Alright, to clear up some confusion about Bell's role in the familia. What I meant about him being his own separate entity is not him going solo in the dungeon. He's in Raul's party and works with them. But in combat, he's his own entity. The best way I can describe him is as a midfielder in soccer (football). He plays offense and defense because that's how midfielder is played in the States. Now, with that out of the way, onto the chapter.

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Bell was once again in the land of cold and darkness. The army of the dead in front of him. Every time he came here, it was the same thing over and over.

The army of the dead would remain still and unmoving. Bell would stare at them until something scared him awake. Or at least that's how it went when he was younger.

He wished he could see how big this army truly was. But the darkness only allowed him to see a few thousand. If only he could fly and get above the never-ending darkness. But alas, he was human and had no wings.

The wind picked up, and more snow blew around him. The White Walker, whose head resembled a crown, stared at him once again. His cold sapphire eyes piercing Bell's very soul.

But his gaze no longer scared Bell. It made him feel angry. For his whole life, this thing, this force of nature, had plagued his dreams for his entire life, and he was tired of it.

So he did something he never did before. He started walking forward. He didn't know how truly big the army was. So, if he wanted more information, he'd walk through their ranks and count them. One by one if he had to.

But he was stopped for two reasons. One of which was a voice inside his head.

"Look without seeing, and the answers you seek will appear."

Bell didn't know who the voice belonged to, but that wasn't the reason why he stopped. His left arm felt cold, something he had never felt before in his dreams. His body filled with fear, and his breathing quickened.

He slowly looked down his left arm and to his wrist, seeing an icy blue hand holding it. It was cold to the touch, and Bell could feel his wrist freezing over.

His eyes were wide as he traced the arm the hand belonged to and came face to face with the horned White Walker.

His gaze was cold, but Bell could feel the underline of anger. Bell tried to pull his hand back, but it wouldn't budge. He tried harder, and his breathing quickened even more.

The horned White Walker lifted his other hand and started moving it toward Bell. Bell tried harder to get this White Walker to release his grip. His other hand shot to his belt, trying to find his swords, a dagger, anything that could break him free.

He'd cut his own hand off if it meant he'd be released from this grip. But his hand found nothing, and the cold, dead hand was only inches away from his face now.

But before the hand reached his face, Bell shot awake with a scream. His body was drenched in sweat, and his hair stuck to his face. His breathing was quick and shallow. His heartbeat even quicker.

"Yo, you alright man. You were screaming in your sleep," Raul asked, crouching next to Bell's bed. He had shaken the boy awake.

Bell took a second to catch his breath, feeling the comforting nudges from Met help him.

"J-just a nightmare."

"Must've been one hell of a nightmare. You wanna talk about it?" Raul asked.

Bell took his hand away from his hair and shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I did."

"Doesn't mean you can't talk about it. Also, what happened to your arm?"

Bell's eyes widened as he looked down to his wrist and saw a faint blue handprint on his arm. His body began shaking as his breath caught in his throat.

"It grabbed me. It actually grabbed me," Bell thought as he started to panic.

The world seemed to stop for Bell, and he couldn't hear the worried voice of Raul nor the nudges from Met. Silvers worried chirps fell on deaf ears as Bell remained frozen and still.

"What was he trying to do to me? What if his other hand touched me? What do I do? What do I do?"

Raul didn't know what to do. He didn't really know what was wrong, and Bell was unmoving. He had seen trauma from his time as an adventurer, but nothing like this.

"Met you stay here, and I'll go get someone who can help," Raul said, standing up.

It was clear to him he wasn't suited to handle this situation, so he headed to someone who might be able to help.

Opening the door, he walked to Loki's office as he knew she'd still be awake. Most likely planning to peep on girls in the morning. Or she was drinking, and if she was, Raul hoped she wasn't black-out drunk already. Or maybe she was doing both. Raul didn't know with her.

After knocking on her door, he waited until he heard shambling footsteps approach. The door opened, and Loki hung on the doorframe drunk.

"Wha's up?" Loki slurred.

"I need you to go and get Bell's aunt. He had a nightmare and is just frozen in place," Raul calmly explained.

Loki sighed and shook her head. This news caused her to sober up a little. "Alright, back to your room. I'll get her."

Loki stumbled down the hallway to the girls' dormitories, and Raul went back to his room. Loki arrived at Alfia's room and knocked.

Loki didn't even have to wait five seconds before the door opened.

"Your nephew had a bad nightmare. Go and check on him," Loki mumbled before stumbling back to her office.

Alfia didn't have to be told twice and was already halfway to Bell's room after Loki finished speaking. After a few more seconds, she was in Bell's room and saw his roommate, Raul, trying to help.

"What happened?" Alfia worriedly asked. She quickly sat on Bell's bed and wrapped her arms around his head. Pulling him into her bosom.

"I don't know. I woke up because he was screaming in his sleep. So I came over and woke him up, and he seemed fine until I pointed out that handprint on his wrist," Raul explained.

Alfia pushed Bell back a little before grabbing his left arm. She looked at his wrist and saw a faint blue handprint that was fading away.

"This isn't good," Alfia muttered before bringing Bell back to his previous position.

"Is there any way I can help?" Raul asked.

Alfia shook her head. "No, I'm afraid this is something Bell needs to push through on his own. All we can do is offer our support."

"If you don't mind me asking. What has him so scared?" Raul asked.

Alfia ran her fingers through Bell's hair in an attempt to calm him. She knew she'd have to tell Raul something, and since humanity needed to prepare for the long night, she'd have to tell him the truth. They didn't have any time to waste in preparing.

"Raul, have you ever heard of White Walkers?" Alfia asked.

"My mom told me stories of them to make sure I behaved as a child. After she died, I didn't really hear much of them anymore. Why?"

"Well, since you know the stories, I don't need to explain it to you. But ever since Bell was three, he's had the same nightmare all his life. A land of cold and darkness stretching as far as the eye can see. But in that land, Bell sees an army of the dead led by a White Walker. He'd used to crawl into my bed after having each nightmare, but over the years, he grew to be indifferent to it. That was until today, if my theory is correct, one of the White Walkers grabbed him. That's why he has the handprint on his wrist," Alfia explained.

Raul nervously gulped as he digested the information. The stories his mother told him scared him as a child, and even now, when he thinks about them, he feels a chill run down his spine.

"S-so y-you're s-saying they're real?" He nervously asked.

"Yes, and Bell sees them. Does this information scare you, Raul?"

"I mean a little bit, yeah. You just told me an army of the dead exists. How else am I supposed to react to this?"

"Well, you'll have to push that fear down. Tell me, Raul, do you have anyone important to you? Anyone that you would want to protect?"

"I do. I don't want my friends to die. I've been with them for a long time. I don't want to watch them die."

"If you had to trade your life for theirs, would you?"

Raul was quiet at Alfia's question. Would he trade his life for that of a friend? Sure, he was a level four, but that was only because he was picking up the scraps of the executives of the Loki familia.

He was weak and cowardly, something Bete reminded him of constantly. Would he really have the courage to jump in front of a blade or arrow to save someone he held dear?

"I don't know," Raul answered.

"Hmm. Well, you better find you're courage somewhere. Else everyone you know and love will die," Alfia warned.

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Bell laid in the grass panting. It was still night out, but Bell had calmed down enough to not be a statue. The blue handprint on his wrist was gone, but it still gave Bell a good scare.

All this time that, White Walker could've grabbed him but didn't. Why? Was it because he didn't want Bell counting his army?

That was the only reason Bell could think of.

Bell pushed himself to his feet and saw Alfia standing across from him. She was in a nightgown as she had dragged Bell outside to get his mind off the nightmare, and what better way to do that than to train?

"You get the adrenaline out of your system yet?" Alfia asked.

Bell nodded his head, trying to catch his breath. Alfia gestured to a tree that was in the garden. Bell walked to it with Alfia close behind him.

Pressing his back against the tree, Bell sat down, and Alfia sat next to him. The two were quiet for a moment before Alfia spoke.

"You wanna tell me exactly what happened this time? You haven't been that scared since you were a kid."

"The White Walker grabbed me. I don't know how he was able to, considering I'm a whole other continent away. But he grabbed me and was gonna do something to me. I don't know what, but I feel as if his other hand touched my face. I'd be different."

"Anything else happen."

Bell nodded. "I was told to look without seeing, and the answers I seek will appear. But I don't know what that means."

Alfia grabbed Bell's head and guided it to her lap. She softly stroked Bell's hair in a comforting motion.

"I don't know what that means either. But why would the White Walker grab you now after all these years?"

"I tried to count his army. My guess is he wants to keep his numbers a secret."

Alfia kept stroking Bell's hair as he began to calm down. He needed to get his head in the game. If he didn't, who knows what will happen?

"Do you feel better?" Alfia asked.

"A little. I'll be fine in the morning."

Alfia nodded, and the two remained under the tree until the early morning rays of the sun shone above them. Seeing the sunrise, Alfia and Bell both went back to their rooms. Bell assuring Alfia he was fine now.

Just a little off guard by the White Walker grabbing him.

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"Hey, Raul," Bell called out, attaching his swords to his belt.

"Yeah," Raul answered, putting his shirt on.

"I don't want everyone to know what happened last night. So can you keep it on the down low?" Bell asked.

"Uh, sure, but wouldn't it be beneficial to tell everyone about the army of the dead?"

"Raul, if I told you about me seeing an army of the dead without the blue handprint on my arm, would you believe me?"

Raul was quiet for a moment before answering.

"No, I guess I wouldn't. But if you said it in front of Loki, you'd be telling the truth."

"Raul, no one would believe me, even with Loki's backing. She's a trickster, and I'm some random guy who dreams about something thought to be a legend. I have to play this carefully before I tell everyone."

"And how do you plan to have people believe you?"

"I don't know. But even if no one listens, I'll hold the line. Even if I'm alone."

Raul looked at Bell's back as he finished attaching his swords to his belt. Silver flew up and landed on Bell's shoulder as Bell gave Met some pets.

Alfia's question kept running through his mind. Would he be able to sacrifice himself to save a loved one? The answer should be a simple yes, but Raul was having trouble figuring it out.

He and Bell didn't say any more words before heading downstairs for breakfast. They sat down with Aki, Cruz, and Alicia.

Bell sat next to Alicia, and Raul sat next to Aki. Both pretended they were fine when asked about the bags under their eyes.

Bell settled in and got to know his new party members more. Aki, the black-haired cat girl, was teasing and flirty, but from the whispers Bell had heard, she was a good leader when the situation came to it. She also liked to bake.

Cruz wasn't much of a talker with people he didn't know, but he was slowly warming up to Bell. He found out that Cruz was like an older brother to the younger members of the familia. He also made sure their equipment was secure before they headed down. He also didn't get bothered by many things either.

Alicia, the elf, was fascinated by magic because of her elvish heritage. She didn't see herself as superior but found it quite interesting when a non-elf could use magic. She was a part of Riveria's fairy force and was second in command. But she was also extremely loyal to her princess. She had a hatred for dragons in Dragon Valley and wanted to become stronger so she could help stop the dragons from escaping from there.

"Alicia, if you want to pet Silver, you can," Bell said. He could feel her eyes boring into Silver, who stared curiously at the elf.

"I don't want to pet him. I just don't understand how you can care for a dragon like that. Won't he grow big and be a destructive force of nature?" Alicia asked.

Raul tensed a little. The force of nature comment made him think of the army of the dead. Nobody but Bell noticed this, however.

"Hey, Silver is well-behaved and lovely if you get to know him. Raul even read him a bedtime story."

"Oh, is that true, Raul? Would you read me a bedtime story if I asked?" Aki cooed, her tail wagging in mischief.

Raul blushed and looked away while Aki poked his stomach with her tail.

"Aki, stop your flirting. It's too early for this," Cruz said, eating his pancake.

"Fine, fine. Say, Bell, would you read me a bedtime story if I asked"

Bell could feel Aki's tail poking against his leg.

"Nah, Raul is perfectly capable of reading to you himself," Bell answered before tossing a piece of bacon to Met.

"A-ah, alright, let's stop with the bedtime story talk, and Bell would be a good story reader," Raul sputtered out.

Alicia didn't say anything and kept staring at Silver. It wasn't a hateful stare. It was one of morbid curiosity. How could a dragon be turned into a mere pet for a human?

Bell just sighed. "Silver, go and introduce yourself to the elf who seems smitten with your looks."

Silver happily chirped before flying and landing on Alicia's shoulder. Alicia jumped up in front as Silver tilted his head.

"H-h-hi there," Alicia nervously said.

Silver looked curiously at the nervous elf before looking back to Bell. Alicia gave Bell a pleading look, causing the boy to sigh.

"Come back, Silver"

Silver chirped before flying back and landing on Bell's shoulder. Alicia took a deep breath while Bell gave her a smug look.

"See, he's friendly."

Alicia blushed in embarrassment. "You didn't have to sic him on me."

Bell waved her off. "Scaredy cat"

"Hey, that's offensive to cats," Aki chimed in.

"Oh, don't you even start," Cruz said.

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After finishing their breakfast, Raul and the others decided to show Bell around the city. Monsterphelia was in a few days, and Bell decided to spend it with his new familia members. Alfia already said she wasn't going to go and for him to have fun.

Which he found odd. Alfia was normally very clingy and worried when he went off on his own. But he wasn't going to say anything about that.

So, as he left with Raul, Aki, Alicia, and Cruz, he was unaware of Alfia's eyes watching him leave from the bedroom window that overlooked the entrance.

She was still dressed in her black nightgown. As it was only nine o'clock in the morning. After Bell was out of her sight, she rolled up the sleeve of her nightgown and saw the small bruise Bell had left on her arm.

She had gotten it from blocking a simple right hook from Bell, but that punch was different from his others. Before his fist connected, she noticed a small white glow that was so dim she could've mistaken it for the moonlight if it hadn't disappeared right after.

Was this a new skill he had, and if so, how did it manifest? Maybe she'll find out the next time Bell has a status update.

She ran her finger along the bruise, not feeling any pain from touching it as she had long grown used to pain from being an adventurer. But Bell had never been able to land a scratch on her because of her level-nine durability.

"Hmm, I guess he really is growing up. He'll be a man soon. A man, it feels weird saying that," Alfia thought to herself.

She had been with Bell since he was born. She had raised him like he was her own, as Alfia couldn't have children. She was deemed infertile, and that was fine with her. She didn't really like the company of children.

But that all changed when Bell was born. His tiny body used to fit in the palm of her hands. His big red eyes stared at her and were so full of innocence.

His white hair reminded Alfia of her sister, and the kindness Bell showed was also from his mother. But his eyes were his father's, and if this was before the OEBD, she'd hate his eyes. But it was thanks to Silver sacrificing himself to allow Zald and Alfia to escape, which allowed Alfia to raise Bell, that she felt no anger seeing those eyes.

"He really has grown. No longer a little boy anymore," She thought, tracing the bruise on her arm before stopping.

"Well, enough about those thoughts. It's time to get dressed."

Alfia then disrobed and walked to his closet, picking out one of many of her gothic dresses. She grabbed her belt with Dark Sister attached and stopped.

She looked at the Valyrian steel sword that Bell had given her. An heirloom of the once great and mighty House Targaryen. From sheep herders to dragon riders to nearly extinct.

Bell has given her one of his ancestral swords without a second thought of what it could mean, and judging by his persistence to give her this sword, he didn't know what it meant when she took it, and she wasn't going to be the one to tell him.

It was way too embarrassing.

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"Oh, look at you, Mr. Knight, here to scoop little Alicia and take her away," Aki joked, causing Alicia to blush.

The group had taken Bell to a clothing store as he didn't bring many clothes with him to Orario. Right now, he was wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt that accented his biceps. His pants were grey, and a red scarf was around his neck.

Bell looked at Aki in confusion. "I'm not even wearing armor, and if I was here to scoop Alicia off her feet, I'd figure out a plan first. Also, why did you hand me a scarf?"

"I thought it'd look nice on you. Besides, if it gets cold, you can wrap it around Alicia and keep her nice and warm."

Bell rolled his eyes and took the scarf off. "You think you're funny, don't you? Besides what you call cold here, I call a light breeze."

"Alright, Hearthome boy, we get it. We don't know the meaning of cold. Now pick your clothes out, and let's go," Cruz complained.

"What, you don't like to do a little shopping, Cruz. Who knows, maybe one day when you get a girlfriend, all you'll do is shopping," Aki teased.

"I would rather take a blade to the chest than be forced to go shopping with a woman," Cruz replied.

"You and me both," Raul added.

Alicia turned to Bell, her blush gone from her face. "What about you, Bell? Would you rather die than go shopping with a woman?"

Bell shrugged. "I wouldn't really care. I never got to do stuff like this in Hearthome."

"Wait, you've never been shopping before?" Aki asked.

"Nope, any clothes I had in Hearthome were either made or bought for me by family, " Bell answered, stuffing his clothes into a bag.

He walked to a counter and went to pay for them but was stopped when Aki slid a valis pouch to the shopkeeper.

"Don't worry, this trips on me. Can't have the new guy buying his own things after dragging him here," She said.

"Oh, thank you," Bell said, a little surprised.

Aki then told Bell to leave the bag here as the shop had a delivery service, and his clothes would be delivered back to the Twilight Manor. Bell thought this was pretty cool, and when no one was looking, he tipped the shopkeep extra.

The group walked back out into the street, and it was bustling with life. From vendors trying to sell their goods to adventurers of all races heading to the dungeon, the city of Orario was truly the center of the world.

"Alright, hurry up. We need to get this set up before Monsterphelia."

"I'm hurrying; I'm hurrying."

"Hey, did you hear that Raymond got married?"

"Didn't he marry his cousin?"

"Yes, but he's a Velayron, so incest is normal for him."

"Oh well, I wonder if any other houses of old Valyria are around."

"Didn't you hear there's a Targaryen boy in the city?"

"Really, I thought those were just rumors."

"Fresh fish here straight from Melen at a cheap price for today only."

Bell ignored most of this chatter and focused on the sights of Orario, from the canals that ran clean water to the intricate buildings that littered the streets. Bell was enamored by such architecture as he had only seen the wooden cabins in Hearthome his entire life.

"Amazing. That's what you're thinking right now, isn't it?" Alicia asked.

Bell looked at Alicia, whose orange hair reminded him of fire.

"Yeah, I was. How did you know?" Bell asked.

Alicia giggled. "It's plastered all over your face, and I also thought the same thing when I first arrived after leaving my home forest."

"You seem a lot more friendlier than this morning." Bell joked.

"I've just simply gotten to know you better," Alicia mumbled.

Silver looked at Bell and then to Alicia. He looked back at Bell before jumping onto Alicia's shoulder. Alicia yelped before Silver playfully nudged her cheek.

"Silver. We don't just jump on people without their permission. Or unless I tell you to so, you can mess with them," Bell chastised, grabbing Silver but careful not to touch Alicia.

Silver chirped in protest before pouting.

"Don't give me that look," Bell said.

Silver let out another chirp before turning away.

"Fine, be angry."

Silver let out another chirp before flying away and landing on Met's head. Met just looked up at the dragon before continuing her walk, not really caring. Silver was resting on her head.

"Sorry about that. He's still a child," Bell apologized.

"No, it's alright. He just caught me off guard, is all. I can see now that he's harmless and means no harm. Else, he would've bitten me."

Aki watched the two with a teasing smirk on her face. She would have so much fun teasing Alicia later.

Cruz and Raul also watched the two for a different reason.

"50 Valis says Bell pulls her," Cruz said.

"Please, Alicia, hooking up with a human. You're on," Raul said as the two shook hands.

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Loki and her big three sat in her office discussing the new breed of monsters that appeared. They were plant-like and spit acid, and instead of a purple monster stone, theirs was yellow.

Alfia was also there sitting in on the meeting and being brought up to speed on the current situation.

"So a faction calling themselves Evilus is making these monsters and kidnapping adventurers. Seems like they've been in the shadows for quite some time," Alfia said.

"Seems like it. You've already said how Bell might've run into these guys already. Saving Take's child, right?" Loki replied.

"Yes, he and his friend ran into them on their way out of the dungeon. But why kidnap adventurers in the middle of the dungeon with so many people around?"

"Maybe they have a secret passageway to traverse the dungeon without anyone knowing?" Rivieria added.

"Or they think they're strong enough to do stuff like that and get away with it," Gareth said, taking a sip from his mug. He was drinking ale in the middle of the meeting. If it wasn't something he could punch or joke with, he didn't really care much.

Loki but her fingernails. It was clear she was a little anxious.

"Well, by the looks of it, we're one step behind them. We don't know how long they've been building their strength and what we're up against. We need to get more information."

"I'll make the arrangements for another expedition and see what we can find. Maybe they have a base on a floor we haven't explored yet." Finn said.

With the meeting finished, everyone left Loki's office, and the goddess reached into her desk and grabbed a bottle of scotch. She poured herself a glass before chugging it.

"Why now does some evil organization have to appear? We need to be focusing on stopping the long night. Not killing each other and adding to their ranks. Bell, I hope you grow fast cause you might be our only hope."

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"Alright, boys, you wait here. We'll be right back," Aki said, dragging Alicia off to who knows where.

"So Bell," Cruz said, a teasing grin on his face.

Bell gave Cruz a side-eye. "Yes?"

"What do you think of Alicia?"

Bell was quick to answer. "She seems nice, and it seems like she has a good heart."

"Yeah, I've seen you staring at her heart," Cruz joked.

Bell elbowed him in the stomach without even looking. Bell then turned his attention to Raul.

"Something you want to say?" Bell asked.

"Nope," Raul nervously said, looking away.

"Thought so"

"You didn't deny what I said," Cruz wheezed out.

"I'm aware. You do realize she's taller than me, so I have to look up a little to speak to her, right?"

"Very convenient."

"Indeed"

The three waited for a while in silence before Cruz spoke up.

"This is why I'll never date. Women take forever to get ready or choose what they want."

"Cruz, we've been standing here for 20 minutes," Raul pointed out.

"That's 17 minutes too many. It shouldn't take them this long to get what they're getting."

"Please, if you think this is long back at Hearthome, Alfia hogged the bath for hours. I had to heat the water up with my fire magic after she was done."

"Wait, you have magic?" Raul and Cruz asked at the same time.

Bell didn't say anything and just conjured a flame in his right hand and an icicle in his left. He then got rid of them as quickly as they appeared.

"Well, that's very useful," Cruz said. He didn't really seem to care Bell could use Chantless magic.

"That's pretty cool and all, but don't let Alicia find out about that. She'll lose her mind," Raul added.

"Maybe she'll try and jump his bones and make strong half-elf mages," Cruz joked.

Bell promptly elbowed him in the gut again.

"Worth it"

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Ten years before Bell and Alfia arrived.

Down in the dungeon in a hidden Evilus base, an adventurer was lying dead on a table. Her hair was a crimson red that went down to her shoulder, and her eyes were a light green like jade.

She had nothing to cover herself with, and she lay with her chest open. Her heart was removed, and a figure inserted a yellow monster stone where her heart used to be.

The figure then lit up four braziers around the table and began to chant a prayer. They held their hand over the woman and kept chanting, and slowly, the woman's chest began to close.

After her chest fully closed, the woman shot awake, gasping for air. She put her hand to her chest and felt something pulsating inside her. But she didn't know what. Turning her head, she looked at the figure next to her and saw a man in a red robe with a burned face.

"Welcome back to the land of the living. The lord of light must still have plans for you."

Well, I'm gonna end it here next chapter will be Monsterpheila. Anyway, quick rundown. Bell got grabbed in his dream, and it scared him. Alfia sees he's growing up, and Bell is making friends.

Anyway, I'll see you all later bye.