Hey everyone. I know there has been a delay, but at the end of the chapter it will be explained.

I will say that I might end up cutting up the parts for this whole Knossos part as so much happens. With the new timeline, it seems that I ended up moving various people around and well…here is the end result.

Hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danmachi, nor the characters

Chapter 25: Into the Darkness
Ishtar was staring at Hermes, with interest. She swirled her cup of glass wine "So, you managed to bring it?"

His face had a smile and replied "Yes I did, but we both know how much the cost is for the item in question."

She gave a smirk that sent a chill down on Hermes' spine. Something about that smile doesn't sit right for him.

"Oh, you will get your payment, and something extra~" She got up and placed the wine on the table and sauntered over to the god of messenger.

He grew more nervous "I don't mind sex, but not her….anyone but her! Help me, mommy!"

The door barged open, annoying the goddess of love, while Hermes felt relief "This better be good."

"We found Aisha! We kept two of them with their eyes open on the place!"

She smirked and looked at Hermes. "Well Hermes, we will hold on to the added reward some other time."

"Very well, excuse me." He then left, walking fast.

"Take Phryne, Tamuz and a few others to capture her. Bring her here, and I will handle the rest."

They bowed and left immediately.

She smirked "I will make you scream for Haruhime's location" she then looked at the stone in question "Then I will take out Freya and her familia for good."

Unknown Location
Haruhime arrived at a home she had never seen. It was somewhat far from the safehouse.

She then knocked on the door as Lilli left her with just that instruction and waited. The door answered and was surprised to see her best friend.

"Mikoto?"

She was then hugged by her as tears were coming out. Her tail swished happily, just seeing her best friend, looking in good health.

"Haruhime….I'm so happy to see you. Get inside here!"

She nodded and she was let inside. She saw it had some of the more familiar The East furniture, along with a few paintings hanging on the side. She felt more at home and was brought into the living room.

Chigusa was surprised to see Haruhime. "Haruhime."

She smiled and went to hug her, happy to see her as well. "It's wonderful to see you, Chigusa."

She smiled and was happy to see each other. "Is Lord Take here?"

"No. He is out with Lord Miach." Chigusa answered.

"I see." She still smiled.

"Don't worry. Bell told us about you coming here and we prepared a room for you. Follow me." She nodded and walked on. She noticed Asuka was sleeping with a smile on her face. She knew her sleeping habits at times. She turned over and mumbled "Mmmm….feed me more grapes…" she gave a light snore.

They kept walking and were impressed with all of the furniture it had and a few familiar paintings. "Where did you get all this?"

"Bellerophon."

"Who?"

"He provided a deal with us and gave us this nice house for us to live in."

"I see." She liked it and would thank the man in the future.

They arrived into a small room with a basic bed, cabinet, a lantern and closet. She smiled softly "Thank you for the room."

She smiled "How about we catch up on what you have been up to?"

She nodded and both girls went to talk about how their lives went.

Knossos

Bete was walking around, keeping an eye open around the area. He then stopped as he picked up a scent. "Wait…."

They stopped and wondered what was going on.

The werewolf recalled the first trap from what the map showed. He heard a few footsteps running toward them. "Someone, shoot a fire attack."

An elf raised her staff and fired a fireball. An explosion is heard.

"Tch…suicide bombers. Get your guard ready!"

They got their weapons out.

"Let's move!"

In another part of Knossos, Riveria and the others were moving at a faster pace as more of the Violas were coming out. "We just have to keep pushing forward and we should reach to the safe spot!"

They kept pushing and taking out some of the plant creatures in the way.

They reached another area, where only nothing was left. Just as they stopped to look around, Ais fell on a hole that just opened and then closed immediately. "Ais!"

Riveria knew she could handle herself, but wondered where it led to.

"More Violas!"

They ended up fighting back and kept on running through the corridor.

Ais kept falling for a while, before she landed. She looked around and saw the path ahead. She began to jog toward the hallway, with very lighting. She saw a door not far off and kicked it down hard.

It opened and she saw various large glass tubes with various creatures that are sleeping.

"I see you made it here, Ais."

She turned and saw a red haired woman she already met back then.

"Don't worry, I am not here to fight. I was ordered to keep you safe."

She felt somewhat tense and was seeing she was walking right toward her. "I can see you are still tense." She then began to massage her shoulders for her to relax.

Ais tensed a bit, but then began to relax.

"Relax, my blonde spirit….relax…."

For her, a part of her is remembering a dark haired woman, massaging her shoulders after a rough day in the streets. The memory felt like something she lived through, but it is fragmented memory.

She smiled as she saw her relax "Good. Now, walk with me, we have a lot to discuss."

The blonde haired half spirit nodded and followed her.

In another part of the Knossos, Finn felt his thumb trembling more. He didn't like this at all.

"Captain, I feel uneasy about all of this." Tione had her weapon's hilt gripped hard.

"I understand that well."

They heard a small chuckle. It stopped.

They had their weapons out. The lights in the walls were gone, leaving the ones in the ceiling on.

"Finn….Finn…..Finn…."

He looked around. The others were growing very nervous.

"Time for you to die."

He heard people running toward them. "Take them down!" A few arrows were shot in the direction and a few spells, causing two explosions in the distance.

Finn never had the time to sense the person in the shadows. He then felt pain in his chest, making him collapse.

"Captain!"

She went to check on him. She saw his wound on his chest as blood and a dark liquid coming out.

"Oh, he will die in a few hours. No matter what your healer will do, the curse will run deep into his blood." She was ready to attack again, but was blocked by a weretiger.

"Not today, bitch." he growled.

"Heh….like you can stop me."

His hand flew to the side and aimed at her.

"Oh dear, like that little thing will do anything-"

An explosion sent her flying and flying.

"Never underestimate my canon, bitch." He grabbed his hand and saw the blade. He reloads and destroys the weapon. He then saw Tione pour out the potion on his chest and it closed the wound, but he was still out.

"We have to keep moving. See if you can take him to the safety point."

She nodded and carried him out.

The others looked at the weretiger. "Alright, let's move!"

The pink haired woman shook off from the hole she was crushed on the other side. She dusted herself off "That asshole...I will find another group to deal with…." She then immediately left for another location.

Garett blocked another attack, and the others pushed the Violas back. They were walking through the corridor, until the suicide bombers appeared. They did managed to stop them, not before two of Evilus members were able to bring out the Violas.

They were being taken out, when few more members of Evilus appeared.

"For Thanatos!"

"Stay behind me!"

He roared and blocked other large explosions. Garett was thankful for the advice on how to handle the suicide bombers. Yes, he understood the unnecessary deaths, but his team needed to survive.

"Stick to the plan and keep moving!"

They nodded and kept pushing on to the next area.

Floor 13
The girls of the Hostess of Fertility arrived in the area and looked around. Anya was on one side, looking for the entrance. A creature appeared and she killed it quickly. "Annoying mewsince."

Chloe, being an expert in infiltration, looked around at anything off. She walked around more, looking for anything, until she spotted something "Mew, I found the entrance."

They followed her and saw a wall. She then pointed "See the very small slits, its over there."

"How do we open it?"

"Meow, we have to look for a lever of some sort or button, or anything mew."

They looked around for anything that looked as if something didn't belong. They looked right near the wall to the stalagmites in the area.

Lunor looked around and noticed one of the stalagmites looked a little off. She pushes it and the walls open. "I can't imagine some random person would end up finding it…."

Ryuu added "Or maybe someone did, and might have ended up dead or worse."

The walls opened up and noticed it was more of a desert-like area. They walked further down until they noticed two bodies on the ground. They checked on them.

"Two dead bodies. We will have to take them back."

Lunor took out two large body bags and began to place them inside of them.

Ryuu and the others explored further down until they spotted what they were looking for.

"It looks weird, meow."

Ryuu stared at it and then went to look into her backpack. She found what she was looking for and took out a purple cover. "I am going to need your help to cover it all."

They nodded and helped her out. They each took one side and managed to cover the slumbering creature. "Alright, Anya and Chloe, you will have to carry it carefully."

Both nodded and they carried the creature. He said the creature was large, but it was the size of a human. It didn't matter, the creature would end up with Lord Ganesha and would take care of it and learn from it.

Ryuu stayed behind and began to destroy the lab. She had to make sure Evilus doesn't find a way to grow another one.

Knossos
Filvis and Lefiya were alone. Their group split up and it was just the two of them.

The alabaster elf knew the group would be okay. She grew nervous as she knew what room they were in. "Lefiya, are you okay?"

She nodded and looked around "Where are we?"

"You are at a safe area." They turned and saw someone with a spiral mask and was walking toward them. Lefiya went to protect Filvis.

"Stay back!"

"Be still, Lefiya."

She felt nervous, but stood in a brave face.

"Please, Lefiya. I am not here to hurt you….I am planning to reveal something to you…"

She then removed her mask and threw it on the side and her hood off. Lefiya was shocked at who it was. "F-Filvis?"

She had a gentle smile. "Yes. It's me."

She dropped her weapon in surprise as she was gently pushed by Filvis behind her.

"I am finally able to be close to you like this….I wanted to show you how I looked….what the Dungeon has done to me….maybe….just maybe accepting me like this."

She was close to her and got a good look at her. Blue skin, red eyes and her hair still dark. However, she was still able to see that the creature still had Filvis' features. She slowly reached up and touched her cheek. Her skin felt soft.

"Is that what happened to you years back?"

"Yes. Surviving by this" Her chest opened and showed the magic stone. It was beating alive and she closed her chest again. "I became a monster….a creature…."

The young elf felt saddened at what she has become, but it is still Filvis. "You are still Filvis no matter what. Even if you became how you are, you are still my best friend."

She was happy hearing her response. "Thank you, Lefiya." She then gestured to follow her.

"We both need your assistance to deal with a lab."

She nodded and went along with it. She was surprised by all of it, but she knew Filvis wouldn't hurt her at all. She was protected by her and was willing to help her familia numerous times.

For Filvis, her heart brought nothing but joy. Now she needs to show Bell and maybe it could work out. For now though, the three elves went to destroy the lab, while Enyo would be busy in another area.

To be continued

A/N: That covers the first part of the Knossos. More comes by.

I have been working on something, due to an idea that this Discord server I am in. The idea started as something small, but when I contributed it, it just got bigger and thought about 'you know, it would be a great idea to do it as a one-shot'. Hence I am slowly working on it. Plus, trying to figure out the changes I made in this chapter, as I made various revisions before this final draft was written. Believe me, the last few drafts just felt…..forced. So yeah, I had to tell myself 'maybe I will do that later on' or 'it doesn't flow well.'

Hope you all enjoy it, and I will see you all later.

Next Chapter: Dix enters the frey, more chaos in the Knossos, and Aisha vs. Ishtar Familia. Don't miss it.