Miach POV the day of Bell's arrest

My familia was distraught. Bell had been arrested protecting Wiene and the Xenos. He tried to play it off like he would be fine. But everyone there could see it was a lie and Bell knew we could. Yet he stuck to the act and pretended everything was fine.

I was holding onto Nazha as she cried her eyes out. Bell had done so much for us when he first arrived. He got us out of debt, gave us money to renovate the old shop before it was destroyed, he helped us get new familia members, and helped us skyrocket in terms of ranking.

We were now a B-rank familia, and it was all thanks to him. I felt my own tears threaten to spill from my eyes but I had to remain strong for my familia. I had to, but why was it so hard?

I looked back down at Nazha, she was holding on to me tightly as she cried. Bell was like the little brother she never had. His eyes always held a spark that had the potential to be an inferno. A smile of his or his presence could light up a room. Nazha had grown close to the boy, she took it upon herself to try and be a good female role model to him, and while he had trouble accepting it at first, he never shied away from it.

I shut my eyes as I thought about the state of my familia. Laurier was combing through any law book she could find to see if she could get Bell released early.

Haruhime and Lili were locked in their rooms refusing to come out. Welf had gone out to the training field and punched a wooden post until his knuckle bled and Hephaestus had to come and talk him down.

Lena, Aisha, and Zald were in the dungeon. The two girls blowing off some steam as Zald kept a watchful eye over them. Daphne was helping Cassandra who was in her room muttering about how the time is drawing closer.

Regis, well he was laying in the hallway between Lily and Haruhime's room. In case either of them needed him he would be there.

A thought then crossed my mind, if this was the reaction to Bell being arrested, what would be the reaction if he died?

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Bell POV

I sat at Mia's bar a mug of ale in front of me. It had to have been the fourth or fifth mug I didn't know I wasn't keeping track. I only felt a small buzz right now but my goal wasn't to get drunk, It was just to stall because I was scared to go back home.

"You're gonna have to go back eventually," Mia told me. It was late, the bar had shut down hours ago and Anya was asleep.

I took a sip of the ale and responded. "I know, but I don't know how they'll react when I come back"

Mia sighed as she took a seat next to me. "Running away won't solve anything Bell, all it does is prolong the inevitable"

I set my mug down and put my head in my hands. "What if they're scared of me, I did something bad and caused a lot of trouble"

"Do you regret it?" she asked.

Do I? I sat there for a moment thinking. If I didn't help the Xenos I wouldn't be in this mess.

An image of Wiene flashed in my mind and I felt a small smile on my face. "No, I don't regret what I did, I do regret having to kill someone to do it though"

Mia put her big burly arm around my shoulders. It wasn't meant to be seen as a sign of intimidation but one of comfort. "Listen, kid, sometimes we gotta do things we gotta do, it doesn't mean you have to like it, you can even hate it if you want, but in the end, it has to be done, you get what I'm saying"

I did, she was telling me that I can hate the killing all I want, but if the time comes for it I'll have to do it, I can feel bad about it after but I shouldn't put my life on hold.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I do, thanks for the talk Mia"

She patted me on the back as she stood back up. "Good, now pick yourself back up, I hate seeing you like this"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes Auntie Mia" I joked.

Her head whirled around with a shocked look on her face. "What did you just say"

I quirked an eyebrow. "Auntie Mia? What's wrong"

She shook her head. "You just caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting you to say that, ever"

My shoulders slumped a little. "Oh, do you not want me to call you that"

She shook her head. "No it's fine, but only when we're alone though, don't need the girls or the customers having that tidbit of information"

I lightly chuckled. "Yeah, your identity still has to be kept secret"

She then reached into her pocket and tossed a set of keys at me. I looked at the confused until she spoke. "There's a guest room here, if you ever feel like you need to get away come here, my door will always be open my dumbass nephew"

I finished my mug and stood up from my stool. I wasn't ready to go home just yet, I had something I wanted to do, I didn't need to do it but it's something I want to know.

"Alright Aunt Mia I'll get out of your hair, I'll make sure to swing by again sometime"

I waved goodbye but before I could leave Mia called out. "Bell"

I turned around. "Yeah"

She then gave me a smug smile. "I care a lot for my girls, I also care a lot for you too, so if you somehow happen to mingle with them, then that's alright with me"

I let out a nervous chuckle. "Thanks, Aunt Mia, I'll keep that in mind"

I then opened the door and walked outside. I turned around and locked the door and headed to my destination.

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Loki POV

I was sitting at my desk having to do all the paperwork that I skipped because of the war with Rakia.

Riveria forced me in here and said I wasn't allowed to leave until it was finished, and if I didn't she wouldn't allow me to see my Ais. Oh, curse that mama elf.

I had just set another piece of paper down when I felt the wind blowing. Odd, I didn't leave the window open. I turned around to look and nearly jumped out of my skin.

Bell was standing there, the moonlight shining behind him and making him look terrifying. Before I could scream he put his hand on my mouth and signaled me to be quiet.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk" He calmly said. I knew he was telling the truth so I just nodded. He didn't even have to tell me not to scream as he removed his hand from my mouth.

Catching my breath as he still scared the shit out of me I spoke. "What is it you want to ask"

He took a seat on my desk looking outside. "I want to know why you did it, was it just a simple lust for power, or was it something more?"

I sighed as I spun my chair around to look out the open window as well. I was gonna tell him the truth, he deserved that much at least.

"It was a power grab, I was jealous they were at the top and I wasn't, so when the opportunity arose to knock them off their pedestals I took it, I realized what a mistake I made after the dark ages began," I told him.

He nodded his head. "So it was just out of spite and jealously that you kicked them out"

"Yes, a lot of people died because I was jealous of Zeus and Hera"

He then turned to face me. "And do you regret doing what you did"

I faced him as well. "Yes, every day"

He looked down the floor almost as if he was thinking. "Are you trying to be better"

I was, but how do I make him see that, will he believe me if I just say yes? I mean I have been protecting Orario from the darkest parts of it. But will he believe me?

"Yes," I answered.

Bell sat in silence for a moment, until he looked at me. I opened my eyes so he could look directly into them. "I forgive you," he said.

"What, why I thought you hated me" I was shocked, I expected to him to yell and say I was s a shitty person, he wouldn't have been wrong but I didn't expect this.

He spoke softly. "I did, for the longest time I did, I don't know why I don't anymore, I think maybe I hated you because I blamed you for my lack of family, but as my familia slowly started to grow and I grew closer to them, I just felt that hatred slowly disappear, I forgive you, but I won't forget what you did"

I nodded my head. "Thank you, I promise I'll show you that I'm trying to do better, that's why I told you about Hera"

I saw his fist clench a little. "Thanks, but she abandoned me, I don't want to talk about her"

"Ok, sorry, didn't know she did that" I apologized.

His fist relaxed. "It's fine, you didn't know I shouldn't get mad at you"

We sat there in silence for a few minutes. Both of us just starting out my open window. But there was something else I had to tell him. "I won't be able to protect you against Freya"

He gave me a side glance before sighing. "Let me guess, you owe her a favor to"

I shook my head. "I don't, Ais does, she asked Ottar to train her so she could get stronger, Freya agreed under the premise that Ais owes her a favor, Ais is one of my best fighters so if we don't have her Freya would kick our asses, even if we did have her it'd be a coin toss"

Bell let out a tired sigh, it hurt a little hearing someone so young sound so tired. "Alright, just looks like I'll have to use my ace in the hole" he cryptographically said.

I wasn't gonna ask because I knew he wouldn't tell me. He got off my desk and walked to the window. "I should head home, I've been avoiding it long enough, oh and thanks, for doing your investigation quickly"

Before I could respond he was gone, I saw him on a rooftop over a hundred meters away and watched as he landed gracefully on the street and started walking home. I shut my window and sat back down, sighing as I leaned back and put my arms over my eyes.

The only reason we were able to finish the investigation so quickly was because he killed Dix, Dix was a high-ranking member of Evilus and related to Daedalus himself, which meant he knew Knossos like the back of his hand. Bell taking him out meant Evilus had lost a big source of income and their navigator for Knossos.

Bell had unknowingly dealt a huge blow to Evilus and had helped us quite a lot.

Knock knock knock

I took my arms off my eyes and stopped leaning back. "Come in"

Riveria opened the door and I groaned.

"I'm doing the paperwork mama, I was just taking a small break"

"I'm not here for that, and don't call me mama," she said sitting down on a seat across from me. If she wasn't here for that then what was she here for?

Riveria handed me a letter. "This is what my father sent me while we were away"

I took the letter and read it eyes growing wider and wider with each passing sentence. "Huh, never would've expected he would marry you to a human"

I handed the letter back to Riveria which she crumbled up and threw away. "And since Bell has a claim to the throne he'll really try and push it"

"Do you want me to set up a meeting with you and Bell, I bet he's gotten the letter to"

Riveria gave me a bugged-eyed look. "One, he's 15 I'm old enough to be his great grandma, and two he hates us"

I let out a coy smile. "Not anymore, he just stopped by and said he forgave me, which should trickle down to everyone else since he was mad at you to for being a part of my familia"

Riveria was alert. "What, he was here, how did he get past our guards, are you alright" I could tell Riveria was panicked so I calmed her down in the way I knew how.

"Calm down mama, I'm fine, unless you wanna see every inch of me to make sure" I gave her a suggestive smile.

Riveria stopped freaking out and glared at me. "I can see you're fine, now finish the paperwork or no Ais"

She then got up and left as I rolled my eyes. Wonder how the kid would react to that offer.

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Bell POV

I was walking back home after my conversation with Loki. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I didn't know what to do. I still had Freya to deal with and I'd be alone in doing so.

Do I forgive Freya too? No, she's planning to take me away from my familia.

So lost in thought I didn't realize Zald was sitting on the stairs waiting for me.

"Have a seat lad" he warmly said. He wasn't angry as he patted the spot next to him.

I snapped out of my thoughts and did as he said a little nervous. But I was gonna face it like a man.

"You were supposed to be back a while ago," he told me.

I sighed and looked at the ground. "I know, I was just scared at how everyone would look at me"

Zald let out a small chuckle. "Your dad was the same"

My head perked up as I slowly looked Zald in the eyes. "Can you tell me about him"

Zald nodded his head. "Yeah, I can, for starters he was brave, one of the bravest men I've ever known" Zald chuckled. "Although he was terrible with women, was so nervous around them he could barely speak, then he met your mother and everything just seemed to click, of course, your aunt was against it but he didn't care, he loved your mother and your mother loved him, I was proud to call him my friend, proud to call him my brother"

I could feel my eyes tear up a little as Zald continued. "The first time he ever killed someone was because someone tried to take advantage of your mother's fragile state, Silver went into a rage seeing what the man was doing to your mother and killed him, he was different for a while as he was so consumed by the guilt he just kinda stopped functioning, but your mother was able to bring him back, she showed him she was there for him"

He then put a hand on my shoulder. "Just as we're all here for you"

I looked back down at the ground as a few teardrops hit the ground. I had been so stupid, they were only worried for me, and here I thought they would be scared. I had truly found my family.

Well, it seems the Xenos arc will end soon. We've got a couple more chapters left before it ends. I hope you've enjoyed it so far but I also have a question.

It concerns Astraea and her role in the story. Should I have her be a mother figure to Bell or should I have her and Bell fuck? Or do both? You decide.

And I know Bell's father was a coward in canon but here he's related to a longline of warriors and he actually had his father to teach him to be brave.