This took longer than it should, my apologies. I shall not apologise for having no ownership of Danmachi though.
"Bell, where the hell are you."
It had been a few days since the War with Rakia, meaning the second-class adventurers that had been called up to help now went back to their normal lives. This included a large portion of the Dungeon city, Rivira. However, after they returned, it was discovered that a large group of firebirds had flooded the 19th floor and some had even headed into the safe zone of the 18th. This led to a widespread call up of the population to go and deal with the issue. Others grabbed any level 3 or above adventurer that so happened to wander down at that time and push the task onto them as well. It just so happened that the Hestia Familia had finally made it to the 18th floor at the same time this was all kicking off.
"Hey Little Rookie, do you mind helping us out with the problem. You can bring that half-elf as well." Not being the biggest fan of being referred to as 'that half-elf' Nathan started listing off reasons why they shouldn't give a shit.
"Why should we give a shit, not our issue is it. Deal with it yourself Bors."
However, after a bit of back and forth and the mention of a nice reward, both Lili and Nathan agreed to it.
This led to the current problem Nathan was trying to deal with: the missing rabbit that he had somehow lost sight of.
'I jump up and take on one horde of firebirds and he just disappears. I know it's a labyrinth but how does he manage it so easily.'
"Nathan, I'm over here."
Nathan rushed to the sound of his friend's voice. He quickly found the boy, standing next to what seemed like a young girl. He had seen him starting to use one of the dual potions they bought from the Miah Familia on the girl. However, upon closer inspection, it didn't take long to realise what was huddling underneath the large coat of salamander wool.
"Oi Bell, what the hell is that thing?"
The red gem embedded in the creature's forehead gave away its identity immediately.
Nathan drew both his swords and looked at the now to be revealed Vouviere, his covered eyes narrowing at what he was seeing.
"N-Nathan… I-I-I." Bell couldn't say what he wanted to, not being able to find a proper reason or excuse.
"Bell, what the hell are you doing. Why are you cuddling up with a monster? Don't tell me you have a monster Fetish."
As soon as those serious words left Nathan's mouth, Bell visibly flinched and grimaced at the worst insult anyone could be given.
"B-Bell."
However, one quiet, high-pitched voice brought both adventurers attention to the young, scaled girl.
"That's right. My name is Bell." The white-haired boy said, crouching down to eye level with the girl.
As Bell started to explain his name, Nathan mind went completely blank. A memory was the only thing that appeared in the empty space.
This made Nathan recoil, thinking back on that last part of the memory. He had no time to dwell on the past though as the problem in front of him was of more pressing concern.
'Maybe this Vouviere is like that Siren? She just talked, the same as before. Does that mean those other monsters could talk as well? How many of them are there?'
These questions flooded Nathan's mind, not being able to give one good answer.
Just before Nathan could start questioning Bell and how he got into this situation, his instinct ability kicked in. Turning around he saw a group of adventurers walking towards them. Four men and women were heading their way. He recognised them immediately and clenched his fists tight.
'Ikelos Familia, what are they doing here?'
It took all of Nathan's willpower and mental fortification to not draw his swords and severe their heads right then and there, the only real thing stopping him was that Bell was present.
Nathan knew they had seen him so he knew he couldn't just hide and pretend like he was never there. Though he had changed his appearance somewhat since he left Evilus, it was the mask that gave it away. It was a different mask from before but it was still a pretty distinct look. Nathan came up with the only solution he could think of.
'Like hell am I letting something as stupid as that put Bell into danger.'
"Bell we have company, I will follow whatever decision you make. I'll put my trust in you."
This meant a lot for the young captain, the knowledge that his friend will support him in his decision allowed Bell to follow through with what he truly believed to be the right thing.
"Give me the potion and cloak, I'll deal with the girl. You should talk."
"W-what. What do I say?"
"You're quick on your feet, I'm sure you can think of something."
With that said, Nathan bent down, covered the small Vouivre in Bell's salamander robe and started to slowly apply the rest of the duel potion, half of it already being used just before he arrived. Nathan couldn't look the girl in her amber eyes, so instead, he didn't talk and she didn't say anything back, simply allowing the now revealed Jade eyed boy to help her.
"Hey, you there! Did you see a vouivre girl pass by?"
Bell didn't know what to say. Time froze for him at that moment. He turned his head back to look at Nathan to see if he could give him an idea. However, an idea sprang to his mind as soon as he saw Nathan treating the monster's wounds and the empty vial on the floor.
"That was pretty smart Bell, making use of the situation to make it seem that she was a burnt adventurer. I told you, you are quick on your feet."
"Thank you for having faith in me, it really helped."
Nathan simply waved this compliment away, using it as a signal to tell Bell that there are more important things to focus on. That being the cowering but fully healed monster girl in front of them.
"What do you want to do then, captain?"
"We take her back up with us. It doesn't feel right leaving her down here, especially because people are looking for her."
"What do you plan on telling the others?"
"I'll figure something out. I trust them, something will work out."
"That blind faith of yours will bite you in the ass one day." However, Nathan couldn't deny the look of determination in the white-haired boys' eyes, the clear and unwavering will to make this work out.
*sigh* "Alright, let's do this. I'll back you up if need be."
"Thank you, Nathan."
Bell turned back towards the young girl and grabbed her hand, leading her to the 18th floor where the rest of the Hestia Familia was waiting for the two boys. There were no incidents back up. It was helped by the shouts of a pair of elves, saying that a monster had talked to them, though it was clear Bors was not willing to believe such a ridiculous story. A few minutes later, the two boys spotted the rest of their party.
"Bell, take her over to a secluded spot. I'll bring the others over. I don't want to bring her anywhere near Rivira."
"That makes sense. Ok, I will be over there and too the left." Bell said while pointing in a direction away from the wooden dungeon town.
Nathan followed his finger, gave a nod of understanding and then went off to fetch the others.
"Nathan, you back already. Wait, where's Bell." Asked Welf.
"Something happened and I'm not explaining it here. Don't worry, Bell is fine, he is just somewhere else. I'm going to take you over to him now.
The four other people gave puzzled looks at the half-elf but with not much else to ask, they reluctantly agreed.
"One more thing."
"What is it, Sir Nathan?"
"Do you guys' trust Bell."
This took everyone by surprisde. Of course, they trusted Bell, why would Nathan ask such a thing. Lili asked this.
"I know that but this is serious. Do you trust him?" Nathan did his best to get across the severity of his question, making sure everyone understood the meaning behind it.
Shared looks between the four people were all that was needed before they all looked back at the half-elf. "Yes, we do Nathan. We trust Bell completely."
The half-elf showed a rare smile to the group and signalled for them to follow him. After leaving Rivira, the group walked for about two minutes, no questions were asked as they wouldn't get an answer. Turning around the backside of a large boulder, the party recognised a familiar set of white hair but when they looked elsewhere, they saw a very unfamiliar small figure of what seemed to be a young girl. As much as Lili wanted to shout why Bell was hiding with a young girl, she quickly put together that this person was what Nathan was talking about.
"Bell, I've brought them. It would probably be best to get to the point." With that said, Nathan walked to where he stood in between Bell and the others, or to the hawk-eyed prum, where he was standing directly in between them and the small robed covered figure.
"Thank you, Nathan," Bell said while quickly turning his attention to the rest of his Familia. For the past few minutes, Bell had been trying to comfort the monster girl but also trying to figure out what to say to his friends. He believed that they would come around and not kill the monster but he was still hesitant with the introduction. It was common knowledge that monsters and people were natural enemies and that adventurers were tasked with killing the monsters. He had thought to try and slowly talk to them about what happened but that train of thought was stopped when the robed girl tripped over said robe when trying to run behind Bell out of fear of the strangers that had suddenly appeared.
The response was shown in an instant. When the red gemstone and the dragon scales came into view, a katana, greatsword and crossbow were all put raised, ready to attack. Bell had grabbed the monster to stop her from falling and had gone to protect her at the same time Mikoto stepped in front of Haruhime with the same intent. Nathan was the only one to not move as he had expected something like this to happen, maybe not like this. Though his right hand was visibly on the handle of his sword in case things got out of hand.
Lili was the first one to speak, asking the boy what was going on, accusing him of a monster Fetish, making the boy visibly flinch at the harsh insult he recieved the second time that day. While the back and forth began between the two sides, the group of four were quick to realise that the half-elf, while silent, was only looking at them and not the monster.
"Nathan, what do you think of this. Did you help Master Bell in this? I thought you would be the one to be the most against this."
The boy in question looked at the Prum girl, not speaking to her. After seeing that things weren't progressing as smoothly as Bell had hoped, Nathan chose that the answer could only come from one person. So for the first time since the monster had been revealed, the half-elf made his move. He slowly walked over to Bell and the monster girl, taking his hand off the hilt of his sword. This was to show both sides of his intentions to not attack. When getting within a step of the young girl, the half-elf bent down and to everyone's surprise, he took off his mask.
"Could you tell me his name?" He said while pointing up to Bell. This left everyone in a state of shock. Bell had been trying to tell them that this monster was different but Nathan trying to talk to it was going way too far. Before anyone could say this, they were interrupted by a shy, quiet voice.
"N-name?"
All eyes were now on the talking monster.
"Yes, what his name?"
"W-what the.."
"Bell. Name is Bell."
Welf had tried to talk but now found he no longer could, saliva clogging up his throat. The others were in the same situation. They watched as Nathan stood back up, put his mask back on and went back to his original position.
"Y-you see. She is different. After I heard her speak, I couldn't just leave her."
One by one, the white-haired boy's words became more convincing to each of the members. They slowly started to lower their weapons, all realising why Nathan made this seem so serious. Lili was the last person to lower her weapon, her crossbow still being armed but now by her side.
"O-ok Master Bell. We shall follow whatever decision you make. I did swear to support you in anything you do."
"Lili!" Bell looked at his first friend with a bright smile, causing the prum girl to blush slightly.
With that problem dealt with, the group started to make their way back to the surface and hopefully time it so they came out in the middle of the night so they would not gain any unwanted attention. When they started their ascent, Nathan became the vanguard for the trip upwards as they wanted to get back up as fast as possible. As he didn't need any help with dealing with monsters, Welf and Mikoto were assigned rear-guard duty. Lili and Haruhime stood just behind Bell and the hidden monster girl, not daring to get close but Lili was still ready to use her still prepped crossbow in case anything was to happen. Fortunately, they made it quickly to the surface, mainly because of the half-elf who showed no mercy to any monster, immediately destroying any magic stone that appeared in their way or tried to attack them. Bell made sure to distract the monster girl from this sight as when they witnessed him annihilate a group of 6 minotaur's with one swing of his magic, the young girl got scared and grabbed tightly onto the young boy's arm, which then caused Lili to tense up and raise her crossbow. To avoid any further incident, Bell walked in front of the girl, blocking any view of the half-elf's rampage. This exposed her to the two girls behind her, which stirred anxiety in one and a feeling of some sort of maternal feeling that swelled in the other. It took them less than an hour to get back, beating Lili's expectation when she initially timed their march upwards. This meant the Hestia Familia got to the surface a bit before midnight. Luckily, the main square was still fairly empty but the pubs and other nightly areas were still open.
A white owl was perched on top of a roof, seemingly observing the dungeon entrance and exit. It watched the Hestia Familia walkout, surrounding a small, robed figure in the middle. The black-robed skeleton saw through the bird's eyes and realised what the robed figure was. It delivered the information to its master directly, only being given the orders to remain vigilant but not act. Even though it relayed the information that Bell Cranel had taken in the creature, its gaze was mostly fixated on the half-elf leading the group. A half-elf who he had encountered once before, making him remember once more about that horrifying sight over a year and a half ago.
The Hestia Familia could be seen seated in the living room of the Hearthstone manor. They had just recently come back from the dungeon and when the Goddess Hestia went to greet them, she was given a surprise. After an explanation from her captain, the petite goddess concluded that it would be best to not reveal the identity of the monster but to allow her to stay with them for the time being. The current conversation that was taking place was that of a name for the girl they had seemingly adopted.
"How about Weine? Sounds cute, don't you think?"
Nathan watched as a chorus of agreements between the girls of the Familia was passed around at the decision on the monster girls' name. The half-elf saw the happiness on Weine's face at her new name.
'She really is like from that time before, there are others like her. Should I tell them?'
As a more relaxed atmosphere descended on the living room, Nathan decided to save it until morning as he didn't want to ruin the mood and as everyone had already had a stressful day, another bombshell would probably only cause more stress. So instead, he promised himself to tell them tomorrow. He was glad he made this decision as later on that night, he saw that everyone was still on edge.
Nathan's weird sleeping pattern consisted of him getting 12 hours of sleep every 96. He would get about 3 hours asleep every day on average but he actually sleeps 6 hours after every two days. This has been a sleeping pattern drilled into him over the past 8 years in Orario, mainly the years he spent under Evilus as he coudn't afford to spend time to sleep, only getting the minimum required so he could still stay as awake and aware as possible. With his advanced Falna, it would allow him to stay awake for almost a week straight until proper fatigue set in, something he has tested a few times. The half-elf has attempted to change this on a few occasions, at the protests of his Familia, but whenever he tries to sleep for two days in a row, his body won't allow it as his mind will just keep racing. The goddess Hestia called this ADHD, something that none of them had heard about but apparently, it keeps the mind working, not allowing rest. This explained to Nathan why he could never let his mind go blank like others seemingly could with relative ease. After a few attempts, the Familia gave up and excepted it. It wasn't troubling Nathan as that much rest was all he needed to feel fine. Well, tonight was one of those nights that he didn't go to sleep, so instead, he chose to hang out in the living room with Bell and the sleeping Weine. The Vouviere had fallen asleep and had hung onto the white-haired boy tightly enough that he couldn't escape, no matter how much the others tried. Nathan gave them a solution of either breaking Weine's fingers or Bell's arm but they quickly turned that option down. So Bell was left with the sleeping girl in the living room, where Nathan decided to accompany him instead of going out on his every other night nightly routine.
"Are you really ok with her?"
Even though Nathan had decided to stay with him in the living room, Bell had noticed the quiet half-elf being even more silent ever since they got back.
"I still don't know. I will say now that my swords will be staying with me until something is done because as much as you may want it, she can't stay with us. Someone will find out."
Bell gave off a worried and sad expression. He knew this was true, even though he didn't want to admit it. Weine couldn't come into the dungeon with them and she definitely couldn't go with Hestia to work. Miach and Takemikazuchi Familia regularly came round to house sit and he knew what their reaction would be if they randomly saw a monster in the house.
"She hasn't tried to hurt any of us."
"Yet. She still has her fangs and claws. I'm sorry but I ain't risking you and the others over something as fragile as trust."
Bell grimaced at Nathan's declaration. The clear statement of his struggle to trust on full display. The boy couldn't argue back at the claws and fangs comment either, even now he could feel Weine's sharp claws slightly dig into his top and almost reach his skin. A second later though, the door to the living room opened and a sleepy Hestia waddled in, showing Bell a look saying that she couldn't leave him alone. Though upon noticing her other Familia member she almost decided against her previous decision, but she had already arrived and carried on her plan to look over her first child. The others followed suit, all arriving within about 5 minutes and all of them having their weapon on them. Nathan scanned the now filled up room. He saw Welf leant up against the wall, greatsword across his lap. Mikoto was in reaching distance of Chizan while also lying next to Haruhime to protect her in case anything happens. Lili lay down next to Hestia on one of the sofas, her crossbow firmly strapped to her wrist. They were all asleep but they were in an adventurer's sleep, where they could spring to action as soon as something happens. Bell also knew this, giving the half-elf a look of sadness and a bit of betrayal. His only response was a shrug saying I told you it wouldn't be easy.
"Try and go to sleep Bell, if anything happens, I'll see who needs protecting and act accordingly."
This helped Bell a little bit, telling the young boy that Nathan was willing to give Weine a chance and not immediately jump and kill her without a second thought. With that feeling of gratitude and a long day behind him, Bell soon fell asleep. Nathan almost wished he could join him and everyone else, but he knew that he had already slept the night before so it wasn't going to happen today.
'I was going to be watching over Folkvangr today. One day won't kill me, I'll just push my routine back by one. Freya hasn't come for Bell yet so why would tonight be different and it's not like them or the Loki Familia will do anything of major importance anyway.'
With that thought, Nathan settled down for a sleepless night of observing his resting Familia, hoping his presence would be enough to calm all of their nerves. His only company now being the memory of that day when he killed that talking siren.
Nathan was walking through the damp, wet tunnels of Knossos. He had walked down this hallway countless times, he could walk around the whole 18 floors blind and still not get lost. He walked past a door which he had walked past countless times, it looked the same as all the other gigantic orichalcum doors. As he walked past it this one time, something was different. It wasn't there. Well, it was there but it was that it was open. Nathan just continued walking, however, not caring as his destination wasn't that way. A sudden sharp scream and a plea to be let go put a stop to that. Nathan slowly turned and started to amplify his hearing. He could make out that a bunch of people were talking and there was screeching and what sounded almost like squawking mixed in with the screams.
'Must be some of those monster lovers again, maybe one of them got hurt again. I don't recall any of them being a young female though.'
His curiosity slightly peaked, Nathan started to casually walk through the open door and down the new tunnel. He counted another scream and a large clang of what sounded like a cage being hit during his walk.
A couple of minutes later and a few more turns, Nathan walked into a massive room. There was a large group of people occupying the room. They were sharing the room with 12 cages. It was what was in the cages that brought back this memory. They were monsters but they weren't. Nathan's instinct ability didn't kick in whenever he looked at any of them. He also didn't sense any intimidating aura or anything that may say that these creatures were a threat.
"Reaper, what are you doing here? Mind your own business"
Responding to the nickname his Goddess had bestowed upon him, he looked up and saw a spiky-haired man. He was wearing glasses and adventurer styled clothes. He was fairly well built but Nathan knew his true strength came from what he could do with that spear he was now holding in his grip.
Nathan only continued to look at the Captain of the Ikelos Familia and then back to the caged monsters.
"Tch, quiet as always. Look, this doesn't concern you alright. So why don't you just go somewhere else and forget you ever saw this place."
The rest of the Ikelos Familia followed their captains stare and now all of the members were looking at the young, hooded boy in the doorway. No one dared attack him though. They all knew why he had been given his nickname, none of them wanting to add to his kill count.
As the silence stretched on, Nathan had gathered all the information on the scene, he finally turned around and started to walk out of the room. However, it seemed that one of the cage monsters had taken the distraction as an opportunity to escape. With her cage already being weakened by a punch from one of the men that had captured her, she decided to try and fly away. She kicked down her cage bars with abnormal strength for her kind of species and started to spread her gorgeous green, blue and white wings.
Surprising all but one of the people in the room, the Feathered monster started her escape attempt. She was already too far ahead of her captors for them to get her, both sides knowing if she got up in the air and up to speed they wouldn't catch her. All she had to do was dodge what looked like a young boy. She sensed no danger off of him, so she was sure she would be able to get past him easily and head for freedom.
'Ray, Fear, Lyd. I'm coming back. I'll be at the village shortly.'
As the monster started her flight of freedom, her hopeful thoughts made her not realise something. She had not sensed any danger coming off of the boy standing now below her. That was because she sensed nothing from him. Now that she couldn't see him, she couldn't even sense his presence.
A quick gust of wind brought her out of her inner thoughts. At first, she imagined it came from an exit she could hope to use but after a second she realised it had come from underneath her. The monster had just made it to the doorway now and looked down. To her surprise, nothing was there but this only raised another question.
'Where did that boy go?'
She didn't chance a brief look back as it would slow her down but it wasn't that direction the boy went either. As she flew a bit higher, she caught a slight glimpse of something metal above her. A split second later, she was hurtling towards the ground. The metal that she saw was now piercing her stomach. That same boy she saw on the ground was now standing on top of her, one hand holding the sword that had now stabbed through her core.
"N-no. W-why?"
Her last words garnered no answer or even a response of any kind, the last thing she saw was the terrifying black mask. She turned to dust a second later.
'Huh. So it was you that screamed.'
"I want more information on Weine"
The next morning came and everyone was again gathered in the living room, though they were out of their sleeping attire. Hestia made her sudden statement, though everyone had also wanted this as well.
"I can somewhat help with that," Nathan said, gaining everyone's attention. "I don't know how or why but all I can say is that there are more."
"What do you mean by more?"
"I mean that she isn't the first talking monster I have come across."
They all stared at the half-elf, this new information feeling almost like being kicked in the stomach.
"W-why didn't you say anything before," Welf asked.
"Because I saw the first one 3 years ago when I was still in Evilus. Considering the day we went through yesterday, I thought it would be best to tell you now rather than then.
"I can understand that I suppose."
"Wait, Evilus know about these monster. If so, why would you allow us to bring Weine to the surface? This could attract the attention of them."
Lili's nervous outcry brought the others to this realisation. Nathan was quick to defended himself.
"Bell, remember when we first met Weine and that party came looking for a vouivre girl."
"Y-yeah"
"Well, they were part of Evilus, Ikelos Familia to be exact."
Bell gulped at this, now knowing he had talked to a group part of the biggest terrorist organisation Orario had ever known, the ones that had killed Ryu's Familia.
"So Ikelos is helping out Evilus. I never liked him but I didn't think he would do that."
"All the gods in Evilus are just there for the entertainment. They are the reason I distrust deities more than anyone else." Nathan said, practically spitting out the word deities.
"What other deities are involved?"
"Hestia-sama, me telling you won't do anything about it. I didn't tell Hermes for the same reason I won't tell you. I don't want you guys to chase after them. You won't win, you will just die. This is also the reason I haven't even gone to the Loki Familia; I don't think even they are strong enough to tale Evilus on. Only Freya's lot have a chance but they she doesn't give enough of a shit to do anything."
Everyone now gulped. Nathan thought that even the Loki Familia were not strong enough to take on Evilus. Nathan knew this was true. It was on one of his nights watching the Loki Familia that he saw them walk out of Knossos. Some were carrying the dead, some carrying the injured with Braver even being among them but all were carrying the face of defeat. He was now concerned about the fact that not only had the Loki Familia found out about Knossos but they also had somehow obtained a key or some other way to get in.
"Truthfully, I was planning on stopping Bell. But when they came, it made it too late to back out. If we had come clean about Weine and handed her over, they would keep an eye on us thinking we uncovered a massive secret. Since they don't know about it and didn't realise we actually helped the monster they were looking for, they won't suspect us. Bell put on a convincing enough act to help with that."
Everyone took a few seconds to digest this information, though Mikoto came up with another question.
"How did you first meet a talking monster."
The memory that had swarmed his memory last night came back. He was very hesitant to talk about it but after steeling himself he began to talk. He didn't mention killing it as Weine was still clinging onto Bell's arm and he didn't want to frighten her. He also never brought up his nickname as that was a part of him he wanted to be dead and buried. The half-elf also had explained Knossos to his Familia afterwards, sending round another series of gulps.
"Do you think those monsters in the other cages are the same as well?"
"Most likely, though I never went back and checked."
The memory gave everyone the chills. Not only had the existence of Knossos come as a massive shock to them but now the knowledge that Weine wasn't the only one like her. This last bit made one of them smile though.
"There are others like me?"
"Yes, though we don't know where. That is what we are going to try and find out today."
"Well we have been given info that there are more of them, we just need to find out where they are currently and what they are to a certain extent."
"Are we going to try and rescue the ones trapped in Knossos?" Bell asked, his desire to save and help people seeping into his thoughts.
"Don't even think about it. If Knossos is to be even considered, then I will be the only one going in there. Before any of you even think about contradicting me, I have already stated reasons why it is extremely stupid. As for me going on my own, I have my nightcrawler skill and I can still remember the layout."
"I don't like you considering going in that kind of place on your own in a futile rescue attempt."
"Don't need to worry about that Hestia-sama. Even if I decide to go in there, I will only be observing. There isn't a chance I will reveal myself to them unless you permit me to kill them."
"Absolutely not!"
After the conversation ended abruptly, everyone went about their allotted tasks of gathering information. Hestia and Nathan so happened to be walking in the same direction. With Hestia going to talk to Hephaestus at her workplace and the half-elf heading north.
During the next couple of days, an assortment of things happened. The most noticeable things were that they came up with nothing on their info gathering about talking monsters but Nathan kept going out each day with the intent of info gathering. Welf and Nathan watched as a naked Weine ran into the male bath, jumping at the extremely flushed shouting Bell, with the slightly covered up woman of the Familia. The two boys just sat back and laughed at everyone's embarrassment at seeing the other sex naked for more than two seconds. Takemikazuchi, Miach and Hephaistos all came round to look at Weine for themselves, though the unwanted, almost threatening and very uncomfortable gaze from a certain half-elf kept them on their toes. They were used to being given gazes like this but not from a mortal. Then Nathan, Bell and Welf set off towards the 19th floor looking for answers, where Nathan got another laugh watching Bell get dragged along by Aisha Belka while being chased by an angry Blue-eyed Elf. Though that was put to a stop when Nathan suggested that all three girls present just take him all at once and be done with their petty argument. Unsurprisingly, the amazon was fully onboard, the grey-haired waitress said she wouldn't mind as long as she had a go with Bell and the elf, along with the boy in question, were stuttering messes, with their faces as red as tomatoes. Bell did receive two disapproving looks from his male friends when he turned the proposal down, even though two beautiful women said they would gladly have a go with him, Welf and Nathan made sure not to let the boy forget his outrageous decision on behalf of all men. Though, that was soon a distant memory when they once again encountered a strange, abnormal monster that only confirmed Nathan's statement of other's existing. The fact that it was a siren didn't help Nathan in that regard either.
One night, Nathan was subjugated to Weine sitting as she was still very energetic and as the half-elf wasn't sleeping that night, Hestia, as the goddess of the Familia, tasked him with looking after her and keeping her under watch. This again wasted another night of observation on Folkvangr once more, though the half-elf submitted. It did allow for the monster and boy to bond slightly as he was almost forced to read another hero book that Bell and especially Haruhime had been peppering the poor girl with, engrossing her in the stories as heroes almost as much of them, which was thought to be impossible by the others.
"Can we read Dungeon Oratorio again? I really like that one."
"Yeah, sorry. I don't."
"Why not?"
Though the cute pouty face was adorable, it wasn't even close to cracking the stone-faced boy and his adamant denying on not telling the saddened girl why he doesn't like it as it featured a certain character he despised more than almost anyone in the world. It would take a lot to beat the King in that regard.
"How about I tell you one that I was told. It features Elves but not ones like me. Almost like spirits." Nathan said, thinking back to a story he his old Goddess always gleefuly told him. As much she loved that story, for obvious reasons, and as much as he hated her, he couldn't help but like the story himself.
At the mention of spirits, Weine immediately agreed as the spirit Aria was her favourite character, much to the joy of Haruhime. So that night, Nathan tells the story of a black swordsman who encounters an elf called Puck and their travels from then on. It didn't take long until Weine was grabbing the half-elf's arm in fear but with a weird persistence for the story to continue. It bonded the two over their unspoken but understood familiarity of loneliness.
A few days later:
"Where are you going, Nathan? Are you still out trying to find Information. We didn't get anything from last time and you keep coming back empty-handed."
"Yes, I am. You never know with this Hestia-sama. Patience with this type of stuff is necessary. Not everything will just appear in one day nicely wrapped. I'm heading towards the tower again to listen in on conversations of adventurers coming in and out of the dungeon"
"That makes sense." Hestia hadn't detected a lie so she presumed it as the truth. While technically it wasn't a lie as Nathan was heading towards the tower of babel and would be listening in on some conversations there, it wasn't the truth. He was just heading in that direction as a cover-up for his actual destination. He had been going there for the past few days now, each day he had been gathering information about what was transpiring in Orario.
After Hestia left to go to her workplace in the tower, Nathan continued on a straight path North. He quickly jumped into the back alleys and started to pick up speed. It only took him a 15 minutes to see his destination. A spiral came into view, like one that looked comfortable perched at the top of a castle. Then the rest of the actual castle came into view shortly after. Since it was situated at the very north end of Orario, he could use his walk north with Hestia as to not arouse suspicion. The Twilight Manor now stood just a block away from him. His intent came after he saw them leave Knossos that night. He would use the idea of info gathering on the talking monstes so he could actually gather information on what the Loki Familia did and more importantly what they discovered. Nathan knew if the Loki Familia found out about the talking monsters, they would definatly be a focal point in the conversation shared in the executive room. So that is exactly where Nathan aimed for.
Quickly scaling the walls surrounding the property at the east end, the half-elf darted under the ledge that held up the room where the executives frequently held meetings. He never liked this spot. Not only was it uncomfortable as Nathan had to push his back against the wall with his legs to keep him from falling as there was no sitting area, but Finn would also often shout out to members from the window and even though his skill was active and he knew he was invisible to even the Goddess of beauty's discernible eye, the people responding were pretty much staring up at him. He really didn't like that, not even now.
As he tried to get as comfortable as possible in the place he would remain for the next 12 hours or so, he started to listen in on the conversation taking place. He knew the invasion of Knossos took place about a week ago, the discovery of Knossos would be the only thing on their minds right now. He knew this as he had heard Finn order Loki Familia members to stand guard around the door in Daedalus street. While he knew of the Amazon hunt that took place a week ago, he knew little of what happened as he spent the whole-time standing guard outside, protecting the house after hearing the sound of battling in the streets. Though it did come as a shock and a relief to know that Valetta had been killed by Vanargand, which made his decision to infiltrate Knossos more complex as one of the big enemies had been taken out. Also, the news of the death of Ishtar's half screwed up spirit creature was taken down added to this. Though Ein, Dix, Barca and that creature Revis were still lurking about, which still made the act a very risky move.
Quite a few hours went by and it was starting to turn dark. The half-elf was almost ready to leave for the day but Nathan was currently listening in on a conversation between the big 3 of the Familia, though it was still a struggle to listen to Riveria talk, a twinge in his chest always ignited.
'God, why does she sound like Mom. I get they are sisters and she speaks differently as Mom always tried to be happy and chipper while Riveria is stern and, annoyingly, regal, they have the same sounding voice. If her highness in there just spoke a bit higher pitched with more suppossed joy in her voice, it would be very similar.'
Nathan shook his head slightly, stopping himself from getting too distracted with his personal thoughts, he instead zeroed back in on the conversation. He was glad to find out they still hadn't found a key into Knossos. He was also glad to find out that Loki still believed Freya to have the key that Ishtar held, stopping any leads tracing back to him. This train of good news was quickly shattered as High Novice practically broke into the room, from the sounds of it, and said the worst thing he could have heard. Even an outwards attack from Evilus headed by creatures brought up from the bottom of the dungeon would have been easier to take.
"We just got word that there was a disturbance on the west side of town. A humanoid monster was spotted attacking a young girl."
Before Finn could give any order to the young man, Nathan had already vanished from the Twilight estate. He bounced from rooftop to rooftop, no longer caring if he was seen.
'What the hell happened! Weren't they meant to be looking over her? How the hell could they let something like this happen!'
Nathan raced through Orario, arriving 15 minutes later at a scene where a group of Ganesha Familia had appeared, surrounded by a large mob of people. They were all asking questions about the monster and to Nathan's relief, none of them fully declared it was killed. Undetected, he jumped over the crowd and ran down the alleyway being blocked off by the guards. He saw no sign of Weine or any of his Familia but that didn't stop him from racing down the backstreets.
'If one of them got to her, where did they go. There was no mention that Hestia Familia had helped the monster so either she escaped on her own or someone disguised themselves.'
The image of a prum girl flashed in his mind. Now having to consider where Lili would hide with Weine from the public he started to rattle off ideas. After only 30 seconds of aimlessly sprinting around the backstreets, his strong sense of smell picked up Weine's scent. Her monster scent stood out from the others and even though he was no animal person, his heightened senses allowed him to just be under that level. He started to quickly chase the scent down, even completely blocking out his hearing so he could focus on it better as closing his eyes would probably not be the best idea when sprinting through twisting streets. It was only when he made it to the abandoned district that he didn't need to rely on his sense of smell to figure out where they had gone.
The sun had completely set on Orario and the Hestia Familia was nowhere to be seen. Though, in an abandoned old church, crying could be heard.
"Can I…not be with Bell?"
Bell couldn't respond to the crying girl, no one could. They were all feeling guilty that Weine had run away, especially Lili. Just before anyone could gather the courage to answer the weeping girl, the door to the basement was slammed open. They all immediately went to grab their weapons, fearing the worst that someone had followed them and intended to hurt Weine. Though those thoughts were quickly dashed as Nathan jumped down the whole flight of stairs. Everyone looked at him and he returned the gazes.
"Sir Nathan, where have you been?"
Nathan couldn't respond to Haruhime as after veiwing that Weine and all his Familia was here and safe, utter exhaustion took over and he crumpled to his knees, sucking in air as his life depended on it. The half-elf hadn't run at full speed without his magic for that distance in a while, not even his fight with Tammuz got him this out of breath. He was definitely sleeping tonight.
"Nathan, are you alright?" Mikoto quickly said, jumping to Nathan's side to give him a hand. Welf quickly followed suit and got the half-elf to an old chair. None of them had yet to see him so exhausted and worn out.
"Is… Is Weine… Is Weine alright?" Nathan said, large breathes interrupting his sentence.
"Yes she is, don't worry."
"What…what happened. Why is…there a crowd of people…gathered around a certain alleyway?"
The half-elf was slowly filled in on what happened as he started to regain control of his breathing again but as fatigue left his face, a more worried expression crossed his lips and narrowed eyebrows.
"People now know of a monster roaming about the surface."
"Yes, and the city will quickly fall into a state of worry."
"The Ganesha Familia is already involved but it could result in the Loki Familia getting involved as well."
The conversation between Lili, Welf and Nathan brought everyone to the reality of the situation. They no longer had the strength of Weine being an absolute secret anymore. The Familia set in for a long night, ironically only Nathan going to sleep this time along with Weine. Hestia had pretty much forced the boy onto the old bed and ordered him to sleep. He didn't fight the inevitable after a while and the black abyss quickly enveloped him.
The next morning, Bell walked into the Hearthstone Manor with a white envelope in his hand. An important mission to go to the 20th floor and to take Weine with them. This caught everyone's attention instantly.
"They know about Weine now, probably after the incident last night." Bell states.
"Way too quick for that. They know she is Vouviere. They have known about this for a while."
"How can you be sure Nathan?"
"Lili agrees. Lady Weine was fully covered, even if they saw her supposed attack, they would not have been able to deduce she was a vouivre."
"It's a mission, meaning we can't refuse, can we?"
"No Welf, we can't," Mikoto replied.
"The 20th floor, only Nathan has gone that far. Can we even make it?"
"I'm not sure. With Haruhime's constant power boost and elixirs then maybe."
"I will go vanguard and make sure nothing comes close to us. If we give Bell the power boost, then having two strong level 4s will make it easier to get down there. One of us will watch the front while the other watches everyone else."
"Lili believes that would be the correct way to go about it. With Nathan and a power boosted Master Bell, this shouldn't be too difficult. It is also best if Nathan goes at the front as he is the only one able to direct us through that part of the dungeon."
With no one else being able to come up with any better ideas, the group immediately went about preparing for the mission. Nathan even gave a lesson on the great tree labyrinth which did not make the others feel any better about the mission, especially after the mention of those Gun Libellula's.
The Hestia Familia began their preparations for their deepest dive yet.
I'm kinda out of breath after this. I had to re-read the whole of volme 9, then go back and read it again at the same pace I was writing this chapter. I did get to do some fun things in this chapter though, like Nathan's first memory in Knossos. Hope you like his nickname, it might seem a bit emo or goth, but it works for what I have intended. This has taken a lot longer than usual but life happens sometimes so I hope you guys can excuse me for that.
You may have noticed, and may not like, that I have skimmed over a few fun scenes like the bath scene and the Ryu vs Aisha fight for Bell's virginity. I do intent to do a mini chapter for the second one as it is too good to skip over but for this chapter it would have added at least another hour or two write it and I don't have that in my right now. I also hope I gave some of you a little scare with thinking that Nathan may have killed Ray. Hope that somewhat worked as I know she is the most liked Xenos, after weine and best boy Asterius of course.
The reveal that Nathan has been spying on Loki and Freya Familia, kinda big if you ask me. Now he knows about Loki's invasion of Knossos and what has been happening recently. I mean, what do you expect Nathan to do on the nights he can't get to sleep, play C.O.D. No, he is actually cultured and he plays good, relevant games like Minecraft and lawn mower simulator.
Anyway, I am very tired atm. So with that said, see ya next time and peace.