Chapter 61: Laying out the House Rules... Clearly?

Ares picked up Appa and hugged it. "Who's the cutest shade?"

Appa nuzzled Ares affectionately. "ME!"

"Haha, correct as always. By the way, was that also an art? What you just did to Trew? I can sense some lingering mana."

"Yep! It's a chant-less art that makes people feel good. I call it, Say Happy Things! Everyone who hears what I say will feel warm and fuzzy, reducing their hostility!"

"I'm not sure you even needed an art for that... Has anyone ever told you you're too cute for your own good? You're a sweet little munchkin. Never change, Appa." Ares gently rubbed Appa's soft head.

"Okey doke! But only if you promise me you and mum won't ever change too!"

"Ha, you're a sly one. Alrighty then, I promise. Let's all keep living happily like this forever, ok?"

"Yep!"

Ares sauntered over to Enyo and Bellona and thanked his lucky stars that the wedding talk had seemingly died down for now. Not that he himself wasn't also looking forward to that day, whenever it would be but, right now, he was broke! Well, sort of anyway. He actually had a lot of stardust thanks to all the dead transition realm cultivators in Dominus' mansion back in Baja, but whether it was enough to have a large scale wedding and to make it every bit as perfect as it should be... Yeah... Probably not... There was no reason to half-ass it considering how much money Ares was capable of raking in with his forging and runemancy talents, he just needed to start accepting clientele first instead of doing it exclusively for free for the sect. That or he could just go hunting for rare treasures and cultivation resources and then sell them at auction. Ares knew from past experience that a lot of hustle and bustle came to Red Sun during the international, even if he wasn't aware of the specifics at the time, and that there would almost definitely be an auction house popping up somewhere. Even if the wedding was not even remotely close to happening, he could still try and earn some more stardust for the auction house if nothing else; maybe he could find some interesting treasures for his weapon collection or some resources to aid his slow cultivation as he still had yet to find or use any. By the standards of any normal cultivator, Ares was seriously lacking in the resource department, so he really felt the need to go hunting; all he really needed was information on where to look as blindly searching probably wouldn't get him very far. That wasn't much of a problem though as keeping an ear to the ground around fellow disciples and visiting the mission hall regularly were easy ways to get reliable information. "Hey!" Ares grabbed the sisters' attention. "Here catch!" Ares chucked Appa at Bellona in a beautiful arc.

Appa soared through the sky, twirling as it giggled. "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Bellona spread her arms wide and caught Appa while Enyo shot Ares a disapproving glance. "Ares, don't throw our child!"

"Aw come on, Appa can float anyway, it's not like she was gonna fall or anything."

"No means no. Be obedient or I'll have Appa cast Shame On You again."

Gulp

"Yes mam."

"Good boy. By the way, what happened to Trew? Where's that loser skulked off to now?"

"Dunno, but there's a good chance he'll come back a changed person. Changed in a good way and way less annoying. At the very least, I imagine he'll quit being a pest around you, so that's good enough for me."

Bellona was sceptical however. "I'll believe it when I see it. The changes he would need to undergo to even be remotely tolerable are monumental. Well, whatever, enough about him. Tell me more about you two!"

"Uh... I'm surprised Enyo hasn't told you everything already, she was really quite talkative a second ago. There's really not much to tell anyway... Unless you want, like, really, specific details."

Oh come on, don't be boring. Actually, you know what, I'll just stick to girl talk with Enyo. I can get all kinds of deets out of her. You're too much of an idiot to understand the nuances of women's gossip." Bellona stuck her tongue and began dragging Enyo away.

Ares made sure to call after her. "I'm only an idiot because I've put so much distance between myself and idiocy that I've looped around!" Ares turned to walk over to Aejaz and the others when he was hit on the back of the head by a pebble Bellona had thrown. She bolted away with Enyo before he could retaliate, unfortunately. Ares got within earshot of Gladius who was in the midst of mentioning that he, Bellona, and Charity needed to go find an elder to sort something out for them. "Which elder? I happen to know a few and can maybe help you find whoever it is you're looking for."

"Ah. It's an elder by the name of 'Rud'. I don't suppose you know where I can find him?"

"... Uh... Yes? Anyway, when you do find him, let him know I sent you; it might make your life easier... Or way harder, I don't really know..."

"... Sorry if I missed it, but I don't think you told me where I could find him."

"Put a blindfold on. Walk twenty paces. That ought to do it. What do you need the old coot for anyhow? If it's him specifically, its probably some kind of documentation? He's the only one that sorts that stuff out as far I'm aware."

"There aren't others? He does it all himself?"

"Well, I mean, there are others... But he does do it all by himself, yes."

"Are you drunk?!"

"No? Are you?" Ares could have very easily clarified that Rud had clones running about practically everywhere, but where was the fun in that? Seeing the confused look on Gladius and Charity's face was highly entertaining.

"Ok, whatever. Not sure why I'm even bothering to try and have a rational conversation with a revenant to begin with. As for why we need him, Charity, Bellona, and I are swapping sects."

"You're coming here? Not that I don't mind having more friendly faces around, but what for? Also, what about the regional? Isn't that a conflict of interest?"

Gladius shrugged. "Regarding the regional, no one in our sect even comes close to us. Even if we half-assed our performance we'd still be twice as coordinated as anyone else from our sect would be. Plus we gave the sect master our word we would try as hard as we could. Our sect master knows enough about the Legion clan that he trusted us pretty much on the spot and he wasn't wrong too either. Don't think we're gonna go easy on you 'cos we really aren't. As for why we're moving here, there's no major reason, but rather a few small ones that just added up. Bellona was already moving here because she wanted to be with Enyo and I think she also mentioned something about your cooking? It seems she wants to freeload and live in your house... So good luck with that. Bellona leaving our sect means Charity and I would have been stuck with Trew... And that was a nightmare waiting to happen if ever I've seen one. This sect is also way wealthier than ours and the houses here are supposedly nicer and bigger. Our place was getting a little cramped so there was really no difference between moving to the inner court there or coming over here other than that things were nicer here. Like you said, there are also more friendly faces around. Also, we'd heard rumours that Sadie was here? Not sure if its true or not but, if it is, that's just another reason to be here as keeping up with training is important to me. That about sums it up, I think? Well, there's also the whole Shock Bead thing going on with this sect. The reputation of this sect has risen drastically thanks to the unveiling of Shock Beads in the wider cultivation world and, well, I'd rather be the one throwing them than the one getting hit by them... Speaking of which, as you're the one responsible, could you let us know how we can get our hands on some?"

Charity interjected briefly as she also had a request. "Oh and, part of the reason I moved here is because I was hoping I could get some of your revenant blood every now and then? It works miracles and, as a healer, it's an invaluable treasure to me. I understand if its awkward though, just figured I would shoot my shot while I'm here. It's not exactly easy getting my hands on revenant blood as, thanks to the war, I'm more likely to be getting revenant blood on my hands..."

"Yeah, sure, go for it. I've got plenty of blood to spare and it regenerates quickly enough. As for the Shock Beads, I make them regularly and there's already a bunch of people that I give them out to for free anyway. Adding a few more onto that list really isn't an issue as the creation process for them was quick to begin with and has only gotten quicker the more I do it. So I guess that's a yes to both requests and, also, welcome to the sect. If you need a hand finding anything, I'm familiar with everything other than the core area, although I could probably point you to a guy called Eagerton who owes me a good few favours... You might need to ignore his weirdness though..."

"Eagerton is here?... Yeah, I've heard stories about that whacko... Well, thanks nonetheless. We'll be heading off to go... Try and find Rud... And I suppose we should go look for Sadie after and say hello. I'm not even going to bother asking you where we could find her..."

"Oh that's easy, she'll be in the training hall."

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST TELL US WHERE RUD IS YOU STUPID REVENANT?!"

Aers chuckled to himself. "Because that's not as simple a question as you might think it is. I know where Sadie is because she's always there and never anywhere else other than the weapon's department. If I started listing all the places Rud is or could be... I'd be here for a very long time. Trust me when I say this, Rud could be literally anywhere, he could even be right behind me for all I know."

"Why are you uttering my name you loathsome rodent?"

"Oh hey Rud!" As if on cue, the man himself appeared behind Ares. Ares looked the clone up and down and figured it was probably the disciplinary Rud as he had an armband on and there were very few departments in the sect that utilised them. "So uh, how's the work coming along on the house I blew up?"

"Shut up fool. I should make you build it. Lord knows I would gladly stand behind you, whipping you as you slaved away."

"Why the hell does everyone want to whip me?!"

"... I'm not even going to ask. I know I'll just lose my sanity if I let you set the pace of the conversation. What do you want from me you detestable devil? And make it quick. Some idiots made a bet and started playing catch with Shock Rocks. They accidentally blew up a fellow disciple who's now been hospitalised and the longer I stand here talking to the true culprit the more I want to send you to join him."

"It's not what I want, its what they want. Something to do with joining the sect."

Rud gave Charity and Gladius a once over. "Right, I remember. Shouldn't there be three of you? Well, they don't need to be present necessarily. Only one of you has to sign on the dotted line as you all applied together. It'll be nice having more Legion clan members here. Makes for a pleasant change of pace compared to the usual..." Rud glared daggers at Ares. "...Originally I was going to do you a favour and put you as far away from this explosive bonehead as I possible could. You seem to be cordial enough with each other though so, instead, I'm going to make use of that. I'll be putting you in the house directly next to Ares. He already blew up the one on the other side up and its to late to do anything about it, but with you present in the other building, he should show some restraint for once."

"Aw, don't be a Debbie Downer, I was just experimenting is all."

"Tch, I know that. You can consider yourself lucky; if the sect master hadn't made me promise to stay my hand that day... Oh the joy I could have had. Still, I'm grateful enough I had a chance to finally smack you around a bit; I was getting restless whenever I saw that smug mug. Enough about you, though, Gladius and Charity I'm guessing? Go to the logistics department and I'll be there."

Gladius, like everyone else in the sect, was shocked that Ares got away with mouthing off to the elders. Not that it was any of his concern though. "Thanks. Don't worry too much about us though, you can take your time with your issue first. We're in no rush."

"Hm? That's not what I meant... Ah forget it, you'll see." Rud disappeared in a blur and left a bewildered Gladius contemplating what exactly Rud meant.

"I'll be on my way then." Ares gave a quick salute. "Lord knows if I don't hurry Sadie is going to put me through the works again..."

"Does she know your a revenant by the way? I know she's cool with your race so it should be fine regardless."

"Yeah she knows. The only one who doesn't is Trew but I think it might be ok for him to know at some point. Not right now, mind you, he seems to be thinking through a lot of things. No need to give him more to think about. I don't know if letting people know I'm a revenant is going to actually be a problem though. As a 'fundamental' I have a duty that's more important... I'll explain it to you some time later, it's not exactly a secret or anything; but I should get a free pass on the whole war front. As long as I don't get directly involved, I don't think anyone will try to involve me considering my situation."

"Well now I'm curious but, yeah, we can talk some other time. Thanks for everything." Gladius and Charity went on their merry way. When they eventually made it to the logistics department and discovered Rud, there was a bit of a mess trying to explain the whole clone thing, but they eventually got it... They also really wanted to smack Ares upside the head for being so difficult about it earlier. As they were members of the Legion clan, they were familiar with the revenants silly behaviour though, so it wasn't too unexpected. Even the revenants they had personally killed, the group they discovered by chance, begged for their lives and offered to put on a theatrical display showcasing their sorrowful disposition. They made it about ten seconds and three 'woe is me-s' into the performance before trying to launch a sneak attack with the ceremonial 'prop' dagger. It was seriously impossibly difficult to tell if all revenants were highly stupid or highly intelligent, but there was no doubting they were at least one of the two. 

Meanwhile Ares went off to go train and was eventually joined by Enyo and Bellona. Sadie took a break to catch up and everything involving training came to a standstill as the 'girl talk' group now had a third member... Fifth, actually, as Li Li and Esme also jumped at the opportunity to get involved. If there was one thing Ares truly didn't get about women, it was their propensity to act like pack animals. Though, then again, If they were having fun who was he to question it? Ares used his spare time to train Aejaz as he was starting to get a feel for how the art he wanted to make should be made. Aejaz' art probably wouldn't be usable until the international, but boy was it going to be a showstopper! Even Ares was seriously impressed with his brother as it genuinely looked like he was going to be able to pull this nonsense off. Hell Ares himself spawned the idea and even he believed it wasn't doable and, yet, here they were, figuring out the intricacies of making it work... Aejaz was seriously on the path to becoming something out of the ordinary. Ares felt pretty confident in the idea that Aejaz would step onto the path to become the next God of the darkness pillar depending on how successful he was here, it was absolutely that serious. Bare minimum, Aejaz would be a contender and that was incredibly important as those with hope of becoming a God could develop an ability to undergo temporary apotheosis. This wasn't something that could be done until after the transition realm, so it wasn't even remotely close to happening as of right now; but it was in the cards for his brother. Actually, he wasn't the only one. Enyo was basically guaranteed to be in the running for the holy pillar spot and, who knows, maybe even Allie if she put some serious effort into the alchemy pillar. Ares himself was literally guaranteed, as only he could wield destruction magic, which meant casa del Ares was filled to the brim with freakishly strong cultivators. As for Appa... the competition was a bit more fierce as the water pillar was quite a common one. Appa didn't really stand out as a cultivator unless it was a contest of cuteness, then she was a shoe-in. Who knows, maybe Appa could lean into that niche and become a cute water God? It wouldn't be impossible... If Ares were the God of the water pillar and Appa asked him for his spot he would give it up in a heartbeat.

Some time later Gladius and Charity arrived. Gladius only got to give the briefest of greetings before Charity joined the cat pack and shooed him away. The only female not in the group currently was Allie who was deliberating whether or not to throw herself into the lion's den. She knew in her heart of hearts if she dared step foot into the predatory group she was going to be bombarded with very personal questions. Ares came up behind her and patted her head, laughing mischievously which Allie knew was cause for concern...

"Go on. Go and have fun with them, it can't be any worse than what Aejaz has been doing to you over the past week, I'm sure."

No, Allie! Don't get embarrassed and run away! That group is not solace, it is a breach of privacy! They will be worse than Ares! Allie was a clever girl and was well aware Ares just trying to psyche her out. He had no more ammunition! He couldn't make her flee from him in shame!... Oh how wrong she was.

"Say, why do you think you can't hear anything when Enyo and I are... getting to know each other better? As it turns out, and Enyo did all the research into this, not me, there are plenty of technicals that are very useful in the bedroom. Sperm Rejection lets you prevent unwanted pregnancies, Nightshade dims the lighting in the room and creates a nice ambience, and so on so forth. The reason you can't hear us is because there's a technical called Noise Cancellation. I'm sure you can guess what it does, the clue's in the name after all; as tends to be the case with technicals more often than not. Don't get me wrong, it's original purpose was for stealth missions and whatnot, but it can be pretty easily repurposed by passionate couples. Anyway, my point, long though it was, is that you and Aejaz both clearly don't know that technical."

…

…

…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Allie squealed and fled like an Olympic sprinter, taking shelter from Ares in the one place she really shouldn't have... A hawkish group of women who were not going to quit badgering her until they knew why she was so embarrassed... Not that Enyo didn't already know and wasn't going to throw her under the bus when she was least expecting it. Allie made the crucial mistake of falling for Ares' ploy. What made it all worse was that she knew it was what he was aiming for and, yet, she still couldn't stop it! The powers of a big brother were truly frightening...

Day became night as everyone caught up with each other before eventually heading home. Of course Ares' group had one extra person in it thanks to Bellona moving in. On the way back Ares made sure to set some ground rules that were to be followed.

Ahem

"Ares' house rules: Rule number 1, there are only two rules. Rule number 2, there are no rules. Rule number 3, ignore rule number two. That is all. There's not much, but it will be on the test. When I pop quiz you, if you forget how many rules there are, it is within my power to kick you out, so study hard!"

Thwack

Thwack

Ares promptly realised that there were now two people ready to smack him for saying dumb things and, annoyingly, Bellona hit harder than Enyo! "Why are you so strong?! Is it because all the nutrients went to you muscles and not your..."

Thwack

Thwack

Well... It was certainly going to be eventful in casa del Ares going forward if nothing else. The regionals were tomorrow but, honestly, Ares was unsure if he would even make it 'till then under the ever watchful gaze of the sisters. His one solace was that they would separate at night! divide and conquer! At least that was what he assumed was going to happen until Enyo dashed any thoughts in his head about the matter.

"Ares, you're sleeping on the couch today. I'm sharing the room with Bellona as it's been a while since we last talked like this. We're going to catch up with each other so that room is off limits for you."

"... We're not even married yet and you're already making me sleep on the couch?! Why not just go all the way and make me build a doghouse in the back garden to reside in!"

"It would rather fitting..."

"Enyoooooooo."

"No. Bad boy. Heel, Ares. Heel!"

Sigh

"Woof."

"Good boy." Enyo ruffled Ares' hair as she entered the house. "In all seriousness, don't worry about it too much. I'll move to the inner-court after the next test which is coming up soon-ish. The houses there have a third room so we'll be good for space then. Also, it really is just for today. Bellona and I haven't had a proper talk in forever what with all of our arguments prior. At the end of the day, you're still my husband, whether you like it or not, so Bellona can sleep on the couch from tomorrow onward. Do make her a quilt with your Stygian Zephyr though, maybe even a hammock if she prefers that over the couch. So yeah, just for today."

Ares smiled softly. "That's fine, you know I'm just kidding. I wouldn't mind even if it were for longer. Its important to get along with family."

Enyo returned the smile. "Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too."

"And I would love to vomit!" Bellona was not going to sit idly by and let the lovey-dovey couple go on any longer otherwise she, correctly, assumed she would be here all night. That and she was a tad jealous. There was seriously a shortage of good, single men around. She sighed inwardly and morosely accepted her predetermined fate. I really am going to wind up an old maid, aren't I? This is what I get for joking about it back in Baja.