Danmachi: The Multiverse Portal

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The dimensional portal flashed.

"Lord August!" Seeing the trio materialize, Lili sprinted over and immediately inspected August for injuries. Finding him in one piece, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the two Goddesses.

"Welcome back."

Rethusa walked in, followed by the rest of the Artemis Familia. When she saw her goddess glowing with divinity, the Captain could tell the trip had gone well.

"Lady Hestia, Lady Artemis, how did it go?" Lili asked, leaning in.

"It was an interesting world," Artemis said.

"There were lots of people watching us from the shadows, and plenty of strong fighters. We figured out what was going on. The planet itself was sending a distress call from the future. It was asking us to destroy it."

She didn't mince words. Her children would eventually cross over to fight there, and she needed them prepared.

"Excuse me? Destroy the world?" Rethusa stared blankly. She had expected some convoluted conspiracy, not a literal doomsday scenario.

"Pretty much," Hestia said, folding her arms and looking annoyed.

"That world is probably heading for destruction. But the people there weren't very friendly to outsiders. We tried to help, and they just threw us into a strange parallel timeline."

The planet had asked for help destroying itself. They answered its plea, only for it to try to cast them into a timeline infamous for its chaos. Hestia had no intention of letting that slide.

Hearing her grumbling, Rethusa and the others wisely stayed quiet.

"As long as you're safe," Rethusa breathed. Her goddess returning in one piece was all that mattered.

"Alright. Now that we're all caught up," Artemis said, clapping her hands and getting ready to go.

Then she paused and glanced back over her shoulder.

"August, make sure you take proper responsibility, okay?" she said, flashing a teasing smile, reminding him of their agreement.

'If this guy got too caught up in the fighting, he might dump my Familia in that world and run off with Hestia.' Artemis had to make sure he didn't conveniently "forget" to bring them back.

"EHHHH??" Lili and the girls of the Artemis Familia gasped in unison. Did they hear that correctly?

Take responsibility?

"Wait... did he already cross the line with Lady Artemis?"

"THAT SCUMBAG! HE STOLE OUR GODDESS!"

"They were gone for four or five hours. Something definitely happened over there."

The Artemis Familia whispered quickly among themselves. They figured a few hours was plenty of time to go from a first kiss to something more.

"Impressive," Rethusa muttered, giving a subtle thumbs-up.

As a loyal follower, she was honestly surprised that her famously chaste Goddess had supposedly been won over so quickly. Well done, she thought. Winning over someone like Artemis deserved some silent praise.

"I think you guys are misunderstanding something," August tried to interject.

"Alright, we're leaving." Artemis waved for her Familia to follow.

She knew exactly how it sounded. But she was feeling a bit petty. August had kept his story from her, and Hestia had helped, so she was still annoyed. Leaving things on a scandalous note was her way of getting some payback.

'Let's see how you handle this mess.'

"Hey, wait, let me explain!" August called after the haughty Goddess.

But Rethusa and the other girls just laughed and quickly left. None of them stayed to hear his explanation.

"Why doesn't anyone ever want the context?" August stood there, thoroughly exasperated.

"Relax. Artemis is just messing with you," Hestia sighed.

"Do you really think her children don't understand their Goddess? They've lived with her for years."

Artemis was just taking petty revenge over the anime secret.

"..." August blinked. He honestly hadn't picked up on the joke.

"Miss Rethusa and the others know exactly how Lady Artemis operates," Lili added. "Besides, her vows as a Virgin Goddess are strict. Unless you were dealing with that lingering fragment of hers you mentioned, Lady Artemis would never cross that line."

Lili found it funny how easily August had been tricked. Going to another world seemed to have made the usually strict Moon Goddess act more playful and relaxed.

"I guess I walked right into that," August muttered. Then it clicked. "Wait a minute. She didn't give me back my phone."

Artemis had walked off with his newly bought smartphone. Pranking him was one thing, but swiping his electronics? What kind of Goddess acts like a hooligan?

"Alright, alright." Hestia tried not to laugh as August complained about his missing phone. The stress she had felt all day finally faded. "I'm tired. Let's go home and get some sleep."

She nudged August to open the portal. They needed rest before making any training plans.

"Right."

Lili glanced at a dark corner of the ruins, and a hidden figure slipped away. August saw the quiet exchange but said nothing.

The crisis had passed. The tension was gone. Now it was time to rest.

When August, Hestia, and Lili went through the portal back to modern Earth, the Xenos around the church relaxed. They spread out to rest and get ready for their next mission to find their kin.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Artemis led her Familia back to their home.

"Wow, I didn't think Mr. August would be so cute when he panics," an Amazonian girl giggled as soon as they sat down.

Had they actually misunderstood the situation? Of course not. Just as Hestia said, they were purely messing with him.

The other girls burst out laughing. August was usually arrogant and ruthless, with no manners. Seeing that tough guy stammer like a shy boy trying to defend himself was just too funny.

"You guys are awful," Rethusa sighed, shaking her head at her juniors.

They were not worried about August taking offense. He had a temper, but even at his most irritated, he would never punish anyone over a little harmless teasing.

Rethusa turned to her goddess.

"Lady Artemis. Your orders?"

After years of service, Rethusa could easily read her moods. She knew something big was about to happen.

"Rethusa, you and the girls start intensive training tomorrow. We're getting ready for a big Familia expedition," Artemis said, her eyes beaming with excitement.

"Eh?" The giggling stopped instantly.

The girls stared at their Goddess. A massive expedition? To where?

"The world we just visited is in danger, but we've arrived in the past, long before the real disaster happens," Artemis said, sharing what August had told her.

"It's a fascinating place. Even better, that world possesses a summoning ritual capable of calling Heroic Spirits from past ages into the present as Servants."

"Whoa... actual heroes?" Lante's eyes practically turned to stars.

Getting to fight legendary heroes from history was the highest challenge for any Adventurer. It was a chance like no other.

"Heroes from different eras fighting in the present..." Rethusa clenched her fists.

The idea of a ritual that brought ancient legends into the present excited her. Facing off against the greatest champions in history made her eager to fight.

This was a true adventure!

"That's why you all need to train harder than ever," Artemis said, encouraging her group.

"Yes, Lady Artemis!" The girls cheered in unison.

Suddenly, it made sense. The "take responsibility" comment wasn't about romance at all. Artemis was making sure August wouldn't abandon the Artemis Familia in a strange warzone and run off with Hestia.

Smiling at her children's newfound motivation, Artemis left them to their excitement and headed to her private quarters.

...

She lay down on her bed and took out August's smartphone. She had already figured out how it worked using her divine perception.

After unlocking it, she saw it was connected to a private network at the Hestia Familia's base. She opened the media files and continued watching the episodes she hadn't finished.

Hestia's data dump had given her all the background she needed.

The real reason Artemis hadn't questioned Hestia and August more about their secrets was that she already knew the bigger story.

The heroism in it drew her in.

Goddesses were always attracted to true heroes—that was true in every mythology.

As she watched the broken version of herself suffer on screen, Artemis didn't feel like criticizing the story. She just lay there quietly, taking in the sadness.

She moved to the second season, watching Apollo and Ishtar scheme against the Hestia Familia.

"Wow. No wonder Hestia is so hostile toward them," she murmured.

Watching Apollo get defeated by Bell Cranel and seeing Ishtar's constant scheming, Artemis realized just how many threats surrounded Hestia's group.

With so many Gods trying to steal or influence her favorite child, it was no wonder Hestia was so protective, even turning away Hephaestus at the slightest hint of interest.

The third season brought her to the Xenos arc.

"I see. No wonder the Adventurer's Guild didn't issue an immediate extermination order. Ouranos was backing the monsters from the start."

Suddenly, it all made sense why the Ganesha Familia was being so suspiciously tolerant of August's actions.

As Artemis watched Bell Cranel struggle with the Xenos moral dilemma, she noticed how much he hesitated. He did make up his mind in the end, but his struggle was obvious.

"Still too naive," she sighed.

"If August were in that situation, he wouldn't have wasted time agonizing over morality. He would have just started shooting people."

Looking at it objectively, Artemis actually preferred August's bold and practical approach more than Bell's constant moral struggles.

"I suppose that is the fundamental difference between a destined hero and an ordinary man."

Bell Cranel had an innocent soul that drew Goddesses to him. He was the perfect example of a classic hero.

After finishing the third season, she understood the whole timeline. Once she had watched the main series and her own movie, she locked the phone and set it on her nightstand.

"I can't say I'm entirely satisfied with this."

For the first time, Artemis felt a strong, lasting frustration.

"Actually... I'm a little jealous of Hestia."

She summoned the Arrow of Orion and looked at the divine weapon. It held a part of her own mind, the romantic side she usually kept hidden.

As she stared at the bow, her jealousy grew stronger.

Putting fiction aside, what really made Artemis jealous was how August cared for Hestia in real life. His devotion was something to admire.

When they entered the TYPE-MOON world, her unsealed Arcanum had read August's micro-expressions perfectly, and she could tell his heart really belonged to Hestia.

But the surprising part was that when August looked at Artemis—there was no hint of attraction or romantic interest. He only showed calm respect and gratitude.

Her famous beauty didn't affect him at all.

Thinking about all this, along with what she saw in the anime, made Artemis even more jealous.

Hestia hadn't just won over the destined hero—she had also easily claimed a powerful ally in real life. It showed that Hestia really did have the aura of a main heroine.

As another Goddess, Artemis felt a small, almost childish sense of annoyance.

"No, no. I need to stop overthinking this." She shook her head hard, realizing how dangerous her jealousy was becoming.

For a moment, she had even thought about taking August from Hestia. Shocked by her own thoughts, Artemis quickly put away the Arrow of Orion. The strength of her envy really bothered her.

"This is all August's fault. Showing me that stupid movie really messed with my head," she muttered into her pillow.

Did Artemis actually want to fall in love?

Truthfully, yes.

But Artemis followed a strict personal rule. Her Familia only accepted maidens who promised to avoid romance for a reason. She believed that once someone, mortal or God, fell in love, they lost control and became irrational.

That fear of losing her autonomy was why she kept her heart guarded.

But hiding those feelings hadn't made them go away. Instead, all her romantic wishes were channeled into her divine weapon.

Under the Arrow of Orion's influence and the emotions of watching her tragic anime self, Artemis felt her strong will beginning to break. She couldn't hold back anymore.

She wanted to fall in love—a love that would last ten thousand years.

"I am definitely going to beat the crap out of August later," she mumbled into the mattress. "He completely ruined my peace of mind."

As her complaints faded, Artemis started to feel sleepy. Tired from the day's chaos, she soon fell asleep.

Her face relaxed, and a small smile appeared on her lips.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

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