A/N
Aye! I'm back!
I hope you've all been well recently!
"..."
Good good! Glad to hear it!
.
I fixed a line in the previous chapter that said 'tomorrow', when it was supposed to say 'the day after tomorrow'.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
.
Let's get going shall we!
5,756 Words in total.
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Bell speed walked into the main square, coming up to the guild hall, in fact, he was so close that his fingers were just about to wrap the door handle, until-
"Bell?"
He turned, and was met with a head of pure gold hair.
"Ais!" He responded with surprise.
"I haven't seen you recently, are you doing well?"
"..."
"...Ais…" Bell asked somewhat concerned.
"Hm?"
"...I just saw you at the hostess... Last night…"
She made a surprised 'oh' face.
"Ais-?"
She came back to the present. "We did."
"..."
"..."
"...Is there something you need?" Bell asked.
"Mmh, not really."
He sighed, letting his head hang awkwardly.
His eyes reopened as she spoke again. "Are you going to the 'God's Banquet' tomorrow with your goddess?"
He looked back up. "Ah, yes, goddess said she didn't want to, but since we're such a small Familia..." He rubbed the back of his head.
She nodded.
"I just got our information for the day after next with Hermes, did you-"
"Freya told me earlier." He nodded. "We probably shouldn't be discussing this out here though."
Ais glanced around, taking in the various people going about their days.
She looked back at Bell. "Okay, the gods want us all to meet at the guild tomorrow."
"Alright, makes sense."
They both stood awkwardly, having run out of conversation.
"Good bye." Ais turned and left at speed, before Bell could even respond.
"Good- huh, never mind." He turned back to the guild, this time reaching the door handle.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bell made his way to the counter, not seeing Eina the entire time.
"Rose!" He quietly shouted for her attention.
The red head looked up from her book, that same one by 'Jason' from the day, though she was now on the last few pages.
Bell watched as she grumpily placed her bookmark down, closing the book as she stood.
She reached Bell's section of the counter. "What?"
"Can I speak to Eina?"
"Sorry, no can do, still traumatized from the other day."
Bell recoiled. "Traumatized…" He whispered, hurt slightly.
"So what can I do for ya." She crossed her arms leaning on the counter.
"Uh… I don't think you're gonna want to do the paperwork for this." He smiled nervously.
"Try me." She grinned.
"I leveled up."
"..."
"..."
"EINA!" Rose called loudly.
Bell grinning in victory.
.
The brown haired Half-Elf was currently sitting in the break room, both to avoid the awkward conversation eventually coming from Bell, and so she could quietly nurse her head that was throbbing.
She sighed, rubbing her temple while working on a form that wouldn't be needed till next month.
"EINA!" Rose called.
She sighed, starting her way to standing, before Rose burst through the door.
"Ye-Yes Rose?!" She called in surprise, seeing the shocked red Werewolf.
Rose quickly crossed the room, grabbing onto Eina's arms to make sure she heard properly.
"Bell leveled up!"
"..."
"..."
"What?!"
.
Eina sat dumbfound in front of Bell, who sat patiently waiting for her to react.
"..."
"How?" She spoke for the first time since entering the advisory room.
"...Well, it was from when we were stuck in the dungeon."
She became irritated. "You didn't tell me before?!"
He flinched. "W-Well… I was going too, until… Y-You know."
A blush crept onto her face. "O-Oh."
"..."
"..."
"Perhaps we should discuss what… happened." Eina suggested.
Bell nodded slowly.
"I-I apologize for being so forward with you, Bell." She tried to bow where she sat.
"N-No no, I don't know if I was or not, but if I led you on or… something, then I should be the one apologizing!"
She looked up, irritated once more. "You did nothing wrong, I was the one who acted in such an inappropriate manner."
"Well it's not like-"
"Bell!" She silenced him.
She stared at him, daring the 'young' adventurer to speak up again.
He looked down, blushing ever so slightly.
Eina thought she'd won, until being ripped from that idea by Bell finishing his retort.
"-It's not like you were… The only one… Who wanted to…" He got quieter and quieter.
He was looking down, expecting a thrashing from Eina, but as he looked up. Eina was covered neck to ears with a crimson blush.
"B-B-BELL?! You can't j-ust s-say that to a-"
"But it's true!" His blush officially matched her own.
"..."
"So what do we do from here?" Bell spoke, breaking the growing tension.
"I-I don't know…" She responded.
"..."
"Do you… Want to discuss this some other time?" She asked.
"LIke?" He asked.
She fidgeted, the blush ever present. "P-Perhaps over lunch… Some time…"
"I can't." He looked down, getting a surprised and a heartbroken reaction from her.
"I love you Eina, I didn't know that until… Well…" He thought back to the kiss. "But there's someone else, someone I'm waiting for…"
"...Who?" She asked with the little strength she had.
"I can't tell you that…" He fought with himself to find something, anything to tell her. "But she's the first woman I've ever loved… I can't be confident in my loyalty to you, until I find her and prove myself... I just can't."
They sat in silence, the tension more complicated than in the moments prior.
"So we can't be together…?"
He didn't meet her eyes, not seeing the faint hope in them.
"I won't know until I find her."
"..."
"...When you do…" He looked up at her. "And you do prove yourself… can you ask her, if it would be… Okay if-"
He stopped her. "Eina, I can't put you through that."
"I know, but… These feelings aren't something that'll go away…!" She paused, looking up to meet his eyes. "I love you Bell, I can't stop that now, or ever."
"Eina-"
"Please Bell, just… just let me have that…"
They sat in silence, neither knowing how to continue.
"So, what did you promise this mystery woman?"
Bell hesitated for several moments, before his mouth opened.
.
The world seemed to fizzle and crack, blue light seeped in through the cracks, Bell sounding as though he was closer, but distorted.
Eina could see him, but it seemed as though he was over her, or, perhaps she was below him.
"-I'll find you-" He sounded broken.
She could feel tears falling onto her neck, not from her, but from him.
"-We'll be together again-"
Pain shot through her body, as she began losing sensation from her feet, slowly crawling further and further up…
"-However long it takes."
Until there was nothing left of her.
.
She came back with a jolt.
"Eina?!" Bell called, alarmed.
"A-ah?! Y-Yes, I'm alright just… Daydreaming is all!"
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yes-yes! It sounds like you really do care for her…
He nodded, the faintest of smiles appearing.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
They had made their way to the main guild hall, Eina now wagging her finger at Bell, giving him the business for giving her yet another stack of paperwork.
They were just wrapping up, as a hand latched onto Bell's shoulder.
"Bell!" Welf spoke a bit loud for their proximity.
"W-Welf?" Bell was surprised by his sudden appearance.
"Your armor's ready!"
Bell simply looked at Welf in confused disbelief.
"You got it done already?"
"Yeah! I just need you to come by and make sure everything fits right." Welf grinned.
"Oh, alright..." Bell smiled back.
An idea crossed Bell's mind.
"Well this has been fun. Enjoy the paperwork Eina!" He ran, using this moment to get out of Eina's lecturer about 'safety in the dungeon' and the such.
He didn't see it, but Bell was certain she was burning holes in his back.
.
Some time later in this emotionally draining day for Eina, Riveria appeared.
"Hello Eina-"
"WHA-?!" Eina almost dropped Bell's level up paperwork, all two-hundred-and-seventy-six of them.
It wouldn't have been pretty.
"S-sorry Eina." Riveria apologized.
"No-no, I should've been more observant, it's my duty after all."
Riveria giggled. "You're starting to sound more like Bell with every day I don't see you, young lady."
Eina blushed, though she tried to hide it.
Riveria's smile dipped soon after that, becoming more serious.
"You have the day off tomorrow, correct?" The High Elf asked the guild employee.
"Um, yes, I believe so, why?" Eina replied, filing the papers away into the ever growing cabinet drawer that Bell had taken up over, she sighed muttering under her breath. "Will that boy ever stop?"
"Could you come by the Twilight Manner around noon?"
Eina thought for a moment. "I suppose, it's not like I'm going out to lunch or anything."
Eina was admittedly bitter, though she refused to show that to Bell.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bell stretched his shoulders one way, then the other, testing how the cloak would affect his movements; thankfully, it didn't.
Bell's armor was effectively the same as it had been before, most of the pieces were sections that had been recovered, only needing to have the dents pushed out and both the plates on his hip replaced. Both now flatter, not thinner, just flatter than before.
The straps were all destroyed, now replaced with materials from the dungeon, rather than traditional leathers from the surface.
The Salamander wool cloak clasped around his neck, but was parted thanks to his shoulder guards, the cloak remaining behind. He could lift the cloth up and over the guards, which he would mostly do outside the dungeon, giving him full concealment from the knees up.
Bell nodded to Welf. "Fits good."
Welf grinned. "Excellent, so how does it look?" They both turned to Lili, who joined them along the way to his shop.
Lili looked at both of them, finding the question odd. "It's not the same as before?"
"There's new stuff too! And the cape's not too bad either!" Welf protested.
"Cloak." Bell challenged.
"Cape." Welf met Bell's eyes.
"Cloak."
"Cape."
"Cloak!"
"Ca-"
"Lili thinks this is irrelevant."
They both looked at her, blinked, then continued.
"Cloak!"
Lili sighed.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"So you both leveled from the same fight?" Lili asked in disbelief, a bit jealous, now the only Level One in the party.
They both grinned, hoping the best for the small girl.
Welf changed the subject. "So the shin-dig is the day after next huh?"
"Yeah, just hope it goes well, all we can do." Bell spoke rather pessimistically.
Bell raised the mug of strawberry nectar, though as he would soon find out, Mia's was the only good nectar in the city. This one in particular having the sour to sweet ratio off by a block or two.
"Ah! So the cheat comes out to boast of his strength, what a load of lard!"
A short pallum began approaching them.
Bell couldn't care less. "So I was in the market for groceries the other day, I found peanut butter for only-"
"Only makes sense, being the child of such a worthless goddess and all!" The pallum continued.
Bell was annoyed at that last comment, but he kept his cool, watching as Welf seemed to grow in his agitation. "Oh, Lili, did you find a new bag?"
"He doesn't even have anyone to adventure with, needing to rely on these nobody misfits from other Familia's!" The pallum walked around their table.
Bell turned to him. "Could you, ya know, leave us alone, we're just trying to have a conversation."
"Ooh- Is that a threat? This coming from the boy who levels up by running away?!"
Bell's look darkened, standing. The pallum flinched back, destroying any credibility he had.
Bell looked between Lili and Welf. "What do you guys say about heading to the Hostess?"
One of the others from the pallum's table spoke up, a demi-human raccoon.
"What? Can't take some good hearted criticism?"
"..." They stared at each other.
"Yeah Bell can't take it?" Welf asked, having looked up for the first time.
Bell looked at him dumbly. "...You okay Welf?"
"Master Bell, did Welf hit his head?"
"I don't know Lili, let's take him to see Naaza."
Lili stood up.
She and Bell attempted to fake carrying Welf, though he was holding his own weight.
The raccoon person stood. "You think you can just walk away?!"
He grabbed onto the closest of their arms, that being Lili's.
A mistake.
He was on the floor, unconscious before any of them could react.
The other patrons watched on in shock and slight fear as Bell's hand hovered over his knife, ready and waiting for the pallum to make a move. Though he was shocked himself, having just seen his comrade get flattened.
Another, slower motion came from their table, as another rose up, this one human with brown hair.
"Perhaps I should join in now-"
"So, you're out starting bar fights without me!"
Everyone's attention turned to the pub's door, as Bete Loga appeared with a dangerously neutral expression.
Bete was worried slightly as Bell didn't turn to acknowledge him.
"He touched my supporter." Bell spoke coldly, Bete mentally flinching from the lack of tone of the usually expressive Bell.
Bete stepped up beside him. "Can't have that."
The brown haired man, who had stood up only a moment ago, didn't seem to know what to do, entirely caught off guard.
"..."
"..."
They all stared each other down, until Bell made a decision.
"Let's go."
Bete hesitated to follow along, but he soon did.
.
Before long, Bete had heard the story of their encounter with the Apollo Familia.
The Werewolf shook his head. "Bunch of dumbass weaklings."
Bell huffed in amusement.
"So, where're we headed to now?" Welf asked.
"Probably Mia's." Bell said off-handedly.
"Mmh." Bete seemed disappointed.
"What's wrong with the Hostess?" Bell asked.
"Always feel like she's watering my drinks down."
Bell laughed. "Well yeah, cause we do."
"What?!" Bete shouted.
"We were betting on how long it would be till you noticed!" Bell tried to hold his grin, but failed.
"You fuckers!" Bete shouted out in a less than aggressive, but still peeved tone.
The three lower levels laughed as they walked.
.
"Welcome to the-" Ryuu's words died in her throat. "Bell?!"
"Hi Ryuu." Bell said, Lili and Welf waving while Bete looked his grumpy self.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Hopefully drinking nectar while they drink booze."
"Not me!" Shouted Lili, as they were coming to the top of the stairs.
"Right, nectar for both me and Lili." He corrected.
"Bell?" Mia called from the counter.
Bell cursed under his breath. "Yeah?!" He shouted over the busy dining room.
"Get your apron!"
He held his tongue from lashing out. "On it!" He shouted.
Ryuu bowed to the others as Bell lightly ran to the back, not before dropping off a small bag of valis for Bete at the counter. The Snow Elf being fully aware he saved them from a bad fight.
Bell quickly grabbed his work uniform, and wouldn't leave till closing.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
That same evening.
A knock came from the library door, a room which sat in darkness, except for one small magical lantern.
"Come in!" Riveria shouted out, not looking from the page.
"Riveria?" Ais' head poked through the door.
"Oh, Ais." She looked up to the nearby clock, seeing how late it was. "Are you alright? Trouble sleeping?"
Ais looked to the table Riveria was at, seeing the surface covered in dozens of books. "Are you still trying to find out what Bell is?"
She sighed. "Yes, I can't seem to get the idea of him being… Different, out of my head."
"Is that a bad thing?" Ais' head tilted unnoticeably to one side.
"No, it's just… Problematic."
"How?"
Riveria thought for a moment. "Do-Do you remember the spell he used against the Goliath?"
Ais nodded.
"Well, I can't find that either."
Ais looked confused, prompting the High Elf to elaborate.
"That spell has no affinity, at least no affinity I or any of these authors-" She motioned towards the dozens of books across her table. "-have heard of. It's like it doesn't exist, or that it simply was lost."
"He has magic that doesn't exist?" Ais asked.
Riveria looked back to the table. "Yes, and that's dangerous."
"..."
"..."
"Ah! I'm sorry Ais, you came to me, is there something I can help with?" She smiled lovingly to her.
"..." Ais was reluctant to speak her mind.
"You came here for a reason. Is there something, or someone bothering you." Riveria spoke, falling into thought. 'I swear Lefiya, if you did anything weird I'll-'
Ais spoke softly. "It's Bell."
The surrogate mother blinked once, then twice. "And-?"
"I can remember him, but also not, at the same time."
Riveria was understandably concerned by this.
"What do you mean?"
"It's like- It's like I can see him- or that I've seen him someplace before…"
"Where?"
Ais sounded scared. "I don't know."
Riveria quickly leaned forward, pulling Ais into an embrace, something only Ais has ever known her to do.
"It's okay, nobody can hurt you, we'll keep you safe from him."
Ais' voice rang out again. "No!- He's a friend, he's someone I trust… I just don't understand why." Ais slowly broke down.
Riveria took this in, but didn't know what to do with it. She continued to hold Ais, even as she silently weeped in her disturbed and confused state.
"..."
"Do you need me to stay with you tonight?"
No response came, except a small nod against her shoulder.
Riveria held her as they stood, even all the way until Ais was in her bed, Riveria sitting with Ais until her blond daughter fell to sleep.
'It would seem, we're both very confused by him. How tricky…' Riveria thought from the emotionally exhausted girl's bed side.
She would think of her own feelings for the boy, until accidentally falling asleep beside the swordswoman.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
It was a clear day, one Bell had spent in the courtyard of the Blue Pharmacy with Naaza.
Long gone were the days of Bell's archery lessons, now, they practiced side by side, only occasionally being corrected by the Chienthrope on form and the such.
An arrow landed on the line edge of the target's center and first ring.
"Mmh." Bell grunted in dissatisfaction.
"Your hands are shaky today, any reason why?" Naaza asked.
"Probably from serving all night." Bell spoke quite downtrodden.
"Serving?" She questioned.
"Mama Mia makes me work just about any time I see her nowadays. It's quite annoying."
"Sounds like it."
"It's not all bad though."
"How's that?"
Naaza stepped up, notching an arrow.
"May keeps a lot of weird stuff that's not on the menu."
She released the arrow, landing just off of perfect center, but was well within the border.
"Really?" She asked.
They both walked to the target to retrieve their three arrows each.
"Just last night I had Poutine, I didn't even know Poutine was a thing!" He spoke with astonishment.
"What's in it?"
"Fries, cheese curds, and hot gravy."
They plucked their arrows from the target.
"Like cheesy potato soup?" She asked.
"No, like Fries and cheese curds with gravy drizzled over top." Bell clarified.
"Hm." Naaza was interested, but didn't pursue anything more.
As Bell notched another arrow as the door to their right opened, Miach leaned out.
"It's about time for you two to get cleaned up!"
Bell slowly untensed the arrow, freeing it from the string.
They both shared a glance before making way to that same door, sliding their arrows into a quiver residing on one of the discarded crates by said door.
.
After a while, Naaza then Bell had showered, both going to the rooms with the appropriate deities.
.
After some time, Bell and Miach sat on the couch, discussing how Miach recently had gotten his high potions to be so potent.
The Miach Familia had recently discovered a new method of creating high potions of both healing and mind. Though, because of their less than ideal location, no first class adventurers care to purchase from them.
It wasn't long before the two women came from the adjoining hallway that linked all of the second floor.
Bell stood first, Miach not a second behind, both moving to greet their partners for the evening.
(Their clothes are the same from cannon, or at least the anime)
"That suit looks nice on you Bell." Hestia looked him up and down.
Bell didn't, simply because it gave him flashbacks to Mia shouting orders at him on his first day.
"Thank you, you look amazing too! The blue goes well with your eyes, goddess."
"My, what a charmer you've become, Bell." Hestia gained bashfulness.
Bell rolled his eyes. "Ha-ha, goddess." They both smiled at each other.
"Are we ready?" Naaza called from their side.
She wore a relatively simple red dress that revealed her left shoulder, but covered her left. Miach wore a similar suit to Bell's own.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bell was, without a doubt in his mind, out of his element.
He simply stood beside Hestia as she mingled, both not wanting to do so himself, and not really knowing anyone she was talking to.
Though that would soon change when a familiar arm wrapped itself over his shoulder, brushing up on his ear slightly.
"Bell!" Welf spoke loudly.
He smiled. "Welf!"
"You look so uncomfortable." Welf held in his giggles.
"You can say that again." He deadpanned.
"Hello Bell." Came an amused voice.
He looked over, past Welf.
"Oh, right, you haven't met my goddess." Welf clearing his throat.
Bell looked over at the red headed women, then back at Welf.
"Bell, this is my goddess, Hephaestus."
She extended a hand forward, Bell taking it.
"Hello lady Hephaestus." Bell leaned forward, kissing the back of her glove.
"My-my, so much more plight than a certain-" She elbowed Welf in the stomach. "-red head I know."
Bell laughed quietly.
"Haven fun Little Rookie?" Welf challenged with his hurt ego.
"Yeah, I am."
Welf pouted.
Bell turned to leave the two by turning back to go to his goddess. But she wasn't there.
Welf noticed his sudden concern, and quickly grabbed Hephaestus's hand, leaving Bell alone and confused.
"Uh-..." Bell looked around, not knowing what to do.
A few long moments passed.
"Little Rookie?"
Bell turned around, only to find a red head with her eyes closed, not that there were any signs that she was in fact a she, being in a red suit with a white dress shirt.
"Ya look lost." Loki smiled. "Itty bitty ditch ya?"
He looked around quickly, before turning back. "Evidently, yes."
She turned. "Ais."
Bell looked over her shoulder, finding his niece in a sea foam green dress.
"Hey Ais." He called out to her.
"Hello Bell." She spoke in her normal tone.
"Are you both doing well?" He asked them.
"Yeah. Rather be anywhere but here, but yeah." Loki shrugged, huffed in amusement.
Ais spoke up. "You aren't with your goddess?"
"She ran off while I was talking to Welf, who also abandoned me."
A subtle commotion ran through the crowd.
All attention was diverted to the entryway, as goddess Freya entered, escorted by 'The King' Ottar.
He stared along with everyone else, he may consider her his mother, but she was still a beautiful woman, the rightful bearer of the title goddess.
"Always stealing the show, that one." Loki spoke, breaking the silence of the dance hall.
"Can you blame her?" He smiled.
Both Loki and Ais looked at him, seeing the slight smile on his face.
"Don't fall for her now boy, not when you got all the romance of a young man ahead of ya."
Loki tried her best, though she could only do this little bit in the effort to finally give Riveria somebody of her own. Not that Loki thought she'd ever actually try for him.
He laughed. "I don't see her in that way, that in of itself would be problematic."
Though Loki was happy with what he'd said, she was all the more curious.
"What way?" Ais asked, garnering a shocked and uncomfortable look from Bell and Loki alike.
"Oh! What's that over there!" Loki ran off, leaving Bell with the curious Ais.
He stared daggers in the direction the redhead ran off in. Come to think of it, Bell knows a lot of redheads.
He looked back to Ais, who was closer and staring intensely at him.
"What does that mean, Bell?" She tilted her head.
Bell knew he wanted to be part of her life again, but not this part.
He stood up straight, clearing his throat. "Ais, with all due respect."
She stared even harder.
"No."
He ran.
Or at least he would've, had she not latched onto his arm like a steel trap.
"Bell."
"No."
"Bell!"
"No!"
A voice came from a different direction. "Bell!"
"No!"
"...What?"
Bell turned, finding Freya somewhat hurt, not knowing why he had shouted at her.
"Ah! Not you!" He tried to reassure her. "I was talking to Ais!"
The damage had been done.
She fixed her posture, Bell now taking note of her dress, a light purple that covered everything just below her neck bone.
"Dance."
"...Excuse me?" He asked, confused.
"Dance."
She extended her arm, Bell releasing this was meant to be his way of apologizing.
.
Loki watched on from wherever she had ended up, not really caring as long as she didn't have to explain the birds and the bees.
'Wasn't Riveria supposed to do that at one point?' She thought, turning towards the dance floor.
Loki's eyes opened, a freaky sight to all around her.
"Oh shit." She muttered.
'Sorry Mama, I tried to save him, but he's lost now.'
Loki watched as Bell and Freya did… Some kind of dance she'd never seen before, in fact, you might even believe that most people were watching the dance rather than the goddess.
Though, it was kind of odd seeing Freya with him. She looked more relaxed than confident, definitely a weird sight for Loki, who was the most frequently around her besides the goddess of beauty's own children.
There really wasn't a proper way to describe the dance, only being confusing, over complicated, but smooth and simple at the same time.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Luan was rather scared now, having been one of the four present when they attempted to fight Bell in the pub the night prior.
He looked over to the raccoon demi-human preparing to act injured, even though he had only been knocked out.
"Are you sure this is a good move?" The pallum asked Hyakinthos. "I mean, shouldn't we at least warn Apollo of-?!"
"No, it would only hurt our chances of success. We need to corner him and fight head on, if this can be done, there's no chance for failure."
"But-"
"Ah! Just shut up you stupid pallum!"
Luan cowered, moving swiftly away.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bell, now having sated Freya's demands of him, finally found where his goddess had run off to.
"Goddess!" He sounded happy.
"Ah! Bell!" She also sounded happy, turning away from Take and Miach to greet him, wishing she hadn't after seeing the look on his face, one of absolute anger, masked by a smile.
"You abandoned me, goddess."
She hesitated. "Well I… I just wanted to-"
The music stopped, Bell turned, Hestia thankful for only a moment, until she saw why.
At the top of the stairway, center of the dance hall, stood Apollo.
Bell couldn't help but scowl at him, able to see just by how he carried himself, that this was another god who lived in his own little toy box, an individual who saw the world of Genkai like their own amusement park.
Bell couldn't help but see the look of perversion strewn across the gods face as their eyes met for the briefest of moments.
.
Bell, Mikoto and Welf all stood together, all of whom were incredibly uncomfortable at this point.
- Bell was sick of all the looks he'd been getting.
- Welf had been asked about magic swords at multiple points now.
- And Mikoto was done with everything after hearing a god refer to her by her alias, 'Absolute✝Shadow'.
They all sighed in unison.
"..."
Bell lazily looked over to Mikoto. "So, how's Chigusa doing?"
Mikoto found a new wave of energy. "She's doing great, thank you again for coming and healing her! There's no way to properly explain how grateful we all are for that!"
Mikoto was of course referring to earlier that day before arriving at the Blue Pharmacy, when he used his new version of 'Cure Wound' on the previously injured girl.
"Of course, I was just as eager to give my new magic another testing out, so it wasn't just her who got something out of it."
"We thank you regardless!" Mikoto repeated.
"So you're all settling in nicely to Orario?" Bell asked.
"I beg your pardon?" Mikoto asked, her brow scrunching with confusion.
"You're all from the far east, quite the lovely place, but the culture is… Well it's different." Bell put it mildly.
"It was… Difficult at first, but we adapted nicely if I'd say so." Mikoto spoke proudly of her small little family.
The two boys smiled at her.
.
It wasn't long now after Bell had danced with Hestia, that he once again found himself standing alone. It almost seemed to be the main pastime for people like him, that being the children their gods had dragged here.
Bell's head began to feel foggy.
"So, why did you become an adventurer?" Hermes asked.
"...Well, my grandfather would tell me stories every night of Heroes, everything from 'Argonaut' to the 'Mercenary King'."
"That so?" The blond god asked.
"...He… Also suggested my getting a harem… But that was just a joke… I think…"
Bell's heart ran madly, only after a few seconds of staring, did he blink.
He reevaluated his surroundings, looking for oddities. Things that shouldn't be there.
Only to smile lightly, finding that there in fact was something there, though she wasn't anything of concern.
"So how has this evening gone for you Ais?"
Bell looked over, grinning triumphantly at the Level Six who thought she could sneak while in heels.
"I hate these shoes." She pouted, Bell not sure if he was meant to hear that.
She stood up, having been slightly crouched off to his side. "Loki hasn't tried anything, so better than average."
"Try something?" Bell questioned.
"No?" Ais replied.
Shutting Bell down instantly. "I get it." A drop of sweat fell, he'd need to thank Freya for the getaway later.
"..."
"..."
"Soooo-" Bell wasn't sure why she was staring at him so intensely. "Is there something wrong?"
"Dance."
"...Are you Freya now?" He asked.
"Dance."
'Yup, I've got another Freya on my hands.'
He stretched his hand out, Ais taking it as they started towards the open floor.
.
Freya and Ottar couldn't help but notice the two spinning on the dance floor, both her little boy Bell, and the Sword Princess Ais Wallenstein.
Freya found it amusing, their attempts to dance that is, but at the least, she could see that they were having fun.
Though this did worry Freya a touch.
'Not only are you seducing your guild aid, but now you're dancing with the Sword Princess, what on Genkai will be left for poor Ryuu?!'
Ottar could only watch as his goddesses face twisted and turned in tone with her personal turmoil.
'Well, there goes Bell, good luck little man.' The 'King' thought, sighing through his nose.
Back with Freya, she couldn't help but notice how in their battle of which dance to do, they had been switching between human style dancing, and the ancient Snow Elf style they had been doing earlier that evening.
Neither seemed to know quite what the other was doing, but again, Freya could see they were having fun.
.
Bell, like all the others around the ballroom, had absolutely no idea what was happening.
But he was thrilled nonetheless, and he had no intentions to squander these few moments with his beloved niece.
That was, until the music stopped abruptly, a spot light illuminating just him and Ais.
'What's happening?' Ran through both their minds.
Bell turned the same as Ais the next moment, both facing the approaching god, Apollo.
Hestia ran up in front of them, blocking both from direct contact with him.
"Hello dear Hestia." Apollo spoke in a voice that just made him seem oh-so punch-able.
"What do you want, Apollo?"
"It would seem that our children had a bit of a run in at a local pub not just last night, no?"
Bell spoke up. "I recall knocking out one of your extremely antagonistic children after he grabbed my supporter."
Apollo made a face resembling that of questioning or perhaps intrigue.
"Perhaps you can explain this then!"
Apollo made a sweeping motion, showing off his 'injured' child who was currently walking with a crutch and a mostly bandaged body, who wailed on and on about his pain.
Bell stared blankly at the raccoon person.
"Nothing to say young Bell?" Apollo smiled triumphantly.
"...You brought him all the way here while he's in all this pain, just to show him off?"
"..."
"..."
Apollo was thinking, almost so hard you could see the smoke from his ears.
"YOU MUST PAY FOR THIS BELL!" The god, who was not nearly as good at deception as Hermes, shouted to him.
"For what? Your poor planning?"
"A WAR GAMES!" Apollo shouted, immediately livening up the crowd.
Various shouts were heard from the crowd, but Bell didn't care.
"And- if we say no?" He spoke slowly.
"YOU CAN'T JUST SAY NO!" Apollo screamed, turning red.
"Why not?" Bell asked.
"..."
"..."
Apollo couldn't think of any actual rules saying otherwise.
"Right." Bell said. "We're leaving goddess."
Bell grabbed onto both Hestia's and Ais' hands, pulling them back to the crowd, letting Ais go as they got to Loki who was watching with a goofy smile on her face.
It would be a long night of questions and answers from both Bell and Hestia alike.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The field went on forever, never to be crossed by mortals. It's endless golden roses, a beauty beyond measure.
Before her were headstones, all resting in the same golden field, all equally defiled and tarnished... Unreadable in this state.
The sky was painted a dark red, no light coming down from it, instead from the golden rose petals which had been whisked away by the strong winds.
The feeling of imminent death never leaving as she watched.
.
Cassandra was abruptly pulled from her thoughts, Daphne doing so, so that they would not incur Hyakinthos anger.
Cassandra couldn't help it, as the dread came back from that dream just a few days ago.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Fun Facts!
1. The ancient magics of Genkai are said to bring great consequence, but none are more horrifying than those belonging to the affinity of 'Reality'.
2. Bell has a total of 32 spells, though he doesn't use them often, if ever.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A/N
Yay! Another chapter in the books! Feels good!
Sorry for the extra day to write, I had a particularly bad night's sleep the other day, and couldn't get much work done.
.
I want to write the first chapter, or at least get something done in regards to that side story about Bell in Freya Familia (Which will be called 'White Haired Elf: Freya Edition.' I think.)
So there may be another slightly larger gap between chapters, but I'll do my best to prevent that!
.
I would like to address something really quick...
.
.
'I f###ing hate this story, but it's pretty alright.' - from - 'Shadiss'
Did you really read 90,000+ words, just to tell me that? I mean, like, why are you writing a whole paragraph about how you hate harems when the summary literally says there's a harem, it just seems like you're only here to get angry at me.
I kindly ask you, the reader of this story, to please not be like this person.
I will not be offended by questions or honest critiques, but I do strongly dislike people who seem to be on a mission to find something to be upset about.
.
.
Sorry to all of you who have been so kind and courteous, I don't like imposing my personal problems onto others, but I also don't want this type of stuff anymore...
And again, I really do feel bad for making you read that, but I just don't understand some people…
.
Anyways -
Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! I certainly did!
Take care of yourself!