Omake - Underside of Orario: Meteria

Canon Omake - Underside of Orario: Meteria

The first time she saw him, Meteria couldn’t help but feel that he was incredibly sad.

He stood there, stiff and uncomfortable as he stared straight ahead with piercing red eyes that almost seemed to glow. How old was he, she wondered, to look like he had seen things that had scarred him forever?

He seemed to be somewhat young. Fifteen, maybe? He had youthful features, though he was a bit taller than some others in that age range. Could he have demi-human blood? She’d heard that half-pallums could have baby faces well into their adulthood.

“…and I’d like to introduce our Familia’s newest vice-captain, Daniel Hebert!” Zeus bombastically declared, slapping the young man’s back. His words brought Meteria’s focus back to the matter at hand.

Today, the God of Thunder and Lightning was showing off his newest Familia member to his counterpart and ally, the Goddess of Mariage, Hera.

Meteria stood next to her goddess’s throne, an accessory to show off. She was only ten years old, but she knew that she was there to please her goddess, and make her look good. Such was the way of things, and she didn’t mind. Meteria often got to see neat things whenever she stood beside the throne.

“Really? The Idiot of the Dungeon is to be your new vice-captain? What of Horacio?” Hera wondered curiously.

“Horacio couldn’t be happier! He hated the job! Paperwork made him break out into rashes, you understand,” Zeus said with a laugh. “And Daniel here may be young, but he’s quick as a whip and sharp as a sword! He’ll be a great vice-captain!”

Meteria couldn’t help but blink at that. She’d heard of him! A man who’d dove into the Dungeon without a Falna, and managed to survive for over a year doing so! She looked at the young man, Daniel Hebert, in a new light. To enter the Dungeon without a god’s blessing was supposed to be a death sentence, and yet here he stood.

‘Is that connected to the sorrow in his eyes?’ Meteria wondered. ‘Had Mr. Hebert wanted to die… and found himself unable to?’

Meteria was intrigued. She wanted to know more! To see what despairs had brought him low, and then show him that life was beautiful!

111 &&& 111

“Widen your stance! And loosen your grip! It’s too tight!”

“I’ve used a sword before!”

“You’ve survived swinging a crude lump of metal around like a club! That is not the same as properly using a sword!”

The second time Meteria saw Daniel Hebert, it was in the Zeus Familia training yard.

She had been sent over to deliver a message from Hera to Zeus, but when she was done, she’d wandered around, trying to find the man with the sad but beautiful red eyes she’d seen in her lady’s throne room a week ago.

Now, she saw Daniel Hebert getting beat up by the very man whose position he’d replaced. Horatio was a man from the Solar Empire who had the biggest and fanciest moustache she’d ever seen. It took up half of his face! And yet he could still dance around the training field with an ease befitting a Level 8.

Meteria watched, entranced, as the man who’d previously dove into the Dungeon without a Falna managed to take hits that would leave a Level 2 reeling, standing back up every time he was knocked down. He refused to give in, and it was only when he literally could not move anymore did Horatio stop the training.

“Not bad,” the mustachioed adventurer hummed as he tossed a Healing Potion towards Daniel. “Better than last week.”

“Of… course,” he panted. “This is… nothing… compared to dock work!”

Horatio just laughed and walked off, leaving Daniel Hebert on his ground. For a moment, Meteria watched him, before grabbing a towel from the nearby rack.

“Here, Mr. Hebert,” Meteria said, approaching the downed young man. He took the towel from her gratefully and began to rub it over his face, cleaning away the sweat.

“It’s Danny, kid,” he replied, voice somewhat muffled by the towel.

“Pardon?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Call me Danny. It’s what I prefer,” the new vice-captain explained as he wiped his face dry.

“Okay, Mr. Danny!” Meteria declared, and he snorted at that.

“Close enough,” Danny chuckled, giving her a small grin. “Thanks for the towel.”

Meteria nodded happily, preening a little at the praise. The young girl also felt her heart skip when she saw that smile.

It was then, she knew, that Mr. Danny was going to become very important to her.

111 &&& 111

“Here, Mr. Danny!”

“Thanks, kid,” the vice-captain said, taking the offered towel.

Danny was sitting on a bench with a couple other members of the Zeus Familia after a strict exercise session. Meteria lingered, her eyes dancing across the vice-captain’s shirtless body. So many muscles… so sweaty…

She had to tear her gaze away before anyone noticed. Sadly, based on the knowing grins some of the others wore on their faces, she hadn’t succeeded, leaving a pout on her face.

For three years, this had been the routine. Meteria would watch Danny train, and then she’d help him recover. A towel, a potion, some water… whatever he needed, she got it for him. She liked to believe she’d gotten closer to him, but the red-eyed man still remained as sorrowful as always, his smiles brittle and hollow.

“Do you need anything else?” Meteria asked him, ignoring the smirks from the other adventurers.

“No,” Danny replied, shaking her head. “Though if I recall, you were supposed to be helping at the orphanage today.”

She gasped, having forgotten that, and quickly hurried off.

“Damn, man, she’s a real cutie!” a member of the Zeus Familia whistled as Meteria disappeared around the corner. “When are you gonna make a move on her?”

Hearing this, Meteria lingered just out of sight, curious about what she could discover regarding Danny’s next words.

“What?” Danny uttered, disgust lacing his voice, and she felt her heart fall. “She’s thirteen!”

“Uh-huh… and?” the man asked.

“And?! Thirteen! That’s too young!”

“Calm down, Danny,” another man said as he punched the first person in the back of the head. “This idiot didn’t mean anything.”

“It was still wrong,” Danny huffed.

“Old enough for Falna, old enough for…” the aforementioned idiot began, trying to make his point, only to get another fist to the face, this time from Danny.

“She’s thirteen,” Danny hissed out

“And how old would be old enough?” a third Zeus adventurer asked, quickly holding up his hands in surrender. “Just curious, vice-captain! You never really, you know, talk about your preferences in women.”

“Back home, a girl was only considered an adult at the age of eighteen,” Danny replied.

“Really? That’s old,” the first person said, and got another smack to the back of the head.

“Shut it, moron,” the second grunted.

“Even if Meteria was eighteen, I’m almost fifty,” Danny retorted. “It would never happen.”

‘Fifty?!’ Meteria gasped in disbelief. ‘He really is a half-pallum!’

She knew it! Alfia owed her fifty valis!

“Oh, right, that whole ‘turned younger’ thing,” the third adventurer muttered. “Still seems weird. I mean, Fallers are known. Rare, but they’re recorded fact. But somehow de-aging in the process of getting here? Definitely unusual.”

“Trust me, it’s just as weird for me,” Danny snorted. “Can’t complain, though. Being able to get up in the morning without a headache or various aches and pains is definitely nice.”

He then sighed. “I just wish I wasn’t alone here.”

“Come on, Danny, cheer up!” the first one declared. “We can find you a nice woman and- GAK!”

Once again, he was hit, this time by all three of his companions.

“Just zip it,” the second adventurer sighed.

Hearing them start to get up and leave, Meteria hurried away, mind awhirl in thoughts. Danny was that old? It explained why his eyes seemed to carry a weight beyond his physical age.

‘Oh, dear,’ she thought to herself as she ran off to the orphanage. ‘Do I like older men?’

Thinking on it, Meteria realized that this wasn’t a deal breaker. So, yes, she did.

‘Damn it!’ she cursed to herself. ‘Stupid, sexy, old man!’

111 &&& 111

A year later, Meteria learned another piece of the puzzle that was Danny Hebert. It was during a feast on behalf of Maxine, who had ascended to Level 9 on a recent expedition into the depths of the Dungeon, and everyone in the Hera Familia was celebrating. This, of course, meant that the Zeus Familia was there as well, since Maxine wanted to rub her success in her twin and fellow captain, Maxim’s, face.

“Come on, baby brother!” Maxine laughed as she waved a mug in front of her brother. “Fill up your big sister’s cup!”

“Older by one minute!” Maxim shouted back, but he still poured her some booze into the waiting container.

Alfia sat quietly besides Meteria at the table, taking sips. She’d hit Level 4 on the expedition herself, and though most people wouldn’t be able to tell, Meteria knew her sister was overjoyed by her success. Being Maxine’s protégé meant The Silence was allowed to sit at the main table, and Meteria got to do so as well due to being Alfia’s sister.

Meteria was glad for this, because it meant she could sit near Danny and watch him. He drank slowly, savoring the contents of his mug, while eating from his plate with his free hand. He dunked a forkful of lamb into some garlic sauce, and avoided the Brussel sprouts because he didn’t like the taste.

Meteria knew all this, because she’d compiled a little list about everything he liked to eat, and even learned how to cook those very meals! Now if only she could figure out what ‘lasagna’ was, and then she’d be able to make every one of his favorite foods!

However, something seemed off with her beloved. He looked sleepy, and was swaying a little.

“Is he drunk?” Meteria asked, surprised. She’d never seen him like this before!

“Ah, damn,” Maxim sighed as Danny began to drunkenly sway back and forth. “Who the hell gave him some of the special Deadly Wasp Mead? We all know he can’t handle it!”

“Sorry!” Horatio apologized. “He must have grabbed my mug by mistake.”

He leaned down and pulled the Zeus Familia’s vice-captain back to his feet. “Let’s get you somewhere quiet so you can sober up, buddy.”

“Annette…” Danny sobbed as one of his friends dragged him off to his room. “I’m sorry… I failed to protect Taylor… please, forgive me…”

Meteria watched him leave, those names sticking out to her. Who were they? Who was Annette? And who was Taylor? She finally was unable to hold it in, and asked this very question after the feast.

“Who is she?” Meteria wondered to herself, pacing back and forth in her room.

“Who?” Alfia asked, watching her sister with an inscrutable expression.

“Annette!” Meteria replied. “And Taylor!”

“Oh, that? Annette was his wife.”

“He was married?” Meteria hissed, spinning around to her sibling and Alfia nodded.

“Yes.”

“How do you know that?!”

“Mr. Hebert is a very boring man,” Alfia replied. “He doesn’t talk about much. If it’s not about work, it’s about his family from his old world. It’s all he ever mentions when we’re on expeditions in the Dungeon.”

“I’ve never heard him mention that,” Meteria muttered, biting her thumb in frustration. “And Taylor?”

“His daughter,” Alfia replied. “Like I said, Mr. Hebert really doesn’t talk about anything else.”

Meteria shot her sister a jealous look. Just because Alfia was a little bit stronger (okay, a lot!) she got to go on fun trips with Danny and learn so much more about him!

“Don’t give me that look,” Alfia huffed. “I don’t understand what you see in him. He’s so dull. Easy on the eyes, I suppose, but so very boring.”

“Shut it!” Meteria grunted. “I love him! And someday, I’ll make him love me!”

Alfia rolled her eyes but said nothing, living up to her Alias of ‘The Silence.’ If her sister wanted to pine after a formerly married man, who was she to stop her?

111 &&& 111

The years passed, and much to Meteria’s annoyance, nothing changed at all. Well, that wasn’t true. Her sister hit Level 7, the youngest in history to do so, and the two Familias had managed to go below the 80th Floor, the deepest anyone had ever gotten!

No, what hadn’t changed was Meteria’s love life. She was still nothing more than a ‘kid’ in Danny’s eyes. The vice-captain didn’t even react to any of her flirting over the years! Just patted her on the head or ignored her!

“Why won’t he go out with me?” Meteria complained after another failed attempt to get her beloved Danny to give her a date, pouting in frustration as she sat with her sister and her friends in the Familia’s cafeteria. “I’ve given him every signal I can think of, and I’m finally eighteen years old! What am I doing wrong?”

“Have you considered flashing him your tits?” an Amazon suggested as she tore into a haunch of mutton. “That tends to work for me!”

“That’s a terrible idea,” Maxine grunted at her vice-captain as she ripped a loaf of bread in half with her bare hands before turning her attention to Meteria. “You want to get his attention, not come off as a loose woman.”

“I still do not see what it is you find appeal about that man,” Alfia said, daintily eating her own meal with much more care than her companions.

“If you must know, it’s because he just seems… so sad,” Meteria sighed. “And I feel like I can help him heal.”

“That’s a terrible reason to date someone,” Maxine said with a deadpan.

“He was also married and had a daughter,” Alfia added. “You cannot replace what he lost in his old world, Meteria. Don’t even try.”

“You’ve pined after him for years, now,” the Amazon stated. “Maybe just tell him outright? Being subtle certainly seems to have failed.”

“I know! I’m gonna ask Lady Hera for advice!” Meteria declared, standing up from her table. The other three women all winced.

“That is also a terrible idea,” Maxine stated.

“Yeah. The boss lady is kinda… well, she has different ideas about romance,” the Amazon warned.

“It’s fine!” Meteria said, waving off their concerns.

Before she could go off to find her goddess, however, an adventurer, one of the Familia’s Supporters, rushed in, eyes wide and looking around wildly before hurrying over to Maxine.

“Captain! Lady Hera needs you!” she panted out.

“What? Why?” Maxine asked, even though she was already standing up.

“A messenger! From the Guild!” the Supporter explained. “We… we’ve been issued a Quest!”

That got her – and everyone else in the cafeteria’s – attention, and Maxine immediately left to go speak with her goddess.

Meteria never did get to speak with Lady Hera. Because later that day, the Zeus and Hera Familias announced they would be undertaking the Grand Quests, and preparations to take down Behemoth, Leviathan, and the Black Dragon began, causing everyone to become a bit too busy for anything calm and measured.

111 &&& 111

Months passed by in a blur. It was chaotic and busy, as they all prepared to embark on the greatest mission the two Familias had ever received. But, finally, everything was ready, and the captains of the Zeus and Hera Familias marched from Orario at the head of a massive host, hundreds of adventurers armed to the teeth.

They would meet up with the Thor Familia, who’d been hunting Behemoth and managed to track it do an abandoned stretch of dessert to the north-east.

It had been decided that the only landbound member of the Living Calamities would be the first to fall. It would be a whetstone for the adventurers, and to gauge how much more power they’d need for the remaining two.

With the majority of the Hera Familia gone, Meteria found herself missing her sister and the others, but she also knew there would never be a better chance to ask her goddess for help.

“Lady Hera, I have a question,” Meteria said as she entered her mistress’s office, and the Goddess of Marriage perked up from her pile of paperwork.

“Of course, dear Meteria! What do you need?”

“It is… I wish for love advice,” the Level 1 said, and the goddess smiled knowingly.

“Ah~! You want to capture the heart of the Strongest Level 1,” Hera laughed. “About time you made your move!”

She beckoned to her, urging Meteria to sit down across from her. “Come, come! Let me tell you the best advice you’ll ever get!”

Meteria complied and sat down, listening eagerly to her goddess’s wise words. After all, the Goddess of Mariage had to know the secrets to getting a man!

‘Even if she’s been unable to claim Lord Zeus for herself,’ Meteria thought to herself.

“So! The secret to catching a man is simple!” Hera claimed. “To win his heart, first, you must secure his body!”

“His body?” Meteria asked, tilting her head.

“Yup! See, men are like dogs. They wander away at the slightest hint of juicy steak. But if you manage to collar him? Well, then your dog will always come back to you,” Hera declared with a grin.

“You want me to get Mr. Danny a dog?” Meteria inquired, confused by the advice, and her goddess sighed.

“I’m telling you to grab him, pin him down, and ravish him until he can’t think of anything else but you,” Hera stated bluntly, giving the young woman at her side a deadpan look.

“Oh!” Meteria gasped. “I-I don’t think… I mean… I couldn’t…”

“It’s a surefire plan!” Hera claimed. “Put a cute little bun in the oven, and your beloved Danny will be like clay in your hands! You can get him to do anything if you do this!”

“I mean… I do want a child,” Meteria admitted, absentmindedly rubbing her belly. “To bring life into this world that will be able to live and love it as much as I do, and be able to keep doing so long after I am gone… But that feels cruel to do that to Mr. Danny.”

“The man wishes for death, child,” Hera said, her tone shifting to one of pity. “He plans to die on the Grand Quests, you know.”

Hearing that, Meteria gasped, and the goddess grinned, knowing she had her. “A child would give him a reason to continue to live. A man like Hebert would never abandon his offspring, so he will do everything in his power to come home alive. Don’t you agree?”

Meteria nodded slowly. Her goddess’s words made sense, and Hera clapped her hands before standing up and heading over to a dresser.

“Take this,” she ordered Meteria, and the Level 1 took a vial of pink liquid from her. “That is a potent aphrodisiac. Feed it to him, and he’ll ravish you on the spot~!”

“I see,” Meteria murmured, before bringing the vial protectively to her chest and bowing. “Thank you, my goddess!”

“You can thank me by naming me the baby’s godmother,” Hera replied haughtily, but there was a hint of longing in her voice.

Meteria merely nodded. Such a request was a simple one.

‘Now, I just need to find the perfect time to give this to him,’ she thought eagerly.

She would not get a chance to use Lady Hera’s gift for a while, though. Her beloved was off fighting Behemoth, after all. But when he returned, Meteria knew there would be a massive feast to celebrate.

‘And when they are all drunk, I will feed this to him!’ she decided. Yes, that was the perfect moment to strike and make it clear she loved him!

111 &&& 111

As predicted, the two Familias were victorious over Behemoth, and they returned triumphantly parading several Drop Items around that they’d claimed from the corpse of the first of the Living Calamities.

And just as planned, a massive feast was thrown, allowing the adventurers to celebrate – and mourn. Many lives had been spent to bring down the Breaker of Mountains, and not everyone returned home.

But Danny did. He’d survived, and Meteria found him drinking a mug of beer, observing the festivities from a distance, leaning against a wall in the courtyard. His face was flushed, likely from his earlier libations, and while he wasn’t drunk, he wasn’t too far off.

“Hello, Mr. Danny,” Meteria said, holding two cups of wine closely.

“Meteria,” he said, nodding politely at her, though as always, he was so distant.

‘At least he finally agreed to call me by my first name, and not ‘Miss Cranel’ all the time,’ she thought, pleased. It’d taken over a year to get him to do that!

“Are you enjoying yourself?” she asked curiously.

“I am,” he claimed. “Though the atmosphere is too much for me right now. And, I wanted a bit of time to myself.”

He looked up at the stars with a sigh. “Back on Earth Bet, I never imagined I’d fight against an Endbringer… even if the Behemoth of this world is nothing like the Hero Killer of my world. And that I’d win is even more unbelievable. But here I am.”

“You won and came back alive, Mr. Danny,” Meteria said softly. “You can be happy about that, right?”

“Maybe,” he grunted, before taking another swig of beer, only to find it empty.

He grunted and dropped the mug to the ground and prepared to go get another one, but Meteria quickly stepped up and handed him one of the wineglasses.

“Here!” she offered. “Please, take it!”

“Well, alright,” he muttered, and accepted the drink from her. He took a sip, then another.

For a moment Meteria feared the wine had diluted the aphrodisiac Lady Hera had given her, but after the third sip, her beloved seemed to freeze. That wasn’t all. A certain part of his anatomy was standing at attention.

“Meteria,” Danny growled, turning to her, but she quickly drained her own cup and then mashed her lips against his.

For what felt like a blissful eternity they remained like that, locked in a lover’s embrace, before Danny broke the kiss and tried to pull away.

“Please,” she begged as the aphrodisiac in her own wine kicked in. “Don’t push me away!”

“I-I… he stammered, trying to resist. “No, this is wrong!”

“I can’t replace your wife,” Meteria whispered. “And I don’t want to do that! I love you, Danny! Please! Just this once…”

“You’re too young!” Danny declared.

“I’m eighteen, now,” she replied. “That was the age of adulthood in your world, wasn’t it? I think I’ve waited long enough.”

“I’m old enough to be your father!” he tried again.

“I like older men,” she whispered.

He continued to try and fight the intoxicant surging through his belly, but the heavy drinking earlier had weakened his inhibitions, and the aphrodisiac was grinding him down even more.

After a bit more struggling against his baser instincts, Danny wasn’t able to resist any longer, and he broke, growling like an animal as he grabbed her and dragged her off to a bedroom. She giggled happily, her own thoughts descending into a pink haze.

When Meteria woke the next morning, she felt wonderfully sore and full, yet depressingly cold.

“He didn’t even stay,” she whispered to herself, looking over at her empty bed.

Danny had recovered from being drugged at some point in the early hours of the morning and left, if the lack of body heat on the sheets was any indicator.

It hurt, being abandoned like that, but Meteria couldn’t help but lower a hand to her stomach. Because in the end, she’d finally won.

111 &&& 111

She did not see Danny again for a few days. And when she did, he simply ignored her and kept on walking, trying to pretend that the night they’d spent together was a dream. It was too early to tell if Lady Hera’s plan had worked, so Meteria could only wait before approaching him again.

In the meantime, the Familia was busy preparing for the next Grand Quest. Leviathan was next, and the Poseidon Familia had been tasked with luring the Island Sinker to Melen.

It was a few weeks later when news reached Orario that Leviathan had been slain. But to Meteria, triumphing over a second Living Calamity paled in significance to something else happening to her.

“There, there,” Maria said soothingly. “Let it all out.”

Her friend from the orphanage was patting her back as Meteria threw up into the toilet, and after breakfast, lunch, and dinner went down the drain, she was finally able to stop feeling so ill.

“You probably ate something a bit off last night,” Maria said sympathetically. “Should I get you some lavender and mint tea?”

“Please,” Meteria whimpered.

The Supporter already knew that this wasn’t the result of some bad beef, but something far more joyous.

So, when the two Familias returned, parading more Drop Items for the whole city to view, Meteria snuck out and cornered Danny.

“Not now, Meteria,” he said brusquely, trying to step around her. “I have things I need to do.”

“Leviathan is dead,” she replied. “Surely you can spare a minute.”

“I have the feast to organize, and a god to wrangle,” Danny shot back. “Not to mention organizing letters to the deceased…”

“I’m pregnant,” Meteria declared, deciding to just go ahead and drop the bomb.

Her beloved froze mid-step, and he gave her a look of disbelief.

“What?” Danny hissed.

“I’m pregnant,” she repeated, and rubbed her belly. “And it’s ours.”

“You-!” he uttered furiously. “Why did-?!”

“Because I love you!” Meteria shouted, tears prickling in her eyes.

“But Meteria… your constitution,” Danny muttered, tone turning softer.

“I will be lucky to live to the age of twenty,” Meteria replied bitterly, wiping her eyes. “At the very least, before I die, I want to bring something new and wonderful into this world.”

She then stared into his eyes. “And I want you to be there for them.”

“…How could you do this to me?” Danny whispered, sounding utterly broken and defeated.

“Because I love you,” she repeated, stepping closer. “And I want you… to live. I don’t want you to try and find a grave to die in over the guilt of failing your old family and losing your old world. I wanted you to live, and raise our child, because you need to learn to love again!”

Meteria stared into Danny’s eyes, and he stared back, his will wavering before finally breaking.

“I hate you,” he whispered back. “But I will do the right thing.”

Danny grabbed her hand before getting onto one knee. “Meteria… will you marry me?”

Meteria sobbed happily, finally allowing her tears to flow. “Yes!” was all she could say.

So what if he hated her? So what if she might not live to see their child grow up? She had won, just as Lady Hera had said she would.

What happened next was a blur. People were informed, paperwork was signed, and ideas for a wedding were started to be drafted, but any joy Meteria might have felt died the next day, as news reached Orario of a horrific event: the Black Dragon had destroyed the Forbidden City, plunging the Jade Empire into chaos.

All of their plans were thrown into disarray, and the Zeus and Hera Familias were forced to accelerate their preparations in order to deal with this unexpected reaction from the final Living Calamity.

 As she watched Danny leave with the rest of the two Familias a week later, the young woman stroked her stomach tenderly.

‘He will be back,’ Meteria thought to herself. ‘He promised.’

Until then, she would be strong. For their child. Because that was all that mattered.

111 &&& 111
Author's Note: Happy Mother's Day! Almost forgot to upload this today!

This is a canon sidestory to the "Is It Wrong To Skitter In A Dungeon" timeline. This is how Meteria met Danny, and how Bell came to be.