Author's note:
A short chapter, next few should be fun though. :)
Chapter 55: A Bold Proposition
PoH:
"And who exactly, are these people?" PoH spoke boldly, if a bit warily. Walking into the room made all of his survival instincts flare up. He was not sure he had ever sensed a group of people more dangerous than the group that was assembled here.
Ikelos and Thanatos were present as well, both had smiles on their faces. That was creepy enough but the person who drew PoH's eyes was a beautiful woman with short red hair leaning against the wall with hooded eyes.
Now there was a broad that would be nice to take for a spin or two. Except… PoH had a feeling he wouldn't survive hitting on her.
Beyond that there were two other men, one of which was wearing a pair of red goggles. Staring into the other one's eyes, PoH struggled to restrain a jump. Keeping his face calm in his ever-present smile, PoH looked at that dour face and eyes with a red D displayed prominently in the center.
The last person was another woman. Nowhere near as crazy hot as the red-haired one but twice as insane. With that spiked pink hair and bright yellow eyes, PoH steered clear, instead going to lounge by Ikelos.
"That is everyone then," Thanatos spoke smoothly.
PoH still did not trust the death god. He also assumed that the death god wanted him dead as PoH did not help with his disaster on the twenty-seventh floor.
"Can we speed this up?" The women with the red hair spoke up. "I have more magic stones to devour for my trip."
Devour magic stones? PoH kept lounging, but his ears were wide open. He needed every bit of information available to begin levelling the playing field.
"Yes, yes," Thanatos agreed with a creepy smile. "Neh, Valetta-chan, can you bring your new toy in?"
"Ah, yeah." The insane woman poked her head out a side door and yelled something at the people there. Moments later, two evilus members in the identity hiding hoods dragged a… a frog in?
Examining the lump closer as it twitched and whined, stirring to life, PoH decided that it was a woman. One of the ugliest that he had ever seen. That dark skin tone symbolic of the amazons indicated that she was a member of those man-eating brutes.
"Ah, gods! W-What do you say the three of us enjoy a night together? Whichever of you pleasures me best, I'll join the familia of!"
She's insane… PoH quickly composed his features, however. The woman had no sense of power around her and was beaten within an inch of her life. That Valetta woman must have wanted to get a rise from the people present and taught the woman what to say ahead of time.
"Silence Phyne," Thanatos sighed, "you can either join my familia or die. You have five seconds."
It took her one. "Y-Yes, of course I will!"
"Good." Thanatos hopped up to his feet and began the process there and then.
"This did not require us," a gravelly voice spoke. The red D's in his eyes seeming to glow prominently in the dim chamber of Knossos.
"That may be the first logical thing I've heard Barca say," the red-haired woman sighed.
The goggled man snorted. "Isn't that the truth."
At that moment, Thanatos finished his conversion progress, stepping back with a smile.
"Hue hue hue," laughing with a deep, creepy voice, Phryne rose to her feet, the previous frailty gone.
She now possesses a status that PoH could instinctively tell was far superior to his own. Grinding his teeth, he raged internally. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. He had brought guns to this world! He should be able to conquer it.
"Ah," Ikelos snapped his fingers, "so this is who you plan on using for the test."
"Precisely," Thanatos agreed, sharing a knowing look that only the gods seemed privy to. Then, Thanatos turned that knowing gaze to PoH. "Try to kill Phryne, PoH. Phryne, survive and don't kill him."
Freezing in place, PoH's head snapped to where the frog woman was also dazed. That ended in a moment as she looked over PoH with a deadly smile.
"You won't die from being devoured…" With an inhumanly long tongue, she licked her lips.
Shivering, PoH didn't want to be devoured, so he drew a gun and shot her in the face. With a sharp crack, the loud sound reverberated in the small room. Only the gods flinched from the sound.
Phryne's smile fell, but she lived. The bullet was buried in the wall behind where her head was. He hadn't missed, she had dodged.
With that terrifying thought in mind, PoH lowered the six-round revolver prototype to her large body and emptied the other five shots.
He got through three before a meaty fist took him in the face and sent him crashing to the wall where he slid down, vision going black at the edges.
"Enough," Thanatos called. "Halt, Androctonus!"
PoH's vision cleared just enough to see her panting angry face hovering over him. Her fist that would do more than knock him out was primed and ready to go.
"Ehh? Why!? Bastard injured me!"
"Yes, superficially. So it seems like these new toys are only useful up to level four. Beyond that, their effectiveness diminishes rapidly." Thanatos mused.
"How about that?" Ikelos laughed loudly. "This changes everything! Most adventurers are as helpless as a regular person when staring down one of these."
"The bastards who are going to cause us trouble though," goggles growled, "won't be bothered by that. …It is impressive though."
The man maned Barca nodded thoughtfully. "This is like a hand crossbow though. If we make it larger and stronger… Yes, yes, and then we curse the bolts…"
"Bullets," PoH interjected, spitting out blood and attempting to rise. "Guns shoot bullets. And the technology is mine."
Barca shrugged. "Now that I have seen it, I am sure that I could replicate it within a year."
PoH prepared himself for an argument, but Thanatos spoke up. "That is why you are here, PoH. You will work with Barca to create better guns with unique properties. For now, you will teach everyone present here how to use one and provide them with a gun and ammunition.
Grinding his teeth, PoH accepted. Stepping forward to begin, he resolved a new goal in his mind. I'm going to level up until I can strangle all of these fools with my bare hands.
Yui:
"Eh? Seriously!? I can't believe I missed that…" Yui pouted. "I refuse to be left out next time!"
Strea shrugged, the action inducing a small wince. "You're too slow to have kept up, older sis."
Yui frowned at Strea's pain, that wasn't supposed to have happened. The event had happened two days ago, but Yui only got an explanation today when they received a letter from goddess Astraea. Yui had been out in the city during the run-in with Astraea familia in the dungeon.
Strea and the rest had spent the night on the eighteenth floor and then did some dungeon crawling prior to returning. Now, out shopping with Strea, Yui got to hear about the powerful adventurers and their attack against Bell.
Instead of arguing about her speed, Yui focused instead on the meaning. "Bell must have really impressed those Astraea girls for them to be fighting over him!"
"Hmm, I'm not so sure about that…" Strea mused, tapping her chin.
For a brief moment, Yui's adorable younger sister looked like a refined young woman with a reasonable head on her shoulders. Then her face broke out into that goofy smile from before destroying any erudite aura about her.
"I do think that they will be good for him!" Strea finished happily. "Bell needs a strong woman to keep him in line."
"Doesn't Lili already do that?" Yui wondered, considering her sister's words.
"She tries," Strea nodded happily, her short violet hair bobbing along with her head… As did her massive bust. "But the status difference between them…"
"Ah…" Yui said wisely, not following. As the older sister however, Yui could not afford to ask Strea for clarification. Silence fell over them for a moment until they reached guild headquarters. Strolling inside the always busy building, it was a flurry of activity today.
Sticking close to Strea, Yui allowed her level three sister to open a path for them to the quest bulletin board. Guild employees were in the process of trying to find more room to tack on even more quests to the bustling board.
During the time Yui had been part of Hestia familia, the board was never more than half full. Of the ones posted, ninety percent were for ingredients in the colossal tree labyrinth. Now… all of these new quests were for deep levels and below. Exploding rocks from the forties, swords of bone from the thirty-seventh, there was even a request for water from the fiftieth floor.
"So… I know I'm a little stupid, but why are these here?"
"What do you mean?" Yui asked Strea.
"Well… Don't most of these businesses and things have a familia contact? Why are they going through the guild?"
It was a very good point that made Yui pause. Tilting her head, she mulled it over. "Maybe… These are all that ones that worked with Zeus and Hera?"
"Ah… that makes sense," Strea nodded in her distinctive way. "Ishtar as well perhaps."
"I wish we could take some…" Yui sighed. "There is a wealth of connections to be made here and we will lose them all to Freya, Loki, and Astraea."
"Maybe if Bell hooks up with Astraea familia then we can share in the wealth!" Strea announced in a loud voice, drawing gazes from those nearby. Completely oblivious to that fact, Strea grabbed Yui's hand and began dragging, "come on!"
"Huh!?" Yui gasped as the quest board began obscured behind taller figures. "B-But we need to look for quests!"
"Not anymore! We're going to make friends with Astraea!"
"EHH!?" Yui yelped as she was pulled roughly from the guild and into the street. This is going to give Papa another headache…
Commiserating for her poor father, Yui waited to see exactly how her little sister would get them in trouble this time.
Astraea:
"My oh my, things have gone downhill…" Astraea clicked her tongue as she dealt with the piles of paper before her. Signing off on an another one with a flourish of a quill, Astraea set it aside in the pile to go to the guild.
As she looked out her office's window down unto her mansion's nicely manicured lawn, Astraea felt a surge of relif that she never sold off the place, even with the high land taxes that the prime Orario real estate incurred. Astraea had dipped into the pointless familia funds to keep everything.
She had even hired maids to watch over and clean the place while she had left the city during the period of waiting as it was being called by the gods now.
Even now, with some of her children returned to her, the house had an air of loneliness about it. The rehashed grief was also dragging at her, making the days feel longer.
Putting the quill back in its inkwell, Astraea stood up and looked out the window at the yard. The guild work had long since faded from her mind. "I need a way to distract the girls. Help them move on from their fallen comrades…"
Astraea did not want to recruit more members right now. It was hard to find a woman that fit with their familia. Especially with how elite the entire familia was. It would create two groups that were unlikely to ever truly merge.
"What to do, what to do…" As she mused, Astraea watched as two girls, one big and one small approached the iron gate of her manor. "Now who is that?"
The sight of them seemed somewhat familiar. Like Astraea had seen them in the background of a painting… Cursing the failable memory of a god without arcanum, Astraea flitted down the stairs as a maid went to open the door.
Coming to the landing, Astraea was surprised to find the women pushing through the front door with a pale maid trailing them, pleading desperately that they wait.
I suppose this is the problem with abused orphans… Astraea thought, waving the maid away. Their fear of adventurers makes them very scared about standing up to them.
Turning her stern, maternal gaze unto the two girls, Astraea picked out the problem child immediately. Short, violet hair and an adorable smile on her face. Matched with her mature body, Astraea knew that this girl would have no trouble getting her way with most men. For now, Astraea disregarded the small one hiding behind her back.
"Well? What brings two adventurers breaking into my home?"
"Huh!? We were let in thank you very much!" The girl huffed, crossing her arms. "Especially when you guys were the ones that chased us through the dungeon!"
Astraea had just finished dealing with the guild's follow-up of that event. It was improper for the girls to unleash monster stampedes on innocents… not to mention attacking another familia.
"So, Hestia sent you…" Astraea murmured. Waving to the main sitting room, she invited them. "Please sit down, I'll arrange for some tea."
Leading the way herself, Astraea took her chair surrounded by a variety of couches, loveseats, and chairs. Enough for eleven people. We'll have to get rid of a couple…
Shaking away the emotions, Astraea smiled at them. "I am sorry that you found my apology gift unacceptable. Were the injuries more severe than I was led to believe?"
"Eh?" The bigger girl tilted her head, looking completely confused. "Um, yeah, we aren't here for that. Anyway! My name is Strea and this is Yui!"
"You aren't…" Keeping a strained smile on her face, Astraea wondered if she could strangle this girl with arcanum. Maybe just a little?
"I-I am so sorry, goddess Astraea!" The small one, Yui, bowed her head apologetically, voice filled with terror. "Your gift was extremely generous, thank you so much!"
"You can calm down, girl. I will not hurt you," Astraea consoled her. She reminded Astraea of many of her own children back when she had recruited them. A lot of them had started around the same age.
"Yeah, anyway!" Strea interrupted, "so like, you lost most of your familia, right?"
Maybe if I kill the tall one, I can keep the small one… Astraea wondered to herself. Some of her feelings clearly got through as Strea froze in place, scratching her head.
"P-Please ignore her!" Yui yelled out. "Her idea is impertinent but not horrible."
"Yeah…" Strea spoke slowly. "Umm, I guess what I'm trying to say is… We should team up!"
"Team up?" Astraea questioned as a maid appeared with three steaming cups. Taking one with while thanking her, Astraea sipped at it.
"Yeah, like go deep into the dungeon and stuff, you know? Get all that stuff that people are asking for."
That's actually an interesting idea. "I'm surprised someone like you thought of that."
"Urgh! I-I'm smart you know! …Most of the time." Strea pouted.
Turning to Yui, Astraea prodded for the smaller girl's opinion. "Your thoughts?"
"I… Well I think there is some merit in the proposal…"
"But?" Astraea asked.
"It will split our familia," Yui spoke softly, in a sad voice. "Papa and the level threes are the only ones that could venture that deep into the dungeon without becoming a liability."
Astraea nodded. For every floor of the dungeon, the guild gave not just one, but two recommended levels. The first was the commonly shared one that dictated the level a person needed to be to confidently fight against the regular monsters that were born there. Almost nobody had to consider the second number except high tier familias that went deep into the dungeon. That was the minimum viability cut-off.
The cut-off was a rough estimate of at what point a person became more of a hindrance than a help. What played a large factor in its determination is what monsters were born on a floor and how likely incidental contact would severely injure or kill a supporter.
One such cut-off that Astraea knew of was the thirteenth floor, the start of the middle levels. It was only actually there that the guild recommended level one supporters. Until then, a person without falna is considered good enough to be in the upper floors without hurting a properly prepared party. The reason being of course, hellhounds. Their fire was potent enough that even if the fire missed, someone without falna would endure bad burns and risked death.
At the lower floors, this increased to two, in the deep levels, three. Starting on the fifty-second floor, it went up to four.
Musing this information over, Astraea did find herself oddly open to the suggestion. Her girls were practically obsessed with Hestia familia for one reason or another. Their run in had been the first time that Astraea had hope that they could move on from their grief at waking up without half their familia.
There were of course issues that would need to be worked out. Questions that had to be examined. Most important was if there was enough chemistry between their familias to facilitate a working relationship. Astraea was fond of Hestia and thought the relationship was mutual, but it was their children that would have to get along.
The second potential dealbreaker was the strength of Hestia familia. Astraea's girls were all incredibly powerful, but they numbered only four now. They could get over run without sufficient support. If Hestia familia was to accompany them, they would need to be able to actually hold their own against the monsters and provide relief.
"Well, I shall have to discuss this with my children, but are the two of you sure? I would have thought that there would still be some bad blood."
Both girls laughed in their own distinctive way. Yui with a refined chuckle, Strea with a wide-mouthed honk.
"I believe they were more awed than upset," Yui explained. "I have not spoken to everyone involved however."
"Yeah, we are all good!" Strea assured her with a thumbs-up.
After they finished their tea, Astraea bade the pair farewell. It seemed like their return to Orario would be an interesting one.
Bell:
"You did what!?" His still maturing voice cracked as Bell yelled at Strea. The girl had managed to collect the entire familia and invite them to Take Mikazuchi familia's home. Without telling anyone from Take's familia obviously. Because why would she?
So not only were they intruding on another familia, Strea continued to drop bombshell news that made Bell's head spin.
"You heard perfectly clear," Strea huffed. "We approached Astraea about going to the deep levels together and she was open to it!"
Bell whimpered. "You do remember the part where they attacked us, yes?"
Strea shrugged, as if that incident was unimportant. "That's only because you aren't bold enough to form a harem and date both of them."
Gaping at her, Bell's face grew increasingly redder. Eyes darting around, he caught the expressions of numerous other people. Hestia frowned, while most of the girls were giggling. Haruhime was nodding for some reason, while Lili had apoplexy.
The little prum swarmed to her feet. "That is not happening! Bell is far too innocent for a harem! How could you even consider such a thing!? The girls would push him around and get their way! My job is to protect Bell from people that would exploit him!"
Somehow, Lili's comment was even worse than Strea's. Legs twitching, Bell's intense embarrassment made him want to desperately flee from the meeting.
"But Lili, wasn't that elf girl quite nice? I think she would make a great partner for Bell."
"G-Gale wind!?" Bell screamed. "S-She's at the pinnacle of female adventurers! She used to have a whole fanclub! All of Astraea familia does!"
"But you are the one they stalked and attacked," Strea noted. "I bet if you go ask them on a date—"
"I'll get my head chopped off!" Bell interjected. "The same fate of hundreds of men and women! How do you not understand how incredibly powerful their familia is!? Was our run-in in the dungeon not evidence enough!?"
"It was," Kirito spoke for the first time. "It is why I think Strea's ambitious offer, if accepted, will help us. Working with first-tier adventurers is sure to be the fastest way to improve."
"That's irrelevant to me if I'm dead!" Bell whined again. However, he seemed to have little sympathy from Kirito and his harem. They had been roughed up pretty badly by Astraea familia as well…
"Unfortunately, Bell," Lili sighed. "A good relationship with Astraea familia would help. Of course, we will stay away from them. Let Kirito deal with them."
For the first time, the other girls seemed to have second thoughts. Eyes narrowed as they considered the possibility of Kirito being surrounded by incredibly attractive older ladies.
Eventually they all just sighed and shrugged, accepting the possibility. Taking in their reactions, Bell's stomach sunk, and he cradled his head.
There is no way Astraea familia will agree.
There is no way Astraea familia will agree.
There is no way… right?
Lyu:
Unknown to her, at almost the same time in another building in the city, a white-haired boy was in the exact same position.
"This will be fun!" Alise said happily. "I'm a little surprised they came up with the idea after Lyra attacked, but I was impressed with their skills."
"I agree," Kaguya nodded. "Not only can I tease Lyu more, but we can also repair our finances faster."
Lyra chuckled evilly from where she lounged. "Oh yeah, this will be fun. It has been a little empty in this future we were thrown into."
That touched dangerously close unto the topic that they had been trying to move on from. Lyu thought that they were horrible grievers, but at the same time it was hard to grieve for people that were a year and a half dead. They had visited the mass grave of their familia and it was eerie and unsettling experience to read your own name.
"We should make another grave…" Lyu said, "on the eighteenth floor. At our spot."
"…That sounds nice," Astraea replied slowly, "but perhaps we can finish the current topic first?"
"I think we are!" Alise said proudly. "All in favour of an exhibition to the deep floors with Hestia familia say aye!"
"Aye!" Two voices responded. Closing her eyes, Lyu prepared herself for a trip of misery. Yet, there was a flutter of something deep down. A lingering warmth in her right hand that she did not understand.
Finn:
"Now that our hierarchy and finances have been settled, we need to discuss Freya familia."
"What about them?" Riveria asked as she worked at another desk, going over countless reports from the time that they had missed.
"We need a strategy to defeat them if they attack. Frankly, their familia is stronger than us."
Slowly, Riveria put down her magical pen and sighed heavily. Rubbing her eyes, the high elf lost a bit of her regal bearing. "Yes, I would agree. We would struggle to deal with the Warlord."
"Precisely. They may have lost some members, but not as many as us. Ganesha familia is somewhat powerful, but is spread too thin to aid in an assault if that occurs. That means the outcome would be decided mainly by Astraea familia."
"Astraea familia suffered worse than either of us though. I won't deny that each of their members are incredibly powerful but…"
Finn nodded at Riveria's rather succinct conclusion. That was what worried him. If Astraea familia was prepared to aid, then things would probably be fine, if they weren't though…
That brought Finn's explanation around to the actual conclusion that he had wanted to make in this hypothetical. "There has been one other large change since our return."
Leaning forward, Finn stared directly into Riveria's eyes, feeling keenly the loss of their third leader.
"The otherworld adventurers. Their levelling is too fast. Currently, the ones that worry me the most are Hestia familia. They are composed almost exclusively of otherworld adventurers, one of which has hit level four."
"So, Astraea familia… and Hestia familia is it?" Riveria sighed looking up at the ceiling. "The two wildcards of Orario."
Bang!
The door to the private study burst open. "Raul!" Finn chastised the panting boy. "I told you that—"
"Astraea familia is going on an expedition to the deep floors!"
Well, odd, but not totally unforeseen…
"And they are being supported by Hestia familia!"
Most times it was Finn's thumb that ached, this time it was his head.
Asuna:
"Why don't we all ask to join?"
"Eh? Are you mad?" Lefiya shot back, lounging on her bed in a nightgown. Her silky white skin shone in the moonlight from where she hugged them to her chest.
"I don't know, it could be fun," Astrid added. "It's not like I have any jobs left to me."
"Hehe, say anything else like that and I'll begin to suspect that you resent our return." Anikitty teased, poking her sister.
They wore matching nightgowns and lounged on Asuna's bed, Astrid's head laying casually on her older sister's lap.
Asuna herself stood leaning against the wall by the window. Arms crossed; she tapped her left arm with her right pointer finger. She knew that she was being childish but that feeling wouldn't leave her.
I want to be there…
From what Asuna knew, going that deep in the dungeon meant spending up to two full weeks in the dungeon. If she did not tag along with the expedition, then she would go without seeing Kirito for that time. Plus, there was the danger of the expedition…
"It would probably not be an issue with the higher-ups," Anikitty gave her input, having finished teasing her sister. "The only problem being is we would likely have to do it twice."
"Ugh," Astrid shivered, "an entire month in the dungeon? I think the only person who would like something like that is our airheaded princess."
"Aiz!" Lefiya bolted up straighter. "We should invite Aiz to come with us!"
"Yeah, Finn may have a problem there…" Anikitty mused, pressing a finger to her lips. "But at the same time the rest of the familia is kind of isolated from her anyway…"
Asuna nodded along, vaguely understanding. There had been some rumours that were apparently confirmed about Aiz going ballistic during the fight against the black dragon. Some of the returning adventurers went as far as to claim that her recklessness was the reason for Hera and Zeus's familias getting wiped out.
"This is perfect then!" Lefiya continued excitedly. "Asuna can stop girls from stealing her already stolen boyfriend, and we can keep Aiz safe since she was going to be in the dungeon anyway!"
Asuna's heart jumped that Lefiya was on board. However… "He is not stolen; it is a polyamorous relationship!"
"Wait, so how does that work?" Anikitty asked, her voice was slightly teasing, but she seemed serious. "Like, what if you wanted to see another guy on the side?"
Asuna stopped before snapping out something sassy. Tilting her head, she considered the question for a long moment. "Yeah… I wonder. Maybe if I make him jealous… but no, he'll just spout some drivel about me being happy…"
Frowning, Asuna did think that they may need to work out some boundaries and expectations for this relationship at some point. Especially when we get back to our world… That will be a nightmare.
"Sounds like some reverse amazon fantasy." Anikitty said, her voice amazed.
"Or a typical male one," Lefiya sniffed. Asuna had never managed to convince her about Kirito's sincerity, despite the fight against the bull.
"Oh, I don't know about that. I've heard that life is pretty rough for Asuna's Kiri-boy."
"Don't call him that!" Asuna whined. Blushing, she looked at the floor, unable to meet the other girls' stares. "Jeez, I get that enough from Loki."
The others chuckled at her misery, but Lefiya quickly cut-off, rising to her feet and staring down at them from her bed. "Are we in agreement about trying to go?"
"Don't get your expectations too high," Anikitty warned her. "There are a lot of places this could go wrong at. Aiz could say no, Finn could no, Hestia could say no, Astraea could no. Hell, even Loki could say no. A single one ruins everything."
"Don't be a party pooper!" Lefiya jumped off the bed toward Asuna. Grabbing her hand, she pulled for the entrance. "Let's go talk to Finn right now!"
"You little…" Cursing, Asuna blushed deeper as she was led into the hallway. Thankfully it was late enough that most of the familia had retired for the night. Her own nightgown was not long enough to be decent for this.
Lefiya should have been having similar reservations though… Does she really care so deeply for this Aiz girl?
Making the way through the wing's hallway to the main tower where Finn's office was, Asuna saw nobody. A sharp knock and a response later and Asuna found herself slipping into what had once been Goran's office. The dwarf more than happy to slip into a supporting role again. Although, the dwarves were taking Gareth's passing quite hard.
"Lefiya," Finn greeted them. "You brought Asuna and… you look ready for bed. Did the two of you have a nightmare?"
There was an awkward pause of silence as the lame joke fell flat. Finn winced. "Sorry, that was out of place. How can I help?"
"I want to take Aiz on an expedition!"
"You want to…" Finn narrowed his eyes. "The Astraea/Hestia one?"
"Yes."
"I see…" Leaning back in his chair, Finn steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them. There was another moment of silence as he took them in. "I can understand Hestia familia accepting your presence, but we were never more than neutral with Astraea familia. They are likely expecting to receive most of the drops from this endeavor. Having Aiz along…"
"She is a bit of a hurricane," Lefiya agreed. "Still, our presence should make it safer for them, no matter how you look at it!"
"It is not me you have to convince." Finn chuckled. "It is Aiz and the expedition."
Lefiya's face split into a joyous smile. "Thank you, Finn! Come on Asuna!"
Getting pulled from the room without having said a word, she waved at Finn and ran back down the hallway with Lefiya. "That's one person out of the way…"
"Yupp!" Lefiya agreed with a laugh. "This will be easy!"
Bell:
I've descended into a lair of monsters… Bell thought as he looked around nervously. His shoulders were hunched down so far, they were almost touching.
In his hands, Bell held a warm cup of tea that felt almost scalding against his clammy skin. While he had yet to say a word, Bell felt like everyone was staring at him.
They had gathered at Astraea's familia to finalize all the details of the expedition. That included the objective, the timeline, and most importantly, who was going to come along.
As a minor member with no particular insights, Bell sat silently on an out of the way couch beside Haruhime. Most of the planning would be done by Kirito and Lili with Rain helping.
Yet… Bell flinched as Lyra's lazy smile washed over him. It was surreal to be sitting in the same room as these heroes. Frankly, it was a little overwhelming. Moreso because of Gale wind who stood awkwardly against a wall, hands nervously wringing together.
Even as Bell took a moment to look at her, the elven woman shot a glance his way, saw him looking and immediately snapped her head away.
What is happening… The thought warred with the equally strong, she's so cute…
Instantly, Bell felt Haruhime looking at him. Bell was too embarrassed at this point to even look at his supporter.
"So, departure in two days?" Lili was saying. "Expected duration is two weeks, with the chance of extending up to three if needed. Destination is the forty-fourth floor. The target… The target of the expedition…"
As Lili struggled to get the words out, Astraea finished for the prum. "The goal is to defeat Balor and harvest the monster rex's materials."
"Y-Yeah… That." Lili repeated, her face pale. She appeared on the verge of throwing up, or maybe just passing out.
"Furthermore, we believe that Udaeus is still alive. As such, we will need to defeat it on the thirty-seventh floor before we can progress."
Udaeus… Balor… They were names pulled directly from Bell's childhood. Legends and stories surrounded these terrifying monsters. It was surreal that he would have something to do with them now.
Astraea's follow-up statement drew a whimper from Lili as her shoulders folded in. Kirito looked undisturbed as he patted her on the head.
"I imagine your familia has fought both before?" Kirito asked.
"Yupp!" Alise nodded happily. "It was rare that we got the chance though. Hera and Zeus elites kept trying to solo the bosses to level up. But as a result, their abilities and potential are mapped out real well."
Kirito nodded casually. "Okay. Two days is not a lot to get up to speed with the horde of new monsters we will face, but I'll try to get enough copies of the notes on them for us to study on the way down."
"No need!" Alise assured him. "We can have an all-day lecture tomorrow!"
"An all-day… But do we not…" Something seemed to leave Kirito's countenance as his stiff back relaxed somewhat. "We will follow your guidance. Thank you."
For some reason, Alise's gaze swung to Bell, her smile widening. "Be sure to come Bell. I'm sure Lyu will give you extremely thorough private lessons."
Lyra cackled. "Hey, that wasn't so bad! You're improving Alise!"
Blushing deeply, Bell found himself standing up, unable to bear it any longer. "S-Sorry, I have an advisor at the guild. I-I should go see her. Bye!"
"He's running already!" Lyra laughed. "Oh, this is going to be a fun two weeks."
Bell yanked open the front door and found himself face-to-face with Lefiya Viridis. "Thousand elf." Then he took in the people flanking her. One was expected, Kirito's elven girlfriend in Loki familia. The other…
Looking into those golden eyes that had strong cast of grief in them, Bell slowly closed the door again.
Asuna:
"W-What the hell are you doing!?"
Asuna flinched as Lefiya screamed and grabbed at the closing door. There was a brief struggle before the enraged elf throw the door open. Poor Bell was left staggering and nursing his right hand.
Lefiya loomed over the boy. "Why would you shut the door on us, Bell!?"
"M-Miss Viridis… Umm, well, I uh, I have to go visit the guild so…"
"Cranel-san, why is Loki familia here?"
Everyone froze in place at the cold elven voice. Looking into the hallway, Asuna saw that blonde beauty who stared with unfeeling eyes not at Bell, but Aiz. The warrior with the golden eyes seemed to crumble under the pressure of the first-tier adventurer, shoulders caving in together.
"Err…"
"Miss Lion," Lefiya greeted the adventurer politely, stepping between Aiz and her. "I would like to talk to the people arranging the joint raid in hopes of participating."
Lyu's eyes widened briefly as a display of disbelief crept through her cool visage. A moment later though she shrugged and began walking back into the house with a final glance at Bell who wilted and scampered back into the house ahead of them.
"Is he… your… err… pet?"
Asuna almost jumped at the quiet voice. She had heard Aiz speak before, but it was still odd every time. It was hard to be jealous of someone's voice, but the melodious sound like silk was deeply entrancing. It possesses a divine tone that Asuna would have expected from a goddess.
"Eh?" Lefiya spun to face Aiz. "Y-You mean Bell? No… He just… N-Never mind!"
Poor Bell… Asuna shook her head. Getting mistaken as a pet had to hurt one's confidence. Especially considering his parentage…
Entering the beautiful mansion, Asuna allowed herself to get led into the nearby sitting room with a cojoined kitchen. It created an amazing large, comfortable space where a group of people could hang out together. It was currently filled to bursting with beautiful women.
Alone in the field of flowers was Kirito. Giving her an awkward wave, he rose from the table he was sitting at. Before he could greet her in the middle where everyone was staring, Asuna rushed over to a nearby wall and dragged him with her.
She was briefly worried that she would get called out for it, but no one looked at her. Their gazes were all drawn to the golden lodestone called Aiz. Lefiya stood awkwardly in front of Aiz, all but being ignored.
"Well, well, look who was brazen enough to enter our home." The pink-haired Prum drawled. Lyra was her name as Asuna recalled. She was glaring daggers at Aiz, with no friendliness in her mannerisms at all.
"We talked about trying to bring you to justice, but to think you would come to us willingly."
Kaguya's words sent a chill up Asuna's spine. She wanted to say something but couldn't. Her body began to shake. It wasn't until Kirito grabbed her hand that she realized how cold she was. Clutching nervously at him, Asuna waited to see how the interaction would play out with bated breath.
The elf that had let them in, Lyu, stood between Aiz and the door. Allowing them in no longer feft like a welcoming gesture.
"Is that why you are here?" Astraea spoke. The goddess rose to her feet and dominated it, even in the presence of so many first-tier adventurers. "Do you wish me to bestow justice upon you, Aiz Wallenstein?"
Looking completely miserable now, she shook her head, the action barely perceptible as Lefiya shielded her.
"You may say that, but I think the decision is up to us now," Kaguya continued.
"Yeah! What right do you have to refuse?" Lyra piled on, momentum building against Aiz.
"I did hear that Kali familia blames you for their annihilation. Essentially all of their first-tier adventurers were slaughtered by that thing's fire. Fire that you apparently caused to be fired at them."
Aiz did not reject the claims. She only bent further in on herself.
It was a pitiful display to watch. Asuna felt Kirito tighten his hand on hers. She knew that he wanted to intervene and stop this. Tightening her hand on his, Asuna tried to catch his eyes and convince him not to go.
Kirito looked back, indecision in his eyes. Clearly, he wanted to step in for Aiz, but there was a reason that he wasn't. Asuna was not sure what exactly that was, but was glad for his hesitancy. Perhaps he realized that this was something Aiz would have to deal with herself. Lefiya was likely having similar thoughts as she looked back at Aiz repeatedly, not saying much.
"I… I…"
Aiz's words were interrupted by a harsh laugh from Lyra. "Less than half a month and you think people will forgive you? You didn't have the good grace to die like the hundreds of innocents you and your black maelstrom murdered!"
Half a month… But…
"I'm sorry…" Aiz finally finished what she had been trying to say. The girl looked like she should be crying. Her face was tensed up in a knot, body shivering. Despite that, her eyes were golden pools with nothing in them.
"Sorry?" Kaguya growled. "You can apologize to our familia members when you see them."
The whole mood changed when Kaguya drew her blade. Asuna found herself pushed against the wall by Kirito as he stood in front of her face tense.
Aiz froze for a moment in the face of adversity and then responded by unsheathing her own weapon.
"Ehh!?" Lefiya squealed, whirling in circles as she was caught between the two combatants. "P-Please calm down everyone!"
"Lefiya, move," Aiz spoke, sounding calm. "If Yamato Rindou wants a fight, she will get one."
"It won't be much of a fight." All of a sudden, there was a second sword hanging in the air beside Aiz's head. Asuna had not seen it happen. She had the impression that it was too fast for Aiz as well as the golden eyed swordswomen stared at the blade with apprehension.
"Stop it!" Another new voice entered the fray. It was the only other male in the room, Bell Cranel. The lone Zeus familia survivor knocked the wooden blade away from Aiz's head and stared straight at Lyu. "Aiz's mistakes are in the past! I was not there… I couldn't help then… But she apologized!"
"And is that all that is required to right a wrong, Mr. Cranell? An apology? Can you go on a rampage, murder a dozen innocents and wash it away with an apology?"
"W-Well…"
"Of course you can't! The punishment must match the crime, only then will justice be achieved!"
Bell crumbled somewhat under the Elf's words, but then those bright red eyes lit up again. Confidence returning, he retaliated again in the verbal spar.
"But you don't want justice. You just want revenge on someone for your familia's death. The dragon is gone… so Aiz is the only one you can blame."
Lyu seemed too stunned to have a reply to that. The thing that broke the silence was a metallic clang as a sword dropped the ground. Aiz wrung her now empty hands together.
"You have a very nice pet Lefiya…" Aiz's voice no longer had its cold exterior as it broke with emotion. "I-I lied goddess Astraea. I think I did come here to die. My life no longer has purpose. The dragon is dead."
"A-Aiz!?" Lefiya gasped.
Asuna could not move. She kept a hand on Kirito and simply watched as the scene played out in front of her.
Goddess Astraea walked over in front of Aiz and laid a hand on Asuna's shoulder. "And why, girl, do you believe that killing the dragon is your purpose in life?"
Aiz looked away not wanting to answer. A moment later though, the dam broke, words bursting forward like a flood. "It killed my parents! My mom's smile… My dad's warm hands… Why!? Why did it…"
Aiz collapsed to her knees weeping and softly shaking. Not even the Astraea members could keep up their glares, the four girls turning away in embarrassment.
Standing over the broken girl, Astraea spread her hands slightly. "I bestow upon you my judgement as a goddess of justice. Do you accept it?"
"Yes," Aiz got out between her sobs.
"Then hear and obey. You shall accompany my familia on their expedition. You will learn about their familia members that are now gone, and you will teach them about the family that you lost.
"Lastly, you will seek greater power in the dungeon. Power enough to stop another travesty from occurring."
Asuna expected Astraea's familia to reject the goddess' soft proclamation. Instead, they adopted serious expressions, each one staring at Aiz in a meaningful manner. Serious, but not hostile.
"…It shall be done." Aiz agreed.
Just like that, their fates were tied together with this expedition.