I own nothing

Italic means thinking

Underlined means spells

Rage-filled/really deep voice.

3'rd pov

The Next Morning

"Bell, I need you to go to the meeting!" Cranel said sternly. But Bell refused to budge.

"They lied to me, they all knew, and for what!? And Freya, she…she banished my family! My Grandfather abandoned me, I know why, but he still left me!" Bell screamed with tears streaming down his face.

"I know Bell…I know," Cranel said solemnly. Wrapping his arms around Bell and covering him with his cloak, he held Bell as he descended into sobs. "I wish I could say the pain and burden of knowledge get easier in time, but it doesn't. You'll forgive, but you'll never truly forget, it'll always be there festering beneath the surface, before it manifests itself in several ways; from grief to anger. But Bell, you need to remember you still have people. Artemis, Ryuu, Aiz, Tione, Tiona, heck even Mama Mia, you may not trust your familia, but you can always trust Aiz, Ryuu, and Artemis to come for you and stand next to you in your time of need." The way Cranel said the last part about the girls would have made Bell think twice about the relationship he thought he had with them in the future, but given the circumstances he wasn't in the right state of mind. *Bell just thinks that all of them are close friends, just like in his time, since he hasn't had time to think about it a lot.*

"Ok, I'll go," Bell said sniffling.

Just then Ryuu walked into the room and looked at the two of them. "Are you ready to go? Both of you?" Asked Ryuu. Que the in-sync head nods from both selves.

In the meeting

"Bell! Hey Bell! Bell!" Hestia was trying to get Bell's attention but he wasn't paying attention he was clearly, not to her though, ignoring her.

"That's enough Hestia." Silence rang through the entire Hestia familia and shock was written on everyone's faces. "You betrayed my trust, and I understand why you did it, but that doesn't ignore that my trust has been betrayed, and I can't be a good captain if my family doesn't trust me. *Long sigh* When this is all over, we'll talk it out and try to mend our bonds possibly." If Bell were looking at them as he said this, he would have seen the tears in their eyes, as they would have seen the tears in his.

Walking away, Bell came over to Ryuu who was sitting with the Hostess staff. "Umm… w-would-would it be okay if I sat with you guys for now?" Bell asked/stuttered, clearly nervous.

A booming laugh interrupted what Ryuu was about to respond with. Mama Mia who finally finished laughing said, "Of course Bell, you're always welcome in our restaurant, as well as to sit with us."

Bell, Ryuu, Syr, and every member of the Hostess of Fertility looked shocked. This was one of the few heartfelt moments Mia had with people, especially people not a part of the little Hostess family.

Smiling and profusely thanking them, Bell sat on the end next to Ryuu. Smiling at her so brightly and purely that it made her blush and a small traitorous voice in the back of her head telling her to do things that would make this story M-rated. Ryuu just turned away blushing. But before she did she smiled at him back. Though what she didn't see is when she smiled at him, he blushed deep crimson as well.

"Alright everyone, let us begin, again!" Cranel's voice carried across the room silencing all the murmurings and quiet conversations.

"Let's just get started with stuff that's gonna happen in the future and we'll do questions another later," Cranel said

"So I think you need to know the truth behind 'The Gale'. Would you like to do it, Lion?" Lion didn't even have to say anything, Cranel understood.

*After explaining what happened with the Astrea familia.*

The shock was written on everyone's faces. Cries of outrage began, screaming for the head of 'The Gale'.

"ENOUGH!" Bell Cranel roared. "What reason do any of us have to judge Ryuu for what she did? Can you honestly say you wouldn't have done the same thing!? No, you can't because we all know we would do the same if we were in her position. So no, none of us get to judge her." Everyone was too stunned and silent to respond. Never before had most of them heard such powerful words, let alone come from a young boy. Though the gods in the room were heavily reminded of a hero of long ago, the Argonaut himself. Ouranous could have even sworn he saw the shadow of that man standing behind Bell proudly, and even for the breakfast of moments he saw three people standing behind Bell, two crying and one beaming with joy. Ouranous recognized Hera and Zues's favorite children, Bell's parents crying in pride and joy for the man their son has grown into. The third figure Ouranos could have sworn was wearing a crown, and that's when it hit him, the last king of Babylon, Bell's ancestor.

"Let's get started, everyone!" Cranel spoke, the room was so quiet that he could just speak and the whole room could hear him perfectly.

"This event with the Xenos has not yet been concluded…Bell, you must fight Asterius at your current full power, hold nothing back. You cannot yet use your birthright or spirit power as it will kill you, so you must rely on your current power, win or lose you must." Cranel spoke softly but with power and authority, making known to everyone the significance of that battle. Though some were still uneasy about the Xenos, many were downright hateful and believed it a trick of the dungeon, even though many disliked it, even in the case of some, shunning the Little Rookie for his alliance with the beasts, many still worried for him.

"When should I fight him?" Bell said he looked nervous, but his eyes showed the determination of steel.

"Tonight, when the moon reaches her peak in the sky the battle shall commence," Cranel said, holding a steely gaze with Bell. Nodding Bell began to contemplate how to prepare for the battle.

'I wonder, should we cover floor 36 today or leave that for later? I think we should do it later. Bell doesn't need that kind of stress before his fight, and it's almost dinner time, explaining floor 36 would take hours, we'll cover that the day after tomorrow when everyone has time to process and Bell has had time to heal from the fight. Speaking of, I need to begin his training for that, so no healing potions, he needs to learn to tolerate a lot of pain and keep fighting, also pain is an amazing teacher.' Cranel's thoughts finally came to an end as Ouranous called for him.

"Yes?" Cranel asked, finally coming out of the recluse of his mind and thoughts.

"Should they leave, and if they do, when should we have them return?" Ouranous asked.

"Yes, they may leave. But the day after tomorrow, I want only Hestia, Loki, Hephaestus, and the ladies from the Hostess of Fertility to come, it's not something all of Orario needs to hear." Cranel said.

Time skip, 2 hours before Bell and Asterius dual

"Nervous?" Bell nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice spoke out from behind him, Diana. Bell avoided speaking to and even going near Diana because he didn't know his feelings and wanted to ask certain questions but didn't want to be rude. Contrary to what most think Bell Cranel is not stupid and is not that dense, in some areas. Bell knows that he is oblivious to when people have feelings towards him, he's aware that he is unaware. But Bell knows when he hurts someone and isn't that dense when it comes to feelings, he's just terrible when it comes to romantic ones.

Bell knew he loved Aiz, and he knew he loved Artemis, but he wasn't sure he could have both. He not only made his 10,000 years of love promise to Artemis, but he also missed and loved her so dearly, it felt wrong to love another…yet he couldn't bring himself to abandon his love for Aiz, it was what ignited his passion, and he was fairly certain his love for her is what created Liaris Freeze. He just wanted to cry and make it all disappear.

Suddenly pulled out of his thoughts Bell yelped as he was grabbed roughly by the shoulders and pulled to his feet. Now he was standing face to face with Albert Wallenstein, who was towering over him. "Come with me Bell."

Bell had no time to react as Albert began to walk away. Albert was a very kind and gentle man, he treated Bell like he was his son, which was strange since he never met him before, but it was comforting and made him happy so he didn't complain.

Albert sat Bell down next to the small lake that was glistening in the moonlight. (If I didn't say it earlier their staying in the Zeus/Hera familia mansion, in my story they shared a mansion)

"Bell…We need to talk." Albert's voice was solemn. Bell was scared, very scared.

So I'm just gonna say in this Bell's father wasn't a terrible person and he was a lot like Bell, kind, and caring for others, but he was just a very weak and easily scared person, so when he got scared he would hide and run, so that's why Alfia used to call him a coward, not canon, to my knowledge, that's just what's in my story. Sorry, this took so long I get my creativity boost at 12 in the morning when I need to be sleeping.

1665 words