The suddenness of Shurry's appearance and the brazenness of which he treated Loki, only went to show just how impressive he truly was. Tiona, and Tione seemingly melted into his embrace, like they were his little sisters.
"Get your paws off my girls!" Loki shouted.
"Oh get over yourself Loki. They're my little sisters, so you can just shut your face." Shurry snarled.
"Wuaha! Snarling at me isn't going to get you anywhere, Fenrir." Loki tried to snap back.
"Am I going anywhere? Pretty sure I just arrived…" Shurry's brow raised. He then released the amazoness twins, much to their dismay.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Tiona asked, trying to hold on.
"Sorry, I have a limited time before being near an amazoness sets me off." Shurry explained. "And since my childhood friend isn't around to help me, it's not easy. And, I want to go see someone else real quick. I've got some things to do. Everyone here has a lot of work to do to get strong enough for that detestable dragon."
Shurry moved, this time appearing next to Hathor, and gave her a hug.
"Huh? What's this?" Hathor panicked, but felt comfortable. "It's like my child came home?"
Shurry let go and smiled. "That's because in my time, you're my patron, goddess, and mother. The things you've done for me… Are too enumerated to bother attempting an accurate count."
"I see. So what are you doing here in this timeline then?"
"Chaos Trial."
Her eyes went wide with a smile. "That's nice to hear. If you need any assistance please let mama know, she'll help you out."
"Thank you, mother. I will now show you scenes of what you've done for me." Shurry smiled, and shared a small bit of his memories.
After he moved straight over to Bell, and Hestia.
"So, Bell, how much time has passed since the last time you saw me, in that dream of yours?" Shurry asked.
"Only a few days have passed. We weren't expecting this though, you just showed up out of nowhere like this." Bell chuckled slightly nervously.
"Yeah, well a lot has happened ever since I killed that demon god Erebus." He chuckled.
"What level are you now? 10?" Bell asked curiously.
"Higher." Shurry smirked. "But before I go any further, I'd like to make a few trips. To places I feel I owe my appearance." He said, turning to Ryuu. "Care for a trip to the 18th floor, little sister?"
"Huh? What do you want to do down there?"
"Pay respects to my friends who unfortunately didn't make it in this timeline." Shurry said.
"How… Sure…"
Shurry and Ryuu took a trip down to the 18th floor, just the two of them. Though they did have some on their tail. Shurry ignored them… Now the two stood near the mount, with all of Astraea familia's members' weapons.
"I come down here to offer flowers." Ryuu said, biting her lip.
"I know… I'd do the same." Shurry said. "You know something?"
"What?"
"It feels weird for me. In my timeline, they're all alive. I even married Neze and she'd given me beautiful happy puppies." Shurry explained.
"So she would have found love had she survived?" Ryuu bit her lip crying.
"It's possible. However, in this timeline, I was already dead. So unless she found another man she could at least respect, I doubt it."
"BUT IT WAS POSSIBLE!"
"Do not beat yourself up about it, little sister. It wasn't your fault. Do not wallow on the past, use it to drive yourself forward. That's what they would have wanted. Without a doubt!"
"But the puppies, she'd been wanting them…" Ryuu stammered into her cute antics again.
"It wasn't just Neze that did such a wonderful thing for me." Shurry sighed, patting Ryuu's head a few times. "Remember this, you only need to continue carrying on into the future. Speaking of, how's it going with you and Bell? Had any matting yet?"
"Huh? W-w-w-what no. Not yet…"
"Hmm, I suppose now that I'm here I'll be able to push him in the right direction." Shurry said. "Now let's go, there's another place I must go."
After several moments, looking at Ardee's resting place in the adventure's graveyard. Shurry actually cried…
"I know she isn't my Ardee, but… This is still hard."
"Your Ardee?" Shakti interjected with a serious expression.
"Huh?" Ryuu blinked.
"Yeah, she's the love of my life. My childhood friend and first ever lover, and wife. She's the reason I was able to bring myself to love in the way lovers should. I can't imagine my life without her. I might have completely destroyed creation, stopping at absolutely nothing, lost in madness."
"You married my sister?"
"I did. So seeing her grave like this, even in a different timeline… It still hurts. I'm glad I didn't lose her back then."
"Wait, didn't you say that you married Neze?" Ryuu asked, confused.
"Yes, Ardee was my first wife, Neze was my second, my third is someone you all probably know of, but she had a different experience here, so I won't name her, and then my 4th wife is someone every adventurer has probably seen."
"I find it hard to believe my sister would…"
"Well she did. Her kindness passed on to our pups… I love her so much that words aren't really enough to say it accurately." Shurry said, wiping the tear from his eye, mouthing a few words in the direction of Alfia's marker before stretching. "Alright, time to go see Hearthstone manor. This timeline needs a ton of training if they're going to win against that dragon. I'm not allowed to help in the fight, I can only help you get strong enough to do it."
…
With his trips done, Hestia familia gave him a place to stay for the moment. A comfortable bed, and bath use rights. Resting in the bath with some others, he was curious…
"Hey, so why is your bath divided by gender exactly?"
Bell, who usually would go red, didn't… But Ouka did.
"Because mixed bathing is a bit embarrassing." Ouka said with a red face.
"Yeah, what he said." Welf agreed.
"Hmm, you're all going to need to get used to it. Get rid of prudishness, keeping it is the easiest way to get yourself killed." He sighed, realizing just how much work he has to put in to get them up to speed.
…