The Fiery Heart Below

Discovery, Exploration

Maxim studied his foe closely. This strange, flying woman didn't seem to be a threat. At least, not in the conventional sense. Her repeated attempts to force hugs and kisses upon him and the constant proclamations of love were a bit unsettling, however. Shishikura Makiko seemed to agree. She asked if they were in danger, and Maxim wasn't at first sure how to respond. Were they? He opted to ask the woman herself.

When she answered that he was only in danger of getting a big hug and a kiss, Maxim's mood was not improved. She swept in again, but he was [Maxim: Elan with Susano'o +1]obviously the more skilled combatant.[/tooltip] Even with his bare hands, he was able to deflect the "attack" with ease and avoid a smooch on the cheek. Although she was clearly devoted to him for some reason, Maxim knew he couldn't offer the woman what she wanted. For her own safety, he offered, it was best that she forget those feelings for him.   This elicited a laugh. He might as well ask the sun to stop shining, she claimed. At least that seemed to break their stalemate slightly. The tension on the bluff lightened a bit. Although, Maxim noticed, there was one party who hadn't been tense from the beginning. Kitsuno watched from a slight distance away, seeming to just enjoy the show. But back to the woman, she was asking him his name. Maxim stated his, and learned that the other was called Aphrodite Ourania in return. Even with his homeland's proximity to Alexandria, Maxim was no theologian. The name meant nothing to him.   It seemed they were both visitors here, so they had that in common. Indeed, Aphrodite certainly didn't look like the locals of this land. Even better, she seemed to have given up on her attempts for a hug for now. Perhaps they could have a real conversation like this. She'd been here to see someone, a friend, but balked at giving out more details. When Maxim pursued, she tried to hold the information at hostage for another hug. Fortunately, the good knight's iron willpower came to the fore once again and he was able to refuse. If she were still in Shimonoseki tomorrow, perhaps they could spend some time together after his tournament match. That wouldn't do, unfortunately. Aphrodite had to head back to her home tonight, as she was expected on Olympus the following day.   Her blunt response gave Maxim some pause. With all of Aphrodite's fawning over him, he'd expected her to leap at the opportunity for them to keep company after the tournament. However, it seemed he'd misunderstood something. Aphrodite didn't just love him. She loved Makiko too, and Kitsuno, and everyone. She was love, and he couldn't expect to keep that to himself even in a minor sense.   Faced with this new information, Maxim backpedaled. It didn't matter to him, he claimed. Just since he didn't like physical contact, he'd offered an alternative. That's all. Afraid for a moment that Aphrodite would call him "cute" again, Maxim was distracted by the sense of once again being watched. He looked about and quickly found the culprit. There, in the darkness of the manor, a single eye seemed to float amongst the shadows. It regarded him placidly, without the overbearing sense of scale he'd felt on his way up. Still, it meant an eavesdropper.   Just as the subject of his first encounter was coming around to telling him about the manor anyway, because she loved him so much, Maxim called out their watcher. Aphrodite seemed to know who it was, and seconded the invitation to come outside. Their watcher didn't mean any harm, the Love Goddess claimed, but was just a bit shy.   When this newcomer stepped out into the moonlight, Maxim immediately saw why he'd had such a strong impression of an "eye" beforehand. This girl only had one. It dominated her head, larger than both of a normal human's put together. If Maxim were more of a scholar of the religious or occult, he might have been able to place what manner of creature she must be. As it was, he took the curious feature in stride. Aside from that eye, she appeared mostly human, albeit just as foreign as himself and Aphrodite. From her white hair to her tanned, tattooed skin and exotic clothing, no part of this newcomer could have originated in Japan.   First, the monocular girl apologized. Her name was Arges, and she hadn't intended to eavesdrop. Rather, an appropriate time to interrupt them had never presented itself. As the temporary keeper of this manor, it was indeed Arges' duty to welcome Maxim and ask about his business there. She seemed a calm, direct sort of person. Driving straight to the business at hand, she opted not to linger on the Aphrodite situation. Perhaps Maxim was grateful for that.   In response to the question about his business, Maxim stated that he'd come to deliver an important document. Of course, he meant Empress Genmei's Letter of Recommendation to Nagasone Kotetsu, but none of the others here were to know that. Arges apologized again, however. Her agreement with the lord of this land prevented her from answering. That could mean none other than Mōri Motonari.   As a gesture of fidelity, Maxim presented the Hearthforged Zweihander from his back. He made sure to angle it slightly, so that the name "Nagasone Kotetsu" was on its blade. Rather than recognition, however, Arges' one eye registered doubt and confusion. Wasn't this... the blade that had been stolen from the forge? Was Maxim, then, the thief?   For the second time on that bluff, Maxim backpedaled. He hadn't stolen it. Not exactly. Indeed, its maker had given it to him in good faith once their misunderstanding was resolved. It seemed that Arges had been party to the theft, when Maxim's strange hearthborne companion had reached through fire and produced the sword for him, but not the aftermath in which he'd worked it out with Kotetsu. Things seemed to be sliding into place, at least, behind Arges' still-flat expression.   She seemed about to invite him in, then, but had to ask first that he keep everything within a secret. His favorable relationship with the Mōri Clan was enough to gain him access, but what lay below the manor was not for anyone outside their circle to know. Maxim had no trouble agreeing. Finally, the cyclops brought him and his companions inside. With a brief farewell to Aphrodite, they were soon swallowed by darkness.   Arges seemed to need no light to tell where she was taking him. Maxim got the impression of a large, but empty chamber and hallway before they arrived at the top of a flight of stone steps. There was a soft red glow here that lit its length from below. To accompany it, a steady booming ran up the ground and into Maxim's bones. That, Arges claimed, was the forge.   They descended together, Makiko and Kitsuno keeping Maxim's rear while Arges led the way. The air grew steadily warmer as they proceeded. By the time they reached the bottom, Maxim was beginning to sweat from the heat. That was easy to ignore, however, in light of the spectacle laid out before him.   This seemed to at one point have been a regular underground chamber, likely used for the manor's storage. It had been heavily converted into a smithy with an enormous forge running the entire length of one wall. An array of black-iron weapons laid out around the belching fire at its heart gave Maxim a clue as to where his Hearthforged Zweihander might have originally come from. There were the normal trappings, an anvil and tools, but at a certain point the floor dropped off in a sheer cliff. The chamber beyond that seemed to have been artificially expanded downward as well as outward. It formed a cavernous chasm in the ground, above which a network of catwalks were arrayed around a central point. There, held up by several massive chains, stood Asteria Talos.   The very same giantess whom Maxim had faced in the Mōri Tournament preliminaries was here. She did not seem conscious at this moment, which was understandable considering that Honda Tadakatsu had decapitated her but a few days prior. In the interim, it seemed as though her body had been brought her for the head to be reattached. On the walkways, Nagasone Kotetsu was visible in the distance doing just that. With each swing of her enormous hammer, she worked the white-hot line where Asteria's head met her body, literally welding it back on.   That was quite a sight to see, and Maxim understood a bit better why Arges had asked him to swear secrecy. Motonari had apparently arranged with the Alexandrians to perform Asteria's repairs on-site, and had brought in an expert like Arges from abroad to effect it. The cyclops' mastery of Earth magic had made such a thing possible; she confirmed it herself. None of these facts were known to the general public, and that was likely part of the agreement. Fortunately, Maxim wasn't here as a spy. He only wanted to talk to Kotetsu.   The fiery smith hadn't noticed their arrival yet, so Maxim asked his guide if it'd be alright for him to go out to meet her. Given the affirmative, he asked his companions to wait there for the moment. He then approached the pit, keeping a careful eye on the point where the floor dropped off into immeasurable darkness.