"Are you really going to, boss?" said Jane.

"I’ll be gone only for a day. We’ll be back again rather soon."

"Boss if you happen to run into an odd Desert Scorpion, could you deal with it?" said Robert. "It has been causing us trouble for a while."

"I could but wouldn’t defeating it make for a way to level up?"

"Ah…" they said.

"Cirrus." Said Al-Kutba. Could you see its strength first? I don’t want my Familia to go into an unwinnable battle, you see."

‘So he is the brains huh?’

"Very well, if I see it, I shall see how strong it is."

"Thank you, oh and I should mention this before you leave but." He takes out a paper and hands it to Cirrus.

"Hm? what…oh?"

"What is it?"

Both Nox and Ai look over and see the paper.

"Seems you’re a famous man, Uncrowned Emperor. Well, I did my best to slow your fame in the city, but well…let’s say it’s fortunate you will be leaving rather soon."

‘He’s sharp, far sharper than no... I say he has Hermes’s cleverness, just not bogged down by any vices.’

"Thanks! We’ll be careful. Ai you ready?"

"Hm!"

"(Exousía, Adorn: Stymphalian)."

The armor wraps around Cirrus, and the crew notices how different it has been since he was a child.

"Whoa…"

Ai grabbed on and Nox got on in Cirrus’s bag, and with a flap of his wings, he took off into the sky and into the desert.

"Dam….he’s even faster than before." said Jane.

"The power of a Level 8." Said Al-Kutba. "Truly a freighting force."

Over the Kaios Desert.

"Uncrowned Emperor huh! That's a pretty impressive title!" said Ai. "Do you think if I level up I would be called the Uncrowned Empress?"

"I…really not want that," Cirrus said. "It’ll feel weird."

"Maybe something like Uncrowned Saint?" said Nox on Cirrus’s back, feeling the wind through her hair.

"Let’s not discuss this and knowing the gods, they’ll do something unexpected and unfortunately, Lord Susanoo won’t be there."

"Ah…he should be almost ready to leave, no?"

"Hmm, about 1 or 2 more weeks?"

"Do you think it’s enough time to get to the Far East?" asked Ai.

"More than enough, but I’m sure if we're a few days late, everything will be fine."

"I wonder if we will- there it is!!" shouted Nox as she jumps off and turns into a bird, nose-diving.

"Hold on."

Landing on the tower of the temple, Nox and Cirrus felt some nostalgia.

"Waaah!! Look at this place!! It barely changed!!" said Nox. "Well, maybe a bit more sandy, but still! Look! It’s the spot where I took you when you busted your arms saving me!"

"Ah yes…the days where using my armor was more of a double-edged sword than anything…actually no, it’s actually still double-edged."

"So this is where you two first met, huh?" Ai looks out at the vast expanse of the sea of sand. "…I can see why you are so attached to Cirrus, Nox. This place is peaceful but if you are alone…it becomes terrifying."

"Yup…Hey, let's go see the tomb I was sealed in!"

They got on Cirrus again and went down the hole in the sand, which was turned to glass around the edges.

Arriving down at it, they found that a pile of sand had formed on Nox’s tomb.

"It’s all covered up." Nox turned into a massive bird and flapped her wings to get the sand off, while Cirrus walked over to see the bloodstains on the floor.

Cirrus kneels down and looks at it.

"Heh…I can see how small I was…" He touches his own dried blood.

"Hey! Hey, Cirrus!" shouted Nox. "Huh! huh! just like how we first met!"

Cirrus turned and it was like the first time he met her, except now she was bathed in the light of the sun, no longer kept in this dark tomb.

"Yeah…just like how we first met."

"This place…hmm it is rather…barren? I guess it wouldn’t make sense to put stuff for a prisoner who couldn’t or wouldn't get to see…oh! could you do a reenactment of it for me! I wanna see how it all went down!!" Ai said, with an excited look.

"Sure! Sure! We just have to wait till nighttime!"

"Then we should set our stuff up. The desert night is really cold."

"Can Nox show me around? I really want to look!" Ai said excitedly.

"…Fine."

While Cirrus sets up camp Nox shows Ai around the tomb.

"Why is the mural damaged?"

"I asked Cirrus to break it. It served to A: let him get used to a whip and B: break fake history."

"Mmm... From what I can see, it looks like you were running away from a lot of them."

"I was. A bunch of fucking cowardly, pathic spirits and heroes. Heh." A smirk formed on her face."Heh-hahahaha!! I remember I gave them the old bait and switch!!"

"Um, what did you do?"

"Sorry, Ai, but it’s this very, very long and convoluted thing me and a couple of the spirits who were on the run did."

"Okay? Can I ask how you were caught?"

"I was hungry and dehydrated."

"Really?"

"You try running from a bunch of sprites and their contractors non-stop, all the while using your magic to make sure they go after you and no one else! I didn’t have time to take in magic from the air, and my consumption rate was piss poor!"

Night comes and from up on the tower, Cirrus sees the pillar of light blast through the hole again into the night sky as Nox does the reenactment of their meeting with Ai.

"…These sands are always peaceful…" he said, looking at the shifting sands. "…" He looks towards Israfan. "…I’m sorry." He whispered to himself.

‘I will…I will find a way to make the world better…this strength I have, it has to be used in some way that isn’t purely violence-!’ Ukhara popped into his mind. He saw how much his crew did for the city to make it as prosperous as possible. ‘A city… Maybe I can make something like that?'

 

Melen.

"Lady Artemis, we have looked everywhere, and we could not find a clue." said Rethusa.

"Go rest up."

"See! What did I say!" said Poseidon. "I don’t know squat, lassie!"

Artemis stares him down with a piercing stare. Poseidon thought she was going to shoot through him.

"…No you may not know where he went, but you do know something?"

"…"

"…Glance."

Poseidon made a quick glance at an elderly woman walking into an alleyway.

"Thank you for the information."

"Grrr!! You dam huntress!! Why can’t you leave the lad alone!"

"That is not up to you but me. It was nice to speak with you, Poseidon. I’m glad you’re not a drunk."

Artemis took her leave from the inn.

Artemis went out and went after the elderly woman. She shadowed her back to her home on the outskirts of Melen.

‘Why does she live way out here?’

The elderly woman went through her white fence and closed it.

"Mmm…" Artemis quietly moved towards the fence.

She jumped over the fence to find herself in a beautiful garden.

‘Why does this feel so familiar? The order in which these fruits and vegetables are aligned are…to…perfect.’ She walked a bit more. ‘I…I’ve been here before-!’ a realization dawned on her.

"No…it couldn’t be."

She walked to the center of the garden, and she stopped hiding her divinity.

A bit later, the elderly woman opened the door.

"What do you want!? A grandmother needs her sleep!"

"I know it’s you, Hera! There is only one God who would arrange their garden with such aesthetics and practicality!"

"…Tch!" She walked out, and she turned back to her godly form. Her divinity was still hidden. "You were always one to go through my and Demeter’s gardens hunting your sacred animals. So what do you want, tomboy goddess?"

Seeing her again after so long, she could see why Cirrus looked so familiar.

"I’m amazed. You and Cirrus really do look like mother and son."

"He is the son of my perfect captain. Now out with it. I want to sleep."

"Simple." She points up towards the moon.

"…Really?" Hera glances up. "I thought you already…Hm?" She looks back at Artemis and tilts her head slightly. She saw something new and unexpected about her.

"W-what?" Artemis takes a step back.

She had seen that look on Hera before and on many predators. She could smell something. The dynamics of this conversation are going to quickly sway in her favor.

"You..." She says as she walks over, her fierce ruby eyes growing sharper and sharper. She came up to Artemis and grabbed her face, looking directly into her eyes.

Stare~!

"H-Hera?" 

"…You love him, don’t you?" She said firmly.

"!!!" Artemis's face turned bright red. She tried to remove Hera’s grip but-

"No, no." Her grip was so tight that not even air could escape it. "No running away. I want you to say it." Her tone was stern and steadfast.

"I-I don’t know what you-Gah!!"

Hera's grip became tighter.

"Do not lie to me." Her eyes were beginning to swirl into madness. "I’ve seen those eyes on another woman who said that to my face, that they didn’t love Zeus. Artemis you know, I have a lot of respect for you so tell. Me."

Artemis couldn’t escape her grip. She now understood what the other gods meant by yandere strength. There was only one way out from this and that was to give her what she wants.

"F-fine!! Okay!! I love him! Is that what you want to hear! I love him!!" She exclaimed with a full-blushed face.

A smirk forms on Hera’s face.

"Hahahahaha!!!" She let go of her grip and laughed back to her home. "What an amazing grandson!! To even capture one of heaven’s three virgin goddesses' hearts!! You even outperformed the Zeus Familia's playboys!! Hahahaha!!! Even that womanizing bastard!!!"

"Y-you’re not mad?" Artemis said, rubbing her face.

"Mad?" She turned her gaze back at her. "Why?"

"W-well, because Cirrus is in a relationship with Ai? I thought you would-"

"He may be my grandson, but he is not my child. What he does is up to him and even possibly his goddess, Astraea. I assume you told Astraea what your punishment is going to be, correct?"

"Well um…she said she trusts me to be fair and just."

"Mmm… Know that if you break my cute little granddaughter-in-law's heart, I will show you why I am the queen of Olympus." She grabbed an apple from her garden and squeezed it till it exploded.

"Gulp!" Artemis now understood how it felt to be on the receiving end of Hera’s threats. She was like a prideful beast that had wit, strength, and grace in spades and used all to its maximum potential.

"Good night, Artemis. I wish you luck." Hera leaves back to her home.

"O-okay!" she stuttered a bit.

‘I can see why Aphrodite always runs to her; she is not someone you want to anger…wait Aphrodite? I’m sure she is in Gekai as well? Then what if…I need to hurry!!’

Artemis dashed out of Hera's house.

 

Hera watches as Artemis quickly leaves her front yard.

"…Maybe I should lay off the drinking? I would have prepared Ai appropriately to handle this situation…Heh! Hehahahahaha!!! Gekai is never dull!! To think Artemis is in love with a man who is already taken!! Hahahahaha!!!!"

Hera would have been against it, but Cirrus was not Zeus. She knew Cirrus was not one to hurt feelings for the sake of hooking up with a pretty girl. But she knew nothing of what Artemis would do now that she had done the unthinkable and fallen in love. A foreign thought that never went through any of the gods' minds, as of the three virgin goddesses, Artemis was by far the most disinterested in any form of romance.

Athena loved brilliance and strength. Hestia loved those who were truly kindhearted and pure. Artemis, however, only loved the hunt and nothing else.

"I really don’t want some unnecessary drama from this."

She went and got a piece of paper and wrote on it. She folded it and sealed it with a wax seal that had her Familia Emblem.

"There! I’m sure Aphrodite is more than willing to do me this. Unless that lazy goddess slacks off. But let's see... Mmm." Hera thought long and hard about where Aphrodite would be. "Best to make it safe and just have the messenger ready in Hóngsè when she eventually arrives."

The next morning, she got Poseidon to find someone heading to the only port to Ai’s homeland to hand Aphrodite a letter.