I do not own Familia Myth or any of the characters.

Meeting the Familia

Ethan leaned heavily on the door as he finally reached the church. It was late, but hopefully Hestia was still awake. If not, he supposed he could always ask her to upgrade his statuses in the morning. He could use a night's sleep without monsters interrupting anyway. He'd been pushing himself hard. He'd gone six days in the dungeon this last time.

He pushed the door open and staggered to the concealed door at the back, opening it and staggering down the steps carefully. As he reached the bottom, he stopped, staring at the same white-haired boy he'd helped fight orcs before being banished. Currently, the boy was being smothered by Hestia's breasts as she ranted about not letting someone she was calling "Wallenwhatsit" steal him. After a moment, he cleared his throat and Hestia looked over at him before releasing the boy, who flopped backward onto his bed, gasping for breath and face beet-red.

"How'd you do?" Hestia asked.

"Hopefully pretty well," Ethan said. "I take it this is Bell?"

"Uh, yeah," Bell said. "Sorry I haven't been able to meet you. I've been training with someone recently."

"Ais Wallenstein?" Ethan guessed.

"How did you know!?" Bell gasped.

"Our goddess was shouting about someone named Wallenwhatsit trying to steal you," Ethan said. "I took an educated guess."

"Oh, I see," Bell nodded. "Well, you're right."

Ethan nodded. "I don't even want to know how that happened. Goddess, would you mind upgrading my statuses for me?"

"You're not planning to go back into the dungeon already, are you?" Hestia asked.

"Not tonight," Ethan said. "I'm going to rest before I restock and head back in."

"Do you go in every day?" Bell asked.

"I've been staying in for days at a time," Ethan said. "It's faster to level up if you just don't stop."

Bell grimaced at the thought, but nodded and Ethan knelt, pulling his shirt up out of Hestia's way, allowing her to upgrade his statuses. After a moment, she handed him the paper and he hummed thoughtfully. He had only leveled up another hundred. It was slowing down slightly. He'd have to go deeper into the dungeon. He thanked Hestia and left, heading up to the main floor to the room he had a bed in. As he lay down, his mind began to drift, unwarranted, back to his goddess, as it had been the last few days. He wasn't a huge fan of his mind at the moment. It was making it hard to focus with how often Hestia had been popping into his head, and his dreams were just as bad. It wasn't really connected. There weren't any actual coherent thoughts or dreams. Just Hestia. Her face. Her voice. The light touch of her finger as she copied his statuses onto a paper for him. It was stupid, but his brain wouldn't let it go.

He rolled toward the wall, trying futilely to block the images out. This time, instead of the usual images, his brain conjured up the memory of Hestia claiming Bell and refusing to let Ais steal him. His gut twisted into knots, and he frowned. What the hell was wrong with him?

After another fifteen minutes of this, he finally stood, leaving the church and walking through the city until he reached the pub. Syr smiled at him from behind the bar, but then frowned as he just lifted a hand tiredly and sat down.

"You look exhausted," Syr said.

"I can't sleep," he sighed. "And I've been in the dungeon for days, so I'm basically dead at this point, and yet my brain just won't shut off."

"What're you thinking about?" Syr asked.

"Nothing that I can understand," he sighed. "Honestly I'm not really thinking anything. It's just random images."

"What of?" Syr asked.

"Hestia," he said. "I don't understand why though. And I almost always feel sick whenever my brain decides to focus on her."

Syr blinked in surprise before giggling into her hand. "I see what's going on."

"You do?" Ethan asked. "Well would you mind telling me so I can make it stop?"

"Wait, are you being serious?" Syr asked.

"Yeah, why?" Ethan frowned.

Syr hesitated before cocking her head to the side. "Have you ever been in love before?"

"In love?" Ethan frowned. "No, I don't think so. But what does that...wait, are you trying to tell me you think I'm..."

Syr nodded.

"No," Ethan said. "She's my goddess."

"So?" Syr asked.

"So it's not like that," Ethan said. "I just want to keep her safe."

Syr grinned and Ethan rolled his eyes.

"I'm not in love with Hestia," Ethan said.

"Who's in love with Hestia?" a brunette catgirl, Anya Fromel, asked, walking out of the back of the shop.

"No one," Ethan said.

"Ethan is," Syr said.

"Would you knock it off?" Ethan grumbled. "I am not."

"He wants to keep her safe, he's constantly thinking about her, and he feels like he might be sick whenever he does," Syr listed, counting them on her fingers.

"Wow," Anya said. "You really do love her."

"Oh my...no, I don't!" Ethan argued. "I'm just serving my goddess."

"It's okay to admit it," Anya said.

"Oh, he's not just denying it," Syr said. "He's never been in love so he doesn't believe me that that's what he's feeling."

"What!?" Anya gasped. "Never?"

"I've been busy trying to build a better life for my sister," Ethan said. "I never cared about relationships before."

"Wow," Anya said. "No wonder you don't realize you're in love."

"I'm not in love!" Ethan argued.

"If it keeps up, pretty soon you'll start imagining yourself having a family with her," Ryuu said, stepping out of the back as well.

"Oh, not you too!" Ethan groaned.

"You should tell her," Syr said. "Then maybe she'd decide she doesn't really like Bell and I-other people would be able to win him over."

"Wait, she likes Bell?" Ethan asked.

"Completely," Ryuu said. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Ethan said. "I'm not in love with her." He groaned. "This isn't getting anywhere. Can I just have a drink to help me sleep?"

"Sure," Syr smiled, pouring him one. "Alcohol always helps me dream about my crush too."

Ethan, having been partway through taking a drink already, began to choke and cough, shooting her a dirty look, even as he coughed up half his swallow. "I'm not in love with her!"

Syr simply smiled and Ethan rolled his eyes, finishing the drink before paying and leaving. He walked back to the church and headed back to bed, only for the annoying conversation to return to his mind, Ryuu's input returning just as he slipped into sleep, which, of course, resulted in that exact thing happening. When he finally woke, he groaned miserably, burying his head under his pillow. They were wrong. He wasn't in love with Hestia. He was just grateful for having been given a second chance.

"Bye Goddess!" Bell's voice called out. "I'll see you later!"

Ethan heard Hestia grumbling, though he couldn't make out her words, and the front door opened, then closed. Ethan sighed, standing. He'd rested long enough. It was time for him to go restock on healing potions and head back into the dungeon. However, as he reached the front door, Hestia was also leaving.

"Good morning Goddess," Ethan said.

"Oh, good morning," Hestia smiled.

Ethan paused, frowning slightly for a moment as he felt his heart skip a beat and his cheeks warm slightly. He clenched his teeth slightly. Damn those women at the Hostess. It wasn't like that.

"Are you okay?" Hestia asked.

"Yeah," Ethan said. "Just anxious to get stronger." He glanced at her as they walked toward town. "If I may, where are you going?"

Hestia hesitated before smiling. "I'm going to work."

"Work?" Ethan asked. "But...you're a Goddess. Aren't we supposed to support you?"

"Well...I didn't like the thought of Bell being the only one making money and doing everything to support me, so I started working to help," Hestia said. "It's not much, but it's the best I can do. We don't really have much money, so I wanted to support Bell as much as I could to thank him for everything he's done for me."

Ethan nodded. "You love him, don't you?"

"Yes," Hestia said, blushing slightly.

"How do you know?" Ethan asked.

"What do you mean?" Hestia asked.

"I mean, what does it feel like?" Ethan asked. "To be in love."

"What, have you never been in love before?" Hestia asked.

"No," Ethan said. "My whole life, the only people who ever mattered to me were my family. Then my brothers died one day while in the dungeon, and it was just me and my sister. I devoted myself to protecting her and supporting her, so I never had time for things like love."

"Oh," Hestia said. "Well...It's...kind of hard to describe. I'm really happy when I'm with him, and I'm always thinking about him. Every time it does I feel really giddy and excited, but also nervous. But then, it also kind of hurts sometimes, because even though I love him, he's in love with Wallenwhatsit."

I see," Ethan said, staring at the ground. "It sounds complicated."

"It is," Hestia said. "It's the most complicated feeling I've ever had. But I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Ethan nodded, then stopped as they reached the potion shop he always went to. "I'll see you in few days, Goddess."

She nodded and walked away. He frowned, watching her walk for a moment as a sold, slightly empty feeling filled him, his chest aching. Then, he turned to the shop's owner, buying his usual load out of potions before heading for the dungeon. He sighed. If that was how love felt, then he supposed there was no point to arguing it anymore. The image of Hestia smothering Bell out of jealousy that she might lose him flashed through his mind again, and his chest compressed badly. He grit his teeth, ignoring it and walking into dungeon, heading down further than before.

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