Alfia took a long sip from her tea. Then she gently set the cup down and smiled. "Thank you for the tea, my son. It's quite pleasant."
I poured myself a cup of tea and nodded. "You're welcome... Mom. Man, that's weird to say." I murmured as I sat down across from her.
Alfia's smile dimmed a bit. "Ah, yes. I suppose that would be the case." She fidgeted with her sleeve and said, "I have been far from the ideal parent... I would not blame you for being uncomfortable calling me as such."
"Oh, it's not that. It's just..."
Tia walked over and set down a plate of freshly made crepes. "I think what Bell is trying to say is that it's a bit strange to be calling a woman who could be his sister 'Mom.'"
Alfia blinked. Then she covered her mouth and chuckled. "My. I forgot about that. I do suppose it would be a bit strange..." She smiled and said, "It slipped my mind on how I look. As I am now... Mm. I look no older than twenty, I presume?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "Even being completely unfavorable, the oldest someone would call you is thirty. But even then, that's super close in age. Practically unbelievable."
"Well." Alfia took a plate and then gave herself a crepe. After cutting it, she said, "It's not uncommon for high level adventurers to look young while having an advanced age. I was quite the talent, so most will attribute it to that." She paused, glancing behind me to where Fina was chattering with Selene. "...Although I do have to say I was not expecting to be a grandmother so young."
I sighed. "Yes. That's the other issue..."
If Alfia was my mother, then she was logically Fina's grandmother.
But Fina looked no older than ten... and that was being generous. Realistically, she seemed more like a five year old...
In short, family tree was all sorts of messed up.
Tia looked up at Alfia and said, "...Does that bother you?"
"Not at all." Alfia let out a relaxed smile. "...While I cannot say that I expected it, I welcome it. After all that I have gone through... this is pleasant."
"Ah, right..." I nodded, remembering the bits I knew about her past. "It would be nice to just relax considering your life until now."
"Indeed. Which is why I have come here." Alfia took a bite of her crepe, then delicately cleaned her mouth with a napkin. "If possible, Lady Hestia, I would like to join your familia."
Tia pursed her lips. "Not that I'm against it. But... aren't you part of Hera's Familia?"
"Lady Hera resolved that this morning. As of the current moment, I am a free adventurer. Moreover..." Alfia watched Fina play with Selene, clear yearning in her eyes. "...I may have missed my son's childhood years. But I have no intention of missing those of my granddaughters."
Tia sighed and looked at me. "Well, Bell? She's your mother."
"I mean, 'our' mother considering our marriage plans... but yes." I nodded, smiling at Alfia. "It's nice to have blood family around. Found family is always nice... but knowing that there's something between us that can't be severed. It's... well, great? Pleasant? Not sure how to describe it, but it's nice."
She wasn't the mom I remembered or knew. But despite everything, Alfia WAS my mom. Here and now. We shared blood, she had carried me to term... while I still didn't know all the details of why she was gone for all those years or why she left me with my grandfather, she was here now.
That was what counted.
Tia slowly nodded. "Okay. But, Bell, dear."
"Yes, Tia?"
"You're explaining the situation to everyone else."
I froze, realizing what Tia was talking about.
...Right.
The new girls didn't know about Alfia.
Welf kind of did. Same with Ryuu.
But in general, the fact that I was Alfia's son... that Alfia was still alive... And then now, the fact that Alfia was joining our familia...
"...Well." I sighed. "Guess it's time for another exposition dump for my adopted sisters..."
===
In the Apollo Familia manor, Cassandra Ilion ran her hand through her hair, staring at the diagrams, images, and notes she had plastered all over the walls.
"No, no, no... this isn't good."
Cassandra ran her hand through her dark blue hair and read the oracle she had received. One that had consistently, persistently, and vividly come through.
And that was the scary part.
Until now, it had always been blurry. [Seer] gave her prophetic dreams, but they were never shown clearly. It was always through symbolism. At least, it should have been. But...
Cassandra gulped and stared at the words she had written on a paper hung up on the wall.
---
The will of rebellion surges.
The oracle of destiny fails.
The future of Orario vanishes.
Artemis has fallen.
Freya has surrendered.
Apollo has erred.
The family of Loki shall rise, taking the throne.
The flames of Vesta shall burn, sealing the myths.
The madness of Dionysius shall scatter, rousing the spirits.
Beware, the era of gods draws to a close.
Beware, the era of monsters rises.
Beware, the era of humanity descends.
The will of rebellion surges.
---
"It's too clear. It's too specific. This..." Cassandra swallowed.
She hadn't told anyone. Not yet.
Cassandra had been praying she was misunderstanding. But as the days drew past, her visions only became clearer. Visions that she had sketched and plastered on the walls.
Bell Kranel, standing alone against the Apollo Familia and striking them all down with a deluge of steel.
Apollo himself, perishing from an unknown assailant just after the War Game concluded.
Freya, cradling a young girl who looked like her and Bell, standing before her familia and declaring its dissolution.
A woman with light blue hair standing in front of a memorial for the Artemis Familia, with a girl who looked like Hestia and Bell holding her hand, both holding forget-me-nots.
Hestia standing upon the altar of a distant island, hand held out to a corrosive flame while her hair burned red.
Babel, torn asunder and cracking open as hordes of monsters spilled from the Dungeon.
Dionysius, holding a cracked mask to his face and bursting out in mad laughter as corrupted spirits swirled all around him.
Cassandra tugged at her hair, tears welling up in her eyes as she frantically looked at all her notes, sketches, and writings again. Hoping, praying, pleading that she was misunderstanding them.
But it was different this time.
It was clear.
Although she didn't know when. Although she wasn't sure if it would play out exactly as she saw it or exactly in that order...
She knew. Her heart was screaming at her.
Unless something drastic occurred, everything she saw would come to pass.
...But there was a problem.
Cassandra slumped down onto her knees in the middle of her room. "...No one believes me."
Of course. Who would believe her?
Cassandra Ilion, the girl who routinely spouted visions and acted according to seeming whims. The girl whose visions never seemed to play out like she said, but made sense in hindsight. A mere level 2 adventurer who didn't even go to the dungeon very often...
"...No."
Cassandra suddenly paused, remembering something.
"...Miss Misha said it, right?"
There WAS someone who took her seriously. Who believed in her visions. Or at least, who contemplated them without dismissing them.
"...Bell Kranel."
The same one who played a key role in her visions. The same one who would destroy her very familia in the upcoming War Game.
...Although Cassandra would rather he not eliminate the Apollo Familia, that didn't matter as much as the rest of her visions.
The death and destruction that came with Babel's fall. The chaos that unfolded with Dionysius leading corrupted spirits across Orario. All of that.
If there was a chance, however slim, that she could stop it. Or at least mitigate it...
Cassandra slowly got up and let out a shaky breath. "...Let's try it."
Nobody would understand.
Apollo would be furious. Daphne would try to drag her back. Hyakinthos would lock her up.
But...
"It's me."
It was her. She was the only one who could do it.
And even though her own visions had said it. Even though her own powers said 'the oracle of destiny fails...'
"...I have to try it." Cassandra took a deep breath. Then, packing her things, she quietly snuck out of the Apollo familia manor and headed towards the Hestia Familia church.