[Stares at the stats on the story]
[Rubs eyes. Blinks. Stares again]
Whoa. It's been like... 5 days? That is ludicrous...
Well, damn, it seems this has gotten quite a bit of attention.
Well first of all, thank you for the favs, follows, views, and reviews! I'm happy to see that the story is well received so far.
To Orchamus, you're getting your answer right here. To those that have asked if Bell is going to be replaced, the answer is no.
I can't, in good faith, ever allow the chance to make the boy that aspired to be a hero meet the man that had truly become one.
There's just too much material there to pass up, ahaha
To those that had thought that have asked what Familia No Name will be in, read on as well.
To those that have read my other stories (you know who you are) and have even left a review in this one, thank you!
I'll be updating the other ones soon enough. I'm getting more into writing again and hopefully it stays that way.
I've had quite a bit of fun writing this one, partly because it was the first time I've written these kinds of scenes.
Well this opening has gone long enough, let's start this chapter off!
Disclaimer: This story is supported by Hestia's ribbon. Please everyone, help the ribbon support its heavy load as well.
==[The Forge, The Hearth, and The Steel Sword]==
==[In the Tower of Babel - Freya]==
It was a fateful encounter. A moment that she would forever cherish in her eternal life.
It started on a dull day with overcast skies.
The day had been far more trying than usual, with nothing succeeding in maintaining her interest for more than a few seconds. Her lovely children had been busying themselves in the dungeon and her motivation seemed to be at an all-time low.
She would look at the clock, scrutinizing the overtly luxurious golden grandfather clock that had once been given to her as a gift. The hands seemed to move in slow motion and she entertained the possibility that Cronus had decided to play a prank on her.
Boredom. It was and always will be the true enemy of gods and goddesses alike.
At such a moment, she had been facing her kind's greatest foe and she was losing badly.
She put quite the fight for a few more minutes but alas, even with a desperate last stand befitting several epics, she ultimately tasted bitter pill of defeat.
Boredom had won. Boredom had overtaken her. Boredom had forced her hand.
Hence, she grabbed her cloak and made her way to the city.
It was one of her cute little hobbies. To hide her appearance and playfully roam around the city filled with people she could so easily take hold and entrance.
Would her identity be discovered?
Would someone be able to see through the cloak and find the goddess within?
Such playful and mischievous thoughts danced in her mind as she weaved through the people and made way to the market area in the southwest.
There were glances as she passed by, eyes filled with curiosity and a vague sense of recognition. She could see those she passed by actually turned around to look at her with a blush on their face.
Even when her appearance was hidden, even when she had remained silent, even when she had actively been suppressing her aura of charm, she was still able to turn heads. Her mere presence made men weep in worship of her existence.
That was what it meant to be a goddess of beauty and love.
She let out a smile filled with mischief as she finally reached the market area. There were many people that roamed about, with quite a few of them being foreigners.
Deciding to check the exotic merchandise, she had carefully navigated herself in the crowd, making sure she would never make physical contact with the packed crowd, another fun little game she often played.
She had checked the strange sets of clothing nearby. One of the wonders that humans were unmatched with was their never ending creativity. Always being able to come up with new and exciting things.
She leaned in and touched the silk robe and considered whether to actually make a purchase. Her cloak had a small pocket that contained enough Valis to make certain gods weep in agony.
That's when she had made a mistake.
It was an act of carelessness that she wouldn't normally allow to happen.
While attempting to reach for the Valis hidden in her cloak, she stood up. In a twist of fate, a person had passed by and the item they had been carrying tugged on the hood of the cloak.
Suddenly, her snow white skin had been exposed. Her silver hair shined under the glare of the sun and her lovely face was revealed for everyone to see.
Every person nearby had turned their heads towards her. Their faces gaping at her image.
She was a goddess. One who held enough power to crush those around her if she so chooses.
However it was forbidden to use such power in the lower world. The strict rule's punishment was being sent back to heaven. Though she would eventually be able to find her way back to the Lower World, it would heavily inconvenience her and separate her from her lovely children.
So as it stood, though she was stronger than a normal human being, she was still liable to get hurt and injured like one. Such was the sacrifice of descending to the lower world.
It was a truly harrowing situation.
The power of her charm was a dangerous thing. She knew full well what a mass of charmed people could devolve into if she wasn't careful.
Acting quickly, she let out a bright smile, effectively freezing everyone in place. She then grabbed the nearest adventurer she could reach and requested aid.
What came next was a mad dash for the nearest dark alley. The adventurer she had entranced was more capable than she expected and was able to efficiently swat away the crowd of charmed people.
Finally losing their pursuers, the man that she had entranced pushed her against the wall, overcome by the allure of her beauty and became aggressive.
She simply smiled in response and prepared to paralyze the man with pleasure.
Though she was called promiscuous, she held a certain level of standard when choosing a lover and the man wasn't to her taste.
Right as she was about to do so however—
*THUD*
The face of the man was suddenly hit by what looked to be a piece of iron ingot. The throw carried quite a bit of power as the man had been launched a few feet by the hit and was instantly rendered unconscious.
She blinked in surprise and turned to her unneeded savior.
For the first time in her life as a goddess of beauty and love, she was frozen in place and left speechless.
"Are you alright?"
It was a young boy with snow-white hair and tanned skin. He had a slim build but he carried himself with discipline and the grace of a veteran warrior.
The dull-grey eyes stared at her with a hint of concern, likely having seen the man's aggressive attempt to take her.
"Y-yes… Thank you."
The boy's appearance was indeed to her taste, however what truly shook her was his soul.
She possessed an innate ability to see the brilliance and color of a living beings soul. She had seen countless humans, having seen every possible characteristics of a soul that could possibly exist.
Yet, the boy's soul had trampled on that belief so easily.
[I am… the bone of ***rd]
Swords. There were countless swords.
It was a barren land that held no life. The air was filled with iron shavings that obscured one's view.
The sky was filled with large monolithic gears that blocked the light and view of the sky.
[Steel ** ** bod* and fire…** my…***d]
It was a veritable graveyard, one that held swords like tombstones to honor the warriors who once held them.
A world born from the seeds of an ideal, formed by the flames of its betrayal, and brought forth by a solemn prayer.
It was—
"I see… please be careful then…"
She was broken out of her reverie by the boy's voice. She blushed in embarrassment, having been so entranced by the vision of his soul that she had been unable to pay attention.
The image of the boy's soul shook her very being, struck her heart and resounded in every fiber of her body.
"Ah…!"
Before she realized it, they were already out of the alleyways and her hood was pulled back over her head, with the boy already turning his back towards her and walking away.
She almost leaped as she reached for the boy's hands and lost most of her composure.
She scrambled to form words, her mind and emotions in absolute disarray. When those dull grey eyes regarded her once again, she couldn't help but be charmed all over again.
"Name… what's your name?"
She finally let out, her question sounding like a desperate plea.
"Emiya… You seem troubled. Will you need assistance getting back to your residence?"
She almost instantly gave an affirmative answer to the question but was able to just barely stop herself.
She had already shown such an undignified appearance and even now her composure was in shambles. To show such a sorry state to the boy was unacceptable.
"No… I'm fine. Thank you for your help Sir Emiya."
Finally able to regain her calm, she corrected her posture and gave an elegant smile.
The boy replied with a nod before she had waved him goodbye.
For the first time in her long life... the Goddess of beauty and love had been charmed.
"Freya-sama. Are you well?"
The deep voice from the large man woke her from her pleasant daydream.
Her face was completely scarlet and a large smile appeared on her face every time she recalled their one and only meeting two months ago.
"Ottar… how is the investigation going?"
She asked her solemn guard.
Since that fateful encounter, she had spent every bit of time and resource she had to investigate the boy named Emiya.
"Information is still limited. We've obtained nothing of his history before his appearance in Orario."
"Ahhh… really now, that Hephaestus is truly selfish. To hide the boy's info from me…"
The goddess pouted and spoke words befitting a child whose favorite toy was being kept from her.
The most information she was able to obtain was of the boy's appearance, daily activities, and his relation with the Hephaestus Familia.
They were unable to obtain anything more.
"Well… in the end its fine. It simply means I'll have to chance to find out more for myself~"
She grinned and played with her hair.
She was positively giddy just imagining the days to come.
"That soul… I want to see more! I want to see it in its full splendor!"
The image of the boy's soul still sent shivers down her spine whenever she imagined it.
However, she felt that she had yet to see its true splendor. The iron shavings that came from the ground seemed to obscure the beauty of the boy's soul.
"Ottar… please…"
She gently grabbed the man's arm and rested her head on it. She then looked up to her attendant with pleading eyes.
For the longest time, for the past two months, she had been patient. She had held back and carefully gathered the information relating to the boy named Emiya.
She wanted everything to be perfect... for their next encounter to be taken right out of the romantic fairy tales that humans would often write.
"I want to see it. I want to see that world of blades once again…!"
Like a dam had finally broken, she poured out her emotions and truly pleaded.
Faced with an image that would have melted any lesser men to a puddle of lust, Ottar simply give a reserved nod of confirmation.
"As you command."
==[The Forge, The Hearth, and The Steel Sword]==
==[Northwest Familia Branch – Hephaestus]==
She leaned back on her chair to stretch out her arms.
"Hnnnnn…!"
She could feel the bones in her body creak with the action, as the tension and stress that's been built up seemed to flow out with the sigh that accompanied it.
She let out a wry smile as she allowed the entirety of her weight on the chair, fully reclining back.
She was tempted to raise her feet up and place it on the table, though stopped herself. She may not be one to keep up appearances but a certain level of dignity and propriety was expected from someone in her position.
Her children respected her quite a bit, both as a god and as a senior smith, and she liked to keep it that way.
"Hmmm…."
She looked around her office, filled with weapons, shields, and armor of various designs. They were the creations of the children of her familia. It was a sort of tradition to put up the very first work that one of her children could be proud of and have it placed in her office.
Once upon a time, there was only a handful of them, barely enough to decorate a wall. She would always wear a playful grin whenever she had the chance to place another work in her office.
Now the room was filled to the brim, to a point that the office could easily pass off as an equipment shop for adventurers.
"We've certainly come far… though I do quite miss those days however…"
When her familia was just starting out, she had enough time to privately teach every single member and guided them carefully to improve their craft.
Unfortunately, as her familia grew, the practice started becoming impractical due to the sheer amount of work she had to shoulder, so she had to settle for group demonstrations held by herself and the senior members in her familia instead.
She still made sure to reserve some private time with her children however.
If there was one thing that she did miss more than anything else, it was the fact that she used to be able to spend far more time alone in her private workshop, coming up and working on various projects without any interruptions. Something that she can now only do in rare bouts of free time.
"It really is quite a harsh life…"
Material procurement, maintenance of infrastructures, orders for tools and equipment, level ups and status updates, disciplinary reports… and that was just the first pile of paper she needed to go through.
Paperwork and management was tedious at best but an absolute necessity. Back in what the humans called "Heaven", she never had to deal with such things. She simply needed to rule her domain and use her divine power to forge weapons.
It was the life of perfect beings in a perfect world… however when something like perfection was reached, there was no further progress that could be made. There was no need for change or innovation to be introduced.
Hence, the life in Heaven was repetitive. Formulaic. Without any change, without any surprises, a god would simply go about a routine that doesn't change or evolve.
The life in heaven was the incarnation of boredom and tedium.
In contrast, the life of a human was indeed hard but it offered so many interesting and wondrous experiences.
The joy of success brought upon by one's own effort.
The heartbreak of failure despite your hardships.
The pride that came with the triumph of your children.
The little twists and turns, the surprises that came be it good or bad...
She would smile and laugh along with her children, frown and sigh during harder times, become frustrated and experience difficulties that she would need to overcome…
Compared to the eternal and perfect gods, the humans knew the true worth of living.
In fact, it was only when she had come into the Lower World that she could truly say that she was able to 'live'.
*knock knock*
"Ah… come in."
She quickly fixed her posture before allowing her visitor to open the door. It was a weekend and nightfall was just an hour away. It had become an unspoken rule for her children to allow her some rest during these days so a visit at such a time was likely a private matter.
She was slightly excited as to who was visiting and what kind of problem they would have, though she'd never allow anyone to ever know of such feelings.
"Ah, Emiya?"
She relaxed as she saw the young boy enter the office, with the usual air of calm indifference. He pointed his dull gray eyes at her before giving her a short bow of respect.
"Sorry for the sudden visit."
"Ahaha, it's fine. You're free to visit me anytime you feel the need to. That applies to everyone in the familia as well."
She let out another wry smile. The boy always seemed to keep a healthy amount of distance with those around him, as if a steel wall had been forged around his heart.
She and Hestia had put quite a bit effort in to trying to lessen that distance but so far they hadn't been able to make much progress.
"Ah, well I'll get straight to the point then. Hephaestus, I'd like to find some formal employment."
"Eh…? Formal Employment?"
Her left turned to a dot and felt the need to clarify. She had been expecting a lot of different things but a request for formal employment wasn't exactly one of them.
If anything, she had thought it would be about the lesson they had earlier in the morning.
"Yes. I'm grateful for your hospitality for the past six months. I think it was time I started to earn my keep."
"Wait, wait, Emiya, why are you saying things that only Hestia should be saying instead? You're been diligently preparing food for both Hestia and I without fail. You also help out the children of my familia quite a bit, so what do you mean earning your keep? You've more than earned it already."
In fact, ever since Hestia had found him on the altar of the abandoned church and had recovered physically, he had been nothing but a blessing.
He diligently did the chores and cleaned up the mess Hestia would often make, allowing her to fully relax once she was done with work.
He would even cook transcendent meals that exceeded the quality of high-class restaurants in Orario.
She had never been picky about her meals. She had above average standards for quality but nothing more than the average middle class human being.
It was only after tasting the boy's cooking that she had become a gourmet of sorts.
Those charcoal-broiled freshwater eel he had cooked up one time still haunted her tongue and single-handedly endeared her to the culture that Takemikazuchi heralded.
He had even cooked a feast for her children during large gatherings. That, combined with his ability to discern the quality of materials and his on-point assessment of the finished products, had made him quite beloved by her children.
He was essentially treated as a member of her familia already.
"It's more of the fact that I would like to become independent. Contributions aside, I'm not comfortable living off of your kindness, though I'm truly grateful for it."
"Again, why are you saying things that should only come out of Hestia's mouth? There's no need to be reserved. It's only recently that you've recovered enough, please take it more slowly. There's also the search for your original familia and your missing memories that we—"
She paused as she came to a realization. When the request was viewed from a different perspective, it made more sense.
For the boy to make the sudden requests meant that a change in him has occurred somewhere… and the most likely change that could occur was regaining his lost memory.
She unknowingly began scratching the leather eye-patch on her face.
"Shirou… did you remember something about your past?"
She called the boy by his first name.
The boy had long ago made clear that he disliked being referred to that name but she tended to default to it during serious discussions.
"… Just a bit. A glimpse of… what happened before I arrived here."
"…"
She remained silent for a bit, deciding to carefully choose her words before speaking. It was clear as day that the topic was a sensitive and intensely private one, a situation that needed proper discretion.
"… Did in involve your familia?"
After what seemed like an eternity to her, she decided to ask the question lingering in her mind.
There were quite a few mysteries that surrounded the boy. His origin and history, his unique appearance, his lack of basic knowledge of simple things…
However, among them, the largest mystery was his ability to use a unique type of magic.
The ability to create swords out of magic power.
It was a magic that bypassed every step of the manufacturing process and skipped right to the end, allowing the finished product to be made within seconds.
To say that the magic was unique was an understatement. It was the main reason why she had made sure any and all information regarding the boy's magic was kept secret from all the gods that would no doubt hound him like the Holy Grail if it ever became known.
Of course that itself would have been enough of a shock to see. The shock factor jumped up several notches when they had checked and saw that the boy didn't have a single trace of sacred text on him.
Magic and Skills were existences that shouldn't be accessible to a human being. Such things only came about when God's Grace was given to them.
In times long past, when the god's have yet to descend, there may have been rare examples of humans achieving abilities and magic like the Crozzo Bloodline, however all of those were exceptional circumstances and there were no spirits or elementals that would lead to the type of Magic Emiya possessed.
There had been no precedent to the boy's situation so they were stuck with half-baked theories.
Of course, there was a simple means of truly finding out for sure.
She simply had to give the boy her [Grace].
The only reason she hadn't was out of respect to the fact that the boy didn't have any memories and the thought of complicating his situation if he had any other obligations elsewhere.
Familia disputes could get complicated fast and she had no intention of making the boy's life any more difficult.
"A familia… "
The boy closed his eyes, as if trying to stir his memories.
"… such a thing doesn't exist anymore."
He scoffed at the idea itself, a wry smile that seemed to deride the very idea or concept of him having a familia in the first place.
She grimaced at seeing his self-mocking expression.
"Shirou…"
"Sorry, it's fine. I still don't have most of my memories… but… "
He looked her straight in the eye, those dull grey eyes clearly reflecting her image.
She could see so many emotions in those eyes. Nostalgia, regret, resignation… a tumultuous mix of emotions that were buried deep inside his heart.
Unlike earlier, a small and gentle smile appeared on the boy's face.
It was a wistful expression, one that made her heart sink.
"There are names and faces. Whenever I try to imagine the word 'familia', there are glimpses of people that I once spent my life with… but I can say for sure that was in the past."
The boy let out a sigh and suddenly, she could see weariness in his eyes. Something that she'd only ever seen in god's that have lived several millennia and had grown tired of life.
They weren't the eyes of a 15 year old boy. At the very least, she didn't want to believe that someone so young would ever have such eyes.
"That's why Hephaestus, with regards to the search of my former familia… I think its best if you stop it. I'm thankful but I don't think you'll be able to find anything."
She was rendered silent by his words.
She understood. From the emotions conveyed through his eyes to the casual way the boy could state the fact that he had no familia waiting for him.
Once upon a time, the boy had most likely lost everything he held dear.
Maybe it was through a calamity, maybe it was through some tragedy, or maybe it was simply the world being cruel.
Regardless, the boy knew pain, loss, and despair far too well despite his youth.
So she came to a decision.
She came to the only possible decision that should be made.
"Shirou Emiya."
She spoke his name resolutely.
If there was no more home for the boy to return…
If there was no familia that will welcome him home…
Then she would be the one to provide it.
"I want you to join my familia."
They were words that would eventually set the gears of fate turning.
==[The Forge, The Hearth, and The Steel Sword]==
A/N: Thank you for reaching this point and thank you for reading this story!
Oh, by the way, best remember that Emiya's tracing is viewed and described from the perspective of Hephaestus, a native of the DanMachi verse, hence she isn't able to truly describe nor understand his magic when she hadn't seen it in its full awesomeness.
So how was Freya's romantic flashback? Reader's of my other works would know of my tendency to sometimes experiment with writing and this would be one example. That particular writing style was something I've seen in different works and wanted to emulate it. To compare and contrast, the Hephaestus section could be seen as my usual writing style.
Anyway, you've now seen the first ever thing I've written for this story and the original reason for the story's creation! Part of the reason why this chapter got out so fast was because half of it was pretty much already written. Most of the writing i did for the chapter was for the Freya section.
For the record, I absolutely love writing Lovestruck Freya. For those who still remember the original reason she chases after Bell, then this development was probably expected. Emiya's soul is UBW itself. To a world where gods and goddesses are desperate to find anything of interest, EMIYA/Shirou or any incarnation of the man would pretty much ensure that the Goddess of Beauty and Love would chase after him with reckless abandon.
Being honest, I didn't expect people to think that Emiya would be joining the Hestia familia from the first chapter. The first forging scene was in fact set the tone of their relationship. In hindsight, maybe I should've made that clear on the first chapter… but well, I wanted to make sure that EMIYA joining the Hephaestus familia wasn't just something he did out of necessity or matter of circumstance. I wanted it to be more of a personal affair something that's a bit more meaningful than just mentioning it off handedly.
That and I wanted to better set a foundation for Hephaestus-tan's character and her relationship with Emiya. There's a reason why her name is in the character categories for the story. Her presence will be very prominent in the story!
As for the Freya section, hopefully that went well. Unlike Hephaestus who's character wasn't quite as explored, Freya was rather established. It's been quite a while since I've read the danmachi LNs so hopefully I've been able to stay faithful to her original characterization.
As a side note, whether the Freya scene came first or last actually delayed this chapter for a whole day. On one hand, it was a bit more appropriate to keep it as the last scene to foreshadow the coming source of conflict... but on the other hand, I really, really, wanted the image of Hephaestus asking Emiya to become part of her familia as the very last scene of the chapter.
Eventually, the latter won out and Freya's romantic encounter with No Name had come first.
Anyway, thanks for all the support! I hope to see you all next chapter! (Which will probably come in about 1 to 3 weeks depending on how busy I am with work and how fast I can update my other active stories)
I'm off! Time to reread them DanMachi LNs...