A day later on the 20th floor.

"Cirrus, do you not wish to learn more of your mother?" asked Malion as both she and he were casually cutting down monsters.

"I am hesitant. A part of me wishes to learn more about her, but another wants nothing to do with her. All that I know about her is stuff I heard from other people."

"If you wish, I can tell you more of Nephele. Some things only those who were close to her would know and see."

"…" Cirrus thought on it long and hard. "… Very well. What was she like?"

"She was very headstrong, clumsy, and very sweet. That was how she was when I met her. You know, I met her one day as the Familia were on our way to the Dungeon, and this bright-eyed girl came out and landed flat on her face." Malion made the sweetest of smiles, remembering a fond memory. "Ah yes, I then knelt and gave her my hand. She then asked to join the Familia, and I warned her not to. Sadly and fortunately, Hera found potential in her. From then on Hera would slowly have her within her hands, molding her to her liking."

"Yeah, I’m sure with those swirling pools of madness in her red eyes, she would raise her as she sees fit."

"Very. But had it not been for her stubbornness and need to prove herself to the Familia, she would sneak out late at night and entered the Dungeon. She had made it to the 13th floor in only two months."

"Guess she was rather talented, huh?"

"I am afraid not enough. From what she told Hera, she heard some people needed help, and when she went, well, it was Evilus."

"What happened?" Cirrus said solemnly.

"A bloodbath. Nephele didn’t really remember that scene, but it was the turning point for her. She felt guilt, anger, powerless, and weak. So she sought to resolve that. She knelt before Hera right there and then within the Familia's home foyer and asked her to make her into someone who does not know fear."

"Then… she was gone."

"Yes," Malion said painfully. "She slowly turned into another Hera. She was strong, ferocious, noble, cold, prideful, and tyrannical. That sweet girl was lost from both the world and her goddess, especially her goddess. She tried to gain her approval and validation. To whatever was against her, she would meet it with a cruel swing of her sledgehammer. I had my guesses that Nephele’s parents were not present in her life, a common occurrence in Orario and in all facets of societies around the world."

Cirrus could look at the look on her face. It was one of deep regret and dejection.

"Did she mention anything about her parents?"

"No. I afraid she was tight-lipped about it."

Cirrus took a deep breath. It felt as if he would learn nothing beyond his mother.

"The orphans of Orario. I know a bit of that. When I left to meet Bell, I left Ai with Hera. I was a bit scared of what Hera would say to her."

"And did your fears come true?"

"Partially. Thankfully, I came back early enough to stop any more of her ‘influence’. But…"

"But what?"

"But I think… Hera knew what she was doing. After I talked with Ai, our relationship deepened because of her, so… I don’t know. Hera is a hard person to try and read."

"Very, even Freya herself can’t get a read on her, which leads to Hera always winning against Freya during their little games."

"I know Freya isn’t too fond of her, but was that the reason?"

"Yes, I was there as her bodyguard enough times to know Freya lost so much to Hera it actually made her far more humbled."

"… What?" Cirrus knew Freya as a fairly calm and composed goddess with pride and confidence befitting of her. Knowing that she was more confident it scared Cirrus a bit about what she could have done if Hera didn’t humbled her.

"I can see why you are surprised and maybe a bit scared. The Freya from back then was truly a reckless individual. A real nectar-coated blade."

"Yeah, now she... well, she is still a bit like that, but she certainly is more methodical in how she does things. But back to my mom."

"Right. So she became like the human equivalent of Hera; everyone feared and hated her, even some of the Familia, except for Bell’s mother, Meteria. But one day she took on a quest outside the city, we didn’t know where she was going, but she went alone, and after a month we grew worried, and then after another, Hera sent some of her Familia to go and find her."

"Then a few months later, she returned?"

"Yes." Malion stopped walking, as did Cirrus. "On a rainy day, she returned with a look we had never seen on her before—one of sorrow and pain, and now knowing you, a state of bereavement. She said nothing and simply ignored everyone, even Hera, and went to her room. We could hear the sounds of her crying, and then, after 2 days, she emerged from her room. She was like a different person; her eyes held a fierceness and determination that overshadowed her previous self. Hera asked what she was doing those months, and she simply never gave her an answer. From then on, she grew more reckless and power-hungry. She would train the Familia to such a level of harshness that Hera had to intervene by how brutal it was. But it did not stop there; she would dive into the dungeon for months on end, diving as deep as she could, fighting hordes and hordes of monsters on her own, and after 4 years, she had reached it… level 9."

"I remember; that was when I found out who she was."

"Can I ask you why you didn’t go and confront her?"

"… At the time, I had no love for her. She abandoned me at an orphanage. But after I asked Fels what it means to be part of a powerful Familia, they said it was ‘A constant gaze like that of a predator seeking the right time to kill the prey, waiting for anything to give it an advantage.’. I understood fairly early on why she left me that day and why I couldn’t go to her. The city was dangerous, and I didn’t want myself nor her to be in danger. I had planned on meeting her when I was old enough to be an adventurer, but... well, that day never came. I had to advance my plan seeing how, after two of the strongest Familia’s were no more, a power vacuum would soon come and the Dark Era would grow in intensity."

"That is a shame... do you still hold resentment towards her?"

"… No, but neither do I hold affection for her. She is simply a bittersweet memory to me now."

"If it makes you feel any better after she had reached level 9, she would search the city and look out the front of the Familia home, watching carefully. She would even sleep with one eye open by the window. Before, it was odd, but now, in retrospect, I think she was hoping you would have come to find her. She would see you coming up to the Familia home, and she would rush to you without a second thought."

"…"

Malion could see a look in Cirrus’s eyes and face. She could see him imagining what it would have been like if he had thrown caution to the wind and gone to her. He took a deep breath and kept walking.

"That’s good to know."

He walked on ahead, not letting Malion see him, but she could see small wet spots on the ground and him rubbing his eyes.

 

A while later, Cirrus had another question.

"Malion." Cirrus kept walking. "Do you know why my mom’s eyes swirl like Hera’s?"

"Ah, that. Do you also possess those eyes?"

"I do. They always come out when I get very angry."

"So you inherited her Díni Eyes, huh? I am surprised Hera never told you. Or any god for that matter, they are pretty rare qualities."

"So what they have some power or something?"

"None of the sort. From what Zeus told me, they are known as Díni Eyes, and they came into being because of Hera."

"Uhh… How so?" Cirrus stopped to look at Malion.

Malion stopped as well, she looked into Cirrus’s emerald eye.

"So to begin, Díni Eyes are linked to Pallum history. More specifically, the Order of Fianna."

"Oh? That’s a surprise. Do I got some Pallum blood in me?"

"Maybe somewhere down your lineage, given that the Order of Fianna helped install a new monarch to rule. The queen saw the might those with Blood-Red Eyes possess. They were primarily a trait found within Pallums, so after Fianna’s Order did their part in helping humanity, the queen of the kingdom had ordered research into the eyes."

"… Okay so I am assuming they found those with Blood-Red Eyes and just bred them?"

"Yes. Zeus called it eugenics. They found that those with Blood-Red Eyes when there was nothing to inhibit them, they would seek out blood and violence and were aptly renamed Berserker Eyes. They continue to breed them to serve as weapons while slowly cutting out the mindless drive to kill. Then the gods came, and the researchers met Hera. Hera was amused by the eyes and so helped them along, and after a few generations, they got all the users of those eyes to retain their sanity; they were named Avenging Eyes. Hera would always dote on and raise the finest warrior with these eyes to be her captain, and over a few more generations, those eyes slowly began to change to match the goddesses' own eyes. Ironically, those eyes slowly began to lose their redness and change to the person’s natural eye color."

"Well that is, um, unexpected." Cirrus was surprised his eyes had such history. "So is there a family out there that continues to make them?"

"No. Zeus stated that eventually, the bloodline ended in a war with the Cronus Familia. He said that war was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the form of helping accelerate the world’s technology and a curse as it was the first time human life was lost on such a large scale by their own kind."

"I see… Interesting."

A lot of what she said is lost to time. Records were burned or lost; the gods of that time either forgot them over the passage of time or were sent back to heaven.

"Keep going; this is rather interesting?"

"Is it? I was never fond of history. Too boring and complicated. But if you like, I will continue. As I was saying, after the war, the bloodline and any research into those eyes were lost. This greatly affected Hera. Zeus noted that this was the angriest he had ever seen Hera. For 10 years, her eyes were swirling."

"My god… Those poor people."

"Yes…"

Malion and Cirrus took a moment to sympathize with those who experienced that.

"So a few centuries later, she met my mom?" Cirrus said.

"Yes. Nephele never spoke about her early years, but seeing as you and her possess what Hera named the Díni Eyes, It seems a bloodline still existed and continued to refine the eyes. The side effects were fully rooted, and now it just makes it easier to lose themselves to their own temper. Of course, meeting you, it seems that if one works on themselves, even that is suppressed."

"Ah… I guess that explains it a bit. I guess? But are you sure the temper is the only thing?"

"It is the only thing I have noticed. I am sure Hera molded Nephele to have a sharper, more controlled temper, but... I guess that is in the past."

"Yeah… I didn’t know this eye of mine had such a history. I am a bit more worried about my kids, though."

"I am sure with your parentage they will turn out fine," Malion assured him. "Come on." She walked up to him and patted his shoulder. "Let’s continue Cirrus." She gives him a slight smile before walking past him.

"Heh." He lightly smiled. "Alright."