Despite hearing the name of a metal ore they'd only heard rumors about, one of the four remained unconvinced, and that was Loki.
"I can't do it… I can't lose my cutest girl. I won't do it." Loki complained.
"In that case." Astraea spoke up. "I have seen how Ais reacted to Gamelia, and Ceraunius. It is clear that Ais wishes to be with them. The choice is hers, and she has made it…" She continued, staying on her course until.
"Aha, fat chance getting me to give her up. She's still a child and needs a parent to approve life changing decisions. And I say no!" Loki interrupted in protest.
"You're not her guardian, Loki." Gamelia stated, with a cold glare.
"Her mother Aria gave us that role, and also the chance to decide for herself what she, Ais, wants to do. What you want, matters not, Loki." Ceraunius expressed, the storm in his eyes giving her a feeling very similar to Thor's.
"I am not just going to let Ais go like that." Loki stated, restructuring her spine into something stiff, metaphorically of course, because she was still hunched over.
"Ais has made her choice. And for the sake of justice, so her choice may be realized, I, Astraea, as patron god of Astraea familia, declare a war game against Loki familia. Loki, your children will now fight because of your unjust tyranny. You've made mistakes in the past, and now refuse to suffer the consequences, I will make you face justice for them."
It was then, at that very moment, Finn felt a giant pit grow in his stomach. One he really couldn't ignore now. He had to act quickly to fix this. "Lady Astraea, is there no way to avoid a war game?" He asked, barely holding in his fear.
"Yes, you can do the right thing and give Ais over to my familia. So she may live her life the way she chooses to." Astraea said simply, still offering the chance… "However, this option will no longer be valid once Loki accepts the challenge."
Immediately, after hearing that, Finn gave an order. "Gareth, make sure Loki can't speak." He said.
"Are you sure about this, Finn?"
Loki, taking the chance, started to speak. "I ac…" But was quickly shut up when Finn covered her mouth.
"Loki, we can't fight them. We have an expedition to worry about right now. I'm not sure we'd even want to do it if we know we're fighting a war game." Finn stated. "Face it, we're going to lose Ais either way, no matter what happens. Whether we fight, or not. I'm the captain, and I can't allow this to go on any further." He explained.
"It's cowardly, but if word got out that we were fighting a war game against Astraea familia, do you have any idea how the city would react?" Riveria trembled at the thought, but more so at the thought of losing Ais.
Loki looked to Gareth, begging that her down to earth guy would help her. Instead, Gareth walked over closer to Ais, and simply watched, as if looking for something. "Ais, this is what you want, right?"
"Yes, I want to learn from big sister." Ais said with a more emotional smile than usual.
Gareth rubbed his chin, then stroked his beard before patting her on the head a few times. "Then you should do that. All that matters is if you're truly happy where you are, and in her arms, you're smiling more now, than in the last year. I have no reason to prevent you from choosing this path."
Loki released a slight bit of her aura, forcing Finn off of her, then spoke. "I accept your war game, Astraea!" She declared.
Meanwhile, Royman was struggling to handle the overwhelming pressure happening right now. "Alright, The guild will call for an emergency Denatus to convene at once. As for the subject here, Ais will be allowed to go wherever she wants. However, until the result of the war game, there will be no conversion."
"That's fine with me." Astraea said. "Do you want to come home with us, Ais, and see all your sisters?"
"Yeah! And, big sister… Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" Ais asked, nervously.
"Of course you can, Ais. We'll spend a whole lot of time together." Gamelia smiled.
Royman felt slightly better now that the more terrifying one was appeased, and looked to Loki. "Is that agreeable to you, Lady Loki?"
"No, but I'm going to win this war game and keep my Aisepoo. I'll be demanding a whole lot more from you after this Astraea." Loki glared, standing up, and then she just left, storming out furiously.
"Well, in that case, we can transfer the expedition responsibilities to the Freya familia for now, so you can focus purely on the war game." Royman said, offering some relief.
Finn, sweating profusely, sighed. "Thank you, Guild Master, that will be extremely helpful." He said, then looked to Astraea, with a guilty look in his eye… "Lady Astraea, goddess of justice, I trust you'll be fair in your demands. For now I'll have to rely on that… And, I apologize, I wasn't able to solve the problem before it escalated." He said, barely keeping his lip from trembling, not knowing how much damage the familia he built up was going to suffer after this.
"Everything will depend on what we decide in the Denatus." Astraea said with a straight face. "I'll admit though, I am a little curious about how my familia stacks up against Loki's, now that they've leveled up not too long ago."
Finn nodded, and then looked to Ceraunius. "I still think you went too far that day…"
"Then you're stupid, Finn. If I truly went too far, you'd either not have suffered any injuries, or you and many others would have died." Ceraunius coldly, and flatly replied as if it was something so plainly obvious.
"I-I see. Well then, I'll take my leave now. And Lady Gamelia… Please take care of Ais, this really is the most she's smiled in years. We never deserved her." He said, turning and left.
Shortly later, Astraea familia was all together again at their home, where an interesting interaction occurred between Ais and Ryuu, where they both realized that the other was the one they fought in that alley 2 years ago. Astraea didn't get much time to enjoy the cuteness overload before she'd need to leave for the Denatus scheduled for tomorrow. So she indulged in all of it long into the night. Ceraunius stayed up all night long, making sure no one tried anything stupid.
…