Chapter 2
Bell checked the clock again for the 10th time in the last minute. Bell was waiting on Nicole to get home from school and she was 3 minutes late! Bell thought about going out to find her but, he remembered the last time he did. Nicole had told her friend that he was "extremely overprotective." He decided he was going to show her. He wasn't going to overreact just because she was a couple minutes late. That plan lasted all of two minutes before, he was out of the apartment walking the trip to the school.
The further he walked the more his anxiety grew, when the school came into view he told himself that she probably just had to stay late for a club or something and she forgot to mention it. Kids are notorious for giving you all the information except the stuff you actually need to know. It probably just slipped her mind. Those hopes were quickly crushed though when he asked the secretary at the door and was told that she had never shown up for school.
At this point Bell was unsure if he should be angry or scared. He hoped for anger. She had just cut class to have some fun with her friends and was perfectly safe. He would be angry, he would punish her and everything would be okay but, deep down he doubted that was the case. She liked school and did very well. Also, after what had happened last week he figured she would be on her best behavior. She had shown alot of remorse for running off and making him worry. Her doing it again so soon seemed unlikely but, he preferred that explanation compared to the only other option. She was kidnapped.
Meanwhile with Freya she was sitting at the top of Babel, a small blonde girl on her lap and a Boaz by her side. She enjoyed watching the rabbit frantically searching for his young. Everything was going exactly how she had planned it. It was time for part 2 of her plan to begin.
Freya turned her head to look at the girl on her lap "How would you like to go see Papa?"
Nicole nods "He might be worried that I didn't come back from school."
Freya smiled and patted the girl's head "You're such a good girl." Which made Nicole beam a big smile.
The pair got up and Nicole grabbed Freya's hand. "Mama did I tell you that I aced my test the other day? Papa was so proud, he bought me Jagumarkun. It tasted soooo good!" The girl said wanting to brag.
Back with Bell he was barely holding it together. He felt a weight on his chest making it hard to breathe but, he knew he couldn't have another breakdown, he wouldn't allow himself to be so useless again. That had cost him too much already. He began brainstorming the most likely locations she could have ran off to. He came up with a few but decided to head towards the Twilight Manor since the Jagumarkun stands were on the way, it was killing two birds with one stone and gave him an objective to think about which slightly helped keep his mind from imagining the worst case scenarios.
When Bell started to approach the food stands from a distance he saw a man that was a head taller than everyone else around him then, he saw the ears and immediately recognized the man as Ottar. Bell felt his heart drop and his hand instinctively reach for his battle knives but, they only grasped air. He had a very bad feeling about this and being without his weapons only made it worse but, he didn't let that stop his approach. In fact he took off in a full sprint towards the giant man. He just had a bad feeling he knew what had happened to Nicole. As he got closer, he saw a hooded figure standing next to the Boaz and he felt himself slow down as, a thought ran through his head. Charm, could he be charmed? Did Liaris Freese work with Aiz gone? He hadn't had his status updated since before she had passed. He was a busy single father, sometimes he would go into the dungeon to make some cash to cover their living expenses but, that wasn't a challenge as a level 8 adventurer never going deeper then the middle floors, he never felt the need for a status update. Nobody had tried to charm him in that time either but, all fear was washed away as, he got close enough to see the small golden haired girl.
Before he could even reach the trio he saw Nicole run his way "Look! Look! Look Papa!" the girl yelled a finger pointed at Freya. "It's Mama! It's Mama!" the girl continued as she gave her father a hug.
Bell looks over towards Freya and immediately realizes what has happened. He clinches a fist and throws a punch her direction "You bitch!" He yells in anger.
His fist is caught long before it ever gets close to the Goddess by the level 8 Ottar, but, before Ottar could do anything Bell faced something much more painful than any attack Ottar could hit him with.
"Papa..." Bell heard the saddest little voice ever. He turned and saw his little baby's eyes full of tears "I thought you loved Mama why would you..." her voice trailed off as she hugged Freya pressing her face into Freya's belly.
Freya picked up the girl and pet her head as, Nicole cried into her shoulder. "I guess Papa doesn't love us anymore." Freya told the girl
Freya turned and walked away, playing the part of a sad rejected woman comforting her daughter. Ottar eyed down the man standing across from him, knowing better than to turn his back on such a threat. Bell knew he was outmatched, they may have been the same level but, Ottar had real experience fighting other adventurers, while Bell hadn't seriously fought anybody his level. Bell never even considered that as he threw another punch that Ottar again caught.
"Don't kill him." Freya instructed walking towards her home at Volkvangr
Ottar still having Bell's fist used it to throw him into a nearby building causing people to flee the area. Bell crashed into the building but quickly got back to his feet, fueled by his blind rage he ran directly at the man again. Ottar threw a punch in Bell's direction but, Bell ducked it, losing no speed he went for a tackle takedown. Ottar barely budged a few inches on the impact. Ottar grabbed Bell's head into a headlock as Bell drives his shoulder further into the giant man's abs. Ottar started lifting his knees into Bell's gut and ribs nearly cracking bones on impact. After the 4th knee to the gut Bell caught the leg and Bell used his leg to sweep Ottar off his feet causing the two to tumble to the ground leaving a crater where they fell. Ottar lost his grip on his headlock as they fell. Bell landed on top.
"Firebolt! Firebolt! Firebolt!"
Bell rapidly shot multiple firebolts into Ottar's face. Bell too focused on his magic missed Ottar's hand that quickly grasped around his neck.
Meanwhile at the Twilight Manor the executives(Tione, Tiona, Finn, Gareth, Riveria, Bete, Raul) were in the middle of a meeting when they heard it.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The group rushed to the nearest window
"A fight in the city and judging by the sound that must be a pretty powerful magic user. Grab your weapons and let's go quickly. My thumbs aching something terrible." Finn explained.
With that the executives grabbed their weapons and headed out.
Back at the fight Ottar made it to his feet hand still clinched around the smaller man's throat. He lifted Bell off the ground with one hand and started punching Bell with the other . Blood started running down Bell's face while fire still charred Ottar's. Bell tries to chant his firebolt but, can't get the words out due to the pressure around his throat. He swung wildly to no effect. He had been grabbed by Ottar and there was simply nothing he could do. Bell's strength wasn't enough to break the grip. He was a speed and agility based fighter and in Ottar's grip all that advantage was gone. He was at the mercy of Ottar and Ottar wasn't feeling very merciful as he threw punch after punch into Bell's face causing Bell to lose consciousness.
"Ottar stop!" Finn commanded surrounded by the other executives of his familia who were all level 7 except for Raul who was level 6.
Ottar dropped the man seeing that he was outmatched and not wanting to start trouble with the only familia that could rival his own.
"Why?" Finn asked Ottar as Ottar began to walk away
"He attacked my Goddess, it is only by her mercy I didn't kill him" Ottar said not even bothering to slow down
"Bete run him to our infirmary. I would like to speak with him when he wakes."
Bete did as he was commanded. Secretly, he had alot of respect for Bell fighting a man like Ottar but, he would never say it.
Meanwhile with Nicole, she angrily stomped up the stairs of Volkvangr towards her room. She walked down to the end of the hallway and opened her door. That is when she saw the bunny plushy. She made her way over to her bed and sat down on it. She looked at the plushy and grabbed it and reached her arm back to throw it in anger but, found that she couldn't make herself do it. Something about this entire situation just didn't add up in her head. If she knew anything for sure it was that her Papa loved her Mama more than anything. His actions made absolutely no sense. He should have ran and hugged her and kissed her, not try to hurt her. Why had he tried to hurt her? The little girl sat the toy down and instead pulled her knees to her chest and held them as, she thought of what she should do next. She eventually decided that she would need to speak with him, alone.
A/N
Sorry my updates have been incredibly slow lately. I will try to get them out quicker in the future. Yandere Aiz update should be out pretty quickly if everything goes as planned. I already have the majority of it written so, unless I decide to do a total rewrite of the chapter, it shouldn't take long to finish. Anyways, I hope you guys are having a Merry Christmas and any reviews/constructive criticism would be appreciated.
