A/N: I said in the first chapter that my daily schedule was really sporadic. Yesterday and a decent chunk of today turned out to be one of those days where I had a lot to do and very little downtime but, thankfully, I was able to get this done today. I'm pretty happy with it.

To answer a few questions that were asked in the comments:

Rios: The Hestia knife doesn't really look that different than in canon. It's a little longer, has Dovahzul runes on it, and the handle has a very slight reddish hue. In most lights, it would just look black.

Zelathin: Does he know the shout? Yes. Will he ever need to use it? Maybe. I haven't decided.

Guest: In terms of the Hestia Familia. I do want to have it grow beyond the canon characters. That's one of my goals. That said, I will probably not do too much in depth character building on them for a while. Once I have established the core members of the Familia, they will be the driving focus. Kinda like in the Loki Familia. There are a bunch of named characters who are mostly in the background, but the focus is on the executives.

Please leave a review if you guys have any questions or comments.

Hearthfire

Chapter 7

Torrhen

The morning following their encounter with the drunken werewolf was hectic as they scrambled to prepare for the Monsterphilia celebrations. Torrhen was fascinated by the idea of monster taming. It had been attempted several times in Tamriel's history but with very little success, so it would be interesting to see the process they used here.

Bell, it seemed, had recovered from his embarrassment over the events of the night before as he let Hestia talk his ear off about all the things she wanted to do. The two of them were clearly more interested in the myriad stalls and limited time shops or items that would be around during the celebration. Part of their excitement was due to the fact that they had ample money to spend at the festival.

After a long conversation during their first week about how the Familia would be handling money, it had been agreed that Torrhen would pay for the renovations and, for a limited time, food and other necessities. Those expenses would eventually be taken over by the slowly growing Familia fund. They had decided that Bell, and all future members of the Familia, would put 10% of their daily earnings into the Familia fund.

Hestia had been adamant about contributing to their funds and had initially gotten a job at a rather popular food stall, but Torrhen didn't think that was dignified for a goddess so, spying an investment opportunity, he had given Hestia the funds needed to buy the food stall and several others around the city. As owner, Hestia earned a cut of the profits each stall made. 10% of her weekly profits would go into the Familia fund, 20% was going towards paying Torrhen back for his initial investment, but the rest was for Hestia herself to spend. She had already made enough to buy a few decent things to expand her wardrobe and was giddy at the thought of how much money her stalls would make at Monsterphilia. She had even branched out and decided to invest in the shop of a fellow god.

Apparently Miach, a friend of Hestia's, was a god who ran a mid-level potioneering and healing Familia that had fallen on hard times. While successful, they had incurred heavy debts from Dian Cecht when trying to replace their Captain's missing arm and most of the Familia members had abandoned them. Hestia invested in their store, wanting to help Miach get back on his feet and, after meeting Miach, Torrhen had approved. Having an in with a skilled alchemist and healer was always a good thing and Miach seemed like a good man.

Bell, on the other hand, had been saving his money ever since their first day in the Dungeon so it had grown to a reasonable size. He had put away half of his earnings to pay for his new armor, but the rest was available for him to use however he wished. As a kid from a rural farming village, he had never attended a festival anywhere near the size of Monsterphilia and was very excited to see what it had to offer.

Leaving around mid-morning, the trio made their way towards the Colosseum on the other side of the city. Most of the stalls and decorations for the event had been set up around it since the monster taming was the main event. Torrhen smiled to himself as they walked through the festival grounds. It had been many years since he had last attended a festival, with the last being the celebrations following the coronation of Elisif's great-grandson as High King of Skyrim.

Torrhen separated from Hestia and Bell at the entrance to the festival market area. The two of them enthusiastically browsing through the stalls while he headed straight for the Colosseum. The Colosseum itself reminded him of the Grand Arena in the Imperial City, though the layout was rather different. Finding himself a decent seat, Torrhen watched with interest as the Ganesha Familia prepared to bring out the first monster.

"Ganesha is a very…strange god," Torrhen thought to himself as Ganesha announced the start of the taming. He seemed very self-absorbed, shouting 'I am Ganesha!' at the end of every sentence, but he was a very good showman. His introduction got the crowd excited, and they were probably used to his eccentricities. Torrhen leaned forward in his seat as the first tamer unlocked the cage containing a monster boar. Monsterphilia had begun.

Bell

Bell was very excited as he and Goddess Hestia went browsing from stall to stall. They had mostly stopped at food stalls so far, and he had been enthralled by all the new and exotic foods that were being sold. He'd never even heard of half of these, and they were all delicious!

He and Hestia had decided to spend the morning going through the festival market, trying all the different foods, and browsing through the souvenirs on display at the booths set up around the Coloseum. After noon, they would head to the Colosseum to catch the second half of the monster taming. Mr. Torrhen had been very interested in seeing the monsters brought up from the Dungeon and whether or not the members of the Ganesha Familia could really tame them, so he had gone straight to the Colosseum after they had arrived. Bell was pulled from his thoughts when Goddess Hestia grabbed his hand and pulled him towards another stall, massive smiles plastered across both of their faces as they enjoyed the festivities.

Freya

She stood in the preparation area beneath the Colosseum staring at a cage. Members of the Ganesha Familia stood across the hall, charmed into mindless obedience and forgetfulness as she had passed them by. "Such silly children," she thought, "barely worth my time." A smile stretched across her face as her eyes flashed, pulling the monstrous ape in the cage under her spell. The beast would make a fine test for the younger of her new playthings. She had already seen him running around the grounds with that little snit, Hestia.

Her eyes flashed again as she gave the monster its target. She wondered how his soul would change if it managed to kill his goddess. Then again, him succeeding in besting the monster would be just as entertaining. She could barely wait to see the results.

She turned away, silently commanding her charmed drones to break open the other monster cages after she had left. The chaos would be thrilling.

Torrhen

"Well, this has certainly been entertaining," Torrhen thought, as he watched a member of the Ganesha Familia try to ride an Infant Dragon. The monster taming had been fun to watch, though not terribly effective. The 'tamers' had managed to train several lower-level monsters to do various things, but the monsters would still attack anyone that wasn't their tamer without warning. They would even occasionally attack the tamer even after they had been successfully 'tamed.'

Torrhen had spent decades attuning himself to dangerous situations, honing his senses to ensure he could never be ambushed, so when sudden sense of foreboding passed over him, he paid full attention to it. Something was wrong, Torrhen was sure of it as looked around, trying to find the source of the feeling. He spotted the amazon twins and one of the elves from the Loki Familia making their way out of the stands, concerned looks on their faces. Turning towards the announcer's box, he could see Ganesha speaking frantically with members of his Familia. "Something has definitely gone wrong," he thought as he stood from his seat, making his way out of the stadium.

Lefiya

Lefiya tried not to panic as she ran through the streets of Orario, following Ms. Tione and Ms. Tiona. After noticing that something was wrong, they had made their way out of the stadium and found Goddess Loki. Their goddess had, alarmingly, informed them that a large number of monsters had escaped and were rampaging through the streets. Goddess Loki had already sent Ms. Ais to destroy as many as she could.

Determined to help Ms. Ais, Lefiya had followed Ms. Tione and Ms. Tiona as they had rushed off to help stop the rampaging monsters. Despite having no weapons, Ms. Tione and Ms. Tiona were Level 5 and more than strong enough to handle most monsters bare-handed. Lefiya was only level 3 and nowhere near as confident in her ability to help. As a mage, she could cast her magic without her staff, so she promised herself that she would do her best to help them.

"I will not mess up again," She thought as she ran behind the others. During their last expedition, Lefiya had been scared by a monster and unable to finish her incantation. Ms. Ais had to step up and save her and Ms. Riveria had been forced to take her place in the battle. Lefiya was determined not to mess up again. She would help this time.

The three of them ran into one of the market areas just in time to see Ms. Ais destroy the last of the monsters that had been smashing up the stalls in the courtyard. "Ms. Ais is amazing!" Lefiya said, resting her hands on her knees.

"At this point, we won't even get a chance to fight," Ms. Tione said, disappointed.

"Shall we leave it to Ais today, then?" Ms. Tiona asked, her hands behind her head.

"Perhaps we should," Lefiya said. If Ms. Ais really had it handled that well, they should probably stay out of her way. "We didn't even bring our weapons or anything…" Lefiya was cut off by a rumbling sound before a strange creature burst out of the ground, towering over the nearby buildings. It was a single long green tendril with some kind of pointed head, which it used to start smashing stalls and buildings. The bottom of its body was still embedded in the ground.

"What is that thing? Some kind of snake?" Ms. Tiona asked, running towards it.

"I've never seen anything like it before!" Ms. Tione answered, running as well.

"Where did those Ganesha guys even FIND this thing?!" Ms. Tiona shouted as she dodged one of its attacks.

"We need to stop it!" Ms. Tione shouted back. "Lefiya, start chanting!"

"R..Right!" Lefiya replied, backing away as the twins barreled wards the monster and, jumping into the air, brought their fists down on the monsters' long neck, slamming it into the ground.

"Agh" Ms. Tione cried as they sprang back up.

"Gods that's hard!" Ms. Tiona yelled as she pulled away from the monster. "What the hell is this weird thing?!"

"I wish we had our weapons!" Ms. Tione said, dodging another attack.

Lefiya stood back, preparing her chant. A full power chant might destroy part of the city but a shorter one would allow her to control her power output and react faster. "Unleash a streak of light, bow and arrow of the holy tree." Lefiya began her chant, "Thou art a master of the bow. Fire, O elven archer. May your arrow strike true." The monster suddenly turned towards her. It was reacting to her magic!

A sudden cracking sounded, and a tendril burst from the ground, knocking Lefiya into the air. Landing on a shattered stall, Lefiya let out a gasp of pain as she felt something pierce her side.

"Lefiya!" The twins cried. The snake monsters head suddenly opened, blooming to show a mouth filled with gnashing teeth.

"That thing is a flower?!" Ms. Tiona screamed.

Seven more flower monsters suddenly sprung from the ground, tangling up the twins as they tried to rush to Lefiya. Ms. Tione's voice rang out. "Lefiya, are you alright?!"

"We could use some help over here!" Ms. Tiona yelled.

"No…I'm doing it again," Lefiya thought, her side screaming in pain. One of the plant monsters was looming over her, teeth gnashing. "I know…she'll come and rescue me again. Ms. Ais will..." A blade slashed through the plant monster, destroying it, and a figure dropped to the ground in front of Lefiya but it definitely wasn't Ms. Ais.

The figure was an older human man with dark hair and an ethereal sword in his hand. The blade vanished as he turned towards Lefiya. "Are you alright?" He asked as he approached her.

Lefiya tried to answer but could only cry out in pain as her side flared up.

"Lefiya!" There was Ms. Ais! The wind of her Tempest spell dissipating as she landed.

"I've got her." The human said. "They need your help more right now," he gestured towards the twins. They were definitely having trouble. One of the plant monsters had Ms. Tione by the ankle and another had Ms. Tiona's wrist caught in its jaws.

Ms. Ais nodded at the human. "Tempest," she incanted. Wind surged around her legs, and she rushed off to help the others.

The human pulled Lefiya from the wreckage. She grit her teeth as her side flared up again. "Hold still, I've got you," he said. He turned away, waving his hand and, to Lefiya's astonishment, a domed magical shield sprang up around them. The human turned to her again, his fist clenched. A strange glow was emanating from the closed hand, the same greenish blue color as the magical shield.

One of the plant monsters slammed a tendril against the dome, eliciting a grunt from the human. The dome didn't so much as budge. He raised his other hand and once again Lefiya was astonished as, without a word, a glowing golden magic sprang from the mans outstretched hand and enveloped her.

Lefiya gasped as a wave of relief washed over her. The pain was gone! She could feel her wound closing! After barely a moment, she felt even better than she had before she'd been hit. She stood.

"Thank you for your help," she said, gratefully.

"My pleasure," he said. The man turned to look at the battle. "They need help," he said. Lefiya turned as well. He was right. Ms. Ais was caught in one of the plant monsters' jaws and the twins were tangled up in the tendrils of the others. "I'm going to give them a hand," the man said. "Start chanting again the moment the ward falls." Lefiya nodded. She would not fail again.

The man readied himself. "Now!" He shouted. The shield fell and the human bolted forward. Lefiya raised her hands and began to chant.

Torrhen

Torrhen dashed away from the elf girl he had healed, summoning another bound sword as he did. Jumping over a sweeping tendril he Shouted. "FIIK LO SAH." A phantom doppelganger was summoned into being and sprinted to the left, grabbing the focus of several of the strange plants. Torrhen ran right and leapt into the air, his bound sword slashing through the tendrils holding the amazon girls.

The two landed on their feet and, shouting thanks over their shoulders, jumped back into the fray. Wallenstein had managed to free herself, using the hilt-shard of her broken sword to kill the monster that had been trying to eat her. She too jumped back into the fray.

There were now six of the plant monsters remaining. Torrhen could probably destroy them quickly with a full power Shout but, with all the chaos, there was too much of a chance he would catch the other fighters in the crossfire. Torrhen drew one of the two daggers sheathed at his waist. A pair of nice, sturdy blades of Nordic design. While he never went about unarmed, he rarely carried his best daggers like the Blade of Woe or Kahvozein's Fang during day-to-day activities.

Torrhen leapt over a slashing tendril. "Head's up!" He hollered and threw the dagger towards the amazon twins. The longer-haired twin caught it by the handle.

"Thanks!" She called out, slashing at a tendril that was trying to wrap around her torso.

Torrhen bounded off a low tendril and lopped the gnashing bulb off the top of one of the plants. The monster exploded into dust as Torrhen landed, back-to-back with the shorter-haired amazon twin. "Catch!" He called, tossing his second dagger up and over his head.

"Got it!" He heard the girl call as he dashed away from her. He had to admit to himself as he ducked under the winding tendrils of another monster, he was having fun. Even though this was definitely not how the festival was supposed to go.

Lefiya

Lefiya continued her chant as she watched the battle. The human who had saved her was an impressive fighter in addition to apparently being a healer. He was moving with even more confidence and grace than Ms. Ais and the twins, and had killed two of the monsters, with only five now remaining.

With her Elf Ring surrounding her, Lefiya neared the end of her chant and raised her voice high as a signal to the others. "My Name is Alf! Wynn Fimbulvetr!" A massive burst of icy wind swirled from her hands, blowing towards the plant monsters. Lefiya's companions and the human all jumped out of the path of the spell. They icy wind froze the monsters in place. Lefiya let out a sigh of joy. She had done it! She had finished her chant and help defeat the monsters!

CRACK! Lefiya looked up, shocked. Two of the monsters at the far end of the battle had started to move again. Her chant had been too short! The spell hadn't kept enough energy to completely freeze the monsters farthest from her! Lefiya raised her hands to frantically begin the chant again when the human jumped forward. He took a deep breath and let out a thunderous call.

"FO KRAH DIIN"

A blast of icy wind flew from the human's mouth, freezing the two monsters even more solidly than the ones Lefiya had caught with her spell. Barely a second after they had been caught in the strange spell, the two monsters shattered into a million pieces. Ms. Ais and the others dashed forward again to destroy the monsters Lefiya had frozen.

As they smashed up the frozen plants, Lefiya stared at the strange human. First, he had saved her with an ethereal sword, then he had made a magic shield, and then he had healed her, all without a word or an incantation. Following that, he had proceeded summon a strange doppelganger with a loud shout. Next, he went on to fight even better in melee combat than Lefiya's Level 5 companions, even arming two of them with his own weapons. Finally, he had used another strange shout to release a spell that was even more powerful than the one Lefiya had spent most of the battle charging up!

Who, in the name of all the gods, was this human?!

Bell

Bell was running for his life, dragging Goddess Hestia along behind him. He and his goddess had been happily browsing the stalls when a series of terrified screams rent the air. Bell had looked around frantically, trying to find out what had happened when he heard a loud thump behind him. He had turned, slowly, to see a massive ape-like monster with red eyes staring down at him and Goddess Hestia.

"A Silverback" His memory provided. Bell and Mr. Torrhen had come across them during their research into the Dungeon. They were ape-like monsters that spawned on the 11th and 12th floors. Bell had no time to wonder about why there was a Silverback on the surface. Later, logic would provide that it must have escaped from the Ganesha Familia but now was no time for logic. The Silverback had raised its massive palm to strike. Now was the time for screaming and running for his life!

Bell had bolted away as fast has his legs would carry him, Goddess Hestia practically being dragged through the air behind him. They ran through the streets, ducking under debris and around other terrified festivalgoers. The other monsters in the street set about attacking whatever was nearest. The many adventurers in the crowd were drawing their weapons or grabbing makeshift ones from the debris and had begun to fight back.

The Silverback ignored all of this. It clearly had its eyes set on Bell and Hestia and there was nothing that would stand in its way. It chased the two of them through the streets and smashed its way through the alleys they ducked down in a frantic attempt to lose it until at last they barreled into an empty courtyard.

There was nowhere left to go. The only way out that was unblocked was the way they had come in and the Silverback was bearing down on them. Bell was having flashbacks. Just two days ago he had been in this exact situation. Stranded in a dead end, facing an overwhelming opponent, with nowhere else to go.

This time was different though. This time, Goddess Hestia was in danger. This time, he had the Hestia Knife, a weapon that was guaranteed to be unbreakable. A weapon whose single-edged black blade extended nearly the full length of his forearm and whose straight, lethal edge curved to a point at the tip of the blade. He had stood in his teachers forge, pumping the bellows upon command, watching as Mr. Torrhen had forged this weapon. For him! His teacher had forged this weapon with the blood of the very goddess who he would now defend, and he would not let either of them down!

Bell pointed to a drainage ditch off to the side of the empty square. "Hide there, Goddess!" He yelled, turning, and drawing his knife.

"Be careful, Bell!" She cried, running towards the ditch. She had only just slid under cover when the Silverback smashed its way into the yard. The brute still had restraints that, when held in a cage would work to keep the beast in place. Unfortunately, now that it was loose, they acted more like armor. Bell dove to the side, dodging a piece of debris the ape had thrown at him.

Rolling, Bell sprang back up and sped towards the Silverback. Speed was his friend here. He had learned from the minotaur that speed was the key to besting larger opponents. Get in, score a hit, and get out before the brute could catch him. Bell did just that, springing off the ground and slashing at the chains that held the Silverback's makeshift armor in place.

The Hestia knife cut through the chains like butter, removing the armor and scoring a deep cut across the Silverback's chest. Bell retreated, trying to figure out the best possible angle of attack while the monster screamed in pain. Noticing the clothes lines hanging across the small square, he raced towards the wall. Springing up and kicking off the wall, Bell used his momentum to turn the clothesline into a makeshift bowstring.

Bell aimed as he soared into the air. Finally, tension and gravity brought him crashing back down and he rammed his knife deep into the Silverback's skull. Bell collapsed to the ground as the monster exploded into dust. "I did it!" He thought. "I won!" As the adrenaline faded, he dimly registered Goddess Hestia hugging him in relief.

Torrhen

Torrhen knelt on the ground, scooping up the magic stone of one of the strange plant monsters. It looked different than the ones he had seen before, but he didn't know enough about them to be sure if it was something to be concerned about. Hearing footsteps, he looked up to see Eina, along with another member of the guild, rushing into the square. Also walking towards them, from the other side of the square and holding the hand of a small child, was the redheaded Goddess Loki.

"What's the situation looking like, Lil Eina?" Loki asked.

"All of the rampaging monsters have been dealt with. This was the last location with reported combat and so far, there have been no reported fatalities." Eina said, breathlessly, as she stopped near them. That was a relief. He had been running around the area killing monsters and looking for Bell for quite some time before stumbling across the plant monsters and the wounded elf.

Speaking of the elf, she was walking towards him. She bowed low, a custom of this world, apparently, and said "thank you very much for healing me, Sir. And for helping with the battle."

"Yeah, thanks for the help, man!" The shorter-haired of the amazon twins interjected as she jogged over, followed by her sister. Eina and the other official were speaking with Wallenstein and Loki.

"The daggers were a big help," the longer-haired twin said, handing the dagger back. Her sister did the same.

"I'm glad I was able to help," Torrhen said as he took the daggers back, sheathing them at his waist again.

"What was with that cool glow-sword you summoned?" The shorter-haired twin asked. "It was so cool! And it cut up those monsters like butter!"

"It's a magic skill I possess," Torrhen said, simply.

"I wish I could summon a glowy version of my Urga. That would be so cool!" She said, excitedly. Torrhen didn't know what an Urga was, but he guessed it was her weapon. He turned as Goddess Loki walked towards him.

"Thanks for helping my kids today," she said. "Ais said you fixed up Lefiya with healing magic and were a big help during the fight."

"I was just in the right place at the right time," Torrhen said.

"What Familia are you with?" Loki asked. "I don't recognize you, but you're clearly quite strong."

"The Hestia Familia," he replied.

"Hestia?" She sounded surprised. "I thought that the Lil Bit only had one member. Some kid at Level 1."

"Technically, she does" Torrhen said. "His name is Bell. He is her only active adventurer. I'm semi-retired and Bell is my student."

"Really? What's your name?" The goddess asked.

"Torrhen."

She shook her head. "No, not that name. Your alias! You're clearly strong, and if you're retired, you must have been given an alias." She stared at him. "I don't remember you, but your energy feels familiar. No, wait. That's a god's energy. Your previous Familia?" She scrunched up her forehead in thought.

"I'm new to Orario," Torrhen said, "and I'm afraid I'll need Goddess Hestia's approval if I'm to answer any of your other questions."

"Well now," Loki was staring again. "The gods were supposed to have a party tomorrow to end the festivities. If that's still on, I'll just have to ask Hestia about you. Still, thank you, again, for helping my kiddos."

"It was my pleasure," Torrhen said before turning to walk back towards the Colosseum. He still needed to find Bell and Hestia to make sure they were alright.

Freya

Staring down at the city as the sun went down, Freya smiled. The chaos had ended a few hours ago but cleanup crews were still moving about the city. Her plan had been a smashing success. So entertaining! While it may have been more fun if her young plaything had failed, seeing him succeed was almost as good.

A/N: There was a lot of combat in this chapter. How did I do?

What do you guys think of what I'm doing with Freya? What about Loki? I know they're both a little different than in canon.

How was my Lefiya? I don't know if I'll do any more from her perspective, but I think it fit for this chapter.

How much of Ais' side story should I include? I haven't ready past the first book of it yet, so that would take some research.

Translations: Fiik Lo Sah (Phantom Form. Mirror Deceive Phantom) Fo Krah Diin (Frost Breath. Frost Cold Freeze)