Prytaneum
Stolen Glances
After we left West Main, Welf led me to Central Park, the area around Babel. As someone who'd grown up in New York, I didn't have much of an opinion of it, because when I thought of Central Park, I thought of Central Park. Still, it was pretty big and teaming with adventurers during the day, so I guess it made a good meeting place.
"A bunch of people showed up this morning," Welf said, scowling as we walked. "I guess that since we put the notice out yesterday, they had a chance to see it, because a whole bunch of them were waiting when I went to check. I spent about an hour and a half going through applicants."
"It didn't take long, then?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow even as he shook his head.
"As I thought, most of them were just there because of my name," He grumbled. "I swear, it was magic sword this and Crozzo that—I got annoyed pretty fast and yelled at them a bit. Then there were the elves, who I think were mostly just there to yell at me a bit. Not that I can blame them, but…well, I'm not good at getting yelled at because people who weren't involved think I'm a horrible person for stuff I didn't do. I put up with it for about five minutes, got slapped twice, figured I'd done my duty, and yelled right back."
I nodded.
"So even though I started with a few dozen potential supporters, I burnt through most of them in the first half hour. The rest of the time I spent actually talking to whoever was left and seeing who might be a good fit. Even beyond issues like my family, there are a lot of things you have to keep in mind when it comes to cross-Familia teams," Welf said, voice making it clear that he was lecturing me. "The relationship between Familias is one important factor. For you and me, it's not an issue; our goddesses get along pretty well and we don't really need to worry about causing problems for our Familias. But in other cases, it's easy to cause problems. A lot of Familias have enemies and even if they don't have any problems with us, their enemies would be our enemies. And then there are some gods who just don't get along and make partnerships unfeasible."
Like Poseidon and Athena, I thought. Except that had worked out wonderfully, after a bit of a bumpy start. But then, I'd never been much for the whole 'our parents should decide if we get along' thing. I mean, I'd seen my dad something like five times in my entire life and as demigods went, I had a close relationship with him; it always confused me when I saw the others at each other's throat over stuff like that. Sure, Ares and Athena hate each other—but how many times had the campers in either cabin met their parents? Why did they care?
But I guess things were a bit different when you actually lived with a god and worked for them directly. Even though I had only really known Hestia for less than two weeks, even counting the time before coming to Orario, I'd still spent something like a couple dozen times as long with her as I had my dad and I could expect to see her and talk to her when I came home. I guess it was less like someone having an issue with my dad and more like them being an enemy with my mom. If my mom had enemies besides Gabe, who was stone-cold dead.
Plus, Eina had told me there were other issues, if ones that seemed kind of alien to me. Like how relationships between members of different Familias were frowned upon due to custody issues—because by default, the child of a Familia member belongs to that family, but what happens when there are two Familias involved? Stuff like that wasn't really an issue for demigods, because generally you just die before it comes up.
"For stuff like that, there are two main issues," Welf continued. "Internal and external. External is pretty obvious; say that two business-type Familias decide to interfere with each other directly but are evenly matched—they might try and bring in help from other Familias subtly. Internal is a bit trickier, because it might not be as obvious, but some Familias have infighting over stuff like…deciding who's going to be in charge or setting policy. Someone without a lot of strength might look to get help from someone stronger to force the hand of the other."
"Sounds like a mess," I noted.
"It is," He replied. "That's why the usual advice for how to make an inter-Familia party is 'don't.' But in our case, we don't have much choice, so I did what I could. I turned most of them away for one reason or another and while there were a couple that might have potential, but who I wasn't really sold on. There was a free supporter looking for work and maybe a Familia, but I don't want to bring anyone new into the Dungeon. There was another guy who's Familia I hadn't heard anything bad about, but he's only gone as deep as the fifth. They both seemed nice and looked like they worked hard, but I wasn't sure they were ready for the messes we make. And there's a huge different between being able to make it on the fifth and on the tenth, even for normal fights."
I nodded again, waiting as Welf paused and looked around, scanning the park for something.
"And then there was her," He said, nodding towards a hooded figure.
I frowned as I followed his gaze, looking her over. She looked small, especially carrying a massive backpack like she was, which made the one Eina had given me seem tiny in comparison and made her look almost miniscule. Frankly, it would have seemed massive on just about anyone, but given that she couldn't have been more than three-six or three-seven, it looked significantly larger than her entire body. It was by far the most attention getting thing about her, given that everything else was covered in a worn, plain-looking robe.
"Is she a pallum?" I asked, wondering her height.
Welf looked away and shook his head.
"She's a chienthrope," He said and it took me a few seconds to remember that meant dog-person and what that meant. Frankly, I still wasn't clear on what was up with animal-people in general, but as far as I knew, they were the same height as normal people, generally speaking. If anything, they might have been a little above average. Which meant…
"How old is she?" I asked Welf, feeling abruptly startled. "Ten? Eight?"
When Welf just nodded silently, I lifted a hand to my eyes, rubbing them. Frankly, even for an eight year old, three and a half feet might have been a little on the short side and it sure as hell seemed to be a bit young to go into the Dungeon. I mean, maybe not for a demigod—Annabeth had been fighting monsters on the street by that age with the same dagger I now carried and there were plenty like her. But for a normal child?
Gods…
"I don't like it either, but…" Welf trailed off and sighed. "Just follow me, okay?"
I frowned at him but nodded, following as he led the way towards the girl, who seemed to perk up and notice us the moment we came close.
"Mr. Welf!" She said with a smile, turning our way and focusing her eyes on Welf. "Lili waited hers just like you said."
"Ah, thanks Lili," Welf replied awkwardly. "Sorry for making you wait so long—this is my teammate."
"Percy Jackson," I said, having to bend my neck just to look at her. This close, I could see her face a little better and I noticed she had brown hair, but I was also able to confirm that her backpack was at least three times the size of her entire body. Frankly, I felt a little worried just looking at her. "And you're…?"
"My name? Lili's name is Liliruca Arde!" She replied brightly, but there seemed to be something off about it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Percy."
"Hey, Lili, could you tell Percy what you told me?" Welf asked.
"Yes, sir, Mr. Welf," Lili replied promptly, smile unchanging. "Lili's a member of the Soma Familia—maybe Mr. Percy has heard of it? Lili thinks her Familia is a little well known…"
"The Soma Familia?" I asked, looking between her and Welf. The latter obviously saw the confusion on my face, but instead of saying anything he just nodded, as if prompting me to say something else. "But…if you already have a Familia, why are you looking for people to form a party with?"
"Eh-heh," Lili giggled with seeming cheer. "It's because Lili is so small and weak. 'Lili is slow and she'll just hold us back,' say all the great adventurers in Lili's Familia; even if Lili asks, they won't say yes. It's because Lili's so useless in a fight it's sad—the air at Lili's home has gotten so bad that Lili's been moving from hotel to hotel lately."
Ah. All of a suddenly, I thought I understood what Welf had been trying to say. Her smile was bright and cheerful, but something had seemed a bit off about it. Even with everything she said, her bright demeanor never seemed to change or fade, as if she didn't care at all. If it was just that, if she was just a very positive person, then maybe it'd be…okay. But there was something about it, something underneath it, that just seemed…familiar. I thought I recognized it and I was guessing Welf did to.
Something about her seemed sad or lonely. No, more than that—it seemed almost numb. Empty, maybe.
A child shouldn't look like that, I thought and had to keep myself from looking angry. I didn't know anything about the Soma Familia, hadn't even heard of them before today, and maybe it was a bit early to jump to conclusions—but this wasn't a very good first impression. I wasn't sure how other Familia's handled things, but treating a member of their family like this…
"The truth is, Lili's running out of money," She continued, eyes turning a bit pleading as she looked up at me. "Mr. Percy, won't you please take Lili into the Dungeon with you as your supporter?"
I scratched my cheek, feeling even more awkward now.
"If it's…if its money you need, I can just give you some," I said, reaching for the bag at my side. "I don't have much left on me, but it's still a few thousand, so it should be enough to help. But taking you into the Dungeon is a little…"
"Eh-heh," Lili laughed again. "Mr. Percy doesn't have to worry so much about Lili. Even if Lili's worthless, Lili's been down as far as the eleventh floor thanks to the strength of great adventurers."
"The eleventh floor?" I asked, taken aback both by the fact that an eight year old had gone that far and that someone had actually brought an eight year old to the eleventh floor.
"Even if Lili's only good for carrying bags, Lili promises she won't be a burden," She continued to plead. "Lili's memorized all the maps at the Guild and is familiar with all the monsters on the upper floors. If possible, Lili would like to sell her services to Mr. Welf and Mr. Percy while she has the chance. Please?"
I took a slow breath, frowning slightly.
Frankly, looking at her…I wanted to say no. Even though it probably would have been nice to have an experienced guide help on the tenth and eleventh floors, I didn't think it was worth it. Maybe it was a bit hypocritical of me, given the stuff I'd been getting into since…ever, but I still didn't think a child should be in the Dungeon. I mean, it's not like I'd had any choice in the matter; if had, I'd have preferring to not get kicked out of half a dozen schools for the trouble I'd caused while monsters chased me around. I didn't have any choice in the matter, but she did.
Except maybe she didn't. And that's what worried me—that if I did nothing, if I didn't hire her, then she'd keep looking for other adventurers with that fake cheerful smile and someone would say yes. I mean, clearly somebody had said yes before, after all. I didn't know what was up with her Familia or why she felt the need to do this, but clearly she did and it made me wonder just why she might look the way she did, with numb eyes and a constant smile. Would she be any safer with us, given the danger I could draw? I wasn't sure. But at the same time, this wasn't something I wanted to just leave alone. If I did nothing and she ended up dying because of me…
I looked up at Welf, who returned my gaze with a grim look, before slowly exhaling.
Damn…it looks like we were both weak to sob stories.