"O~h! You're already ba… what's wrong?"
B3 paused her game and got up from the coach, her mood switching upon seeing how down her friends were.
Ichigo had a dark cloud over her head and life seemed to have left her eyes. Nino on the other hand wasn't as gloomy, but she still looked down with disappointment clear on her face.
"Let me guess…" the redhead spoke with a wry smile. "He sent you away without doing anything?"
"That's… basically it…" Nino heaved a sigh, walking to the coach and letting her body sink into it.
"W-well, Doctor must be quite busy." Ichigo added in a quiet voice. "There are new enemies to worry about, and he is our leader…"
"I understand why she would be like this but… what about you?" Asked B3, her eyes on Nino.
"Well, he did ask me to guard him as well." The Japanese doll said. She remembered how she tried to entice him just to get the tables turned on her, and her face flushed from the embarrassment.
"Eh? You too?"
The redhead recoiled seeing her friend blush. Nino was among the Valkyries who showed interest in serving the Doctor directly, but up until now it only appeared as nothing but curiosity. Seeing her act the same way Miku and the others act when talking about him told B3 that the Doctor has put the raven-haired Valkyrie under his spell as well.
"Maybe it's my fault for expecting something…" said Ichigo, heaving another sigh. freew(e)bnove(l)
"D-don't worry! I'm sure you'll get your chance… eventually…" B3 found herself in a really tough spot trying to cheer Ichigo up. She looked around her then quickly snatched one of the controllers handing it over to the pink-haired Valkyrie. "How about we play some Back Alley Fighter? I've been practicing a lot, this time I'll defeat you for sure!"
"Uh… I'm not really in the mood…"
"C'mon! There is no point in thinking about it now! Let's just have some fun!"
"I guess you have a point…"
Ichigo took the controller and sat down. As the two started their game, Nino watched for a couple of minutes before picking a tablet from the nearby coffee table. Searching through the archives she managed to find a documentary about Greek mythology so she put it on and started watching.
From the very beginning things seemed quite disturbing with cruel fathers killed by their sons. As Valkyries Nino and the others knew very little about the relationships between humans. They understood the general structure of families; that of a man and a woman joining to have offspring, making the father, mother and their children.
In the books she read it's said that the father's job is to protect and provide for his children, raising them properly so they become responsible adults in the future. This preheld belief made the fact that Cronus had eaten all of his children except for Zeus sound like the work of some horrific monster. The Titan was afraid that one of them would eventually take him down just like what he did with his father Uranus.
As she continued to watch, the name Zeus came up. The Doctor made him out to be some cruel, despicable being, however hearing that he saved his brothers and sisters from their father's stomach then waged a war against the Titans made him appear like the hero of an epic story. Sadly that perception was shattered and soon enough she learned the reason behind his bad reputation.
First of all, he took fire away from humans just because the offerings he chose himself weren't to his liking. He then chained Prometheus, the Titan who created humans, to a mountain and sent an eagle to feast on his liver.
He also sent Pandora, the first woman, to live among the humans with her famous box which contained all the evils Prometheus had kept from humans, knowing that she would eventually open it and release all of them on the humans.
As if that wasn't enough, he later asked his brother Poseidon to flood the world killing most humans. Hating them for the wars they waged against each other was kinda hypocritical considering how he became the ruler of the gods in the first place.
When it was his turn to cower in fear of his prophesied son killing him he decided to eat his pregnant wife instead of waiting for the child to be born. Too bad for him the child came out anyway splitting his head in the process. That's how Artemis, the goddess of war, was born.
"This man really didn't learn his lesson…" Nino commented.
She couldn't help but think of him as just another stupid human despite him being revered as the ruler of gods. He went on to marry another woman, this time his own aunt Themis, with who he had three daughters known as the goddesses of destiny, and their names were Clotho, Lachesis and
"Atropos…"
The narrator went on to describe the role each goddess played. Clotho weaved the threads of human life, Lachesis decided the length of each one and Atropos would cut them at the end bringing death with her shears.
The last sister, the Unturning, was the most feared. Though it was her first time hearing the name, Nino felt a strange sense of dread. She found herself holding a hand to her neck robbing an old wound only to realize there is no scar there and that she doesn't remember ever receiving such an injury.
"Nino?"
B3's voice came shaking her out of her daze.
"Hm? Is something wrong?" The Japanese doll asked noticing that everyone was giving her concerned looks.
"Well… your halo…"
Without even realizing it she had formed her halo and was in the process of creating a number of spears. It was a completely unconscious move and if it weren't for the others informing her who knows what she might've done.
"Maybe… maybe you're still stressed from yesterday's battle." The red-haired Valkyrie said. "How about you take some rest?"
"I… yeah, you're right…"
Since she spent the previous night in Eir getting her wound treated there should've been no need for her to rest. That said, Nino felt that a quick nap would serve her best at the moment, helping take her mind off the weird happenings that keep running into her.
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