12. Protective Loki

All the gods within Orario heeded the call for the Denatus and some clearly were not happy with it. To say that a god enjoyed being summoned was an understatement and even more so when they were only given 2 days to prepare for it. Some Gods were definitely thinking of 'asking' for compensation from the Freya familia regardless if the reason for her calling the meeting was reasonable or not. By this point everyone in Orario knew of the monster with a soul and if it was a potential threat to the surface. Ouranos was also asked to preside over this meeting as he was supposed to inform everyone should a monster escape the dungeon. From Marlet's point of view it seemed she was being put on trial before the gods, which was a little nerve wrecking no matter which culture or religion you adhered to. With Marlet was her goddess Loki charged with the crime of taking a 'monster' into her familia, Riveria having spent most of the time and being the person who first found her and finally Finn because he was the captain of the familia put under scrutiny.

The 3 mortals were told to wait outside the meeting area until summoned in, waiting for the gods to finish going through the formalities and bestowing aliases upon recent level 2s. They didn't have to wait long before the three of them were called inside and made sat before all the gods. "Let's establish why we are here, we are here to find out why a monster has been given falna and allowed to roam Orario" an arrogant god said raising their voice making som hum in agreement and others to frown at said god's pretentiousness. "By all means" Loki only smiled and gestured for them to continue with whatever it was they wanted to say. "We all know why we send adventurers into the dungeon and what horrible things happen when said monsters escape into the open! Mayhem! That's what. We, here at Orario are to exterminate any and all monsters…" the god continued on for half an hour listing past destruction caused by monsters and the inherent evil of all beings originating from the dungeon. Finishing off their rant with how his heroic familia would personally slay any escaped monster Loki could only give a slow clap, "a very well thought out speech Assylus, I must say I commend you for your dedication in this matter" Loki then looked towards another goddess, "and what is the take of the current familia taking care of order within Orario? Astraea?" The goddess did t even open her eyes as she responded with a cool tone "no laws have been broken and we are all here to pass judgement, I'm only here to ensure it is fair and just."

"Hoh? That's quiet interesting, just according to whom exactly?" Loki asked with a cheshire smile on her face. This made goddess Astraea look at Loki as if she had gone mad. "Just to all, justice has no favourites after all" was what she said without missing a beat. "An interesting thing to say when the idiot before you had already claimed my child as a monster, that doesn't just hurt my feelings you know. It hurts the person mentioned too" at that all the gods looked at Marlet only to see her sleeping with her head down. Riveria gave a nudge in the ribs to the sleeping girl making her jump in the air and shout "I'm innocent!" This alone made some of the gods chuckle under their breath but what broke the dam was when Marlet sat back down and whispered to Riveria but loud enough for everyone to hear "is the idiot done, can we leave?" The room was in uproarious laughter and Assylus had a face redder than a tomato. Before he could say anything Ouranos slammed the butt of a massive staff once hard against the floor eliciting quiet from everyone present. "Return to the topic at hand, Loki" the trickster goddess only nodded and then looked at the joked about god, "since you feel so strongly about monsters that escaped the dungeon why don't you go on a journey outside Orario to eliminate all the surrounding monsters, with your familia of level 1s" Loki wanted this god to take the bait because he had always irritated her with his grand talks but little action. "Very well! My familia and I shall take part in your suggestion and start with the very first monster we see. As it so happens it seems I can start my job earlier than expected."

"I would be careful if I were you, not all is as it seems" an enticing voice that promised pain if you ever crossed it could be heard and caused all the gods to quiet down. "Oh, and what does your soul seeing eyes see Freya?" Demeter asked more out of curiosity. At this point Loki stood up, not wanting Freya to spill one of her secrets, successfully drawing all the attention towards her again. "I have already given her my falna and she had received it. Every person here knows what that means." This only earned a scoff from a few people and a head or two to turn towards Marlet again. "Girl, if Loki is telling the truth show us your back!" Marlet only looked wide eyed between the god who just ordered her and Loki, "I'm afraid I cannot" she sounded sincere in her rejection, "I can only turn my back to my most trusted of allies or someone close. Although you may be gods and deserve respect, I do wish for my privacy to respected just like everyone else." To say the god who made the demand was fuming with the blatant refusal of his demand made him release his arcanum unconscionably. The sound of the massive staff hitting the ground could be heard again but this time Ouranos had a frown on his face while looking at the god. The god shrunk back and refused to meet the eyes of any other gods because they knew what he did was frowned upon, pressuring a mortal with their divinity. At this moment Hephaestus stood up and drew all the attention in the room "if what the girl says is true, we shall respect her wishes. I suggest Loki and…" "Marlet" Hephaestus smiled, "Marlet, head into a private room so as to prove the validity of all these claims." This shocked a lot of the gods there but no one dared to oppose the goddess of blacksmithing, especially in recent times where she is the only one in the world to provide magic coated weapons that is even unheard of in heaven.

"With Ouranos' permission of course. Riveria shall recount the great tale of worry, astonishment and wonder!" Loki declared proudly making the elf groan at her goddess's demeanour. While being led to a back room Marlet could hear the elf giving the gods the same story they had given Tsubaki, careful to not release any sensitive information. Being alone with Ouranos eased Marlet considerably because it had explained how he had remained a neutral party regarding any and all decisions and no one can put pressure on the god before her. "You have some interesting skills, I'm not familiar with what it entails but I assume your goddess has been made aware of your many capabilities" Ouranos had a knowing smile on his face as though he could see through all. "My decision is that the girl's origin is not of the dungeon and is a mortal, even if she is immortal" that last part caught Loki's attention. "Ouranos, what do you mean by immortal?" The god in question had an amused look on his face, " what I mean Loki, is that this mortal is perfect for going into the dungeon and that she would grow well in your exploration familia."

Ouranos not explaining further led them out of the back room as they caught the end of Riveria's tale with Finn confirming the the series of events. When all the other gods saw them return they awaited the judgement of Ouranos. Freya kept her eyes locked on Marlet and was watching how the dragon that was her soul go from vigilant to its surrounding and made a complete 180 degree change in attitude almost looking as though it was bored of children's squabbles. From this alone Freya already knew what the outcome was and relaxed as well. "The girl is as a mortal and not born within the dungeon" was all Ouranos said before he sat down and watched the hall before him devolve into chaos his declaration caused. "You three can leave now. Your testimonies are no longer required and from here it's a god's game" Loki winked at them with a smile on her face after receiving a nod from Ouranos.

It was some time later that Loki returned with a tired but victorious smile on her face. The whole familia had gathered in the mess hall when they heard the Denatus was to determine their winged compatriot's fate. Loki plopped down at the main table and someone immediately gave her a bottle of wine, earning a thankful look from the goddess and a reproachful one from Riveria. Only after drinking half the bottle Loki addressed the mess hall. "They tried to take our little bird and some even tried to label her as a monster! Naturally I couldn't allow that so I brought down the highest authority on them." This earned cheers from everyone, "however, the fight isn't over. We all know what adventurers are capable of and whilst our bird isn't caged anymore, those greedy bastards will always try to get their hands on what's interesting and they can't have!" Loki seemed outraged by such sentiments as though she would never do such a thing. "The Assylus familia has been given the noble mission of hunting surface monsters and won't be welcome in Orario until they have the equivalent of 10 Goliath magic stones" she actually cackled at this, "and officially, our own Marlet is to be treated as any other adventurer!" More cheers from the crowd and flagons hitting each other in celebration could be heard. Loki sat down happy with the minor celebration going on around her but as soon as Finn sat across from her she became serious.

"What's the biggest damage done Loki?" Finn knew a meeting between gods was never simple and that preparations were to be made. If he knew where to focus it would help with allocating resources, "Hephaestus gave us her full support as we expected, what really worries me is the Freya Familia. She was oddly quiet for someone who called the meeting themselves but when she spoke she was in our favour. Keep an eye on Folkvanger's residents. Lastly there were a few that showed interest in her and others who showed a little too much interest. You and I both know how the gods enjoy to sample the exotic" both Loki and Finn's faces went dark at this mention knowing full well the meaning behind her words.

The next morning as the sun was rising over the horizon Marlet could be seen standing at the top of her tree looking over Orario and seeing the early risers already opening up their businesses or heading in the dungeon's direction. Steeling her heart she unfurled her wings and took off into the morning sky. Flying higher and faster Marlet was enjoying the early sun on her face. Getting high enough Marlet made herself as horizontal as possible and tucked her wings in, much like a eagle diving towards prey. When Marlet couldn't fall any faster the inhabitants of Orario heard a loud shout in the sky.

"WULD"

What followed was a sonic boom that marked the entrance of a laughing, flying girl with wide brown wings.