There was a black dragon attacking. She watched as it killed person after person. She tried to move to run to escape the beast but found she couldn't move a muscle. She had to sit and watch as the terror unfolded. The dragon was heading her way. She begged her body to move but it was no use. Terror consumed her as the dragon got closer and closer. She cried, she screamed but, it was no use. Then suddenly she saw him. He was a man with hair like snow and eyes burning like fire. He came from nowhere and slayed the dragon with a single blow.

"Wake up. Wake up." Aiz heard a soothing voice call as she opened her eyes.

Ais saw her mama holding her hand. Ais threw herself into her mother's arms crying into her shoulder. Aria began to stroke her hair to try to comfort her.

"It's okay Ais. Your safe now. It was just a nightmare. " Aria told her.

"It was terrible." Ais said between sobs.

"It's okay, I am here for you.." Aria said hoping to comfort the girl

"I love you mama."

"I love you too princess."

A few weeks later it seemed a day like any other. Ais was playing in the yard when everything changed. She heard the roar from her nightmare and was paralyzed in fear. She heard her parents talking about some "portal" thing and then rushing off. Aiz desperately looked around for the man from her dreams but, no matter how hard she looked, he never showed up.

Instead, she watched her father fight and her mother disappear into the wind. She saw her father Albert cut off scales from the dragon and for a moment she was sure he would win like he always did but, that wasn't to be. Suddenly, the dragon stunned the man with a whip of his tail knocking him into several trees snapping them like twigs. The dragon quickly started chasing after him. Then, she saw the most horrible thing she could ever imagine. The dragon tore her father in two like it was nothing. She began to cry and wailed in grief until suddenly, she saw a wind surround her and the next thing she knew she was in a strange land she didn't recognize.

She didnt care though. Nothing mattered now. She cried and cried and cried until she couldnt cry anymore. Then, she sat with a blank expression on her face for a while, just holding her knees. They were the only things she had to hold now. She didn't know what else to do. She was just waiting for that dragon to show up again and eat her. It never did. Instead she saw a blinding light. She watched it for a moment until it got so bright she was forced to close her eyes. When she opened them again she saw a green haired elf kneeling by her side.

"Are you okay?" She heard the lady ask.

Ais tried to find words to somehow explain this nightmare come to life but, no words ever came. Instead she could only shake her head.

"What familia are you with and where is your party? You aren't safe here alone."

Ais didn't understand what any of that meant. She didn't care really. She just continued to wait silently. She didn't know what else to do.

"I'm Riveria. I am an executive of the Loki Familia." The elf said offering the girl a hand.

Ais looked at the hand and back at the elf and than back to the hand before taking it. The elf picked her up and held her. Ais snuggled into her. The elf felt so warm.

"You're safe now." Riveria whispered and Ais believed her.

They walked and walked for what seemed forever, until they finally reached others. There was a big line of tents and people walking everywhere in a hurry. They walked past tent after tent until it seemed they were directly in the center of the area with people and they entered the biggest tent there. Riveria walked to the center of the tent and sat Ais down. Ais saw two very short men barely talller than herself. One was a bearded Dwarf scarfing down a drink and the other man was sitting at a desk with blonde hair like herself. He was a prum.

"Who is this?" The blonde one asked.

"I found her in the woods. She doesn't even have a falna."

"How did a little lass like you get to floor 30 with no falna?" The Dwarf asked

"I-i-i don't know."

"Hmm" the prum hummed. "I take it you think we should escort her to the surface?" The prum asked Riveria.

"Yes. I think Loki would find her interesting."

"I think you just like to collect strays. First it was those Amazon Twins then that Wolf boy and now her."

"Loki liked everyone of them I found."

"Well, I wouldn't feel right just leaving her here to die. We will let Loki sort this out once we get to the surface." The Prum said. "You have a name girl?"

"A-Ais" the girl said nervously.

"It's good to meet you Ais. I am the Captain of this familia

My name is Finn and that drunk dwarve over there is my third in command Gareth."

Ais bowed. "It's good to meet you."

She and the elf then left the tent and Riveria lead her to a smaller tent. It had a nice cot and was elaborately decorated in what Ais recognized as elvish fashion.

"You will be staying here. Take that sleeping bag there and go to bed."

Ais crawled into it and found it to be surprisingly comfortable

Riveria blew out a candle took her spot in the cot.

"Thank you for saving me."

"Your welcome Ais. Now, go to sleep."

The next day, by the time Ais woke up the entire camp was packed up.

"Come with me." The elf said holding out a hand which Ais took. She led Ais to a great long line of elves.

"We are heading to the surface. The pace will be fast. You stay here with my elves and you will be safe."

Ais nodded and the group began moving. She did exactly as she was told and they marched until Ais was sure her feet were just one huge blister. She whined and complained to the elves around her but, they said their was nothing they could do for her right now and encouraged her to just keep walking and so she did. Day after day after day. She really didn't mind too much though, the dungeon was such a beautiful place. She saw waterfalls and mountains and crystals and all kinds of things she had only heard of in story books before. Although, she had to admit she was happy when she saw the light of the sun.

On the surface Ais found a city like none she had ever seen before. There were people everywhere gathering around them, more people than she had seen in her entire life. There were buildings taller than she thought even possible and that wasn't even considering the one in the clouds. She was amazed by the sheer number of them too, they seemed nearly endless. She had lived in a small village her entire life and this place was big beyond her imagination. It was atleast 1000 times bigger then her home town. She was totally shocked but, what she saw next was even more shocking.

It was him! The man from her dream, well he wasn't exactly a man yet. He looked about her age and he didn't look particularly heroic at the moment if she was being honest. He seemed in pretty bad shape actually. He was thin like it had been way too long since his last meal and his clothes were torn and tight on him despite his gaunt appearance. It looked like he had outgrown the clothes months ago. Despite all that she recognized his snow white hair and fire red eyes. They were unmistakable. He had to be her hero from her dream, she had never even heard of anyone else having features like those.

She needed to get closer and confirm. She had memorized that face from that horrid nightmare and she had to know for sure. She ran out of the party and through the crowd of people to get to him .

"Come back." She heard one of the elves yell but Ais ignored it. This was too important

She walked over to him and bent over at the waist to study the sitting boy's face only leaving a couple inches between their faces. She studied his nose. It looked alot straighter than the man who saved her in the nightmare but it was the right shape. She studied his eyes and then his hair and they matched so she moved on to the rest of his face. She noticed it was very red but looked correct to her memory otherwise. This had to be him!

That's when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Ais, what are you doing!? Step away from the boy." Riveria commanded and Ais did as she was told.

"T-take him with us please." Ais asked nervously "I-I have seen him before...in my dreams... He is...my hero." Ais said doing her best to explain.

"He doesn't look like much of a hero hiding behind you." Riveria pointed out skeptically

Ais turned and saw the boy cowering and hiding behind her. She had to admit, he didn't seem like the dragon slaying hero she had imagined but, it was him! It had to be!

"He's... still little. In my dream...he was big."

Riveria wasn't sure what to make of all this but, she was too tired to argue. She would figure it all of this out at the Manor like Finn had commanded. "What's your name?" She asked the boy

"Bell, Bell Cranel"

"I'm Riveria. It's nice to meet you." She crouched down and offered a hand to shake.

Unfortunately this didn't do much to calm the boy who stayed hidden behind the girl.

"Where are your parent's at?" Riveria asked not wanting to kidnap a kid off the street.

Tears began running down the boys face and Riveria knew what that meant. He was an orphan.

"Would you like something to eat?" She asked to which the boy nodded

"Come with us, we will get you some food." The boy seemed to think a moment than hesitantly nodded and Riveria lead them back to the party.

Bell followed but Ais couldn't help but notice how he was still using her as a shield from the rest of the group. She didn't like this. She wanted to help him feel safe so, he wouldn't run off. He was her hero after all. She wanted to be like her Mama and comfort him but, she knew she couldn't. Talking wasn't exactly her strong suit. She couldn't even comfort herself! She knew all she could do is allow him to continue using her as a shield.

Soon they were at the Manor. Riveria led them to a couch. "Sit here until I return. I have to give my reports to the goddess."

"food?" Bell asked

Riveria gave him a warm smile. "Yes." She went to the kitchen and found some cakes. She gave them to him "This should hold you for a bit." She said before leaving for the meeting.

Bell handled the food tentatively. He thought it might be some trick but, he was so hungry. He decided he didn't care. He quickly shoved it down his throat as fast as possible. He didn't feel sick. They must not know who he was! Ais looked over to the boy next to her on the couch and noticed he was shaking slightly and kept his head on a swivel. She didn't like it, not one bit. She tried to think of how her mama helped her when she was scared. What had she said? Remembering wasn't fun but, she had to be strong for her hero!

"It's okay, I'm here for you." She said just like she remembered her momma saying. Than just like her mom had done, she grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

She noticed the scared face of the boy morphed into a very red one. Ais liked that red face much better than the scared one. She was quite suprised when she felt herself calm a bit as, she held it. Having a hero around will be pretty cool she thought.

They waited and waited and waited for what seemed like forever. Ais felt her eyes get heavier and heavier. It had been a very long walk that day and she was worn out. She tried to fight it the best she could but, sleep won out.

When her eyes opened again, she heard somebody making a ruckus about how adorable somebody was. She felt her toes were all tingly. She leaned up from the couch arm that her head had fallen on and felt a weight on her lap. She looked down and saw a puff of white hair. She gave his cheek a poke to try to wake him but, it didn't seem too effective.

"I know it's late but, we would like to speak with both of you in the office. This is the familia goddess Loki" Riveria said gesturing to a short woman beside her with fire red hair.

The short goddess walked over and pinched the girl's cheek which Ais found a little painful but tolerated it.

"Aren't ya just da cutest?"

Ais pulled her face out of the grip and poked at the boys cheek again to wake him. He opened his eyes and sat up scurrying as far from the girl as he could and started stuttering out words. He seemed to be trying to apologize for something but Ais couldn't quite understand what he was so worked up about. She assumed he was just scared again, he seemed to be very nervous around the elf.

The group headed up the stairs and into the office. Ais noticed the boy was still very careful to keep her between himself and the elf. She wondered if they knew each other or something. Maybe these people weren't quite as nice as Ais had thought them to be. Had they been mean to him in the past? She wouldn't tolerate people being mean to her hero.

They made it to the office and everyone sat down. The chairs were huge. Bell saw Ais climb into one and quickly scurried to jump on the same one. Ais didn't mind.

"Hi, I am the Captain Finn Deimne. I believe you have met our patron deity Loki and my co-captain Riveria. This here is Gareth. He's the third in command." Finn said gesturing to a giant dwarve.

"You don't need to be afraid of us. We won't hurt you." Finn said hoping to calm the shaking boy. Although his words didn't seem to have the desired effect so, after a moment he spoke up again.

"'Would you mind telling us why you're so scared?" He asked in his most kind and unthreatening voice.

"I''m...f-from Hera f-f-familia...kinda...I-I never got a falna b-but my m-mom and aunt were. I'm yo-our...enemy.." "Please don't hurt me!" He begged.

"We're not going to hurt you lad. We're real sorry we hurt your kin." The Dwarf spoke up feeling sorry for the spot they had put the boy in. That battle was long over and looking at the boy it was clear he'd been made homeless from it.

Bell shook his head. "You didn't hurt them. Mama was sick when everything happened you see a-and nobody could take care of her cause they were all running." Tears began to fall down the boys face as he continued "I-I tried to take care of her an-and find Aunt Alfia but, I couldn't. Sh-sh-shes gone." The tears began to run even faster. "And Mama...she uh...she uh.." He couldn't get the words out through all the tears but, everybody understood.

There was a long moment of silence as, the four adults reflected on how their actions had hurt this innocent little boy. Then suddenly Loki got up and walked over and hugged the boy. She tried to think of something to say but, as a goddess she didn't understand death as mortals do and all she could say is. "I'm so sorry Bell."

Then Bell spoke up. "I want to be strong as my aunt Alfia. Can you help me be strong? "

The goddess nodded. "If you stay with us, I promise I will do everything I can to help you be as strong as you can."

The boy nodded and Loki returned to her seat

"What's your story Ais? How did you get down that far with no falna?"

The memories came rushing back to the girl as she considered the answer. Sadness was not the primary emotion she felt though, she felt anger. No, it was rage she wanted to hurt that dragon more than anything and yet her face stayed unchanged.

"My family was attacked by a dragon, the next thing I knew I was in the dungeon. I think it was magic or something. My mama was always good with magic."

"And who is she?" Finn asked curious of who could possess such power.

"Mama's name was Aria and Papa was Albert Waldstein."

"The hero!?!" She heard Bell asked excitedly his demeanor totally changed from just moments earlier.

Aiz thought a second before nodding. He was definitely a hero but how did Bell know him?

"Albert died 1000 years ago Lass." Gareth said skeptically

Ais was confused but before she could speak again the goddess spoke up.

"She ain't lying. I don't sense any deception. Spirits have much greater magic den you kids."

Finn thought a moment and then spoke up.

"If this is true we will need to keep this information between only us in this room, understand?"

Everyone nodded

"Now if we want to keep it a secret we will need to change her family name." He stated matter of factly.

"Ya got any ideas on what ya want to change it ta kid?" Loki asked

Ais placed a finger on her chin and thought but only one name came to mind.

"How about Cranel?" Ais suggested

Loki nearly spit out her wine as she broke out in laughter "Doncha think ya a little young for dat?"

Ais heard the other adults chuckle but she didn't understand why.

"Maybe Bell will give ya his last name when you are a bit older, anyone else got an idea?" Loki asked barely restraining her laughter.

"What about Wallenstein? It kinda sounds like the heroes name but different." Bell suggested

Ais nodded.

"Good den Wallenstein it is."

"Can I eat some more food?" Bell asked a hand on his gaunt stomach

Loki smiled and nodded "It's jus bout Dinner time. How about I officially make you two part of the family then, we will go eat."

Loki gave them both a falna and then went to eat at a certain diner.

The next morning Riveria gathered Bell and Ais and headed to the guild to register them. When they arrived Riveria quickly found her friend working on a giant stack of papers that was almost taller then she was.

"Hi Eina!" Riveria cheerfully greeted

"Hello, Nine Hells." Eina greets using her title in an official manner.

"I got a couple new adventurers for you today."

Eina fiddles between some piles of papers then pulls out two registration forms.

"I just need you two to fill these out." She says handing the kids their papers.

Bell and Ais make their way over to a table while, Riveria and Eina continue to chat.

Bell sat down and quickly got to work.

"Name: Bell Cranal

Familia: Loki

Age: 7

Hair Color: White

Eye Color: Red

Level: 1"

Bell began to fill out the form until he noticed Ais hadn't filled out anything and was just staring intensely at the paper.

"You okay, Ais?" He asked.

"I...can't read this." She admitted timidly

"You don't know how to read?"

"Not whatever this is. Mama taught me to write hieroglyphics."

"What's that?"

"It's like writing with pictures. Let me show you" She leaned over and drew for a moment before lifting it to show him. "It says Bell!" Bell smiled.

"Thats so cool!"

"Are you two done?" The elf seemed to appear out of nowhere to ask sternly.

"She doesn't know how to write. She just draws pictures." The boy held up her hieroglyphic to show Riveria.

"I can to write. Just not your weird stuff." The girl countered.

"You two stop bickering. I will do Ais's, Bell you finish yours. Starting tomorrow, you will both be getting daily lessons and not just how to fight. You will learn math, writing, histories and whatever else I decide you need, you understand?"

"Yes, Miss. Riveria." They both said less than enthusiastically.

Bell and Riveria finished the paper work and turned it into Eina. Riveria paid a small fee and Eina gave them each a starter kit to the dungeon. Later, the familia would get them better armor and gear but, they would begin with the same basic armor and weapons everyone else did. Finn had said he didn't want new members becoming dependent on superior gear to protect them in the dungeon. An adventurer must primarily rely on their skills mental and physical if they wanted to survive in the dungeon. Expensive gear might be impossible for a goblin to destroy but, eventually on a deep enough floor, all armor could be destroyed. If one relied on armor instead of skill, it would be their death. It was best to learn this lesson early.

As soon as Ais got the blade in her hand though she ran off towards the entrance of the dungeon

"Stop Ais.." Riveria commanded

Ais ignored her continuing to run towards the entrance to the dungeon.

Riveria didn't run after her. She walked making sure Bell was at her side. By the time she caught up to Ais. They were on the first floor of the dungeon and Ais had a big gash on her arm from a goblin. She was swinging her sword wildly and Riveria was about to intervene when one of the wild swings decapitated the goblin.

The elf grabbed the girl by the arm and looked at the wound. She saw it wasn't anything serious but she imagined it might be enough for a good lesson.

"Does that hurt?" She asked

The girl nodded.

"Thats why I bought you armor. Next time you run off to the dungeon, try putting it on."

The girl nodded

"And don't run off in the dungeon by yourself again. The dungeon is dangerous and will give you alot worse than that if you aren't careful. "

The girl nodded but spoke up this time. "I need to be strong. I have to save my mother."

Riveria sighed and quickly chanted a simple healing spell to close up the girl's wound.

"Since we are already here, I will allow you to explore and see the dungeon for yourself but, stay close to me. Both of you." Riveria said eyeing the blonde. The girl nodded.

Ais went marching in steadfast and confident. Bell walked by her side until the first goblin headed their way. Bell tensed up and jumped behind the girl nervously who swung her sword and the monster immediately exploded.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Bell exclaimed

Ais nodded and headed deeper.

Riveria was shocked by the girl's power. That was alot more damage then any new level 1 should be able to do and she already handled the goblin much better than the first. She was a quick learner. Bell feeling encouraged by Ais's success ran ahead to find a Goblin. His fight wouldn't be so easy though. He rushed in and striked just like he saw Ais do but, the monster didn't explode. It started bleeding but, tanked the attack and goes for a counter attack with it's claws that catches the boy on the arm. Bell backed up to make more space learning the hard way to not be so wreckless as Ais before him had. He studied the monster for a second while he dodged another attack and noticed it left itself open for attack after it would attack with its claws. He rushes towards it to bait an attack then, quickly dodges the predictable attack and counters with a slash to the chest that hits the monsters magical stone causing the monster to die. That is when two more goblins spawn. The boy readys his weapon to prepare to fight. They both rush him and Bell gets panicked but, before they can even get there Ais sneaks up on them and slays them with a pair of swings that explode them wildly.

They slayed goblins as a team(mostly only seeing one or two at a time) until they were nearly to the end of floor one when an unusually large swarm of goblins (for floor 1) attacked. There were 6 in total. Ais leaped to the left while Bell jumped to the right, each drawing 3 their way. Ais quickly swings wildly like she has been doing and killed the first. Unfortunately, she had just been attacking without a strategy so, as she swings at one Goblin the other two each get an attack in on her, one slices her arm and the other her leg. This only angers the girl who quickly rushes in with another attack that kills a second goblin but, again she gets scratched by the one she wasn't paying attention to earning her other arm a big cut. She was feeling the effects of her wounds as the last one attacked. It tried to cut her again with a swing of it's claws but Ais swung her sword and kicked it before the attack connected.

Meanwhile, Bell saw the three coming and quickly considered his options. He noticed they didn't really coordinate well and mostly just attacked anytime, he got close enough for them to swing their claws.

Bell came up with a plan. He went to the one on the far left which was towards the middle of the dungeon and baited an attack while out of the reach of the other two goblins. He dodged it and sliced it but the monster survived. The other two quickly rush over to attack him but, he swiftly retreats out of their reach. Bell continued this hit an run strategy everytime the goblins attacks would inevitably become uncoordinated. He would get one of them alone long enough to give it a cut and retreat. He was able to kill two this way before Ais finished off the last one for him as, it was distracted trying to attack him. Unfortunately this final blow shattered her sword. The sword was designed for weak level one adventurers but her avenger skill put too much force on the weak blade breaking it.

"I believe that is plenty enough for today. Come here and let me heal your wounds." Riveria said crouching to be at the kids eye level.

The pair both nod and make their way over where Riveria preforms some basic healing spells to close their minor injuries and then they begin to make their way out. Bell stays alert with his sword out ready for a fight if another goblin attacks while Ais just walks closely behind upset that she no longer could fight but she quickly can up with a plan. She ran over to Bell.

"I need your sword."

"No way! You will break it." Bell pulled his sword close protectively

"Please. I need it to kill goblins so I can get strong"

"Not with my sword you don't." He clutched it even more closely to prevent her from even getting the idea of taking it from him.

Unintentionally a small pout came to the girls face and Bell couldn't bear it. He couldn't fully understand why but seeing her upset was worse than just being upset himself. He began to fight a battle internally, risk his new sword or have his new friend mad at him.

"Here." He eventually said handing the weapon to her making his decision. "Just promise you won't break it "

She looked seriously at him and nodded "I promise" before quickly running off.

"She's going to break it. She doesn't know how to control her strength." Riveria warned the boy who was now closely walking beside her.

"She promised she wouldn't and I trust her. She's my friend."

Riveria shook her head at his naiiveness but allowed things to play out. It would be a good lesson for him and the weapons were cheap enough anyways. Cheaper than a single bottle of Loki's alcohol and she drank multiple per day.

It was only a few minutes before Riveria was proven correct. The girl came back head down hiding something behind her back and made her way over to Bell.

"It broke..." Ais said in a barely audible whisper.

Bell didn't respond. He was too upset. She had promised! How could she break her word? Ais kept staring at him waiting for a response, unable to read the clear anger on his face. She waited a while but, eventually decided he must have not understood.

"I broke your sword."

"I heard you the first time! You lied to me. " Bell spit out angerily crossing his arms and turning from her.

"I'm sorry." Was all the girl could muster out.

"Captain Finn allotted some funds for me to buy you two some clothes. We can use some of that for new weapons for you."

That placated Bell some and the trio made their way back to the surface. Riveria took them to the elevators that lead up to the stores. They entered a store. "Go find yourself a weapon you like. I will be, right back." Riveria told them.

The kids looked around a while until Bell saw one he liked. He ran over and grabbed the display. The handle was a bright gold and it had a shiny red blade. It was a knife and the blade was about 6 inches long. He picked it up and practiced some swings. It felt nice in his hand and was so light!

"You like that one?" Aiz asked.

Bell nodded excitedly until he looked at the price. 100,000 Valis there was no way he'd ever get that he thought and he quickly put it back on the shelf.

"You two found anything, yet?" Riveria asked holding bags of clothes and items the kids would need. The two shook their heads so, Riveria helped Aiz find a sword. It had a sturdy steel blade much stronger than the beginner blade she had originally been given. The blue handle had caught Aiz's eye and the blade was just under the budget. Riveria next helped Bell pick out a pair of knives after he insisted that he liked the feel of knives better. The trio made it home and the kids showed off their new weapons to anybody that they could and were shown their rooms. Bell was told he would be sharing a room with a Wolf that was a couple years older than himself. Aiz was told she would share a room with a pair of Amazon Twins.