A/N
Well, hi, been a while… yeah, sorry about that, I left to do some work on my writing skills in a more efficient manner, then got hit with a two month case of writer's block, sorry about that.
As an apology, here's an extra long chapter, but don't forget-
-You are all still stuck with me.
8,182 Words in total.
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WARNING
I haven't updated this story in over two months while continuing to write small pieces and otherwise improve my writing ( I hope), so this story might feel a bit different than previous content, sorry for the likely inconsistency between this and previous content.
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Bell was really getting sick of these three idiots.
Well… to be fair Ronald wasn't half bad, just influenced is all.
Bell stepped out of the room he'd stayed in, the oak door being too light so it must be hollow. The elf in disguise didn't much care for his circumstances while locking the useless door, his comrades being rather useless and almost encumbering to his work here in the northwestern forests at the edge of yet another empire he'd see rise and fall like some house upon a sand foundation.
The world was large and vast as the gods had intended he was sure, but by their names, why did he get stuck with this nuisance leaving the room opposite his own.
" Mr. Cranel." A slightly echoed and muffled voice reached out.
"Fritz." Bell returned the courtesy.
The man standing rather tall compared to Bell, as most do in this century, wore a plague mask. Bell rather disliked this as it just weirded potential clients out, but under no circumstances would he remove the mask while claiming that it was part of his religion. Bell took three months to stop bothering with his curiosity, realizing the masked man was actually an idiot, smart or brilliant even, but still an undeniable idiot.
They walked down the hall, wood flooring led to a staircase, descending as the same type of wood creaked under boot with each new level, Bell lazily raised a hand in silent acknowledgment to the others in his little traveling group.
At the table several large strides away starting to stand were Hamzah Sowkaski (Ham) and Ronald Velvet (Ron), both were predictable fellows, but both were useful to the snow-elf.
Ham was a smart man, annoyingly smart, and got along with the maniac Fritz a little too well for Bell's liking. But in the end, he provided knowledge that complimented Fritz's own and was as good with a knife for the sake of saving lives as he was taking them.
Ron was a great kid, young in both age and appearance while being a bit taller than Bell carrying himself like Albert when the two would-be brothers first met, like a novice. He got along with everyone quite well and had hoped to be a famous adventurer in Orario, though he was too frightened by himself with all the uncertainties, Orario was the uncontested largest city in Genkai and to go there seeking fame was a daunting task.
They followed Bell and Fritz outside.
Crossing the threshold from a little inn housing the four overnight to the outside world, they were greeted by the grey and muddy main road, keeping to themselves for the most part aside from the stares Fritz drew as they continued towards the rising sun, though it had been much worse last evening upon their arrival.
Bell sighed with breath crystalizing mid air, a display of how spring gave way to summer, the sounds of soggy and freezing-cold ground squished and slid under each individual, them following close behind like normal. There were very few people he trusted in Genkai anymore, three of them were here and he barely did two of them, the only other two weren't though.
One was a good friend Zeus who went off to start a Familia in Orario some decades ago now, and the other… He still hoped she actually would come back one day, the snow elf missed Artemis dearly.
.
The tall trees of this particular northern forest boasted their first leaves of the year high above at several hundred feet, the branches crossed the heavens beyond any of their reaches, this area would be near pitch-black around the clock in a few weeks. The trees were thick as a horse was long and a few villagers even created small homes inside hollowed ones, though due to rot, they were few and far between as it was difficult to keep the tree alive in the carving process.
The muddy ground was less common now as the earth was evermore coated in bumpy, root-filled land that made up an unending layer for hundreds of square miles. Thumps were heard as Bell's feet moved on and on with a serenade from the three others, a soft jungle from Ron's chain shirt as well.
They weren't just venturing out for a club meeting or something. People have been going missing from Lyonsval, the town they'd stayed in overnight, and a sound lead pointed them in the direction of northeast from the town's edge.
'Sound lead', it was a hunch really since all the people had gone missing at the southwest side, but Fritz felt confident in this direction. He'd explained it yesterday to them, saying that they took from the southwest to divert attention, Fritz claimed that these tactics happen a lot from criminals of unpracticed skill.
To be honest, Bell had seen him give insight on way weirder at way higher the stakes, so why not give it a try?
.
After an hour or two of searching together, Ron spoke up and offered a plan, they'd all form up as they did around twenty meters away from one another and comb the forest floor for anything useful, the foliage being almost nonexistent, but the roots seemed to get taller and more wave-like the further from town they got. The ground had gotten so bad that Bell was starting to think navigating was to be an undoable feat, until Ham found some worn-out pathway no bigger than a wide build lumberjack could fit through.
They all grouped up to inspect the open-air seemingly carved into the roots by constant wear, or maybe formed into this pattern by guiding hands? Bell went first, then Fritz, Ham, and Ron as the snow-elf risked whatever may be ahead on the path, the roots giving way into a small wagon width valley Bell's height deep, again seeming to be a pathway of sorts through the seemingly labyrinth of foliage-less undergrove.
They followed and followed, Bell's stomach churning with the usual anticipation and anxiety, almost sensing the stillness within the forest. None of the four ever truly realized how uncomfortable silence was until the danger was right around the corner.
Birds stopped chirping.
Wind seemed to halt and stiffen.
Light would fade or dim behind leaves and trees.
Hearts pounded like drums without notice.
All before the danger even presented itself, but it always seemed to burn in their minds, all the way up until the first attack was launched.
.
For Bell, it felt like hours ticked by ruthlessly since they'd first stumbled upon the large tree bearing a well hidden entrance hatch some dozen feet up and a few hundred in a direction he couldn't recall. There was no way of knowing how long it'd been since Fritz had pulled him out of the way from an arrow laced with a presently unknown drug or chemical in the first hall, how long ago Ron tripped a booby trap on a retreat which killed three of their pursuers as they had at one point tried to run away from this fight, nor how long ago Ham began dissecting the lizardman they found at the entrance to this last hall, and subsequent room Bell stood at the closed threshold of.
It was never a good idea to go alone into an uncleared room, but something told them that the danger was done and over. So he stood there, white hair unmoving like his hand on the dirty, iron-smelling wood door. There was definitely something within a reasonable doubt, the room had to be containing the treasure Bell sought, it was just going to be hard to stomach for the snow elf.
Eventually, a creak from that same door sounded off his readiness. The lantern light filling the dark and dank hallway carved from mud and clay spilled into this new domain, Bell felt sick to his stomach.
Long ago Albert had succeeded in ending the battles between monster and man upon the daylit surface, not since the outer wall of Orario ensured the lasting truth of the hero's life work, but blood never seemed to truly run dry regardless.
The room was a soft red as glowing light both inside and from Bell's hand crossed the deep soil walls, the ground seemed a stone of some sort, cobble packed in with dirt and stone-dust giving way to just dirt at the very edges of the room. A large hollow ring of dark stone contained at the center of the room what Bell could only call a sacrifice pit.
He stood silently, staring at bodies that no longer fit such a description and likely were beyond identification, he made no effort to mourn them, but silently wished that they might have arrived even a day or earlier. The silent room only echoed back the sounds of Fritz and Ham's discussion over the lizardman's innards, those beasts being relatively uncommon on the surface so the two medical 'professionals' were in the midst of a field day.
Bell was just happy Ron currently bore witness to a showing of their work firsthand, he didn't need to see this.
A soft tap of boot upon regrettably damp stone filled the room as Bell nudged the door closed by the opposite boot behind him. The elf took in a slight gulp that seemed to catch in his throat. Every step was meticulous, though he couldn't, or more like preferred not thinking of them as people with lives and families, he still wanted to show a bare minimum of respect for the wrongfully dead.
At the far sides of the left and right were open footlockers containing what looked like the worst condition books Bell had seen, even counting those in the ancient cave dwellings of the north, seen while recovering what was left of snow elf history. He had no interest in those; however, the lone book upon a high pedestal at the opposite of the door was his objective, the very item he secretly guided the party so far out north to collect, or even to confirm the existence of.
He stepped over the last of the red soaked lines, the light emitting from them was likely supernatural or otherwise unnatural below the sea of blood.
With his back to the door, Bell sighed, trying to fight the shiver up his neck from knowing what lay just behind, a soft clunk from the lantern resting now on the pedestal, the handle clicking upon the glass when Bell let go.
The bounds and cover seemed a fine leather, too fine for the way the savages seemed to live and work, the title read off 'Ghinralf'.
From what Bell knows, the word or term possibly was something of elvish origin. It was slightly off-putting that the book he sought after for so many weeks and months now was a mystery already. So with a hearty sigh, his fingers found the bounds to be gentle and soft, pulling the leather over and gazing upon the first page.
The book was mostly readable for him, the little teaching from his childhood doing its best even as he found word afterword which he did not know, only able to guess and continue on. Overall Bell understood most of it but was left wondering.
One word seemed to come up again and again, Bell not able to make it out every time and knowing that it meant something important while the sound of pages turning filled the air along with Bell's snorting and sniffling from the room's smell activated his immune system.
'Entitui'
The ancient elf craved to know what it was, to know was to win in this case and he refused to let some ink on worn and ancient seeming paper best him.
Then it clicked.
'Entity'
Bell let his head hang for a few moments.
The darkroom lit only by lantern and ominous red glowing revealed his defeated expression upon realizing that 'Entitui' was the word for 'Entity', it was written oddly upon the paper in such a way that convinced him it was a verb, rather than a noun.
But furthermore, he knew that somehow they had read it, the savages Bell ever since first encountering refused to call people had misinterpreted it as the same with him for only a moment.
'~O 'Entitui' comes i keui, all-knowing creation a omnipotence post before ha sui i blood -o adan plural edain a radag derived~'
'~from 'Entity' comes the key, all-knowing creation and omnipotence rest before it as the blood of man and beast derived~'
To Bell, this explained more than he'd wished to know.
It would seem they believed that something revolving around the 'blood of beast and man' could help them literally ascend to godhood, an act that would have seen them be called heretics by the churches now disintegrated by the arrival of their deities. Even now, should a god or goddess arrive to learn of such attempts, the participants would likely be killed on the spot.
Bell really didn't care, it wasn't like whatever behind him had worked, and at such extreme levels too. What bothered him was more of the fact that they likely butchered living people and monsters alike, mixed both types of blood, and consumed it. They all likely went mad from either lack of success or the effects such a concoction might have on the body and soul.
Bell was able to understand the actual message however because of his existing knowledge of it.
'Entity' was the creator of all realms in existence, including Genkai of which he stood, Tenkai from where the descended gods originate, and another there is no proper name for in his time studying the various realms.
Along with this was the knowledge that the 'Entity' had engaged the gods in a war of sorts on the grounds of Tenkai, bringing about the 'Age of Stagnation' as those few who knew of that time called it. When the gods couldn't contact Genkai causing the mortal races fell into chaos without them along with the appearance Orario's famous dungeon and monsters it birthed forth.
The next age began with the Spirits' descent to Genkai, bringing with them the 'Age of Heroes' along with its glory and horror as the monsters grew in numbers with the 'Entity's' forced imprisonment at the dungeon's darkest depths.
Though Bell had always craved to know more about this being of seemingly unlimited power, Zeus refused to answer his questions in their short time together. In fact, when Bell asked for the first time, the snow elf felt his own life in danger, the god flaring up his arcanum with rage upon hearing the name slip through his lips.
Needless to say, to speak the name 'Entity' was no small thing to the gods.
The elf's mind returned to the present as he leaned upon the podium, shaking his head once for a clear mind. Though he didn't know everything within this book 'Ghinralf' yet, the elf closed it with a solid and satisfying 'thumb'. Bell grabbed at the lantern's handle again, forgetting it was metal wire and flinching back swiftly forgetting how hot it became after resting on the glass, eventually grabbing again with a small piece of cloth in hand.
He snatched up the book from where it lay, and turned, making a more hasty exit than entrance. Bell arrived just as the door was opening, catching Ron by surprise as the elf took initiative and grabbed the chain shirt's shoulder, forcing him back without missing a stride. Bell and Ron stumbled in beat as Ham and Fritz watched on in fake amusement while they too were smart enough to realize how badly Bell didn't want the still young Ron to see such atrocious sights.
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'Tic- Tic- Tic-'
Bell sighed.
It had only been five hours since arriving at the guild, truly a remarkable place, known for its value to the city, to adventurers, but certainly not to those who were stuck working here.
In these short few hours, he had come to realize that Eina was one of the few competent members of the guild staff. That was by no means an exaggeration, even hearing it out of Misha, and a very reluctant to admit Rose. Even worse, Eina was out for the day, the last day of her sick-leave as Naaza recommended her extended departure from the one place she truly is underappreciated the most.
But worst of all, Bell had been all too happy to cover for the blue-haired half-elf, er, on a genetic level at least.
Thus began the countdown to hour six, and at its end, a false haven known as 'lunch', this only existing to fulfill the employee's nutritional needs and to make them appreciate existing away from that damned counter.
"Sir, madam-" Bell tiredly looked across the beautiful oak counter he'd come to hate so much, "-I cannot 'take your word' on a loan for more valis than you've brought stones for."
The man, a weretiger of noticeably short stature glared up at him from where his chin just peeked over the oak dividing line of employee and adventurer.
"I demand that you do!" He shouted just over normal tone, though it would seem for this person, normal was deafening.
Bell breathed in silently. "It is not permitted for coins to be distributed without proper compensation."
"Since when?!"
"Since the Guild was founded, sir." Bell stood as he had for almost an hour now, bolt upright, hands comfortably clasped together in front of him, hating the uniform as it seemed to itch, fabric not broken in yet.
He wore a guild uniform while covering for Eina, the pants were… alright… but the shirt was gods awful, only serving to make his elbows itch, a new crease forming with every move he made.
"Bullshit! I know you can! I've done it before!" The tiger shouted again at the ever calm and boiling Bell.
"Sir, you have?" Bell asked, a plan forming.
The feline-eared man seemed to flinch, his companion seeming to be just as done with all this as the white-haired elf. "Ye-Yeah I have! So fork it up!"
Bell simply inched the corner of his mouth up, a pleasant a courteous smile crossing as his eyes, thank goodness they were closed, looked down upon the tiger-like prey in a trap.
"Well-" Bell pulled a pen and paper from his right on the counter. "-do tell, have you a name for whoever it was that lent you this money, and as best you can to the coin, how much is it that you took from the guild that day?"
The tiger's companion darkened, inching away, Bell knowing from the first time this tiger opened his mouth that she'd not wanted to be involved, so he wouldn't force her. The tiger, however, froze in place, eyes shaking around as he almost was looking through Bell in sudden contemplation.
Bell's 'courteous' smile faltered, hearing nothing as the small man's eyes danced around the area for guild workers only. The man was a long time adventurer and knew the guild workers by appearance, and luckily for him, one wasn't there.
"E-Eina! Ye-Yeah! That was her, that's the bit-"
The tiger almost really did freeze over, now met with the full brunt of a sadistic smile paired with eyes more dead than a dissolved goblin miles from its removed magic stone.
Rose, having heard what the man almost said, and to whom, turned quickly, catching the end of the rather annoying show by eye for the first time.
"Are you sure you want to walk this path?" Bell asked in a low voice, unable to help how his hands found the counter top with shoulders falling forward to better stare short man in the eyes.
…
…
"N-No…"
Bell and the adventurer stood at odds, or more accurately, the tiger wet himself while staring up at the rather intimidating elf.
This continued for all of five seconds, ending with the tiger speed walking away past his companion to the guild entrance dead opposite of the hall from Bell. The snow-elf sighed, then realized, and nodded respectfully to the female companion abandoned by the tiger, returning the nod quickly and scampering away.
Bell really didn't know how Eina pulled it off, she seemed incredible at this job, but just how the woman pulled it off while staying sane was beyond him.
Rose observed as his hands dragged themselves off the counter, once again meeting at his front with that same piece of paper used as an intimidation tactic, seeing as it slowly crumpled and slightly tore from his ever-growing pressure.
"Uh, Bell?" The red-headed wolf called.
Be shifted his neck enough to get a side-eye of her.
"You can go work on something else if you want, no need to deal with these idiots all day."
He sighed, head slumping forward. "Well, what would Eina do? I am covering for her specifically after all."
…
…
Bell couldn't help but glance over at the mildly cringing Rose.
"Well…" Rose muttered out.
"Please just tell me you don't know." Bell pleaded.
They shared a look.
It was not in Bell's favor.
.
Time passed, and passed, and passed.
Bell was truly starting to think Rose's words of 'you don't need brains to kill monsters' were not in fact her words, but that of an ancient gospel wiser than any man who resided on this land they called home.
But finally, after belligerent, racist, and finally plain old annoying customers.
That glorious, oh-so-glorious, sixth hour chime rang.
As he inched his way, a defeated soul, towards the break room, Bell was caught in a conundrum. He truly had been looking forward to this time and meal, but it was a bit odd for him, almost to the 'employees only' door now. This would be the first meal in weeks that he'd eat alone.
Yes, others were taking the same lunch slot, but he didn't truly know any of them like he did Eina, or Misha and Rose now.
So he sighed.
"Bell!"
Then stopped, head picking up from where he hadn't realized it hung, hand almost upon the door in front.
The snow elf turned quickly towards the familiar voice, almost not believing his eyes at the sight of not only a grey-haired girl but a blond-haired elf looking unreasonably nervous yet ever calm.
Bell was intent on speaking up to welcome, question, or at least acknowledge the pair before Syr called out again to Bell some dozen meters away, both the girls standing side by side opposite it.
"Ryuu has something for you!"
The blond elf elbowed Syr while bearing a mild red on her long ears, teeth visibly clenched while speaking out. Bell took great pleasure from the sight of best friends bickering, he was truly happy that his mother had someone like Ryuu, someone she could be so happy and open with outside of her normal life.
Ryuu was busy chewing out the ever willfully oblivious Syr for speaking loudly and already having Bell's attention. He arrived at the counter in time for Syr to quickly turn away from Ryuu, cutting her off too swiftly for her to notice Syr wink at Bell. He couldn't help pushing out a soft breath at who was for sure his mother from the signal transmitted clearly.
"So how may I help you, ladies?" Bell smiled at them, Ryuu's eyes noticeably widening as her attention came to him, forgetting to be mad as Bell broke into their spat, being the entire reason they had taken a long lunch in the first place.
Bell couldn't help the forming soft smile, the gloomy guild hall making it seem all the more irregular, it was his first genuine smile of today, and a while if he was being honest. Syr all but screamed out in her glee, but that was kept under a lock, a key, and a vault door as she didn't want to spoil it by shifting the mood.
The two uniformed girls were missing their white aprons as was normal during non business trips from the pub, they had come here for their own sakes, though Syr all but dragged the elf girl from the Hostess as the Level Four pretended to fight her on the entire trip. For a half moment, Bell actually forgot it had been drizzling today, almost asking about the thin and almost reflective cloaks upon their shoulders.
"Did the weather clear up yet?"
This broke the girls out of the light and growing stupor, Syr brightening up.
"Not at all! I can't believe it, the weather report said the storms were supposed to be this morning, but they haven't even reached the western wall yet!" Syr got a little too into this topic, though for a goddess whose free time was spent people watching from above the cloud layer, a storm during said free time was a catastrophe in of itself.
He couldn't help but breathe a quick breath of amusement at how passionate his mother was. "Rather unfortunate, hopefully it happens soon, or I'll be walking home in the rain then…"
"Mhm!" Syr was all too happy to agree, then turned to the elf who remained silent thus far, waiting, and waiting… and waiting...
"Go on!" The grey-haired girl nudged her best friend.
Ryuu reacted with a quick turn to Syr, then returning to Bell, she was rather envious of her best friend being able to talk so casually to Bell without so much as a second thought, or a third, or fourth.
"Eh-Ah, Yen, y- guuh." Ryuu fumbled her words as naturally as she breathed while a mysterious shadow appeared over her eyes, which is odd for her.
Bell glanced to Syr who only smiled widely at Ryuu as she took another shot at using words.
She was almost whispering. "Y-Yes, you didn't stop by the Hostess today…"
Bell blinked, Syr doing so at the same once Ryuu stopped. The boy wasn't sure how to respond or answer. There were no active plans for the dungeon as the move-in had taken priority in Miach Familia, though it had taken a few days more than expected, Naaza and Miach insisting their medical supplies be handled with the utmost care due to the sensitive nature of the cargo. Of everyone in their group, the only one readily available for a dungeon trip was Welf, but he was busy with his Familia as a general conference was underway regarding something or another with safety stuff for smiths.
"S-Sorry, I didn't think you'd keep doing that after such a long time of me not needing them." He spoke nervously.
Ryuu's posture stiffened and eyes became sharper yet seemed to look past him almost.
"Bell!" Syr called abruptly in a sharp tone, one that spoke of playfulness yet cut like tungsten. "She works really hard on those lunches!-"
Ryuu got a few specks of red from Syr outing her like that, though it was what she'd wanted to say, and how dare he think she didn't care either!
"-You should appreciate them more! Especially with all the love she packs into them-!"
Ryuu tackled Syr to the floor. Bell jumped in place from the surprise, him not even hearing the last part nor caring as his mother was brought into a bear hug vice-grip over whatever her last words were.
Nothing was spoken out as Ryuu grew red with embarrassment and rage all the same. Bell leaned over the counter to see them ducking under the other side as Ryuu both held Syr and actively hid herself away.
.
Bell will admit to himself that Ryuu is a decent cook, that being said, she would definitely benefit from May giving her some lessons, better yet, Mia.
The boy softly ground the grain between his teeth, this would be normal or expected with something like whole grain bread, not rice. Though everything else in this dish had turned out wonderfully, Ryuu having brought lunch for all three as they sat in a booth at the side of the guildhall, both of them besides Syr agreed, the rice needed more water while cooking.
"Nis ish wonderful Myuu!"
"Syr, stop talking with your mouth full."
Ryuu was as swift with justice as she was a sword, doing her best to preserve Syr's properness in front of Bell, though he was more distracted by Syr in general today while she sat beside the blond elf across the booth. It truly amazed him that going from Freya to Syr ensighted such a shift in her personality, going from an ideal for ladies in upper class across genkai, then going to this goofy and on rare occasion ill mannered waitress girl. He munched on another scoop of rice with a smile that crept up long ago now.
Along with the rice as his eyes wandered beside the small container, a helping of bean sprout salad awaiting his attention that was given periodically, they weren't bad and seemed to be sprinkled with something spicy much to Bell's liking.
Syr reached for Ryuu's potion, but her hand and chopsticks were swatted away by the stoic elf carefully consuming the food of her own. "Stop Syr."
The lone 'human' pouted strongly. "But it's so good!"
Like a sledgehammer to drywall, Ryuu gave in with a bashful frown, cutting a portion of her bean sprouts out, Syr glowing with excitement after seeing this.
The last of the small in variety, but large in proportions meal was a more than fair sized Okonomiyaki, a cabbage pancake that Bell had first encountered some several hundred years ago in the far east. This one was honestly amazing, and in Bell's opinion, better than all the previous times he'd encountered the dish.
Ryuu seemed all too embarrassed of the open praise of which Bell unleashed in a relentless attack at the sagely elf's calm demeanor, Syr lighting up like Anya with tuna at the slight pink building at the elf's ears.
"It's great, right Bell?"
He looked up from the meal at her address, stumbling over his words before speaking. "Y-Yes, some of the best I've had of this dish." He motioned with the utensils towards what was left of his pancake. Unlike Syr and Ryuu, Bell refused to use chopsticks whenever forks and spoons were available.
Syr only grinned more as her plan worked. "Hmhm. She'll make such a great wife someday!"
Bell choked on air, Ryuu was not so lucky with a bite of rice going down the hatch, falling into a small fit of coughs. The two elves made a very conscious effort to not look at one another, Bell focused in on Syr's growing grin while Ryuu leaned away from both and coughed her lunges out.
He needed to change the topic, fast.
"Ah- Your hair looks a bit blonder lately, are you p-planning to dye it soon Ryuu, or letting it go?" Bell fidgeted with the fork as he put off another bite for now.
Ryuu looked back at him, a small cough still popping up every once in a while. She didn't get to answer before Syr interjected.
"Hey! You don't do you!" Syr pouted angrily at him, mocking offence in the elf's place.
And there it was, Syr giving her intentions away with a clear trap, but for all intents and purposes, he needed to answer or else actually offend Ryuu, and get an earful from Freya at some point later.
His fidgeting stopped, Syr and the boy sharing a fiery duel of gazes like never before until-
"D-Do you…?"
Both the mother and son turned cold, the contest stopping at a unanimous tie. They couldn't help but slowly look over to the beet red elf with ears red and burning like pyres. They were both silent as he looked down and slowly away, hands fumbling with one another below the tabletop. Syr shifted back to Bell, both equally surprised, but only one was the receiver of such a question.
"M-Mhm…"
"What was that?" Syr's heart jumped even as she herself spoke out, wanting Ryuu to hear it in words.
He forced out the weak sentence. "I-I'm sure her husband will be happy."
Syr beamed in contrast to Ryuu turning several more shades of red, further closing in on herself.
Bell was much the same as the other elf, the difference was that he still had part of his pancake left, so Syr took her chance and was successful in stealing it right out from under him.
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The streets of Orario's redlight district ran cold with the remains of a passing rainstorm, it was some time past midnight as a cloaked figure draped under a shroud of steel blue danced across stonework and cobble. Even with the rain so recently stopped as the gutters dripped, those too lonely and weary for solitude sought out comfort.
Lights bounced off of every damp surface while simple bricks and mortar lay beneath, much like the employees of this territory, the scantily clad men and women baring all within reason for improving their own gain by the lust of those they tempted.
This part of Orario belonging to one goddess Ishtar of the eastern central godly domains, none would challenge the goddess here, many certainly could if the desire arose, but the benefits of being on her good side seemed to outway the disagreeable means of which she ran this corner of town.
Weaving and dodging as she did, the steel-blue cloak seemed to float around many unnoticed as its effect worked well under the distracted gazes of all around. There were very few individuals the mysterious woman avoided or outright ran from, luckily one was preoccupied with a tall man in a suit with short brown hair.
Samira held his arm tight, pressing her cleavage to his suit sleeve with honey-laced words slipping off the tongue like it was all she'd ever known. The scantily clad, light-grey-haired amazon eased him in the door, pulling him closer as a tactic to allure and avoid getting dragged into the path of a dripping gutter above.
This wasn't the steel-blue's most vital mission within the street, though Samira was by no means easily dealt with should negative attention be drawn out of the Level Three. More important as the cloaked figure bustling around a group of men carrying one another's drunk selves, was Aisha Belka, a member of Ishtar's inner circle like Samira.
The amazon was busy like the previous, though in a different way while attending to the restraint of a man, this scene unfolding within a brothel house in clear view of the cloaked figure and many more. At the same time, Ganesha members were switching him to their custody. From the bits and pieces she picked up in passing, the man had gotten too comfortable and did something a small hume girl wasn't appreciative of.
If there was one thing Aisha definitely was, it was decent. The amazon wasn't unique in her care for her fellow familia members, but she was one of the more stand out for public displays of it.
This wouldn't do well for her below the cloak, she needed Aisha to be distracted for a while, or at least for a few minutes. The customer didn't need to last long either, but it would definitely be appreciated.
The cloaked figure couldn't stay long without risking someone randomly noticing her and raising questions, and though it was unlikely in any situation, unlikely still left a chance that she couldn't risk.
The city seemed to heat back up as the still bodies observing broke away just the same as her, sounds of the man's weak struggle far behind now while being escorted away. Aisha was headed further into the building, that much was seen in the last moments, so she needed to get to the other side of the block and fast.
She slipped through a set of people huddled together like animals within the confines of this miniature city of sin. Men and women alike herded as if animals too afraid of approaching individual workers of the district, so those without clients started picking them each off like predators upon trapped prey.
She slipped out with silent boots crossing the street's busy surface, the cloak working its literal magic. She kept her head down so the hood couldn't catch any air from swifter steps, rounding the street corner leftward past an amazon and Chienthrope smoking while on break.
She didn't know how much time was left as she'd come to that corner, needing to hurry down the back alley of a street where several more women and men took their breaks in loud solitude, not paying her any mind. She reached the end, the next street switching from cobble ground to bricks as the water settled differently within their more vibrant seams, turning gently as though it was the wandering of her mind, she caught the fast and bold amazon in the act.
She stood with confidence and a smirk to match, complimenting the man's shoulders with her fingers running widely over them, her target's gaze clearly focused with a small rosiness to his cheeks on her cleavage emphasized by the amazon's motions. It was truly amazon to watch in her opinion, Aisha was a woman who could likely bed the strongest willed of men in no time flat, and was by far her favorite prey because of how long both her pick-ups and bedding sessions took, perfect for her to get her own job done as the amazon did hers.
She seemingly observed the general street, undecided of her path while watching Aisha in the corner of her eye. Then without missing a beat, started striding confidently in silence after a right turn onto the watched street while Aisha disappeared inside the building from whence she'd come.
The street here was particularly crowded as well, though it was rapidly thinning out after the rush of people coming so soon following the storm's departure.
She slipped through group after group in the same direction she'd taken on the previous street and ever further from Aisha, furthering her odds of success tonight. The steel-blue cloak again danced its way unnoticed through the now brick streets until finding a small ally a block later.
She turned right again into it with not even an eyelash batted from those around her, coming to be alone as the temperature dropped from lack of people now.
The alley led to a dead-end halfway between the streets, and those who could see her from behind differed with every stride the customers took. Damp stones changed back to cobble for some reason she didn't understand, perhaps the building at this alley's end not always being there? Didn't matter, what did was that the side door on the left was ajar like normal, its hinges crooked and hard to close, so many left it as such when used.
There was nothing holding her back, the steel-blue cloak falling away to the ground from bright aqua-blue hair much like one Asfi Al Andromeda, though this woman was far shorter than the ex-captain of Hermes Familia, and hair longer while being held up by eastern style hair-sticks.
Over her short elf ears, as she stepped closer to the door, were half hooks of silver, each connecting to a thin and near-transparent light-blue vail across her cheeks and nose down to almost her collar bone.
The soft and slow creak mimicked her pulling the dull grey slab of thin wood open for entry into the far eastern style hall. Walls at each side look movable down their lengths in the fashion of sliding entryways seen in far east homes and buildings, they were a pale white with soft colored mountain murals dotting them down the impressive stretch of the hall.
Her shoulders bore a shawl of the same light-blue, though it wasn't completely necessary with her body covered from shoulder to calve in a deep blue Qipao dress that felt thin enough it may as well not be there.
The floor was padded as she'd known, but the half-elf still preferred to wear the soft padded sandals from her distrust of the cleanliness she questioned in a place such as this. Now without the cloak to muffle her movements, she threaded lightly but with confidence, hoping that by looking and acting the part would keep her from scrutiny.
She passed door after door while counting out the hooks upon each one, every servant of Ishtar wearing a small ring upon their hands as a universal marker, the more loyal wearing them on their left ring finger, but the main use was to hang on small hooks found on every brothel rooms door, a symbol of that room being occupied.
She'd gotten to four when coming to a door on the left which was a slight bit open, sounds of pleasure escaping along with soft orange light that bounded from a white lantern off red walls before spilling out. The half-elf slipped her hand over and pushed the door silently closed with a small jingle of the girl's ring on its hook. 'Five' she counted silently.
She had arrived at eight before stopping beside a door, this one having a hook which was never used as she knew from her lengthy observations of this brothel in particular.
She slid it open easily with precision so as not to hit the end of its short rails, stepping through and up onto the set of concealed stairs, and replacing it upon the rails to where it had been a second earlier. The hall outside seemed to be no different for the intruder's fast arrival and departure.
The aqua-blue-haired girl slipped silently and slowly towards the top of the staircase, her soft sandals pressing down slowly on each new wooden step it came into contact with. The light at the top was a deep yellowish-white, though she couldn't yet even breathe upon reaching the top.
She forced her heart to calm, wishing to pound as it had since arriving in the red-light district. Though only slightly, the girl's head eased around the corner enough for her lime eyes to peer around in the most risk-taking endeavor thus far, putting herself in a room where one only went if one belonged, and she most certainly didn't.
She let out a shaking breath after seeing not a single soul within the second-floor dressing room.
It was a much different style up here than down below, a dark wood floor and ceiling accented by grey walls that bordered on black. The stairs led out around to enter at the corner, the closest wall on her left continued straight forward with open-air windows starting a few feet from the floor and stopping half one from the ceiling, each with blinds like the sliding doors below, some open and others closed.
The far wall had more windows left of middle, on the right began a stretch of desks and dressers, the other walls mimicking all the way around till the door she entered from, three wardrobes scattered in the mix of desks and dressers.
She stepped lightly still, not wanting to let her guard down just yet, all too familiar with the dance revolving around a maze of squeaking floorboards. Upon the various wooden storage and workspaces at the edge of the rooms were ornamentation pieces and clothing unused at the moment by their owners, things like ornamental hairpins and kanzashi, among occasional left behind piercings.
She slinked up to the desk of the most important of them all, that which belonged to Aisha Belka whom she soundly knew was still in the throws of passion a block and a half away. Still, many factors could hinder this endeavor as she found her fingers grazing the wooden desk front edge, top coated in perfumes and magazines left till her return.
Her fingers found the top corners, then slid down and back towards the underside middle, both finding their marks at a quarter way each side, the small and almost unnoticeable edge of a button on her indexes brought a small hidden smirk from the silent woman.
She pushed with a fair bit of pressure, the compartment popping out of the bottom in a drop-down shelf with more noise than she'd made all evening. She quickly felt at the small stack of miniature notes kept inside, pulling the entirety of it out and bringing them to the desk's lone clear spot at the front-left-center.
No time was wasted, meticulously keeping the pages in their original order after examination, finding information on everything from material requisitions to the reorganization of which girls were stationed in the district for their night duties.
But tonight was special as the half-elf's eyes widened, subconsciously licking at her bottom lip. Her hand lifting the paper third from the bottom of maybe twenty total.
A direct order from Phryne Jamil, the captain of Ishtar Familia.
Without a second thought she pulled out her hair-sticks, aqua-blue locks falling to the smalls of her back.
The first of the two sticks had a blue bead at the tip, she unscrewed this and pulled a tight-fitting roll of small parchment. She pulled the orders found from the secret shelf and spread it out with no wrinkles or folds, placing the parchment from her hair-stick over it with no corner unconcealed.
The second hair-stick was tipped with a white bead, this unscrewed as well to reveal a purple fluid that oozed out when poured over the parchment. Almost instantly, the words from Phryne Jamil's orders copied to the above parchment, leaving no trace that the parchment or fluid had even crossed the surface.
She gulped while recapping her white beaded hair-stick, then quickly snatched up the orders and read them from both to confirm the copy was accurate. She found nothing wrong, setting the original back down and beginning to roll the parchment, replacing it within the first hair-stick with the blue bead reattached.
She took extra care to replace the papers in Aisha's secret compartment before pushing the shelf back into the desk, then refixing her hair into their original buns by the means of her now precious cargo. She started her dance towards the door, again trying to dodge as much of the creaking floor as possible, but Aisha's desk was directly opposite of walls from the exit, so it would take some time yet again.
The door at the bottom of the steps slid open.
She stopped, lungs emptying from a sudden racking wave of fear.
"I'm sorry…" A defeated and saddened female voice rang, distorted a bit by the echoing off the walls upward.
"It's okay Haru, you'll get the hang of it eventually."
Her entire body stiffened with the sound of Aisha Belka's voice reassuring someone who was apparently named 'Haru', though things didn't sound great for the girl Aisha seemed to be consoling, the half-elf didn't want to stick around and ask.
This was a worst-case scenario.
She, Skaði, otherwise known for her aqua-blue hair along with mixed elf and human blood was a nobody. The girl did not exist on any guild records as a member of Freya Familia, so what this meant was simple and straightforward.
If she was caught in Ishtar territory, not a single person would come to rescue her, and the guild would have no reason to wonder why she stopped coming by because she never did and never existed to them.
She needed to leave now.
Skaði wasted no time, turning right around and inching across the edge of the room to not hit any creaking boards.
"But how can I just not pass out, it's not like I can help it…" The renard could only sound more defeated with every word, tail tucked and ears drooping down and back.
The half-elf dropped down slowly to her fingers grip on the window ledge, her sandaled feet stretching down in hope for the first-floor roof below, the only chance to get out of this alive. She heard the voices getting closer and closer.
"It'll-" Aisha reached the top of the stairs just before Haru could, taking a look around before continuing on with a sigh."-It'll pass… It'll pass…"
At the last second, desperate to get a foothold before dropping, her options were to risk noise or get caught, so she risked it and managed to land without a peep. Her stomach felt like it was full of butterflies, crawling along the roof below window height until coming to the roof's edge for the alley she'd entered through.
Dropping down onto the cobble once more that evening, her hand felt the damp stone after using it to suppress her landing. Her cloak was still there, so she collected it and became invisible to the crowds once more, slipping off into the night without a trace.
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A/N
Hope you all enjoyed that!
I'm sorry it took so long to come back, but rest assured, though I can't guarantee I'll stick with this as a one rider to the end, I'll finish this story or die trying, I promise.
And yes, there is a decided upon ending arc I am building to, but that is a few hundred-thousand words away at the least.
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Though I am back for the foreseeable life of this story I have planned, I do have another fanfiction idea I want to give a try with a slightly warped Orario, the details will be in the first chapter and summary when it is released.
Though I don't know an exact date, it will either be before the next chapter of this story, unless it takes too long as I want this story's 27th chapter to be out in a week or less.
This is just an FYI.
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Thank you all for reading, and especially to those who are returning after such a long and now ENDED hiatus, you guys are the best!
Stay safe and enjoy your weekends!