"Ah, King Vanny is here!"

"..."

​​

Van and Evangeline entered the first and only tavern in the New Wall city, dubiously located near the castle for some reason. Van came to know that the one who designed the layout of the city was none other than Nisha, perhaps the stress of being the president of two groups of completely different people got to her, hence the bar being located right beside the castle.

Van and Evangeline held the same expression as they were welcomed inside-- an expression of just being tired. Dionysus seems to have amped up the interior a bit as the foundations and pillars were wrapped in grapevines, and there was also a free-flowing fountain of wine right in the center of the tavern, which people are already partaking in.

"So you must be the Seraph," Dionysus then rushed to the two and quickly held Evangeline's hand, "You must have mistaken me for Hermes as Hermes and I have an uncanny similarity, but sadly, it was I, Dionysus."

"No, you look nothing alike," Evangeline quickly slapped Dionysus's hands away, "Is this theatrics necessary? I thought we were here to discuss about Hermes's rescue," Evangeline then completely ignored Dionysus as she approached Athena, who was silently drinking on the counter alone.

"I let him let loose, he is the God of Festivities, after all," Athena said as she slid a glass of wine towards Evangeline.

"Last time I checked, none of you are gods anymore," Evangeline caught the glass, before elegantly spilling it to the floor, "The only god I see here is my son."

"Last time I checked, King Evans doesn't treat you like a mother."

"..." Van was going to approach the two, but the sudden weighty atmosphere between the two made Van stop in his tracks. So instead, he tried to find Artemis, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Ist thy in search of a maiden?" Dionysus then suddenly wrapped his arm around Van, "Worry not, my King, for she is outside with the animals."

"...I se--"

"Vaaaaan!"

Before Van could even say or do anything, a loud voice pierced his ears. And considering the words uttered, the voice was obviously directed to him, already giving him no chance of escape as he slowly looked towards the direction of the voice that kept on getting louder and louder by the second.

"President Nisha, it is a pleasure to--"

"President!? What do you mean President!?"

Nisha stomped her way through the crowd as she rushed towards Van, alcohol in both her hands, "How dare you show your face here again after putting this responsibility on me!? You know full well I am not president material, I am an Explorer and I should be exploring! How dare you leave me to go and explore on your own while I am stuck…"

Van could only let out a long and deep sigh as Nisha's words nagged through his mind. Considering the two glasses in her hand, she might have already drunk one too many wines. Van did not really say anything and just let Nisha let loose on him until she got tired and sat at a table.

"You seem to be doing a good job, Nisha," Van then finally opened his mouth as Nisha tried to recover her breath, "I can't imagine I would have done the same."

"Psh, stop it," Nisha waved her hands a couple of times, "Anyway, now that you're back, you're going to take back leadership, right?"

"Well--"

"And these people you've brought back with you," Nisha did not let Van answer, "I heard they were that freakishly tall guy's relatives. Interesting people you got here."

"Well--"

Once again, before Van could answer, Nisha's body dropped to the table as her cute little snores whispered into Van's ears.

"..." Van could only let out a sigh as he summoned Aegis, using it as a sort of blanket to cover Nisha. Afterward, Van once again scanned all of the people inside the tavern, there was some he recognized from the Pit, but most of the people here were new to him-- most likely people from the Resistance.

Beatrice, Harvey, and Victoria were not here and were on an adventure of their own. Besides Andrea and Sarah, who were now waving at him, the people here were all strangers. But perhaps that was enough for this place to be considered his real home… or is it?

"Evans! What are you doing!? Join us!"

"...Sure," Van quickly nodded as he made his way to Andrea and Sarah.

"How was your exploration?" Sarah quickly said as she handed him a glass of wine, "Did you find out about the world?"

"I suppose," Van said as he refused the wine, saying he doesn't drink alcohol.

"Why? What's out there? Is it different from here?" Andrea curiously asked.

"...It is," Van nodded, "You could even say too different."

Van then recounted some of the events, as well as the different kinds of technologies he has seen outside of America, causing Andrea to gasp from time to time and a small group of people to surround him. Some of the strangers were in awe of Van's stories, and some were shocked beyond belief that they quickly wanted to get out of the country to see if Van's stories were true.

"Wow," Andrea could not help but mutter. Even Sarah was a bit shocked by Van's stories. She knew that her country was below the rest, but she didn't think they would be this deprived of even the simplest commodities. She already felt special since she used to have the only car with the neighboring cities, but to think there were hundreds upon hundreds of vehicles out there, being driven by even the normal population… the outside truly was a magical place.

"I also want to see it," Andrea could not help but mutter as she gulped her whole glass down, "Once all of this is over, take your sister there, okay?"

"Why don't I bring it here instead?" Van quickly replied, his eyes somewhat clear as he looked directly into Andrea's excited eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Once the Circle has been completely eradicated. I'll bring the things I told you here, right in our home," Van shook his head as he gently touched Andrea's hand.

Strangers… most of the people here might be strangers, but as long as even one of his friends or family remains, then this is where his home is. And perhaps in this whole world, even if they don't talk that much, even if they are countries apart-- Andrea was her sister. And in a way, now, she truly is as her mother, Skylar, was a part of Azrael.

She is the only real family he has.

"We will free this country, Andrea," Van said as his eyes filled with a certain fire, "I promise you that."

"...Evan--"

"!!!"

Before Andrea could even respond, the people that were listening in on their conversation cheered and roared. And soon, a name resounded throughout the hall-- King Evans.

"King Evans!"

The one who started it, of course, was none other than Dionysus. The others were confused at first, but soon, they too followed as they all cheered his name.

"Your son seems to know how to naturally inspire other people, albeit indirectly," Athena muttered as she looked towards the commotion, "A quality of a natural-born leader."

"He is not meant to lead, but to rule." Evangeline quickly replied, "My son will not be amongst the sheep, but way above them."

"Is that what you learned from your universe's destruction?"

"No, it is what I learned from yours," Evangeline said, "You mingled amongst the mortals too much, and look at what happened. It is truly unfortunate that the Original chose your universe to migrate to… if only we came here, we could have lived peacefully."

"...About the mortals of your world," Athena did not really give in to Evangeline's provocations, "Did they truly… overpower you?"

"Yes," Evangeline answered without any slight hesitation.

"If we go to war with them as we are now. What will be the result?"

"Total annihilation."

"But are they not in essence still humans?" Athena furrowed her eyebrows, "Humans are prone to emotional--"

"Not them, Mistress of Wisdom," Evangeline shook her head as her eyes seemed to tremble, "Father gave them the power to create anything they wanted, and it only regressed them to their most natural form-- savages.

What other creature thinks they are above gods when the only thing they could do is walk? Only humanoids are capable of that thought."

"..."

"Fortunately, your world died before it could understand the consequences of letting the humans freely loose."

Athena could not help but break the glass she was holding as soon as she heard Evangeline's words, "You--"

But before she could say anything, Evangeline walked away, "Rest and mingle as much as you want, but we will proceed as we planned to retrieve my Herm-- to rescue Hermes come the next day."

Although Athena's eyebrows still twitched from Evangeline's words, in the end, she only let out a scoff as she once again ordered another glass of alcohol to accompany her. But still, even if Athena could feel the arrogance in Evangeline's statement, she couldn't fully dismiss it.

The Seraph Azrael was from a universe perhaps billions of years older than hers. Even if she doesn't want to believe it, there should be at least a little merit in her words. With the complicated thoughts showering Athena's mind, the only thing she could do was drown herself with wine.

***

"Artemis."

"King Van, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

After a few minutes of clamoring, Van finally had enough and left the tavern to find Artemis. Dionysus told him that she was talking with the animals, so Van just went to any stable he could find. It didn't take long until Van found Artemis gently petting a gryphon.

"There's just… too much noise inside," Artemis let out a small smile as she continued to pet the gryphon, "At least here, I could talk to these children… but they too are lonely. They want to return to their world, but that world is no longer accessible here."

"The Portal closes when the Objective is met," Van said as he also reached out to the gryphon, only for it to shake his hand away, "We still don't know why, exactly."

"Have you asked your mother? Since she and Hermes were the ones responsible for the Portals, she should know something about it."

"...Evangeline and I aren't really on friendly terms," Van sighed before whispering a curse at the gryphon, causing it to slightly back away.

"Don't bully her!" Artemis slapped Van's hand.

"...Sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, but to her!"

Hearing Artemis's voice getting higher, Van could only sigh as he looked towards the scared gryphon. "Sorry about that."

And as soon as he said that, the gryphon once again approached the two of them, now nudging its head towards Van, saying that he could pet her now. But before he could do so, it suddenly flapped its wings, causing Artemis to step back.

But due to Van being beside her, she accidentally stepped on his foot, causing the both of them to stumble.

"Are you alright, Artemis?" Van said as he caught Artemis, whose face was now right in front of him.

"I… am okay, King Van," Artemis blinked twice as their eyes met. But even with their faces so close to each other, neither of the two averted their eyes, but they instead only got closer.

"..." Van didn't really know what to do as Artemis's warm breath that slightly smelled of sweet alcohol wafted through his face.

And once again, he remembered the feeling of meeting Artemis for the first time. A lot of things happened so fast that he almost forgot about it, but it would seem his body did not as his heart started beating erratically once more.

And somehow, maybe Artemis was the same as her face was slightly turning red. She doesn't know whether it was because of the wine, but her heart too was beating erratically. And without even saying another word, unconsciously as if fate…

...their lips intertwined.