A/N
Aye! I'm back, nice seeing all of you again!
Well, let's get his boat to the bottom already!
.
I've been dreading writing this chapter for a few weeks now, I just hope it meets atleast the very minimum expectations for it.
.
Please enjoy!
5,622 Words in total.
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Bell's eyes slowly opened, and not for the first time this week, finding an unfamiliar ceiling to greet him.
His mind was calm, pondering the various places he might be.
It was a strange white color, no seams visible at any point in its surface.
He tried to sit up, only to be met with light resistance, a weight on his side and chest.
He looked down at himself, finding an arm over him.
Then a little to his left, and found a sight he'd remember forever.
Artemis cuddling against his side, lightly pulling to keep from drifting away.
His breath stopped, all of the events from yesterday coming back as he made sense of her.
He smiled, a few rouge tears blurring his sight.
The unobstructed arm to his side moved, wrapping gently around her head, careful not to disturb her sleep.
He held her closer, as much as he could, just so unbelievably grateful that she was still here.
That it hadn't been a dream.
.
She stirred.
Eina felt warm, but quite liked this feeling.
She slowly opened her eyes, only to find a black shirt, her arm resting across it.
For the briefest of moments she was surprised, almost turning hostile, before remembering who this black shirt belonged to.
Her heart gently picked up speed.
Eina slowly lifted her head to hopefully catch what she imagined would be a dopey smile as he slept, she was surprised to find him looking back.
A moment passes before they both flushed.
Bell quickly tried to back away, but ended up sliding backwards, right off the couch.
A thunk from a falling Bell later, and Ottar was standing above what remained of the door to the suite's bedroom wing, ready to kill if necessary.
But instead of a sudden and violent invasion of his goddesses private home in Babel, he found two red in the face idiots embarrassed from the position now defunct by Bell falling down.
The three simply stared back at each other, nobody truly knowing what was happening.
Freya walked in from just behind Ottar.
Bell was forced to look away, the goddess of beauty only being in an oversized button up shirt, typically sleeping in the nude, and Bell did not need that mental image of the woman he called Mom.
"What's going on?" Freya rubbed her eyes.
Eina was stuck looking between Bell on the floor and the goddess with her captain, before noticing why Bell had turned away.
"L-Lady Freya! Please put some clothes on!"
Freya looked down at herself, then back at Eina.
She grinned. "Says the girl who spent the night with her boyfriend."
Bell and Eina both grew even more red.
"WHA- We didn't- JUST GO!" Eina waved her arm at the goddess, trying her best to play the very evident embarrassment off.
Freya continued to smirk as she turned and left through the same door she'd come from.
.
"So… What is it?" Eina asked.
Bell scratched his cheek. "Uh… I think it's pancake mix…"
The two were alone in the kitchen of the Babel Suite, staring down a Sixty gallon trash can that did not contain garbage, but was nearly full of a mysterious golden white powder.
"Yeah, it's pancake mix." Horn spoke from the kitchen entrance.
They both jumped.
Bell recovered. "Why did you do that?!"
The grey haired woman smiled. "Because it was funny." She walked up between them. "We keep so much of it because pancakes are the only things Lady Freya can actually make."
Bell looked a little skeptical. "But… This much…?"
Horn simply sighed, not out of annoyance, but from the mental pain caused by Freya's previous cooking experiments.
"We've had six different chefs try and teach her how to cook…" Horn could feel their eyes on her as she slouched. "They all ran from Orario to escape our lady and her cooking."
'...Six…?'
"So... Why the pancake mix?" Bell asked rather hesitantly.
Horn lifted her head, again looking at the massive container of powder.
"It makes her feel better when people actually like her food, so…"
Bell nodded in understanding. "You eat a lot of pancakes then?"
Horn nodded.
.
The four mortals sat at the sides with Freya at the head of the table.
Bell and Horn at her left and right, Eina at Bell's side, Ottar to Horns.
Bell had to admit, they were good pancakes, when they were eaten plain.
He had used the 'homemade syrup' on his first stack, but unfortunately, he didn't quite catch Horn's signals not to.
The syrup was bad, really bad.
But, being the good son he was, he scarfed them down with minimal expressions of disgust, and always when Freya wasn't looking.
But what scared Bell the most, was how she herself didn't notice the awful taste.
Ottar and Horn had finished fast, faster than Freya could even plate her first stack.
She had just finished as Bell took his third stack, Eina finished with only two stacks herself.
Suddenly, as the pancakes hit his plate, Bell felt Freya suddenly begin staring at him.
He literally flinched as the bottle was slowly pushed towards him.
He slowly looked up from the bottle, after a second, finding Freya smiling warmly to him.
"Go on Bell, pancakes are always better with syrup!"
Bell was about to kindly refuse, until he mistakenly looked into her eyes, seeing the excitement and anticipation in them.
His hands shook, body fighting his weak mind, desperate not to consume this poison.
Eventually, his hand wrapped around the bottle, sweating slightly from the internal conflict as syrup drizzled over the fluffy disks.
"M-Mmmh!..." Bell forced himself to comply with the now ecstatic goddess.
Her smile brightened the room, while Bell silently prayed to not get food poisoning.
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Bell sighed, trying desperately to calm his stomach with steady breathing.
It was not working.
Eina was worried. "Are you sure you're going to make it?"
"Ye-" Belch. "Y-Yeah…"
They had just walked out of the elevator lobby, Eina looking ever more concerned for Bell, half hunched over as he firmly held his stomach, looking as though he'd been grievously wounded.
They walked on for some time, having to round Babel, needing to go west while the exit was on the east.
As they were getting to the south side, Eina's concern only mounted.
"Perhaps we should stop at the guild so you can lay down?"
Bell, trying to be tough in front of her, forced himself to stand straight, and took one step, before falling to his knees.
"Y-Yeah, I probably should."
.
Misha and Rose were currently interrogating Eina in the employee lounge, Bell lay on one of the couches to the side, half seriously considering death as an option out of this pain.
"What do you mean 'I just woke up like this'?!" Rose was very concerned.
"I-I just did, I don't really know how though…" Eina lied.
Misha was all but in tears. "Our innocent Eina is gone!" The pinkette was being overly dramatic.
A bead of sweat rolled down Eina's befuddled face.
Off to the side, Bell went from on his back with an arm over his eyes, sounds of death coming from his stomach. To out the door, bound for the bathroom.
"..."
"..."
They all started in complete silence.
Before Misha wailed again.
"SHE'S GONE!"
Rose looked over in annoyed concern.
Eina sighed. 'Gods, why?'
.
Bell stumbled out of the Guild bathrooms, feeling much better, but even more dead inside.
He was almost about to enter back into the employee lounge, when he spotted Eina and Rose talking just behind the exchange counter.
He changed course, and after a moment Eina noticed him.
He was behind the counter. He'd made it halfway to them, before a voice rang out.
"BELL CRANEL?!" A high pitched voice shouted out from across the front desk.
He froze immediately.
"Is that really you Bell?!"
He remained still, even as Eina and Rose looked towards the voice.
"It is, isn't it!"
Eina, still looking towards the voice, began to address him.
"Who is that B-"
He shot forward, instantly crossing the distance, a hand now covering Eina's mouth.
He smiled, she could tell it was fake.
"Mam! You can't be back here!" A guild worker shouted at the loud woman as she hurried behind the counter.
"Bell!"
He shivered, the voice now right behind him.
He faced reality, slowly turning.
His eyes shifted down to the goddess whose head only reached his shoulders.
"G-Goddess Nusa… What a surprise..."
The girl was none other than the goddess Nusa-kor-kamuy.
Nusa-kor-kamuy was a short goddess, standing at 143cm (4ft 8in). She had shoulder length dark red hair that just reached far enough down to part over her shoulders. Eyes as black as the night sky.
She latched onto Bell's shirt, a tick mark appearing on Eina's forehead.
"Join my Familia!"
Bell darkened. "No."
She flinched, but persisted. "Join my Familia!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"No."
This went on for several minutes, Bell sounding even more annoyed by the second, and her seeming to get more and more frustrated.
Bell decided he'd had enough and grabbed Eina's hand, earning a small 'Eep' from her.
"Let's go."
"W-Wait!-ouf-" Nusa fell over, tripping on her own feet as she followed them out into the main guild hall.
"Goddess!" A boy with tan skin ran to her side.
"B-Bell! You can be my captain-!" Nusa shouted in thinly veiled desperation. "Darn it, he's gone." She pouted.
The boy kneeling by her side got upset. "Hey!? I'm your captain, remember?!"
"Relax Tiamat, you're supposed to be the man of the Familia, remember?" She grinned.
"Coming from the giant with a man's name." He clapped back.
"I DIDN'T CHOSE MY NAME!" The pale girl, Helge, shouted at him. "And I'm only an inch taller than you!"
"I'm Six foot Two!"
They bickered while Nusa was still pouting at the door Bell had exited through.
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"Who was that Bell?" Eina asked, still being pulled along as they went down Western Main.
"I'd rather not think about her." He seemed grumpy. "Just happy she didn't have the snake."
"SNAKE?!" Eina all but screamed in the crowded street, many heads turning to them.
Bell pulled her along faster, getting them out of the area and on to the side road leading to the Blue Pharmacy.
The streets were quiet out this way, enough so that they could talk with relative privacy.
"...Bell?"
"Mh?"
"Should I dye my hair brown?"
They stopped.
"What?" Came Bell.
"Well… My hair turned it's old blue color after getting my memories back, and everyone knows me with my brown hair, it's probably going to be confusing to a bunch of people like it was for Rose and Misha."
She poked her indexes together, a light blush forming while looking off to the side.
"...So, which do you like better, Blue or Brown?"
"..."
Bell looked at her, he didn't know what to say, so he responded with the first thing that came to him.
"Well, either way, I'll still love you, so do whatever makes you most comfortable."
"..."
"..."
He realized what he'd said, you'd know this based on the several shades of red invented by him only moments after saying this.
"AH!" Eina was in shock.
They continued to stare at one another, Eina just trying to process this.
It was meant to be an icebreaker to get him to talk about that small goddess back at the guild, not this!
He grabbed at her hand, leading her further on towards the Miach Familia home, secretly using this as a way to hide his embarrassment from her.
Eina was still coming to terms with his words, when she noticed his notably warmer hand from his blush, giggling to herself just after.
'...He loves me...'
She couldn't help the silly grin that spread across her.
She pumped her fist behind him.
'Take that you elf princess and cute barmaid coworker!'
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It wasn't long before they arrived at their destination, but still cooling off from Bell's accidental oversharing.
They found themselves at the shop's front entrance, the little alert bell rang as he began holding the door for Eina.
The half-elf smiled playfully. "Why, thank you kind sir-"
"BELL!" Naaza screamed from somewhere else in the home, having heard the door ring.
In that moment, he actually considered going back to Babel as fast as he could, even if it meant eating more of Freya's cooking.
He made his decision, turning to leave the building, never to return.
Until a hand clamped down in an unyielding iron grip over his shoulder.
"Bell~" Naaza wasn't going to let him go anywhere, boasting a psychotic grin.
His head seemed to creak like a rusty door hinge as he tried to face his captor.
"He-Hey C-Captain!..."
"Hmhmhm!"
He couldn't help but feel as though all hope was lost for him.
.
"YOU WERE GONE ALL NIGHT!"
Bell was on his knees before Naaza, the very same woman chewing him out in the middle of the storefront floor.
"I-I was upset-"
"You think we weren't"
Eina was right there beside him, also on her knees.
"Bell did just go through-"
"And you!" Naaza shouted, turning her attention towards the blue haired girl who audibly gulped.
"I stood under Babel for THREE HOURS waiting for you!"
"S-Sorry…"
Naaza was growling now, Miach finally gaining the courage to step in.
"Are you alright Bell?"
He was hesitant, but spoke up softly. "I just needed to speak to somebody who knew about… about me. I'm sorry for running like that…"
Naaza and Miach were a bit confused.
"What does that mean, Bell?" Miach asked.
His head lowered, but he knew he had to tell them, it was the least he could do. He was under their care after all.
"Can- Can we go upstairs? I don't want anyone to accidentally hear this."
Naaza and Miach shared a quick glance, his captain nodded, then led the way.
.
To say that Miach and Naaza were not expecting that, was an understatement.
They were taking it as well as anyone else could, but the whole story took time to tell, and a bit of convincing. So it wasn't like they were sitting bug eyed on the faded green couch across from him and Eina, they were just kind of there, trying to comprehend it all.
"I… Will admit." Miach spoke slowly. "I didn't expect that to be why you panicked."
The god turned to Naaza beside him.
She was having a little crisis of her own.
'I yelled at him - I yelled at him - I yelled at him-'
She felt horrible about being so hard on him when there was such a mind bendingly horrible thing going on.
"So?" Bell asked, looking more than a little down, also tired from telling such a long and complicated story.
Both the elder Miach Familia members looked at him in slight confusion.
"What's wrong, Bell?"
He looked afraid to speak again. "Can I… Stay?"
They were both dumbfounded. 'Did he think we were gonna kick him out?!'
The shock soon wore off.
"Bell-" Naaza was trying to be compassionate, before Miach cut her off.
He shouted. "We would never do that!"
He quickly moved around the small coffee table that separated the couches. The god planting a knee on the edge of the couch, allowing him to safely lower down and pull Bell into a strong hug, surprising everyone.
Miach was slightly muffled. "We'll never turn on you, you're Family now. Don't you ever forget that."
Bell slowly began raising his hands, before they quickly wrapped around the gods back.
Bell tried his best not to let too much emotion out, but it was a lost effort.
"Th-Thank you." He spoke quietly for just Miach.
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Bell stood dumbly in the medical room of the Blue Pharmacy. The room was empty of the dozen people given to them by Dian Cecht Familia.
In the now deserted room was a woman, visually just a bit older and taller than Bell, she had long, light red hair tied into two ponytails.
She wore a red and white apron covered dress, looking like that of a nurse's outfit, an embroidered Freya emblem on her shoulder.
"Hello Bell." She smiled on, chipper as a jaybird.
"Uh- Hi… Who are you?"
She huffed in amusement. "I am "Please stop being so modest." She smiled lightly, before turning her attention to Miach and Naaza just behind him.
"Under the orders of my Lady Freya, the 'Andhrímnir' division has healed all in your care so you may leave the building when your guide arrives."
Naaza stepped up. "What? Leave, why?"
"Well, she didn't say, but I don't make a habit of questioning her orders. Just like anyone else in my Familia, we'd drop everything for the chance to serve."
"Did… Did you do all this-" Miach motioned to the room around them. "-By yourself?"
The tall woman only nodded.
"That's very impressive." Miach sounded genuinely surprised, but he obviously could tell if she'd been lying.
She bowed slightly to him. "Thank you, that means a lot coming from a deity of medical background."
Naaza subtly wrapped her arm around Miach's.
"Is there anything else I may assist with?" Heith asked.
Bell turned back to look at his god.
"Ah- No, that was everyone in our care, thank you again."
"Again, it was an honor to serve my goddess."
"Still, can we repay you in some way?" The god asked.
Heith almost said 'no', but she hesitated, her eyes slowly shifting over towards Bell.
Everyone watched as her eyes met Bell's own, the boy feeling a little uncomfortable.
She licked her lips.
Eina's eyes widened, instantly clinging to Bell's arm.
Her and the red haired woman locked eyes, glaring daggers at each other.
She broke off from Eina.
"I will be taking my leave, if there is nothing else." She addressed the somewhat confused Miach.
"Ah- Yes, please give Lady Freya our thanks." He rambled out as she was already making way past them for the door.
"Of course, have a pleasant evening."
She exited, closing the door with a soft thud.
Bell was somewhat confused, before looking over to the clock, it read 1:00 Pm.
"Well time sure did fly by today." He muttered off-handedly.
The room was silent as Bell's god and captain stared at him.
"You wanna explain what just happened?" Naaza called from the side.
"..."
He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.
"Uh, well- Remember how I said Freya thinks of me as her son?"
Both Naaza and Miach nodded.
"Well… A lot of Freya Familia also see it that way, so their devotion for her… Kinda… Translated to me…"
He got flustered when they only reacted with deadpan expressions.
"I-It's not like I wanted this!"
They continued to stare.
"Come on!"
They turned and began walking away, the only one staying was Eina on his arm
"Guys?! GUYS?!"
.
Bell was still spiraling from the loss of respect from Naaza and Miach, not to mention the fire storm of calming Eina down.
The boy was all but beaten to a mental pulp, leaning against the counter of the storefront with as little face as she could save before they zoned him out.
Eina was upstairs being put through a physical by Naaza, the only other woman present, while Miach cleaned the medical area.
Bell just wanted to crawl under a rock and die.
The ring of the door opening brought Bell back, quickly putting his best smile on.
"W-Welcome!" Bell realized a second later who it was.
His eyes widened at Bete, who was casually strolling towards the counter.
"Yo."
"Ah- Hi."
Bell was surprised, he'd never guess that Bete would come all the way from the far north of Orario, just to end up here of all places.
"Oh, would you like to look at our sto-"
"Pack your shit, and come with me."
"..."
"..."
"What?" Bell deadpanned.
"I don't know either, Loki said to come get you, I'm just following that drunk's orders." He seemed annoyed as he mentioned Loki.
"...Huh?" Bell was still confused. "O-Oh…" He realized that this was why Freya had sent Heith.
Bell still stood there, staring at Bete.
"GO GET YOUR STUFF!"
.
Bete led them as they each carried a case of luggage.
Well, Bell was carrying Naaza's, but that's beside the point.
Bell trudged on beside Bete as the others walked in a line beside each other.
The wolfman grunted to himself. "So how've you been?"
Bell didn't look at him. "Been goin."
Bete nodded, neither needing more to understand the sentiment.
Step.
Step.
Step.
"Soooo… What's happening exactly?" Naaza spoke up from behind them.
Bell answered. "Ah- I think Freya sent Heith so we could all stay at Loki Familia's home tonight."
"Why?" Miach asked.
"Well… It's probably to do with yesterday's excitement…" Bell tried to tiptoe around Bete's presence.
A faint understanding came over the trio.
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Bell stood inside the entrance of the goddess Loki's office, who currently sat behind her desk.
The room was as wide as it was long, directly opposite of the door was Loki's desk. Between him and it was a set of two red couches facing one another. A seat height coffee table separating them with enough space to comfortably walk, but still reach the table.
He looked between the others present, those being Ais and Riviera.
Riveria stood beside the left couch, Ais sitting on the desk's side of the same.
The goddess was matching the seriousness of her children. It was quite a difference from her usual good mood, the one he'd always see at the Hostess.
"Sit down." Loki even sounded serious, making a select few hairs stand on his neck.
As he stepped forward from the door, Loki stood, moving to sit opposite of him on the two red couches.
He'd come to sit opposite of the three as Loki sat only a second after himself, his hands one each of his knees.
He and the goddess eyed one another.
"So, Bell."
He looked to her, a small neutral smile on him as he faced down the second most powerful goddess in Orario.
He noticed as Riveria moved to stand between him and the door.
He looked back to Loki, a bit worried now.
"It would seem our adorable little Ais here needs to speak to you about something."
'...Hegh?' Bell felt the dread building.
He noticed Ais gulp lightly.
'Oh… No…'
Ais met his eyes, nervousness everywhere inside. "I remember you…"
"..."
"What?" Bell asked in surprise, not sure if he'd heard the girl right.
"You… You're my Uncle… Right?"
"..."
"..."
The three women were somewhat concerned at the lack of reaction from him.
"Bell?" Riveria called concerned.
He continued to stare at Ais.
Correction, stare through Ais.
Loki leaned across the coffee table enough to wave her hand in Bell's face.
She sighed, then letting herself fall back, almost missing the edge of the couch. "Yup, kid's broken."
Ais sat for a moment, panicking internally as Little Ais spoke to her in a frantic mess of words. She stood, walking around the short table and taking a seat beside him.
"Are you okay U-Uncle Bell?"
He slowly started to come back to life, though only barely.
"UuUuUhhHhHH…"
After a moment, Ais looked to Riveria, distressed and confused on what to do.
Riveria had no idea either.
Just after they had told Loki, the three had met up here to discuss his possible reactions, obviously having been avoiding this conversation. They had come up with a few realistic possibilities.
-He'd run.
-He'd try and lie.
-He'd get angry, or otherwise hostile.
-Or he'd simply fess up.
Not one of them was ready for this.
Loki thought, and thought, and thought.
The goddess sighed. "Well, if he's dead, should we try again tomorrow?"
Riveria scowled at her. "Loki, he's gonna snap out of it eventually…" She looked back to the boy, confidence waning. "R-Right?"
Ais was just trying to figure out what this meant, why had he reacted like this?!
Little Ais was getting dizzy.
Eventually, she broke out into an angry pout.
Bell wouldn't recuperate before falling asleep, everyone else involved following in his footsteps, intent on finishing this conversation tomorrow.
Whether he liked it or not.
.
Night came for the current occupants of the Twilight Manner, and with it, the nightly visions belonging to all those beneath its roof.
Ais dreamed of a green hill surrounded by all she'd call family.
Loki, about cuddling with the previous.
Riveria, a stressful dream about doing paperwork.
Bell, how it could have been if Ais knew from the start.
Eina dreamed of a home in the mountains with Bell.
.
Bell was not sure what to do, he had no memories of whatever it was that had happened after arriving at Loki's office.
But he remembered who was there, so he made an effort to avoid them.
Well, until Ais sat down right beside him in the food hall.
She stared at him endlessly, not even having food herself.
He brought another bite of sausage up, biting down just enough to free it of the fork.
She stared.
He chewed, then swallowed down the sustenance.
She stared.
.
Bell was sorting through some books in the library, a stack in one hand, picking one out and then finding its place on the shelves, repeating this about a hundred or more times.
The room was a mess when he'd entered, he couldn't imagine why.
Ais was still staring at him from the side.
It was bothersome, and uncomfortable as well.
The library door opened.
He looked over to see who it was from beside one of the last tables covered in books, Ais refusing to look away from him still.
"Hello Lady Riveria." Bell smiled courtly.
She hadn't realized anyone was in the library yet, though, to her credit, she was normally the only one to ever be here of their own free will.
"Ah!- Hello Bell- Ais what are you doing?"
The girl still refused to look away. "I don't think he remembers last night."
Bell turned to her, in fact not knowing what she was speaking of.
When he turned back to his part-time magic instructor, he found her looking at him with an incredulous expression.
"Did- Did I miss something important?" Bell asked, confused.
"She remembered you were her uncle."
Bell stood there in silence, the two of them realizing what was happening.
Little Ais was beginning to panic, shouting at Ais to do something as she mimicked the smaller version's expression while her hand raised up.
*Smack*
Bell went tumbling, knocked onto the covered table, bringing every book with him as he fell over the opposite side.
"Ais!" Riveria shouted out to her, quickly moving through the length of the library between her and him.
"Ah!" Ais spoke, only just then catching up with her actions.
"Bell?" The princess called.
"Aye! Yes, I'm here!" He responded, somewhat disoriented.
Riveria crouched down beside him. "Good, now call her your niece."
"What?!" He flinched back, turned to her at his side.
Ais was now crouched down beside Riveria. "No, call me Ai."
"Wha-"
"You called me Ai, that's my name, call me that."
They stared on and on, neither looking away, but one weakening to his nieces' ever growing pressure to fold.
"But I-"
"AI!" She shut him down.
"..."
"..."
"A-Ai…"
Both women smiled, but Ais vastly outshined Riveria.
"Uncle Bell."
"Yes…"
"Uncle Bell!"
"Yes."
She pounced from where she was, tackling him to the floor.
Riveria sighed with a smile, happy to have been witness to such a display of emotions from Ais.
It was refreshing to see the girl who grew up under her care, finally, get even the slightest bit of the happiness she so deserved.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Daphne Cassandra
Cassandra followed just a few steps behind Daphne, they had long ditched their Apollo uniforms, both in relatively normal street clothes now.
"Please slow down!" Cassandra called out to her only friend.
"Walk faster." Daphne called back.
"You're so mean!" Cassandra struggled to hasten her pace.
Daphne was in no mood to slow down, it gave her enough bad vibes to be outside at all.
She needed to find them a Familia and fast, if not… She didn't want to think about the alternative.
"It should be just a little further now."
Daphne's head was currently buried in a very marked up map, one that'd been serving her well for nearly a year.
She stopped, looking up, smiling if only barely at the place she hoped would bring them their first bit of hope in days.
Cassandra didn't notice that she'd stopped, crashing into her and bringing them both down onto the cobbled street.
"Ah?!- Hey, pay more attention!" The red head shouted.
"S-Sorry!" Shrieked the dark haired girl, pushing against the street to Daphne's sides.
They both made it back up.
Cassandra took a quick look around. "W-What are we doing outside this run down ruin?"
"This 'ruin' is the home of our future Familia, gods willing." Daphne gulped, before taking the last few steps towards the Blue Pharmacy's front entrance.
Her fingers wrapped around the handle, before she stopped to take a heavy breath.
'Okay, we got this, it'll all work out in the end!' Daphne thought rather optimistically.
'Clink'
Daphne's hopes disappeared instantly.
'Clink'
The door was locked.
She took a calm step back, Cassandra watching.
Then she threw the map down with all her might. "DAMMIT! We came all this way, just for it to be closed?!"
Cassandra glanced behind where they were on the street, light embarrassment coming over her.
"D-Daphne?" She took a step forward towards the frantic girl, placing her hand on her shoulder.
"I mean, come on! What did we do to deserve-"
"Daphne!" Cassandra grabbed the ranting lunatics attention.
The red head looked to her partner, seeing the girl pointing to something further behind.
Miach and Naaza were watching with visible concern at the scene before them.
"Ah." Was all Daphne could sputter out.
"Uh, we were just about to open… If you needed care… Or whatever have you…" Miach spoke rather cautiously.
An embarrassed pink coming over Daphne's features.
"Ah… A-Are you th-the god Miach?..."
"Yes… My apologies… We were out for the night..."
The girl quickly fixed her posture, then bowed deeply to the god, Cassandra following a second after.
"P-Please let us join your Familia!"
"..."
"..."
"What?!" The Chienthrope and god spoke in unison.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A/N
Yikes!
I hope the Ais segment was acceptable after I've been teasing it now for like 18 chapters or so.
The Riveria part is the opening to the next chapter, don't worry, I didn't forget.
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Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
I might work on a Freya Familia chapter next, but, who knows, I sure don't!
Take care, enjoy the week to the best of your ability!