[ Olympus ]
" Is Athena alright? " Hera asks Hermes as he was sent to check on her, earlier.
Hermes shakes his head, telling Hera that Athena is not doing fine now.
" Sadly no, my queen... "
" Athena is not feeling well, cries and screams come out in front of her locked room, roaring around the aisle around her very room. " Hermes explained what he witnessed.
" That girl, she is tough to reason with... "
" Yesterday we found Aphrodite is the one who betrayed us, that follower of the Creator. "
" The Oneirois only managed to find that she is with the 'Angels' in their first extraction over her mind. "* Hera remembered things.
" Hmm...? " Hera looked at Hermes. as she saw him suddenly created a pitiful expression.
" Oh right..., you're one of her praisers, weren't you? " Hera asks Hermes realizing that the one before her still had a heart for the subject she's talking about.
" Fine then, if you're heart still misses her then let's return to Athena. "
" That girl should've been the one who leads the assault over that wretched Tower. "
" But it seems Zeus had already made her hate us more, that stupid husband of mine. "
" What is his deal with that Asgradian All-'punk', anyway? " Hera wonders what is Zeus' deal with Loki anyways.
" Whatever it is, this problem is one of them, I better try my best to not let any of you be sued if the other pantheons find out. " Hera says while ordering Hermes to check again on Athena.
" Make sure Athena didn't do something out of ordinary like Aphrodite... " she orders.
" We can't lose another of our primary gods. " Hera says while she still hates Aphrodite in her mind, but realizes that she was one of the primary gods of Olympus which made her death critical to the whole system.
" Acknowledged my queen! " Hermes leaves.
Hera looks outside her cabin, she looks at District T and the Abyss Tower. Feeling something is wrong inside that very thing.
" Hope my husband just nukes that thing immediately, I don't want to see it again! " Hera tells as she can see trees dying because of that Tower.
" It's beyond disgusting, disgraceful... "
...
[ Abyss Tower, Top Floor. ]
" Maiden!!! " Ragna tries to wake Battle Maiden up as he sees her health is critical.
Ragna gives her his HP Potion but it only heals her for at least +1.000 HP, probably because the damage is so hard to heal.
"( She's still breathing...! )" Ragna says as he tries to see what he should do now.
" [Twelve Eye]... " Ragna says as he sees the eye showing him what to do next, followed by the System asking him.
...
< Player Ragna has seen the [Vision]... >
< Would you like to [Retract] Permanent Companion [Battle Maiden] into the System? >
< YES | NO >
< note: >
< [Permanent Companion]: A companion that could be stored inside the System after the Player made a pact with the companion. >
...
Ragna sees it, as he remembered that he already made Battle Maiden has been available as his [Permanent Companion] back then, unlike Inquisitor Kara, Raiden, and Galen. He remembers making this during his talk with her while on the 6th Floor.
" Please, store her... " Ragna says as he then puts Battle Maiden into the System Space, but before that...
" Ragna... " Battle Maiden suddenly holds Ragna's hand with hers, she looks at him with the little energy she had.
" I'm sorry if I had to do this, Maiden...? "
" But,... "
" I've already chosen this, back on the 6th Floor. " Ragna says remembering his choice back then.
...
( Back then. )
[ 6th Floor ]
" What do you mean to choose...!? " Ragna asks the System as the [Twelve Eye of Time] shows him something.
" What!? this shouldn't be, possible!? " Ragna says as his vision begins to be shown and during that time Ragna feels stressed as the visions give him a hard prediction for the future and during those times.
< (!) NEW QUEST (!) >
...
< Player Ragna has seen the Vision >
< Choose Your Eternal Companion, out of these four: >
< 1) Inquisitor Park Kara >
< 2) Battle Maiden, Oriana Diane Lawson >
< 3) Raiden 'Jack' Wilson >
< 4) Galen Earson (Stinger) >
...
< During this quest, the [Twelve Eye of Time] will show the Player the visions needed for the Player's judgment, this is a one-time decision. >
< Player must choose wisely... >
...
" What the hell!? " Ragna asks.
" Why are you giving me this? [Twelve Eye]! [System]!? " Ragna shouts at it.
" Did the other Ragnas know!? "
" Cause this is so sudden, even Twelve didn't tell me about this!? " Ragna asks the System regarding this Quest that must be done.
< " I'm sorry... (T^T) " >
" Dammit, you!!! "
" If I do choose one of them...! "
" What will happen to the others...!? " Ragna asks the System which the System didn't reply. Making him gasp to the core.
( Minutes after... )
" You're here! " Battle Maiden says while realizing that Ragna is behind her.
" Is there something you want to talk about with me? " she asks Ragna while Ragna only came to her, eyes looking at the ground, and had some tears left in his eyes.
" Maiden, I'm sorry if I have to disturb your time... "
" But... " Ragna says as he tells her the reason he's here, telling the Maiden all about it which made her sigh.
" I see, so that is your choice... " she says while Ragna can only bow down, feeling guilty if he had to do things behind her back.
Feeling half-betrayed, by the person she swore to look after, Battle Maiden tries to understand Ragna's reason for doing so.
" It's always like this... "
" You suddenly came out of nowhere, making decisions behind our back, without our permission on every choice you made regarding us... "
" When you will ever learn on trusting your comrades, Ra- "
" I did this because I trust you! " Ragna interrupts her as he looks at her.
" Even before you recognize me for who I am, I already knew that you had a promise with my grandmother did you not? " Ragna tells her, reminding her of her promise to his grandmother as he shows the Maiden the [Twelve Eye of Time] activated.
" Ah yes, the eye that sees through time... " Battle Maiden says realizing why Ragna did this in the first place.
" It lets you know about anything necessary for your path to come, giving you the visions needed to know your consequences... "
" Ragna Twelve told me so when he discusses it with me... "
" Seeing your actions, I know why people like you who happen to have clairvoyance becomes the gods' great target in the past... " Battle Maiden says as she remembers the thing she knows as Athena's Divine Avatar.
" Your self-centered attitude just because you guys knew the future... " Battle Maiden tells Ragna which made Ragna feel bad even more.
" Maiden..., I... "
" Just tell me, Ragna... "
" Why? " she asks while giving Ragna the defensive hand gesture.
" That's because... " Ragna says his reasons.
...
( Back to the present. )
" I'm sorry if I have to choose you, Maiden... " Ragna says as the System successfully stores the Battle Maiden in the System Space.
< [Permanent Companion] has been stored inside the System. >
After it, Ragna then sees Raiden and Kara's health has been restored thanks to Battle Maiden.
Not just that, Ragna then realized that it seems he needs to return to action.
Because off...
" I don't know what happened, but it seems that Maiden is gone, isn't she!? " Adrian asks.
" Shit, you! " Galen squirts blood as her stomach has been impaled by Adrian's hand.
[ Neptune's Lance ]
" Hehehe! it seems things have gone bad for you, my friend... "
" But it seems the balance of this battle has been changed. " Adrian struck Galen further while laughing, but...
< Air Fissure Make Bullet -- lvl.7 >
Adrian immediately was blasted into the wall, and suddenly Ragna attacked him with Ragna 69's air ability.
" Not so fast! "
" Just because Battle Maiden is out of the picture... "
" Doesn't mean we're not enough to annihilate you! " Ragna says to Adrian.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Extra:
*Aphrodite's torture when she was alive was in Chapter 69: Aphrodite's Sacrifice
*Zeus and Allfather Loki, in Chapters 127, 130, 131.