Reviews:
Thedark2: Already planned on that. Welf Crozo is a male that joins Bell's party in the actual story and he'll be joining in this one too. Or did you mean another male along with Welf? Like an extra member from one of the Chaos Gods' Familias?
Don Orbit: I mean... Bell becoming the next Horus isn't completely outside the realm of possibility. Especially not with the developments in this chapter. Also Nurgle would talk to Khorne about it, but he doesn't think Khorne will really care so he just doesn't bother. I mean why would Khorne give a crap about some nobody Familia with only one member who's only a level one adventurer? He might find Bell's skill vaguely interesting but that would be the extent of his interest in the matter. So it's not like Khorne would actually do anything with the information.
Tzeentch was in his office inside his Familia's mansion casually monitoring the threads of fate as he did a bit of paperwork at his desk. As annoying as it was with everything his Familia had their hands in, which was damn near everything, that came with him having to do a lot of paperwork in order to keep everything properly organized. It was a bit boring but more than worth it in his opinion.
He was actually probably the only one of his siblings who had the patience and discipline necessary for such tasks. Nurgle was a lazy slob so he would never do any paperwork himself unless he had absolutely no other choice. Khorne was an overly aggressive brute who only had the patience for paperwork if it involved a map and planning out strategic locations to go charging towards enemy fortresses and formations like a pack of rabid dogs. And Slaanesh was Slaanesh.
He was currently doing a bit of paperwork for his Familia's operations in Ares' kingdom when he noticed the threads of fate begin to shift in ways he hadn't expected before his eyes. Setting down his fountain pen he turned all of his attention to the threads of fate as he tried to figure out what was happening to cause such a massive shift. Normally he would have welcomed so much change with open arms, but this time something about it unsettled him.
It took him a few hours to track the disturbance to its source but when he finally found the source his blood ran cold. "The Anathema…" He muttered to himself in fear.
The Anathema and his Custodes were coming. Even worse there was a very small chance he may bring his sons that remained loyal to him or the one singular traitor that he managed to save upon his ascension. That chance was miniscule but it still existed and Tzeentch found that exceedingly worrying.
Tzeentch shook his head in disbelief. "No… No, no, nononono! NO! WHY IS HE COMING HERE?!"
Arcane energy began swirling around him as he subconsciously began casting spells. Outside the sky grew dark as heavy storm clouds began to form. Thunder boomed as lightning violently tore through the sky. Rain and hail began to pour down heavily from the sky. The scent of ozone filled the air as bolts of electricity began to arc off of Tzeentch's body.
Snarling furiously the Architect of Fate got up out of his chair and began pacing through his office as he tried to think of what he should do about this.
The arrival of the Anathema and his Custodes was an absolute disaster! No mere adventurer would be able to stand against the Anathema or his Custodes! Especially not with their pathetic primitive technology!
Tzeentch gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and took a deep breath to calm himself. He wasn't Khorne, so he shouldn't allow himself to fly into a blind rage like this. He needed to calm down and think about this rationally.
The Anathema wasn't going to arrive for another month or so. That gave him exceedingly little time to prepare but it still gave him some time to prepare all the same. He was going to have to work very quickly. That meant he was going to need to put most of his side projects and plans on hold until he could finish his preparations for the Anathema's arrival. He didn't have enough time to prepare to actually be able to kill the Anathema and banish him from the mortal realm, but he still had enough time to at least ensure that he and his Familia weren't going to be destroyed by the Anathema and his bodyguards. If he was lucky, and as the God of Fate he almost always was, he should also be able to ensure his siblings and their Familias were going to survive as well. In fact he was going to need all four of their assistance.
First he needed to start doing what he should have been doing since the day he arrived in this damned feudal world and start advancing it's technological development as fast as possible. Specifically for high ranking members of his Familia. He was going to need lasguns, bolters, plasma guns, power weapons, power armor, and so much more.
He didn't have enough time to make any vehicles or he would have his Familia start building tanks if not full scale titans. He barely had enough time to make all the guns and the two or three suits of power armor that he was going to need, and that was only because he was going to be using magic to supplement the technology that he didn't have the time to create. In fact he was planning on using designs inspired by the Eldar's arcane technology mixed with Imperial technology. He would have much preferred Golden Age of Technology Human, Necron, or Old One inspired technology for this due to how much more advanced it is but all of that would take decades for him to develop without some level of pre-existing technological infrastructure. Thus a mix of Imperial and Eldar technology would just have to do.
He also needed more powerful warriors. Baseline mortals would not be sufficient to take on the Anathema's Custodes. Unfortunately Magnus and his sons had been destroyed along with Tzeentch's realm after the Anathema's ascension instead of being sent here to this world with him and the other Chaos Gods. Pseudo-chaos spawn would not be sufficient for this. He needed one or two Custodes of his own, or at the very least something equivalent if not superior on the off chance the Anathema decided to bring his sons too. Unfortunately he didn't have the time to make any the same way the Anathema had. So he had to find a faster method. Otherwise he would have to supplement his lack of Custodes level warriors with highly destructive and energy intensive spells, which was not preferable due to how few times they could be used before his sorcerers would suffer from mind down.
He didn't know what to do about that off the top of his head, but he was going to have to figure out a solution soon. He only had a month, give or take a week or so, before the anathema would arrive. Still he was not without warning and he would not be caught unprepared.
He went back to his desk, sat down, picked up his fountain pen once more and immediately began writing letters to Khorne, Nurgle, and Slaanesh informing them he needed to have an urgent meeting with all four of them as soon as possible. He specified that it had to do with the Anathema, which would ensure none of them could refuse.
[Bell]
It was the morning after Bell's date with Eina to go buy some new armor. As usual Bell and his party were heading into the Dungeon. This time Bell had brought the dagger that Tzeentch had given him, as much as he hated the thing. Not only did he have no choice if he didn't want Tzeentch doing anything else to force him to grow faster — unleashing monsters in the city and then turning said monsters and even a few people into twisted mindless abominations that Bell would then be forced to kill for example — but he actually wanted to use the dagger to grow stronger so he could catch up with Aiz. As terrible as using the dagger made him feel if he kept it on him for extended periods of time, the rate at which it made him grow more than made up for it in his opinion.
"Hey Bell, how did you end up in Hestia's Familia?" Lili inquired as they finished picking up the magic stones from the Killer Ants they had killed and proceeded to start walking deeper into the dungeon.
"Hm? Oh… Uh, well it's really not that interesting of a story. You see, after my grandfather was killed by a monster I was all alone. So I came to Orario in hopes of becoming an adventurer. Unfortunately, every Familia I approached rejected me immediately. Then Hestia found me on the streets and offered to let me join her Familia. What about you, Lili? How did you end up in Nurgle's Familia? Were you born in or what?"
Lili sighed and looked at the ground.
"No, Lili wasn't born into Papa Nurgle's Familia. Lili used to be part of the Soma Familia, though Lili only has vague memories of that time. Then the Slaanesh Familia destroyed the Soma Familia for the recipe for their alcohol and Lili was left all alone. Lili was found by someone who worked in one of Papa Nurgle's orphanages and was brought there. Lili's life in the orphanage was far better than her life in the Soma Familia had ever been, as far as Lili can remember. Then one day Lili met Papa Nurgle and he offered to let Lili join his familia. He and the members of his Familia who worked at the orphanage were far nicer to Lili than anyone in the Soma Familia had ever been, so Lili accepted."
N'Kari looked quite surprised by this information. "You were part of Soma's Familia? Huh. I was always told that no one escaped our war on Soma's Familia. Hmph… Well too bad I suppose. If you hadn't run away, which I assume you did, then you could have been a part of Lady Slaanesh's Familia. You're really missing out. Regardless, I hope us being in the same party won't be causing any problems."
Lili shook her head, "Lili was already in Soma's Familia so Lili doesn't think Slaanesh's Familia would be any better. And no there won't be any problems between us, at least not due to your Familia. Lili hated the Soma Familia so Lili doesn't hold a grudge against your Familia."
"YOU!" Shouted a voice from behind them. All of them turned to look and they saw the Skulltaker approaching them with his axe drawn.
All the color immediately drained from Bell's face, his body started trembling, and he desperately wanted to run away but he knew that doing so would be tantamount to suicide.
Ira was watching this curiously but did nothing to stop it. She obviously wasn't going to stand against anyone from her own Familia, especially not the most powerful member.
Alice, N'Kari, and Lili on the other hand all held their weapons in preparation for a fight, though all of them seemed quite afraid as they all knew they didn't stand a chance against the Skulltaker.
The Skulltaker came to a stop in front of Bell and looked down at him. Bell couldn't see his face but he could tell that the Skulltaker was scowling at him beneath his scary looking helmet. "You are the one that ran from those four Minotaurs a while back." The Skulltaker growled. It was not a question, it was a definitive statement of fact. He looked at the rest of Bell's party and growled, "If you want to live, all of you leave. Now. This is between me and this boy. He is going to prove to me why I shouldn't kill him for his cowardice. There is a chance that he will survive. But if you interfere then I will kill you all immediately. Do I make myself clear?"
"Bell?" Lili inquired, conflicted about what they should do in this situation.
"L-listen to him and go. I'll… I'll be fine, I promise. Just please go tell Hestia the situation. I don't want her to get worried if I'm not home at my usual time." Bell told them, absolutely terrified of what the Skulltaker would do if they didn't listen to him.
"But, Bell we can't just leave you behind like this!" Lili objected.
"If you don't we're all going to die! Just get out of here! He said that there's a chance that I'll survive if you leave, but if you stay our deaths are guaranteed!" Bell exclaimed with a pleading look on his face.
None of them seemed particularly happy about it but they all listened regardless.
"Please be careful, Bell." Lili said with great reluctance as she left.
"Yeah, try not to get yourself killed, cutie." N'Kari said as she also left.
"You had better pass his test, Bell." Ira stated in a slightly aggressive tone as she followed the others.
Alice said nothing, but appeared both unsettled and slightly frustrated.
After a few moments the four of them turned a corner and Bell was left alone with the Skulltaker.
"Come with me, boy. If you try to run, I will kill you." The Skulltaker growled before turning and walking deeper into the dungeon. Bell reluctantly followed along behind him, tears welling up in his eyes and running down his cheeks.
I'm so sorry, Goddess… I won't be coming home tonight… I can't keep my promise to you…
As they marched deeper and deeper into the dungeon the Skulltaker would kill any monsters that attacked them before immediately moving on, collecting neither their magic stones nor any skulls they left behind. Every so often he would check over his shoulder just to make sure that bell was still following him. Deeper and deeper they went until they passed even the 12th floor and made their way into the middle floors, but even then they continued marching onwards. They continued until they reached the end of the 17th floor where they finally came to a stop.
The Skulltaker finally stopped walking and turned to face Bell. "Below this is the 18th floor. It's considered a safe zone and a small city has been set up there. This city is known as Rivira. Here are a few coins." He tossed a small coin purse to Bell, who caught it. "Go purchase any supplies you are going to need from there. After that you are going to fight your way back to the surface. If you die then you are a coward who wasn't worthy of being called an adventurer to begin with. If you survive and bring me at least eight magic stones from the monsters on these floors, then I will forgive your previous act of cowardice in running from those four Minotaurs. If you survive and don't bring me any crystals from the monsters on these floors, then I will know you just ran from all of the monsters in the middle floors like a coward instead of fighting them and I will drag you back into the dungeon and kill you myself. I don't expect a pathetic whelp like you to fight every monster you encounter in the middle floors on your own but you have to fight and kill a minimum of eight. Understood?"
"Y-yes sir!" Bell squeaked in terror as the Skulltaker leaned down to stare him in the eyes.
"Good. Any questions?"
"Er… Why eight specifically? Oh, and does it matter if the magic stones are shattered?" Bell inquired hesitantly.
"Eight is the sacred number of Khorne. Thus eight is the minimum required for you to repent for your sin of cowardice. Obviously more than eight is acceptable, but multiples of eight would be preferable. You'll be allowed to keep what stones you earn from this trial, you just have to show them to me as proof that you killed the monsters. And yes it does matter if they have been shattered. If they get shattered then I will have no way to tell if you cheated and collected them from the upper floors or not. So you are to kill the monsters in ways that will leave their magic stones perfectly intact. Now, if that's all the trial has begun. Assuming you survive, I'll see you back at the surface."
With that the Skulltaker turned and began walking away, leaving Bell alone to fight his way back to the surface on his own.
Bell looked at the coin purse the Skulltaker had given him and sighed. He knew he was going to die. If the monsters didn't kill him then the cursed dagger that Tzeentch had given him would. But he decided that he may as well take the Skulltaker's advice and go purchase some supplies from Rivira on the extremely slim chance he actually survived this ordeal.
[The Chaos Gods]
Tzeentch, Nurgle, Slaanesh, and Khorne were all gathered in the meeting room where the gods usually met inside the Tower of Babel, which was considered neutral territory between the four of them. The smell of Slaanesh's perfume filled the air and the room was silent as a grave.
"Explain. Now!" Khorne demanded finally losing his patience and breaking the silence.
"Yes, please. I am quite tired of this boring silence." Slaanesh agreed.
This caused Khorne to stare at her furiously. He absolutely hated it whenever she agreed with him on anything. This was no exception.
Tzeentch sighed and said, "Fine… Recently I was monitoring the threads of fate as I usually do when I noticed them changing in ways I did not expect. Of course I investigated the cause of this disturbance and imagine my horror when I found out that the Anathema and his Custodes are going to be coming here. To this world. Where he banished us upon his ascension. Even worse there is a very small but not non-existent chance that he will be bringing the Primarchs that remained loyal to him and the one "traitor" he managed to save upon his ascension."
Slaanesh's eyes widened slightly and a slight smile formed on her lips. "Oh? So there's a chance he could be bringing Fulgrim?"
Tzeentch rolled his eyes. "Yes, but don't delude yourself. Do you honestly think he's going to come back to you when he never truly served you to begin with? You simply had one of your daemonettes possessing his body while his soul was trapped in a painting for a little over ten millennia. He is and always has been loyal to the Anathema, not you. In fact, I'm certain he absolutely despises you more than anything else and that is extremely bad for you since you would then have a primarch with Imperial weapons and armor hellbent on seeking revenge against you and your Familia specifically. But as I said, the Anathema will bring his Custodes that much is guaranteed, however there is only a very small chance that he will bring any of his sons whatsoever. So let's hope it doesn't come to that."
Slaanesh frowned at that before crossing her arms and glaring at Tzeentch indignantly
Nurgle sighed in resignation. "How long do we have, Tzeentch?"
"I don't have a specific number but I know that he will be arriving in a month, give or take a week or so. Maybe two months. I'm not entirely certain. All I know is that it is going to be very soon."
"A month? Hmph. That's not nearly enough time to prepare my warriors to fight Custodes let alone Primarchs." Khorne growled.
"I know. That's why I'm having my Familia produce advanced weaponry. I will be giving your Familias several guns and power weapons. Khorne, I know you prefer melee weapons so I'll just be giving you power weapons. I won't be producing any chain weapons as they are more mechanically involved and will thus take longer to produce, otherwise I would give you those as well. Nurgle, I won't be giving you any bioweapons due to the risk of them spreading and killing more mortals than I intend, as well as killing the ones who are using them in the first place. However you will be receiving both guns and power weapons. Slaanesh, you will also be receiving both guns and power weapons."
"Hm… I don't suppose I could convince you to produce chemical weapons that induce excruciating pain, immense pleasure, or other intoxicating effects could I?" Slaanesh inquired.
Tzeentch gave her a flat stare. "No. We need weapons that are outright lethal if we wish to stand against the Anathema and his Custodes. We can't afford to use such frivolous Drukhari-esque weapons. The point is to survive the Anathema's arrival, not to fulfill your disgusting sadomasochistic fantasies." Tzeentch declared in a very serious and slightly annoyed tone.
Slaanesh pouted. "Aw… You're no fun… Still, if you're developing advanced technology now I may have to pay you to produce such weaponry for me and my familia some point in the near future. Assuming we aren't destroyed by the Anathema."
"If we survive I might consider it, but not now."
Khorne adjusted his grip on the hilt of his blade and said, "Our warriors aren't a match for Custodes. Even the most powerful warrior in my Familia is barely a match for an Astartes in equivalent armor with equivalent weaponry. Even with power weapons we are at a major disadvantage. We need more powerful warriors… Gr… Damn rules. If only we could use Arcanum to create a few daemons then this wouldn't be an issue."
Tzeentch nodded. "Indeed. However, if we could create daemons then we would be playing a very different game then the one we are now, wouldn't we? Ah, I do miss the days of the Great Game. Regardless, I have a few ideas in mind to resolve that issue. Though they would all take time so we would have to hold out against the Anathema as long as possible until they were ready. Some include the intelligent monsters residing in the Dungeon whom we have already discussed previously. Others include creating Primarchs and/or Custodes of our own. One includes heavily augmenting one rather unique individual I know of, but that would only give us one very powerful soldier which wouldn't be nearly enough. You get the idea."
"Ooh, I do like the idea of having my own Primarch again. Especially if my lovely Fulgrim won't willingly return to my side. Some Custodes of my own would be nice too. Especially since I never managed to get a hold of even a single one back during the days of the Great Game. Such a shame… Oh the things I could have done with a few hundred Custodes back then, or even just a few dozen." Slaanesh purred, thoroughly enjoying the thought.
Nurgle shrugged. "While I agree it would be nice, I fear it would take too long. We might be able to hold out against the Anathema for a while but I doubt we could do so for years on end."
"Forget any individual warrior. One person won't make any difference on their own no matter how powerful they are. Instead, make use of the monsters in the dungeon. It is an infinite supply of beasts that can be used in battle. The more powerful they are the better. Use them to buy time while you work on the creation of more powerful warriors such as Custodes, Primarchs, or even mere Astartes." Khorne growled. While his preferred method of battle was berserker charges he was still a god of war and was thus very capable of employing actual strategy when necessary. This was very much a case where he saw it as necessary.
"I suppose using a combination of my plans would be wise in this situation. Very well. I suppose that concludes this meeting. I'll work on all of that. In the meantime the three of you prepare for war with the Anathema to the best of your abilities."
With that Tzeentch and the other three stood up and proceeded to leave the meeting room and go their separate ways.
[Bell]
Bell had bought all of the supplies he thought he might need in Rivira and was now making his way back up through the Middle Floors, trying his best not to die. He had just barely escaped a group of Minotaurs only to run straight into a pack of Hellhounds.
Bell dodged a blast of fire, rushed up as close to one of the Hellhounds as he could and tried to stab it with Hestia's Knife. The Hellhound responded by biting his arm, preventing it from moving. Bell hissed in pain before forcibly raising its head and slitting its throat with the dagger that Tzeentch had given him.
The Hellhound tried to yelp in pain but all that came out was a gurgle as it choked on its own blood.
Bell then pried its mouth open and tore his arm free before kicking the dying Hellhound away from him. However, just as he did that another Hellhound pounced on him from the side, knocking him to the ground. He barely managed to catch it and hold it away from him as it started snapping at him furiously. He then freed his injured right arm long enough to shove Hestia's Knife up into the Hellhound's lower jaw and out through the top of its skull, killing it relatively quickly.
Tearing the knife out of its head and pushing the rapidly disintegrating corpse off of him, he was immediately forced to roll out of the way as he saw another wave of fire heading straight towards him. He could feel the heat as the flames barely missed him and splashed across the stone floor where he had been lying just moments ago.
Forcing himself to his feet as fast as he could, Bell sidestepped as yet another Hellhound pounced at him. He then put Tzeentch's dagger back in its sheath before quickly scooping up the two Magic Stones that were on the ground and running away as fast as he could.
He knew if he stayed here and tried to kill all of them then he would just end up getting himself killed. He was way too outnumbered to take all of them on at once. So he decided to take what he could get and escape while he had the chance. He had gotten his first two Magic Stones from that encounter, that was good enough as far as he was concerned. This was his strategy for how he was going to collect all eight of the magic stones he needed to pass the Skulltaker's trial. He would kill a monster or two as long as he knew they were ones he had at least some chance against, he would collect their magic stone, then he would run away. If he got too hurt he would try to find somewhere he could take a moment to bandage his wounds, then he would keep on moving.
Fortunately the vambrace Eina had given to him as a gift protected part of his arm from that first Hellhound's teeth. The bottom of his forearm had holes in it and was bleeding but it wasn't serious enough that he had to stop to bandage it. Not yet at least. Though if it did get that bad since it was his arm he could keep moving while he bandaged it, which was a good thing. It wasn't like his leg or something which would require him to stop somewhere in order to bandage it.
He kept running for a few minutes. Once he was finally certain that he had escaped the Hellhounds, he paused for a moment to catch his breath. Having to run this much was absolutely exhausting, but he didn't have a choice if he wanted to live. He had to remember to pace himself to some degree otherwise he would exhaust himself too fast and would be caught by the monsters that he was trying to escape from. But that was more difficult than it sounded since he had to run fast enough to stay ahead of the monsters but slow enough not to immediately waste all of his energy.
This was going to be the toughest challenge he had ever faced. It was more likely than not that he was going to die. He was only a level one adventurer. He shouldn't even be in the middle levels at all. Being here by himself with no backup whatsoever was effectively suicide if he couldn't get out of here soon. It was certain suicide if he didn't get out of here within a few hours, because by then the curse on Tzeentch's dagger would kill him even if the monsters didn't.
However, he was absolutely determined to survive this. He couldn't catch up to Aiz if he was dead. He had to catch up with Aiz and he had to do it as fast as possible. So he was going to take as much time as he could without the dagger killing him to use his hit and run strategy to kill as many monsters and earn as much excelia down here as he could before returning to the surface.
After catching his breath Bell took a deep breath and immediately continued to press forward. He couldn't let himself slow down now. If he slowed down, he was dead. He couldn't catch up to Aiz if he was dead. So he just had to keep moving and keep killing. He had to be strong if he was going to make it out of this alive.
As Bell moved the walls around him began to crack open and a group of Almiraj came spilling out. Individually they were only classified as level one monsters but in groups like this they were classified as level two. Bell knew that their magic stones were pretty much indistinguishable from the magic stones of monsters on the first level. So their stones wouldn't count if he were to present them to the Skulltaker after he reached the surface again. Still that didn't mean he couldn't kill a couple of them for the excelia and run away.
Wielding both of his daggers he prepared himself to kill one or two of them then run. He wasn't about to let himself be killed by these rabbit-like monsters. He refused to die in such a pathetic manner. At least not until he finally reached his goal of catching up to Aiz.
End Notes: Question. Do you want the Emperor to bring the Primarchs along with him? If so would you prefer all of them or only a select few who wanted to come with him? Yes this includes Primarchs that died. The Emperor ascended and became a god. If the Chaos Gods can resurrect their servants than the Emperor could too after his ascension, and that includes his Primarchs. So if it's the latter than I'm thinking Sanguinius, Vulkan, Lion El'Jonson, Fulgrim, and maybe Corvus Corax though I'm not entirely sure about him. Though I would be open to suggestions. If you don't want to type out a reply there's a poll up on my profile. Or at least there should be. Oh and if you decide you guys want Primarchs, would you like for Bell or Hestia to make friends or at least acquaintances with any of them or would you prefer for them to remain as distant side characters?
I would also do a poll for if you guys wanted Bell to be enhanced or to just remain a baseline Human, but the website looks like it will only let me have one poll up at a time. So I'll just ask it here. Bell is fourteen years old which is young enough to receive Astartes augmentations and thus presumably other forms of similar augmentation as well. So Should he be enhanced in such a way? If so, who would you prefer him to receive said augmentations from Tzeentch, the Emperor, or maybe one of the Primarchs? Or would you prefer that he remain a baseline human? Personally I think I would prefer for him to remain a baseline human but I thought I'd offer you guys the choice anyways since the possibility is technically there for him to potentially be able to receive augmentations.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as if not more than I enjoyed writing it! Constructive criticism is always welcome! I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong after all.
Stay safe out there everyone!