A/N: Here we go! I think people will be happy with this one but I won't spoil anything. I'll just say I hope you like and to please leave a comment or a review with your thoughts and opinions at the end of the chapter!

Oh! Thank you all for pointing out my continuity error with Aisha. I'll be honest, that was just a goof because I was writing that segment on the road and away from my notes. I forgot I'd made her Level 5. I've gone back and edited the chapter to correct it, so if you'd like to reread those segments, feel free to!

Hearthfire

Chapter 49

Bell

Bell kicked off the cavern wall, thrusting out with his right hand. Held within his firm grip, the Hestia Knife carved cleanly through the neck of the Minotaur causing a shower of blood and monster dust as the creature exploded. The loss of momentum caused by contact with the monster forced the white-haired adventurer to slow and drop from the air onto the stone floor. Instincts drilled into him by his master flared, causing the young captain to spin in place the instant his feet touched the solid surface of the dungeon, hand alight. The Firebolt spell soared from his outstretched left hand, incinerating a nearby Almiraj but still he did not slow down. Drawing his off-hand dagger, Bell launched it into the skull of a Ligerfang and then quickly scooped it up from where it lay in the dust of the exploded monster. Sheathing his weapons, he looked towards Ais.

The beautiful blonde warrior-princess offered him a small smile from where she stood amongst the considerably larger than his pile of monster dust she'd created during their recent encounter. With a simple nod to each other, they both bent down to begin collecting the magic stones and drop items left behind by the slain creatures. The two adventurers had spent the better part of the day taking a rather leisurely stroll down from the entrance to where they now stood on the 16th floor, not far from the stairs to Goliath's boss room. Bell was honestly loving it. Just him and Ais adventuring together was a bit of a dream come true.

"Your improvement really is astounding, Bell." Ais said in her usual quiet voice. "I know that my own has skyrocketed since I started working with Torrhen, but yours is a little ridiculous."

"Oh." Bell blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Thank you, Ais. Master Torrhen says I'm just bringing out my potential, but even I'm not sure why I'm improving so fast. I know it isn't normal."

"Hm." Ais tilted her head to look at him, causing her blonde hair to fall across her face. Bell blushed even harder and looked away. "It's not normal for most people, but maybe it's just normal for you? Some people do improve faster than others, after all."

"That makes as much sense as any other explanation I've been able to come up with." Bell replied, shrugging his shoulders both in a gesture of uncertainty and to readjust his pack.

If he was being honest with himself, Bell didn't really care why he was improving so fast. All it meant was that he might achieve his goal of catching up to Ais faster than he expected. That was all he wanted, really. Well, of course he wanted to see his Familia succeed but his more personal drive was to catch up to her. Both so that he could repay her for saving his life and so that he could prove himself worthy when he confessed his feelings to her.

Bell's grandfather would have been exceedingly proud of him for being in a Familia surrounded by such beautiful women while also being brokenheartedly disappointed that he wasn't pursuing all of them at once. If he was honest with himself, there wasn't a single woman in his Familia that Bell wouldn't describe as gorgeous at minimum. Though their beauty was different, Bell honestly felt that every woman he knew was beautiful in their own unique way. It was just that, to his mind, Ais stood a full head and shoulders above the rest. She was beautiful, powerful, kind, and he was hopelessly in love with her.

"Let's go." Ais said, walking towards the stairs. Bell nodded and followed along behind her.

It didn't take them long to descend to 17 and cross the empty boss room. The Wall of Grief stood intimidatingly to their left, but there was no Goliath there to stop them, so they continued on through the empty room and down the stairs once more. Emerging out onto the 18th floor, Bell breathed a sigh of relief and let himself relax a little. Not completely, of course. Master Torrhen taught him to never completely relax or let his guard down anywhere but his own home. Considering the hellscape that the 18th became on his first visit, Bell saw the wisdom in not dropping his guard while there.

Shielding his eyes, Bell looked up to the crystal ceiling. The large crystals showed no signs that they'd once shattered into a million pieces and unleased colossal Monster Rexes onto the safe zone of 18. Looking down, he grinned at the sight of the rebuilt Rivira. The town was still its shabby self, but significantly better organized than it was before the battle.

"Are we staying in the town?" Bell asked Ais as the two descended down the slope towards the village.

"Why not?" Ais replied. "It's expensive, but we won't be here long. We can afford one night without any problems." That was true.

Bell wasn't nearly as wealthy as Ais was personally, but their Familias were comparable in terms of wealth thanks to Torrhen and Goddess Hestia's investments. That's not to say the Bell was poor, of course. He could afford to spend a few nights in the town without having to worry about the cost. It was just a bit of a hassle having to bring money with him down into the Dungeon. Most people who came to 18 and didn't intend to stay there for long didn't bother bringing any cash at all. Instead, they'd barter monster drops and crystals they picked up along the way for anything they absolutely needed and would just camp in the woods during their stay. While this was technically the case for them, there was nothing wrong with treating themselves. The vast majority of the buildings were ramshackle, but Rivira prided itself on its inns and they were always better than camping if you could afford it.

"Well, well, well." The gruff voice of Bors called over to them not long after the pair entered the town. "Didn't expect to see you two down here together. Where's the rest of your group?"

"It's um…" Bell swallowed nervously. "Just us."

Bors raised an eyebrow, his one eye giving them a suspicious look. "That a fact? Well, you've certainly got interesting timing. Follow me. We need to talk." Bell shared a confused look with Ais before following the gruff, one-eyed man deeper into the village.

Naaza

Naaza stood with her back against the wall of the hospital's surgical waiting room, eyeing the people inside as the door swung open. Stepping out, with his surgical gown splattered with blood was Tony Chopper. A young Pallum man and of her Familia's surgeons.

"Dr. Chopper." An elderly human woman gasped, rushing towards him from her chair. A group of adventurers who'd been sitting with her also stood, eager to hear from him. "Is my son alright?"

Chopper sighed and pulled his surgical cap off his light-brown hair. "He'll live." The doctor announced, much to the relief of those waiting.

"W… what about his leg?" A hesitant voice spoke up, belonging to a cienthrope boy. The partner or boyfriend of the young man in surgery. The adventurer in question was brought to them because of a bad encounter with minotaurs on the 15th floor and was unfortunately brought in missing his left leg.

Chopper and Naaza both grimaced. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do." Chopper told the dismayed group. "If you'd been able to retrieve the leg, we might have been able to reattach it but since it was lost… there's not much we can do."

"Damnit!" The cienthrope cursed, slamming his fist into a nearby table, tears leaking from his eyes. The patient's mother walked over and started to rub his shoulders, letting her own tears fall.

"Does this mean he has to quit adventuring?" One of the other gathered people asked. They were all members of the Taipo Familia, a relatively small one with less than a dozen members. The man now missing his leg was their vice-captain.

"Not necessarily." Chopper replied, locking eyes with Naaza. "Captain?" The group turned to look at her, with nearly all of them focusing instantly on her golden prosthetic arm.

Looking at the group, the usually quiet cienthrope captain locked eyes with the patient's mother, speaking to her directly. "If you son agrees to it," she started, "we can begin fitting him for a prosthetic. It… won't be the same as his original leg, but I guarantee that it will function perfectly well."

"W… we can't afford anything so expensive." The woman replied. "I've heard prosthetics like that can bankrupt entire Familia."

"If they were made by Dian Cehct, they would." Naaza replied. "But this is the Miach Familia. We're in the business of healing people, not bankrupting them. We're more than happy to work out a payment you can afford without issue. Getting your son back to a healthy condition and back on his feet, so to speak, is far more important."

"I… alright." She agreed, after a moment of hesitation. "If that's what he wants, then we can figure something out."

"He should be awake in around an hour," Chopper spoke up. "Once he is, I'll page Dr. Polendina. He's our Prosthetist and even made the captain's arm." The Pallum gestured to her gold-brass limb. "We can talk over the details once your son is awake to hear them."

Naaza watched the group walk away, following Chopper while her tail swished lightly behind her. It was never easy to tell people that their family was crippled, but at least he would live and, after some time, be able to get his life back on track. That was the good part. Turning away, the brunette made her way to the stairs and back down to the pharmacy. She'd been down there working on some potions when she got the message about the man with the missing leg.

Since she was a walking advertisement for the quality of Pietro's work, Naaza felt it was her duty to be present when the family was told. If for no other reason than to show off the fact that they could absolutely make fully functional prosthetics without bankrupting the patient's family or Familia.

"Hey, boss." Maomao called out as she entered the labs. The green-haired girl didn't look up, instead choosing to continue staring intently at her own work. "Your potions finished while you were gone, so I went ahead and bottled them."

Naaza sighed. "Thanks, Maomao." Ever since the hospital opened, she'd been swamped with paperwork but thankfully she did still manage to find time to both practice medicine and improve her alchemy skills. Picking up a clipboard, she started looking over the inventory sheet contained on it. They were going to need to post a mission or two for monster drops soon, since quite a few of them were used in their recipes. Unfortunately, though, she didn't get very far into it before Sei's voice cut her off.

"Um, Captain? Theres someone out here who wants to talk to you?" Looking up, Naaza saw the head of the young alchemist poking through the open door leading to the pharmacy storefront. Sighing, she stood up and walked out the door which led to behind the counter. Standing in front of it was a… person. Slim of form and of a similar height to Naaza herself, they were covered from head to toe in a cloak with a hood drawn up to cover their hair and face.

"Can I help you?" Naaza asked, confused.

The person looked around. There were many curious patrons wandering around the store, but none were close enough to actually see or hear anything. The figure hesitantly pulled up their hood just enough for Naaza and Sei, who stood behind the counter, to see their face. The cienthrope's eyes went wide as she took in desperation in the woman's eyes.

"I need your help." Airmid whispered, dropping her hood back over her face.

Ais

If Ais was honest with herself, she wasn't quite sure how she ended up here. When she'd gone to see Bell, it was supposed to be just another day hanging out with him to talk and train but all these… emotions got the better of her. She understood, thanks to a talk with Riveria and the teasing of the girls, that she had 'feelings' for Bell. He was cute and he was nice, and she liked him. So, when she asked the girls what to do about it, she'd gotten very different answers.

Tione told her to drag him into a private room and do… lots of very intimate things to him but that conversation devolved into her detailing all the things she wanted Finn to do to her and made Ais very uncomfortable, so her advice was definitely out. Tiona, on the other hand, told her she should fight Bell first and THEN drag him into a private room. Ais decided to outright ignore the opinions of the twins, though at least sparring with Bell was somewhat familiar.

Lefiya went on and on about going on a 'date' and all the things that were supposed to happen on it but Riveria interrupted their talk before telling the elven girl to 'lay off the romance novels.' It was her green-haired surrogate mother that had the most helpful advice. She told the blonde that all she really needed to do was spend time with Bell doing something they both enjoyed and that, if it felt right, tell him how she felt. Ais supposed that was best but coming up with things she enjoyed was difficult. She'd never done half the things that Lefiya described, and she had no opinion one way or another on flowers, so she just went with… dungeon diving. She liked doing that and so did Bell so if they went together, just the two of them, then that counted as a date… At least, that's how it sounded to her.

So, down into the Dungeon they went! It was fun too. She enjoyed being able to fight beside him, just the two of them. Even if none of the monsters above 18 were any danger to her and barely any danger to him, it was fun. Like those 'long walks' Lefiya was yapping about but with more monsters to kill. Either way, she liked it. Now though, she was standing inside the 'town hall' of Rivira on the 18th Floor because Bors, the mayor, ambushed them right after they entered the town.

"I'll get right to the point and just ask the question. Do you know what day tomorrow is?" The gruff one-eyed man asked, turning to face them and leaning against a desk.

"Um." Ais glanced at Bell as he spoke. "No? At least, I don't think tomorrow is very significant…"

"Up on the surface, maybe not." Bors replied. "Down here, its big. Tomorrow's Goliath Day."

"Oh." Ais' eyes went wide as she understood. Tomorrow was the day Goliath respawned. She hadn't even considered that!

"Y… you mean Goliath will respawn on 17 tomorrow?" Bell asked, a gleam in his eye.

"That's right." Bors replied. "Usually, we can scrape up a crew to go get rid of it, but we're still a little short-handed. Some of our regular residents decided to stay up on the surface for a while after the evacuation. A few others wound up arrested. They were down here to avoid warrants and such and got caught. There's also the fact that not one adventurer in the town right now is above early Level 3. My point is, taking out Goliath with just the Rivira crew would be pretty fucking difficult. On the other hand, if the two of you were there…"

"We can easily take care of Goliath." Ais nodded her head in understanding. "Don't worry about gathering a crew. I'll kill him myself tomorrow morning." She was Level 6 and damn strong. Goliath didn't stand a chance against her, and it wasn't like he was the first Monster Rex she'd killed solo not to mention being far from the strongest.

Bors sighed. "Thanks, Wellenstein. As payment, I'll set you up in the best inn we have for the night. No charge."

"I appreciate it." She replied, glancing sidelong at Bell's contemplative expression. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, but she knew him well enough to know when he was deep in thought about something.

Bors led them through the streets to Villy's rebuilt inn so that he could explain that their rooms and food were on his dime before bidding them farewell and strolling off. Villy led them upstairs, but Ais didn't stay in her room for long. No, she simply set her bag down before crossing the hallway to knock on Bell's door. The white-haired man let her in without a word.

"Something's bothering you." Ais said once the door was closed. Turning, she faced the determined expression on her crush's face. "What is it?"

"Ais…." Bell hesitated. "Would you… let me fight Goliath tomorrow? Alone?" Her eyes went wide in shock and surprise.

Naaza

"Alright, Airmid, start talking." Naaza said, shutting the door to her office. Sitting in front of her desk, hood down, was Airmid Tesanare. Captain of the Dian Cecht Familia. Thankfully, she'd been able to get ahold of both Shizune and Lord Miach so they were both in the office with her.

"I…" The silver-haired human hesitated. "I would like to request sanctuary with your Familia."

"Sanctuary?" Naaza asked, confused. "You want us to protect you? From Dian Cecht?" Airmid simply nodded.
"Asking us to hide you from your patron god is not something done lightly, young Tesanare." Lord Miach said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "What has Dian Cecht done?"

Airmid sighed and hung her head. "You're aware of the hotspring, yes? The one the Dian Cecht Familia is about to open?"

"Yes." Naaza grumbled. "He announced it in our lobby after all."

"Ah… yes." She nodded. "He's been telling the city that he found a natural hot spring, one with healing properties, and build the bathhouse on top of it. That's a lie. He…"

"He what, Ms. Tesanare?" Shizune asked. Airmid hung her head, refusing to meet their eyes.

"There is no spring. He wants to… use my bathwater…"

"I'm sorry… your bathwater?" Naaza blurted out, confused and a little disgusted.

Airmid sighed. "One of my skills, Tuired Well, allows me to produce a pool of holy water with extreme healing properties. A side effect we discovered is that most of the water produced inside my body has a similar, but diluted effect. My sweat does have minor healing properties, so Lord Dian Cecht wants me to spend most of my time bathing in the source of the spring rather than attending my duties as a healer!" The silver-haired girl's voice had only gotten angrier as the explanation went on. Not that Naaza could blame her.

"That's revolting." Shizune muttered. "No matter if it has healing properties, who would want to bathe in someone else's sweat?"

"It is a little disturbing." Lord Miach agreed.

"It's mortifying!" Airmid cried, putting her face in her hands. "Lord Dian Cehct has only gotten more deranged since your Familia began to succeed. He doesn't care about healing people anymore. If I'm being honest, I don't think he ever did. All he cares about is money and putting the Miach Familia back in what he thinks is your proper place. Now he wants me to sacrifice my work as a healer so that people can bathe in my sweat?! I can't do it! I won't do it!"

"It's alright, Airmid." Naaza sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing lightly. Just one look at Miach's face told her that the silver-haired girl was telling the truth. "You can stay here with us. We'll protect you."

"I don't just want protection!" Airmid barked out, still angry. "I want out! I… I want to leave the Dian Cecht Familia and join this one! You're actually healing people here! Not just fleecing them for cash. I'm a doctor, but I can't remember the last time a patient came to see me willingly! Nobody wants to see a Dian Cecht healer anymore because they know they'll go bankrupt if they do. That's why I'm here but he won't let me leave. The one time I brought it up to him, he had me locked in my room for a week!"

Lord Miach sighed and rubbed his face. "It's illegal to hold someone within a Familia against their will but all gods are allowed to set their own conditions for when and how someone can leave. If the Guild doesn't know someone is being held against their will, they won't do anything about it. It's part of why Apollo got away with his behavior for so long. He was coercing people to join his Familia, true, but one could reason that they joined of their own free will. It's just that the alternative was usually far worse than joining."

"So how do we do this, then?" Naaza asked, wrapping her prosthetic further around Airmid's shoulders. "How do we get her out of the Dian Cecht Familia?"

Lord Miach sighed. "There are two options. One is to challenge him to a War Game and name Airmid's transfer as our win condition. The only problem is, our Familia aren't exactly fighters. The other way is to get the Guild involved. The fact that Dian Cecht lied about the spring will help our case to prove he's holding Airmid illegally, but it means you will have to testify before both the Guild and the Denatus council. Which will likely result in Dian Cecht challenging us to a War Game anyway."

"I'm more than willing to testify."

"So, a War Game is all but inevitable?" Naaza asked.

"More than likely, yes." Lord Miach sighed in response.

Naaza looked down at Airmid's hunched form, still rubbing her shoulders before looking back up at Lord Miach with a determined glint in her eyes. "Then it looks like we need to request a meeting with the Guild Head."

Bell
"Are you sure you want to do this, Bell?" Ais asked from beside him as the climbed the stairs to the 17th floor and Goliath's boss room.

"I'm certain." He replied, determination filling his voice. Goliath was considered a Level 4 monster which meant that most would consider fighting it alone a task for Level 4 adventurers. While Bell was still Level 3, he was high Level 3. Right on the border of 4. He could do it. Bell was certain of it. It was what he'd been considering in his office before Ais arrived. He hadn't exactly spoken to anybody about wanting to do this but… well, if it worked then he'd gladly accept whatever punishment they gave him.

Ais nodded beside him. He'd expected her to protest his decision but was rather pleasantly surprised to find her accepting it without much of a fuss. Considering she'd done something just a reckless when she fought Udaeus, Bell supposed she couldn't exactly judge him for wanting to solo Goliath. Together, they climbed the last of the stairs to the boss room. Peering in, he could see the glowing Wall of Grief. Waiting and watching for someone to enter the arena.

"Okay." Bell sighed, shaking out his arms. "Please don't interfere unless it looks like I'm going to die."

"You have my word." Ais replied but then she hesitated. Bell turned to her.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Nothing." She shook her head. "Just worried, but I know you can do this." He gave her a smile and charged into the arena.

Held in a good grip with his right hand was the Hestia Knife. His primary weapon. His pride and joy. The blade forged specially for him by Master Torrhen using Goddess Hestia's blood. In his left was the blade forged by Welf from the horn of the Minotaur he'd killed during his level up from 1 to 2. On his back though, there was something else. A long, slender, Katana style blade enchanted with flame and stamina drain effects.

One of the issues he'd discovered during the battle on the 18th floor was that while he preferred daggers, they weren't always the best option when dealing with colossal opponents like Goliath, so he'd requested the katana from Welf in order to give himself an edge against enemies like the hulking brute. Usually, he kept it in his pack, but he knew he was going to want it for this fight so he'd taken a moment to strap it to his back before charging in.

The moment his feet hit the oddly colored stone floor of the boss room; cracks began to form in the Wall of Grief. Just like the time when they'd been forced to run through after the pass parade, the wall shattered like glass while the colossal form of Goliath pushed his way out. He was different than the black counterpart they'd faced during the battle of the 18th floor but no less massive. Tan skin, eyeless, and with long black hair, he looked mostly like a colossal human.

Bell ran, ducked, and jumped over the flying crystal boulders as he charged the colossal form of the monster. Goliath collapsed to the ground as he fell out of the wall, landing on his hands and knees, but he wasn't there for long. Lifting up, he sent a massive, sweeping hand careening towards Bell. Despite the gargantuan size, Goliath was fast. Thankfully, speed was the white-haired captain's specialty.

Bell ducked, sliding beneath the arm as he ran. He had a plan for this battle and would not be deterred. Springing back to his feet, Bell launched a Firebolt directly at Goliath's face. It didn't do much, but the spell was enough to cause the hulk to roar and lean back, away from the heat. As Bell neared Goliath's feet, the Monster Rex lifted up and brough it's right foot screaming down.

He tried to avoid the shockwave by ducking behind a crystal boulder, but it was too fast. The wave of air picked up the captain and sent him tumbling towards the shattered Wall of Grief. Bell gritted his teeth, ears ringing from the concussive air blast and tried to right himself, but Goliath was faster. A huge hand came flying through the air and closed around his form.

The world went dark as Goliath's colossal fist sealed itself around Bell's form and began to squeeze. Bell groaned in pain as the pressure intensified, forcing the air from his lungs. He wriggled, trying to break free but there was no way he could overpower the monster trying to crush him to death. Bell grit his teeth and closed his eyes. His left hand lit up with fire as he released a Firebolt directly into the hand holding him.

He could feel his clothes and the skin of his leg and back burning from the explosive flash, but it did what he needed it to do. Goliath's hand loosened as the monster roared in pain, the flesh blackened and burned. Bell's armor was enchanted with fire resistance, but it wasn't enough to completely protect him. Still, he knew he couldn't afford to baby his own injuries. He needed to capitalize on the moment.

Before Goliath could drop him, Bell sunk his daggers into the beast's hand. Repeating the trick he'd used against Black Goliath, he used the blades to scale his way up the arm, holding on for dear life while the hulk tried to throw him off. The burns on his leg and back burned as he climbed, but Bell did his best to ignore them.

Reaching Goliath's head, Bell sunk his minotaur blade deep into the neck of the beast and did everything he could to tangle his legs in goliath's long hair. He needed a good purchase for this. Reaching up, he drew his katana and began to charge his Argonaut ability. The blue light formed around the blade and he could hear the bells begin to ring in his mind.

Argonaut amplified the power of a single strike and required charging before it could be used. He could move, fight, and even cast spells while it charged, but if he used the weapon he was charging up during the process, then it would unleash the contained energy prematurely. He couldn't allow that so there he sat, hanging on for dear life while Goliath charged around the room, trying to swat at him. Thankfully, he didn't need a full charge for this.

A huge hand came up, Goliath intending to smack into the back of its own head and crush Bell in the process, but he was able to simply release his grip on the minotaur dagger and hang by his legs which remained tangled in the long dark hair of the beast. Goliath's hand smashed into its head barely missing Bell and making it stumble, but it did not fall.

Once he was ready, Bell untangled himself from the hair and dragged his way up it, sword glowing. Once he reached the top of Goliath's head, he jumped. With a roar of defiance, Bell brought the blade down directly into the skull of the beast and let gravity do the rest. The blade, powered by Argonaut and driven by the very earth pulling against Bell's weight carved a furrow that bisected the Goliath vertically in half.

Bell landed hard on the floor, his legs and back crumpling under the impact as Goliath shattered into dust. He rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. He'd done it! He was bruised and pretty badly burned, but he'd done it! He'd killed Goliath! He'd slain a Monster Rex solo!

Bell turned his head towards the sounds of footsteps as Ais ran up to him, pulling potions out of her bag as she did. The blonde beauty skidded on her knees next to him, eyes wide with relief as she took in his own open and gleaming eyes.

"I did it." Bell whispered, the effort causing no small discomfort from his bruised and possibly cracked ribs.

"You did it." Ais whispered back, leaning over him and pulling his head into her lap. To Bell's immense shock, the next thing she did was lean down and press her lips to his.

A/N: Done! Woo! So, Bell kills Goliath solo and Ais takes a big step. Then we have Airmid seeking sanctuary with the Miach Familia! What do you all think? Was that enough for a level up? Will there be a War Game between Miach and Dian Cecht? If there is, what will it look like? Please let me know your thoughts and opinions!

Oh, and for those who read my other story, A Digital Mother, I'll try and get the chapter out today, but it might be a day or two late.

Answers to Questions

On FFN

Monkey D. Conan: I'm glad you liked it! I am considering putting in moments with other people reacting to different romances, but I'm not sure how many or how central they'll be.

Walkmanapprenticewordsmith: Sooo….. you guessed right! Hope you liked it!

Frostwolf3227: No babies just yet, I'm afraid but maybe one day. I am considering doing the village episode, but I have to figure out how to incorporate it so we will see what happens.

Erebus13: Thank you! As for the issue with Aisha, that was just a blunder on my part. I'd forgotten I changed her level and didn't have my notes with me when I wrote that segment.

Archangel Xireon Chaos God: Not exactly calm but a bit of a fluffy ending here too!

Guest: I'll consider a cameo or two but they won't be there for any major plot point.

Temsen: They will once they find out.

KavuTribalEDH: I do have an ending in mind, and there are a few arcs to cover before I end it. I just needed some time to really be sure what to do next and how to handle it.

LionLordEscanor: Thank you!

Caue97: She did! I just forgot when I wrote that bit.

Blueasassin996: Probably next chapter!

Swiftcaliston: She is!

Tom12200: She did! I fixed the error in chapter 48.

VirusZyX: Hope you enjoyed it!

On Ao3

Phoenix_Warehouse_Productions: Adopting a kid is probably out, but I'm not against introducing the orphanage. As for Katrina, I may mention her but it won't be a big thing.

TheBrotatoPatch: Glad you liked it!

07Creeper236: Glad you liked it!

Reinkernation: Thank you! There was a bit of danger, but it wasn't too bad. Even they don't attract world-ending chaos every time they're alone.

MagnustheRed: Daphne x Cassandra is confirmed canon already! Haruhime x Mikoto probably won't happen though, sadly but we are getting progress on the Airmid x Naaza front! I probably won't be adding any more reference characters for a while though.

Christinahh: Thank you!

Kriffmaster27: That would certainly be amusing.

Alex3773: We will see that probably in the next chapter!

Cleddyf: Dungeon date and of course Arkos is happy! I refuse to not give them a happy ending!

Bigtime12: Torrhen joined the Imperials during the civil war because he would never even consider working for Ulfric. Torrhen was raised by the Dark Brotherhood. Gabriella was literally his mother in all ways except biological so why would he be ok with serving Ulfric when the dude is supremely racist against Torrhen's mom? He would 100% refuse to work with the guy who'd want to force his mom to live in a slum just because she's a Dunmer and Ulfric's all butt-hurt about anybody who's not a Nord. Also, later in life he's a big believer in the philosophy of the Greybeards, so he'd take offence at Ulfric using a Shout to beat Torygg.