(Month 1 Day 1)
The first thing that Bell felt was a warm sensation on his face. Bell's groggy eyes slowly opened and he was greeted by a blue sky with white clouds. After just staring and processing the fact that the sky wasn't black or red, the albino slowly sat up and looked down to see that a claw was no longer embedded into his abdomen.
"So I'm still alive…" Bell muttered as he looked over his clothes, noticing that he still had his hunter's set on. He raised his right hand and to his reassurance, his trusty Rakuyo was still in his grasp. His lips twitched upward before they fell back to an impassive countenance. The hunter then realized that instead of sitting in a field of flowers, he was sitting on a field of grass.
"Where am I?" Bell stood up and observed his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be a forest with massive trees as far as he could see. Bell was going to turn around but his foot bumped into something. He looked down and noticed it was a leather backpack with all of its contents spilled all over the grass. The albino was suddenly hit with a strong sense of deja vu.
'Have I been here before?'
Bell then heard a rustle in a bush and he was immediately on guard. His instincts kicked in as an all familiar feeling consumed him. It was the feeling he experienced every time an invader forced their way into his world.
He was being hunted.
The rustling turned into trotting footsteps that were descending upon him and Bell reacted. The hunter turned around, detached the knife from the Rakuyo in a millisecond, and slashed both in an upward motion, decapitating the wolf. Before the head or even the body of the now deceased wolf could even hit the ground, Bell already closed the distance between him and the second mutt and slashed it with a vertical swing, splitting the wolf in half from the head to the tail. It was a clean slice, right down the middle and symmetrical parts of the wolf fell in opposite directions. The hunter raised an eyebrow at this.
'That's strange… Why were they so weak?'
If his memory serves him right, it took a couple of slashes to put down a wolf. Why did these two go down in one hit?
Bell decided to test something and he put his Rakuyo on the ground. The third and final wolf lunged at Bell, who responded with a punch, sending the wolf flying toward a tree. There was a loud snap as the wolf made contact with the tree, snapping the wolf's spine.
Bell couldn't help but gawk at this. Just how weak are these wolves?!
He heard whimpering coming from the wolf. Realizing that it was still alive, Bell picked up his Rakuyo, walked to the wolf, and stuck his blade in its cranium, ending its suffering.
He then decided to focus on his most important objective: finding out where the hell he was. He decided the best way to answer this was to go through the leather backpack that laid a couple feet away from him. Bell walked back to the leather backpack and crouched down to look over the spilt contents. There appeared to be some form of currency, a multitude of books, and a plethora of other items. There were three items that caught his eye.
The first was a painting of some elderly gentlemen. The old man had a bright smile on his face and wore a white shirt with blue overalls. He felt like he recognized this person but he couldn't explain why even if someone pointed a gun at his head.
The second one was a massive book that easily topped the others in terms of size. Bell picked it up and looked at the cover. It was a very intricate cover with the word Argonaut in bold headings. The title made Bell feel nostalgic for a reason he could not determine. He opened the cover page and was greeted with writing on the back of the cover.
To my dear grandson. I know you loved this story so I added in the extra details that were missing. No need to thank me, all I ask is to give the idea of getting a harem some more thought. It's a man's true romance!
Although this man's note was…odd, it was endearing. This person must have had great grandparents. After scrolling through the book, Bell put it in the leather backpack and picked up the last book. Unlike the Argonaut book, this one was small and thin. He opened it and realized it was a diary. Although he felt like he was breaching this person's privacy, his curiosity got the best of him and he read the last entry.
It's been thirteen days since I left the village and the trip has been nice so far. I was even able to talk to some girls in some of the villages I passed by. Although I was a stuttering mess, it will be good practice for my goal because once I get to Orario, I, Bell Cranel, will become an adventurer and get myself a harem!
Bell's eyes widened and he dropped the book in shock as his mind tried to process this unexpected development. This diary was his! He frantically looked around and realized why this place felt so familiar to him. The leather backpack, the nostalgic Argonaut book, the picture with the old man, the wolves he decimated, the diary with his name in it. This was the place he died before being summoned to the Hunter's Dream. This could only mean one thing.
"I… made it back."
After a never ending hunt consisting of eviscerating countless beasts, annihilating Great Ones, battling blood-crazed hunters, and nearly going insane, he finally escaped Yharnam. He was back in Genkai, the world he lived in before being summoned to the Hunter's Dream.
Bell expected to feel ecstatic or overjoyed at this but for some reason he felt… nothing. He didn't cry tears of happiness or jump in joy. He recalled thinking that either coming back or finally dying were both good alternatives to staying in Yharnam, but was he lying to himself then? Was perhaps being granted eternal rest what he really wanted?
No. Bell slapped himself in the face in an effort to get rid of those unpleasant thoughts. Although he wasn't sure if he deserved a second chance, he wasn't going to waste it. His grandfather wouldn't want him to think like this.
Speaking of his grandfather…
Bell looked down to the painting of the old man-no, his grandfather! Bell's feelings of emptiness were replaced with pure joy as he stared at the painting of his grandfather. Back in the dream, he was devastated when he realized he couldn't even remember his grandfather's face but now he can rectify that. Bell didn't know he was tearing up until a droplet of water landed on the painting. He hastily wiped the tear off, not wanting to damage the one thing that reminded Bell what his grandfather looked like. After staring at the painting for who knows how long, Bell delicately folded it and carefully placed it into the backpack. As soon as he put the painting in his backpack, bleak thoughts came back in full force.
The sense of loneliness Bell was experiencing was overwhelming. Although Yharnam subjected him to horrors that would break any normal man, he still had a support system that rarely failed him. Whenever he felt like he was going to crumble under the pressure of the endless hunt, Eve always rebuilt him from the ground up.
But now? He was completely and utterly alone. No person he could confide in during his darkest moments. He dearly missed Eve. Back in the dream, he knew that was most likely the last time he would see her but it still hurt like hell. Come to think of it, was he still even connected to the Hunter's Dream?
Bell closed his eyes and projected an image of the Hunter's Dream in his mind. He felt his soul begin to wander for just a second until it was blocked by some force, preventing his soul from leaving this mortal plane and entering the Hunter's Dream. Bell wasn't really sure what to think. The Hunter's Dream served as the gateway to Yharnam, a place that he never wanted to visit again but on the other hand, the workshop in the Hunter's Dream was the one place where he truly felt safe.
Bell decided he would address this issue later. The albino picked up the diary and put it in the backpack. He then pulled out what appeared to be a map which had a bunch of marks on it as if someone had written on it. There were circles, arrows, and check marks that all led to one location: Orario. According to the map, he was quite close to the city.
A thought occurred to Bell. Did he still want to go to Orario?
Prior to the Hunter's Dream, his main goal of traveling to Orario was to become an adventurer and pick up girls in a dungeon. Bell chuckled at his previous ridiculous goal.
'Going into a dungeon just to pick up girls? What the hell was I thinking?' He thought to himself. The dungeon was a place for adventurers that were brave enough to conquer the floors and fight the monsters that lurked within it, not for some kid trying to play the role of being a hero and saving a damsel-in-distress. He was no hero, he was a failure.
He didn't really know what to do. After a couple of moments, the albino decided it would be best to go to Orario and figure it out from there.
He then slung the backpack over his left shoulder and started to look for a path.
After a while, Bell found a dirt road in the middle of the forest and he finally took note of the light that lit up the dirt pathway. He stood in the middle of the path and looked up, which caused him to reflexively cover his eyes with his left hand.
It's the sun… how long has it been since its heat has graced my skin?
Because Yharman was plunged into a constant state of night for all of eternity, Bell forgot what it felt like to be under the sunlight. It was an unfamiliar but pleasant feeling.
Bell took off his hat, pulled down his bandana, and tilted his head toward the sky with his eyes closed, basking in the sunlight. He didn't know how long he stood there, but he was pulled out of his trance when he felt something approaching him. Bell put his hat and bandana back on and turned to face the possible approaching threat.
He spotted a cart that contained two passengers. One was an old man who was at the front of the cart, holding onto the reins of the horses. The second person was a man with blonde hair, orange eyes, and a hat with a feather on top. However, the one thing that set him apart from the old man was this… aura that he emanated.
The carriage kept moving until it stopped a couple of meters away from him.
"Uhhh mister, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Bell looked down to his chest and realized there was still dried blood from the wolves he killed earlier.
"I'm fine. This blood isn't mine," Bell said with a monotone voice.
His blunt statement caught the man off guard and he shrunk in his seat.
"T-Then whose blood is it?" The old man asked with a sense of apprehension while the blonde haired man looked at him with a sense of curiosity.
Bell mentally chastised himself for making such a social blunder. He couldn't blame them for being suspicious of him. I mean, who wouldn't be wary of someone that had a bandana concealing their identity, was holding a sword, and had dry blood on their clothes that they claimed wasn't theirs without elaborating? He had to call upon the teachings of Queen Annalise. Not wanting the first people he encountered to be weary of him, Bell pulled down his bandana, forced a smile onto his face, an action that surprised him at how easy it was, and spoke in a polite tone.
"I apologize if I came off as suspicious. Earlier in the day I was attacked by some wolves and I killed them. I mean no harm."
For some reason, the old man glanced at the orange eyed man who nodded his head with a charming smile.
"He's telling the truth." The tension in the air dissipated and the old man gave Bell a small smile.
"Well that's a relief, I thought you were one of those bandits, can't be too careful these days."
The albino nodded at that statement. It was then that the man wearing the hat abruptly called out to him.
"Where are you headed?" He asked with a sense of urgency.
"I am traveling to Orario."
"Well what do you ya know? That's where we are heading too! Wanna hop in? We got room for one more right?" The man asked with a little too much enthusiasm as he turned to the old man, who nodded his head. The man then turned his head back to Bell, his charming smile still on his lips.
"See? So what do you say?" Although the man's eagerness was… strange, sitting in a cart was certainly better than walking.
"I accept. Thank you for the offer." Bell started to make his way toward the cart. After he climbed up and took a seat in the back, the blondie immediately sat across from him.
"So, my fellow traveler, since we are going to be traveling together for the foreseeable future, I believe it would be best to introduce ourselves."
The man pointed to the old man at the front of the cart.
"That is Mark."
"Hey," the older man said with a faint smile before redirecting his gaze to the road in front of them. The hat wearing blondie then turned his attention back to Bell.
"And I am Hermes," the man said while tipping his hat toward the albino.
"May I ask what your name is?"
It was then that Bell realized he never introduced himself. "Ah, forgive me."
Bell stood up, took off his hat, and gave Hermes a little bow.
"My name is Bell Cranel, just a hunter making his way to Orario. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
The man before him gave him a friendly smile and held out his hand, which Bell took and gave a firm shake.
Unbeknownst to him, Hermes's mind was going wild. Prior to this unexpected meeting, Hermes had received a letter from Zeus stating to expect Bell sometime in the near future and his general appearance:
'He's a kid with white hair and red eyes. You can't miss him! He looks like a rabbit!'
Although he suspected the boy before him was Bell, given his appearance perfectly fit Zeus's description, he just confirmed it himself! By sheer coincidence, he had come across Zeus's grandson! Hermes couldn't help but feel thrilled at this unforeseen development.
'I look forward to the changes you will bring to Orario, Bell Cranel.'