CHAPTER 42

Mai left elsewhere. Afterwards, Goddess Ira came in. As she noticed Yumine and Otorine by the table, she greeted them with a smile on her face,

"Hey, it's been a while!".

Ira glanced around the place and she noticed that the place was dim for her eyes. There after, she expressed herself for the owner of the bar to hear,

"Honestly, why are all the lights out of the sudden?".

Ru replied,

"Oh, sorry about that.".

Ru clapped her hands two times. The next moment, the yellow and white lights were back to their normal radiance. In turn, the whole place was truly back to its normal state, that would please lots of oncoming customers who wanted to drink in a classy place. Thereon, Ira felt relieved and nodded as she was pleased,

"That's more like it mhmmm...".

She went to the table of Otorine and Yumine. Then, she sat beside Otorine. For some reason, she noticed that both of the Goddesses were filled with puzzling worry and doubts. In turn, she asked what was going on,

"So, how's it going?".

Otorine turned to look at Ira and asked her straight,

"Ira, could you tell us more about, Distortion?".

Though, Yumine tried to butt-in,

"O-Ori, Lilieth alr—.".

Suddenly, Otorine covered Yumine's mouth that made Yumine to stop blabbering about her concerns. Ira noticed that Otorine was looking at her with a suspicious look, so Ira just grinned and she said,

"Hmmmm, Even though Blade Goddess Lilieth gave you the microchip about DISTORTION, you still want to know more coming from me? How GREEDY can you be?".

She sighed,

"Nevertheless, I'll tell you of what I know...".

Her look was very imposing as she looked-like a vile serpent who was about to spit poison with a devious smile. Yumine gulped as she saw how terrifying Ira was. More so, Ira's expression even made the air to be frozen in silence. While for Otorine, she just let Ira contnue,

"Okay, then tell us?".

Ira brought out her hand and made the hand sign for number two,

"It's just two words, MIND-BREAK.".

As Yumine and Otorine heard that twisted word, they felt tense but, at the same time annoyed, since it sounded too simple. Otorine closed her eyes and recalled the previous events in her thoughts,

"Mind-break huh, so Shunya experienced that...".

Soon enough, Ira told more,

"And how do I know this? Let's just say it's a secret.".

Ira sighed and the tension in the atmosphere was gone, as their some kind of interrogation was finished. Sooner or later, Ira expressed with an energetic and gleeful smile,

"Now that's out of the way, let's get ready for DRAGONYX FESTI—!".

"Sorry but, I'm not participating.".

Otorine interrupted. Then, Yumine said her response as well,

"Same here...".

As Ira saw and heard that both of these Goddesses weren't interested to join the event she was going to say, she looked utterly disturbed. Suddenly, she smacked the table and blurted out loud,

"WHAT?! Oh c'mon! It's one of the GREATEST FESTIVALS at CELESTIA HEAVENS! Well it's ranked second to XHRISTMAS EVENT but other than that, it's really good! Since, DRAGONYX FESTIVAL has lots of promising things.".

Later on, Otorine said complacently,

"Ira, we're not really interested in any celebration or event...".

Yumine nodded with Otorine's short explanation. Who knew there were Goddesses who doesn't like to participate on any traditional event, such irony. As Ira heard their statements about events, she was widely shocked. Afterwards, she smacked the table once again,

"WHAT KIND OF GODDESSES ARE THOSE THAT DOESN'T CELEBRATE ANYTHING?".

Yumine was growing irritated of Ira shouting at them,

"Well, why are you insisting us of joining this celebration, hm?".

Ira had stopped fuming and replied casually,

"Err let's just say, I'm one of the Goddesses who'll host this event...ehehehe...".

As Yumine and Otorine heard that Ira was one of the hosts of the event, they didn't care that much. For some strange reason, they weren't in the mood for festivities, especially now. Thereupon, Ira blew a fuse,

"OH COME ON! YA KNOW WHAT? NEVERMIND!".

Soon, Ira left the table and smacked the door, as she left outside. The powerful smack echoed. Ru made a sarcastic smille, as she saw that Ira was filled with immense frustrations,

"Guess someone's pissed...".

The Gods and Goddesses at the paved hallways of Celestia Heavenly mall were witnessing that Ira was fuming with rage.

"Bunch of killjoys...urgh...".

Sooner or later, her seething anger ceased. She went to the humble and mediocre inn in which Goddess Mai owned. As soon as she entered, her senses noticed that the counter looked deserted for some intriguing reason, making Ira to call them from afar,

"Ummmm, helloooo? Anyone there? Owner Mai? Innkeeper Xyphon?".

Sadly, no one answered, so she just sighed,

"I guess no one's there...".

It appeared that the owner and her co-owner were doing their private business elsewhere or they just don't want to be disturbed for some strange reason. Who knows whatever they could be doing. Thankfully, Ira was the only one there who wanted to book a reservation, so she just waited and sat at the chair nearby. For a while, she waited. Later on, she saw that Miro and little Nassus were descending down the stairs. Not only that, they were holding out golden flyers, while they were having a conversation,

"Hey Nassus, wanna see your err...Big sis Ori in action?",

Miro said. When young Nassus heard that statement his ears clapped with glee. There after, the youthful Nassus nodded eagerly with aided optimism. Afterwards, he flung the question back to Miro,

"What about you? Big bro Miro? Who do you wanna see?".

Miro looked away and made a passionate smile as if he was too shy to express his desires,

"I-it's Yumi...in a bikini...".

More than that, little Nassus was noticing that Miro's cheeks were blushing like a red beet. Although, Nassus didn't mind Miro's strange reaction that much. Instead, the kid just guessed,

"So you want her to be in the DRAGON GODDESS BEAUTY PAGEANT?".

Miro replied and ended the sensitive topic,

"Y-yes Nassus but, I don't want to talk about it more than that...".

Then, Miro said the hard truth with a sorrowful look,

Sadly, we can't even enter as an audience, since it's a GODS and GODDESSES only event. Well, there are some VIPs or chosen heroes and heroines who can enter though.".

Little Nassus looked very much down and pouted like a sad puppy, as he heard Miro's words of truth,

"But I wanna see Ori onee-chan live-in-action...".

It seemed that the said event was very much exclusive and only the worthy ones were able to enter. As Ira heard their conversation about desiring to see the Dragonyx festival up-front, she masked a sinister smile and schemed something in a snap. Her smile looked-like she's about to pull an underhanded strategy. Soon enough, she stood in front of their way, making Miro and young Nassus to pause on their tracks. As she caught their attention she made a nice smile and she started a conversation with added lively gestures,

"H-hello! By the way, I'm one of Ori's friends now. Also, I heard that you two wanted to see this, SPECTACULAR EVENT, right!?".

Afterwards, she had stopped smiling, made a frown and put her finger on top of her lip,

"Sadly, you two are just heroes...".

Then, Miro added more info about her statement with added depression,

"Worse, we're just Fallens, former heroes to be exact...".

Ira closed her eyes and she made a sinister smile of a scheming concubine,

"Yes but, I'm going to give you two an exception.".

Miro looked intrigued,

"Huh? What do you m—.".

Although, Ira put her finger on top of Miro's lips making Miro to pause for a moment and hold his tongue. She opened her eyes filled with sinistry. From her other vacant hand, she brought out two white tickets with strange symbols and letters written in gold.

"Take it...",

Ira said in front of Miro. The air became cold, as Miro was about to take another deal. Miro had doubts for a second, since he was about to take another dubious or too good to be true offer from a Goddess. Although, he just shoved away his doubts and took the gambit, so he grabbed the two tickets in which Ira was holding. Later on, Ira had stopped placing her finger on top of Miro's lip. She moved close to his ear and whispered some tempting honey for Miro to hear,

"Now you two can enjoy the show but, it'll be even BETTER if...You asked Goddess Yumine and Goddess Otorine to participate on the said event. I'm sure they'll LISTEN TO THE PLEAS of their HEROES...".

As Miro heard those sweet words of honey, he blushed and felt flustered. While for little Nassus, he was just mesmerized over Ira's radiant beauty, even though she was rotten to the core. After a while, their conversation ended and Ira went upstairs for some reason. The chilling air had dispersed as well. Miro was filled with joy, since they can enter the event. Then, he asked the youthful Nassus,

"So yeah, Nassus...wanna join the festival now?".

Though, for some strange reason, the child was still looking very mesmerized as he had laid eyes on Ira, even though Ira wasn't there anymore. Although, there might be some other reason, for Nassus to see her as a real Goddess. Little Nassus wasn't feeling some passionate arousal for Ira but instead, the compassionate affection of someone dear to him again. Miro kept on snapping his fingers and waving his hand sideways to snap out little Nassus from his sudden trance,

"Hey Nassus? You alright?".

Afterwards, Nassus had stopped swimming in his trance. He replied back with a cute smile,

"Ummm yeah...".

Soon, Miro scratched the back of his head and expressed his thoughts for young Nassus to hear,

"But, she said that if we wanted to see Ori and Yumi in that event, we should ask them...".

Little Nassus nodded with great determination in his adorable eyes,

"Let's do it big bro Miro!".

Then, Miro suggested,

"Alright, let's check Goddess Ru's bar first, since Ori and Yumi hangs out there most of the time.".

Miro and the youthful Nassus went to Ru's bar and went to look for Otorine and Yumine. They saw that Yumine and Otorine were at the soft couches at the westward table. Thereupon, Miro and Nassus went and bowed to them, although the two Goddesses were busy on their smartphones. Yumine took notice of the two Fallens presence, so she greeted them,

"Hey there, Miro and li'l Nassus...me and Ori are kinda busy right now.".

Otorine nodded, since she agrees with Yumine's statement. After that, Yumine asked Miro, regarding little Nassus's state,

"Oh yeah, by the way, is Nassus ready for a decent battle now Miro?".

Miro responded,

"Yeah, he's equipped for battle...".

Then, he looked at young Nassus beside him,

"Right, Nassus?".

Nassus nodded filled with determination. Otorine had stopped focusing on her smartphone and gave a nod to Yumine, signalling that little Nassus was truly ready. Yumine nodded back and took a deep breathe,

"Okay.".

As Yumine tapped her smartphone, little Nassus and Miro vanished in a split second. It appeared that the two Fallens were transferred elsewhere. Through, Yumine's smartphone screen, Yumine was seeing a live video of little Nassus and Miro fending-off and fighting frost hyena monsters in a tundra. Though, these were no ordinary hyenas, since some parts of their bodies were covered in frozen ice and their furs were white as snow. Little Nassus was brandishing his short yet, sharp daggers at the pack of hyenas while Miro was covering him. Not too soon, the fight was already over as young Nassus and Miro came out victorious and the menacing hyenas had disintegrated into thin air. Afterwards, Miro and the youthful Nassus were transferred back, near Otorine's and Yumine's table.

"Great job Miro and li'l Nassus!",

Yumine congratulated their successful return and caressed young Nassus's head to praise the kid for the job well done. Otorine smiled and nodded as well. Although, Miro was astunned in his deep thoughts,

"So that's how these new generation of Goddesses train their heroes now, kinda convenient...".

It appeared the battle with the pack of hyenas was one of the training exercises made for heroes under Celestia Heavens. In which the dark Goddesses deities assign or guide the current hero or heroes to a specific place and let them fight with these summoned monsters. As Yumine was done with her role, she put her smartphone down and asked Otorine's current situation,

"Are you done giving blessings to all of the villages and kingdoms Ori?".

Otorine replied,

"Yeah...".

Then, she put her smartphone down as well. As the two Goddesses were done with their duties, using the convenience of magical technology, they were now ready to communicate with Miro and little Nassus. Afterwards, Yumine expressed to them,

"Sorry about that...by the way, what do you wanna tell us?".

Miro didn't reply immediately, instead he was fidgeting, since he was about to ask a favor from Yumine,

"U-ummm err, we were j-just a-asking if y-ya know...you two could—.".

"JOIN THE DRAGONYX FESTIVAL FOR US!",

Little Nassus interrupted with glee in his eyes, continuing Miro's statement.

Miro was widely flabbergasted as little Nassus said the statement firsthand without any leeway. Then, little Nassus said more and more,

"Big bro Miro wanna see Yumi in the Dragon Goddess Pageant and I wanna see Ori onee-chan in the Dragon Goddess dance.".

There after, Miro made a forced smile and said to the little Nassus,

"Ummm Nassus, I think that was too direct...".

While for Otorine and Yumine, they were truly surprised and fell silent, as those were the favors that their Fallens wanted. Otorine and Yumine looked at each other and nodded. Then, Yumine said with a smile to the two Fallens,

"E-excuse us for a sec...".

Afterwards, Yumine and Otorine stood up and went outside the corner. Little Nassus looked dumbfounded, while Miro looked-like his world fell apart, since he could feel that the two Goddesses were extremely crept out by their request. Outside the bar, Yumine sighed with a stressed look and she crossed her arms. Then, she said to her friend,

"Hey Ori, do you have the same thoughts as mine?".

Otorine put her hand on top of her forehead and nodded in a negative way,

"Yeah, this is Ira's idea isn't it?".

That sudden moment, they heard Ira's voice from behind,

"Yeah, it's mine...".

Ira went beside them. Though, Yumine and Otorine weren't pleased of Ira and her honest reply about the topic at hand. The air was stagnant, as there was a rising tensions around the atmosphere. Afterwards, Yumine scoffed at Ira,

"You'd really stoop this low huh?".

Ira replied,

"Call it what you want but...".

She moved around Otorine and Yumine such as she was trying to appease their desires,

"I'm sure Nassus and Miro would be TOO DISAPPOINTED if their LOVING GODDESS SAVIORS weren't joining the event?".

Although, Yumine and Otorine didn't bite her bait. Though, Ira was persistent. Soon enough, Ira sneaked very close to Otorine's ear and Ira whispered some words filled with tempting honey,

"If you do join the event, your li'l Nassus would be happy...".

As Otorine heard Ira's words filled with sweetness, Otorine's feeble anger was gone.Instead, Otorine's was very much astunned, making her to be absorbed in her thoughts,

"It'll make him happy?".

Next, Ira sneaked behind the annoyed Yumine. Then, Ira whispered out tempting and sugarcoated words that would please Yumine's feelings,

"As for Miro, he would LOVE to see you in a swimsuit...".

As Yumine heard Ira's words filled with temptation, Yumine's anger dispersed as she was also caught in Ira's bait. That sudden moment, Otorine sensed something amiss, as everything was in total darkness, making her to feel shivers down her spine. The mysterious hand from the abyss had felt her shoulders once again. Not only that, it spoke near her ear with its eerie voice coming from the hellish dread,

"Celestia Heavens SHOULDN'T exist...".