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Hestia had never paced this much in her life.Not during festivals, not during arguments with Loki, not even during the worst days when money was tight and meals were thinner than paper.
But now?Now her footsteps were a constant rhythm on the stone floor of the small church — fast, uneven, restless.
She wrung her hands together, staring at the front door as if Ethan might burst through it at any second.He didn't.
He hadn't for hours.
Lili sat on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. She was pale, stiff, her eyes staring into nothing. The medics had already checked her. She was alive — shaken, but alive.But she hadn't said a single word since they brought her back.
Welf leaned against the wall, jaw tight, arms crossed. He looked calm, but Hestia could see the tension in his shoulders. He kept glancing at the door too.
Mikoto and Haruhime sat beside Lili, the fox girl gently brushing dust from her hair. Haruhime's voice was soft, soothing, trying to anchor her back into the present.
Hestia stopped pacing and exhaled sharply. "This isn't right. It's been too long. Ethan should've come back with the others."
Welf finally spoke. "Goddess… the Dungeon collapsed. That whole section. Lili said—" He swallowed hard. "She said Ethan pushed her through the gap before it sealed."
Mikoto lowered her gaze. "He saved her life."
Haruhime's ears drooped. "But… he did not follow."
The church fell silent.
Outside, the muffled noise of Orario drifted through the windows — frantic footsteps, panicked voices, messengers running from guild to familia with news of the incident.The whole city knew by now: a section of the mid-levels had ruptured. Some adventurers survived.Some were found dead.Some were still missing.
And among those missing…Ethan.
Hestia's heart twisted painfully.
She sank onto the bench beside the altar, burying her face in her hands. "Why didn't he return? Why didn't he come back with her? Ethan isn't reckless. He wouldn't just vanish."
Welf clenched his teeth. "Then where is he?"
Lili's voice finally broke the silence.
"…cold."
Everyone turned.
Lili didn't look at them. She stared at her trembling hands. "The place… before the collapse… it was cold."
Haruhime leaned closer. "Cold? But the mid-levels shouldn't—"
"No," Lili whispered. "Not normal cold. It was… wrong. Like the air stopped moving."Her voice cracked, but she kept going, clutching the blanket tighter. "And there was… something else. A noise. Like the Dungeon was… breathing."
Hestia's blood ran cold.
Dungeon. Breathing.That wasn't normal.That wasn't anything she ever wanted to hear again.
Welf shifted uncomfortably. "Lili… did you see Ethan after that?"
She hesitated.
"I— I saw him step forward."Her eyes squeezed shut, tears gathering. "And then the wall of ice came down. He pushed me out. And then… nothing. He was just— gone."
Hestia stood so fast the bench scraped loudly against the floor.
"No," she said firmly, voice trembling. "He's alive. He has to be alive. Ethan doesn't die — he always comes back. He always—"
Her voice broke.
Haruhime stood and placed a gentle hand on her arm. "Goddess… perhaps the Guild will find another entrance. If a collapse happened, they will send rescue teams. Please do not lose hope."
"Lose hope?" Hestia's eyes burned. "How can I not?! He was right there, and now— now there's nothing! No trail, no signal, no— nothing."
She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling her divine heart shudder.
It wasn't just worry.It wasn't just fear.
There was something deeper — a quiet panic she couldn't shake.A whisper in her divine instincts that something ancient had brushed too close to Ethan.Something buried.Something that shouldn't exist.
The front door slammed open.
Everyone jolted — but it wasn't Ethan.
It was a Guild runner, pale and out of breath.
"Hestia-sama! Report from the rescue team!" he gasped.
Hestia rushed forward. "Is he alive?! Did they find Ethan?!"
The runner flinched at the raw desperation in her voice and shook his head.
"No sightings. No body. Nothing."He glanced at the Familia behind her. "The collapse sealed off the cavern completely. It's impossible to reach from the usual routes."
Hestia felt the world tilt.
Impossible to reach.No sightings.No body.
Ethan was… nowhere.
The runner swallowed hard, voice softening. "We'll keep searching. But… the Guild suspects he may have been caught in the rupture."
Lili's breath hitched. Haruhime's ears folded back. Mikoto's hands trembled on her lap. Welf bowed his head.
Hestia stood in the center of the room, numb.
"Caught in the rupture…" she repeated quietly.
The runner stepped back toward the door. "I'm sorry."
When he left, the room fell into a suffocating silence.
Hestia slowly sank onto a chair, hands shaking. She looked around at her children — frightened, grieving, lost — and forced herself to breathe evenly.
"He's alive," she whispered.
"Goddess…" Haruhime murmured.
"No," Hestia said again, louder this time. "He's alive. I don't know where he is, or what happened, but Ethan is not gone. I refuse to believe it."
Her voice cracked on the last word, but she lifted her chin anyway.
"He promised he'd come back."
Her eyes glistened, but she didn't wipe the tears away.
"He always comes back."
She clasped her hands tightly.
"And I'll wait," she whispered. "I'll wait as long as it takes."
The small church felt unbearably quiet.
Outside, Orario continued to panic.Inside, Hestia sat perfectly still, refusing to look away from the door.
Even though she already knew…It wouldn't open tonight.
---
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