"Bell, do you have everything? Your handkerchief, your tissues?"
"Yes, don´t worry Hestia."
Hestia couldn't help but mother Bell, scurrying around him, patting off his armor and clothing, making sure his small backpack was secure.
"Geez, Hestia... Who are you, his mommy?"
"Be quiet, Loki! My adorable, little Bell is going to leave me for a long time!"
"Long time...you´re exaggerating."
"He will be gone for weeks!"
A few chuckles were heard around the two goddesses. They were standing in front of Babel, surrounded by a large crowd. Today would be the special day...they would go on an Expedition, Bell´s first deep Expedition with the Loki Familia.
.
.
Three weeks ago they had explained to Bell, that their goal was to discover what lay behind the glacial territory. After the incident in Knossos ended and the demi-spirits were defeated, the glacial territory in the dungeon had returned to it´s original condition. Three Floors filled with snow, monsters and ice.
Bell couldn´t help but grin when they explained to him how it looked there, Riveria had raised an eyebrow.
"Bell, may I ask what sounds so funny about that?"
"Three floors...filled with Ais."
"I said ice, not Ais!"
Ais next to him chuckled.
"Three floors full of eyes would look a bit scary."
"I said ice, not eyes!"
Ais just giggled and gave Bell a short kiss on the cheek.
"Ais, Bell, we are in the middle of a meeting."
"Bear with them a little, old hag. They are newlyweds."
"What did you just say..."
Riveria´s eyes shone when she looked at Bete...but before she could say something.
"Bete, bad!"
Lena who sat next to him, pulled on his ear a bit. Of course the amazoness wouldn´t go with them on the expedition, not with her grown belly, but she wanted to hear about the dangers that her honey-hubby would face.
But even so, Bete was right, Bell and Ais had become a bit silly and overly lovey-dovey ever since they had married...three days ago at this point. Tiona got way too excited and asked Ais every few days if she was expecting already.
.
The notes that they had from the Zeus and Hera familias, were at an end now. They probably went deeper down into the dungeon, but some of their notes just weren´t there. When they told Bell the next Expedition would go past the glacial territory, to discover "unknown" Floors...his eyes had shone so brightly, so pure...that even Riveria had to avert her eyes from him...the child-like joy was too much for them.
There was probably no one in Orario that longed for adventures more than Bell, it meant pure joy for him.
That Bell had so much fun about adventures, was something that would start to change Ais. The only one that had as much insight in her heart as Bell, was Riveria. For a while now, Bell had the feeling that something was troubling Ais. She was really happy with Bell, her heart jumped from never known joy, but...he always felt as if something deep in her was holding back, the feeling increased after their wedding.
At the day of the start of the Expedition, both would be married a bit over a month. During the first two weeks, Ais and Bell were more than a bit silly, which everyone could understand. Now Familia members didn´t asked Ais where Bell was, they asked her where her husband was...which let her blink perplexed at first, than smile in immense happiness. It was the same for Bell, when someone asked where his wife was.
Not that these two were often seen without the other. But it was hard to talk to them, when they sat at the breakfast table and one of them noticed the ring on their finger again, they gently touched the others hand, entangling their fingers so that the rings touched and just looked into each others eyes or kissed for a long time.
But deep down, Bell felt that something was strange with Ais.
He got his answer when they had one of their night dates, both sitting snuggled up to each other on their favorite tower of Orario and looked up to the stars. It was the day after he was informed about the Expedition, both were silly during the meeting, but afterwards Bell trained like never before, the sight of him getting absorbed in his training...let Ais get strange.
"Ais?"
"Hm?"
"Is something troubling you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I have the feeling the last days, that something is wrong with you."
"I...don´t really know what it is..."
Ais gently pulled his arms more around her, so that he hugged her to his chest...he felt that she was trembling slightly. Both were quiet for a while, Bell would give her the time she needed.
"Married."
"Ais?"
"We are married now, Bell."
"Yes we are."
"Like my parents were."
She fell silent again and Bell started to guess what was troubling her. He knew her backstory well enough, about her parents...and that special monster. Over time, ever since both became a couple, Bell got more and more familiar with the maiden like side of Ais that was in her...and the child-like side.
It was at first hard for Ais to tell even Bell her full story, but she was thankful to him for listening to her, it helped a bit to talk about the events back then. That she talked about it was due to Bell talking about the story he had read about Albert Waldstein, Ais´ father. Several versions of the Dungeon Oratoria existed, but Ais never heard about a volume that had so much details like Bell´s had, she got curious when he told her that his grandfather wrote it for him, it was strange how he could know so much details.
After the event of Bell turning into a child, Ais started to tell Bell about her childhood. About the group that had formed around her father. With her mother, the great wind spirit Aria, the queen of the High Elves, Celdia. Bell was really surprised about that, Celdia was the older sister of Rishena, the ancestor of Riveria. Bell´s eyes had widened when he noticed how strong Ais smiled and her eyes shone when she thought back about that time, reveling about her childhood. She described Celdia as an authoritarian person that could be quite severe, so much that she made Ais cry once.
Bell blinked and suddenly had the image of Riveria before his eyes... She was still a very motherly figure and cared for her friends, she was a very powerful mage, at least as strong as his aunt Alfia...who seemed to have "bullied" Ais once during the dark times as she took away her sword. That Ais knew his aunt for a short time...Bell was baffled. Then Ais talked about Evelda, the Empress of the Amazonesses...she reminded him a bit of a mxiture of Tiona and Tione... The more she described the group of her father...the more Bell saw the main group of the Loki Familia before his eyes.
Was that a coincidence? Fate? A joke from the gods?
But at some point, Bell noticed that tears were running down Ais´ eyes, even when she didn´t sobbed, they just flew out of her eyes. She had really liked the group of his father and loved her parents. Not only could Bell understand her feelings about the One Eyed Black Dragon, Bell´s wish got stronger and stronger to defeat that monster. That it was her father who destroyed one of the eyes...that it was the dragon who probably kidnapped Ais´ mother Aria...Ais was bound to the black dragon king and Bell would help her.
Her father had loved his family so much and protected them, giving his life while doing so...and Bell loved Albert´s daughter more than anything, would absolutely protect her. Also...there was a chance to rescue Aria...Bell wished he could talk to Ais´ mother at least one time.
But the problem was, how to defeat such a monster, when even Albert Waldstein and his friends couldn´t do it. From all the recods he got from Loki and Freya...yes even Freya gave Bell access to her records that she got from the Hera Familia...Bell knew that Albert Waldstein was probably the strongest mortal who ever existed.
The next in the line would be Bell´s aunt and maybe "the Empress" of the Hera Familia...and all the people in Albert´s group were equally strong to them!
If they couldn´t do it, how were they supposed to do it?
But Bell also had a personal reason to do it, aside from his wish for Ais.
He was the offspring of the Zeus and the Hera Familia, he knew that now. Hermes told him about the three great quests, he knew about the man named Zard who had killed the Behemoth...and his ridiculous strong and beautiful aunt who had dealt the killing blow to the Leviathan. But the black dragon remained...as the probably last offspring of both Familias, Bell wanted to finish the third great quest. He had heard how some people saw and talked about the Zeus and Hera Familia...and didn´t liked it.
I will do it! I will restore your honor! All you great heroes of that time, the fight isn´t over, I will finish it, together with my friends and my beloved!
Hestia was his goddess and she would ever be that, but parts of his heart also belonged to the Zeus and the Hera Familia.
All that thinking and talking had brought Bell to the core of Ais´ problem. He had seen how she had cried when she talked about the old times...and eventually came to a conclusion.
"Ais?"
"Bell?"
"You...never wanted to wield a sword...right?"
"Eh?"
New tears suddenly streamed over Ais´ face without her noticing it. She turned her face to Bell, that question had cut deep into her heart...very deep. Bell just had this feeling, Ais was happy as a child, spending time with her mother, watching her father train together with her mother. Even talking with his friends or getting teased by them.
If she would have become older, Ais probably would have longed to accompany her father and his friends into the dungeon. But when the black dragon attacked, she was still a child. Everything was taken from her, her father dead, her mother kidnapped, her friends killed. How she ended up sealed in the dungeon was a mystery even for Ais...and how the seal was undone.
Even the Loki Familia who found her didn´t knew how that happened. All that she and Bell knew, Riveria was present when they found the sleeping Ais.
Could it be possible that the High Elf Queen Celdia brought Ais into the dungeon and sealed her there to save her? And could it be possible that it was Riveria´s presence...a descendant of Celdia's bloodline...led to the seal getting undone? Bell wouldn´t think as far that Riveria was the reincarnation of Celdia, but blood relation was a strong trigger for magic, Bell was the best example for that.
"Please hear my words, Ais. You...never wanted to fight...but you had to...right?"
Sobbing now, Ais nodded slightly.
Bell´s arms closed tight around her, as did Ais´ around him she had turned around so that both faced the other, Ais sitting on Bell´s lap, her legs on both sides of Bell. Never before...really never before...had Ais looked so vulnerable and fragile to Bell.
"Your father hoped you would find your own hero one day..."
She nodded again, pressing her face into his neck, trembling heavily. For her, Bell was her hero, he would always be.
"And now...you are afraid."
Ais whimpered a bit.
She had found her hero, she looked very similar to her mother now...that she was the child of a spirit was already a miracle, so the similarity probably wasn´t. Ais longed for something...but didn´t even knew what that was herself. All she had ever thought about was defeating the black dragon.
And then?
Would she lay down her sword forever... Would she get the chance like her mother had? For quite a while now, Ais hasn't been drinking the special tea that acts as a contraceptive...but she didn't get pregnant...maybe couldn't get pregnant. They had revealed Ais´ secret to Amid, who had promised to never talk about that to anyone.
Amid had told them that the tea wouldn´t work for Ais in the first place, since half of her body was basically a part of nature itself, so she was immune to the effect. A normal woman...maybe even an elf...would probably have gotten pregnant at this point. But Ais didn´t, since no one ever heard of a half spirit before, Amid could only guess that it had something to do with that.
If there was a solution for that, no mortal or god knew about that.
But that was only part of the problem, Ais hoped she could get answers from her mother when they freed her...it was a small hope.
Ais´s fear itself wasn´t about becoming pregnant.
Her fear was what to do when the black dragon would be defeated. What did she wanted to do with her life when it wasn´t for revenge? Her friends were with her, Ais wanted to protect them...Bell was at her side.
The truth was...except from training with Bell...Ais had never really felt joy in fighting. It was a necessarity...nothing more.
And Bell felt that feeling from her.
And it was Bell who opened her eyes and stopped her tears...by simply being who he was.
He held his sobbing wife hugged to his chest, gently carressed her back with his left hand.
"Ais."
"Mh..."
"Do you know...I love...adventures."
"Huh?"
She moved her face away from his now wet neck and looked at him with slightly puffy eyes.
Bell started to talk about his childhood, describing to her how his love for hero stories had started. How he longed to go to Orario, save a girl in the dungeon and fall in love. Getting comrades and friends on the way, fighting together with them and protecting them.
His eyes sparkled when he told her how exciting an adventure was, how much he even enjoyed to fight a strong opponent and overcome his own limits. Ais knew about his rivalry with Asterios and that Bell planned to fight him at least one more time again...they had to settle something.
And this was the great difference between Bell and Ais. For her, fighting was a necessarity to reach her goal, nothing more...except for her training with Bell and her friends. For Bell...it was all part of an adventure, to discover unknown regions, unknown monsters, find unknown treasures...all that excited Bell.
He talked about how much he loved every single one of his friends, his goddess and even more...her. How much joy it gave him to dive into the dungeon and come back safely...and how much he looked forward to do that with the Loki Familia and Ais. Especially with Ais...mostly to do that with Ais.
Because it would combine the two loves of his life.
Ais and Adventures.
To go on an adventure with his beloved wife, to fight together with her. She had to admit that diving in the dungeon was more fun with Bell at her side.
In her heart...Ais was never before on a real adventure. She had done great deeds...but never truly enjoyed it.
"So, Ais..."
"Bell?"
"Do you know what I wish for, hope for?"
"Hm?"
He hugged her and smiled with all the love he felt for her.
"That we and our friends defeat the black dragon, that we free your mother. And then...that we see what lies beyond that point."
"Eh?"
She blinked multiple times...beyond that point? That was the thing that Ais had never really thought about...dared to think about.
Bell looked at her amorous.
"I want to go on an adventure with you, Ais. With my beloved wife. And one day...I want to put a baby in your belly...maybe more. I want to come back to you every day, raise our children together, free to do what we want. This all...life...shall be our biggest adventure ever...and I want to do that with you."
Ais didn´t knew what to say, Bell´s face was loving and serious at the same time.
But her heart...she felt something crack...something shatter...like...shackles...that got destroyed.
In her mind, Ais saw her child self sitting next to them and smiled brightly, like only children were able to.
With his endless love for her, Bell gave her a direction...and hope.
He would give her...a future.
Her wish to save her mother got stronger...she wanted to introduce Bell to her mother...no!...She WOULD introduce Bell to her mother! She wanted to show her that she had found her hero, also it was important for Ais that her parents liked Bell. She would never hear her father´s opinion on Bell...but hopefully her mother´s.
Their talk continued for a long time at this evening, Ais´ natural magic stopped the wind around them passively, without her focussing on it, so it was quite warm up here, a few magic stones that produced heat also helped.
So for the first time, they didn´t returned after their night date where they cuddled up here, they slept on top of the tower and got woken up by the first sunlight.
The bright sunrise, Bell at her side...it changed something in Ais.
.
.
And for the first time...Ais would be as excited as Bell to go on an Expedition...because he was there with her...and all of her friends...which they would protect.
When they returned home, no one complained...not even Riveria. She had at first guessed it was because of another reason that both didn´t came home...something between husband and wife. But when they saw Ais´ smile...it was different.
Not even at her wedding, Ais had smiled like this. Or rather, it was the same smile...but for the first time...they saw the true...the really true Ais...smile.
It was as if they saw a spirit smiling.
Or a Spirit Child.
It was filled with so much purity and innocence, that even Loki got purified and wasn´t able to make a naughty joke. But they all wondered what Bell did to Ais to let her smile like that. Her change wasn´t a thing of a single night, they spent the days with training, newlywed time and spending time with their friends.
The one beside Bell that had the strongest influence on Ais wasn´t Riveria, it was Tiona. Since Tiona and Bell were very much alike. The one who helped Bell to study for the glacial territory was Lefiya, Riveria had other things to do and Lefiya said that was her job as his "big sister". The others were a bit baffled how serious these two seemed to be about that.
It didn´t helped that Ais wondered loud one day while they ate, if that would make Lefiya her sister-in-law, which let the elf squeal and grin happily.
Tione had frowned. "Oy, oy. Lefiya, you know that you and Bell aren´t actual siblings? You two are not blood related and such things."
"I-I-It´s a matter of feelings!"
.
.
And so the day when the Expedition would start, came.
.
.
"Gone for weeks I say!"
"*Sigh* Hestia...it will only be two or three weeks...it will be hard but they will come back."
"Easy for you to say..."
"What?! Do you know how many of my children are going down into the dungeon?! How many of them I won´t see for a long while? And Bell even stopped me from giving Lefiya a goodbye grope! He said it was his job as the brother to protect her!"
Both goddesses kept lamenting, normally Loki just wished her children safe travels, but she was always worried about them.
"Oy, Bell."
He turned around to the red haired goddess. Loki had to admit that Bell was quite the sight in his full armor, he had mixed his white armor with parts of his hero set, Vesta was at his hip, Olympus on his back. Instead of a red cape, Bell wore a bright blue cape this time, it granted resistance to cold and ice based attacks to a certain degree.
"Lady Loki?"
"I expect you with your ridiculous strength to protect my dear children and bring your wife back safely. And Ais, same to you."
Ais tilted her head. "I shall bring my wife back safely?"
"Argh! Your husband you airhead!"
"Ack!" Ais´ shocked face was too cute.
There was a side of Ais that never changed...and Bell loved her for that.
His whole Familia had come to wish him a safe journey. Actually they would go on an Expedition too in a few days, together with some of the lower leveled members of the Loki Familia. Technically they could go now together with the big party, but it would make no sense to just run behind the big party and get the way cleared.
Lily had insisted to check up his poaches with potions and similar stuff that he needed on his body a last time, one could never be careful enough for the dungeon.
A few smiths from the Hephaistos Familia would accompany them, like Tsubaki. Bell was surprised when Welf talked to Tsubaki to wish her a safe journey...that suddenly Ursu came out of Welf´s sword. Tsubaki grinned wide and patted Ursu´s head...the head of a living flame. Apparently, Tsubaki and Ursu had become friends...while the spirit seemed to be a bit jealous about Hephaistos sometimes.
To befriend a spirit just like that...well Tsubaki was sometimes strange, he heard from Welf that Hephaistos and Tsubaki even used Ursu´s flames to light up their forges, saying that spirit fire would help them to create even better equipment.
Ursu´s right eye had sparkled at this moment, as if she wanted to say. "Naturally."
"Welf, problem with the ladies?" Bell smirked.
"Please spare me..."
After a few more minutes, Bell managed to get Hestia off his chest, the time to start had come.
.
.
"Everyone listen up. Today we will start our next Expedition deep into the dungeon. To avoid crowding and cleaning the upper floors too much, we will form three teams. I will lead the first one, Riveria our middle and Gareth the rear guard. In addition to the smiths of the Hephaistos Familia, Bell Cranel from the Hestia Familia will also accompany us."
It wasn´t needed to explain who Bell was, but nobody would interrupt Finn.
"We will meet at the exit of the 18th Floor, then moving down to the 50th Floor, where we will take a break. Our goal this time is to get past the glacial territory and arrive at the 63rd Floor. We have no documents about this Floor and no adventurer that is alive today was that deep before. So unknown territory awaits us, unseen wonders and monsters we probably never faced.
We've prepared as well as we can. Nevertheless, the top directive is, be careful! Nobody knows what to expect and we won't risk anything. This time we have two level seven adventurers on our side, but even Ais and Bell can't be everywhere at once! Without losing more time, first group, go!"
Finn raised his spear and the party started to move forward. Two people waited just for a moment longer. Bete shared a very long kiss with Lena, while gently stroking her swollen belly...a kiss truly worth for a few weeks of waiting. The other was Bell, he wished his Familia goodbye one last time before following the others.
Ais wasn´t in the first group with Bell, they would form their team on the 50th Floor, for now they split up so that the stronger adventurers were spread over the party. That was why Bete and Bell would be part of Finn´s group, Ais and Lefiya with Riveria, Tiona and Tione with Gareth.
It was also to not distract Bell on his way down, he had to learn a few rules of the party, that only applied to a few people.
Flirting and all kinds of couple stuff were strictly forbidden while the party moved. They had training fights in the last days, to make sure that Bell would never get distracted by Ais and viece versa. That was also the reason why Tione moved separately from Finn. Normally when they put up the camp, the tents were strictly devided by gender, some people had tents on their own, but some had tents for more than one person, like the amazon sisters.
The only exception during camp time, would be Bell and Ais. They were a married couple and it would make no sense to keep them away from each other. But again, Riveria explained to Bell and Ais with an adamant face, sex was absolutely forbidden when it was sleeping time, so that others wouldn´t get disturbed.
Not that they would do it, but Riveria had noticed how cuddly they were after getting married, which she could understand. But the dungeon was not the place for that.
Before he went into Babel, Bell turned around one last time and waved to his Familia. Hestia jumped up and down, waving with both arms, the others waved normally. He checked his small backpack a last time, for now it was empty, but he intended to fill it with help from others. Bell went to the pub before the Expedition, to wish them goodbye for a while, they were his friends after all. The girls wished him a safe journey, but Mia had a request for Bell.
Sine they would go down to the glacial territory, she asked Bell if he could bring her some eternal ice. Eternal ice was a kind of drop item from the glacial territory. It didn´t dropped from monsters but grew like minerals out of the floor. Like it´s name suggested, this ice nearly never melted, but only nearly. It basically held a very long time, Mia wanted to use it to produce cold drinks by sticking bottles in the crushed ice. That would be quite cheap and practical in the summer.
In exchange, Mia would give the Loki Familia a discount for their big party when they would return from the Expedition. Loki was more than pleased with that and patted Bell grinning on his back.
"We have to save money after all, the Expedition is very expensive."
"Really?"
"Yup! In terms of money...we have no money!"
Bell had never before seen someone say that so happily...
While the Expedition was expensive, more than normal, they would also make good money. Unknown dropp items and notes for the guild, it would pay well. Because of that they had more supporters from the Hephaistos Familia with them than usual, to carry as much stuff as possible.
Bell was surprised by the spark in the eyes of the Loki Familia...even Ais looked like that. Having no money meant for her...no potato snacks.
His heart pounded in excitement as they entered the dungeon.
.
.
To go down to the 18th Floor was done in under one hour, Bell didn´t needed to fight, as did his whole group. Monsters howled at them and bared their fangs, coming closer...but all that came closer to Bell, started to whimper and fled. They felt his enormous strength and were frightened by it...not exactly because of him, but he was similar to a certain, extremely strong minotaur who went through the upper Floors a few times.
For Riveria´s group it would be the same, the monsters were actually scared by Ais. She was as strong as Bell, but since her spirit half got stronger, she was like anathema to the monsters.
After resting on the 50th Floor for the rest of the day, the party went on their second day down to the passage between the 58th and 59th Floor, due to taking it´s normal shape back, a small safe zone had formed here, the camp was a bit cramped but it worked.
And on the morning of the third day, Bell saw the glacial territory for the first time with his own eyes.
.
.
.
.
Authors Note: I will just say, what awaits Bell and the others behind the glacial territory will be different from Like a Fairy.