Chapter 12 Fatherhood
Disclaimer: I do not own God Eater or Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darouka / Danmachi
(Morning.)
The naked girl, now using a towel to cover herself, was sitting on the sofa and watching the people in front of her. She saw Penny walking back and forth while muttering words she didn't understand. Bell seemed to be having an anxiety attack and Hestia was trying to calm him down while also looking anxious.
Looking at them with confusion on her face, she spoke. "What's wrong? You look tense."
"Right... let's take it from the top... who are you?" Penny stops walking and stares at the girl in front of her.
"Who am I? I'm your daughter, Daddy!" The girl said excitedly. She jumped up from the sofa and ran over to Penny, wrapping her arms around his leg.
Sighing, Penny gave up trying to understand the situation. "My God... why did this happen to me?"
"Penny, now that I realize it... has that always been there?" Hestia taps Penny on the shoulder to get his attention.
Penny looks at Hestia in confusion, but soon sees the place she was pointing to. Penny is surprised to see a God Arc near the sofa. The God Arc is of the type, Small Shield, Short Sword and Sniper (The basic version of God Eater 2, for example, imagine Ciel's God Arc).
"What... what's that?" Penny mutters incredulously.
"Oh, my weapon?" The girl runs to the sword and picks it up, raising it in the air, she proudly shows her weapon to Penny. "It's just like yours, Daddy!"
"Daddy..." Penny repeated those words in her mind. Walking over to the bed, he sat down on it and let out a deep sigh. "How did it come to this?..."
"Penny..." Bell takes a breath to calm himself, walking over to the bed, he sits down next to Penny. "Penny, it's going to be okay, she probably got lost or something."
"Yeah, you're probably right... but how does she have a God Arc?" Penny puts her hands to her face and gives a silent cry.
"Daddy..." The girl walks over to Penny and holds his hands, making him look her in the eye. "Daddy, don't you like me being here with you?"
Penny is shocked to hear that word again. "Daddy" A word he never thought he'd hear in his life, looking at the girl more clearly, Penny notices the girl's navy blue eyes... they're the same as his.
"Ahhh... do you... do you really consider me your father?" Penny asks, still processing this fact.
"I don't consider you my daddy, because you're my real daddy!" The girl holds Penny's hands close to her cheeks and rubs them together.
"Right..." Penny lets go of the girl's touch in front of him and stands up. He gets up and walks over to a wall, leaning on it. He looks around and sees that his God Arc is resting on the wall, which is strange, because he remembers dropping it on the floor.
"Uncle Bell, is Daddy all right?" The girl asked, directing her gaze at Bell.
"He's... he's just shocked by your sudden appearance... wait what did you call me?" Bell asked.
"Uncle Bell. Aren't you Daddy's twin brother? Then you're my uncle!" The girl smiles at Bell.
Bell hears those words, and with the gears in his head turning, he realizes what she has said. Feeling a strong headache coming on, Bell lies down on the bed and stares at the ceiling.
"Uncle... uncle... uncle..." Bell mumbled repeatedly while looking paralyzed.
"Bell, are you all right?" Hestia ran over to the bed and looked into Bell's face, sighing with relief that he was only in shock, she sat down on the bed.
"Grandma Hestia, is Uncle Bell all right?" The girl approaches Hestia and asks with concern.
"Yes, he's fine, he just... wait what did you just say?" Hestia asks, not quite understanding the girl's question.
"Grandma Hestia, is he all right?" The girl repeats the question, looking confused.
"Grandma... GRANDMA!" Hestia shouts louder than she expected. Both Bell and Penny look at her for the sudden shout.
"Grandma Hestia, please don't scream." The girl covered her ears as she pleaded in a cute tone of voice.
"My God... am I... am I that old?..." Hestia wondered as she looked down at her hands, which seemed to be shaking. She may be a Goddess and thousands of years old, but at no time was she called a grandmother or had her age taken into account.
"Grandma, are you all right?" The girl stands in front of Hestia and holds her hands. Hestia lifts her gaze and sees the child's worried look in front of her.
Sighing, Hestia forces herself to calm down. "Yes, yes... I'm fine..." Hestia drops one of her hands and directs it to the girl's head, stroking it, Hestia smiles at her. "You don't have to worry."
"It's okay!" The girl smiled at Hestia with joy on her face.
[...]
A few hours passed after the initial condolences, the girl was still using a towel to cover herself, as she didn't have any proper clothes to wear. She was sitting on the sofa while eating some cookies provided by Bell.
Bell, Hestia and Penny were sitting on the bed and discussing what they were going to do with the girl.
"What do you think we should do?" Penny whispers to them both.
"Look, I've talked to her and she hasn't lied once. So there are two possibilities, one, she's telling half-truths, or two, she has no memories about her past." Hestia whispered.
"Look, the way she is..." Bell looked away from the girl and saw that she was eating her cookies, looking very happy. "She doesn't seem like a bad person."
"Well... what do you want to do?" Hestia asks looking at the boys.
"Look, if she has a God Arc..." Penny looks at the girl and looks back at the two in front of her. "I think we should keep her."
"Are you sure about that?" Bell asks a little reluctantly.
"Look, she's got a God Arc, that could end up hurting a lot of people if she's in a family with Gods who don't see her as a child, but rather as a weapon of entertainment." Penny says. "Besides, she sees me as her father, so I can't just leave her alone."
"Penny..." Hestia puts her hands on Penny's shoulders and looks him in the eye. "Penny, I know you're wise and capable of making your own decisions, but I'll ask you one last time... are you sure?"
Penny swallows dryly at those words, but he feels something inside him, a strange sensation that he has never felt before. A feeling of... duty to fulfill. "Yes, I'm sure."
"All right..." Hestia lets go of Penny, getting up from the bed, she walks over to the girl who is still eating her cookies. "Hey, girl."
"Oh, what's wrong, Grandma Hestia?" The girl asked curiously.
Grandma, a word that makes Hestia a little angry, but... but she also feels a comfort hearing it from her. "Well, we've decided that you're going to be part of our family."
"Really?" The girl asks in surprise, with a leap, she ends up making the towel fall off her body, jumping up to Hestia, she hugs her. "Thanks Grandma!"
"Eh, yeah, yeah, it's okay!" Hestia said, trying to keep her balance.
"She really seems to like the Goddess Hestia." Penny laughed at that scene.
"Yeah... I guess so..." Bell said as she put her hands to her face.
[...]
After a few more minutes of thanks from the girl, Penny was sitting on the sofa while thinking, he looked over and saw that Hestia was looking frustrated as she tried to give her Falna to the girl. Getting off her, Hestia walks over to Penny and clicks her tongue.
"It's not working... it shouldn't be possible." Hestia bites one of the fingers on her hand. "We Gods should be more than capable of granting a Falna to mortals."
"Is that because she doesn't have a name?" Penny asked.
"What do you mean?" Hestia asked in confusion.
"That's right, Dad hasn't given me a name yet!" The girl jumps out of bed, causing her towel to fall again. Hestia quickly picks up the towel and covers her body again.
"You know, if a person doesn't have a name, they don't have a fixed identity." Penny says, he looks at the girl and smiles at her. "So, do you want me to give you a name?"
"Yes!" The girl jumps towards Penny and hugs him, with her towel falling off, again, she hugs Penny tight.
"Look, as soon as we've finished here I'm going to buy you some new clothes."
"Right!"
"So..." Penny pushes the girl away a little. Picking up the towel from the floor, he covers the girl again. Looking at the girl's face, Penny sees that the eyes, the nose, the silhouette of the girl's face look very much like his face when he was younger. "How about... Ammit?"
"Ammit?... Ammit... I like it!" The girl skips happily around the room. "Yay! Daddy gave me a name!"
"All right, then it's Ammit Pennywort." Penny gets up from the sofa while smiling excitedly.
A strong light illuminates the room, with Penny and Hestia seeing that the light was coming from Ammit's back, the light disappearing in a few moments, the room returning to normal.
"What was that?" Ammit asks in surprise at the sudden light.
"Looks like my theory was right." Penny laughs wryly.
"Goddess Hestia, can I come down now?" Bell spoke from the top of the church.
"Wait a bit longer, Bell!" Hestia replied. "Penny, get her some clothes as soon as possible."
"OK, but I'll have to take her to the clothes store to get the right size." Penny says, looking very worried.
"Well..." Hestia walks over to the closet and opens it, looking for something, she finds an overcoat. "Wear that on her so no one can see her body."
"Wooo that's a big outfit!" Ammit said impressed.
"Well, Ammit, let's go shopping." Penny said excitedly as he opened the overcoat to make room for her to put it on.
"Right!"
[Hostess of Fertility]
In the morning, Ryuu woke up, took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and put on her work clothes. Without forgetting the last detail, she always took the green dye to color her hair. At first she found doing this very uncomfortable, but over time it became a routine, so she got used to it.
Arriving at her work, Ryuu greets the other girls, and going to the tavern's storeroom, she picks up a broom. Arriving at the saloon, she starts sweeping the place to get everything ready for the customers. Usually not so many people arrive so early, but Ryuu is surprised to see a familiar face enter the tavern.
"Hello, are you open yet?" Bell asked as he entered the place.
"Oh, Mr. Cranel, already up so early?" Ryuu asked as he continued sweeping, but the words Penny had spoken a few days ago were still in his mind. Ryuu had heard of this depression, but had never seen anyone who had suffered from it.
"Yeah, right!" Bell scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "It's just that my family had a bit of a setback and we had to sort something out quickly."
"Really? What kind of problem would that be?" Ryuu asks genuinely curious.
"Well, a gi-"
"Oh, Bell, how nice of you to come!" Syr said excitedly. "Wait here." Syr leaves and walks into the kitchen.
"Eh, Miss Syr, no need... ahhh..." Bell sighs defeatedly. "Why does this always happen to me?"
"She just wants to be helpful and kind to you." Ryuu said as he continued sweeping the floor.
"That's the point, I-"
"Here, Bell!" Syr walked back over to Bell and handed him a small box of food.
"Actually, that's what I wanted to say before. I'm not going to the dungeon now." Bell said, handing the box back. "Penny and I are going to... eat here before we go to the Dungeon."
"Oh, that's great news!" Syr said excitedly to Bell, picking up the box of food and talking to him. "Table for two, as usual, isn't it?"
"Actually, that's another matter." Bell says, leaving both Syr and Ryuu confused.
"Bell, have you taken a table yet?" Penny asked as she entered the place.
"Oh, Penny good to see you, so what..." Syr greeted Penny, but was confused when she saw a girl behind Penny, a girl who looked to be between 10 and 12 years old.
The girl was wearing a blue bow on the side of her head. She was wearing a fluffy white shirt with blue details, with a little blue tie. Below the waist, the dress was slightly open and came down to her knees, with almost transparent bands that looped around her waist. She was wearing long black socks, along with brown boots. The girl was also carrying a black sword on her back, much like the swords Penny had brought the first time she came to the tavern.
The girl seemed reluctant to show herself and stood behind Penny's legs as she gripped the fabric of his pants tightly.
"Woo how cute niaw!" Anya approached them both. She squatted down so that she was level with the girl and smiled at her. "And who might you be niaw? Are you also Penny's sister?"
"Daddy, who are these people?" Ammit asked as she hid behind his leg.
Anya, Syr, Ryuu, and even the other girls along with Mia, who was in the kitchen preparing some food, had to stick their heads out of the room after hearing the girl's words.
Penny crouches down to meet the girl's gaze and looks her in the eye. "Ammit, I already told you, didn't I? You don't have to call me that all the time."
"Why? Doesn't Dad like me anymore? Are you... are you ashamed of me?" Ammit asks with a sad expression on her face.
"No, no, it's nothing like that!" Penny quickly tries to deflect, looking at Ammit's vaguely sad face, he sighs defeatedly. "All right, you can keep calling me that."
"Right, Daddy!" Ammit says excitedly as she becomes happy again.
"Now go sit at a table, I have to discuss something with Bell." Penny stands up again and looks at Bell.
"Okay!" Ammit runs up to Anya and takes her hand to lead her to one of the tables.
The cat-girl was still in shock at this fact, but decides to just swallow it and leads Ammit to a table reserved for 8 people.
"Penny, who is she? And why does she keep calling you daddy!?" Syr asks nervously, annoyed, worried and whatever else she's feeling at the moment.
"It's too complicated to explain, but in short, she's the newest member of the Hestia family and... and she's also my daughter." Penny sighs at the situation.
"How is that possible?! I, I thought... that you..." Syr tried to say something, but even she couldn't put into words what she was feeling in that situation. Shock? Surprise? Disbelief? Even she didn't know.
"Don't try to understand this situation or your brain will fry from thinking about it. Just accept that it's easier." Bell says, seeming to understand Syr's situation well.
"Right..." Syr sighs to force himself to calm down.
"Dad! Can I get something to eat?" Ammit asked as she sat down at the tavern counter.
"Order whatever you like." Penny replied.
"Eba! Giant girl, I'd like fish, potatoes, rice and lemonade!" Ammit said smiling at Mia.
[...]
The girls and the boys were sitting at the counter, and with chewing sounds, they watched Ammit eat her food eagerly.
"Ammit, eat slowly, the food won't get away from you." Penny said sighing, he picked up a handkerchief from the table and used it to wipe Ammit's face.
"Okay, thanks, Dad!" Ammit thanked him while eating a little more politely, but still a little clumsily.
The girls watched the scene, a scene they never thought they would see. Until a sigh was audible.
"Waah how cute!" Chloe sighed as she put her hands together and held them close to her face while her face looked a little flushed.
"Daddy, who are they?" Ammit asked, curious about the girls.
"Let's just say... they're friends of mine." Penny said, turning her attention back to her plate and eating again.
"Let me introduce myself little niaw!" Anya stood up and puffed out her chest proudly. "My name is Anya niaw Fromel niaw!"
"Anya niaw Fromel niaw?" Ammit repeats, looking confused by the name.
"Her name is Anya Fromel. That 'niaw' she does is just a mania of hers." Penny explains to Ammit.
"Hey, it's not a niaw!" Anya slaps the table, looking offended by Penny's statement.
"Then why do you always do that 'niaw' every time you speak?" Penny asks, laughing at Anya's face, which seems to be getting angrier.
"Please don't fight in front of the child." Chloe stands up and signals the two to stop. "Well, I guess I'm next. My name is Chloe Rollo."
"I'm next!" Lunoire says, introducing herself. "My name is Lunoire Faust."
"Well, I'm Ryuu Lion." Ryuu says greeting the girl.
"And I'm Syr Flova!" Syr says while smiling at Ammit.
Ammit looked at Syr, with an expression of curiosity and intrigue, she spoke to Syr. "You're strange." Ammit says, her tone innocent.
"What?" Syr asks in shock at her statement
"Ammit." Penny looks at her daughter. "You shouldn't talk to your elders like that. Apologize for your rudeness."
"Okay..." Ammit lowers her gaze, looking saddened by the scolding. "I'm sorry, Miss Syr."
"Oh, come on, no problem!" Syr shrugs, having an idea, she goes to the kitchen and returns with the box she wanted to give Bell earlier. "Here, take this to show that I haven't been hurt."
"What's that?" Ammit asked, she took the box and opened it, seeing that it was sandwiches she was delighted. "Yay, sandwiches!" She takes one and bites into it in a few seconds.
"Are you sure you want to eat them now? Don't you want to save them for when you get hungry in the dungeon?" Bell asked her.
"Oh, yeah!" Ammit swallowed the piece she had bitten into and put the sandwich away with the others in the box. "Thank you, Miss Syr!" Ammit jumps up from his chair, walks over to Penny and hands him the box. "Daddy, can you save it for me?"
"Of course." Penny takes the box, seeing that it's small enough to fit in one of his bags lodged in his knees, he puts it away.
"Waahhh this is absolute cuteness niaw!" Anya said with a smile as she looked at Ammit. "And she really looks a lot like you, the eyes, the face... even the hair is the same color niaw."
"Really, she looks a lot like him." Lunoire said thoughtfully.
"Maybe it's because she's his daughter?" Chloe asked, knowing full well the obvious answer.
"But if that's the case, why does she have those two colors in her bangs?" Ryuu asks. "Hey, Miss Ammit, why is your hair like that? Did you dye it by any chance?"
"No, my hair is just like that." Ammit replied without understanding. "I've never dyed my hair, it's just the way it is."
"Three colors being natural? That's something new for me." Syr says while looking at Ammit's hair. "But those three colors make you look cute!"
"Yes, I'm daddy's cutie!" Ammit said excitedly, running over to Penny and hugging him.
"Will I be able to cope with this new life until you're older?" Penny wondered. He looked at Ammit, saw her happy face, stroked her hair and answered himself. "Yes, I'll cope with it without any problems."
[Guild.]
"And this is the guild, where we trade the magic stones we collect from the monsters in the dungeon to earn money." Bell explained as he entered the guild with Penny and Ammit.
"Woo what a cool place!" Ammit was being held by Penny as they entered the place. "Is this where I'll register to fight alongside you, Dad?" Ammit asked excitedly as she looked agitated and anxious.
"Yes, that's right. We're going to speak to our guild advisor to provide your registration." Penny said, he looked around and saw that Eina was at her desk organizing some papers.
"Yay!... brrriii! That's cold..." Ammit shivers a little as he feels a cold breeze pass by.
"We woke up very early, so it's normal to be cold. Here, wear this." Penny fiddles with the zipper of her cape and takes it off. Placing it on Ammit's shoulders, he zippers it up and leaves the cloak with her. "What do you think?"
"Wow! That's great! I want one for myself too!" Ammit swayed her body as she made the cape move.
"You look so cute like that, I think she should have her own cape, don't you? Penny." Bell said as she laughed.
"All right, I'll find a way to get one later." Penny walked over to the counter and tapped it a few times to get Eina's attention. "Excuse me, Miss Eina."
"Oh, hello Penny, hello Bell! I was hoping you'd be in later to talk to you..." Eina finally notices the girl in Penny's arms. "Who... who is that?"
"Oh, that's right. Miss Eina, this is Ammit Pennywort. Ammit, say hello." Penny says, indicating the girl in her arms.
"Hi, I'm Ammit, Daddy's daughter!" Ammit introduces herself with a smile on her face.
"Ammit... daughter..." Eina mutters in shock at those words. Standing still like a statue and looking shocked, she just stares at the girl in Penny's arms.
"Eina, believe me. Accepting this will be easier and give you less of a headache." Bell says as she moves her hand in front of Eina's face to get her attention.
"Oh, well..." Eina pulls herself together. "Well, that's really something I didn't expect to hear." Eina coughs to clear her throat. "Well then, tell me how it happened?"
"Miss Eina, you must know how babies are made, don't you?" Penny asks, he sees that Eina's face has turned slightly red and laughs at her face. "I'm kidding, you should have seen your face!"
"You idiot..." Eina mutters, still embarrassed. She looked at Ammit and saw that she was laughing amusedly at Penny's joke. Giving a slight smile, Eina calmed down and looked at the three of them. "Well, you didn't come here just to make fun of me, did you?"
"You got it right, we came here to do Ammit's adventurer registration." Penny says.
"Yes! I want to go with Dad and Uncle to the Dungeon!" Ammit says excitedly, she takes her sword from behind her back and raises it high. "I want to kill lots of monsters!"
"Wow!" Eina said in surprise, seeing a child of possibly 12 lift a relatively large sword, but if Penny could carry a cannon that turns into two swords so easily, his daughter must be the same, right? "You're really excited."
"Yes, I've never had the chance to kill monsters together with Dad and Uncle, so I'm quite happy to go with them!" Ammit puts her God Arc back on her back.
"Well, I guess that's really impressive." Eina bends down to pick up the application forms. "Oh yes, don't you dare take her down to the lower floors."
"Well, don't worry about that, Miss Eina." Bell replied a little nervously. "We'll stay on the fifth floor today, if the situation gets dangerous we'll go to the upper floors."
"Ruf, I think that's good." Eina said as she stared at the boys, especially Penny. Well, Eina still hasn't forgotten about the Killer Ants.
"Well, let's get it over with. As soon as we've finished getting some money we'll go back to the Hostess of Fertility and eat before we go home." Penny said as she put Ammit down.
"Right!" Ammit said excitedly. She watched as Penny took a pen from Eina and started writing on the form.
"Oh, Penny. There's one more thing." Eina said, remembering something. "The Ganecha family sent you a notice."
"Notice? What about?" Penny asks as she continues writing.
"Well, after I made the report about the unknown monster you had faced with Bell, the guild contacted the Ganecha family and they want to have a talk with you."
"Dear God..." Penny sighs. "And when is that?"
"Well, they just asked me to contact you and that you'd get back to them when you can."
"Daddy, who is this Ganecha?" Ammit asks curiously.
"He's probably a god like the goddess Hestia." Penny explains. He finishes writing and gives the form to Eina. "Well, we're done here."
Eina takes the form and checks it. "With that, Ammit is officially a novice adventurer." Eina looks at Ammit and smiles at her. "Well, Ammit. As much as you're an adventurer, you shouldn't go on adventures."
"What do you mean? But wouldn't that go against the whole point of being an adventurer?" Ammit asks confused.
"Actually..." Bell crouches down and squints to get closer to Ammit's height. "She's just worried about you. To sum up Miss Eina's words, she's just telling you not to take any chances."
"Oohhhh got it! Thanks Uncle Bell!" Ammit says excitedly. She turns to Eina and smiles at her. "Thanks Eina-Sama!"
Eina felt as if an arrow of cuteness went through her heart when she heard those words. Almost falling over, she regains her posture and smiles at her. "You're welcome, Ammit-San!"
[Miach's store].
Naaza had a box of potion bottles in her hands. Organizing the potions on the shelves, she sighs tiredly. Feeling a sense of disgust and anger at having thrown the diluted potions away. She had to find an excuse to tell the Miach God why she was throwing potions away.
But she still felt that Penny was a bit right, the adventurers who bought these potions could be in danger if they didn't work properly and that could ruin the Miach God's reputation, even if it's not that high, it's still the reputation of a God.
"So the stock is full. Well, we used up a lot of the monster items and magic stones we had to make these potions... but they even look more... alive." Miach says impressed with the potions. "I don't know why, but I feel like these are better than the ones you threw away."
"Yeah... they really are..." Naaza says without caring much, she seems to be traveling in her own thoughts.
"Naaza, did something happen?" Miach asks, seeing that her daughter seems distracted.
"Nothing, I'm just... just thinking..." Naaza says, finishing packing the potions.
"Is this about what happened yesterday? Look, I'm sorry if I got in the way of you two." Miach says.
"Mr. Miach, that's not what you think!" Naaza retorts a little red-faced. "I just... I was just giving him a reward..."
"For it to be a kiss on the cheek, he must have really liked the reward." Miach said laughing a little as he remembered the moment he had seen Naaza kissing Penny's cheek.
"Mr. Miach, I'm going to punch you." Naaza says a little annoyed.
"Yes, yes. I'm going out the back to tidy up, if anyone comes in to buy some things, don't scare them off with that look on your face." Miach says as she walks away.
Naaza sighs in frustration, she herself was enjoying the moment she had with Penny. Even she doesn't know why, but after Penny bought those fire monster items, she... she started to feel different.
Whenever Naaza goes to sleep she ends up thinking about him, while she eats she thinks about him, even in the shower she ends up thinking about him. Shaking her head from side to side, Naaza cleared her thoughts.
"No... this must be a passing thing, I can't be feeling this way about him... or can I?..." Naaza asks herself while feeling a little embarrassed.
With the sound of the door opening, Naaza turns to her. "Welcome, what do you need?" Naaza greets the people who have entered, but she notices that only one child has entered.
Naaza is confused by the child, looking at her appearance, Naaza sees her white hair and her navy blue eyes, remembering Penny. Naaza is even more confused.
"She... she looks like Penny!" Naaza thinks in surprise. Before she can think any further, the girl shoots towards her while smiling.
"Mommy!" Ammit jumps up to Naaza and hugs her.
Naaza is surprised, both by the fact that a child hugs her out of the blue, and by the fact that she has called her Mama. Looking at the girl, she gets a better sense of her features, seeing that she really does look like Penny.
"Who... who are you?" Naaza finally finds her voice. Seeing the confused look on her face, Naaza feels even more confused too.
"Ammit, don't run so fast!" Bell enters the store and sees Ammit hugging Naaza.
"Ammit, you need to wait for us!" Penny says as she enters the place. "Oh, hi Naaza."
"Daddy, I found Mommy!" Ammit says while holding Naaza's clothes.
"Daddy... Mommy?..." Naaza mumbles. Looking at Penny, shock is evident in her facial expression.
"Mom, are you okay?" Ammit says and Naaza looks at her face. Seeing concern and curiosity in her.
"Look, little girl." Naaza bends down to her height. "I don't really know who you are, but I'm certainly not your mother."
"What do you mean? You're my mommy!" Ammit says. "You kissed Dad, didn't you? Only mommy can kiss daddy."
Naaza is even more shocked. She looks at Penny and waits for his answer.
"Look, I can explain... actually, I can't. I don't even know what's going on properly." Penny says sighing. "Look, I'll summarize the current situation."
[...]
"Oh, so... she just showed up in your room and started calling you Dad?" Naaza asks while trying to understand the situation.
"That's it in a nutshell." Penny says. He looks over and sees. Ammit watching the potions, looking very impressed. "Look, I don't really understand her looking like me either, but... I can't just abandon her."
"Look... this is such an unbelievable situation... that if it wasn't happening in front of me I'd laugh until I fainted." Naaza rubs her temples looking exhausted.
"Mom, did you make those potions?" Ammit approaches Naaza and looks at her, seeming impressed.
"Well..." Naaza still finds it strange to be called Mama, but she sighs and decides to just accept it. Squatting down to Ammit's height, Naaza smiles and rubs her hair. "Yes, me and my God, Mr. Miach made them."
"Wooo how amazing!" Ammit says looking like she has stars in her eyes. "Daddy, can we buy Mommy's potions?!"
"Naaza, I heard the door open a few minutes ago, were those new customers?" Miach asked, entering the room. "Oh, hi Penny! Have you come to buy potions or... who is this child? New member of Hestia's family?"
"More or less. It's quite difficult to explain, but in short, she and my daughter." Penny explains.
"Daddy, is he Mommy's God?" Ammit turns to Penny and asks in a tone of childish curiosity.
"Mama?" Miach asks uncomprehendingly, looking at Naaza, he sees her look away as her face flushes a little. "Oh my god... you two... you two did it?"
"Of course not!" Naaza quickly retorts. "I would never do that kind of thing with someone I've only known a short time. And besides, it's chronologically impossible!"
Miach is surprised, but thinking more clearly, it's impossible for Naaza to be the girl's mother, so...
"Mom, is he the God who helped you make the potions?" Ammit asks, tugging on Naaza's arm to get her attention.
"Look..." Naaza sighs, still not believing that she's being called Mama even though she's so young. "Yes, he's the god I mentioned, his name is Miach."
"Ohh..." Ammit turns to Miach and smiles at him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Miach! My name is Ammit Pennywort!"
Miach feels an arrow of cuteness go through his chest after hearing those words. Running up to Ammit, Miach kneels on the ground and holds her hands while looking at her with a pleading look.
"Please don't be like your mother! Don't be as stone-faced as she is," Miach pleads.
Ammit didn't understand the request. With overwhelming speed, Miach is hit on the head by a punch from Naaza. Falling to the ground while a bump is visible on his forehead, he groans in pain.
"It's not enough trouble that you give me free potions, now you're going to make fun of me?" Naaza asks angrily as a wisp of smoke rises from his fist.
"Don't you think you took it too hard with him?" Penny asks, crouching down next to Miach and looking at the bump on his head.
"Did you come here to buy something or do you just want to get punched too?" Naaza asks with no patience left.
"Mom, don't fight with Dad." Ammit pleads as he tugs lightly at her clothes to get her attention. "I don't want to see you two fighting."
Still with an angry face, Naaza looks at Ammit's pleading and vaguely sad gaze. Sighing, Naaza bends down and hugs Ammit tightly. "Ahh why did you have to be so cute?!" Naaza asked as she felt a comforting warmth invade her heart.
"I don't want to see you fighting, so don't be angry with him." Ammit hugged Naaza back.
Seeing that scene, Penny stands up and gives a slight smile at that. Feeling a comforting sensation inside, he knows well that he didn't make the wrong choice in adopting her as his daughter.
"Penny, let's get going. We're not going very deep into the dungeon, so the longer we stay, the more magic stones we'll get." Bell says, joining the conversation. He seems to be holding three vials of potions, two orange and one blue.
"What do you mean? Are you taking her to the dungeon?" Naaza asks in surprise.
"We're just going to test her fighting skills, so we won't be facing any dangerous monsters." Penny explains.
"Ahhh..." Naaza sighs. "Just... just don't let her get hurt." Naaza stands up and strokes Ammit's head. "Behave yourself there and don't act on impulse, okay?"
"Yes, Mom!" Ammit says excitedly.
Naaza looks at Ammit's smile and feels a burning in her heart. A feeling she has never felt before, but this feeling makes her want to hug, kiss, caress, look after and protect this little child.
[Dungeon fourth floor].
A Kobold leaps towards Ammit, drawing her God Arc with mastery, she slashes the monster with a clean cut and kills it in the same instant. Looking around, she sees three more Goblins surrounding her.
Running up to them, she jumps up and raises her God Arc, she slams it into the ground, piercing the chest of one Goblin. The other two Goblins advanced against Ammit, but she just spun her body around, making a circular attack, she cut through the belly of the two Goblins, killing them in the same instant.
Sighing as she wiped the sweat from her brow, she put her God Arc on her shoulder and looked at Bell and Penny. "So, how did I do?"
"Wow! You were amazing Ammit!" Bell applauds her niece's acrobatics and combat.
"You did very well. Your fencing, and your speed is very good." Penny said impressed. "But you still need to have more focus in a fight."
"Well, I've already killed more than 50 monsters with this, so I guess it's more than good enough!" Ammit said proudly.
"And you're going to keep ignoring me?!" Lili asked angrily. "I still don't understand why Master Penny has a daughter!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Lili, it's just that it's kind of new to us too." Bell apologizes as he laughs a little nervously.
"New?! And you didn't even have the decency to tell me about it!" Lili asked even more irritated.
"We've only known each other for a day, that's not something you need to know." Penny replied dryly. "You joined the team yesterday, do you really think we'd trust you with information like that?"
"Grrr..." Lili growls angrily at Penny.
"Daddy, don't be mean." Ammit pleads as he approaches. "It's not nice to be rude to people."
"Well, Ammit." Penny strokes her daughter's head. "People we don't know properly can't have our complete trust."
"Is that why you're cold to strangers?" Ammit asks, laughing.
"I'm not cold, I'm just cautious." Penny replies.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Lili shouts while waving her arms.
"Lili-San, is it so strange that Dad has me for a daughter?" Ammit asks confused.
"N-not that, Ammit..." Lili replied, calming down; after all, it was none of her business. "Well, I just... I was just annoyed that I didn't know you existed."
"Oh, Lili-Sam." Ammit walks over to Lili, placing her God Arc on her back, she holds Lili's hands. "Don't worry about it, how about we be friends? You seem like a really nice person."
"You... you want to be my friend?!" Lili asks in surprise at Ammit's proposal.
"Ammit, you're quite innocent for your age." Penny said sighing. "Well, I think we can go deeper."
"What, are you going to take her deeper into the dungeon?!" Lili hugged Ammit and tried to push her away. "What kind of father are you?"
"The kind who has complete confidence in his daughter's abilities." Penny replies.
"Guys, can we not start fighting?" Bell tries to mediate the situation. "Look, Lili. It may not look like it, but Penny's pretty strong, and I'm pretty sure Ammit's just as strong."
"Yeah, I'm as strong as Dad!" Ammit says, releasing herself from Lili's grip.
Lili remembers the day before when the two boys had defeated Orcs with such ease, she sighs defeatedly. "Look, I still don't agree with her going so deep, being her first time here in the dungeon."
"She's strong, she can go deeper into the dungeon. Ammit, come on." Penny says and Ammit quickly runs over to Penny and hugs his leg. "Well, if the worst comes to the worst, I guarantee that I will eliminate any threat that dares to lay a finger on my family."
Lili is surprised by those words, but returning to her normal expression, she sighs again. "You're unbelievable, Master Penny."
"I've heard that since childhood." Penny said laughing, he stroked Ammit's head and motioned for Lili to follow. "Come on, we still have work to do."
[Hostess of Fertility]
After exchanging the magic stones at the guild, Ammit chatted for a while with Eina while Penny and Bell exchanged the magic stones. After dividing up the reward, they parted ways. Lili went home to do who knows what. Bell, Penny and Ammit went to the Hostess of Fertility to eat before returning home.
As soon as the girls saw Ammit entering the tavern, they were excited and happy when they saw the little girl. As the three of them settled into their seats, Mia handed them their food.
Mia walks over to the table and places a large plate of noodles in front of Ammit. "Here, little one. Eat it all and ask for more!"
"Yes!" Ammit says excitedly. She picks up a fork and starts eating the noodles with gusto.
"Eat slowly, the food won't run away from you." Penny sighs. He sees that Mia has put out a large plate of chicken soup and some bread rolls. "Thanks." Penny starts eating.
"Hey, you silly niaw! Let the cutie eat how she wants niaw!" Anya mocks Penny as she hands out the other customers' plates.
"I didn't give you the freedom to call me whatever you want." Penny retorts a little irritated as she eats.
"Daddy, stop frowning and enjoy your food." Ammit said with her mouth full of noodles, her words barely intelligible, but Penny managed to understand.
"Eat it all before you talk."
"Penny, do you think we should have told Lili the truth?" Bell whispered in Penny's ear.
"No. She joined the group recently, we don't know if she can be trusted." Penny whispers back.
Syr, who had just finished delivering another customer's order, goes over to the boys and sits down next to Ammit. "Hi, guys! Hi Ammit!" Syr greets the little girl.
"Syr-Sama!" Ammit greets excitedly while her mouth is full.
"Eat up before you talk." Syr laughed at Ammit's cute face. She looked at the boys and saw them whispering. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Personal business." Bell and Penny say at the same time.
"Gee, would I know what it is?"
"No." Penny and Bell say at the same time.
"Wow." Syr mutters in surprise.
"Hey, Syr-Sama. Don't mind them, they're just discussing grown-up things." Ammit says, tapping her on the shoulder.
"Oh, Ammit, you're cuteness itself!" Syr strokes Ammit's head with a smile on his face. "Let's leave them to it."
"Hey, Syr-Sama. How's work, Dad took me to the dungeon and I eliminated several monsters?" Ammit said excitedly as she finished eating.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Syr said, looking over to see Ammit's God Arc resting next to her as she leaned on the counter.
"Yeah, and I found and eliminated several monsters that looked like dogs, then I killed lizards and some green men who had pointy ears like Ryuu-Sama!" Ammit said excitedly as she pointed at Ryuu who was passing nearby.
"What?" Ryuu asked in shock at the comparison.
"Haha! She compared you to a Goblin!" Chloe said while laughing at the Elf.
"Hmmm..." Ryuu says looking as if he didn't like the comparison.
"Ryuu-Sama, did I do something wrong?" Ammit turns to Ryuu and asks with an expression of curiosity and cuteness.
Ryuu almost drops the plates when she feels an arrow of cuteness go through her chest. Regaining her balance, she walks over to the counter. Leaving the tray on the table, she moves towards Ammit and squeezes her cheeks as Ryuu smiles.
"AHH there's no way I could be mad at a cutie like you!" Ryuu said excitedly as she smiled, a rare thing for her to smile.
"Hey, I want to squeeze her cheeks too!" Syr said looking annoyed.
"I want some too niaw!" Anya arrives on the scene.
"Me too!" Chloe says.
"Don't forget me!" Lunoire said.
"Wait, I'm only one!" Ammit said nervously. The girls gathered around her as they tried to cuddle her. "Daddy, help!"
"Shouldn't you do something?" Bell asked, looking worried about his niece.
"In 3... 2... 1..." Penny says, expecting a very obvious result.
"Are you guys off duty by any chance?!" Mia slaps the table angrily. The girls jump in fright at the sudden bang. Even the customers stopped eating to watch the plot. "Are you going to go on making a fool of yourselves and keep scaring the little girl or are you going to do your jobs?"
The girls are confused, but when they look at Ammit, they see that she is holding back tears. Before they can apologize, Ammit jumps out of her chair and runs over to Penny.
"Daddy!" Ammit runs while crying. She grabs Penny's legs and sinks her face into his lap.
"Come on, that was scary, wasn't it?" Penny holds Ammit and puts her on his lap. "There, there. The scare is over." He strokes her head while trying to calm her down.
The girls stand in shock, looking around, they see the judgmental stares of the customers. Feeling ashamed for having made a small child cry, they return to their work and deliver the customers' orders.
"Ammit, there's no need to cry. They didn't mean to make you sad." Bell said. He sees the little child stretch out her arms to him, and understands that she wants to sit on his lap. Letting out a slight laugh, Bell extends his arms to Ammit and puts her on his lap.
Ammit snuggles into Bell's arms and feels her body grow drowsy. Leaning against Bell's chest, she slowly closes her eyes and falls asleep.
"I guess killing those monsters must have made you very tired." Penny said, and he moved her hair to see her face. Seeing her sleeping, Penny smiles.
[...]
"Come on, come on, they must be there!" Loki said excitedly as she skipped happily through the streets.
"Goddess Loki, are you really delaying the expedition to the deep floors just because you want to convince the boy to come with us?" Riveria asked, not believing her Goddess' decision.
"Leave her alone, she just wants to entertain herself with the boy." Bete spat without patience.
"Still, I don't want him to come into the family." Lefiya said, feeling a slight chill run down her spine.
"But don't forget, he's unpredictable, so don't let your guard down around him." Finn said and the other members, except Loki, agreed.
Loki entered the tavern and looked around, not finding the boy she was looking for, she looked at the counter near the kitchen and saw his gun next to Bell while he was holding a girl. Finding this strange, Loki takes a closer look at the weapon and sees another sword similar to Penny's cannon.
Sighing excitedly, Loki grabs Riveria's collar and swings it from side to side. "Did you see that? He's got another weapon besides that sword cannon!" Loki whispers to her.
"Goddess, you don't need that." Riveria said while still being rocked from side to side.
Loki let go of his daughter and let her fall to the ground. Turning around excitedly, she started trotting towards the God Arc, reaching out to grab the handle of the smaller one, she decided to take advantage of this chance since Penny wasn't there.
Loki is centimeters from touching the handle of the God Arc, but pulls her hand away when she is kicked by a leg. Taking her hand back, she looks to the side and sees Ammit's leg dangling from her kick.
Bell realizes what has happened and quickly apologizes. "Eh, sorry, really sorry!" Bell tries to bend down to apologize, but it's difficult because he's holding Ammit. "She... she probably had a reaction to your sudden appearance."
"Hmmm..." Loki rubs his hand while staring at the boy. Looking closer, she notices the child sleeping in his arms. "Hey, brat. Who's that girl with you?"
"Oh, it's well... she's... she's..." Bell tries to find an excuse for why he's holding a child in his arms.
[...]
"Well, thank you for providing that food. And I'm sorry if I caused any trouble." Penny says to Syr as they leave the kitchen, Penny appears to be carrying a basket of food.
"Nothing, I should apologize for... making Ammit cry." Syr said, a little embarrassed by the previous situation.
"Don't worry about that, I'll talk to her so she doesn't hold a grudge against you and..." Penny arrived at the scene and saw Loki standing near Bell. "Good heavens, you again?"
"What do you mean me again?" Loki asks looking offended. "I'm here willingly to recruit you and you don't even show an ounce of gratitude?"
"I have nothing to thank you for, and I never asked to be part of your family." Penny retorts dryly. "Now will you back off? I want to go home."
"Come on, you're too bold for my taste." Loki snorts angrily.
"Keep that to yourself." Penny crosses to Loki and picks up his God Arc, placing it on his back. He looks at Ammit's God Arc and wonders how he can carry it without hurting himself.
"Hey, don't ignore me!" Loki shouts at the boy out of patience.
"Hmm... what... what happened?" Ammit asks as she slowly wakes up.
"Oh, Ammit, did that screaming wake you up?" Bell asks while still holding her niece in her arms.
"I don't know... I was just a bit bothered..." Ammit rubs her eyes, trying to wake up. Letting out a yawn, she looks at Penny, then at Loki. "Daddy, who is she?"
"She's a stalker who wants to take me away from the Goddess Hestia."
"What?!" Ammit quickly jumps out of Penny's arms and stands in front of Loki. Opening her arms, she stands between Loki and Penny. "I won't let you kidnap my daddy!"
Loki was shocked to hear the word Daddy. Of all the possibilities she had imagined, this fact had never crossed her mind.
"Daddy?" Tione says in surprise.
"I never thought he of all people would have a daughter." Tiona whistles in surprise.
"Tell me about it..." Finn says looking surprised too.
"The kid's fast, he didn't give up and he's already put a child into the world." Gareth says, laughing at the fact that Penny has a daughter.
"Hey, Ammit, there's no need to make a fuss." Bell gets off the chair and crouches down next to Ammit and tries to calm the situation.
"No, she wants to steal Goddess Hestia's daddy. I don't like her!" Ammit runs up to Penny and grabs his leg. "I don't like you!" Ammit clucks his tongue at Loki.
Feeling his reputation of many, many years begin to be destroyed by a single mortal child. Loki tries to calm the girl down.
"Hey, hey, little one. I'm not trying to rob anyone here." Loki says, trying to calm the situation.
"I don't trust you, old woman!" Ammit says, still hugging Penny's leg.
"Old... OLD!" Loki shouts at her, Ammit hides behind Penny, frightened by the Goddess's sudden shout.
Loki takes a step forward looking more annoyed, Penny takes a step forward and blocks her path. Staring into the eyes of the Goddess, even though she had her eyes closed.
"I suggest you step back." Penny says without flinching at any point.
"Oh yeah? Or what?" Loki takes a step forward, but Penny takes another step and brings her face close to Loki's while staring at her.
"Dare lay a finger on my daughter, and you'll know what I'm more than capable of." Penny said without flinching and without looking away for a second.
Loki was getting even angrier, in many, many years she had never been challenged, or worse, threatened by a mere novice adventurer. But... after she saw his fight against that strange giant wolf, she doubts that he really is a level one or two.
"Hey, that's not necessary." Riveria quickly takes the lead and separates the two. "Goddess Loki, we shouldn't be making trouble with new families. And boy, you shouldn't disrespect a God like that."
"That will depend on which God I interact with... *sigh* Look, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't want to join your family, just put it in that Goddess's hollow head." Penny says pointing at Loki.
"Why, you!" Loki growls angrily, she is about to advance on Penny, but is stopped by Riveria.
"Yes, we have your wish in mind, and we promise we won't bother you with these requests anymore." Riveria says, surprising Loki. She glares at her Goddess and looks at Penny again. "I'm really sorry."
"It's okay..." Penny crouches down to look at Ammit. "Ammit, apologize to Loki for your rudeness."
"Hmmm..." Ammit hesitates to apologize, already not liking the Goddess in front of her so much. She rubs her hands together nervously, still not wanting to apologize.
"Ammit." Bell crouches down next to Ammit and holds her hands. "Come on, you have to apologize to her. Your mother wouldn't like it if you were rude to a Goddess, would she?"
"All right..." Ammit gives up at the mention of her mother. Looking at Loki, she speaks. "I'm sorry I called you old."
"Ruf!" Loki snorts angrily. She marches over to the table where her family members are sitting and sits down to start drinking and forget about the recent swearing she suffered.
"Daddy, did I do something bad?" Ammit asks sadly.
"Not exactly, but you still shouldn't swear at people for no reason." Penny says. Getting up, he dusts off his clothes. "Well, shall we go back? The Goddess Hestia must be waiting for us."
"Right!" Ammit runs to her God Arc and puts it on her back. She walks over to Bell and Penny and takes their hands to start walking. "Let's go!"
Penny, still carrying the basket, walks with Bell and Ammit out of the tavern. As the two of them left, the Loki family was silent, but a sudden voice spoke among them.
"Cute." Aiz let slip as she looked in Ammit's direction. Realizing what she had said, Aiz looks at the members of her family and sees that most of them have a shocked expression. Except for Loki, who seems to have become angrier.
"WHAT!?"
End of chapter.
Note: Important things about Ammit. Hestia and Hephaestos can be considered her mothers, but Ammit sees them as grandmothers, especially Hestia, because, in her eyes, Hestia is Penny's mother, in other words, her grandmother. And as for her considering Naaza her mother, well, with her childish mind, she thinks that only couples can kiss, so by that logic, she thinks Naaza is her mother. "But how does she know they kissed?" She was already conscious when the kiss took place, so she saw Naaza kiss Penny's cheek while she was still inside God Arc.
You may think it was a totally idiotic decision for Penny to threaten a Goddess, but understand something. Now that he considers Ammit to be his daughter, he doesn't care what he does as long as it's to protect her.
Here are Ammit's statuses
Ammit Pennywort
Level 1
Strength: I0
Endurance: I0
Dexterity: I0
Agility: I0
Magic: I0
Skills
Aragami Attack: The user can make the Aragami of their God Arc come out and become active for a short period of time so that it can attack any being the user wants.
Devourer: The user can make their God Arc activate, the Aragami activates and leaves the God Arc active. It can devour any living being the user wishes.
Mode Change: The user's God Arc can modify itself to change between three different modes. Blade, Shield and Pistol.
Magic
Child judge: The user can distinguish the emotions and intentions of a mortal individual, if the user doesn't want to use their ability, they won't be able to distinguish the reasons and emotions of mortals.
Burst: When devouring a living being, the user must speak the word "Burst" to activate Burst Mode. When activating Burst Mode, the user gains an extreme increase in their physical attributes. Burst Mode has a total of three levels and can further increase your attributes as you continue to devour living beings, increasing by Level 1 - 5%, Level 2 -10% and Level 3 - 15%.
Link Burst: The user can use Pistol Mode to activate Link Burst on an ally. Firing an energy bullet made by your Aragami after devouring a living being. The user can fire this bullet at an ally to amplify their physical status, Link Burst can reach up to three levels, and can increase by Level 1 - 5%, Level 2 - 10% and Level 3 -15%.
Acknowledgments:
Yo'Student'Here: Dude, thanks a lot for the name suggestion. I thought I'd pay homage to Ciel from God Eater 2 and name her Ammit de Ciel. But after I read your comment I realized it would be better, because as you can see, Ammit has a magic of judgment that she developed thanks to the blood of Hestia and Hephaestos. I realized that the name you suggested would give Ammit more depth, since it was more mythological.
Guest: Dude, I'm not going to give up on this fic, just take it easy.
Redburndragon: Yeah, man. I thought of it when I was describing Ammit.
Guest: Is Anubis in Danmachi?