Parodos: Strophê (II)

Disclaimer: I own neither properties

A/N: Translations in Order:

λαγουδάκι - (Lagoudáki) bunny, little hare

ἀετός - (Aetos) eagle

κλέος - (Kleos) reknown, glory

ήλιε μου - (Ilie mou) my sun

- X o X -

Edit: I narrowed down the Greek usage to only important names and dialogue where it can be ignored or have the meaning be inferred.

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- / Bell / -

He could do nothing but lamely squirm and stammer under her expectant gaze despite its gentleness. Oh goddess, she practically looked picturesque with the evening light blanketing her in a holy glow.

Thankfully, grandpa's elbow roughly nudged him out of his painfully awkward reverie.

"Well? C'mon, don't leave the girl waiting. Speak up already! I didn't raise ya to act like such a λαγουδάκι!"

With that push, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind… in the loudest way possible… right in her face.

"YOU'RE SUPER PRETTY, CYD!"

'Why was THAT the best thing I could come up with?! Goddess, I'm such an idiot!'

If his spirit wasn't leaving his mouth already, he'd probably smack his face against a wall by now. Although from the resounding facepalm he heard behind him, his grandpa was doing that for him.

He was then brought out of his freak-out by her... pleasant giggling?

Well, at least that's a better sign than getting outright slapped in the face. Right? ...Probably. Maybe? OH GODDESS! What if it's even worse!? AHHHHHH-

"It took you this long to enough to notice, hm?" It was then that she gave him a polite smile for his cringe-worthy attempt. "Your delivery is in need of some work, charmer."

He wanted to crawl into a ditch and die. "R-right, sorry."

- X o X -

With crocodile tears streaming down his cheeks, he turned around to punch the stupid old man in his fat gut. "I hate you so much, Grandpaaa!"

Stupid gramps merely chuckled back at him before disheveling his hair with a rough hand.

"Hey, that's all on you, boy. It's not my fault you didn't inherit any game. I gotta teach ya to become a smooth ladies' man like me."

Hearing that phony hogwash made him feel a hundred percent about making a fool of himself. Especially, since his grandpa does it all the time without even trying.

"Pftt...Snrk...Uh-huh, sure, grandpa."

"Why you-!"

- X o X -

Before gramps could start ranting, though, Cyd quickly interjected by clearing her throat. Unfortunately, her next question had tightened his throat as much as it did with her azure stare.

"Hey Bell, I noticed that you aren't wearing your father's pack. Did something happen to it up there?"

"Oh, that. Well..." He cringed before deciding to shift topics quickly.

"Ah! I haven't introduced you to...Bird-thingy yet! It really saved our bacon when we fell off the mountain." He then directed a brief stink eye towards the quickly whistling behind him. "No thanks to you, grandpa."

"Anyway, doesn't this thing look amazing! It must be like the size of two…no, three carriages! And have you seen its feathers? It's actual gold! That's like so...METAL!"

She then gave it this forlorn expression before smiling and gingerly stroking its beak. "Sorry, Bell, I don't mean to ruin your excitement, but I'm already familiar with ἀετός. He had quite the reputation even way before I was born."

"R-really!?"

She just giggled into her hand at his inquisitive expression. "Mhm, although you should ask your grandfather for more details about him. ἀετός is his, after all."

"HUH!? No way!" Turning back to his grandfather, the man was puffing up his chest and posing alongside Aetos. Its massive wings spread open, its feathers shined brilliantly under the sun.

"Enthralled? Hn, you should be, boy! Back in my heyday, ἀετός and I were a frickin' storm of death! A torrent of destruction! Twin saviors, soarin' on clouds of glory! Together, no man or monster survived against our might. His razor feathers shredded the heads of Hydras, and my thunder speared the hearts of Gigantes! And as our κλέος grew, rumors arose that we were gods amongst men, simple vagabonds searching for love, or even isekai'd heroes coming to save these distant lands. All true! Hahahaha!"

With every sentence, grandpa and Aetos shifted into different heroic poses. Yet, he didn't roll his eyes like he typically would for his grandpa's fluffed-up stories. No, Yet, this was probably the first time in a while that grandpa gave him more than just anger and bewilderment. Instead, his heart thumped and burned with excitement.

'Oh goddess, is my stupid grandpa actually super awesome?!'

0000000000000000000000000000000

"Don't be fooled by such rot, Bell." An illustrious voice echoed out as the church's massive doors creaked open. The ominous clacking of heels against the stone steps immediately scared his grandfather.

So much for being smooth and brave. The henpecked man cowered behind his back before the doors even fully opened.

"Ah, Mother Juno!" Cyd stood ramrod straight and stiffly bowed before being waved off.

His grandmother, resplendent in her gold-threaded episkopos robe, shimmered in the evening light. While her hood obscured most of the angelic face underneath, her auburn locks and haughty sneer still managed to peek through. Honestly, the only "old" part about her was the cane she depended on.

So, his grandpa must age like dirt, or he must be the single-most, luckiest man in the world to be married to her somehow.

"Hn, just like his naming skills, your lazy grandfather is full of hot air. All that bird did was act as your grandfather's delivery service. Mostly on occasions when his son wasn't around to do it."

He promptly directed a disappointed stare at their now hunched and sullen expressions. So, it was basically Gramps' gofer before it somehow dumped that role onto him instead. Lucky rat.

'I should've known that it sounded too cool to be true... I want my wonder and respect back, you lying goobers.'

"Her-! H-honey! What the Tartarus?! Bell was starting to admire me again!"

Grandma flatly stared at him before snorting loudly. "First of all, he should know well enough not to make that regretful mistake. Secondly…."

With clear killer intent, she began to cackle. "I want you to choose your next words very carefully, my love."

Well, that's never a good sign.

"Zefs Jupiter. Do you want to explain all that commotion on the mountain?" She said, punctuating each word with a sickeningly sweet, sing-song voice.

The full name too? Yep, the old goat was screwed, which he seemed to catch onto as well.

So, grandpa did what he did best, making a hasty retreat. Unfortunately for him, that failed spectacularly when Nanna instantly hooked her cane around his neck.

"Do you think you're that slick?" A dark aura manifested over her when she finally opened her eyes. She swiftly pulled grandpa in close with a hard yank of her cane. "This will be the last time you use our dear Bell in your asinine adventures. Understood? Good."

In a sort of personality whiplash, she then turned to give him a gentle pat on his head. "ήλιε μου, head on inside. I'll let you deal with all the excitement you sowed from that impressive entrance. I was barely keeping them at bay."

Her terrifying switch returned when she gave gramps a brief side glance. "Fufufufu, meanwhile, your grandfather and I will have a little chat."

"W-wait! Ira! Please, I can ex- KUH!"

With a swift yank, she ended whatever bullshit that grandpa was about to spew. It's a miracle how and why nanna still manages to put up with him.

As Aetos dutifully circled above its stupid master, he mirthfully shook his head.

'Goddess, please bless that bird for his misguided loyalty; both he and my grandfather will need it.'

There's a good reason he had quickly learned never to anger his nanna. Just thinking about that cursed cane would give his hands phantom pains.

It's the old man's fault for digging his own grave today. So, when his grandfather silently pleaded for help, he gave him precisely what he deserved. Two mocking fingers that were cathartically waved with a joyous vengeance.

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Author's Note:

The OC's are based on mythological figures, like Danmachi's version of specific characters: Ex. Finn (Fionn) and Lante (Atalanta).

- Zefs Jupiter = Zeus

- Ira Juno = Hera

- Cyd = Cydippe

This won't be an OC romance story. I just need them to pad out the parodos, as it focuses on the prequel events of Bell's story.

- X o X -

Hopefully, Bell isn't acting too OOC. I just wanted to play up his S1 canon self mixed with some of Illya's and Shirou's personality traits.

- X o X -

Until next time, Peace Out.