Neko Pov1This will happen often but it will only be switched from the start so it's not as jarring
I did genuinely like Panda but I kept myself from truly falling in love. Not until I know for certain that his feelings were true even if they didn't change for years. After the fight, I thought he faked it all those years and thought that I was so shallow to ridicule someone poor. But seeing him now and watching his expressions. He just looked like a boy wanting to impress his crush
Bot spoke up and broke the silence
"So what do we do now?"
"We?" I wanted to test the party dynamic now that we can no longer hide behind game avatars.
"Isn't it better for us to stick together Neko?"
I looked over to Panda (I wonder what his real name is) He looked desperate. He looked cute2If you couldn't tell Neko is kinda sadistic and right now she is gonna 'acting' dramatic but doesn't worry the ship will sail soon
I let out a loud sigh "Fine but only until I know what's going on" Bot quickly picked up on what I was doing. After years of knowing him(?) one of the things I learned is that. Even though he wasn't the smartest person he was a master at reading the room, even online.
"Works for me" Bot glanced at Panda "Right?" Panda realized it was two against one so he gave up
"Yeah sure"
Panda suddenly stiffened
"What's wrong?"
He held his index finger to his mouth to silence us but since Bot was behind him. Naturally, he had no idea what was happening
"Huh?" Bot said a tad bit too loud
"Formation!"3I originality had "prepare for contact" but that sounded too military-like, so I settled with this
Even though Bot was clueless about what is happening. He quickly got to his position and I used my own stealth skills. Panda finished it off by layering various support buffs. While I snuck behind the woods in question
"Who's there?" Panda called out
A woman walked out, she said something but I was too far to hear it. But the effect was clear, it was some kind of love charm. Since the stupefied look on Bot's face was clear as day. I was about to move in but Panda surprised me, but I continued to move forward to block any escape attempts
"Kinda weak I barely felt that" The woman flinched to this and stared at Panda in disbelief
"How can you resist such high-level magic?" Panda raised his eyebrows
"That's a high-level spell? Guess its weaker when you like someone already" She slowly nodded and Panda frowned at this new piece of knowledge. A moment later he sighed
"Anyways" Panda started a spell "Adoret coram facie mea!4I'll use Latin for all of the spells. Makes it more interesting and I'll put the translation which roughly is "Bow down before me" I used google translate so it won't be perfect"
The woman stiffens "H-how are you stronger then me?" A pained look flashes on Panda's face
"Years of grinding" She frowned
"Grinding? -ack!"
"You don't ask the questions I do" She sighed
"Ask away"
"Name" She cocked her head
"Really? Thats it?" Panda raised his eyebrows
"Hecate"
"So this is a Greek area?" Hecate shot Panda an amused look
"I am surprised a mortal like you know what I am"
"Oh? so your admitting that you lost to a mere mortal?" Hecate glared at him but didn't say anything
"Where are we?"
"It is called many names but I personally like Pandora" Panda frowned again
"Wasn't that millions of years ago?" She narrowed her eyes at that statement
"Time travelers?"
"What year is it?"
"Time is a fickle concept for a god"
"Is there a prophecy?"
I don't understand a thing but I trust Panda to deal with this. Since I remember he told me he was a major fan of mythology5As you can tell there will be a lot of mythology references so anyone who read the same books will get all of this
Hecate glowed green briefly and mist appeared out of nowhere. She spoke in a wispy voice like she would fade away at any moment
"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.
"
Panda nodded and muttered "Explains why you are Greek right now" He focuses on her again "Why are you here don't gods have better things to do?"
Hecate scoffed which looked funny when she was actually on the ground and had no power
"This is MY territory after all" She looked around all of a sudden "wasn't there three you?" Panda briefly locked eyes with me. Hecate stared in my direction in confusion then slowly smiled
"Ah, invisibility the oldest ambush trick in the book, no point in hiding little girl" I walk out from the trees and stop next to Panda. He leaned towards me
"What do we do with her?" I wanted to play a prank to I texted him
"Sex slave?"-Neko_lover
"Only for Bot, I think he gets girls but not in that way"-SmolPanda
"heh they probably think he's some sort of trap"-Neko_lover
Panda twitches and covers his mouth to smother the laughter but some leaks out. Hecate just stares at us with her eyebrows raised
"So are we good?" He texts after he stops laughing
I hesitate but see this as an opportunity
"Is what you said about me?"-Neko_lover
"What did I say?"-SmolPanda
"That you liked someone already" I see Panda tensed up
"Yes?"-SmolPanda
I smiled he finally said it after years of being too shy. I grasped his hands and watched him blush
"Finally!" I quickly dropped his hands and spun to the voice
"Did he confess?" Then Bot saw Hecate
"Who Dat?"
"Hecate"
"As in the goddess?" Panda nodded
"Then why is she kneeling?"
"Apparently the game's skills are stronger" Bot narrowed his eyes
"Just how strong are you?" Panda thought about it
"I have 70% of your health last time I checked" Both of our jaws dropped
"But I'm top tier tank I have a ridiculous amount and plus don't mage's only got like +1 heath per level?"
"Grinding does pay off"
"That is a LOT of levels to get even close to my health. How long did you spend on this?"
"It's not like I have anything else to do"
