Disclaimer

I own nothing but what I write. All intellectual properties belong to their respective owners, that is Oomori Fujino owns Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou and Fate Grand Order is owned by Type-Moon, Delightworks and Sony.

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AN: Wow! Last chapter got a lot of really positive reviews. Thanks all. I just want to say it all here for those that asked, the Xenos are not a side story in this fic. In fact, they will play a major role because I believe they should've been used better in canon. In this fic they will become one of the cornerstones of Hestia familia's powerbase. Their rescue will be done in stages and I planned it out and it will be epic, just as they deserve. Ouranus will need to make some tough decisions soon and Da Vinci will really take him to task. Anyway I hope you like this chapter, it lays the groundwork for Hestia familia's next attack on Evilus and a couple other things that will happen differently to canon. Plus 200 reviews! YAY! Another landmark!

Jose19:- Look forward to the Xenos arc! Merlin will have his talk with the Xenos soon enough. He will show everyone what he is made of! Yes Gorgon's official title is Queen of Magical Beasts but Merlin's just teasing her in front of the Xenos seeing as they aren't all magical.

Counterfeika:- Saint Martha and the Tarrasque will be used differently but hopefully you like it. Economically speaking, Hestia familia is running on a deficit. They are moving on credit and cash flow so they aren't as cash-rich as they seem just yet. They just have a better grasp and understanding of accounting so they can make payment as payment is due. If you think about it paying everything upfront is illogical for projects that take time to complete so they make part payment as work progresses leveraging their better understanding of contract terms such as end of month payments etc… I didn't want to get too specific and turn this into a pure economics fic so I'm glossing a lot over just to keep it simple and get the story out. They will make it up later and they will help Orario out big time.

DungeonMaster:- Thanks. They will appear more soon enough. Gorgon will be based primarily on her game card which was why I didn't use Tiamat herself as you can't get her card. But I also allow for elements of their lore because just the card themselves don't really do justice to their true majesty. Nice of you to notice the Hestia familia challenges on the thinking of Orario. It will challenge all of Orario to consider their position in the universe and that's how I planned out the story.

Phantom Thief of Hearts:- Thanks for the support of the direction of the story and my stance on the canon Xenos arc. Gorgon will be baddass that's why she's the only one I sent down there to help the Xenos. She's all they need for now. Ares will still invade but Da Vinci has plans up her sleeve to deal with it.

ghost777:- LOL yeah. I don't hate her but she just happens to sit on prime real estate. I will make it up to her. Wouldn't want her staff to go without jobs.

PittBullBytes:- Gotta love Merlin!

hercules10hhao:- Thanks and a great question. I've been asking myself that for a while now as well. Personally I will just use either depending on when I need them, Lore or Game mechanics. This may make Chaldea OP but I never intended to write this story with any balance. In fact level one to the Chaldeans is their max level in game mechanics and any levels they gain due to falna is the game mechanics of Palingenesis so you can imagine what true equal level difference would be. Two average servants going toe to toe in lore is enough to burn down a city, let alone a broken servant, really when that is taken into account Danmachi really has no chance, just laugh along with the story instead and enjoy the ride.

casablanca1317:- Glad you liked it. I guarantee you the Xenos will become pivotal to the story and to Chaldea and Hestia. They will be shown a lot of love in this fic. I will try to do for them what canon failed to do for them.

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Please read & review as I appreciate any comments made

Fate Grand Disorder

Chapter 45 – Preparation

Bell Cranel walked into the guild hall to try and find his guild advisor Eina Tulle to register his recent level up. As he entered he could feel the stares of eyes behind paperwork boring into him. He heard the ushered whispers of "Hestia familia" and could only wonder what all the commotion was about. As he approached the front counter he could see the pink-haired Misha Flott but could not see Eina anywhere.

Misha saw him and as he approached, she nervously asked, "Hello Bell. How can I help you?"

Bell had a big grin on his face as he declared, "I'm level three now!"

The guildhall fell silent. Everyone was staring at him in awe. He had smashed the record again. But Misha had a different look on her face, she asked him, "No paperwork?"

"Huh?" Bell was confused, "Um… No paperwork."

She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She turned behind her and yelled out, "It's okay guys. No paperwork."

Several guild employees gasped in relief and appeared behind Misha before getting back to the mountains of paperwork they needed to attend to. Eina Tulle popped her head up from under the table and wiped away at her brow with the back of her hand. "Phew… I get nervous every time someone from Hestia familia arrives. I swear just the thought of more paperwork is traumatizing." Looking at Bell she finally smiled and congratulated him. "Congratulations Bell. That's another record. You really are growing faster than this city is even!" she mumbled under her breath, "At least it's just a level rise, standard paperwork, this'll be easy…"

Bell felt totally underwhelmed and instead bade his farewell and headed for the Hephaestus stores. Bell had never come to this level of the Hephaestus weapons and armour store before. When he was just starting out, he had wandered past the first level of the store and was scared out of visiting the upper levels of the store by the prices he had seen displayed. He didn't realise that the best weapons and armour and thus the most expensive were displayed at the lower ground floor, kind of like a display room and that the general quality equipment was sold on the upper levels.

Saber Elizabeth Bathory Brave watched as her new student was rummaging through the bargain bins of the store and she would veto his choices of armour as he pulled out various pieces. It took her a while to talk him out of full plate and heavy armours saying that a true hero needs to have as much skin exposed as possible. A hero needs to be invincible so armour just needs to decorate him in the best way possible. People needed to see a hero's face and body otherwise how would they recognise their hero! Bell finally settled on a small chest piece, gauntlets, shoulder pauldrons and armoured boots that Brave approved of. Looking the pieces over, Bell noted they were inscribed with the smith's name, 'Welf Crozzo'. He really did like this smith's work.

Trying out the armour in the change room he stepped out of the cubicle pleased with the fit of the armour. Brave, unfortunately, was horrified and quickly grabbed him by the ear and dragged him back into the cubicle. Shouts, complaints and a lot of girlish screaming later Bell was dragged back to the counter in only his armour and a pair of boxers. Brave nodded her head. "Not bad, just needs some steel undies and a cape and a sword and you look like a real hero!"

"I look like an amazon!" Bell complained.

"Don't be silly, amazons are all women and I saw… You are definitely not a woman." Brave announced unashamedly.

A man with red hair and a large sword strapped to his back standing by the counter could only look on at Bell in horror. Brave turned to the cashier and said, "We'll take it. Also, can we meet the maker. We need to get a set of matching undies and a cape."

The cashier just raised an eyebrow at Bell and nodded to the man next to them. "That's him, Welf Crozzo."

"Y… Yo!" Welf Crozzo waved nervously. "You…ah… have an unusual fetish."

Bell looked down embarrassed, "No I don't! It's all masters fault…"

Brave looked the young man up and down not liking his fully covered black outfit but she didn't care too much as long as he could whip up what she wanted. "I need a sword for Bell and some invincible metal undies. Can you make it?"

"Y… Yes I can." Welf stopped, a word had grabbed his attention, "Bell? As in Bell Cranel? Little Rookie?"

"Umm… Yeah, that's me." Bell stammered unsure where this is going.

Around the store people who heard the name and eyes were raised. The smiths within the store bolted towards Bell all screaming, "Bell Cranel…"

Welf grabbed the boy by the shoulders and almost yelled at him. "IF YOU LIKE MY GEAR MAKE AN EXCLUSIVE CONTRACT WITH ME! I'LL WORK FOR YOU AND MAKE YOU ANYTHING YOU NEED EXCLUSIVELY!"

Bell was almost shaken to death and could barely answer in time, "OK! OK! Yes! Yes!"

"Everyone hear that!" Welf yelled out to the store in general, "We have an exclusive contract!"

Everyone grumbled and left them alone. Brave shook her head and paid for the armour before walking out of the store with Welf and Bell. After finally going outside the guild and sitting at the large fountain there, Bell finally asked his new companion, "What was that all about?"

"You really don't know?"

Bell shook his head. Welf scratched his chin, "Well," he began his explanation, "an exclusive contract is one where you agree to exclusively purchase all your arms and equipment off the one smith. In return the smith gives the buyer a discount and can specifically make or tailor equipment to that person. If that person is a famous adventurer as well then it will also raise the profile of the smith also increasing the price of what he can charge for his work. It's a mutually beneficial relationship."

"Is that why everyone at the store was…" Bell began to ask.

"Yes. As the record holder to getting to level two…"

"…I'm level three now." Bell proudly interrupted.

Welf's eyes widened significantly. "You broke another record?"

Bell nodded. Welf started laughing. This would definitely raise the profile of his work. He continued, "Well, in your case there's more."

"More?" Bell tilted his head in confusion.

"You're Bell Cranel from Hestia familia correct?" Welf asked.

"Yes."

"Your captain explained to Goibniu and Hephaestus familia that you're the only one in your familia that needed to be outfitted. So because of that, she agreed to honor any credit that you would need to equip yourself." Welf put his hand to his hip and looked straight into the eyes of Bell. "To put it simply, you have the backing of the wealthiest, most influential familia in all of Orario financing your weapons purchases. You have unlimited credit in any Goibniu or Hephaestus store. You could buy anything you wanted. To the smiths, you are a client with an unlimited money pouch."

Bell gulped. In twelve weeks he'd gone from living in a run-down church with nothing to having unlimited credit with the biggest weapons dealers in Orario. Welf grinned at Bell before asking one last thing, "There is a favour I have to beg of you though…?"

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Hestia familia's new mansion, the Hearthstone Manor, first stage, was nearing completion. Goibniu familia had worked a lot of overtime on it to help Hestia familia get out of living in tents. The living quarters and main facilities within the main building was nearly ready to be moved into. Hestia and Da Vinci had just finished walking the building, examining all the work that had been put into it, checking over all the workmanship.

Satisfied, Hestia and Da Vinci stood leaning against the wall of the main lounge room with a bottle of HestiaSpring water in their hands. Taking sips of the cold water Da Vinci faced Hestia and declared, "I think it is time you started to spend seriously more time with Bell."

Hestia almost leaped out of her skin when she heard that, crash tackling Da Vinci in a tight hug, tears of joy pouring down her cheeks. "Yes! Yes! I agree! Caster you are the best, best, very best captain in the world!"

Patting the goddess on the head Da Vinci's eyes became mere lines as she announced, "Great! So as of tomorrow, you can report to Berserker Heracles in the morning with Bell to start work on weight training and Bell's training regime."

"Yes! Yes… Wait what! WEIGHT TRAINING?!" Hestia was confused.

"Isn't that great! You get to spend lots more time with Bell now."

"What! What! Back up! Back up! What do you mean by weight training? I'm a goddess, not an adventurer." Hestia complained.

"Goddess!" Da Vinci frowned at her, "What do you think happens when people look at you? What do you think everyone sees?"

"Just a goddess! A normal goddess that doesn't need to become a muscle-bound freak or adventurer."

Da Vinci put it in perspective for her. "Goddess Hestia. Let me be blunt with you. You lead the most powerful familia in Orario now. If no one believed that before, our constant ransoming of Ottar, the King, the only level eight in Orario back to lady Freya is a big clue. Gods in the know realise that our children are more powerful than the King himself. Right now no one wants to be on your bad side."

"Well… That's true…"

"To most people, that's fine especially considering all the changes and benefits Hestia familia is making to the world right now, but what about to those who would wish us harm? What do you think your enemies and believe you me, you have them, what do you think they see when they look at you?" Da Vinci was uncharacteristically very serious.

"I don't know."

"Let me tell you what they see. They don't see goddess Hestia of Hestia familia, they see vulnerability Hestia, the weak point of Hestia familia." Da Vinci paused to allow Hestia to take this in. "However, there is only one way to take advantage of this weakness Hestia. Think about it."

Hestia did but she was no strategian or had no knowledge of politics and warfare. She took an educated guess, "Assassination?"

"One of the possibilities. But then we could switch gods and get new falnas elsewhere. With our reputation, I could imagine gods lining up to accept us. This is not really what our enemy wants though. That would simply redistribute the power balance or make a new god the power unbalance you are right now." Da Vinci shook her head, "No. If they were intent on destroying us utterly, they will reason that there is only one way."

Hestia gulped but she worked up the courage to ask anyway. "How?"

"They will kill you while we are all engaged in the middle of probably the biggest war possible, probably the biggest war Orario has seen since before the gods descended. They will reason that the only way they could defeat us all in one go would be to kill you while we are locked in mortal combat…"

"Thus sealing your falnas." Hestia muttered.

Da Vinci nodded, "Yes. The logic is that only in that short window of time before we could get new falnas, while our abilities are sealed, they'll believe that is the only time they could wipe us out in one go." She wasn't lying, that would be what anyone native to Orario would believe even if Da Vinci knew it wouldn't work out like that.

Hestia looked crestfallen. Looking up at Da Vinci she asked a question she had been meaning to ask for a while now. "Who are you people really? I sense it in all of you sometimes. You're all more than what you seem."

Da Vinci put her hand on her goddesses shoulder gifting her with a small wan smile. "My goddess. This I promise you, when the time is right I will reveal all to you. Know this for now, I made you a vow, one which you know is true. I will make you the greatest goddess in Orario and Hestia familia the greatest familia. I also declared that I do everything for the future and the good of Orario. In this you must trust us."

Hestia thought about it and realised she was already too far in to turn back. Almost tearfully she was almost afraid to ask, "Tell me Caster Leonardo Da Vinci, tell me truthfully… Can I trust you."

"Yes."

"What we're doing is… dangerous isn't it?"

"Yes." Da Vinci reassured her, "But we'll be playing with a stacked deck, we own all the cards and all the players. All I need is for you to trust us, your children."

Honest and truthful. Hestia wiped the tear away from her eye and decided to trust her captain. "But… training and weight training? I don't want to become an adventurer. I'm only in a human body with no Arcanum."

"Hahaha!" Da Vinci laughed, "Nor did I expect you to become one. But don't underestimate what a mere mortal human body can do. Of course, I don't expect you to slay dragons, I would just feel better if you could even dodge or even just run for a second longer, that second may make the difference between life and death. It may be the extra one second it would take for one of us to come to your aid and change the whole course of history."

Hestia nodded and decided to just focus on the positives instead. "Soooo.. you said something about spending more time with Bell?"

"Hahaha! Yes, yes. Just imagine it. You, Bell, all hot and sweaty, rolling around in the grass, having a little 'wrestle'…"

Hestia blushed as the images flashed through her mind. "Well, I suppose… if that's how it is…"

Da Vinci clapped her hands together. "Great. That's settled then. Your weapon should be coming tomorrow from Hephaestus."

"Weapon!" Hestia shouted in surprise, "I'm the goddess of the Hearth, the goddess of Family. I don't think I need a weapon!"

"Now now, it's a last resort, a just in case weapon." Da Vinci tried to placate her, "I chose a weapon that I thought would suit your image. Nothing bloodthirsty like a sword or anything like that. Something more symbolic. I chose to get you a flag instead to show you support your children."

Hestia nodded. "A flag huh… I guess there's no harm in a flag. I suppose it wouldn't harm my image and it's not really a weapon I guess…"

Somewhere in the Hestia compound, Avenger Jeanne d'Arc Alter sneezed.

Looking around the room Hestia noticed one more thing she had needed to ask Da Vinci about. Pointing to it she asked, "Da Vinci… What in Tenkai's name is that?"

Da Vinci chuckled into the back of her hand. "Do you like it? I worked hard painting it for you."

"It's… unique…" Secretly Hestia thought it was a masterpiece, it was just that the smile seemed… unnerving.

"I call it the 'Mona Hestia'!"

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Ryuu Lion gulped down her Hestweiser beer in one go. This was another thing that Hestia familia had introduced to Orario. It lacked the roughness of ale and went down smoother and was better tasting. It was fast overtaking ale as the preferred alcoholic beverage for the average person.

She was sitting at the bar by herself after coming into 'Thank Hestia It's Friday' with her work colleagues, Syr Flover, Anya Fromel, Chloe Rollo, Lunoire Faust and May the Chef. The girls from the Hostess of Fertility had really taken to the cultural changes that were happening in the city. It was fast becoming a paradise for the young. Although they felt guilty about drinking at a different establishment than their pub, they couldn't help themselves. The atmosphere here just suited them better.

The pub was full! The crowd was happy and rowdy! The music blared from speakers throughout the store. Men were buying women drinks everywhere. Everyone was dressed up to impress, even the girls themselves. What took them however was the music and the dancing. This phenomenon was sweeping all Orario. Shaking booty became an almost every night thing and whenever there were girls shaking booty, there were men flocking there to buy them drinks. The alcohol was flowing fast and freely.

The girls of the Hostess of Fertility were dancing together and laughing merrily. Men were trying to catch their eye or offering them drinks. Coming from daydreaming about one day having a romantic encounter to being the centre of attention was like moving from hell to heaven. Nowadays it was more common for someone to enter the Hostess of Fertility to deliver flowers or gifts to any of the girls than to eat there, even though that saddened them a little. They felt bad for Mama Mia but they didn't know how they could help her.

Ryuu however had other problems. After her three day loss of time, she had investigated and realised there were others who had the same thing happen to them. What made it worse was she was starting to get weird dreams involving flying crafts and white rooms, flashes of images which she often struggled tried to remember when she woke up. It was driving her crazy trying to piece together the mystery. That's what she was thinking about when her friends decided she needed to be cheered up and had dragged her here.

She had been drinking by herself for a while when a beautiful pink-haired woman in a black and white maid outfit wearing a headband tied to resemble a pair of bunny ears sat down beside her. She ordered a drink for herself and when it came she noticed Ryuu eye it curiously. "It's a cocktail… A Mojito."

The woman raised it in a toast to her and drank it all down before she ordered another two. Ryuu was about to decline but the woman put her hand up and frowned at her. "Please, just accept it… from me okay." Ryuu smiled as she nodded.

"What's your name?" She asked Ryuu in a honey-sweet voice.

"Ryuu Lion." Ryuu answered politely. "I thank you for the drink."

The woman smiled patiently at her until their drinks arrived. Taking that as a cue to act, the woman spoke up, "Hi miss Lion. I'm Saber Astolfo."

Saber? Ryuu had kept her ear to the ground and so she still knew about the going ons of the adventuring world. The title Saber could only mean one thing, "You are Hestia familia?" Ryuu asked her.

"Yup!" Astolfo happily agreed, "and a Knight of Charlemagne!"

They clinked glasses and drank and struck up a conversation. Ryuu didn't mind, it was woman to woman. It wasn't like she was getting hit on or picked up by some strange guy. Her friends noticed she had company and that it was female so they felt better that she was somehow feeling better so they decided to leave her alone with her new friend while they danced the night away. It was nearly two hours later as they were just talking and drinking when Ryuu had let slip that she was having bad dreams and that she had been worried about her loss of three days. Instead of laughing at her, the woman seemed to believe her, simply placing her hand on top of hers and seriously telling her, "I believe you. It happened to one of my friends as well."

Normally elves didn't like getting touched by anyone else but seeing as this was another woman Ryuu didn't object to it. On top of this, Astolfo seemed to know someone else who had suffered through the same thing. Ryuu really wanted to know more and maybe even talk to this person. "Who?" she asked.

"Another familia member of mine, Bell Cranel."

"Bell Cranel? The Little Rookie? The record holder?" Ryuu was surprised that such a high profile adventurer had also suffered the same fate.

"Yes. That's him."

"Do you think I could talk to him?" Ryuu clasped her hands around the woman's, almost pleading.

"Why?" Astolfo was curious.

"I want to find out what happened in that time I lost."

"You know," Astolfo smiled. The knight leaned in conspiratorily towards Ryuu rather long ears, "I heard that it happened to many people. Even to Ais Wallenstein the Sword Princess."

Ryuu was stunned, even the Sword Princess herself was a victim. She was about to say something else when she found a finger on her lips. She normally would have killed anyone who touched her like this but something about Astolfo had her trust. "Listen," Astolfo spoke, "I have an idea. Won't you listen to it?" Ryuu nodded. Astolfo continued, "I'll put an ad in the Orario Times and a guild ad out asking for people who have experienced the same thing to call my number and we'll arrange a meeting. Maybe as a group, we could uncover what truly happened. We could meet outside the city in Hestia familia territory. That way I can guarantee all our safety as well as somewhere private we could talk openly about it without any ridicule."

Ryuu could only nod further. It made sense. Astolfo handed her a phone and asked her to exchange numbers. Ryuu obliged. It was finally a lead. "Well now that that is out of the way… Why don't we celebrate… To our joint investigation."

Ryuu gave a small smile as Astolfo called the bartender before asking for the special menu. The bartender placed a Hpad in front of Astolfo who happily placed her hands on it. A green light came on and a clicking sound alerted the bartender that something happened. The bartender asked what Astolfo wanted and she asked for the special sake. Nodding, the bartender ducked under the bar and pulled out a wine flask from the now unlocked safe and filled up two glasses for them.

Ryuu took the offered drink and when she sipped it her eyes shot open in surprise. "This is really good!" It was better than good.

The rest of the night was spent chatting and drinking and the two even engaged in a little dancing. Ryuu decided it was safe to, after all they were both women. The night became a lot of fun for Ryuu who had been under a lot of stress and anxiety lately so she cut back a little more as the night dragged on.

In the morning she remembered bits and pieces of the night but not all of it. She just remembered the feeling of being really happy. She wasn't even hung over. It was at work when she noticed that the other girls were treating her differently. She noticed they would often look at her from the side of their eyes and would nervously look away when she looked back at them. Anya had nearly leapt onto the ceiling when having to get past her at work, her arms laden with plates, she had ass bumped the girl out of the way.

It was during lunch break that she finally confronted them all about their behaviour. It was Syr who answered for the girls. Handing her the newspaper, opened at the Orario Society section called 'Out To Town' she spoke, "We just want to say we all respect you. No matter what your… preferences are we are still your friends and don't think any different of you."

"Mweow, Now we know why you never had a boyfriend, nya!" Chloe smiled brightly.

May the chef cut in, "Even if you prefer… carpet licking, we accept you for who you are."

Ryuu's eyes bulged as she saw the photo in the paper. She was obviously deep kissing another woman, Astolfo, as her breast was being cupped in one of Astolfo's hand and her own hand on Astolfo's top obviously feeling up her breast. She turned the colour of a beetroot.

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Now please review or make any comments or even ideas on more craziness that I could add. I'd appreciate it.