Syr knew something was wrong.
It had been about three weeks since Bell and Ryuu had returned from floor 37. She was so happy to have them back. She had burst into tears of joy when she heard they had been rescued and brought back to the surface.
But there was a problem.
Ever since the two of them made it back, they had been acting strange. Whenever they were around each other there was blushing, fumbling words, loving gazes. Syr tried to approach Ryuu and Bell multiple times to ask them what exactly happened down there. Each and every time she got the same set of answers. "It was hell", "We almost died", or "We did what we had too". What did they even mean by that?!
She knew they had grown closer, and she couldn't really fault them for it. The specifics of what she had been able to get from them made it sound like they had been trapped in a hopeless nightmare. But Bell was supposed to be hers. No, he is hers. Yet here was Ryuu completely overstepping her bounds!
Syr thought she was going crazy. "There's no way anything really happened between them, right?" Of course not! It was ridiculous! She knew Syr wanted Bell, and Ryuu was loyal to Syr to a fault. Bell and Ryuu were nothing more than friends who had just helped each other through a rough time. Syr had convinced herself she was overthinking the whole thing.
That is...until this morning happened.
Bell had come in to pick up his lunch, it was his first day going back into the dungeon since he had been rescued along with Ryuu, so she prepared an extra special meal. She saw his beautiful, transparent soul walk into the bar, the very soul she had fallen so madly in love with. It was a little dulled, but she knew he had been through a lot recently so she didn't mind. She was just so happy to have her true love standing before her again.
"Here is your lunch for today Bell, I put a lot of work into it, so please enjoy it. And good luck in the dungeon today."
"Thank you so much Syr. I'm only gonna be down in the dungeon a bit today though. Just trying to recover some strength and range of motion in my arm. Amid says if I don't take it easy, she will personally tie me down and not let me out of bedrest for a month." Bell awkwardly chuckled.
"I would like to tie you down to a bed and not let you go for a month." Syr thought slyly.
"Mr. Cranel..." A familiar voice to the two of them called out.
Bell and Syr turned to look at the elf who had called out to the young man, and in that moment, Syr saw something which made her blood boil.
When the two adventurers met each other's eyes, their souls reacted to each other and they began to shine brighter than she had ever seen them before. Reacting to one another in a way which could only be described as breathtaking. Souls don't react that spectacularly when your friends with someone, it only ever happens when you have bonded on a deeper level with someone, usually through...
"Please stay safe in the dungeon today, Mr. Cranel." And with that small exchange, Ryuu bowed, and went back to work cleaning the shop.
"Thank you, Ms. Ryuu!" Bell exclaimed, a smile wide across his face.
Syr just stood there with her mouth wide open.
"Well i'm off, see you guys later tonight. Oh and thanks again for the meal Syr. " Bell cheerfully ran out from the bar, down the street making a beeline to the dungeon entrance.
Syr was speechless. Utterly speechless. She knew something had happened between them and this just confirmed it. How could Ryuu do this to her? How did this happen? Why had Bell fallen for Ryuu and not for her? How fast could she get Ottar to lead a herd of minotaurs into the bar?!
Ryuu eventually saw Syr's distress and came over to her. Grabbing her by the hand and asking what was wrong.
"..."
"Syr? Is everything alright?" Ryuu asked worriedly.
"... I know." Syr whispered, a mix of sadness and anger in her eyes.
Ryuu shuddered, she had never seen Syr give her a look like this before.
"Syr, i'm not sure what you mea…."
"I know. I Know you stole Bell away from me!" Syr cried, tears in her eyes.
"Oh…" Ryuu didn't know what to say.
"Oh? Is that all you have to say to me! You knew I loved him! Don't pretend you didn't! And you come over here and hold my hand and ask me if I'm ok? How dare you Ryuu? You have been lying to me ever since you got back!" Syr yelled, boiling mad.
Ryuu looked down ashamed, she couldn't meet Syr's eyes.
"How did you find out?" Ryuu asked, sad and in pain, knowing she had hurt her best friend.
"I have my ways. You know I have always been exceptional at finding out the truth." Syr scoffed at the ridiculous question, trying not to give away the fact she had used her divine sight to uncover the truth.
"Can I please just explain what happened Syr? I promise I never meant for things to happen like this." Ryuu looked pleadingly at her friend, desperate to explain the situation.
Syr was fuming, but she grabbed Ryuu by the hand and dragged her up the stairs and into Ryuu's bedroom, sealing the door behind them.
"Nya what do you think that was all about?" Anya asked her fellow coworkers, all catching the tail end of the huge fight between the two inseparable friends.
"I have no idea. I hope everything is ok between them." Lunor responded, worried for Syr and Ryuu.
"Whatever it was meow, seemed to involve Mr. White Hair Boy, as usual" Chloe said.
They all pondered a bit for a moment until Chole broke the silence with her wild theory.
"Maybe Bell finally let Ryuu have his wonderful butt!"
"Yeah right." Lunor said, rolling her eyes while doing so.
"Our uptight elf nya? No way. Take this seriously Chloe." Anya scolded her fellow coworker.
Before any of them could throw out more ideas, all three of them got the same ominous chill. They turned around to find Mama Mia standing there with a very unpleasant expression across her face.
"Get back to work you lousy kids! I'm still pissed off from the crap you pulled three weeks ago! You have got no room for slacking off!"
"Yes Mama Mia!" All three of them exclaimed while rushing back to their tasks to get the bar ready for tonight.
"I'm sure it was his butt. It has to be" Chloe muttered to herself as she went off to scrub the muk off of the giant pile dishes.
Back upstairs, Syr and Ryuu had sat down across from each other. Ryuu looked like a nervous wreck, constantly avoiding Syrs gaze and whispering to herself about how she should have been more careful, and that she was sorry. While Syr was sitting there with her arms crossed, shooting daggers at Ryuu. Finally, Ryuu resigned herself to her fate, locked eyes with Syr and asked her...
"What do you want to know Syr?"
"Everything"
"Everything?"
"Everything" Syr affirmed
"Well, I suppose, it all started on Floor 37..." Ryuu started, though began to hesitate, looking like she wanted nothing more than to run away.
"Go on." Syr urged her friend to continue.
"As you know Syr, I tend to take things too far."
