Below are the ages of the characters that I've introduced in this chapter for this fic at the current moment of the timeline.

Thanks for reading and what I don't own are: the characters, the city, the Gods and Goddess', the dungeon... what I'm trying to say is I don't own Danmachi.

Astrea Familia:

Alise – 13

Kaguya – 13

Ryu – 12

Lyra -12

Amid – 6

White.

That's the first thing I see after I open my eyes. Why am I seeing white, I don't know. Have I died and this is heaven?

I slowly begin to sit up but a sudden pang of pain from my right foot just as I began to move. I look down and see my right foot sticking out of the sheets with what looks like a lot of bandages around it.

'Wait, sheets?'

I scan my body, seeing that it's covered in a white sheet. I then feel that my body feels lighter than normal when waking up. I'm in a bed and a decent one at that.

I force my body to sit up, trying not to disturb my ankle. After propping myself I look around. The room I'm in is fairly large for a bedroom in my opinion, about the same size as the main bedroom in the place I currently rest at. There's a window allowing natural light in but there is a light on a wooden stand next to the bed. I've never seen that before. Why would you need a small light if you have the sun?

Not bothering to question, I start to wonder where I am as the memories from the fight come back to me. I can't help but get upset as I recall the deaths that I believe I could've prevented if I had just been strong enough.

I can't continue taking in my surroundings as my mind is too preoccupied with the loss. Because of this, I don't realise the door to the room opening.

"Oh, you're awake?"

My head swivels over to the voice. A young girl, barely older than me, is currently holding the door open with her hands. She is dressed in a clean white dress that covers most of her body. Her shoes are a shiny black but my eyes are most drawn to her face.

Shiny straight silver hair with dazzling purple eyes. A small round face with a gentle expression looks right back at me.

*badump*

'Huh? Why did my chest do something weird?'

"Oh I need to go get Mrs Ferne, wait here!"

With that the girl scampers off, leaving me alone. Even though I know she is gone, the image of her doesn't leave my mind. For the second time since I've woken up, my mind is somewhere else as another person enters the room, followed by a couple of others.

"Hello, young man."

I jump in surprise at the sudden voice of a woman. I turn to see an older woman, dressed in a similar design to the girl except she has a blue outline to parts of her dress. A pair of glasses sits on her nose and her chestnut hair is bundled up in a bun. I remember Maria used that hairstyle sometimes when she cooked.

"How are you feeling?"

I don't register her question to begin with as I look at the other people behind her. There are 3 women/girls behind her. The youngest has striking red hair that flows behind her shoulders with dark green eyes, similar to mine. Next to her is a slightly older adult. Chestnut hair, the same as the lady in front of me, as well as brown eyes. She was wearing a nice white dress, this one definitely different from the lady. However, it's the third one that holds my attention.

"You?"

I recognise her. I remember her, the same woman I asked to run away. The one had to watch all her friends die because I wasn't strong enough. It was Sarah.

"Thank the Gods you're alright," She said with a sigh as she met my gaze. I tried to get out of bed to see if she was alright but I was reminded of my current physical well-being.

"Don't move lad, ya still heavily injured from ya fight," The lady said as my right ankle backed her up as it sent shockwaves of pain throughout my body. I groaned in annoyance, knowing that I was probably not going to be able to go back into the dungeon for a while.

"Ya god damn right ya won't!" The lady retorted. I had apparently said what I was thinking out loud, earning a small chuckle from the redhead and the other woman.

"Adventurers, I swear to the Gods you actually want to die!" The lady said as she began doing things. I didn't fully understand what they were but from having to do medical care on my body a few times, I think it was something along those lines.

"Ya didn't answer my question by the way?"

"Huh?"

"I said how are ya feelin'?" She repeated her question but was a lot less gentle this time. The way she talked kind of reminded me of Brant in a way. Is this normal for adults to talk this way and Maria is just an exception?

"Errm, fine... I think?"

"He's fine he thinks. Well, let me tell ya something, ya ain't. Broken ankle, at least 3 broken ribs, a minor fraction to ya left wrist and numerous bruises all over ya body. And not to mention the blood loss, I was scraping it away for what felt like hours when I got to ya."

The room fell silent as I gave a dumbfounded look of puzzlement. Was the woman meant to be helping me or telling me off? Would it be weird if it was both?

"Any questions?" She asked peering over her glasses with a raised eyebrow.

"Err... what's a rib?"

It seems my question was stupid as the look she gave me shouted Seriously! It's not my fault I didn't know what one was and that I had 3 of them.

The lady let out a long sigh before standing back up properly, fixing her glasses.

"He seems to be fine, just needs to rest. Tell Amid I'm going for a smoke break, I sent her to look at that other one ya brought back."

Before any of the other women could protest, the lady walked out, grabbing something from her pocket. After she left, an awkward tension descended on the room. I felt all the eyes on me as if they were expecting something.

"Errm, could I ask s-something... please?" I quietly asked, struggling to make eye contact with any of them.

"Of course you can, what would you like to know?" The woman in the white dress asked. Her voice calmed me, holding a gentle tone.

"W-where am I?" I tentatively asked. I'm growing more nervous by the second. While I'm alright at adapting to unknown environments, I don't do well around strangers, especially girls. Being around Brant and now Reg, I've managed to understand men... kind of. But with only having Penia and Maria, and to a lesser extent Frieda, knowing how women act is still foreign to me and I can't help but get uncomfortable and awkward.

To my question, the women just looked at each other before the red-headed girl barked out a laugh while the other two just giggled before the brown-haired woman walked over to me. But as she got closer to me, I felt it. That presence that before my 5th birthday, I'd only felt once but recently I had been in contact with it frequently over the past 8 months.

"I guess I should introduce myself. I am Astrea, Goddess of Justice and this is the home of my Familia, Stardust Garden."

Looking back at it afterwards, I get embarrassed just thinking about the way I reacted but at the time, I couldn't help.

"A-A-A-A G-G-G-G-Goddess?"

And then I fainted.

"Ara, he's gone back to sleep?" Astrea said as she watched the young boy faint after she introduced herself. She didn't hold it against him, not seeing any disrespect in it. She could tell the boy was young the first time she saw him, denouncing the theory the young woman, Sarah, had thought of him being a Prum. As a Goddess, she just knew, that was her explanation.

When Alice and Ryu returned with the unconscious boy, the unconscious dog girl, Sarah and a cat man, she was quite surprised. Ryu argued that while they could allow the women to enter, because of who Astrea was, the young elf attested to bringing in the men. Astrea quickly shot that motion down, not risking the boy's wellbeing over something as simple as her status as a Virginity Goddess. However, Sarah didn't allow the cat man to come in anyway, saying she had to talk to him.

By the time she had entered, a lot of shouting had taken place and Astrea had picked up on half the story from the argument. It truly was sad what happened in the dungeon but that was the mortal world. Those brave men were to be welcomed into heaven as heroes for what they did, unlike the horrible men who passed paraded them. The argument did give time for Astrea to admonish Ryu for trying to turn away an injured person, saying it went against her justice. Ryu was still sulking in her room now. That girl was difficult but Astrea could tell she would grow to be a wonderful upholder of justice one day.

When Sarah entered, still red in the cheeks from anger, she thanked Astrea for giving them a place to rest and once again thanked her daughters for helping them and rescuing her saviour, the young black-haired boy.

After a couple more minutes, Kaguya and Lyra returned with someone from the Dian Cecht hospital, with a young girl behind her. The doctor addressed herself as Ferne and the young girl, who Ferne called Amid, who vehemently said her name was Airmid, not Amid.

Ferne wasted no time in checking on the two patients and performing healing magic on them both. She had Airmid watch her and help her, possibly trying to train the girl for when she is older. As much as Astrea might disagree with it, with the banishment of the Zeus and Hera Familia, Orario had gotten a lot weaker and more vulnerable. Familia's couldn't be picky right now as any help to gain strength was needed. She too was giving children falna's, just not as young as Airmid and the young boy lying in Alise's bed.

Sarah moved over to the bedside, navigating the young boy's body into a more comfortable position. Astrea was glad she was here as while she was an eternal being of heaven, being a Goddess of virginity meant she had little interaction with men. And even though the boy was a child, having no improper thoughts, Astrea was still slightly uncomfortable when touching the opposite sex. Something she admonished herself for.

"How is he?"

"Oh Amid, didn't notice ya sneak up on us," Alice said with a giggle, not bothering with the young girl's frown at the unwanted nickname being thrown her way.

"How is Alyssa?" Sarah asked worriedly, even though she was with the boy, her young friend was still her main priority.

"She's doing fine. I've swapped the bandages but with a bit more healing magic, she will be fine in a couple of days," The young spoke with experience and maturity that far surpassed her look. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the Gods for the girl's wellbeing.

"As for your question dear, he's doing fine. He's just gone back to sleep. He probably needs a lot of rest right now, wouldn't you agree?" Astrea said as she faced Airmid. The girl nodded as she walked over to the boy.

It was strange how she interacted with him. On one hand, she looked like a professional nurse, checking his forehead temperature and wiping away bits of sweat while taking care of his ankle covering. But then halfway through, the silver-haired girl just silently observed the boy as she traced one of her fingers through his black hair. It was very curious for the three others in the room but they simply chalked it up to childish curiosity.

Astrea's gaze fell back on the boy. She couldn't deny that she too was curious about the boy. He looked young, like really young. She knew Airmid was young for her job but at least she wasn't in the dungeon fighting an Irregular silverback that crushed level 2 adventurers. This was beyond strange though; her sense of justice did not sit right knowing now that a child this young braving the dungeon.

For what? Money, strength, pride? Astrea didn't believe someone so young could understand those concepts, to begin with, let alone risk your life for it. She would get to the bottom of this.

But she could do little now but wait for the boy to wake again before questioning him. Just from the small interaction, she could tell he wasn't the best with social stuff. She would need to tread carefully but she would not allow the young boy to leave without her curiosity sated and she knew her captain and vice-captain felt the same and if necessary, she would ask them for help. Not force per se, but rather just some discipline for a misbehaving kid.

As the group filed out of the room leaving just the boy and Airmid, the young girl began thinking similar thoughts as the rest of the people in the house.

'He looks younger than me but he got so hurt. Why is he in the dungeon? Shouldn't he have at least a helper or be a helper like I am to Miss Ferne?'

Airmid dragged the wooden chair nestled underneath the desk on the other side of the room, leaving it next to the bed. She hopped onto it, her hair getting in her eyes as she did so. Batting it away while blowing a few strands out of her mouth, she sat and looked at the young boy, contemplating all the reasons an innocent 6-year-old could come up with for why someone her age was lying in front of her like this.

She had heard what had transpired. At first, the woman who brought the boy with her wanted to leave the room so she wouldn't hear the story but Miss Ferne objected, saying if she wanted to be a doctor she would need to know the harsh reality of the world, it was why she had been brought out in the first place.

"It's wrong to protect children from the world when they have to face it one day. Instead of shielding her, I am preparing her for when she will have to face it head-on."

That was the way her superior phrased it. To be honest, she didn't really understand it but the others did little to protest the veteran doctor's statement.

"-mmmm."

Airmid was stirred from her thoughts as the boy once again stirred, mumbling incoherent noises as his eyelids began to flutter open. She noticed the green eyes that reminded her of the large forest next to the village where she was born.

The boy slowly opened his eyes and began looking around once again. He quickly spotted Airmid sitting next to him, tilting his head slightly in confusion on curiosity, almost as if he was analysing her.

"Did I...?"

"Yes, you fell back to sleep soon after you woke up. I have changed the cloth on your forehead and have noted your temperature to be sufficient."

The boy just looked at her in confusion at the big words she had said. Truthfully, she didn't understand many of them herself but it was what other nurses had said before and she wanted to sound professional.

"O-ok," The boy said, not even pretending to try to comprehend what he just heard. Instead, he began looking over his own body. Airmid watched him move each part of his body slowly, wincing at each part Miss Ferne had said he had injured. She watched him try and move his ankle before immediately giving up on it, a groan of pain telling the young girl that it was the worst injury he had sustained.

After he had finished, a silence descended over the pair. It was slightly awkward but both of the young children had grown up not liking loud noises, especially loud people so the silence didn't bother them too much. After a while, the boy spoke.

"W-what happened?"

Airmid blinked a few times at the question, then began re-telling the story from what she heard. How the Astrea Familia saw him and the irregular silver-back leap in the air before he threw a knife that killed the monster. Then before an Orc got to him, the Astrea Familia killed it and rescued him. They began running back, meeting up with the other woman, the unconscious dog girl and a cat man who Airmid didn't see as he had been sent home before she arrived.

With the help of a solo adventurer, the group made their way back with Alise, the Astrea Familia captain, offering the Stardust Garden as a place to rest while she sent two girls to come fetch Miss Ferne.

Airmid then re-told what she had heard Sarah said had happened on floor 12 but she realised she didn't need to go into detail about it considering the boy was there when it happened.

"So... the other two are safe?" The boy asked with anticipation.

"Yes. The older woman, Sarah is fine after Miss Ferne gave her a quick look over. The Chienthrope girl, Alyssa, is still unconscious but she will live with no injuries."

Airmid watched relief flood into the boy's face as he sunk into the bed, closing his eyes before taking a soothing deep breath. Airmid tilted her head slightly, fascinated that one of the boy's first questions was about other's well-being. From what she heard from others; Adventurers were meant to be selfish people who looked out for themselves above others. And yet this young boy had not only risked his own life to save strangers but cared more about their condition over his own. The way Sarah had spoken about him, it was almost as if he were like one of the heroes she had read about with her father.

While the two were in their minds, a sudden noise interrupted their thinking time.

*gurgle*

Airmid looked at the boy, whose face was slowly turning red. Apparently, he was hungry. This made Airmid giggle slightly, only causing the boy to hide his face more.

"I'll go and get Miss Ferne and see if it's ok for you to eat, okay?"

The boy let out a murmur of thanks as he tried to hide his embarrassment from the young girl, who only smiled at the sight. Something in the girl's mind told her that this showed he was going to be fine, relaxing her mind.

I'm trying to eat through the soup that the older doctor gave me a few minutes ago. Currently, that is all I'm focusing on as I'm trying to distract myself from the intense gazes surrounding me. To my right stood a very stern-looking woman dressed in a doctor's outfit, next to her sat the young girl with a spoon in her hand. At the edge of my bed staring directly at me with her arms folded was the Goddess who was very much intimidating me. Then to my left stood the girl with red hair, wearing a very eager smile on her face as she once again leaned down next to my face.

"Hey, aren't you gonna answer Lady Astrea's question?"

After bringing me some food, the room I was in was once again crowded by a litter of people. The same as before but this time with the young girl, two more girls and slouched near the doorway was an elf who was glaring daggers at me. To say I wasn't comfortable would be the biggest understatement of my life.

"I ain' gonna allow Amid to give ya any more soup before ya begin talkin' lad," the older doctor says. I groan, the soup tastes really really good and I want more but that means exposing everything. I'm currently weighing up the two options. Either giving away what I'm doing, leading to some sort of punishment or no food.

*gurgle*

I groan again. Why does it have to smell so good?

"...f-fine," I murmur in defeat. It's not like I was escaping anyway.

"Good. Now, first of all, could I ask for your name, please? I've given you mine and it is rude not to introduce yourself after someone has introduced themselves." The goddess' first question is quite possibly the worst. I think I could leave a few details out of what I'm doing, like Brant, but that is something I can't lie about.

"...Percy," I say after a moment of thinking. I give the Goddess the biggest pleading look in my life to hope she understood. The look that goes across her face is puzzled.

"...Ok, nice to meet you, Percy. To your left is my captain Alise, the doctor to your right is Miss Ferne while the young helper is Airmid. I think you already know Sarah but the other three girls are my daughters like Alsie. Kaguya, Lyra and the grumpy one at the back is Ryu, don't mind her.

"Hey... I'm not grumpy," The elf, Ryu, replies. I don't notice it as I'm currently thanking the Goddess with everything I have that she understood my message. It's not like Percy isn't my name as it's what I've been called my entire life except only a few times by Mother Maria.

Goddess Astrea, seemingly ignoring Ryu, continued.

"Now that we have introduced ourselves, the first question that comes to my, and I assume everyone else's mind, is... how old are you, Percy?"

I reflexively look down, knowing this was going to be asked. Unlike with Reg, there is no way to get out of this, especially with a Goddess involved. Reg quickly found out the truth so I stood no hope here.

I give a quick sigh before I answer.

"...-"

"I'm sorry what was that?" Astrea said back, leaning in a bit.

"...f-five. I said I'm five years old."

I don't look up, already knowing what kind of looks the people around me were pulling. I heard a few gasps of shock.

"You're joking, right?" The girl next to me, Alise, said as she gave out a quick laugh. One look at her Goddess was enough to make her realise I was not joking.

"Seriously? Damn!" She said as she leant back away from me, leaning against the wall with her arms folded. I felt her eyes examine me.

"A 5-year-old, unbelievable," I hear Sarah murmur in disbelief. I pan my head to look at her but I get caught looking at the soup instead, my stomach letting out another noise, pleading for food.

"Give 'im another mouthful Amid," Miss Ferne says will still staring straight at me.

Amid? Airmid? I was confused about her name. She dipped the spoon into the bowl of soup, blew on it once and then slowly pushed it in front of me. It was nothing short of extremely embarrassing. I could easily eat myself, my arms worked fine. They were doing it on purpose, holding my stomach hostage so they could interrogate me further. This was akin to torture.

I had stopped bothering to ask that I feed myself, Amid directly opposing the idea, saying that it was part of her job. Each time she fed me, I could feel my face heat up.

"Say aah."

Yeah, it was definitely a form of torture.

I quickly engulf the spoon, removing any trace of soup on the spoon, gulping it down. The simmering heat was soothing and the taste was one of the best things I had ever eaten. Granted I had been living off cheap bread and fruit the past 7ish months and it wasn't like Maria could afford the best food before that.

I look over at the doctor with a pleading look in my eye, begging for another spoonful but she is quick to shut it down.

"The agreement was a spoonful per question and the rest of the bowl when we're finished!" She stated. I glumly nodded in defeat. I'm sure even if my ankle was perfect I still wouldn't be able to escape, not even with my stealth skill that I had gotten from months of hiding. I could do little but go along.

"Back to it! Why are you, a 5-year-old, going into the dungeon?" Goddess Astrea asked.

I sigh, having lost all fight now. I have accepted my fate, the least I could do was not snitch on Reg or Brant. I don't think there is anything I can do about Penia, Astrea is going to ask about my deity at some point.

"m-money," I manage to murmur.

"What could a boy your age possibly need money for? I doubt you even fully understand the concept of money," Astrea quickly retorted. It seems everyone was allowing her to ask all the questions. She was a Goddess, after all, there was no escaping her questions.

"I do."

"Really? How so young man?" Astrea asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I grew up in an orphanage. My mother had little money. We were always scraping by s-so I..."

"So you decided to take it upon yourself to help out?"

The Goddess finished my explanation. I nod as confirmation.

"Well, that is very noble of you but surely your mother doesn't want you to be doing this. Going into the dungeon, putting yourself in danger for her sake. What would she say if she saw you like this?"

Astrea's question dug deep. I hadn't thought how Mother Maria would react if she saw me now but I knew what she would do. She would probably cry and shout at me for being stupid and try and drag me back home with her, whether I wanted to or not.

Astrea noticed the young boy curl in on himself after she questioned about his mother. Small drops of water began forming in his eyes as a look of sadness and guilt washed over his face. It was obvious that his mother was a sore subject and she most likely disagreed with him going into the dungeon which probably led to a fight.

Astrea had known that there were orphanages in Orario but she hadn't visited one. What if this was a common occurrence? Young children venture into the dungeon in hopes of alleviating the financial burdens of their carers only to end up severely injured or even dead.

"I'm sorry for asking Percy. Let's move away from that for now. The only really important question I have left is who is your deity?"

The boy froze for a second before giving a small smile, almost as if he anticipated this. She could see the boy's mind think. At one point a look of fear spread across his face, as if he envisioned his deity smiting him for telling her about them.

"...It's a Goddess," He quietly spoke.

"Which Goddess?" Alise asked though they all knew the boy understood the question. The next question was why he was not answering the previous one.

"Y-you wouldn't know her?" Percy muttered.

"Try me. You would be surprised how much us deities actually know."

Percy did know how much deities knew first-hand from every encounter with Penia. How she knew what he'd been doing, what kind of monsters he'd fought and what he was thinking, though she wasn't very good at knowing what he was feeling. The gods must have some limit to their knowledge.

However, Percy wouldn't doubt the Goddess in front of him. If he told her of Penia, she would know. The only thing that scared him more about her knowing was Penia knowing he ratted her out. Percy hadn't grasped the power of Deities but if they can grant blessings that allow mortals to fight dragons, they can be listening in on a random conversation. Percy wasn't going to take that chance.

So he did the only thing he could in that situation and kept his mouth shut.

Astrea, seeing this was not going to get anywhere anytime soon decided to move on, though she hadn't given up, not by a long shot. She would find out the identity of this Goddess.

"How many others are there in your Familia?" Astrea asked, excepting a small number. If it was a big one, she would have heard about it.

Percy gave her a dumbfounded look, almost as if he didn't understand the question. Astrea became puzzled by the boy's puzzlement.

"For example, I currently have 5 in my Familia. Alise, Kaguya, Lyra, Ryu and Neze, who isn't here right now," The Goddess explained. The boy looked at her daughters at each mention. She was impressed that he remembered their names this quickly as he gave a knowing "Ohh" after realising what she meant.

"It's just me."

... She did not expect that.

"Pardon?" Maybe she had misheard what he said.

"There isn't anyone else. I don't think my Goddess has a given a Falna before me."

Astrea's mouth abruptly widened before quickly shutting in disbelief, speechless. She knew it wouldn't be a big Familia but this was not what she expected. Percy, a 5-year-old, was the sole member of a completely brand new Familia with a Deity who had zero experience with adventuring or the dungeon.

She wasn't alone in her thoughts. The rest of the adults were in the same mind, shocked about what he said. She felt Sarah and Ferne's eyes glued on her, waiting for her to say it was a lie. She wished it was. This was the worst-case scenario. She had expected to take him to his captain and watch him get chewed out for such recklessness and think about his actions. But no captain existed, only a mysterious Goddess with clearly no responsibility or morals.

However, those questions were to be saved for the Goddess herself because she was definitely having Percy take her to his Goddess but instead of the boy getting shouted at, it would be the deity getting the divine might of justice thrown at her. I mean how dare she throw a literal child into the most dangerous place in the world? Now she only needed to ask one more thing.

"Percy..." She started, putting on a sweet smile to mask her outrage. From the looks of things, Percy could tell it was fake, most likely from experience. The boy gulped as he hesitantly responded.

"Whereabouts do you and your Goddess live?"

Astrea was ready to march straight there as soon as she heard the answer. This was one of the worst things that she had heard. The boy gave another small gulp, mumbling his words as he struggled to speak.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. I just want to make sure you get home safe."

Why was the boy taking so long to answer? This was probably the easiest question to answer. It couldn't get much worse.

"D-D-Daedalus... s-street," The boy murmured out.

Ok... it got worse.

'Dammit, where is he?'

A man was currently patrolling just in front of the entrance/exit to Daedalus Street. He was wearing a worn-down coat, pants with rips in them and some dishevelled boots. He had rough, unkept, brown hair with a scraggly beard to match.

'That damn brat, making me wait so long. Surely he's gotta come out at some point?'

Brant was currently pacing just in the perimeter of Daedalus Street. After his talk with Reg and gathering his resolve to talk and apologise to Percy, he made his way over to Daedalus Street. He had known the young boy lived here for some time but not exactly where. The man had little experience dealing with the man-made maze and he was wise enough not to enter without any form of guidance or help. Though he knew that would be pointless as from what he had gathered, not even his Goddess knew his pinpoint location. This was a danger he would be willing to face as it would accomplish nothing.

However, it had almost been a full day since their argument and Brant had been waiting outside the entrance, sporadically hopping in when he mustered a bit more courage and lost some patience, only for his common sense to kick in and tell him to stay put and wait.

Another moment like that was just about to occur and Brant was beginning to grow annoyed as his patience had been pushed to its limit, Brant wanted to enter now to berate the boy for forcing him to wait all night but he knew deep down that was wrong.

Brant had thought a few times that maybe the boy had noticed him and had chosen to avoid him but he realised that wasn't the type of person the boy was. He braved the struggles of the dungeon solo, surely he was brave enough to face a pathetic piece of shit like him. Surely he wasn't scared of him. Surely...?

Brant contemplated that thought as he ventured slightly forward, hopping onto a nearby wall. He knew he had been harsh with the boy, and loud something that Percy didn't like. But he had been loud before and he had definitely said worse stuff.

Suddenly Brant heard some footsteps, more than one pair. While he was no convict or wanted for any crime, he also enjoyed going unnoticed. He could tell they were walking this way and so with a quick drop that showed the practice and precision of a veteran adventurer, Brant silently dropped behind a heap of discarded boxes and barrels.

As he peeps out his face loses a shade of colour and his eyes widen in shock.

'What the hell are the Astrea Familia doing 'ere?'

Brant knew of the Astrea Familia. An up-and-coming Familia full of young girls led by the Goddess of Justice, seeking out crime and the rest of that goody-toe shoes bullshit he was sick of hearing.

'I mean, they strutted around like a police force even though they were still children. They don't even have a proper route or schedule. Back in my day, we had it locked down, tight.'

His eyes grew even wider at the sight of the Goddess Astrea herself accompanying them. He was unsure who the other woman was with them though but he wasn't bothered by her appearance. Astrea hadn't reported any new signings so maybe she had gone to them to ask for help.

However, all thought processing had come to an immediate halt as the man's brown eyes found their way to the waist height of the Goddess.

'What the fuck is Percy doing with the Astrea Familia?'

Brant watched them walk past him as the young red-headed girl asked Percy for a direction with the boy meekly responding and pointing.

"Why don't you just lead us there instead of us having to ask you for directions," the young far-eastern girl huffed rudely, causing the boy to shrink. He quickly agreed and hurried in front and began leading the group into the heart of Daedalus Street.

'He looks uncomfortable like he doesn't want to be with them. I should try and help him.'

Brant's noble thought was met by radio silence.

'On second thought, I guess I'll just follow them for now. Forgive me youngin, I'll make it up to you. Just hold out.'

Brant's silent apology to Percy did little as the man began tailing the group, hoping to rescue the poor boy from his captures... without putting himself in too much danger.

I was screwed.

What was I meant to do? There was no way out of this now. I can't escape. No way! I can just tell by how carefree the Astrea Familia are acting around me. They knew they could catch me before I even managed to start running away. And they knew I knew that.

First Penia, then Astrea, now these lot. And God forbid you get Frieda and Maria angry or upset. Women sure are scary. At least Airmid seemed nice enough, apart from the time she refused to give me soup and fed me herself, a clear way of embarrassing me.

She and the other doctor, Miss Ferne, weren't with us anymore as Miss Ferne had decided to go back to her hospital, saying that her patient, me, had recovered enough to be released. However, she did leave with a strict warning to not go straight back into the dungeon or she would hunt me down herself. Judging by the stare she gave me, I believed her. Just another scary woman to add to the list I suppose.

Since there is no escape, and Goddess Astrea will know if I'm lying and taking them the wrong way, I am forced to lead the group straight towards where I meet with Goddess Penia. I don't pick up the pace but I'm too afraid to keep stalling on what street to walk down, instead, I just take the direct route.

After another 5 minutes, we enter the square with the run-down church. At that point, I was praying to the heavens that Goddess Penia wasn't there. But the view in front of me only solidified the fact that the Gods and fate hate me.

Getting up off the wooden bench, draped in her usual black robe, one hand nurturing a hangover with the other occupied by an empty bottle of alcohol. Her wrinkly disgruntled was in full view of us.

"So where's your Goddess then?" Alise asked chipperly, happy that the walk was over. Her question made me realise that maybe Penia wouldn't be recognised. I looked up and behind. While most of the others seemed to share the same unawareness of Alise, the one who I wanted most to stay unaware held a scary look in her eyes.

Goddess Astrea met my gaze, her eyes barely open as a long, thin smile shook me to my core.

"Didn't I tell you, Percy, I know all the Deities in Orario. Yours is no exception."

I didn't know what that last word meant but I could guess by the way the Goddess of Justice began marching over to Penia.

"Wait, that crinkly hag is your Goddess?" Kaguya asked, confused.

"...unfortunately," I sigh as I stand back and watch the world that I had managed to build for myself begin to go up in flames.

Penia was groggy. Even after 800 years of hangovers, her body never fully adapted, especially with Soma wine. She knew it was a failure, that it was not the God's best work. It was nowhere near; she knew the real thing and it was heaven itself. But his failed batch was not something to pour down the drain. But she would still curse its existence every time she woke up.

Yeah, she was groggy and the loud stomping footsteps were no help.

'Who the hell is waking me up at this time and the audacity!'

"Oi, don't you know who I am? I'm a God..."

Penia stopped her speaking when she raised her head. What met her sight was a clean white dress with a slight view of sandals each time a breeze slowly raised the bottom of the cloth. As she continued, she felt the aura. Penia's mind sobered up immediately. Which bitch wanted a piece of her this time.

Daedalus had a network of communication like no other in Orario, the Goddess knew what was going on in the outside world. She knew what deities were in the city.

As she kept panning up, she ruled Freya and Loki out, those two dress with more skin showing than clothes, for different reasons. Ganesha was also out, as he was the outline of masculinity and you would not catch him wearing a dress. Maybe Apollo? He was a... weird one putting it nicely.

The sun God was ruled out as a pair of well-shaped breasts came into view and long brunette hair entered her vision.

'A goddess that dresses uptight and covers up, with well-kept brown hair with a nice figure?... oh no.'

As she looked up, she saw the Goddess of Justice staring her down, the sound of sandals tapping the cobbled floor as a look of disappointment and anger plastered on her face. Behind her was her Familia who she had heard had all levelled up, a random woman but most importantly Perseus, her own follower standing with his head facing down, cradled in his hands in embarrassment and guilt.

"As a matter of fact, I do know who you are, Penia. May I have some words?" She asked but Penia knew it wasn't a question.

"... fuck."

This chapter was getting way too long. I end up starting out with a rough outline, bullet pointing all the key moments like Brant seeing Percy with Astrea and Amid and Percy first meeting (which yes will be the pairing, more on that later) and a few more that I couldn't add because if I did it the chapter would be over 10k words and thats too long for a chapter in my opinion so i decided to extend that to the next chapter which will be shorter.

Going onto Amid and Percy. Yes they are the main pair and I wanted to introduce it early to give me chance to writer scenes together as in my other fic, The Cursed Prince, I haven't touched romance yet and don't intend to in that one for some time so I thought this one will be different. There will be no Harem, I repeat, NO HAREM! I don't have a problem if others want to write it but I don't as its kind of stupid and too complicated if you want your characters to be grounded and realistic but maybe thats just me.

There won't be any flirty/Lemony scenes right now as you know, they are 5 and 6. They are literal children and that is falt out disgusting to write but that doesn't mean they can't be cute together and have older charaters tease them which is something I defineitly intend to do to Perseus as a form of sick punishment to sate my own jealousy of him being able to end up with a cute girl eventually. He is still realted to Bell and doesn't have the phenemonial teachings in rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrommmmmmmmmance from Zeus either so he ain't gonna be the best with girls but he'll have help im sure.

Anyway, onto Reviews:

korakovroman9 (review 1) - Hey, HEy slow down, wait a minute. That's a lot to take in. Errm I Personally like sticking to the rules of the world set by the author so three magic slots is maximum. You got your pairing with Amid which is a win. Percy's is a Hero, and Hero's face adverstities and loss, you will have to wait and see with Evilus. As for Penia, I know she's not cute. She ain't meant to be cute, that's why she's interesting. If I chose Astrea, she's already perfect and doesn't need to go through any arc of character development and also you'd want Percy to have sex with her at some point. Penia is a piece of shit and can be horrible, she is a writers dream to redeem and give her a proper character. Also she hasn't been used in any fic i've seen while Astrea, Freya, Loki and even Athena have been done time and again. Bout time someone gave the Goddess of Poverty some screen time. It's a good fit, a struggling child trying his best in the world alongside a downtrodden deity with no want to change but is dragged along by her only child as she watches him grow. Trust me, it will work.

korakovroman9 (review 2) - No, Nathan will not get a cameo and Percy will not appear in The Cursed Prince, sorry. I'm too attached to both characters and both wouldn't be able to live in the same world.

Guest - Survival of characters depends on how Perseus interacts with the world and the change he will bring. I am also looking forward to meeting with Hermes.

Roland Tepes - Thanks man and yh, Percy and Astrea Familia will have a lot more interactions, this is only the start.

cloudman3011 - Yh I know it sucked but I don't think enough stories show the harsh reality of the dungeon enough so I wanted to show it to both Percy and you how I intened to portray the Dungeon.

Brendan1479 - Cheers mate, that's what I was going for.

With that, thanks for reading. I'll see ya next time, Peace!