Loki familia's home, the Twilight Manor currently had all members, minus the one, present and accounted for. There was some idle chatter while they waited for whatever the announcement was going to be. Some were eager to get back to training, the thrill of landing a blow on any of the executives was nothing short of exhilarating for the vast majority of their members.
"That sure was a good nap." Aki yawned, letting her tail brush against her friend's arm. "Hey, Raul, do you know what's going on? Why'd everyone have to gather here today? Lunch hasn't come out yet, has it?"
"I think we're going to get an update about what happened to Ais." Raul suggested, thinking about it. "Though, whatever it is, it's big since we're all gathered here. See, the Fairy Force is all assembled, and they hate following orders."
"Yeah, it's weird. I wonder what's going meown." Aki meowed, reaching for an ever nervous hand.
Finn stepped out of a side room with Riveria and Gareth following, all three looked dejected beyond compare, it was seriously like they were walking a wicker tightrope over a lava pit. Loki was fuming mad, getting all sorts of tricks to pull made up in her mind.
Finn cleared his throat, looking around at the familia he'd built up, and then in the back he saw three faces, specters of the past, all three of them wore a slightly difficult expression, a mirror of his own. "Everyone, listen up! Many of you have likely noticed that our sword princess has been absent lately." He began… "Today, I'll tell you what's happened… She has been enthralled by members of Astraea familia. She is currently living in their home." He explained. "Ais wanted to leave our familia to be with these two members of Astraea familia, our goddess Loki refused to let her go, and so now, we must fight. And so, two months from today, we will be fighting a war game against Astraea familia. Are there any questions?"
"I'm getting a weird tingly feeling all over again, Raul…" Aki said with the hair on her tail flaring up.
"Yes, Finn, who exactly are these two members?" Raul asked.
The silence that fell on the room, said it all. There were only 3 entities in the whole world that could generate that kind of fear, and no, Freya familia was not one of them. First was the One Eye'd Black Dragon, second was Ceraunius, and third was Gamelia. There was no one else that remotely came close to those three. Each was effectively like standing against a force of nature, two of them might as well just be classified as them anyway thanks to their spirit heritage.
"It's Ceraunius, and Gamelia. Those two are spirits, and Ais, is a half spirit as well. She felt drawn to them in a way I simply have no words to explain. I've asked Riveria, and she's at a loss even in elvish…"
"What about you, Lady Loki?" Alicia Forestlight asked, not daring to attempt something her own princess couldn't do.
"I can't say." Loki refused to answer the question. This indicated to those smart enough to see that Loki did have a way to explain it, but she didn't want to do it. The uproar in the familia was quick and loud.
"Hey, Finn! What the hell is going on here!? We're fighting against Ceraunius and Gamelia? There's not even a chance! Remember what happened?! Ceraunius demolished Ottar like he was nothing!" Cruz Bussel protested, clearly upset.
"Face it, there's not even a chance we can conquer him, let alone both of them." Orba agreed.
Finn cleared his throat, and tapped his spear's pommel. "We are not fighting those two." He stated, and quickly. "We were able to work out a deal, one that almost fell through… But, anyway, the battle will be fought in the city's arena. The two month time is for preparations, and to build up excitement among the people." He explained. "And so, for the next 2 months. We're going to be training harder than ever before. We will fight to bring our princess back to us."
The sentiment was lost on the familia. Just the threat of having Ceraunius and Gamelia acting against them… Well, those were two people you definitely didn't want to meet in the dungeon, so there were already some members who'd been thinking of saving up money, or just trying to get a deal with another familia so they could be freed from the Loki stigma.
This lack of sentiment didn't go unnoticed by Loki, and so, she secretly plotted her own strategy to ensure her victory. Though, there was something she could never understand, and that was the limits of one who isn't willing to hold back in the slightest… Odd since that's essentially what she too was planning.
…
In Folkvangr, the Freya familia's Andhrimnir were preparing their duties in advance of the day's events at the order of their goddess.
"Why are we providing the healing for this event?" One of the newer ones asked.
"Isn't that simple? Our goddess said so, and so we shall do it." Heith answered, calmly.
"Yeah, but like, what's our goddess' reasoning behind this? Surely there's more to it than charity work?"
"I wanted to show off my beautiful children. How great it would be to steal the show with how amazing my familia is." Freya answered, checking in on the familia home's hospital section. "I'll be staying here in the house."
"Work hard to please our goddess." Ottar said, walking just beside Freya.
"Yes, we will work hard, captain, but not for you." Heith said with a glare.
"As long as it's for Lady Freya, I couldn't care less." He added as the pair walked by.
…
Ganesha familia on the other hand were trying their level best to get the arena ready for a war game, using the investment funds provided by the guild to do so. Shakti was in charge of the fortifications, and adjustments, but she couldn't help but worry about her sister.
"Are you alright, Shakti?" Ilta asked, with a curious blink.
"Yeah, I'm just worried about my sister. She's fighting in the war game. I just… I almost lost her during the great feud." Shakti answered.
"Oh stop it, I know you better than you know yourself. Right now you're excited to see your precious little sister kicking some ass." Ilta gave a teasing grin.
"What, no…"
"Yes, you are. It's written on your face, sister-con." Ilta teased.
…