Hey everyone.

So yeah, this chapter took a wee bit longer than I thought, due to adding more dialogue as this particular scene with the travel and battle. I felt something else was needed as well. You will see.

Nothing more needs to be said, so let's get started.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danmachi nor the characters.

Chapter 10: Journey into the Forest
It has been seven days since their journey and they were hanging on. Bell was enjoying the company of Artemis. Just how close they were was pure comfort. Artemis began to have these feelings for this young man in question, as they got to know one another.

She learned he is an only child, lived with his grandfather for 14 years or so, before his grandfather died, and became an adventurer with being Hestia's child. Just his warm smile and warmth made her comfortable, as her heart thumped each time she nuzzled a bit.

Hestia watched on and thought it was cute. She has never seen her best friend this smitten at all, and this is making her overjoyed. The Goddess of Hearth wondered how Athena would feel about Bell? Would she feel the same way as both Artemis and herself do? Or would she take out her spear and go all crazy? She will have to look for Athena as she did descend from the Heavens years ago.

Eli was napping, while being held by Aura. She caresses the werewolf's hair, while staring at the vastness of trees. She was surprised how he was somewhat quiet, and yet was willing to hear some stories to deal with boredom. Normally children will try the 'Are we there yet?', but Eli seems to enjoy stories and looking around.

"He's been out for a while." Aura kept caressing his hair.

"Sooner or later, those naps are what we call sleep for a while."

She nodded "I have heard higher levels sleep only a few hours. I suppose that is more of your endurance."

He nodded. He still looked around.

Lilli looked around while seeing nothing but trees after trees. She yawned from the long trip, but knew she had to be alert for anything. She looked around, but then heard from the cat man "Oi, I see a woman and a child on the run from something!"

Bell and Artemis looked and saw two humans making a run from what looked like scorpion like creatures in black with red vein stripes on them. She took out her bow. "Try to fly low!"

He nodded and steered the dragon low. He saw the familiar insect-like creatures with obsidian colored on them.

Artemis took aim and fired on them. Two were taken out, but the others felt it and turned to find out who did it. Artemis jumped first and went to shoot another arrow, as the others were right after her.

Bell immediately got off, as Allen jumped off as well.

Bell went after the first one, taking it out, as Artemis kept shooting and keeping her distance. Allen went right after a group and took them out with his spear, laced with a bit of magic.

However, all three of them noticed the amount of them coming out. More and more are coming out.

"Well, shit. I am ready to give these scorpions a taste of my spear." He charged right at them.

Just as Bell was ready to use the spear, a large fire attack was raining down, and saw Aura with her scepter pointing at the creatures. It did stop two of them and she landed on the ground, aiming her scepter on the creatures.

Welf landed after just taking one out and rolled to the side, avoiding a stinger of an attack.

Lilli landed on the ground and avoided an attack. She then threw an object right at the 'mouth' of the creature and blew up.

"Let's take them out!"

Bell avoided an attack from the creature, and stabbed it on the top of the shell. It then blew up, as Allen rushed at a number of them, and was taking them out.

Welf sliced one open, while Lilli threw another object as it blew two of them to pieces. Aura avoided an attack and kept her distance, then released another fire attack.

Artemis pulled her bow back, and aimed. She fired one that was going to attack Bell from behind.

Bell focused on charging his magic, all while taking out each of the creatures with his knife. The others were hearing the sound of bells and knew what was going to happen, except for Artemis.

She was wondering why Bell was emitting that sound on his hand and noticed he was glowing white around him.

Allen kept fighting and heard those bells, knowing he was charging. He kept them at bay, and knew that the attack would work.

After he felt the charge was enough, he aimed at the large group of the scorpion-like creatures. "Firebolt!" A large fire attack wiped them from where they were.

They noticed the numbers were dwindling. Welf pushed forward and sliced another creature.

It was a while for them before the last one was taken out. They looked around for more and things were quiet, save for a few birds chirping.

For Bell, this was different. It took the spear to take them all out, but it seems this worked better.

"What were those creatures?"

Artemis answered "They are the ones that are causing the problem."

Before anyone could say anything both the woman and child greeted them. The woman then said "Thank you so much, for saving us!"

"You guys are awesome!"

Allen then looked around "I will check if anymore are around the area, stay put." He then ran as fast as the wind

"Those creatures that were chasing you, what happened?"

The woman replied "I wish I knew. They just appeared one day in my village and they were destroyed. I took my daughter and we just ran as fast as possible."

Hermes whistled "They seem to be spreading more each day."

"Yeah, they are."

"At least it was taken care of." Artemis then said "Now, how about we assist you on your journey away from here."

"How would you do that?"

Bell wanted to stop her, but Hestia stopped him and whispered in his ear. He nodded in understanding and let it happen.

Evening time
Bell finished cooking a pot of food and Artemis looked embarrassed, while Lilli looked annoyed..

Lilli then said "Lilli is still shocked you gave nearly all of our food rations like that!"

"Sorry, but I just wanted to help out!" She apologized again.

Hestia sighed "Thankfully, Eli still had some extra meat on his pack." Eli was eating a small piece of beef jerky, quietly.

Bell laughed "Thankfully, my grandfather taught me a number of interesting survival tips in the wilderness." He stirred the pot and began to serve it in bowls. He served it to everyone.

Allen looked at his and took a sniff. He then blew it a few times, before eating quietly.

The others are enjoying the taste of the food and Artemis said "This is pretty good."

"Thanks. Something simple to make on the road."

She nodded and then said "I will tell you about those creatures. They are from the temple we are heading." They were now listening. "You see, I heard stories of disappearance and my familia went there to take a look. Some of those creatures were there, but they went closer and found a seal that was broken. It is called an Antares."

"Go on."

Hermes then decided to continue from the story "Oranous asked me to team up with her familia and I obliged. We faced more monsters after meeting with her again, and realized we needed a few more volunteers after clearing a part of the enemy." He looked at the spear. "That spear was an artifact that Artemis and I found, while we were scouting more on the area. We also learned more about how the spear is meant to be held with someone that is pure."

Hermes took a drink and finished "By pulling the spear, we know who will be the one that will take out Antares for good."

Bell grabbed the spear and looked at it. "This spear is the only way we can beat this Antares?"

Artemis nodded "I know you will be great, after watching you fight off those creatures."

He chuckled. "Uhh, thanks."

Hermes looked up and said "It's getting late, we need to rest up."

Allen said "I will stay up through the whole night to keep an eye out."

Lilli looked at him in surprise "Are you sure that's good for you?"

The cat man looked at her and said "In my training, we are taught to finish the mission and then sleep all you need. I have a lot of energy." He finished his bowl "Plus, being the only level 6 here, I should be able to handle anything out here, save for the Black Dragon."

They nodded in agreement and Eli went to hug Allen "Goodnight, Uncle Allen."

He looked at the child and patted his head, making him giggle.

They each went to their tent, as Hestia was with Artemis.

Hestia allowed her hair to be loose as did Artemis. "I'm just glad to see you again, Arty."

She giggled and nodded "Same here."

"You seem to change more than the last time I saw you."

"Have I? In what manner?"

She smirked and replied "You seem to be naive at things, which you weren't back in the Heavens. The way you hugged Bell, knowing he is a man, and even showing some affection." She then had a sly smirk "Do you like him?"

Artemis giggled "Maybe….I don't know. He makes me feel different. More alive, more warmth than ever."

Hestia knew she had to make this work somehow. She then said "You seem to like him then." For her, she knew this Artemis wasn't exactly the goddess but the essence of her. She knows Bell's plans will work, once the essence of it meets with Artemis, obtaining all these memories.

"I can't believe I like him like that."

She smirked, "Well, just to let you know Artemis that he isn't single."

She looked at her oddly, "What do you mean?"

"Well, how can I explain this? He is in a relationship, but he is in more than one girl. I am one of those girls."

"More than one girl?" She had this look of curiosity.

"Yeah. Although it isn't his fault, it's his charm that does it. Plus" her face turned a bit red "He's an amazing kisser~"

Artemis began to think about it. "So, if I do get into this relationship, other girls are involved. And I do get the chance to be with him?"

Hestia nodded eagerly "Yeah. He's a great lover and a great guy. Trust me." She winked. She then asked "By the way, where is your familia?"

Artemis simply answered "They are waiting for me."

Hestia nodded and tried to show any signs of sadness. She knew what she meant, but it won't happen like this. She knows her lover will do everything to save her this time.

Meanwhile, a certain God of Messenger was tied up on a tree. "I wasn't planning to peek! Let me down!"

Allen sighed "Maybe I should have had Hogni here…..nah, he would just screw things up."

Orario
Finn checked out the order and sighed "We are pretty much stuck inside of Orario. An order from the Guild has given us a Moratorium to exit here."

Riveria frowned "Why would they do that?"

Loki was curious as well. Some things never added up. Considering how things have been normal, save for Bell getting the spear out, which surprised her. She then realized it "I have a feeling Mr. Rabbit is involved in this."

Gareth looked at her "The spear incident?"

She nodded "Damn it, what have you gotten into this time?"

In another room, Ais was with Tiona and was staring outside. "Do you think Bell is doing alright?"

Tiona smirked, "Don't worry, Argonaut has it under control."

She nodded. "Just wish he was here."

"Me too."

Lefiya entered the room and noticed them both. "Staying up?"

They both nodded. "Just worried about Bell."

Lefiya came into the room and went with them to the balcony. "I heard the journey would take them 10 days or so. So we may see them within a week or two if the mission is succesful. Plus, we trained him, so I know him and his group will make it out alive."

She smiled reassuringly. They looked up at the sky and all three of the looked at it oddly.

"Huh….strange moon."

Unknown location
Filvis was told to meet up with someone in the area and had no problem reaching the area. All she had to do was kill some time before the person in question arrived.

She then took out something out of her pocket. She then looked at the locket and had a sad smile on the gift she was given by him.

Flashback
"Filvis, how are you holding up?" Bell asked.

Filvis looked at him and responded "I'm doing well."

He smiled and took something out and approached her. He then gently grabbed her hand and placed it on her left hand. Her eyes widened a bit and blushed a little. She then saw it was a locket of a tree. However, she recognized the tree from their meditation and she looked at him.

"Why?"

He responded "Filvis, you helped me a lot, and you are an amazing person. You are worth everything in saving your life, and once this is over, I do hope you are able to find that peace."

A tear escaped her eye and looked at it "I'm not worth it."

"You're wrong" he held her hands "You are worth everything. You aren't a monster, you are someone that still has dreams and desires like we all do."

He let her hand go and left, leaving her staring at the locket.

Flashback End
She then put it away and sighed. She turned to her right, hearing some footsteps. Her expression turned neutral.

Seeing the short red haired woman staring back. "We need to talk."

She raised her eyebrow as she gestured to follow her.

To be continued.

A/N: In the original fight in the Arrow of Orion, Bell wiped them out with one swing, but I made the change due to Allen being there, saving the spear for later.

I was originally going to add more chatting of them during the journey, but then I realized that during the trip in the original one, it seems it left it out vague at best. I decided to do the exact same thing, save more may be small details of knowing one another and letting you, the reader, know Bell, Artemis and such.

A few added scenes here were added as I felt this chapter would have been shorter and ending it that way was for the best. I may add an interlude on what was going on during those days that Bell was gone, as I do believe that will play something out. You will see.

Until then, that is all I have. Hope you all enjoyed it.

Next time: They arrived near the place, Hermes' plans of peeking, and a dance under the pale moonlight. Don't miss it.