Chapter 9
(Warning, major spoiler of Danmachi Light Novel 14)
"That's….depressing" Hestia finally said after a long silence ensued
"Yeah…" Loki agreed. A very rare occurrence indeed…Hestia and Loki are agreeing on something
For some reason, Zelretch had turned off the mirror right after Theseus starts to cry
"…is that the end?" Lefiya asked of the vampire
"For Asterios? Yes. For Theseus? No. In the first place, I only want to show you all Asterios's story but it won't make sense if I don't show you the beginning of the hero that will slay him"
"Well, what happened to him then?" Tiona, who's kinda annoyed that the vampire didn't show the end of Theseus's journey, asked
"Hmmmm…" Zelretch hummed
"Very well, I'll just explain it briefly. Theseus escaped the Labyrinth and as he promised, he took Ariadne with him back to Athens. In their journey, they stopped for a while on an island called Naxos and….well…"
"…something happened?" Bell asked, unsure whether he wants to hear about it or not
"…a god took a fancy to Ariadne and demanded Theseus to hands her to him"
"…what?"
"I think I will regret asking this….who?" Loki said, rubbing her forehead
"Hmmm, I think you knew him well in this world" Zelretch chuckled
'Knew?' was the thought of almost everyone in the room
"….Dionysus?" The trickster goddess guessed
"Correct!" the white haired vampire grinned
Some of Loki' Executives grimaced when they heard the name of the god
"Tch…that bastard…" was all Loki said
Their reactions are understandable as Dionysus was the culprit behind all of their trouble for several years now. Both Loki and Hermes have lost some of their children due to the blonde god's scheming.
"…and he…handed her to Dionysus?" Hermes muttered
Zelretch nodded in confirmation, causing some of them to look at him horrified
"During the Age of Gods in my world, any order from deities were considered as an absolute command. Either you do as they told or you suffer the consequence" Zelretch calmly explained
"….I…am kinda glad that we're not living in your world then" Welf shakenly said
Zelretch looked at the red haired youth curiously
"I-I mean…it seems in your world, the deities can do whatever they want…I mean-"
"And…that's where you misunderstood young Crozzo" Hermes interrupted, turning all attentions to him
"To tell you the truth…there's not much difference between the deities in Zelretch's world and ours. Thousands of years ago, deities in this world had as much authority as the one Zelretch had shown…and many can be very malicious with their intents…as you can see with Evilus. Now day, the only thing that preventing them from abusing their authorities are the restriction imposed upon us" the messenger god explained
"As much I'm annoyed agreeing with him…he's right" Hestia said, frowning
"Deities, including me, are all inherently selfish…some even more so. This is…something that very hard to change…as it is our nature" Welf nodded in understanding
"Uh…back in topic...so Theseus just handed her like that? Without doing anything?" Tiona asked
"Well…I guess you can say he tried but the goddess Athena backed Dionysus's claim so there's really nothing Theseus can do"
"…Athena huh" Hermes muttered while his captain just looked at him, confused
"I haven't heard or seen her for a long time now…" Hestia said
"You know her, Lady Hestia?" Mikoto asked
"Yeah…her territory is located in Olympus as well. She descended to the lower world long before me though"
Bell sighed when he heard that. While at first it has almost the same storyline as Argonaut, the ending…
'….I can't imagine if some random god just demand for anyone I know'
"So Theseus has no choice but to leave Ariadne. In despair, he forgot to replace his black sail with a white one. When his father saw this, he thought Theseus had failed and died…causing him to commit suicide in grief" Zelretch continued
"….that's so sad" Tione commented, her tone's soft
"…so he became a king?" Ryuu asked
"Indeed. His adventure doesn't end there though…but it will too complicated to explain it even further and it might spoil the future one I want to show" Zelretch teased
Everyone nodded
"I think it is best for us to end today's event" Ouranos, who has been very quiet, suddenly said
Zelretch nodded in agreement
"Yes, I think that is all for today. We'll continue tomorrow"
"Whelp, alright then! I hope you already have foods prepared, Ouranos!" Loki said as she stood up, followed by Riveria
"No" was all the wizened god said
"EH!? You're such as bad host, Ouranos!"
Suddenly, Zelretch laughed
"Calm down, goddess Loki. For once, I'll be the one that playing the host"
"Huh?"
"You do remember that I'm talking with Lord Ouranos for a while during the break, yes? We're talking about transferring his role as the host to me. I will be the one that prepared the accommodation from now on"
"My my, you're a pretty responsible vampire, aren't you?" Freya chuckled
"Umm…I'm sorry if it sounds insulting, but how are you gonna do that?" Lefiya raised her hand
"You'll see" Zelretch winked as Ouranos stood up from his seat
"If that's all, I must excuse myself" the god said
"Ooh, not coming along with us?" Hermes asked, raising his brows
"…While I would love to…someone needs to watch over the Dungeon. One day break is more than enough for me"
After bidding everyone present farewell, the wizened god left the hall to do his main duty once more. A minute after that, a purplish portal starts to appear right under the mirror.
"Here you go, the portal that will took us to our destination" Zelretch said
"…is it safe?" Riveria reluctantly asked
"You have nothing to worry about. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen" the vampire answered as his eyes scanned the whole group
"Well? Who wants to go first?" he asked
For some reason, they all seem reluctant to proceed. The deities still quite wary with the whole situation and the adventurers sensed that. Finally, someone raised their hand.
"Uh…may I?" Bell asked
To be honest, the white haired boy is nervous as he's dealing with something that not even the deities are familiar with. However, his sense of excitement of experiencing something new pushed him to do it.
"Very good! Come here then, my boy" Zelretch smiled
When he stood up from his sofa, Bell can see the looks of worry etched on the face of the two girls that are sitting next to him. From his position, he can see the same expressions on his goddess and fellow Familia members as well. Giving them a reassuring smile, he continue on until he stood right in front of the portal.
"Now, just walk straight into it. Simple, right?" Zelretch helpfully 'instruct' with a small grin
Bell gulped and do just that…he walk straight into the portal while closing his eyes. He can't really describe how it feels like…it's almost like he's being pulled in lightly by the gravity. It only lasted for few seconds before its back to normal.
Concluding that he's successful, Bell opened his eyes to scan his surrounding…and gaped in amazement.
He's standing on a beach surrounded by mountains.
"W-wow…"
His moment of silence was interrupted when he heard
"Coming through!"
And Hestia collided with the boy's back with such force that it slammed him into the sandy beach…face first.
"Bell! I'm so worried that something happen to you!" Hestia cried as she lay herself on the boy's back and rubbing her face to his neck.
"…goddess…." Bell groaned, though Hestia can't hear anything as his voice was muffled by the sand
"Goddess Hestia…please stand up. We need to get Bell out of there…"
"…?"
Ryuu and Aiz are the next one to show up from the portal…and the first thing they see…..was that.
"AH! Sorry, Bell!" Hestia shouted, scrambling to get up and pulled the boy out
While that's going on, more people start to coming out from the portal. It took around 5 minutes before everyone finally cross the portal with Zelretch being the last one.
"This..." Riveria said in bated breath
It's not only her. Everyone, even Freya, are amazed by the scenery that they're currently seeing.
"Wow! This place is so beautiful!" Tiona excitedly yelled out loud, causing her twin sister to hit her lightly on the head to shut her up
Zelretch chuckled lightly
"I'm glad that you like it"
"…where are we?" Finn asked, automatically scanning his surrounding for any potential dangers
"Not your world, that's for certain" the vampire replied
"S-so we're really in another world?" Lili squeaked out
"Yes. And to be precise, we're currently standing on a deserted island!"
"….and why are you bringing us to a deserted island?" Loki asked
"Well, not really that deserted anyway. You see, a friend of mine actually owned a large villa on this island…and well…he really owed me a huge favor" The vampire chuckled as he walks towards a small road located not far from where they're currently standing
"Please follow me. We don't want you get lost now, do we?"
They all nodded and followed after the vampire that already several steps ahead of them. It took around 20 minutes of walking deep into the forest and climbing stairs for them to reach at their destination.
"Well, we're here" Zelretch smirked
(I'm really sucked at describing things in details (lol) and I don't want to give you all a headache by reading my description. Therefore, I'll just said that the villa took inspiration from a real villa called Villa Noku located in Bali, Indonesia)
"Wow…"
No one sure who uttered that
"My…you really are prepared" Freya giggled
"Hahahaha, you have my thanks Lady Freya. Now come all of you, I already had dinner prepared!"
"W-wait! Does that mean there're other people in this place, right now? I-I mean…how are they gonna react to us?" Lefiya stammered
"There's no need to worry at all. The staff had already been informed about all this. Not to mention…this world have some kind of resemblance with yours, so it won't be much of a problem" Zelretch said without turning his head around
"…well, if you say so"
They can see several humans in black and white suit are waiting for them in the front
"Sir Zelretch! We're glad that you and your guests have finally arrived. Everything that you asked for had already been prepared!" a man in his twenties said, bowing his head to the vampire
"Excellent! I'll tell your boss to increase your wage later" Zelretch laughed and turned his attention to his guests
"Well? Come on in"
After 'dinner' which is more like of a buffet comprised of various sea foods, Zelretch handed all of them key for their rooms. Each person got his/her own room so they can have their privacy, especially Freya. After giving them the keys, the vampire told them that they're free to do whatever they want and to return to the dining room for breakfast tomorrow morning.
Bell had decided that he wants to check out his room first before doing anything else.
"Wow….this place is massive" he whispered, still amazed at the place they're currently residing in
He had asked Welf to search for their rooms together, but the red haired boy opted to do some swimming first. After all, the swimming pool is MASSIVE.
"Room 08…room 08….Ah, found it!" the boy happily said as he opened the door and familiarize himself with the room he's going to live in for several days ahead
The entire floor is made out of polished wooden floor with white colored wall. There are a king sized bed, a wooden round table, a wooden chair, a comfy-looking red sofa, and some other things he never seen before. The room also has its own bathroom with a large bathtub made out of wood and a balcony.
"A balcony…"
He took several steps and opened the window that separated the room from the balcony and he felt a calm gust of wind hit him straight on the face.
The balcony provides him with the view of the entire island, where he can see the beach and green forests.
"Beautiful…"
"…Bell?"
So engrossed with the scenery, the boy didn't notice that there's another person also standing in the balcony of the room next to him.
"H-huh? A-Aiz?!"
"Your room…is next to mine?"
"A-ah yes, I guess so!"
"I see…."
Bell calmed his beating heart before saying
"Ah…I thought you're going swimming alongside Tiona and Tione"
"….."
"…..?"
"….I can't swim" the girl blushed, turning her face around so that the boy can't see her embarrassed expression
"H-huh!? Y-you can't swim?"
The blonde only gave him a small nod of confirmation
Bell can't help but chuckled a little bit. He would never expect a 1st class adventurer like Aiz Wallenstein don't know how to swim.
"….it's not funny" the girl pouted
"Ahahaha, sorry sorry!" Bell said
After that, they remained silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the scenery provided by Mother Nature of this world. For Bell, he had never seen anything like this before.
"….Bell" the girl suddenly said
"…yes?"
"We…haven't had a chance to talk…"
Bell nodded in agreement. Their Familia had been very busy for the last 2 months that there's no opportunity for them to meet up. The last time they have any meaningful conversation was on that wall, the place where they usually trained together, after the Xenos incident. They also didn't have the opportunity to talk after THAT event, as both of them had been so drained up and tired.
"…I heard you finally went for your first expedition, congratulations"
Bell' eyes twitched as he forced a smile, something that Aiz noticed very quickly.
"Did…something happen?"
"Uh…"
"Bell…"
The boy sighed
"Yes…the expedition…went terribly wrong…"
The girl looked at him intensely before suddenly, she jumped straight into the balcony of his room, surprising the boy.
"A-Aiz!"
"Tell me"
"….I…."
"….it's okay. I'm sorry of being so forceful" the girl apologized
"N-no, its fine. I-I actually want say thank you!"
"…?"
"…it's your words. You remember when I'm asking you about the Deep Floors?"
"…yes"
"I-its your words…that kept me alive…that gave me hope"
"…!"
Aiz doesn't understand. Hestia Familia's first Expedition should be around the 21st-23rd Floor, something that should not gave the white haired boy any trouble.
"…I-it's a long story. Y-you want to come in?" the boy asked
Aiz nodded and followed the boy into his room where they sat on the bed
"….do you know anything about the Gale Wind?" Bell started
"…I have heard things"
"The Gale Wind…is Ryuu"
"….the elf waitress?"
"Yeah. B-but, she's not an evil murderer like they reported! All of the targets of her rampage are members of Evilus!" Bell quickly clarified
"…I see. And why is this related?"
"….during our expedition, we heard a massive explosion within the dungeon. It's so loud that we can heard it from the 24th Floor"
"Ahh…yes, we also heard of the explosion" Aiz said
"Well, we deduced that it's coming from the 27th Floor. So I left my party and headed there along some others from the Rivira….and found Ryuu there"
Aiz remain silenced, silently prompting Bell to continue with his story
"We fought a Tamer…a member of Rudra Familia named Jura"
"Rudra Familia…Evilus?"
Bell nodded
"Jura tamed a Lambton which Ryuu and I able to defeat…the explosion and the monster….all of them are part of his plan…"
"…plan?"
"A-are you familiar with the term 'Juggernaut'?" Aiz replied by shaking her head no
"…from what Jura said, when The Dungeon incurred certain level of damage…it spawned a monster tasked to deal with the cause….The Juggernaut. It was the monster that massacred Ryuu's Familia…the Astraea Familia"
Aiz can't help but gasped. She of course knew of what had befell the renowned Astraea Familia, although the exact circumstances behind their demise remains a mystery.
Bell shuddered
"…the Juggernaut…is truly something else. It…massacred almost all adventurers…picking them one by one…shredding their body apart…"
Then, he trembled
"I-it…completely severed my right arm…"
Suddenly Aiz is grabbing his right arm tightly
"…how?"
"…it was the Xenos, Marie. She's a mermaid, and her blood managed to healed and reattached my arm"
"I…see…" Aiz promised that she will give the mermaid her gratitude if she meet her
"While I'm unconscious…the Juggernaut slaughtered the remaining adventurers, while Ryuu was trying her best to stay alive….we fought it together until Jura tried to tame the Juggernaut but it killed him in annoyance"
Aiz nodded, feeling that the man deserved such fate
"Suddenly….another Lambton appeared. It followed Jura's last order and…."
"….Bell?"
This boy's trembling once more
"It…it swallowed both of us….me and Ryuu. We're inside of its stomach and surrounded by the stomach acid which dissolved parts of our skin and clothes. I…did everything I can to get us out…Ryuu was unconscious, so it was my duty to get us out. I repeatedly fired off my Firebolt, cut its body from inside using my knife….and we finally out"
During his rambling, he didn't notice that Aiz is already engulfing him in a hug, trying to comfort him.
"….I thought it's finally over…we defeated Jura and managed to escape from the Lambton….but…"
"….what is it?"
"The Lambton….it brought us to the 37th Floor"
Even Aiz can't help but shuddered. The 37th Floor is one of the most brutal Floor within the Dungeon and it's well known that so many unprepared adventurers met their ends there.
"Bell…." The girl soothingly said, stroking his white hair
"It's….a nightmare. The monsters are strong, we were exhausted and there were no supplies. I had to quickly adapt…Ryuu taught me how to fight more efficiently and to learn the monsters' attack patterns"
Aiz nodded. She will thanks the elf when they meet.
"…we wondered around for quite some time….the floor is massive. The Juggernaut…it found us, but we managed to escape it by blocking the path.
W-we…stumbled upon a camp. At first, we were delighted, thinking that we come across a group of adventurers that can help us…but it taught me something…"
"…."
"That….the Dungeon is a cruel place. It gave you a small ray of hope…and ruthlessly crushed it. It's a camp….filled only with corpses"
"…." Aiz remained silent
"…Our equipment was destroyed during our battle with the Juggernaut….w-we had to…we stripped off the corpses' of their equipment and weapons!" the boy sobbed, burying his head to the girl's shoulder
"Sshh…it's okay… you did what you had to do" Aiz whispered to Bell's ear although the boy doesn't seem to heard her
"T-then we took turn resting…5 minutes of sleep, that's all we had…"
"I see…that was very wise of you to do so. Every minute of rest is a precious commodity in the Deep Floors"
"We fought monsters after monsters until we finally reached a huge room with circular structure at the center…The Colosseum"
A gasp
"No…please don't tell me enter the area!" Aiz said as she forced Bell to meet her eyes, with the boy trying his best to look elsewhere
The Colosseum, a specific area within the 37th Floor which endlessly spawned monsters until a certain amount was reached. A place where the monsters are killing each other unless adventurers intruded. It was hell, a place that even a party of 1st class adventurers would avoid.
"W-we had no choice…to go the main road, we must pass through the Colosseum. R-Ryuu made a camouflage using two Skull Sheep Robes...and we used items drop by the Barbarian to concealed our smell
….we were able to fool the monsters for quite some time…but they finally noticed us and attacked. We're surrounded and assaulted from all sides. T-then…" he choked
"…?"
"R-Ryuu used her wind magic to destroy the bridge…sending me flying over to the exit. S-she wants to sacrifice herself to save me, telling me to live on….th-that's why she has been training me, passing all of her knowledge to me so I can survive without her…" Bell sobbed once more
"I-I can't accept that…so I ran to the exit, trying to find another way…so I can reach her…while charging Argonaut along the way…
I'm able to reach her on time…cutting my way through the monsters. I Argonaut charged the bomb used by Jura to create the explosion in the 27th Floor….and set it off using Firebolt….the bomb killed nearly all of the monsters and destroyed the entire structure of the Colosseum"
Aiz keep staring at him while Bell continue with his story
"I…managed to protect her from the fall and carried her on my back….we were confronted by a dying Barbarian on the way…but we were so tired and Ryuu was too wounded to fight. I…had to play dead…to attract the Barbarian's attention and keep it away from Ryuu. I'm not proud of it though…as I truly frightened Ryuu by doing that…
After killing the Barbarian, we found an underground river where we rested for hours to sleep and…" a small blush appeared on his face
Aiz was confused, though she decided to withhold her questions until he finish telling his story
"A-anyway, after that we continue on…and encounter the Juggernaut once more. This time…it already absorbed body parts of monsters in 37th Floor. We fought it once more…the Juggernaut launched numerous Skull Sheep' piles…it managed to land a direct him to my stomach…"
While saying that, his hand unconsciously found itself rubbing the stomach's area that had been pierced by the pile.
"…it hurts…it hurts so much that it created a gaping hole….I-I… quickly used my Firebolt to cauterized the wound"
Aiz is looking at him in horror
"The pain was so immense…that I probably lost consciousness several times. I randomly fired off Firebolt due to the pain….which miraculously helped us as it create smoke that hinders its eyesight. Ryuu managed to get us into safety by hiding in a small hallway that's too small for the Juggernaut to enter…
Once again…both of us were badly wounded…and we were trapped. The Juggernaut will not let us escape…..we talked…of what we wants to do when we finally returned to the surface. I told Ryuu to go to sleep and that I will wake her up later…
That's a lie….I can't bear seeing her getting hurt anymore…so I forced myself to stand up and challenged the Juggernaut for a duel…
….I can see it…the joy in it' eyes. Perhaps…I'm the first person to ever voluntarily challenge it…or offering myself to it. We fought…I don't know where I drew out all of that strength…I just knew that I can't lose…I have to win, not only for my sake but for Ryuu's as well" Bell whispered
"Suddenly, Ryuu came out from the hallway and joined the battle as well….after a long grueling battle, we defeated it…we beat the Calamity of the Dungeon….then we fall. We used up all of our strength to the point that we no longer have any to stand up….then we heard howls of monsters…and we gave up…
We beat the Calamity…and lost to the Dungeon. I can't really remember after that…though I realized that it was the Xenos that were howling, they came to our rescue with my friends and reinforcements following suit….Wiene cradling me in her arms…
I-I really am happy…that our struggles were not in vain…that our prayers and hopes reached our friends"
And that's the end of the story. Bell has told Aiz everything, the story that he had not even told to his goddess and friends.
He did not expect Aiz to hug him once more, resting her head on his shoulder where he can see tears coming out of her eyes. Her hands still stroking his head.
"…you've gone through a lot…I…am sorry that I haven't been there for you…"
She raised her head from his shoulder and directly staring at his eyes
"…I'm really glad that you're safe….y-you're someone that is very precious to me"
Before Bell can say anything, she kiss him on the cheek and brought them down so they're now laying on the bed.
They didn't say anything, just enjoying the silence and each other's presence. Without them knowing, a certain vampire has been standing in front of Bell's room for quite some time.
"Hmm, such a nice progress…enjoy the moment you two" Zelretch said with a small grin as walks away from Bell's room
"A boy that was saved by a blonde knight…they really reminds of those two" he whispered
And so ends the first day
Notes:
Sorry for the late update, I had a very rough weeks which prevents me from writing. This chapter is more about the Danmachi part. The next Fate characters would be either Heracles or Achilles. After I finished with those two, I'll write about Medusa, Karna, and probably Romulus. Also, I'm very suck at writing descriptions, so bear with me hahahaha.
I apologize for any grammatical/structural errors. Hope you like the story!