Among adventurers, there was a saying that alcohol was the next best thing after elixirs and potions. It healed the mind where the others healed the body. And after a few life-and-death encounters in the Dungeon, even the hardiest warrior needed a good pint of ale.

Case in point: the Hestia Familia.

"Whew! That's the good stuff!"

"Hey! Welf! You need to wait for Master Bell to arrive before drinking!"

"It's fine, L'il Lily! Besides, Bell's not even old enough to drink yet. He won't mind if I have a sip,"

Welf poured a mouthful of beer down his throat. He sat at a round table with the rest of his Familia members and allies, relaxing and having fun after their nightmarish expedition to the middle floors.

They had reserved a table at the Benevolent Mistress to celebrate their captain's release from the hospital. The poor boy had been bed-bound for weeks, and they thought that it would be a fine way to cheer him up and celebrate the fact they were all alive and well.

After the hell they went through — first the Moss Giant, then the Juggernaut and Amphisbaena — it was sorely needed.

"Hey elf!" Aisha called out, "Are you sure you should be working? You were pretty messed up, last I heard,"

"Yes. My injuries have all healed, and I was cleared to return to work a few days ago. Thank you for your concern, Amazon"

The elven waitress and ex-adventurer had gone through her fair share of battles and trauma. The fact that she had recovered so quickly spoke of her strength and resilience. It was something that Aisha deeply respected, though she wouldn't ever say that outloud. She had a reputation to maintain.

"Mrow! Why isn't the little fox worried about us?! I call favouritism!"

"Anya you dumbass, it's because we didn't do anything!"

"Hey now! Please calm down, you two!"

The other waitresses ran around the background. Lunoir loudly scolded her colleague while Syr laughed while pinning a massive poster on one of the pub's walls, right behind the table the Hestia Familia was using.

The poster had ELEGIA written out in simple, blocky letters right across the top. Below, there were rows upon rows of faces, each rendered in meticulous detail. They filled up the paper with their fierce eyes, until there was little to no free space.

They were each a dead adventurer or patron deity, who had achieved great feats but died anyway to monsters and Evilus members.

"It's almost time for Elegia, huh?" Daphne pointed out, sipping a glass of orange juice.

"Yup," Welf responded, also drinking from his tankard of orange juice vodka, "Gotta get the partying done now, until the somber mood hits,"

"..."

"Cassandra, for god's sake it's not Elegia yet. You can relax and have a little fun for once, you know?"

Daphne poked her old friend between the eyes, earning a quiet yelp. As usual, the healer had been shifting around nervously like a small animal hiding from larger predators.

"But Daphne," she whined, rubbing her forehead, "I had a dream again! A sudden revelation will strike the surroundings like thunderbolts, finally driving the rabbit out of his burrow!"

"Uh, huh, and I had a dream too. I dreamed that you were full of nonsense,"

"Daphne!"

There was a brief clamour of movements as Ryu and Chloe brought out trays filled with food. Soon, the table was heaped with roasted meats, salads, and soups. Columns of steam billowed outwards, and the sound of several rumbling stomachs could soon be heard.

"Man, how long is Bell gonna take?" Welf complained, half tipsy at this point.

As if that was the magic question, the door jingled open as a white-haired human boy stepped into the building.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late! I had to get my cast checked one last time before I could leave,"

He quickly slid into a seat.

"Master Bell!"

"Good to see you alive, boy!"

"Hello, Bell,"

Several people greeted him. Syr handed him a portion of food and drinks, teasing him all the while of being a growing boy. The rabbit-like human blushed, but still eagerly accepted and dug into his plate.

Conversation lulled somewhat as the feast began in full.

Bell observed each of his friends laughing and eating and serving each other food, and was filled with gratitude. Here he was, alive and safe, surrounded by people he could proudly call family, even if there was no blood connection.

He could almost weep.

Blinking away happy tears, he looked around for a distraction. This was a celebration of life, there was no need for tears.

The Elegia poster immediately caught his eye. He scanned the faces of his fellow adventurers and their gods, wondering what lives and legacies they left behind, when three faces in particular caught attention.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, pointing at the poster, "There's my Aunt Alfia! And my Uncle Zald! And oh my gods, even my gramps is there! I guess adventuring runs in my family, huh?"

He went back to munching on a carrot, oblivious to the absolute nuclear bomb of information he just dropped on everyone.

Welf and Aisha spewed out the alcohol they had been guzzling for their drinking contest.

Ryu shattered the ceramic plate she had just picked up from their table.

Lily slipped and face-planted on the floor, just as Daphne choked on the chicken wing she was in the middle of eating.

Haruhime sputtered wordlessly as even she recognized the people Bell had named. She grabbed Mikoto's arm and shook her deathly-pale friend, pointing and gesturing wildly at Bell.

Syr dropped her ever-present smile, a look of pure shock written on her face.

"...what the fuck did you just say?!"

"MROW?!"

Anya and Lunoir summed up the general consensus rather elegantly.


Bell was immediately swarmed by all his friends, food and chairs knocked aside in the mad rush to get answers.

"Master Bell, you know them?!" Lily screeched, pointing more clearly to the woman named Alfia.

"Um, yes?"

"What do you mean 'um, yes'? Does Master Bell know them or not?!"

"Well, I never met them. But my grandpa had pictures of them that he'd show me sometimes. He never said they were adventurers though,"

The captain of the Hestia Familia spoke nervously. He wondered if maybe his late aunt and uncle were criminals or bandits instead of normal adventurers.

"There's no way," Daphne muttered, "His grandpa was probably just senile, or playing a prank. There's no way,"

"The prophecy came true!" Cassandra yelled, eyes glittering.

At this point, even the other patrons and Mama Mia herself had heard what was going on. There were several stunned faces as people tried to process the fact that Rabbit Foot claimed blood ties with two of history's strongest warriors.

There's no fucking way.

"Wait. Bell," Aisha spoke, elbowing her way towards him and getting right up in his face, "Which one did you say was your grandpa? I could have sworn you pointed to this old man, but that can't be it, right?"

She pointed towards a tall, greying man sporting a wide grin. Although his face was marked with wrinkles, he had a lively air about him that made him seem younger than he probably was.

He wore a crown of laurels on his head.

"No, you're right. That's definitely my gramps. He was a bit older when he died, but that's definitely him in the picture,"

"..."

There was a deafening silence as everyone else recognized the deity Bell had claimed as his grandfather.

Zeus — King of the Olympian Gods, Lord of the Sky, Cloud-Gatherer, Father of All the World's Eagles, Thunderer and Titan-Slayer.

For a moment, there was the unanimous thought that Bell was lying. He had seldom lied before, and they couldn't imagine him telling such a blatant and vain lie, but the alternative seemed plain impossible.

Syr peered closely at the portrait of Zeus. She took in the lightning god's face, his hair colour, the shape of his nose and of his cheeks.

She looked back at Bell.

"...oh, I kind of see it now. Oh, that makes a lot of sense,"

Bell turned to look at the crowd of people staring at him. They looked at the wide, innocent, rubellite eyes looking back at them, saw his face overlapping with Zeus's, and realized at that moment that the boy was not lying.

One bar patron swallowed his saliva, and lifted a trembling finger to point at the boy.

"Godling," he uttered.

Then he passed out.


"What? Guys, what are you talking about? You're kind of scaring me,"

The young boy flinched back. He didn't know why that stranger had called him Godling, or why he had passed out afterwards. Already, more people were standing up and looking at him with dumbstruck faces.

Mama Mia suddenly slammed her fist down on the counter, spraying wood chips into the air as all the adventurers sprung back and adopted fighting poses.

"ALRIGHT!" she roared, "WE ARE NOW CLOSED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC! EVERY NON-ADVENTURER, GET YER ASSES OUT BEFORE I THROW YOU OUT!"

The regular customers quickly dashed away. They realized that this was not their place to meddle in. One poor guy had to run back into the building to drag his unconscious friend out, spewing apologies as he did so.

"Now, Bell," Mama Mia said, dragging a stool out in front of him, "I need you to be completely honest with me now: is Alfia really your aunt, Zald your uncle, and Zeus your grandfather? This is not time for fucking around, you hear?"

Bell shrunk back, and looked to his friends for support. But they were too stunned to offer any.

They looked at him like he was a stranger.

He had never felt more confused and alone, not since his grandpa died and left him by himself in their empty farmhouse.

What's going on?

"I-I...Alfia is my aunt by blood, but I was told that Zald was just a sworn brother to my father. But Zeus isn't my grandfather by any means!"

"But Sir Bell!" Mikoto cut in, too curious to stay quite any longer, "That gentleman you pointed out, you say he's your grandfather?"

"Yeah?"

"Sir Bell, that man is Lord Zeus,"

"What? No he isn't. That's my Grandpa Jove. He might've been an adventurer, but he definitely wasn't a god"

There was adamant denial in Bell's face and his voice. He couldn't fathom his storytelling, womanizing grandpa as the mighty Zeus, patron deity of history's strongest Familia.

"Bell," Ryu said softly, "That is indeed Lord Zeus. Lady Astrea kept portraits of all the Olympian deities that ever came down to the Mortal Realm. That is unmistakably Lord Zeus,"

"I-I don't...no, that can't be true. It can't. He would've told me,"

The boy shook his head harder, almost desperately. Welf laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, after shaking off his shock.

"Dude, I'm sorry to say this, but maybe your old man didn't say anything to protect you? He may be a god, but he lost his Familia years ago. He was an easy target,"

"And if I may interject," Haruhime spoke meekly, "I...believe Jove is another name that the God Zeus went by,"

"The little fox is right," Aisha affirmed.

"But...But that would mean…"

Bell did not finish his sentence. But he didn't need to. The unspoken words of that would mean I'm the descendant of a god echoed in everyone's mind. If Zeus were indeed Bell's biological grandparent, he would be a living miracle. His existence would defy the ancient mandate stating that gods could not bear offsprings with mortals.

It would change everything.

But sitting next to him, his friends couldn't imagine it. A deity's presence was divine. Even a blind, deaf, and dumb mortal could tell if they were in the presence of a god, or even just a spirit. And though Bell drew people to him, he had not an ounce of divine aura.

He was purely and wholly human.

"Lily thinks that Master Bell was probably the child of someone in the Zeus Familia," Lily interjected with a calm voice, "After the Famillia disbanded, Lord Zeus probably adopted you and raised you in secret,"

This story made the most sense, and was more reasonable than Bell being a divine miracle. The boy leaned over the table of abandoned food, holding his head with his hands.

"Do mew need a snack?" Anya offered, not knowing what else to do.

Bell didn't respond.


It was too late to do anything that night, but right at daybreak the next day, the entire Hestia Familia, most of Miach's Familia, Aisha, and several waitresses skipping out on their shift struck off for the Guild.

They needed to get answers before the rumours started distorting the facts.

Although Bell had recognized his aunt, uncle, and grandfather, he admitted that he was never shown any pictures of his parent's faces.

"Gramps...Lord Zeus...he said he'd draw them for me one day, but he never did,"

There was such devastation and exhaustion in the boy's face that no one pressed him on that. But although he didn't know their faces, he knew his mother's name.

"Her name was Meteria,"

"What about your dad?"

"Well, Gramps said he was a good-for-nothing leech and that I was better off not knowing,"

"Ah...gotcha,"

No one recognized the name Meteria, but they hoped that she was a member of Zeus, or maybe Hera Familia, and so would be catalogued by the Guild.

"Coming through!"

With that advance warning, Aisha kicked open the doors to the Guild building at six in the morning on a Sunday.

"Was that really necessary?" Ryu mumbled to herself.

Since no one is ever ready to do anything at six A.M on a Sunday, their entrance startled several receptionists and workers awake. They fumbled with their papers and wiped their drool away as they tried to look presentable.

One of them, a half-elf with glasses, accidentally made eye-contact.

Oh no.

"Hey, you!" Aisha roared, leading the charge as she marched in with the gang behind her, "You're the boy's advisor right? He needs some advising right now,"

A bedraggled boy stepped out from the throng of people. He gave her a smile, but it was clear from the heavy bags under his eyes that he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night.

Eina blinked in confusion.

"Um, Bell? Do...you need some...help?"

"Morning, Miss Eina. Could we actually get a private meeting room? I...have a lot to tell you about,"

"Of course! Come this way…Bell and...friends?"

Eina was hoping to just talk with Bell. Even though he was stronger than most of the people standing behind him, he was still much less threatening. His friend's intense stares were scaring her witless.

But unfortunately for her, the entire group trailed behind her as she led Bell to one of the private rooms at the back of the Guild.

Misha whispered her condolences for her friend.

It wasn't long until everyone was crammed inside a small room meant for consultations between advisor and adventurer. Technically, the two waitresses wearing the Benevolent Mistress's green uniforms shouldn't be allowed in at all, but the hidden knife that one of them discretely flashed at her stifled any complaints.

Gods help me.

"So…" Eina began, sitting across from them on an armchair, "What can I help you with today?"

Observing him more closely, Eina saw the way Bell's shoulders were curled inwards in defeat. He seemed so small and vulnerable, and Eina was hit with the realization that he was still only a fourteen-year old boy, just barely into his teenage years.

Eina was suddenly grateful that his friends were so intent on supporting him. She made a mental note to not report their disregard for Guild rules.

"...Do you have any information on a woman named Meteria? She...might've been part of Zeus or Hera Familia,"

Even just asking the request seemed to drain the white-haired boy of all energy. He slumped into the sofa he sat on. Lily shuffled closer to him while Welf threw an arm around his friend's shoulder. The rest of the group converge on Bell, offering silent support.

Renewed with enthusiasm, Eina quickly rummaged through files and cabinets packed neatly around the room. Any information on Zeus and Hera Familia would be almost fifteen years old at this point, but they should still have been preserved by the Guild.

Nothing showed up in the catalogue of Zeus Familia members. But when Eina was leafing through the non-combatant members of Her Familia, she came upon the file..

The name Meteria was written neatly underneath the portrait of a beautiful woman. She had kind eyes and long, silver hair framing a cherubic face.

She looks a bit familiar…

Wait…

Eina's eyes flitted between Meteria's picture and Bell's face. She realized with a start that aside from their eye colours, they were nearly identical.

"Um, I believe that I've found her...but I have...a lot of questions,"

"Believe me, so do we," responded the one elven waitress.

Bell took the file on Meteria, and stroked the portrait with shaking fingers. His touch was gentle and soft, as if he was afraid the ink might catch on his fingers and destroy the delicate lines.

"She looks just like me," he whispered.

"Are you two related?"

"She was my mother,"

"Oh,"

Eina eyed the deceased label on the file, and offered her condolences. But that sounded empty, even to her.

"Well damn," Daphne said, rubbing her eyes, "I guess that proves it, huh?"

There were nods of agreement all around, except from Eina, who hadn't been told anything yet.

"Bell, what's going on? Why is your mother…"

"..."

"Master Bell, do you want Lily to explain?"

"..."

Bell nodded at his supporter's suggestion. He seemed to be holding back tears as he looked at his dead mother's face for the first time in his life.

Lily drew herself up, and delivered the news very gently.

"Master Bell is the adopted grandson of Lord Zeus, and nephew to Zald 'Gluttony' and Alfia 'The Incarnation of Talent'"

"...What?!"


News travelled quickly after that.

Several leaflets and newspapers had written front-page articles about how the infamous record-breaker was related to legends, and might even carry divine blood in his veins.

He's the grandson of Zeus! They whispered with almost manic glee.

Hestia Familia had been bombarded by deities and mortals alike, all desperate for gossip. But the combined efforts of several feisty waitresses and a disgruntled Amazon quickly drove most of them off. The ones who tried to stick around were quietly dispatched by a certain goddess of Beauty's followers.

Hestia herself had been rattled by the news, but she prioritized Bell over her curiosities. At an emergency Denatus meeting, she had straightened out the truth with her fellow deities. Hermes and Freya were both particularly supportive of her, glaring down any gods who got too insensitive or pushy.

Even with the support though, she was still gone several days.

In her absence, Bell had a crisis of self.

"What am I supposed to do with this information?!"

The boy had finally broken down with the downpour of information that had rained down on him. He stood in Hearthstone Mansion's living room, disheveled and bone-weary. His friends stood around him, worried out of their minds.

They were afraid that he would do something drastic in his current state, and it would take all of them working together to keep the powerful level four adventurer subdued, if it came to the worst.

"Master Bell," the gentle Haruhime cooed, "Please, this doesn't change anything, we would never-"

"LIAR!"

Bell wailed.

"You all looked at me like I was a stranger!"

His accusation struck his friends at a soft, vulnerable place. They opened their mouths to object, to deny with every fibre of their being, but blazing ruby eyes stared them down.

Though they glistened with tears, his eyes still looked straight through them, down to their souls.

They knew then that the boy would see through every lie they gave him.

Maybe he has godhood in him, yet.

It was well known that divine beings could see through every lie and misdirection woven by mortals. Standing before them, Bell seemed to have that skill.

But this thought ashamed them.

Here was Bell, youngest and bravest among them, always eager to help out wherever he could. He had gone through hell, fought monsters and demons for each of them, held out his hand to each of them when they were naught but strangers, and this is how they treat him in return?

No. Not like this.

It was Lily, one of his oldest friends, who spoke up first.

"Lily…Lily doesn't know what Master Bell is going though right now,"

"I don't think you're alone there, L'il Lily," Welf laughed half-heartedly.

"We don't know how this will affect you, Sir Bell," Mikoto continued.

"All we know is that you are burdened with something that we can't help you carry," Syr admitted with a somber voice.

"You can't run from it either. You can only face the truth," Daphne affirmed.

"But hey, if you can face monster frogs and crazy goddesses of lust, then you can face this too!" Aisha joked with a wide grin.

"And when you need rest or support, or even just a shoulder to cry on…" Cassandra added softly.

"We'll be here, even if we don't understand, even if we make mistakes too. We'll always be here," finished Ryu. There was not the slightest hint of hesitation in her voice. She spoke as if she was stating a simple fact.

The outpouring of support from his family struck a deep chord in Bell. He felt the warmth of their affection more clearly than any fireplace, more clearly than even the sunlight on his skin during a warm summer's day.

He cried again, not out of despair this time, but pure relief and happiness and release.


Years later, after yet untold trials and tribulations, a young man would pick up a pen and begin writing a story.

"I am Bell Cranel, Son of Meteria and Child of Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home.

"I was raised by Grandpa Zeus, fed with stories of Uncle Zald, Aunt Alfia, and countless other great heroes.

'I explored and fought beside strangers, who became friends, then teammates, then family to me.

"I am Bell Cranel, and this is my Familia Myth,"


Note:

This began as a funny story inspired by a Reddit post asking "hey wouldn't it be funny if Bell just off-handedly mentioned he was related to all these famous, almost mythical people"?

Well, it spiralled out of control and became a lot more serious and dramatic than I intended. Whoops.

I also wrote the whole thing and forgot about Hestia. Had to kind of shove her aside for the whole story. Again, whoops.

Hope you guys enjoyed it!