Chapter 6:

Over the next week, the Loki Familia alliance solidified. Lefiya joined Elwin, Haruhime, Otohime, and Ryuu on their daily trips to the Dungeon. Meanwhile, Mikoto and Urashima started training with the amazon twins in the evening. Lily began taking tactics lessons from Finn, and Welf was in talks to start making magic swords for Loki Familia. These groupings were soon noticed by the rest of Orario. The public image of both Familias rose, and people soon realized that interacting with one meant interacting with the other. The only question was, where was the Sword Princess or the Rabbit Foot? These were the questions on everybody's lips, for even Hestia and Loki, who were known to hate each other, had taken to going out on the town with their fellow Gods and Goddesses.

Bell was worried because Ais kept dodging the question of when they would start training. She kept saying that there was business to take care of, but Bell was worried. He thought that they had moved past the awkwardness. He thought that they were finally going to try and work together again. Due to his worrying, he kept pestering the Sword Princess for when. Finally, Ais relented and agreed to set their first training session since Bell's return. It happened early in the morning like they used to do. Both of them were hoping to play at normalcy. Bell met Ais at the top of the wall surrounding Orario. She was standing with what seemed to be a picnic basket in hand.

"I take it that's why you wanted me here before breakfast?" asked Bell, already starting to turn a faint shade of red. He had to remind himself that she didn't understand what this might mean for them as a couple of adventurers.

Ais nodded before opening the basket and bringing out a blanket. She unfolded it and spread it out for the two of them to share. For breakfast, she had brought potato puffs, water, and that was about it. Bell gave a faint chuckle at Ais's singlemindedness, but Ais was quick to glare at him. She informed Bell that these were all the unique flavours he had missed in the past year. Apparently, that was why their training had to wait a week. She had not wanted to start until she found them all. For the first one, she made a particular point of offering to feed it to Bell. She was quite incessant about it, saying that Riveria said it was the best thing to do. After feeding Bell, she proceeded to take her own bite. This action was almost too much for Bell. The poor boy was about to pass out.

"Miss Ais," Bell suddenly stopped talking when Ais glared at him. He coughed, "I mean, Ais," that got a small smile, "what were you planning for training?" The potato puffs were lovely, but he didn't want to waste the whole day. He had to become stronger; that was what mattered.

"We should start with sparring. I need to see how much you've changed in the last year," replied Ais, speaking around a mouthful of potato puff. Riveria always said it was bad manners to do so, but Bell didn't seem to care.

"You're not going to knock me out for lap pillows, are you?"

Ais looked away. Instead of replying, she stood up and removed her sword from its sheath, laying it on the ground. She then twirled the sheath in lazy circles to loosen up.

Bell joined her on his feet and began twirling his Hestia Knife between his fingers. He had only come with one blade today since he forgot his other knife at home. The two of them took up ready positions across from each other, waiting for one to make a move.

Bell took the initiative, going low with his body. His blade traced a tight arc, not to slash but to intercept the incoming sheath. He used his free hand to dart out and land a punch on Ais's abdomen. The sword princess grunted from the surprise attack. She had not expected Bell to fight so well. As they moved back and forth on the wall, she saw that he used his whole body more. He merged knife strikes with kicks and punches. There was more than that, though. It was like each of his strikes carried some sort of anger or resentment. He was a vicious storm.

Bell was so good and so into the battle that Ais unconsciously rose up to meet his challenge. She started to forget that they were just sparring. Eventually, she revealed herself in all her might as the Sword Princess. She was the wind, and her sheath clubbed Bell over the head. He crumpled to the ground.

After much time spent sparring, Ais had accomplished her objective. She had never said that she didn't want to give Bell a lap pillow. So, here was her precious bunny, passed out on the top of the wall, looking as cute as usual. She got down on her knees and slowly lifted his head onto her thighs. She started running a hand through his hair; it was as soft as she remembered. He had gotten so strong in the last year. There was only one thing that made her feel sad, the fact that he was so used to fighting other people. The way he punched and kicked, he was aiming for specific parts of the body.

Bell should only have to face monsters in the Dungeon. The fact that he had been forced out to fight people made Ais's heart break. That in itself was something else that she had to atone for. Looking down at her rabbit, she felt a feeling of deep, all-consuming sorrow for her actions. She hadn't known what Freya's promise would cost, but she hated herself for it. Eventually, she felt Bell stir. When he realized where he was, Bell tried to throw himself off her lap. Ais didn't like the idea of that, though, so she used the limits of her level six strength to hold down her bunny.

"Bell," said the girl, "I want to talk. I want to tell you about everything that happened."

That stopped Bell's stirring, "What do you mean?"

"About Freya, and why I had to promise not to help you…"

"Ais…you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," replied the boy.

"I want to."

"Oh…ok. What happened?"

Ais kept her hand running through Bell's hair. It comforted her while she was trying to explain this harrowing incident.

"To deal with that creature…Revis…I had to become stronger. You helped me realize that…" Ais smiled then, remembering Bell's conviction atop the wall following the Xenos incident. Bell wasn't entirely sure who Revis was, but that wasn't important now.

"Then what happened?"

"I thought that…if I needed to get stronger, I had to train with the strongest…"

Bell squirmed his way out of Ais's grasp. He sat up straight, turning to face the sword princess.

"Ais…you didn't…"

"I went to Ottar. Freya said that if I wanted to train with him, I needed to owe her a favour. She had to promise that the favour wouldn't harm Loki Familia…but I never thought…"

"Ais," said Bell, his voice laced with disappointment.

Ais felt her hands trembling. He didn't get it, though…she had to get stronger.

"I have to get stronger, Bell…"

"But why with Ottar?"

"To get stronger!" Ais felt her voice rising.

"Why go to Freya to get stronger?" replied Bell. Didn't she understand what she had cost him?

"Because Ottar's the strongest, and I need to be like him!"

"What is so important that you had to owe Freya a favour? Gros and Ray died because you thought you needed to get stronger!"

"I do need to get stronger!" Ais felt herself getting closer. In her head, her need to be honest with Bell clashed with her past. Her heart had a tight grasp on her secrets.

"Why, Ais!" Bell had never thought he could get infuriated with Ais, but first, she had said that she wanted to talk, but now she wasn't speaking at all, "Isn't this what you wanted to talk about!"

"I have to get stronger," Ais took a breath, her next words a whisper, "I have to get stronger to save her."

All of Bell's anger melted and was replaced with confusion, "Her? Who's her?"

The boy saw how much the girl trembled, though, so despite that this was an argument; he reached out to grab her hands, "Ais, who do you need to save?"

Ais sniffled, "I have to save Mother Bell…I need to get stronger to save Mother."

"Ais… you're crying," replied Bell. Instinctively, he reached out to wipe her tears with his thumb. His usual anxiety and embarrassment vanished as he saw a girl crying in front of him.

His hands were so warm. Despite Ais's selfish reasons for getting stronger, Bell's hands were still warm as they touched her face. She didn't deserve this, but a selfish part of her wanted him to stay there. She brought her own hands to cover his.

"My Mother was stolen, Bell. By the One-eyed Black Dragon, and I have to get stronger so I can save her. Maybe I shouldn't have gone to Ottar, but the creature Revis, she knew my Mother's name. She knew something…" then Ais told Bell something that she had only told Riveria, "I think my Mother is in the Dungeon somewhere. Somewhere deep, at the bottom maybe."

Bell nodded, "Maybe. Fels said that something is at the bottom of the Dungeon that can help the Xenos…maybe it involves your Mother?"

Ais tilted her head, "You're not angry at me?"

Bell stopped then, looking at the sky, "I think I still am, but now that I know…I think I can understand," a pause before, "Did I tell you about how Haruhime joined our Familia?"

Ais shook her head.

Bell sighed, "She was once part of Ishtar Familia. They were going to sacrifice her for her magic. I risked everything, the safety of my Familia, my life, and everything else. I was ready to risk it all just to save this girl I didn't know…"

"But no one died because of you…" replied Ais.

"But we almost did. Mikoto had to blow herself up to give us a chance. And before that, when I first met Mikoto, her Familia used mine to escape the Dungeon. Welf and Lily almost died because of her choice, but I know now, there is no one more loyal. And before that, Lily used me to make money. I almost died because she left me alone to die in the Dungeon."

"People almost died with you, Bell…not like with me…No one died because of you or your friends."

Bell saw it then. He saw that Ais must have been feeling guilty, just like he was. Bell couldn't fault her desire, though. She was trying to save her Mother…

"Except they did, Ais," replied Bell, surprised at his own boldness, "Everyone keeps telling me that it was Freya who did it, but I'm the one she was after. If I wasn't with the Xenos, then they wouldn't have died. If I had just given myself up, my family wouldn't have been put in danger. If people say it isn't my fault, then maybe it's not your fault either?"

Ais had never dared to hope she would hear these words. She knew that she didn't deserve to listen to them. The girl tilted her head, "Do you really mean that?"

Bell shook his head, "I don't know. Everything that happened last year was a mess. I don't think I'm over it yet…but I think I can start to understand. I mean, I can't tell you how often my selfish actions have put people in danger… If everyone can keep forgiving me, why can't they forgive you? I only feel like you deserve a chance, though. Just because you need to save your Mother…" Bell trailed off, now unsure of his own words.

Ais sighed in relief, "Good. You don't have to forgive me, Bell, but I want you to understand. My Mother is out there, and I need to save her."

This whole time, Ais was afraid Bell was going to just forgive her. She was worried his innocence would let her get away with what she had done. She still felt guilty for what had happened, but that was her reasoning, and Bell was willing to let her earn his forgiveness. That all said, though…

"Bell, I haven't forgiven you yet either," said Ais.

"Huh!"

Ais tried for what Tione called a teasing smile. She had been practicing a lot. She said, "You abandoned me, remember? You left me all alone for a whole year."

It took a minute before Bell realized; she was joking. When he didn't react right away, Ais started to pout and ignore him. She had tried so hard to make her first joke, but her bunny wasn't responding.

"No, Ais! It was hilarious, I swear!" replied Bell, trying to stop the anger of the Sword Princess.

"Then why didn't you laugh?"

"I wasn't expecting it!"

"I hope you're ready to start sparring again," replied Ais.

"Ahh!"

The two of them battled back and forth for hours. Eventually, lunchtime came, and they decided it was best to take a break. The two wandered through the city together, looking for something to eat. Eventually, they came to their favourite tried and true place, the potato puff stall. Unfortunately, today was not one of the days that Goddess Hestia was working; so, they paid full price for their puffs and wandered Orario as they ate. There was still an unspoken tension, they still hadn't gotten back around talking about Ais's mom, but the conversation became a bit easier.

When they returned to the top of the wall, Ais motioned for Bell to stop.

"Bell, you've been fighting well, but you need to relearn how to fight monsters."

Bell tilted his head, "What do you mean?"

"Everything about your stance and technique right now is good for fighting people," Ais's eyes narrowed, "There are no people in the Dungeon, though. There are only monsters. If you continue to fight like you are right now, I don't know how long you'll be able to continue fighting."

"So, what can I do?" replied Bell.

He had never considered the fact that his fighting style might be off, but it made sense. This past year, he spent more time fighting bandits and brigands than actual monsters. Not to mention, but monsters outside Orario were nowhere nearly as strong as in the Dungeon. He had grown lax around the dangerous beasts.

Ais put her sword down, planted her feet wide, and spread her arms, "I'm going to attack you, and you need to pretend that I'm a big monster from the Dungeon."

Bell tried to raise his knife up to attack, but then Ais let out a deep growl. Rather, she tried to let out a deep growl, but it was high-pitched and more of a mewling. Bell couldn't help it; he felt himself start giggling. Then his giggles turned into chuckles, which turned into full-on howling. Then he was grabbing his knees howling with laughter.

Ais was left standing, feeling confused. Then she pouted and felt very irritated that her bunny wasn't taking this seriously, so she knocked him out. There's no room for laughter in the Dungeon! But there might be room for lap pillows.

She put his head in her lap and started running a hand through his hair again. This was his fault for laughing at her, so she was going to exact revenge as she pleased. This day was probably the best day that Ais had spent all year. Her shoulders felt so much lighter, and the painful tension in her back was gone. It was like someone had removed a hot spike from her body that she had forgotten was there. She felt bad that she felt so good; there was still so much to atone for. However, she had talked with Bell, and she was going to work things out now. Looking down at him, though, something strange happened; her heart was beating faster than usual. She felt like staring at Bell, and the word 'cute' kept popping in her head. She was confused with these new feelings; they were unlike anything she had experienced before.

Then Bell woke up with a scream, and they resumed their training. Ais came after Bell like a monster would, angry and chaotic. She also didn't hold back, like a monster. She was a hurricane, and Bell was caught. The poor boy was battered and bruised for hours on end. He took hits frequently, still trying to readjust to fighting real monsters.

In one of their breaks, Ais tilted her head and asked, "Bell, did you really not fight any monsters while you were travelling? I thought you said you went to the Dragon Valley?"

Bell blushed and went to scratch the back of his head, "Well, we weren't there for very long. Then we were in the Far East for a while…and things were very violent, but also very human-centred."

"What happened out there?"

Bell looked to the sky, eyes narrowed in remembrance, "Well, we went there to find Haruhime's parents. When we met them, we met Otohime and Urashima, who were visiting the area. From there, we learned about all the struggles that they were facing. In the mess of things, we decided to help Otohime escape."

Ais tilted her head, a small smile forming, "Was it 'we' who decided, or was it you?" She liked teasing Bell; it made her heart beat, but in a good way. She would have to ask Tione for pointers later, though.

Bell looked away, "It was me. I volunteered to help, and Hestia and Haruhime volunteered as well. Since I was level five, and Haruhime could level boost, it was a pretty easy fight for us to help protect her. Then we met Goddess Amaterasu, who decided that it would be best for Otohime to travel with us. To leave the Nakamura Empire, though, we had to fight our way out. Constantly fending off rival families and suitors. All year it feels like I've been fighting people…"

Ais nodded, "Then we'll have to go to the Dungeon to train. We can go with the rest of your Familia and Lefiya. If you're out of practice, you'll die. You're not allowed to die, so you're going to practice."

Bell was going to reply, but then he saw Ais's face. Her lips were drawn, and her eyes were staring him down. Bell didn't feel like getting knocked out again, so he just nodded.

Ais nodded back, "Good, then you'll practice in the Dungeon, and I'll be there to save you if you need it."

That made Bell blush, "So, I'm going to have to rely on you to save me again? How pathetic is that?"

Bell hadn't meant to say the last part. He cursed himself for speaking out loud, dreading the look on Ais's face. Ais still held the face of grim determination, though. She reached out to grab Bell's hands and said, "I'll save you because you saved me. And I'll keep saving you, Bell, always. I didn't once, but I swear, I will always save you. And it'll never be pathetic because you're a hero Bell, and heroes need to be saved."

"What story has the hero being saved?"

"All of them. In the Argonaut story, the Argonaut is saved by his companions. In the story of the Wishing Lamp, the friendly genie saves the hero. Heroes get saved because they have to learn that fighting alone is impossible. That's how those stories work. At least, that's what Mother used to say," Ais blushed then, "I'm still working on learning that too," Ais couldn't meet Bell's eyes, "Maybe we can learn together?"

Bell sat there in awe. In all the story's his grandfather had told him, he had never considered the lesson Ais was giving him. He was in quiet reflection for so long that Ais went to reach out for him. Her hand was hesitant as it landed on his shoulder, giving him a gentle shake.

Bell was brought to his senses and declared, "Yes! We'll learn to save each other!"

That made Ais smile because no one had spoken to her like that before. She knew Loki Familia would come and save her; they were family. However, when Bell said he was going to save her, it made her feel special. Her heart started beating again, and she felt her face get warm. Before she could process what happened to her, she stood up to resume training for the rest of the day.

After constant bouts of sparring and lap pillows, the sun started to set. As they were finishing up, another group joined them.

"Hey hey, it's Ais and Mister Argonaut!"

Tiona and Tione were there to train their own students, Urashima and Mikoto. Mikoto was sweating, having already trained that morning with the waitresses. Not only that, but she had overseen Welf and Lily's training in the garden. Her body was exhausted, but she knew that meant it was the perfect time to keep training. Lady Nike had mentioned the same thing to the young samurai back in the arena.

"Sir Bell! I hope that you have had a productive day!" cried Mikoto in greeting. Urashima raised an arm as well, sleeves and gloves still firmly in place. Apparently, Tione and Tiona had told him to roll up his sleeves for training. Urashima had refused and almost thrown a fit. Eventually, the Amazons relented, and Urashima was allowed to train in his usual get-up.

The four of them usually came here to practice in the evening, but they had forgotten that Ais and Bell were training together today. Instead of turning around, though, Mikoto stepped forward.

"Excuse me, Lady Ais, can I spar with you? It would be most beneficial."

Ais nodded immediately, curious to see how the rest of Bell's Familia fought. As she readied her sheathe, she said, "I'll tell you now though, I'm horrible at holding back."

Mikoto drew her katana, "Understood."

The second Mikoto stopped talking, the Sword Princess charged. Mikoto was expecting it, though. For weeks she had been training with the best female warriors in Orario. Now she faced the best swordswoman.

Mikoto parried and weaved, dancing around Ais's empty sheathe. The intensity of the sparring sparked something deep inside the samurai. She felt her body slipping into the mindset she had developed last year. Eventually, the dodging stopped, and parries began to turn into counterattacks. She dropped from her usual two-handed wielding. She had one hand on her sword, and the other was holding a long knife. These past weeks she had been rotating through everyone's weapons. She asked all the waitresses if she could borrow their different weapons for practice. Now though, with sword and knife, she was on familiar footing.

Using familiar techniques, Mikoto's blades danced. Her blocks and parries were always angled ever so slightly, never catching Ais's strikes directly. The blows were able to keep the Sword Princess slightly off balance. Ais's overwhelming power, and inability to hold back, tripped her up.

'Good Yamato! Turn their overwhelming might into a weakness!' Cried Lord Horus.

That said, she was still fighting Ais Wallenstein. Adjustments were made quickly, and Ais used overwhelming strikes to break through numerous times. There were plenty of new bruises that would require medicine later.

Finally, Ais fully adapted to Mikoto's tricks. She re-angled her sheathe, catching Mikoto with her strike in full force. Mikoto had to drop her knife to keep herself from being blown away. Both hands on her katana, Mikoto struggled to push back. Facing her now, Mikoto understood why Bell was so in awe. This was almost beyond imagination. Almost.

Mikoto had trained for a year, though, and she wanted to get at least one hit in. In that moment of desperate struggle with their blades crossed, she resorted to an old move she often used in the arena. Their bodies pressed together; it was easy for Mikoto to throw her head into the Sword Princess's. Now, this was no ordinary headbutt. Mikoto knew that throwing her head against a level six skull was an easy way to get a concussion. Thankfully, there is a much softer part of the face to hit.

When Mikoto headbutted her, Ais stumbled back in confusion and grabbed her nose. When she brought her hand away, she saw that there was blood on her glove. She lowered her sheathe, looked at the blood and then looked at Mikoto, still standing there breathing heavily.

"You're really good," said the Sword Princess, "You fight like Tiona and Tione."

Tione sauntered up, "You're right. When we heard that she had trained in an arena, we almost didn't believe it. Then we saw her fight. She fight's just like us, no mistaking it."

Then Tiona slapped Mikoto across the shoulder-blades, causing the samurai to fall face-first into the bricks, "Yeah! She's terrific! But I'm still way tougher than she is!"

As Mikoto started to pick herself off the ground, Bell came to help and said, "That was amazing, Mikoto! You were so cool! It looked like you were dancing or something!"

"Thank you, Sir Bell, but it is obvious I still have much to learn," Mikoto turned to Ais and bowed, "Thank you, Lady Ais, this was quite instructional."

Now Ais was really confused, "Why are you bowing? We're just training, right?"

Tione nodded, "You're damn right we're training. Which means that it's your turn, you mysterious bastard!"

Tione lifted her knives as she faced Urashima. He responded in kind, finding a similar position. Then the two of them were at each others' throats, fighting up close and personal like only knife fighters could. Tiona watched the two of them, throwing out pieces of advice as she did. Mikoto took the chance to breathe, sliding down to sit on the wall. She looked to watch the sunset but found the Sword Princess staring at her.

"Lady Ais, is there something I can do for you?"

Ais nodded before kneeling in front of Mikoto, "We're going on an expedition together, so I wanted to talk to you."

Mikoto looked to Bell for help, but the young boy just shrugged. So Mikoto replied, "Talk to me about what?"

"Is it true that you can sense monsters?"

Mikoto rubbed her head before nodding, then replied, "Yes, but only if I have fought them before. And I can't tell what kind of monster it is. But yes, I can sense monsters with my skill."

Ais made an oh shape with her mouth. Then she asked, "And you can do gravity magic, right?"

Mikoto nodded again, still unsure of what the point was.

"And you fight so well, and I've heard you do it with so many weapons…" Ais kept up her look of astonishment, "You must be the most versatile adventurer in Orario."

Now Mikoto was blushing and stammering, "Not at all, Lady Ais! I am simply well trained…to say that I am the most versatile…surely there must be others, like in Loki Familia?"

Ais shook her head, "We're all specialized in Loki Familia. We focus on one fighting style. Finn says it's because it gives us comfort in the Dungeon, where nothing is comfortable. It makes us easy to fight, though. Not you, though; you won't be easy."

Having said her piece, Ais stood up and walked over to talk to Tiona. Mikoto followed Ais's movement with her eyes before turning to Bell.

Bell just shrugged at the confused look before offering a hand to help Mikoto up. She took it, coming to her feet to watch Urashima. Then it was her turn to join them, and the six of them sparred together until the moon climbed into the sky.

Finally, they returned home. The rest of Hestia Familia had already started dinner, and Mikoto explained what had happened. When Hestia heard that Bell had been training with Ais all day, she stared at her first child. Bell picked up on the ominous look, and after dinner, he went up to Hestia's room. Hestia was waiting for him, hands on her hips.

"Ahhh, my darling Bell, anything you'd like to explain?"

Bell looked at the ground, "Well, me and Ais were having a lot of fun. Then we got to talking about everything, and then we had more fun…and then time ran away…"

As Bell tried to formulate his thoughts, Hestia stepped forward and patted Bell on the head, "I'm happy to hear it. Do you want to talk about it?"

When Bell looked up, he found his Goddess smiling down at him. Others called her useless, or lazy, or a good-for-nothing, but Bell knew differently. The only thing Hestia wanted was for her Familia to be happy and healthy. She didn't care if that meant it came from other Familias. She was the least prideful deity Bell had ever met. He understood that he was the luckiest adventurer in the whole world. Here was why Bell could never be with Freya; no matter how selfish the desire was, he could never leave Hestia behind. He felt such a surge of emotions then.

"Thank you, Goddess Hestia; I don't know what I'd do without you. Goddess, I really do love you," he blurted out.

Hestia's smile dropped then, and she stared at Bell in surprise. Then tears started to fall from her eyes. She brought her arm up to rub at them while she said, "Bell, you can't just say things like that to a girl. What am I supposed to do with you, you jerk?"

Before Bell could respond, she threw her arms out to hug him. She knew that Bell would never love her the way she wanted, but this would always be enough. Eventually, the two of them reined in their emotions, and Hestia invited Bell into her room to talk.

With that, the boy told his Goddess about his perfect day.

Hey folks, here with another chapter! Lots of time spent on this originally trying to make a chapter was balanced between our two heroes. I also figured it was time I provided a breakdown of the plot for the next while.
Arc 1: The Tournament Arc
Arc 2: The Expedition Arc
Arc 3: A Xenos Arc
Arc 4: Freya Confrontation Arc

There are more arcs planned for afterwards, but there are a lot of moving parts going forward. Thank you everyone for your support so far! See you next time!