Bell POV

"So am I dead," I asked my grandpa. He shook his head.

"No, we're just in a land between life and death," he answered.

"Are you real?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yes, I'm real Bell"

I nodded my head. "Good"

I then pulled my fist back and drove it into his gut. He let out a breath as he hunched over from the blow. "That was for sacrificing your life for me"

He grabbed his stomach as air exited his lungs. He let out a cough before pointing his finger at me and laughing.

"You got a lot stronger since the cabin Bell" he coughed before sitting down.

I was confused. "Wait, didn't you talk to me before a couple of times" I sat down on the couch next to him?

He shook his head. "No, Bell, I hate to tell you this, but that was you subconsciously projecting illusions on yourself"

I stared at the floor in silence for a few moments before letting out a chuckle. "Fuck me, my mental state that bad?"

Grandpa nodded his head. "It is, I know you've always been one to push your feelings aside for others, but Bell, it doesn't make you less of a man to seek out help for yours"

I sat there in silence for a moment, processing what Grandpa had just said. I let out a sigh leaning into the couch some more. "Alright, I'll talk to someone about this, now where exactly are we"

Grandpa scratched his beard as he nodded. "We're in the land between life and death, you're not dead your body is very much alive, but I just pulled your consciousness in here for a quick chat"

I was still a little confused. "So my body's alive, but my mind is here, am I brain dead?"

Grandpa shook his head. "No, you're just in a coma, you won't wake up until you leave this place"

I put my hand to my chin. "And I can leave whenever I want to"

Grandpa nodded his head. "That's correct, but before you do, I was hoping you could stay a while, I was hoping to help you master your lightning"

I quirked an eyebrow. "Master it? But Grandpa, I'm pretty good at using it"

"You are, but your use of lightning is crude at best, you see it as a means to make you faster, you rarely, if ever, use it for attacking, last time you used it like that was when you were saved by Astraea's girls"

I thought about his words for a second and realized he was right. "Then, how would I be able to further my proficiency with it."

Grandpa let out a chuckle before he stood up. "Simple, my boy, a god of lightning will teach you"

He walked to the door and gestured for me to follow him, I did as he said and followed him outside, where some targets were set up.

"These weren't here before?" I questioned.

Grandpa let out another chuckle. "Bell, I'm a god, I can do whatever the fuck I want now"

I nodded my head as that made sense, he could use his powers to summon anything he wanted.

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Anya POV

I raced down the street to the hospital. Word of what had happened reached the hostess fast, Mia closed the shop down today, and once she made sure everything was in order, she would come to visit Bell as well.

Once I arrived at the hospital, I slowed down, I didn't want to face Airmid's wrath if I disturbed his patients.

I went to the front desk and got Bell's room number slowing my pace to a fast walk, trying not to break out into a sprint.

I opened the door to his room and saw him on his bed, his eyes were closed, and his chest steadily rose and fell.

I put the flowers I got him on a table next to his bed and grabbed a chair, I pulled it up next to him and grabbed his hand, my tail worriedly swinging back and forth.

"Don't worry, he's fine, just sleeping," Regis said as he put his head on Bell's chest. He was lying on his other side out of view, my guess was he was making sure no one would try to harm Bell while he was in this state.

"But he's in a coma," I pointed out. Regis looked at him, then back at me.

"I know, so he's technically sleeping," Regis pointed out.

I paused and looked back down at Bell, who still had his eyes closed. "How bad was he," I asked.

Regis kept his gaze on me and answered. "He was in bad shape, his heart stopped a couple of times, but we brought him back, if the worst happened, I could've done something to make sure he stayed alive"

His answer was cryptic, and that confused me. "What do you mean by that," I asked.

Regis shook his head. "Nothing you need to worry about, Anya, just focus on spending time with Bell, he'll be happy to know you visited when he wakes up"

I held Bell's hand as I sat there for a while, enjoying the silence as I watched the steady rhythm of Bell's chest rising and falling. It meant he was still breathing.

Yet there was one question nagging me in the back of my mind. "Regis, is it true Alfia was the one that did this"

Regis perked his head up and nodded. "Yup, I don't know why she revealed she was alive, but she was the one that did this"

My ears drooped a little, hearing that Bell's own aunt did this to him, she was supposed to love and care for him, not nearly kill him.

"Do you know when he'll wake up?" I asked.

Regis walked around Bell and laid at his other side, putting his head on my arm as a form of comfort. "I don't, he'll wake up whenever the thing keeping him asleep will let him"

I solemnly nodded my head. "Do you long how long that will be"

Regis paused for a moment before answering. "Could be days, months, or years, but he will wake up"

I looked at Bell's peaceful face again, his eyes still closed, but I felt one thing that made me happy. Bell's hand twitched in my own, it was maybe less than a second, but that tiny little twitch gave me hope that Bell would wake up soon.

The door behind me opened and Mama Mia walked in. "How is he" she asked.

"He's stable but in a coma, don't know when he'll wake up" Regis responded.

Mia nodded as she grabbed another chair and sat down next to me. "So Alfia did this," she asked.

"Yup, she also tore his arm off, but we were able to reattach it, he'll have some nerve damage that aether will take a while to heal," Regis affirmed.

"Why would it take that long?" I questioned.

"Because I expended pretty much all I had keeping him alive, I just now got my form back, and I'm keeping an eye on the kid to make sure nobody tries and kill him," He answered.

Mia gritted her teeth. "Anyone wants to try that, I'll kill them"

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Bete POV

I walked into the hospital and went to the front desk. My hands were in my pockets, and I had my usual I don't care attitude.

"May I help you, sir?" the receptionist asked.

"I'm here to see the little rookie," I answered.

She looked at her papers, trying to find his room number, once she did, she looked back up to me. "He's in 54"

I nodded as a sign of my thanks and walked to it, last time I was here kid was in the hospital after the wargame. Seeing the room number, I opened the door and walked in.

The sun was setting, causing the hospital room to have an afterglow. I didn't take a chair instead, I stood over the kid, my hands still in my pockets.

"You try anything, and I'll rip your throat out before even a hair on his head is hurt," his bond threatened.

Feeling the killing intent coming from the bond, I put my hands up. "I mean no harm, I just came to pay my respects"

I felt the killing intent go away, causing my hands to fall back to my side.

I looked at the sleeping body of the kid, knowing his story, I realized me and him aren't so different, he lost his parents and his entire extended family before he was even born, he blames himself for his mothers death. His grandpa saved his life at the cost of his own, but the difference in families is that my aunt didn't try and kill me.

Another one is that even after losing all that, he was still able to let people in despite all the pain and suffering, unlike me, he was able to protect those important to him and not be an asshole about it.

I let out a sigh, the fuck is this kid doing to me? Ever since he said those words to me the first time he was in the hospital, I was doing a lot of thinking.

Why am I an asshole to people weaker than me? What purpose does it serve? Why can't I just sit down with them and tell them what I actually want to in a way that won't hurt them?

"Kid spark a change in you," his bond joked. It seemed as if he could read what I was feeling.

"Yeah, I guess so, I don't know why I feel like changing, but I do," I nodded.

"Kid has that quality to him, and hey, change could be good, is this why you visited," he asked.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I wanted to see if the kid would make, so he can see I'm willing to try with Lena"

His bond had what I assumed to be a smile on his face. "Well, I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that"

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Artemis POV

Night had fallen by the time I was able to arrive at the hospital. Because of monsters being on the surface, my familia of hunters was kicked into overdrive, yet something prevented us from finding the monsters before they escaped.

I opened the door to Bell's hospital room, seeing him still and unmoving, yet still breathing. I sat in the chair next to his bed and watched as he slept.

Memories of when we were here when his little brother Rye was also in a coma flashed through my mind. The talk we had about the dream he had played in my mind.

Are you dreaming of that right now? Or perhaps it's something else? I find it repulsive that your own aunt did this to you, a woman who was supposed to love and care for you, put you on your deathbed.

"A lot of people have commented he looks peaceful, are you one of them" Regis commented.

I turned and faced him, nodding my head. "Yes, I guess you can add me to that list"

We both turned to him before Regis spoke again. "For all the years I've known him, I think this is the calmest he's ever looked, he's not waking up every day looking like he's barely holding himself together, like the weight of the world isn't gonna crash down on his shoulders, he's just calm"

"Has he always been like that?" I asked.

Regis nodded his head. "He blamed himself for his mother's death, he's never said anything about it, but I can read his emotions, anytime she came up, I could feel guilt and sadness, that's why he doesn't talk about her much, or any of his family really, he's curious of course, but every time he does I can feel a pang to his heart and a sense of longing"

"And I'm guessing his aunt didn't really help at all?" I questioned.

Regis let out a sigh, his snout dropping a little. "He wanted a mother, she wanted a solider, in the end, Bell just ended up getting more hurt"

I looked back at the sleeping boy's face, and my body acted on its own. My hand went up and brushed his hair out of his face, a small smile appearing on his sleeping face. Seems like he's dreaming of something happy.

"Regis, why does Bell want to be a hero?"

Regis looked at me before letting out a sad chuckle. "It's two reasons, one he made a promise to a friend when he was little, and if you know anything about Bell, you know he never breaks a promise, the second reason is Bell wished he had his own hero, someone to come along and take away all the pain and suffering he felt, one never came so he vowed to be his own and not let what happened to him happen to anyone else"

Regis then let out a small laugh. "Then there's me, his trusty sidekick who protects the people he's grown closest to, I know it sounds stupid that Bell never lets me help him, but he can't grow if I coddle him, and there's some people I can't beat by myself"

"His journey's gonna be a tough one, isn't it," I asked, a tint of sadness permeating my voice. Why is it that I care for this boy so much? I usually don't care much for men, but this boy feels so familiar, why?

"It will be, and I'm afraid it's only just begun," Regis answered.

Well, Bell's in some hippy place with his grandpa, and it also seems that ghost Zeus was never real, I kind of hinted at this with mother and father when Bell saw images of his mother raising him.

We also had some more people visit him that didn't last chapter, so that's nice. We also figured out Bell's motivation to be a hero cause I don't think I ever really touched on that.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, later.