Tina stared at the Loki Familia after having finished her explanation, awaiting their reaction. And suffice to say, there certainly was a reaction
Tiona burst into tears, feeling overwhelming sympathy for Tina's status as the last of her kind.
Tione, although more critical, had a sour expression on her face because in her mind, such a fate was unthinkably cruel.
Riveria, ever the researcher, had an intrigued and interested look in her eyes, a glint that begged to ask questions.
Gareth looked like he needed something extremely strong to drink.
Raul and Anakitty had somber, saddened expressions on their faces.
Bete, the one who could relate the most, had a similarily somber expression, though there was a glint of something else within his eyes. A kind of understanding.
Finn was evaluating everything that had been said between them, weighting down what this will mean for the future and how to best capitalize on these revelations.
And Loki... Loki looked like she struck gold.
Something as interesting as 'The last of their kind' was peak entertainment. Loki wanted to see it all, how Tina will progress in the future, what she will do about her endangered status, and if, with whom she will procreate to replenish the numbers. So many variables to study, so many interesting things to witness. As far as Boredom goes, Tina was a unique source of entertainment to Loki.
Tina noticed this and her own expression soured into a deadpan look. "No Loki. No"
Loki pouted in response, crossing her arms with an audible 'Hmpf!'.
"Now then..." Tina stated and uncrossed her arms, making a small wave with her hand to end the visions within everyone's mind. "You now know my truth, my story. I won't ask anything off of you other than to just show me basic respect. I don't want pity for being an endagered species, just common courtesy and we will be good."
The majority seemed to understand what she wanted right away and a series of nods was given. Only Ais seemed to be rather... too sympathetic. She reached out, nervously, clearly not sure about her action, and placed a hand on Tina's head, patting her gently. "There... there..."
This action caused chuckles and laughs across the room, most notably from Tiona, who was on the floor crying herself to tears from laughing.
Tina felt a flush of embarrassment and scoffed slightly, though she didn't exactly pull away from the blonde doll-like girl.
"...thanks..." Tina responded with a grumpy tone of voice, scoffing a second time afterwards. This ellicited another series of chuckles from the present people.
"Well, thank you for your honesty" Finn spoke, at last changing the topic. "But I assume you will want to return to your Familia now, yes?"
"Indeed" Tina responded and gave a respectful bow, rigth hand placed over where her heart was, before she turned around and exited the room, but not before giving them a well wish. "Be well, everyone, and lets meet again".
After exiting the Twilight Manor, Tina turned around and gave it one more look-over before she left the premises entirely and walked down the road in order to return home.
On the way back, she received many curious looks for her red skin and peculiar facial structure. Most onlookers were simply entertained by the prospect of something new and rare, while a few had creeped out expressions, believing danger at the sight of something outside the guild's control. But no incidents occured on the way to the abandoned church, which irked Tina slightly.
When she caught said irk within herself, she rose a brow and asked herself 'since when do I look forward to trouble?' and directed her attention inwards. Over the last few days, ever since arriving in this world, she felt like a different person. She could tell, she was no longer this extremely introverted loner... and it bothered her greatly. Where does this change come from?
The most likely suspect was her affinity for the Dark Side, and that was in itself another slew of issues to unravel, because the Dark Side does not influence without taking something as well, and the question for Tina was, what did it take from her?
When she finally arrived at the abandoned church, she had a head full with questions about herself and the prospect of rediscovering who she even was, so much so that it took her a moment to notice the somber mood within the church. And when she did, she instantly moved her eyes towards Bell, who looked worse for wear.
"Oh..." She said as she checked Bell out for injuries, finding the most prominent mark being a handprint around his throat. Instantly, she figured out what happened. "Want me to guess or do you wanna tell me what got into you?" She asked Bell, who flinched at her question.
"No, don't answer that" Hestia spoke before giving the 'no no' finger gesture at Tina. "A small squabble happened, nothing too big!" She spoke with such compensatory enthusiasm that it came off as desperate, like she tried to convince herself of that more than anyone else.
"I see... and who was responsible for it?"
Bell gulped momentarily before he answered. "Apollo Familia..."
"So they finally made their move" Tina followed up on right away, fully aware of the scope of things to come. "If that's the case, then we have to act as well" She spoke and turned towards Hestia with a strong expression, instantly shutting down any retort the small goddess may have uttered if allowed to.
"What... will you do, miss Tina?" Bell asked, perking up at her words and letting curiosity get the best of him.
"Why, pay him a visit of course!"
"Wait!" Bell suddenly shot up from his seat and blocked the way. "I really don't think that is a good idea! It's just a scratch, nothing to get riled up... over...?"
He quieted down gradually as he saw the look Tina shot him, a look of resolve and finality that he would not be able to break, so reluctantly he stepped aside and rubbed his left arm with his right hand.
"Just... be careful..." He nearly whispered with worry, to which Tina answered by giving him a simple no-look thumbs up before leaving the church with Hestia in tow.
The march towards the Apollo Familia headquarters was eerily quiet and focused, with Tina leading the march and Hestia tailing right behind her, shrunken into herself due to both worry and slight fear.
Hestia only had negative experiences with the god Apollo, because if there is two things that define him, it would be shameless and relentless. Apollo doesn't know when to give up when gunning for something he wants, and that often got him labeled things like a perv and creep because oftentimes that something involved beauties, male and female.
Matter of fact, many within his Familia were poached from other familias, making his own ensemble more of a collection to suit his desire rather than an actual, well oiled and functional familia, because Apollo is obsessed with possessing the latest in good looks and interest. This has caused his familia to be quite unpopular, and their bout with the Hestia Familia was just the latest of his ploys.
The plan was simple: Stage a public confrontation, blame Hestia, demand a wargame and get what he wants out of her whether she accepts or not under the guise of 'compensation'. It was quite a vile trick, but one that has not yet failed him, though Tina was of the opinion it was high time they experienced some proper karma.
When they arrived at the large mansion, Tina instantly used the force and pushed the guards aside, then broke through the fence gate at the front and confidently walked towards the main entrance, breaking it down with a quick flick of the wrist.
Anyone who came to attack or stop her suddenly found themselves lifted into the air, choked out to the point they only barely stayed conscious. Choking out a few dozen people was well within Tina's power, after all.
It didn't take long for Apollo to be alarmed of an 'invasion' of their home and rushed over to the scene of carnage, whereupon he found many of his members suspended in the air, clutching their throats and gasping for air. Even Hyacintos, the Captain and strongest member of the Familia was amongst the victims.
"What is the meaning of this!?" The god of the sun proclaimed before spotting Hestia and gritting his teeth. "You! First you attack my familia in broad daylight, and now you invade my hom- akh-" Apollo suddenly choked on his words and fell to his knees, clutching his throat.
"Silence. I will speak and you will listen" Tina proclaimed and let go of her balled fists, letting go everyone who had been choking before... everyone except Apollo. "Your tricks end here. You will not pursue the Hestia Familia anymore, you will leave me and Bell Cranel in peace. If you fail to comply, I will kill every single member of your familia before sending you back to heave with my own two hands."
Apollo could not help but look up in terror because not one word of what she had spoken was a lie. His divine senses told him she was deadly serious about her threat and every word she had just voiced. She really would kill them all, she really would commit deicide, the most taboo crime on Genkai, the Lower World, just to end this threat.
A moment later and Apollo felt his throat unclench, the force that had choked him disappearing as suddenly as it came.
"You will however have your wargame. It is time you are put in place. It will be held a week from now, so do what business you gods must to arrange for it."
With that said, Tina picked Hestia up over her shoulder and left as swiftly as she had arrived, leaving a broken gate behind and many members clutching their throats from phantom pain from the choking.
Apollo was panting heavily, panic setting in because if this was Tina's strength, if she could just suspend and choke people out, then there was no direct way of fighting her. They were doomed to lose if they didn't come up with something fast.
Then he remembered... Tina wasn't the captain: Bell was. If they can get lucky during the wargame selection and get something like a captain's duel, then victory was still within view. All he had to do was make his point during the emergency denatus, the assembly of the gods.
"You will rue the day you made me an enemy, Hestia..." Apollo grit through his teeth and got up from the ground, dusting himself off before glaring at the members. "What are you standing around for? Fix the gate!"
Apollo had yet to understand what he had unleashed...