Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 868: Gods And Guests - Part 1

The god of time rarely blessed a crowd with his presence, but who could resist an invite when their lovely, and rather persistent, daughter tried to get them to accompany her? His arms locked with Kara, the old god with the appearance of a young, tired man who had dressed himself in a white suit with golden cuffs.

"Hey," noticing Raguel amongst the crowd, Razor waved at the ambassador of the gods and kept walking. "What’s he doing here?"

"If anyone’s an outlier, then it’s you," stopping for a moment, Kara pressed a finger against his chest with a smile. "An angel is the least of your worries anyway. The hero’s been waiting for quite a while to meet you. I doubt he would be happy with this reunion."

"Many blessings upon you, Kara." Catching up with them both, Raguel held out two clear glasses of wine. Smiling as he always did, the messenger of the gods bowed to them ever so lightly. "I hope you and your father have been keeping well."

Lifting the hem of her azure dress, the priestess smiled back and bowed as well.

"He is as stubborn as usual, but..." Lifting her head, she neatly folded her arms in front. "I didn’t expect to see you here. How come the other gods let you slip back on Atlaris? And that too in Athenia of all places?"

Before giving an answer, he handed the glasses over. Then, taking a step back, he explained how frivolous the council gods had become. After the fall of one of them at the hands of Athenia, and the now dubious loyalty of Fortuna, and Mermerazia, there was little trust to be had amongst the council, and as such, the gods hadn’t seen past their own throats in nearly a month.

"They’re too afraid to lose their lives," taking a deep breath, Razor corrected his posture and stood firm. "Athenia has already surpassed them in strength and ability, but also wit–so it’s safe to assume that she won’t do anything drastic just for the sake of getting rid of them."

"And she can only take over so many domains before it overwhelms her," Raguel added, although Kara had something to add further.

"That’s assuming she won’t ascend the hero and his group, because if she does, she might just have the greatest hold over this world after what sounds like must’ve been Nerva."

"Like your father then..." Looking at Razor, for once, Raguel’s smile broke. Staring at the man and the eternal path laid out to him, he felt great sympathy for the hero and his companions. "Immortality paired with responsibility will become their curse."

Waving his hand loosely about, he gestured to the many who suffered from such. Helga, Markus, the iron queen, Hayley, Grace, and a handful of others. Their lack of mortality has already challenged them once, and the longer they live, the more it is bound to weigh on them.

"Anyways, where were you two headed?" Facing the front again, he watched as the two turned to the mansion’s doors to his question. "To meet the hero we speak of? Mind if I join?"

"Be our guest, maybe your presence will even out their anger against me." Motion for the two to follow, Razor started to lead the charge.

The other two quietly followed, each holding their own worry in hand. Kara wasn’t known for it, but she was amongst the few who traveled the world and helped struggling folks everywhere. And the more the days to the eventual war against the demon lord seemed to shrink, the more chaos seemed to erupt and consume each and all. Raguel, on the other hand, has his own hands full with the gods and their tantrums.

As for Razor, he too was troubled by the weight of his own responsibility. Though immortal, nobody could escape fatigue. However, in that regard, he wasn’t much different than the hero himself. Sitting on an iron throne of responsibility with all eyes turned at him, Raven sulked in his corner of the world, gazing distantly into the mirror while Mel combed his hair.

At one moment, he was happy, and at another, everything was drained from him. The very fact that people would die and had to lead them to their deaths weighed more heavily than any mountain on Atlaris. For the cost of failure was the death of everything. The people, the culture, the dreams, and the world itself–Nerva truly was the goddess of calamity. Pervading even the thoughts of those who knew of her name, part of the reason why most people who knew kept quiet about her existence.

Snapping out of his dazed stupor, he grabbed Mel’s hand out of nowhere. But instead of flinching in surprise, she brushed the back of her hand against his face and asked.

"Something wrong..." Her eyes closed to her own words. "Besides the obvious, I mean."

"No, nothing, I was just–" A sudden knock on their door broke the flow of their conversation. Breaking it further was Tan’s voice from the other side.

"Master Raven? Some guests would like to meet you." With a sigh, the hero turned in his chair, and in the next few seconds, he was pulled right out of it upon seeing Kara, Razor, and Raguel all together.

As the door closed behind them, their group closed the distance between them. All the while, Mel took a step to the side to allow Raven to handle the situation by himself. Adjusting his ceremonious white gloves, he shrugged his shoulders and inquired.

"Now those are faces you never see together. What hell froze over?"

"Oh come on!" Rolling her eyes, Kara was the first to step up. Grabbing Raven’s hands, she glared into his eyes. "After I told you everything I knew about that little girl and did my best to get my father here, you still don’t trust me."

Slipping his wrist out of her grasp, he whispered to her.

"I trust you, but even when I show up in some places, eyes roll, and people know that something’s wrong. So again, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing!" Clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention, Razor walked to the side and pulled a chair. Sitting in it, he leaned forward and stared at the hero’s face. "You said everyone must come, and my daughter took it literally. So here I am."

"And what about you?" Raven’s gaze turned to the angel.

Shrugging his shoulders, Raguel offered an explanation.

"I needed some fresh air. What better place than this plateaued kingdom?"

While their words were true, the hero’s doubts remained for quite a bit. However, since much time had passed since the start of the banquet, his entrance was expected, and there was no more time for him to waste. An announcement and a declaration would follow his appearance, but hidden amongst the crowd, there was an uninvited guest who’d been waiting just to ruin that moment.