THE NEXT MORNING
VESTA
The morning started wrong. Not 'burnt bread' wrong or 'Hestia barged in at dawn' wrong, worse. Michael was acting strange. Not his usual strange, the kind where he blushes too hard or flirts by accident and nearly drops a bowl of soup. No, this was a new category of weird.
He came down the stairs with his shirt half tucked, hair messy from running, hands lightly scraped, hands scraped, and wearing the world's guiltiest expression.
"Good morning, Vesta!" He blurted, voice jumping an octave like he'd been caught stealing ambrosia.
I narrowed my eyes immediately.
'Why are you yelling?" I asked, stirring a pot slowly.
"I-I'm not yelling." He squeaked.
He was yelling. I stared at him. Hard. He flinched like a criminal caught red handed. Then he tried to walk past me. Normally when he sees me in the morning he calls out to me first, waves, asks what we're cooking today, or tries to peek at the menu board like a child trying to guess their birthday gift. Today? He sidestepped around me like I was an armed minotaur. Suspicious, very suspicious.
"Michael." I said.
He froze instantly.
"Yes, Goddess, I mean Vesta, I mean yes?" He stammered.
"Why are your hands injured?"I asked.
He looked down at his palms like he'd forgotten they were part of his body.
"Oh! Uh. Training!"He said.
"Training does not scrape your knuckles, it bruises your forearms."I explained.
"Oh. Right. I… trained hard."He said.
Liar. Terrible liar. The type of liar who would lose every bluff in a card game against a toddler. My eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Is that so?"I said.
"Yes!" He nodded too fast. "Very hard. Extremely hard. The hardest hard that ever-"
"Michael."I said.
"-happened in the hist yes?"Michael asked.
I stepped closer. He swallowed, his aura jittered.
His heartbeat literally sped up, Gods, he was hiding something, something big and I hated how uneasy it made me feel.
"You left suddenly yesterday." I said quietly. "Panicked."
His shoulders jumped, he looked away, far too fast.
"Sorry about that."He said.
"And now you're avoiding my eyes."I said.
"I'm not!" He said while looking in completely the wrong direction.
My irritation curled into something… sharper. Worry. Hurt.
"Are you upset with me?" I asked softly.
His head snapped up so fast his hair practically whipped.
"Wha-NO! Never! Absolutely not!"Michael said.
"Then you're hiding something."I said.
"I-"He began as his entire soul panicked.
I watched him search for an excuse like a drowning man searching for air.
"I just, uh have errands! Yes! Errands I must run! Very important errands!" He sputtered.
"At sunrise?" I raised a brow.
"Yes! That's when errands happen, right?"He said.
I stared as he sweated. A lot.
"Michael." I said slowly. "If you are doing something dangerous-"
"It's not dangerous!" He said instantly.
Another lie. A huge lie. I felt my eyebrow twitch. He clapped his hands together, bowed, and backed toward the door like a man trying not to wake a sleeping dragon.
"Okaythankyouforthefoodbye!"He ran off.
He sprinted out of the tavern so quickly he forgot his boots were untied and almost ate dirt in the doorway. I stood there. Silently. Stirring the pot in slow circles.
"That boy is absolutely hiding something."I said.
Behind me, Hestia leaned over the counter, sipping tea.
"Sooooo." She sang. "Wan to bet he's sneaking off to buy you something romantic?"
I clicked my tongue.
"No."I said.
"Oh? Then you think he's doing something stupid?" She teased.
"Yes."I said.
"Stupid-romantic or stupid-stupid?"She asked.
"Both." I muttered.
Hestia cackled and I stood there, hand on my ladle, chest uncomfortably tight. Because Michael was hiding something and my divine instincts whispered he wasn't hiding it because he didn't trust me. He was hiding it because he didn't want me to worry. Which somehow made it worse. Much worse.
AN HOUR LATER
MICHAEL
By the time I reached the Guild, I was already sweating not from the run, but from the guilt. Vesta absolutely knew I was hiding something. She practically smelled it on me. Not when that temple still stood broken, not when I knew what it meant to her. I pushed the Guild doors open so hard the receptionist flinched and dropped a stack of forms.
"Ah, s-sorry!" I yelped, scooping papers up. "I didn't mean to, these are yours sorry-"
"Michael?" Eina leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "You look like you ran from Cerberus."
"I need a status check." I said quickly. "Right now."
"Are you hurt?"She asked.
"No."I said.
She sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and motioned me to follow her into a private room.
"Sit." She ordered.
I sat. Eina unfurled her tools, pricked her finger, and touched the Falna trace on the wooden block. A faint glow rippled. Numbers and script began to assemble on a sheet of parchment. My heart thudded. Eina frowned deeper and deeper as she read.
"This is… unusual."She said. 'You gained a good amount of progress—but not enough to level. Not close." She tapped the paper. "Whatever you're doing… it's physically taxing you more than your battle growth can compensate for."
I nodded, relieved. That meant she couldn't guess. Dungeon work didn't raise stats. Temple repair, even with monster materials didn't count as combat.
"So I'm not stronger." I said.
"You're improving." She corrected. "But your growth curve looks… unhealthy."
I swallowed. Then leaned forward, speaking in a low, deadly serious whisper.
"Eina. I need you to promise, swear you'll tell no one. Not the Guild. Not Hestia. Not your friends. Not even a rat in the alley.'
Her face paled.
"That's not how vows work-"She said.
"Please." I said. "I'm begging."
Eina rubbed her temples like I was aging her twenty years per sentence.
"You are doing something incredibly stupid, aren't you?"She asked.
"Yes."I said.
"You're going into the Dungeon alone."She contunied.
"Yes."I said.
A long, painful, soul crushing groan escaped her.
"Fine." She muttered. "I won't tell her. But." She added sharply, "I swear on my professional oath if you come back to me missing limbs, or unconscious, or dead-"
"I won't die." I promised.
"-I will drag your corpse to Vesta and tell her EVERYTHING."
I gave her a small bow and backed toward the door.
"Thank you, Eina! You're the best!"I said.
"You're the worst!" She yelled as I fled the room.
I stepped outside into the early morning sunlight, gripping the paper. Not enough stat gain. Not enough to draw attention. Perfect. I tightened my gloves, adjusted my bag of tools, and started toward the dungeon entrance, and if I wanted Vesta to smile again, really smile, not the half-hearted version she'd given me this morning I had to go deeper, and I needed the Guild to stay quiet.
"Alright." I muttered. "Back to work."
Then I descended into the Dungeon. Without a word to my goddess. Without letting her know how deep I'd go today. Without letting her know how much I'd risk.
Because the temple wasn't going to rebuild itself and she was worth every floor. Few hours later I pushed the guild doors open, but it felt like the air itself was trying to stop me. Every step was agony. My legs trembled, each one a mountain I had to climb. My arms burned from gripping the Ignis Stone so tightly I was afraid my hands would crush it. My shirt was torn, smeared with grime and streaks of blood.
"Michael?!" Eina's voice sliced through the hall before I even fully stepped in.
I staggered toward her, and the stone felt heavier than any boulder I'd lifted before. I didn't speak. I couldn't.
"Michael… what how did you even get that?!" Her voice wavered between awe and panic.
She had that sharp, incredulous look that could pierce steel. I swallowed thickly, my throat raw.
"…You don't want to know."I said.
Eina took a step closer, her hands twitching, like she was afraid I'd drop it or worse fall over. I lifted the other hand, the one that carried the proof of my fight.
"Want proof?" My voice was barely audible, cracked, and low.
Eina's eyes narrowed, curiosity and disbelief warring across her face. I held up the head of the lizard. Its eyes were glossy, dead, staring at nothing. Its massive jaw sagged, teeth sharp and cruel even in death. Even I flinched at the memory how fast it struck, how vicious it was, how close I'd come to…
"I… got it." I rasped, hoarse, nearly whispering. "And the stone." I shifted the Ignis Stone, letting it catch the dim guild light. It glowed faintly, an orange red shimmer like molten metal cooled just enough to touch.
"Michael… that lizard… that stone… are you insane?" Eina's voice cracked, a mix of fear, awe, and disbelief. "The Ignis Stone… it… it doesn't exist outside the deepest level of the dungeon!" Eina breathed. "Only the strongest monsters guard it… That lizard… that thing could've killed you… How did you-"
"I had to."I said.
My voice was low, almost broken, but it carried a weight that silenced her. I glanced at the lizard head, then back at the stone, then at the chaos around us the other adventurers staring, wide eyed, whispers racing through the hall.
"You…" One young recruit said. "You survived that?"
"Yes." I muttered, though I could barely stand. "I survived because it's for Vesta. For… her hearth. I… I had to." I said again, voice cracking. "Her temple… it's destroyed. She's a goddess… she shouldn't have to see that…"
"You actually risked your life for a goddess? Michael… you're reckless."Eina said.
I managed a weak, humorless smile.
"Yeah. Reckless. But… worth it."I said.
Eina's hand brushed mine, almost reverent, as she looked between the stone and me.
"You, Michael… you really are something else."She said.
I swallowed again, feeling my heart hammer.
"I just… I had to do it. For her."I said.
The lizard head sat at my side like a macabre trophy, the Ignis Stone glowing faintly in my palm. And for the first time, I realized: the hardest part wasn't surviving the dungeon. The hardest part was bringing this back to her and keeping her from worrying. Because if Vesta saw me like this… exhausted, bleeding, half dead, but clutching her hearth in my hands… I didn't think I could handle how proud or worried she would be, but I had to. I had to.