[AFTERNOON]
In front of a grave is an expressionless white-haired young boy with cold blue eyes, what he's thinking is unknown.
It's Van, who is looking at his mother's grave before leaving Orario.
He stood there for 10 minutes before leaving, carrying a brown bag pack.
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AT HERMES FAMILIA
In front of the house where Hermes Familia is based, a carriage could be seen, Zeus entered first while carrying Bell, following them are Van along with Alfia and Zald.
Lastly, the coach, a male member of Hermes Familia, is in charge of driving the carriage and as a guide to where the familia that's going to train Van is.
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INSIDE THE CARRIAGE
With Alfia and Van sitting at the opposite of Zald and Zeus who's still carrying Bell.
"Firstly, to the familia where Van is going to train, according to the information I gained from Hermes Familia, we're going Northeast, to the Loa Village near the Seolo Forest where that Familia is staying for at least a month.
Though I can only hope that they are still there when we arrive, after all, they are constantly moving from place to place, and it'll take at least a week if there's no problem in our journey, at worst—two weeks, give or take."
Zeus said without looking at Van, as he was still feeding Bell.
Van processes what Zeus said, before giving him a skeptical look as he asks him. "Can't you just tell me whose Familia it is?"
Why he asked that is only natural, after all, Zeus still hasn't said whose Familia it is, so Van can only remain confused and a bit frustrated.
"NOPE!!! Hahaha! Well, I want to surprise you when we arrive or it'll be boring"
After all, it'd be more interesting to see both their reactions. Zeus thought after denying an answer to his question.
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WEEKS LATER, MORNING, AT LOA VILLAGE
Zeus miscalculated the time it took to arrive, after all, it took almost three weeks to arrive at Loa Village, due to Bell who's still a newborn and Van, who's still 3, they needed to stop constantly for the kids who needed some time to rest.
Fortunately, even if there are monster and bandit attacks, Zald and Alfia can easily take care of them in a matter of seconds, so there's practically no time that is wasted along the way except for the continuous rests in various villages.
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IN FRONT OF AN INN
Browner's Inn is the name of the place where the Familia who's going to train Van is supposedly staying according to what the Hermes Familia said.
"Hmm... This is the place they're staying at? Well, I guess there's only one way to find out"
Zeus said after looking above at the name of the Inn while still carrying the sleeping Bell. "Let's go inside"
Van and the rest soon followed inside the two-story inn, where a middle-aged woman welcomed them as soon as they entered.
Thankfully, Zeus knows his ways of using his tongue around any woman, so they can easily find their way through the rooms where Familia is staying.
With Zeus leading the group, they soon stop in front of the door before knocking.
*Knock* *Knock*
"Who is it?"
A few seconds after knocking, a female voice soon can be heard asking them, along with the sound of footsteps approaching the door and the sounds of the door locks getting unlocked.
*Door Creaking a little*
Soon, the door can be seen being opened slowly, with just enough space for whoever is behind the door to cautiously peek at them.
A woman with red hair and green eyes can be seen through the slits of the door, staring sharply at them, only half of her face can be seen as she's trying to learn who's knocking early in the morning.
Seeing that their group have 2 children made her gaze soften, she quickly closed the door after saying some words. "Please, wait a moment."
A minute later, the door opened again, and two female figures soon appeared in front of them, first, was the woman with short red hair and green eyes who looked to be in her early-twenties, and the second one, was a woman with godly beauty and long braided blue hair and green eyes looking at them cautiously before her gaze landed to someone she knew very, very well making her wide-eyed before grabbing the handle of her sheathed sword then shouting as a frown appeared on her beautiful face before getting angry. "ZEUS!? You dare have the nerve to appear before me!? Do you have a death wish!?"
If Zeus wasn't carrying a baby along with a small child on his side, she would've pointed her sword at his face even if there were two powerful figures behind him.
Van along with the red-haired woman was quite surprised for two different reasons, firstly, Van was surprised due to the identity of the blue-haired woman he's very familiar with and lastly, the red-haired woman was quite surprised at her outbursts as she knew her very well as a cool and battle-hardened woman. Before they could say something, Zeus laughed loudly after he turned to look at the blue-haired woman. "HAHAHAHA! Well, well, well, how's it been, my precious daughter!?"
"I'll kill you." Muttered by the blue-haired woman as her expression visibly darkened along with a look of disgust, she took a step back, as she controlled herself from having her killing intent leaked as there was children in front of her.
"Is that what you're supposed to say to your old man after who knows how many years of not talking to me!? Artemis!?"
Zeus said while his face looks to be in pain, acting hurt at her words as he looked at the blue-haired woman—no, to his most beloved daughter, the Goddess of Moon and Hunting, one of the Three Virgin Goddess—Artemis.
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INSIDE THE ROOM
After a few minutes of calming Artemis down, they quickly entered the room to avoid disturbing the sleep of the others staying at the Inn.
Artemis can be seen sitting at her bed with her legs crossed and arms below her chest, her face with irritated look, didn't even bother to look at Zeus sitting on a chair in front of her. Standing beside her is the red-haired woman who introduced herself as the Captain of their Familia, Zoë.
Zeus is currently sitting on a desk chair as he played with little Bell after waking up crying, due to their noises from earlier. At his side is Van, standing, as he blankly stares at Artemis, his thoughts are unknown.
Behind them are Alfia and Zald, both standing with an expressionless face, as they watch Artemis and Zoë silently.
"So? What do you want, old pervert?" Artemis asked, still looking away from Zeus making him chuckle wryly.
"Well, you see... I have a favor to ask you." Sighing, Zeus instantly became serious making Artemis raise her brow as she looked at him sideways.
Zeus patted the back of Van as he continued. "Firstly, this is Van, he's the first son of two of my children, his father is like a close friend of mine and this baby I'm carrying is Van's little brother, Bell.
As for the two standing behind me, well, you already know, but I'll still introduce them, the woman is the older twin sister of the mother of these two child, children, whose alias is famously known as the Silence and also an executive of Hera Familia—Alfia." Alfia didn't even bother saying anything as she got introduced.
"While the other one is one of my children and also an executive, Zald the Gluttony" Zald greeted Artemis and her Captain, unlike Alfia.
"Anyway, as I was saying earlier." Zeus with his hand still on Van's back continued, "The favor I want to ask is about Van."
Artemis and Zoë looked at Van with a hint of confusion in both their beautiful faces.
"I want you to let him stay with your familia for a few years and train him."
After saying that, both Artemis and Zoë couldn't help but become bewildered considering the nature of his request. After all, the long tradition of Artemis Familia is already widely known, and that is to never have a man in their familia and any relationships with the opposite sex, and now this man is asking them to take care of a man!? Just because it's a child, doesn't mean that they can accept him just like that.
"As I thought, you have no brain and can only think using your lower body.
Do you seriously think I will accept this child to my familia even while knowing the rules I made?"
Artemis said with a clear disdain on her face as she looked at Zeus with even a hint of contempt in her eyes. Zoë could only remain silent, but her eyes showed a sign of agreement with her Goddess's words.
"HAHAHA! Artemis, c'mon now, don't say that! Hehe!"
Zeus laughed aloud as he said that, then continued his next words while still using his right hand to play with little Bell. "Well, I have many reasons as to why I said that even while knowing your familia rules. Firstly..."
"Van..., you see, me and Artemis still have many things to talk about, and it'll take us a while to finish, so, why don't you go outside first to explore the village with Alfia?" Zeus looks at Van and whispered to him while giving Alfia a glance, clearly hinting something to her.
Understanding the situation, Alfia grabbed Van's hand and opened the door to go outside.
*Thud*
Upon seeing that they already got outside, Zeus looked at Artemis seriously, also prompting her in the same manner as they began to talk about some serious and sensitive matters, something not for a kid to listen to.
So, Zeus got Van to go outside first, as it also involves something sensitive about him and Alfia who may react violently if he's not careful with his words. But he had no choice as it was the only way to convince Artemis to let Van stay and train in her Familia.
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[English is not my native language, so please do forgive me if there's some grammatical error]