72 FOLLOWERS =D =D =D =D =D =D =D =D =D =D =D =D =D =D

Today I'm updating it sooner, lucky to you all.

As I said before, some characters will be different, even one or more letters of their name could be different, but they're all Characters from the original Serieses.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the soundtracks. Danmachi belongs to Fujino Ōmori, Final Fantasy XV belongs to Square Enix.

Is it wrong to seek answers?

Chapter 9: Dia Familia

UNKNOWN CAVE - SOMEWHERE UNKNOWN

an individual with a long purple robe and a pink and purple mask with an eerie design was waiting impatiently in a cave.

The individual turned after noticing certain boot's footfalls getting louder, seeing

"there you are, I hope there's a good reason for you being late." the masked individual said with a slightly upset voice.

"yeah sorry for the delay, 'Ein'. that's what I wanted to explain to the others, and to you of course" the other individual in black colored version of Evilus clothes and a black tagelmust, hiding his face, said with a conceited voice, "because it's getting serious from now on."

The masked individual didn't expect such a statement, which was noticed by the other one, who started to explain the whole situation.

(OPENING: HIROYUKI SAWANO feat: Eliana – S_TEAM)

STREETS OF ORARIO – EARLY MORNING

Noct, with his contract and 2 Guild-Knives, walked peacefully while his friend and comrade had trouble carrying the bag full of so much money.

„let me carry it, it's mine after all" Noct said. Bell, of course, didn't hesitate.

After Noct took his bag, he asked Bell: „where can we buy fitting equipment?"

„well, they're many possibilities I've heard of … " Bell said while thinking which would be the best.

„We could go to Babel, " Bell said while at the tower at the center of Orario.

Noct looked at Bell in disbelieve, which Bell, of course, noticed, „There's an equipment shop inside there." Bell said.

„Alright, let's go to Babel, you lead." Noct said to Bell,

who happily agreed: „YES".

As they walked, Noct could see more people right now. No wonder, since they both were walking on one of the main streets of Orario. Nonetheless, Orario is truly a lively city as he could see.

Noct noticed similarities between Orario and Lestallum, which he also remembered to be a lively city, more than his home Insomnia.

With that, he remembered his 3 Friends, wondering what they're doing right now.

But then he remembered that where he is, and it was not his home.

Bell noticed how Noct's face fell.

„Something wrong ? " he asked.

„wha-, no, it's nothing important, I'm just surprised how many people live here, " Noct said, he didn't want to talk with Bell about his true past right now.

„well, it's normal considering it's 'rush hour' right now." Bell said

„ 'rush hour'? ", Noct knew that term, but he didn't saw any cars, or, in this case, any carriage. So what was Bell talking about?

„Yeah, that's the period where most adventurers go for the dungeon, usually the late morning" Bell explained to Noct.

Now Noct remembered what he also wanted to ask.

„if I may ask Bell, are you perhaps familiar with the Loki Familia? " Noct asked since he remembered how Bell got deep red when Eina mentioned them, and since Noct himself is also a man, he knew what it means when a man gets happily deep red since it's the same with him and his friends.

Bell, whose face turned red of course, answered: „y-yes, they've helped us a lot in the past."

„but there's more, riiiiiight? " Noct asked while smirking since he already could guess it. He remembered how back in Eos he and his friends talked with Prompto about the girls he's interested. The first girl Prompto showed interest was a mechanical named Cindy and he also confessed to her once, but when they met the Dragoon merchant Aranea, Prompto suddenly couldn't stop talking about her, which made Noct ask him 'Her or Cindy'. Prompto struggled to answer, which helped their friend Ignis to mock him successfully.

Noct could see how his face got redder, „n-n-noooo, I-I mean, well … "

„come on, we're now in the same Familia, I think there's nothing wrong about a little 'men's talk'." Noct said, trying to act a little like his friend Gladio.

Bell hesitated a little bit, „her name's Ais, Ais Wallenstein." Bell finally answered, „and she also helped me improve as an adventurer."

Noct remembered that name, „didn't Misha mentioned her once ?"

„Yeah, she was also in Melen back then, one day before we met you." Bell answered

„and when and how did you met her for the first time? ", Noct got really curious.

At this point, Bell started to explain, not only how he met her for the first time, but also how he was facing a Minotaurus when he entered the 5th Floor for the first time. It was after Ais slashed the minotaurs and its blood was raining on Bell's whole body, he saw her beautiful face for the first time.

But because of the shame being saved by a girl, he didn't have the confidence to talk to her at first. It was thanks to Eina that he was finally able to talk to her. He asked her if she could train him to become a better adventurer, which she surprisingly agreed. Bell said that while the training was hard, he considered it also as 'dating'.

„and? did you ever ask her out for real? " He asked while smirking a little bit again.

„n-no, of course not, she's a high-class adventurer at Lvl. 6, there's no way she …. " Bell tried to finish his sentence but too much busy with this new daydream he had right now.

„well, not that I want to push you, but I think you should ask her if she's really that special to you..." Noct recommended him.

After Bell returned from his happy daydream, he could see how Noct's face saddened for some reason.

„...as long as you still can, trust me, I know this by first-hand" Noct said with a sad expression while thinking about a certain special blond-haired girl he knew himself.

Bell noticed this. He was about to ask more, but then he remembered what his goddess told him very quietly before they went to sleep yesterday.

HESTIA FAMILIA HQ – ORARIO – YESTERDAY EVENING

„Please, don't ask him about his past too much, OK? " Hestia told him quietly after Noct fell asleep.

„B-But why ?"Bell asked, also quietly. Hestia could see Bell's curiosity.

„to make it short, he's not happy about it" Hestia answered

This shocked Bell did something bad happened to him or his friends.

„you mean..." Bell was about to say it, „yes exactly, so please, don't ask too much."

BACK TO PRESENT

Now that Bell thought about it, he also remembered how Noct screamed 'FATHER' before he woke up, which seemed to confirm his goddess statement about Noct.

Now Bell started to feel sad for Noct.

„if I remember correctly, Misha mentioned her and called her 'sword princess', right? " Bell heard Noct ask out of nowhere.

„yes, that's how she's also called, the same as I'm called 'Little Rookie' " Bell said.

„'Little Rookie', is that some kind of Nickname? " Noct asked out of coincidence since he would never call himself like this.

Bell, on the other hand, seemed to realize what Noct wanted to know, „well, as far as I know, a Nickname, or 'Alias', as Goddess said, is given during the 'Denatus''"

„'Denatus'?"

„yes, a meeting among all Gods and Goddesses of Orario. It happens for all 3 months. During that meeting, many topics are discussed, among those topics the adventurers 'Aliases', which are given to every adventurer, who reaches Level 2."

„And how does this kind of election works? "

„According to Goddess, when an adventurer is about to be given an Alias, the God, to which Familia the adventurer is part of, gives the first proposal for his child. But it's all the other Gods and Goddesses decision if he really gets the proposed Alias. If they're not agreeing, another name is proposed, and this goes on as long until everyone finally agrees."

For Noct, Bell's explanation was quite accurate.

Not only that, but Noct could also imagine, that those 'elections' weren't always going fairly since he couldn't imagine that Bell really likes to be called 'little rookie' at all. Noct wondered which Alias he'll get.

„so, when do you wanna go? you don't need to wait for me if that's what … "

„no it's alright Noct, I'm patient, and Goddess ordered me to show you the City today so that you won't get lost, " Bell said, but then he remembered something.

Noct felt relieved for a moment, „what about Lily and the others ? ".

„back in the carriage, Lily said she needs a longer sleep, that's why she'll be waiting for us in the afternoon"

„which means we've plenty of time."

After they reached Babel, Noct looked around the area. People, most adventurers, as Noct suggested by their clothes and equipment, were standing or going inside the Entrance, which was in front of them both.

Noct could also feel the adventurer's auras, most of them were not striking, but he could sense some of them to be stronger than Bell.

As they were about to go straight towards Babel, Bell stopped, seeing some familiar faces on his left. He then changed his direction to the group of 5 girls.

They also saw Bell happily coming towards them.

„oh, good morning Bell", a girl with both, pink eyes and long pink Hair was greeting Bell.

„good morning, Emma." Bell said while turning his head towards her comrades,

„you too Lowe, Gina, Prima. "

Noct followed along. He saw how these girls started staring at him.

Then Bell and Noct saw a girl with a green eye and long black hair which covers the other eye.

Bell immediately stood straight.

"G-Good morning, Goddess Dia." Bell greeted more formally this time.

„you too good morning Bell, I said you don't need to be that formal"

„you may be right, but here are masses of people, who might get suspicious if I don't greet a goddess properly, especially if her familia is considered to be one of the strongest" Bell explained his point of view to everyone.

Goddess Dia's eye then moved towards a man with black clothes and black spiky hair with a large bag, after she witnessed the other girls getting beet red while staring at him „and who's this young man? "

„Ohh, this is Noct Gar, he's a new member of our Familia"

Dia's eyes widened in disbelief, which was noticed by Noct.

Her polite but comfortable smile returned, „good morning, Noct Gar " Dia started introducing herself, „my name is Dia, I'm the leader of the well known Dia Familia". She gave both young men a comfortable smile.

She then stretched her left hand towards the four girls.

„And these girls are part of my familia: Prima Libera … ", the little blond Elf with a large backpack bowed in front of Noct and Bell, „... Gina Gwen … " the little tanned girl, also with a large backpack, stretched up her hand, „ …. Lowe Silva ….. " the girl with pale pink hair and cat ears? she also stretched her hand, „ … and of course their Teamleader, Emma Flores " Dia finished the introduction of her children.

„Nice to meet you all", Noct also greeted them after bowing towards Dia.

But then he remembered something, he looked straight at Emma, 'Flores?, I've heard that name somewhere before.' he thought while staring at Emma with a serious Expression.

„s-something wrong?" Emma asked worryingly, while her face started to redden a bit.

„wha- oh nothing, just confused for a while" Noct declared, he realized that he probably scared Emma, „anyway, you're about to go into the Dungeon?"

„y-yes we got a mission from our Goddess, " Emma said. It was at this moment, that her cat-eared comrade hit her, „have you realized that you just disclose important information in front of strangers"

Emma cried a little, „I-I'm sorry Lowe", Lowe remained angry, trying to hit Emma one more time, but was held back by Gina and Prima.

While Bell and Noct watched the situation with confusion, Dia stared at them,

„Girls ..." she said, which immediately calmed them down.

„As I trust Hestia, I think they're trustworthy, even Noct, " Dia said before starting explaining.

„As you might guess, some of my other children are about to return from the 54th Floor, I've ordered Emma's Party here to meet them at Rivira, providing them with food and other stuff, " Dia said.

„THE 54th FLOOR ? " both boys mouth's gaped wide while looking at them.

„yes they were gone for about 3 weeks, " Dia said.

Noct remembered again how Astraea and recently Eina explained the Dungeon, he also remembered that the stronger the familia, the deeper they could go into the Dungeon, which suggested that the Dia Familia was quite strong as Bell said early, „wait, may I ask what's Rivira?, it's my first day here in Orario" Noct never heard of that name.

„oh, that's a city on the 18th Floor, which is considered to be a safe haven inside the Dungeon" Lowe answered while everyone listened to her.

„By the way, everyone, I think we should go, our oldest Siblings might get angry, not to mention the others." Lowe said worryingly while everyone from their team agreed.

„It was nice meeting you, Noct Gar, goodbye you both" Emma said before she and her 3 comrades started going towards Babel for the dungeon.

Then, Noct, Bell and Dia went together for the elevators.

While waiting for one of the elevators, Bell looked at Dia.

„goddess Dia?" Bell called her.

„what is it, Bell? " Dia asked with a happy smile.

„I forgot to ask, but is it true that Emma had a level up?"

„yes, that's true, she is now on Level 4, while the other 3 still remain at Level 3, " she said, „but Emma said that she's happy with her current Alias, so I won't change it in the upcoming Denatus."

„her current Alias?" Noct asked out of curiosity.

„she's called 'shining rose' " Bell answered.

„I'm also happy with that Alias." Dia confirmed.

„'shining rose', that's a cool name, and it's fitting her appearance, " Noct said.

Dia then looked at Noct happily, while feeling a little bit concerned that such a handsome young man said something like that about her child, but this was not the only thing concerning her.

„you said it's your first day here in Orario, but I can sense that you're stronger than the average, actually you may be equal to my strongest children" Dia announced.

„Yeah, right now, I'm at Level 6, " Noct said.

Even though Dia knew he had to be a high-class adventurer, she was still impressed, since it was very rare for people outside of Orario to be that strong, despite her strongest children being the same case.

„back home, they're many strong monsters around my town, which is also the reason why there's a great wall around it, " Noct said.

„where are you from, Noct?" Dia asked.

Noct was about to answer, but then he remembered that gods, like Astraea for instance, can see, if someone is lying, so telling the fake story wasn't a good idea. Noct got a little nervous right now. He wasn't good at lying either, but since he already started to explain, he decided to continue using the story Astraea made up for him.

Bell also looked at Noct getting nervous, but Bell understood the situation, especially since his Goddess told him what to never ask to Noct.

Then suddenly, an Elevator opened, the three didn't hesitate and entered. Bell pressed the Button for the 6th Floor.

After entering, Noct started his 'origin-story', „I'm from an isolated town called 'Crystallum', it's far in the northeast of Orario, and no other races than humans live there".

'now I'm dead, lying to a goddess' Noct got more nervous while looking away, straight to the elevator's door.

„REALLY ?, you're from 'Crystallum' too ?." Dia was impressed that Noct was also from that famous place.

Noct's face gaped in disbelief again.

'What' he thought. 'That town exists for real !'

„r-really?" he asked to be sure if he heard it right

„yes, I've heard it's a beautiful town, also having a large tower like this one, it's called the 'Citadel', right?"

Dia smiled, while her eye just looked deep into Noct's own eyes.

Noct's eyes widened more, 'does she mean ….. no that's impossible, how …'

Noct was about to answer until they heard the elevator's ringing.

They reached the 9th Floor.

„I think that's where you wanted to go, am I right?"

„yes, that's it, " Bell said while going out first.

Noct still looked at her rather shocked. „Noooooooct … " Bell called his friend, who then looked back, „we are here".

Noct also then went outside the elevator.

As shockingly as Dia's answer was, as more was her enigmatic smiling towards Noct.

„It was nice meeting you both, I'll meet Hestia soon and tell her my impression on you if you don't mind."

Noct felt nervous again, „y-yeah sure, I don't mind".

„well, have a nice day you both." Dia said goodbye, still smiling at Noct enigmatically while the elevator's door was closing.

UNKNOWN CAVE - SOMEWHERE UNKNOWN

„Are you really sure that he's the one you're talking about ? " the masked individual named Ein asked.

„yes, I felt his energy and his powers are the same as his fathers, there's no doubt, it's the Prince." the tagelmust individual confirmed.

„but it's rather unusual to hear from someone like you getting serious " Ein said.

„I know, but trust me, he's more dangerous than that 'Aria' girl Revis mentioned, ten- no hundred times more dangerous than her." the tagelmust one said with a rather concerned voice.

„That's even harder to believe, just because he defeated your sea snake, but even if it's true, how will we deal with him ? " the Ein asked.

„for now, I will look for him, the same way I did in Melen, " the tagelmust one said before turning away from „don't worry Ein, just inform the others, they will understand the situation."

(ENDING: KARMINA - WALK YOU HOME)