[Well... Fuck. Where do I even begin with this?]
Ryuu Lion- a waitress at the Hostess of Fertility- blinked as words appeared in the book she had found on her bed after she returned to her room for the night.
She had been weary of the book- given it hadn't been there earlier in the day- and had probed it a few times before determining it wouldn't harm her at the very least. When she had looked at the front of the book, the title was very... Apparently.
Zomo Amaechi's Diary - Ryuu Lion Exclusive Version.
Naturally, this left Ryuu incredibly confused as she had never even heard of Zomo Amaechi before today... On top of that, the book- diary- had been labelled especially for her, showing that it being in her room wasn't a mistake caused by Lunoire or Syr or one of the other servers at the Hostess.
When she had opened the book, however... The pages were blank. All blank, no matter how much she looked. For a moment, she even mistook the book for an already used Grimoire...
That was when words had begun appearing on the page.
[Let's try and write in this thing like it's an actual diary, I might as well... April 12th. Five days after my birthday. Back at the start, where everything began... I don't know why the heavens decided to give me a second chance- perhaps the Gods wanted an encore performance. Maybe some of them wanted a happy ending. Regardless of the reason... I won't waste it.]
Ryuu furrowed her brow slowly as she read... What was this? How was this happening? More importantly... What did the diary's owner- Zomo- mean by a Second Chance?
[My story begins not far off from today... I couldn't tell you how many years, but I know it is in the near future. Tomorrow, the day I arrive in Orario, my life changed. It was on this day that I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a Goddess who was willing to take me in and make me a member of her Familia. The Goddess who guards the Eternal Flame, the most powerful Goddess- and the most dangerous in all Tenkai. Vesta... Or, as she is known in the lower world, Hestia.]
Hestia- the Goddess just mentioned in the diary- felt her eyes widen as she read her own version of it, her pulse racing. Only recently had Hephaistos kicked her out and given her the run down church. It was a wake-up call for the Goddess, who now earnestly had begun to look for members to join her Familia. Though, alas, she'd had no luck in the last month...
And yet, this diary spoke of someone who would join her Familia tomorrow.
In other words...
This was someone who knew the future... If Hestia wasn't wrong, based on the context clues, there was a chance he had even traversed the stream of time to obtain this knowledge!
Normally, Hestia would never have considered such a thing possible... But the name that the owner- Zomo- had used in the diary made her fully believe it was the truth.
Vesta.
Rather than another name for herself, it was more accurate to say that Vesta was Hestia's true name. The guardian of the divine flame- the very origin of life and creation itself. It was Hestia's eternal duty to guard the flame, it was the primary reason why she never had a lover in Tenkai- not only because she rejected everyone, but simply because her duty was too important for her to ever consider leaving it.
It was only after she had learned how to safely separate her consciousness into two that she had finally descended to the Lower World. Her primary self- the Guardian of the Flame- remained in Tenkai as 'Vesta,' guarding the flame and ensuring it continued to blaze. While her other self- now known as Hestia- resided in the lower world, full of all of the emotions that Vesta herself struggled with.
Nobody save the Gods and those Hestia herself told- for no God would dare murmur her true name without being given leave- would even know about the name Vesta.
Thus, Hestia found herself eagerly reading the diary with bubbling excitement. A Time Traveller who was going to join her Familia? This was the kind of thing the Gods had descended into the lower world for!
[After I joined the Hestia Familia, I was lucky enough to obtain a special skill- but more on that later. I won't say being in her Familia was all fun and games- we were poor and in debt, but we still made it work. Eventually, we were able to pay off the debt and our familia began to grow, and we managed to remain together through all the pain and difficulties.]
[... Until the promised time arrived, and it all didn't matter anyway.]
Every woman reading the diary swallowed at that last line, a feeling of dread slowly crawling up their spines.
The promised time...?
[I can't remember the exact date nor the year, I guess my journey back here has damaged quite a few of my memories... But even so, I could never forget the sight of that monster. Wings that blot out the sun, scales as deep as the void... And that single, crimson eye that brings twisted judgement on all who fall under its gaze.]
Ais Wallenstein tensed up immediately as she read the description, her breath quickening and the wind picking up a little around her. Her fingers curled into the diary, golden eyes darkening.
She knew that monster. How could she not? It was that monster that had stolen everything from her. Forced her to pick up the pieces in the Loki Familia.
[The One-Eyed Black Dragon.]
Everyone holding the diary stared at that line. None of them spoke, none of them so much as breathed for a moment. How could they ever?
Everyone was aware of the One-Eyed Black Dragon. The last of the Great Three Quests that even the Zeus and Hera Familias had failed to clear with Level 8 Adventurers and fleets of Level 7s... What few members remained had been forced to retreat in disgrace...
And then? Then they had been pushed out by the Loki and Freya Familias, forced to leave the only place they had called home.
[Even with Ottar at Level 8, even with the Loki Familias executives at Level 7... Even with all our power, that Dragon didn't flinch. None of our attacks so much as scratched its scales... And Ais... Gods, poor Ais, if only we had known sooner the secret behind her Avenger skill...]
Ais tensed up, her pulse quickening.
Secret? Her Avenger skill had a secret? What kind of secret? Why didn't she know about it?
[No, I can't think like that. I have a chance to change things for the better, and I can't let myself waste it... Luckily, now I have this Diary System. It's very simple, so long as I write a certain amount of words in the diary every day I can obtain rewards. These rewards can range from skills to items... And according to the system, these items could be anything from first class adventurer gear to powerful magic items and maybe even resurrection items- though I won't hold my breath on that one.]
Ryuu, more than anyone else, stared at the diary hard at that last one.
Resurrection item...? As in... An item that could bring someone back from the dead...?
Her breath hitched.
Did that mean...? Alise, Kaguya, Lyra, Neze, Iska...? Even Adi from the Ganesha Familia...? Could they all be brought back?
She was still uncertain on if the contents of the diary were real... But if they were... Could she get everyone back...? Could she wash away the stain of her failure...?
Regardless on if it were true or not... She had to try. And that meant she would need to try and get close to the Diary's owner- Zomo...
... That was going to be difficult, damned Elf instincts...
[With all that in mind, I'll need a list of places to avoid once I arrive in Orario... Joining Hestia is the only option for me, I don't want to serve under another God or Goddess no matter how good the benefits are. But I'm also aware that, without a Falna, I can easily be forced into a Familia. Therefore, I need to make sure to avoid the Pleasure District first and foremost. I have no desire to become one of Ishtar's sycophants... Or worse, become Phryne's next 'toy.']
Aisha felt a smile quirk on her lips at that... Clearly, the boy was smart... If she could get Haruhime out of the Familia, she would have left Ishtar too. She may be a prostitute, but she still had her own set of morals...
On top of that, she wasn't unaware of the fact that Ishtar had some underground ties to Evilus. After all, how else was she able to get her hands on Haruhime in the first place? She knew that Ishtar held underground auctions and sold off various species as sex slaves to the highest bidder. If it weren't for Haruhime's unique magic, she likely would have suffered the same fate.
[I'll also want to avoid the Hostess of Fertility, at least at first... The former Captain of the Freya Familia is the owner- Mia Grande, a Level 6 Adventurer. Mia is generally disconnected from the Freya Familia, but it doesn't mean she is no longer a member. If there's important information, Mia will give it to Freya. And if Freya tells her to keep an eye on someone, then Mia will do it.]
Freya- in her disguise as Syr- pouted softly as she read that... She knew that he wasn't wrong, but did he have to be so blunt about it? Granted, it also wasn't a secret- it was just that nobody dared say it out loud.
Well, he could try and avoid her for a while, but it wouldn't matter. Freya always got what she wanted in the end.
[I don't think there's really anywhere else that needs to be avoided besides Daedalus Street- but that's more because that place is a labyrinth... Seriously, who thought that Daedalus street was a good idea? People can get lost in the city as is, why would you make one of the areas of the city a literal maze- damn it, I'm getting off track.]
[Oh, and I should avoid Loki's Familia... I'll do what I can to help with the future problems, but holy fuck the problems they're looking at in the future are WAY worse than the problems I have to go through in Hestia's Familia... Just, no thank you. I want nothing to do with the issues regarding Enyo or the remnants of Evilus.]
Loki frowned at that... Fuck, she and her Familia were going to get involved with Evilus remnants in the future...? That wasn't good, Evilus were a hard problem the first time. Now, they would be even more careful and secretive which would make it harder to wipe them out for good.
Frankly, with that knowledge, she couldn't blame the kid for wanting to avoid her Familia. A shame though, having a Time Traveller in her Familia would have been a major bragging right.
[Gods, I'm tired... Tomorrow is the day everything is going to change, and I've hit the limit of words I need to write in the diary to satisfy my System. So, for now, I'll stop writing here. Tomorrow is the day I get to meet Hestia again. I won't fail her. This time, I'll become strong enough to protect her and everyone else.]
[Here's hoping tomorrow goes smoothly.]
Hestia took a deep breath as she read the last words of the diary, a happy smile blooming onto her face. The future seemed to be filled with worries and difficulties... But, even so, she couldn't stop herself from smiling. Because, tomorrow, she was going to be getting the first member of her Familia!
Suddenly, the pages flipped of their own accord to the first page. That was when Hestia saw it, inside the cover there were more words.
[Diary Receiver System]
[For those who have received Diary Copies, rewards will be distributed. Two rewards will be distributed every time a Diary Entry is completed.]
[1st Reward - The person who's name is mentioned the most in the Diary Entry.]
[2nd Reward - A random person who's name is mentioned in the Diary Entry.]
[Furthermore, a random person will be chosen to choose the primary topic for the Diary the next day.]
[Please note that you may only speak about the diary with others who also have a copy of the diary. You will be completely unable to speak about the diary with anyone who does not have a copy of the diary. You are also unable to speak to the Diary Writer about the contents of the diary.]
While the girls stared in shock at the fact that they, too, could obtain rewards, and carefully read through the rules to make sure they didn't break them...
Zomo Amaechi, the diary owner, smirked as he twirled the quill in his hands- golden eyes gleaming with amusement. "Well then," he murmured. "Let's see my rewards... And let's see what havoc I can bring with all you people reading."