25 The Willful Mortal
Freya's silver eyes seemingly glance beyond the curtain of the downpour. She recognizes the undercurrent a familia is going through. A group of distress chasers. Yet another group of 'high' adventurers showing what's what in the middle of the streets.
And beyond that. Her lips widened into a prominent smirk that would leave many breathless. She never saw someone shine this bright before. Even if someone is strong, THIS quality is not present in most. Her eyes remain rooted in a single direction with a sparkle of thinly veiled fervency and obsession.
'That unique skill... that flicker of contest within him... 'something' snapping within him that polished his soul to its, might I be immature for once to comment, final form... hmm~ I love it even more, my Odr. Make me feel more immature, and more mischievous until I can't hold myself back.'
She sips her wine and hums softly. Despite her excitement and the threat of moist 'lips', her voice never loses her seductive charm.
"Ottar?"
"Yes, Lady Freya?"
"Have I ever told you that Deities are disgusting creatures?"
There is a moment of silence behind her before the large Boaz begins.
"You did not have to, Lady Freya. Deities find mortal's dilemma amusing and that is a kind generalization of many things."
"Ah, yes, I have been the most unkind to you, dear child," Freya teases with a playful tone, finding her mood rather... light. Peaceful, for once.
Her words certainly ruffle a few feathers as the strongest adventurer of the city is on a knee with his head hanging low in guilt.
"Ottar, it was a joke," Freya chuckles knowing full well that Ottar is aware of it but he rarely entertains her musings and keeps himself strict and stern— one of the many features Freya admires about her child.
"What I mean with us being disgusting is that... we are stubborn. Once we set sight on something, we like to have it. Especially if this something or someone is of a mortal variety then we, the deities, feel that it should rightly belong to us the moment we fancy them."
"I see..." Ottar stands up once again and dutifully stays in his role as a guard.
"Do you think my Odr will kill Soma? Or at least, try and send him to Tenkai. Or will he approach Soma's gentler side?"
"Lady Freya... with all that you have commented on his performance today, I think the Soma Familia has returned to the bottom of the barrel. If anything... Soma might kill Jackal in offense and return to Tenkai out of his own volition."
"Ottar, you need to become more socially active. You spoke of the most unappreciative conclusion to a woman who is in the love with her Odr's growing legend. We should have you serve at Grand's place for a week as a punishment."
Ottar's expression shifts for once as Freya looks back, her silver eyes revealing a hazy glow of lust and obsession, not toward Ottar but toward her own imagination, "It's just a joke dear. I can't miss my daily dose of Odr~!"
'However... this makes me more curious about the deity behind Odr... perhaps a socially inept one that is terrified of crowds?'
---
Bandaging his arm with the blouse of the woman he broke at the entrance of the mansion, Jackal stands in front of Soma's room and heaves a deep breath.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
And he politely knocks.
'1... 2...' Reasonably, Jackal begins to count in his mind. Once he hits 15 and receives no reply, Jackal twists the knob of the door and finds the door unlocked.
A dim and dull room greets Jackal behind the door. The dark clouds covering the sky leave no natural light to fill the room from the wide window panes that lead to an open balcony. In this dim room filled with shelves holding dusty vats and components of a distillery, Jackal makes out a dark-haired man who wears his long hair shaggily to the point his eyes are covered.
He is dressed in faded clothes as he is hunched over a flask with a sheer intent of calm focus surrounding him.
"Soma..." Jackal voices out the name as the youth waves his hand dismissively at Jackal and keeps on looking at the bubbling liquid in front of him over the only source of light— a heating magic stone.
Sighing softly with a calm smile, Jackal pulls out an ax with his right hand as his left is out of commission and he flings it ahead.
Screeching through the air, the ax slices into the apparatus, sending the god reeling back from surprise as the liquid, alcohol, splashes over.
Quietly, the god takes notice of Jackal from behind the curtain of his hair.
The god takes one look at the pair of red-gold eyes filled with focused venom and mutters dryly, "Oh... a savior of the masses I assume. But you will not find any applause here, hero. State your business and leave me be."
Jackal blinks for a moment and looks around. Alcohol... alcohol. And alcohol. A den of alcohol and an uncaring God. A calmer part of him believes there is a story but the current him... is so far away from empathy that he is waving it goodbye through the rearview mirror of the ride that is his wrath.
'A familia driven by alcohol and money. A bunch of addicts that use anyone and anything to gain money and drink a drop of his good stuff.'
Jackal's calm breathing begins to roughen up.
A bunch of addicts gave birth to Lili and those other children to taint them. To make use of them. To fill their lives with empty promises.
His gaze falls on Soma.
'A father... who allowed his children to get twisted and hurt each other. To let them crave a drop of his perfect wine.'
His breathing becomes audible. His veins quake with rage and he is reminded of his own selfish intent of enjoying a cathartic event.
'This is what made her cry... a failed promise of protection. A twisted father.'
His gaze turns dull.
'Nobody... came for me. But I was a fuckup... I guess. Lili is better. Kinder.'
He takes a step forward toward the shelf.
Within rage, within the flow of blinding anger, a small child with black hair and innocuous red eyes call out to him. The boy's smile is covered in filth but he is so innocent.
"Save Lili..." his voice whispers into his ears, "Let's give someone else a better future and find our happiness that way."
"Damn right," Jackal smiles and pulls down the wooden shelf in an instant as it sends all the vats crashing down on the floor!
*Tumble*
*Crash*
The loud noise wakes Soma from the distinctly pleasing scent of the youth's origin as he stands up, "What are you doing?!"
Jackal looks back with a soft and gentle smile.
He walks over to the lone shelves fitted into the walls and pushes every jar onto the ground.
*Crash*
*Crash*
*Crash*
Stirred and visibly annoyed at his creations falling victim to a mortal's whim, Soma's voice tinges with the glory of the divine, and the ends of his dark hair sway visibly with an aura so divine that it would have others prostrating in front of the god.
"State your intent and leave me be, Mortal," Soma voice out dryly once again as Jackal stops and whispers, "I cannot let this mansion... this room exist. If you value your life in this realm one bit, you will watch quietly until I'm done. Speak another word and you will feel the feebleness of mortals firsthand."
This is no empty threat.
All gods can seethrough deceptions and truth.
This right here is a promise but not one to be intimidated and more stubborn than a mule, Soma quickly shouts as he sees another one of his works almost fall onto the ground and spill their contents all over the floor.
"Stop! If you have any misgivings then lay them on me—"
"Very well," Jackal looks back without missing a beat. His smile vanishes and his eyes burn with fury.
"Let this be a lesson, too. Promises..." He walks over to Soma as God stands his ground. The intoxicating allure of the mortal's origin fails to capture Soma's undivided attention as Jackal holds Soma's left hand and supplants, "... are meant to be kept."
The god's vision blurs and a sense of weightlessness hit him... not, it's not the weightlessness that hits him. It's the glass that he impacts that shatters apart and then the cold wet ground that takes no kindness upon God's mortal flesh and bones.
In this wave of pain, he experiences for the first time, even Soma failed to notice the dumbstruck group behind him.
---
"Oye... Mikoto... who really needs help here?" Ouka questions while holding his spear tightly.
Lili had explained a few things concisely but given the sheer rage with which the gates are busted not to mention the scene beyond it...
It's clear Lili wasn't open about everything yet everyone is aware of what humanity can be like in the darkest of hours so they could fill in the blanks.
Not only he but Naaza and Lili, too, stare at the scene with shaken looks.
The wet ground is filled with bloody puddles. Limbs lie apart from the bodies of the unconscious adventurers. The nearest of the few towers surrounding the mansion has men and women lying on the doorsteps of the structure with axes still lodged into their bodies.
But one person stands out from the masses.
A man lies face-first on the ground with a spear sticking out of his ass.
The sight makes everyone wince in pain but Lili is familiar with the spear and the man whose whole it is lodged up against.
One of the many spare spears Jackal bought for her.
"Just what... happened here?" Mikoto whispers to herself more than anything else. Like others, she does not expect a reply but as the group takes one step forward, a loud crashing noice echoes through the noise of the downpour.
*CRASH* *CRASH* *CRASH*
It's loud and certainly interests the group but for a second, a massive aura passes over them and the surroundings. It stops them. It still the rain. It is so unnatural that even nature itself is forced to follow its will rather than its own natural order.
Divine... Aura.
The group pales and they expect the worst. Seconds feel like an eternity and as they fear...
The worst occurs.
*Crash*
A figure flies out with accompanying shards of glass as the divine aura lets up and the figure crashes into the ground with a wet splatter of the puddle. The downpour drives down harder on them and...
"Soma..." Lili gasps softly but her voice is heard just well enough due to the proximity between the group.
'That Soma?' Everybody's lips part in shock... and true terror.
A god is attacked... and they are the unfortunate witnesses.
Sweating despite the rain, Mikoto looks back at her team apologetically.
---
"I'll burn it all..." Jackal whispers as he opens the window door and steps on the shard of glass. He pays little heed to Naaza and others but despite the rain clouding his vision, he sees Lili just well and she can see him equally clearly.
But not intent on smiling at her just yet until he is sure he has freed her completely from the chains of her shitty past, Jackal leaps off the balcony and lands on Zanis' back with a cold expression accompanied by a cruel crunch of his bones.
For a moment, Jackal is surprised that Zanis' wound is already closed but the man is unconscious without a doubt.
'So, the fucker had a potion after all,' Jackal scowls and pulls out the spear from his ass before ruthlessly stabbing it down once more.
*Cough*
Meanwhile, breath returns to Soma. His lungs contract and expand rapidly to gulp down the air which feels far better than any alcohol he has created in his mortal life.
He slowly sits up. Obviously, he may not be strong but he isn't entirely as weak as a child. Most gods cap out at rank 1 average adventurer while a few gods related to combat can even have strength equivalent to a level 2 adventurer.
"I don't get it," Jackal questions as he walks forward while locking his gaze with Soma.
"How can a parent just abandon their children..." He towers over him with a blank look, "Why have children if all that amounts to you is a mistake? How can you promise lies?" He straddles Soma's waist with his knees and feels his left arm aching but he cocks his fist back nonetheless.
With Soma's hair drenched and riding sideways, Jackal can finally hold the man's gaze and questions with an incomparably painful expression as rain hits his face and slides down his cheeks.
His lips wobble.
"How can you be so indifferent to your children's pain and suffering?!"
*Swish*
His fist drives into Soma's face as Naaza gasps, "Jackal! Don't!"
"How could you just let go of their hands?!"
His right hand fills the void in Soma's face as quickly as his left one cocks back.
Lili covers her mouth while she stumbles down to her knees Her legs are unable to keep her up. Choked sobs escape her hold as she lets her heart out.
"How could you make them beg?!"
*Smash*
Naaza and others are too shocked to speak. They came here to assist and maybe take Jackal away but this...
"How could you let go of your damn responsibility?!"
*Smack*
"Why? Just because they got hooked on your damn stuff, that gives you the right to feel disappointed?!"
*Smack*
*Boom*
A massive pressure knocks Jackal back alongside the air from his lungs.
---
"Woah, woah! Two of my dearies actually throwing hands to see who gets to whisk me away in their charm of ignoring me~ You don't see that often! A god and a mortal fighting over me, kahahahaha!"
Loki holds her slim stomach and laughs out loud as one of her men speaks, "Loki... shouldn't we do something?"
"And lose one of the most interesting sights?! Look at that boy all riled up and asking all the right questions~! Soma is famous for being tough and stubborn, you know. This won't end easily!"
"There's no way I'll let my own familia bother an actual legend birthing right in front of my eyes!" She claims with a declaring wave of her hand!
'Don't disappoint me, kid,' Loki looks forward with an eager and appreciative smile, 'Everyone's fucking annoyed by his attitude. Just because he can brew some good shit doesn't mean he should treat his children with shit but... that's where you come in, right? Abusive little Hero...'
Her smirk widens.
---
"I don't get it..."
His soft doubt fills Soma's senses who is equally dumbfounded by the turn of events. He was attacked?
Physically attacked with the intent to kill?
Almost no god cares if their children hit them if it's meant to be playful and lighthearted but this is different. This is a mortal intent on rebelling against the divine order. The fragrance of his soul confirms just as much.
"How can a parent just abandon their children..."
Soma stills when he hears this.
"Why have children if all that amounts to you is a mistake? How can you promise lies?"
That's not it. That's far from Soma's wishes when he descended. Silent and quieter than most he may be but he was never reclusive.
Soma feels the mortal's weight on him as the mortal sits upon his torso. His left fist cocks back but Soma notices his arm quivering, most likely from the injury on his shoulder and arm.
But the implication of such action only alerts the god when the fist smites upon his face without any fear of the divine! But he is still stunned by the sheer pain in the mortal's face as he whispers alongside punching down.
*Smash*
"How can you be so indifferent to your children's pain and suffering?!" He hears the mortal's tone quiver.
No. He never looked away. He just...
"Jackal! Don't!" A voice gasps from behind the distance.
"How could you just let go of their hands?!"
*Smash*
As pain assaults his senses, the mortal's... Jackal's words hurt him more.
'I... never meant to let go of their hands! They lost themselves. They lost their paths! They... they could not control...'
"How could you make them beg?!"
*Smash*
'I never made anyone beg,' Soma's nose is already broken and bruised, and his lips bust open in cuts but his divine will focuses nothing on the pain of the flesh.
'No! They begged... on their own accord. They lusted my wine... they were a slave to it. I should have never... let them taste the divine...'
"How could you let go of your damn responsibility?!"
*Smash*
Something begins to boil within Soma. Again, the physical pain means little to him. But Jackal's words... they continue to carve into Soma's flesh and every bit of it ached him to his very soul as several faces of his smiling children flash in the depths of his mind.
Smiling, kind, and loving children.
'I did not let go of anything... they wanted more wine. I could do nothing... I could only brew... for them...'
"Why? Just because they got hooked on your damn stuff, that gives you the right to feel disappointed?!"
*Smash*
Something snaps within the reclusive god.
A minuscule fraction of his intent focuses a full blast of pressure ahead that knocks Jackal away as Soma stands up with a wobble. Blood flows from his mouth in abundance. His cheeks and the area around his eyes are swollen and almost cut open while his nose tilts sideways brokenly.
"How... what... WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF MY PAIN AND DISAPPOINTMENT?!"
Soma huffs and pants as he clenches his fists.
"You have children! You reward them! And you watch them lose sense of themselves! You suffer that heartache for once! You feel that vulnerable for once! Mortal... Jackal, I'll ask you then!"
He steps towards the coughing Jackal who rubs his slightly sunken chest.
"I'll ask you if you'll give up or not!"
"I'll ask if you let go of their hands or if they snatched it back, unwilling to be guided once led astray by lust and addiction!"
Before long, Soma now towers over Jackal.
Thunder booms at this moment, announcing the arrival of a bolt of lightning as heaven continues to weep alongside Lili and countless others.
"I made no one beg! I was never disappointed! You fool!" Soma screams, "I LOST MY HEART WITH MY CHILDREN!"
Soma locks gaze with Jackal and for a moment, the divine notices the aggression slipping away from Jackal's gaze but slowly and surely, Jackal stands up.
He meets Soma's gaze.
"You lost your heart, huh..." That unnerving aggression returns and Soma clenches his fist to duke it out. His own mortal flesh pumps with equal rage and adrenaline.
"Then fucking die you dipshit!" The mortal roars back, "Or let go of your children you indecisive little fuck! You can't hold on to them, wish to help them, and do damn nothing!"
He tackles forward but Soma stays his ground.
Gods of every nature have faced battle once in their entire lifetime. Even the kindest ones. And that one battle alone makes them quite a bit experienced in battles in their own manner.
*Thud*
*Thud*
Both of them interlock each other's hands and push. With both of them in each other's faces, Soma roars back, his soft features devolving into pure menace.
"I don't need your understanding! You who don't know—"
Jackal grins and smashes his face forward, driving his skull into Soma's face as he screams!
"I KNOW HOW IT'S LIKE TO BE USED!"
Soma reels back as Jackal successfully tackles the god into the ground.
As Soma's blurry vision try to reorient itself, he notices the absolute truth in Jackal's pained roar.
"I know what Lili feels!"
"I know how fed up with her life she was when I saved her!"
"I know the taste of garbage!"
"I know it, damn it!"
Each sentence ends with a smash of his fist.
'Lili...' Again, physical pain means nothing. Instead, the name resounds with familiarity and one face emerges from the day...
When he hadn't given up yet.
His clenched fists loosen themselves as Jackal suddenly stops.
Between blood and rain, Jackal hears Soma's coughed sob as a distinct trickle of tears slips down his disfigured face.
"I truly... gave up... did I not?"
Jackal's eyes redden ever so slightly. Not because of anger.
While he had mistaken Soma's existence out of his personal spite... he never intended to stop. Feelings don't change already executed actions.
But seeing the god's tears... Jackal felt that Lili's tears are now avenged.
With an exhausted sigh, he sits back and lets the rain drown him.
"Yeah... you asshole... you gave up big time."
---
"Lili... it's alright..." Naaza kneels next to Lili as she watches the heated feud between the mortal and the god end.
Still a mess, Lili says nothing. Instead, she quickly slips out of Naaza's embrace and tries to run toward Jackal.
*Slip*
Still feeling weak, she slips and falls down but before Naaza can help her up, Lili begins to drag herself across the ground, letting mud stain her face.
"Jackal-... sama... please! Please... don't cry... not for me..."
Others could not see it. Even Lili wasn't sure why she could but... she could only see Jackal crying. He never looked so hurt. Every time he attacked... he cried. She could feel it. This realization threatened to break her.
His claims of understanding it all... his truth of admitting that he wasn't an infallible beast but a man as broken as her and in need of similar comfort threatened to shatter her heart.
'I need to get there...'
'I need to... embrace him. I need to be the one to... I need...'
Her thoughts are a mess. Her emotions wreak havoc within her.
As Naaza watches with a deeply conflicted look, unable to even intervene at the risk of hurting Lili's desire of wanting to get to Jackal herself.
Someone with a far simpler mind moves without a thought. Her heart equally wells up seeing the situation. God or not, despair or not, all she can see is a need to reach even if it means crawling, using anything they can.
Ignoring the call of her name, she moves and holds Lili in her arms promptly with a gentle tone.
Before Lili can struggle, her voice whispers and her tear-stricken purple eyes glance down gently, "Your feelings are heard loud and clear, Lili-dono. Let me assist you, if not out of gratitude... then out of my selfish desire to get you to that man a bit quicker."
This causes Lili to relax as Mikoto jogs forward and helps her into Jackal's embrace.
"Huh?" He looks up at her and she smiles.
"Ah... thanks." He nods quietly while hugging the sobbing Lili.
"Could you... help me up, too?" He smiles wryly with an exhausted look, making Mikoto nod in a gentle demeanor.
Helping him up as Lili continues to stick onto him, she leads him away but as they pass the beaten god, Jackal stills and warns, "Empty your familia by tomorrow, Soma. I'll return to burn it all."
While Mikoto is shocked, she never expected a reply but words do slip out of Soma's busted lips as he lies sprawling on the ground.
"Do as you wish... I was long tired... Jackal."
Mikoto walks slowly, afraid that she would aggravate injuries on Jackal if he has any should she move too quickly.
But snapping out of her daze, Naaza quickly jogs up to them and helps him from the left side without touching his injuries.
"Hey... a familiar face..." Jackal chuckles weakly, "Sorry now... but I was holding up out of..."
His body's weight shifts forward entirely as he loses consciousness but Naaza keeps on holding him alongside Mikoto and Lili... to be obvious, Lili barely had any difference but even if unconscious, Jackal continues to hold Lili ever so gently.
---
"Hmm..." Seeing the group leave with an injured and unconscious Jackal, Loki licks her lips as she still feels her throat dry.
'That was exciting... but though not as intoxicating as such a show...'
"Move! Help Soma Familia members. Heal any that is still alive! And oh! In the name of our help, confiscate any wine you see on their property!"
"Move! Move! People! Don't let Jackal's efforts go to waste! He's my tenant, you know!" Loki cackles proudly.
---
"And he is my Odr..." Freya mutters under her breath as she narrows her eyes.
Ottar had left long ago. She asked him to.
Naked, she continues to fondle herself with one hand as the other one slips in and out of her sloppily divine cunt. She still feels breathless.
A part of her wants to get to his injured body and bathe him with elixirs. A bath where she would serve him. Heal his tired body with her mouth and breasts. Her flesh would be his reward for victory, something he would pound against with an even greater fervency when driving his fists into Soma!
But...
She found one thing of interest.
'My Odr... you truly are a mysterious one. Not liking heroes but having actions far more ruthless and admirable than one. A savior of any woman's dream... how envious~!'
She didn't know what she should have expected but...
To make that reclusive Soma open up?
To have words that sharp and fists that ruthless that battered Soma's flesh and mind?
And to win?
In both accounts?
This was no rebellion. His soul is polished beyond compare.
The unsung song of rebellion is simply the opening for...
'The Free Conquerer...' She licks her lips and continues to 'prepare' herself for her Odr. Now that she is aware of how deep his indifference for divine authority run, she needs to be far more prepared because she does not want him to go easy on her in any manner!
***
Alternate Title: Obnoxiously Stubborn; Ottar's Fears?; When God Touches Grass; The Weeping Heaven; Lili's Resolve; Mikoto Hears it Loud and Clear; The Unneeded Backup; Fighting for Loki? Really?; Confiscate the Wine!; The Proud Landlord— My Odr!; The Final Threat; God's Defeat; Heartless— Painfully So; When Gods Feel Vulnerable; The Birth of Unsung Conquerer
***
A/N: And that's about it... this plotline deviated a bit from the original intention. At first, I did want Soma to pose the same challenge of making Lili or Jackal drink his divine wine so that his faith is restored but that would have gone according to Soma's will, not Jackal's so a heated tavern brawl it is.
***
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