Chapter Two: The Council Grants You the Rank of...?

I fixed some stuff in chapter one such as a few typos, and the wording of some sentences, if something confused you back in the previous chapter, consider re reading it, though it is not compulsory.

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The trip towards Orario for a possible talk between the two parties was quite akward, the tension permeated the people and fear spread amongst the crowd. Most especially the people who were "guarding" the Sith lord and Jedi grandmaster. Anakin's demeanor was calm, reserved but still remained vigilant. Vader was similar, but the people were most wary of him. His demeanor and weird breathing did not help his case either with the occasional stares from the people passing by. After a 30 minute walk, the entire party arrived at their destination.

Vader and Anakin was not impressed by the city's structure amd regarded it as a result from the society's outdated technology, among other things. But they were impressed by the tall tower that extended to the clouds, considering the society's lack of proper technology and adequate equipment.

Vader and Anakin were now sitting beside each other in a long oval shaped table. They did not expect such a grandeur from an outdated society, as they had observed from the resident's attire, equipment and the architecture of the entire city. The walls were marble white gilded in gold while the floor and the roof was shiny and in gold. The room they were now in was an auditorium that was a mix of an indoor amphitheater of sorts.

The only people present were the gods they had fought and encountered before, them being: Hermes, Hephaestus, Ganesha and Loki, both who are now awake and the latter fuming in anger. To their sides, there was rows and columns of seat like stairs similar to the republic and imperial senate's parliament, though of inferior architecture. Amongst them, there were tens of individuals who wore various clothing, each more different than the other, who were occupying said rows and columns. An old man with white hair sitting in a separate throne near the table was also present.

Vader sensed the same type of energy as the four gods who are sitting across them at the table. "I assume they might be gods as well, judging from the sensation I feel when I tried sensing them." Anakin whispered to Vader, both who are sitting beside each other. Vader merely scoffed at his counterpart's statement, but kept his own opinions to himself.

"The two of you are guilty of invasion of national sovereignty, attempted murder of gods, indirect assault of Orario's citizens, and most importantly, forbidden use of divine powers whilst under the mortal realm. Well, what do you 'rouge gods' have to say for yourself?" A man with red hair wearing a white apparel, red cape and golden crown said. This man was none other than Apollo.

"Rouge Gods?" Anakin stammered, confused.

"Why, what else would you curs be? None of you are at the divine registry, all gods names are kept within this record and we have found none of them contained the names of "Anakin Skywalker" and "Darth Vader" to which the logical conclusion would be that the two of you are rouge gods, or from a dead pantheon." Apollo explained.

'Us? Gods?!' Anakin exasperated, though this surprised him, keeping his thoughts disturbed, yet somehow managing his calm. He glanced to his counterpart, as stoic as ever.

"There seems to be some sort of mistake, we aren't from around here, and we are most certainly not gods."

"Don't even try to hide it! Your energy practically reeks of divinity, so don't feign ignorance and tell us that you're only mortals! Moreover that burst of light when the two of you appeared, that is not something mere mortals can do." Apollo accused. "Don't even get me started on your divine weapons!" Apollo added.

"Hermes examined your weapons and I inspected your "lightsabers", they do not appear to be magic swords or any type of magical weaponry, none of them had the symbol of my familia nor dis we ever recall producing it." Hephaestus interjected.

"Your weapons materials are not found in the lower realm, nor are we familiar with it. And the composition and complexity of it's technology is something that we had never seen before. What else could it be but divine weaponry?" Hermes said.

"What do you have to say for yourselves young men?" the old man said.

"They are clearly guilty, just punish them already Ouranos!" Loki angrily said, to the old man.

"Quiet you! You are not innocent either, releasing your divine aura in the mortal realm!" Apollo sneered to which Loki replied: "It was for self defense! And the appearance of two rouge gods warranted the situation. Don't you agree Ouranos?" Loki said, Ouranos merely stroke his chin, and then nodded saying "Loki and Ganesha are absolved, they had every right to use their powers in that situation. As for you two however...

The two of you are to serve one of those four, for your crimes."

Anakin and Vader were now fuming with anger. Serve? So they are now being forced into a life of servitude, back to being mere slaves? These thoughts plagued their mind. Their lives at Tattooine flashing through their minds. The times were they had no rights, the times were they were beneath normal citizens of society.

Anakin was able to somehow keep his hostility in check, but retaining his anger the stating "I must protest-" Anakin said, but his voice was overshadowed by Vader's own voice simply stating "I refuse!"

This angered some of the gods, who are these rouge gods supposed to be? They are nothing, nothing but loser and lesser gods! How dare they act all high and mighty when they have no names to themselves?! They are nothing worth mentioning. Was what they all thought, and they started to chatter and gossip, mocking the two. Of course, none of them was aware that they singlehandedly defeated two gods, they were only informed about who the culprits was of the supposed "attack" by gravity magic were. And today was their trial.

Ouranos demanded silence, and they obliged, but the stares they gave Anakin and Vader was not pleasant.

"I'm sorry, but you have no choice, the two of you are undoubtedly guilty. This is merely your punishment." Ouranos said with a stoic face.

"No." Vader said.

"You may have beaten us at the forest, but there are 64 of us here, coming from different pantheons, with their familia stationed nearby. And there is only two of you. You are outnumbered and outmatched." Loki said, snarking, standing up from her seat.

"We shall see."

Vader then brought up his wrist, making a fist. This made all of them except for Anakin float into the air, gasping for air and reaching for their neck. Vader was force choking them. "Be careful not to choke on your aspirations, Loki." Vader mocked.

Loki's act of intimidation failed.

Anakin used the force to steal their lightsabers out of Hermes pockets. He then turned to Vader, saying "Enough Vader. Violence will get us nowhere. We'll only be digging ourselves deeper."

"Then what do you propose? Accept their terms and return to slavery? We have the power Anakin, and we have finally been presented a second chance, yet you want to waste it?" Vader argued.

"No, all I'm saying is that we'll negotiate." Anakin replied, to which Vader contemplated his choices.

At this point, a black robed figure stepped forward casting to what Vader assumes to be "magic" in an attempt to dispel his "magic" which proved to be unsuccessful. Vader was surprised that this person was unaffected by his force choke.

The robed figure was about to attack Vader but Anakin stepped in front of him, ready to defend Vader, as different and opposing their views were, they were still the same person, and viewed themselves as some sort of family, brothers. After all, they only had each other's company.

But before either of them could make a move, Vader then released them, making all of them gasp for air.

"Keep this in mind Ouranos. We serve nobody, nor will we ever, other than ourselves. We are the masters of our own destiny. Never forget that." Vader stated.

"I shall take that into account, when processing your case." Ouranos said, rubbing his neck.

Anakin then gave Vader his lightsaber, both clipping it to their belts, taking a seat once more.

"In light of recent...developments I have come to reconsider their punishment. Instead, they are permitted to establish their own familia and are to pay a fine of 10 million valis, 5 million each for their offense. Is anybody opposed to the decision?" Ouranos offered, to only one person raised their hand. It was Loki.

"You're just gonna let them off scot free? What the hell?! Freya, c'mon, they trashed your Ottar too, don't tell me you agree with this, aren't you mad?!" Loki said to a spectator in the seat in the left corner, it was a woman with white hair, violet eyes and was wearing a...skimpy dress that emphasized her...features.

"What happened to Ottar was a shame, but I'm glad there wasn't any blood shed. Besides, there was not any permanent damage done. Besides this altercation sparked a fire within Ottar." A goddess, now known as Freya replied, though keeping the last part to herself. To which Loki just crossed her arms, leaning to the chair with an annoyed look, finding herself a lack of support.

"Alright, that sounds reasonable, but what is a familia?" Anakin inquired.

"Allow me to answer that question, a familia is an organization that is comprised of one head, which is the god and mortals as members. A Familia members are categorized and is made up of adventurers and supporters. The familia is named after the God or Goddess in charge, such as my familia, which is named the Hermes familia. Most familia are exploration type familia who venture into the dungeon or other uncharted territory. There are other types of Familias however, such as a business type familia, industrial type, medicinal type and a national type familia. Hephaestus over there, the red haired lady wearing an eye patch owns a familia that is a mix of an industrial and business type. Following so far?" Hermes explained, to which Anakin and Vader nodded.

"Each familia is given a rank ranging from I to S based on size and achievements, which is taken into account in determining how much money a familia is due to pay during their monthly taxes. Also the higher a rank the familia is, the higher the prestige they will get." Hermes continued.

"I see." Vader said, Anakin on the other hand, said "So it's like a corporate entity, or a business venture. Thank you for the explanation." Hermes deadpanned at the description provided by Anakin, but nonetheless accepted it.

"So it has been decided the two of you are to create your familia, and are to pay the fine completely, in the event that the fine is not payed...well...other measures are to be taken." Ouranos concluded, to which Anakin and Vader nodded.

"See, I told you, negotiating was a better idea." Anakin whispered, to which Vader replied with, "So you have."

"Hermes, you are to help them in getting their familia started, you are also the one who will be collecting their fine and reporting to us about it." Ouranos commanded to which Hermes sweat dropped, and asked "Why me?"

"Because you seem to be the most suited to the task. Hephaestus is quite busy, as is with Ganesha, and Loki and the two don't seem keen on working together." Ouranos explained, with Loki saying "Damn right we aren't!"

"I...I see."

To Be Continued

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