Down in the Room of Prayer.

"I can feel the monster coming up." said Ouranos. "It is causing severe damage to the Dungeon…Cirrus are you ready for this final battle?"

"Of course I am." Cirrus says this while standing up wearing new armor made by Hephaestus and Eupheme. "I’m even using the same gear layout as when I was a kid! I haven’t had a shield and a normal spear on my back in a long time! "

"You look like a true hero, Cirrus." Said Fels.

"Thanks but…I rather not be called that." He said against it. " But I hope I don’t become a martyr or something."

"Well, just to be sure here." Fels gave Cirrus a pair of gauntlets. "A sleeker version of my Magic Eaters."

"Ah cool! I always wanted a pair! "

"Oh, and here's one last thing." Fels hands him a red pendant.

"An Occulus? Do you wanna see what’s down there? "

"Yes, but this one catches visual information as well."

"So you can see what I can?"

"Yes."

"That’s pretty amazing, Fels!" he said with a smile.

Boom! Boom!

Explosions could be heard in the distance.

"I need to get going, Circe was unable to use her magic due to not knowing what lay ahead of us so we're trying to conserve as much magic as possible." Cirrus turned and began to walk up the stairs.

"Before you leave hold on a second."

"What is-!"

Fels hugged him, one tight and full of love.

"Be careful my son."

"…You to Mom/Dad." He hugged Fels back.

They let go, and Cirrus started walking up.

"Oh and see you soon Lord Ouranos!!" he said with a smile before quickly racing up the stairs to The Guild.

"He has grown up so well…I’m amazed I could nurture such a youth even despite some…failings." Said Fels.

"After so many centuries, one is bound to find success again, Fels." Said Ouranos.

"Yes...it seems so."

Back at The Guild.

"Ready!" said Ai to Cirrus as she was waiting for him by the entrance to the Room of Prayer.

"Ready as one can be, and you, Nox? Circe. "

‘Of course!’

‘Let’s get this over with and then I can sleep for an entire week!’ said Circe.

Circe flaps and lands on Cirrus’s shoulder while Nox remains on Ai’s.

"Then let’s get moving."

Walking through The Guild, they were met by Riveria, Gareth, and Ais. "

"Change in plans," said Riveria. "Finn wants you Ai to stay up top and deal with Alfia. I and Gareth will join you Cirrus to fight the Nightmare."

"Seems you got your wish, Ai."

"Hm! I’ll make sure I’ll beat her thoroughly! "

 

Walking to the base of Babel, Ais asked a question.

"Cirrus, are you mad you have to work with our Familia?"

An uncomfortable silence fell upon them.

"What makes you think I’m mad at them." Cirrus said as he kept walking forward.

"Our Familia was responsible for your mom’s Familia leaving the city? Aren’t you-"

"Ais that’s enough-"

"That’s fine, Riveria." Cirrus said with his eyes forward.

"Boy…" said Gareth with a rather solemn look.

"I have no ill will towards your or Freya’s Familia. It was the only way to keep the peace and assure the people that their new protectors were up to the task. But it would be a lie if they really did it not for the city but also for some self-interest. " Cirrus turned and glared at the two, and they gulped. "But what’s done is done. No use in complaining about it. I do hold some emotions that I need to work through, but…besides that we are good. I also now have 2 things I have of my mom, my memory of her and this sword." He taps the sword on its sheath. "Actually three things, this seething hatred for the god Odin."

'I also have a dislike for Hera.'

"Odin?" said Ais.

"He’s a god that lived in the area of heaven where Loki resided," said Riveria.

"Yeah, he’s a one-eyed old bastard that doesn’t like to lose." He said it with contempt towards the god.

"He’s going through some stuff!" Ai said. "His experience of getting his mom’s sword was a cursed one and for him to use it well…"

"I had to endure 3 hours of torturous, agonizing pain that I wanted to bash my head into the earth to feel anything else but the pain of the curse."

"Ooh…" Ais said with an amazed face.

"That bad?" said Gareth.

Cirrus stops and holds out the sword by its sheath.

"Wanna see?"

Riveria and Ais look at Gareth.

"Sure. I want to see how bad it was."

He grabs the handle and pulls it out.

"Huh? it’s not so-!!"

He could feel an agonizing pain surge through the sword up through his arm. He dropped it almost immediately, but Cirrus quickly caught it.

"Huff! huff! I’m seriously going to kill that one-eyed god!!" shouted Gareth. "Who would make a cursed weapon so dam unusable!"

"A sore loser, that’s who." Cirrus says, sheathing it back. "But like any cursed weapon, the bigger the drawback, the better the payout will be, and for this one, it’s exceptionally so."

"There are benefits to cursed swords?" asked Ais.

"Some yes." They all resumed walking. "But you’ll get more out from a normal 1st class weapon without any drawbacks like say unbearable pain."

"Guh! Do you feel that every time you draw it?" Gareth said rubbing his arm.

"No. The way Gram works is this: One, my basic stats go up by 5 points each. Two, the blade has 4 levels; the 4th is the max, and each time I go up one, the effect doubles. Three, its weight is freely changeable to my preference. Four, it makes it easier to focus. The price for it was that my anger and sense of pain increased by a factor of 20. I have to say, Odin was more generous than I had expected. "

"So no going berserk like what you did back then?" said Riveria.

"…I won’t promise anything."

"Is that pinkish bird also a spirit?" Ais asks.

"Oh? What makes you think that?" asked Ai.

"Because it has the same air as Nox."

Circe turned around to face Ais.

"She says not to compare the two or else she’ll turn you into a little piglet and eat you." Cirrus said to Ais.

"Ah!" she froze in place. "S-sorry." She said timidly.

"She thinks you're a cute kid, but watch your words."

"That hawk isn’t really a spirit is it?" Riveria said slightly jokingly.

Poof!

In a cloud of purple smoke, Circe appeared on Cirrus’s shoulders.

"Oh? Are you really doubting I’m a spirit, elf? "

Her appearance was drastically different than Nox's. Where hers was more inhuman, Circe’s was more like a sunset personified into a young girl that was just shorter than Gareth.

They have also seen her around helping heal people, but her appearance was something they couldn’t see in all the hustle and bustle.

"You have another spirit!" Ais shouted.

"Rude I found him! Without me, he would have died on the beach of poison! " She said resting her arm in Cirrus’s hand. "But you child…" Circe looks carefully at Ais. "You are a very odd one at that? I can see why Nox had such trouble with you…you’re a new existence, a literal miracle child! After this is over I would like to know more about you. Is that fine with your guardians?"

"It's fine with me, it’s not every day you can talk to someone about this." Gareth said.

"Riveria?" Ai said looking at her.

"…Only if you want to okay."

"Hm!"

 

Upon arriving at Babel, they meet up with the Astraea Familia.

"Well I’ll see you after this is done!" said Ai leaving. "Heeey! "Ottar! "

"Isn’t Ai supposed to come with us?" said Alise.

"Change in plans: these 3 are coming with us early. Ai was sent to fight Alfia."

"A-are you sure she will be fine?" asked Lyra.

"I have seen Ai face Alfia in her Beastification," said Riveria. "She can hold her own."

"Aye she has a good chance at winning," said Gareth.

As they were talking, Ryuu came up to Cirrus.

"Cirrus I like to thank you for crafting this weapon for me."

"Hm, no problem but you should thank Ardi for getting the material even though she never fulfilled her end of the deal."

"What was the deal?"

"The deal was that she undergo more training with her sister and to follow her word to the letter but…anyways I made a deal, and I was at least going to fulfill my end of that much I could do for her."

Ryuu made a charming expression underneath her mask.

"Thank you…did you perhaps give the wooden sword a name?"

"Not really. I felt that as a gift you should be able to name it."

"I see, then I shall take care of Lumina Ardi!"

"I’ll be going now." Said Asfi looking very, very tired. "Lyra, you better not mess up."

"I won’t!"

"Oh, you finished that project, Asfi." Cirrus said.

"Hm yes…77 hours with no sleep…I’m exhausted."

"Hmm." Cirrus rummaged through his stuff and pulled out a purple potion. "Here take this."

"What is it?"

"It’s a stamina potion. Me, my aunt, and her apprentice made it."

"…Glug! Glug!...hm it tastes like grape-!! Oh!! I feel like I just slept!" she said extremely energized.

"Glad you like it."

Cirrus left her to Ryuu as it seemed the two had some catching up to do.

"So we move at dawn huh?" he said to Riveria.

"Yes…the final battle."

Minutes passed and as the first rays of light hit the empty streets of Orario came to life in battle.

"UROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"