Chapter 7

Gods were supposed to be all that were mighty, they were supposed to be those that governs all life and all things; it was them that were supposed to be loved and respected, to be given gifts and praises that they all so deserved. Day and night, whenever one sees the sun and moon, they are ought to pray for them who personified such celestial body, to lay their body and soul as a sacrifice for the Gods' effort to build such a world they live in.

Yet why?

"Why?..."

Just why was such a thing different from the things she initially had ever expected? Why was it that she was one of those to be belittled by such mortal beings?

Those where the thoughts that filled up the entirety of Hestia's mind. She is the Goddess that governs the Flames of the Hearth, the eldest and youngest to be born from the womb of the Titaness Rhea, She is the beloved sibling of the infamous Gods named Zeus and Hera— someone who's names were engraved to the the history books of Orario, and she is the best among friends of the Goddess of fire and smithing.

But why, just why; why was it that she was being belittled by the humans that she so for had descended and came to happily meet?

She, the Goddess who personifies family, came to descend down to the world of mortals in hopes of accumulating some bits of fun, to build up a familia of her own that she will take care of and treat as childrens that only belongs to her alone, and perhaps to have a sense of adventure she had never gotten a chance to do back in the heavens where she belongs. Nevertheless, she hoped for the best, yet got something of the worse.

Her life was as boring as the ticking of a longcase clock back in her home, only having to ring a ding and dong whenever she gets to imagine how awesome the human realm would be. Heaven is... A bit too much perfect, she would say; nothing was wrong, nothing was right, there was only the constant perfectness that builds it up as a whole. It was that perfection, it was that blandness of eternal rest that made it so much boring.

"It was boring, too boring even..." She murmured and sighed.

Heavy pressure fell down across her shoulders, the entirety of her body shivering in such cold nature as her eyes laid sharply upon one certain sign above an entrance to a very familiar establishment. Across the transparent glass that makes the inside of the room visible and see-through, were collections of weapons ranging from a simple gold decorated staff to one of the most ornate daggers, armors from chain to full of plates were as well seen from within, and as she gazed upon one person inside, she swallowed in a lump of her own saliva.

Knock! Knock!

Tense was broken as she gently slammed her small fingers on the door. For that moment, her ocean blue orbs shook for a bit, she doesn't know what to do next, what to say so that 'she' will not ignore her once more, or how to greet so that 'she' will not just close the door infront of her face with no remorse of any kind— ignore her pleas with a cold unwavering shoulder.

Another sigh left her throat.

"Just what trouble have I put myself in?"

For more that 10 brief seconds, the ruffling of the floor was heard even from the outside, she just can about hear the steps that resounded from the inside, it was the familiar elegant footing of her very own 'friend.' Hurriedly in a rush, she fixed and combed her long jet-black hair with her small tiny fingers, trying to hide the troubles of what she had become within the past sleepless of nights. She must present herself in a good condition infront of her friend, to atleast look decent infront of a God the same as her.

And so, she waited.

As if answering her very own wishes, the door infront of her creaked like the silent whimpering of a pig and thus opened...

And instantly slammed close.

"Aahh!! Atleast let me in, come on!" Hestia yelled, tears comedically falling down like a pair of waterfalls on her cheeks as she slammed and banged her hands onto the impenetrable door.

"Noooo! I've had enough of you! I'm not lending you anymore money!" The person behind the door cried out loud in response to the midget big boobed Goddess.

"Hey! What a friend you are, I'm not gonna ask a favor!"

"Nope, go find someone else! I have work to do!"

"My ass!" She looked at the see-through glass to see what her 'friend' is doing inside, yet as if countering her attempt, a dark cloth descended from the inside and covered the entire shop with nothing but black. "Hey!!"

"Go away!"

"Noooo!" Hestia fell to her knees, her arms already getting tired from the constant banging of the door. "I just have something to ask."

There was a brief moment of silence that fell behind the door, nothing can be heard, not even the breath of the one that was hiding from the Goddess of Hearth, nothing but the chatter of the people that go around the Babel district they're in. Hestia waited for a second, nay two, nay three... She waited for as long as she can, just for her 'friend' to answer her pleas.

And answer, was what she got.

"What is it?" The voice sounded firm, the goofiness that was on the person's voice had as if it had been eradicated away from existence.

So with that, Hestia— with a sigh heaving under her breath, spoke—

"Do you know about anything of a person sent from a world that is not ours?"

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What a bliss.

Savor it, savor it while you still can— that is the only thought that was running through Hestia's little mind. She felt as if she was swimming into the pond of eternal Bliss, floating to the neverending lake of calmness and tranquility. Albeit no matter how much she tried to calm herself, no matter how strong she tried to pull herself back in, her body was defying her very orders. If reverse sleep paralysis exists, then perhaps this would be it.

"Uwaaaaaah~~!" Hestia moaned in satisfaction, her arms stretching wide as she took more sip of the cup of tea in her hand. "It's been eternity since the last time I've got a taste of your tea, Hephaestus!"

Hephaestus, the Goddess of Fire and Smith, stared at her with a twitching eye. Her gaze alone told Hestia to 'cut the crap up,' yet it seems that the little Goddess was not paying attention enough to figure it out. "Don't exaggerate it. It's been only a week ever since I kicked you out of my care."

The Goddess of Smith, other than her skin and clothing, bore the monochromatic appearance of red. Her hair were that of a wild and wavy bunch of crimson grass, and her eyes bore the most valuable and shiny ruby that were as if it can separate a soul in two halves. Decent clothing for an almighty deity in a blacksmith's disguise, she wore a white unbuttoned blouse that was loose enough to show a gimplse of her bountiful and sizable breast, and with that combined with her long thight black pants, it goes to show her hourglass hips capable to attract any man with the slightest of sway.

Truly, a Goddess as herself deserved enough to be called a perfect masterpiece.

However, amidst her perfection, there was something that was bothering her. She was shaking, not in terror, but in utter confusion. The red Goddess hastly thumped her boots to the polished wooden floor, waiting patiently as she laid her gloved arms to the table she was sitting across to, pondering the words uttered by her friend.

It just cannot be.

"So, you're telling me that you've met a guy, who apparently, came from another world?"

The little Goddess nodded.

"And you believe him?"

Another nod, thus the Goddess in red sighed.

"Oh, you poor Hestia."

"Hey!" Faster than any beings could hope to react, the said little Goddess snapped and eyed her friend with such look of denial in her face. "It's not like I believed him so easily like a little child! I've got evidences in my hands!"

In return, Hephaestus raised her eyebrows. No matter how much the Goddess of Hearth tries to reason her, it only looks as if she was a little child trying to tell a made-up story to their mother, as always she had been. Now, however, it seems to be something different.

"And what are those?"

Hestia stopped for a moment, her consciousness drifting away to the back of her mind. Deep thought, such recollection of her thoughts is what she is currently in. Slowly, her stature became different, she leaned down to the table, crossing her arms upon the desk as she buried her face on it.

"It's... It's not much of an evidence, but more of a theoretical assumption from moments of observation." Blue pupils narrowed down, her gaze not meeting the crimson ruby of her friend as she just stared aimlessly to nothing but thin air. "His soul, I know most of us are stripped away of the ability to look into other mortals' souls, but as I neared him in distance, his soul and existence were enough for me to massively differentiate what he was. He was like a wildfire in the middle of the forest, a huge tower among small houses, and a drop of blood... Within the wide vast ocean."

"And?" Hephaestus looked at her, demanding to hear more. "I believe that is not just it for you to believe such a thing to be true?"

In response, Hestia slowly shook her head. No, it was not just that. There were many more that she had tried to question her mind, yet only a few possibilities were those that she acknowledges. She buried her face deeper into her arms.

"For a small moment, I used a tiny bit of my divine ability to seek for that answer myself. To know if his words were truthful enough to be trusted, and to seek if he was not someone of a victim spreading lies that are undetectable even to Gods such as us." She paused for a moment, trying to take the courage to blurt out all that were her thoughts. "For but a single moment, I..."

The redhead Goddess widened her eyes.

"I tried looking at this person's life through the history of his soul."

Bang!

"Hestia, are you out of your mind?!" The sudden outburst of Hephaestus as she slammed her arms to the table made Hestia flinch. This was not good, truly not a good thing at all. "If the Gods around you felt that, you would've been sent back to heaven by now! What were you thinking?!"

If she can bury her face more into her arms, Hestia would've done that with no hesitation at all, yet for the reason that she can't, made her feel more ashamed of herself. The Goddess of Hearth sighed as she faced her friend, worry visible to her ocean blue eyes.

"I-I mean, I didn't do it for too long!" She tried to reason back. "It was just for a split second, nothing more than that!"

"But even still!" The face of Hephaestus contorted into that of worry. Albeit she acted cold shoulders to her friend, Hestia was still her very own best friend, and hearing her break a sacred law fears her to no end. She doesn't want her friend to just go away, to be sent back in heaven leaving herself alone in this world— no-one to talk with, to relate with, and no-one to converse at her level of knowledge.

She would become alone once more, just like how she was eons of years ago.

Having nothing to retort back, the Goddess of Smith sat down to her chair, a great heave of sigh blowing across her mouth. "Please continue."

With a resounding nod, Hestia did as what her friend told her.

"Though the images I was able to gather for that small moment of time can only be counted with one hand, it was enough for me to build an indefinite conclusion." She stared at the Goddess across her with a slight look of worry. "I saw mechanical and metallic carriages and horses of kinds roaming a charcoal burned streets, technology far more advance to that of our own, I saw rods and sticks held by people in uniforms, and..."

"And what?"

Hestia hesitated for a moment. "I...."

But eventually, she got a hold of her guts to utter her words. "I saw the image of us, both you and I, being projected to a big and thin box that was hanging from a wall."

Hephaestus zoned out for a second. She begged that it was her ears failing to serve her it's purpose, perhaps she was going deaf as for these eons of time that had gone by, she hopes so that it was. However, it seems that it was not that case.

She heard it well and clear.

"W-what?" The Goddess of Smith gazed at her friend, asking for confirmation to her statement. But when Hestia took the chance to nod her head, millions of question bombarded her mind.

"How?"

"That, I want to know as well." Hestia's face distorted to that of discomfort. She know nothing more than that, and it frustrates her that she can only go to that extent. "Still, that is enough for me to know that he really is from another world as he says him to be, if not, atleast somewhere of a place where technology is far more advanced than ours."

This is escalating very bad, both the Goddesses understood that it was and will be. If their thoughts were true, then something bad is going to happen soon, one of the worst at that.

"Tell me you're not just making this up."

"But I'm not!"

The one eyed Goddess again narrowed her eye, her doubt suddenly rising at a very alarming rate. Something is wrong, she can already feel it. There was something to how Hestia was acting that made her seems a bit of suspicious of it. "Well then, if not, am I safe to assume that it is not 'you' who summoned this otherworldly being in your desperate attempt to get someone to join your empty familia?"

As if in an instant, the little Goddess raised her hands in defense, wildly shaking her arms an a frail barrage of 'Xs.'

"Of course not!" She looked at her friend with a puffing pout in the cheeks and an angry look in her eyes, "I am still empty of familia, yes. But I would 'never' in the eternity of my life would I even cross that much of the line! I still want to stay here in the mortal realm, no matter how long it will take me to finally obtain a familia member!"

"Hah, says the one who used her arcanum to seek for an answer..." Hephaestus muttered under her breath.

"Hey, I heard that!"

Puh!

It is true, however, and it saddens Hestia that, no matter how hard she tries, no mortals were interested enough to take her offer, her effort made proposals to join her familia. She was like the little rat from the kitchen of a chef, no matter how much she tries to get attention, no matter how she run and find something of interest to her, she will eventually be caught and be thrown away like a dead animal to the trash. How nasty have these humans have been treating her. All that she wants was to build a family to treat as childrens of her own, yet none wanted to take her offer.

Perhaps it is an obvious outcome of her 'offers.' Unlike the great Takemikazuchi who can offer the teaching of his swordsmanship, the jaw dropping Freya with her outstanding beauty, or even Hephaestus with her Smithing, all that she can offer were the warm embrace of a motherly figure of her own, the accepting care that she so much personified in, and-or the understanding comfort she is able to give in times of disasters. No-one but maybe the purest of person would be interested enough to join her familia.

Without her Arcanum in use, she is basically useless in a world as this.

Her eyes dimmed as she thought of her own hopelessness, of her own failure to become what she strives for. It was her choice to descend down to the mortal realm, to seek for something that she can achieve only in her wildest dreams, so the blame she mostly force it into was only her own self.

"Huh, what a mysterious fellow." Hestia snapped back up, hearing her one eyed friend chuckle for the first time for the day. "Honestly, I wonder whom knucklehead of a God have the guts to break the laws and restrictions we are forced to undergo into and send such a guy here in this world different from ours."

"You're..." The little Goddess' ocean blue jewels shook in confusion, "You're not confused to how this happened anymore?"

Hephaestus scowled, her eyes staring deep into thin air, gazing and glaring to who was it that did such atrocious crime even to the Gods. "Of course I am still confused, troubled even! However..."

Hestia stared at her.

"I just can't help but feel as if it was something of the extraordinary. Perhaps a change will commence soon. While to whom this actions came from, the sinful act to send foreigners to this world, I hope to see how they'll be punished. It will be satisfying for sure, such headaches this guy is going to bring us, they'll be held accountable for that!" It was rare, nay, it was much more than rare— to see her friend beam a 'dark' smile such as that, it was quite frightening.

"Say, do you know where he is now?"

"I.. uhhh.. for that..." Hestia twiddled her fingers, faint blush forming within her cheeks as she pouted and looked to her side. She doesn't want to face Hephaestus, her friend— the look of embarrassment was greatly visible to her visage.

"He... He is currently resting on my house—"

"What?!"

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"Ha!"

I fell down to the cold hard ground, my face pummeling into the dirt as I ate grass like a goat would do. It hurts, my face hurts. My eyes, my nose, my cheeks, it was as if I was dying on an injury I never knew how I've got.

Blinding light illuminated all around, all of that I can see were only the bright shine of light, giving vibes of the heavens my late grandmother often describes it to be. But.. if I were already in heaven, then was it really that much necessary to prolong my pain? The pain I have been suffering into? Alas, albeit it is what I wanted to believe, my mind told me it was the differ, refusing to conclude that it is the heaven I was showered to believe into for the rest of my life. It is truly not.

Amidst this light, I can about see the silhouette of kids approaching me, they were small, at the age of ten or eleven atleast. For how I have grown up, they were but little toddlers to me. But why, I wonder?... Why do I feel this constantly speeding up pulsation of my heart? Am I...

Scared?

"C'mere, little punk!"

Strong, that was the only thing that I was able to think of as I was lifted up to my feet, dragged up from my collar as the brightened silhouette laughed at me. It was hard for me to discern, too light and bright for me know or even remember who it was. But as I continued to ponder my thoughts, my eyes widened—

—a fist came crashing down to my face.

———

"Aaaahhhhh!!"

I jolted up and fell awake from my sleep, and instantly a heavy migraine of headaches bombarded my brain like a bullet train to a car. Nasty, I clutched my skull for such long tormenting minutes, trying to cope up with the headache my very brain was suffering into.

One, two, three, I do not know how long have I been holding my temples for my own treatment and comfort, yet when the sudden concussion of a migraine finally died out after some time of hissing, I was finally able to focus to one thing. What is happening? The last thing that I can vaguely remember was the big tower that pierced the heavens and...

"Oh, god. The elevator." Realization fell before me like a heavy waterfall crashing to the ground, forcing me to have a yet another existential crisis as I took a hold to my blanket, the fluffy comfortable...blanket?

"Wait, blanket?" I stared down to my crotch, and surely, there was a blanket that was covering my waist and below. Panicked, I looked around once more, taking in the vicinity as I anxiously gazed left and right. I am in a completely different place, somewhere that is not the slums, but definitely at a similar place, that is for sure.

Fluffy bed, it has been a long time ever since I've rested to a bed of such comfortable softness, yet as I sat in one, it had just solidified and made my inner questions more complex. Just...

"Just where am I?"

Then suddenly, as if appearing out of thin air, a vaguely familiar young child stood before my side. She has the longest of black hair, the bluest of eyes, and absolutely the weirdest choice of clothing. But... Why is it that she have such a—

"Oh, you're finally awake!"

—huge boobs.

"Hello, dear otherworldly being. My name is Hestia, a Goddess of this world, and welcome to this world that is certainly ours!"

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"Cut the bullshit! Let me go back to my world! I beg you!"