A/N - Alright well it's been awhile. Honestly I didn't expect to be gone for as long as I was but I've been sick on and off for the past week and didn't really feel like writing. Half of this chapter was written before I got sick, some parts while I was sick because I didn't want to forget something and I finally got around to finish the editing on it.

Another reason this chapter took so long was because I changed the direction I was originally take this story which will be revealed in the second half of this chapter and I'll talk about more of that towards the end because I don't want to spoil anything.

Finally, I fixed up some stuff from last chapter, specifically the whole fox situation. I wrote that chapter before I went to bed so I was fairly tired while writing that chapter and wasn't really thinking. Anyways, its fixed now.

Well on to the chapter that will basically set up the rest of the story.

"ASFI!"

I yelled as I kicked open the door to our home. My heart sank at the sight. I instantly saw her lying unconscious on the floor with Allen standing above her with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes. They were surrounded by broken plates, glass and even furniture. It was clear that she put up a fight.

"Looks like you've finally decided to show up brat. Now we can let the fun begin."

"What did you do to Asfi!?"

"Relax kid, I didn't kill her, she's still breathing. After all I needed to keep her around for insurance."

"Insurance?"

"Exactly. Bell Cranel, you are my target and I swear you will die by my hands today!"

As he finished his threat, Allen charged towards me, spear in hand. Thankfully, I was able to pull out my knives in time to block the strike.

I could tell that after Goddess Freya kicked Allen out of her Familia he didn't receive any other falna. There was still heavy force behind his attack but it wasn't like when we fought at the festival.

I backstepped to put some distance between us, but Allen kept up. With each movement he thrusted his spear towards me and with each failed attempt of hitting me I was able to parry his attacks. It was clear he was going off of pure rage instead of actual tactics.

After some time of this pattern repeating, I saw my opening and went for the attack, striking towards his left, but Allen was able to block it and the two of us entered a deadlock.

"Why are you doing this?"

I asked, wanting some answers from the man who has tried to kill me twice now and has hurt Asfi twice now.

"Why? You should know damn well why! You've monopolized Lady Freya's love, you've manipulated her and pretended to not even know you were doing it. My Goddess has placed every ounce of attention on you and basically pushed the rest of us, her own children, aside. Then you ignored my Goddess' love and decided to fall for that woman and that is something I just can't forgive."

"I don't know what you're talking about? Lady Freya and I have never even properly met besides the Apollo banquet."

"Of course you're still blind to what's going on around you, you bastard rabbit."

We broke out of our deadlock and I managed to land a kick to Allen's stomach. While he reeled back I noticed that Allen was protecting his right side more than his left. That meant that he was injured on that side and likely slower as well, that was my target.

Now that I knew where to focus most of my attacks, I had the upper hand as I forced Allen into defense and I could tell I was finally dealing some damage to him. He kept backing up trying to avoid my blows until he finally slipped in the mud.

Seeing my chance something finally snapped in me. All the anger that I've felt towards him for hurting Asfi finally boiled over and I lost myself. I dropped my knives to the ground and pinned him down similar to how he attacked me at the festival. With all the strength I could muster I started to punch Allen with every ounce of strength and hatred in my body, he was going to feel the same pain that Asfi had to feel.

I started to lose myself in my rage, who knows how long I kept this up. The next thing I knew was that someone actually pulled me off of Allen and it was then I snapped back to reality.

I looked up and saw Miss Ryu with a look I've never seen on her face, I could describe it as shock or terror or even both.

It was then that I looked over to where Allen was still laying. He was a bloody mess and his face was swollen beyond belief, but he was still breathing and standing next to him was Miss Anya. It was then I realized that I lost myself and almost killed him. Despite everything that has happened, killing him was the last thing I wanted to do.

Once that realization hit, for some reason tears started to fall from my eyes. I couldn't control them but the fact that I was so blinded by rage to the point that I almost killed someone was just too much for me to handle and it scared me.

Miss Ryu noticed this and took my shoulders and turned me away from Miss Anya and Allen, making me face her directly. What she did next surprised me, Miss Ryu still saying nothing, took me in her arms and hugged me. It was comforting, almost as comforting as Asfi. I gave into Miss Ryu's embrace and completely broke down like a child being comforted by their mother.

A silence filled the air with my muffled cries into Miss Ryu's cloak being the only sound besides the falling rain. After a few moments I managed to calm down and spoke to Miss Ryu.

"Miss Ryu, what are the two of you doing here?"

I asked as I tried to catch my breath. Miss Ryu looked at me with a softer expression now and spoke in a gentle voice.

"Anya and I were tasked by Lord Hermes to find Allen. We've been tracking him for roughly a month until we found out that he was after you, then we tried to intercept him as fast as we could but it seems we were too late."

As my mind started to become clear, I remembered about Asfi. I released Miss Ryu's embrace and ran through the still open door to where Asfi was laying on the ground. I knelt down and held her in my arms.

Miss Ryu walked over to where we were and started using healing magic, however, I could tell by the look on her face that something was wrong.

"Miss Ryu, is something wrong with Asfi?"

"I'm afraid so. I've healed all of her wounds that she sustained but there is something else, I can sense that there is poison inside of her."

"Wh-what? Is there anything we can fo?"

"Calm down Bell. Right now we need to get back to Orario, we'll be able to get her proper medical care there and hopefully a cure."

As I held Asfi in my arms even tighter as Miss Ryu told me about the poison. I almost started to cry again at the news. She didn't deserve this, she is a good person. Knowing that we had to leave for Orario as soon as possible I picked up Asfi, and Miss Ryu and I headed back to where Anya and Allen were.

"Anya, did he tell you anything?"

Ryu asked.

"No, he didn't, nya. He's as stubborn as he ever was, but I did manage to find this, nya. It's a letter of instructions but there isn't any signature. The only clue to who sent it is this mark of a skull in a birdcage, nya."

Miss Anya then handed the paper over to Miss Ryu.

"So is it safe to say he was working for another God?"

"I would say so, nya. Why don't you ask him yourself, Ryu-nya."

We all looked over at Allen.

"So dear brother of mine, care to explain to these two what exactly you were doing this past month, nya?"

Brother? That took me by surprise. Between the two of them I would have never guessed that the two of them were siblings.

"Fine, since I guess you're not giving me a choice. After Lady Freya kicked me out there was only one thing on my mind, revenge. I thought since Bell Cranel took what was dear from me, I would do the same. After getting the right information from some certain people, I managed to track the brat down."

"So are you going to tell us who you were working with?"

"That I'm not going to tell you. Just know I'm sure she'll make her move soon."

It was then that Allen passed out from his injuries. Anya tied him up with some rope we had laying around to take him to Orario and turn him into the guild. With his injuries and with Miss Ryu and Miss Anya there was no chance he was going to escape.

The same day we all started to make our way back to Orario since Asfi's life now depended on it.

-One Week Later - Travelers Inn-

We arrived at Orario and immediately took Asfi back to her Familia home. Miss Ryu went with me while Miss Anya took Allen to the Guild.

We knocked on the door of Travelers Inn and within a few moments it opened to reveal Lord Hermes, we spoke briefly and told him what had happened with Allen. We took Asfi inside and laid her in her bed, for the past week she hasn't woken up yet.

Lord Hermes had sent for a doctor named Amid Teasanare of the Dian Cechent Familia. She is one of Orario's best doctors and if anyone could tell us what has happened to Asfi she was the one who would give us answers.

She sat down and inspected Asfi, taking her time in doing so. The room was filled with an agonizing silence as we let Miss Amid work.

"Well I'm sorry but there is nothing more I can do."

Miss Amid said defeatedly.

"Can you at least tell us what poison Allen used on her to put her in this condition?"

Lord Hermes question.

"He used an illegal potion called Souleater. We don't know much about it or even who created it, but I can tell you this much, basically Souleater is a poison that attacks the brain, more accurately the temporal lobe. Right now it has put her in a coma but if she wakes up she will have amnesia and her memories would start to get worse. Memories are what makes up the soul hence the name Souleater. However, she will die, I've done everything I can to slow the effects of it, but since there is no cure, I can't change the outcome."

My heart felt like it was about to shatter upon hearing about the Souleater poison. I looked around and I could tell that Lord Hermes was in much more pain than I was, but he was trying to hide it since he was the only god here.

"I see. Thank you, Amid."

"I'm sorry Lord Hermes. I wish that there was more that I could do."

"Don't be, if there is nothing more that you can do then so be it, you did everything you could and I'm very grateful Amid."

Miss Amid gave a small bow towards all of us as she left the room. All of us remained silent at the news, but there had to be something that we could do to save Asfi.

I replaced Amid's spot next to Asfi and gently held onto her hand.

"Lord Hermes, I'm sorry that this had to happen. It's all my fault that Asfi is like this now."

"Don't worry Bell, none of this is your fault. I know that you did everything you could for her. No one could have seen any of this coming so you shouldn't blame yourself. I know how close you and Asfi are. In fact, when the two of you came back from Rivira she couldn't stop thinking about you and on the day of the festival I never saw her happier. She really loves you Bell."

"Thank you, Lord Hermes."

A depressing silence fell over the room once again. That was until Miss Ryu spoke up.

"Lord Hermes, we found this letter on Allen. We were wondering if you recognized this symbol?"

Miss Ryu pulled out the paper from a week ago that had the skull and birdcage. Lord Hermes took it from her and his eyes widened.

"Damn it. Of course it had to be her of all people. This symbol belongs to the Goddess, Ereshkigal."

"Ereshkigal?"

"Yes, she has a very small Familia considering not many people want to join a Goddess of death and she prefers to stay off the map. She has a tendency to become attached to a person based on their soul and she would do anything to get a soul that catches her eye. The two of you should be careful, I think I might know what her plan is if my theory is correct."

"Do we know where we can find her?"

I asked. I wanted to do everything that I could to help Asfi, I wanted to keep the promise I made to her.

"I'm sorry, but like I said she likes to stay off the map. Anyways, Bell don't worry about Asfi, I know how strong she is and I have faith that she'll hold on. Now that I know who did this we might have a shot at helping her, I just have to pull a few favors first. You two should go rest, who knows when Ereshkigal will make her move again and who knows how many others like Allen she has. If her condition changes, I'll send someone for the both of you."

Lord Hermes' mood quickly changed. He didn't seem depressed like he was a few moments ago, but looked like he was starting to have an idea of what to do.

"Alright, thank you for everything, Lord Hermes."

Miss Ryu said as she put a gentle hand on my shoulder, silently telling me that it was time to leave. At first I was reluctant to leave, but I didn't want to bother Lord Hermes or the rest of his Familia anymore than I already have. Miss Ryu and I stood outside of Travelers Inn and spoke for a few moments.

"Don't worry Bell. I'm sure Lord Hermes is just as worried as you are but if he says not to worry then I don't think you should."

She said in an almost motherly way.

"Thank you Miss Ryu. But I think all I can do is worry. If only I would have gotten home sooner then maybe Asfi wouldn't be like this."

"Don't blame yourself Bell, I told you to break that habit. It seems like Allen and Ereshkigal had this all planned out. It was beyond your control. All we can do is put our faith into Lord Hermes. If you ever need to talk then you know where to find me."

I looked up at Miss Ryu with a faint smile. Whenever something happened I could always count on her to be there. She always knew what to say.

"Thank you Miss Ryu, for everything."

"Don't mention it. I'll be at the pub if you need me."

We then went our separate way but as I was walking towards Hearth Manor, a pit opened in my stomach as I knew I was going to have to face Goddess Hestia and for some reason I felt as if someone was following me which didn't make it any better. I brushed off the feeling since it was my first time back in Orario and there were many other adventurers on the streets.

As the Bell made his way back to Hearth Manor, little did he know there was a certain Goddess following him.

"Oh Bell, Bell, Bell, my sweet little rabbit with the purest soul. I will keep your soul next to me forever and make you mine, even if I have to drag that woman's soul down to the cold, dark depths of Kur."

A/N - Okay so I will admit some parts did seem forced and I've tried rewriting some parts but they would just be much more confusing.

The idea to make Ereshkigal the true villain of this story actually came from a conversation with my friend. We were talking about Fate and Ereshkigal came up and I thought what if she was a yandere and then I decided to add a yandere-ish Ereshkigal into this story.

That's basically it for explaining Ereshkigal. Now, onto what I have planned for after this story.

I had multiple idea's for multiple ship stories but I actually had the idea to combine all of them and form one giant harem story. Basically it will be my take on the Danmachi story but changing some stuff in the cannon and after the whole Xenos arc it will all be my original story. I won't share to many details but I will say who will be part of the harem.

• Eina

• Ryu

• Laurier

• Suicia

• Asfi

• Riveria

• Lefiya

• Haruhime

• Helun

• Ais

• Fear

• Ray

• Bache

• Argana

• Shakti

I've also decided I'm not going to add anyone else cause the harem is already at 15 girls so I'm going to keep it like that. How I decided who I was making apart of the harem was I just chose my favorite girls, thats it.

Anyways, sorry if this chapter was rough, but like I said earlier I had a lot going on while trying to write but I hope you enjoyed it at least.

I'll see you all next chapter!