A/N: Sorry about the delay. Writer's block is difficult to deal with. Still, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

I really appreciate all your comments and reviews. They really help motivate me and kick my butt into gear to get writing. Please leave comments and reviews if you'd like to.

Also, as an attempt to cure my writer's block, I wrote a short little story in a completely different fandom. If you like RWBY, you might be interested. It's just a short little one-shot.

Hearthfire

Chapter 27

Torrhen

Torrhen removed his hood and collapsed onto a couch with a sigh. It was nearly two in the morning, but the entire Familia was awake, hoping to hear the results of his and Lili's investigations. While he'd made significant progress on Mikoto's request, he'd completely struck out on finding information about Apollo and time was running out. Orario was a massive city and it took time for rumors started at the bottom to make their way to the ears of the gods, but it wouldn't be long before Apollo learned that the city was judging his Familia. Torrhen could only hope that Lili had better luck.

"In terms of the Apollo Familia, I struck out," he said, addressing the group. "Did you find anything, Lili?"

The young Pallum nodded, excitedly. "I did!" She grinned. "Turns out you were right. There are some in the Apollo Familia, including one of their executives, that wanted to punish Luan and his party for what they did, but they've been overruled by their captain."

"It's a relief to know that they aren't all bad people." Bell said from his seat next to Hestia. "But how do we deal with them without hurting the innocent ones?"

"We may not have a choice," Welf commented. "I've been in the city longer than most of you, except Lili, and I've heard a lot about Apollo being kind of unpredictable." Lili was nodding along with his statement. "Finn believed that he might even go so far as to declare a War Game."

"That's not something that's done lightly though. Is it?" Mikoto asked.

Hestia sat silent for a moment before speaking up. "Apollo has always had a temper. Not to mention an overinflated ego. The mere mention of someone claiming he or his Familia made a mistake or did something wrong, is likely to set him off. Hell, he was jealous and accusatory of me just because Bell is a record holder. Tried to imply that I'd cheated or something before Loki shut him up."

"Then perhaps we should prepare for the worst," Ouka said, gravely. "At best, we will be able to let the city judge them and it will be enough to force an apology but we should be ready if they declare war."

"I don't want to hurt the innocent though," Chigusa muttered, quietly. Bell nodded in agreement.

"You'll have no choice if Apollo challenges us," Torrhen sighed. "Still, a War Game and a true war are very different. Correct me if I'm wrong, but death in a War Game is extremely rare." Hestia nodded in confirmation. "If we enter a War Game and win, the punishment for the losing Familia is up to us. We can make sure the innocent aren't punished too badly."

"That's true." Hestia said. "Each godly participant names their price and the loser has to pay up. If it comes to it, we could even banish him from the city."

"Is that what we should do?" Ouka asked.

"It depends on what Apollo does," Hestia sighed," but it may be the only way to get him off our backs about it. He'll never offer an apology or pay reparations unless forced and he'd never admit he or his Familia members are at fault."

"Then we should begin our preparations." Mikoto said.

"Not tonight." Bell stated from his chair. "It's late and we all need some sleep. Is there anything else we need to discuss before we all head to bed?"

Torrhen nodded. "Actually, there is. While I didn't make much progress on the Apollo front, I did make progress on another matter." He turned to look at Mikoto. "I found your friend."

Immediately, Mikoto and the others perked up. They stared at him, eyes wide in shock. "Where is she?!" Mikoto demanded.

"Try to stay calm," Torrhen said, soothingly. "For now, she is safe. She's a member of the Ishtar Familia, and not a willing one." The three were about to erupt in outrage but Torrhen cut them off. "Thankfully, although their captain is trying to force her to work as a prostitute, she has a protector. If what I've heard is correct, she is still innocent and hasn't been forced to do anything. Her protector, an executive named Aisha, has managed to shield her from those who would do so against her will. Unfortunately, it seems that Ishtar has plans for her. She's apparently useful in the Dungeon. How? I'm not sure. She doesn't seem very strong. Thankfully, I have a few leads to follow. Best case scenario we can just pay Ishtar to let her go. I'll gladly front the money for her release. Still, I need to find out what her plans are before we approach Ishtar."

"Once you know, I can arrange a meeting." Hestia said, determinedly. "We've managed to get some clout in the city, which is only growing as the rumors spread. It shouldn't be too hard to get a meeting with Ishtar."

"I'll continue my investigation and find out everything I can." Torrhen nodded. "I'll let you know when to arrange the meeting. For now, though, it's late and we could all use some sleep."

Naaza

Naaza was practically skipping through the labs as she continued her work. While this might seem out of character for the normally sleepy-sounding Cienthrope, she simply couldn't help herself. She was just too happy! With three new recruits, two of whom were already exceptionally skilled, and a steadily increasing number of orders, things were looking up for the Miach Familia. They were even planning a recruitment drive and were scouting out locations for a new shop and Familia home!

It hadn't taken long for Shizune to prove that she was every bit as skilled as she'd claimed to be. She was already getting the hang of the new potion methods and had proven to be an effective salesperson when manning the front desk. In the case of her cousin, Sei, the younger girl was taking to alchemy like a fish to water and would soon be producing lower-grade potions that were perfectly effective and sellable.

As for their third new member, he'd joined just one day after Shizune and Sei. A much older human man, Nicholas Flamel was in his mid-60's and had previously been a private alchemical researcher. He'd been utterly enthralled by the stories surrounding her potions that had come out of the Dungeon and resolved to learn more. The day he'd arrived, two of them had become locked in a remarkable discussion that lasted the better part of the day, after which Nicholas had been practically jumping at the chance to join them and learn the new systems.

"Watch the heat, Sei," Nicholas said to their youngest member as Naaza slipped past them and into the back rooms.

Although Nicholas, at Level 3, was the highest leveled member of the Familia, he had absolutely no interest in leadership. Alchemy and research was all that mattered to him so it was agreed that Shizune, who was Level 2, would take up the position of Vice-Captain behind Naaza. Officially, Nicholas would be an executive in charge of research and development, but that didn't mean much when he was the only one of them dedicated solely to that pursuit. In the meantime, he'd taken over teaching Sei about alchemy while simultaneously studying and learning the new systems and recipes. This freed up Shizune to continue her own studies and help Naaza with their new orders. Between the three of them, they were keeping up well and Sei, who was turning out to be an alchemical prodigy, would soon be able to help fill some of the orders.

There was just one other source of joy that had lit up Naaza's life in the recent days and that was the spell books currently sitting in a secure safe at the back of the labs. Torrhen had graciously given them several books on healing spells that would be very helpful once they started to offer healing services alongside alchemical ones. He had, of course, offered to give them lessons in how to use the spells but they simply hadn't had time to read them, let alone take several days off for lessons. They'd gotten swamped so quickly!

Several members of the Loki Familia had come by to fill personal orders, along with dozens of individuals from other Familia's who had all been on the 18th floor during the incident. There had actually been a line leading out their shop door and down the street! The biggest one though, was a massive rush order that they'd received from the Freya Familia just that morning. One of their executives had purchased a catalogue, and then returned the next day to place an order for their coming expedition. It was putting serious pressure on them, but the payday was just too big to pass up! Not to mention the prestige that came with providing potions to the top two Familia in Orario! Things were looking up for the Miach Familia and Naaza couldn't be happier!

Daphne

Daphne grumbled to herself as she trudged through the upper floors of the Apollo Familia home. Things were going downhill quickly for their Familia and it was only going to get worse once Apollo found out what was happening. Several shops and inns in the city had begun to deny the members of the Apollo Familia entrance. Others were jacking up their prices when members tried to buy things. Nobody wanted to trust a Familia that would deliberately get fellow adventurers killed and not even punish the members who'd done it. If Apollo himself forced Luan and his party to apologize in public and pay what compensation Hestia demanded, then it would all blow over. That was never going to happen though.

Daphne herself had tried to apologize despite not being involved! The day she'd first heard the rumors spreading she and Cassandra had made their way to the Hestia Familia home to try and speak with their members. It… hadn't gone well. They never even spoke to them because she'd caught sight of Finn Deimne of all people standing in the courtyard having a friendly chat! Taking a closer look, she'd also spotted what was essentially the entire executive branch of the Loki Familia just kind of hanging out and training with the Hestia Familia!

There was no way she was walking into that! So, she and Cassandra had headed home, intent on trying again another day. She tried, desperately, to convince Hyakinthos to punish Luan and his team. Make them apologize if nothing else! He just wouldn't hear it though. Said that they were members of the 'Great Apollo Familia' and that it meant the opinions of other simply didn't matter. That Luan hadn't done anything wrong and that she was blowing the matter way out of proportion. She could swear he was getting more and more delusional by the day.

"Hyakinthos!" She heard Apollo roar from down the hall. Muffling herself as best she could, Daphne crept closer to the sound. Peeking into the Captain's office, she could see Apollo standing in front of his desk.

"Yes, my lord?" Hyakinthos asked, staring at Apollo in reverence.

"Why am I hearing rumors about my Familia being a group of thugs?!" The 'god' demanded, petulantly.

"Thugs, my lord?"

"Yes! Some nonsense about attempted murder on the middle floors!"

"There was a minor incident involving the Hestia Familia but nothing so drastic!" Hyakinthos sounded outraged. "Luan simply graciously allowed a group of green adventurers to do our great Familia a service. They probably didn't understand what was happening. I can't believe such an insignificant Familia would dare spread such lies about us!"

"Hestia?!" Apollo demanded, furious. "That bitch! How dare she spread such vicious rumors! I'll have her punished for this!"

"As well you should, my lord!" She could practically see Hyakinthos' eyes shining as he looked at Apollo. "What shall be done? Your wish is my command!"

"I must confront Hestia! She already insulted me once at Denatus but this?! She will be punished!" He stood in thought for a moment. "Hyakinthos!" He barked. The fool stood up straight, his eyes shining. "Begin preparations for a party. This needs to be made public. I will shame her for her lies with every god in Orario watching! Then I will challenge her! We will crush her pitiful Familia, take her children, and send her back to the heavens in tears!"

"At once my God!" Hyakinthos bowed low, his eyes burning like stars.

Daphne held in a growl as she beat a hasty retreat down the corridor. This was bad. This was fucking stupid! They couldn't win this. The Hestia Familia's star was on the rise and Apollo's reputation was sinking into the mud. Not to mention the fact that they were clearly friends with the Loki Familia! This was going to end very badly for her Familia and Daphne was having none of it!

"Cassandra!" She shouted to her friend, running up to her. "Come on," Daphne grabbed the poor girl and dragged her towards the door.

"Daphne?" Cassandra asked. "What's going on?"

"Apollo and Hyakinthos have gone off the deep end." She whispered. "We're going to warn the Hestia Familia. If nothing else, we can avoid the fallout."

"But what if the Loki Familia is there again?"

Daphne paused, then shook her head. "Doesn't matter. The Hestia Familia need to be warned and I don't want either of us caught up in their retaliation."

Torrhen

Torrhen smiled to himself as Tione led him through Twilight Manor towards Finn's office. He was here for a very special delivery. Aside from his eventful evening the night before, during the last couple days, while Tsubaki was working on Gareth's armor, Torrhen had been hard at work making Finn and Riveria's new gear. Riveria herself had come by to drop off the special cloth she wanted used, as well as the magic stones needed for enchanting them.

Riveria's new robes were based off of some robe designs his colleagues had developed while he was Archmage at Winterhold but with a personal twist. Keeping to her personal preference of green, Torrhen had made her a set of green Master robes with intricate floral pattern and simple brown clothes underneath. Though she did have gloves and a set of leather bracers for her forearms. On top of this was a yellow sash and a new white cloak similar to the one the High Elf had worn before. The last addition was the small, wand-like staff of Chain Lightning that she had requested.

So far, none of the other executives had approached him to discuss his enchanting services, but considering he would be charging them it was possible they were trying to save money. With the Dungeon still closed, they didn't really have a way to make personal money to pay for his services. The whole Familia had gotten quite the windfall following their successful expedition, but his services wouldn't come cheap. Even with a discount. They likely didn't want to spend that much without a way to make it back in the Dungeon.

Torrhen had decided to donate a third of his total earnings in smithing, enchanting, and any other ventures to the Familia's funds and had, with the advice of Tsubaki, decided on the pricing for his services. She was far more experienced in the smithing world of Orario than he and had a much better idea of how much money his services should command than he did.

Essentially, the price would go up depending on how much Torrhen himself had to procure to complete the process. For just enchanting services, if a client just brought him a weapon or armor set, then the price would go up since Torrhen or his Familia members would have to procure the needed magic stones. If the client brought the stones with them, then the price would go down. Same with smithing. The price would go down depending on how many of the materials needed were provided by the client themselves. That was how smithing transactions in Orario typically worked for higher level adventurers. The smiths were rarely combat focused enough to procure their own materials from the lower levels so their clients were expected to bring them what drops they wanted used for their gear. If they couldn't get what they wanted used personally, and the smith had to buy or trade for it, then the client had to pay extra.

This was actually what Finn and Riveria had done. Although he wasn't charging them this time, they had still provided him with all of the essential materials he needed to complete their gear, including the crystal needed for the enchantment. Riveria had extra cloth around for when she needed to repair or remake her own clothes and Finn had claimed some high-quality monster leather from the expedition drops to be turned into his new armor.

Tsubaki was still putting the finishing touches on Gareth's armor, which would then go to Torrhen for enchanting. As a special favor to the three of them, Torrhen had made them near exact copies of his own enchanted ring gloves, essentially providing them with every resistance he could come up with. The rest of their gear was enchanted to their own personal combat styles. Riveria's focused on enhancing her existing magicka pool, replenishing her magicka faster, and amplifying her spellcasting with different types of magic.

Gareth's would be a combination of Fortify and Regenerate Stamina, with a bit of Health Regeneration and Fortify Heavy Armor mixed in to keep him on his feet as long as possible in any fight. Combined with the resistance gloves, Gareth would become an unstoppable tank when fully kitted out. Finn's was more of a mix, having Stamina, Health, and Light armor enchantments. Neither of their weapons had been enchanted yet, since neither could quite decide on what they wanted their weapon enchantments to do.

Torrhen smiled as he stepped into Finn's office, Tione shutting the door behind him. The Pallum was sitting behind his desk, with Riveria and Gareth on the couches in front of it. They looked to be going over reports of some kind, but perked up when he entered the room.

"Torrhen!" Gareth exclaimed, happily. "What brings you by?"

"Not much," Torrhen grinned, slyly, "just a special delivery for your colleagues."

Finn perked up, his eyes shining. "It's ready?"

Torrhen set his pack on the ground, smirking, and pulled the new gear out of it. Finn and Riveria perked up, grinning excitedly as they looked over their new clothes and armor. Gareth harumphed from his seat, looking slightly jealous that he didn't have any new gear yet.

"This is beautiful," Riveria whispered, softly as she ran her hand across the pattern on her robes.

"It's also strong," Torrhen said. "They're already fully enchanted and ready for you to use. You just need to try them on, to make sure it all fits."

"Any word on when mine will be ready?" Gareth asked.

Torrhen nodded. "Tsubaki told me she's putting the finishing touches on it, so I should get it within the next day or two. The day after that, you'll have your armor. You still need to make a decision on your weapon enchantment though. Finn too.

"It's a difficult decision," Finn admitted. He was still marveling at his armor, grinning happily. Riveria quietly slipped out of the room, likely to try on her new robes. "You really have so many different options and combinations, it's hard to make just one choice."

"True," Gareth grinned. "I've come up with so many different ideas and combinations I want to try, that I just can't make a choice!"

Torrhen just laughed and sat down. "Well, you'll have to decide some time! It took me ages to decide what I wanted for my sword, so I understand, but you'll need to make a decision before your next expedition at least."

"That's likely to be quite some time from now," Gareth said as Finn too slipped into another room to try on his armor. "We made a huge profit from the last expedition, but it also took quite the toll on us. Everyone wants to do some serious training before we head back down. Hopefully, we can make it even further next time."

"I hope so. Who knows, I might even be able to come with you." Torrhen joked, happily. They were both interrupted by the door opening as Riveria stepped back into the room. They were all silent for a moment as they took her in. She looked absolutely stunning.

"How does it look?" Riveria asked.

"Beautiful," Torrhen replied, honestly. Likely imagining the faint hint of red on her cheeks.

"I gotta admit, he's right." Gareth said. "You look good!"

"She does indeed," Finn added as he stepped back in, clad in his new armor. "I have to say, I rather like how my new armor looks too."
"And the enchantments?" Torrhen asked. "Can you feel them taking effect?"

"I think so," Finn said, thoughtfully. "I do feel like I have more energy, but I don't think I'll really feel a difference until I do some fighting in it."

"Well don't do it just yet!" Gareth demanded with a smile. "I want to spar with you once we're both fully decked out in enchanted armor!"

"Alright, alright" Finn smiled back, "I won't do any sparring in it till you get yours."

"Thank you for doing this, Torrhen" Riveria said. "We really do appreciate it."

"No problem," he replied, titling his head in acknowledgement. "It's only free this time though. Anything new or any repairs needed, and I'll have to charge you. Tsubaki's been helping me figure out the pricing."

"Let me guess, she's telling you to charge an arm and both legs for it?" Gareth grinned.

"No…," Tiorrhen said, "but let's just say your other members will be grateful for the discount we agreed to when they start looking at what I can offer."

"Well, here's hoping we don't need our gear replaced any time soon," Finn commented with a smile. "How are your new members settling in?"

Torrhen spent the next hour or so just talking with his new friends. He'd truly missed just getting to sit around and 'shoot the shit' with people he truly considered his friends. It reminded him of the more relaxing days he'd spent in Breezehome. Evenings spent around the table, chatting with whoever had come by for dinner. Chatting with Aela and Vilkas while Farkas played with the kids by the fire. Or having a casual discussion on the finer points of alchemy with Muiri and Valerica that was occasionally interrupted by the sounds of Serana teaching Sofie how to blow things up outside and Erik showing Lucia the best way to bash a man's head in. Likely trying to flirt with Serana at the same time and failing miserably. All in all, Torrhen was a happy man.

Daphne
Daphne pulled Cassandra along as they neared the home of the Hestia Familia. It had been easy to just leave the manor and walk out into the streets. Pretty much everybody knew that Daphne hated being a member of the Apollo Familia and would often storm out in a huff, usually dragging Cassandra along behind her. Still, this time was different. She was quite literally about to betray the god she was sword to. Now, she was not a willing member of his Familia by any stretch of the imagination.

Daphne had been happy as a member of a completely different Familia when she caught Apollo's attention. He'd then proceeded to pressure and bully her previous god until he'd folded like a house of cards and basically sold every one of his members to Apollo and left the city. Naturally, Daphne was upset about this development. Sure, she'd had some great opportunities and Apollo wasn't cruel by any means, but that didn't mean she wasn't bitter or that she didn't despise the egomaniac. Neither she nor Cassandra had wanted to convert and yet they'd been given no choice.

"Alright, Cassandra," Daphne said as they stopped near the gate. "I know this isn't a great situation, but we need to look after each other."

"What are we going to tell them?" She asked, timidly.

"The truth," Daphne replied with a sigh. "I know this is technically betraying Apollo, but I just can't be part of his madness anymore. Not to mention Hyakinthos is getting more… delusional by the day! I want out and I refuse to leave you alone."

"Daphne…" Cassandra said, softly.

"Seems there's quite the story here," a voice said from behind them. Her heart in her throat, Daphne whirled around. Standing behind them was a large man. Older, with greying hair but very, very strong looking. It was the man Daphne had seen speaking to Finn Deimne as though they were old friends!

"We're dead." Daphne thought.

Torrhen
Torrhen stared down at the girls in front of him. One had red hair with striking yellow eyes, while the other had long blue hair and eyes. They were both wearing the uniform of the Apollo Familia, but Torrhen was withholding judgment about that, given the conversation they were having. It seemed they were very unhappy with the way things were run if they were willing to betray a god. Given the fact that they were seemingly intending to speak with the Hestia Familia, it likely had something to do with the pass-parade incident.

The two girls were staring at him, nervously as he spoke again. "Why don't the two of you come inside. It seems you've something you need to talk about."

Silently they followed him, eyes darting nervously around. As they passed into the entrance hall, Torrhen called out to Lili, who was coming out of the cellar, asking her to gather everyone in the conference room. It wasn't long before the entire Familia was gathered in the conference room, staring at the two girls from the Apollo Familia, who were both fidgeting nervously.

"So," Hestia said to them. "What was it you wanted to speak to us about?"

A/N: There we go! A bit of a short one this time, I know but next chapter we'll see a few things. I'm thinking we might see a bit of Hermes and maybe some progress on the Haruhime front? Not to mention Daphne and Cassandra talking to the Hestia Familia.

What do you think of Riveria and Finn's new gear? What about the enchantments for them and Gareth? Any suggestions for their weapon enchantments?

Riveria's new gear is the Alteration Master armor from the Opulent Outfits mod and Finn's is Merry's armor from Return of the King but with boots, no cloak, and none of the Rohirric regalia.

Do you want me to somehow post pictures of the armor? I'm fairly certain I can do that on AO3.

Does anybody know if Daphne and Cassandra belonged to different gods before Apollo? Which ones? I couldn't really find that information.

What do you think Dian Cecht's response to the growth of the Miach Familia might be?

Both Shizune and Nicholas Flamel were suggested a while ago by BlackHorse8986. Thank you for the suggestions.

Answers to Questions

On FFN

Sirleirbag: I think I addressed it briefly in a question response a while back, but if it can come up in the story, I'll write in what happened to Serana.

Zappy Turtle: Nightingale armor isn't a Daedric artifact, so it doesn't really count.

MysticMauler: Erik is indeed 'Erik the Slayer!" I love the idea of giving him control of the Blades. Dragonslayer is definitely a good title for the head of the Blades, don't you agree?

Walkmanappreticewordsmith: Not sure if I want to have Aisha join Hestia or Loki. Kinda jumping between them a bit.

On Ao3

MagnustheRed: My guess is that Akatosh probably told him about it. Sadly, Paarthurnax won't show up in the story except in potential flashbacks.

RoAKingOfShadow: I don't think I'll be giving anybody shouts except MAYBE one and not necessarily to Bell. The idea for one is kind of rattling around my head but nowhere near definitive.