Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

(A/N: This is thanks for all the support I've been receiving about the novel~! Enjoy Hebaestus's suffering &lt;3. This is kind of like a teaser for the POV recap at the end of the Volume as well.)(Warning: NSFW Ahead.)The day Vahn had left for the dungeon had become one of the most memorable in Hephaestus's several million years of experience. The fact that the young boy she had met only a few months prior was not only able to find his way into her heart, but also heal the mark on her face left a deep impact on Hephaestus. For the rest of the day, she just lazed about on her workshop table unable to think clearly.Hephaestus just lay about in a daze while staring toward the ceiling with both of her eyes. In her hands, she held a polished mirror and would periodically peer into its surface to once again confirm the mark was gone. Every time she did so, she felt a pang in her chest and wanted to cry, but remembering the face of Vahn as he had left, she managed to hold back the feelings. She understood that she had more than simple affection for Vahn, but couldn't overcome her own inhibitions to act on them.Thinking of Vahn, Hephaestus closed her eyes and relaxed her body in a lazy manner. She began replaying all the memories and experiences she had with him while listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. As she had grown accustomed to the act as of late, Hephaestus had begun to associate the rhythm with her own peace of mind. Listening to the steady, powerful, beating heart of Vahn, Hephaestus was able to relax and let her worries fade away.Of course, this was not always the case, as several hours after Vahn left, Hephaestus noticed his heart rate increasing. She could feel excitement build inside of him, almost as if he was reveling in some enjoyable act. It was times like this that had caused her a great amount of stress lately. Since she couldn't see or feel what Vahn was going through, the only thing she could do was try to interpret the events from how his heart was beating. She hoped that, in this instance, he was simply working hard to increase his strength.Remembering the promise he had made earlier, Hephaestus believed this to be the case so she allowed herself to experience his excitement as well. Almost as if to respond to his heart rate, Hephaestus's also increased and she began to experience feelings of excitement as well. She imaged the brave figure of Vahn defeating monsters with a smile on his face, so she too smiled and wished she could be there to see it.Fortunately, as the day faded and night came, Vahn's heart seemed to calm down and Hephaestus was able to relax once again. From what she had experienced, she felt as if he had been in combat for a long period of time and was glad he took the time to take a break. Dragging her body lazily toward the couch in her office, Hephaestus lay down on the bed face-first and tried recalling the fragrance which had long faded. It felt like, if she focused enough, she could recall that peculiar smell that made her heart tickle.Finding the 'fragrance', or at least imagining she had found it, Hephaestus began to blush fiercely. Looking toward the door and noticing the locks were properly in order, Hephaestus heaved a sensual sigh as she let her imagination begin to wander. Today had been a mixture of highs and lows, and her body was in high tension, especially after Vahn had restored her face to an unblemished form. As her emotions continued to rise, Hephaestus reached down to ease the ache that had been building inside her.Entrusting her body to the couch, Hephaestus slowly lowered her form-fitting trousers and inserted her hand into the hidden garments within. She could feel a powerful heat and a dampness that had spread within the fabric as she began trying to release her pent-up emotions. Though her current body was that of a virgin, Hephaestus was not unaccustomed to the acts of sex and self-pleasure. As most gods found her unappealing, she had long adapted to a life of self-comfort when it came to releasing her urges.Unlike the sessions of the past, now Hephaestus began to lose herself in the moment. She began gasping for breath, and no matter how much air she drew it never seemed to be enough. As her left hand continued its endeavors, she unfastened the buttons on her blouse and found some small measure of relief in her free right hand. She squeezed her left breast and let out a gasp that almost sounded like a name.As she continued to service herself, Hephaestus tried focusing on the steady rhythm within her soul. It was like a beacon of light in the stormy seas she was experiencing, and she sought after the warmth and security it offered. The closer she allowed herself to get to that light, the greater the feelings became and she earnestly wanted to take that light for herself. This time, Hephaestus couldn't hold her voice as she cried out in a weak moan, "Vahnnn..."The aching feeling in her body continued to increase, and no matter how much Hephaestus tried to chase it away with her hands, she couldn't stop the surging tide. She began to gently repeat the name over and over in her mind while doing her best to stifle her own voice. Her body bent forward in the search for greater pleasure as her lungs cried out for more air. Her actions intensified until they had reached a critical point where her body suddenly inverted.Bending backward like a bow, Hephaestus twitched while releasing a powerful groan through her clenched teeth. She felt all the feelings in her body surge and explode outward in an unstoppable wave. The wave continued echoing within the emptiness that had emerged as Hephaestus collapsed powerlessly into the couches embrace. In her disheveled state, she just stared lazily toward her dark office as a powerful loneliness began to permeate throughout her body.In the silence that followed, while Hephaestus felt like she had become lost, she could hear that ever-present rhythm beating within her soul. She thoughtlessly listened to each individual thump as she allowed the feelings it brought to spread. It slowly, steadily, chased away the empty feelings. Bundling herself up into a ball, Hephaestus tried to keep those feelings from escaping using her own body to contain them. In this state, she slowly drifted off to sleep, for the first time embracing the hope that had been ignited within her.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Doki Dokie','Unstoppable Tide','Vahn's Presence')

After Vahn had calmed down, he stared at the wreckage of the forest around him. Though he still had a lot of emotions swirling about in his body, he was at least able to rid himself of the majority of the problematic ones through physical exertion. There were more than a dozen trees that had been turned to mulch and several giant boulders that had been ground into fine powder in his immediate area.Releasing a powerful sigh, Vahn began making his way back to the campsite. He still needed to meet the representative of the Hephaestus Familia to explain the situation. Now that he would be joining the expedition, he would have to follow along with the plans of those in charge. After seeing how well everyone coordinated with each other, Vahn didn't want to be the one to cause chaos and unrest in the group.Arriving at the camp, Vahn made his way toward the largest red tent. Several people gave him strange looks, as he wasn't part of the original party, but nobody stopped him. Once he made it to the tent, he entered through the opening and came across a mature man eating breakfast alongside a woman. The man looked to be in his early thirties and had a powerful build with a neatly trimmed beard that merged into the blazing red hair on his head. The woman next to him had a beautiful, yet sleepy looking, face with drooping purple eyes and green hair fixed into a loose ponytail. She had a supple figure without any fat and rather large breasts restrained by the dark purple breastplate she was wearing.The moment Vahn entered the tent, the man put down his utensils and spoke in an amicable manner. "You must be Vahn Mason, the 'Vulcan', correct?" Vahn was surprised that he was identified, but didn't think it was that odd as he had been left inside a tent earlier. Seeing his surprise, the man continued, "No worries kiddo. Riveria and the little amazon girl came by and explained things. Also, you're pretty famous within the Familia, so it was pretty easy to identify you." At the last part, the man started laughing and Vahn thought it was odd."Famous? Why? I haven't done anything..." As Vahn spoke, the woman began to laugh with a bell-like tone that sent a chill down one's spine. "Hephaestus-sama is quite fond of you and spread your image around in the Familia, Mr. Vulcan~" The lady looked at him with her sleepy eyes and Vahn almost averted his away instead of looking toward her.In response, the man nodded his head and continued, "Yes, that is correct. Goddess Hephaestus told us that, if we were to meet a boy of your description in the dungeon, we should do our best to ensure your safety. I never expected to see you here on the 18th floor, much less accompanying the main party of the Loki Familia!" The man started laughing and nearly knocked the glasses on the table over.The woman gave the man a sidewards glance and he quickly stopped laughing. After pretending to cough for a bit, the man spoke up."Ah, let me introduce myself. I'm Grant Messer, Level 3 and representative of the Hephaestus Familia for this commission. People call me the 'Sledgehammer'." As he said his title, the man patted the massive brown and orange hammer to his right.After his introduction, the woman smiled toward Vahn and said, "And I'm Meryl Messer, his wife, also Level 3 and people call me the 'Witch'. Though, I would prefer if you just call me Meryl. I've never been fond of my nickname." When the woman had said her alias, Vahn saw a cold glint in her eyes that made him feel that, if he called her by that, he would likely pay a price.Once all the introductions were made, Grant talked to Vahn about the purpose of their mission and his role should he decide to join them. They were currently on an expedition to collect various items between the 25th and 30th floor, with their ultimate goal being the bones and scales of the Bloodsaurus on the 30th floor. If Vahn joined the expedition, as he was both a capable fighter and apprentice blacksmith, he could either protect the group alongside the vanguard or stay in the back and perform maintenance and various other tasks.After a bit of discussion, it was agreed that Vahn was better served at the vanguard. Though he had picked up a lot of skills with Tsubaki, he wanted to continue improving his strength. If he spent the entire trip in the backline, it would defeat the purpose of joining the expedition in the first place. Vahn wanted to quickly complete his quest and return to the surface. He began feeling that, the longer he stayed within, the more difficult it would be to deal with things in the future.While they were discussing things and having a polite conversation, Riveria showed up at the entrance of the tent. She had a 'serious' look on her face and, seeing Vahn present, she nodded before stating the purpose of her visit to Grant. "Finn is gathering together all the decision-makers for an important discussion. As the representatives of the Hephaestus Familia, he needs you, Meryl, and Vahn to attend."Grant nodded without questioning the order, but Vahn was somewhat confused. "Why does Finn need me to attend?" Vahn had only known Finn for a very short period of time, and definitely wasn't one of the 'decision-makers' in the expedition party. In fact, he wasn't even a member more than an hour ago...Riveria looked toward Vahn and spoke plainly,"You are the only person present that has any information pertaining to the upcoming mission. Finn will explain the details, but know that we have been tasked with an urgent mission by the Guild." Hearing her words, Vahn suddenly understood what she was talking about. As he had anticipated, the Loki Familia had likely been assigned to subjugate the Juggernaut. Grant, who was also listening, frowned but kept his words to himself for the time being.The group made their way to the largest tent in the center of the camp where Vahn saw all the main members of the Loki Familia's ace party, including Bete who seemed down in the dumps. The moment Bete saw Vahn enter with the Hephaestus Familia members, he snarled and almost lashed out but Finn stopped him. "There is no time for that Bete, stand down. We have important matters to discuss." Ever since the fiasco with Tione earlier, Finn had been a bit on-edge and appeared to be a little impatient.Bete clicked his tongue and just sat at the periphery of the group while ignoring everyone. A large table occupied the center area of the tent, and there were several stumps that had been collected from the nearby forest to act as chairs. After sitting down with the rest of the group, Tiona, who had been watching Vahn since his entrance, exchanged seats to sit next to Vahn.Vahn felt awkward the moment she sat next to him, and when he looked at her smiling face the emotions he had fought hard to expel earlier began to build back up. To counteract the emotions, Vahn began to channel his [Will of the Emperor] and his domain slowly spread out through the tent with his [Stealth] applied. Though it was almost imperceptible, nearly everyone in the tent except Grant and Meryl noticed it.Finn frowned, and Tiona had a confused expression on her face as she noticed Vahn was trying to ignore her. She felt a peculiar sensation in her chest after seeing his efforts to avoid interacting with her. Before anyone else said anything about the current situation, Riveria spoke up while slowly moving her hand through the air. "Fascinating...this space almost seems to be isolated with concealment and sound-dampening properties. This should prevent anyone from outside the tent from picking up on our discussion. What a versatile skill..."After listening to Riveria's explanation, Finn's expression loosened as he though Vahn was just trying to ensure the privacy of the information they would be discussing. He found Vahn's caution commendable and thought the skill was also quite useful. "Thanks, Vahn, it saves us a lot of trouble this way. Now we don't have to worry about causing a panic before we make a decision."Vahn wasn't paying much attention to what was said, but hearing someone call his name he slowly nodded. Right now he was trying to focus his awareness on other things within the tent instead of the warm body sitting to his right. Even now he could 'feel' Tiona looking at him, but Vahn was doing everything in his power to avoid acknowledging this fact. Tiona, from the side, seemed to notice this and her brows began to furrow as if she was going to pout.Finn noticed the atmosphere between Tiona and Vahn, but he decided to ignore it for the time being. There were important things to be discussed, and they could work out their problems later. "Okay, I'd like to thank everyone for gathering on such short notice. As you may be aware, the Loki Familia has been assigned an emergency mission by the Guild which was accepted by our Goddess, Loki. We understand that this puts the Hephaestus Familia in a difficult situation and are willing to refund the entire original commission fee as well as a contract cancelation fee. However, if possible, we would like to borrow the services of the Hephaestus Familia for the time being. Once we are able to accomplish our mission we will continue the expedition if there are further difficulties."Finn explained the basic premise of the meeting without revealing too many details. Grant, who was experienced with such things, knew that he had the option of denying the mission and retreating to safety. Unless he decided to help the Loki Familia, they wouldn't reveal any of the information about their mission as other parties could interfere with its completion and contest for rewards.After discussing things with his wife for a few minutes, Grant turned towards Vahn and asked,"What are you going to do kid?" Vahn was curious why Grant would ask him, but he considered things on his own before responding,"I am going to help. I probably have some relation to the mission, and if possible, I would like to take part." Grant, hearing Vahn's reply, nodded his head looked toward Finn. "The Hephaestus Familia will take part in the Loki Familia's emergency mission, but we expect to be compensated for any equipment and consumables used to ensure its completion. We also expect 20% of the posted rewards as well as the right to purchase any materials or drops earned at a premium."Finn nodded his head and agreed to the terms. If things went well, it would be better to give up part of their rewards and continue the expedition. If the Hephaestus Familia left now, the penalty for breaking the contract would be immense and it would potentially damage the reputation of the Loki Familia. This was the best possible outcome in a lot of ways, and Finn knew that Vahn was the reason for Grant's cooperation. He too had heard of the rumors surrounding Vahn and Hephaestus, and this made Finn believe there was some truth to the matter."Very well, then I will explain the details of our mission. We have been given the task of subjugating the Juggernaut that has appeared on the 13th floor. If possible, we are also to investigate any strange occurrences that have happened and report back to the Guild at the earliest possible time. As it is an emergency mission, we have been given 30 hours to complete it. As I received word two hours ago, that only leaves us less than 28 hours to form a strategy to defeat the Juggernaut and conduct the investigation." Finn said the explanation with full seriousness while making eye contact will everyone present.Hearing the mission entailed killing a Juggernaut, Grant immediately began regretting his decision to lend their aide. Though they were unlikely to participate in the combat, if the Loki Familia failed to kill the Juggernaut it would likely wipe out the entire expedition team, the Hephaestus Familia included. His face was set with a deep frown, but a gentle hand was placed on his thigh by his wife Meryl. Looking into her perpetually 'calming' eyes, Grant found his conviction before nodding to Finn.Finn gave the two an appreciative smile before nodding his head at Vahn. "Okay Vahn, I would like you to recount everything you know about the Juggernaut. We need as much information you have about its size, characteristics, location, and anything else you may find important. Please, don't hold anything back as this may concern the lives of everyone present."Vahn felt like the words weighed heavily on his body, and he couldn't help but look at the expressions of everyone in the tent. There was a solemn atmosphere and everyone had a serious look on their faces as Vahn slowly scanned them. When his eyes had made the full rounds, he set his sight on the person sitting next to him. Unlike everyone else, Tiona looked toward Vahn with a gentle and encouraging smile.Suddenly, all of the tension seemed to go away and Vahn felt the pressure that had been weighing him down vanish. Unable to contain the 'relief' he had felt, Vahn released a sigh before a smile appeared on his lips. Looking toward Finn, he began recounting all the information about the Juggernaut, including how it seemed to have suffered a severe amount of damage from an unknown source.(A/N: Alternate Title: 'Trauma', 'Round 2...','Negotiations')

Vahn spent about twenty minutes bathing with the three girls. After Tiona voluntarily washed his back, she remarked about how warm his body was in the cold water and stuck close to him afterward. Curious about the claim, Tione put her palm on Vahn's chest and was surprised to find that he was like a furnace even in the chilled environment. She was almost tempted to replace Tiona, but seeing the glint in her sister's eye made her feel a little intimidated.Afterward, everyone got dressed and made their way back to the campsite. Halfway along the path, they came across Lefiya standing next to a tree that looked like it had been used for martial arts training. Vahn thought it was a bit strange, and then he noticed the abrasions on Lefiya's tiny fists. Frowning, Vahn grabbed her hands and started healing them, much to the girl's surprise and apparent frustration. After telling her to be more careful with her training, Vahn continued along the trail, leaving behind a stunned and befuddled Lefiya who was teased by Tione.It was still early back at camp, but many people had awoken by now. The site was alive with the hustle-and-bustle of people going about their business and performing their various duties. After saying a short goodbye, everyone split into two separate groups to tend to their respective tasks. Tione, Ais, and Lefiya left to seek out Rivera and await orders from Finn, while Tiona followed Vahn to the Hephaestus Familia tents.Similar to the previous day, Tiona stuck very close to Vahn, but this time she didn't seem like she was trying to prevent him from running away. Instead, she stood very near to him and, as they walked, they would periodically come into contact with each other while making small talk. Vahn had been curious about the village of the Amazons, Telskyura, and inquired about what kind of place it was.Tiona seemed to think for a moment with a strange melancholy present in her still smiling face. To Vahn, he felt her eyes showed an uncharacteristic sadness, which made him feel uncomfortable. While she was still thinking, Vahn reached out his hand to pat her head. From his experience, most of the girls he interacted with seemed to enjoy when he did so and they would appear more at ease.Tiona didn't seem to be the exception to his, as she nuzzled her hair against his palm with the melancholy in her eyes vanishing in an instant."It is kind of a sad and harsh place, but it wasn't all bad. As you'd expect, everyone there are Amazons and are led by the Goddess Kali. Men aren't allowed in the village, but there is a small settlement of would-be suitors not far. Some men think they have a chance of courting an Amazon if they are 'conveniently' nearby, but it rarely happens." Tiona laughed at the last part of her soliloquy.Vahn was curious, so he asked, "Why does it only happen rarely?" In response to his question, Tiona leaned against him and reached her arms around the back of his neck. Pressing her body to his chest, she looked into Vahn's eyes with a 'predatory' expression as she slowly enunciated. "It is the instinct of Amazons to desire strong men. Men that think they can take a shortcut to try and win the heart of an Amazon are usually weak-willed and even weaker in strength."As Tiona slowly closed the distance between their faces, Vahn could feel his heartbeat begin to accelerate and a cloudy haze filled his mind. Staring into the eyes of the approaching Tiona, Vahn remarked, "But, I'm not that strong. There are many people stronger than me." Even as Vahn spoke the words, he felt like there was something strange in them, almost as if he was making an excuse.Tiona hummed slightly, it was like she found his words very amusing. With their noses practically touching, she spoke once more. "You are strong Vahn...and I can tell you will become even stronger in the future. That is why 'my' instincts are telling me." As she finished her words, she leaned forward and gently kissed Vahn's lips.Vahn's mind completely blanked the moment their lips touched and he spread out his hands almost like he was afraid to touch anything in his absent state-of-mind. Tiona, as if unaware of his distress, continued kissing Vahn and even pulled his head more firmly toward her own. After a few seconds, she finally released him and stared toward Vahn's face with a mild blush covering her healthy browned skin."You know, I don't mind being the one to kiss others...But, I'd be happier to be on the receiving end some day." After she spoke the words, Tiona spun around with her hands behind her back and walked away while humming a happy tune. Vahn followed her figure in a daze and for the first time began looking at her slightly differently. His eyes wandered from her head, down the line of her uncovered back, past the cloth wrapping her waist, and all the way down to her bare feet. He just stood there in stunned silence until she had long disappeared through the assortment of tents.Reaching his hand to his lips, Vahn couldn't help but mumble, "That was my first kiss..." For some reason, the thought brought a blush to his face and Vahn felt an uncomfortable yet pleasant feeling build up in his body when he began recollecting the event. Her lips were very soft, and he could remember the heat from her body pressing itself against his own. Vahn became increasingly flustered the longer he thought about the scene and felt a strong urge to run off into the woods and destroy something.In all of Vahn's interactions with women, he had never considered the greater implications behind his, or their, actions. He knew he enjoyed being around them, but he never experienced such conflicting emotions before and didn't know how to deal with them. Now that Tiona had kissed him, he began to worry that all of his previous experiences were actually more intimate that he had realized. He began replaying all of his memories and looking at them through a 'new perspective', and Vahn couldn't help but feel the frustration in his body build to a critical point.Finally, unable to deal with the emotions anymore, in a manner very reminiscent of Lefiya's scene from earlier, Vahn ran off into the forest. For nearly an hour after that, people within the campsite could hear the sounds of destruction in the distance. It was the sound of trees falling and boulders being shattered. Those with better hearing could even pick up the anguished cry of a young boy who sounded like an aggrieved spirit.---Within a large tent in the center of the camp, Tiona was sitting on a table while dangling her legs about. A large smile was plastered on her face as she hummed a tune with her eyes closed. When asked why she was so happy by the other girls, she acted like a bashful maiden and laughed in a silly manner while holding her cheeks. "I had my first kiss with Vahn~" Hearing her response, her sister Tione seemed to suffer a massive mental blow, as she ran out of the tent screaming, "Captaaaain~!"The group watched Tione depart into the distance, almost as if she had some kind of beacon showing her the way to Finn. Ais seemed to furrow her brows a bit as she looked at Tiona's beaming face. "He kissed you?" Hearing Ais's question, Lefiya began to frown from the side while Tiona just answered directly, "Not yet. I had to kiss him, but I think it was his first kiss too, so I'm very happy~"Ais's expression relaxed a bit, while Lefiya's seemed to only get worse. Remembering everything she had experienced with Vahn, Lefiya had a lot of conflicting emotions. But, the one she was sure about was, she didn't like seeing Ais pay so much attention to him. Even though she knew Ais was actually a lot kinder than people thought, Lefiya felt a bit jealous seeing Ais concerned about a boy. Especially a handsome boy that was similar in age...Suddenly, Lefiya's thoughts wandered a bit and she had to cover her fiercely blushing face.Riveria was watching the strange scene with a mildly shocked expression. She couldn't imagine what Vahn had done to impact all the young women in the group so severely in such a short period of time. Riveria was also interested in Vahn, primarily due to his strange ability to manipulate the elements, but she didn't think his act of killing the Goliath was enough to affect the hearts of Level 5 adventurers. She began to grow more interested in the boy and wondered if he harbored any more secrets she was unaware of.---Finn was heading back from Riviria, the settlement near the large tree, and he had a grim expression on his face. Gareth too walked with a solemn countenance and kept silent for the duration of their trip. He was in the area when Finn received the order, and he knew things were going to be troublesome in the coming days.They had been assigned the task of subjugating the Juggernaut on the 13th floor, primarily due to the fact that it had killed a number of adventurers already. The people of the City wanted answers, and it fell to the Loki Familia to find out the reasons behind its appearance; the Guild felt that waiting too long would make the future investigation too difficult so they issued an emergency mission which was approved by their goddess Loki.Finn was busy thinking about the best way to distribute manpower and determine the most appropriate course of action to take. They definitely had the numbers to take on the beast, but it wouldn't be an easy fight no matter how cautious he chose to be. The biggest problem he faced was dealing with the Hephaestus Familia and making sure they understood the necessity of the current task.This expedition they were on had been at the request of the Hephaestus Familia so they would be able to safely gather materials between the 25th and 30th floors. Some materials needed to be carefully harvested and weren't suitable to be retrieved by adventurers. The Loki had accepted the task of being their escorts, and the commission fee was already paid in full. Finn didn't want to abandon the mission, as it could harm the reputation of the Loki Familia, but he couldn't ignore the emergency mission either. Hopefully, things would work out and they would be able to complete both without any major problems...While Finn was lost in his own thoughts, a slight rumbling could be felt through the ground. Thinking it was some beast that had ascended from the lower floors, Finn and Gareth got into combat stances and stressed their senses to detect the incoming threat. In his state of heightened awareness, Finn could hear the sound of a woman screaming in a frantic manner. He even thought, though he couldn't understand why, the girl seemed to be shouting his name...A few moments later, the yell became clear in the ears of both Gareth and Finn and they quickly ran toward the direction it came from. The voice belonged to one of their companions, Tione, and she sounded like she was in a state of duress. Something urgent must have happened at the campsite to force her to seek Finn out. With the worst in mind, they increased their pace and doubled their efforts to meet Tione as quickly as possible to discover what the matter was.After a short period of time, the three made visual contact with each other and Finn's mind entered an emergency state. He could see that Tione seemed visibly flustered, almost like her life was on the line as she waved toward his direction. Thoughts of what could have occurred to make a Level 5 act in such dire straights began to pass through his mind as they quickly closed the gap. When they were a few meters apart, just as Finn was about to have Tione explain the situation, she suddenly launched herself toward him."Caaaaptain!! Quick, give me a kiss!" Tione shot at Finn like a bullet, and even though he was in a dazed state of mind, he quickly evaded the human missile. Gareth looked at Finn with a humorous expression and began to laugh while hoisting his axe onto his shoulder. "Good luck, Finn." With those parting words, Gareth began walking toward the campsite while issuing an amused and explosive laugh from time to time.Finn could feel the veins in his temples twitching furiously as he looked toward Tione who seemed devasted that he dodged her 'attack'. "What is this about Tione..." With an aggrieved expression, Tione turned toward him while rubbing her nose. "Its not fair Captain. Tiona shouldn't be able to get the march on me, the older sister. I want a kiss too!" With crocodile tears, Tione tried acting pitiable before once again launching herself toward Finn.Dodging her second 'attack', Finn sighed deeply before walking toward the campsite. "Let's go Tione, there are important matters to discuss." After he spoke, Finn didn't bother to entertain her anymore. Tione vaulted from the ground after hearing his words and shouted, "Yes, Captain!" before following him obediently. Though, she wasn't too obedient as, during the rest of the trip, she would occasionally sneak glances at Finn's lips with an expression of desire plastered on her face.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Finn is 40, Tione is 14','Tiona gets ahead','Vahn's brain gets broken','Deforestation')

Chapter 96: Hephaestus : Day 1