Zagreus' jaw hung open.
There were just so many people! The city streets were packed with people of all types, all busy in their own way.
He began down the road Eina had pointed out towards the Loki Familia, taking in the sights and smells, the afternoon sun illuminating his surroundings. He moved through the hustle and bustle, before a divine scent filled his nostrils. He followed his nose to a little stall being run by a small woman.
A goddess, he quickly realised. The air of divinity was impossible to ignore. Her short stature stood in contrast to her developed figure, further accentuated by her revealing dress. She looked up as he approached.
"Hello sir!" she greeted in a practiced manner. "Would you like to buy a fried potato puff?"
Zagreus shook his head and patted his empty pockets. "No money, I'm afraid."
"Oh. Say, Mister Adventurer, would you like to join my Familia?" the goddess asked hopefully.
"Er, I'll consider it. Who might you be?"
"Oh! Right! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Hestia, it's a pleasure to meet you!"
His eyes widened in surprise. "Lady Hestia! Please forgive me, I didn't recognise you. I've not spoken with you before, but I've heard great things about you from your siblings, my Father included."
"Your… Father?"
"Hades. I'm not sure if you've heard about me from the other Olympians, but I'm Zagreus."
"Zagreus," Hestia whispered, looking deep in thought. A moment later, she gasped in surprise. "Zagreus! How are you here?! You… Nobody has seen you since before the Calamity! I-I- You need to come with me," she commanded, before turning to another worker at a nearby stall. "Manager! I'm sorry, but I need to leave! It's an emergency! I promise I'll make up my hours!"
Hestia grabbed his hand and dragged him away without waiting for a response. She tugged him along, around people and through back alleys until they came across a dilapidated building. She pulled him towards it, ducking into an alcove to a hidden door. She produced a key from somewhere and opened the door, pulling him inside behind her.
"Erm, not that running around the city hasn't been fun, but is there a reason you've dragged me here, Lady Hestia?"
"Yes! You… Zagreus, where did you go?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You're going to have to be a little more specific."
"I… You're right. Please, sit down, I'm going to need to explain some things to you."
He tentatively sat on the old couch, and her explanation began.
After his last death, he had failed to be reborn from the Styx. His father believed that Zagreius had either had help, or had been abducted by one of the Olympians. Hades had stormed up to Olympus to confront his siblings and family.
During the ensuing quarrel, the Primordials made their move. Tartarus, the Pit himself, awoke his wife, Gaia, the Earth mother. She had become disgusted by the mortals that had plundered her lands for its value, and the Olympians that had overthrown her children. They, along with their children, the Giants, had waged a war against the Olympians, wreaking havoc upon the mortal plain.
In short, the Primordial pair won, and in their hubris and perceived invincibility, challenged Chaos himself.
Something Hestia stressed was the difference between Primordial deities and gods. Gods presided over their domain, whilst Primordials were their domain. Gaia was not the governor of Earth, she was Earth, the entire world given form.
Chaos, as it turned out, had many names. Chaos, Yahweh, Allah, Brahma. Chaos was the Creator. In the same vein that Gaia was the Earth, Chaos was not just the creator of all, Chaos was all. Everything that had been and everything that would be, given a physical body. To be challenged by Gaia was equivalent to a single cell attempting to kill its body.
Chaos did not take too kindly to this. In an instant, Gaia and Tartarus, as they were, simply ceased to be. Like Oranus before, their will was scattered, never to reform. With the Pit now without control, it began to reform, shifting and changing, and bringing monsters to the surface faster than ever before. To protect what little of the mortal race still lived on, Chaos brought Oranus back from oblivion and appointed him to watch over what remained of the Pit, that most now referred to as the Dungeon.
In order to preserve what little of Mortality remained, Chaos created the New Races. Elves, Demi-Humans, Pallums, Dwarves. In order to allow Humanity and the New Races to establish themselves on the decimated world, Chaos forbade not just the gods Zagreus knew of, but the gods of all faiths, from interacting with the Mortal Realm. Every deity that existed was drawn away to a spiritual plane they called Heaven.
In addition, Chaos removed the gods' ability to reproduce.
"Your children would fight against the one with which all begins, and so you shall have no children," he had declared, and so it was fact.
Far, far after these events, once Chaos had deemed the mortals to be properly established in the world, he allowed the gods to descend from Heaven. Though as he did not trust them to withhold their power, he enforced restrictions upon all who would enter the Mortal Realm.
A god in the Mortal Realm would be mortal. They would be restricted entirely from their godly power, their Arcanum, with the exception of bestowing their blessing on a mortal in the form of a Falna, and retaining their agelessness. Should a god be slain in the Mortal Realm, their Arcanum would take hold and their immortality would return, forcing a violation of the conditions to be in the Mortal Realm. The god would be forcibly returned to Heaven, and never be able to descend again.
Since that time, many gods had established themselves in the world, building large and powerful Familia, none so much as those in Orario, that presided over the entrance to Tartarus, the Dungeon. From within the Dungeon came monsters, and within each monster was a Magic Stone, a crystallization of Tartarus' infinitely scattered power. Mortals had learnt to make use of these stones, and used them to power their world. Adventurers, blessed with a god's Falna, dived deep into its depths to obtain these stones in order to make a living and grow more powerful.
It was, to be frank, quite the exposition dump. However, there was one more, horrifying detail.
When Tartarus had begun to make his move, the power of the Rivers of the Underworld, the Styx one of them, had cut off, and without it he had not regenerated as he normally did. Of course, as the God of Rebirth, it had not stopped him from returning to physical form within Tartarus, it had just taken a little bit longer.
It had been over ten thousand years since he had failed to be reborn in the Styx.
He stewed in that knowledge for a moment, doing what he could to process the revelation.
"Come back to me, won't you?"
"Always," he whispered.
He turned to Hestia, who sat waiting with bated breath. "Did… Has Persephone come down to the Mortal Realm?"
Hestia nodded. "She came down with the first, to look for you."
"I need to find her," he said after a moment's thought. "I need to become stronger, and I need money. I don't know what will happen if I die, if I'll be taken to Heaven, or if I'll be reborn in another ten thousand years, but I can't afford either, so I need to be strong enough to survive all this world has to offer." With the Styx gone, he retained permanence in the Mortal Realm, but it also meant he no longer had the safety net of the Styx's regenerative power.
Hestia's heart echoed painfully with his. As a Goddess of Family, she easily resonated with his desire to find his mother once again. The poor boy had fought so hard against his tyrannical father (something she had personal experience with) to be with his mother, and she would offer all she could to help them reunite.
"Lady Hestia, would you grant me your Blessing?"
Zagreus
Level 1
Strength: I-0
Endurance: I-0
Dexterity: I-0
Agility: I-0
Magic: I-0
Magic
[ ]
Skills
[ Borne Unto Tartarus - Grow stronger fighting the monsters of the Pit ]
[ Divine Dash - Grant a temporary burst of speed and incorporeality ]
[ Divine Hold - Store small objects within oneself ]
[ Flesh of the Pit - Resistance to heat and other abnormal statuses, and grants greater vision in the dark ]
[ Bloodstone Cast - Fire forth a Bloodstone at foes to cause harm and weaken ]
Zagreus looked over the Status Hestia had handed him.
Miss Eina at the Guild had told him he would be Level 1, and Hestia assured him that regardless of one's strength, all values would begin at their lowest once he received a Falna.
Divine Dash he'd been expecting, and the same with Flesh of the Pit and Bloodstone Cast, but Divine Hold less so. He'd never considered his ability to store Obals, Nectar, Ambrosia, and other such items within himself to avoid damaging them as something abnormal, though evidently for mortals, it was.
Borne Unto Tartarus was something he hadn't even known of. He hadn't felt weaker upon leaving the Dungeon, though it could explain why the minotaur he had faced had been so easy to defeat. Perhaps the effect strengthened the deeper into the depths he went?
With his Falna granted, he returned to the Guild to speak with Miss Eina and become registered as an Adventurer.
"Miss Eina," he greeted as he stepped over to her booth.
"Mister Zagreus." She blinked in surprise. "No luck with those Familia?"
He gave her a mischievous smirk. "Wouldn't know, never spoke to any of them."
"You didn't? Then why are you back here?"
"I've got my Falna."
"You found another Familia?"
"Yep, you're looking at the newest member of Lady Hestia's Familia."
"Hestia-? You joined Bell's Familia?!"
He blinked at her surprised outburst. "Bell? Oh, the other member of the Familia. Yes. Do you know him?"
Eina lowered herself back into her seat and adjusted her glasses. "Y-yes. I am his Advisor."
"Ahh."
Eina gave an awkward cough. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you choose to join the Hestia Familia? Forgive me, but they are one of the weaker Familia in Orario."
"It's fine," he laughed. "You're not wrong. With just one other member, Lady Hestia isn't exactly the most influential. I joined for personal reasons."
"I see, I'm sorry for prying."
"You're fine," he assured. "Curiosity is natural. Now, what do I need to do to register as an Adventurer?"
"You're not planning on going into the Dungeon now, are you?"
He shook his head. "No. Lady Hestia said I should get registered now, and I'll head into the Dungeon tomorrow with Bell."
Eina nodded in understanding, and produced a form. "Once you fill out this form, you'll be good to go."
"Didn't you say you'd need to measure my Excelia?"
"I did," she confirmed, "but the operator for the magic tool is on holiday, so it will have to be done another time."
"Ah, gotcha." He quickly filled out the form, and returned it to her. Eina looked over it quickly, and gave him a smile.
"Congratulations Mister Zagreus, you are now officially an Adventurer of Orario. Would you like to be assigned an Advisor?"
"Are you offering? Because that would be perfect."
She smiled. "I believe I have some time in my schedule to work as an Advisor for another Adventurer."
"Excellent. Thank you for all your hard work, Miss Eina. I shall see you tomorrow. Have a good evening."
"Thank you, Mister Zagreus. To you as well."
"They haven't seen him either!" Hestia bemoaned, holding back tears.
She had just returned from the Guild, looking for her other Child, Bell, who had not returned the night before from his journey into the Dungeon. While there, she had commissioned a quest, using the Familia's 400,000 valis savings as a reward.
"It'll be alright, Lady Hestia," Zagreus consoled. "I'm sure that if he's anything like what you've said, he'll have kept himself alive."
"He is alive," she whispered. "I can still feel his Blessing."
He accepted her words. He hadn't the experience to know if it was true, but trusted the goddess.
It was still early in the morning when they arrived at the home of the Miach Familia, potion makers, and friends of Lady Hestia. In addition, Hestia had brought along Hephaestus, who was, interestingly enough, a woman now. Not that he particularly cared. It wasn't particularly uncommon for gods to exist as both male and female. She was the goddess of another member of Bell's party.
Soon after some short introductions, a new god arrived.
Takemikazuchi, and his Familia. The god revealed that his Familia had conducted a 'Pass Parade', in which they had escaped from a horde of monsters by using Bell and his party as bait.
It sickened him, that they would do such a thing, but Lady Hestia surprised him when she said she understood, and did not hate them.
Zagreus' respect for Lady Hestia skyrocketed. To push past her anguish, and the danger they had placed on her child, to see their perspective and understand their reasoning. She was amazing. He knew he'd made the right choice to join her Familia.
Takemikazuchi's Familia immediately vowed to assist in what way they could, but they came to the conclusion that only three would go, to maximise their speed. Even in addition to him, rescuing three with four would not be an easy task. It wouldn't be easy, but it would be doable.
It was as they were preparing to leave that another god interrupted.
"I'll help you Hestia!" the god declared.
"Hermes?!"
His goddess exclaimed in surprise.
The messenger of the gods turned towards her, but spotted Zagreus and gasped in shock. "Zagreus?"
He offered a smile. "Hello, Lord Hermes."
"You're here! You made it out!" The god laughed heartily. "I can't believe you're finally out!"
"I did. I couldn't have done it without your assistance. But could we please do this another time? Lady Hestia's other child is in danger."
Hermes blinked. "You're right cuz, of course. Let's get down to business." He lifted up a poster, titled 'Help Bell'. "You need help, don't you?"
"And why would you want to help this boy, Hermes?" Takemikazuchi probed suspiciously.
"Why so suspicious, Take? Can't I want to help out a friend?"
"Not without wanting something in return, I'd wager," Hephaestus added.
Hermes sighed dramatically, but dropped the playful tone. "I am being serious. I wanted to help Hestia and Bell already, but for Zagreus as well? If I could, I'd swear on the Styx that my intentions are good."
This was enough to convince Hephaestus and Hestia, though Miach and Takemikazuchi still held onto some skepticism.
The messenger god turned to Hestia. "So what say you, Hestia? Will you accept my aid?"
"I will! Thank you, Hermes."
"Good. I'm bringing along my Ace, Asfi. She'll help down there." The god grinned.
"Right!" began one of Takemikazuchi's Familia. Ouka, if he recalled correctly. "Let's get going!"
Asfi turned to her god. "Lord Hermes, your phrasing there. Don't tell me-"
"Yep! You'll be bringing me along!"
Asfi groaned, lifting a hand to massage the bridge of her nose. "It's forbidden to bring gods into the Dungeon, you know? The Guild won't be happy."
"Then we'll be quick. In and out before they realise a thing."
Despite their quiet exchange, Hestia had overheard. She stepped in front of Hermes.
"Take me with you," she demanded, leveling a glare at him.
"Hestia, calm down! The Dungeon is super dangerous! You get hit once by any monster, and you're gone. You realise that, don't you?"
"As well as you do. And I don't need to worry, Zagreus will protect me."
He stepped up behind her protectively. "With my life."
She turned back to Hermes. "I'm going, understand?"
Her tone left no room to argue.
"Fine. Fine! Zagreus being with us does make me feel a little better about it, but I'm going to enlist some, er, insurance."
Hermes vanished into the alleyways, and returned to their party after five or so minutes, a blond elf girl in tow.
Her face remained flat, though Zagreus could tell she was displeased. He'd had plenty of experience upsetting stoic women (Sorry Meg!), and found the subtle signs of irritation easily. She wore a green hooded cape that cast her face in shadow, and attached to her waist was a wooden sword.
He offered the girl a hand. "Sorry about Hermes. Thank you for coming to help us. I'm Zagreus."
She looked at his hand pointedly, then returned her gaze to his eyes. "Ryuu."
He winced, and retracted his hand. "Right. Sorry, forgot about that." A quirk of the Elven species Hestia had informed him of. They outright refused anyone they deemed 'unworthy' of touching their skin. Generally, this meant only closely trusted allies and other elves were allowed to touch them.
Without further delay, they descended into the Dungeon.
Stygius cut another Almiraj in two.
The elf girl gave him a respectful nod as he once again covered her rear.
Ryuu was fast. Faster than Zagreus was, by a not insignificant amount, and while he believed he had greater strength than her, she would no doubt win if they were to have a bout. Though, that was as he was now, without his Boons. With? Well, he would have liked to see who came out on top.
Ryuu had committed to taking point, and Zagreus was running close support, occasionally switching when the situation called for it. Asfi had contributed a number of times, but they'd yet to run into anything remotely threatening, so she'd primarily been watching over the two gods. Asfi wasn't quite as fast as Zagreus, nor as strong as Ryuu, but she was powerful in her own right, and with what he'd seen, versatile.
The Adventurers of the Takemikazuchi Familia, however, seemed to just be looking on in awe, occasionally expressing amazement at the front runners' speed, strength, and technique.
A Hellhound launched a fireball. Zagreus lifted Stygius to block the shot. Tongues of flame curled around the blade, and he allowed them to wash over him, doing little other than warming his skin.
He wondered how deep he would need to go to find a challenge. The monsters of the Dungeon would need to be a lot tougher if they wanted to have a chance at harming him. With another party of monsters swiftly defeated, they descended to the seventeenth floor.
So Zagreus joins Hestia. And yes, Bell is still in the story.
You guys should all know where we are up to in the Danmachi universe with this chapter. I'm actually very pleased with how I was able to merge the universes in this chapter, but let me know what you all think.
And in response to a review I got. You're correct, in universe, as far as we know, Falna do not fade, and I have obviously taken some creative liberty with that. However, in addition, we have not seen what happens to an Adventurer without a god after extended an duration. When Zagreus arrives and says he was part of a Familia Eina had never heard of and from out of Orario, she assumes it must have been from very far away, so it must have taken months or years for him to arrive, at which point (in this fic, at least) his Falna would have faded away. Also, his strength wouldn't have changed: If he were Level 4 before, he'd still be Level 4, it just would have said 'Level 1'.
Anyway, that's all. See you next week.
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