I do not own Danmachi or Naruto of anything related to it.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Spellcasting"
"Monster or Demon Speaking"
'Monster or Demon thinking'
"Monster or Demon Spellcasting"
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XxxxSeveralYearsAgoxxxX
Darkness and the chilling bite of the cold. That was some of the first memories Naruto could recall. He would remember opening his eyes and seeing nothing, but a blue dimly lit haze and horrid yellow eyes filled with pure insanity. That was his world, a living dream, awake yet not truly aware. He knew he existed he had a body.
But who was he? What was he?
'Naruto' He heard a voice in his head tell him his name. The voice was silent but he knew it was their and so he talked to it. He knew language but, how could he? He had never heard a voice other than the one in his head. He knew he existed, yet he never truly seen his form.
Then he heard voices, mumbles outside the haze he could hear the muffled voices. Who were they?
'Wake Up!'
Naruto's eyes shot open as he sat bolt right up looking around. Then he noticed in his sleep he had rolled over and his foot had stuck out of the box he was sleeping in currently. Quickly pulling it towards himself he heard a group of rowdy people passed by one of them dropping a bottle in front of his box. Sighing he shook his head as he carefully pulled up the cloth that hid the entrance to his box and peeked out. Looking out he saw that the group had moved on and that the sun had began to dip in the sky.
While darkness meant that the more drunken of the villagers would be out. It also meant that he would have an easier time hiding from them. Plus, the village pubs and bars would be tossing out their food which could mean a meal for him. Keeping to the shadows of the alley he began to creep around. Looking out he could see that the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon and the remnants of light began to slowly fail.
His tail and ears twitched as he carefully scanned the streets. The day was over so most of the villagers were in their homes. He scampered over the dirt roads careful to keep in the shadows as much as possible. The nearest pub wasn't that far from his hidey hole. Sneaking around he quickly pressed himself against the wall as a man passed by the alley, he was in.
He was tall and cloaked but luckily, he didn't notice him. Carefully crawling towards a building he gripped onto some out of place bricks that he used to climb up to the roof tops. The sun's light had completely disappeared as the village was drenched in the shadow of night.
The only sources were the few scattered lanterns and torches and the dim lights from open windows soon to be closed. Keeping to the rooftops he deftly leapt from roof to roof never once touching the ground. But know came his biggest challenge.
In front of him was the main road of his small village. It was the home of the Inn and The main pub. Seeing as how the day had just ended the Pub was still buzzing with patrons. Lowering his body down low he saw a pair of men exit the pub laughing with tankards still in hand. Looking around he cursed his luck seeing as a man was trying to talk to a lady in the alley that led to back yard furnace where they burned their waste.
Deciding to wait he laid their eyes glued onto the entrance and the alley making sure no one else blocked his path. Then from the corner of his eye he noticed movement ducking down he saw the same cloaked figure pass by towards the Pub. Then he stopped and looked up and Naruto ducked down to hid himself. He could feel his heart rate pick up as he pressed his ears down against his head. He waited until he heard the sound of the door opening and shutting as he peered over seeing that the man was gone as well as the couple.
Jumping down he stretched out his arms and landed while deftly bringing his feet to the ground. Landing on all fours he crawled around the Pub being careful to avoid the light from the windows.
"Not from around here are ya?" he could here the woman that owned the pub asked.
"Yeah just passing through."
"well if you want you could stay the week. We're holding a festival."
"What kind of festival?"
"Well there is an old tale, the tale of the black spirit. An dark terrible force that has set upon this village ever since its foundations. Recently the spirit has taken the form of a boy with fox like traits." Naruto sighed at that shaking his head.
"Are you sure? It sounds a lot like a Renard if you ask me."
"Think that's the point. He hides in a form that seems innocent. When he first arrived in the village, he seemed innocent, but the signs were all there. The red flashing eyes were a dead giveaway. If you see him if you can fight, then hunt. If you can't then run." She told him and Naruto had just about enough of her story as he continued down the alley towards the back. He arrived just in time to see a waiter dump some scraps into a pile of half eaten food.
Creeping over he was thankful that the food seemed relatively fresh and rot hasn't set into any of it. sticking his hand in he found a few apples that were a bit bruised and actually smiled when he found a cooked steak that still had a lot of meat left. Reaching towards his waist he pulled out a cloth.
Placing the mildly damaged fruit and pieces of uneaten chicken that were still warm onto the cloth. Tying up the bundle he took a few bites from the steak he found as the lukewarm juices filled his mouth and he found himself grinning ever so slightly. While it was a far cry from eating a full proper steak to him this was a rare opportunity.
He was so engrossed in the flavor of the meat he failed to notice the opening of the back door. He did notice the gasp as he whipped around his adrenaline going straight through the roof as his eyes flashed red in response to his agitation.
It was one of the waitresses and she seemed frozen in fear but as soon as she caught sight of the red in his eyes and how black began to creep into his Sclera she screamed for all she was worth.
"The Demon! It's Here!" She screamed as he could immediately hear the ruckus inside the pub as all patrons and probably the workers rushed towards the back. Grabbing his bundle he shot out into the alley but saw that a pair of men had blocked his path. Growling he turned and with a slight flair of pain claws sprouted from his finger tips as he latched onto the wall of the dead end and began to climb.
"There it is!" he heard a shout as glass shattered against the wall next to him making him climb a bit faster as he reached the roof top. He then heard a dull thunk and looked down seeing the splintered remains of a club that had been thrown at him. Looking over he cursed seeing that the commotion had attracted the nearby households as well as a mob began forming.
Among them was that same cloaked man. Not staying for too long he began to run across the roof tops as quick as his legs would allow. Being careful with his footing he was quickly making his way back to his hiding spot but had to come to a stop.
The mob had split into different groups so they could track him and one of the groups were all over his box home and smashed it looking for him. Looking around he knew he had to find a knew hiding place and quick. His heart was beating in his head as his ears flicked wildly pinpointing every sound made around him.
Then he saw it, three burned down houses. They had caught fire not long after he arrived in the village and of course the villagers blamed it on him. He checked and he knew that it was because one of the houses spilled oil into the fire place and the flames quickly consumed the buildings. He also knew that the middle house had a basement that he could hid away in.
The only reason he didn't live there was because he didn't know when the villagers might destroy the location since they thought it was cursed now. Quickly jumping from the roof he made his way into the back alleys of the houses and sprinted towards the burned buildings.
Darting across the street he failed to notice a group passing by but one of the men noticed him. He took his bow and shot an arrow at Naruto slicing him across the chest.
"There he is!" the hunter yelled as the group roared as loud as they could to alert the other mob members to his presence. He hissed in pain but continued running as he darted between buildings easily losing the group even when they rejoined with the mob who helped them search.
Upon reaching the ruins he wasted no time in crawling through the fallen lumber and bricks as he made his way to the cellar door which was hidden by some of the debris that created a sort of tent over it. closing the door behind him he let out a long tired breath as he made his way into the darkness. Though it wasn't a problem for him seeing as he always been able to see in the dark.
Finding some fabric and cushions he went about making a bed for himself. Once that was completed he found a small stool and placed it in front of his makeshift bed to use as a small table. Placing his bundle down he hissed as he looked towards his chest seeing the wound he received was already beginning to heal but it still stung and now his shirt was stained with blood. Taking it off he threw it to the side seeing as being covered in blood wouldn't help his image that much.
Untying the bundle he examined his hull seeing that for the most part the food was in the same condition he picked it up in. He began eating the chicken first seeing as it wouldn't be good for much longer. The chicken was cold and a not as appetizing as the steak he had snagged but dropped.
He found himself feel a wave of depression flood over him and as if to mock him he noticed a mirror showing his glowing red eyes in the darkness across the room. taking the bones from the chicken he threw it at the mirror in anger before covering his eyes. Warm tears soon began to spill out from his eyes as he simply accepted them and curled into a ball on his cushion bed.
It wasn't long before the lull of sleep began to take him, even though he had woken up not two hours ago the chase and the healing of a wound took a lot out of him. Plus his lack of a steady food supply meant he had to conserve as much energy as possible.
So, slowly but surely sleep took over his form and his eyes closed.
Now he found himself in a dark corridor what lanterns that were there burned so low and dull they might as well have not been there. Slowly making his way down the corridor he felt a cold chill come over the floor as his feet now stung as the ice began to prick his feet. Looking down he saw that the floor was now covered with a silver mist.
As he moved so did the mist and he could here the a sickening crack and crunch with every step he took. Keeping his tail up high so as to save it from the chill he continued onwards. However, the corridor seemed to stretch continuously down as he walked and for some reason it just continued to get colder and colder as he moved.
He eventually stopped when he began to hear whispers coming from down the hall way. Whipping around his eyes widened seeing thin skeletal figures in gowns behind him with tight gaunt faces. Their eyes sunken and white as they reached out with sickly thin pale fingers with yellow chipped fingernails. In fright Naruto didn't give them a moment as he turned and shot down the hall way not caring where he came out just wanting to flee from the ghouls.
As he ran he could hear the whispers flickering in his ears as he pressed them down in a vain effort to silence the sounds.
Suddenly as he placed his foot down his foot made no connection with the floor as he fell forward through the mist finding nothing but blackness. Then a crimson wave of light pulsed in the darkness drawing his attention as he saw what seemed to be a jagged crystal that flickered with red energy as it was growing out of a fleshy mass. Then the crystal pulsed again as the mass constricted, sick realization came upon him as he realized the fleshy mass was a heart and the crystal was growing from it.
Naruto then felt a yank against his person as he looked up seeing two burning eyes staring at him before a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth accompanied them in a grin.
"WAKE UP" a voice thundered racking his brain with sound and punctured his hearing with a deafening ring. With a cold sweat Naruto bolted up momentarily forgetting where he was as he looked around before calming his breathing. That was until he saw a red glow in the mirror at first he thought that it was his eyes which it was but then he noticed a third source a deep dim crimson light emanated from his chest but as he calmed himself hit began to dim further until it was completely gone.
Taking a moment, he allowed himself a few calming deep breaths as he got his emotions under control.
"Nice light show kid." Naruto nearly leapt out of his skin at the sudden sound and the flood of light that filled the dark room causing him to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness.
"whoa easy their brat I'm not here to hurt you." Naruto didn't believe the man, not for a second. While shielding his eyes he began to look for anything he could use as a ways to defend himself.
"If your looking for weapons they're right here." The voice said after that Naruto heard the familiar clink of metal on metal as he looked. Ignoring the sting in his eyes from the light he could see the glint from the metals that could've been used as weapons piled at the strangers feet.
"though it would be easier to talk without you trying to gut me so I took the liberty of rounding them all up. So I've been hearing some rumors around the town about your some dangerous demon that's taken the form of a child. Call me crazy but I like to see the evidence before I make assumptions like that. So, when was the last time you ate somebody?" the stranger asked though Naruto couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.
"I'm not a demon." Naruto whispered out though not having anyone to talk too made his voice a little hoarse from lack of use.
The man heard this and hissed in sympathy. Reaching towards his waist he pulled out a canteen of sorts, taking off the cap and holding it out.
"here you go kid." Naruto didn't take it instead eyes the man's other hand. He's been tricked like this before they have him focus on one hand while the other poises to strike.
"Don't worry its just some berry juice, very good stuff." The man said taking a small sip to show it wasn't poisoned or anything. Naruto keeping his eyes focused on the mans unoccupied hand reached forward and quickly snatched the canteen before sniffing the liquid inside. He did smell the scent of berries.
Tentatively taking a sip his mouth erupted in tiny little tingles that spread through his jaw as juice hit his tongue. After that he greedily gulped down the juice as the cool liquid rushed down his throat relaxing his body. Once it was empty the man simply chuckled.
"What's your name kid?" the man asked as Naruto looked up suspiciously at the man before he chuckled again. "Mine's Jiraiya." The man revealed taking his hood down revealing wild unkempt white hair and an aged face with clear laugh lines.
"I'm Naruto."
XxxxpresentdayxxxX
Naruto awakened his eyes fluttering open. Looking around he saw he was in his bed his cloak and armor removed leaving him in a pair of pants and a shirt. Groggily he stood up and looked around confused as to why he was here. Then it came back to him how his goddess had come to his room and then they embraced. Then he tried to… oh gods why did he try that? He was attracted to her but that didn't mean he should've tried to kiss her.
Angrily scratching his head, he slapped his cheeks to help him wake up fully. Grabbing his coat, he donned it before exiting his room. quickly making his way down to the common room he quickly peeked over the stairs and saw that Kurama was no where in sight. Walking in he saw his Familia sitting in the center of the room eating with bell and an awake Lilli.
"Naruto your awake." Ino called as she scooted over freeing a space for him. Quickly taking his place he looked around at bell and smiled.
"how you feeling?" Ino asked and Naruto shrugged.
"fine why?"
"Well you clocked out for a while when we got back. Kurama said you just fell asleep then left. She said something about visiting Hestia to let her know bell was here so she should be back soon." Naruto nodded though a knot formed in his stomach at the thought of facing his goddess after what happened.
But why did it feel bad? Did it though? The knot he felt wasn't the same knot one would usually feel when worried or in deep trouble. It was like when he and Ino were in the bath together at Archive city. Shaking his head, he turned to Bell and Lilli.
"So how are you two holding up?" he asked and Bell smiled while Lilli looked at the floor.
"pretty well actually." Bell answered while Lilli remained silent.
"C'mon don't be shy." Sakura said nudging Lilli.
"I'm fine thank you."
"well that's good, you guys should probably take a break from the dungeon for a while rest up. So why don't we get bell home then we can pick this up tomorrow yeah?" Naruto said getting a nod from Bell as the three got up and Ino rose as well.
"I'll tag along too, Ryuzetsu you stay here." Said addressing the dark elf who was currently using Kando as a kick ball dribbling the carbuncle with her feet.
"Understood!" she shouted before kicking Kando straight up then jumping with twisting and stretched out her leg and kicked Kando straight into a wall. In a flash of gold he appeared at Naruto's feet grasping his ankles with his claws.
"Don't leave me with her! Please I didn't sign up for this I don't deserve this!" he wailed as he was dragged away by Ryuzetsu who had an evil glint in her eyes.
"My condolences." Naruto said simply as he turned and a look of horror and betrayal crossed the carbuncles face as the group walked away from him and the giggles of Ryuzetsu as Kando cried out as he was dragged away.
Ignoring the cries form the carbuncle the group left the Familia home and began their way towards Bells home.
"Hey Naruto." Ino said gaining the Renard's attention.
"Yeah?"
"I've been meaning to ask what happened to that crystal we got from Ryuzetsu's village?" Ino asked causing Naruto's eyes to widen ever so slightly. In truth going to archive city and the revelation of his Families legacy resting solely upon him may have caused him to forget all about the crystal they found.
"It's probably still in my bag."
"we should get it, take it to the guild see if they can figure anything out about it." she said as Naruto deflated while turning around.
"Your right I'll go."
"Why don't you just send Tachiel?" she asked which once again confused Naruto until he felt something shift in his hood as he reached back.
"Okay is this going to become a thing with you?" he demanded holding the red carbuncle by the scruff of her neck as she simple leveled a deadpanned stare at him. Naruto sighed as he placed her on the ground.
"Can you go back to my room and grab a crystal from my bag? It's red looks like a twisted red version of a monster's crystal." The carbuncle stood there for a moment before nodded and disappearing in a flash of red.
"What was that?" Bell asked walking back after realizing the two blondes had stopped.
"Oh nothing, lead on little rookie." Ino said as Lilli actually cracked a bit of a smile at the nickname. The group continued on and it wasn't long until Tachiel reappeared on Naruto's shoulder with the crystal held in a translucent bubble of energy. When it disappeared Naruto quickly caught the falling crystal in his hand.
"What's that?" Lilli asked talking for the first time in a while. Naruto rolled the crystal around his fingers before pocketing it.
"Something we found during our mission it might be important." He said as they came around on a corner leading them closer to the edge of town near the wall. Ino and Naruto began looking around seeing a lot of rubble knowing that this was a much older part of town and all around pretty much abandoned though it was easy to see the tower.
"You live here?" Naruto asked and Bell nodded as he led them towards a abandoned church.
"This is home." He said opening the door with an audible creak. Naruto and Ino just stared at the home afraid that sneezing while inside would knock it over. However Naruto had rougher thoughts going through his head. Specifically when he would have to find refuge in run down buildings and alleys during his childhood.
"Kay, Bell do you have bags?" Naruto asked and Bell looked at him oddly but nodded.
"Yes?"
"Good your going to need them, lets grab our goddesses and get out of here."
"W-wait why do I need bags?" Bell asked still confused but Naruto didn't answer as Ino sighed.
"I think seeing this place just brought back some old memories." Ino said following Naruto as he found the secret door rather easily. Bell and Lilli quickly followed the two but stopped when they saw the two senior adventurers frozen in place. Looking over their shoulders Bells eyes widened seeing Kurama on the floor motionless.
"Kurama!" the blondes yelled as the darted to her side Naruto cradling the goddess in his arms. She was cold, too cold her skin which was once milky white was now a sickly pale with dark circles around her eyes.
"Naruto?" Ino asked her voice cracking ever so slightly as her worry spilled over. He placed two fingers shakily against his goddess's throat and sighed with relief that he felt a pulse. Though it was very weak.
"She's alive but we got to get her out of here." He said taking a hand away from his throat and noticed the blood as he finally saw the two small puncture wounds on his goddess's throat. Quickly taking Kurama up in his arms he quickly made his way back up the steps Bell and Lilli scuffling out of the way as Naruto dashed outside his goddess limp in his arms. Quickly scanning the surrounding and summoning up a map in his head the closest medical facility would be Miach's Blue pharmacy.
In a flash he was surrounding with a ring of blue flames that spun agitatedly around him.
"Take Bell and Lilli back to the den, whatever did this is still out here and raise the city alarm!" Naruto yelled as Ino nodded and quickly grabbed the two young adventurers and took off. Naruto cradled Kurama close the coldness of her skin sending horrible alarms in his head. To see he so lifeless… it was nothing less than torture.
"You're not going anywhere. WRATH OF INARI!" he screamed out as a magic circle flashed under him and his azure flames wrapped around him and in a flurry of light formed the enormous body of a fox. With an ear shattering roar he took off scorching and cratering the ground as he leapt up towards the roofs of near by buildings.
He could care less of the destruction every foot fall made. The coldness in his arms drove him forward. With every push a chunk of rubble went flying, stone and roof material sprayed out violently whenever he would land. Startled and terrified cries from people on the streets bellow went straight to the back of his mind.
He went faster running out of rooftop and had to jump to the ground sending a small tremor through the area. He ran flames flying off his fox form leaving a trail of sparks behind him like a comet flying through the streets. He was getting closer now in a single bound he took to the air clearing four building before landing on the other side his corporeal claws digging into the earth as he skidded to a stop.
In front of him was a shabby looking shop mainly comprised of wood and he saw a Chienthrope woman with light brown hair standing in front of the door frozen staring at his fox form. Rushing forward Naruto released the spell as the flames melted from his body and he hit the ground at a run. Rushing forward he held Kurama close as he approached the woman.
"Please tell me Miach is here!?" he demanded as the woman shook herself from he stupor and nodded.
"Yes, he is…" Naruto didn't listen to the rest as he kicked the door down rushing pass the woman who still looked a little dumbfounded at his actions.
"MIACH!" Naruto screamed and in a stumble Miach came out from a back room.
"Naruto? Whats…" his sentence died in his throat as he saw the state of the woman in Naruto's arms.
"What happened?" He asked rushing forward feeling Kurama's neck for a pulse.
"I don't know we found her like this. She lost a lot of blood." He said as Miach nodded.
"Her pulse is fading we need to move fast." He said ushering Naruto to the back room. "Naaza! I'm going to need your help." Miach called as the Chienthrope woman from before rushed to follow her god.
Entering the back room, it had a single long island table in the middle surrounded by shelves of different herbs and ingredients. Not really paying much attention to the room Naruto placed Kurama on the table after Miach swept it clean of all obstructions with his arm. He then began to place his hands on Kurama examining her body seeing if there was anything he was missing.
Naruto brushed Kurama's hair out of her face and caressed it feeling that stinging cold.
"She's cold."
"We can bring her body temperature up, but she needs blood or else she going to fade." Miach said and Naruto saw that Kurama's finger tips began to glitter with red flakes of light as her hand slowly became transparent.
"Naaza!" Miach called and the Chienthrope nodded.
"I'm on it!" she then darted out of the room and Naruto could hear her foot steps fade out as she went down to a basement room. Miach quickly darted his hands across his shelves picking herbs and ingredients before throwing them in a mortar and smashing them up with a pestle.
"Here." Naruto said taking off his cloak and holding out his arms. "She needs blood, right? Will mine work?" he asked and Miach nodded.
"Gods and goddesses can adapt their blood to suit their needs so she can take blood from any source. Naaza!" he called out as Naruto's ears flicked hearing footsteps approaching as Naaza entered the room with a leather bag, a tube, and syringes.
"Get it set up!" Miach ordered as Naaza went towards Naruto and began to connect the syringe to the tube. Miach began to remove Kurama's cloths in order to apply the warming paste he made luckily there was no torso bruising or damage of any kind.
Naaza with her syringe stuck Naruto in the arm and almost immediately the syringe was filled with crimson liquid. Quickly taking the other side of the tube she stuck Kurama's arm as well and began to squeeze the bag that was connected to the tube. Somehow it was ensuring that the blood went to Kurama and not back to Naruto.
After a few moments the flecks of light coming from Kurama began to dwindle and fade and her body began to lose its transparency. Naruto sighed in relief his head falling down as Kurama took a deep breath in and Naruto could see the color slowly returning to her skin.
'Naruto…'
'what?' Naruto asked his tenant as his eyes locked on to the syringe filled with blood… his blood. HIS BLOOD!
"Shit! NO! Get this thing off me!"
"N-Naruto what's wrong?" In all of the rush and adrenaline Naruto offered his blood to save Kurama without a second thought. Completely forgetting what his blood did to people.
"She can't have my blood! It's not good!" He yelled as Miach came around to try and calm the blonde but saw Kurama's veins begin to glow. The glow started right where the syringe entered her arm.
"What is this?"
"NO!" Naruto cried out finally ripping the syringe from his arm. He bolted to her sided as the glow began to trace itself up her arm before reaching her shoulder and spreading through out her entire body. She twitched once, then again. Finally, her eyes shot open and her mouth parted as a heart wrenching scream pierced the shops walls as Kurama began to convulse and writhe on the table.
Quickly taking her into his arms tears ran down his face as his goddess screamed in agony at the effect of his blood entered her body.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." He began to whisper feeling helpless as he could practically feel the agony coming off her in waves. Then he saw her eyes, from the corners of her eye's blackness began to seep into her sclera covering the once white part of her eyes with blackness. Her crimson irises began to glow and vein like patterns seemed to grow out of them into the now black Sclera. Holding her close Naruto could feel the waves of pain flowing off her as the changes ravaged her body.
How could he have been so stupid.
"Naruto…"
"What!?" Naruto mentally screamed to distraught to care about the fox right at the moment.
"The Crystal in your pocket, its fluctuating with power." Looking down Naruto found that his tenants words were correct. Pulling out the crystal he saw that it was pulsating and releasing red colored flakes of energy. "holding it up he saw that it glowed more intensity when pointed to his right.
"Miach, can you take care of her?" Naruto asked cradling the goddess who had passed out from the strain.
"Y-yes of course, but Naruto what just happened?" the god asked while gently taking Kurama from Naruto's embrace.
"I'll explain after I kill whatever creature did this." He claimed holding the crystal tightly he all but charged out of the pharmacy and took to the roofs again following the glow of the crystal.
XxxxWithRyuuxxxX
Currently Ryuu is leaning against the back wall of the hostess of fertility pub. You see mere moments before Ryuu suddenly felt a burning sensation spread all through out her chest with a red glow emanating from it. Acting quickly she rushed outside startling her fellow coworkers as she made it outside. The cool night air managed to helped a little but she could still feel a slight burning sensation in her chest as well as a feeling of being pulled.
Taking deep breaths she tried to control her heart rate but that proved to be useless as it only seemed to skyrocket even more. Then the burning sensation traveled up her body and to her eye and she could immediately feel the familiar sensation of her eye taking on its more demonic appearance and she bit back a groan of pain a the pain flared once again. Looking up her eyes widened seeing what could only be described as a pillar of crimson energy rising up from somewhere in the city.
She also noted that the pulling sensation was drawing her towards it. Wanting the figure out what exactly was going on she did her best to push the burning sensation aside and took to the roof tops towards the pillar.
However she failed to notice Chloe who had come out to check on her and that she quickly ran back inside apologizing to Mama Mia before taking off towards her home to grab her gear.
XxxxWithBellxxxX
Bell was worried that much was evident. Ino had managed to drag him out of the church but he wanted to go looking for Hestia.
"Let me go! I have to find her!"
"Bell! I get it but you have to calm down!"
"Hestia!"
"Master Bell, Please." Lilli tried but her pleas fell on deaf ears as Bell continued to struggle against Ino's grasp. Having enough Ino released bell but before he could make a break for it she swept his leg out from under him and pinned him to the ground with and arm lock.
"Listen I understand what your going through, don't you think I want to take off after Naruto and be with my Goddess?" Ino exclaimed as she held the White-haired teen down.
"But I trust Naruto to take care of her and get to the bottom of this and so should you." Bell for his part struggled for a moment longer before Ino's words began to sink in. She was right, he had to trust Naruto and it wouldn't help to be in the way. Seeing that he stopped thrashing Ino stood up hauling Bell to his feet.
"Okay lets get going." She said as the group turned and began running that was until they all heard a scream.
"BELL!" This caused Bell to whip around as he heard his goddess.
"Goddess!" He called out. He went to run but Ino grabbed his shoulder holding him back.
"Wait."
"But…"
"Master bell please." Lilli pleaded and despite every fiber of his being was telling Bell to charge forward he took a deep breath to calm himself.
"BELL! HELP ME!" the voice called out again but Bell heard an abnormality with it this time. Closing his eyes he listened and he could here the barest signs of a deeper more guttural voice under the his goddess.
"I want to try something." He said kneeling down as Ino got behind both him and Lilli just incase she needed to get them out of harms way. Closing his eyes once again he took a deep breath and allowed his mind to empty. He pushed away his anxiety and his worry as he focused instead on the energy around him. Then in a familiar pulse of energy he opened his eyes as his [Truesight] skill activated and his vision was greeted with a mass of swirling vines of energy and light.
Lilli looked at his eyes and her own widened upon seeing them as Bell's normally red irises had now erupted into a ever changing mirage of colors ranging from red to blue, yellow to greens it was like someone had trapped an rainbow and placed it into his eyes.
Scanning the area he spotted an abnormality a little ways behind the church where more rubble and extremely long grass lay. For some reason in a area behind the church some of the energy lines were dim and flickering not only that but he could see a dim single stream of energy rising from the ground and into the sky.
"I see something." He announced as Ino looked at him.
"What do you see?"
"I'm not quite sure but a little ways behind the church there's something weird going on." Ino looked up and saw that most of the area behind the church was covered in rubble and very tall grass, taller than her in fact.
"I think that's the area the voice came from." Ino said as she then saw a head poke out of the grass with two pairs of hands waving wildly.
"BELL! SAVE ME!" Ino's eyes narrowed as she looked to Bell who tensed up.
"Bell how tall is your goddess?" Ino asked keeping the person in her sights.
"Wha… well she's shorter than me so pretty short I guess."
"BELL!"
"Ino please!" Bell exclaimed not being able to keep his cool any longer. Ino nodded and charged into the grass and no sooner than she did a tentacle whipped out from bellow her but she was expecting some sort of trap so she was able to dodge off to the side. Then ground she was on began to move as she looked down as she saw she was on some form of insect like carapace. Quickly backflipping off the carapace she dodged another tentacle that whipped out at her previous position. Quickly she made her way out of the grass and back to the others.
"You both need to get back right now!" she yelled as a fleshy insect like tail came thrusting out of the grass and Ino quickly pulled Lilli back as a stinger suddenly shot out of the end missing Lilli by mere inches. The group back tracked to the nearest building far away from the grass as Ino checked on Lilli.
"What the hell is that?" the startled pallum asked as Ino just shook her head.
"I don't know." That was when they began to hear a series of clicks and trills emanating from the grass.
"Ino! Ino Help Me!" Ino's eyes widened as she heard the unmistakable sound of her goddess's voice coming from the grass and standing up she could see the fox ears and crimson red hair of her goddess just peaking over the edge of the long grass.
"I need you two to stay back." Ino said as she placed her hands in front of her and took a deep breath.
"Grow Grow roots of the world. Bend, twist, and curl. Hold thy flowers high as your thorns grow to pierce thine wicked enemies! Violet Garden!" Suddenly a large purple magic seal appeared in front of her as the ground around her began to crack and split and from it enormous vines covered with purple roses and long black vines sprung forth.
The vines whipped around before Ino thrust her hands forward and the vines followed the silent command as they shot forward into the grass and the cries for help were replaced by shrill inhuman screams. Suddenly the creature in the grass reared itself upwards exposing its body.
The very top was humanoid in shape but Ino felt sick to her stomach seeing her goddesses form atop this beast. At the waist the similarities ended as the beast went from skin to hard insect like shell. The body for the most part was a large centipede with dozens of sharp, orange tinted spiked legs. The carapace on the body was also lined with dozens of thorns and sharp edges. Near the humanoid waist were a pair of wickedly sharp pincers.
She could also see that her vines were wrapped around the creatures body the only place that the thorns seemed to be able to puncture were the spaces between the legs and the humanoid top. The creature released a loud shrill roar as the ground beneath Ino began to shake as she quickly grabbed Bell and Lilli and jumped just as what she assumed was the creatures tail came bursting out.
The tail was like the rest of the body except that the tail was tipped with two long whip like antenna which cut through the stone around them like butter as they whipped around wildly.
"Okay you too need to go now!" Ino said as she could see the creature was begging to snap free from her spell.
"What about you!?" Bell exclaimed.
"I'll be fine but you two need to get out of here now!" She shouted dodging again as the tail came thrusting out of the ground trying to hit her. Lilli understood quickly that this was a fight they couldn't win so she grabbed Bell's hand and began to drag him away from the battle.
"Bell we have to go!"
"But Lilli!"
"We would only get in her way! We need to leave." Slowly Bell began to reluctantly follow the prum girl as they raced down the alley ways of Orario.
"Okay beautiful, just you an me!" Ino yelled but the beast's eyes were fixed on Bell as he ran and the humanoid form began to shift and bubble as the form of Kurama began to change into a black haired goddess which Ino assumed was Bell's goddess Hestia.
"Bell! Bell Wait!" The creature called out with Hestia's voice and Ino's eyes narrowed as she raised her hand.
"Oh no you don't!" she yelled out as she willed one of her vines to whip the creature across the throat causing a large gash to appear as the creature gurgled and returned its attention to Ino. It screeched and finally broke free of its bindings as it immediately dove into the ground and disappeared from Ino's sight.
Acting quickly she made her way to the top of a nearby building and off the ground as she looked waiting for a crack of a slight shift in the earth to see where the beast might be. That was the moment she heard a thunk next to her and she whipped around leg extended before finding it caught.
Lowering her leg Naruto revealed himself and Ino sighed in relief.
"What is it?" Naruto asked fully serious. Ino returned to her pervious position and looked down.
"I had it pinned down but it broke free of my spell and dove into the ground, I don't know if its digging or if it has a tunnel or something. As for what it is, I have no clue." Then she noticed the glowing crystal in Naruto's hand.
"Wait isn't that?"
"It's the crystal from the monster it began to glow like this and lead me here." He explained holding it towards the old church before moving it around seeing where it glowed the brightest. Finally he held it behind him and Ino saw that it was going the same direction as Bell.
"It's following Bell!" She turned and made to jump but Naruto stopped her.
"Wait, stay here. Look for Hestia and if you find her take her straight to Miach." Ino looked back at the direction that Bell and Lilli ran and looked at the church before locking eyes with Naruto. Then she leaned forward and claimed his lips in a kiss. It was quick and simple but the emotions behind it was as powerful as fire. Separating she turned back to the church.
"Be safe and watch out for its tail." She warned as she jumped down to the ground and ran towards the church to search for the goddess. Naruto just stood their stunned for a moment as he could feel the rage he held melt away slowly. He cracked a smile as he took off across the roof tops following the glow of the crystal.
"Thank you Ino." He said aloud as he sped across the city.
XxxxwithbellxxxX
Bell ran through the City Lilli at his side, but his mind was clouded with worry as all he could think about was Hestia. He didn't know if she was safe or even if she was alive. The sound around him was muffled as well he could faintly hear someone calling his name but all he could really hear was the sound of the creature using his goddess voice.
Suddenly he found himself on the ground the shock of the impact bringing him back to his senses as he looked up seeing Lilli sitting on top of his chest glaring at him.
"Bell! You need to calm down!"
"Lilli?"
"Bell I know your scared and worried but we need to concentrate where are we going?" she said as she stared down at Bell as he took a moment to think.
"We should get help. We can head to the guild." Lilli nodded. Right now the closest thing to their current location would be the Guild. It was later in the day so most adventurers would be coming out of the Dungeon by now meaning that if they headed their they would have some back up to take out the creature.
"Okay, lets go." Lilli said getting off and helping Bell off the ground before they took off running again. They were able to make it to one of the main streets that lead to the dungeon but before they could even begin running the earth beneath their feet began to shake violently.
Civilians all began to cry out in surprise and fear as some of them lost their bearings and fell over. Windows began to rattle violently before they finally broke and glass went raining down onto the people below. Then right down the center of the street a large crack began to form as it ripped straight down the length of the cobble stone.
Then with a final violent shake the ground erupted with dust and rubble as the creature burst forth with a terrible shriek. The woman top of the beast screamed out a bestial screech as its head split into four parts like a flower and a fleshy tentacle tongue lashed out stabbing a woman through the throat and wrapping her up in the tentacle before a sickening crunch was hear and the beast tossed the now dead woman aside.
It then began to rampage through out the street more and more of its body being revealed until finally its tail came out of the ground and the whip like appendages on the back began to thrash wildly. Every time they came into contact with something it was immediately sliced through.
"Bell get down!" Lilli yelled as she tackled the boy just as the creatures fleshy tongue came whipping towards him. The beast turned its head as if hearing Lilli and stared down bell before a split began running down the center of the torso before it split open revealing, to his horror, Hestia trapped in the creature's teeth like ribs.
"b-bell?" Bell could faintly hear his goddess as she wheezed inside the creature. Before Lilli could grab Bell he charged forward all manner of rational thought thoroughly purged from his mind at the sight of his goddess.
"Hestia!" He yelled out as the beast seemed to chuckle as it allowed Hestia to fall out of its grotesque body. Bell's eyes followed the Hestia's form as it made its way to the ground and failed to notice the tongue speeding towards him. As Hestia inched closed and closer to the ground everything began to fade out for Bell.
The screaming citizens, Lilli calling for him all that he saw was Hestia.
Thump.
Bell felt his heart thump in his chest and his vision flickered back into his truesight skill as everything was bathed in the light he had come to know as magic.
Thump.
Then to everyone's shock and Lilli's amazement His body began to flicker with bolts of rainbow-colored magic almost like tiny shocks of lightning. He took one step and only one word filled his mind only one thing that seemed to rise out of him like a force of nature spilling forth.
His eyes widened and his now kaleidoscope color eyes flashed as he opened his mouth and said one thing.
"TheosRekviam!" and like a bolt of rainbow colored lightning he suddenly flashed forward with thunderous boom just as the Beast's attack sailed through his previous position and instead smashed into a nearby wall.
Bell reappeared behind the beast his goddess cradled in his arms. Lilli, shaking off her shock saw that something wasn't right. Bell wasn't moving at all, not an inch. Then he began to fall and realization came to her all that power he just suddenly used must of triggered a mind zero. Bell was unconscious.
The beast angrily whirled around trying to find its prey before finally spotting bell and went to swipe at the unconscious adventurer and Lilli was too far away to do anything.
"Master Bell!" She screamed out in a hopeless attempt to wake him, but it was useless as Bell wasn't waking for a good long while. Then everyone's eyes was filled with a fiery flash of blue as over the roofs of the buildings an enormous fox made of azure flames came roaring at the creature sinking its fangs into the beasts body where there was an audible crack and the creature released a shrill cry of pain as it was thrown aside.
The fox landed on the ground hard as the flames seemed to flicker out of existence and revealed Naruto his eyes blazing red as he stared down the creature clutching the red crystal in one hand.
"Get the fuck away from my student." He said simply before thrusting his hand forward and a magic circle blazed to life in front of him.
"Fox Fire!" and twelve bolts of blue flames came streaming out of the magic circle and impacted along the creatures body causing it to cry out once again and swing its body towards Naruto in an effort to strike him. Naruto saw this coming and effortlessly jumped into the air and flipped as the beast's body sailed underneath him before smashing into the wall of a building. When he landed, he was on top of the beast as it thrashed around trying to throw him off. As it was, he noticed the tails causing harm to the citizens around the beast so he held up his hand again and this time a grey magic circle appeared in front of him.
"Element of Kitsune, Tempest!" He yelled out as a fox made of swirling wind came speeding from the circle before growling and turning into a blade of wind that sliced both of the whip like tail antenna from the creatures body as it growled in pain and dark green blood began to seep out of the two stumps.
The beast then began to roll over to crush Naruto and Naruto used the momentum of the roll to send him off and onto the ground. However the Beast continued to roll towards him as Naruto saw two children in the way of the beast's attack. Quickly speeding towards the two he grabbed both of them before leaping over the creatures body as it rolled under him. Setting the two children down he looked around and saw that most of the civilians had fled and he directed the two children away from the battle.
"Bell, c'mon get up, please!" Naruto spun around and spotted his student and his supporter with another girl on the floor the supporter trying to drag the two away but not having any luck. A shrill cry returned his attention to the monster as it whipped its head forward and smashed into the ground next to Bell and the others causing them to actually hop in the air from the force of the impact.
The creature then dove right at where the three were and Lilli was unable to move them in time. Then with the sound of a thunder clap a green streak rammed into the monsters head sending it careening to the side buildings once again.
Naruto couldn't help the smirk on his face as he saw pointy ears and familiar blonde hair. His eyes then caught another flash of black as he followed the blur as it picked up Lilli, Bell and the other girl then reappeared farther up the road. The black cat tail was all he needed to see to figure out it was Chloe.
"Naruto, What is this thing?" Ryuu asked as she jumped to his side.
"I'm not sure. Though I can tell you one thing, that armor it has is top tier."
"Will I be able to punch through it?" She asked and Naruto nodded.
"If you put enough oomph into it, though watch out, it likes to thrash around." He said and as if to prove his point the creature reared its head back and seemed to jump as its body descended onto them which they easily dodged.
"Naruto!" Chloe called as she landed off the roof next to him.
"Hey Chloe, shouldn't you be at work?" he asked as they both leapt out of the way of one of the creatures sharp legs as it came down on them.
"Yeah, well I saw Ryuu run off during our shift and though, What the hell might as well follow her."
"Well its great to see you, I need you to clear all the civilians of the area so we can really let loose and take this thing down."
"ahhh, why do I get the boring job!" she whined and Naruto found himself chuckling. Even in their current situation Chloe was still able to act so carefree.
"Do it and I'll take you shopping." Chloe's eyes lit up like stars.
"I'm on it handsome!" she said and sped away.
A thunderous boom returned his attention to the monster as he saw Ryuu with her foot firmly planted into the beast head before using it like a spring board to flip backwards and send the beast tumbling to the ground.
Crouching down Naruto shot forward drawing energy into his hand that began to whine powerfully as the energy began to form a rapidly spinning ball of light. Thrusting into the creatures leg joints he let it drill away before letting go.
"Rasengan!" He yelled out as the sphere tripled in size and burrowed its way into the creature and the leg came flying off its body with a shower of green insect goop. The force of the rasengan sent the beast right into the side of a building. Ryuu then jumped up and grabbed its pincer before dragging its face down the length of the wall allowing it to be burring by the falling building.
While the head was trapped under rubble the bottom was thrashing around the legs of the beast scraping against the cobble stone in and effort to free itself. Holding his hands up a light blue magic circle appeared in front of his hands.
"Element of Kitsune, Winter!" He called out as a crystal covered fox jumped out of the circle before charging the creature and jumping onto on of its legs. As it leaped from leg to leg Ice began to cover it brining the motions of the appendages to stand still.
"Ryuu!" Naruto yelled out and the Elven girl charged the creature and proceeded to kick and punch every frozen leg causing it to shatter. Eventually they had gotten through six legs before the fox faded and Naruto prepared to summon another one. That was until he saw that the shattered legs were slowly beginning to reform.
"Dammit!" he cursed "Ryuu get back!" Ryuu nodded and jumped back to his side.
"What is it?"
"This thing can regenerate. Were not taking it out unless we can hit this." He said pulling out the red crystal.
"We need to figure out where this things crystal is and fast." He said as the monster was finally able to free it self from the rubble its human torso also out as it turned to the two and screeched at them. Then Naruto felt something moving in his hood and Ryuu caught the motion in the corner of her eye.
"Naruto what is that?" she asked as he reached back and picked up Tachiel who simply stared at him with a blank face.
"This is going to be a thing with you." he stated as the carbuncle simply sneezed.
"Go back to the Den and I Want you to get everyone back here we'll need back up."
The Red Carbuncle nodded as it disappeared with a swirl and a pop.
"What now?" Ryuu asked as Chloe landed on Naruto's other side.
"We can't go all out since we're in the middle of town but we can hold out till some of my more accurate Familia members reach us."
"So what's the plan then?" Chloe asked.
"Keep it here and maybe we can wear it down."
"Got it!" Chloe claimed with a grin and Ryuu simply nodded her head. Naruto smiled at both of them as the Creature began to charge at them.
"Lets go!"
_Scene_
I'M ALIVE! I am so sorry that I haven't been uploading but school has been kicking my ass! So I made this chapter extra long as a way to apologize and I hope that it lives up to your guy's expectation. As always if you guys see a grammar mistake or have any feedback let me know. Also as most of you know the Harem is locked in and I will be getting more and more development going with the romance between the characters. That's all from me and here is a small short story for Kurama since she doesn't really have a character sheet so I thought maybe a legend could be interesting to hear.
Kurama's tale: the bard and the trickster.
Long ago there was a travelling duo of men who wanted to explore the land. One was a lover of music who wished nothing more than to bring joy to those that they met. The other was more problematic than his partner. While he still held a love of music, he instead thrived by tricking others. Eventually the two became so well known that a princess of a far-off land invited them to her castle to preform for her birthday ball.
The first was ecstatic at the thought of preforming in front of so many people at such a prestigious location. The other found comfort in the thought of the many deep pockets he could swindle.
That night both bards sat in prayer to the deity of foxes and lover of art Kurama the nine tailed goddess. Kurama for her part heard the prayers and decided to watch over them as they set out on their journey. When the two bards arrived in the kingdom, they found that the land was ravaged by poverty and many soldiers were enforcing taxes on those who could obviously not pay it.
The two tried to not pay attention to it but after seeing a soldier assault an elderly man they stepped in and put a stop to it. This was an ill move since they did rescue the man they put a bounty on themselves for obstructions of the kingdom. That night the two hid from the guards and the trickster was visited by a vision of a small nine tailed fox. The fox lead him towards a secret passage into the castle where he saw that the princess was obliviously trapped within her own room.
He saw an older woman enter the room and inform the princess that the kingdom was thriving under her rule and that the citizens were living in happiness and plenty. The princess not knowing any better thanked the woman. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the princess was a clueless figure head and that the old woman was most likely the regent and spoke on behalf of the princess.
Seeing this the trickster turned to speak to the fox but it had vanished and he followed its lead leaving the palace.
After arriving back with his partner he told him of what he had found and the two concocted a plan to open the princesses eyes. When the ball began the trickster lead them into the castle and avoided the guards as they made their way into the ball. The two then approached the princess as she greeted them with great delight. The old woman glared at them as she had heard of their inference with kingdom knights and tax collecting.
The trickster smirked knowing that if the regent were to tell the princess about them and what they did she would have to do some very carful explaining which she wasn't prepared for. So, they played a dangerous game the Bard enrapturing the crowd with his performance while the trickster carefully went about dispatching the guards and hiding them out of view.
Eventually as the ball went on all the guards were dispatched and the plan was ready. The bard smiled as he suggested that they go explore the town and continue the ball with everyone in the kingdom.
The regent panicked for a moment since if they did this the Princess would see through the false truth, she had been feeding her. So, she told the princess that the ball was strictly for her and that only those invited should intend. The young princess believed her regent since she was always right in her eyes.
That's when the trickster said that she had the right to invite everyone. After all shouldn't the people be allowed to celebrate such an important birthday. With many honeyed words the trickster was eventually able to convince the princess to overrule the regent and they set out for the town and the truth came rushing at her.
She saw the terrible conditions of the people and the malice she received from the people the regent had claimed loved her. The bard and the trickster told the princess what was really going on and in pained betrayal she ordered the regent to live in the dungeons.
The princess thanked the two for opening her eyes and requested that they stay with her as her advisors. The bard agreed while the trickster need more time to think.
That night the trickster was met with the same ethereal fox as it appeared before him. He asked why it was here and it asked him a simple question in turn.
"Why are you?" it asked and then disappeared as the trickster looked over the kingdom he just saved and saw soldiers handing out food and clothes to those they had previously stolen them from. He smiled and felt pride swelling up inside of him. He had his answer and when he returned to the princess, now queen, he offered his services as a spy master to ensure that no darkness would fester in her kingdom ever again.
And so, the Bard and the trickster who set out for glory and renown found hope and faith. Kurama looked down on the two and smiled as she held the ethereal fox in her arms while smiling at the two for what they had done.
That's all for me, I hope the short story was alright and to your liking so until next time this has been your average, ordinary, everyday, Fallen angel.