Ryu POV

We didn't find the monsters that escaped to the surface, they were hidden pretty well. But why did Bell protect them? Is there something I'm missing?

I could ask him, but would he tell me? We did mend our bridge after all. Maybe I shouldn't ask him as Dawn's Ballad matched the wound on Dix's neck. Meaning Bell killed him.

I better go talk to him. Taking a life isn't easy and I've taken multiple. Seeing as I wasn't gonna find any trace of the monsters I decided to head back home.

I knew Bell was innocent, the reason why he was arrested was because he walked out of a known Evilus base and helped monsters run amok. He'll be cleared in a day or two.

Walking through the front door and to my room I took off my adventurer clothes and set them aside, I grabbed a blue t-shirt and a pair of shorts putting them on, and walked to the holding cells.

I opened the door and saw Bell curled in a ball on the bench. He was quiet, unmoving and staring at the wall. But I could tell by his breathing he was still awake.

He didn't turn to face me or even register I had entered. I pulled up a chair and placed it in front of his cell. "Bell, can we talk"

Bell uncurled and turned to look at me. The look of sadness and regret in his eyes broke my heart. He looked so defeated because of killing a single man.

"What's up," he asked in a voice void of any emotion.

I sighed and looked at him. I wouldn't shy away from his gaze, not when he needs someone to comfort him. "Do you know why I work at the hostess of fertility"

Bell shook his head. "No, but Lunoire said you did something you regret"

I let out a sigh as I put my hand on my forehead. "Yeah I did, I think it's time I tell you, what I did"

He looked confused. "Why?"

I looked at him and grabbed his hand through the bars. "Because, you look like you could use some help"

Bell didn't say anything, he didn't even react to my touch, but just stared at me and nodded his head telling me to continue.

I let out a deep breath, and then spoke. "After we survived the juggernaut I went on a rampage, I was so consumed with rage at seeing my familia all injured or half dead, I killed anyone who was a part of Evilus or even connected to them, I used traps poisons, my wind magic, anything I could use to kill them I did, after it was all over the body count was so high I lost count, but when it was finally done I resigned myself to die, I was afraid to come back here as I feared everyone would look at me with fear or disappointment, I collapsed in an alleyway from exhaustion, and that's when Syr found me, she brought me back to the hostess and Mia took care of me, and well I bet you can guess the rest"

He was quiet for a moment as it looked like he was thinking. "Does it ever get any easier?" he asked.

His voice was filled with hesitation and curiosity.

I squeezed his hand. "No, but one day the guilt you feel will get smaller and smaller, but you will still feel that guilt, I still feel that type of guilt even to this day"

He nodded his head. "I know he wasn't a good person, but, I still feel bad, I don't know why I do, I just do"

"And that's to be expected, Bell killing a person isn't an easy thing, once you kill someone their life is over, that's why you feel bad, because you ended a person's life, it doesn't matter if they were good or bad they were still a person"

He nodded his head. "I think, I think I understand what you're saying"

We sat there in silence for a moment until I had to ask the question everyone wanted to know.

"Bell, why did you help those monsters"

I felt Bell squeeze my hand before he spoke. "I can't tell you"

I was confused. Why couldn't he tell me? Did he not want to tell me?

"Do you not want to tell me" I shakily asked. Is he about to burn our bridge again? Did I go too far?

"I do, I want to tell all of you, but I can't" His voice soothed my worries, but I was still curious as to why he did what he did.

"Will you be able to tell me another time" I inquired?

He shook his head. "No, I don't think I'll be able to"

I looked down at the ground. "Well, as long as you stay safe and keep your promise, I'll be content"

I then heard the tiniest chuckle from him and it made me happy. Because it showed deep down under all the guilt he was feeling, Bell was still somewhere in there.

"I'll make sure to keep my end of the deal, but can I ask for something else," he asked and he sounded a little desperate.

"Sure Bell, anything you need" I assured him.

"Can you stay, I feel...calmer with you here" he asked his voice breaking a little.

I gave his hand another reassuring squeeze. "Of course Bell, I'll stay as long as you like"

We stayed like that for hours. We didn't say a word and I could see Bell was trying to keep himself from crying. He was able to hold back his tears while he was awake. But when he finally closed his eyes to sleep I could see the tears running down his face.

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Bell POV

I spent another day in jail before my name was finally cleared and I was released. I told Astraea that I was gonna go take a walk. I wasn't ready to go back home yet. How would they look at me after what I did?

I put my hands in my pockets and wandered the city. I didn't have to pick up my weapons as Ryu told me Finn dropped them off at my house. She also said he was treated less than cordially.

The sun was rising and the city was a little empty. My mind went back to the events at Knossos and the person I killed. I didn't know anything about him. I didn't know his likes and dislikes, I didn't know about his family or his past, I knew absolutely nothing.

My mind also went to the damage done on Daedalus Street. A lot was damaged because of Wiene and the Xenos having to fight lower leveled adventurers to find a finding place. There were no deaths but the damage was immense. Especially when that black Minotaur appeared out of nowhere and single-handedly beat back the Loki familia. He had apparently shown up sometime after my arrest.

I let out a sigh as I made my way to the guild, I knew what I needed to do. When I arrived there it was empty except for the guild staff.

I saw Eina doing some paperwork at one of the counters. No doubt having to do paperwork for the trouble I caused. I took a deep breath and walked up to her desk. She heard me approaching and looked up.

When she saw me her eyes filled with disbelief. She tidied her desk and put her hands on it to speak with me professionally.

"How can I help you today Bell"

I looked around the guild and saw that the employees were staring at me warily. I blinked and looked back down at Eina.

"I need to access" I stopped hesitating for a second. I took a deep breath before speaking again. "I need to access my aunt's vault"

She nodded her head and stood up gesturing me to follow her. I followed her taking the key out of my dimension ring. The Astraea familia didn't take it as only Astraea knew what it was, and since there was a chance I could've gotten assassinated in my sleep she let me keep it for protection.

Once we reached the vaults I put the key in and opened it. Eina and I already knew how much money was in there so neither of us was surprised by it anymore. Me especially after what I had done.

"And how much do you want to withdraw" Eina's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I rubbed my eyes and answered. "70 million, and I want it to go to the Daedalus Street reconstruction effort, and make the donation anonymous"

She wrote the amount down on a piece of paper on her clipboard before attacking the pen to her blouse.

"Is it true?" I knew what she was asking. I didn't look at her, instead, I kept my eyes on the inside of the vault.

"Yes," I answered.

Her ears dropped as she looked at the ground. "I see, I'll arrange the donation, just take care of yourself Bell"

Eina then walked off the clacking of her shoes getting farther and farther away. Once more guild staff arrived and withdrew the allotted amount I locked the vault back up and left.

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The city was waking up a little and I passed people on the street. I could hear their off-handed comments about me but I didn't care.

"Look it's the little rookie"

"You mean the guy with a monster fetish"

"I hear he's related to the silence, what's the guild thinking letting someone like him here"

"Shh be quiet or the freak will hear you"

Wow, what a creative insult.

"I heard he killed a man"

"But that man was a part of evilus so he can't be that bad right"

I continued my mindless walking listening to the people around me. That was until someone called out my name.

"Bell, are you ok," Anya asked as she grabbed my shoulder.

I turned to face her and saw she wasn't in her maid uniform. She was wearing a short-sleeved green shirt and a pair of ripped jeans. She kept my mother's clothes from when Grandpa gave them to her.

"You…kept those," I asked.

She looked down at what she was wearing and then back to me. "Yeah, it reminded me of you and our promise… it helped me through some rough times"

I nodded my head at her words. "It uh…it looks nice"

She looked up at me again. "Are you ok Bell, you look lost"

I shook my head. "I'm not alright… I did something I regret"

She put her hand on my shoulder and rubbed it. "Do you want to talk about it"

I said nothing and nodded my head. She intertwined her arm with mine and led me back to the hostess. It was then I noticed the grocery bag in her arm. The walk wasn't long taking a few minutes at most.

When we arrived Mia took one look at me and Anya and gave her a nod.

"Leave the groceries on the counter, Bell you're welcome to stay as long as you like"

Anya let go of my arm and placed the groceries on the counter before leading me upstairs to her room. It was basic with a bed that had blue sheets and a white pillowcase. She had a dresser and a closet with one of those wooden wall things to change behind. Her nightstand was on the left side of her bed with a bag of chips and a book on top of it.

She gently led me to her bed and sat me down and took a seat next to me.

"I'm not gonna ask about the monsters, I know you and I know you're doing this for a reason, I also know it's not the monsters that's bothering you"

"I killed a man," I told her.

She didn't say anything or even react negatively, no gasp or jump or anything. Instead, she wrapped her tail around my waist and used her arms to lean my head into her shoulder. "And you're feeling guilty"

"Yeah, it was so easy, just a simple stab to the throat and he was dead…I did it so easily that I didn't even think about it til after I got arrested…I just killed him and ran to do my next task, like his life didn't even matter to me"

I could feel myself tearing up as I continued speaking. "I knew nothing about him, maybe if we weren't on opposite sides we could've been friends, maybe we could've gotten a beer together"

I could feel the dam about to burst. "What type of Hero am I, I killed that man and ran off without a second thought, his family could be worried about him right now, they could be hoping and praying he comes back home, but he won't because I killed him"

As the tears started streaming down my face Anya pulled me into a hug putting my head into her shoulder. All the emotions I had bottled up at the stardust garden came pouring out as the regret and sadness became too much to bear. Anya just held me and rubbed circles on my back as I cried.

"Shh it's ok it's ok" she cooed rocking back and forth. After 30 minutes I felt the tears dry up but I still held onto Anya. She allowed it holding onto me as well. I then realized I still had one more thing to tell her.

"Anya, I have something I need to tell you" I was vulnerable with Anya right now, she was giving me a shoulder to cry on and not judging me, so I wouldn't hide anything from her.

"What is it," she asked.

"There's a good chance I might die in the next couple of days"

I felt her hold onto me tighter. "What?! Why?"

"I was told by a seer a woman in black will bring me to ruin"

She held onto me tighter. "Do you think you can win?" she asked hopeful for a yes.

"No, I don't think I'll be able to win" I honestly told her.

She held onto me even tighter. "I can protect you" her voice broke.

"Anya, I don't think you'll be able to, I've had this eerie feeling these last few days, that when I fight her, nobody will be able to help me"

We sat in silence for a few moments before she asked another question. "And how do you feel about this"

I was quiet for a minute before answering. "I'm afraid, I don't want to die, but I also won't run away"

Anya let out a sad chuckle. "That's just like you, always the hero, you want to know something Bell"

I pulled my head back so I could look at her. "What?"

"You will always be my hero no matter what, I would either be dead or a sex slave if it wasn't for you, I feel like I didn't really thank you enough when you saved me all those years ago"

I looked her in the eyes and saw the gratitude. "I never required thanks, I just did the right thing, like a hero should do, right?" I doubted I was a hero anymore after killing Dix.

That was until Anya's tail smacked me in the ribs. "Don't think like that, you are a hero no matter what, sometimes heroes have to kill to keep people safe and you did just that, I heard the rumors about the Ikelos familia and they were nothing good!"

I listened to her words and felt some of the weight of what I'd done leave me. I let out a smile, the first one since I killed Dix. "Thanks for the talk Anya, it really helped"

She pulled away from the hug and smiled back at me. "No problem Bell, I'm here if you need me"

I let out a small smile before wrapping my arm around her unaware of her blush. "We're just missing the last part of our trio" I solemnly said.

Anya slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, we are"

I patted the top of her head careful not to touch her ears. "Don't worry, once I reach level six, we'll have a talk, all three of us"

Anya smiled a little. "I'd like that"

I was uncertain of what the future may bring. I might die in the next few days but I knew two things for certain. I was gonna help the Xenos get back to the dungeon safely, and I was gonna give the woman in black the fight of her life, and I'd win without killing her.

Well, that's a wrap, Bell feels guilty even though Dix was a bad guy he still felt bad for ending a life. Ryu and Bell had a shared trauma moment and Anya got a moment to shine.

Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter because it's only gonna get sadder from here.

Oh and monster fetish is an insult in the Danmachi universe as it means you fuck monsters.

Shmuppet take the idea out of your head.