Prytaneum
Broiling
"Percy?" Hestia murmured, sleepily rubbing at her eyes. Though she tried not to show it, I was pretty sure she still hadn't recovered from her many days without sleep, though she was obviously doing better now. "What are you doing up?"
I smiled at her apologetically.
"I'm just heading out to train," I said. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"It's…" Hestia trailing off into a jaw-cracking yawn, blinking sleepily. "It's okay. What time is it?"
"A little before four," I said, to which Hestia gave me a look like I was crazy. Frankly, I kind of agreed with her a little bit—who got up willingly at a time like this?
But, well, I was the one asking for help and Ryuu had work all day.
"You should go back to sleep," I suggested. "You have work later, don't you?"
"Ugh," Hestia said, making a face before shaking her head as if to brush away the reminder. "No, no, I'm fine. I wanted to see you off anyway."
"Thanks," I said, continuing to smile despite how doubtful I found her words. She looked like she was forcing herself not to yawn again. "Did your meeting go okay?"
"It…went," She said carefully.
"Ouch," I replied, wincing sympathetically. "That bad, huh? They didn't decide to kill me, did they?"
I was mostly joking, but Hestia looked at me with horrified eyes.
"No!" She said quickly, voice forceful. "I—I wouldn't let them do that, ever! I would—"
"I was kidding," I interrupted, brushing off the memories of the gods actually doing that. "Sorry. Sometimes I think I'm funny."
Hestia heaved a sigh of relief before straightening.
"No, it's me," She replied. "I must still be tired. I just…for a while, I thought…"
"Did something bad happen?"
"…No?" Hestia said slowly, as if sounding out the word and trying to convince herself. "It went better than I could have expected, considering. Several of my friends helped me out of a bind and nothing too bad happened—nothing we didn't expect. They don't know about you. I mean, they know about you, but not about who you are."
"Right," I answered. "So they still don't know about the demigod thing? What'd you tell them when they demanded answers?"
"I told them it was none of their business," Hestia replied, puffing up her chest proudly. "Loki tried to pull a fast one, but it was nothing I couldn't handle!"
"Thanks Hestia," I said, chuckling. "Then I assume you want me to be careful of any gods?"
"Yes," She said, scowling. "Those guys…there's no telling what they'll do, especially after Loki got them all excited. Gah, those guys only get interested when it's inconvenient!"
Sounded like the gods to me.
"Well, I'll be busy today, anyway," I said. "The next few days, at the very least. I'll train in the morning and then I'll swing by Miach and Welf's place to do some work. They aren't going to cause you any trouble?"
She made a face and mumbled something under her breath, but she seemed more irritated than worried, so I smiled.
"I'll be busy today as well," She said as she sat on the couch, closing her eyes. When she was silent for a moment, I thought she'd fallen asleep, but a moment later she spoke. "I'll be with Hephaestus, too. Should be…fine."
"Okay," I said, glad to know she wouldn't get harassed. "Good luck, then, but don't work too hard. Should I bring home supper again?"
"Yes…ah!" Hestia mumbled before exclaiming, eyes snapping open. "Percy, that's right! I wanted to tell you something, but you were asleep when I got home."
"I went to bed early," I explained, tilting my head. "What is it?"
"There are two things actually," She said, giggling as if she were happy about something. "The first is, you got an Alias!"
It took me a long moment to realize what she was talking about and even when I did, I scratched my head. Welf or Eina had mentioned it at some point, the nicknames given to adventurers upon reaching Level 2. I didn't really pay much attention to them, but some of the examples Welf had given me made me wonder if the gods were making fun of people. Things like the 'Hard Fist Fighter' and the 'Fire Inferno Flame.' But maybe I was just being cynical because of all the names the gods had called me over the years.
"Oh," I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. If nothing else, Hestia seemed happy about it. "What is it?"
"'The Hound of the Goddess!'" She said proudly.
I tilted my head slowly to the side.
…I don't get it. I'd expected something about water or something, for obvious reasons, or maybe something about my general luck, but why a hound? Well, if they saw me with Mrs. O'Leary, maybe it made a certain amount of sense.
"I was really worried there for a second," Hestia continued, apparently not noticing my expression. "But…I think it's because Freya said you looked like a cute little puppy!"
…Nope, I don't get it.
"Cool…?" I said uncertainly. "But, I thought I was the Record Holder or something like that."
"You are," Hestia assured. "But that's something else. Well, it is and it isn't? It's like an Alias, but it's given to whoever's managed to Level Up the fastest, so it changes hands now and then. Not that I expect anyone will beat your record any time soon, but the gods wouldn't let you go without a personal Alias. Even if it doesn't seem like much…please trust me, things could have been worse. Loki was in a bad mood."
She was probably right. I knew that I should just take what I could get when it came to the gods, after all. Still, I couldn't help but think that 'Record Holder' seemed like a better nickname, even if I still wasn't sure how much I deserved it.
"Okay," I said. "And the other thing?"
At that, Hestia hesitated.
"Apollo's arranging a celebration, in light of recent events," Hestia said carefully. "All the gods were invited and allowed to bring a guess from their Familias. It seemed interesting, but…I wanted to talk to you about it first."
"Because so many gods will be there?" I guessed, making her nod.
"I'm sure that must be at least part of it," She told me. "For a celebration with guests to happen at a time like this, I'm certain Apollo at least considered it as a way to get you to appear, so I didn't want to go—but Hephaestus pointed out a good point. As a Familia, we're still young and new, without many allies, but recently we've grown. Right now we're only really friends Miach and Hephaestus and both have their hands tied in different ways, so she said that, despite the risks, this would be a chance for you to meet other gods and goddesses in a neutral setting and get a feel for them and their closest Familia members. She told me that, if nothing else, you might want to use the chance to speak with other Familias about trading certain items, given your abilities. I was…I am nervous about it, about you drawing any more attention, but…I thought I should speak to you about it, given your goals."
"It could come in handy," I mused, considering it for different reasons. I really hadn't gotten a chance to meet many gods or goddesses since coming to Orario, between the Dungeon and being part of such a small Familia. Hestia, Miach, Loki, Hephaestus, and Soma…was that it? I think so. Five gods, most of whom I'd spoken to only briefly. Frankly, risky as Hestia said it was, I wouldn't mind getting the chance to look them over a bit and see which ones looked like enemies. I mean, even without what I'd heard about Evilus, I didn't believe for a second that the gods all got along and it was just a matter of time until something happened. Maybe that was me projecting, given how few gods I seemed to actually recognize, but my family tree was ready to turn in upon itself at the drop of a hat. Perhaps even more than that, it was a chance for me to do some digging. Finding Familias that might be willing to strike a deal here and there would be nice, of course, especially if any of them were willing to make a deal like I had with Miach.
And if any gods happened to remember something about me…Hestia and Hephaestus hadn't seemed to, but it was still too early to say anything about all of them. Or, failing that, if any of them had seen anything in the Dungeon that might point to something I recognized.
"Perhaps I should go, but with Lili instead," Hestia said, obviously worried. "We could handle things somewhat, I think. A few Familia might be off-put by your absence, but—"
"No, its fine," I assured her. "I'll go. Hey, maybe it'll be fun."
"'Fun,'" She repeated, sounding so skeptical that I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Maybe not," I said. "But who knows? We could both use a chance to relax—and trust me, I have experience putting up with gods. But no matter what happens, I won't let anything happen to you."
"You're the one I'm worried about, Percy," Hestia said, exasperated. After a moment, she shook her head though. "But…I told myself I'd let you decide. I know this could be important to you."
"Thank you, Hestia," I said. "I know I cause you a lot of trouble."
"You'll need a suit, though," She said, brushing over that and shaking her head. "And I'll need a dress. And—"
"I'll figure it out," I promised, hiding a wince with a forced smile. Suits, dresses, expenses…I hope today turned out profitable. "I'll talk to Miach about it and get everything in order, don't worry about it. I have to go meet up with Ryuu now."
"…Who's Ryuu?" Hestia asked, eyebrows furrowing.