Hi, uhh enjoy :)

Posted 1/9/2020

Chapter 3- Revelations

Orario- Twilight Manor, Present time

Bell was coming back.

She sat there, still on the wall with the knife held against her chest, repeating those four words to herself. She couldn't believe it. Bell was coming back! 'Oh my gods he's coming back! Wait, what do I do? I mean, he told me to look after this,' she looked down toward the knife in her hands. 'so that's what I'll do. Should I tell anyone? Gods, what am I supposed to do after reading this?' Looking down at the piece of paper, she quickly grabbed it, and deciding to think on this, went back to Twilight Manor not noticing two invisible individuals watching from afar.

"Well, that certainly went well."

"Do you think this really was the best idea, Lord Hermes, it seemed pretty personal."

"Nonsense Asfi, of course it was personal. A letter from the hero to the damsel in distress, a princess at that. This is exactly like the heroes of old."

"I'm surprised you still consider him a hero after that stunt he pulled."

"I was wrong in my thinking at the time. He tried to save someone that was in danger, is that not a hero," he asked softly, a hint of guilt in his tone.

"I don't know, you seemed pretty adamant that he was a fool," she mocked.

"I've had time to think about it and an old friend reminded me that times change, unfortunately, we gods do not."

"He sounds like a wise guy."

"He is, though a bit cheeky and not afraid of a man's romance," he laughed.

"Great another pervert…" she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Maybe, but he always knew how to make the best…" his voice laced with pride.

"The best….?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Heroes, the best heroes."

Meanwhile, Ais tore through Twilight Manor at almost unbelievable speeds, not wanting Bell's knife and ultimate return to be found out in case he doesn't want people to know yet.

However, upon reaching her room and placing the box containing the knife and letter under her bed, a sudden thought hit her like she ran into Ottar.

'What if he hasn't forgiven me!?'

At this she slumped down against the side of her bed frame, curling her legs to her chest, and started thinking about the possibility. 'He wouldn't give me his knife if he didn't forgive me, right? His message seemed like he forgave me…I mean he asked me to look after it, nobody just does that. But I got him arrested, I beat him, I was the one who forced him away, wasn't I?' Groaning, Ais stood up before a thought came to her, 'They would know if Bell forgave me, I think…' and with that she ran to her door, only to run into two amazons and two elves.

"Heya Ais, whatcha doing?" Tiona asked, shoving her face in front of, a now indifferent looking, Ais.

"Yeah seriously Ais, what are you doing?" Tione asked soon after, dragging her sister, Tiona, back slightly.

"I'm going to talk to Hestia Familia," Ais replied stoically, though a hint of something else was laced in her voice.

"Why, pray tell, would you be going to Hestia Familia?" Riveria asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"I…want to ask them a question…" Ais whispered under her breath, the four adventurers in-front of her barely picking up on it, even with their advanced senses.

"Why would miss Ais want to ask that human's familia a question?" asked Lefiya, still quite peeved that Bell had taken so much of Ais' attention even to this day. She was quite pleased to hear that he was kicked out of Orario as that meant the lercher couldn't defile the divine form that is Ais Wallenstein, or that's what she kept telling herself. In reality, she felt quite guilty about the way she treated Bell. Even as he did everything right, she would always try to find a way to exert her dominance over him when he was clearly the victor as both an adventurer and the one who stole miss Ais' heart. Not that she would ever admit that, like ever.

"It's just that," Ais looked down shuffling nervously, the amazons and Riveria shared a glance, "I wanted to ask them if they believe Bell would have forgiven me, for" she gestured with her hands, "all that." What that was need not be explained.

The sisters and high-elf all had a knowing smirk while Lefiya just stood there dumbfounded. "Why would miss Ais care if-" Lefiya began only to be bonked on the head by Riveria's staff as the high elf glared at her protégé.

"I don't think mister Cranel has the capacity to ever have blamed you for the…incident," Riveria answered honestly, choosing her words carefully. Knowing exactly how Ais felt about the whole 'getting your crushed arrested' thing, "but I'm curious as to why you bring this up now?" Riveria asked wondering why Ais would bring this up years later.

"Unless…" her eyes narrowed, "You know of or have heard something regarding mister Cranel."

Ais simply let out an "eep" under the scrutinizing glare of Loki familia's vice-captain and ran out of the mansion, leaving the three other adventurers standing there in confusion.

"Uh, Riveria, was that what I think it was?"

"Huh, whaddya think Ais knows about Argonaut-kun?"

Tione and Tiona asked the high-elf, who simply sat there pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I believe things are about to get a lot more interesting."

"How so?" Tiona and Lefiya asked.

"It's kinda obvious blockhead," Tione replied slapping Tiona upside the head.

"Hey! It's not that obvious when Riveria gives us vague replies like that." Tiona pouted as she rubbed the side of her head.

"Bell Cranel is most likely coming back right?" Tione asked, ignoring her sister.

"I would believe that to be the case, though I'm not completely sure. If Bell Cranel wasn't coming back her behavior would have stayed the same and if he died and she somehow got that information she would be much more depressed." Riveria replied with her eyes closed, thinking of all the implications of his return. The headache already forming.

"Oh…but she was nervous and maybe a little anxious meaning she probably knows he's coming back and is excited her crush is coming back, but also slightly terrified that he may blame her for his absence." Tione finished while Tiona's face slowly morphed from confusion to excitement.

"Oh, so you think Argonaut-kun is coming ba-"

"THAT HUMAN CAN'T COME BACK, HE WAS BANISHED!" Lefiya screamed trying to make sense out of all this.

"Well, technically he was 'banished' for his own safety. The Guild managed to drop the charges of the destruction of Daedalus and simply removed him as a potential threat, a way to appease the people, and for his own safety. Even if Bell Cranel could be considered a threat for protecting monsters, which some seem to believe, share some amount of emotions as we do."

"I mean the monsters I encountered that night didn't seem like they wanted to fight, except that Bull, that was strong. I kinda wanna go at it again. But I encountered that Vouivre they were protecting and when it, she, looked me in the eyes I saw only fear and longing. And when she saved a little girl just minutes earlier, she looked at the girl with some amount of kindness before looking hurt as the girl ran away. So that's wh-" Tiona stated adding her two valis before getting cut off.

"You let her go and disobeyed the captain" Tione cut her off as a small amount of bloodlust leaked out at the mere thought of someone disobeying Finn.

"As I was saying, though mister Cranel was, erm, forcibly removed from the city, it was all for his safety and letting the city finally rest. And I do believe that the city has rested enough though knowing mister Cranel, even if the people still hold a grudge against him, he is probably strong enough to be safe almost anywhere he goes within the city. Except for the dungeon, Folkvangr, here, Hearth Manor, and the Guild." Riveria summed up, a smirk of amusement dancing across her lips as she added that last line.

"I understand the dungeon, Folkvangr and here. But why would his familia's home and the Guild be dangerous for him?" Lefiya asked, honestly curious as to why Bell's friends and family would be dangerous and why the guild, a safe-haven for most adventurers, would be dangerous too. If what Riveria was saying is true, the Guild didn't honestly care about enforcing his charges all that much, so again, why would it be dangerous?

"Ah well for Hearth Manor, I'm sure a certain goddess will be all over him fretting for his safety and whatever information has Ais all up in a twist and as for the Guild. Well, I know a certain half-elf who would love to have a word or two with him." Riveria chuckled as she thought about what her friend's daughter would do to the poor boy (man perhaps?) when she finds out he's back.

"Either way I'm sure Ais will be fine for now, however it would probably be best that we tell the others of mister Cranel's potential return." Riveria continued as she walked away, her three companions scrambling to catch up to the high elf's steady gait.

"It would seem that the last remnants of Evilus are hiding deep within the dungeon. Probably past the 65th or 70th floor. We already cleared Knossos and as much as I doubt that they could survive that deep unless they escaped through one of the secret passages if there are any. The one problem is that creature, Revis. If she continues to feed on magic stones, especially those of the deeper floor monsters, she may be able to out level some of our own executives." Finn, the captain of Loki Familia explained, going over his various notes on the remnants of Evilus.

"That may be true. But what of the bull. We know it's also in the deep floors, an' you said yourself that it was strong. How do we know that they won't just fight each other?" Loki asked.

"I'm sure the deep floors are big enough to the point where they would barely even see each other, if at all. And while we know they are both strong, the Bull seems more interested in training than whatever Evilus does. I mean the Xenos and Evilus don't seem to mind each other as long as they do their own things, so I doubt they would fight."

"This is getting us nowhere. We haven't seen Evilus for almost half a year. I'm getting a drink, call me when something important comes up." Bete huffed, got up, and walked through the door as Riveria, Lefiya, and the twins walked in. Finn simply sighed.

"What's got his tail in a twist?" Tiona asked as she plopped herself on the couch inside Finn's office.

"I heard that you flat-chested Amazon!" Bete yelled from down the hallway before turning toward the foyer and out of sight.

"HEYYY!" Tiona yelled ready to run out and tackle him before Tione grabbed her shoulder and smacked her in the back of the head.

While that was happening Riveria simply walked up to Finn and told him Bell's potential return.

"Have you noticed Ais acting differently today?" Riveria asked as Finn, Loki, and Gareth looked toward her.

"What's wrong with Aizu?" Loki asked, honestly curious as to why her favorite was acting well, at all, as she is usually quite stoic and aloof.

"I have come to believe that she has somehow received information regarding Bell Cranel's potential return."

"And how have you come to that conclusion, Riveria?" Finn asked, understanding that Bell's return could easily shift the power dynamic in Orario, assuming he has gotten stronger. 'And knowing mister Cranel, that is very much a possibility,' he mused.

"Oh oh oh, I know" Tiona exclaimed barging into the conversation, as Tione pulled her away from the desk slightly, "Ais was acting all nervous and shuffling her feet. Then she asked if we thought Argonaut-kun has forgiven her."

"And you believe she is asking this because she has received word that he is coming back?" Finn asked returning his gaze back to Riveria.

"It is certainly a possibility," she answered, Finn nodded.

"Of course it has to be itty-bitty's kid, he's always at the center of something," Loki groaned, the others simply humming in agreement. "And it's not like he can't come back either as we never specifically banished him or set a rule that specifies the amount of time or condition. Like Itty bitty specifically told Apollo he, "can't step foot in Orario again" but we just said Bell Cranel had to leave."

"Did you want to permanently remove Bell from Orario?" Tione asked, raising her eyebrow, Lefiya simply snickered.

"Not now, though at the time I may have voted for that."

"Is that why you're on bad terms with Hestia?" Finn asked his goddess.

"Maybe..." Loki shrugged, "It may have contributed, but I wouldn't say we're on 'bad terms,' we just don't have a reason to interact with each other anymore."

"Well Bell Cranel is an anomaly and I must say his fast growth most certainly contributed toward our interest in him."

"I feel like we'll be seeing the lad around here soon," Gareth added, for the first time since the conversation started.

"Most definitely," Riveria sighed, "assuming he and Ais start training again." The others simply rolling their eyes, even Loki.

"THE LECHEROUS HUMAN DOESN'T DESERVE AIS' AFFECTION!" Of course, Lefiya didn't appreciate being reminded of his past with Ais.

"Oh speaking of Ais, where is she?" Finn asked, ignoring the little elf's, uhh, tantrum. Already too used to it.

"She went to speak to Hestia Familia, regarding her question earlier today, and potentially to tell them of mister Cranel's return," Riveria replied.

"Ahh I see, I'm sure they will be thrilled to hear their ex-captain contacted her first and not them," Finn chuckled, Riveria shaking her head.

"Well, the next few weeks will certainly be exciting. You're all dismissed," Finn ended as the rest slowly filtered out of his office. After politely declining Tione's offer to go to lunch with her he finally slumped down into his chair slightly.

'My thumb has been tingling ever since earlier this morning, I suppose I know why now. The next few weeks certainly will be exciting.'

Sorry for the non-exciting events. Also, I felt like that conversation was a bit too fast and kind of rushed. I'm trying to get better. But there's some exposition and another player added to the game, Loki Familia. Yay! Also also, I don't hate Lefiya, but I feel like she still wouldn't have completely forgiven Bell so yea.

Anyway, See Ya!