Danmachi: Fated One[s]
DISCLAIMER: Danmachi belongs to its respective owners. This story is a fan-made depiction of a fan what-if route of the original work and the characters in it abide by the fictional laws in the setting.
Story Commissioned by a patr'on.
[Chapter 7] Ode [Prose] to Another Love
Act 1 - Part 7
Astraea trusted him.
She truly did.
To the point that she had entertained the notion of living her remaining mortal life by his side, even when his homeland was filled with naught but danger from both the familiar and the wild.
All of Sir Bell's pain, the suffering that he'd lived through after so many tragic events that forged him into the young man that he currently was, she believed herself to be the one that would've healed and pacified him.
But now, all Astraea could do was stare —aghast, as her stomach turned upside down and a nauseous haziness overtook her sight of the young man that she had come to fancy.
"A-Astraea!"
Like metal pins puncturing her heart, Astraea felt her ideals of the young man betray her one by one.
Bile rose up Astraea's throat at the vile sight—
Astraea had trusted him!
She truly had.
To the point that she had entertained Sir Bell's hardship having forged him into a man different from others, one that had somehow earned the fearsome Artemis's favor.
But now, all Astraea could do was stare —horrified, as Sir Bell slid outside of the unresponsive Artemis's sanctity; his face, so flushed but pale in equal horror as hers—
"Oh my—"
As if Astraea's voice was the catalyst, Sir Bell closed his eyes —mayhaps refusing to believe what was about to happen, mayhaps begging some wishful part of himself to put a stop to his body's natural reaction, but it was futile—
An agonic growl not unlike a wounded beast of the night rumbled from Sir Bell's throat as his seed befell Astraea's unresponsive friend, coating Artemis's stomach and face with his viscous liquid.
Then it was Astraea's turn.
She had no time to move out of the way, so shocked and appalled by Sir Bell's actions, and did not react until after his seed had landed on her face, coating her cheeks and nose bridge with a nauseous string which slowly dripped down her skin and towards her unresponsive lips.
Astraea trembled as her fingers slowly rose up to her face, to tentatively touch the warm, viscid stain, and gathered some before staring the sin on her fingertip, petrified, until a drop finally cascaded to touch her trembling lips.
The foliage of the forest swayed with the breeze that permeated their silence, slowly echoing with the steady rumble of the waterfall behind her, and the unsteady heavy breaths of Sir Bell.
"A-Astraea, I'm so—"
Then it was no longer quiet.
"You vile, barbarous beast!"
Or she remained still, for that matter.
Astraea roared her anger and threw herself at Bell; she pushed him away from Artemis, sending him backpedaling before her open palm connected with his right cheek.
He could've dodged, she knew; but Sir Bell did not move out of the way.
There were no clothes for her to grasp, so Astraea settled for tackling him to the ground with all the force she could muster. They fell together, her arms in a precarious position as they were on his back but.
Sir Bell moved; moved her arms from where she would've hurt herself with her actions, until at last, his back connected with the grass and Astraea sat on his lap, straddling him.
But she was the one to move first again, by glaring down at the young man that she had trusted so much before delivering another solid slap to his left cheek.
Sir Bell did not move at all.
She was the one to move him, to turn his head sideways three more times with her stinging palms, until Astraea added her voice to inflict her sanctions upon the man who violated her friend.
"How could you!?"
Sir Bell did not speak, mayhaps still too stunned by her viciousness that turned his head left, yet again.
Her eyes tracked his as his head moved to the right, and he simply settled for staring at her with an emotion that she didn't try to understand in her anger.
"Have you no shame!?"
Sir Bell merely waited while her voice rose even higher; his entire body relaxing and accepted her contempt.
"Do you understand what you've done!?"
Her palms hurt, her heart hurt, he was hurt by her hands.
"I trusted you! I thought you were different!"
Her sight blurred as the pins in her heart turned into frozen stakes with Sir Bell's prolonged silence.
"I… I…" Astraea's tears glimmered as they fell on Sir Bell's face, "Why… Bell… why?"
She cupped Sir Bell's swollen cheeks and forced him to stare at her, at her face defiled and in so much pain because of him.
"Why did you violate my friend…?"
"I didn't."
—Astraea's heart froze as her Divinity investigated Sir Bell's response for falsities.
"Artemis and I…" Sir Bell gently moved, "We made love…"
—Astraea's heart broke as her Divinity found no lies.
Sir Bell gently touched her face, wiping away at the tears and stain caused by him, "Forgive me for defiling you, Goddess… Forgive me for not explaining faster…"
Sir Bell's eyes were filled with care and…. So much….
"Forgive me for hurting you, Astraea."
She felt sick again, the emotions that escaped Astraea returned like ants crawling up her spine.
"…S-sir B-bell… I…"
"I understand, Goddess." Sir Bell closed his eyes, his words but a whisper, "I… of course it would look like that in your eyes, I truly do understand, Goddess."
Astraea's head felt light, so different from the sudden gravity of her mistaken actions weighing down on her.
"n-no…"
"I knew I would end up disappointing you when I most needed to speak up, Astraea…" Sir Bell smiled, he smiled, "If only I had been able to explain that this was all one big misunderstanding…"
She couldn't speak, found no words to speak, had no words.
—But she didn't need them, because it could be no other but Sir Bell who could understand her emotions and her reaction to the sight that she stumbled so perfectly and still find some twisted way to make himself be the culprit of everything, including her mistaken actions.
If only… if only she had trusted in him more…
"Are your hands hurt, Goddess?" Sir Bell carefully sat up, one hand gently resting over her lower back as her weight fully settled on his lap, all the while he took one of her hands into his free hand.
Not only did her hands hurt, but her heart and head did too, to the point that she could still speak no words despite Sir Bell gently rubbing his thumb over her palms to ease the stinging sensation that she only had herself to blame for.
She was unable to respond, all Astraea could do was exhale slowly as if she was withering away before her forehead rested against Sir Bell's naked chest in silence; she dried internally as her tears fell on her dress and his skin equally.
Until at last, her body couldn't withstand the conflict in her heart and mind.
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Astraea slumped in his arms; thankfully, he was quick enough to catch her entirely before she could fall and hurt herself more.
It had all been his fault, obviously.
So giddy and excited for his intimate connection with Artemis that Bell had entirely forgotten that he was not alone with Artemis in the pond, and so sunken in his muddled desires spurred by Artemis that he had given himself entirely into his baser instincts even when Artemis couldn't actively participate in their union.
It was so obvious how Astraea finding him in such a moment would've made her misunderstand him and would've made her act in such a way to defend her friend's wellbeing.
Really, he only had himself to blame for the pain swelling his cheeks.
If only he hadn't been so stunned by Artemis calling him a beast, then all the turmoil could've been avoided.
From the moment Astraea had pushed him away from Artemis, Bell knew that every second that he did not respond, It would only lead to more disaster —Then Astraea started crying as she punished him for a sin he didn't commit, not that she was aware; and his stupid, stupid ideology said that he should simply accept the pain for making her cry and wait until her emotions were spent so he could properly explain himself.
It needed to be changed, his self-punishing ideology, or it would one day rear its ugly head again and only cause more people to suffer for his own stupidity.
But that was not the problem that he needed to solve at the moment.
Astraea was in his arms and unconscious, so Bell was quick but careful when moving her to rest comfortably under the shade of a nearby tree where his union with Artemis had not reached.
He found his discarded shorts close to where he set Astraea down and wore them before searching for a clean cloth that he soaked in the pond's water and used it to clean any and all stains of his fluids from Astraea's face and dress; she had mounted him when he was still dirty, after all.
Then he had to tend to the other unconscious Goddess sprawled on the mantle.
Artemis made for an amazing and agitating sight, covered in so much of his —Bell shook his head. Now was not the time to be admiring his handiwork, Artemis required to be cleaned and dressed before she got sick, and also deserved her modesty to be preserved even if it was his eyes that were beholding her naked beauty.
He had done quite the number on her, it seemed; since Artemis did not wake up at all when Bell picked her up, neither did she wake up when Bell brought her to the pond's shore and diligently scrubbed every inch of her skin and with a mental 'excuse me, my love', her insides too.
He… may have gone overboard.
Way overboard.
Even if it was Artemis that begged him to go to these extents.
But it probably wouldn't matter, or so Bell realized as he had quite the difficult time drying and dressing Artemis in the change of clothes that she had brought from the house; and soon, the Goddess of the Hunt laid peacefully next to the Goddess of Justice.
Then it was Bell alone who needed to clean himself, a quick dip in the pond, an overzealous scrub until his entire skin was red, and—
"Ah, Astraea had all our clothes…" Bell realized when searching through the cart for his own change of clothes and found none.
Did Astraea not bring them back?
Bell glanced down the rivers, not really seeing past the foliage what he needed, then glanced back at the resting Goddesses; there was no way he could leave them alone, but there was also no way that he should wait for them naked.
Not only was it inviting another giant misunderstanding -His cheeks still hurt- but it might cause him to get sick; there weren't many options left either… The mantles were dirty, his boxers already discarded as an option….
Maybe he was reaping what he sowed for letting his love run wild with Artemis.
Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.
Bell gathered a few branches, piled river rocks in a circle, brought over some dry leaves, and with some finely aged practice, lit up a small fire and with some other twigs, prepared a little clothesline. Once he was sure the fire wouldn't go out on its own, it was time to clean everything that had been witness to his union with Artemis and let it dry near the fire.
All in all, an hour must've passed by since Astraea stumbled in on him, and when the Goddess of the Justice was waking up again with heavy comments of her head hurting rather fiercely.
"Artemis!"
Bell watched by the fire, wrapped in the driest and widest mantle, as Astraea kneeled over her friend and panicked —maybe her thoughts and memories were still out of place, so Bell decided against calling out for her lest he incite Astraea's emotions in the wrong direction, again.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright…" Astraea caressed Artemis cheek, her shoulders dropping before she finally looked up and around and immediately found him, "Ah… Sir Bell…"
He waved one of the sandwiches that he had made in the morning in response.
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Sir Bell sat a small fire, a clothesline with cloth strewn behind him and redirecting any strong breeze from affecting him and the fire. In his waving hands was a sandwich, her stomach rumbled -reminding her that she had not had anything to eat yet.
Astraea gave another glance to her sleeping friend, finding Artemis still in the land of unconsciousness but resting rather peacefully, it was an easy set of decisions to take after that.
She joined Sir Bell by the fire, sitting by his side but at arms-length at first; he remained quiet as he passed her the sandwich and focused mostly on stirring the fire.
It felt… weird… seeing him be so quiet around her, without the usual gloom hanging off him that is.
The fire crackled, lighting if only the slightest bit Sir Bell's face, but shining enough that Astraea easily noticed the redness still stinging his cheeks.
So, it had not been a dream…
"Sir Bell…" Astraea twiddled her thumbs together, "Could you… explain everything that happened from the moment you left my side, please?"
"Of course, Lady Astraea."
She shut her eyes painfully —He was back to calling her formally.
She hated it.
"At first I—"
Enough to interrupt him, "Sir Bell, can I ask you for another favor first?"
That finally made him look at her, he didn't seem angry or disappointed at all, rather he still continued holding so much affection in his eyes for her, "I'll do my best for anything you wish, Lady Astraea."
"Call me Astraea." Astraea scuttled closer.
He smiled, everything about him seemed to relax and his red eyes showed he was grateful, "Thank you, Astraea…"
And he still thanked her, she… really should've trusted Bell so much more…
"Um," Bell hesitated a bit until he dropped the twig used for stirring the fire and turned his body to her, "May I be as bold as to request something from you too, Astraea?"
Anything he wanted; she knew she would accept.
"Can you call me without any honorifics too, again?" Bell scratched his cheek, a reserved smile dancing on his lips, "I know I may not deserve it for hurting you earlier, but—"
Astraea caressed his face, "I got ahead of myself, Bell. I… I should've trusted you more, I should've realized that…" she trailed off, unsure of how say the next few words.
She wasn't in the wrong for reacting that way, and Bell responded as much.
"I'm actually incredibly happy that you reacted that way, Astraea," Bell looked away, "It did sting a bit, um, it still stings a bit, but it shows that you love Artemis that much… Besides, had I explained faster, you wouldn't have…"
She couldn't help it.
Astraea giggled.
"We're both at fault then, Bell…" Astraea reached out again, taking one Bell's hands into her own and fiddled with it to her heart's content, "Now… please, explain."
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"Now… please, explain."
Bell noted that despite smiling, Astraea's tone had a quite the wide tint of… jealousy? —He wasn't sure if it was jealousy, but it felt like a hidden sense inside him was telling him that it was indeed jealousy. Or maybe it was just the way Astraea's nails sunk into his palm when she said those words, the pain sure made for a good confirmation.
"Um, so I went around…"
And Bell, as always, spoke of nothing but the truth and the truth alone.
Leaving no detail out.
He spoke of his every feeling, of his every doubt from the moment he separated from Astraea, of the thoughts that consumed him after she had kissed his cheek, to the point that he'd been so lost in his emotions that he'd stumbled upon Artemis in the waters.
Astraea couldn't hold his gaze when he started that part, instead she rested her head against his shoulder and scuttled closer until they were completely side by side.
Oh, and continued to run her nails across his palm rather painfully.
But at least, he hoped that Astraea finally understood how everything had come to be. How he'd… accepted the emotions in his heart for Artemis once the Goddess herself dragged them out from the place he'd hidden them in his heart.
And how he had gotten so, um, into it once they got together too…
"I guess you weren't wrong to call me a barbarous beast, Astraea," Bell laughed as he joked about that, even when it pained him to remember, it still made for a rather funny memory.
Astraea giggled too, but she, "I'm sorry, Bell… I shouldn't have called you like that."
Bell waved his hand, "It's fine, I deserved it."
Obviously, it was all his fault after all.
Astraea didn't seem to agree with him, but she dropped it for something else of his recount of events that had caught her attention, "About these memories of yours, can you try to explain them to me again?"
Right, he'd admitted to feeling like he'd met Artemis already.
The feeling only grew stronger the longer he was physically connected to Artemis, and for even more memories of a previous life returning with every moan of the Goddess of the Hunt; as if he truly had lived by her side a long time ago, yet at the same time…
Artemis also called him Orion, and every time she did, a part of him danced with joy; one small part of him.
"My gramps used to say that strong souls sometimes reincarnate," Bell tried to recall his gramps exact words, "he used to say that if I were to… die… it was very likely that my soul would become one of those, so maybe… I was thinking that I had… already… reincarnated?"
He didn't even seem sure of his train of thoughts, rather he waited for Astraea to process his entire explanation and give him a better one, she was Goddess after all.
"Your grandfather's words are somewhat true; all souls are judged upon death before they're allowed to enter the cycle of reincarnation, and it is the stronger or brightest souls which return to this land faster," Astraea confirmed and gave even more information than he expected, though her eyes seemed to be piercing his face while she looked for something, "But you do not feel like a reincarnated soul, Bell."
He frowned, then why…?
"Or rather," Astraea placed one palm against his chest, "Your soul is too bright, kind, and so lovely pure that I can't see beyond the surface… For that I would need to become closer with you."
Bell blinked.
His face heated up.
He stammered, "O-oh, that… Astraea I wouldn't -not to say that I don't wish to- but—"
Astraea blushed too, she giggled demurely and put more of her weight against him, "I didn't mean it in that way, Bell… not to say that… um… Either way! I meant that I would need to grant you my blessing to be able to see past the surface of your soul."
Oh.
Oooh…
'Stupid, stupid, stupid'
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He was scolding himself mentally again, Astraea knew —Bell's eyes always swirled lightly whenever he was doing so, a little tic that she had come to learn after studying his face for so long.
In a way, his explanation of how Artemis and he came together had hurt her beyond belief, but at the same time, if Artemis hadn't invited him… Bell had thought of her the same way that Astraea had thought of him.
If… if… Astraea had been the first to invite him like Artemis had… mayhaps… she would've been the one…
But that would probably not happen, at least not anymore.
Bell and Artemis were, by his words which belonged to Artemis, a match made in heaven.
Still, she reached out with both hands to cup Bell's face, to have him stare at her face again and in but a second he'd stopped scolding himself, instead he was mesmerized by her —still looked at her with so much unbridled care and affection that it was intoxicating.
Her heart, hurt, still found itself equally mesmerized by Bell too; by his soul that had become brighter and expanded even more, it slowly drew her in, calling for her, begging for her—
—He exhaled softly, his warm breath washed over her face in the close distance between them, setting her soul ablaze with emotions —his hands set on her sides, gently digging into her clothes, and making her feel like she belonged in them, again.
It was a weird sensation that she did not dislike.
It was as if… they belonged together, they had to be together, they were meant to be together.
As if…
"Oh." Astraea blinked, "My emotions are running out of control."
Bell blinked too, "H-huh?"
Her body refused to move away from the closeness between them; her mental discipline, however, kept her from doing something physical, something that her body desired.
"Bell, your soul is affecting me."
She fancied the young man inches away from her, had come to fancy him after all their little interactions and intimate moments, but her affection and actions were that of a woman looking forward to exploring her emotions and testing whether Bell could be the one for her or not.
But now…
Even before she had stumbled upon Bell and Artemis, her emotions had been running amok; her usual composure nowhere to be found, and when she saw him with another woman! She! She—!
—Oh.
"B-Bell," Astraea breathed heavily, her lips almost reached his— she wanted to taste— She needed— Her emotions— Echoing, they were all echoing inside her, robbing her of her reason with Bell's bright and pure and kind and intoxicating and lovely soul in such close proximity.
Bell didn't seem to be any better, his fingers were digging so tightly into her sides, his breaths —his eyes, it was as if they were both charmed, as if they were both in lo—
—Oh…
She was in lov—
"Astraea! What do you think you are you doing with my man!"
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"Lady Freya, are you alright?"
Freya panted, fingers curling around the table's mantel while Ottar had been reporting the Familia's conditions.
"Y-yes Ottar, could you please leave me alone for ahm~minute?" Freya gasped and caressed her cheeks as something tingled her everywhere, "And make sure nobody comes into my tent!"
"Hai! As you wish, Lady Freya!"
Ottar departed, closing the flap to her tents.
And no sooner was Freya left alone that her thick legs spread out, and she looked at the royal mess running amok down her supple legs; her attire wasn't see-through, but she was so fucking wet in that moment that there was not a single detail that could be missed at all.
"W-what is—"
—To you, who's yet to arrive…
A man's voice, young but… Oh~!
Ohhhh~!
Freya shuddered in delight as her lips parted, both kinds, and—
- 0 - Act 1 Part 7 End - 0 -
Author's Note: What a mess… Lovely, lovely, succulent, mess… ehehehe
- Jas / Shiiva
P.S: Next chapter is another long one.
Author Note 2: If you'd like to support me, please consider joining the dis'cord server, code 42SQENPj54 or supporting my Patr'on IreJasmine
