Disclaimer: I do not own Danmachi.
Riveria ran her fingers through Aiz's hair as she slept on her bed. Riveria had brought them into Aiz's room once she had gotten over the initial shock. She had tried to make it to her room as quickly as possible so people couldn't see what was wrong. She knew she hadn't succeeded, she could hear the commotion throughout the house. Luckily they were smart enough not to bother Riveria. If they had Riveria would have made them regret it. She looked at Aiz as she slept on her bed. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were red and puffy.
Aiz had continued to cry while clutching her for an hour. Once she exhausted herself she fell asleep while clutching her. Riveria had tried to ask Aiz what was wrong but no matter what happened Aiz didn't say anything besides that boy's name.
Riveria took a deep breath to calm herself. This was the first time Aiz had broken down in years. Even with that monster, Revis, or when they first found out about the Xenos she didn't act like this. She needed to keep in control of her emotions. She knew that the other members of the familia, such as the Hiyrute sisters, Lefiya, and Bete would lose their tempers once they found out. Hopefully, Finn had managed to stop them before they did anything stupid.
Riveria looked at the jacket that Aiz had on her. It wasn't hers, and Riveria recognized it too. That was the problem, if she recognized it then so would the rest of the familia.
'That boy is always causing some type of problem.' She thought to herself as she gently got off the bed.
She went to the dresser and took out some fresh clothes for Aiz. Once she found some suitable pajamas that Loki had gotten her as a present, she walked back to Aiz. Aiz was in a deep sleep so Riveria had no problem changing her out of her wet clothes and putting the golden pajamas on her. As she finished she adjusted Aiz so that she was more comfortable and tucked her in underneath the blankets. Riveria leaned down and gave a kiss to Aiz's forehead.
"Sweet dreams, my child." She spoke gently. Riveria rarely ever called Aiz her child. She knew she wasn't, and that she had her mother that she was fighting. But still, even though they didn't share any blood they had a special bond, she was the one who raised her and helped her grow.
Riveria got up and looked around the room. It was almost as bare as it was once Aiz first moved in. That was why she was happy when Aiz started to express interest in something other than the Dungeon. When she first saw the boy with Aiz when they got back from the dungeon, she teased her, Riveria didn't know it would grow into what it had become. Aiz had changed even if others couldn't notice it, and it all had to do with that boy. Now that she saw Aiz she wondered if it was all a mistake. She wanted to help her but had no idea what the problem was besides it had to do with Bell Cranel.
Riveria quietly left the room and shut the door behind her. She immediately turned and started walking towards Finn's office where she knew where everyone would be. Everyone got out of her way as she walked. Even the elves knew not to bother her. While she was with Aiz her face was the picture of caring, now she was emotionless as she tried to calm herself.
She reached Finn's office door and walked in without knocking. As she expected Loki, Finn, and the rest of the executives were standing there waiting for her. Finn was sitting behind his desk with Loki sitting on it. Gareth was standing near the door as if protecting it from the group of youths who were grouped by the couches. The atmosphere was tense, which was to be expected. Aiz was the golden child of the Loki Familia, she never was like this so it set everyone on edge.
"Soooo who are we murdering today?" Loki asked with an evil smirk.
Shockingly there was no denial from the rest of the familia, they all stared at Riveria waiting to hear what she knew.
"She didn't say anything, she's sleeping now," Riveria said.
"Tch, why are we acting like we don't know the cause?" Bete said.
Everyone was silent. While they weren't at the gate when she came, they heard from other people what she had said. That and the jacket she was wearing was something they all recognized.
"We don't know for sure it was him." Lefiya timidly said.
"Didn't think you would be the one to defend him," Tiona said, slightly shocked.
"I-I'm not defending him!" Lefiya denied it.
"Well it indeed seems difficult for that boy to do anything that would make Aiz act like that," Gareth commented.
"But something did make her act like that, and he's the best clue we got if she ain't talking," Tione replied.
"Well, why don't we just ask Argonaut himself then? He's bound to know something." Tiona asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding." Lefiya nodded along with her idea. While she didn't like the human, she knew he wouldn't do anything that would intentionally hurt Aiz.
"No chance that the brat rejected Aiz, right?" Bete chimed in when no one said anything. Everyone stared at him in shock, it wasn't like Bete to talk about romance at all.
"What are you saying?!" Lefiya snapped at him for suggesting something so stupid.
"What? We all have eyes, it doesn't take a genius to figure out who it is that the bunny likes." He snapped back.
"What are you saying you dumb wolf? It's because we know that that we know he wouldn't reject Aiz. Don't you remember he's chasing after her to get stronger?" Tione yelled at him.
"Well, we can't be too sure about that," Loki interjected.
"What do you mean?" Riveria asked, confused about what she meant.
"Nothing, just rumors I hear around that Rabbit Foot is quite popular with the ladies. The only male he hangs out with that isn't a god is that blacksmith."
"What do you think this is all just a lover's spat?" Gareth questioned skeptically.
Riveria didn't know what she thought. She wished it was something as simple as a relationship problem. She didn't have any experience with romance and wouldn't be able to help Aiz. But that was fine as long as it wasn't something that was a danger to Aiz.
"What do you think Finn?" Riveria asked the prum who hadn't said chimed in yet what his opinion was. Finn stared at his thumb for a second before replying.
"I don't know why, but my thumb is getting a bad feeling about all of this. It feels unnatural after how she was acting the last few days."
Everyone thought to themselves about what he said. It was true that Aiz had seemed happier the last few days and overall in general after the incident in Knossos. So to see her go from that to this did feel strange.
"So you think Rabbit Foot had something to do with it after all?" Tione asked.
"He's definitely involved somehow but we won't know till we ask him."
"So we are going to talk to him after all?" Lefiya questioned.
"No, I'll ask him by myself, no need to add any unneeded pressure."
"Ah no fair, Captain! I wanted to go talk to him."
"Sorry, but I'm going on my own. I'll leave tomorrow morning and try to see what I can find. In the meantime Riveria, I need you to keep an eye out for Aiz. Make sure she is fine and see if she will talk more in the morning. Gareth and the rest of you are to ensure no one leaves the house or does anything to the Hestia familia."
With that said everyone looked disappointed but no one was willing to speak against their captain, except for their god Loki.
"I understand that you don't think that brat did anything wrong, but what if you find out that he did do something to Aiz?"
Finn didn't say anything but he didn't need to, Riveria answered for him in an unfit tone for an elf.
"If he did anything to harm her… I'll destroy the Hestia Familia myself."
—
Aiz was dreaming. She knew it was a dream because it was a memory of her past. It was a dream she frequently had as a child but had stopped as time had passed. She had nobody and was just spectating the scene before her like a ghost.
She was looking at a large clearing in the middle of a forest. There was a wooden cabin in the middle of the clearing with smoke coming from the chimney. But Aiz wasn't focused on that, she was observing the golden-haired woman who was sitting in front of the sole tree in the clearing.
The tree was just a little away from the cabin, in front of the entrance. It seemed that the woman was waiting for someone as she sat there. As Aiz looked around something was off but she couldn't figure out what.
Something was off about the dream, while it was familiar there were certain things off. The cabin and location were similar but it wasn't the house Aiz lived in with her parents. The lady had the same long golden hair as her mother and was even wearing the same outfit she did. But the way she sat there was wrong. Even though she looked relaxed, a sword was lying beside her at the ready. Her mother was a powerful spirit but she was not a fighter. Aiz tried to take a look at the woman's face but before she could she was interrupted by a child's voice.
"Mommy!" The voice called out. Aiz looked, and coming out of the shack was a small golden-haired girl wearing a child's black sundress. The child ran straight into the woman's chest and wrapped her in a hug.
Aiz thought the girl who came out was her childhood self, but that changed when the little girl looked at the golden woman with a big smile.
The girl couldn't have been older than 7 years old, but Aiz could tell this wasn't her. They were similar at a glance but that was all. They had the same childish figure and the same hair color as Aiz's, but hers was longer than Aiz's ever was. It reached the girl's feet and splayed out in a swirl. But that wasn't the biggest difference. That was her eyes.
The girl's eyes were bright red.
As Aiz saw those eyes stare at her she realized something. She was the one wrapped in the hug, she was that lady that reminded her of her mom. Before she had a chance to understand the situation another voice sounded out.
"Mom!" She looked up to where another child was coming towards her from the house. The child approaching was a young boy around the same age as the girl. He was wearing black shorts with a black shirt. Once he got closer she was able to see him better. He had pure white with golden eyes. Unlike the girl, he had a mostly blank expression as he came in for his hug.
Aiz stood there with the two children holding on to her, not knowing what to do. While she looked between the two kids in confusion, another voice spoke up.
"Okay, stop crowding around mommy. Give her some space." The voice playfully said. Aiz looked up in shock, it was a voice she knew. But when she looked up he looked different than she remembered.
She knew it was still him though, no one else had the combination of pure white hair and red eyes. He was taller and his body was more developed than before. He was wearing the same outfit of a black shirt and pants with his brown jacket on. Aiz realized what the difference was, he wasn't a kid anymore this was Bell as an adult.
"Daddy!"
"Dad!"
The children let go of Aiz and ran over to Bell to hug him. He simply laughed and ran his hands through their hair.
As Aiz watched them she finally realized what was going on. This was a dream of the future, a future where Bell and Aiz had children. She looked at her and Bell's hands, and sure enough on each of their ring fingers there was a golden ring.
"Atalanta, Regulus, can you go grab the food inside? It should all be in the basket on the table. Grab a blanket too, please."
"Okay! Let's race, Regulus!" With that, the girl, Atalanta, dashed towards the house.
"No fair, you cheater." Regulus immediately took off after her.
"Hehe, that should buy us at least a few moments of peace." With the kids, their kids, gone Bell moved to the spot they left. He sat down next to her and kissed her on the cheek before leaning his head down on her lap.
Aiz was shocked, Bell never voluntarily lay on her lap, she would be the one forcing him to. It must have shown on her face cause Bell smiled at her from below.
"What? Is it that strange for a man to be jealous of his kids for taking all the attention of his beautiful wife?" He said teasingly.
As she flushed red Bell laughed, she lightly hit his head as punishment. She ran her hand through his hair as he lay there. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the peace. Before long, however, the kids came running back. Atalanta was holding the basket of food and behind her was Regulas with the blanket.
Bell got off of Aiz and began to set up with help from the kids. Once the blanket was down and the food was spread out they started eating. Aiz sat at the end as she watched the three of them.
"What are you doing, come join us," Bell told her as he patted the seat next to him. Aiz got up and started walking to him but no matter how long she walked she couldn't reach them. What started as a walk slowly sped up until she was fully sprinting towards them. She extended her hand towards them, and right as she was about to reach…
—-
Aiz woke up. She felt drained and confused.
'Where am I?' She thought as she sat up. She tried to remember what had happened. She remembered Bell and some children, but it was vague. As she looked around she realized where she was.
'Oh, I'm in my room. That's right, it was just a dream.' She thought back to what happened yesterday. In a rush, it all came flooding back into her. The meeting with Lady Freya, what happened with Bell, and walking in a daze until she was home. The last thing she could remember was crying on Riveria. She got out of bed and walked towards the window. She moved the curtains a little to see what time it was outside. She saw the sun still hadn't risen yet.
She walked past the mirror and saw that she had somehow changed into her pajamas. She didn't particularly care though. She didn't feel anything except numbness. Something that she noticed as she looked at her eyes. They were lifeless and dull, not showing their usual shine. Aiz ignored that too as she walked back in bed. She wanted to go back to that dream and ignore what was happening. She wanted to be able to stand next to Bell again.
With that thought in her heart, she fell back to sleep.
—
Riveria closed the door behind her as she finished checking on Aiz.
"How is she?" Asked Lefiya who was behind her. Riveria shook her head as she answered.
"She's still sleeping."
"I see," Lefiya said as they both walked away. They were going to the library to kill some time until Finn got back with any news on the situation. Members gave them greetings as they walked by but it was clear to see something was bothering them. The whole mood in Twilight Manor was off.
Everyone was on edge, since Finn made it so no one could leave they were just anxiously moving around. Lefiya thought it would be worse but the people who she thought were going to be a problem were keeping quiet. Bete was sleeping and the twins were sparring in the yard.
"Riveria! Ah perfect you're here to Lefiya?" Tiona came running up to them covered in blood.
"What happened to you!?" Lefiya shrieked, which Riveria immediately glared at her for.
"Quiet," she hissed at her, "Aiz is still sleeping."
"Sorry," Lefiya said sheepishly.
"Huh, what do you mean? Oh, you mean the blood? It's nothing just some sparring. Anyway, the Captain is back and wanted me to gather everyone. Just got to go get that dumb wolf and I'll meet you guys in the Captain's office." With that said Tiona left them ignoring the weird looks she got from everyone.
Riveria sighed and began walking towards Finn's office with Lefiya trailing behind her muttering about cleaning the bloodstains later.
When they got there they saw they were one of the last ones, the only people missing being Bete and Tiona. Finn was trying to get Tione to take a shower and wash off her blood but Tione was insisting on taking one together. Loki and Gareth were just laughing at him as he flushed. Riveria and Lefiya sat on the other chairs as they waited for the last two to arrive.
They didn't have to wait for long, within a few minutes Tiona dragged a disheveled-looking Bete through the door.
"Sorry for the wait Captain!" She said before moving towards an empty chair.
"Wait! You're still…covered in blood." He finished weakly as she sat in the chair.
Tiona just laughed it off, "My bad Captain! But more importantly were you able to talk to Argonaut?"
Everyone looked at Finn waiting for his response. He sighed heavily but nodded his head.
"Was it that bad?" Loki asked upon seeing his reaction.
"Yeah, to be honest, it was the one situation I hoped wasn't going to happen." He said with a grave look.
"Tch, don't keep us waiting, what happened?" Bete snapped at him. After waiting a few seconds Finn continued.
"I was able to talk with Bell Cranel this morning while he was heading somewhere, something happened between him and Aiz for sure. He ran up to me immediately and asked if Aiz was okay and if he could see her. It didn't seem like he was lying and Lilly, his supporter, didn't seem to know anything either."
"Well if he asked that then he wasn't the one who did anything." Lefiya started to defend him. Finn didn't say anything, sending there was more Riveria asked him a question.
"You said he was going somewhere, where?" She asked.
"Yeah that's the problem," he said with a sigh before he looked at her, "he was heading to the Freya Familia for training."
Naturally, everyone's reaction to this was shock. It wasn't an exaggeration to say everyone in the room on some level hated the Freya Familia. They worked together once but that was just because the situation called for it. So when they heard her name the mood in the room turned for the worst.
"Why would that bunny brat be training with them?" Bete sneered as he heard that.
"You don't think that he switched familias to join hers, do you?" Gareth asked after a moment.
"No way! Argonaut would never leave his familia!" Tiona shouted out.
Finn nodded his head towards her.
"Tiona's correct Bell hasn't joined the Freya Familia, but that is probably what Freya's end goal is."
"Wait, you're not saying…" Riveria said, realizing what Finn was trying to say.
"What?" Tione asked, feeling out of the loop.
"I'm saying that Lady Freya most likely has her eye on Bell. And the whole situation is most likely her doing."
"Wait don't you think you're worrying a bit much, why would Lady Freya want that human?" Lefiya questioned.
"Just think about it. He's the fastest at leveling up in history and has an impressive record. Not to mention there have been times where the Freya Familia has had something to do with him. The time Ottar blocked us from interfering in the Minotaur fight. And most recently when it was the whole Xenos incident, the entire Freya Familia helped block us from interfering." Finn explained.
"That's true, but it doesn't seem like Freya's style to wait this long. Usually, if there is someone she has her eye on she gets them immediately." Riveria added on.
She was right, Freya wasn't known for her patience. That's why Finn had a question for someone in the room.
"That's true. So would you mind explaining it, Loki?" He asked his goddess who hadn't said a word the whole time.
Everyone looked at Loki who sheepishly scratched her head.
"Is there something you would like to say?" Riveria said with an icy expression.
Upon seeing that she was broken.
"I'm sorry but she made me promise not to say anything!"
"Explain." Riviera showed no mercy.
"Well back during Monsterphilia, she commented on someone she had her eye on that sounded like that Shrimp's kid. She also made some moves during the meeting of the gods but that's it! I know nothing about what's happening now!"
"So are you saying that Freya has something to do with what's wrong with Aiz?" Gareth asked, his eyes narrowing.
"At the very least she hasn't been charmed. Those charmed by Freya have a silver ring around their pupils." Loki replied.
"She doesn't necessarily have to be charmed, it's clear she has something to do with this." Finn jumped in.
"So you're saying that she did something to Aiz?" Tione asked with an angry expression.
"She could have," Loki said.
Everyone was quiet for a minute as they processed this new information. Freya had something to do with what happened with Aiz.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's beat the information out of them." Bete said with a bloodthirsty grin. From their matching grins, it seemed the twins agreed. But before they got carried away Finn shut that idea down.
"No, no one is allowed to start anything with the Freya Familia," He told them, making clear they knew it was an order.
"Huh?" Bete was shocked by the order. He sneered at Finn.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of them?"
"Hey, watch your tone with the Captain!" Tione said, looking ready to beat Bete to a pulp.
"Everyone calm down," Finn told them, "this has nothing to do with fear." He started explaining his reasoning.
"There are multiple reasons we cannot attack them at the moment." After waiting a moment and seeing that everyone was listening he continued.
"First, no matter how much each side boasts about being the strongest familia a fight between us would leave major casualties on both sides no matter who wins. Second, the city had just finished fighting a major battle that was draining for everyone. If we started another fight without reason the whole city might turn on us. Third, we have no proof they have done anything. It could be a coincidence."
"Why do we just ask Aiz? Once she wakes up and calms down we can find out what happened." Lefiya suggested once Finn was done.
Finn was going to say something but it was Riveria who answered.
"I doubt Aiz will tell us what's wrong if Freya was involved. If she did we would have justification to attack so she wouldn't have that."
"But if Aiz isn't charmed then there isn't any reason to not tell us," Lefiya continued.
Loki was the one who shut her down this time, "I don't know if Freya may have some dirt on Aizu or even worse that she owes Freya a favor."
"A favor?" Tiona asked.
"Yeah if you owe a deity a favor you can't deny the request. Of course, to make sure gods and goddesses don't abuse this both sides have to agree to the favor before a deal can be made."
"Do you think it's possible…" Tione started, but Finn interrupted her.
"Whatever the case, I doubt Aiz will say anything about it. So what we need to do is prepare so that when the time comes we are ready."
"And how do we do that?" Bete asked still mad that they weren't going to fight.
Finn thought for a moment before answering.
"Riveria, you the twins and Lefiya will take Aiz into the Dungeon for a while to get her away from the situation. Meanwhile, Lilly has asked me to train her for the upcoming expedition, during that time I will try to see if I can get her to reveal anything to me. Loki next chance you get take Gareth and interrogate Freya and see what she knows. Bete ask Lena if she can gather some info from Bell's other familia members, friends, and the public in general."
"HUH!? Why do I have to do that?" Bete hollered while the twins laughed at him.
"Because we need an outsider's view on this. We might be biased towards the situation and besides she is well-connected so it can't hurt."
Before Bete could explode on him Finn shivered as he felt an evil presence behind him. He slowly turned around and saw Tione fake smiling behind him.
"I must have heard wrong Captain. You want me to go to the Dungeon yet you're going to be by yourself with a potential marriage partner?"
"I-I won't be alone we will be training so you can ask anyone when you come back."
"YOU THINK I'LL TRUST THEM!?" Tione snapped.
"Tione worry about that later," Riveria stepped in, sensing that would take a while to clear up, "more importantly why do you want us to take Aiz in the Dungeon?"
Finn nodded his head grateful for the distraction, "One main reason is I don't want her anywhere near the situation until we fully figure out what's going on. But the other is this is a good chance to gather the money she needs to repair her equipment before the expedition and this will give you guys a chance to go see the safe zone that Bell mentioned in his story."
Riveria raised her eyebrows, "You don't trust him?"
"No, I do. It's just this is something that needs to be verified with our own eyes so we know how useful it will be for other expeditions."
"I see." With that said Loki clapped her hands ending all the conversations.
"Let's go with that for now. You guys should go get ready for your plans. If you have any problems come bother Finn later." With that, she kicked them all out while ignoring their complaints. The only ones left once she closed the door were Finn, Gareth, Riveria, and herself. Letting out a groan once the kids were gone she turned back to her main executives.
"Now that the kiddies are gone let's talk about Aiz. How is she, Mama?"
Riveria looked annoyed at the nickname but answered anyway.
"I can't tell you till I talk to her once she wakes up. But it was the first time I've seen Aiz act like that since the incident when she first leveled up to level two."
They all fell silent at that. The kids wouldn't understand, they grew up with Aiz as a friend or sibling. But they were the ones who raised her from the revenge-seeking weapon she was becoming to how she is now. As they were all thinking of the struggles of raising her Gareth asked another question.
"How's this gonna affect the expedition with the Hestia Familia?"
Finn sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Hopefully we either figure out the problem by then or it's not as big of a deal as we are imagining. Heh, maybe it is just a lover spat."
"Good joke," Loki said with a smirk, "We all know she wouldn't act like that for something small. Someone did something to her and when we find out how city or rules be damn we will make them pay."
Not one of them disagreed. Finn had said they wouldn't do anything and the reasons he said weren't wrong but he knew the second they found proof they would attack. He hoped it wouldn't come to that though. That wasn't to say he didn't care for Aiz less than they did, it was just that he had to keep his mind on the bigger picture so no one else had to suffer. So he hoped in his heart that that white-haired boy would pull off another miracle.
While he was thinking this Riveria stood up and before she left said one final thing.
"Don't forget, whoever did this is only one side of the problem. We have to oversee Aiz so she doesn't also become an issue." She said vaguely but it seemed everyone in the room understood what she meant as they all had serious faces as they nodded towards her in agreement.
—-
When Aiz woke up for the second time her whole body was groggy and sluggish. Her body wasn't accustomed to this much sleep at once. She slowly sat up in her bed. She tried to determine what time it was but the curtains blocked most of the light. All she could tell was that the sun was out.
Aiz was going back to bed but her stomach growled. She put her hand on her stomach as she thought back to the last time she ate. It was yesterday's breakfast. Going that long without food when not in the dungeon was also something Aiz's body wasn't used to.
She reluctantly got out of her bed and went to change into her usual outfit. Before she did she saw her face in the mirror.
Her face was a bit bloated, her eyes were also red, and her hair was a mess. Not wanting to get yelled at by Riveria for not looking presentable she decided to take a shower first.
As she got her clothes and towel ready she left her room to head to the showers. Luckily for her, no one was using it at the time so it was just her. She finished washing off quickly as she didn't like to be in the shower for a long time. Once she was done she put on her regular clothes and headed to the dining hall.
People stared at her as she walked by but she was even more in her own world than normal and didn't notice any of them. When she got to the dining hall she quickly grabbed her food and headed down to a table. Once she sat down everyone that was there left but she didn't pay them any mind, and started to eat.
As she was devouring her meal someone sat in front of her. Looking up she saw Riveria staring at her, smiling gently.
"Good morning Aiz."
"Good morning," Aiz mumbled, not wanting to talk.
It seemed Riveria was going to keep talking to her anyway.
"So Aiz, would you like to talk about yesterday?" She asked, getting right to the point.
Aiz flinched slightly. She knew Riveria would ask about yesterday, she just wanted longer. She thought about all of the things she wanted to tell her. She knew that Riveria would have solutions and be able to help her. But she couldn't. Freya had made it clear she wasn't allowed to tell anyone. But she couldn't lie to Riveria so she just said nothing.
"…"
"I see. You don't have to say anything but just know that we are here for you if you need anything." Riveria told her while holding her hand softly. Aiz almost cried again at the look Riveria was giving her. She removed her hand and went back to eating. Aiz was shocked that Riveria let it go that easily and didn't demand that she tell her. But that might have been past injustices that had her worrying.
Aiz ate in an awkward silence for a few more minutes before Riveria spoke up.
"Well, moving on to other matters you should get ready to head to the dungeon for a while."
Aiz looked at her in confusion. For the first time since she remembered she didn't want to go to the dungeon. She didn't know what she wanted to do. But before she could say anything Riveria kept going.
"It's a small mission given to us by Finn. You, me, Lefiya, and the twins will be going to the 37th floor. The official reason is to gather more money to repair your equipment, but the real reason is to see the safe zone mentioned by Bell Cranel." Riveria said, looking carefully at Aiz to see her reaction.
Aiz still didn't notice. Her eyes, which were duller than normal, seemed to die out entirely as she listened. She nodded her head and tried to push Bell out of her mind. Riveria, not saying anything for a minute slowly got up.
"We will leave in an hour so meet us at the entrance when you're ready." With that, she got up and left the table.
No one else joined her while she ate. They were slightly scared of the doll-like expression she had, which seemed more lifeless than normal. After finishing she left to go get ready.
Once she put on her armor she grabbed the newly repaired Desperate and headed towards the entrance.
Waiting out in front of her was the rest of the group. They all had their equipment and shockingly enough it was Riveria who had the supporter's bag on. Something that didn't sit well with Lefiya if her arguing was any indication.
"Lady Riveria, you don't need to be the supporter! I'll do it!"
Riveria calmly denied her request.
"Thank you, but I'm fine. This is mostly for you guys. It's my job to make sure you're all okay. So I'll be there to support you all."
"Ah, thanks, Riveria," Tione said with a smile.
While it seemed Lefiya still had issues with it she let it drop. That's when they noticed Aiz standing there. For a moment it was awkward with no one knowing what to say, but Tiona pushed past that awkward mood with ease.
"Hey, Aiz! Are you done crying now?" She asked only to get promptly hit in the back of her head by her sister.
"What's wrong with you, you idiot!" Tione shouted at her. The sight brought a small smile to Aiz's face before it disappeared.
"Okay okay! I get it! Let's get going then!" Tiona said dodging her sister as she headed towards the dungeon.
They started talking as they headed to the Dungeon. It was a nice day, though it was starting to get more chilly as the year began to approach Winter. It was mostly the twins and Lefiya talking as Aiz and Riveria followed from behind. Thanks to all of them being high level they didn't bring much supplies besides a few potions and other small necessities.
Regular people and other adventurers looked at them in awe but they kept going ignoring them. As Aiz walked with them she started to feel a bit lighter. She was still confused about everything and couldn't go to them for help but just knowing they were here was a huge help.
As she was thinking that she heard something that a passing adventurer said to his friend.
"Did you hear about Rabbit Foot? He was seen heading into the Freya Familia's home earlier today."
"No way. The lucky bastard." He said as they walked by.
Aiz didn't stop walking but she felt her mind stop. She kept replaying what she heard over and over.
'Oh, I see. Freya did make a move on Bell.' She thought. Her emotions and body were slowly going numb.
'Why? Why is this happening again? I'm stronger than I was before so why am I powerless as someone is being taken away from me?'
For the first time all day, Aiz began to feel a real emotion besides numbness. It was anger.
—-
Lefiya remembered when Riveria said she reminded her of a young Aiz. At the time she had taken it as a compliment but was told it was not. She didn't understand why everyone including Aiz didn't think so. But watching Aiz now she felt she could understand.
They started fine. They ran through the Dungeon at full speed trying to get to levels where they could find useful drops to sell. So for the first 18 levels, they didn't stop. Once they reached the 18th floor they stopped for a moment to grab food that grew from trees. They stayed there for an hour while they took a small break. At first, everything was more or less normal. They were giving Aiz more space and stopped asking questions about Bell when it was clear she wasn't going to say anything.
After they finished their break they headed to the lower levels. It was once they reached the water capital that they finally began to kill monsters for the cores. At first, nothing seemed off to Lefiya, Aiz was just rushing in as the vanguard as normal.
It was just a small group of monsters, nothing to worry about for them. The problem was that Aiz slaughtered them before even Tiona was able to get a single kill.
Lefiya just stared at her in shock. She couldn't put her finger on it but something about how Aiz fought them was off.
"Fuck." Riveria muttered behind her. Lefiya whipped her head around once she heard that. It was rare that the high elf ever let out any curses.
But before she could question what was wrong Tiona started making a fuzz up front.
"Come on Aiz! You can't take them all out, that's not fair. Leave some for me at least." The berserker complained.
"Sorry." She responded in a clipped tone before going forward, looking for more monsters to fight.
"This isn't good, is it Riveria?" Tione asked once Aiz was far enough away.
"Not at all," Riveria said with a look that Lefiya couldn't decipher.
"What's wrong?" Lefiya asked, still confused. Tione looked at her for a second before a look of comprehension came across her face.
"Ah that's right, you weren't here when Aiz first joined. Well if my guess is right you'll see soon enough."
Riveria didn't say anything, just pursed her lips. Even Tiona wasn't smiling and was looking worried.
"I thought you guys joined after Aiz?"
"We did so she was over the worst of it but we still heard the stories."
With that ending the conversation they followed Aiz. They had been down in the Dungeon for one full day now. After a whole day of slaying monsters, they had a good amount of money. Nowhere near enough for what Aiz needed but it was a good start.
What wasn't was Aiz herself. Much less get better, even Lefiya could tell she was getting worse by the minute. She wasn't listening to anyone including Riveria and just kept charging at monsters. Whenever someone talked to her they got clipped responses if she decided to respond at all.
But that wasn't the part that was worrying, it was how she was fighting. The only way Lefiya could describe it was destructive. It was like Aiz wasn't thinking about defense at all and was only focusing on killing the monsters in front of her. For someone as strong as her she wasn't in danger but she kept going no matter how many monsters there were.
As Lefiya watched her fight with that emotionless face, it was the first time that she was ever scared of Aiz.
Luckily they were taking another rest on the 28th floor. It was the only safe zone for a while, which was good because they were pushing a rough pace. Usually, it would take two days to get here but they did it in one. The reason was how fast Aiz was going, by the time they got the loot from the last batch, Aiz would already be charging a new group.
Right now they were sitting in the middle of a forest in an area the Loki Familia normally used. They had set up tents and were eating some of the Dungeon-grown fruit. Aiz had quickly eaten her food and gone to bed before anyone else.
Once she was sure Aiz was asleep, Lefiya talked to Riveria. Tiona also went to sleep and Tione was on guard duty.
"Lady Riveria, do you think all of this is because of that human?" Even if something had happened between her and Bell she didn't understand how it could cause her to act like this.
Riveria sighed as she looked at the tent where Aiz was sleeping.
"For Aiz this situation probably reminds her of her past. Because of that, she's starting to regress. Hopefully, by the time we get out of here, Finn will have figured out the problem or it could get worse."
"Get worse?" Lefiya didn't think it could but Riveria nodded gravely.
"Right now it's different from her past in two ways. One, she is stronger than before. That means she will be fine even if she is rushing in for most of the levels we will be in. We need to watch her on the 37th floor but that's it for now at least. But that's not the main issue. The main issue is that the object of her anger is right in front of her. In the worst-case scenario… Aiz might attack Freya Familia by herself."
Notes: Hope you like the chapter. The next chapter will be Bell's POV, it will also be the chapter where Bell gets his new magic. I think this arc should last about 3-4 more chapters, then I'll move on. As always feel free to comment. Merry Late Christmas!