Cutting through the rest of the chains was easy, though really the only hard part was not slicing the chamber into a room full of rubble. Hunapo then took back his "dagger" and Cordelia stood up, having fully regained her godly glow and youthful appearance.
"Thank you so much child," Cordelia thanked, putting a hand over her heart. She now looked to be in her mid-thirties, but still quite young for that age. She seemed to be quite the motherly person.
"Sure, I mean, it's not like I had any other choice," I shrugged, my astral arms feeling tired after swinging the god of fate's dagger.
"Well, you could've always said you didn't want to…though that would have been ill-advised," Hunapo cut in with a smug tone, matching his ever-so-smug smile.
"The hell do you mean it would have been "Ill-advised?'" I questioned glancing at him with a frown, putting my hand on my hip.
"Hmmm, well…"He hummed, pausing to take a moment to think before continuing, "That's something that our dearest Cordelia here will have to tell you."
Hunapo chuckled to himself, as he usually does when he's being annoying as hell. Though, I just turned my head towards Cordelia, my eyebrows raised, glaring eyes, and pursed lips. She was standing there with a sympathetic expression on her face.
"Does what he just said have something to do with why you needed my help?" I asked, now crossing my arms and clicking my tongue, annoyed at these indirect gods.
"Haaa, yes, it does…My apologies for not telling you sooner, but I couldn't exactly do anything in that state," Cordelia expressed, a genuinely apologetic expression written on her face.
"...Okay, out with it then. What exactly is it that you need from me? Oh great goddess, what is so concerning that you have to call for some foreign soul to solve your dilemma?" I smeared, a provoking smile spreading across my face as I looked at her in disbelief, unafraid of what she might do if I were to anger her enough.
"Well, it's just a small favor I need you to do for me, nothing big really!" Cordelia tried to persuade me, but it reminded me of a time in high school when some guys tried to persuade me to buy some cigarettes from them, knowing it was illegal. So I wasn't swayed by her worried demeanor.
"HA! Don't lie. You and I both know that whatever this 'Favor' is, is perhaps something that could shake your realm. So I would suggest that whatever you're going to ask me, you pick your words right."
I lowered my voice and glared at her through my bangs, acting intimidating, knowing that this goddess wasn't scared of me the least…At least not with Hunapo here, who was keeping quiet, finding Cordelia and mine interaction amusing.
"Right…Ahem, well, you are aware of how the Rebilion army of the Peril Kingdom was supposed to fall and the Demon realm was to gain the area that one of the tribal leaders in the army ruled, yes?" She asked, putting one hand over the other and hanging it over her womb.
"Yes, I am all too aware." I commented, then paused before cutting her off with what she was going to say, "I'm guessing this has something to do with how both the Peril Kingdom and the Alkmene Kingdom were going to fall, no?"
I imitated her in the last line, showing that I was bored with how slowly she explained. Signaling her to hurry up, and that there was less of a chance of me accepting if she kept going on and on.
"Mm, yes. You see, the demons were supposed to storm the Kingdom, starting with the mainland and then slowly going to the 11 islands…" Cordelia trailed off for a moment, thinking about how to word the next sentence.
"Now, now Cordelia. Let's get on with it, you are running out of time here~," Hunapo chimed in, in his usually mischievous tone.
"Ah, right. Ahem, You see, Llyr was supposed to be killed in the attack, caught off guard by the demon king suddenly showing up from a gate being opened in the land that they seized," She explained, lifting her hand to show pop-up images of the scene from the original plot line.
"Hm, I remember that. That volume ended on a cliffhanger, and the whole fandom was pissed off. Y'know, because they wanted Llyr to be introduced as a character since his race was never properly explained," I cut her off, using the moment to remind myself.
'Not going to lie, at the current moment, I wish that he had been killed by the Demon King after all…fucking bastard.'
"Exactly. But, because the timeline has changed immensely, the land remained with the rebellion armies and the tribe leaders, and Alkmene has not fallen…yet," She paused, I raised my eyebrow and she continued, "See, the timeline is trying to fix itself, by eliminating those of significance that should've been gone by now."
"Haaaaa, let me guess. The 'timeline' has set it up to where someone is now going to try and assassinate the poor fish man and you want me to stop them…am I right?" I questioned, crossing my arms again.
"Indeed, I really need you-" Cordelia started, but was soon stopped by me.
"Alright, I'll help you," I exclaimed, an unmoving straight face.
"Huh? I'm sorry, what exactly did you just say?" Cordelia replied, surprised by my sudden willingness.
"Oh? Did you not hear me? I said I'd help you. After all, his death would do me more harm than good, right?" I explained, chuckling a bit at her amusing expression.
"Wait, really?!" Cordelia exclaimed, her face lighting up upon hearing my acceptance.
"Of course! After all, since I'm already in Alkmene and there isn't any way for me to leave at the moment, I'd rather help get rid of the demons trying to invade rather than become a prisoner of theirs," I explained, not knowing that I'd soon regret accepting her favor.
"Pfft- Hehehehe, HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hunapo randomly started laughing out of nowhere, which startled me quite a bit and caused me to shoot a glare at him, "Sorry, sorry! Haaa, Saito you are just too amusing! I mean, your unpredictability is truly captivating! Ha, man am I glad I chose your soul."
"...I think you're the real unpredictable one here," I grimaced, making Hunapo laugh again as he knew that I meant that in terms of the way he acted.
"Hehe, yes well, now that our dearest Cordelia here has been freed from her shackles and you have decided to do her a favor, I think it's time for you to get going!" Hunapo suggested, clasping his hands together and holding them above his smiling mouth.
"Okay, then does that mean I can go back to sleeping peacefully?" I asked, the drowsiness hitting my projection immensely.
"For the time being, you may rest as you please, however…Do be wary of any suspicious figures wandering about in the Palace, if you see anybody acting odd or that you haven't seen before who is close to the king, make sure you investigate it immediately!" Cordelia ordered, her face now more serious and the hand by her heart clenched.
"Alright, but if you don't mind me asking…Why do you care about Llyr so much, couldn't you just get a replacement ruler?" I pondered, curious as of to why these high and mighty gods would care about such individuals.
"Heh, it's quite simple really. It's because I view each King born here as my child, they are after all the demi-god sovereigns chosen and created by me, so I feel that it's only natural I would care for them so," She explained, a smile of sincerity spreading across her face.
"Oh please, it's not just the sovereigns. Every seasolk in Alkmene is technically her creation, aka, her child. So when you really think about it, it's not just Llyr," Hunapo cut in, a smug smile once again spreading on his face.
'Y'know, at this point, I'm starting to think that, that's just his face.'
"Haha, yes I suppose that is also true," Cordelia admitted with a soft chuckle.
"Okay, well as I said, you really should get going. Should you stay any longer, I'm afraid the seal on Lev will weaken without your presence there, so I'm afraid this is farewell, but fret not! For you and I will meet again when I come to deliver Cordelia's prize for your success…or maybe a punishment for your failure," He exclaimed before clapping his hands and making me lose consciousness and leave the space.
"..." Cordelia was silent for a moment, before she silently turned her head towards Hunapo, "Why didn't you just tell him about it?"
"Hmm, about what?" Hunapo hummed and smiled at her, then chuckled and gave an actual answer, "I don't quite think it's time just yet, after all, there is still quite a ways to go."
At that moment, a thin black thread appeared above Hunapo's raised hand. And in that third thread, the records of someone's life played out, then slowly spread out into multiple threads playing the reels of lives of the people deeply connected to the owner of the black thread.
***
In a room reminiscent of the rooms you'd see in docu-drama series and movies that you would watch about ancient Rome and ancient Greece, a group of heroes was sitting, drinking tea, and chatting.
"Haha! So then I said, 'No way in hell I'm letting you take my money!' So then I hit him right upside the head by my baguette, knocking him unconscious and taking my money back!" Lance exclaimed, standing with one leg on top of the table in triumph.
"Hahahahaha! Did that really happen? I mean come on, that's only something you'd see in plays!" Sylvia, one of the members of the hero's party, exclaimed. Entertained by the thought of her companion doing something so silly.
"Of course it did! Do you really think I'd lie about something as hilarious of a story of that? I mean come on, it could be your next big hit in your writing!" Lance suggested with vigor, stepping down and raising his arms.
"Please, if anything were to be her next big hit, it would be about our dearest leader, right, Atlas?" Evangeline cut in, tipping her head towards Atlas as she poured herself another cup of tea.
"...I would appreciate it if I didn't become a worldwide sensation through a novel, even if it's yours, Sylvia," He said bluntly, cutting a bite from his tart and eating it.
Sylvia was the youngest member of the party, bringing only 18 and having a smaller build than most her age.
She was quite short, being only 5'4, and had a bit of a baby face. Her long coral pink colored hair was pulled half up with a big white bow, complemented by her soft dark crimson eyes that would look at one with innocence.
Sylvia wore a checkered blue and white lolita-styled dress, with a white lace corset belt, tied in the back with a giant white bow whose tails trailed down and looked like suit tails. She wore white Mary-Jane flats with knee-high blue tights, which greatly complemented her dress.
She always had a side bag that carried her extra writing tools and a small wand that she would use to cast support magic on her companions on the battlefield, or use spacial magic to put away the party's belongings, including her own typewriter in its briefcase.
"My, that's quite cold, dearest hero!" Lance teased, holding his shirt over his heart and acting over dramatically.
At that moment, Alexandria came in, in a hurry and looked quite flustered. His usually neatly kept ponytail was full of friz and her usually determined eyes were wide with shock.
Alexandria had long black hair pulled into a ponytail which brought out her sharp golden-amber eyes, befitting of an archer. She wore a standard red hunting suit designed for nobles and fancy-looking laced up above the knee boots. Highlighting her status as the party's archer, her white gloves had built-in finger guards where she would hold the bow of her string.
"Alexandria, is something the matter?" Atlas asked, his British accent popping out in his worry.
"I, uh…Mm, I just saw his majesty trying to enter one of the guest rooms sneakily, which reminded me of the other foreign envoy that was here, and it got me wondering…" She started to explain but then trailed off.
"Don't worry, you speak your thoughts around us Dria, no need to hide them! What do you think is going on?" Sylvia asked, worried about what theory she might hear come out of her senior's mouth.
"Well, I just thought that if that was the room that the that the diplomatic envoy was staying in, why would his majesty sneak in? Unless…mm, nevermind, ignore that thought," Alexandria explained, then trailed off on a thought that was close to the truth.
"...If this is really a worrying matter, then why don't we watch their door for a while? Just to see if His Majesty comes out with the diplomat following?" Atlas suggested. It was times like these where his kindness belonging to a true hero shines through