(3rd person PoV)
"Hey, Ray. You look more distracted by the day" Henryk said while checking his equipment.
"Henry?!... No, it is nothing much" She was trying to hide her anxiety behind a smile.
"Well, I guess we're going down further later, just the two of us" Henryk said. "It'd be quite the date"
"What about Fey?! Fey wants to go with papa and mama!" Fey started throwing a tantrum.
"Calm down, you sweet little thing. You can go play with Tiona today" Henryk flailed his arms around, playfully attempting to push a tiny Fey away from him.
Fey shortly stopped and laid down somewhere nearby in her true size.
"But Fey wanted to go with papa" Fey said as she crossed her front legs and laid her head on them. She made a blunder. She made herself exposed.
"Fey! Tickles!" Henryk lunged at her, tickling her all over.
"PIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!" Good for her that she could get away by force.
"Ray! Hold her in place!" Bad thing for her that Ray will do just that.
"Noted!" Ray pinned Fey down as Henryk got to tickle her to his heart's contents.
"Booooooo! Papa's an idiot!" She went silent quickly when his hands were threatening to give her some more tickles.
"You know, my paralysis demon, you're naturally cute just because you are a big bird" Henryk said with a warm smile.
"Fey's cute~" Fey chirped a song after saying that. She enjoyed their little game and the praise she was given after it.
"What about me?" Ray leaned into his field of view.
Henryk took a deep breath and thought, 'Here goes nothing!' "I can't call you cute, Ray" She was about to say something. "I can only call you beautiful, gorgeous and the like. "Cute" wouldn't suffice" He complimented her, pushing against the twisting feeling that tried to prevent him from doing that, the twisting feeling of praising a woman's beauty when he is not used to do so.
"What does papa mean by paralysis demon?" Fey's happiness rush ended, leaving her back in a normal state of mind. The words "paralysis demon" piqued her interest.
"That's just an endearing way we call harpy eagles, where you and I came from" Henryk said with a melancholic gaze. "Try remembering our days in the forest. The walking spoiler called you that a few times"
"What does the nickname mean?" She was mad focused on the meaning of that nickname.
"Well, the words, in a literal sense, refer to the sleep paralysis demon. It's a hallucination that happens if you were to be shocked awake in the middle of deep sleep, when you should be dreaming. It's just that the faces some of your brethren get upon birth give people the same feeling as a paralysis demon's. Though, I call you that as a way to call you cute. I have a different taste when compared to most" Henryk said.
Ray gave him a chaste kiss on his cheek and flew out to breathe some fresh air. Something definitely felt different with the way he complimented her today, and the kiss conveyed that.
"That was sudden" He looked at the door for a moment then looked back at Fey, who was looking at his slightly blushing face and smiling deviously despite the supposed rigidity of her beak. "Fey, act however you want. Your dear papa will always see you as his cute daughter" He was poking both pointy fingers at her, making fun of her in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.
"PAPA!!" She retaliated by squishing him under her feathers.
'Ha! Teasing her never gets old!' He patted her head.
"Papa knew Fey was acting? Then why did papa play along?" She tried pouting, but her anatomy made it harder to recognize that kind of expression.
"Simple answer, I've been playing along because that seemed to give you some fun. That, and I was using the excuse of being a parent to play. Playing along with a child's wishes is one of a parent's responsibilities, as long as those wishes don't cause harm to anyone, that is. This type of behavior would allow the child to know what they want earlier, making them better at making critical decisions" Henryk said, entertaining the side of Fey's mind that remained a child.
"Now! Tickles!" His mind went on auto-pilot for a mere moment, in which he defaulted to tickling Fey under her front leg's thigh joint.
"PIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" She also escaped through the door, knocking its broken sides over due the sheer weight of her body.
"Really though, she needs only act herself. She's cute as she is" Henryk prepared for the Monster Feria. He was going to have a serious talk with a certain someone.
Henryk sat there waiting for the others to return. The brothers and sisters have gone washing up at the stream nearby. Bell was washing himself in the basement and Hestia was still out. He knew where she would be now.
(Flashback)
"Until when would you keep doing that for? I am currently very busy, and you are ruining my focus. Do you hear me?" Hephaestus was looking at Hestia as she groveled on the ground. Hephaestus remembered how Hestia kept on groveling in front of her and pestering her after her familia member "flew out in a pretty descent way, befitting a party", as Ganesha described it.
(Nested Flashback)
"Is that your second child?" Hephaestus was stunned. That was a very daring move that may cause problems with Freya. 'But then again, Freya disappeared without making a fuss. She made it look as if she did not care about what he did'
"That daredevil! THAT DAMNED DAREDEVIL!" Hestia was not feeling very okay. What Henryk did would have been their downfall should Freya pursue it.
Hestia cooled down and reorganized her thoughts. She needed to talk to Hephaestus now, not any later.
"Hephe, I wanted to meet you today to make a commission" Hestia did what Takemikazuchi called a dogeza.
'What a splendid performance of the dogeza! Hestia!' Takemikazuchi was looking at the scene with the other gods. He was mentally praising Hestia's form. Only if he knew that Hephaestus was going to give him a piece of her mind for teaching her friend something "weird".
"Are you joking with me? I do not mean to brag, but do you know how much our custom-made gear costs?" Hephaestus did not want to reach this point with Hestia, but Hestia was insistent.
"I know how costly it is, but-" Hestia raised her head from the ground.
"Then save up some money. We can talk then" Hephaestus wanted to walk around Hestia, but Hestia quickly stood up and went to lower her head to beg Hephaestus again.
"Then I think we need to do that now. I'm begging you, Hephaestus! Please!" Hephaestus stood there, unsure what to feel or do.
(Nested Flashback End)
"Anyway, what are you exactly doing on the ground?" Hephaestus asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm doing what they call a dogeza! Take told me about it! He told me that it's the ultimate form of asking for forgiveness or asking for a favor!" Poor Take, he had to be pulled into the conversation.
'He needs to learn to shut that mouth of his' Hephaestus mentally sighed and put her writing feather back in its place.
She stood up with her hands on the edge of her desk. "Hestia, mind telling me why you are so desperate?"
"I want to hold out a helping hand to my children! They are trying their best at the frontiers of their lives! Bell is trying his best to change for the better! He found himself a goal! He is now trying to tread a long, harsh road! Henryk is trying something even harsher! He wants to give his family of monsters a more common lifestyle on the surface! Their paths are teeming with dangers and difficulties left and right! That's why I need to be there for them! I need to give them the strength to push forward in their paths! Weapons to ease their survival! I always see them trying their best without being able to help them myself! They give me a lot and I have nothing to give back! I'm their goddess but I can do nothing a goddess should!" She burnt her heart over it. Then, her voice became smaller, "How I hate my weak self"
"They are doing what now?" Hephaestus murmured, smiling at her friend's change of heart. Hestia has finally changed, and she changed for the better. She is no longer that leech that sucked from others without giving back. She is willing to go to great lengths to pay back what she owes now.
"Fine, then. I will make one weapon for each one of your two children" Hephaestus said with a tiny smile.
"Thank you Hephe!" Hestia raised her reddened forehead from the ground in joy. Her face portrayed her ecstasy. She hastily stood up and went to hug Hephaestus. She did not have a good balance and fell into her friend's arms.
"To be clear with you, you are going to pay for them later, even if it takes you decades or even centuries" Hephaestus tried mercilessly murdering Hestia's fantasies of free, high-quality weapons.
"Yes, I know that!" Hestia was too ecstatic to feel dejected about some 'meager' payment.
"Which types of weapons do the two of them use?" Hephaestus asked as she picked a purple hammer from the wall-mounted hammer display.
"Bell uses a knife! As for Henryk, he uses both a shield and a mace! He would prefer the shield over the mace, though!" Hestia said as she regained some balance and came closer to where Hephaestus stood. "Hephaestus, don't tell me you are going to make them yourself?" Her ponytail fluttered through the air as Hestia jumped up from her kneeling position, nearly toppling over as her numb knees nearly gave out under her.
"But of course. I will not involve my familia in a personal matter between me and you" Hephaestus turned around with a hand holding the hammer and the other on her hip.
"Amazing! Even in heaven, you were known for your smithing being the best! And you will personally make weapons for me!" Hestia had the same excitement as a schoolgirl. (AN: Don't you dare roast me for describing her like that!! It was the first thing coming to mind when I saw her face in that scene in the anime!)
"Did you forget?" Hephaestus looked at Hestia like she was an idiot, a fitting word. "This is not heaven. We cannot use any of our divine powers" She reminded Hestia to not raise her expectations bar too high.
"Doesn't matter! What matters is that you will be making them!" Hestia was jumping from joy. She forgot her new height and hit her head on the ceiling. "Ouchy!" She rubbed the bump that formed from the hit.
"You too lend a hand" Hephaestus quickly turned around to not be caught silently laughing at Hestia hitting her head on the ceiling. She said as she opened the classic 'secret room' behind a bookshelf. "You will be my assistant this time around"
"Alright! Leave it to me!" Hestia followed her to the 'hidden' forge.
'Two first-rate weapons for two fresh adventurers with only two weeks of experience' She thought to herself. "Well, what should I do now?" She was smiling at the prospect of her new ideas.
"Hephe, I know that look! Although he joined for less than two weeks, Henryk had grown up alone in the forest! He's got fighting experience against surface monsters while he was unblessed!" Hestia knew that expression. Hephaestus made it whenever she was making a weapon for a single person to use. She got something wrong though. Henryk fought normal animals, not monsters.
"Tha' 's just gotta be the most interesting thingy ye said tonight" Hephaestus's inner craftsman took the helms. Her speaking pattern changed to the point nobody would recognize her. She... never realized that happened, ever.
(Line Break)
"Now, Tia, we'll need yer blood ta make the weapons usable only by yer children" After going through the steps, they reached the point of appointing who could use what.
'..... I remember now! Henryk was talking about something similar!' Hestia remembered.
(Another Nested Flashback)
Henryk was talking about weapons with his children. As Hestia was passing by, he intentionally mentioned his preferred one. "Although, for me, I would prefer a shield only I can use over a mace. I really wish to have one of these heirloom weapons, to be only used by me and my family. Although, I know deep down that such weapons simply don't exist" He sighed as if Hestia did not hear him.
(Another Nested Flashback End)
"Can we make them usable only by a specific person and their bloodline, rather than an entire familia?" Hestia suggested. That suggestion sparked the flames of a challenge for Hephaestus. Making a weapon like that with only mortal techniques was a new thing to her.
"Possible that. 't'd need their blood after yers" Hephaestus answered while changing the set of hieroglyphs she was going to make on the weapons.
After everything was said and done, Hestia insisted that a motif be added to Henryk's shield.
(Flashback Ends)
"So, are we all ready?" The others returned after thoroughly cleaning themselves. They were ready for the festival.
"What about me? Should I really go alone? And what is this about a festival?" Bell was told to go alone today.
"Yes, you should, captain. I'm sure something good would happen to you if you were alone" 'If the silverback could be called that' "What about inviting miss Tulle on a date? You clearly have something for elves and half elves"
"HENRYK!!!" Bell protested with an outburst then stormed off to who-knows-where.
"Now that's been dealt with, we should go enjoy Monster Feria" Henryk said as he addressed the others.
(Line Break)
'Henryk and his teasing! I will get back at him one day! I will tease him so hard he is going to stop doing that to me!' Bell was having an impossible dream. Henryk's teasing was unstoppable.
"Please wait, white hair nya! I want to ask something of you nya!" A cat girl from the hostess of fertility, Anya, called Bell over. "Ah! Good morning nya" She recalled that she did not greet him, so she did.
"Go-good morning" Bell replied in kind.
Anya handed a wallet to Bell and posed as if she was going to depart him words of wisdom. "What I want of you is to deliver this wallet to that idiot Syr" She was standing upright as if feeling superior in some capacity... she was anything but.
"Um, sorry, I do not think I got that yet..." Bell was lost. Anya did not explain anything.
In response, Anya pointed a finger to her chin and had a 'dump cat' face. Just as Bell was about to ask for more info, Ryuu came around the corner.
"Anya, you did not explain the situation clearly" Ryuu said as she shifted the weight of what she was carrying to stand in place.
She turned to Bell with his confused stare.
"Look, Mr Cranel is confused" Ryuu scolded Anya softly.
"Ryuu, you are stupid nya" She then tried to look smart with her pose. "He can tell that what I wanted from him is to deliver Syr's wallet to her nya, which she forgot when she sneaked out of her shift to go to Monster Feria nya" She ended up looking even more of a dumb cat.
"That is all there is" Ryuu told Bell with her usually stoic expression.
"Understood" Bell nodded, dumbfounded. 'Are they Ms Syr's friends? Is this how some friends treat each other?'
"Syr, of course, did not sneak out of her shift. She took a leave for a day for the festival" She confirmed a truth Anya twisted oh so casually. "She is probably facing problems without her wallet. Please help us, Mr Cranel" Ryuu added.
"Please nya" Anya jumped in between.
"Alright! Leave this to me!" Bell held up the wallet, sporting a cheerful smile.
(Line Break)
"What do you've on your mind, you perv bimbo? You rarely ever attend a gathering. Unless, say, there was something interesting?" Loki said, sitting across from a cloaked Freya.
Freya smiled at Loki's deductions. It was all the confirmation Loki needed.
"Is it someone's kid you are after? Again?" Loki said as she looked at the unrepentant goddess.
Loki was peculiarly wearing a full button-up shirt, rather than a cloth to cover her nonexistent boobs. Ais was standing behind her, stoic as usual. Ais was looking to the side, observing the street below, trying to look for a certain head among the flowing river of people.
"All you do's spread the seeds of struggle, you perv goddess" Loki was opening her eyes for once, that should be enough sign to spare more thought to this matter. This was serious in her eyes.
(Line Break)
While the top brass of the city were looking each other in the eye, Hephaestus and Hestia were finalizing the hieroglyphs on the weapons.
"They would love the new weapons!" Hestia was gladdened this was done. Now, she could finally take the weapons to both of her children.
"Ye bet they are!" As they neared the finishing touches of the weapons, Hephaestus's speaking pattern started returning to normal.
Hephaestus made the final set of hieroglyphs on the shield. It was a very large round shield, with straps to go around the arm, having a diameter of one whole meter. A pair of small straps was made to accommodate a side arm, a small knife, for when it is necessary.
The shield was a lighter, brighter shade of a jade-green color. It had a depiction of a dull-gray hippogriff on the left, a detailed depiction of Fey, seen standing on her hind legs and clawing at the center of the shield. On the right side, there was the depiction of a woman with wings for arms and talons for feet, evidently a siren, as it was a detailed picture of Ray painted in minimalist golden and blue lines. The hieroglyphs and the depictions of Fey and Ray gave off a last shine with a cyan light.
"We're done" Hephaestus told Hestia the good news. Hestia's eyes gleamed and reflected light like jewels after hearing that.
"Yeah! Yeah!" Hestia started jumping around again, forgetting what happened just last night in the adjacent office.
*BAM* Hestia slammed her head into one of the supporting beams above them.
"Oww!" She knelt down and started rubbing the pain away. Hephaestus almost burst out laughing but managed to hold her expression still as Hestia stood back up.
The knife made for Bell was put in a box and then wrapped in a cloth. Hephaestus wrapped that onto Hestia's back, over one shoulder and under the other. The cloth was tied between Hestia's boobs. The shield was covered with a cloth to hide its visual value and was strapped to Hestia's back under the knife's cloth-wrappings.
"Thank you! Hephe! Can I take them to my children now?" Hestia was twirling around while she asked that.
"Yes, and do not forget the debt" Hephaestus's speaking pattern completely returned to normal by now.
"Yes!" Hestia went out energetically. She walked into the street and started roaming around, looking for her two children. As for Henryk's children, they followed him. Finding them means finding him nearby.
(Back with the Bimbo-Plateau pair)
"So? Whose child are you after this time around?"
"He is a very miserable child, easily cries after the slightest provocation. But he is charming, as if he was out of this world. A color I never saw before. Really, I found him by pure chance. He just so happens to pass by my line of sight" Freya said while looking expectantly at the passing crowd.
"Oh" Loki oh-ed as she sipped from her drink.
"That was until another child came into his life" Freya's voice jittered. It was not a good sign in Loki's books. "That child lent his back to the first one and gave him advice. He made the first child improve from that image I just described into a man set to improve himself ever more. The fact that the second child was another color I never saw spoke for itself. He is the type to not listen just because someone said something. If he disagreed, he adamantly refuses. If he wanted to do or acquire something, he goes for it regardless of what others say about him. He does not limit himself with others' opinions" Freya's voice sounded vividly heated at that point.
"You f... haaaah. So, you had two of them in your eyes rather than one. I hope for their deity's peace of mind" Wow, that was rare of her. Maybe that was due to the fact she did not know the ones they are talking about are Hestia's children.
Freya suddenly saw something that made her want to go.
"What's the problem?" Loki raised a brow when she noticed Freya getting up.
"Sorry, I have to go somewhere else" Freya said as she started walking away.
"Sigh. You can't just g-" Loki was about to say something when Freya hurriedly cut her off. "Let us meet another time"
Ais was not listening to Freya, as her sight was directed at the crowd still. She so happens to gleam a head full of white hair.
"What's her problem?" Loki's gaze lingered at the door for a second. "Wait! She up and went away, leaving me with the bill?!" Loki frowned at Freya's 'misconduct'.
She noticed how Ais was looking at the crowd and was distracted. Her eyes were trying to follow something through the clogged street. "Is there something, Ais?"
"Nothing" Ais shook her head in denial. She turned her gaze away from the crowd.
Loki tried groping Ais, to which Ais's response was to stab two fingers in Loki's neck. We could see a Loki who was coughing violently in response to that jab. That coughing fit continued for a minute or two.