Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.3] Quest 267- The Goddess Festival, Day 2- Ai’s Date

Moonlight Tower.

“Get ready, Cirrus, because I got things planned!” Ai said, pointing at him with a proud smile.

“I’m sure you did; I’ll just take a quick shower.”

“And I’ll take a nap,” Artemis said.

As Cirrus goes to take a shower, Artemis flopped onto the bed facing down.

“So Art!” Ai sat next to her. “How was yesterday?” She leaned in.

Artemis turned to her and rubbed her hips.

“Good, I’m sure he’ll shower with you with more love than I can handle.”

Ai’s face blushed, and her tail wagged quickly.

“What did you say to get him that railed up?”

“I simply asked him a question and well…" She remembered his face when she asked.

'He was very reluctant to swear, like he was allergic to being a hero?'

"I made him swear he will be a hero who was happy, though it did take advantage of being his wife to get him to do that."

"Well we know he left that possibly back at the Kaios Desert."

"I know. But even still he should move on from it, put it behind him. He has learned and internalized what he did and is very motivated to make up for what he's done in his own ways."

"I don't think he can. When he returned from the desert he is a bit more restless in bed."

"..." Artemis began to regret asking him that, but she was stubborn. As Cirrus said to the children of Fuyukusa, there is no shortcut to pain, pain must be worked through. "Then I will be there for him, every step of the way and a few kisses as well. It was the kisses that lead to us going to an inn.”

“Hm.” Ai remembered their discussion of it long ago and took her time digesting Artemis' words. "Maybe after so many years, he felt worthy to be called that? Well, at least he swore to be happy, right?"

“Yes, for you and me.”

A warm smile grew on her face.

“Hm! Hm! Great job!” Ai said, helping rub Artemis’s hips. "Then I will support him if he truly chooses that path."

“Ah~ That’s nice. A bit to the right Ahh~! That’s the spot!”

"Now I have to get ready! I curated it all day yesterday after you and Cirrus left!"

"Oh? I can't wait to see what you picked."

"Wait here!"

Ai got up form bed and went to the walk-in closet. Artemis could the sounds of soft ruffles of clothing.

A few moments later Ai walked out.

"Ooh." Artemis was enamored.

A handful of minutes later Cirrus was done from his shower.

"Phew~" Cirrus let out a sigh of relief. "I feel ready to take on the world again." He had a towel wrapped around his waist with another he is using to dry his hair. "Oy, Ai I... should..."

His pupils dilate, his heart flutters like the butterflies in his stomach. He fell in love all over again and it showed on his blushed face.

"Like I said," Ai said looking and smiling at Cirrus, hearts appearing around her as she gazes into her husbands—her first love's eyes. "My date clothes blows Art's out of the water!"

Ai's attire was a simple and casual. A plain white shirt with long sleeves, tucked into her black skirt that goes down just a bit past her knees. It made her whole fit work so well contrasting off her white shirt and hair. She had on simple black, pointed toed ankle boots.

Cirrus looks to the bed to see Artemis was already asleep, tucked into bed. His gaze returns to his second wife.

"My," He walked up to her. "You look stunning." He reached out and held her right hand, he bends down and kisses the back of her hand softly. "I fell in love again."

"Aw~" She walks up closer to him, she gently places her left hand on his face, gently caressing it. "I love you to, Cirrus."

The two stare into one another's eyes, their hearts slowly beginning to beat in synch. If Artemis was awake and watched the two of them she would be unbearable jealous and envies, wishing to partake in the world these two made.

After a while Cirrus managed to pry himself from his lovely wife and got dressed so he and Ai can go on their date.

“So where to?” Cirrus said with a normal pair of sunglasses and clothes, nothing to extravagant to match the simpleness of Ai's attire.

“To Lady Quetz’s match!” Ai said with her arms wrapped around his with their fingers entwined.

They went to her wrestling show, and it entertained them to see such feats.

“Let’s goooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Come on!!!!!!!!!!!”

"Get up!! Get up!!"

"Nooo!! Not from the corner!!"

They enjoyed the show of wrestlers flying through the air and hitting each other. The performance they gave left many wanting for more.

“So where next?”

“We're going to a special restaurant only open during the Goddesses Festival called Polyphoros!”

They walked outside the city and into a fairly large place with many adventures, eating rather delicious-smelling food. Ai's stomach grumbled having caught the smell a distance away.

“Say, who runs this place?” asked Cirrus looking around.

“Her.” Ai nods to Demeter, who was helping with the cooking. "She is helping her children with the cooking, I can tell the dishes smell like home cooking, so I bet they taste just like it."

“Ah… is she doing well? You know, after what Dionysus did and all?”

“Well… she’s holding up fine… probably? Art didn't mention anything that stands out about her after that incident."

“Well, let’s get a table and worry from there.”

They quickly get a table and order. Many looked at them as they waited, as one of their fame would receive.

“Maybe we should have come in disguise?” said Cirrus.

“You never seem to get used to having eyes on you, huh? Even back in Yamato, you always limit how many people see you.”

“Guess spending the majority of my time not trying to be found out has grown into a habit.”

“Here is your food!” said a beautiful woman with dark brown hair and orange eyes.

“Thank you, Persephone!” Ai then got her utensils and began to eat.

“Not at all!”

“Say, um, how is your goddess doing?” Cirrus asked.

“She…” she looked over to see Demeter smiling. “Doing better now, but… she’s still a bit shaken up by what you know… ’He’ did. Honestly, she hasn’t been this railed up since, well… The Great Feud.”

“… Say you have some spare instruments lying around, right?”

“??”

“Phew!” Demeter wipes the sweat from her brow as she finishes another dish of food.

‘Everyone seems to be doing well! Each smile really lifts me… hm?’ she looked around to find that Persephone was nowhere to be seen.

“Have you seen Persephone, Arion?”

“I’m sorry I haven’t last I saw her. She brought food to—!” he looked to see that Cirrus was gone but Ai was still eating.

“What’s wrong?”

“U-um… I think she—"

“What’s that in the air!?” shouted a customer.

They all looked to see a stage being quickly constructed as it comes crashing down before stopping and gently landing with Cirrus sitting down with a keyboard plugged into some amps.

“Cirrus?”

Demeter and everyone were confused about what he was doing when Persephone came up to Demeter from behind.

“He asked if he could sing you a song to help you cheer up a bit!”

Demeter looks at her, and then at Cirrus as he begins to sing.

♪♪♪♪♪~

The song soothes and quiets everyone as they listen to him. They were so enchanted that they didn’t notice when Ai jumped on stage and sang along as well.

She was not as good of a singer as Nox or Cirrus was, but it still was well received.

“… Thank you Persephone… this is wonderful.” A wondrous smile grew on her face as she closes her eyes and let the song soothe her.

After a while, they left and went about their date.

“That was pretty fun!” Ai said with a bright smile on her face.

“It was. It was nice to see everyone smile. So, how are we with your schedule?”

“Hmm… we could still make it to the spot I had picked if we hurry.”

Cirrus took her hand.

“Then shall we?”

Ai looked at him and smiled even more brightly as she interlocked her fingers with his in a nice grasp.

“Let's!”

Ai lead him to the west section of the city and brought him to a rather rundown building.

“What was this place? And how did you even come across this place?” Cirrus said, looking around.

“Ah well, I found it during the time you were on the island. This was a former Evilus base, but I and the Susanoo Familia cleared it out, and well, it sort of just remained here even after everything. Once we learned Evilus was still around, I went and checked every former base they had and look into various stuff.”

“I see… and what does this place have that is special?”

“This.” She opened a door to a terrace filled with a variety of flowers.

“Why are there so many kinds of flowers?”

“A kid used to plant and raise flowers to sell now she works for the Demeter Familia, so… yeah. But we get this!” Ai goes and lays down on the ground full of flowers. “This nice place to lie and see the stars!”

Cirrus goes and lays next to her, and the two of them stare up upon the dim stars.

“… This is nice. It’s calm and quiet.”

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

“The cool breeze…”

“Glad you like it.” she holds his hand. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She took out a magic tool and pressed it.

“Ai was that a—"

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Fireworks shot and exploded in the night sky.

“Ooh! Neat!”

The two enjoyed watching the fireworks go off hand in hand.

“Boyfriend, boyfriend,” Ai said as she rested her head on Cirrus’ shoulder, getting in close.

“What is it?” Cirrus said, still gazing at the fireworks.

“Do you like this?”

“Of course I do.” He turns his head to see Ai gazing at him with a sly smile.

Ai’s tail waned left and right. She snuggled in closer and slowly curled up into a ball.

Her tail now softly thumps the flowerbed.

“Do you love this moment?”

Gazing into her indigo eyes, Cirrus smirks as the world falls around them.

He wraps his arm around her and holds her in.

He places his forehead to hers; the breaths touching their lips.

Their legs tangled to get as close to one another as possible.

Still gazing into one another's eyes, they blink before they softly kiss.

Ai wraps her arms around Cirrus’s neck, and he wraps around her chest. They hugged one another tightly.

Their chests were so close to one another, they could feel one another’s heartbeat.

Thump-thump~ Thump-thump~ Thump-thump~

Thump-thump~ Thump-thump~ Thump-thump~

The scent of their hair fills their lungs as they whisper into one another’s ears.

“I love you,” Cirrus said soft and low.

“I love you, Zep-Zep.” She said in a sultry voice.

“God dammit.” Cirrus said, pushing her away.

“Hahahaha!!!” Ai laughed cheerfully. “Come on, it’s a very cute pet name!” she said, smiling from ear to ear.

Cirrus gets up and walks to the door.

“I’m going to go and pick up Artemis!”

“Wait! Cirrus! Come on!"

Ai chased after him, still chuckling.

“Nuh-uh!” Cirrus ran.

“Cirrus!! It was a joke!!”

Cirrus jumped down from the stairwell, and when he landed, he booked it.

“Cirrus!!” Ai jumped after him. "Come on! You are taking this to—"

Cirrus quickly swooped her up into a princess carry before her feet grazed the floor.

“Look at what I got here! A trespasser!” He said, smirking. "Sorry I begun to worry you."

“Hmm!!!” Ai puffed her cheeks. “That wasn’t very cash money Cirrus! After all the work I put in.” Ai picked up slang from Cirrus and Nox. "But I knew you couldn't be angry at me, Zep-Zep."

Cirrus walked to the exit as a grin forms.

“God, I fucking love teasing you even more when you make that cute, angry, pouty face.”

"Well what you gonna do about it?" She gave him a look he seen in bed and when she is in the mood.

"Of course not, today is a special day. I plan on fully embracing you."

Ai wraps her arms around his neck. Cirrus had walked out of the building and now slowly walked the empty street.

“Fufu." A lovely blush on her face. "You better not let go."

"Oh, I was planning on it, you do like a more rough intimacy than Art. SO the questions is, do you know somewhere more private, with a bed that can handle us? Any ideas where?”

Ai leaned into his ear and lightly bite it ear and whispered.

“Left, straight, right, and left? I prepared some costumes for us as well." Ai then began to lightly kiss his neck. "I got our favorite's~♥."

“Ah~, stop that tickles!” Cirrus said, hurrying up a bit.

“Then you better hurry and stop me~♥,” she said sensually.

Cirrus began to hurry up a bit more.

"How a little taste?"

"And what do you have in mind~" She whispered into his ear.

"♪Kiss me once, then kiss me twice, then kiss me once again♪" He sung to her as romantically and smoothly as he could.

Ai felt the charm and love in his words.

"Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!" She kissed him three times. "If you want more you better hurry♥" She said seductively.

"Do not worry." Cirrus lightly bit her ear and rubbed the base of her tail.

"!!" Ai's body relaxed a bit as a warm feeling began to turn her to liquid. "Ahh~ D-did Art tell you this~?" She said with her words laced with a relaxed and erotic tone.

"Oh, that worked better than I imagined. Don't worry." He whispered into her ear. "I'll be sure to tease you."

"N-no, I want it now!" She said like a spoiled child.

"Well lets see how this night goes."

They thoroughly enjoyed the night together, flirting and more. The place Ai prepared, weeks in advance, didn't break from their rough passion.

Late at night in the Freya Familia home.

“My to think you would wait for me to come back home.” Said Freya as she sits down.

“I wanted to talk to you about Bell.” Hestia remained standing.

“I know. Are you here to ask about the proposal?”

“It is… do you really intend to share Bell? Even in Heaven, I always knew you to be rather greedy.”

“That was then, and this is now. No rule says we need to remain static upon the world as our vessels are. Look at you and Artemis, while in heaven you two never cared for love in any capacity, even Hera from what I heard from Cirrus. She has also changed.”

“R-really!?!?”

“Yes, though ever so slightly, but nonetheless I will share him if I must to be able to stand by his side.”

Hestia could see the seriousness in her eyes.

“… I am not fully against you d-d-dating Bell!!” Hestia forced it out. “It is HIS decision, so if he decides to d-d-d-date you! I want you to promise me something!”

A slight smile grew on Freya’s face with delight.

“And that is?”

“You won’t cheat on him. He is a very sweet child, and he is very naïve about how things work, so… can you promise me that?”

“… I promise you on my pride and honor, Hestia.” Freya raises her right hand. “But truth be told, I was more prepared for you to try and deny it. has Artemis rubbed off on you?”

“… Maybe, but so what? you changed as well! You said you wanted a type of relationship like what she has!”

“Well, if we're going into who changed who, it would be the man who Artemis chose to be her Orion.”

“So what did he do to change you, huh?”

“He rejected my love, and we had a meaningful conversation where he didn’t patronize me. He knows of my attributes as a goddess and treated me as an equal. He asked me what type of love I had for him, and he made me realize how shallow I was in my search for my Odr.”

“Him? A human male no older than 20 taught you about love? You a goddess of love?”

“It’s as he said about us ‘Always insightful about everyone else but themselves.’. when I heard that I began to truly think about myself and see what is inside and from it… I learned that no matter how many beautiful souls I collect and savor it’s only to fill a hole that will never be filled. But then one day an opportunity came to me.” a big smile grew on her face. “Another who shares a spiritual wavelength with mine and a deep desire to be me. Did you know what I did next?”

“What?” Hestia finally took a seat.

“I offered her to be me and in exchange, I get to be her.” She snapped her fingers and a static-flicked and in place of Freya was Syr. “She gets to be a god and I get to be a human.”

Hestia’s eyes widen.

“H-how are you able to do that? Your existence! It…” looking at Syr still looked very, very off.

Even with the knowledge that Syr was Freya, Hestia still couldn't see it. Her disguise masked any hint of a god, but in doing so, it left her between vagueness and clarity. It was clear enough to not look any further and vague enough to not know.

“I am a goddess of magic, Hestia; I have several talents.” She snapped her fingers and smoke came from her body and it filled up to give form to her. “And now you know my secret, so I hope this will keep us connected. After all, I know Bell has a skill that lets him be immune to a goddess's charm.”

“… Seems we are.” Hestia gets up. “Bell is currently thinking about his answer. Where he is is beyond me.”

“Oh? then he must be at The Library.”

“T-the Library? Orario has one?”

“Well, more or less, it’s more of an exclusive place for mortals. The only god allowed inside is the god who runs it.”

“Who is the god? Are they creepy like Loki?”

“No, they are rather elegant and proper. He deals only with knowledge and money to buy more knowledge. His name is Anansi.”

The Library.

“…”

Bell sits in silence, trying to think.

‘… Huh? building a harem like what grandpa said is a lot more complicated than what he said. And harder.’