Peaceful days continued passing by as the School District coasted for the port city of Melen, and soon enough they arrived. Well, peaceful might not be the best way to describe these days, though to Shurry, it was so peaceful it almost worried him.
With the help of the Poseidon familia members who decided to hitch a ride on the ship, groups of students prepared, asking questions, and taking notes. Shurry wandered around, with a recklessly curious abandon.
Why are they all so serious? Is that big monster, the uh… Levithingy coming back again? No that can't be it. The alarm would have gone off at the very least, right?
"Whatcha doing, sneaking around like that, huh kid?" An unfamiliar booming voice chuckled. "Trying to sneak a peek at the others?"
Shurry turned and saw that the person talking to him was definitely, unmistakably a god. However, he didn't recognize him. "Huh? Who are you?" He asked, tilting his head to the side with curiosity. "I don't know you…"
"Oh, that's right, Baldr picked you up almost two years ago. It's normal you wouldn't have met me, child. But try to take a guess." The god chuckled, and squatted down to eye level with Shurry.
Wracking his brain of all the information that had been dumped into him over the past nearly two years… "Oh, my birthday is coming up! I almost forgot!"
"Do you seriously not know who I might be?"
"Uhm… I can only think of one name, but you don't look like a woman, so you're not Aunty Artemis. Wait, I saw her before, she was mean to me." Shurry tilted his head, rubbing his temples, ears flapping, and tail curling into a question mark.
"Poseidon, can you try not teasing my son so much?" Baldr said with a tired look on his face.
"Daddy!" Shurry jumped up and latched onto Baldr, nuzzling a little bit. "Oh, so that's Poseidon?! He's nothing like the description from the books mommy gave me? She said he was big, mean, and a bully of the sea."
Poseidon took a step back and held his heart. "Oh, that hurts, such a powerful ability. It can even hurt gods. Truly a divine ability." He smirked, laughing as he spoke.
"So, daddy, what are the other students doing? It's like they are preparing to fight something?" Shurry asked, completely ignoring Poseidon.
"That's because they are preparing to make an assault on the dungeon."
"HUH! Dungeon!!!!" Shurry's tail wagged uncaring of its surroundings.
"Pfft, that's right. However, before I can let you do any such preparations, your mother, and I have to have a talk with you."
…
Baldr's office was the venue of the discussions. There was Baldr, Iduun, Legi, and finally Shurry. "Son, I have a request here from one of the most prominent familias in Orario. It's been a while since it came to my desk, however, it's yet to be completed. I think you might be able to do it. Though I'm uncertain as to the degree of effect you'll have, I am certain you'll be able to have an effect. So, will you try it?"
"If daddy thinks I can help, then I can give it a try." Shurry answered, confused, but willing to help regardless. "Is there meat?"
"Pfft, you'll see that there's plenty of meat in the city. It might be overwhelming for your nose after being at sea for so long."
Idunn giggled a little, along with Legi. "You never fail to have food on your mind, even now. It's adorable."
"Alright, I'll explain the details of this request now…" Baldr began relaying the details. "... And that's it. Any questions?"
"So, I'll go with mommy, to this perva familia to heal two girls?"
"Hera familia. But yes, they have twins there with a terrible illness. One that has remained incurable even now. However, I feel like you might be able to do something about it. I've had that feeling every time I updated your status."
"Hera familia? They're all women, right?"
"Don't worry, I'll send a messenger to their familia ahead of time, warning them of your issue." Baldr said, now patting Shurry's head. "Thank you for doing this, Son. You are their last hope, if you pull this off, many of my kin might just call you a hero."
"A hero?!" Shurry's tail beat once again, along with his ears flickering.
"Ah! He's so cute!"
"Alright, now for the last bit of the discussion." Baldr picked Shurry up, and then all four of them huddled together in a close embrace. "Son, you want to traverse the dungeon and grow stronger."
"Yep!" Shurry said, enjoying the comforting feeling.
"If you want to continue down that path. You'll need to stay in Orario, even after we leave. Which means, it's best if you leave my familia, and join one of them there in Orario."
"Huh? No, I want to stay with you, and mommy!"
"We can't stay in Orario for longer than a few months at most."
Idunn hugged Shurry even tighter, more warmly, and buried him in her whole embrace, Baldr was surprised that she had managed to pry Shurry from his grip. "I'll always love you, son. And I promise that we'll find a familia that's worthy of your trust. I won't entrust you with just anyone."
"Mommy?!" Shurry started crying, the muffled cry was magnified by Legi's own as well.
"We'll find someone who's willing to take both of you." Baldr said, forcing a smile, as he comforted Legi.
"Mommy!" The tears kept coming.
"From here on, I'm not letting you out of my sight until the day we part ways." Idunn declared, shedding a few tears of her own.
…
The ship's docking procedures had just finished, and the teams of students departed, each with their own chaperone. But one group, consisting of Leon, Shurry, Legi, Idunn, and Baldr, had an entirely different feel to it, they were reluctant to part ways, but were also adamant about making the absolute most of their time together.
While they were setting themselves up into a cart, heading for Orario, a young cat girl's ears and tail flicked, catching a glimpse of a certain boy. "Hmm, meow's that?" She whispered to herself, curious about the boy she saw.