Chapter 6: Legal Trouble

(This chapter was uploaded on Tuesday 3/September/2024 3:00 PM, timezone GMT+3)

('1), ('2), ('3), etc. means that there is some explaining for the thing in the chapter's footnotes.

"..." small moment of silence.

"Talking"

[Different Language Dialogue (Different from the language of the PoV)] (What language it is: Accent if necessary)

"He-" Someone was interrupted.

'Inner Dialogue'

{Skills' names, chanting, spell keys and spells' names}

(PoV)

(Flashback, including the text)

Don't shy from commenting on typos and/or inconsistencies. That and/or suggesting a modification to certain things that didn't make sense to you.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

(Line Break)

(Day 14, dusk) 

(3rd person PoV) 

"Waaaiiitt!!!" A tender, soft voice was stretched to its limit, making it rough, called out to Henryk before he and Fey took flight back to Orario. 

Henryk had Fey stop before her wings flapped even once and turned back, raising the googles above his eyes and onto his forehead. He had his brown hair swept back under some of the googles' leather, as it extended a bit up. 

He was appalled when he saw a pale-blue-haired half-elf running to him with the Arrow of Orion in hand, smiling so innocently one would think twice before finding fault with what she was doing. Not Henryk, though. He cared not for her cuteness and apparent innocence, focusing on what her hands held. 

"What's that? Better yet, why did you bring it here?" Henryk played along for now. If she brought it so he could touch it, he would take such opportunity. It would not be viewed as him being suspicious for trying anymore, not when a member of Artemis' familia brought it up to him herself. 

"What is it~?" Fey asked. She pecked at the shaft of the arrow as her form of inspection. 

"This is an artifact of our goddess, and I want you to try holding onto it. I'm curios of what would happen if you did" The half-elf was fidgety, a red flag in many other situations. And if Artemis creeping up, running, behind her is anything to go by, then it was not by Artemis's permission that the girl brought the artifact. 

"Lante, return it" Artemis said. She stood behind Lante, startling the poor girl out of her skin. 

Lante thought that she had a head-start on Artemis, giving her some extra time. But she was mistaken. Artemis, motivated to retrieve her artifact, ran after Lante far faster than she normally did. If anything, even Rethusa, her familia's captain and a level 3, would find it hard to run away from the goddess. 

"HA!!" Without much thought, Lante threw the arrow into Henryk's lap, where he was forced to catch it to avoid getting stabbed or slashed by the arrowhead. 

As Henryk held onto the shaft, it started glowing white, forming runes, and he felt a connection he did not consent to being made. 

'Found you!' The arrow spoke to his mind. Its voice was that of its owner. It was elated to have finally found someone. 

'Fuck this!' Henryk cursed his luck. He wanted to prove Norman wrong, not prove his words right. Henryk could just hear it, Norman's distant echoes, laughing at him from a world and a dimension away like an edgelord maniac. 

There were no gasps, no rustling of grass under their feet, not even the wind made a movement. It was total and utter silence for some time before anyone got something to talk about. 

"Why's that stick glowing ~, papa?" Fey asked while turning her head around to see the glow of the humming arrow. It tantalized her eyes, telling Fey to snatch it and hide it in her nest, whenever she finally built one. 

Henryk looked at Artemis and regretted it deeply. Her eyes practically glued her attention, all of it, to him. A smile slowly crept its way to Artemis' face, widening as she realized what was happening. That smile was the most dreaded thing to Henryk. A smile solely out of relief/reprieve from a goddess who was going to fall for him. 

'Gods are nothing but trouble!' 

'My daughter! Fly to Orario! Now!' Henryk sent his order in a panic, which got Fey invested in the wrong thing. 

'No~' She, now more than ever, wanted to know why the 'stick' started shining with white shapes all over, and why her papa wanted to get out of here quickly when it did. She might have asked if not for Artemis making a move first. 

"I finally found you, Orion!" Artemis cleanly cleared the distance between them with a jump. She toppled him off Fey's back, and onto the grassy ground below. 

Henryk froze as he did not know how to deal with this. He thought, then his wreck of a brain reached a rushed course of action. 

He tried peeling Artemis' arms off him. 

... 

He failed. 

'Stupid! How did I forget? She's as strong as a level 3 by some estimates!' He berated himself at the futility of his choice. 

He looked at Lante, abandoning what little embers of his pride he could still feel withing his chest, pleading her to try telling her goddess to get off him. 

"Kyaa!!" It was useless, as Lante was gushing and squealing while imagining the two doing many 'lovey-dovey' things together. 

In the distance, he saw a ray of hope, the other familia members, who he hoped would be sane. He was disappointed when none of them went close enough to peel Artemis off of him. 

Rather, they started dancing silently, as not to end this happy sight. It was THEIR happiness that this sight induced. They felt free. Artemis doing what she does right now meant that they could now remain in the familia while also falling in love freely. 

'Right! Fey could rip her off me!' "Fey, take her off me, please" Henryk said calmly. He conditioned his mind to treat Artemis as an over-grown child so that he no longer freaks out at the sudden, and uncalled for skinship she was giving him. 

"No~~!" Fey chirped as she put her wings' tips over her beak. She giggled at Henryk's distraught face when she thought that so little inconvenience existed. She did not know just how stressful contact with women was for him. 

'Considering the amount of speed Fey held off on purpose, we should arrive at Orario within the next 2-3 days maximum. And,' Henryk sighed. 'also considering that Bell didn't look so dejected and broken yet by the time we met, we might've come in contact a few days before the fateful encounter with Hestia' He recited what he told himself for the duration of their, Fey and his flight from Orario to the other edge of the continent. 

"Can we, like, tone down a bit and talk? I have urgent business back in Orario, requiring my presence within the 3-4 coming days" Henryk said as he tried to pry her off him again. 

"We can talk like this" Artemis said quietly, face pressed against his chest. 

"Your teasing demons 're looking at you" That finally seemed to take her out of her trance, her self-mesmerization. Artemis sprung up and whipped her face back in great alarm. She paled at her familia members' sinister giggles. Theirs, right in front of Artemis' eyes, transitioned from joyful voices into the worst teases of Artemis' life. 

It was a gratifying sight to behold, an allusion to how close the familia and their goddess were, a family they were to her. But that meant that she feared their fearless teasing. 

"We can go now, right? I want to meet Hestia, too" Artemis desperately climbed up Fey's back, with no small amount of Fey's help of course. She wanted an escape. 

'***' Fey's thoughts, the reason to allow Artemis on, it all was to be kept hidden. 

Henryk looked back at her familia and shrugged at them, telling them to deal with it. He then climbed onto the saddle and they started flying away with what little supply they brought with them strapped to either side of Fey. 

"Fey, go full speed to Orario. Bell, OUR resident human-rabbit, needs our help" Henryk enticed Fey to go faster, as fast as she could. 

"Fey's got a mama~!" Fey said, much to Henryk's returning blush. Her thoughts were not kept hidden for long, it seems. 

"She isn't your mama!" Henryk protested without much thought. 

'... Why the instant rejection? And why does it feel directed at me, and not her?' Artemis was holding her arms around him to stay on the saddle, her eyes closed as she pressed her face onto his back, all in an attempt to resist the opposing winds. Unlike Henryk, she got no hold on the saddle, nor any goggles to shield her eyes. 

Although she brought up another topic, Fey was focused enough to notice the remark about Bell's rabbitism ('1). She used the speed she had been hiding from him for days. 

(Day 16, dawn) 

Henryk woke up under Fey's feathers, huddled close to their uninvited guest. 

In her hurry, Artemis forgot her sleeping bag within her familia's camp. She used that excuse to warm her way deeper into Fey's lush plumage. 

"Fey, wake up. We need to bring back Ouros, since he'd proven himself" Henryk said as he was returning Ouros' gaze with one of his own. Ouros' tail wagged at the recognition of his effort to remain alive, and Henryk's kept promise. 

As he waited for Fey to wake up, he stretched out a hand with a kobold's magic stone in it. When Ouros ate it, he became taller, bulked up and his coat covered every inch of him. Now, he was as tall as Henryk himself. 

For his variant, Henryk thought that a German Shepherd would have been convenient, with their prominent traits manifesting into skills. To his delightful surprise, Ouros became a black&red German Shepherd. 

"Mmn~" Artemis started stirring awake. She stretched as usual, and tried getting out of her 'sleeping bag'. She remembered, for the second time, that she was sleeping inside a thick plumage, one she has taken a fancy to. 

She yawned into her hand softly before patting Fey's side and standing up. She stretched some more, what some degenerates would take advantage of by sizing her up, with the worst ones looking at ogling her every bit of exposed skin or otherwise. Thankfully, Henryk turned away and focused on Ouros. 

"Stay with the campfire. We'll go bring some food" Henryk said, waving his hand dismissively as he walked with his back turned to her. Fey hurriedly shrunk down and stood on his shoulders. 

"Come back safe, all of you" Artemis said, Henryk's response being a raised, closed fist. 

'He still treats me like a child to some extent, and that's when we even interact. He is building a wall between us' Evaluating his actions with wisdom gathered over entire eras, she could tell that he is apprehensive of women. When he can interact with her without any apprehension, he treats her like a child. 

'He is uncomfortable around adult women? But is Hestia's child? How strange. I will need to wait for him to open up on his own, while also keeping my distance but interacting with him when the chance presents itself' Artemis set a plan in motion, one to capture Henryk's heart, slowly. 

In stark contrast to her plan's presumed slowness, a thought crossed her mind lightning-fast right after. 'But what if he wanted to have children? Most mortals have the desire to sire children, and they prefer them to be their own' She kept that thought in the recesses of her mind for now. 

(Henryk's PoV) 

And here we are, giving Ouros his pseudo-falna. Like I remembered, the meaning of 'automatic bestowal' referred to the act of me naturally placing it without much trouble. But my desire to bestow it and a drop of my blood's a necessary trigger for the automation of the process. 

And an extra thing to note, I got the feeling that I could choose to keep his original skills or change them to something that better suits his variant. I chose the latter. 

Beside {Xenos}, Ouros had 2 other skills, {Agéli}, a stacking skill that works only in groups of holders of said skill, and {Empódio}. It makes him capable of preventing others from exiting a certain area, given that he is one of the area's owners, or is permitted to by the owner. Its limit is 1 level above his own. More than that, and they'd be breaking free from the confines of the skill. 

'That could be very useful. Layering the skill such that it is circles around each other, we could make a safe zone. But, does it work with projectiles?' 

We returned to camp with some fish from a nearby lake, but not before giving Ouros some of my change of clothes. We roasted them around the campfire, ate our unseasoned breakfast, then toke off. 

In a lighter note, Fey had to gigantify to accommodate for all 3 of us on her back. She called her new size 'Giga Fey~'. 

(Day 17, dusk)

We could see the walls from a mile away. I focused near the spot where we left off last. And as expected, there was someone waiting for me there. They even raised their hand, beckoning me to go there before letting lady Artemis walk through the gates. And so, we went there. 

As we landed, I saw a few other armed figures and Ganesha standing in-between them. 

"Fey sees lots of pointy sticks ~" Although her tone was jovial, she was extra wary of those points. She had the unfortunate experience, as a young chick just learning how to fly, to jam the pointy end of a narrow tree branch into her chest. Thankfully, she made a full recovery with some medication and much needed 24/7 care. 

We remained at a distance and I had to put in some effort to hold back a growling Ouros. He calmed down shortly. 

"I am Ganesha!" Ganesha said his catchphrase. I could hear the subtle facepalm of lady Artemis behind me. 

"And I'm Henryk" When I reciprocated his catchphrase, he smiled. "What did you wanna say to have come all the way out here?" 

"We are here to confront you, with different outcomes, depending on your results" I assume that he took a glance at lady Artemis before continuing. "But since your words weren't empty, we will bypass the fact that you got into the city without identification papers, nor by getting a temporary pass. You didn't even enter through the only legal way, the gates!" Ganesha's boisterous words froze me where I stood. 

'Oh, right. I forgot that these also needed to be accounted for' 

"And... What'd happen to me now? I'm willing to be punished for illegally entering the city" I didn't sell myself out for otherworldly status. One, for them probably not buying it even with a god's verification. Two, because it could cause some pretty severe consequences with some gods, especially those with the lofty goal of destroying the mortal realm. 

"I will interrogate you personally, accompanied by Shakti as my guard. Of course, we will respect your privacy by doing that out of earshot" Ganesha ushered me to a secluded section of the ramparts, where I walked in front of them by Shakti's request. Fey remained with Ouros, where we landed. As for the uninvited goddess, she was torn between sticking to me and giving me privacy. She eventually, defeatedly so, stepped back and stood with the others. 

"Let us start by hearing how you entered the city. There are no records of anyone attempting to break in around the time you appeared. And with an eagle the size of yours, that would have given you out. How did you get in?" Ganesha asked seriously. He dropped his boisterous and flamboyant tone and attitude. 

Seeing him like that, I answered without much delay. "I woke up there, with no memories of how I got inside, the same for Fey" 

"Since that is the truth, let us move to the next question. Where did you live before this?" And in came a question I was dreading. By the way his lips twitched, I knew he caught up, that something was amess. 

"Can she close her ears? And, could you please assure me by swearing upon your ichor?" I asked with a nervous edge to my voice. Shakti immediately became apprehensive. 

"No" She answered coldly, hesitation absent from her demeanor. 

"Is it important to keep this secret?" Ganesha asked with an understanding tone. 

"It needs be" I answered with a heavy sigh. 

Ganesha looked deep in thought for a moment, before telling Shakti to cover her ears and stand at a distance. She still had a view of me, with just enough distance so she could run and stand between us before I did anything stupid. Not that I was gonna do it. Once Ganesha swore his oath, shining a multi-colored light as a sign that he's bound to keep it, I felt safe telling him. It was on the condition that my origins didn't put Orario's citizens in any dangers. 

"The story goes such that I came back to life inside the city. As for my home, it is a different world. Not the lower realm, not the upper realm, but a different dimension altogether" Even with his mask on, I could perceive the shock from the lower half of his face. 

"I understand now. An outsider like you rambling about different worlds might invite mental trouble for other mortals, and physical ones of their own" Ganesha said as he cupped his chin with his right hand. He got out of his thoughts and looked at me. "I am willing to bypass it this time if you agreed to fulfill something for me" 

"What is it?" I got a bad feeling about this. 

'What does he want from me?' 

"Tell me, your eagle became a monster, didn't she?" My blood ran cold as my hand twitched. I almost reached for my knife. Knowing he didn't intend a threat; I took a deep breath then trained my eyes on him. 

"If it's about the xenos, I already met them once, in their hidden village no less. I'm willing to help them, and you have Lyd to thank for that" I answered. 

"That was not the answer I asked you for. Though, I must thank you for answering two of my unasked questions" Ganesha insisted on hearing this bit of information. 

'There's a huge problem here. He already knows the answer and is just asking for the sake of it. Me simply getting nervous makes it obvious that he was guessing right. That's if he noticed my nervousness. ... Calm down, me. There's no point in denying what he already knows, not when he could tell it was a lie. And if I skirted around it, he'd find out in a heartbeat' 

"She became one due to the nature of my skill. I'll no longer tell anything relating to that skill" I said somberly. I put just enough edge in my voice that he knew what length I was gonna go through to keep it under wraps. 

"Then I will not ask further" He said before a large smile formed on his face, the visible part of it. "To be honest, you hadn't the need to fear nothing! Your falna gave you the pass once it was there! A falna from a god or goddess that resides within Orario's walls is a perma-pass! Ha Ha Ha!" He boisterously laughed as he signaled for Shakti to come over. 

"I am Ganesha! And I am curious about the species of the monster you brought with you!" And that was how I knew of it, that kobolds do not look like beastified demi-humans of any kind, neither chienthropeans nor werewolves. 

"That's a kobold. And his name's Ouros" His laughing abruptly stopped only to laugh some more for no apparent reason. He raised a finger behind the mask to wipe a tear. 

'Seriously. What does he need to hide behind that mask? Anyone could tell at a glance; his face is that of a normal human's' 

Ouros' registration went somewhat smoothly. I was told to take him to the dungeon at the nearest opportunity and keep him there until he's tamer around others. 

When I asked why Fey was allowed but Ouros wasn't, Ganesha told me that it was simply because Fey was a naturally born eagle. Ganesha also told me to say that specific description, letter for letter, to other gods. He justified that by telling me that most will be too complacent to catch on to what implications that'd hide. 

We regrouped with lady Artemis with Ganesha, along with his familia members, bidding us farewell. Before we started walking, Fey decided make herself comfortable and nested over my head, re-arranging my hair again. 

'I'll need to brush my hair later' 

We walked for some time, with lady Artemis's face blanching as we got further into the less populated areas of the district. When I finally stood upon the double doors, her mouth fell slightly agape, keeping a modicum of grace and elegance in her image. 

"Hestia lives in this poor condition?" Her astonishment transitioned into a justifiable rage at the misfortune her friend was dealing with. 

"Well, the familia only formed less than 3 weeks ago. We can't realistically hope to be rich or live like the high class in this short period of time, not without dipping our feet in a swamp of illegal activities" I said as I pushed the creaky double doors open. 

"I'm back! My lady!" I announced our return, expecting her to have returned from her potato puff stand part-time. One could imagine my surprise when an unavoidable, unseen missile struck my midsection and threw me to the ground. 

"Are you okay? Are there any injuries? Bell and I prepared potions for you and Fey just in case!" My lady frantically checked me all over for any injuries. She wiped some nonexistent sweat from her forehead and sighed heavily in relief. 

"What are you? My mum?" I jested while rolling my eyes. I was punished with a slap to my chest. It stung quite a bit for how small my lady's hands were. 

'Maybe that's precisely why they hurt' 

"You troublesome child! I am just gl-" As her worries were found baseless, she was now free to look around. Her eyes immediately caught sight of lady Artemis, who was looking at her fondly. 

"Artemis!" My lady's eyes gleamed with light. She was feeling emotional about this reunion, enough to launch another missile at her next target. 

"Hestia!" Lady Artemis welcomed my lady with open arms. She held herself straight, proof of her being used to this attack. 

"How have you been?!""How have you been?!" Both of them asked the other. It led to both of them giggling. 

I silently sat in a corner, grabbing Ouros with me. Fey was fast asleep by now. The mental toll of flying at such high speeds for so long everyday made her want to rest. 

I thought of some things as the two reminisced over old memories. One of the things I thought of was if I could get certain variants of monsters. One's multiple species of dogs, variated from kobolds and hellhounds. The multiple utilities I could squeeze out of them would be convenient. Another monster variant I wanted was endermen, if that was in any way possible, no matter how convoluted. Those madmen were a nightmare to deal with, even while decked in full enchanted armor. And the thing that made me want them, their ability to teleport infinitely, past walls as well. 

'Maybe I'll need to have them level up to gain enough skills for that level of convenience' 

"How's Bell been doing?" I asked my lady when their reunion was over. Disappointingly, she was cut off with a loud thud coming from the main door. All heads turned to see Bell enter the church. 

"Call the rabbit and he comes" I smirked. 

"You come home!" My words bounced off of his skull as he smiled brightly. That lasted for the few seconds it took him to behold the beauty of the new goddess. By his reaction to her, and the fact he isn't getting himself out of it, I judged that he probably didn't meet Ais yet. 

'Alternate worlds, alternate personalities. He could be a polygamous rabbit this time... Right! With that, I can throw her into indecision! And ultimately giving up on me!' 

"Bell, this is Artemis. A goddess and my friend. Artemis, this is Bell Cranel, my first child" My lady introduced the rabbit since he was stunned. 

"Lady Artemis, can Bell try to hold the arrow for a bit?" I immediately regretted saying that. Her face said it all; she was disappointed in my words. 'Don't tell me she's the type to never change her interest just because he says no? I hoped that was only because Bell wasn't firm. But it seems that she's just like that regardless. Damn it' 

"Even if he held it, nothing will happen. If you hoped for a change, I must tell you this. I won't change who I pursue just because someone else, someone more fitting of the arrow, appeared" She approached and caressed my right cheek. I wanted to step back when, all of a sudden, my lady sprang into action. 

"AAAAAAAA!!!" She headbutted lady Artemis, throwing the both of them to the ground, groaning and moaning with some mild blunt trauma from the headbutt. 

"Are you alright, Hestia?" Lady Artemis tried easing my lady's headache by rubbing it off, not forgetting her own. My lady got flustered by the gesture and turned around, pouting. 

"Who are you? The Artemis I knew would have never approached a man like you did" My lady was complaining to herself loudly. Her tone let on the fact she was not admonishing her friend. 

"One of my children managed to convince me" Lady Artemis said as she held up her arrow afterwards. 

"Now that I think about it, wouldn't that arrow of your shine only in the hands of someone with a pure soul?" My lady looked at me, stunned beyond belief. 

"Hey, I ain't filthy" I said while facepalming. This was gonna become its own set of migraines. 

"He has a soul so pure the entire shaft glowed from coming into contact with it. What you may judge as impurities is simply his life's worth of experience. His thought process is what determines if he was the one" She came and sat down on the same pew as me, giving me just enough space to be comfortable. 

'She's already figuring me out. I hate how she's lived long enough to just know how to do some things' 

"By the way, when will the Loki familia expedition return?" I asked intently. My lady looked at me as a traitor for the rest of the night for that. 

"Don't you dare mention that washboard in my familia home!" My lady spat with venom as her twintails flailed, set ablaze by her furious rivalry. That allowed me to glance the existence of her iconic flower and bells hair ornaments. 

"It's detrimental for me to know that" I shot back. 

"..." My lady glared holes into me, yet there I stood, adamantly demanding an answer. 

"Sigh ~ They will return in a day or two, with the closest assumption being the day after tomorrow, in the afternoon" She gave out begrudgingly. I was honestly surprised she had that piece of information.

'That means it's tomorrow, not the day after. That's unless... Let's hope the timeline's different. I didn't know its intricacies to begin with. Changing it from the roots up would be better'

"What would you do with that information, now that you have it?" My lady scrutinized me, trying to gleam into my thoughts. 

"Fey, give our lady a big hug" "Huggies~!" And just like that, my lady was squashed by Fey's feathers. She was buried in them, as Fey increased her size to hug-appropriate proportions. Fey started to doze off again after smothering my lady under her feathers.

"I am curious as well, if it isn't a bother" Lady Artemis asked in a more polite tone. 

"It's because I have a bad feeling about their return. I'll need to prepare things, and that timeframe just doesn't make things easy" 'Drastic measures are needed. Namely, Fey'd be tempted to protect Bell in case something happened and Ais didn't arrive in time as in the show, or if he somehow grew a bigger backbone than OG Bell' I kept half of my thoughts to myself, with them the reason why I feel uneasy about the expedition's return. 

Later, we had something prepared from the ingredients in the magically-powered fridge. Of course, I spent some time outside, searching for some proper meat to feed Fey with. I'm thankful some shops had the types of meat Fey favors, though none were from rabbits, something she made clear by complaining about repeatedly through our trip back. 

After a simple, yet fulfilling, meal, we prepared for bedtime and our sleeping arrangements were made. Lady Artemis took into the bed, sharing it with my lady. Bell was forced to take the couch instead of a pew, and Ouros and I slept upstairs. Fey shrunk down and slept inside my shirt. 

'Mattresses are needed here, ASAP' 

Lady Artemis would stay with us until her familia arrived at the city some months later. She said she'd find herself a part-time job until then. 

(End of Chapter)

Name: Ouros

Familia: Henryk's Familia

Level 1:

STR: I0

END: I0

DEX: I0

AGI: I0

MAG: I0

Magic: None.

Skills:

Xenos

Agéli (Pack):

Increased parameters in proportion to the pack's size.

Empódio (Barrier):

Prevent what is inside from leaking out.

'1:

Rabbitism: Any person or thing whose actions, appearance, behaviors and instincts are quintessentially and unequivocally rabbit-like in nature and form.

With this one, I wasn't at all intending to allude to the Buddhist meaning of the word, that being the rabbit symbolizing delusion and ignorance.

(Line Break)

Greetings, dear readers

So, I thought I lost half of this chapter. Good thing my fears were unfounded, as I kept a copy of it in a note file in my desktop.

For this chapter, I revealed something important. Ganesha didn't treat Henryk complacently. He simply allowed him to try rescuing Artemis since his words were the truth. And once Henryk got back, he was investigated for getting inside the city without legal procedures. 

I don't know, but I feel like I changed Fey's personality from before the rewrite. Please, tell me your opinions on this matter.

Have a great time, ladies and gentlemen.