A/N
Hey! Been a few days, nice to see ya!
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First (And only) order of business is to respond to 'uwubean69' (What a name), who asked about my profile picture but doesn't have the means for me to PM them.
That is in fact my cat, she (Nava (Nah-va)) was trying to eat some toothpaste I had just gotten, leading to that picture.
She is an old girl, I think just over 10, maybe she's still 9, idk.
I commonly refer to her as 'tugboat' or 'raccoon' since she's a large cat. (She'd on a diet, don't worry)
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Enjoy!
4,576 Words in total.
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She smiled, ecstatic that her love had fulfilled his promise.
Though he didn't know it yet.
Bell had found her.
And no matter how long it took.
He had waited.
She slowly picked herself up, coming to the edge of the rather thin mattress.
She took in the room around her, packed to the brim with recovering patients. The area was only faintly illuminated by windows high on the wall, around chest height.
Roughly twelve people lay in different states of injury, though none were in any particular danger from complications.
'What the hell is this?!'
She slowly stood, her body still sore from being immobile for nearly three days now.
Eina stumbled as she stepped forward towards the middle aisle, catching herself on the rickety metal bed frame.
She stepped once, twice and a third before her natural rhythm took over, though her legs did feel weaker than last time she'd walked.
As she got to the front of the long room, she stumbled again, but caught herself on the wide door frame of the front hallway. This led to either upstairs, the store front, or the long medical room she'd come from.
Miach was resting against the store counter when he heard the sound of someone falling, a small panic filled him. He quickly turned, yanking the door between them open, then coming face to face with Eina.
"M-Miss, you shouldn't be up!" He got his arm around her waist, though she fought lightly, he started moving her towards the beds again.
She fought again, this time harder, breaking free of him and backing away towards the farther side of the room.
They stood a few yards apart.
"Miss, this isn't a joke, you need to-"
"Where's Orion?!"
Miach abruptly became confused, not knowing who she meant.
"I don't know, but if you'd just take a seat over there, I'll gladly help you figure that out."
Eina stared at him, not sure if he was to be trusted.
The storefront door opened again.
"Miach!-" Naaza still felt the kindle of fear and adrenaline from earlier, having run all the way from Babel, just to be sent all the way back here.
The two women stopped, looking one another over.
"N-Naaza?!"
It took the chienthrope a moment before her eyes widened. "E-Eina?!"
Eina bolted past Miach, the god surprised by her sudden speed.
She ended up with her hands clutching onto the surprised doctor's shoulders.
"Wh-What happened to you Eina?!"
The half-elf was still lost in her own panic.
"Where's Orion?!"
Naaza was equally confused as Miach had been.
"Who?"
Eina looked down towards Naaza's neck, trying to fix her train of thought.
"B-B-Bell, w-where's Bell?!"
Both the resident medical professionals began to think they knew what was happening.
Naaza grabbed onto Eina's shoulders, a stern expression coming onto her. "Bell's fine, he wasn't injured in the battle! He's okay!"
Eina didn't calm down.
"Where is he?!"
Naaza looked over to Miach, who was just as confused as her.
"Eina! Listen to me! Bell is-"
"WHERE IS HE?!" Naaza was taken aback, Eina being louder than she's ever seen her before. That said a lot, having seen the half-elf scolding Bell before.
'Okay, new plan!' Naaza thought.
She hadn't released the unstable girl's shoulders. "Eina, come upstairs. I'll tell you where he is, but do this for me first."
Eina was still panicked, but was slowly regaining her senses.
"O-... Okay."
Naaza slowly let Eina go, then slid her hand behind one of her shoulders and helped guide her to the stairs.
She turned back to Miach, seeing the questions in his eyes. Naaza turned back to the stairs which she stood at the bottom of, seeing as Eina reached half way up, going at a steady pace.
Naaza chanced a few quiet words to her god.
"She's Bell's dungeon advisor."
This was all she said, Miach was still confused, but it helped, if only a little.
She turned, quickly climbing the stairs ahead.
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It didn't take long to catch Eina up on the last few days and where Bell had gone for now.
Naaza was understandably confused when a cat person randomly appeared, glare leveled to her, and told the chienthrope that Bell was with his own goddess, Freya.
She was worried, but he continued, explaining that he'd be back at the Blue Pharmacy when he was ready.
Naaza didn't like the sound of that one bit, but, if he was really telling the truth, she had been casually facing down a Freya Familia member.
She couldn't risk challenging him.
Eina wasn't taking the news of… Well any of it well.
'Hestia is… She's gone?...'
The newly recovered memories came to Eina, every one of them ripe with nostalgia. The now fallen goddess wanted to mourn her dearest friend, but she still had other things to take care of before that could happen.
"So he's at Babel?"
"The Freya Familia is guarding him right now, you can't just waltz in and-"
"I can try."
She frowned. "He'll be back, just wait here until he does."
"No, I need to see him now." Eina refused to back down.
"Look, I don't know what's gotten into you, but-"
"Take me there!"
Naaza jumped in her seat from surprise. "E-Eina, I don't know why you think they'd make an exception-"
"Please."
Naaza stopped, her mind overtaken as she looked into Eina's eyes.
Something was off about them, she wasn't the easily embarrassed clerk at the guild right now. But one thing seemed to come through to the tired doctor.
Eina legitimately believed she would be the exception, and be able to see Bell.
"..."
Naaza continued to stare, fighting the words back as they seemed to slide off her tongue.
"A-"
No stopping them now.
"Alright, I'll take you."
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Miach was confused.
'Eina' Naaza had called her.
He faintly recalled his only- No, his oldest child mentioning her the day she'd encountered Bell at the guild, Naaza teasing the pair as she always did with Bell.
But that wasn't the true reason he was confused, or perhaps, 'concerned' was a better word for it.
This 'Eina' had 'the look'.
It was the same one Naaza had described from Bell after chasing him down yesterday.
And he knew it was the one Naaza had when she woke up for the first time without an arm, worried more about if the others had made it back too. A few hadn't.
The look of pure fear being suppressed under the weight of terror on the behalf of others.
Eina was desperate to get to Bell, he meant something more than their professional relationship entailed.
'But how much?'
The sound of two pairs of feet climbing down the stairs took his mind.
The god of healing paced himself as he went to meet them.
"Miach?" Naaza called, turning the corner, slight surprise from him being right there a foot or less away. "Ah- We're going to Babel, can you manage by yourself?"
Miach was worried, eyes shifting over to Eina, then back.
"I'll do my best."
Naaza began to turn.
His hand stopped her by the shoulder.
"Give him my best."
A look passed between them.
A soft smile and a quick kiss later, Naaza was guiding Eina through the streets while Miach stood there still, flabbergasted at her boldness.
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It was a cool morning, for summer at least.
Orario sat in an area of the world that would be cool, a temperate climate, but the ocean several dozens of miles away carried the warmer air north and into the territory of Orario.
It was a cooler afternoon than normal, sitting at a comfortable 73 degrees Fahrenheit (22 Celsius).
They jogged- er- Eina jogged. Naaza walked, which was a little faster than the Level Two thought possible for a Falnaless person.
They dodged past various groups heading out from Babel down Western Main, the street already repaired by the clean up crews.
Eventually, the duo ended up in the central plaza, though they didn't stop there.
Naaza tried to get Eina to slow down, not wanting her to just charge head first for the guarded private elevator to the upper Babel suites.
But Naaza couldn't manage this, the girl being too persistent.
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Ottar had elected to give the two some space, along with that, he expected Horn to arrive any minute now.
The girl who had linked with his and her goddess had the uncanny ability to sense Freya's distress, even if it wasn't part of her abilities to do so, purly instinct.
He grunted, worried beyond measure for his goddess and Bell.
He didn't understand the full story, never having been given it in one go before, but from what he understood-
This level of bad didn't have a proper word.
He sighed as the elevator came to a jarring stop from his full weight.
Between the elevator and outside was a short hallway, a sealed door at its end.
He could hear a commotion raging between the standing guards and somebody else.
He approached the door with gusto, not permitting anything to be out of place in a time like this.
The doors opened with a thud.
The guards, once resolute in holding Eina back, now cowered in the wake of the Freya captain.
The Boaz's voice was deep and intimidating.
"What is this?"
Everything within a small radius, even people who weren't involved, became silent.
"..."
His already bad mood only soured. "Well?"
Eina stepped up, boldly putting herself before the intimidating monolith of a man.
"I-I want to see Ori-Bell Cranel."
Ottar only glared at her.
"Why would that be?"
She gulped. "I-I just need to see him, he'll understand if I can-"
"Until he leaves this building, you have no business with him. Be gone."
Eina looked down, heart pounding as she became fully aware of the potential consequences to her words.
She whispered.
A new fear swept through the area, as Ottar's eyes widened, frozen from whatever it was she had spoken below anyone else's hearing level.
He looked down at her, a seriousness covering his features.
Eina was about to back away, thinking her strategy backfired.
Before the Boaz grabbed her arm, dragging her inside with him, not a word spoken as it happened.
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After a brief back and forth, Eina seeing a more worried and frantic side of the man than anyone had before, they climbed the once unimaginable height of Babel.
On the elevator, Eina reflected on the simple two words she uttered to get into this situation.
A name that all but a select few knew in all of the world.
'Snow Elf.'
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(Long ago)
It was freezing, the winds being even more ruthless in the winter season of the north, the season lasting an average of forty years.
She had heard about this journey before, how an individual should never make the trip alone, how it was impossible to do under these conditions.
But she knew she could pull it off, what else could be done to prove that she wasn't worthless.
She'd be the first, the first of this century to see them, in the flesh.
Snow Elves.
They were the leaders of her entire race and all its variations.
Pilgrimages were only conducted as the seasons permitted, and were usually only royalty and religious leaders.
Not half-elves like herself.
But Anny wanted to prove them wrong, she'd earn her right to be among the others, she'd be given that blessing by the Snow Elves if it was the last thing she did.
And it might just have been.
Where she needed coat upon coat to even get warm enough to just shiver, Snow Elves went about their days in just light clothing.
They were truly a marvel, the rightful leaders of all Elven kind, if only in her opinion.
She couldn't wait to go home, to tell everyone about how magnificent they were.
.
But she wouldn't.
She fell to her knees, eyes wide in absolute devastation and horror.
The town was burning, there was nobody running, nobody fleeing.
After minutes of comprehending what she saw, the snow storm picked back up.
Anny got up, forcing her heavy bag off, then onto the ground.
She ran with all her power, leaving behind knee height tracks through the ever building up snowfall.
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She searched as she trudged through the town, but never found one- not one single person.
Horizontal snowfall blotted out everything beyond a few tens of feet in any direction, only extended by the faint light of burning buildings just outside that range.
She couldn't go on, falling to her knees. Desperately wishing that someone, anyone, would appear and tell her she was wrong, tell her she'd not make it here, tell her she'd found some other village…
She almost fell over the edge. Almost stopped believing in that slim hope… Almost began to cry.
Before a soft crunch sounded off just louder than the whistling winter winds blowing past her ears.
She was scared, she hadn't seen anything since entering the village.
No people.
No animals.
No tracks.
But she had to, she needed to turn around, her journey was for nothing if she didn't.
It took a step closer.
She turned, eyes locking onto those of the small boy standing behind her.
Eyes the color of ruby, hair white as snow.
Nothing more than a child.
Just after their eyes met, he recoiled, beginning to try and get away from her.
She climbed up, snow falling off of her coat as she did.
He tried his best to run, but the snow was up to his stomach.
She caught up fast, wrapping him in her arms.
"G-Get away!" He screamed, pushing at her face.
"I- pwa!- I'm here to h-help!" She shivered, his hand freezing against her cheek as he stopped fighting.
He looked back at her, not quite believing her.
"It's okay! I'm not going to hurt you!"
He looked back into her eyes, hers being orange, hair a short dark green.
She was the first person he wasn't blood tied to, that he would call family.
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Hours passed after Anny found Bell, finding a still intact house, untouched by flames.
She quickly hid the carpet which was blood stained, likely from a person trying to resist whoever their attackers were.
But the hearth lit all the same as before, providing the crucial warmth her body so desired.
Bell refused to leave her side, both sleeping under a found blanket by the fire.
They both slept, but night didn't end, the north having longer nights than any other place on Genkai. Anny spent her time searching for more survivors, she wanted to find more, even if she had no hope left.
Night came, the cycle repeated, both her and Bell finishing off the food stores kept in the house.
The next day brought the first sun of spring and an end to the snowstorm.
She knew another several years of winter were only a few days away. The cycle repeated until the highly anticipated 'long summer', when the sun wouldn't set for several years, would arrive.
For the first time, Anny could see the entire village clearly, the long stretches of broken down houses, snow covered roads, and never ending carnage.
Anny couldn't keep going, she couldn't handle the sight of the empty village, never finding so much as a body anywhere.
'What in the hell could that even mean?!'
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Bell liked living with Anny in the Ryumilua Forest, though, it was mostly because of her being there with him.
The boy had been just over Six-hundred years old when Anny found him, a human nine or so.
She lived on the edge of the forest, not welcomed into the main territory controlled by the small elven forest.
The Ryumilua Forest was not unique in its anti-mixed blood views, though it was taken to an extreme here.
Many people were willing to trade, talk, and mingle with Anny, but she would never belong to either the human or elven communities. She was seen by humanity as a stuck up elf, while the elves saw her as a lowly human.
She was alone, just like Bell would have been, her own father leaving before her mother knew that she was pregnant, and her mother dying of a disease in the early years of her childhood.
The half-elf refuses to let Bell be alone in this world while she was still in it.
Anny ran a shop at the outskirts of the forest, trading goods from travelers for her own, then those for more forest goods. She was essentially the buffer that allowed trade to happen for the entire Ryumilua Forest.
He would play with the children of travelers, they were often scared from his ears, Elves did not leave the forest after all. And when they did, it was always for reasons of war and trade, not children's play time.
Bell didn't have a consistent friend until Mavy arrived on a caravan. She was a traditional Elf, one of the first Bell had ever seen since he couldn't enter the heart of the forest.
He liked her, like a boy does.
He'd pick her flowers, play games with her, pull her hair, the whole deal.
But he and her were different.
As the years went by, Mavy got older, the same with Anny.
Mavy, his only friend, grew from her childhood to a full grown adult before his Seven-hundredth birthday.
Anny died from old age just after his Seven-hundred and seventieth birthday, gifting Bell her old knife, the same one she had on her belt when she found him.
This, of course, set him on the path to a lifelong preference to knives as a weapon.
Bell was devastated at this, he hadn't a full grasp on the concept of death yet, only vaguely understanding that his parents had gone away, never to return.
Mavy took over his care from then on, but would be taken away around his Nine-hundredth birthday. She was forced to live in the heart of the forest for the rest of her life, the elven council not permitting the mingling of outsiders with 'pure' elves.
They didn't care for him when he was found, believed to be the biological child of Anny, and by that logic, not a true elf.
She was kept there by force, but from what he understood through letters, she lived with as much freedom as was afforded by the average citizen there, even marrying and taking on a name he'd now long forgotten.
He lived alone for more than Two-hundred years.
He left home just after his Eleven-hundred and Twelfth birthday, never to return after hearing of Mavy's passing. He was a human Fourteen.
He had heard of her marriage, and even two children. But, as horrible as it made him feel, they were total strangers to him, having no chance of ever meeting them.
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Bell, Five-hundred years after Anny adopted him, would return to his ancestral home.
The bacteria needed to decompose wood had no way of crossing the tundra's of the north, so the ruins of his home were still there, waiting for him.
It was eerie, the spring season had just begun when he arrived, the snow was melting, but it would persist until the next winter set in.
He wanted to finish what Anny had started, feeling it only right to do so.
He found three bodies in the entire village, a village of once over Seven-hundred lives.
Bell spent ten years tracking down the source of his people's demise.
Eventually locating a city that had long fallen.
There were corpses and skeletal remains everywhere within the city walls.
It was disgusting.
The bacteria that was absent from his people's village, was not in this kingdom.
Only the stones remained, with the exception of a few dozen books kept safe deep in the main keep of the lord's home.
He discovered the vial history belonging to the final days of this unknown and unnamed place.
- Ill maintained infrastructure leads to corruption and distrust in the people. -
- That corruption and distrust was used to fight among one another. -
- The infighting turned brutal, food became scarce. -
- The kingdom turned to more barbaric ways. -
- Cannibalism was rampant, there was no other option. -
- It didn't stop until a small revolt turned into a full blown insurrection. -
- But the leaders of that insurrection went mad with power. -
- They weren't stupid, they knew their rule would be flimsy at best, so they made a plan. -
- Create a divine event, make them believe that they knew best, but what to do? -
- They told every man, woman and child of how the 'Snow Elves' can bring an end to their suffering, an end to their hunger, and end to their suffering. -
- All through blood. -
- It only took a night for them to band together, and capture everyone but himself and the three corpses he found. -
But the pages after this ran blank.
He would never know what happened after, why the bodies littered the streets. If his people died for nothing at all.
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Until meeting Freya in Orario.
He learned that, yes, they died for nothing.
Nothing but greed.
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(Current Day)
The room was illuminated by the sun, coming in through the massive, wall sized window to their right, backs to the suite's door.
Freya had a light, but worried smile as she slowly raked her fingers through Bell's hair, the boy having fallen asleep while telling her of his less than pleasant life.
His mind was blank, no dreams ran through his mind as he rested against her lap.
She needed him to be strong, now more than ever.
He told her everything. His time with Anny and Mavy, his discovery of the dead city, his time with Albert. Even Artemis.
The idea that Snow Elf blood granted immortality was false, and even then, she never let it escape that isolated, dead city.
Nobody knew of the stereotype, but it scared her nonetheless, just as it did Bell.
He was her treasure, she'd never let them get him.
But he couldn't be held prisoner, it was against the very idea she had created them for.
They were meant to be free, to exist happily, how could she put someone like that in a cage?
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They were on the couch facing away from the entryway door.
This wouldn't have mattered, had nobody just taken the elevator up.
But someone did.
Bell's ear twitched, his hearing far better than the goddesses, and either way, how could any person reasonably miss that 'thunk' it made with Ottar on it.
His eyes fluttered open, bringing a small sigh from the goddess who was just fine with the present situation.
He slowly looked up to her, as the doors opened slowly.
Ottar stood in the half open double doors, not letting the person behind him in just yet.
"G-Goddess… We have a problem."
Bell and Freya, looking into each other's eyes at that moment, shared a look of surprise mixed with disbelief.
'Did Ottar sound… Nervous?'
Bell quickly sat up, Freya shifting her hips to look back at her captain.
"W-What's the problem?" Freya asked, trying to ignore his previous stutter.
"A-Are you okay?" Bell asked.
"A person showed up at the entryway door down below, claiming to be his advisor."
"Eina?" Bell called.
She glanced over at the boy, and back at Ottar.
"Okay, why is this of concern?" The goddess asked, somewhat perplexed.
"She knew about Snow Elves-"
"Bring her."
Bell was taken aback, eyes wide at the Boaz in the doorway, Freya was also surprised, but in her eyes, fire raged.
Ottar was reluctant, but stepped forward, opening the doors along with him.
The girl, who had been trying to push Ottar out of her way, fell onto her face as the wall of a man suddenly moved.
Bell watched this all, confusion evident.
Freya stood, moving around the couch to meet the guild advisor who was currently working on the strength to pull herself up.
"Explain yourself."
Bell was taken aback by her tone, only having really heard her talk to him in a mostly kind and caring way, but now, she had an edge to her.
Eina looked up, eyes hidden from Bell as he remained on the couch, wondering what had happened to her hair and Freya in general right now.
"I-I just wanted to see-" Eina turned to Bell, both their eyes widening as they met the other's gaze.
It was like Bell had stepped back through time.
Her eyes were magical, the same green shade that had haunted him ever since losing her.
Since losing- "Artemis?" His voice rang out softly.
The room was dead silent.
Freya froze, the few descriptive words about the long unseen goddess passed through her mind, the very same ones Bell had used only an hour or so earlier.
Eina's hair had turned blue while unconscious, the same as her past life, along with her now lighter green eyes.
"-Orion-?!"
Freya didn't need to turn towards Bell to see his soul light up in a blinding flash of light.
She couldn't explain it.
His soul was clouded only moments ago, but now, it was as clear as the air around her, and it burned.
It burned so bright, the world was dim in comparison.
Freya was so stunned, she almost didn't notice the draft from him passing.
Only a blink after Eina had called to him, had Bell wrapped his arms around her.
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The stars were beautiful that evening as Freya and Horn stared out the window.
That was all there was to do since Bell was too preoccupied with Eina… Artemis?... Oh, whatever.
Freya could clearly see the constellations as the clouds rested below the tower's peak.
'The Wagon', 'The Mouth of the Wolf', even 'The God's Nail'.
But one in particular peeved the goddess of beauty, that being 'Freya's Girdle'.
This constellation also happened to be known in the southern regions as 'Orion'.
…
Freya pouted.
The point being that Bell had been completely stolen away by this girl.
Freya was unendingly happy for him, but she wanted to spend time with him too!
Yes, Freya had been saying all the time to Horn how she wanted grandchildren. But if this was the cost, she wasn't so sure anymore.
'Bell was still her son dammit!'
.
The night moved on and on.
Bell couldn't seem to let go of her hand, both out of excitement for her to even be here, and secretly, out of fear that she'd disappear with every blink of his eyes.
Eina had explained the concept of her regaining the lost memories at least three times by now, but Bell didn't seem to understand.
But he understood all he needed to.
This was Eina, who just so happened to be Artemis as well.
It fit honestly, worried until the end for him, being so brutally honest whenever he did something rash, only willing to dive into her more emotional side when alone.
He couldn't help but smile.
It was amazing to even think about.
He found her.
He found her!
His smile, still strong, grew even wider.
And for the first time, though it wouldn't last forever, he forgot the agony of the past few days.
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Fun Fact!
Bell is fairly confident that a traveling merchant family has a similar appearance to his own, passed down through it's generations.
He has never once found these people, but in his travels, he has been called by various names from people he's never met, all claiming him to be a merchant who passed through town recently.
He finds it rather annoying.
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A/N
Heyo! Hope it turned out okay!
I need to let you guys know, I'm effectively out of fun facts now, so that's probably going to go away unless I randomly find another interesting tidbit about Bell's past.
Hope that's okay with everyone.
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Bell finally gets a happy moment, yay!
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I'm thinking of doing a recap chapter next, it would come out as chapter 22, alongside chapter 23.
It would basically be a bulletin list of facts already revealed in this story.
Let me know if you guys want me to do this.
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Thank you all for reading!
Have a great end to your week!