Chapter 24 - Coming Storm

---Next Day---

Waking up before sunrise, I packed up a few of my things and left my room quietly. Checking in on the girls, all of them were sound asleep. Watching Erza thrashing around in her bed, it sounded like she was fighting something in her sleep. Seeing her drooling as well...I assumed she was locked in combat with the meal from last night. Walking around to each of them, I kissed them on the forehead with a warm smile.

'I look forward to coming back to see all of you.', I thought brushing the hair out of Erza's face, 'Stay safe while I am out. I don't want anyone of you dying on a quest while I am out.'

Slipping into Irene's room, I walked over to her bed and was going to do the same when I noticed she wasn't asleep. Letting out a sigh, I chuckled softly before speaking.

"You enjoy pretending to sleep?", I questioned, "Or did you expect something to happen?"

Cracking a grin she opened her eyes, and chuckled.

"You already kissed the girls, didn't you?", Irene inquired.

"Of course, I like them after all.", I admitted without skipping a beat, "Just like I like you, what's wrong with a kiss on the forehead?"

"Haha, I expected you to freeze up a little but you didn't at all.", Irene laughed before getting serious, "You know all of us have baggage right? We aren't normal like a lot of other women. If this is your way of backing out now, I don't blame you."

"I like you all just the way you are, strange and goofy. Life is too boring to be normal, all I care about is if I enjoy the company I am with. Personally, I enjoy being around all of you and having adventures.", I told her, "None of you are my friends...you are my family."

Seeing her harden expression soften, she tried to pat me on the head. Having trouble doing so, I leaned forward so she could do it. Instead of doing that though, she pulled my face into her chest.

"I won't stop you from pursuing multiple girls, however if you want to pursue me you are going to have to be older.", she snickered, "Ask me again when your eighteen, and then we can talk. I am not about to date someone who isn't legal."

'This woman...', I thought with smirk.

Letting me go, she said she'd take care of the girls while I was away. Giving her my number in case something happened, I said to give me a call and I'd be here in minutes.

"I doubt I need to say this, but make sure you come back in one piece. If you die, those girls are going to lose it.", she told me with a smile, "When I say lose it, I mean worse than the time Minerva ate Millianna's steak leftovers..."

Remembering that fight, the two of them wrestled all over the house yelling at each other. It was leftovers from a very fancy restaurant, and Minerva ate it without asking Millianna. When she came down to eat it for breakfast...she went feral on Minerva.

"I know, you don't need to worry about that.", I assured her, "When I get back, lets all go out to have dinner together. The capital has that really nice steakhouse that opened up recently, lets go there."

Saying it was a date, she hurried me out of her room so she could go back to bed.

'My daughter and her friends have chosen a rather interesting boy to fall in love with.', Irene thought locking the door, 'I hope they find the happiness I longed for in my youth. No one should have to watch their partner turn their back on them.'

---Orario---

Making a stop in Orario, I wanted to have a quick chat with Astraea about what was to come. I was sure Zeus, Hermes, and Hera were already making preparations, but I wanted Bella's Familia to be ready too. Knocking on the door to the Stardust Garden, Astraea opened the door with a smile.

"Oh it's you!", she said, "Are you here for Lily and Bella?"

"Not today, I am actually here to speak with you.", I stated, "Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Of course, let me put some tea on.", she replied.

Taking a seat at the kitchen table, I used Detect Life to confirm that no one else was here. Making the assumption that they were on patrol or in the Dungeon, I was happy to see the two girls were making some progress.

"Here you go.", she said setting a cup in front of me.

"Thank you, I apologize for showing up so early in the morning.", I stated.

"It's fine, I am usually up at this time anyways", Astraea remarked with a giggle, "I assume it must be important for you to show up so early."

"It is, has Hermes or Zeus told you about a conversation I had with them two years ago?", I asked.

"No, I haven't seen Zeus since then. His Familia and Hera's is slowly being rebuilt, does that have something to do with it?", she inquired.

"In a way, yes.", I replied taking a moment to gather my thoughts, "Two years from now, Orario is going to be on the receiving end of a terrible Evilus attack. Nearly twelve deities are going to die before it's over along with thousands of people."

Looking into my eyes, Astraea was judging whether I was joking, lying, or telling the truth. After a few moments, she closed her eyes and accepted it as the truth.

"How did you come by this information?", Astraea asked.

"I have done a significant amount of traveling. The Evilus are better connected than you think, they have allies here in Orario and in other places around the world.", I told her, "I learned of the attack when I interrogated a smuggler that was in the process of sending contraband to Orario. Several of your kin are entering the Dungeon, and raising monsters for that conflict."

Dropping her tea cup, Astraea looked at me in shock. It was well known how dangerous it was for a deity to enter the Dungeon. If they died inside they wouldn't return to heaven, they would be devoured by the Dungeon. Not only that, the Dungeon would almost certainly become enraged by their presence and bombard the deity till they left or died.

"That...that's not possible. The Guild controls the entrance to the Dungeon, someone would have seen them.", she tried to refute, "I just don't see how my-"

"That isn't the only way into the Dungeon...there is a man-made dungeon immediately next to the Dungeon. Each of it's floors has a connection to the Dungeon, the enemy uses it to get around without being detected.", I said in a calm tone, "The man-made Dungeon is beneath Daedalus Street, they use it to smuggle contraband into Orario and to hide themselves."

Getting up, Astraea was overwhelmed by this information. The thought that such a place lay beneath Orario was a terrifying thought to her, but it explained why her Familia and others had problems pinning the Evilus down. If they could simply slip into a dungeon beneath the city, there was no way they would have found them.

"If you send people to start searching now, you will tip the enemy off. They have already been watching your Familia as well as Freya, Ishtar, and Loki's. The Evilus suspect that one of the top Familias was the real culprit behind the attacks in the Dungeon.", I told her, 'I had runes all over the first twenty floors, I know they have been watching everyone. Initially I only intended to use it to save kids that would dive into the Dungeon for my aid, but it also helped alert me to their surveillance operations.'

"They have!?", Astraea gulped, "I thought it was just us. So then we weren't just being paranoid..."

"No, their plans were derailed by the attacks in the Dungeon. The entity in the Dungeon attacked their people and weakened the Familias substantially.", I explained, "They want to eliminate the source of the attacks before pushing forward, but they haven't found a single lead. Soon they are going to continue their plans...according to what the smuggler said."

"Do you know who the Evilus are?", she asked.

"Alecto, Apate, Erebus, Rudra, Thanatos...those are the names I have managed to come up with so far.", I told her, "They are stockpiling Berserker Potions and other buffing measures to offset their lesser numbers. That's what the smuggler was bringing in."

Falling back into her seat, the color from her face faded. The thought that so many deities were involved sickened her. She saw how many innocent lives were taken by them, it made her sick thinking about how she shared food and drink with them. Her children had nearly been killed on several occasions by them...that was what hurt the most.

"Do with the information as you will.", I said standing up, "If you can stop them before they cause thousands of deaths, I will look the other way and leave their punishment to you. In the event you can't stop them, their Familias and their own lives are forfeit."

Snapping out of her slump when she heard that, she looked at me in disbelief.

"Mael, please don't say things like that. A mortal shouldn't kill a God, if they do, when the mortal reincarnates their souls will be tortured!", Astraea stated with concern, "I don't want to see you suffer...Bella and Lily love you very much. It would destroy them to see you suffer for doing that. My allies and I can punish them accordingly if that happens, you don't need to-"

Reaching my hand out I patted her head.

"Miss Astraea, I knew I made the right choice when I left the two of them in your care.", I said with a warm smile, "You are one of the few truly good Deities out there. If more of them were like you, this world would be a much better place for all. Unfortunately only a small group of deities are genuinely good. So many of you treat this world and the people on it like they are entertainment."

"That...", she said unable to refute it.

"Those five deities are willing to turn this city inside out for their own pleasure.", I said staring her in the eyes, "Someone has to rise up, and face them head on for what they have done."

"Mael, please don't!", she pleaded, "It's not worth the suffering you will endure!!"

Giving her a confident grin, I told her not to worry about it. Walking towards the door, I glanced back at her.

"You and your kin aren't the end all be all in this universe. Have a little faith, I promise the only ones that will come out of this screaming are them.", I chuckled, "In fact, I give you my word that is the case."

Feeling an otherworldly power wash over her, in her eyes, the boy standing in front of her was Titan and she was but an ant. The sensation terrified her yet also gave her a sense of security, it was a weird sensation for her to feel. Watching Mael leave, she looked at her trembling hands in shock.

'What was that...my divinity...it weakened just now.', she thought as she felt lightheaded, 'Maybe...maybe Freya isn't crazy, maybe he is a Legendary Demigod.'

Dwelling on that for only a moment, she knew she had to do something. If Mael was on their level or greater, the five men would most certainly died by his hands. In the event he found a way to permanently kill a deity...

"The power balance would shift immensely in the city...no the entire world.", she said as sense of excitement came over her.

Rushing out of her home, she went to see Freya and Loki to discuss things with them.