Ex Machina

Zeus and the survivors of his familia retreated deep into the forest, leaving the child to mourn the loss of his parents amongst the field of corpses strewn carelessly around him. The child had a fair complexion that was stained with mud and blood. His hair was a dark hazel that was disheveled and matted with dirt. His face was rounded with youthful fat that faded with time. It was homely yet sharp and had the potential to be handsome, but was marred with grief and sorrow. His eyes were a dark blue like the bottom of the ocean and would be striking if they were not bleached by tears and reddened with sorrow.

He was forgotten or misplaced under the tide of confusion and panic that flowed over the retreating party. He sat by his fallen parents with tears streaming down his face as enemy adventures surrounded him, they moved closer, seeking to strike him down. Ottar took the initiative, closing in and raising his sword to finish the job.

"Wait!" Freya pushed the men crowding around the boy and rested a hand against the outstretched blade.

"This boy….. I've never seen a soul with such a color." She looked at the boy, mesmerized by something only her eyes could see. She stared longfully at his chest, her eyes glazed over as she stared into the child, looking further than mortal eyes could perceive.

She muttered to herself, seeming to forget the crowd of people around her as she began to describe what she saw.

"It's a vibrant shade of purple like I've never seen before. A violet that's as dark as the depths of the sea, yet transparent like a running spring. It swirls fiercely around a center beaming pink, yet its rays are shrouded to where it's difficult to see. Like the swirling expanse of a nebula in the depths of space, with its speckled lights that seep through a shroud of violet mist."

The adventures around Freya look at her with confusion, then at each other with troubled gazes. Ottar stood silently with a neutral expression as Freya continued with her tangent, he knew better than to interrupt her as she gushed about a soul that caught her eye. She looked back at Ottar with a delightful grin as she demanded.

"I want him, grab him and take him with us."

The child was oblivious to Freya's interest as he continued to mourn for his fallen father and mother. His tears had long ceased and he could only heave hiccups, he quietly muttered the name of his father and mother, desperately trying to call them back from whatever land they left him for.

Ottar sheathed his sword and kneeled to grab the child, but before he was able to grab the boy, he ripped out a dagger that was buried in his father's stomach and thrusted it upwards towards Ottar's neck, thrusting it with the full weight of his body behind the hilt. Ottar grabbed the naked blade with his bare hand and expressionlessly looked into the child's eyes. The child hysterically beat the pommel of the dagger with the palm of his hand, trying to drive it into Ottar's exposed neck. His efforts became labored the longer the child tried burying the tip of the dagger to Ottar's neck, he looked at Freya and said.

"That's not happening." Stating with his trademark even tone.

Freya raised an eyebrow. "Why not? Are you disobeying me?" She asked, laced with danger.

Ottar shook his head, saying "He's determined to kill anyone within our familia that he can get his hands on." His point was enforced by the child's continued struggle to stab Ottar.

Freya looked at Ottar with annoyance, saying. "Can't you just break his spirit? Train him to be obedient?"

Ottar again looked in the child's eyes, the determination that shone in them confirmed what he would say next.

"No, I don't believe that's possible. I've killed many enemies and have had many that come seeking revenge against me, but this….. I've never seen someone's eyes blaze with such furry, yet hold such an edge. I fear, in time, he could become a threat to you and our familia. That's why…"

He flipped the blade up, ripping it from the child's hands, and gripped the handle in the air. Swiftly he plunged the blade down towards the child's back. Freya gripped Ottar's arm before the blade could reach its mark. Lifting Ottar up, she pushed him away from the child as she said.

"I don't care what you believe or don't believe, you will listen to my commands. Choose to ignore me again and I will personally attend to your punishment. Is that clear?"

Ottar held her glare with a cold, neutral gaze and nodded once.

"Good, now grab that child and take it with us. We're heading home."

A loud voice rang out from behind Freya, Loki, and their two familias. A righteous voice announced to all adventurers, sending panic through their ranks.

"Loki, Freya, what have you done! Get away from that child and surrender immediately!" Astraea, the goddess of justice, bellowed as hers and the Ganesha familia surrounded them. Astraea and Ganesha strode straight to Loki and Freya, both displayed their annoyance as Astraea and Ganesha rushed forward. Freya looked at the pair and spat."

"This is so annoying, I really have to deal with the righteousness freak and a self-absorbed idiot? What do you want? Shouldn't you be stopping a shoplifter or looking at a mirror?"

"Before we cut you down right here and now, I want to know. Why does Zeus's familia lay dead everywhere and why are you surrounding this helpless child?" She moved forward and grabbed the child's arm and moved him behind her, then held the hilt of her sword with her other hand, ready to draw at a moment's notice.

Freya clicked her tongue in anger as she seethed with annoyance, seeing Astraea's appearance as more of a hindrance than a consequence of their actions.

"Because they were weak, honestly I know you're a goddess of Innocence and purity, but try and see an opportunity when it presents itself. We couldn't have passed up such a tempting opportunity, could we?" Freya looked at Loki with a devilish grin, Loki replicated the smile, agreeing with Freya.

"It was too easy, I mean you would never guess they were one of Orario's top dogs by the way they just keeled over and died. Funny Hera wasn't with them, but I doubt she would have made much of a difference." Loki speculated.

Astraea became visibly angered and began to pull her sword from her sheath, Ganesha casually placed his hand on Astraea's hilt to stop her from pulling it from its sheath.

"What you've done is indeed terrible and there will undoubtedly be consequences for both of your actions, but I will not allow any more fighting within this city, or outside it." His eyes narrowed behind his elephant mask as he said with a deadly even tone.

"But I will say, neither of you will escape this. If you were to, then what's there to stop any familia from destroying another? Just know, this will not be forgotten."

Ganesha turned, pulling Astraea with him. Their familia's filled in to cover their backs, stopping there from being any resistance from Freya as they stole the object of her obsession from under her. Freya tried to raise a protest against them taking the child, but Loki commented before she could.

"Let him go, Freya… Anyway, It might be more interesting this way. Right?"

Freya smirked at Loki's idea as she watched the small boy be led away by Astraea.

"You might just be right, I'll have to keep an eye on him though." She turned, giving some silent orders to her men.

As Ganesha led Astraea and their familias towards Orario, she stubbornly pulled against his grip, but Ganesha kept walking saying in a quiet tone.

"Quit resisting, it's pointless. If we fight them right now, then both our familia's will join Zeus and Hera's. Do you want that?"

Astraea angrily whispered, still struggling against his grip. "You'll really allow them to get away scot-free, just like that?!"

Ganesha stopped and looked into Astraea's eyes, saying seriously. "There's nothing we can do right now. If we oppose them then they will destroy our familia's as well. The damage is already done and it's not worth starting a civil war over. All that we can do is go to Ouranos and have him restrict Freya and Loki's movements through the guild. So just wait for now…. and know I hate it just as much as you do."

He looked at the sunrise cresting over the gleaming city of Orario and he said to Astraea, maybe even himself.

"We must do everything in our power to protect peace within Orario, even if it means overlooking something like this." He turned around and smiled at the child still in Astraea's grip, saying.

"So we can protect the innocent, like him." With that said, they both turned towards the city and made their way inside. They readied themselves to deal with the aftermath of the two largest familia's in Orario being destroyed, it would not be an enjoyable job.