Sylphid's Happiness Revisited

Chapter 6

Hestia paced in circles in her office, it had been nearly a week since her captain had traveled outside the walls of Orario. "Where are they?" She asked for the hundredth time to no one in particular.

After the encounter with the enhanced Hellhound, the Hestia Familia hasn't entered the dungeon. Everyone wanted to be here when the duo arrived. Hestia knew that Bell was alive, she hadn't felt the loss of a child. All their connections were intact. "I need to calm myself, although I wish Ouranos' letter wasn't so vague." She ranted to herself.

Having given up on seeing her precious captain for another night, she retreated to her bed, hoping to sleep away her worry. She knew it wouldn't happen, but she had to try. It was at the exact moment she started to get comfortable, a peculiar sound was heard, the sound of pecking on glass. She rotated her body to see a pure white snow owl, perched on the windowsill looking at her.

She jumped out of her bed and collapsed on her face as her blankets wrapped around her legs. After a minute of untangling her body from the relentless fabric, she pulled the window open.

The owl seemingly having lost its patience, dropped a note in the window and launched itself into the air flying towards its home.

Hestia scrabbled as the note moved to the floor, she nearly tore the note in half as she unfolded the paper. She grinned like a madman at its contents, "Hestia, your child has returned to the city, and has exited the dungeon." She whispered the contents of the letter several times before dashing down the hall.

She knocked on everyone's rooms letting them know the news. The only person not inside the main building was currently working on a project in the smithy, she threw the door open and loudly proclaimed, "Bell is back! They should be back sometime tonight!"

Welf sighed as he placed the hammer back on the hook specifically designed for it. He looked at the hammer with pride, the handle was about eight inches long, with a head of black-gray metal on one end and a purple crystal on the other.

It had been a gift from Hephaestus after he joined Hestia Familia, it was the most valuable tool in the entire workshop. "Well, I guess I need Bell to finish the armor."

.

.

.

The entire Hestia Familia waited for two hours, Haruhime and Mikoto nodding off as they rested against each other. Welf sat in a chair with the sketched-out plan for the next weapon he was planning to make. Lili was looking at the fire, her mental exhaustion for gathering all the funds they needed to pay the fine weighed heavily on her. Hestia paced in circles again waiting.

Then it happened, the sound of knocking on the front door, followed by a simple shout that lifted everyone's spirits, "We're home." Bell's voice drifted through the door. Hestia didn't waste any time and threw the door open launching herself at the white-haired human.

X

Ryu stared up at the stars for a long minute, she could feel the flood of potential freedom. It was almost like a drug with the invisible burden being lifted, she didn't realize how much that weighed her down mentally. Her alias was always feared, treated like some sort of monster that would snatch away your life if you so much as caught a glance of the hooded figure.

The stone bench she sat on felt cool and refreshing through her clothes, but the most important feeling was the sense of warmth and comfort coming from two sources. First was her heart, it burned but not painfully. Second was the human that sat next to her on the bench looking up at the same night sky she was.

They sat for almost an hour, just enjoying the moment. Eventually, though she had to break the atmosphere, "Bell... I..." she paused, looked at Bell, and took a breath. "I don't want to leave this place, but I think we should return... home." Ryu felt strange saying the word home, she had lost hers years ago, but she knew that was incorrect. The Hostess had been a home, at least to some degree.