After a much needed rest, each member of the Astraea familia had finally collected their thoughts. The sensation of fear still lingering, but not weak enough it was sent to the back of their minds. Silently, they waited for the silence to break, but none of them wanted to be the one to do it. Instead, eagerly attacking their rations, and wild vegetable stew.
Alise was the first to finish eating, coming to a realization as she did. If they hadn't arrived in time, how many of us would have survived that ordeal? 5? No, it would've been Ryuu, I think everyone would agree, if only one of us were to survive, it should be her… Alis broke the silence by slapping her cheeks, causing them to turn red, and everyone's attention was drawn towards her.
"Cera…" She uttered. "Kaguya, do you remember seeing anyone by that name in the Zeus familia records? Or maybe Hera familia's?"
Kaguya chewed for a few moments, humming to herself as she was attempting to recall the information. "No, I don't remember seeing anyone by that name. Certainly not any of their strong members, and hunks."
"Well, he looked to be about our age. So he would have been at most 10 years old at the time. Were there any young members with a name something like Cera?"
"Something like Cera? And not, Cera?"
"Yes, I think Cera might just be a nickname his wife calls him by."
"That, makes, sense…" Kaguya said, and returned to her memory palace.
Everyone tried to recall someone by that name, they were failing until their more recent transferred member, Ardee, burst out in shock.
"Ceraunius, Zeus familia's freaky young boy. If I remember right, he was a level 4 at the time Zeus and Hera familias were banished from Orario. Yeah, they'd leveled up not too long before the first battle with The King of Land, Behemoth." She expressed.
"You mean to say, that boy grew up into that?"
"That can't be true! He has to be a spirit!" Ryuu shouted.
"The way his magic felt… There's no way it wasn't from a spirit." Celty added.
The other members stared at their resident elves with a tight lipped expression, and then started to giggle.
"Are you saying that just so you don't feel bad about being attracted to him, idiot?"
"Hey!"
Some bickering began, slowly lifting their spirits up from the depths of terror they just experienced.
"Alright, everyone, we were rescued by the timely aid of Ceraunius, and his wife. Lady Astraea should be the only one we tell about this."
"Gamelia." Noin interjected… "His wife's name is Gamelia. The young girl was born in the Hera familia around the same time he was. The two were inseparable as far as I remember."
"And why are you so well informed?" Iska asked, curiously.
"I thought the story of two childhood friends sticking together through thick and thin was a touching experience."
"I see. Well either way, Lady Astraea is going to want to see those two. We'll need a plan to bring them to the Stardust Garden." Alise said.
"Maybe that wonderful, most beautiful smile of yours will be enough?" Kaguya said with a giggle.
"Really?"
"No. We'll need something a little stronger, I'll get that hunk an invitation to my bed."
"You'll die if you do that. Gamelia is of Hera familia, touching her man is a no go. She might let you look at best. But touching, out of the question."
"Touching?" Ryuu innocently asked, with a blushed expression and slightly droopy ears. "L-l-l-like h-h-holding h-h-hands?"
"No, more like, kissing and feeling all over, including down there."
"Huh? EEP! SO LEWD!!!!"
Everyone laughed, crying tears of joy and relief.
"I'm glad we're able to do this. I'm thankful we get to continue living together, sisters. I'm truly thankful."
"So am I."
"Me too."
"Oh oh, me three!"
"I guess you're not all that bad."
"Hey, Lyra, that's not nice."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm glad I'll see all your faces again tomorrow."
…
Much, much deeper down than anyone else has ever been before aside for their familias. On Floor 59, Ceraunius and Gamelia fought creature after creature. Many of them were weird, and oddly strong. Though for the most part they weren't a challenge.
"Cera, this is odd."
"I know, there's far too many plants, and not enough ice… Almost like the dungeon is changing."
"I can feel the source of this change down there on the 60th floor."
"Let's go take it out, it might prove to be a worthy feat…"
Moments later, maybe a handful of hours, Ceraunius & Gamelia stood triumphant over a pile of dust. Though, they were very disappointed, and freaked out.
"Awe what was that! It couldn't even take a few attacks!!"
"Seriously what the hell was that? It was so easy!!!"
"Know what, Hubby?"
"What, Wifey?"
"I think that thing's been hiding down here, scared of the others, and only now started coming out because it knew the ones remaining were stupidly weak."
"Then when we arrived it wasn't a match for either of us, let alone both."
The two walked on, searching for something that might actually be worthy of their skills. Silently wishing that Leviathan, and Behemoth were still around for them to use as a feat for their level up.
…
A few days later, the Astraea familia reached the surface, exiting the dungeon and breathing the fresh outside air again. Each member had put on their usual game face as if nothing crazy had just happened to them in recent time.
"Alright ladies of justice, we had a successful adventure, let's go home and tell our goddess all about it!" Alise cheerfully shouted, while the others kept an eye out for anyone suspicious. Of which there were several who made dissatisfied gestures at their reemergence.
Though there were quite a few who were more than a little upset, the citizenry loved the Astraea familia, and were always delighted to see them, even if they did look like they'd just been through a terrible experience. As a result the walk back was filled with happy smiles, and cheers, some stall vendors giving the girls a free sample here and there too. Which they all gleefully indulged in.
"Hmm, it seems we have visitors. Ardee, your sister is here to visit you."
"I wonder why she came herself, there's plenty of people who could help watch the house while we're all gone?"
…