Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.4] Quest 307- A Nice Meal

Early morning at the Moonlight Tower.

Callisto wakes up with her eyes wide open.

"Hmmm!!!!" stretching her limbs before going to wash her teeth and changing clothes.

She slowly opens the door so as not to wake up her brother.

Callisto went up the tower and snuck into her parents' room.

Creak~

They got locks like in Nox’s room, but due to one attempt by Callisto to get in, she climbed in through their balcony, so Cirrus removed it to avoid that from happening again.

Sneak!

She carefully tiptoed her way to the bed.

Sneak! Sneak!

Sneak! Sneak!

She got up on the bed and found her father sleeping with Ai and Artemis in each of his arms, close together.

"Hmph!" She got under the cover and made her way up to Cirrus’s chest, where she rested her head over his heart.

Thump-Thump! Thump-Thump!

She closed her eyes and fell asleep to the sound of it.

When she next woke up, she opened her eyes to find that she was in Artemis’s embrace. She got up to see her father getting dressed.

"Dad?"

"Oh, you’re up," Cirrus said, looking back while putting on a button-up shirt. "Sleep a bit longer. I still have paperwork to finish up."

She looked out the open window to see that the sun was barely rising.

She looked back at her father to see him walking up to her.

"Sleep, Moonbeam, so you can grow up big and strong." He said while stroking her hair.

"Mmm….mmm…."

She slowly went back to sleep. Cirrus slowly got her closer to Artemis and tucked her in.

She woke up again to find herself in her mother’s arms in the library.

"Oh, you’re up, sweetie." Said Artemis.

"Hmm…" She rubbed her eyes. "Where is Dad?"

"He is in his office finishing some more paperwork, he should be finished by this afternoon. I even have some food for you to eat since you slept through breakfast."

Callisto looked to her side to see some bread bits—small, marble-sized bread.

"Thanks, Mom!" she said, taking some. "Hm! What book is this?" She said this with food in her mouth.

"Don’t talk with your mouth full. You could choke."

"Nuh uh—Gak!?"

"What did I say would happen?" Artemis patted her back.

The two would read books with one another.

The pace at which Callisto was reading was steadily getting faster.

‘I wonder how long it will be before Callisto finishes every book in this library?’

The Artemis Familia library was a vast and expansive one, with many books ranging from a wide scope of topics. Examples include anthropology, epistemology, epidemiology, and even religious texts and stories. It also has books on the arts, mathematics, writing, and history.

"Oh, Haku read this one before." Callisto noticed the first letter of his name on the last page’s corner.

"That boy is a fast reader," Artemis said, closing the zoology book.

"I’m a fast reader too! I just like to run around more!"

Callisto very much reminds Artemis of her youth or the god's equivalent of childhood in Heaven. She reminded her of the time when she would run and explore various regions of Heaven, meeting people and hunting divine creatures the gods created.

In short, Callisto is as much a tomboy as Artemis was when she first came into existence.

"I know. Let's finish at least two more books, okay? Then I will test you on your math skills."

"Uuugh!!" She slumps down like a liquid. "Can I not? I can do addition and subtraction!"

"And what about division and multiplication? Then geometry, geography, statistics, trigonometry, aerodynamics, and physics?"

"That’s just addition and subtraction with extra steps!"

"Callisto?" Artemis looks down at Callisto.

Callisto looked up to see her overhead.

"Haku doesn’t know them either, Mom!"

"He does. He did it over the summer while you were running around and playing."

"It was hot and sweaty! I didn’t wanna stay in here where it was all muggy!"

"Well, if you do as your brother did, you can spend more time with your father, so what will it be?"

"Uugh!! Dad!"

"Then get to reading."

Callisto began to read the book and get faster at reading.

She was flipping through each page faster than the next.

Flip!

"___"

Flip!

‘Cirrus wasn’t kidding. Hecton’s influence on Cirrus even made it into the kids.’ Artemis thought as Callisto focus on studying.

After eating and finishing a few books, Artemis let Callisto go about her normal activities. Those activities were always to be with her father.

Callisto would always find it odd that Artemis would spend so much time with her. Much like her brother, she has great intelligence, and so she picked up that gods can’t have children.

 ‘She may not be related by blood, but she is my mom! But it is odd how I feel closer to her than with my actual mother?’

She remembers Haku and Ai, whose personalities are similar to one another, and she to Artemis.

‘I guess it’s just personal preference? I am cute—’

Bonk!

"Oof!" she fell on her bottom. She looked to see that she had inadvertently run into the locked door. "Hmm… Why do I always find my way here?" she gets up and goes up the tower.

As she walked, she couldn’t help but look back at the door again.

"…One day."

She goes up to Cirrus’s office and opens it to find him going through stacks and stacks of paperwork.

‘It was empty yesterday, but it’s like magic how it continues to refill itself. But from how fast dad is going, he should be finished in an hour or so.’

She walked to the side to see the concentration in his eyes. He reads through the documents quickly, signs his name on the bottom, and stamps them before they hit the table.

"Whoa."

"Hm?"

He suddenly stops and sees Callisto standing there.

"What time is it?" He looks at the clock on the wall. "2:48… Do you wanna get on?"

"Yes!" she said with her arms out.

Cirrus got up, picked her up, and placed her on his shoulder, her favorite spot. She held on tightly as Cirrus returned to work quickly, reading, signing, and stamping.

She enjoyed the sight and sound of it. She would rest her head on top of her father as he worked.

An hour or so later, Cirrus was finished.

"Ahhh… Finally." He said this as he got Callisto off and put her on his lap. "My fingers and eyes are exhausted."

"Dad, can we go somewhere to eat?"

"Hmm…"

He closed his eyes, thinking about it when the door opened.

"How about we go!" said Artemis, entering. "Your father is exhausted."

"Dad!" she said, looking up at him.

"She is right, but I’ll be sure to come by after a nap."

"Promise!"

"Promise." They pinky swore, and Artemis took her.

While Cirrus went to take a nap, they went down the tower.

"Is there anything you would like to have?"

"…Cake!"

"Cake, huh? "Well, alright, but just a bit alright."

"Yay!!!"

They head to the east main road of Orario hand-in-hand, arriving at a café.

"Hello! Can I get the usual?" Artemis said to the young man.

"U-um, the usual is um..."

He was new.

"Our finest tea and cake." Said an older man.

"Hello, Irenaeus, is this your grandson?"

"He is a bit rough around the edges, but he’s getting there. I’ll go get you. Who is this cute child?" he said, looking at Callisto.

"Cirrus’s daughter."

"Ah, I see! The white hair and fox ears explain it very well. I’ll go get you your order."

"Pick a place to sit," Artemis said to Callisto.

She looked around and found a spot near the windows where some lovely flowers were growing.

Artemis followed and sat on the other side of the table.

"This is a nice place!" Calli said.

"Yes, it’s not very well known, but it is a hidden gem."

"I’m glad you like it so much." Said Irenaeus with two plates of cake and his grandson with two cups of tea.

They put it down in front of them.

"This smells great!" Calli said as she got a fork and ate a piece of the slice of cake.

"You are very welcome. It’s always nice to see the smile on a child’s face!" he said, going back.

Irenaeus watched as he saw the two eat and enjoy their cake and tea.

'She reminds me a lot of you...' Miss Yoru.’ He thought as he smiled.

After eating, they walked around a bit before—

"Oh, it seems your father is up." She touched the clam earring.

"Is he coming to meet us?"

"Yes, we are going to meet up at a pub."

"…A pub? Are we gonna see Aunty Ryuu!"

"Yes, Ai and your brother went to see Quetz’s match, so it’s just the 3 of us today!"

Her face lit up.

"Really!!"

"Yup! So let's hurry and get there, alright!"

Arriving at the pub, they enter and are greeted.

"Welcome!" said Lunoire. "Oh, Lady Artemis, and look at you, Calli! Bigger than the last time I saw you. Isn’t that right, Mama Mia?"

"She sure is! About 4 centimeters bigger!"

"Hehe!" Callisto said, loving the compliments.

"Hey! Ryuu! Your niece is here!" Lunoire shouted.

Coming out from the back cleaning dishes was Ryuu.

"Lady Artemis and—" she looked to see Calli with a bright smile. "Callisto!"

"Aunty Lion!" She ran up to her, and they shared a hug.

"Aww, isn’t that adorable!" said Syr, walking behind Ryuu. "You are cute for a two-year-old!"

"I’m three now! You were there at Haku and my birthday party!"

"Oh, that is right! Time flies by. Isn’t that right?" Syr glanced at Ryuu. "Ryuu?" She emphasized her name with some restrained anger.

Syr/Freya was still slowly pushing Ryuu to hurry and confess.

"U-uh, Mama Mia! The usual, please! Lady Artemis, Cirrus is coming, right?"

"He is." She nods.

"Three usuals are coming up!" Mia said.

They take a seat while Ryuu goes to get the food.

After a bit of waiting, Cirrus enters.

"Hey-o! Sorry if I ran a bit late."

"Dad!!" Calli got down and ran up to him.

He picked her up and sat her between him and Artemis.

"So, did you order already?"

"I did the food is—"

"Right here." Said Ryuu, putting down the plates. "Honey, with venison for Lady Artemis, a lot of Mama Mia’s pasta for Cirrus, and a patty with some pasta on the side for you, Calli."

"You forgot one plate!" said Syr, putting down a plate. "Mia said you can have your break now."

"Oh, um, it would be—"

"It’s fine," said Cirrus. "I’m sure Calli here would enjoy your company."

"It’s fine, really," said Artemis.

"Yeah, I want to eat with you two, Aunty Ryuu!" Callisto said as she began to stuff her face.

"Hmm… fine." She sat down. "It wouldn’t hurt to eat for a bit."

Throughout the meal, Artemis noticed glances at Cirrus.

‘Mmm. That is something.’

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