Chapter 11 Orario

"What do you mean the Zeus Familia is gone?" Teshgar asked.

"Exactly what I said, they were defeated by the One Eyed Black Dragon. As far as anyone knows all of them are dead and their God was kicked out of Orario and hasn't been seen in years."

Teshgar looked at me with his mouth agape for a few moments.

"Well shit… Guess you're on your own. The only other Deities I have any connection to are Hera, who is a crazy yandere and I wouldn't send you to her even if she had a blade at my throat, and Mielikki who's still up in Tekkai."

I had no idea who that second one was but Hera was Zeus' wife back on Earth, but Zeus was also the King of Every Hole Is A Goal so the yandere thing actually made sense.

We spent a few days in Melen, where we could get more accurate info about the Deities in Orario. Since the whole relying on the great and wise Spirit was out the window we needed to get a new path to take.

Luckily we were already here so my parents decided to not turn back and try somewhere else just yet.

When I made my choice we began setting up to head for the city which was only three km away. "I won't be joining you guys any further," Teshgar told them. "There are too many people in the city and it's filled with- '' his face grimaced. "Manufacturing."

He shuddered.

"The Deities there would take notice of me before they did you, and unlike with Basts Familia, a few of them would actually be able to beat me."

"So it's back to the forest?" Ma asked.

"Yeah, the little ones are still recovering from the forest fire and I've been away too long. Make sure to send some letters!" He said.

"How would they reach you?" I asked.

"Letters don't have arms or hands silly, they can't reach for me."

"Nevermind."

Teshgar kneeled in front of me. "Alrighty Kova, make sure to not worry your parents too much. And remember if anyone messes with you just give them the good ol' one two three four."

"I don't think that's how the sayin goes," Da said.

Teshgar shrugged. "Meh."

It sucked to see him go, he had a plethora of knowledge despite his ditzy attitude.

…

We arrived at the gates of Orario an hour later. We had been able to see the great tower of Babel even from Melen, but here I could see how it reached the clouds. The city was a huge circular metropolis with large walls. I could hear the clamor of people and from the open gate I could see the throng of people walking around the streets.

A pair of men from the Ganesha Familia questioned my parents, asking them about their Familia and business. They were able to tell that the two of them had Falna. It took them a while, but eventually we were let in.

We entered the south west entrance and took some alley ways towards our destination. I kept my eyes peeled watching every person with interest. At one point we noticed a long dark haired male god walking down the streets handing out potions so we took a detour.

I noticed that the city had several destroyed buildings and people had a fearful demeanor.

We arrived in front of a large building with the sign Hephaestus Familia North-West Shop. Unlike other Familias there was no large base or home where they stayed. Instead they had shops throughout the city where Familia members would stay and a large set of smithies in the north eastern part of the city where most of the members did their daily work.

Hephaestus was the God of the Forge so I hoped he would accept me because I had experience in the forge. Of course I wasn't going to do something dumb like try to get his attention by smithing in a random place and hoping he takes notice. It was smarter to be as direct as possible.

Entering the shop I headed straight for the counter, my parents stayed outside. They told me that if this was my choice then I should work for it on my own.

A young man stood behind it talking to a customer. He glanced at me with some interest, but waited until the customer was done with his purchase.

Everyone that wasn't a God thought of me as a half-elf because my ears were so distinct, so I really didn't worry about them seeing me.

"How can I help you young man?" The clerk asked.

"I want to join the Familia," I said.

"Usually you need a recommendation and even then most people have the Guild set up an interview."

"Oh! You just need a recommendation?" I said.

Rifling through my pockets for a moment I took out the letter Teshgar had written.

"Here you go."

Glancing at it the man's face squinted.

"This says to the Zeus Familia, and the handwriting is terrible."

"Yeah and it's a recommendation letter?"

He rubbed his forehead.

"Look I'm sure you have some tragic past and you are here to grow stronger so you can take your revenge on those that wronged you, but you should go through the official channels or maybe join a weaker Familia for now."

"What the fuck? No, I'm just a craftsman so I want to join a craftsman Familia."

The guy looked a bit embarrassed, but continued. "Even then I can't just send you up to the God-"

I set a bag on the counter. "Ten thousand Valis."

"I'm not going to be-"

Another bag. "Twenty thousand."

"It's unethical."

Two more bags. I had come prepared, putting around half the money we were "given," by Bast into bags of ten thousand Valis each.

"..."

"..."

"Two more," the man said.

I put two more down. The man pocketed the money and walked around to a back door and motioned me to follow him.

Turning around I saw my parents looking in through the window, well Da was looking with a grin, Ma had her shoulders slumped and her hands covered her face.

I'd say she looked embarrassed, but I'm sure I was wrong.

We climbed the stairs until we were on the third floor where a hall had several doors on either side.

An ornate door was at the end of the hall that read. "Hephaestus' Office."

Voices could be heard from the outside.

"Some of the members are worn out making the same thing every day for The Guild," A feminine voice said.

"We can't do anything about it Tsubaki, the intel they got is that the Evilus are up to something and the Guild wants to be ready."

"The Evilus have been up to something for the past five years."

There was a lul and the man escorting me knocked on the door.

"Yes? Come in."

-A/N-

Cliff hanger cause I'm an asshole.

Would you rather have permanent paper cuts in between your fingers or always have a bad taste in your mouth?