In some of his daydreams, Bell sometimes imagined himself as a pirate. Not a bad one, who steals from people and what not, but a good one. Someone who went out in sea with his trusty, cute crew, discovering new islands and continents. Animals never found before, individuals cut off from the rest of the world. The details varied here and there but in all of them there was one constant factor.
Bell was not sea sick in them like he was now in reality. Not that he was unable to stand at all or that he was lying on his own vomit. But there was a certain dizziness and the loss of appetite for fear of actually throwing it all up again. The scorching sun of summer didn't help, the seasons having passed since the start of his journey in spring. Because of that he could not appreciate the beautiful blue ocean that stretched towards the horizon as much as he wanted to. Kojiro had no such issues, gaining an envious glare from the boy as he casually swung his blade just a bit further away on the deck. It was as if he was standing on solid ground instead of the shaking and shifting ship riding the waves.
"...thing a-alright?"
The soft, shaking voice sounded right next to his ear. Naturally Bell was not prepared for it. His breath hitching and his heart stopping for just a moment, his dizziness was replaced with fear as he jumped away from the voice, pressing his hand against his chest.
"Ah!"
"Mehp…!"
...Mehp? As he breathed heavily, leaning against the railing of the ship, he saw the suited woman covering her head, eyes clenched in fear shut as she bent her knees. Shaking off the squishy feeling of looking at her, Bell cleared his throat, awkward laugh escaping him as he extended his hand to her. Shaking just a bit, Nyx blinked slowly at the hand. Carefully and slowly, she reached for it and grasped it, allowing herself to be pulled up. It was then that, beyond the fear still remaining, that even through her gloves, her hands felt rather cold. Anyway, as she stood in front of him, staring at the ground with a quivering lip as she played with her hair, Bell lowered his head.
"S-sorry!"
"It's-It's... alright... " The goddess muttered quietly. Her eyes widened ever so slightly before she reached into her pockets. Rummaging around, she let out a quiet 'ah' sound before pulling a small bottle out. "Here... D-drink... "
He eyed the brown glass in front of him, lips pressed together with concern. Why was she offering it now? His first instinct was that he was being used as a lab rat. But that was something a potioneer would do, not a merchant. Or maybe this was a test run? Either way, for normal people, this would be a rather shady offer. But as Nyx's awkward smile began to fall and her arm began to lower, the boy took it from her hands with an appreciative nod. Bell decided to follow the words of his grandpa. 'When a nice girl offers you a drink, accept it, no matter what'. Now the part that was his common sense told him how dangerous that could be... but it was grandpa and he knew what was best, usually. Besides, he said 'nice' girl and Nyx seemed nice, once Bell managed to suppress his instinctive urge to avoid her. Downing it, he immediately choked, almost spitting the fluid out as he felt his tongue shrivel up. Coughing he accepted the panicked offer of water from Nyx and downed it as well, getting rid of the terrible bitter taste. Breathing heavily, he was worried he was about to throw up... only to blink his eyes in surprise.
"Better?"
At her question, he patted his stomach a few times with a gape. The heavy feeling was gone, as if he was back on solid ground. As a test, he began to jump a few times. Yet there was nothing. No welling up of disgust, no urge to empty his stomach. With a grin, he grabbed Nyx's hands and shook them in gratitude.
"Lots! Thank you!" He froze, his smile wavering as he looked at the medicine bottle he dropped, thankfully not broken. "Wait, how much does this cost?"
If the goddess was bothered by how close he was, something that caused him to blush and back off, she didn't show it. Instead she twitched a bit as she raised her finger to her lips.
"Free of...charge." She coughed and glanced at the ground. "Just d-don't...barf... hehe…"
"S-sure!" Silence fell between them, with Nyx occasionally scratching her arm. It started to get a bit uncomfortable when a thought entered Bell's mind. Without thinking any further he cleared his throat, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Uhm... "
"Hm?" Nyx tilted her head, blinking blearily at him. The young man rubbed his hands together before scratching the back of his head.
"Well... I-I don't meet a lot of goddesses so... " He took a deep breath and twirled his arm around, gesturing at the ship. "I've been wondering how one would come to lead a merchant company?"
For a moment, Bell was afraid that he offended her. She stared at him with wide eyes, covering her mouth as she took a step back. But then she began to fidget around before removing her hand. The young man could swear she almost seemed bubbly, as her mouth twitched itself into a smile. As bubbly as a dark, tired and almost depressed looking woman could be bubbly that usually instilled instinctive unease. Playing with her hair, she avoided his eye contact as her cheeks began to flush ever so slightly.
"Tech... nically... I'm the co-o-owner... I'm in charge of... numbers… "
"Numbers?"
"Lo-logistics. Money. In-inventory... Those-those things...Rakia... F-far East, A-Alte-tena... all over the p-place... " " She explained quietly. Bell gaped at her words before nodding with sparkling eyes.
"Wow! That's amazing!"
"...is... is it?" She asked quietly, causing him to nod with enthusiasm.
"I only know my basic numbers but I could never handle so many things at once!"
He could barely imagine it. All the Valis that went into buying all of those products. Paying for all of the transport and guards. He was sure he was missing things, things that Nyx apparently could deal with perfectly. Even if it wasn't usually part of hero stories, Bell could appreciate an important skill set like that. Not to mention, complimenting a girl was something that grandpa drilled into his head. The smile, strained as it was, was worth it after all.
"T-thank you... "
"Who is the other co-owner?" Bell asked, tilting his head. Honestly once he pushed through his own discomfort, Nyx was fun to talk to. Not to mention he was genuinely wondering what kind of friends a person like her would have. But from the way she quietly giggled to herself, it had to be a good friend.
"Eros. He's... good with p-people... unlike me... A-attracts you... " She explained, smiling softly, for once not appearing to strain herself. It made Bell clear his throat awkwardly, feeling his face heat up. To distract himself, he racked his brain for another question, to keep the conversation going.
"Why become a merchant?" At her blinking, he twirled his hand, laughing a bit. "I mean, there are probably a lot of other jobs that you could use math for, right?"
"...I... I wanted friends... "
"Eh?"
"I... I wanted to c-change…No real.. friends up there... aside f-from... Eros...and... " She looked up, looking into his eyes with a shy smile. "I-I'm glad I'm... down here… "
Bell cracked a smile as well, unsure what to say to that. While he was happy that she was happy down there, to hear that she was so lonely... Then again, what did he imagine Heaven to be like? A place where everything was in harmony and peaceful? Where all gods were benevolent and liked each other? He already knew gods would sometimes be no different from mortals. For example, Amaterasu clearly didn't like Tsukoyomi. Thus it was only the logical conclusion that amidst the graceful, the peppy, the strict and the likes... there would be those that just didn't fit in. If Nyx had the same effect on her fellow gods as she did on Bell, with that feeling of dread... Considering she didn't seem to have any control over it, he genuinely felt bad for her. Though he did wonder who that other person was, after "Eros". He could swear she was blushing a bit but that might just be from general embarrassment.
Suddenly, a bell gonged on the ship. In an instance, Nyx snapped her head upwards, narrowing her eyes as the shipmate on the mast shouted down at them, cupping his mouth.
"Ship in sight and approaching! Looks like Rakia!"
Immediately, all passengers, Bell and Nyx included, leaned over the railing, worry mixing into the air. The young man gulped at the sight of the intimidating war ship approaching, for its size being double of their ship, it could be called nothing but that. It was built thick, as if made to ram and crush smaller ships, to house as many soldiers as possible for war. With its scarlet color, it was like a massive beast swimming through the water, creating big waves with its motions.
"D-did we do something wrong?" Bell muttered, causing Nyx to flinch. But then she slowly reached for his head and patted him awkwardly. Turning to her, he saw her try to smile confidently... and failing miserably with the way her mouth twitched more than usual.
"P-probably just... routine check... " She muttered. The young man wanted to believe that. Rationally speaking, he did. He hasn't seen anything out of the ordinary while on the ship. Emotionally however? Anyone would sweat when a shadow loomed over you, in this case being the patrol ship. Said patrol ship didn't take too long to get close enough to lower some sort of bridge. Once the sea vessels were connected, three men began to descend, dressed exactly the same. A silver gleam shone from their helmets as they stomped down with frowns directed at everyone they looked at. Their spears and shields were held in perfect unison as they marched down, their steps synchronising and increasing in volume. Once reaching Nyx, they seemed to stumble at her sight. Yet they ignored the sweat forming on their skin, took control of their own shivering and slammed the butts of their weapons on the ship three times. The man in the middle raised his left arm, shield reflecting the sunlight as he took a deep breath.
"In the name of the great god of war Ares and his majesty Martinus Rakia, state your business!"
Nyx visibly flinched from the loud volume. Still, she straightened her back as much as she could, trying to look confident as she put a hand on her chest.
"N-nyx. M-merchant ship of-of the Night C-Company."
The soldier clicked his tongue in irritation before looking around with a frown, crossing his arms before sneering down at the goddess. Bell bristled up but Kojiro's hand on his shoulder held him back.
"Uhuh. What merchandise?"
"It-it-"
The Rakia soldier slammed his spear down, causing Nyx to squeak, jumping back in fear.
"Speak clearly! Y'know what? Forget it!" He glanced behind him and motioned with his head towards the ship. "Men, check everything!"
By now the goddess began to stammer in between her heavy breaths, fidgeting around with her arms as the men walked past her, not heeding any meager objections she had.
"P-please be-be ca-"
"Yeah, yeah." The leader waved her off dismissively, not even looking at her anymore. "Make sure you keep your eyes open!"
"Yessir!"
"P-patrols increased… I-I see… " Nyx muttered, trying to attempt some sort of small talk to break the strained atmosphere, as the Rakia warriors began to enter the storage rooms. She bit her lip at the sight, clearly wanting to object, but knew that it would be meaningless. Yet her nervous demeanor worsened the situation as the soldier sneered down at her.
"What, bothering you? Only natural. Amazons moving around a lot. Gotta make sure they aren't doing anything stupid."
He gave her a pointed look, causing her to freeze up and just stare at him. Her eyes turned completely blank and the man took a step back with fearful eyes, as if believing that she wanted to kill him. At that point, Bell had enough. Shaking off Kojiro's hand he stepped forward, putting himself between Nyx and the rude soldier, spreading his arms open in indignation.
"Hey, what's with this treatment?! She hasn't done anything wrong!"
The man blinked at the teenager yelling at him, baffled as he leaned away. But he quickly gathered his wits again and glared Bell down. Yet he didn't back down, causing him to be at a loss of words for a moment, gritting his teeth.
"M-mind your own business, kid!"
His body was shaking. But Bell refused to stand down. Even if the man in front of him was a more powerful and experienced soldier, he couldn't just allow this to happen. Straightening up his back, knowing he was in the right, he cut through the air with his arm.
"This is my business! Leave her alone!"
The oppressive aura from Nyx disappeared. He could feel the confused stare at the back of his head. Yet Bell couldn't afford to turn around, as the air began to strain. The guards and the Rakia soldiers reached for their weapons, sensing how things began to escalate. Bell gulped, his brave face faltering. Did he make a mistake stepping in so aggressivly? But he couldn't just let the goddess get bullied like this. With a deep breath, he didn't break eye contact from the man that glared him down, tightening his grip on his spear. Before it came to blows however, the two soldiers came out from the storages, saluting to who Bell assumed was their captain.
"Sir, we found nothing unusual!"
The tension in the air began to ease. The soldier in charge took a deep breath, shaking his head as he closed his eyes. Then he slammed his spear down three times, urging for the others to go back to the ship.
"Seems like everything is in order." He gave Nyx and Bell a pointed glare before turning around. "It better stay that way!"
As they retreated back onto their ship, Bell had the urge to get the last word in. But as the massive ship began to leave, he instead focused on Nyx, who dropped down, letting out a shivering breath. With concern, he put his hands on her shoulders, checking if she was okay. Not that he was well versed in medicine anyway, but she merely seemed paler than usual. As she began to relax, she looked up with a frail smile.
"...You... d-d-d-didn't need to do… that... " She muttered quietly. Bell shook his head as he helped her up.
"You looked mad and they were being unfair."
"Mad?" She asked in confusion. With a sigh, she looked away, eyes closed. "I was just... h-hurt... "
"Oh."
A part of Bell didn't quite believe her. Well, he could believe that she was not fine after such treatment. But that pressure he felt... it was similar to Oryou's rage back in the Far East, when she was willing to kill someone. The man she had beaten had the same look of fear the Rakia soldier showed for just a moment.
"It's... f-fine... " Nyx explained weakly, shaking him out of his musings. She shrugged, trying to act nonchalantly. "I have... my family... n-not so bad."
She sniffed. But before Bell could say anything, she turned around and walked away from him. All he could do was helplessly raise his hand towards her, only to drop it as he lowered his head. He knew he should've said something. Anything. But he was at a loss for words. He felt a hand squeeze his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Kojiro pat him reassuringly.
"We cannot help everyone, young master."
"...I wish I could," Bell mutered, closing his eyes with a scoff.
Some wannabe hero he was.