Hi, I'm so sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. I was very busy with school and the like. So I apologize for all that and I don't want to keep making excuses so on to other stuff.

I am so sorry about Hestia Familia. I am aware of their strength, but I will admit I was too focused on Bell and all his achievements that I totally forgot about their own strengths.

Like how Ryuu could take out medium level familias by herself as well as a few opponents that are a level above her, as well as Welf's crafting abilities as a blacksmith and magic sword maker, Lili's field commander/leadership skills, and Haruhime's mage abilities.

However, I saw it as Hestia familia being all out of whack. While Hestia familia doesn't need Bell. He made up and bound all of them together in a sense. I mean he was their hero, friend, and captain.

Either way, I apologize to those that feel I have unfairly wronged Hestia Familia.

Posted 02/14/2021 (Happy Valentine's Day!)

Chapter 6- Setting The Stage

Orario - The Guild

An owl flew into one of Hermes familia's postal hubs. Attached to its leg was a letter addressed to Ouranos, founder of the Guild. The familia members in charge of the mail couldn't care less whether it was actually important and simply shipped it off, with the rest of the mail addressed to the Guild, toward the Guild building near Babel. Upon being dumped with a hundred different letters of varying importance it was promptly left there in the pile as a certain Guild worker was forced to sort through it.

It wasn't Misha's lucky day. After being several weeks behind in her work, she was assigned to probably one of the worst jobs in the entire Guild outside of trash collection, mailroom duty. Misha absolutely despised working in the mailroom. She was practically surrounded by work. Forms and papers, within freaking papers. Buuut if she didn't do it Eina, Rose, or Royman would get on her back about it and while she could easily tune out Royman, both Rose and Eina scare her, a lot.

Sighing she started organizing the mail into several different baskets. There were a lot of the usual types of mail; taxes, a few level-up notifications, familia notices, and other letters. After a few hours of organizing, she came across an odd sight.

A blank-faced letter addressed to Ouranos himself.

Now Misha is naturally a curious person and this letter from outside Orario addressed to the Guild's founder piqued her curiosity. So, by telling herself it was to help Ouranos out as Misha had never seen him receive a letter, 'I'm just making sure it's legit and not some prank, yeah, yeah!' she reassured herself as she opened the letter. She slowly unwrapped it and slipped the folded piece of paper out. It wasn't the best parchment she's ever seen, 'It doesn't feel very official, it must be a gag, right?' she questioned as she slowly unfolded the piece of parchment to check its contents.

After a quick read, and two more times after that, her eyes widening with each reread, she quickly ran over to the Guild's archives. She needed to check this and needed to find it in the archives. Quickly moving over to the Hestia Familia's members recruitment and level-up forms she found what she had been looking for, Bell Cranel's profile.

"Here it is, Bell Cranel." Quickly looking through the folder, she found the form she was looking for, more specifically, his signature. She then held the letter and its signature in her left hand and his signature from three years ago in her right. "Huh, whaddya know it really is from him. Then that means…" as the realization of the letter's contents and meaning dawned on her she sprinted off to find her coworkers, 'Eina is gonna freak!' she thought giddily.

Eina was having a pretty normal day. She woke up, walked to work, watched Misha get scolded, and subsequently assigned mail room duty for not finishing her assignments like she had been telling her to do for the last three years. Now, Eina could have helped her friend and fellow coworker out like she had tried to do but after not having that much work, as compared to when she was previously assigned to Bell, she had a lot more free time. And instead of cramming more work onto herself, she chose to pursue a more personal life outside of the guild. She still worked the longest hours of almost any other worker there, but at least she doesn't skip out on her coworker's happy hours, even if she doesn't drink all that much. However, Eina would not have expected Misha to suddenly slam into her waving around a piece of paper as if it suddenly solved all her problems.

"Eiiiinnnaaaa! Just who I was looking for. Hey che-," she said excitedly grabbing Eina's shoulders and shaking the poor half-elf wildly.

"Misha. Slow down." Eina cut her off, squaring her shoulders with the pink-haired human in front of her.

"Sorry," Misha responded looking slightly guilty, "I just really needed to show you something."

"It's okay. Now you didn't find another 'mail monster' right?" Eina replied giving her coworker an amused smirk.

"That was one time. And I swear it was there, then suddenly when I went to find you it disappeared," she answered honestly.

"Okay suuure," Eina chuckled, "Now what do you need to show me? Does it have to do with this?" she asked, holding up the letter Misha drooped upon collision.

"Yes. It's a letter addressed to Ouranos-sama himself." Misha whispered, Eina giving her a disbelieving look, "No, no I swear. At first, I believed it to be a joke but after seeing who it was that wrote it and confirming it myself, I can say it is most likely authentic."

"Should I really believe you authenticated it correctly?" Eina asked, giving her a blank stare.

"Heey! No fair, I do get work done." Misha pouted, "It's just I don't always do it in a timely manner" she mumbled to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Misha responded waving her hands in front of her face, "Now why don't you read the letter?" Misha asked trying to change the subject to anything but her work ethic. Eina simply gave her a halfhearted glare before shrugging and unfolding the letter.

A yell echoed through the Guild building shaking some of the guild members and lower leveled adventurers to their cores.

"THAT BOY!" Eina yelled. starting to pace back and forth as Misha simply stood there, ramrod straight, knowing better than to interrupt Eina when she was on a tangent.

"Does he even think! He can't just do this! I mean technically he can, but…. THAT'S NOT THE POINT! Does he even think about the consequences of his actions, and what of the paperwork? I know that technically I'm not his advisor anymore, but I feel like I just can't not do his paperwork. I mean Hestia familia is signed under me and…." Eina mumbled, still pacing.

"What did you do to Eina?" Rose whispered to Misha, careful not to disturb Eina, gods know how she can get when she's mad, it almost scares Rose, almost. Rose sent Misha a small-disapproving glare as if she knew Misha was behind this which wasn't wrong, but not 100% accurate.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault, I simply showed her a letter that I believed she'd be interested in reading," Misha replied, waving her hands around as if scrubbing the blame away.

"You didn't give her another love letter from some secret admirer, right?" Rose asked a little more threateningly, both totally ignoring Eina's tangent.

"Hey! You enjoyed that prank too," Misha pouted crossing her arms over her chest, "but no, this is from someone Eina admires."

Rose simply raised an eyebrow at that, 'Who could Eina possibly admire?' "Wait you don't mean…" Rose asked a small amount of surprise hidden in her tone.

"Yep, Bell Cranel! He's returning to Orario!" Misha semi-shouted proud that she was able to get something out of her usually stoic coworker, totally forgetting that they probably shouldn't shout such news out in the middle of the Guild building.

Rose simply smacked Misha upside the head, "Do you ever think before you speak!? Look around," she growled, her tail bristling as Misha recovered and did indeed "look around."

"What!? The Little Rookie is returning?"

"That no-good monster loving freak is coming back, and they allowed this!?"

"What level do you think he is now?"

"Who cares, he's just going to throw Orario into chaos?"

"Man, I can't wait to see how this turns out!"

"1000 valis that he gets thrown out by Loki family as soon as he steps foot into Orario!"

"I'll take that bet."

Misha winced as she heard the different response to her impromptu announcement. She was about to respond when she was suddenly pulled up by her collar, facing a very angry looking half-elf, "Explain now."

"I-I already t-told you, Eina. I was in the mailroom and found that letter and that it was addressed to Ouranos-sama," Misha stuttered out honestly scared of what the half-elf would do. Rose simply stood there watching, her tail swishing in amusement, and a small evil grin forming on her face.

'Of course, my suffering gets a smile out of her, man it's a lot eviler than I thought it would be,' Misha thought idly trying to ignore the glaring half-elf in front of her.

"Fine, but now look what you've done," Eina relented before gesturing to the crowd still bickering amongst themselves about Bell Cranel's return. Royman, hearing the commotion and accompanying comments, hurriedly called the trio away from the "frontlines" and asked if they did indeed receive news of Bell Cranel. Eina and Misha nodded, Rose simply watching from the sidelines. They showed him the letter. After reading it himself and confirming that it did indeed come from Bell Cranel. He simply sighed and knew this would be a problem handled by the gods and Ouranos himself. Royman then asked that they try to calm the crowd down as he went to report the news to Ouranos, though he has a sneaking suspicion that the old god already knows.

Upon walking into the chamber, Royman bowed before Ouranos as he addressed him.

"Royman" the old god spoke, acknowledging his presence.

"Ouranos-sama, we have received news of Bell Cranel's return to Orario as well as his arrival date. However, due to one of our employees, knowledge of his return has been spread to the populace."

"I see, this is troublesome. However, I was already aware of Bell Cranel's plan to return, this just confirms it. When might he be returning?"

"The 27th at noon, in 12 days" Royman answered promptly.

"Well then, would you gather Freya, Loki, Ganesha, Hermes, and Hestia and tell them to meet here tomorrow morning?"

"Are their familias welcome?" Knowing what could happen if one gathered that many high leveled adventurers in one room, Royman couldn't help but gulp nervously, almost afraid of the answer.

"Of course," Ouranos replied before dismissing Royman.

"This is turning out to be quite the event" A robed figure stated as he walked out of the shadows behind Ouranos' chair. Ouranos nodding in agreement.

"It seems to be. Fels would you keep an eye on the Xenos, I fear what might happen if word reached them, especially the bull."

"I will try to give them a subjugation quest lower in the dungeon, it should move them past the more common floors and routes."

"Do what you must"

News quickly spread outside of the Guild's doors. As people began to protest in the streets, some for Bell, others against him. Ouranos quickly dispatched summons, through Fels and Royman, to familias associated either with Bell Cranel or in Orario's "government." The gathered familias were that of Freya, Loki, Hephaestus, Hermes, Ganesha, Take, and of course Hestia. Loki and Freya both brought their respective executives along as this could lead to a potentially groundbreaking event, assuming Bell did indeed level up. Hestia also brought her executives as they should know of Bell's status. Ganesha brought Shakti, Hephaestus brought Tsubaki, Take brought Mikoto, Hermes brought Asfi, and Miach couldn't make it because he and Naaza had to tend to the shop and their new recruits.

Once everyone had arrived, Ouranos started the meeting knowing that this could very well affect even the top familias in Orario. However, the tension in the room was thick, the "presences" of the adventurers was almost suffocating. It's not every day you have the strongest adventurers in Orario, if not the world, in one room.

"Greetings everyone. As I am sure you are all aware by now, Bell Cranel is returning to Orario."

"And why do we care about the bunny brat?" Everyone's favorite cat-person sneered.

"Allen~" Freya singsonged, her sickly-sweet voice hiding plenty of malice. Allen simply shut his mouth, his tail straightening out behind him, as Hedin and the Gulliver brothers snickered until Ottar promptly silenced them all with a glare.

"Yes, we Loki familia have been made aware of Mr. Cranel's return," Finn responded professionally as the executives behind him nodded in agreement.

"As have Hestia Familia," Lili followed up, Finn sending a glance her way. Lili didn't seem to notice, however, a certain amazon did, rage boiling beneath her skin. Until Riveria bonked her with her staff and sent her a quick glare, having already felt the bloodlust slowly leak out of Tione.

After receiving other nods of acknowledgement, Ouranos continued.

"I am sure some of you have very strong opinions as to Mr. Cranel's return, but I would like to make one thing very clear. Until further notice, Bell Cranel is not to be considered an enemy, he is not a criminal. So, attacking him in any way could very well lead to repercussions reflecting on not just the attacker but their familia as well. Understood?" Several heads nodded, and many more glances were thrown to those who had beef with him in the past, mainly Allen. An especially murderous one coming from the Sword Princess, making the cat man sweat slightly. Baffled as to why he was getting all the glares, he would at least think Bete would be with him on this.

Interestingly enough, even Bete didn't totally hate Bell Cranel returning. As he saw it, Bell had taken Ais' heart (it was as obvious to the executives as the sun is to the sky) and if he had kept growing outside Orario, likely already surpassed him. He had grown plain and simple. Bete was surprised to hear he went, not toe-to-toe, but head-to-head with Ais and even managed to land a hit or two on her, while admittedly she landed way more.

Though as he later heard from the Amazons about Ais' breakdown and chat with Riveria a few weeks after Bell's exile, Ais actually took the boy somewhat seriously after he, first, stood up to her to protect the vouivre girl when he was seriously outclassed, second, actually managed to hang on in the first part of the fight before, as Ais put it, "had to cut him."

He at least won't treat the boy as trash but hearing and seeing are two very different things. So, he may have earned Bete's respect as an adventurer, fighting a stronger opponent, but not as a man, losing when all those you hold dear are on the line. Until he can witness the day Bell Cranel can actually fight to back up his ideals, will be the day Bete truly respects him. Not that he'll ever admit it.

Turning his head back to Ouranos, he watched as he continued to talk about how they will be receiving Bell and how they, as the major familias in Orario, should proceed.

"I would prefer he was greeted in a more private setting away from prying eyes, however, we can't simply not let other's into Orario's gates and I'm sure other citizens would want to greet Bell Cranel, if only for their own purposes," Ouranos started, "What would be your opinions on how we let Bell Cranel re-enter Orario, taking Orario's current social climate into account?"

"Well, the one advantage we have over the general populace is we know when Mr. Cranel is arriving, therefore, we are able to plan accordingly and best prepare for his arrival. I would suggest perhaps hosting an event away from the central gate and market area to draw most of the people away, we won't be able to stop those arriving at the same time as Bell Cranel, but it should help manage those within Orario's walls. I'm sure Ganesha could take care of that." Finn responded, nodding toward Ganesha, as Ganesha simply gave him a thumbs up and yelled "I am Ganesha" in approval.

"I'm sure people wouldn't mind a cultural festival a little earlier this year, would they Shakti?" Ganesha asked, with a surprising amount of seriousness. Bell Cranel helped Ganesha out with the Xenos incident years before, and although Ganesha voted to kick him out, he did with a heavy heart as he is seen as a hero to the Xenos. However, the populace and stability in Orario had to come first, besides he could always return. Which is exactly what's happening right now.

"I believe that would work Ganesha-sama," Shakti replied, with a hint of a smirk on her lips.

"Of course, it would, because I am Ganesha!"

Shakti merely sighed, shaking her head slightly, the smirk still on her lips. Ouranos nodded slightly to accept their silent proposal and continued.

"Next order of business. Regarding Bell's familia and status," At that all the heads turned back toward the god. These next few topics could very well change the power balance in Orario.

"Bell himself has confirmed that he did indeed level up while outside Orario, though his current level was not given. This could very well mean that he is much stronger than before if his past growth is anything to go by. I expect you all to sort and proceed with this information, however, you would like. Bell Cranel is his own person, though do take our earlier rule into account. Dismissed" As they walked out, three certain goddesses' were all staring each other down, well more like Loki and Hestia were while Freya watched.

"Suck it Loki-no-boobs, my Bell-kun will be stronger than even your precious Sword Princess. How does that feel!?" Hestia taunted; Loki firing back just as quickly.

"Shut it boob fer brains. My Ais-tan won't lose to the rabbit."

"Loki you know that's not true~ And Hestia, how do we even know Bell-kun will want to join your familia? Is he not free of your falna and as Ouranos put it, 'his own person.'"Freya asked sweetly, though all those watching were unnerved by the edge in her voice and the implications of that question.

"Of course, my Bell-kun will join my familia, he's my Bell-kun!" Hestia screeched, however even as she said that she couldn't help but doubt that statement, 'He will…right?'

The adventurers, mainly the three goddesses' familias couldn't help but freeze as they thought about what Freya had said.

'Now this is a very interesting development. Not planned but not unwelcome. This just confirms the players on the board are ready. The hero is being recognized before his journey begins…I believe I found my second act, if all goes well, after my plans for the first act we shall see where this takes things' Hermes smirked, an almost sadistic glee as he watched the goddesses in front of him talk. Asfi couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose, already knowing whatever comes next will be a pain. However, another important player was deep in thought as he stood by his goddess's side. The implications of Freya's question sending his mind into overdrive.

'Of course, Bell Cranel doesn't have to join his Hestia familia. He may feel obligated to do so but the final say is still up to him. If he is as strong as I think he may be, whichever familia possesses him has the capacity to throw Orario out of balance.' He looked at the goddesses assembled in front of him, 'This isn't just about Bell returning, it's a fight for Bell Cranel. However….' he turned to look at the golden-haired adventurer process the same statement he had, seeming to come to her own conclusion for different reasons, a small smile gracing her lips. Finn noted that she has been doing that more regularly, '…we may have a slight advantage. Though then again...' Finn looked over to Freya smiling sweetly toward Hestia, 'why would she reveal her hand?'

"Well, I must go, I do hope to see you all again~" Freya sang as she walked away from a doubtful Hestia and a mischievous Loki, her familia following her. Ottar a half step behind her as those protesting outside the Guild quieted down and departed letting Freya pass while trying to ignore the glares sent by her more untrusting executives. Meanwhile Loki started to walk out as well, her executives following, as she turned to address Hestia.

"Something important has come up. See ya, ya lil loli goddess." Loki turned away quickly, not from lying but because something important has indeed come up. She did everything in her power to keep down the sadistic grin from erupting across her face, however, after turning away, it came with full force. She glanced to her captain and he simply nodded to her, a plan forming in his head. The grin grew ever wider.

XXX

Orario - The Traveller's Inn

"This is good, very good. We have 11 days to finish prepping for the first act, however, we need a beast for the hero to fight."

"No, nope, I'm stopping you there. We are not setting a monster loose in Orario just so Cranel-san can fight to regain his reputation in the eyes of the populace." Asfi fired back, she can usually put up with her god's antics, but this seems a bit much. "This is practically the exact same plan as what you wanted to do on that night, but he was captured."

"So, what if a monster is set loose throughout the city, Freya did it, why can't lil ole me~" Hermes asked innocently, though it never reached his eyes, a fact he made up for by bowing down slightly.

"W-wait Freya!? Oh Monsterphilia, that would explain that-no, you're trying to blindside me." Asfi growled, honestly how does she always put up with him? "Besides Freya has the power and reputation behind her to get away with it, we, however, do not," she finished with a pointed glare toward her god.

"Well, we don't need to force a monster out to fight Bell, besides Loki family would kill anything under level at least level 7 with little difficulty," he groaned why were they always so difficult, can't a god have a little fun these days. "It would be quite hard to drag a level 7-8 monster out of the depths of the dungeon that even Zues family hasn't explored. If only there was a super-strong monster, that wants to fight him specifically. What would such a beast look like? Mhmm…"

"Fine I'll try to get in touch with the Xenos, but how are you sure Ouranos and Fels aren't watching you?"

Hermes spun around in his chair as he tossed an apple in the air, "My dear Asfi, of course, they're watching me. I wouldn't trust me, either. That is why you must, good luck." Hermes said smugly as he tried to peck her cheek only to receive a level 5 slap to the face.

"I-I'll be g-going now."

XXX

Orario - Babel

"Ottar, how do you think Loki and Hestia will be responding to my threat?" Freya asked as she took a sip from her wine glass. She sat atop Babel looking over Orario as the sun started to set, bathing her throne room in a mixture of purple and orange.

"Not well my lady." A hulking figure responded as he stepped out of the long shadows cast by the setting sun, taking two long strides to place himself behind and to the right of his goddess.

"Are you not curious as to why I chose to reveal my hand~?" Freya asked, she knows Ottar is loyal, but he is sometimes too loyal, too unexpressive. It sometimes takes away from the beauty of his soul, but he is almost literally, her will, so she ignores that small flaw. All mortals have them.

"I am, my lady. However, it is not my place to question your judgement." 'Ah, there it is...' Freya giggled slightly, almost letting her more expressive side slip.

"Well, I'll tell you anyway, how do you think Bell-kun would feel if everyone fought over him~" It was an innocent enough question to ask and one that could vary depending on if Bell actually changed. Assuming he still holds a heroic heart that Ottar has witnessed as he watched from the shadows, he answered to the best of his ability. His lady deserved nothing less.

"Knowing him, I would assume he would not enjoy it."

"Correct, if Hestia, Loki, and all the other gods were fighting over him, he would want peace and maybe time to mull things over. His kind soul wouldn't want to hurt either side, so instead of making a choice I would help remove it from the equation entirely. Do you understand Ottar?"

"You will not be joining the fight over him, but instead offer him refuge with hopes he joins your familia? Only if it seems you are not as possessive as the others."

"Yes, I have merely planted the seeds of discord, which will corrupt those associated with him. In doing so, it will push them away from him and I will offer him refuge and a chance to end the fight by joining a third party, so to speak."

"I believe that is an excellent plan, my lady." Ottar honestly believed it was a good plan. It reminded him much of how he was saved by Freya as she offered him food, shelter, and her love. For her love was much like that of the wind, extending to all those around her, Bell Cranel just so happened to get caught in the strongest gust, not that he minded. He was slightly fond of the boy, or at least of what he saw of the boy from the shadows. Even if Freya planted the seeds that pushes him away from those associated with him and into his lady's waiting embrace, they were the ones who watered and nourished them. They sowed their own failure.

"Ottar, tell me you aren't curious as to how much Bell-kun has grown" Freya knew the question came somewhat out of nowhere, but she noticed the way Ottar clenched his hand into fist at the mention of Bell leveling up outside Orario. His soul flaring slightly as well. She is aware as a level 8 he has little to no competition, especially now, but he is still very conscious of the ever-decreasing gap between him and those below him, particularly the executives of Loki familia. She is also aware that it becomes harder to level up the higher you go, and without the dungeon, it should be almost impossible, but Bell did it. And if his growth rate is still as fast, he should be quite high. Though knowing him it shouldn't be much of a surprise.

After a minute of contemplative silence, Ottar finally spoke, his soul contradicting the bored tone of his voice. He was curious, maybe even excited to see what has become of Bell Cranel, "His results will be proof enough."

Freya couldn't help but smile in agreement. She looked back over to the massive window in front of her, watching as the sun finally sunk below the horizon. The brightest stars were barely visible in the pseudo night. The lights across Oraio turning on after another almost as if the city itself was copying the stars, each light a new star bursting to light. She then looked up at the moon, briefly wondering if Bell was looking at it too, 'Show me what you've become Bell-kun.'

XXX

Orario - Hearth Manor

"ARGGGHH! If that freaking goddess of beauty thinks she can steal MY BELL-KUN she has another thing coming!" The yell would have echoed through the manor and probably woken up the rest of the familia if not for the soundproofed walls lining the captain's office. It was already late, the sun having just starting to set, they didn't need to be fined for noise complaints…again.

"Goddess Hestia why don't you take a breather," Welf, ever the voice of reason, spoke up, "While I do agree that what she said was…concerning bu-"

"BUT WHAT! She thinks that Bell will just hand himself over to her, he's MY CHILD." Hestia screamed once more; no other woman could dare defile (re: touch) her Bell. He promised he would never leave her, and she would make sure he never forgets it.

"Goddess Hestia, while it is possible Bell could join another familia, I don't think he would. He helped build this familia, if anything we are where we are today because of him. I'm sure that Bell will return to us eventually," Ryuu helpfully supplied, her calm demeanor and truthful words helping to calm the raging Hestia, slightly.

"Though is it not concerning that he may not want to return to us?" Haruhime asked, her voice small and laced with concern.

"What do you mean Haruhime, of course, Bell would return to us, why wouldn't he?" Lili asked curiously. While she was mad Freya even dared to think of trying to steal Bell and Hestia's remarks about "her Bell" she was still able to compose herself knowing that this was indeed a big threat. Not just to their familia but moral, strength, and her own agenda, but they have more pressing matter to attend too. Such as why Haruhime honestly thinks Bell would abandon them.

"I mean he's supposedly stronger now, wouldn't…we…just hold him back. Also, the other familias of Freya and Loki...they all have something that they could give him, that would actually benefit him. While we don't and one of his last contact with us was because we had to tell him that we have been hiding his full status from him because we don't trust the one person that put their full trust into us. Haruhime said looking down.

They all remembered how that day went. It was right after the denatus where the gods deemed Bell be excused from Orario. He was given two days to prepare before they saw him off. They told him that night, all Bell did was move to excuse himself, his hair shadowing his eyes, as he went to his room to "finish packing." He barely spoke to any of them since then, except Ryuu who he had asked to take care of his familia, even if she didn't want Hestia's falna. They couldn't help but think that was perhaps why he gave Ais the knife. Though they found bitter irony in the fact that the person who betrayed Bell in a far worse way than they did, was practically forgiven. They also saw a little hope that maybe, they will be too.

That hope shattered when they heard Freya's thoughts on his status. If Freya thought that, they could only hope Bell forgave them.

"While you aren't wrong, I don't think Bell's like that. He wouldn't hate us for that for so long. He was always there for us, perhaps it is time we pay him back. Our only hope he joins us is if we regain his trust. He may be a stranger to us all, three years is a long time. But as Freya implied, ultimately it's his choice."

Welf closed out. He didn't want to think about Bell not joining them, but it is a possibility, then again does anyone know Bell as he is now. As the rest of the familia nodded dumbly, even Hestia keeping her mouth shut, all of them tired from a somewhat emotionally taxing day of freaking out. Welf looked out the window gazing at the moon as he turned off the magic stone lamp and closed the door to the office.

XXX

Orario - Twilight Manor

"So, you want my Ais-tan to seduce Bell Cranel." Loki asked, she would normally be freaking out, but this information didn't make sense. Ais seducing…anyone. Though then again half of the male adventurers in Orario if not most of them in her own family are vying for her to even glance their way. So, she might as well be passively seducing them.

"No, that's absurd. We can't build a bridge of lies that burns twice as quickly." Finn responded quickly while mentioning the fact that if a relationship were to occur and it was considered "fake," well it wouldn't go well. "We know Ais likes Bell and Bell at least liked Ais and probably still does considering he sent her a letter. I just want to create opportunities for him to forge relationships, romantic or not, with members of this familia. Such as inviting him to the lower floors and on expeditions." Riveria raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Yeah, because what screams bonding better than being trapped with thirty other people in a campsite, kilometers below ground caked in sweat and monster blood." That stunned them, when did Riveria get sassy. Noticing their shocked faces, Riveria raised her eyebrow again before replaying what she said again, 'Oh that would certainly shock them.'

Clearing her throat, she clarified, "Apologies, I was a bit peeved that you want to try to force took months for us," she gestured to Finn, Gareth, and herself, "to even try to work together. I believe we shouldn't force it and let it come naturally. Mister Cranel will already be inclined to at least talk to us as a means to spend time with Ais. If we simply let them do whatever, I'm sure even Ais would get to him."

"Who would've thought Riveria is okay with her daughter going on a date with an outlaw," Loki cackled, alleviating some of the tension, cracking her back, she turned to leave, "We will talk about this in depth later. I'm tired."

XXX

Orario - Dungeon Entrance (11 days later)

A hulking figure stomped out of the dungeon, blood coating its body.

None of it, however, was it's own.

It was armed with two massive axes. One almost golden the other silver. Perfectly contrasting one another.

The figure stood to its full height as it stepped out into the sun. The guards froze in fear at its size and sheer aura. It was a humanoid bull, standing at almost eight feet, its hands the size of wrecking balls, and horns dyed blood-red as sharp as spears. It wore a mix of heavy plated body armor and what looked to be scales of various monsters patched together. The heavy armor looking like it did little to impede its movement.

However, probably the most terrifying thing was its face, or really what was carved upon it. A smile. A smile of almost sadistic glee looking for its next opponent. A smile that promised that whoever it challenged had better be strong enough to tank at least one hit.

As it heard the faint sound of a festival in the distance, it lets out a terrible war cry that sent the guards to their knees, knocking them unconscious. It simply stepped past them, lumbering towards the sounds of music and fun. His rival may be at the gate, but so are one's he'd rather not face in open combat, a certain Boaz and golden-haired adventurer flashing through his mind.

Hermes watched from a distance next to Asfi, both cloaked using Hades hats. Asfi quaking with fear, even at level five, she knew of its strength and it terrified her. Hermes sat there stoned face, too preoccupied with making sure these next few events happened as he planned. He watched as he saw a flare go up in the distance before hopping across the roofs to another street as Loki familia, once facing the gate, started to run towards the flare, the threat, the monster.

As he watched Loki familia turn a corner and leave his view, he looked far into the distance past Orario's walls to catch a speck of black amongst the red desert sands surrounding Orario's main gate.

"The stage is set, and the hero returns."

"Enter, Bell Cranel."

Again I'm sorry, I can't say that I'll post next week or when exactly but if I were to post it will be on Sunday, most likely. I'll be changing to a more fluid schedule that will better fit my life.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed!

See Ya! :)