Part V - The Determination to Fight
All eyes were locked on Bell, as they waited for his answer and the weight of the silence grew heavy on his shoulders. It was here that he knew what would lead them to failure, if not today then tomorrow. No matter what there were potential ramifications, things that couldn't be avoided. And this was a situation that Bell lead his familia into by making this a joint mission. It was here that Bell realized something.
"This is the weight of leadership."
Just like in the stories that his grandfather would tell him, there were moments like this where the hero would have to determine the path that not only he would take but only his people. And while he knew that there was a fear that was eager to wrought itself upon him. He had no choice to but to make that decision here and now. There was no delaying. No procrastinating.
Slowly he rose from his seat, to stand as the captain of his familia. Opposite of Finn.
"For the sake of my familia, I respectfully decline." Bell said formally to assure Finn that it was purely just that. Finn's eyes widen in pleasant surprise as he heard the words come from Bell's mouth.
"Bell.." One of them gasped, he didn't know who.
"If it were only me, I would agree. But I can't knowingly risk their safety." Bell spoke firmly, the nervousness he felt, what he would commonly display gone. For when it was the sake of his people, that was able to be pushed aside.
"Then what do you propose we do?" Finn asked with hands behind his back. His eyes intensely observing to see what answer Bell will produce.
The question caused Bell to break eye contact and survey the feet that surround him, giving him time to think. To process the possibilities, to form his own plan. One possibility after the other went through his mind. And then he recalled what Aiz told him at the mansion.
"I believe that the Guild planned on if something was down there that you couldn't handle, my team would be a barricade that would act as a buffer for you to collect yourselves. Why have it be only that? If you and your team brings it up to us, then we can do a pincer. Overwhelm it from all sides. Then we'll kill it.
"You want us to take a monster up ten floors just so you can kill it?" Bete growled in annoyance at the audacity of the suggestion.
Bell looked over at Ryuu, the look in her eyes said it all as she knew what he was going to say. "So we can. We know how it moves, what works and what doesn't. Her and I will be the driving force to take it down."
It wasn't arrogance, or an overestimation of his ability. It was experience that he was speaking from. From a brutal lesson was taught. One that he had to face time and time again. It wasn't one encounter. He was hunted and escaped, and then found again. But it wasn't only him.
Before him, Finn stood and smiled at the boy opposite of him.
"Bell, you never cease to exceed expectations."
"Huh?" He didn't know what to make of that. He was surely anticipating some sort of scorn or disappointment considering it was his idea to work together in the first place.
"If we can't handle it, we'll bring it up to you. In the event of that happening, Aiz, you're the fastest of us. Do you think you'd be comfortable with stalling it as we fall back? If not, we can rotate that or double team."
"Hmm? You wouldn't want me to kill it?" Aiz asked perplexed by the question.
"Any magic you throw at it will come right back at you. I've seen people die from it. So you might end up just killing yourself with your own magic." Ryuu said humbly.
"But I have a sword?" Aiz asked absolutely clueless as if she wasn't paying attention at all.
"This is under the scenario that we can't handle it and need to fall back to Bell's team on the twenty-seventh floor." Riveria restated for her.
"Oh.. Then yes. I can do that." Aiz sat, nodding.
"Good, before we get too carried away. Are there any objections so far?" Finn asked as he turned his head on a swivel, giving everyone a chance to speak up. "No? Good. To further enact upon this plan I guess we'll both be leaving for the twenty-seventh floor at the same time to coordinate with the layout of the floor. And-.."
"Nine Hell, I think he's waking up!" Jai's voice shouted from up on the second floor.
"Excuse me." Immediately she rose to her feet and departed from the circle in a hurry.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Jai asked in a panic. "You can't go, guy. Come on!"
Riveria couldn't tell what was happening, that's when she heard a heavy thud. Like the weight of a body falling. Her pace quickened down the hallway, and behind her she heard another set of footsteps. Reaching the door that was left a crack open she entered, and there saw the man on the floor being lifted up by Jai.
"I tried to tell him that he needs to stay in bed.. But he wouldn't listen." Jai said once he heard the door open and saw Riveria standing there.
The man weakly mumbled, trying to grip onto Jai's shirt.
"Guy, you gotta lay down." Jai wrangled his arms under the man's and attempted to lift him up.
"Here." Riveria said as she grabbed his feet and swung them onto the bed. As she stood up, there was a strange look on Jai's face as the man sunk onto the bed. The last words just falling from his lips and his conscious fading back into oblivion. "What's wrong?"
"You don't happen to know anyone named, Serene, do you?" Jai asked as he slowly brought his eyes over to Riveria's.
"No, there's no one I know by that name." Riveria said. Taking his hand away from his chest revealing what was handed to him. In it, a black scarf, no, a mask. Interlaced with fine silver threads.
"He said to give this to her if she's going back down. To the girl with the golden soul." Jai's eyes looked past Riveria and there in the doorframe he saw two figures. Tiona and the Sword Princess, Aiz. "There's only one person who I can think of who comes close to being golden. But here name isn't Serene.."
Riveria turned to Aiz. "Golden soul?"
She swung her head around to the man who just passed out.
"What are you talking about? Soul?" She turned back to Aiz who stood in confusion, her eyes going from Riveria to the mask then to the man and back to Riveria. Tiona looked as if she was on the verge of saying something with her mouth slightly agape, only to repress it.
"What Tiona? You looked like you had something?" Riveria asked.
"I.. Uhh. Well I sort of heard that name before but from a book.. And well, she's kinda dead.."
Riveria sighed in exasperation as she raised her hand to her forehead, like one would normally do to remedy a headache.
"What?! You asked!" Tiona shouted defending herself.
"I'm going to hold onto this for now, ok? We don't exactly know what makes this special, or why he'd want to give it to you in the first place." Riveria turned to Jai giving him a courteous nod. "Can you keep an eye on him once more. I have to check something."
"Sure thing. I'll holler if anything happens again."
"Thank you." She said through beared teeth and proceeded to walk past Tiona and Aiz only to come to a stop as an idea happened to pop into her mind. "Tiona, why don't you help him keep an eye on him, in case he tries to get out of bed again?"
"Oh! Yeah! You got it!" Tiona said, immediately darting into the room and perching herself on the chair tucked away in the corner, like a watchful guardian. Aiz watched Riveria leave without her saying anything else. Taking that silence as permission to do as she pleases. And so she stood by the door, her eyes carefully watching the man before her. Anticipating the moment when he may wake up.
With Riviera leaving, Aiz entered the room from the hallway. Cautiously stepping in with light footsteps. The man, Jai, slid her a chair before he departed. Claiming that there was too much pressure in the room for him to breathe. Sitting down at the foot of the bed she glanced to Tiona with the name Serene still fresh in her mind. It was a name she thought she heard him utter through the sound of the battle between the Goliath. That and the word "sis."
"That book you were reading with Serene in it. You said she died?" Aiz asked with the plain face of a doll.
"Yeah, Raul ruined it for me.." Tiona grumbled as she began to sit pretzel legged on the chair.
"Hmm, what is it about?"
"It's not really about one thing. But a bunch of stories put together in a book about Serene and her brother."
"Like a journal?" Aiz tilted her head, it was the only thing that made sense for her.
"Yeah! That! It's kinda sad. You see a lot of people come and go in the book, but it was always them working together. Until she ran away one time, he was pissed!" Tiona began to grow excitedly as she replayed the story in her head with her legs fluttering up and down like butterfly wings.
"He was?"
"Mm-hmm! He got into this fight with this monster that nearly killed him and his sister in the Eiring Straights and to win he had to cast a spell in koine, 'I promise to be your light to ward off the darkness. The sword to slay all monsters who seek to do you harm. I pray-.."
Tiona was raising her hand up and out, holding an invisible sword to slay the imaginary monster from the book.
"-Morituri..." Aiz said quietly as she watched the man's chest slowly rise and fall. The single word taken from her mouth.
"Yeah! Wait how'd you know that? Did you read the book?" Tiona's arm flopped down as the moment to shine was taken from her, in it's place she was plagued by curiosity.
"No.. I-... I heard it somewhere else once before." Aiz, stuttered softly as she tried to come up with a reason.
"Oh, really where?" Tiona prodded as she hunched over forward, genuinely curious for her answer. It was that amount of attention that was making her uncomfortable where she turned her head slightly away.
"I can't remember... But do they ever mention his name, Serene's brother?" Aiz asked softly.
"Oh well, that's easy, it's Ansem. He always went by other names though, I haven't been able to put that one together..."
Tiona was genuinely puzzled, though it didn't take much for her to come to that state of mind. Tiona's words drifted off into oblivion as Aiz's attention began to be drawn to the man resting peacefully on the bed. It was a stretch, even for her own imagination, but the pieces were there before her all thanks to an unlikely person's favorite pastime. And though it was a name she never heard of before until this moment, she knew it was a name that she knew she wouldn't forget.
"So that's your name.. Ansem.."
Author's Note: Hey guys, gals, thems and Xenos. The next addition is probably going to be a big one which is going to need four-six days to write and polish. A lot happens, it basically has its own mini five act arc. It will be possibly 5k words + and I'm already at 1k words. So it will be long and I don't want to do cliffhangers. I have read the comments, and I truly do appreciate the feedback! I know that I don't know everything about DanMachi and it's world, so it's nice having people point things out that I may have missed. So again, keep it up, I like having an open dialogue with you all. And I look forward to sharing what next weeks work will be. Take care until then.