Finn's party returned two days after Yuji's visit to the Hostess of Fertility.
Yuji was in the Manor's central garden when they came through the gate. He had a stack of books next to him on the bench as he tried to come to terms with this world's literacy system. Ironically, it looked similar enough to English that he was able to barely get past most words, but it still required a lot of effort on his part to discern the rest.
(Authors note: Legit, you should search up what the Danmachi writing system looks like, its a weird mix of Latin lettering and Runic symbols to form english words)
He was given full access to the library as a member of the Loki Familia, since apparently not a lot of people wanted to spend their time reading besides from dedicated mages. Most would rather spend their time training or practising with other Familia members.
He had been trying to read books about the history of Orario's founding and the descent of the God's for the past few days.
Sat next to him as his pile of books was Loki as she lounged on the bench beside him.
The Goddess had her arms draped over the backrest, her head tilted toward the sky with her eyes closed and some would think she was taking a nap. But Yuji had caught her peeking at whatever page he was on at least three times in the last hour, though she'd denied it each time.
"Ya read slow for a fossil." Loki murmured, not opening her eyes.
"I read at a normal pace. You're just impatient."
"Same thing."
They'd fallen into a sort of routine over the past couple of days. Yuji would find a quiet spot in the Manor and Loki would materialize within ten minutes, occupying the nearest surface and filling the silence with idle chitchat. She never asked him to talk about anything important or pressed him about his past and abilities. She was just content with hanging out near him, though he thought she was just bored out of her mind waiting for Finn's party to come back.
The commotion at the gate interrupted the silence between them.
Loki's eyes opened and her posture shifted from lazy to energetic in a single heartbeat. "They're back." She said with a wide smile.
Gareth was already at the gate by the time Yuji lowered his book and glanced over.
The first through were the supporters, hauling packs filled with magic stones and drop items. They looked tired but relieved and behind them came the combat members, with weapons strapped to their bodies and armour scuffed and dented in various places.
Finn entered the courtyard with his spear across his back and a leather journal tucked under one arm. He looked barely different from the last time Yuji saw him, but there was a hint of tightness and tension around his eyes.
The Amazonian twins were right behind him, Tiona talking at full volume about something that had happened on Floor 24 and Tione correcting her on exaggerated points.
Lefiya brought up the rear of the group, clutching her staff with both hands and looking like she hadn't slept properly in days.
Two people were notably absent, Aiz or Riveria missing from the return party.
As for Bete, he didn't join the party heading down this time, instead he was stuck in the Twilight Manor acting as its guard. He was probably off skulking off somewhere.
Gareth reached Finn, and the two exchanged words. The dwarf's expression shifted from welcome to something more serious as Finn spoke quietly, glancing at the journal under his arm.
Then Tiona spotted Yuji.
"Yuji" She waved enthusiastically, dropping her pack and jogging over. "I didn't think you'd be here when we came back! I thought you'd have moved on by now!"
"Well, here I am." Yuji said, closing his book.
"Did Loki finally convince you to stick around? She wouldn't shut up about it before we left." Tiona planted her hands on her hips and grinned. "Hey, hey, did anything interesting happen while we were gone? Did you go into the Dungeon? How far did you get?"
Tione had followed her sister over at a more measured pace, her eyes flicking between Yuji and Loki. She took note of how Yuji and Loki were casually hanging out together before they had arrived.
Lefiya approached cautiously, hovering a few steps behind the twins. Finn made his way over last, Gareth walking beside him.
Loki hadn't moved from the bench. She was leaning back with her arms spread, watching the scene unfold with the particular satisfaction of holding a secret they didn't know of yet. Gareth spotted the look and shook his head with a wry smile, already knowing what she was up to.
"Welcome back, kiddos!" She called out, her grin wide. "How was the trip? Kill anything fun? Bring me back a souvenir?"
"Loki, the expedition was quite productive this time around." Finn said evenly as he approached, giving Yuji a nod which he returned. "WE have a great deal to talk about."
"I bet you do." Loki's grin didn't waver as she continued on. "But first, there's something you should know."
She sat up, planting her feet on the ground and looked at each of them in turn. Finn, Tiona, Tione, Lefiya and finally Gareth, who already knew but smiled at the Goddess's antics.
"While you lot were down in the Dungeon playing Heroes," Loki said, jerking her thumb back towards Yuji. "I picked up a new kid."
The courtyard went quiet.
Tiona's mouth fell open, her eyes darting from Yuji to Loki, back and forth.
"Wait." She began speaking. "Wait, wait, wait. You mean-"
"Yuji Itadori, newest member of Loki Familia." Loki announced, her grin stretching to its absolute maximum. "Official as of four days ago. Falna inscribed (partially), paperwork filed, room assigned, the whole shebang." Although she whispered a little extra word when it came to his Falna, the members of Loki Familia were too dumbstruck to react to it.
Tiona was the first to reach, as calmly as one could expect from her.
She screamed.
Not a word or a sentence, just a raw, unfiltered scream of excitement that sent a flock of birds scattering from the Manor's rooftop and causing several of the returning supporters to flinch and cover their ears.
Then she lunged at him, but Yuji held out a hand and held her head, stopping her from tackling his body as she was held in place, her hands waving wildly.
"YOU JOINED!!! I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW YOU'D JOIN US!!!" Tiona calmly said, but realizing her attack failed, she moved back and jumped over Yuji, landing on the backrest of the bench as she sat down behind his head, her legs draped around her shoulders as she began to vigorously rub his hair. "TIONE! TIONE, HE JOINED! HE ACTUALLY JOINED!!!"
"I can hear you." Tione said, standing three feet away. "The entire district can hear you by now." Although she sighed at her sister's antics, she still gave Yuji an approving smile.
Yuji couldn't help but feel the corner of his eye twitch as Tione kept trying to start a fire with his hair, making a mess of it in her excitement.
Lefiya was cycling through emotions at a speed that threatened to overwhelm her. "He- Mr. Itadori… Lady Loki gave him her Falna?" She turned to Loki with wide eyes. "You gave him your Falna while we were in the Dungeon?!"
"Sure did." Loki said cheerfully as Yuji peeled Tiona off of him by grabbing her legs and tossing her back to her sister. "And let me tell ya, it was the weirdest inscription I've ever done, and it still is! But we'll save that story for later." Her smile was slightly strained as she thought back to his Falna and how she still wasn't able to complete it yet, hurting her pride as a Goddess.
Finn hadn't reacted outwardly. He stood with his arms at his sides, watching the commotion with a quiet gaze as the numerous implications of having someone of Yuji Itadori's calibre join them ran through his mind.
He stepped forward and extended his hand.
"Welcome aboard." He simply said, letting out a smile.
Yuji took it and could feel the Pallums' grip tightened for a split second before they released.
"We need to talk." Finn added, his voice low enough that only Yuji and Loki could hear. "Tonight, my office. Leadership only, there's a great deal to discuss."
Yuji raised a brow but merely nodded in response.
With a satisfied look, Finn also nodded and stepped back as he planned to finish the final steps for the returning party.
The other members of the Familia, ones that had been with Yuji in the previous expedition, all had excited looks on their face at the revelation.
Tiona had grabbed Yuji's arm and pulled him towards the Manor as the man decided to humour her since she just returned from the Dungeon, even as she began firing questions at him. "When did Loki ask you?! What made you say yes?! What's your status say?! What level are you?! Have you been to the Dungeon?! How far did you go?!"
As the courtyard slowly emptied, Loki remained on the bench, watching her children filter into the Manor one by one, her gaze never faltering.
Gareth sat down on the bench next to her, his arms crossed.
"You're enjoying this." He said simply.
"Oh, you have no idea." Loi replied, her vermillion eyes opened slightly, shining brightly. "I haven't had this much fun since Bete got drunk and tried to arm wrestle Riveria."
"He lost."
"And almost cried."
Gareth chuckled and shook his head.
Loki looked up at the sky, her grin softening into something genuine.
"Things are about to get real interesting around here, Gareth."
"They already are."
Loki let out a laugh before standing up. "Now, its time to give the kiddos a proper welcome. Lefiya~ Where are youuuu~" Loki's words trailed off as she stalked towards the elf, who let out an 'Eeek!' before running inside, with Loki chasing after her.
-------------------
The briefing was convened that evening in Finn's office.
The room held only four people. Finn sat behind his desk with Gareth sitting on one of the plush couches and Loki situated on the desk's edge. Yuji sat opposite of Gareth as he leaned back into the soft cushion.
Riveria was notably absent.
"We'll start with our report." Finn opened his journal to a bookmarked page. "Then we'll address the new developments here."
He then went on to recount the money run itself, the quests that were completed and the haul of magic stones and drop items they managed to bring back. After that, his tone shifted.
"We stopped in Rivira on the eighteenth floor to sell some of our stones and restock. The morning after we arrived, a body was discovered in Willy's Inn.
Bors, the de facto leader of Rivira, had a vial of Status Thief brought in to identify the body. Riveria read his status, the dead man was Hashana Dorlia, formerly of Ganesha Familia and a Level 4."
"Haven't had much interaction with him in the past, but he's strong enough to protect himself." Gareth added on after Finn paused. "He usually wore a Ganesha style helmet."
"He was decapitated and his head was missing." Finn said flatly. "Inside of a locked room with no signs of forced entry. We only figured out his identity after Riveria read his status, but he wasn't wearing any of his usual equipment, which most likely points to him hiding his identity before his demise."
Finn turned a page and continued on. "We determined he'd accepted a secret quest from an unknown client to retrieve something. Whatever it was, the killer wanted it badly enough to murder a Level 4 to get it."
"How'd they get past his guard?" Yuji asked, since Finn never brought up any signs of a struggle.
"That's the thing." Finn's expression morphed into something grim. "The investigation in Rivira pointed to a woman. Based on the evidence and witness accounts, she used her appearance to get close to Hashana and seduced him. He was naked when we found him, so she most likely did this to get into his room without a fight and killed him while his guard was down."
Loki let out a low whistle from the desk. "Cold."
"Did you find her after?" Yuji draped an arm over the backrest, wondering how often adventurers murdered each other in the Dungeon.
"We did, however… She peeled the skin from Hashana's face and used it as a mask to blend in during our investigation. No one knew what he looked like since he always wore a helmet." Finn said as his tone became flat. "We sealed off Rivira and checked every woman present, and she walked right past us."
The room went still.
"That's…" Gareth shook his head. "That's something else."
"While we were conducting the search," Finn continued on, nodding at Gareths words, "Aiz spotted a Hermes Familia member, a Pallum named Lulune who was acting suspiciously. She chased her down, and it turned out Lulune wasn't the killer, but was instead a courier. Hashana had given her a package to deliver to the surface before he was murdered."
Finn paused as he considered his next words.
"The package was a green orb, roughly the size of a person's head. Inside was what appeared to be a fetal creature suspended in green liquid. It had oversized eyes, long hair but was definitely not a human. Aiz reacted strangely when she got near it and almost collapsed."
Yuji couldn't help but feel something strange inside of him. The green orb reminded him of the Death Paintings, eerily so, but he wrote this off as just mere coincidence for now.
"What kind of reaction did it show?" Yuji asked Finn, who looked at him directly.
"Physical, like the orb was pulling at something inside her. She couldn't explain it afterwards." Finn then turned to look at Loki. "That's when things fell apart."
"The woman?" Loki said, letting out a quiet hum.
"The woman." Finn confirmed. "Once she realized the orb had been found, she dropped her disguise and unleashed a swarm of monsters on Rivira. The same species as the ones from Monster Feria, the carnivorous plant monsters. She used them to throw the town into chaos as cover to confront Aiz directly."
Finn then turned another page in his journal.
"Her name, or at least what she goes by, is Revis. Blood red hair, green eyes and combat ability beyond what her appearance suggests. She engaged Aiz one on one." He let his words pause to add emphasis on his next words. "Aiz activated Airel, her full wind enchantment, and Revis still had the upper hand."
That caused Yuji to raise an eyebrow, he knew how strong Aiz was.
"A level 5 with Ariel couldn't beat her?" Gareth said quietly, making sure the weight of his words was carried across.
"No. Revis had her on the back food from start to finish, which suggests her Level is closer to 6. More importantly, the moment she saw Aiz's wind magic, she said something." Finn's voice dropped. "She called her 'Aira'."
Loki's grin had long since vanished, but this revelation caused her eyes to open sharply.
Yuji noticed the reaction and the name, deciding to log it away but not bring it up for now.
"Aiz tried telling her she wasn't Aria, but Revis didn't care or didn't believe her. She said the magic was Aria's magic. She was about to finish Aiz off when Riveria and I intervened. Riveria forced her to move with a spell and I knocked her back. She assessed our combined strength and retreated, taking the green orb with her."
Finn let out a sigh as Gareth went over the implications in his head. Yuji watched all of this unfold in front of him and noticed Loki looking at him from the corner of her eyes, but he didn't comment on it.
"I'm guessing she didn't take the loss easily, did she?"
Finn let off a wry smile and shook his head. "No, she did not. After that, we regrouped and prepared to return to the surface, but Aiz requested to stay behind. She wanted to fight Udaeus, the Floor Boss on the Floor 37, alone."
Gareth nodded his head in understanding. "She was shaken. I've seen Aiz after bad fights, but this loss is different."
"Riveria stayed with her as an escort, they should return in a few days." Finn finally closed his journal and looked at everyone in the room, mainly towards Loki.
"Your turn, anything happen up here while we were gone?"
Loki let out a smile.