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"Hey, Aiz, Ryuu! Can I talk to you for a second?" Artemis asked. She knew Bell wouldn't have the courage to say this to them so Artemis would do it for him.
"Uh, ya lady Artemis," Aiz said. "Cut that lady crap," Artemis said.
"So I'm here to talk about Bell," Artemis stated, "You both have feelings for him, no?" Both Ryuu and Aiz blushed, but they did nod in response.
Artemis explained her and Bell's conversation from last night.
"So what do you girls say?" Artemis asked, Aiz and Ryuu were blushing, they looked at each other. They all loved Bell, and he loved all of them, they knew he would love them all equally, so what was the harm? Sure it would be weird in the beginning, but they would get used to it in time.
"I'm in." Aiz stated, "Me two." Ryuu followed. Artemis smirked, "Then we've made the man we love a harem."
Time skip Breakfast
"Everyone, we're upping your training. From this point forward it will get a lot harder, ok?" Everyone nodded, though Bell looked scared, judging by the sadistic look in Cranel's eyes he had good reason to be.
Time Skip 1 ½ week
"So Bell and Ryuu it's time for you to re-endure what happened on floor 36. Aiz, you will finally be truly facing your darkness. And Artemis, you will do the arcanum strengthening for the last time, after you'll just focus on getting stronger from that point. Cranel said.
"Wait, Aiz, before you go, I want to give you something." Bell handed Aiz a necklace. "Whenever you feel scared or alone, just know I'll be there, I may not be able to be there physically, but I'll be right there in your heart," Bell said, and Aiz hugged and thanked him profusely.
All of them nodded.
Bell and Ryuu went with Cranel and Lion.
Aiz went with Wallenstein, Airia, and Albert.
Artemis went with Diana.
In the dungeon
"So, Bell and Ryuu, we're going to spawn the juggernaut, and if you don't get to floor 18 in 7 days from now then we're going to come and find you. Good luck." Cranel gave them a supportive smile. Lion looked concerned for them but knew this would be for the best.
"Alright, let's do this Ryuu," Bell said, he was scared but he was trying to be strong for Ryuu.
—-
With Aiz
"Alright Aiz, this potion will allow you to relax. Once you've relaxed enough, begin to meditate. When you feel a pull in your mind, don't fight it, go toward it, when you reach your mindscape, you have to face the darkness within you, and regain control over yourself completely, I can't completely explain it to you, but you'll understand when you get there, ok?" Wallenstein asked Aiz.
Aiz nodded although confused and began to meditate.
—-
With Artemis
"Ok, so up until this point, the power has been decent, but now the strain it will put on your body will be horrible, and will probably result in your being knocked out for about a week. This is the final time you have to do this, Ok?" Diana finished, Artemis looked nervous but steeled her resolve.
The blinding pain was all she remembered next.
—-
With Aiz
Aiz walked around aimlessly in the forest, which she guessed was her mind.
Eventually, she arrived at a small cottage home, she realized this was her childhood home.
Walking in she saw Mini Aiz sitting in the living room, reading a story. Aiz walked over and sat next to her.
Then she saw that the story was the story of the Argonaut.
Little Aiz looked up at Big Aiz and smiled.
"You created me." Mini Aiz said, "You couldn't handle the trauma of what happened, so you created an alter ego to take on all the pain you couldn't handle. It hurts, it hurts to have this knowledge and these feelings make me so hurt." Aiz looked horrified by this knowledge, she had created this, this poor being that only lived to suffer and be an outlet for her pain and trauma.
"I'm so sorry," Aiz whispered, tears in her eyes. She hugged Mini Aiz and cried. Mini Aiz smiled.
"Take my hand and we will become one again." Mini Aiz said, holding out her hand. Aiz smiled and took her hand.
Just before Mini-Aiz disappeared, she whispered, "I'm the final thing you will face, you must face the darkness first."
Aiz looked confused, but Mini-Aiz was already gone.
Suddenly Aiz heard a deep roar, a roar that had haunted her nightmares for years. Rushing outside she saw the Black Dragon looming over her, grinning sadistically, it was clear he took pleasure from her fear.
"So, you're my darkness," Aiz said. The dragon grinned wider.
"Yes Aiz, I am. I am the part of you that wants revenge for your parents. I am the power you so desire." The dragon said.
"No! My parents are alive and well, and soon I'll kill you and rescue them!" Aiz yelled.
"Are you sure about that Aiz?" The dragon responded.
"What do you mean?" Aiz asked suspiciously.
"Well, are you sure you'll be strong enough? Or how sure are you that your parents won't be killed by me? Heck, your little boyfriend might leave you once he finds out about how dark and full of hate your soul really is. What will you have once he and everyone else leaves you? You'll only have me." The dragon said, grinning in sick joy as Aiz began to fall back into despair.
"You're right, they all will leave me. Bell will leave me, they all will leave me." Aiz whispered going deeper and deeper into despair.
A white light shone from the necklace around her neck, and the words Bell spoke to her rang through her ears, 'Whenever you feel scared or alone, just know I'll be there, I may not be able to be there physically, but I'll be right there in your heart,'
"No…No…No!" Aiz screamed as she rose to her feet and looked at the dragon in defiance. "I will not give in to you! I will stand strong for my familia, for my friends, for my family, FOR BELL!" She roared and attacked the dragon.
She stood over the downed form of the black dragon, she had conquered her darkness, finally.
—-
Bell and Ryuu were running from hordes of monsters, they were tired and in horrible pain. They stumbled by accident into floor 37, suddenly Udeas spawned and Ryuu and Aiz had no choice but to fight it.
Cranel and Lion were watching to make sure they would be ok.
—-
Time Skip 1 week
Bell, carrying Ryuu on his back, stumbled into floor 18, both as naked as the day they were born, minus the covered in blood, wounds, monster guts, and everything else.
Bell collapsed to the ground. "Well, you did a good job. You've survived the week." Cranel said as he and Lion healed them. The last thing Bell saw was Lion covering Ryuu with her cloak and Cranel covering him with his cloak.
"Let's go," Lion said carrying Ryuu. Cranel nodded and followed.
—-
With the futures
"Bell and Ryuu are asleep," Cranel said.
"Aiz is asleep, she's been asleep for nearly a week while her mind recovers and her power integrates into her body," Wallenstein said.
"Artemis is asleep while her body recovers," Diana said.
"So what's next?" Albert asked.
"We get them used to their power, then we cover the final battle with the dragon, after that, we do what we planned, the final piece of our plan," Cranel said. They all nodded.
"I'm going to check on Aiz," Aria said. And she walked away.
"DIANA!" Diana yelped as Aria yelled. "Where is Aiz? And on that point, where are the others?" Aria asked.
"I don't know, I didn't do anything!." Diana screamed scared by Arias's intimidating stare."
"Oh, that was me. I moved them all to the same bed." Cranel said, but he knew fu*&ed up when Aria looked at him intimidatingly.
"And when were you planning on telling me this, so I wouldn't worry." Cranel ran, far and fast as Aria chased him.
End
I'm cutting this chapter a little short.
Thanks for the support, have a great day/night!