Short but sweet is the theme for the moment. Little bit of character work as well.
Enjoy!
The camp fire blazed warmly, crackling into the dull night air. The grassy fields were alive with the dancing lights of countless fireflies and a myriad of stars shone down from above.
From his rest against the weathered remains of one of the old fort's stone walls, the deity known as Odd turned his cycloptic gaze towards the brilliant moon hanging far above. A humm of thought resonated in his throat, Odd musing over the report given by his two children.
Foust was awaiting his god's response, resting on his knees and staring the man down with his most stoic expression. Ghiran, by contrast, was dual wielding pokers, one laden with half a dozen marshmallows and the other lined with neat little cubes of beef. The attractive warrior had been quite pleased with his patron's meaty offerings.
"Interesting," Odd breathed, perking Foust just the tiniest bit, "that does line up with other reports from the more remote regions."
"Irregular intelligence in monsters," started Foust, "is becoming more and more of a widespread phenomenon. An evolved kobold lasting so long on the upper floors on top of our own findings outside the dungeon. They draw to some troubling conclusions."
Odd made to reply, but then blinked before leaning forward, his maw gaping wide. Ghiran was stood and had cast the marshmallow stick out like a fishing rod. The foremost lightly toasted sweet was flung off, sailing through the air before pitching into the bearded deity's mouth. Odd accepted the warm treat with a pleasant little whine.
"Indeed," the one eyed man began, speaking through his chews, "there is… a concerning ~mmm… precedence being set… with these findings."
"Chew your food, then speak," Foust intoned, clearly exacerbated. In retaliation, Odd worked his jaw in tremendous motions, smacking his lips and staring vapidly at his child in his best imitation of a cow.
To show his unwavering solidarity, Ghiran swiftly leaned into the mage's personal bubble, the three meat chunks in his mouth clearly visible as the brunette chomped his morsels with a displayed loathing for all things related to proper manners. Foust scooted away, looking as though some diseased flesh had been presented to him.
"You're both disgusting, peas in a fucking pod!" The act of driving the earth caster to swear brought Ghiran into an uproar. This lead to some chewy bits being ejected mid chuckle, Foust falling back to the ground in an expertly executed dodge. Odd at least kept his humor moderated, managing to swallow first.
"The world is pushing forward," the old god stated, "it's as Ouranos said things would go. The Will of Nature is steadily slipping beyond our grasp, moving in unseen directions."
Ghiran, stirred from his cackling by Odd's words, broke out in an absolutely feral grin. It was a close match for the one Odd himself was sporting, the pretty brunette commenting, "Say all the poetic slop you want, Daddy. We all know there's no one more excited for the coming century than you!"
Odd's grin became impossibly wide for a moment. Then the deus deia clicked his tongue, prompting Ghiran to again cast out his marshmallow line. Odd snapped up the aerial sweet in one quick bite.
Foust was still cringing from another use of "Daddy" but managed to sit himself upright. Attempting to re-rail this conversation into one of at least aspiring seriousness, the mage inquired, "Are you… going to share some of this with Ouranos?"
The one eyed god finished off his mouthful, leaning back against the section of wall and staring into the star laden sky. "Not sure how much he doesn't already know," Odd trailed off, a reminiscing smile glowing across his features, "but we are pretty close to the city, for once."
In an instant, Foust felt his heart pull into his throat. Ghiran, fixing another row of meat squares to his depleted stick, snorted out a childish guffaw. "Bring Daddy to Work Day," the beautiful man sing-songed, tossing a wink towards his blessed benefactor.
This sent the playful pair into further laughter, Odd stalling to catch another partially melted marshmallow catapulted by his child. Still sitting straight up, Foust let his skull pitch back, his mouth hanging open in a deep sigh, the now familiar sensation of his soul trying to escape his body making another nightly appearance.
"Looks like we found you in good spirits."
The stern, but decidedly female, voice roused the trio's attention. The fire and moonlight made quite visible the handful of lithe figures standing in a half circle opposite Odd's wall. The boys had been caught off guard, but mostly due to their own lack of perception. Regardless, Odd swiftly placed a smile of genuine happiness, his lone eye twinkling.
Upon noting the signature teal hair and seafoam eyes of the previous speaker, Foust and Ghiran quickly relaxed as well. The warrior perhaps a little too much as he called out, "Artemis! Bow-Mommy!"
As a good deal of scarlet formed amongst that teal and seafoam border, one of the other figures instantly marched forward and delivered a harsh boot to the man's attractive face.
Ghiran never lost his smile.
Bell awoke to the unpleasant sensation of having sand in his joints. Every move felt as though something was roughly grinding against something else. He was now overly thankful for his decision not to partake in alcohol, the inevitable hangover would have made this a true nightmare.
Gritting his teeth, the boy carefully raised himself partially upright. Some resistance beyond the aches and pains hindered his efforts, prompting Bell to open his eyes.
Wiene had rightfully claimed her resting place upon Bell's chest. She'd shed the concealing bandanna, the boy forever grateful that Hestia had persuaded her to maintain the chest wrap. Bell took a moment to smile down at her slumbering features.
As he watched the sleeping monster, the boy's other senses began to awaken. He could hear the soft tunes of his goddess nearby, humming as she worked away at the stove. The inviting scent of porridge permeated the small room, the warmth from the stove wrapping softly around the young man.
But as Bell focused on his sense of touch, something… odd seemed to lick at his skin. He'd actually dismissed it at first, but another "twitch" of sensation peaked his interest. The rookie adventurer was quickly sat upright, a still slumbering Wiene casually coasting down to rest atop Bell's lap rather than his chest.
Bell's sight ran all over the space in silent motions. Another subtle tug drew his attention and the young man found his gaze curiously pointed straight down. Wiene loosed a cute puff of air, her human pillow quirking a brow at the still sleeping girl.
Then Wiene inhaled, deep and slow. And as her chest filled with air, Bell finally pinpointed the source of that strange feeling. It seemed like a trick of the eyes, but Bell swore he saw something shimmer across the monster child's back.
"What the-"
"Bell!" Hestia's voice was hushed but sharp, commanding her child's attention. The tiny goddess moved her pot off the burner, dousing the flame and then hopping off her little stool. She wiggled a beckoning finger at Bell, "Come over here, I need to say something."
The white haired boy glanced between his goddess and the girl laid across his legs. With careful motions, Bell reached for a pillow behind him. And then, quick as a flash, the dungeon delver slunk free of Wiene's loose grasp, replacing himself with the pillow. Wiene immediately started to constrict the inanimate cushion with both arms and legs, Bell shuddering at the crushing force.
He stepped towards Hestia, the brunette leading them partially into the stairwell. "Hestia… what happened after we got home last night?"
Hestia bit her lip, eyes drawn down and to the side. The silent moment from his goddess had Bell slightly perplexed, a "rare event" indeed. "Did you," the twintail paused, musing on how to word the next bit, "did you notice anything weird this morning? About Wiene?"
This had the boy rising in alarm, "What happened to Wiene!?"
His goddess shushed him quickly, gaze darting over to a lightly stirring Wiene. Returning to their exchange, Hestia again dropped her eyes as she caught Bell's hand with her own. The touch relaxed him a little.
"You were the first and only member of my familia, so I guess the 'feeling' would be new to you." Again Bell slid into confusion, noting how his goddess seemed to be speaking to herself rather than to him.
"Goddess…" Bell was allowing his irritation to show, not using Hestia's name.
The deity sighed, resigned to what was coming. Meeting his gaze and adopting some attempt at a playful expression, Hestia announced, "Well, we now have a new member of our familia!"
The air went stagnant after that, neither party moving to stir it. For Bell, it was taking him a good deal of time to register just what his matron was saying. Hestia maintained her grin as best she could, the corner of her lips beginning to twitch, waiting for her child's response.
And Bell had a response. The visual reaction was a gradual thing, the spark of comprehension giving way to the widening eyes and gaping maw of shock. The boy leaned back, quickly colliding with the wall of the stairwell and sliding down slightly. The final piece of the picture was the young man's hand plopping onto his scalp, as though attempting to hold his thoughts in place.
With her statement apparently sunken in, Hestia's expression sobered, "I guess that means you understand the gravity of all this."
The speed that Bell's focus snapped back onto his goddess was extreme, "Hestia, what the hell were you thinking?" His tone wasn't quite angry, much more concerned than anything, but he certainly sounded high strung.
The Goddess of the Hearth scoffed at the question, "More or less what you were, carrying a monster out of the dungeon."
Bell pushed himself back to full height, "Something you do after almost dying can't be weighed the same as a decision you make after an entire evening of thought."
"She's right there," Hestia leaned off the stairs, jousting her arm towards the snoozing child, "Wiene's right there, in our bed, in our home! She's part of our lives now, she was the second you brought her up out of that pit! What else were you expecting me to do!?"
"Talk to me," Bell rasped, bouncing off the wall and stepping closer to his goddess, "Before making a choice like this, I wish you would have said something to me, waited to get my thoughts."
A part of Hestia expected an escalation – wanted an escalation. But the genuine distress her child was showing put a pin in all that, her energy all but spilling out of her. For a few moments, all she could do was stand and stare, her mouth working but no words coming out.
Finally she bit her lip, staring down at Bell's feet. After a minute she posed, "You… think what I did was wrong?"
The boy blinked. That was his only pause before placing his palms on her shoulders. "I think it was too fast. I think it was something we both should have agreed on, as a family."
Hestia could feel her twintails twitch at Bell's wording. He had said "as a family," not "familia…"
But her cheeks puffed out a bit, her face reddening not just with embarrassment, but a degree of agitation as well. Adding some awkward heat to her words, Hestia said, "What was there to talk about? What 'better option' was there?" She knew she was being irrational now.
"I don't know if we would have found better options…" Bell paused as he tilted his head around Hestia, trying in vain to catch her eyes, "The important part was coming to a decision together. Don't you know what could happen to us if we got found out? What could happen to you, to Wiene, if this came out?"
Bell hadn't been loud. He hadn't been the least bit impatient in his speech, doing his best to keep a concerned, understanding tone all throughout. But the relative calmness only served to widen that dark pit forming low in Hestia's throat. And having the reality of potential consequences thrust in her face was the goddess' breaking point.
"I'm not stupid!" Hestia went to hurl Bell's hands off her frame, but her outburst alone sent him reeling, "I know it was rash! I spent half the night thinking about how badly this could blow up in our faces! I know I'm just some half baked goddess with no favor in this city, no money, no prestige, nothing!"
By the time her rant was over, Hestia found herself looming over her child. Bell was wide eyed, thoroughly shocked by the display. His cowed expression served to dampen Hestia's temper, the brunette's body sagging slightly.
"That's why… this is all I could do." The small goddess crumpled, Bell moving quickly to prop her back up. "The only thing I can do, the only help I can offer…"
Bell's chin hovered over Hestia's head, his front pressed against hers, one arm wrapped around her back as his other hand stroked along the goddess' scalp. "The blessing to fight," Bell murmured, understanding in his words, "You wanted Wiene to be strong."
She nodded against the young man's chest, "I know the world would see it as sacrilege, but… we've come too far already, taking her out of the dungeon and bringing her home."
The boy breathed in, taking in the scent of his goddess' hair. Silence held for a moment, Bell continuing to soothe Hestia.
"I agree."
A brief humm issued from Hestia. Bell slackened his grip, allowing the twintailed goddess to lean back, looking up at him.
"I would have come to the same decision. Even if it meant trouble later, the most important thing is giving Wiene a chance."
Hestia's cheeks flushed. She swiftly pitched her face back into the white haired boy's front, driving a few chuckles out of Bell.
"I'm sorry," came the mumbled reply of his goddess. Bell hummed his acknowledgment, but Hestia quickly pushed back to stare him face to face. "Really Bell, I'm sorry."
"It's oka-"
"No it isn't," was Hestia's swift response, cutting of Bell's placations. "This was an important matter and I made the decision for both of us. I should have talked to you first, instead I… I took your choice away, I went ahead without you." The silent "again" that hung in the air was almost palpable, Bell utterly lost in its meaning. All he knew was that his Hestia was hurting.
"Well," the boy ventured, "you are my goddess."
Hestia favored him with a half smile, recalling Bell's past deference to her, his firm belief in the distance between their stations. Her upturned lips belied her somber tone, "Even if that were a good excuse… you're not my subordinate. We're partners… I love you."
Bell's cheeks bloomed scarlet, easily beating the rosy hue of his goddess' features. Her eyes left his, sights falling to the floor once more.
"I should be better."
He couldn't listen to her talk herself down anymore. When the boy's arms wrapped around her, the Goddess of the Hearth melted into his hold. Neither moved from the embrace, other than tightening their grasp. It felt like, for the moment, they were just trying to hold each other together.
"Bell~el?"
The pair stepped apart, still clutching each others arms. Wiene poked her head into the stairwell, a locke of her sapphire mane falling across her brow to dangle towards the floor.
"Uh, hey Wiene, good morning." Her savior's greeting caused the young girl to cock her head cutely to the side. Bell was confused but Hestia caught on quick.
"It's what you say to greet someone when they wake up." Wiene's focus drifted to the brunette, her eyes shining as she processed the new input. Then her face split into a dazzling smile, literal sparkles flashing in her amber orbs.
"Good morning," she belted, far more energy than should be allowed at this time of day. Bell and Hestia swiftly deflated, lost to Wiene's rhythm.
The pair glanced at each other one more time. There was more to say, both of them could feel as such, but the atmosphere had faded. Now was simply not the time.
And then Wiene's belly grumbled.
"Food," she posed, not a hint of shame to be found.
That got Bell snapping to attention, almost lifting Hestia off the ground in surprise. "Hestia," he cried, "the food! We got carried away and forgot about the food! We have to get it off the bur-"
His goddess reached up and flicked the boy's nose. "Took the food off and turned the stove off before we even started talking. Gotta work on that memory a little."
Disengaging from Bell's grasp, the Goddess of the Hearth made a good show of striding away, not looking back as a kind of power move. It may have worked out for her if she remembered she was on the stairs and had taken a moment to watch her step…
Hestia held the cold rag to the swollen knot on her forehead. Having not wrung it out too thoroughly, a trickle of liquid swiftly raced down the bridge of her nose, Hestia sniffling as a droplet formed at the tip. The goddess groaned as the dull ache continued to throb against her brow.
"Aaaahh," Wiene called as she raised the meal laden spoon towards the deity's lips. Still looking rather sullen, Hestia nonetheless opened her mouth to accept the warm porridge. Her features brightened, a throaty rumble of approval sounding as the food hit her tongue.
Wiene smiled audibly. Then she plunged the spoon back into her bowl, scooped up another mouthful, and promptly pitched it into her own maw. Her happy humm was considerably higher than Hestia's.
"Yeah, it is good," Bell commented from his spot on the edge of the bed, opposite the two girls resting on the couch. "The texture is really smooth and it's just sweet enough without being too strong." Wiene, mouth full, rapidly nodded along with her savior's words, despite probably not fully grasping them. Hestia preened as best she could at the praise, both hands still holding the damp rag to her skull.
"While you're out conquering the dungeon, I'll make sure to conquer the culinary world," Hestia spouted, regaining a bit of her usual zeal. She pumped a fist for effect, only for the now loose end of the rag to flop down over her left eye.
"Oh," Bell exclaimed, "that reminds me, we have to start getting ready for the day." At this he cast a long look at the merrily munching monster girl. The thought had just entered his head that they would have to do something with Wiene. Leaving her unsupervised was out of the question and between the two "adults," having her in Hestia's care would be far safer.
But before Bell could voice this concern, his goddess piped up, "I actually have some very urgent business to take care of, so I got some time off from the food cart."
Bell really wanted to offer his matron a light scolding, remembering the last time she'd "requested time off," but his interest got the better of him. "Urgent business?"
With her free hand, her left still holding the floppy rag, Hestia pressed a finger to her lips. "That's a secret. You'll see the result in a few days at the most, but I have to dedicate a lot of my time to it."
The boy nodded. In spite of their preceding conversation, Bell held confidence that whatever his goddess was up to would prove beneficial in the end. He still trusted her. But his worries persisted, "What about Wiene? We can't leave her alone...and bringing her to the dungeon…"
At her name the girl looked at the young adventurer, freezing in place. A glob of porridge fell off her spoon, slapping back into her bowl with a wet plop. She didn't show any particular reaction to mention of the dungeon.
"Actually," Hestia began, "I think you should take a day off too."
Bell looked actually mystified by the suggestion, prompting the twintails to continue, "Yesterday was… a bit much. I think you could use a day to decompress, maybe take Wiene around the quieter parts of the city and stock up on supplies?"
As her words registered, Bell glanced down at his nearly empty bowl in thought. He hadn't noticed Hestia moved until her fingers touched his chin, drawing his eyes back to hers.
"I'll also… feel better if you can take a little break after…"
The rookie adventurer blinked. In the background, Wiene had her face buried in her bowl, licking the last bits clean. Then Bell favored his goddess with a smile. He understood her worry, and he could feel the love behind it.
Hestia flashed a toothy grin, "And speaking of diving into the dungeon…" The little deus deia hopped up, moving around the room to procure a sheet of paper from the night stand. "Well, just take a look at this," she said, presenting the paper.
Bell quickly realized he was looking at a status sheet. Wiene's status sheet. When he got a look at the numbers next to her stats, he was both surprised and not surprised. Wiene had spent weeks surviving the harsh trials of the dungeon by herself and feats done before receiving the falna did reflect in one's base stats.
And there was the obvious irregularity of her being a "Xenos," as Crossette had said. Who knows how that may have influenced the blessing.
It was for those reasons that the boy was only mildly shocked by the higher than average numbers running down the status sheet. The additional text at the bottom, on the other hand…
'Stone Eater: gain experience and strength from devouring the cores of fallen beasts.'
'Abnormal Form: a slight capacity to alter one's physical structure.'
Bell read over that end bit a good three or four times, his mouth hanging open. He turned his slack jawed expression up towards the subject of the document.
Wiene, noting her savior's perusal of her status page, puffed up her chest and banged a fist over her heart.
"Gonna be just like Bell!"
Short and sweet this interval, just catching up on some characters and building the situation with our leads.
The Odd Familia make a reappearance and some discussions are had regarding the strange nature of… well, far as they know, nature itself. Some strange irregularities in monsters both inside and outside of the dungeon are under investigation. As Jurassic Park's Ian Malcolm so eloquently put: "Life… finds a way."
Yeah, plans to do a few arcs outside the dungeon and Orario itself in the future (far future, but future nonetheless). You don't really get much about the world outside of Orario in base Danmachi (well, the anime at least, though that's pretty par the course). Like we know the amazons have a homeland and that there's some elvish kingdom that was ravaged by the Crozzo's craftwork, but I don't know if Bell's home village even has a name. For the purpose of fanfiction, this is great though. Plenty of room for me to stretch my creativity.
Some mention of Ouranos is made and it looks like Odd himself may be making a trip to the dungeon city. May Foust survive the prolonged exposure to his deity and Ghiran…
Artemis is here! Don't call her Bow Mommy! Yes, two "wandering familias" have ties to each other. Maybe an even deeper sort of alliance to be shown in the future. And who knows who else may be affiliated…
Also just realized during this rewrite that I'd been calling her "Athena" during the first draft of this… I suck.
Being blunt here, not sure if we're gonna be doing the movie plot at all, altered or otherwise. Again, have other plans for adventures outside Orario. Rest assured Artemis fans, I plan on her and her familia having an extended stay in this universe.
We check up on the Hestia Familia.
So… Hestia is kind of strung out. Her situation with Bell was already a bit of a game changer and now Wiene is an entirely new can of worms. She's having trouble keeping up and is doing her best to do… whatever she can. This leads to tension.
As a goddess, Hestia does have full right to run her familia as she wants to, it's her blessing that keeps the power going after all. But she doesn't want to be that sort of deity, she's never marched to the same beat as her fellow deus deia and she certainly doesn't want to treat Bell, her lover, as lesser. But there's a certain "dignity" inherent to the gods, almost an instinct that rallies against being subservient or even questioned in their pursuits. This combined with her own frustrations over her lack of ability or resources causes a meltdown.
In particular, it dredges up her shame from "coercing" Bell…
This is not the end of the tiny goddess' insecurities.
Bell does his part in being a supportive partner. He's resolute enough to stand his ground where he needs, but he's compassionate enough to stay even keeled and offer affection when needed. My biggest gripe with this whole scene was that I think Bell came across as too mature. I guess you could say his newfound daddy duties have inspired some growth, if that reasoning works for you.
Speaking of growth, we get a peek at Wiene's status! This is just a starting line, expect that ability list to get filled in classic RPG fashion. Hell, same goes for anybody who's growth we bother tracking. The whole "Abnormal Form" thing will come into play during the climax, just you wait. We'll make an adventurer out of this child yet!
"Just like Bell" indeed…
Next time: Bell and Wiene start a day on the town, Hestia starts her endeavor with Hephaestus, and some shadowy watchers discuss potential plans.
