Morning sunlight filtered through the manor windows, casting warm gold across the long dining table. Breakfast at Loki Familia was always lively—chaotic, loud, and full of mismatched personalities—but today every eye drifted toward the unfamiliar red-caped girl trailing nervously behind Hel.
Ruby clung a little closer to the goddess of death as they stepped into the room.
Loki noticed immediately.
“Well well,” she drawled with a foxlike grin, propping her chin on her palms, eyes sparkling with mischief. “If it isn’t my little death-brat and her mysterious houseguest.”
“This is Ruby,” Hel stated plainly, her tone leaving no room for debate. “She is going to be joining my Familia.”
Silence.
Absolute, frozen silence.
Bete paused mid-bite, staring.
Tiona’s fork clattered onto her plate.
Riveria closed her eyes for precisely one second, as though bracing for whatever chaos would inevitably follow those words.
Loki blinked once.
Twice.
Then she grinned wider.
“Oh? Oh? So the little ghostling found herself a child?” Loki sing-songed. “How adorable! Did you kidnap her? Accidentally resurrect her? Summon her from a pocket dimension? You can tell Auntie Loki—”
“None of those things happened,” Hel replied coolly.
“Yes, all of that is a lie,” Ruby added quickly, nodding so fast her cape fluttered.
Two things happened instantly.
First:
Loki’s grin froze, sharpening like a knife.
Second:
Hel’s head turned slowly toward Ruby, eyes narrowing with the quiet, ancient gravity of a goddess who could hear every falsehood as clearly as a bell.
Ruby’s smile wavered.
“…did I say that out loud.”
“You did,” Hel said flatly.
“And it was a lie,” Loki chirped, delighted. “A very bad lie. Sweetie, you flinched at your own sentence.”
Ruby covered her face with both hands. “I panicked!”
Hel exhaled softly, the kind of weary breath only a goddess who had seen the dawn of existence could produce. She placed a steady hand on Ruby’s shoulder in quiet reassurance before turning her gaze toward Loki.
“I believe we should be going to the Guild now,” Hel said calmly. Then, with a pointed pause, she added, “And Father… you know how the other gods are. Please keep what you heard to yourself.”
The implication was clear.
And dangerous.
Loki blinked once, twice—her grin faltering just enough to be noticeable.
“Oh-ho. That level of secret.” She raised both hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. My lips are sealed. Not a peep from me.”
Riveria arched an eyebrow. “Loki, you say that now—”
“I MEAN IT THIS TIME!” Loki insisted, pressing a hand dramatically over her heart. “I’m not about to start divine gossip about a girl who arrived under mysterious circumstances with my Daughter. Even I know when to shut up.”
Riveria rose from her seat with the smooth, practiced grace of someone who had been holding Loki’s circus together for years.
“I can take them,” she said, adjusting her glasses with a delicate tap. “It’s on my way, and someone should ensure the Guild doesn’t do some tricky stuff with their contracts.”
“The guild does that? That is very brave of them.” Hel states
Riveria paused mid-step.
The room went very still.
Even Loki stopped theatrically clutching her chest and squinted at Hel like she was trying to decide whether to be impressed or terrified.
“…Hel,” Riveria said carefully, “what do you mean by brave?”
Hel tilted her head, as if the answer were obvious.
“The Guild is a mortal institution run by mortals. And mortals altering contracts involving divine authority without consent…” Her eyes narrowed just a fraction, silver-green irises glinting like a guillotine blade catching sunlight.
“…would be an act of hubris. Historically, such acts do not end well.”
Tiona whispered under her breath, “I suddenly feel bad for the Guild…”
Tione elbowed her. “Why!? I didn’t even DO anything yet!”
Ruby blinked rapidly, whispering to Riveria, “Um… I’m new here, but is that a threat, towards this guild?”
“No.” Loki states
“Yes.” Hel answers
====
The towering marble doors of the Guild swung open, and Ruby instantly felt swallowed by noise and motion—armor clanking, adventurers arguing about payout ratios, clerks desperately trying to match forms to the correct lines.
“Is it always like this?” Ruby whispered.
“Yes,” Riveria said.
“Unfortunately,” Hel added.
They wove their way toward the central reception. As they approached, a familiar fixture of the Guild looked up—soft brown hair neatly pinned back, tidy glasses, green eyes observant and warm, and the serene-but-exasperated aura of someone who dealt with trouble professionally.
Her eyes widened when she recognized Riveria.
“Lady Riveria! Good morning. What brings—”
She noticed Hel. Then Ruby. Her voice softened, curious and inviting.
“Oh! You must be new. I’m Eina Tulle. How can the Guild assist you today?”
Hel answered calmly and definitively.
“Ruby Rose will be joining my Familia. She requires registration, an assigned advisor, and enrollment in all introductory classes.”
Ruby perked up. “Hi! Yes! That!”
Eina’s smile gentled. She had the perfect advisor expression—kind, attentive, and faintly worried for the wellbeing of anyone under her care.
“I’d be happy to assist. A new adventurer should be properly supported.”
She glanced at Riveria. “And I’ll ensure all her paperwork is clean.”
Riveria nodded once. “Good.”
Ruby, still not totally sure what that implied, whispered, “Is this about the ‘threat’ thing again?”
Eina politely pretended not to hear.
“Let’s move to a quieter booth,” Eina said, guiding them away from the main hall. “We’ll begin your registration, then cover essential courses: Dungeon Entry Basics, Safety Protocol, Monster Biology, Field Material Handling, and Guild Ethics—”
Ruby blinked. “Why is Guild Ethics a whole class?”
Eina’s look became very grave.
“You will understand when in the dungeon… There are no proper authorities and people go missing all the time.” Hel answers.
Eina froze mid-step.
Riveria stopped walking.
Ruby’s head snapped toward Hel so fast she almost gave herself whiplash.
“W-WHAT!?” Ruby squeaked.
Hel continued in the same calm, matter-of-fact tone one might use to comment on the weather.
“It is an unregulated, ever-shifting abyss filled with monsters, treasure, and desperate people. Crimes occur. Frequently. The Guild does what it can, but it cannot police every floor.”
Eina cleared her throat, visibly rattled but quickly recovering her professional demeanor.
“W-Well—Lady Hel is… not wrong,” she admitted gently. “The Dungeon can be extremely dangerous, and not always because of monsters. Which is why ethics training and survival protocols are so important.”
Ruby swallowed hard.
“S-So the ethics class teaches you how… not to be kidnapped? Or robbed? Or murdered?”
“Partially,” Eina said.
“Partially?” Ruby echoed, horrified.
Riveria stepped in, placing a reassuring hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “The point of the training is to prepare you. Not scare you.”
Hel nodded. “Yes. If I wished to scare you, I would provide numbers.”
“You have numbers?” Eina asks in shock.
“I am a goddess of death, i know about all on going deaths an it would not be to difficult for me to figure out how many people were murdered in the dungeon… I can tell you though it is alot.” Hel answers
“NO NUMBERS!” Ruby yelped immediately.