Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

David's eyes snapped open, he gasped, inhaled actual fresh air that hasn't been tainted from over decades of pollution; unable to help himself from his reflexes, David shot up to sit straight, "Smasher!" He yelled, his eyes dilated with adrenaline running through his system, his heart ran a mile a minute.

His surroundings were off and everything about his body felt off, he calmed himself down as he noted he was in what looked like an alley, but it looked nothing like any alley he was familiar with. The ground was bricks, and the buildings were made out of stone bricks.

David reached up scratch at his forehead, feeling the texture like authentic skin, unlike his cybernetic body. Bringing his hand down, he gazed at his palm, taking quite notice that he was not wearing his usual clothes, if anything, he was wearing a poncho rag and a pair of simple raggy shorts with some rope holding them up.

The last thing he remembered was getting his head caved in by Smasher himself.

Damn, was Lucy able to escape while he held that bastard off!?

"Gimme another hour, too tired." Rebecca's voice prompted David's quick attention to the young girl to his right, who was clothed as well in some raggedy clothes of her own. Rebecca was lying on her side, facing away from him, sleeping on the hard brick alley floor.

Wait, last he remembered, Smasher landed on Rebecca, killing her on impact from his fall height. None of this was making sense!

Shaking his head, David steadily moved over to shake his friend awake, "'Becs! Wake up, come on!" He raised his voice.

Rebecca snorted awake, and turned around with a bleary look in her eyes, "Come'on choom, just five…more…min…utes…" Her natural green eyes slowly widened, both stared at each other for what felt like a minute.

"I'm not dead…" Rebecca cracked out from her mouth, her voice disbelieving, earning a confused frown from David. "David…" Her voice cracked out again, her eyes looked about as she helped herself up, "What…where…how…"

David too looked about, before he looked back at Rebecca, "Don't ask me, last thing I remembered is getting flatlined by Smasher, then everything went black." He responded with uncertainty.

Rebecca slowly looked back at David with confusion written all over her face, "Yeah…same…" She whispered…before her eyes widened at David, "David, this doesn't look anything like Night City…" she realized, earning a nod from him.

"Yeah…" He reasoned with her in agreement, before shortly after he stood up with a bit of stumbling, it felt weird to have a 'ganic body once more. He inspected himself again, raising his arms, he clenched and unclenched his hands, everything was in working order, but it now felt weird being not borged out with all those upgrades.

Rebecca herself stood up carefully with some awkwardness on her own part, she checked her brown shirt, "None of this makes sense…and these rags totally don't fit my style!" she grumbled and let go of the hem of her shirt, and inspected her arms. "Oh come on, I don't even have my big cyberarms, just these little things!?" She pouted.

"Same for me." David commented as he couldn't even feel the ability of the Sandy on his back, he was genuinely, one hundred percent, human.

He soon found himself tackled into a hug by Rebecca, to which he stumbled back a bit, "You gonk!" Rebbecca's muffled voice cracked out, she let out her emotions as she hugged him.

David was surprised, but he finally found the wall behind him to help himself stand up with Rebbecca hanging off his shoulders. He doesn't have any cybernetics but he was still strong enough to hold up the girl that stuck by his side through and through. "Um…" He patted Rebecca on the shoulder, "..uh…" He didn't know what to say in this instance, really.

Rebecca sniffled into his shoulder, before she slid off him and landed on her feet to stand back a bit, she wiped her arm against her eyes to wipe the tears from her eyes, and looked up at David with a sad smile, "You were a gonk, you know that!?" She sniffled with tears still threatening to fall from the edge of her eyes. "You idiot!"

"Uh…" David reached up to rub at the back of his neck, "Um…sorry?..." He responded.

Rebecca though made a hurt and angered look, "I was losing you choom! All those cybernetics, you were going cyberpsycosis on me!" Her voice cracked with hurt, her lip trembled.

David expressed some shame at that, "Yeah…everything was going crazy, I…could barely hold on…" He then looked back at Rebecca, offering her a grim smile, "Well, here's hoping Lucy escaped, right?" He sardonically chuckled at his expense.

Rebecca rolled her eyes and walked over to lightly punch him in the sides, "You gonk!" She smirked a bit.

After a few seconds of calming down for both of them, Rebecca turned to look around, "So…" She drawled out, "so what now?" She questioned, confusion written all over her face.

David too looked around, and started walking out of the alleyway with Rebecca following after him, "Don't know, get a lay of the city we're in?" He shot back.

Once they exited the alley way, both were treated to the site of a very out of the world sight, "Woah…" David spoke, his eyes looking at all the people and different races milling about, "This…"

"David, look…" Rebecca brought his attention to her, seeing her pointing at a far off tower that beat any skyscraper in night city.

"Becca, I don't think we're even in Night City, or even the same world…" David whispered down to her, he could see the lush vegetation hung underneath buildings. "Not one of these people are even using cybernetics…"

"...I don't even think these people use technology we're used to either." Rebecca reasoned as well as they watched a group of people pass by them towards the far off tower, "Is that an elf?" Rebecca questioned in a whisper to David.

"...probably…" David responded as the two of them watched the group disappear through the crowd.

Hestia

Standing behind the stall of her job, selling puffs to earn a living, while at the same time desperately looking for someone to begin a Familia with, Hestia sighed to herself, before smacking her cheeks; cheering herself on, Hestia clenched her fist up, 'come on! I have to prove to Heph-chan that I can live on my own!' She cheered for herself.

Just as she was going to pick out the advertisement sign to wave down customers to serve, Hestia took notice from the corner of her eyes a sore sight; some poor looking souls in rags soon to pass by her shop, and they looked hungry too!

Shoot, she dearly wanted to offer them a sample for the road, but boss said no more free samples!

But wait! This could be her chance! Two down on their luck children could use her help! She could also offer them an invitation to be her first two children of her familia!

"Hey~, over here~!" Hestia leaned over her stall's counter, earning the attention of the boy and girl.

The boy took quick notice of her, followed by the girl, "You too look a little lost, need some help!?" she questioned them.

The two stopped by, with the boy looking straight into her eyes, "Um…yeah!...uh…we're new here, just dropped in!" He was definitely trying to be respectful and not look down at her breasts, she could tell.

The girl on the other hand looked hungry with her staring at the food her stall offered, "Nova, fried mash? David, we have got to find a job and get some of this stuff!"

Nova? Is that some new slang the kids are using these days?

How sad too, these children need a job! Have no fear, Hestia can help you children.

Leaning forward with a smirk, "There's plenty of ways to earn money in Orario!" She answered the girl.

The boy smiled a bit, his hands in his pockets as he spoke with her, "Yeah, I'm sure there is! Um…?" He looked like he was waiting for her to introduce herself.

Hestia leaned off from her stall, and proudly palmed her chest, "I am the Goddess Hestia!" she winked at them, "And you're just in luck! I just descended from the upper realm to form a familia!"

The boy spoke next with a confused blink of his eyes, "Hestia? Goddess?" He questioned, which Hestia could understand. She wasn't as popular as most gods to the mortals, or most known.

"Descended?" the girl questioned next, making Hestia nod excitedly.

"Yup!" Hestia cheered with exuberance, "I figured it was about time I left the upper realm, and came down to the mortal realm like the other gods and goddesses in Orario!" She smiled at the two, "And I'm totally open to having you two be my first children of my famila!"

Questioning looks were earned from both of them, these children were definitely new to this city and the concept of familias, the two must be from some poor small village that didn't know much of the outside world.

"...uh…does it pay?" The boy asked.

Hestia smiled warmly, "Well, that's if you want to delve into the dungeon and fight monsters!" She offered, if they wanted to go that route, it was what most people came here for.

The girl spoke up next, "Oh!" the girl remarked, realization hitting her, and looked at the boy, "David, this place, it's like those dungeon crawler games, but for real this time!"

Oh? Children make games about going dungeon crawling? That was cute and adorable!

The boy nodded to the girl, and looked back at her, "Mind explained the Deets more!? We could defo use the Eddies!?"

Deets? Details? Eddies must be slang for Valis…these kids, always coming up with new slang! It was kinda almost exhausting catching up!

Chapter Text

David

This Hestia 'Goddess' seemed really nice, that is to say, he and Rebecca hadn't talked to anyone else yet, until they came up to this woman's stall filled with fried potatoes. To say the least, most people around this place seemed nice on the outside, but Hestia genuinely seemed to want to help him and Rebecca out, even offering to start her 'familia' with them, whatever that was.

The word 'familia' itself was very familiar to David, it was something his mom talked about everyone once in a while.

Hestia spoke up, gave him an amused look with the palms of hers planted into her hips, "I'm going to assume Deets mean details, right!?" she smirked, while lifting hand up to lazily point her finger out.

David gave her a nod, this was another world, so of course his and Rebecca's slang from their world would be a hit or miss, at least the language barrier was fine between them.

Hestia crossed her arms under her breasts with a proud look, "fufu." she chuckled, "As I thought! But in any case, once you join my Famila…that is…if you want?..." she poked her fingers nervously with a hopeful look, before shaking her head, and leaned against her stall with her palms down on the surface, her eyes shined.

"But once you join a familia, you can gain experience through Excelia, most people in Orario usually go into the dungeon, bringing up riches and exchange it all at the Guild!" Hestia explained with enthusiasm, before finally leaning off her table to stand upright with her arms crossed once more.

Rebecca leaned forward next, "Huh…" She planted one hand on the table with her other hand on her hip, "So whatever we do, once we join a familia, we can gain XP?" She asked.

Hestia on the other frowned with a confused expression, craning her finger over her mouth, "Expee? Is that a slang word you kids made up for Excelia?" she tilted her head a bit, her twin pigtails jostled a bit from her head tilting.

David shrugged, "It's what Excelia sounds like." He reasoned, earning her attention, "Go down and fight monsters in this dungeon? Gain excelia each day for every time we do some dungeon crawling?" He asked.

Hestia removed her finger from her mouth, and relaxed her arms a bit beside her waist, "Yeah! That's about the gist of what most people do in Orario!" she smiled warmly.

Quite honestly, that sounds like a bit of fun, but David was sure it was a dangerous affair, dealing with actual monsters in a dungeon; but David had long been acquainted with danger now, but from the sounds of things, if Excelia was really like XP from the games he's used to, it would be best to grind experience on the first levels.

That is, if that was how the dungeon of this Orario place works.

And also, from the sound of it, he didn't just have the option of joining up with this Goddess, he could check out other gods and goddesses, see if they offered better advantages.

…then again, this Hestia Goddess was kind enough to give them some deets on what's the haps with this place.

David shook his head and stepped forward, "So, Hestia, not to rush things, but if you're willing to let us join you, I don't mind. What about you 'Becs?" He asked Rebecca, seeing if she was okay with it.

Rebecca removed herself from leaning against the table to look up to David with a grin, "Why the heck not!? I bet every other god and goddess is too busy anyways to sign up with them, I mean, just look at this place!" She gestures with her thumb to the crowd.

David agreed with Rebecca, by the looks of things, and how many people there were, he put to mind that there probably were not as many gods and goddesses compared to mortals of this world, so it stood to reason most gods were probably up to their necks with paperwork and being busy.

Starting out with Hestia, would most likely benefit them the most, starting out from scratch, and it helped matters being more on a one on one basis with his new boss.

It already sucked being the boss of his own crew that he knew from experience, and look where that got him…

At least he and Rebecca could start over, from the looks of things.

Back to reality, Hestia expressed squealing joy, her fist were thrown up in excitement, "At last." She cheered, and slammed her palmed down into the table to lean forward with eyes shimmering with excitement, "I won't let you down as your goddess!" She leaned off from the table and nodded to herself, before making a look of realization.

Both Rebecca and David watch with amusement as Hestia expressed embarrassment, rubbing the back of her head with a nervous chuckle, "But first, I need to finish my shift."

Rebecca

"So…" She drawled out, "Should we meet up back here, or something?" Rebecca asked Hestia, she wanted to see more of this place, it was more beautiful than Night City ever could be. You didn't have anyone jacking off on the streets, not much trash was seen…it was literally like night and night between this place and Night city.

Hestia hummed to herself, before snapping her fingers as she bent down to grab something, and stood back up with a notepad and pencil, "Here, let me jot down the address of my Church I live at!" she responded.

"Wait." David spoke up, making both her and Hesita look up at him, her friend expressed uncertainty, "Why not just tell out? You know, is it like down the street and a few blocks or something?" He asked.

Rebecca looked confused, and so did Hestia, before out of the corner of her eyes, she did a double take to look at Hesita's stall sign…this was going to take a bit to learn this place's written language…then again, as Rebecca squinted, it almost looked the same as english letters.

"Why?" Hestia asked, making David express uncertainty, as he looked at the stalls sign.

"Um…the thing is…" He tried to answer, nervously rubbing the back of his head, only for Rebecca to chime in for him.

"Your written language is different from ours." Rebbeca blurted out without any tact, earning a thankful look from David.

Hestia looked between the two, eyes wide, "That…that is a problem!" She gasped, and smirked while palming her fist, "Then have no fear!" she nodded to herself, and pointed at the stall, "Just come back here then!"

She then pointed at the far off tower with a clock on it, small and large hand clock. Rebecca remembered something somewhere that the small hand is supposed to be for hours, and large is for minutes…she thinks…

"Just come back at noon! It's when both hands point up on the clock!" Hestia answered for Rebecca and David.

Okay, that helped, they just had to return by then. "Nova Choomba!" Rebecca smiled at Hestia, earning a blank look from her.

"Nova, choomba?" The goddess seemed to try and grasp what the slang meant.

David tagged in and offered his help, "You know what cool means, right?" He asked, earning a nod from Hestia, some look of understanding dawning on her, "It's what Nova is, and Choomba is for friend…" He chuckled nervously, "Sorry if the slang is a bit over your head."

Hestia's eyes shined with enthusiasm, "No fret!" she giggled, "I just gotta get used to you children coming up with new words! You mortals come up with new words every century!" she gushed with eagerness.

"Preamo!" David responded, before he caught himself, and chuckled, "So, another word for cool!"

Hestia on the other hand smiled with warmth, and winked "No problem! I think it's nova!" She seemed to try and get in on the new slang words they used.

Rebecca couldn't help but laugh in amusement, "I don't know why, but it almost sounds funny coming out of your lips, but still pretty 'cool'." She smirked a bit at Hestia's embarrassed look.

David

He did his best to remember the way back to the market street that Hestia worked at, they even agreed that if they couldn't make it back, they'd all meet up at the clock tower, afterall, it stood out for them to see it.

While he and Rebecca traversed the streets, he felt an empty pitted feeling in his gut, making him wince and feel his stomach. "Damn, could use something to eat right about now." He groused, the feeling was familiar to the many nights he and his mom went without food.

Rebecca groused as well as they walked together through the streets, "Know what you mean, could use something filling!" she then growled with anger and stopped, making him stop as well as they halted in front of what looked like a restaurant, "And the smell of food ain't helping matters!" She shouted out in anger.

David sniffed the air as well, and noted the aroma of food, "Yeah, whatever's cooking in there, smells great…" He grimaced, "come on, no use in dwelling here, only going to make us more hungry." He reasoned, earning a nod from Rebecca.

"David!" A shrilling familiar voice broke out from the restaurant, making David double take and turn as none other than his mother darted out from the front door and slammed into him with a hug. The tightness of the hug itself made the impression that his mother did not want to let go or he'd disappear.

David's eyes widened in disbelief, jogging his memory at what he saw his mom wore, a maid's outfit, before she slammed into him with a hug, then his mind went back to the fact that his mom was hugging him. Alive. A wave of emotions swelled over him while his mother wept over his shoulder.

"M-m-mom!" David muttered out, slowly lifting his arms up to hug her back. He felt tears prickling at the edges of his eyes.

"My little boy!" She wept in Spanish, something he was able to pick up on.