to be a legendary height of power in this land, but they look like they've seen a ghost."
"Well you can't blame them." Steve said. "Once again they've been slapped in the face by an adventurer who came out of nowhere and is on the level of legendary heroes, a height that 99 percent of the adventurers throughout history and the present will never see for themselves. You're much like me."
"If that is the case, then I wait for the time they learn about the levels of our other members."
"Why?" Tiona exclaimed. "What levels are they?"
"Level 9." Steve pointed to himself. "She is one of three level 8s." He pointed to Alex. "And the rest are level 7, believe it or not."
.
.
.
"Of course, you're all freakishly strong." Tiona laughed as she face-palmed. "Nothing more can be expected if you're friends with Steve."
"Hey! I resent that." Steve said in mock offense.
"It's true." Tiona said. "Sometimes you fail to understand exactly how your abilities go against logic and the norm. You're quite clueless when it comes to it sometimes Steve."
"Mhm." Ais nodded. And surprisingly, Alex seemed to nod as well to some degree.
For some reason, Steve felt like he'd been impaled in the heart by how these girls who were clearly competing with each other in that special, metaphysical plane of communication accessible only to females, were so quick to unite against him on this point.
"Whatever." He muttered before he looked past them and saw the rest of the Loki Familia appear. "Looks like the whole party is here. We can get this show on the road then."
They all waited as the Loki Familia neared the grotto and for the first time they looked upon Steve's home. Finn gave the grotto an intrigued glance before he stepped up to Steve with Riveria right behind him.
"Steve." He said simply with a smile. "Good to see you again."
"Same here Finn." Steve replied as both captains fist-bumped. Steve then turned to Riveria and gave her a peace sign. "Hey Princess. How majestic have you been lately?"
"Ugh." Riveria rolled her eyes. "I don't know why I ever told you about that. You've seized every chance since to make fun of me because of it."
"Your fault. You should know my tendencies by now. After all, we spent close to a month together in the Dungeon." Steve smiled before he gestured to Alex. "Finn, Riveria. This my vice-captain Alex."
"An honour to meet you." Finn shook Alex's hand. "Steve has spoken quite highly in the past about his old companions. I'd expressed an interest back then to meet you but I came under the impression that Steve had parted ways with you."
"A truth only in part." Alex said exasperatedly. "Whenever he finds a new place, he runs off to explore it, leaving me to deal with the rest of the kids. Dumping all responsibility on me in the process as he does so."
"A pain we share in common." Riveria said as they both shook hands. Instantly both Alex and Riveria locked gazes and something clicked between them, like a sort of innate understanding with one another. "Finn does not do much to discipline the kids in our Familia. He lets them do as they please most of the time and I have to be there to correct them."
"Same here." Alex said. "Mine are truly an unruly bunch. One is so unruly that she begins fighting with anything that moves, and another just expresses an interest in destroying things."
"Much like our own too." Riveria said as she looked pointedly at a certain werewolf. "One of ours simply likes picking fights with other people and does not care for his language. And one seems to have no qualm nor care about destroying her weapons and driving herself into deeper debt."
"Seems like we have a lot in common." Alex said.
"It seems we do." Riveria nodded, prompting another nod from Alex. "My name is Riveria Ljos Alf. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Alex."
The nods continued to be exchanged as both vice-captains recognized what the connection was between them...an understanding of their positions and how easily they could be exploited at times while having to deal with problems of the Familia upfront...possibly being blamed when things go wrong and never getting the credit when things go right.
Pain and suffering was truly a great point of unity when the right people connected over the right circumstance.
Meanwhile, the two guilty captains they were referring to stood nearby, eyeing them before slowly looking at each other and realizing that they'd probably just created a new monster out of the two like-minded people...and their necks suddenly started prickling over that prospect. Finn's throbbing thumb just made it worse for the Pallum.
"Pfft." Bete spat. "Enough with the sappy introductions. Are ya strong like that freak or not, woman?"
"Pardon?" Alex looked around Riveria. "Not very chivalrous are you sir? I am most definitely a lady and a lady with a name. Refer to me by it and pose your questions in a more polite manner if you wish to be answered."
"You think I give a crap about respect for women and all that?" Bete waved it off. "You only ever find hags demanding things like that. The only thing I care about is if a person is strong enough to cut it out in the dungeon life. If you can't then you get no respect from me."
"A hag you say?" Alex's eyes glinted before she looked at Riveria who was giving Bete an icy side-eye. "This must be that first unruly child you mentioned, Miss Riveria."
"Indeed. Out of our kids, I find him to be the most irksome at times." The elf said.
"I could recommend some rather productive disciplinary methods to correct this sort of misdemeaning behaviour." Alex said. "Tested and approved by yours truly. There is no child that can't be straightened out properly, Miss Riveria."
"It would most certainly be helpful to hear this suggestion Miss Alex. We must sit down and talk over this at some point." Riveria agreed. "And you may just call me Riveria. No need to be formal."
"In that case, you may just call me Alex. I have a feeling we are going to get along well."
"The feeling is mutual." The two women agreed again.
Everyone around suddenly started to feel a cold sweat as the personal aura being excluded from the two women suddenly amplified, to the point even Bete felt very uncomfortable, like he were naked before a hungry predator. This prompted the werewolf to make the wise decision of backing away. Steve leaned down to Finn and whispered.
"I think I may have inadvertently created something quite unholy out of this alliance of ours. Allow me to apologise in advance Finn."
"The fault is mine too. I agreed to this arrangement and so bear equal responsibility."
"May God shows us mercy in the the no doubt painful times to come." Steve clasped his hands. "Amen."
...
"Oh right, knock it off already. Move it Mama, I want to meet these people too." Loki said as she finally made herself known and Riveria stepped aside. Loki clasped her hips and studied Alex up and down. She grinned and began circling Alex with a hand on her chin as she muttered to herself. Alex herself raised an eyebrow.
"I'm assuming you are this Loki then? The goddess that these people follow?"
"Oh, so you've heard of me." Loki leaned into her face with a grin. "Of course you've heard of the great Loki from far and wide!"
"Actually, Steve told me about you." Alex said. "In summary, he described you as an astray slanderer who is rarely sober. Not a very nice allusion if I may comment."
"Who cares about that wolf who stole my girls? I'll deal with him when the right time comes. For now, I am more interested in you." Loki said as she circled Alex. This time Alex did not even bother to follow her as she just dismissed her as some sort of eccentric, so she couldn't even see Loki anymore when the goddess went behind her. "Yes, yes. You are definitely a strong one. You're the epitome of power and beauty rolled into one package." Loki stopped behind Alex and her foxy eyes glinted as she eyed Alex's assets from behind. "A rather bountiful package if I may say so myself, hehehe..."
Loki's fingers began to creep around, her long and sharp fingers wriggling around as she grinned, her glee becoming ever so increasingly apparent as she neared her prize. Her Familia face-palmed at her actions, and some considered warning Alex. But the cold aura she'd emitted with Riveria earlier made them think twice and they just opted to let their goddess find out the hard way.
Alex suddenly felt an uncomfortable feeling, like a fly or some other pest was buzzing near her and out of instinctual reflex, she backhanded at the air behind her. Naturally, the back of her long dainty fingers collided with the goddess's temple and knocked the goddess out cold as she sprawled across the ground with her feet twitching in the air.
"Ooops." Alex said as she turned around quickly. "I didn't know she was that close! Let me try and resuscitate-"
"Leave it." Finn said as he nodded at Tione, who was all too eager to please her captain, picked up Loki and slung her over the shoulder. "She's our goddess so we'll take care of her."
"Understandable." Alex said before she looked at the rest of the Loki Familia. "May I know all your names too?" She said, this time genuinely smiling.
The reservation that they'd had instantly vanished as Alex's face became full of sunshine and warmth as her beauty glowed. The men found themselves blushing and the women were giggling with their blushes as they whispered to one another. They were about to introduce themselves individually but Steve intervened.
"How about we do this inside?" He pointed at the grotto. "After all, the rest of my Familia is inside, so it's better that all the introductions take place in a single sitting shouldn't it?"
"On that, I think we all agree." Finn said. "Lead the way."
---
As Steve welcomed everybody into the living room and he watched as they shook hands with his other Familia members as well as Ptah, he waited for one last person to go in. She purposefully stayed behind the rest of her Familia members it seemed to speak to him and Steve looked at the elf blankly.
"What is it?" He asked in a crude manner.
"I-I uh...I'm sorry." Lefiya bowed and apologised. "I'm sorry for the way I talked to you back in the Dungeon. It was wrong and presumptuous of me and I was being selfish and did not consider the consequences of my words and how they would affect your feelings. For that you have my deepest, most sincerest apology from the bottom of my very heart and soul!" The elf rushed.
"That sounds like a rehearsed apology if ever there was one." Steve deadpanned. "But a welcome one. Just think before you open your mouth next time and I'll consider that an apology."
"Of course sir!" Lefiya bowed again. "Thank you for forgiving me!"
"...Who thanks a person after-...nevermind." Steve shook his head. "Go in, or you'll be apologising to your elders for holding everybody back from our important meetings."
"Yes of course sir! Thank you sir!" Lefiya said before she briskly walked. As she did so, she looked warily at some male members of her Familia that eyed her very carefully. After a moment, those men gave her an affirming nod and Lefiya let out a sigh of relief.
The men looked exchanged glances with other and held closed fists to their heart as another holy mission assigned to them by the First Brother was completed, and the taint upon the honour of the Great One was restored. Now they could focus completely on the substance of this gathering instead of having their night sleep and dreams plagued by the blasphemy that Lefiya perpetrated against their lord.
With those shenanigans out of the way, they got comfortable in the surprisingly comfy couches and paid attention as the introductions began.
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