Did I mention that this was a three-shot? This is the final chapter for this story, and considering the upcoming Volume 17 has piqued my interest to look through the novels and write again, I might see you all soon with another story. Enjoy.
"A girl came to me with the wish for the perfect lover."
Bell found himself in the darkness as he dreamed. In front of him was his refection, meditating as static weaved together and fell apart in a struggle to weave a cloth of memories. It was nearly complete, and Bell saw many details, but wouldn't be able to see all of them with how time consuming it looked to read through.
"Such a lover must have a pure soul, unoccupied and cleansed of interests for anyone else."
Some clouds of static dissipated into nothingness, while others took part of the cloth of memories, and yet another portion remained out of the reach of his mind, yet to be recovered.
"With such a high price, I gave her a deal."
That complex rune from before gained additional details, and Bell's reflection opened it's eyes and stood. Runes appeared on the reflection's chest.
"Such a pure soul also has great potential, in which others would squander and waste that potential for trivial things."
Additional runes started to appear in the air, and the cloth of memories turned into a vortex that headed down towards the reflection.
"So devote him and yourself to me, and I'll give you his loyalty and devotion in turn."
Once the vortex was absorbed by the reflection, it turned around to reveal it's back. The glowing falna of the Freya Familia overlapped with that of the Hestia Familia, before vanishing into the reflection's body. Bell felt that something was off about it, yet felt no pain.
"His soul, and your own. So long as you both remain in my grasp, nothing shall break your bond with him."
The reflection looked back one last time before fading into a blue glow that was fed into Bell's mind and soul. All of a sudden, he felt as if a pit inside him had been filled. Such in a way that nothing could dig through. There were still missing spots in his memory... but he had no concern anymore for them. There was always time to catch up. The comforting embrace of the light came once more, and this time, he reached out to it.
Riveria and Ais had finally realized what was happening to Bell and the Hestia Familia as they sprung up from their respective seats.
'They were acting too casual about Bell's memory loss,' Riveria thought, 'And goddess Hestia, when she visited and talked to Captain Finn and I... she never had a purple glint in her eyes before. I thought it was just the stained glass mural on the wall, but that glint never felt natural. Finn's thumb was twitching the whole time as well.'
Ais donned her armor and grabbed her sword. Riveria barged into Finn's room with her explanation.
"Bell's memory loss wasn't an accident," Riveria spoke. "It was all a ploy by the Freya Familia. Their presence at the Hostess of Fertility. The magic residue. The timing of the attack on Bell and Syr's date. The plaza where Bell and Syr were was isolated and empty when they were about to part. And the way the Hestia Familia was acting, it's possible they were all charmed into doing Freya's bidding."
"I see," Finn said. "Considering that what you say about the Hestia Familia is true, then we'll need to take action in their stead. You go ahead with Ais. I'll catch up with you once I get Bete ready."
"Understood."
She immediately ran to catch up with Ais, who was already making her way down the street towards the Hostess of Fertility.
'Bell,' She thought, 'I know you're trapped in there. I'll get you out.'
The Hostess of Fertility was in sight and the lights were off. The streets were also empty.
'Wait...' Ais looked around. The streets were empty. She immediately unsheathed her sword and focused.
"Something's not right."
Her pupils shrank as she quickly raised her blade to deflect a spear. The force rattled her hands and the wind that followed tugged at her hair.
"So it seems you got us figured out, princess," The figure of Allen Fromel appeared from the adjacent alleyway.
Ais immediately tried to charge past him, but he got hold of one of the straps of her armor before tossing her back onto the street.
"You're not going anywhere," he continued. "I don't like the little brat, and I'd rather be back at Folkvangr, but I'm sure as hell not disobeying an order from my Mistress. As long as I'm breathing, you're staying out here."
"I wouldn't be too sure," a voice said.
Allen immediately jumped out of the way of an ice spell and looked to his left.
"Tch. Riveria Ljos Alf. So I'm guessing at least half of the Loki Familia's elite is gonna interfere?"
Riveria only frowned in response.
"Good thing I brought backup then," Allen finished. He gave a whistle and Riveria dodged out of the way of a spear, then jumped back when an armored prum jumped down and swung his sword.
"The Gulliver Brothers?" Riveria looked and saw the other two on the rooftop and a third walking towards her. Allen had already retrieved his spear and several other members of the Freya Familia appeared from alleyways, out of windows, and from the Hostess of Fertility. However, the Gulliver Brothers and Allen appeared to be the only elites present.
"Ais, even once Finn and Bete have arrived, we can only hold them off for a few minutes at best. Go in, get Bell, and get out. We'll figure something out once we return to the Twilight Manor."
"Got it."
Finn and Bete arrived and immediately barged through several members before joining Riveria as she chanted connected spells. Ais deflected a blow from Allen before entering the Hostess of Fertility. Allen was about to pursue before he was blocked by Bete. The Gulliver Brothers looked at each other, then back at the trio.
"... This might be a problem."
Ais squinted her eyes slightly, scanning the empty pub's interior for anyone. The main hall was empty, but a sound came from upstairs. Ais immediately made her way over, careful of her surroundings, and scanned the stairs.
"Do explain why you're intruding, Sword Princess."
'Behind...!'
As quickly as she could, she spun around and brought her leg out to perform a kick. She didn't want to kill one of the waitresses by accident. Suddenly, she felt her foot stop. She looked, and found Syr, clad in a set of obsidian black light armor, her gauntlet covered left hand holding Ais by the foot, and a dangerous glint in the eye of her cheerful face.
"We can't have rude customers now, can we?"
Syr suddenly pulled Ais in and punched her in the gut, knocking the air out of her.
'She's even stronger than Revis... how did she keep all that strength hidden? Unless... no...' Ais thought.
Ais struggled to get up when she was grabbed by the throat.
"So you've realized it?" Syr asked, keeping a cheerful face that hid an extremely dangerous demeanor behind it.
"You're... a demigod...?" Ais managed to choke out within Syr's grip.
"Yes... I suppose I should reintroduce myself. I am Syr Flova, of the Freya Familia, daughter of Lady Freya."
Ais' eyes widened. Bell had been within Freya's grasp the entire time, and she never noticed.
"I'm part of my mother, and at the same time, my own being. And as long as my loyalty lasts, Bell's love, devotion, kindness, and all things that make him who he is will belong to me, and in a way, mother as well. With the final runes in place and my soul connected with his, there is nothing you can do. You can't kill me without devastating him beyond recovery, and you can't free him without killing me."
Despite Syr's harsh words, Ais lifted her arms and tried to pry Syr's fingers apart, still intending to resist.
"I'll... find a way... I'll save Bell..." Ais choked out.
"Hmm, you're persistent, I'll give you that. But we won't be seeing each other for a while. Bye-bye, Sword Princess."
Syr threw Ais with such force that she went through the building on the other side of the street. She then brought out a notepad listing repairs and maintenance and wrote down that a window needed replacement.
"My lady." Hedin called from behind. Syr turned to listen.
"The final runes have been inscribed. Any unwanted memories have been stored in this memory stone. You may do as you wish, but if I may, I would not be so rash as to destroy it immediately, since some of the memories may be needed to prevent his mind structure from becoming unstable."
"I'll keep it in mind. You may return to Folkvangr."
"As you wish, my lady." Hedin said as he left with Hogni.
Bell walked down the stairs to find a shattered window and craters in the street.
"What happened while I was asleep?" He asked Syr, who was sweeping some broken glass into a dustpan. She had a slight frown on her face.
"Those attackers that hurt you before wanted to finish you off. I got them to leave."
"... Eh? How?"
Syr giggled before answering, "Everyone working here is tougher than they look. That's all I'll say."
Looking at the damage on the street, he trusted her word. Jogging through his memory, he did recall someone saying that the waitresses could be rough. Couldn't remember the name though.
"Also..." Syr started.
"Hmm?" Bell looked back to Syr.
"You may not be safe here anymore. I'm sorry."
"Oh, it's okay, I can probably take care of myself now-"
"No, you need to make a full recovery."
"Okay... where do we go if the Hostess isn't safe?"
"... I know a place."
Later that day, Syr and Bell left the restaurant, the latter unknowing about the Freya Familia watching him, nor of the search conducted by the Loki Familia to bring him back to a now panicking Hestia, as he was taken south of Babel.
On a rooftop, top members of the Loki Familia met up to discuss the progress of their search.
"Any indication of where they took Bell?" Finn asked.
"From what I've learned, Bell was taken south, but practically vanished upon reaching the Freya Familia's area of influence," Riveria responded. "They most likely covered his tracks. It will be difficult to find him without any clues. Especially if they're routinely moving him him from safe house to safe house. They won't just leave him in one spot and think they're in the clear."
"... Do we have any witness accounts?"
"None. Freya Familia mages had the area cleared out that night. They thought this through. It irritates me."
"We still have authorization from the Guild to keep searching the area, but we don't have long." Finn turned to Ais, who was gazing out to the southern wall.
"Can she keep going?"
"She utterly refuses to give up despite having several broken ribs. She's been blaming herself for not noticing it all sooner."
Bete showed up as the two talked.
"Got nothing on my end... I wasn't expecting a waitress to kick our butts to the other end of the city," Bete complained.
"At least we know now that Syr is one of Freya's trump cards. According to Ais, she's apparently been the most involved in manipulating Bell, albeit second to Freya herself behind the scenes. And yes, she did take us by surprise."
"So, what's the plan?" Bete asked. Finn looked back at Ais.
'Bell,' Ais thought. 'Wait for me. I'll bring you home.'
"To think that my own daughter, born from one of my own names was the one who wished for a lover," Freya said, staring at her glass of wine. "Like mother, like daughter, I suppose."
"Lady Freya."
Freya looked to her side, where Ottar stopped at the side of her throne.
"Allen's forces have brought the boy to the last listed safehouse. As long as the Loki Familia is unable to narrow down his location, further progress on the Memoria Alter on his mind will not be hindered."
"A job well done. I guess Allen deserves a reward for keeping my little Bell unharmed. I'll take my leave. All that is left to do is introduce myself and place the final piece. He can stay in his familia if he wishes to. But without a doubt, his soul will be devoted to my daughter and me. He will love us as the perfect lover. As the Goddess of Love, I've granted Syr's Wish."
~~THE END~~