Good day you beautiful lot! I'm brand new to writing fan fiction so any criticism(constructive) would be greatly appreciated! I got hella hooked into Danmachi recently and then I suddenly had Bell x Lefiya pairing as a fic idea... I know that this is one of the less popular ships in the fandom, but hell they make a cute couple, this'll be my take on their interactions and overall relationship. This fanfic is an AU, it diverts from the events of the failed Hestia Expedition and may or may not include events from the light novel (only when it's convenient/ideal hehe), I'll also try to update the story weekly, depending on my schedule (I'm currently a college student). Once again, constructive criticism will be greatly appreciatedand will help to make this story and any future stories more enjoyable to the reader, so bombs away.
I do not own Danmachi
Chapter I: Beginning
The dungeon, a dark, eerie and generally unwelcoming place, where monsters of countless kinds inhabit and roam about, searching for their next prey, many have set foot into the dungeon, never to come back. The dungeon has existed for a long period of time, yet none know of its true origin. A good portion of it has been explored, yet the unexplored portion seemingly infinite, with unfamiliar and even more dangerous beats lurking within its uncharted abyss. On the twenty-fifth floor of the dungeon resides a waterfall so breathtakingly magnificent, you'd momentarily forget about your surroundings, which spans from the twenty-fifth all the way down to the twenty-seventh floor. Amphisbaena, the floor boss at the twenty-seventh floor is nowhere to be seen, having been slain by adventurers on an expedition a week ago, at the base of the waterfall stood an eerily still body of water, deceptively innocuous, yet underneath the still waters roam aquatic predators with razor-sharp teeth, ready to pounce on anything that disturbs them, at the edge of the body of water, a small furry creature drank from the water, quenching its thirst, it had a ruby-colored crystal on its forehead and is about as threatening as a child's teddy bear, blissfully unaware of its surroundings, it did not notice the red eyes of a certain white haired adventurer, hidden behind a sizable rock formation, waiting for an opportunity to strike, sword in hand, the adventurer dashes at nigh-imperceptible speed towards the furry creature, suddenly snapping out of its stupor, the creature attempted to run to safety, but before it could do that, it had been reduced to ash by a blade to its body, leaving only its crystal behind.
The adventurer bent down and picked up the crystal before taking a look at it
"Lucky! I got a drop item!"
The adventurer exclaimed out before handing the crystal to a prum girl that was carrying a large backpack.
"This Carbuncle Crystal is quite rare and will definitely fetch a generous price Bell-sama!"
The prum girl with chestnut colored hair exclaimed, the adventurer named Bell nodded
"Yep! I heard from Eina-san that these cute little creatures are about as rare as Unicorns are"
He replied to the supporter's statement, sheathing his sword, the two make their way back to the surface
"Lili still can't believe that Bell-sama were able to catch the Carbuncle off guard! Carbuncles are known for their speed, the second they sense danger they run, yet Bell-sama was able to get them before they could run, being a level five sure is something... right, Bell-sama?"
Lili sparks up a conversation as they slowly but surely make their way up the dungeon, Bell's eyes fall on her petite figure and nod
"Mm... I'm still getting used to my new stats, it feels like I suddenly got a growth spurt and am not used to my new body yet hehe..."
He replied humbly, scratching the back of his head, Lili then fixed her eyes forward
"Bell-sama is amazing... going through five levels in less than half a year, such a feat is unheard of..."
Lili praised him as his cheeks were dusted pink with the seemingly out-of-the-blue praise
"I don't know how it happens, but I just feel the need to catch up with someone and it just fills me with power and determination"
He smiled at her, as she returned it
After reaching the surface, Bell and Lili both make their way towards the Guild counter, exchanging their loot of the day for valis.
"Welcome back Bell-kun, Lili-san!"
A certain guild advisor with pointy ears and glasses greeted the two
"Good afternoon Miss Eina! We'd like to turn in the monster drops please!"
Bell greeted her back as Lili gave her a warm smile
Eina Tulle, a guild employee and advisor of Bell Crane ever since he started out as an adventurer, she was the union of a human and an elf, possessing chestnut hair, green eyes, and a womanly figure, to say that she's a beauty is a criminal understatement.
"Alright, your haul today is one million and three hundred thousand valis, congratulations you two!"
Eina gave them a proud smile as she handed them five money pouches, all filled to the brim with valis
"Woah! I knew that Carbuncle crystals fetched a high price, but this is ridiculous!"
Bell practically jumped at hearing the total, which caused both Eina and Lili to chuckle at his jubilance
"Yes, they're very rare indeed, you guys are really lucky to have even found one in the first place, let alone get a drop from it"
Eina clarified as Bell nodded
After saying their goodbyes, Bell and Lili both made their way to the Hearth Manor as the sun was just starting to set, bathing the city of Orario in a pleasant orange-ish red hue.
They made a stop to a certain pub that was well-known for both its delicious food and its intimidating staff, the Hostess of Fertility, run by a certain dwarf that doesn't appear to be a dwarf, Mia Grande, a veteran level six, previously the captain of the Freya Familia, having settled down and started a business. The Hostess of Fertility is one of the best spots in Orario to fill one's stomach, in fact, the Loki Familia frequents the pub for its exquisite food.
"Nya! Welcome to the Hoste- Oh! White hair's here nya!"
A waitress with cat ears exclaimed as a few more waitresses made their presence known
"Ah! Bell and Miss Supporter! Good afternoon to the both of you! How was the dungeon today?"
A waitress with silver colored hair, a mug in one hand, came out of the kitchen and greeted the two, a radiant smile on her soft features
"Good afternoon everyone! The dungeon crawling went well Syr-san!"
Bell greeted both waitresses with a polite bow and addressed the latter's question with his own smile, which caused the silver-haired waitress' cheeks to develop a rosy hue, accentuating her beauty, much to the chagrin of Lili
"I hope the both of you kept safe"
Another waitress, this time an elf with green hair, came out of the kitchen, she had just put down a stack of dirty plates on the sink, then immediately went out to greet the two, hearing the elven beauty of a waitress, both of their heads snap towards her direction
"Good afternoon Ryu-san! It wasn't a problem for us"
He flashed her a hundred-watt smile which immediately went to work of brightening her cheeks in a pinkish glow
Ryu Lion, also known as the Gale Wind, was a blacklisted adventurer previously from the Astrea Familia, due to a certain encounter with Evilus, her entire Familia was wiped out and left her the sole survivor. Guilt-ridden and vengeful, she set out to personally hunt down anybody even remotely suspected to be connected to Evilus, her personal vendetta made her go on a murder-spree, sparing none simply killing in cold-blood, after an assassination, she was found by Syr Flova collapsed on the ground in a nearby alleyway, utterly fatigued and hopeless in the cold rain, she helped her get cleaned up and offered refuge within the Hostess of Fertility, then after being blacklisted by the guild, she had to find an alternative source of income, to which she started to work as a waitress, eventually growing closer to everyone in the pub, considering them family.
"Th-that's good to hear..."
She replied meekly as Bell's smile grew, furthering Lili's annoyance
"Anyway, what brings you here Cranel-san? Are you here to order something?"
Ryu recovered from her blush and asked about their business
"We're here to order a large meal for our Familia, we got a great haul today!"
Lili replied, perking up as the subject changed from Bell flirting with the waitresses, at least from her perspective
"Oh, great enough to order a large meal eh?"
The matriarch of the pub made her presence known, a wide smile on her face
"Yep! We got a Carbuncle crystal today and gotta say it's wort-!"
Bell would never finish that sentence as Mama Mia laughed in good spirit
"Well I'll be, seems like you do got some weight on you!"
She slapped his back, making him laugh awkwardly
"Apparently their crystals are really rare"
Bell added as Ryu nodded at him
"Indeed, this might sound unlikely, but I've never, in all my years as an adventurer, gotten a drop from a Carbuncle"
Ryu admitted to which Bell's eyes widened
"Woah, we're really lucky apparently..."
He trailed off, Lili nodded her head vigorously at that
"Indeed! Lili thinks that the Carbuncle crystal alone will cover our Familia's sum expense for the next three months"
"Well then, order something will the both of ya?"
Mia suggested as we did just that
After making such a big order, we had to wait for around an hour, we were strolling through the lively streets of Orario, bags of food in hand, the sky was dark and the moon's brilliant face can be seen, yet the streets were well-lit. We arrived at the Hestia Mansion after around ten minutes of walking.
The Hestia Mansion is a generously sized mansion that once belonged to the Apollo Familia, but the nascent Hestia Familia became its new owner after, unbelievably, defeating the Apollo Familia in a War Game, after the war game, the Apollo Familia was disbanded, Apollo was sent back to heaven, and all the Familia's assets were repossessed by the Hestia Familia.
Opening the gate and entering the mansion's front yard, they were greeted by a lovely blonde renard in a maid costume.
"Welcome back Bell-sama and Lili-sama!"
The renard bowed respectfully
"Hello Haruhime! Sorry we took so long, we stopped by at the Hostess of Fertility to order dinner"
Bell then presented the bags of food to her, making her drool
"Oh, thank you! It's a good thing we waited for the both of you before eating..."
She proceeded to help Bell with the bags of food, taking two of them in her dainty hands
"Come along you two, the others are waiting"
"Bell-kun~~~!"
A chibi with a disproportionately generous bosom with respect to her height, tackled Bell into a hug, knocking both of them down to the ground
"G-Goddess!"
"P-Please get offchiliim Hestia-sama!"
Lili exclaimed, which earned her a glare from the chibi goddess
"Is it wrong to show my love to my Bell-kun after a long day in the dungeon?"
She replied with a smirk, much to Lili's ire
Eventually, they both got up as Haruhime called everyone over for dinner
"How was the dungeon today Bell?"
A red-haired man asked, hungrily slurping some fried noodles like a wolf that hasn't eaten in three days
"Do share your experiences with us at the dungeon today Bell-dono and Lili-dono"
A raven-haired woman added, placing a piece of sushi in her mouth, and humming in delight
"We got a good haul today! We managed to get a Carbuncle crystal"
Bell revealed to them, making their eyes widen and nearly caused them to choke on their food
"Aren't those... like, stupidly rare?"
The red-haired man asked, downing a glass of water after nearly choking on his food
"Yeah... I guess we're just really lucky to get one, Welf!"
Bell gave his reply, which made Welf chuckle
"Your luck is quite something"
Welf replied, earning a smile from everyone at the table
Dinner went on with the usual merriment that can be found within the Hestia Familia, sharing of daily tribulations and occurrences, laughing at jokes cracked, and other various topics.
The sun peeked over the horizon, signaling yet another day, and likely a beautiful one at that. The early sunlight made its way into a certain Albino's room through a slit between the drawn curtains, eyes fluttering languidly, he stretched while yawning, then got up, fixed his bed, then went to greet the day.
Exiting his room and turning at the hallway, he met a pair of violet eyes
"Good morning Bell-dono!"
She groggily greeted
"Good morning to you too Mikoto-san!"
He replied with more energy, earning a smile from the raven-haired girl
"Let's head downstairs and help with breakfast shall we?"
Mikoto suggested as he smiled at her suggestion, nodding with enthusiasm as they make their way down the stairs and to the kitchen where a certain blonde renard was currently preparing breakfast
One by one, the rest of the Familia members woke up, said their 'good morning's and went to sit down at the dining table, just as the three finished preparing breakfast, the first thing they noticed was the smell, such a pleasing aroma wafted throughout the kitchen, seducing their nostrils, then after they saw the platter, they began to drool.
Everyone then sat down and proceeded to get a helping of breakfast, making idle chatter to fill the nearly silent ambience
"What are your plans today Bell-dono?"
Mikoto asked as she just swallowed the food she was chewing as it was rude to speak with a full mouth.
Quickly swallowing his food, he replied with a slight shrug
"I don't know, I don't feel like going down to the dungeon today, perhaps I'll take a stroll around the city?"
She nodded as Bell turned to Welf
"Welf, you think you could upgrade my armor? I might be overdue for an upgrade"
He asked the red-haired smith while scratching his cheek
The red haired smith nodded happily
"Sure brother, I can take a look at your armor! Now that I'm a level two, I think I could augment your armor with some spare Orichalcum, making it more durable, yet retaining the light-weight feel so as to not hinder your speed"
Impressively, he said that in one breath, to which Bell nodded
"I'm counting on it"
He flashed him a smile, to which Welf replied with his own
"Lili might go on some personal errands today"
The prum supporter exclaimed
"Well, not much happening today, you can find me at my stall if any of you ever need me"
Hestia said without much excitement, bracing herself for another day at work, not that she hated her job, but it could get a bit repetitive and monotonous every now and then.
"I'll be taking care of the chores"
Haruhime chirped as she finished eating her portion, with a cute burp she excused herself, earning chuckles from all of them.
After breakfast, everyone went on their own way, attending to their daily activities.
Without having much to do, Bell walked through the busy streets of Orario desultorily, head swinging side to side towards anything that is particularly attention-grabbing
'Hmm... perhaps I should go train with Ais-san if she wouldn't mind'
And as if his thoughts have been heard by heavens above, flowing locks of blonde hair suddenly came into vision.
"Oh, Bell... good morning"
Ais Wallenstein, the sword princess, greeted him
Shocked by her sudden appearance, Bell's head snapped towards her direction
She wasn't in her usual battle attire, but had a semi-fit white sleeveless dress on that teasingly shows off her figure, yet is still decent. Along with her was another female, an elf with golden-yellow hair tied up into a long ponytail, she would have looked cute if not for the displeased look she was giving Bell.
"Good morning Ais-san! Lefiya-san!"
Bell managed to compose himself and replied
The addressed elf's frown deepened, then sighed
"Good morning to you too Cranel-san..."
For the sake of pleasantries, the girl replied to his greeting with a small nod.
"Are you two off to somewhere?"
Bell decided to strike up a conversation, Ais' lips slightly curved upwards
"Not really, we were just taking a stroll throughout the city..."
Bell nodded to this
"How about you Bell?"
She followed up with her own question, to which he smiled sheepishly
"Well, I also didn't have anything much to do today... I was just thinking of looking for you to train..."
Her head perked up at his reply
"That's not a bad idea... how about we spar by our usual spot?"
She suggested, to which he looked surprised at her sudden enthusiasm, much to a certain elf's chagrin
"E-eh? r-right now? Are you sure?"
He asked for confirmation to which she nodded
"Sure, why not?"
She nodded to which Lefiya's face betrayed her a look of disbelief
"M-miss Ais? A-are you sure about this?"
The elf tried to dissuade her, only to fail as her blonde partner's enthusiasm was a little too much, she could do nothing but send a slight glare at the human that dare disturb their peaceful stroll.
"Don't be like that Lefiya... you could practice your concurrent chanting with him"
She pointed out, which seemed to improve her mood a bit, if only by a bit.
After the suggestion, the trio made their way towards Bell and Ais' usual training spot, and were now currently on top of Orario's walls that surrounded the city.
"I know that it might seem presumptuous of me, but thanks for agreeing to my selfish request you two..."
Bell thanked them with a flashy smile, Ais nodded in reply while Lefiya turned her head away with slightly pink cheeks
"Anytime Bell"
"D-don't misunderstand Bell Cranel! I'm only here because Ais-san asked me to!"
Lefiya managed a timid reply, to which I chuckled to, causing her further embarassment
"Alright, then I'll start!"
Bell and Ais quickly got into a battle stance and sprung towards one another, intent on having a good spar
"Hah... hah... I'm beat!"
Bell lay on the ground, panting heavily from sparring with the two, Ais was a few feet away from him, also a bit winded but was much better than he was, Lefiya was also panting due to constantly evading his onslaught of attacks while practicing her concurrent chanting, it was safe to say that this had been a productive session.
Bell wiped himself with a towel he had and took a chug of refreshing water, while Lefiya stood next to him
"I have to say... you're not too bad of a sparring partner"
Lefiya had a weird way of complementing somebody, which just earned a chuckle from Bell
"Glad to know"
"Good work you two"
Ais complimented the two as she walked towards them, taking a sip from her own water bottle, the sun was almost at its zenith, so they quickly went down from the walls.
"Thanks again for agreeing to this you two, I look forward to sparring with you both again"
He smiled at them, for the two it was like looking directly at the sun, and the logical response was to look away
"N-no problem Bell"
"I-it was nothing, human..."
"How about I treat you both to lunch as thanks?"
Bell offered which got their attention
"Are you sure that alright?"
Ais asked, with Lefiya raising an elegant brow at the white-haired boy
'What's this human up to?'
"Mhm, I was about to go get lunch myself, so why not?"
Lefiya, for her part, still thought it was some sort of trick, looking at Ais for her verdict, she just looked at her softly with a soft smile and a nod, which washed away her apprehension, letting out a small sigh, she turned to Bell
"Very well Bell Cranel, we shall take you up on your generous offer"
She replied much to his delight
"Well, how about we pay a visit to Wishe Cafe, I'd normally go to The Hostess of Fertility, but it's farther from here"
He suggested as both girls nod at his decision, while the Hostess was undeniably had the best food, it wasn't the only place where you can find good food.
The trio then make their way towards the quaint cafe, which was only about a five minute walk from their location.
It's high noon and most left the streets exposed to the sun's heat in favor of some shade, looking forward to a relaxing afternoon. Arriving at Wishe cafe, the trio were greeted by an elven waitress with mahogany colored hair
"Good day dear customers! Welcome to the one and only Wishe Cafe! A table for three I assume?"
Bell returned the greeting with a nod
She then led them to a small table fit for three people that's by the corner
The cafe had a pleasant ambiance to it, true to its name, the Wishe Cafe is heavily decorated in an elven style, fake vines hung from the ceiling and tree foliages decorate the ceiling to give it a forest-like feel and many potted plants could be found, lots of open windows for a generous amount of ventilation so as to keep the air fresh inside the cafe. As it was noon, the restaurant had a respectable number of customers eating, drinking and chatting in delight with one another, providing a lively ambience to the cafe. Around three-fifths of the customers were elves, who appreciated the elven style of the cafe and wanted to feel home, and the rest were a mixture of different races, from humans to werewolves.
"You three ready to order?"
The waitress came back, holding a notepad and a pen
The three then gave the waitress their individual orders, she then excused herself then went to place our orders, leaving the three of us in silence
Deciding to spark a conversation, Ais speaks up
"I never got the chance, but congratulations on leveling up Bell!"
Lefiya's eyes bulge at her statement, as Bell scratches his head and smiles sheepishly
"Thanks... a lot has happened"
"Y-you leveled up again?! Since when?!"
She nearly shouted, thankfully they calmed her down
"Yeah, around two weeks after our expedition, we fought tooth and nail to survive, so I guess the level up was warranted haha"
He awkwardly replied to her as Ais looked conflicted, noticing his stare, she immediately composed herself
"How do you do it Bell?"
He raised an eyebrow
"Pardon?"
"How do you grow so fast in such a short period of time?"
The white haired adventurer's eyes slightly widen in realization, before giving her a serious look
"We've had this conversation before Ais-san... there's someone I want to catch up to, I want that person to acknowledge me and accept me, I want to walk beside that person, to stand on equal footing with them, yet after everything I've been through, she still seems much too far away..."
She kept silent, taking in my words
"She's helped me so much in the past, I want to show her that I can also help her, I want to show her that she can also rely on me"
Lefiya seemed to resonate with this as her eyes had a soft glow to them
"I can relate to that, there's also someone that I want to prove myself to..."
Lefiya shared, which made me nod
"Well, good luck to the both of you and I hope the both of you are recognized for your strength"
She gave a double thumbs up, Bell and Lefiya both thought it to be cute
After a bit more talking and waiting, their order arrived, deciding not to waste another second the three said their graces and started eating
"Thanks again for treating us to lunch"
"It was the least I could do for training me"
Bell countered, after wishing the both of them a good rest of the day, they decided to go their separate ways
After arriving back at the Hearth Mansion, he took a quick shower then went to check with Welf on his armor
Knocking on the door to the red-headed smith's forge, a few seconds passed before the smith opened the door and let him in
"About time you got here"
He beamed at his fellow familia member
"How's the upgrade going?"
Bell inquired as the smith flashed him a confident smirk
"Better than I expected! I had a bit of difficulty melting the Orichalcum, but it wasn't something I couldn't overcome, now I just need to melt your breastplate and combine them into an alloy, you can bet that this baby'll protect you significantly better than your previous armor"
I smile at him
"That's good to hear"
"I'll also do the same for your vambraces so that there's a higher chance of you not losing an arm"
He joked to which I gave a small chuckle at
Back to the two ladies of the Loki Familia...
"I don't know Ais-san, I don't trust the human... he must be planning something taking us out for lunch like that..."
Lefiya was uneasy as Ais gave her a weird look
"Lefiya... why do you distrust Bell so much? He's not a bad person you know?"
Ais sighed in an exasperated manner, genuinely confused for her lack of trust in the rabbit-like adventurer, but knowing that this distrust had been present for some time already
"I know... it's just... he always gets your attention, I find it unfair"
Ais raised a golden eyebrow at the girl
"Is that a wrong thing?"
Ais pressed, which caused the girl to stammer on her words
"Ah! N-n-no! I-it's not... it's just that... uhm..."
She couldn't really think of a good reason for her lack of faith in him, letting out another sigh
"If you'd get to know him, you'll find that not only is he such a kind, heroic and noble soul... he's also a very interesting person, there's never a dull moment with him around"
'To hear Ais-san speak so highly of him... I guess it wouldn't hurt to get to know him better'
Allowing a small genuine smile to grace her lips, she nodded
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to do that... but I still don't like him hogging your attention Ais-san"
Satisfied with her reply, Ais nodded with a smile
"It's a start"
The two then make their way back to the Twilight Manor, nodding to the guards stationed at the entrance
"Good afternoon Sword Princess-san, Thousand Elf-san"
One of the guards, a rugged man with tan skin, a beard and strong features, greeted the two warmly
"Good afternoon Zario-san, Alto-san"
Lefiya greeted them both
The second man who was tall, pale-skinned and had a look of youthfulness, nodded in response
The two guards stepped aside to open the gate and let them in
"AIS-PU~~~~!!!"
After Lefiya and her had separated, she heard an all too familiar voice shout out
Gracefully dodging to the side, the blonde girl evaded the tackle of a certain red-haired trickster goddess, which caused her to unceremoniously fall face-first into the ground behind her
After a few seconds, she recovered and poked her head up to look at Ais, her cheeks puffing up in indignation
"Awwww, why'd you dodge?"
The red-haired asked her as Ais ignored her indignant attitude
"Because you're being an idiot Loki"
Ais didn't even bother to spare her goddess a glance as the red-haired goddess pouted even more, then suddenly smiled
"What?! How dare you talk to your beloved goddess like that?! I ought to punish insolent children like you Ais-pu~"
As silent as she could manage, she went behind her and tried to get a handful of Ais Wallenstein's heavenly bosom, the keyword is tried.
Immediately turning back and pointing her rapier towards her goddess, Ais threatened her
"Do that and I'll send you back to heaven, Loki"
Luckily the goddess backed off
"Anyways, how'd your morning go Ais-pu?"
Ais, who could now let her guard down, sheathed her sword and answered her goddess in her usual monotone voice
"Lefiya and I were strolling around the city this morning, then we randomly came across Bell"
Loki's eyes opened a sliver
"Itty-Bitty's kid?"
Loki asked for confirmation as Ais nodded
"Apparently he was also strolling through the streets of Orario, he then invited us to train to test out his new level five abilities"
Loki kept silent at this
"Dang... Itty-Bitty's kid is really growing so fast eh?"
Ais just looked down at the floor, her gaze heavy
"Ya know Ais-pu, there's so much more to life than the dungeon and getting stronger..."
They've had this conversation before countless times, but Ais needs a reminded every now and then
"I... I know... it's just that..."
Loki closed the distance between them, embracing her in a warm hug
"I know you know... I just wanted to remind you so you actually take it to heart, you're still so young Ais-pu... there's still so much to see and experience in your life"
It was one of the rare moments that Loki actually acted like the goddess that she was, showcasing her mature side.
Ais could only stay silent, she got bleary eyed but shed no tears. They stayed like this for a bit longer, before Loki finally separated with her
"Feeling better?"
Ais nodded shyly, which made Loki smile in a good-mannered nature
"Let's head inside shall we?"
The two then walked into the mansion's entrance
"Oh by the way Ais-pu, you might want to take a bath..."
"!!!"
-Fin-
How was my first chapter? Did anything not sit well with you guys? Feel free to comment, add suggestions to better the story, or ask any questions, I'll try my best to answer. Also, I'll give a bit of a heads up, some parts of the story might feel like a drag as my creative juice might run out from time to time, but I'll try to keep the story as engaging and interesting as possible. 'til next time! Toodles!