—
Hey, here's a new chapter. Again, I shouldn't be doing this. I have an exam the day after tomorrow and I haven't studied anything. XDXD
I've already created a Patreon, I would appreciate it if you could support me and help me pay for the buses I take to go to university (If it doesn't work, I'll post it in a comment. If it doesn't work, I'll post it on Discord as well.):
https://patreon.com/Thegamer2403
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The mansion's living room was calm...well, sort of.
Bell and Mikoto sat in a wide armchair, their backs straight, both of them surveying the space with a discomfort so subtle it was barely even noticeable. There was a comfortable silence between them, the kind that doesn't need words because having each other's company is enough, but it wasn't one that felt cold or distant either.
The problem was that, although they were silent, the entire mansion was not.
A crash of ceramics ricocheted through the halls. Then came a metallic clatter, as if someone had dropped a pot on the floor. And, immediately afterward, a childlike, completely unbridled laugh:
"Ha, ha, ha, haaa! Take that, Apollo!"
Bell blinked. Mikoto tilted her head with the feigned serenity of someone trying to convince herself that everything was under control.
But it wasn't.
The source of that noise was unmistakable: Hestia. The small Goddess had appeared a while ago with what appeared to be a makeshift demolition outfit. She was wearing a helmet, oversized glasses that slid down her nose, and a sledgehammer that surely shouldn't have been in the hands of someone so short and enthusiastic.
Each blow echoed through the walls of the mansion. Marble statues bearing the face of Apollo crumbled to dust. Exquisite vases, decorated with gilt, shattered into pieces. Portraits, tapestries, bronze plaques with grandiloquent inscriptions—nothing survived Hestia's vengeful fury.
Bell settled back into the armchair, not daring to make acomment yet. Deep down, he was impressed. He'd seen his Goddess angry before, but this… this was something else.
Mikoto, ever so stoic, kept her hands on her lap, fingers interlaced. Her lips remained closed, but her gaze flickered between the hallway where the noises were coming from and Bell's confused expression.
Suddenly, another crash. This time accompanied by a "Kyaa-ha-ha-ha, you blew yourself to bits, you cheap narcissist!"
Bell swallowed.
"Goddess…is having a lot of fun, isn't she?" he murmured, almost in a whisper, as if afraid Hestia would hear him and accuse him of interrupting her fun.
Mikoto turned her face slightly toward him. Her eyes shone with implacable serenity, though her lips trembled for a moment, as if she were holding back a smile.
"It seems so," she replied calmly. Then, after a brief silence, she added, "I wonder if we should stop her before the entire mansion collapses."
Bell let out a nervous laugh, because the image was all too possible. He imagined Hestia hammering down walls, and for a moment he thought about the poor structure of his new home. Sure, the mansion was solid, but he didn't think it was designed to withstand the personal attack of an angry Goddess eager to rampage it.
A loud cracking sound startled them. Something big had fallen.
Bell put a hand to his hair and sighed, at a loss for words.
Mikoto, on the other hand, leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on her knees.
"I admire her determination," she said finally.
Bell blinked.
"Eh?"
"The strength of Lady Hestia. Her unbreakable will. She may be small…but she has more fire than any of us."
Bell looked down. Yes, that was undeniable. In every laugh from Hestia, in every blow, there was a kind of liberation. It was as if she shook off not only the hideous decoration Apollo had left behind, but also the shadow that the Sun God had cast over them.
Another crash. This time accompanied by a squeal of victory.
Bell couldn't help it. He put a hand to his mouth, but he still managed to let out a chuckle. A soft, contained, but clear chuckle.
Mikoto turned to him, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" Bell asked, his cheeks flushed. "I can't help it… she… she seems so…"
"Relieved?" Mikoto suggested.
"Exactly"
For a moment, they shared a silent smile.
Until a sound of footsteps brought them out of their thoughts.
Hestia appeared through the doorway. She was covered in white dust, with a few strands of hair sticking to her sweaty forehead. The hammer rested on her shoulder, and her cheeks were flushed from exertion. Her eyes, however, shone with a spark of triumph.
"I have destroyed twenty statues, seven paintings and 30 vases of Apollo!" Hestia announced as if she were presenting the spoils of a battle.
Bell and Mikoto looked at each other.
"And I'm just getting started!" the Goddess added, raising the hammer as if it were a legendary sword.
Bell, inside, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Where did Hestia get so much energy? She seemed tireless. And the worst part was, she was having the time of her life like a kid at a festival.
"Goddess…" Mikoto began, her tone respectful, though the tension in her voice betrayed that she was choosing her words carefully. "Perhaps you should rest a little. We wouldn't want you to get hurt."
"Rest? Ha! This is the best workout I've had in years! Besides, Apollo deserves every hammer blow! Do you know how many decorations of himself he had in this mansion? It was like living inside a temple dedicated to his own ego!"
Bell timidly raised a hand.
"Well… it's not that she isn't right…"
"See, Bell gets it!" Hestia pointed the hammer at the boy, and he stepped back a little, worried that the gesture would end up accidentally hitting him.
She turned briskly and disappeared down the corridor again, trailing dust behind her like a whirlwind. A second later, the sound of the hammer returned, even louder.
Bell sank into the chair, letting out a long sigh.
"Do you think I should…?"
"No," Mikoto interrupted immediately.
"Are you that sure?"
"Yes. If you try to stop her now, you'll just be another statue on her hit list."
Bell imagined himself in a thousand pieces on the ground, just like the statues of Apollo. He gulped. Maybe Mikoto was right.
The silence between them returned, but it wasn't the same as before. Now it was charged with a kind of silent complicity. From time to time, they exchanged brief glances whenever a loud bang echoed from the other side of the mansion.
Bell thought out loud:
"What are we going to do with all this mess next…?"
Mikoto watched him, serious, but then her mouth curved slightly into a smile.
"That will be a problem for tomorrow."
A loud knock sounded at the front door of the mansion.
Bell's head snapped up in surprise. Mikoto turned her face toward the sound just as quickly, her eyes flashing with alert attention. This wasn't normal.
The garden gate was closed. No one could have gotten in there without permission. No one… unless they'd jumped.
The young Adventurer and the Far Eastern Samurai exchanged glances. The same thought crossed their minds: whoever it was must have a compelling reason for presenting themselves like that.
Hestia, in another room, didn't seem to notice. The hammering against some statue of Apollo continued to resonate, accompanied by victorious laughter.
Bell stood up, his heart beating with a slight nervousness. He walked toward the door with cautious steps. Mikoto followed close behind him, her hand brushing the hilt of her katana.
Bell carefully unlocked the latch and opened the door a crack, peeking out just a bit.
On the other side were two female figures. One, an Amazoness with long, coiled hair, a direct gaze, and tense lips, staring at him urgently. The other... a Renard. Her long, silky, golden hair cascaded to her waist, and her fox ears were tilted back with obvious shyness. Her green eyes sparkled, though they avoided looking directly into Bell's, as if she didn't know how to explain her presence.
The young Amazon took a step forward, bowing slightly, her tone somewhere between pleading and firm:
"Please… we need to talk to you."
Bell blinked, puzzled. He didn't know them. And under normal circumstances, he would have closed the door immediately.
But then Mikoto inhaled sharply, as if the air had caught in her chest.
"…Haruhime?" she murmured, incredulous.
The Renard's head jerked up, her green eyes wide.
"Mikoto… is that you?"
The silence that followed was dense, heavy with buried memories.
Bell looked from one to the other, confused. "Do you… know each other?"
Mikoto took a step forward, her stiffness falling away. Her lips trembled, but her voice, though low, carried a whirlwind of emotion:
"Yes. We were… childhood friends."
Haruhime pressed her fingers against the hem of her kimono, unable to hold his gaze for long. Nostalgia curved her lips into a weak, brittle smile.
Bell felt something inside him give way. That connection was enough to make him stop seeing them as intruders. However, his wariness didn't completely disappear.
The other girl, the Amazoness, said nothing. She just lowered her head, as if waiting for Bell to let them in. It was clear that what they wanted to share shouldn't be done at the entrance, in full view of anyone passing by.
Bell exhaled, biting his lower lip. Finally, he opened the door all the way and stepped back.
"Okay. Please come in."
They both entered cautiously, as if afraid the ground itself would crumble beneath their feet. Mikoto followed closely behind, never taking her eyes off Haruhime, as if afraid she would disappear again.
The room was filled with warm morning light, but the atmosphere was far from peaceful. Hestia's distant knocking still echoed like a constant drumbeat, a ridiculously chaotic backdrop to the seriousness of the moment.
Haruhime stopped near the low table. She looked uncomfortable, her ears twitching from side to side, unable to stay still. Lena remained silent, standing at her side, still not intervening.
Mikoto couldn't hold back any longer. She walked up to Haruhime and stared at her.
"I thought…" her voice cracked slightly, "…I thought I would never see you again."
Haruhime lowered her head, her hands trembling. "I thought so too…" she replied in a murmur.
Bell watched them all, his heart pounding. He could feel the tension, the suppressed emotion in both of them. Mikoto's eyes were moist, her breathing shallow.
Memories flooded back. Takemikazuchi's orphanage. The days of innocent games, of daring escapes. Mikoto, Ouka, and Chigusa sneaking into the garden of Haruhime's mansion. The Renard, nervous but happy, peeking out the window as her friends whispered to her, secretly taking her for a run under the open sky.
They were stolen moments, but full of life. Haruhime had always shone with a longing for freedom, though her sad eyes revealed the weight of her condition.
And then... she disappeared. It was a cruel rumor. Her family had sold her. From that day on, no one heard anything more about her.
Mikoto reached out a hand, her gesture trembling, as if she feared Haruhime would faint if she touched it. The renard hesitated for a second, but eventually raised hers as well, barely brushing Mikoto's fingers.
"It's been so long…" Haruhime said, her voice almost breaking.
Mikoto squeezed her hand, tightly, with the firmness of someone who wasn't willing to let go again.
Bell's throat felt dry. He didn't want to interrupt, but he also couldn't ignore the fact that there was someone else there, Lena, silently watching everything, a tension in her shoulders that spoke volumes.
Finally, Lena stepped forward.
"Thank you for letting us in," she said softly, her gaze fixed on Bell's with seriousness.
The young man nodded slowly. He didn't quite trust them yet, but something about the way Mikoto and Haruhime recognized each other compelled him to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Plus, there was one detail he couldn't ignore: the way Lena had jumped the fence to get there. It wasn't something she did lightly.
The silence was broken, unexpectedly, by a distant scream.
"HAHAHAHA, APOLLO IN PIECES, WAHOO!"
The four of them turned toward the hallway, where another crash was heard.
Haruhime blinked, confused. Lena raised an eyebrow. Mikoto brought her hand to her forehead, sighing.
Bell laughed nervously. "That's… our Goddess. She's…quite busy."
Haruhime looked at him with a mixture of surprise and bewilderment, while Lena simply looked away, somewhat uncomfortable.
Bell took a deep breath before turning to her guests.
"Wait a moment, I'll go tell my Goddess," he said, with a slight, awkward bow.
Mikoto nodded silently, too busy staring at Haruhime as she held her hands clasped in her lap, shy, though her Renard ears betrayed that she was more nervous than a cat in a kitchen full of pots. Lena, meanwhile, crossed her arms, assessing the room with forced patience, her eyes weary.
Bell left the atmosphere of reunion and tension behind. He walked down the hallway to the living room where Hestia was still engaged in her artistic slaughter.
"Take that!" she shouted, the demolition sledgehammer in her hands. Shards of ceramic were scattered across the floor, and Hestia held her tool with a maniacal grin.
Bell stopped in the doorway, sweating. "Um… Goddess…"
"Bell, look at him! My new son!" she exclaimed, raising the mace as if presenting a newborn to the world. "Bell Jr.! Isn't he beautiful?"
The young adventurer blinked several times, incredulous. "Son? I thought it was a weapon…"
"Don't insult it!" Hestia retorted indignantly, clutching the weapon to her chest. "This mace and I have been through so much in such a short time. Destroying busts of Apollo, smashing hideous paintings, shattering vases no one asked for… it's an eternal bond!"
Bell sighed, bringing his hand to his forehead. "Goddess… I am your only son. The only one! Don't you remember?"
Hestia puffed out her cheeks. "That's a lie! Bell Jr. is already part of Hestia Familia. Don't discriminate against him!"
Bell opened his mouth to argue, but eventually gave in. If he'd learned anything in his time with her, it was that arguing with Hestia when she was infatuated was like trying to negotiate with a minotaur. Best to divert the conversation.
"We have guests," he finally announced.
The gleam in Hestia's eyes softened, though she didn't let go of her mace. "Guests?"
Bell nodded. "Two girls. One… Renard. The other… I think she was an Amazonness. Mikoto knows them, at least one of them. They want to talk to us."
The Goddess looked at him for a few seconds in silence, gauging the seriousness on his face. Then, with a dramatic sigh, she placed the mace against the wall, caressing the handle as if bidding farewell to a son leaving for war.
"Bell Jr., Mommy will be back soon. Be good."
Bell pressed his lips together to keep from laughing, but a couple of drops of sweat trickled down his temple.
"Let's go," Hestia said, dusting off her hands and getting serious.
The two walked down the hall together. The echo of their footsteps contrasted with the silence that reigned in the living room, where the guests were waiting. Bell stepped forward and opened the door, allowing her to enter first.
The scene that greeted them was different from the one Bell had left minutes before.
Mikoto stood, her arms wrapped around Haruhime. The Renard looked tiny in comparison, leaning against her friend's shoulder, barely trembling. Her green eyes shone moistly, as if she'd just cried silently. Mikoto, normally steadfast and restrained, pressed her lips together tightly, struggling to maintain her composure.
To one side, Lena stood with her arms crossed, observing the scene with a mixture of patience and melancholy. Her raised eyebrows indicated a certain impatience, but deep down, her eyes revealed relief: seeing her hugged by someone who clearly loved her was a relief.
Hestia stopped dead in her tracks as she entered, blinking several times. Her eyes darted first to the Renard, then to Mikoto, and finally to Lena.
"Bell…" she murmured, tilting her head at her first Familia member. "Want to explain what's going on here?"
Bell scratched his cheek nervously. "Uh… well, they knocked on the door. They said they needed to talk. Mikoto seems to know the Renard… and well, I figured—"
"It wasn't a good idea to let in strangers who jumped over the fence," Hestia finished, frowning.
Bell raised his hands defensively. "But Mikoto recognized her! And… she seems important."
Hestia puffed out her cheeks again, but said nothing more. She walked to the low table in the center of the room and sank down onto a cushion, looking solemn. Her eyes fixed on Lena, expectant.
Bell imitated her, sitting next to her, while Mikoto and Haruhime remained hugging, oblivious for a moment to the tension in the environment.
Lena sighed, lowering her arms. The plan had been to talk immediately, but seeing the reunion had caused her to fall silent. Now she had the Goddess Hestia's attention, which meant she couldn't put it off any longer.
But instead of starting to speak, his gaze shifted back to Mikoto and Haruhime.
Bell noticed. There was something about the way Lena watched them: an external hardiness that tried to hide a deep weariness. She wasn't someone used to begging or depending on others, but there she was, biting her lip, looking for the right moment to interrupt a hug that seemed long overdue.
The silence stretched uncomfortably until Hestia cleared her throat.
"Well… are you going to explain to us why you're here? Because if not, I might come back with my son Bell Jr. and finish crushing what's left of Apollo."
Mikoto barely broke away from Haruhime, though she didn't let go of her hand. Haruhime blushed and hid her face behind her golden locks, unable to bear so many eyes on her.
Lena finally spoke, her voice firm but somewhat muffled.
"Yes. But first… thank you for having us."
After a brief silence, Lena spoke again.
"I need Haruhime to join the Hestia Familia," Lena said bluntly, in a serious voice.
The sentence fell like a stone in the middle of the room. Everyone stared at her in bewilderment, even Haruhime herself, whose eyes widened as if someone had ripped the ground out from under her feet. The renard muttered a barely audible "Huh?", her ears twitching nervously.
Hestia tilted her head in confusion and took a step forward, arms crossed over her chest. "Where's that coming from all of a sudden? Why so direct? What's the reason?"
Lena took a deep breath. It was clear she wasn't comfortable with that seriousness; it wasn't her normal way of behaving. Still, she didn't back down. "We were both part of the Ishtar Familia. But now that our Familia has been destroyed, I fear that the attackers might come looking for Haruhime."
She didn't explain further, at least not in detail. She didn't even mention that it was the Freya Familia who had wiped Ishtar off the map. She didn't know how Bell would react to something like that, and she preferred to be cautious. Her tone sounded vague, as if she didn't want to risk exposing too much information.
Mikoto frowned, genuine concern in her voice. "Why would they look for her? What reason would they have?"
Lena lowered her gaze for a moment, then answered firmly. "Because Haruhime has a very powerful Magic. It's…extremely valuable. Her existence wouldn't go unnoticed if someone wanted to take advantage of her again."
Haruhime shuddered. The mere mention of her Magic hurt like an open wound. She clutched her kimono in her trembling hands and managed to barely whisper, "I… don't…"
Lena, on the other hand, turned to Bell. Her tired eyes searched his, and her voice took on a more convincing quality. "Haruhime would be a great asset to you. A resource that could strengthen your Familia."
She said it bluntly, as if appealing to the coldest logic. If she emphasized just how valuable she was, perhaps Bell would accept more readily.
But his reaction was the exact opposite.
Bell didn't look away, but his eyes hardened in a way that wasn't typical of him. He didn't like hearing someone called "valuable" just because of what they could do.
"Haruhime is not an asset," he replied calmly, though the firmness in his words filled the room. "She's not a tool or a resource. She is herself. And that's enough."
Silence stretched. Mikoto and Haruhime looked at him with a glow of relief and gratitude, while Hestia gave an almost imperceptible smile. Lena, on the other hand, breathed slowly. She had expected that rejection, and although she understood it, the pang in her chest was no less. However, seeing the seriousness in Bell's eyes, she couldn't help but feel that his words were genuine, that he truly cared for Haruhime beyond any usefulness. That nuance surprised her and, despite herself, moved her.
Bell softened his facial expression a little and continued;
"I wouldn't have a problem with Haruhime joining us… but that decision isn't up to me."
Then he turned his head towards his Goddess.
Lena blinked, puzzled. A spark of relief, warm and sudden, mingled with the tension she still carried in her chest. Her posture, until then rigid, gave way slightly; the fingers she'd kept tightly intertwined relaxed without her noticing. 'So... he's not against it?' she thought, surprised at how much that simple nuance lightened her heart.
Hestia glanced at him, surprised by the gesture. Normally, Bell jumped headfirst into everything, without pausing to think. But now, even with the protective gleam in his eyes, he made it clear that it was her who had to decide.
The Goddess of Hearth sighed and scratched the back of her neck. "I have no objection to accepting it." She crossed her arms thoughtfully. "Although I'm worried that if we accept it, it might encourage them to attack us."
Lena didn't waste any time. She took a step forward, insistent, her tone now almost pleading.
"That's precisely why you should do it. If Haruhime is alone, she'll be an easier target. At least here she'd have a family, protection, a place. Don't leave her vulnerable."
Hestia's face hardened for a moment. She was weighing her words, trying not to be swept away by the pressure.
Bell opened his mouth, but hesitated. His eyes flicked to Haruhime, then lowered, as if weighing the decision. Was it right to drag the Hestia Familia into greater danger?
It was then that Mikoto looked at him. A silent gaze, filled with supplication and trust. She wasn't asking for herself, but for her friend. And in that instant, Bell understood that she wasn't making a decision just for him, but for everyone.
The hesitation dissolved. His voice, though calm, carried the firm resolve of someone who has found the answer. "If someone's thinking of attacking us, they'll do so anyway. It's not a question of whether Haruhime is with us or not."
Bell's gaze softened as he turned back to the Renard, who was watching him, her eyes shining with suppressed emotion. "The important thing is that she can be safe... and have a place to call home."
Hestia let out a long sigh, as if she had surrendered to the inevitable. "Fine… I don't object. Welcome to my Familia, Haruhime."
The girl's ears twitched nervously. A silent tear ran down her cheek. "Lady Hestia... Mr. Bell... I..." She couldn't continue. The Renard covered her face with both hands, trembling.
Mikoto hugged her immediately, as if she'd been waiting for this moment forever. "You won't be alone anymore, Haruhime."
Meanwhile, Lena stood still, her arms crossed and her shoulders tense. The joy that filled the room didn't reach her face.
Bell noticed. "And what will happen to you, Miss?" he asked, as gently as before.
The young woman looked at him, and for the first time in the entire conversation, her features cracked slightly, showing how just exhausted she was. "My job is to keep Haruhime safe. Nothing more. I'm not involved in that conversation."
It was as if an invisible line had been drawn between them. Haruhime had a future, a new family. Lena, on the other hand, saw herself as a mere escort, someone with no right to aspire to the same.
The room fell silent again, though it wasn't the same as before. It wasn't the tension of uncertainty, but an air filled with conflicting emotions. Bell looked down with a worried expression. Hestia bit her lip, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. Mikoto hugged Haruhime tightly, who was crying silently.
However, Hestia's eyes remained fixed on Lena. There was something about that mask of firmness that didn't convince her, a small but impossible detail to ignore for someone who knew people through their emotions as much as their words.
The Goddess narrowed her eyes and, after a few seconds of thought, spoke.
"Look… Miss?" Hestia hesitated a little because she didn't know the Amazoness's name.
Lena, seeing the doubt, answered;
"Lena… Lena Tally.."
"Okay, Lena… can we talk privately?"
The young woman blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected the conversation to turn to her. Her lips parted, but nothing came out; in the end, she just nodded.
Mikoto, who still had one hand on Haruhime's shoulder, jerked her head up. Her eyebrows furrowed in unease. "Are you sure, Goddess Hestia? I don't want to be suspicious...after all, she's the one who brought Haruhime back. But..."
The silence that followed was filled with doubt. Mikoto was honest, too honest to hide the worry gnawing at her chest.
Hestia smiled softly, a gesture that mixed serenity with authority. "It's okay, Mikoto-chan. You don't have to worry. There's no danger."
And then, without further ado, the goddess turned back to Lena. "Do you have a Falna?"
"No…" she replied after a few seconds, her voice muffled, but without hesitation.
Hestia watched her without blinking. She needed no more. The Gods knew the difference between truth and lies; it was an innate sense that no mortal could deceive. And Lena spoke the truth.
Bell, at that very moment, felt a tingling sensation at the bottom of his neck. A faint, invisible glow passed through his eyes, accompanied by a message that emerged deep in his mind:
[TRUE]
The effect of his [Divine Blessing of Truth Discernment] had activated, confirming that Lena wasn't lying.
Both the Goddess and Adventurer exchanged a glance. No words were needed. They both knew they could trust that statement.
"I see," Hestia murmured, as if the tension in her body had dissolved in that instant. She turned to Mikoto with a calm smile. "It's not as dangerous as you imagined. Everything's fine."
The Samurai hesitated for a moment, but seeing the conviction on the Goddess's face and Bell's serenity, she nodded with a slight blush of embarrassment. "Understood..."
"Thanks for your concern," Bell added, sincerely, with that warmth that always managed to soften any discomfort.
Mikoto nodded again, though she couldn't help but glance at Lena with a mixture of curiosity and concern.
Hestia stepped forward, her small sandals softly clicking on the mansion's marble floor. "Okay, Lena, come with me."
The young woman swallowed, uncertain. She clenched her fists, almost as if preparing for something unpleasant. She didn't know what the goddess wanted to discuss with her, or if it was something she could bear. But she didn't back down.
"Okay," she said in a low voice.
The goddess guided her toward one of the mansion's side hallways. The echo of her footsteps faded, leaving Bell, Mikoto, and Haruhime behind in the living room. The Renard, still hugging her friend, stared at Lena until she disappeared from sight, her heart sinking.
The hallway was quiet, barely lit by the magical lamps hanging at regular intervals. Lena walked behind the Goddess, her thoughts tangled, her chest heaving with a mixture of fear and anticipation. She tried to maintain her same steadiness as before, but Hestia's prolonged silence unnerved her.
Finally, when they were far enough away from the others, Hestia stopped. She turned slowly, her long dark hair gently waving with the movement. Her blue eyes shone with a different glow, one Lena couldn't immediately decipher.
"What do you want to talk to me about, Goddess Hestia?" she finally asked, forcing her voice to sound firm, even though deep down she felt like a cornered animal.
Hestia looked at her silently for a few seconds, as if she were measuring not her words, but her soul.
Lena pressed her lips together, waiting. She wasn't used to this stillness. She usually filled the silences with jokes, laughter, or light comments, but now her body seemed heavier than usual. The disguise of joy no longer worked.
The Goddess of Hearth took a step forward.
"That act you did just now…wasn't pretty convincing."
Lena's heart leaped. Her breathing quickened without her meaning to. Had she overreacted? Did she sound fake? What part of everything she'd said had betrayed her? A thousand questions began to race through her mind at lightning speed, none of them answered.
She gulped, trying to compose himself. But before she could form a word, Hestia interrupted the turmoil.
"Even though Bell-kun's the one who dreams of being a Hero, I don't like to stand by while someone else suffers either."
Lena raised her head. Her lips trembled. She didn't understand what the Goddess was trying to achieve with that statement...or maybe she did, but didn't want to face it.
Hestia tilted her head slightly, her eyes shining with that rare mix of sweetness and hardness that only the gods could muster. "It must have been hard. Taking care of that girl, trying to keep her safe…while trying not to get lost yourself."
Lena's fingers balled tightly into fists.
"I don't know what you're talking about…" she muttered, looking down.
The evasion sounded hollow even to her own ears.
Hestia didn't push her. She smiled softly, but didn't look away. "You don't have to pretend with me. I'm not here to judge you."
Lena's chest tightened. A strange warmth crept down her throat, as if an invisible pressure were trying to tear out something she'd been holding in for too long.
"I… just did what I had to do."
"Really?" Hestia asked, taking a step closer. Her voice still didn't rise in pitch, but each word seemed to sting in the young woman's chest. "Because what I see is someone who has worked their butt off, hour after hour, to protect another person. And yes, that's admirable…but it's also admirable to recognize that you don't have to do it alone."
Lena closed her eyes for a moment, holding back a trembling in her lips.
"No…" she managed to whisper. "It doesn't matter. It's not—"
"Of course it matters." Hestia's voice grew firmer, but it didn't lose its warmth. "You've carried too much. You sacrificed yourself, believing it was the only way to save her. But mark this: a martyr only hurts those he or she protects."
Lena's eyes shot open.
"Because sooner or later, Haruhime will realize. She'll realize what you did. What you suffered for her. And when she sees it, believe me… it will hurt her. It'll hurt her more than anything you were trying to avoid."
A thick silence fell between them.
Lena gritted her teeth, looked down, and her shoulders began to shake.
"I didn't want…" her voice cracked. "I didn't want her…"
Tears began to spill from her eyes before she could stop them. She tried to wipe them quickly with the back of her hand, but it was useless. Each word from Hestia had opened another crack in the wall she had built for so long.
"I didn't want Haruhime to know what it was costing me. I didn't want her to feel like it was her fault. I just wanted to make it up to her…"
Her voice broke, as if a lump in her throat prevented her from continuing.
Hestia didn't move at first. She watched her, patient, like a mother waiting for her child to release what's inside her. And when Lena collapsed against her chest, the Goddess simply welcomed her.
Lena's arms wrapped around her small figure desperately, as if she feared that if she let go, all the pain would crush her again.
The crying erupted loudly, harshly, and intermittently. Her entire body shook with each sob she hadn't let out in years. The sound echoed off the hallway walls, filling it with a rawness that nothing could disguise.
"Shhh…" Hestia lifted a hand and began gently stroking the young woman's hair. Her voice lowered to a calm, enveloping murmur. "It's okay. You don't have to carry him alone anymore."
"I…" Lena gritted her teeth. "I didn't know what else to do. I thought that if I protected Haruhime, maybe I could atone for the fact that I ran away, that I left the other girls that I shared time with, there to die. But it didn't change anything. I still feel horrible…"
"I know," Hestia replied, with a serenity that seemed infinite. "But what you did wasn't wrong. You saved your own life, but you also saved someone else's life, and that's admirable, you know?"
Lena sobbed, barely raising her tear-stained gaze.
"But now you have to understand something else…and it's that you too deserve a place to belong."
The young woman blinked, confused, as if she didn't understand what she was hearing. Or perhaps she understood all too well, and it pained her to admit it.
Hestia placed both hands on her cheeks, lifting her face so that he was looking directly into her eyes. "You are not a coward. You are not just a guardian. You are not just a self-sacrificing person. You are a person. And you deserve to be loved, too, Lena."
Those last words broke the last defense left standing.
Lena squeezed her eyes shut, and a fresh torrent of tears flowed uncontrollably. She hugged Hestia even tighter, trembling, letting herself go like never before.
The Goddess said nothing more. There was no need to. She just held her, gently stroking her back, occasionally whispering words of comfort, without rushing.
At that moment, she wasn't the Goddess of the Hearth or the "Sword Saint." She was simply Hestia, embracing a broken girl who needed a safe place to grieve.
And Lena cried. She cried until her body gave out, until the weight of exhaustion slipped off her with every tear.
When her sobs finally grew softer, Hestia held her close with one last tender gesture.
"Welcome home, Lena." she murmured.