*****

"Abhi..?"

The girl hovered in the air, frozen in place. Her mouth agape and eyes widened and tearful, she stared at the familiar face of someone she once took care of. Time seemed to slow down as she stared at her, her mind racing with anxious thoughts. Her mind was flooded with memories of a certain event, an incident that had left her feeling remorseful and filled with self-doubt. The weight of her perceived transgression bore down on her, suffocating her with guilt.

As the familiar figure closed in, concern etched across her face, the girl's panic reached its zenith. Her breath came in shallow gasps, her palms clammy with sweat. The world around her seemed to blur, the sounds muffled as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her fragile composure.

With her heart pounding in her chest, the girl's mind raced, torn between fight or flight. She couldn't bear the thought of facing this person, her disappointment and judgment. The walls of her inner turmoil closed in, leaving her with a single overwhelming sensation—escape. She wanted to flee so badly, to turn around and hide under a dark room, but her mana wouldn't move as she commanded it so badly to float away. Her mana was in turmoil as it became just as chaotic and confused as the girl's current mind.

As she stared at the person, her emotions, like an unchecked wildfire, consumed her from within. Her vision blurred, her legs grew weak, until finally, her body gave in to the unbearable weight of her feelings. Overwhelmed, she collapsed and her small body slowly fell to the ground, her consciousness slipping away as darkness encroached.

The people, including the familiar person, stared at her descending figure in awe. The shouts of complaints turned into murmurs of disbelief and alarm. Only now do they realize how actually powerful and dangerous this person was.

"Abhi!" 

The woman, dressed in her green maid outfit, hurried through the small crowd that had gathered around the collapsing girl. With utmost care, she embraced the girl, her gaze fixed upon her face, boring a profound expression of concern.

Riveria, Ais, and their goddess, Loki, silently watched everything happen from the sidelines, on their faces they held anger, sadness, and worry respectively.

"Lady Loki…" Riveria muttered, her voice exuding the anger she felt at that moment.

"Urk-" The goddess flinched upon hearing the elf's voice, inching away as she hid behind the blond, avoiding eye contact.

Riveria looked at her patron goddess, her eyes squinted. "I will be paying a visit to your office later, Lady Loki."

The goddess' shoulders slumped as she leaned on the blond's back, "Ais, help me… Riveria will eat me alive…" Despite her plea, the girl didn't bother with her.

Riveria ignored the goddess' actions and made her way toward the maid. She noticed Riveria's presence shortly as she made her way toward them.

"Nine hells..?" The maid questioned, confused as to why she was approaching them. "Can I do anything for you? I am quite busy right now…"

Stopping a few steps in front of the maid, Riveria spoke, "May I ask what is your relation with this girl? Abhi, was it?"

Holding the girl close to her chest, the maid answered, "She is my friend, is what I would like to think… but I am not sure about that anymore, not after five years that we have not even heard anything about her."

Riveria's eyes widened slightly, "You've known her for that long?" She questioned.

The maid nodded, "Indeed, but only for a short amount of time. I think of her as my savior…" She trailed off before pausing, "Anyway, I would like to bring her somewhere else, where she could lie down and rest, is there anything else?"

The high elf looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking once again, "Would it be fine if we accompany you? This happened due to the mischievous actions of my goddess, and we would like to apologize to her in person once she wakes."

The maid stared at her for a moment before turning to look at the goddess standing not far behind the high elf. She nodded before turning around. "Very well, please follow me."

Riveria watched the maid turn around before turning to her companions shortly after. She gestured for them to come and follow her as she turned to the guards.

"Please send an invoice to the Loki familia's manor regarding all the damages done to this area. Our familia will compensate for the damages." She said before following the maid.

Loki stared at her in displeasure before speaking, "Riveria!?"

"We will cover the damages." Riveria cut her goddess off as she continued walking. The goddess flinched upon hearing the stern tone of her child, she slumped down as she slowly followed behind her. She glanced at the blond for help.

"No." Ais simply said as she walked beside the goddess, causing her to sigh heavily. Ais paused in her steps, "What about her huge bag?"

"Please carry it, Ais." The blond did just that after hearing Riveria's request.

All of them, minus the bird, are now following behind the maid as she carried the small girl. "She hasn't grown an inch at all, has she? She has been eating properly, right?" She whispered these questions to herself.

They silently walked forward as the confused civilians stared at their backs, confused why the Loki Familia was following a random maid, and why they were paying for the damages in lieu of the girl.

The members of the Loki Familia didn't have to walk far, as their destination came into view with surprising swiftness. Now, they stood before the Hostess of Fertility, its interior filled with the faint murmur of customer conversations. The maid among them hesitated, her gaze shifting between the pub's entrance and the girl cradled in her arms, her expression betraying a profound sense of worry.

But the maid didn't have the time to hesitate further because another maid from the pub peeked her head out of the door.

"You're back, Ryuu! Mama said…" She paused as her face twisted into worry, her eyes looking directly at Ryuu, "Is that..?"

At this, Ryuu simply nodded, a sad expression on her usually aloof face.

Having received confirmation, Anya swiftly dashed off to the kitchen to relay the message to everyone. Ryuu, casting aside her hesitation, stepped into the establishment, and the members of the Loki Familia silently followed suit, while Ais struggled to pull the bag into the door without breaking anything.

Immediately, Ryuu was met with curious looks from the customers. Most were wondering who the child was, while some wondered if the Loki familia are dining in. A very select few, however, slowly recognized the white-haired girl in Ryuu's arm.

Anya, along with Mia, May, and Syr, exited the kitchen to confirm Anya's words. Amidst an atmosphere tinged with anticipation, they gathered at the kitchen doorstep, their eyes widening with wonder and bewilderment as Ryuu carried the girl, slowly walking forward. They gazed upon her with a mix of joy and concern, their faces etched with traces of the years that had passed.

The first to approach Ryuu was Mia, her face contorted into an expression full of concern. She held out her arm, gesturing for Ryuu to hand the girl over. Ryuu did just that, she gently let Mia take hold of the girl, as if they were handling a newborn child.

Holding back the urge to tear up, Mia turned to the others, "For now I'll bring her to her room. We won't be accepting any more customers for today! Everyone who is eating right now, please hurry up and leave!" She declared before climbing up the stairs.

She, along with everyone closely following behind her, brought the unconscious girl to the room that she once occupied. Mia removed the cloak, revealing the girl's clean attire, and laid her on the bed. She stared at her sleeping figure for a few moments, before shaking off any other thoughts and focused on the situation at hand.

She turned to Ryuu and asked her for an explanation. Ryuu told of what she knew from the small explosion of wind, up to now.

"And these people say that it was their fault why she had an outburst." Ryuu finished off as she turned to look at the Loki Familia.

"Indeed," Riveria said, "Loki, my patron Goddess, has agitated the girl. We were unaware of how much her teasing bothered the girl, and I think that made her lose control over her… peculiar abilities."

The goddess received disproving looks from everyone in the room, making her shy away and hide behind Ais. "I didn't expect her to just burst like that."

"Our familia has already caused her troubles, and you just made more, Lady Loki. At the rate we're going, we'll never be able to repay her for all the problems we've caused her." Riveria stated as a matter of fact, making the goddess flinch, and earning herself confused stares from the others.

"What do you mean..?" Syr hesitantly asked.

Riveria frowned before she answered. "We heard of rumors about a strong adventurer living by the mountains. We asked around to locate this said adventurer before we stepped out of the city. The rumors led us to her, and we caused some problems for her after one of our's misbehaved. Her purpose for coming down the mountains to here was to replace the vegetables that we ended up ruining in an accident."

Mia and the others stared at her as they thought about what she just said. Groaning in frustration, Mia stood up.

"By the gods, for now we all leave the room. If she had such a bad reaction just from seeing Ryuu, I could only imagine how bad she would react if she woke up with all of us here."

Agreeing with what the woman said, everyone left the room. Each of them gave the girl a glance before leaving.

Downstairs, Chloe and Lunoire asked them a question regarding the girl.

"Right, you weren't here nyet back then. Well, simply said, Abhi is mama's adoptive daughter. Meow." Anya explained to the two confused girls.

The two's eyes widened upon processing Anya's words. The same happened to the members of the Loki familia.

"Lady Loki, it is on you if Mia banned you from her pub," Riveria stated, making the goddess look at the huge woman in worry while Anya snickered at the jab.

The girls of the pub went back to their respective chores as they anxiously waited for the girl to wake up. None of them knew how the girl would react when she woke up, and they could only hope that nothing bad happens anymore. The Loki familia left after an hour passed, leaving a promise to return tomorrow.

Each of them held thoughts to themselves. They were worried that the girl would want to leave again when she woke up. Or she would want to get away from them. They hoped that the girl would be able to forget about the incident five years ago and forgive herself.

A knock was heard from outside the door and came in a tall woman with black hair. She had the ears and tail of a fox.

"I heard that something happened so I came to check up on you guys. Is everything okay?" The tall woman asked as she walked up to the counter.

Ryuu was the first to turn to her, "Kodori. Don't worry, although not everything is okay, no one is hurt. It's just, someone returned and we're not sure how she would react once she wakes up."

The tall woman, now named Kodori, sighed in relief before she asked further, "And this someone is?"

Ryuu shook her head, "It would be better that you meet with her once she wakes up rather than ask right now."

Understanding that it was currently a sensitive topic, Kodori backed off from asking any more questions.

"I see. I understand. That aside, do you need any help cleaning up the dishes?"

Ryuu smiled as she continued mopping the floorboard. "You would be more than welcome to."

*****