Irene rubbed her eyes.

"Holy macaroons." she gasped, looking around. Jisoo chuckled. "Welcome to Hotel Celeste. Not what you were expecting?"

She looked at Jisoo, confused. "Huh? What do you mean?" Jisoo giggled. "It shows clearly on your face. Bet you were expecting a palace or castle of sorts. huh?" Irene offered a shy smile. "Kind of? I always thought gods and goddesses lived in those."

Jisoo gestured Irene to follow her, explaining all the way. "Hmm, we do. I mean, we did, but most celestials want to catch up with the times. You know, modernization and all?" Irene nodded. "I see your point. Technology is indeed nice to use." Jisoo smiled. "Mom's been recently infatuated with hotels and resorts, and she wanted to make this place look like one. And Dad, well he just let's her do her thing. He's pretty chill." Irene appreciated the fact that Jisoo was trying her best to maintain her composure, being as cheerful as ever.

An elderly man approached them, dressed in a suit that seemed to be made out of stars. "Good evening, Jisoo. Ah, I see you've brought a new human this time." Jisoo hugged him, and Irene just bowed, not knowing what to do. "Good evening, Dad. This is Irene, Seulgi's companion." Irene blushed at the word 'companion'. The man merely raised his eyebrows, saying nothing. "Irene, this is Zeth, our father." Irene widened her eyes and bowed some more. "G-good evening, sir." 

Zeth smiled. "Stop bowing, you might break your back if you do that. We've long abandoned that form of courtesy decades ago. I'll settle for a handshake instead." Irene shook his hand, embarassed at what she just did. Stupid, stupid Irene!

"Have the others assembled at the Great Hall, Dad?" Jisoo asked. The man nodded. "Of course. When they heard that you were the one asking for an audience, I think they realized that something is up. Oh, your mom is already there too. Let's go?" The girls nodded, and followed him through a labyrinth of lefts and rights. Irene was starting to worry, thinking they were lost.

Her worries were quickly eliminated when they were met by a huge ornate glass door, adorned with intricate designs. Jisoo placed her palm on the surface, and the doors swung inward magically, revealing a circular auditorium with thrones double Irene's height. All the chattering stopped, and all eyes were on them, mostly on Irene.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A man with a killer smile and a pair of Ray-Bans asked. A woman with a bow and arrows chided him. "Stop it, Apollo. You're scaring the poor girl." She glanced apologetically at Irene. Another woman, with a very soft voice, spoke up. "You're sister's right. Stop scaring her."

Apollo put his hands up, rolling his eyes. "Okay, geez, I was just playing around, Freya." Irene spotted a falcon in one of the thrones. Then it suddenly transformed into a man holding a staff, looking all prim and proper. Zeth followed Irene's line of sight and chuckled. "That's Horus. Classy as always, that one. "

She spotted a girl with a lollipop in and a wicked-looking scythe at her lap. She saw Irene looking at her and waved. "And that's Izanami. Don't let her childish looks fool you though. She's a goddess of life and death." Then Irene saw a person with monolids that were strangely similar with Seulgi's. "And that's my wife, and Seulgi's mother, Asteria." He blew her a kiss and she caught it, smiling radiantly. Just like Seulgi, Irene thought.

"Okay Dad, I think Irene gets it that this hall is full of important people. Now go sit with Mom. We have matters to discuss" Jisoo reminded him. Zeth nodded, and walked towards his wife. 

*

After Jisoo finished summarizing everything that happened, including what Zomora said, Irene started to hear murmuring among the audience. A man with silver hair and an eyepatch finally spoke. "In my opinion, I think this information is credible. I have been sensing disturbances in the nine realms, but brushed them off thinking that they were just nothing." 

"And you only care to tell us now!? What happened to transparency, Odin? And this bit about the contract being null, did you know about this too?" asked a woman with a mirror. "Calm down, Amaterasu. I'm sure he didn't want to alarm us all by spreading information base