Chapter Text
One day, during the early summer season, Therese had decided to visit L'Arc and Naofumi at the Shrine, for some catching up and Smalltalk.
The three all sat on the porch of the Shrine, chatting over some tea and fruits for a couple of hours before something happened.
While they'd been chatting, two letters suddenly arrived, being carried by the wind before each landing in Therese and L'Arc's hands. As the two had stopped talking, Naofumi asked them what happened.
"A letter from the Kaze, the God of the Winds arrived. He's inviting us to a meet-up this evening." L'Arc told
"Really?" Naofumi asked
"Yes, though, it's more like a Party than a meet-up," L'Arc said with a chuckle
"I remember the last time when Doro, the God of Earth held it. Aiko, the Goddess of Wine brought too much Heavenly Wine, and that almost everyone got drunk. L'Arc here ended up angering some poor farmer after passing out in his cornfield." Therese told Naofumi, while L'Arc tried to defend himself, but was ignored
Naofumi chuckled at that. It was something he could completely imagine his husband would do if he got drunk.
"What's Heavenly Wine?" Naofumi then asked
"It's a special Wine made by Aiko. She made it special so that we Gods and Goddesses can get drunk or at least feel the effect of alcohol once in a while since the alcohol made by humans doesn't even come close. It's some really good stuff." L'Arc explained
After a bit more talk, Therese left to go back to her Shrine.
"Where is it going to be held, at his Shrine?" Naofumi asked
"No, since there would be a risk of the humans arriving and seeing all the Gods and Goddesses together in one place," L'Arc explained
"Where are we going then?" Naofumi asked
"I've told you about it before, yes? About how the Shrines are the gateways for the Gods and Goddesses to the Minor Celestial Plane, where our home befitting our powers lay. It is being held in Kaze's palace." L'Arc explained
As the evening came, L'Arc took Naofumi's hand, and in a flash, they were right outside of L'Arc's palace in the Minor Celestial Plane. It was a large palace half surrounding a beautiful and flourishing garden named 'Garden of Flourish', also called Paradise by the humans. Naofumi had had the pleasure of L'Arc taking him to the garden a few times before. It was so peaceful there, and the smells from the flowers and the taste of the fruits from the trees and bushes were absolutely delightful.
As they walked towards the palace of the God of the Winds, many other Gods and Goddesses appeared by their places or left them if they'd already been there.
As they arrived at Kaze's palace, they were greeted by the God before being led inside, where many other Gods and Goddesses were already gathered around a large table, chatting and conversing with each other. As L'Arc took Naofumi over to sit down, and Therese greeted him happily. Naofumi now sat between L'Arc and Therese, while Kizuna sat on the other side of Therese, and Glass beside her.
After all of the Gods and Goddesses arrived, Kaze gave a few words with a couple of jokes mixed in, before calling for a toast, and telling everyone to have fun and eat and drink. As Naofumi took a bit of the meat that'd been served with a variety of other foods, he hummed in delight at the delicious taste. After a couple of bites, L'Arc told Naofumi it would taste even better with some wine, so Naofumi decided to try it, and as it passed over, Therese poured him a glass together with her own.
As Naofumi tasted the wine, he hummed in delight again, enjoying the taste greatly, before suddenly downing the rest. As L'Arc asked if he was alright, Naofumi asked what he meant, to which L'Arc replied that normal humans would get drunk after just one cup of Heavenly Wine.
"Well, you've said it many times before; I'm not a normal human." Naofumi grinned before asking Therese for seconds
Therese giggled at L'Arc's face as she poured Naofumi another glass as L'Arc chuckled at Naofumi's words.
As the party dragged on and everyone began hitting the double digits in drinks, a few started to get tipsy, and Naofumi surprised everyone by drinking about as much as them, but being seemingly unaffected by it.
At some point, it seemed like everyone had decided on a silent game and agreement: Embarrass L'Arc in front of his Bride, and whoever embarrasses him the most wins. And as they did so, they all began telling embarrassing stories about things L'Arc did in his godly youth, and just generally stupid things he's did throughout time. Most of them had Naofumi chuckling, or just containing his laughter, while others just had him outright burst out laughing as L'Arc hid his face in his Bride's shoulder to hide his blush, almost pleading Naofumi to stop laughing.
Naofumi decided to take pity on his husband of a God and stopped laughing, raising his hand to run it through L'Arc's hair, who took to just leaning his head on Naofumi's shoulder.
After that, Kaze decided it was time to start playing some games. Naofumi sat back as either Therese, Glass, or L'Arc told him what was going on, who won, who lost, and the rules and such, depending on which one of them wasn't participating.
As the Gods and Goddesses played their games, many boasted about their wins, while some were sore losers and demanded new rounds until they went onto a new game. Each time L'Arc won, he would come over to steal a kiss from Naofumi before going back over to play another game or sit down with Naofumi to have another drink.
Almost everyone was shocked when they realized that Naofumi had drunk about as much as they all averagely had, and had only become a bit tipsy from it. L'Arc couldn't help but admire his half tipsy bride who kept giggling at anything he found even remotely funny. It was adorable.
One of the games they played, they all just called True or False. Someone would say three different sentences that could be either true or false, and then either everyone else, or just one person or a pair would have to guess which ones could be true and which ones could be false, or if they were all just one of them.
Naofumi had asked him if could join, and of course, the others let him. He was sat down in front of Umi, the Goddess of the Seas. She then made up three different sentences, which Naofumi listened intently to. After she finished, Naofumi told her which ones were false, and which were true. The first one was true, and the last two were false. Umi giggled before telling him he was right.
After that, Kizuna sat down in front of Naofumi and told him three different things. As Naofumi got right which ones were true and false, the others started wanting to test it too. After about half of the Gods and Goddesses trying Naofumi, he had won every single round. When they asked how he did it, Naofumi explained that throughout his life, he'd picked up to tell if someone was lying by their voice, but he wouldn't reveal how he knew.
After the many games, some of which Naofumi couldn't really understand or get the grasp of, the Party dimmed down a little to mostly everyone sitting around the large table, more pillows having been brought out for those who wanted to lay for a bit. Everyone was now just talking and chatting quietly while taking a few bites of the last food and sipping the drinks since there had been brought out juice and water to counter the alcohol. Gods did not get hangovers, but it still felt nice to get something else down on top of all that alcohol.
It was relatively peaceful, and Naofumi, for a moment, forgot that these people were all the Gods and Deities that looked over the world. Within the walls of the God of the Winds' Palace, they were all having fun talking and catching up on the hundred years most of them hadn't seen each other. Naofumi smiled to himself as he felt himself grow tired.
Naofumi gently placed his cup back down on the table and leaned over where he knew L'Arc was sitting. Despite being in the presence of so many other Gods and Goddesses, Naofumi would always recognize L'Arc's presence. Naofumi leaned against L'Arc's shoulder as he leisurely listened to the chatter around him, and L'Arc's voice, talking with someone, the God of Earth, Doro, is Naofumi recalled correctly.
As Naofumi listened to the sounds around him, lulling him to sleep, he dozed off, once again listening to L'Arc's voice, like back at the Shrine when the God would read him books whenever there were no visitors.
As L'Arc looked down at Naofumi leaning against his shoulder, while Doro had gone to get himself some snacks, he found his bride sleeping peacefully. L'Arc smiled, his eyes filled with love as he leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on Naofumi's forehead. While Gods and Goddesses still did not need sleep, Naofumi, while being immortal, was still of human origin, and sleep would always be a necessity, though, mostly for Naofumi to calm his mind. And L'Arc did not care. He liked it when his bride was healthy and happy, and that included letting him get proper sleep.
Then, L'Arc gently moved to let Naofumi lay down beside him. Therese, Glass, and Kizuna had all scooted further down the long table to join the other Goddesses for some lady talk, so there was plenty of space to let Naofumi lay down. L'Arc, sitting criss-cross, scooted a bit away from the table to let Naofumi lay his head on his lap.
After that, Doro came back with a bowl of chips someone had brought from the human world and started eating them as he and L'Arc continued their former conversation. L'Arc, as he stole some of the chips, had to admit that some things the humans made were pretty neat, like new foods and resources to help others, but that also meant that those things could be used for someone's selfish purpose, and they did. But, L'Arc was not going to dwell on the makings of the humans now.
After a bit, when the chips were eaten and Doro started his second bag, Aiko suddenly asked a peculiar question.
"Hey L'Arc, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to the world that kidnapped your little bride here?" She asked, half laying on the table, using her arms on the table to support her upper body
"Why do you wanna know?" L'Arc asked, moving his hand to run his fingers through Naofumi's raven locks, hoping he wouldn't wake up during this conversation
"Just curious." Aiko answers
By then, almost everyone had quieted down, also curious as to what had happened to the world that had summoned L'Arc's Bride, causing it to become cursed. After L'Arc came back, none of them had even thought about going to look at what had happened to that world. They all knew that the God of that world already had given up on the world, and when he decided he wanted to govern a new one, he'd gone to the [Creator] to ask for permission, but first, he had to finish some work, and give plenty of good reasons why he should. And all these Gods and Goddesses from other universes coming to see his world wouldn't really help him.
"Hmm, well, I had originally just cursed the Church of the Three Heroes and its followers, and most of the Kingdom that'd summoned Nao as a Hero. But, when I heard that he wanted to govern a new world, I decided that I might as well help him, hm?" L'Arc explained
"But what happened to it. Like, is the world surviving, or has it already gone to ruins and is destroying itself from the inside out?" Aiko asked curiously, cocking her head, making her bright red her, redder than L'Arc's almost fall into the food of the Goddess beside her
"Well, the world is surviving but-" L'Arc was cut off
"You let them live??" Aiko sounded surprised, now resting her chin on her palm
"-I can't say the same for the country that summoned them." L'Arc interrupted her
"The Three Heroes' Church was completely disbanded after only a few years, and the so-called 'Pope' was excommunicated and executed. After that, all the Crimes of the First Princess and the King were let out to the public, and the Queen held a trial, which would end in their execution. But, the Queen couldn't bear seeing her dear husband and eldest daughter die on her command and gave her life up for them but in vain. The 10-year-old Crown Princess was then left to govern a whole Kingdom which was crumbling to the ground. And as the other Three Heroes were basically useless, they Quickly fled to another country when the Waves became too strong, letting the Kingdom become nothing but history. And currently, the rest of the world is headed in the same direction as that Kingdom, their food resources are slipping up, over and under-population are currently going hand-in-hand, with some places becoming too fertile, while others are completely infertile, and no one can do a thing to stop it." L'Arc told the Gods and Goddesses around him, the look in his eyes colder than the coolest ice, and sharper than the sharpest of blades
Everyone, despite being otherworldly begins and deities, all felt a shiver run down their spines at the cold and nonchalant tone L'Arc used as he spoke of the world that has stolen away, used, and hurt his Bride.
At that single moment, a single cold but harsh wind blew throughout the world, the earth shuddered fearfully, the seas became cold as ice, the fires and volcanoes gave a sudden burst of flames and heat before it all returned to normal only a few seconds later.
The Gods of the world, first then, had finally grasped how much L'Arc Berg, the God of Harvest and Fertility, loved his immortal human bride. Therese, Kizuna, and Glass had all seen the affection and love shared between Naofumi and L'Arc, but they had no idea just how much L'Arc loved Naofumi; going to the lengths of even cursing a whole world to its demise after they stole and used his bride.
At that moment, the world of the God universes over felt a burst of power. They would all come to know, that if they wanted to keep their worlds intact and alive, they would not mess with the Bride of L'Arc Berg, God of Harvest and Fertility, and now the destroyer of a single world. Though, he had to problem changing that number to a higher one.
As Naofumi rustled a bit, still laying on multiple pillows, and with his head on L'Arc's lap, the tension suddenly disappeared. L'Arc turned his head to smile lovingly at Naofumi, still running his hand through the soft raven locks, and everyone relaxed again. The Party steadily continued, but deep down, they all knew to never mess with Naofumi, lest they will feel the wrath of the God of Harvest and Fertility.
After that moment, the party went on, with Aiko bringing more alcohol with her powers, proposing a Drinking contest, which got most of the others riled up, including L'Arc. As the drinks kept coming, the ones who participated, L'Arc being one of them, got drunker and drunker until the first one 'passed out'(meaning decided not to drink anymore because Gods do not pass out from getting drunk), which made L'Arc laugh loudly, one hand holding a mug of Heavenly Wine, and the other stilling gently running through Naofumi's hair.
But, because of not just L'Arc, but multiple others laughing loudly, Naofumi woke up. He sat up, stretched his legs under the table, and listened to what was going on around him before L'Arc suddenly put an arm around his shoulders.
"Kiddo~ You slept well?" L'Arc giggled to himself
"Yes. Are you drunk?" Naofumi asked with a chuckle
"Nooo~ I'm noot druuunk~" L'Arc whined and slurred, leaning against Naofumi
Naofumi just giggled at how L'Arc was acting when drunk. He was almost like a child who'd eaten too much sugar with how much he was laughing, giggling, and cuddling as close as he could to Naofumi while still sitting beside him.
Naofumi smiled to himself. It was so nice being around all these people, treating him so nicely, like a friend or brother. It was peaceful, all of them taking a break from their constant duties of looking over the world to just lay off and relax and have fun with each other. Naofumi loved it.
Plus, he got to experience how his husband acted like a sugar-high child when drunk.