Disclaimer: I do not own Danmachi

—

Bell was having a wonderful day so far. First, he told Aiz and her familia the story of what happened on the 37th floor. He never realized how good it was to tell someone of his adventures and to get it off his chest. He had a feeling he wouldn't be having nightmares as much anymore. Then after that, he got to train with Aiz.

They were both at their usual spot on the city walls where no one could see them. It was past noon and the sun was bearing down on the city. This didn't affect either of them much but Bell did like the feeling of the sun on his skin. They were standing a few yards away from each other both in their fighting stance. Aiz had both hands on her sheath and had it pointing up towards the sky while facing Bell. Bell was crouching his knees slightly and leaning forward with a dagger in each hand. He had the Hestia knife in his right hand in a backward grip and was holding Hakugen regularly with his left hand.

Both of them didn't have armor on for this training match, but they both trusted each other and knew they would be fine. Aiz didn't wear hers because she didn't think she would be fighting today and Bell's was still being repaired by Welf.

They both stood completely still as they watched each other. Neither of them moved, till they both shot out towards each other. Aiz brought down her sheath in a downward slash but Bell parried it out of the way with Hakugen. He then brought up the Hestia knife to slash at her. Aiz calmly leaned her upper body out of the slash then stepped back in the instant she dodged. Bell's eyes widened, he was over-extended with his right arm away from his body, and knew Aiz wouldn't overlook that. As if to prove him right Aiz swung her sheath with her left hand at his right ribs. Bell knew this wasn't the time to be a coward and dashed even closer to her. Thanks to that the range of her blow was off and he could slip past it.

He immediately did a barrage of slashes with both of his daggers. It was his Rabbit Rush attack. In the face of this Aiz parried every attack with her sheath and stopped his attack with a front kick to Bell's stomach. Bell was blown back and slid back on his feet. He put his hand on his stomach to feel the damage.

'I can still fight. Can't believe I let my guard down that quickly,' Bell thought as he stared at Aiz who was calmly watching him, 'Ah I knew it. Aiz is the best.'

Bell slowly got up. It wasn't over yet there were still more things he could show her. Show her that even if barely, he was closer to her now. Bell dashed forward as Aiz stood there ready for him. Right when he was a few feet in front of her he changed direction and dashed to the right behind her. But he didn't stop there and kept jumping around like a rabbit in circles. Aiz looked around trying to see where he was when he darted in from behind. Aiz couldn't see when he dashed but she was an experienced warrior. She didn't need to see to know when someone was attacking her blind spot. She turned and slashed at where she thought he would be. Bell was amazed she could attack but he knew she could do that so he was ready to parry it. Once it was parried Bell did another Rabbit Rush. A blur of white and purple slash all targeted Aiz as she blocked all of his attacks again. Bell realized he couldn't win if he didn't take a gamble and slightly overextended his left arm with Hakugen. Aiz saw that and attacked him with a right leg kick to his left ribs. Before it can land Bell brought his left elbow down and knocked it away while moving forward. This was his golden opportunity, Aiz was off-balanced and he was within attacking range. Aiz knew that too if the slight widening of her eyes showed anything. Right when Bell's attack was about to land Aiz sped up. She twirled backward on her left foot and brought her sheath up with her right hand for a diagonal upward slash. Bell moved as fast as possible and brought both of blades up to block that attack and both of his arms were blown back.

Aiz gave him no time to recover and pressed her attack. She launched her rush of attacks. First, she swung at his head with a right slash and once that was parried out of the way swung back the other way instantly. Bell had to weave to duck that attack and in that split second of him backing up Aiz moved forward and sliced the ground trying to hit his legs. Bell jumped over the blade and brought both of his daggers down in an overhead slash. Aiz blocked it with her sheath and twisted her wrist so that the blades slid off of her weapon. She then connected a string of combos that left behind after images with how fast she was moving. But Bell wasn't going to keep on the defensive. He jumped forward again and slashed downwards. Aiz spun around him and did her own downward slash. Bell shocked her once again when he parried this, not with the knife like she expected but with his elbow. Then with the same arm that deflected that last blow, he thrusted the knife towards her. Aiz just tilted her head and let the blow past her. While Bell was distracted with her dodging he didn't see her throw her sheath from her right hand to her left. So his reaction was slightly delayed when it came up from his right. He was able to block it with the Hestia blade. But with both of his blades extended away from he had no defense against the spinning attack that landed on his head.

Once he felt it hit the left side of his head his body was blown to the side. As he was hovering before he fell he saw Aiz's face when she realized what she had done. Though she couldn't know he thought that cute panicked expression was worth the pain. The second his body hit the ground Aiz was already moving over toward him. She sat down on her knees immediately putting his head on her lap and began soothingly rubbing the area around where she hit him.

"I'm sorry, I went too hard. Are you okay?" She asked while hovering over him. Bell just laughed and let her keep rubbing him, knowing she would get mad if he moved.

"There's no reason to be sorry we're training. Besides I didn't get knocked out this time!" Bell said proudly while smiling brightly at her. Bell couldn't see very well but it looked like Aiz had a small smile on her face.

"That's true. You were stronger than I thought you would be," she hesitated after saying that before going on, you're not level 5 yet are you?"

"No, but my stats did go up a bunch after that incident so I'm around a high leveled 4. So I should be leveling up soon."

Aiz let out a sigh of wonder as she stared at him. When she saw how he was looking at her questioningly she responded. "You grow so quickly, it's not normal for someone to level up when they just leveled up a month ago."

Bell just laughed awkwardly when he heard that. He didn't know how he grew so quickly. But before he could answer Aiz continued.

"That's not all. You changed your fighting style. The parrying with the elbow and the moving around before attacking."

"I know it's just part of my new martial arts I learned from Lord Takemikazuchi," He explained to her, "It's called Silat. It revolves around parrying attacks with your elbows. He said it fits well with our fighting style."

She thought for a moment before replying, "It's fine to parry certain things with your elbow but don't try that with an actual weapon." She sternly warned him.

"I know. Later I'm going to ask Welf to put on some armor on my elbows so I can parry weapons. I tried it just now because you were using your sheath."

"And the dashing around?"

"Oh, I learned that from Gale Wind. She taught me a lot while we were in the dungeon, like finishing your opponent with a single attack, attacking from multiple angles to confuse the enemy, and using your surroundings to your advantage." During that, he felt Aiz's grip on his hair getting rougher.

He looked at Aiz who was slightly frowning and wondered what he did wrong, but before he could ask she asked him a question. "Who's style do you like better mine or hers?"

Bell was confused at this but answered quickly. It was a no-brainer after all.

"Yours of course. Your style is the best but since I'm not strong enough yet I have to add in other things." Bell honestly said. Aiz didn't say anything for a minute just looked down at Bell with a blush. The longer she didn't say anything the more Bell began to overthink.

'Why did I say that?! I practically just confessed to her, What was I thinking!' As Bell was doing this Aiz started giggling. Bell stopped squirming and looked at her in awe.

"You are plenty strong, you made me use more strength than I thought I needed to during that fight." When Bell heard that he couldn't stop his heart rate from accelerating.

"I-I mean th-thank you but I s-still have a long way to go to get to my goal."

Aiz slowly stopped giggling and looked at Bell with an emotion he couldn't decipher. "Then let's get back to training then. Are you feeling better?"

Bell slowly got up and moved around a bit before answering. "Yeah, thanks for talking, it helped clear the headache."

When she heard that, Aiz slowly got up and got back in her stance. Bell mimicked her and within seconds the sound of weapons clashing filled the area.

—

A few hours later they both were walking in the city to a Jagamarukun stall. They were both hungry after their training so Bell suggested they go to his goddess' food stand. Aiz agreed without hesitation, cutely nodding her head up and down. Aiz and Bell both had scraps and dirt on them from the sparring, it caused people to stare at them weirdly but they didn't notice. They were talking about their fights as they went.

"So what did you think of my scarf?" Bell asked.

"It's unique. It's a weapon and shield in one." She replied. Halfway through, Bell wrapped his left arm in the scarf and used it to push through her attacks.

"Yeah I have to get a bit better with it but if I do I have a mid-range attack," Bell said before he sighed. "But I still have a long way to go before I'm able to fight like you."

He was thinking about the flowing string of combos that she attacked him with.

"I will help you." She said which made Bell smile before he remembered something.

"Oh, I know this is a weird question but," he started and continued when she glanced back at him, "can I see your magic?"

Aiz's eyes widening a little was her only reaction but Bell panicked and started to apologize.

"Sorry! It's fine. I was just thinking I've never seen it before and was wondering but it's no big deal!" He rambled before stopping when he realized Aiz was smiling at him.

"One day I'll show you." She simply said.

Bell happily nodded and they talked for a while longer before they ended up in front of the stall. Hestia wasn't working at the moment, something Bell was secretly glad for. They ordered their food and sat down at a nearby bench. Aiz tore into her food while Bell just watched. Aiz stopped after realizing Bell was staring at her and blushed slightly.

Bell saw that she had crumbs on her cheeks. That combined with how cute she looked put Bell in a daze. Without thinking he slowly raised his arm and put his hand on her cheek and wiped off the crumbs with his thumb. After that, he took his hand away and ate the crumbs off.

'Sweet.' He absentmindedly thought to himself before he saw Aiz's face. She had raised her hand to touch the spot Bell's thumb had been. Her entire face was blazing red with her mouth hanging open. She was staring at Bell in shock with her lips trembling slightly.

When Bell saw that he realized exactly what he did and his face matched hers. He hurriedly tried to explain himself.

"Sorry! I don't know what came over me! I just saw the crumbs and moved automatically." He rambled on but stopped when he saw Aiz about to speak.

"I-I didn't say I minded." She mumbled looking down shyly.

Bell's heart almost exploded when he heard that. He stuffed his face with his Jagamarukun to keep himself from shouting his love.

'That was close! I was a second away from asking her to marry me!' Bell thought.

"So," Bell started trying to change the subject, "what is the Loki Familia's next expedition, if you can tell me"

Aiz just tilted her head obvious to his attempts to change the subject. She answered anyway after a moment.

"I don't know, the familia is still mentally recovering. Not to mention supplies so it might be a while."

"Y-yeah, same with us, I think our next expedition won't be till next month."

"What floor will you go to?"

"Probably the 27th floor. Need to properly master that floor before we can go deeper." Bell was relieved that the conversation change worked.

They chatted for a bit longer while eating. Once they were done they both got up. Aiz started to rub her arms. Bell looked at her before realizing what she was doing.

"Are you cold?" He asked her. Just because their bodies were stronger against the climate they still were people and had their preferences. She nodded her head shyly. When Bell saw that he took off his brown jacket and handed it to her. Aiz stared at it blankly for a moment not understanding what he wanted at first. When she did she grabbed it and slowly put it on. Since they were around the same height it fit her perfectly. Bell had to look away as he saw her in his jacket, it was making him feel weird. He tried to change the subject before he did something stupid again.

"I should head back to my familia. They are probably wondering where I went. Your familia probably already went home." Bell said as he looked at the sky and saw how long they had been out.

Aiz just nodded, before she turned around she stopped for a moment and asked Bell a question.

"Do you want to train tomorrow morning? I'll give you the jacket back then " She asked Bell.

"Yeah, that sounds nice. Wanna meet up at 10 in the morning?"

"That's fine, if I'm not there by 10:30 you can leave." She replied. Bell just nodded. He knew that their schedules wouldn't match up sometimes.

With that, they both said goodbyes and went their separate ways to their homes. Both of them were looking forward to the next time they would meet.

—-

When Bell got back to the mansion he went straight to the living room. It was where the familia met most of the time so he thought they would be there. As he stepped through the door he saw that a few of them were still there. Lilly was at the desk writing and looking at a stack of papers. Haruhime was sitting on the armchair reading a book. Hestia was passed out on the couch with a blanket thrown over her. He smiled as he saw them. He assumed Mikoto was training and Welf was most likely in his workshop.

Lilly and Haruhime looked up when Bell entered the room. They saw how battered he was and figured that he did leave to go train.

"Welcome back. How was training with the Sword Princess?" Haruhime greeted him.

"It was good, I was able to use a bit of Lord Takemikazuchi's training to good use." He replied about to sit down before Lilly yelled at him.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to dirty the couch?" She hissed at him. Bell looked at himself and realized she was right. He was covered in dirt from all the times Aiz sent him to the ground.

He chuckled and walked away from the couches. He would have to go change and take a bath once he was done here.

"Sorry, so what are you doing?" He asked, walking over.

"Lilly is doing the accounting for the familia. We got supplies yesterday so we are good there, but now I need to look at our budget till we go to the dungeon." Lilly said.

Bell was impressed. He knew that everyone praised him for being the captain but without Lilly, the familia would crash and burn within a week.

"Thanks for all the hard work," he thanked her, not realizing the blush on her face. He was gonna go take a quick bath but Lilly stopped him.

"Wait before you go, we need to talk," Lilly said to him. Seeing Bell's confused expression she explained. "What did you discuss with the Sword Princess?"

Bell understood what she meant and started talking, "I just told her what happened down on the 37th floor. Don't worry I didn't mention anything about the things we talked about. Speaking of that, what did the rest of you guys discuss with the Loki familia?"

This time it was Haruhime who answered, "We mentioned how we beat the floor boss and how we traveled down to get you. Without mentioning the waitresses of course."

At the same time she finished talking, Welf came through the door. It was obvious he was just coming from the forge.

"Okay, I'm here Lil E." He said as he arrived. Bell looked at Lilly again for an explanation.

"Lilly has something to discuss with you, so Lilly summoned Mr. Welf." Seeing that Bell was still confused she went on. "Mr. Finn has asked the Hestia Familia if we would go on their next expedition to the 59th floor with them. We were waiting for you to decide."

Bell stood there with his mouth open. An expedition with the Loki Familia. An expedition with Aiz. Even though Bell wanted to shout out yes right away, he calmly took a deep breath.

"What do you guys think we should do?" He asked his familia members. They all looked at him surprised.

"Huh, thought you would have agreed right away," Welf commented for his spot by the door.

Bell chuckled when he heard that, "I'm not gonna lie and say I don't want to. But as the captain, I have to think of my familia first."

Bell was still new to all of this that's why he needed to rely on his familia. He couldn't put them in dangerous situations just for his own reasons. That's why he asked them for their opinions before they would decide.

"Heh look at you growing up," Welf said with a smirk before giving his answer, "I'm down for it. There are a lot of valuable ores and materials that can be found down there. This would also give me a chance to see how well my new magic swords work."

Lilly sighed when she heard that and gave her response next. "Lilly is also okay with it. For mostly the same reasons as Mr. Welf. This would be a good chance to get good materials and cores to sell. That should help win our finances and this will give Lilly a chance to see the Braver in action. It will be a good reference. Most importantly we should be safe with the Loki familia there to protect Lilly and Haruhime."

With that said, everyone looked to Haruhime for her answer. She blushed at all the attention before answering.

"Me and Lady Mikoto have already agreed. This is a valuable chance to see more of the dungeon and expand Lady Mikoto's detection skill. And like Lady Lilly said we would be protected."

With all that said they looked back at their leader. Bell was thinking hard about this.

"When would this be?" He asked Lilly.

"Mr. Finn said around a month from now. He will let us know more depending if we agree or not."

Bell looked at all of them before speaking, "I want to go. I want to see how a big familia explores the dungeon. Because one day we will be doing it too. So if everyone agrees let's go." He smiled as he finished talking.

They all got excited and were going to talk about it more when Mikoto walked in with two guests. One was Takemikazuchi who bowed when he entered and the second was Aisha.

Haruhime reacted first and got up to hug her pseudo-sister.

"Lady Aisha, Lord Takemikazuchi, what are you both doing here?" She asked with her tail wagging behind her. Aisha patted her head before answering.

"I was on my way here cause Rabbit Foot asked me to train and ran into these two on the way."

Mikoto nodded along with Aisha and added on once she was done. "Lord Takemikazuchi was walking me back from training and we ran into each other outside the gate."

During that talk, Bell remembered he asked Aisha if she could help him train.

"So you came to train today?" Bell asked, making sure he got it right.

Aisha nodded, "Yeah I'm ready if you are."

He looked at Lilly who sighed and shooed him away with her hand. He grinned and then asked Takemikazuchi if he would watch.

"Of course. Let's go outside and Haruhime can you come with us?"

She looked perplexed by his request but nodded. They put a pin in their previous conversation and left. Once they got outside Aisha and Bell faced off in front of each other. Mikoto, Takemikazuchi, and Haruhime all watched from the side. Before they started, Takemikazuchi explained what they would be doing.

"Okay, this will be a grappling-only training session. So no weapons, or magic. Grappling won't be of much use in the dungeon but against other adventurers, it can be very useful. Whether it's disarming them or putting them in a lock it will be a good skill to know." Seeing Bell was hanging on to every word he smiled and continued.

"Grappling is something that can only be perfected with lots of practice with a strong opponent so Miss Aisha fits the bill. But she will need something more. Haruhime can you boost her level please?"

Haruhime nodded, understanding why she was brought out here. As she started her chant Bell asked a question.

"Is that necessary? Me and Miss Aisha are the same level." He asked Takemikazuchi but Aisha answered.

"Your level is weird. You're probably on the level of an early to mid-level 5." She told him.

A few moments later Haruhime finished her spell and Aisha had glowing lights around her. With that finished Aisha got into her stance. Bell followed suit and slowly began to close the distance. He learned some grappling moves from Takemikazuchi but this would be the first time he tried.

Once he was close enough he darted forward and grabbed her left arm and went to throw her over his shoulder. But before he could she swiped his legs from underneath him. Before he could right himself on the ground, she was already on him. In a few moments she had him in a rear naked choke hold and he had to tap out.

She let him go and got back into her stance with a smirk. Takemikazuchi took that moment to give Bell some advice.

"Bell, you're being too aggressive. That's not a bad thing but you need to observe your opponent more. Feel how they are going to move and react quickly."

Bell nodded and got back into his stance, he took Takemikazuchi's advice and stared at Aisha but a problem arose.

"Uhm how am I supposed to grab her though….she's not wearing much for me to grab." He said embarrassed. Aisha just barked out a laugh and gave him a sultry smile.

"You can grab me however you want." She finished with a wink. As Bell overheated Takemikazuchi sighed.

"Don't think unnecessary thoughts treat this as an actual battle."

Bell thought about it and let out a deep breath and got in his stance again. After a second he darted forward again and threw a low right kick toward her left leg. Aisha raised her leg to take the blow. She then started her attack. She rushed towards him and let out a rush of punches. Bell deflected all of them with his elbows. After he knocked down the last one with his left elbow he struck out with and hit her in her jaw. Aisha got rattled by that and threw a left front kick to gain some distance.

But Bell was ready for it. He grabbed her leg pushed it towards her and tackled her. He mounted her and then began throwing punches at her face. She put her arms in front to block the attacks. Right when Bell thought he had won Aisha brought her left leg from behind him and wrapped it around his chest then dragged him backward. Once he was thrown off they both got to their feet and got back in their stances.

"Not bad, Rabbit Foot. Might have to get serious. Don't blame me if I grab something I'm not supposed to."

Bell sighed wearily when he heard that and rushed in again.

—-

Bell knocked loudly on the door to Welf's furnace waiting for a reply. He knew Welf couldn't hear very well in there and kept banging every few seconds while he waited. After a few times of doing this Welf opened the door. He looked down and smiled when he saw Bell.

"What's up, you guys are done with your training already?" He asked as he moved aside welcoming Bell in.

"What do you mean already we've been practicing for a few hours now. It's about time for you to start cooking dinner." Bell replied as he looked around.

"Wait, are you serious?" Welf glanced up and saw the moon beginning to rise. "Man time flies when you're concentrating. Sorry, let me get cleaned up and I'll start making dinner."

Bell just shook his head as he looked at what Welf was working on. "You're fine. Besides that's not what I came to talk to you about."

"Did you need something?" Welf asked as he began to put away his tools.

"Yeah, I had a small favor to ask about my new armor. If you haven't finished it yet."

"No, I haven't started that yet. I was saving that for last with how long it's gonna take. So what's your suggestion?"

"Well, since I'm going to be learning my new martial arts I'm going to be using my elbows more. So I was wondering if you could sew some of my scarf into my clothing underneath my armor. And maybe a stronger material for the elbow guards." He suggested seeing what Welf was thinking.

Welf didn't say anything for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "Anything else?"

"Huh? No, that should be all."

Welf nodded a few times to himself before groaning. "Ugh, why'd you have to tell me that now? Now all I want to do is start working on it."

Bell laughed when he saw his friend and just patted his back.

"You can get started tomorrow if it's that big a deal. But first, it's time for some food, let's go."

Welf sighed and walked out the door with Bell following him. They split up once they entered the house with Welf hurrying to the kitchen while Bell went to the bath. Once Bell entered he took off his clothes and went in the water.

He let out a sigh of relief when he got in. Not that he thought of it, he had been training all day, first with Aiz then with Aisha. The second one also worked muscles he wasn't used to so the heated water felt amazing.

After soaking for a while Bell started to wash himself so he could be out by dinner.

Thirty minutes later he was in his room finishing changing into his casual wear. He was wearing a comfortable black shirt and black sweatpants. He was excited to go to sleep so he could get to see Aiz again. The thought of going on an adventure with her was a dream come true. As he walked to the dining room he had a certain thought.

'Maybe I'm closer to Aiz than I thought.'

—-

Bell was waiting on top of the city wall looking at the sky. It was cloudy, and gray, and looked like it would start raining at any moment. The sun was hidden behind the clouds and the mood around the city was kind of down.

'Well, I guess she couldn't make it today.' Bell thought as he stood up and left the wall. It was around 10:30 and Aiz wasn't here yet. He wondered what he should do next. His armor was being repaired by Welf so no going to the dungeon. There was no one at his house to practice his martial arts with at the moment. He was wondering this as he walked around heading back towards his home.

"Bell, there you are." He heard someone say from behind. He recognized the voice so he stopped and turned to see Lyu running towards him.

"What's up Lyu is something wrong?" He said once she caught up to him.

"I don't know Syr just sent me to find you. She said she had something she wanted to talk to us about."

Bell was curious about what Syr wanted but he had something on his mind.

"Okay I don't mind, but how did you know where I was at?"

Lyu just sighed, "You don't understand how popular you are, do you? Syr said you liked to train in this area in the morning. All I had to do was ask if anyone had seen Rabbit Foot and they led me right to you."

Bell awkwardly smiled when he heard that. He should have figured though. While not on the same level as the Loki or Freya familia, the Hestia Familia is popular now. While he thought that, he gestured for Lyu to lead the way as they walked back to the Benevolent Mistress. They made small talk as they went.

"I told the Loki Familia about what happened in the dungeon. But don't worry we made sure not to mention you're real name or anything too personal." He told her, wanting her to know her secret was safe. She smiled when she heard that.

"Thank you, Bell."

"By the way, do you know what Syr wants?"

"No, she said it was going to be a secret," Lyu replied with a tired sigh.

"Why do I feel scared all of a sudden?" Bell said half-jokingly. With Syr, you could never tell what she was gonna do.

A while later they were in front of the Benevolent Mistress. They were about to walk in when Syr came running out in her green waitress uniform.

"There you guys are. What took you so long?" She pouted once she stopped in front of them.

"Sorry, it took so long," Bell said playing along, "But Lyu said you needed us for something."

She heard that she let out a mischievous smile when she heard that. "Yep. There's somewhere I got to take you two."

"Wait right now?" What about work, Mama Mia's gonna be furious with us." Lyu said not wanting to get in trouble for going along with one of Syr's tricks.

"Don't worry Lyu. I already got permission for us to be away from work for the rest of the day for this."

Lyu was immediately suspicious when she heard that. It was true that Syr liked to disappear during work and Mama Mia ignored it but for her to allow two workers to leave the entire day was unthinkable. Syr saw that look and let out a huff of indignation.

"Are you thinking that I'm lying, Lyu? After all that we've been through." She started to fake cry in her hands again.

Lyu sighed, "I know you're faking it Syr," but Syr's shoulders kept shaking as she let out little sniffles. Every second she continued Bell could see Lyu's determination slowly crumbling. "Are you crying? I-I'm sorry of course I trust you let's go."

The second Lyu finished talking Syr looked up with a bright smile. "Really? Thanks Lyu."

After she said that she grabbed Lyu's and Bell's hands and dragged them with her. Lyu flushed when she did that and Bell just went along with the ride. He did whisper to Lyu so Syr couldn't hear.

"You're weak when it comes to Syr, you know." He chuckled a bit thinking of that encounter. Lyu just blushed hard and didn't say anything. Knowing Lyu was down from having someone touch her hand Bell questioned Syr again.

"So where are you taking us exactly?"

"It's a surprise. But I suppose I could give you a hint. I'm going to take you to someone who wants to meet you both."

Bell raised his eyebrows in concentration as he thought of who would want to talk to the both of them. He couldn't think of anyone and followed Syr willingly. He knew that while she liked to play around she wouldn't put them in danger. After walking for a long distance they were in the business section of Orario. It was an area Bell didn't visit a lot so he was looking around while he was there. As she kept walking they started to see fewer people around as she walked to a certain building in the distance. When they got closer Lyu snapped out of her funk and asked Syr a question.

"Syr you're not taking us there are you?"

"Ah, the cats out of the bag. Should have figured you would have seen it from a distance."

Even Bell who was relatively new to the city knew the name of that building, Folkvangr home of the Freya Familia.

"What are you doing Syr!? The Freya familia will attack anyone who gets near their home!" Bell nearly screamed as they got closer.

Syr just laughed and let go of their hands and turned around to face them. "I told you someone wanted to see you both so I'm taking you there."

"Wait when you said someone you meant…" Lyu trailed off as she began to get the picture. Syr nodded her head.

"Yep, Lady Freya wants to see both of you."

Both of them looked at her in shock with their mouths wide open. Bell was the first one to recover.

"Wait how do you know Lady Freya?!"

"Oh, that's right you wouldn't know. That the Benevolent Mistress is sponsored by the Freya Familia. Mama Mia used to be the captain of the familia."

Bell just looked even more confused but Lyu asked a question before he could gather his senses.

"Wait is that why Mama Mia let us go? To see Lady Freya? Wait more importantly why do you know Lady Freya wants to see us?" She asked all these questions, but Syr just laughed.

"Sorry Lyu, a girl needs a few secrets you know. Besides it's too late someone is already coming." She said as she turned around and saw someone heading towards them in long measured strides.

Bell stared in awe at the man who was coming. It was someone that any adventurer would recognize immediately. With his strong body that was forged in the dungeon and loomed over anyone in the world. It was the strongest man, the king, Ottar. Ottar stopped in front of them and stared down at them. Syr was the only one of the three who wasn't shocked and just calmly looked at both of them.

"Okay, that's it for my job. I'm going to head back now you guys have fun." She said as she started to walk away.

"Wait you're not coming with us?" Lyu asked finally tearing her gaze away from Ottar.

"Don't worry I'll be fine." With that said she quickly left.

Ottar waited a few moments before walking back to Folkvangr.

"Follow me." He said in a deep voice.

Bell and Lyu both looked at each other before following him. As they were walking Lyu got in close and started whispering aggressively to him.

"Bell I don't know what Lady Freya has planned but be careful. She is known to be a bit of a problem-maker. To make it worse her familia is fiercely loyal to her and would do anything so don't say anything bad about her."

Bell gulped and solemnly nodded. As they got closer Bell got a better look at the building. It was shaped like a solemn temple that was big enough to make the Hearth Mansion look small. That wasn't even including all the lawns they had. As they got closer Bell stopped hearing the noise of the city and began to hear something else. The sound of people fighting. As they got closer the Ottar confidently walked through the gate while the guards glared at Bell and Lyu. Once they were inside they were able to see the Freya Familia's training method.

Everywhere they looked people were locked in a violent struggle. There was no mercy to be found, everyone was fighting their hardest to prove their strength to their goddess. Bell watched with a feeling of awe and terror at them. Unfortunately, Ottar ignored all of this and kept walking inside the building.

Everyone avoided Ottar and gave him a wide berth as he led them up the stairs to where his goddess awaited. Bell wanted to look around but he felt like the people glaring at him might kill him if he did that so he kept his eyes firmly on Ottar's back. Ottar stopped in front of a door and knocked on it.

"Enter." Said the voice on the other side. Even though they couldn't see her both of them knew who that enchanting voice belonged to. Ottar opened the door and walked over to the woman sitting on the throne at the end of the room. The was empty besides the raised throne. But even then anyone could tell how high quality the room was. Whether it was the paintings or banners made of the finest materials or the quality of the throne.

But none of that compared to the beauty of the women sitting on the throne. She was wearing a red and black dress that showed off her lovely figure. She had long silver hair and beautiful silver eyes. Her skin was pale white like snow and her figure could enchant anyone in the world. When they stepped in she smiled at them, and both of them felt their hearts skip a beat.

They stopped once they stood in the middle of the room and stood there awkwardly. They stayed like that for a few minutes as Freya just looked them up and down. After this continued for too long Freya just let out a light giggle.

"You both don't have to be so tense, I don't bite. Unless you want me to." She joked with them. Unfortunately, the joke made both of the pure duo even more awkward. Lyu stepped forward and tried talking.

"I-It's an honor, Lady Freya. If I may ask why have you asked us here?" She said getting straight to the point. Freya just sighed when she heard that.

"There's no reason to go straight into business right away," she said but went and explained anyway, "It's nothing so serious. Is it wrong to want to see Syr's best friends in person?"

Once she said that Lyu snapped out of her daze. "How do you know Syr, Lady Freya?"

"Oh is that jealously I hear?" Freya teased Lyu before answering. "Don't worry Syr is a special case. Like I was saying thank you for taking care of her."

Bell finally spoke up after hearing them talk, "It's nothing. If anything Syr has been the one taking care of us."

Freya looked at Bell and he felt a shiver as her gaze landed on him. "It's been a while hasn't it, Mr. Cranel."

"Yes, it has Lady Freya." He replied he didn't know if she knew but he was able to recognize her gaze on him.

"I've heard about both of your involvement with the whole business with Knossos from my familia members."

"Oh, it was nothing. It was only thanks to everyone that I was able to help out." Bell sheepishly replied.

"So humble." She said as she stared at him. "Well, I suppose you want to know the main reason I brought you guys here." She looked at them with a grin as she went up and walked to them. She put a hand on each of their cheeks and put on a mischievous smile.

"Because I love you both and want you to join my familia."

Once she said that there was no other noise and they both processed what they just heard. After it clicked in they both reacted in the same way. They both turned beet red and moved away from her. Freya laughed as she looked at them.

"Surely it's not that bad that you would run away."

Bell thought back to when he saved Haruhime and the goddess he saw. He remembered her words as she left him. He was running away from those words because of what he thought about relationships between gods and mortals but he was different now. So he looked at her and spoke his honest feelings.

"Thank you, Lady Freya, but I already have a person I love and I could never leave my familia." He said rejecting her.

Nobody moved again for the second time before Freya started laughing. She was holding her stomach with how hard she was laughing. Once she calmed down she looked at Lyu.

"And what about you?"

"U-um," She hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath, "I'm sorry Lady Freya I also decline."

Freya didn't seem mad at this she just smiled at them.

"I figured you both would but I had to ask."

"Is that everything?" Lyu asked trying to leave before she changed her mind.

"No there is one more thing I would like to talk about. I suppose you could call it a game." She said.

"A game?" Bell questioned.

"Yes don't worry you can decline if you want but I don't think you will."

Seeing she had both of their attention she walked back to her throne and explained the game.

"Would you two like to train with my familia?" She saw their eyes widen and continued.

"I don't mean for you to join my familia. Just training with my familia."

"How is that a game?" Lyu asked confused.

"It's simple. I want you both to join my familia and so I'm offering you the chance to get stronger. This will also give me more chances to seduce you." She said with a playful wink before she went on. "The terms are simple I think. We can keep the game going as long as you guys want. I win if you guys decide you want to join my familia and you guys will win if you get to become stronger and don't stay in my familia."

"Why would you want us to get stronger when there's a chance we won't join your familia?" Bell asked.

"Because I love strong people and I want you two to become even more beautiful. Of course, I have faith that by the end I will be the winner." She said with a devious smirk.

"Take some time to think about this. It is a rare opportunity to learn from the strongest familia in the world. If you agree you can come here again tomorrow morning and we will begin."

Bell and Lyu both looked at each other unsurely before bowing to Lady Freya.

"Thank you for the offer. We will think it over." They said. Seeing as the meeting was over Ottar got ready to escort out when Freya said one more thing.

"Oh yes, Mr. Cranel", Bell looked at her when he heard his name and saw her looking at him strangely, "You mentioned that you had someone you love earlier correct?"

Bell just nodded his head not knowing where this was going.

"I thought I would give you some advice about her." Bell was shocked she didn't mean she knew who he loved, did she?

"Don't trust her. She is only using you to get stronger. She is incapable of loving another person. The only thing she will ever care about is getting stronger."

With those ominous words, Ottar escorted them out of the building. Bell was in an even worse daze as he walked out. Ottar left them at the gate and turned to leave before stopping.

"I will see you both tomorrow."

"Are you that sure we will come?" Lyu asked him.

"Of course you will. Your adventurers." He said confidently as he left them there.

When he left Lyu led Bell away before the rest of the Freya Familia attacked them. As they left they both had complicated looks on their faces. Once they were far enough away Bell asked Lyu what she would do.

"I don't know. I'm supposed to be a regular waitress but recent events have made me want to become stronger. I will have to ask Syr more when I get back." She said after thinking for a moment. "What about you?"

Bell looked up at the gray sky before he answered.

"I will have to ask my familia, but… I want to. This is a rare opportunity to get stronger and learn new things."

Lyu nodded her head when she heard that. It made sense for Bell, who was always moving forward, to want to learn from the best. But she had to give him one warning before they went their separate ways.

"I understand but be careful. Lady Freya may seem nice but I've heard rumors about her. We don't know how much we can trust her."

"I understand but Lyu didn't Lady Freya seem familiar to you?"

Lyu hesitated before she replied. "Yes something about her touch was very familiar and I have only ever let a handful of people touch me."

With both of their heads swimming with these thoughts they wished each other a good night and went their separate ways. Bell to his familia home and Lyu to the Benevolent Mistress. As Bell was walking he was thinking less of the game Freya had offered and more of the final words she said at the end.

'What did she mean by that?' He wondered. There was one thing he was certain about though. Even though Lady Freya didn't say her name she knew it was Aiz. Bell supposed he shouldn't have been shocked about it. Lady Freya did tend to watch him when he was in Orario and he had interacted with Aiz when it happened.

'I can't believe she said she loved me.' It was overshadowed in the moment but it was the first time someone confessed their love to him. He didn't know why she loved him. She said she loved strong people but there were plenty of people stronger than him.

As he was wondering that, he stopped when he saw a flash of gold in front of him. Sure enough, it was Aiz walking around. She was still wearing his brown jacket over her usual outfit but something seemed off about her. She seemed to be walking in a daze. Bell called out to her and began walking towards her.

"Aiz!" She flinched when she heard his voice and looked back at him. Bell stopped a few feet in front of her when he saw her expression. She looked horrified to see him. Before Bell could ask her about it she put on her Battle Maiden face. Seeing her look at him like that set him on edge, made him think of the time they fought each other over the Xenos.

"Aiz are you okay?" He asked concerned about her. She didn't answer at first she just stared at him with an unreadable expression.

"Don't talk to me."

"Huh?" Bell let out a weird noise when he heard her.

"Don't talk to me. I've figured out how you have gotten stronger, I don't need you anymore." She repeated in a cold voice devoid of any emotion.

Bell couldn't understand what she was saying and started speaking in a hurry. Trying to figure out what was happening.

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"Nothing happened. I'm done pretending to be close to you to figure out how you got strong. I want nothing to do with you anymore."

"What?" Bell felt an uncomfortable feeling in his chest as he stared at her. It was like he was about to be sick.

"I thought we were friends Aiz." He said softly, desperately hoping he was hearing wrong.

But in the face of Bell's agonized face, Aiz just kept calmly talking.

"Like I would ever be friends with a monster lover. I was just using you and now we are never going to meet again."

With that said she turned around and walked away leaving Bell standing there. All thoughts about Freya and anything else were long gone from his mind. The only thing he could focus on was that golden flower, going further away from him.

–

Notes: Sorry for the delay. I didn't get a chance to double-check this chapter so if you notice a mistake please let me know. Leaving off on a bit of a cliffhanger. The next chapter will be in Aiz's POV. Thank you for commenting and sorry if I haven't responded yet, I will try to soon.