The bonfire in the center cast long shadows over the adventurers, making the dungeon feel even more insidious than before.
"I am beginning to think you are intentionally forgetting your tent," Aisha hummed from behind Bell.
"He can sleep in my tent," several amazons at their campsite yelled.
"Get your filthy mitts off him!"
Aisha whacked a particularly forward Amazon who had begun to drag Bell off.
"I didn't forget," Bell replied, dropping his ripped rucksack, which contained his tent. Pulling the tent out, he unfurled the tattered fabric. "The Lamia shredded it."
The damn overgrown snake had almost shredded him too.
"You can share our tent," Haruhime said unhesitatingly from his other side. Bell nodded his head, having expected her to offer. He had shared Haruhime and Aisha's tent the last four nights.
"Stupid Fox, he won't learn to protect his supplies if we keep letting him sleep with us," Aisha said, causing Bell to blush in embarrassment.
The Amazons cooking over the fire yelled out, signifying that the food was ready. Grabbing their food, Bell, Aisha, and Haruhime sat back down to eat around the bonfire. The overhead crystals' light grew dimmer and dimmer until only the fire held back the darkness. Leaning back, Bell listened to the Amazons, many of them speaking about their latest conquests. Aisha had told him that since Phryne had vanished, people had started returning to the entertainment districts in more significant numbers.
"Is that another group?" Bell asked Haruhime, spotting a flicker of light in the distance.
"I don't believe anyone else is down here. Aisha always checks with the guild to ensure we avoid any expeditions, and I don't believe any other familias would take quests this deep," Haruhime replied, her eyes flickering between him and the light.
"Can we go check it out?" Bell asked already halfway out of his seat.
"You'd get eaten by bugs before you got there," Aisha stated. "Damn things, the only thing that keeps them back is the fire."
Looking back at the light again, Bell tossed his scraps into the fire before following Haruhime into the tent. The tents were tiny, having been designed for two people. If he rolled on his side, the top of the tent would touch his shoulders.
"Oh no, you don't!"
Aisha ran into the tent behind them.
"This isn't going to be a repeat of last time. Bell, you're the smallest you go in the middle."
"I got stuck in the back last time," he replied as he was placed between the two women. Finally, they stopped turning; he realized what they had done. Aisha had turned to lie near the tent entrance spooning Bell and Haruhime. A giant blanket over all three of them was pulled so taunt by the two women it may as well have been the top of a casket.
"I wasn't going to go looking for that other fire," Bell said with a sigh.
"You weren't going to look for Ryuu either," Haruhime replied.
"You also promised not to go swimming at the base of the great waterfall," Aisha said. He shuddered at the memory of that swim. It was lucky some of the amazons had an underwater breathing ability.
"We are going to sweat to death," he stated. He could already feel it starting.
"Afraid to get sweaty with two women? Most men dream of this," Aisha replied with a chuckle.
"I think your clothes are supposed to be off for that," Bell said in a deadpan voice. The arm around him tightened, and the two globes pushed further into his back.
"Well, take them off-"Aisha was cut off as they were both whacked by a pair of hands.
"Stop corrupting Bell," Haruhime huffed, spinning around and pulling the boy away from Aisha.
"Oh, you fair maiden, you have a girl to protect you," Aisha laughed, pointing at Bell.
Their conversation was interrupted as people began shouting outside. "What now?" Aisha growled, rolling out of the tent, Bell pulling Haruhime behind him. One of the rear guard amazons stood by the fire. Her left arm was hanging limply by her side, and a trail of blood dripped down her side.
"Reyla? What's going on?" Aisha asked as the injured girl quickly slurped down the health potion Aisha handed her.
"It's Phryne. She is attacking the rear guard! We need help!" Reyla replied between huffs. The murmuring around the fire increased.
"That stupid toad, Group three with me, everyone else. Stay here and keep your guard up," Aisha commanded. The amazons in question geared up and ran alongside Aisha into the blackness.
Bell starred at the remaining amazons. They all seemed to be on edge, throwing glances at one another. Getting closer to the fire, he pulled Haruhime with him, keeping her behind him as he began inspecting his weapon.
"Something is wrong," he whispered to Haruhime. The women gradually separated into two groups. The much larger one led by Reyla was slowly encircling them. The other smaller group of four amazons forced themselves into a smaller circle around Bell.
"Rabbit!" his hair stood on end at that voice. Phryne walked out of the blackness. A massive battle ax was tossed over her shoulder. The outer circle of Amazons parted, allowing her through, confirming what Bell thought; this was a setup. Bell gulped as even more figures began to come out of the darkness. This time it was men, all shirtless and covered in bruises. The eerily vacant look on their faces contrasted sharply with Phyrne's grin.
Phryne pointed at the four amazons that were flanking Bell and Haruhime. "If you get out of my way now. I'll simply whip you if you don't, well.." Phryne smiled and licked her lips. "Use your imagination."
Two of the woman ran, joining the ring around them. Cowards.
"Haruhime, I brought a little gift," Phryne pulled out a dagger before tapping the gemstone embedded in its hilt. Haruhime wrapped her hands around her chest as she stepped as far away as possible.
"Leave her alone!" Bell stepped forward, brandishing his weapon.
"Oh look, a widdle lost rabbit," Phryne grinned, slipping the dagger into her belt before stepping forward and meeting Bell in the small opening between the two groups. "Better watch out. There are wolves in these woods."
Bell winced as his blade caught her ax. The sheer force sent tremors up his hands.
"Did you think you could get away with replacing me," she sneered, swinging her ax at him again in an overhead motion. He rolled to the left, the ax connecting with the fire logs sending a spray of embers and splinters into the air.
"Choosing you, a pathetic level one over me! I was the captain level 5 and the most beautiful of all her children!"
Bell jerked backward, avoiding another swing.
"I had to hide out in the basement! All my underlings had betrayed me, bringing men into the district that belonged to me! Do you know what that feels like?"
Bell grimaced as Phrynes's ax dug into the leather on his upper arm.
"Nobody belongs to you!"
"Oh, but they do!" She pointed at Reyla. "I expected her to lure away some low levels until we could slowly kill you all off." Phyrne laughed maliciously, sounding like a horse being slaughtered. "Instead, Aisha left both of you here for me!"
"You won't beat me," Bell shot back, grabbing one of the ash-covered logs at his feet. He hurled it at the woman. Phryne swore, the ash from the log getting into her eyes and igniting her clothes.
"Get him!" She shrieked, rolling on the ground.
The other Amazons loyal to Phryne began to close in, the ends of their weapons glinting off the light of crystals in cieling above.
"What do we have here?"
"This is a family matter. Leave," Reyla replied.
Two figures stepped closer, the light finally illuminating them. "Family matters, riiight,"
"Hi, Bell!" Tiona bounced up and down next to Tiona, waving freely as if they were on the surface and she was seeing him in the market. Not in the middle of a battle.
Each of the Amazon twins were carrying a supporter's backpack. Bell slowly lowered his sword, not believing his eyes. What were they doing down here?
"Loki brats, you were supposed to have left," Phryne said. If she looked ugly before now, she looked positively hideous, half of her head bald, her hair having caught fire from her clothes.
"We were leaving, and then we saw you sulking in the woods and decided to hang around. If I returned to the guild a little later, there would still be time for Finn to go on a date with me," Tione replied.
"Boys, get them!" Phryne roared as she lifted her ax above her head.
The men jumped into action. Their movements looked jerky, almost like their limbs were being forced to move. Tiona and Tione danced around them, the amazon sisters easily holding their own against the lower levels.
"Phryne, you toad, I was wondering what puddle you had run off to," Aisha said, walking into the clearing. The amazons she had taken with her stared in confusion at the traitors.
"Go now, and I'll let you live," Aisha said. Looking behind him, Bell noticed Haruhime had her head down, her lips moving furiously.
"I don't think so. I'm going to kill your little rabbit, then I'm going to kill your fox, but first, I'm going to kill you!" Phryne roared, sprinting at Aisha. "Reyla, get the boy!" Pulling the dagger from her belt, Aisha's first strike knocked the weapon clean from Phryne's hand.
Bell met the advancing Reyla at a spring. Her spear gouged a hole against his leather breastplate. He backed off, reconsidering his approach. Her level certainly was higher, but with his sword, her spear would be useless at closer range. Bell slashed at her left side, cutting her upper arm. Rushing forward, he shoved her with the hilt of his sword, but she managed to hook his ankle with her foot, sending both of them crashing.
Bell sat up, using his legs as leverage to push into the laceration on her arm with his sword. Reyla screamed in pain as she swung her good arm at his head repeatedly. A particularly vicious hit knocked him off her. She quickly rolled to her feet, her right arm pulling back to throw her spear like a javelin.
On the ground, Bell felt the dagger Aisha had knocked free. Pulling the weapon from the dirt, he pushed himself up and launched it at Reyla, embedding it into her throat. The woman fell back, pointlessly clutching at her throat as blood seeped past her fingers.
Looking away from the dying woman, Haruhime had finished chanting. A ghostly hammer appearing in the air over Aisha's head.
"Even with that boost, you are only a mid-level five! That trick isn't enough!" Phryne was forced back as Aisha slammed into her, her feet digging into the ground.
Aisha smirked, a feral grin appearing on her face.
"Six, actually."
Her sword cut forward, tearing out a chunk of Phryne's fleshy arm.
"Bullshit!" Phryne screamed, her ax coming down in a flash. Aisha didn't even bother to block the strike, simply stepping sideways, the ax swinging by harmlessly.
"I'm out of your league, toad," Aisha kicked Phryne's knee out. "Now, call off your-"
She looked at the dull vacant faces of the men still fighting Loki Familia, their sloppy attacks faltering in the face of the Hiryute sisters' graceful movements. Aisha's higher-level group was slowly bringing down the amazons who had attacked.
"-whatever those men are, and maybe I'll let you live."
Bell moved to stand in front of Haruhime, watching as Aisha wiped the floor with Phryne. His eyes glanced back to the now unmoving Reyla.
Aisha knocked the ax from Phryne's hands, advancing on her slowly. The toad woman was now backing up, an enraged expression blooming on her face.
"I can help you! The Loki familia will surely come to know that Bell is still alive! I'll kill them and keep your hands clean!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Tiona yelled, her Urga back in her hands after knocking out another man.
"We aren't killing anybody," Aisha said after a pause. "Lena, why don't you and some of the girls take Phryne and this trash," she gestured at the passed-out men, "out back. I don't want to see them again."
"What do we do with this one?"
Lena's words drew everyone's eyes to Reyla's still body. Bell shook as Aisha's eyes met his, dropping his sword as his eyes unfocused.
"Bell, you don't want her death on you," Haruhime said softly, her hands pushing him towards the body. He fell on his knees next to her, waiting for the tingle in his spine to start as he held his hands over her cold body.
"Bell?"
"Nothing is happening."
He closed his eyes, focusing; he couldn't feel the tingle. What was going on?
"You won't be able to revive her." Aisha's voice broke him out of his reverie. Kneeling down, Aisha pulled the dagger out of Rehyla's throat. She closed Reyla's eyes with her hands, shaking her head. "This blade destroys the soul. There is nothing left to revive."
Aisha commanded Lena to take away the body, gently pulling Bell away.
Bell mindlessly watched as Lena led a group of amazons out of the clearing with Phryne and her group bound together. Reyla dragged behind them, leaving a trail of blood on the grass.
"This is a disaster," Aisha sighed. "Samira, take the Fox and Crane back to the surface. I will finish up with this."
"Aisha, I don't think you need to keep calling me Crane. They know who I am," Bell replied, still staring at where Reyla had vanished.
"Bell, let's go." A tanned hand wrapped around his shaking one, closing her fingers over his. He looked up sharply, meeting Haruhime's inquisitive green eyes.
"Why are you with the Ishtar familia?" Tiona asked.
"Because he is," Aisha shot back. "Samira, take them back!"
"That's crap! He should be with us. Loki was going to offer him to join our familia." Tione declared as Samira grabbed his shoulder. Bell pushed the amazon's hand away, his anger quickly rising at their words.
"She was going to have Ryuu killed if I didn't join," he shouted at the sisters. His fists clenched and his shoulders shook as his eyes narrowed. It was THEIR goddess's fault that all this had happened.
"Loki would never do that," Tione scoffed. "Everyone already knew Lion was Gale. Not a single person cared! What they would care about is how you aren't dead!"
The spiteful words on Bell's mouth dried up as he stared at Tione.
What the hell was she talking about?
Samira grabbed his shoulder again, this time pulling his feet off the ground as she hauled him away. Bell didn't say a word on the way back to the surface, staring down at the still bloody knife. Haruhime silently approached, keeping him from walking away from the group, his mind too preoccupied to keep him on course.
Loki was furious. No, not even furious did not begin to describe how she felt. She had risked her children for that little shit, and now he was frolicking around with Ishtar. Riveria had spent a month in prison because of him. The only reason she wasn't currently on her way to the entertainment district was across from her.
"I find it more likely that Ishtar was the mastermind, not Bell," Riveria spoke up from her seat at the round table that dominated the meeting room.
"Aye, it appears Ishtar's captain wanted Bell as far from Tiona and Tione as possible. They are hiding something from him. Then, there is also the fact Bell had nothing to gain by faking his death. Ishtar, however," Gareth trailed off.
"She would get to make us look bad and get Bell to join her. But that also does not make sense. Why would Bell join her familia?" Tione asked.
"Bell told you how. He was under the impression we would hurt Ryuu," Finn replied. "The question is, what do we do? Raid the entertainment district? We have three level six's to their possible one if this Aisha was telling the truth when she battled Phryne. However, I don't remember seeing anyone in their Familia leveling up to six on the guild boards."
"We cannot take them head-on. They outnumber us three to one, and their average level has increased to almost four. We would prevail, but it would be close with heavy losses," Riveria trailed off, her fingers interlocked as she tried to think of another way.
"Ishtar is planning something. Bell is somehow involved, possibly against his will, but still definitely involved. Her familia is leveling up at an impossible rate, and it started once she gained Bell," Finn replied. "Likely, her ultimate target is Freya, but she is looking to weaken us as well. With the damage to Riveria's reputation, we have had no more elf recruits, so I would say she is succeeding."
Loki's head spun towards Finn, a grin spreading across her face.
"We use the elf."
When her children stared blankly at her, she realized she needed to elaborate.
"Ryuu has feelings for him. Why else would she go through all the trouble of helping him escape the dungeon? Plus, he loved that girl. I remember watching him sneak glances at her. It was puppy love, I tell ya. She rescues him they run off into the sunset together yada yada. Point is, now Bell's out of Ishtar's control. If Ishtar does anything, Ryuu is part of the Freya Familia, and they will stomp Ishtar. We don't even have to do anything."
"I fail to see how giving Freya Bell helps us," Riveria commented.
"Better Freya than Ishtar. At least Freya will stab us in the chest,"
Aisha struggled to stay on her feet as she stared at her goddess. She was exhausted, her limbs barely responding. But such was the duty of the captain. Hopefully, everyone else was on their way to rest.
"Phryne is dead. I also took the liberty of removing those who sided with her."
"You think I called you here for that toad?" Ishtar scoffed, leaning back on her throne before crossing her arms. Her chosen man of the week is standing behind her, rubbing her shoulders. "You let those Loki brats live."
"I did not have enough Amazons to deal with Phryne's group, our traitors, and the Loki Familia."
"You should have just lobbed all their heads off and been done with it!" Ishtar shouted, throwing her empty goblet of wine at Aisha. She made no move to dodge the goblet smashing into her.
"Bell was distraught after killing Reyla. I wasn't going to risk alienating our greatest asset. Had I killed them in front of Bell, I may as well have dropped him at the entertainment distrcit entrance. He would never have stayed with us."
"You're too soft on the boy," Ishtar scoffed, taking a drag of her pipe. Aisha knew Ishtar was wrong. Bell wouldn't understand that side of the family. She had no doubt they would lose him if he knew of the killing and prostitution. "Did you manage to recover the killing stone?"
Aisha pulled the small orb out of her top. The malevolent gleam that had once inhabited the stone was gone. Now, it simply shone blankly. Tossing it to her goddess, she watched as Ishtar ran her hands over the stone.
"There is one more thing," Ishtar spoke, crushing the stone into powder. "You have not been working the streets anymore. Why?"
"The stat growth is enabling me to earn far more valis than I lost from not working,"
Aisha ran her hand through her hair. How could she explain that she was developing feelings for the boy? She wasn't a naive fool, she knew what love was. The last time she had tried to work the streets, she had felt like a prime steak the way she was being looked at. She didn't have a real problem with the visual attention, but every time someone touched her, she felt the need to take a deep hot, soaking bath. After working the streets for so long and having meaningless one-night stands, she wanted someone to look at her the way Bell looks at Haruhime.
"An amazon interested in a weaker man!"
Ishtar's laughter caused Aisha to bristle. "I don't care who's pants you try to get into. So long as Bell is with us."
Ishtar was wrong; Bell wasn't weaker. Physically maybe, but his abilities put him in a league far beyond her.
Having been dismissed by Ishtar, Aisha walked slowly through the halls of the manor. Two guards stood in front of Bell's door, keeping the boy inside. Waving off the guards, she rested her forehead against the cool wooden door leading to Bell's room. Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob and walked inside. Bell was sitting on the bed staring out the window, his skin covered in angry red welts. Haruhime was nowhere to be seen. Aisha frowned, Haruhime was supposed to get bug cream on him as soon as they returned.
"Well, that was a shit trip," she said, staring down at him. When he didn't look up at her, she grabbed his chin, gently forcing him to look at her. "Bell?"
"I killed her," Bell replied softly.
"She was going to kill you."
Aisha stared into his eyes, placing her palm against his cheek. "Adventurers can be some of the worst monsters in the dungeon. That's why we always travel in groups. You did nothing wrong. Reyla betrayed us. But we need to discuss what happened with Loki's kids."
She sat down next to him, leaning back on her arms.
"That they think I was dead?"
"You need to know we are trying to protect you, okay?" She asked softly, wrapping her arms around him. If you needed to get a man to listen to you, you needed to speak their love language. Ishtar made sure all her amazons knew how to identify and exploit this.
Bell's was physical affection. Simple head rubs, the loving arm around his shoulder, and any physical touch took the anger out of him. The child had been starved for physical affection before he arrived. He said he had no family. Manipulating him left a bad feeling in her gut, but it was for his own good.
"After you joined us, Ishtar had to make sure Loki wouldn't come looking for you," Aisha said, running her hand through his hair. "So she faked your death. That's why you went by Crane and that's why we made you wear that necklace. We always check the middle floor schedule to make sure nobody sees you. If Loki finds you, she will hurt our family to get you. Do you understand?"
She felt the soft nod under her chin as she held him. He stared up at her as she pulled back, the defiant look in his eyes gone.
"That's just wrong!" She nodded her head in agreement. "Wait, does that mean Ryuu did recognize me and was helping?" Bell opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face in excitement.
The hopeful look on his face caused her stomach to churn even more. A tinge at her heart let her know it wasn't just guilt about lying to him but also jealousy that led to her response.
"No, we didn't tell her. Just stay inside the manor for a while until this all dies down, okay?"
"Yeah, okay." Their attention was drawn to the door, Haruhime staring at them, eyes narrowed slightly, with a bottle in her hand. She glanced between the two, remembering how they had just been looking deeply into each other's eyes just a few moments before. Aisha's eyebrows went up as she watched the fox's tail poof. Her little fox was jealous!
Pushing the boy onto the bed, she climbed in next to him. "Now, move over. I am exhausted. Thirty-nine floors down and up in one day is no joke." She smirked as Haruhime pulled Bell roughly out of her arms, rolling him flat onto his stomach.
"Sit still, Bell," Haruhime whispered. Aisha struggled to contain a smirk as Haruhime rubbed the cream on her palms, blowing on them to warm them up. She tenderly lathered the cream onto his exposed skin, gazing at his back with soft eyes. Bell struggled not to squirm as Haruhime ran her hands in circles. Look at you go, little fox. She watched as the boy slowly fell asleep, yielding to Haruhime's practiced movements.
"My back hurts. Do I get a massage too?" A tail hit her face as Aisha laughed, turning over to finally get some rest.
AN
: A huge thank you to the Beta Readers who assisted with this chapter. I can say without a doubt they made this chapter what it is so a huge thank you to Eurille and Gogo2015