(I do not own Danmachi)

The Return to Twilight

Bell walked until he was sure that he was out of view and then he just ran and cried. He hated fighting with her but, this was too important to just let go. That didn't make standing his ground any less painful though. He ran and ran and ran with no clear destination in mind but, when he finally stopped he found himself in front of the Hearth Mansion.

Its new owners were the Takemikazuchi Familia. They had gotten the home after Hestia's death because their previous familia home was quite small and they barely had enough room before adding the returning Mikoto and the new Haruhime so Welf and Bell agreed to give ownership to the small familia. They knew they would not need it considering they were joining large powerful familias with more then enough room and money.

Bell was still wiping the tears from his eyes and catching his breath when he heard a voice.

"Sir Bell are you okay?" Bell hears a familiar voice ask from the other side of the fence

He looks up to see a dark haired ninja and a golden haired renard heading his way. He notices Mikoto is looking around in every direction which, he finds a bit strange but, the thought quickly passes. He was too busy trying to compose himself for this conversation he was going to have. The pair make their way over to Bell and Haruhime speaks up first

"Master Bell, are you alright?" Haruhime ask Mikoto's question a second time hoping for an answer.

"O-oh, yes I am okay, j-just some familia problems. I didn't mean to come here and burden you with them I just started running and ended up here. Habit I guess"

"Did Lady Wallenstein hurt somebody?"

Bell's face morphs from barely composed to confused "How...did you know?"

"Let's call it a woman's intuition." Mikoto replies reflexively flexing her prosthetic hand a few times.

"Okay?" Bell says still confused

"Lady Haruhime, would you continue your training with the rest of the familia? Bell and I need to talk."

Haruhime looked at Mikoto a bit confused but agreed and walked back over to the others training.

"Let's go to the dining room, Lord Takemikazuchi is out so, we should be able to speak more privately there."

"Okay?" Bell agreed not understanding the point of this but, since she did know about Aiz before he even told her, he figured he should listen to whatever she had to say. The pair made their way to the dining area and sat across from each other at a table.

"I know familia matters are typically kept private but, I need you to tell me what happened. I swear to Lord Takemikazuchi that I will keep the information to myself. I have a suspicion I would like to confirm."

Bell considered her words for a moment and knew she would honor them. She was honorable above anything. He felt like talking with someone about what had happened anyways so, he told her all the events of the day from "training" with Bete, to the Amazon's and Aiz attack and then his dispute with Aiz. Mikoto listened carefully and didn't interrupt until he was done explaining everything that had occurred. She listened but also, used this time to come up with how she was going to approach this topic to hopefully make things better for everyone. She knew she couldn't make her hunch about Lily and some other girls known without proof as, that would only cause more trouble and knowing how Bell felt about Aiz, Mikoto doubted he would believe her anyways. She would have to subtly introduce the idea that maybe Aiz wasn't as good of a person as Bell thought.

"Why do you think she would attack them like that?" Mikoto asked after Bell finished the story

"She wanted to protect to me. She is very protective especially if she sees that I am hurt." He explains

"I think that is part of it but, I think there is more."

Bell tilts his head in confusion so, Mikoto continues

"A few of us have noticed that Aiz is quite... possessive of you. My suspicion is that she may of acted that way because she thought they would take you away from her. She is really jealous."

"But, Tiona was just helping me because I was hurt. There is nothing to be jealous about."

"Trust me when I tell you that she really hates when anyone else holds you, I have seen it."

"You have seen it?"

"Yeah, remember the whole thing with Phryne? Let's just say I tried to help you and she wasn't friendly when I tried to carry you."

Bell started to remember everything that happened that night but, he wasn't wanting to relive it so, he didn't push for more details fearing the trauma associated with that night. Instead he just silently considered what Mikoto had said. Mikoto noticed that her words were having the desired effect of getting him to consider things through a new lens. This was progress and she didn't want to ruin it. She decided it would be best to leave him alone with his thoughts.

"Just think about what I told you. I am going to head back to my training. You can hang out here for as long as you would like. We will be outside training if you need anything."

Meanwhile Aiz had not dealt with the situation well. She had watched the boy leave, with every step he took away from her she felt an even stronger cocktail of emotions. There was anger, sadness, fear but, mostly she felt abandoned. Although if you looked at the girl's face you would never have known. She was retreating at full speed away from these emotions and head first into the Sword Princess persona. She was burying them deep in her heart right next to where she had buried the trauma from losing her parents but, similarly to how she had dealt with her parents situation she wouldn't allow herself to lose hope as long as there was still a chance. The problem with this current circumstance was that it was alot more complicated, all she needed to do to succeed in her family situation was slay the dragon and save her mom. That task ofcourse would be extremely difficult but, atleast she knew exactly what she had to do. She had to train, kill monsters and fight in the dungeon until she was strong enough. This was a difficult goal but, with simple to understand steps. The goal of fixing things with Bell was perhaps easier but, alot more confusing. She had no idea what to do or where to go so, she defaulted to the place she always went when confused by her emotions, the dungeon. It was where things were simple, kill the monsters collect the magic stones and go as deep as you can. She enjoyed the simplicity when things got complicated

She easily raged through the Upper floors killing every monster in her path. She called her Tempest but, there was no consistency in its color. It randomly would change an flash a new color every few moments as, a different emotion raced to the forefront of her mind. She didn't bother with picking up the magic stones as she raged through, this wasn't what this was about. She was going to kill monsters until this pain was fully buried. She was lost in her own world as, she sped through the dungeon considering nothing but killing monsters and conquering these feelings. The progress towards this goal was very slow. She slayed hundreds of monsters letting only her insticts guide her movement but, the feelings remained so, she just went deeper and deeper, not once considering the danger involved.

Meanwhile with a Xeno Minotaur

sniff sniff sniff* Asterius smells the air to find a familiar scent.

"...My rival...no..." Asterius whispers to himself under his breath

sniff sniff sniff*

"...his pheromones...but it smells like a female...his mate?"

Asterius follows the scent hoping that if he can locate "Bell's mate" that maybe he can find Bell and have the battle he always dreams of.

Meanwhile Bell looked for reasons to not go home. He didn't feel like facing everybody there yet. He was sure the Manor would be in an uproar with rumors and stories of why this happened. He wasn't sure how people would feel about him. He was still pretty new to the familia but, he was pretty sure something like this had never happened before. It would probably be easiest for most members to just blame him instead of their idols they have long looked up to. He was sure the people who looked up to Aiz would blame him, especially the elf Lefiya. He wasn't sure how he had wronged her but, she had been consistently against him since the day he showed up. He really didn't feel like dealing with her today especially without Aiz. Aiz may have missed some of the more subtle rude things Lefiya would do to Bell due to her social ineptness and still believing Bell and Lefiya were friends but, when she noticed she stood up for him. That atleast prevented the worst of it with Lefiya but, without Aiz and after everything that had happened he would rather do almost anything then deal with her. For this reason he decided to stay with the Takemikazuchi Familia for a while longer.

He and the former Hestia familia caught up with each other and trained for a while but, eventually it came the time that Bell needed to leave. They told him he could stay, eat dinner and spend the night but, he turned them down as, he didn't want to bother them when he had a perfectly fine place to stay so, he bid them farewell but, he still didn't want to go home so, he decided to head to the dungeon.

Back with Aiz she had made it to the lower floors and was currently surrounded by a hoard of irregular Spartoi. There were 5 of them and they all had the strength of a high level 5. Aiz took a deep breath as, she took in the situation. She was already pretty worn out from running all the way down to the lower floors in a sprint that had lasted hours fueled by her emotions. She didn't even have her normal armor. She looked around and noticed she was surrounded and they were coming quickly. She charged towards one swinging desperate but it was blocked. She used her speed advantage to quickly attack again cutting off one's arm. That is when the second one attacks her. She is just barely in time to defend when the third one swings at her and she dodges. She tries to run to make space but, is quickly met by the last two who swing simultaneously at different spots. She blocks the one aimed for her head and dodges the one to her leg. That is when the ones she just made space from caught back up and gashed her side with a sword. She was bleeding badly. She felt like she might faint any second now. The exhaustion and new injury quickly wearing on her. She turned around to defend and gets rewarded with another cut from her blindside. She fell to the ground barely clinging to consciousness. She was regretting every moment that had led to this. Still she refused to just accept death. She tried to and successfully focused her emotions which caused her tempest to finally settle on a defensive blue wind of protection and she blocked the blows with her Sword. She was overwhelmed by the number of swords swinging at her so, she missed alot of blocks but her wind prevented anything life threatening. That is when she heard a deafening roar and the Spartois took off in an almost desperate sprint, no longer caring about finishing the girl off. They were more worried about fleeing from this beast. Aiz sees this and decides she needs to run too. She knew she was in no shape to fight so, fleeing was her only hope. She stabbed desperate into the ground and used it to push herself back to her feet but as soon as, she takes a step she falls back down losing her Tempest. She hears the steps coming closer and closer. She tries to call her Tempest back but, it doesn't come. She eventually feels the steps come right next to her. She balls up preparing for the worst but only felt a warm disgusting smelling breath encompass her..

sniff sniff sniff*

"Your Mate, where is he?" Asterius ask

"W-what?" Aiz asked in a mix between confusion and fear. She peaks over to see it is the massive Xeno and recognizes him from the incident on the surface.

"The white haired boy with the red eyes."

Aiz pulls herself to a sitting position "What do you want with him?"

"An honorable battle with my rival."

"He isn't with me. I came here alone."

Asterius picks up the girl and throws her over his shoulder

"What are you doing?" Aiz protest.

"If I leave you here, you will die. It would be dishonorable to treat my rival's mate that way."

Aiz wasn't sure she liked being saved by a monster but she was in no place to reject help so, she accepted it.

The rest of the trip was silent as, Aiz would soon pass out from blood loss. When they arrived Ray (and some helpers with hands) took Aiz to the medical area and gave her some herbs that worked similar to potions that closed up the wounds.

Back with Bell he had made it to the 18th floor. He planned on resting there a while but, he found that his feet took him to the tree where Aiz had shown him the crystal ceiling. He found a comfortable spot and sat. He sat a while before he noticed a blue dragon diving from the "sky" towards him. He put his hand on his knife expecting an attack but, was quickly relieved when he identified the Monster. It was the Xeno Wiene. She landed and retracted her wings before nearly tackling the boy with a diving hug.

"Bell!" The small dragon girl squeals

"Wiene, it is great to see you too." He says hugging the small monster

After a moment they let go and Wiene sits beside him.

"What are you doing out here alone? I thought you were supposed to travel in pairs in case a monster or adventurer attacks." Bell ask like a scolding father.

Wiene grabs the pack off her back and shows him some herbs. "Everyone else was busy but, we needed more herbs because, we used all the ones we had on some adventurer Asterius brought in. I can fly over most of the monsters and adventurers so, it really isn't too dangerous."

"Do you know anything about the adventurer?" Bell's curiosity was peaked.

"They always send me off when Asterius comes but," she pauses and puts her pointer finger on her chin to think and after a few moments continues. "I think I overheard Asterius saying something about his rival's mate or something? It was hard to hear over all the commotion and they sent me off for herbs as soon as he left. "

Bell thought about her words for a moment before turning bright red when he understood what Asterius was implying but, the embarrassment quickly turned to concern as he put all the pieces together.

"Bring me there!"

"I am supposed to get a few more..." The girl tries to explain

'We need to go quickly! I can explain later!"

"Okay but, I better not get in trouble. Rey is scary when she's mad!"

"It will be fine. Let's go! I will race you there." Bell tells the girl knowing that will be the easiest way to get her to go as fast as she can. They both take off arriving in only a few short minutes as, the new Xeno hideout wasn't too far away. Wiene a gets there first because it is hard to win a race when you don't know where the finish line is at but, that didn't stop Weine from excitedly jumping around and bragging as soon as she arrived.

"I won! I won! I won!" She repeats over and over while celebrating.

Bell pats her head "Yes, you have gotten very fast. "

This makes the small girl even more happy.

They enter the hide out and Bell is immediately grabbed by a large Lizardman. He pulled him into a giant hug that was uncomfortably tight but luckily, he was used to those. Aiz tended to give alot of those. He enjoyed it from Aiz but, it wasn't quite the same coming from a Lizardman.

"Bellechi!" The Lizardman says before releasing Bell.

"Is she okay?"

"Ray told me that she lost alot of blood and that Aiz will be unconscious until her body can replenish it. She is in the medical area. Wiene should be able to lead you there."

"Thank you" Bell says as, Wiene grabs his arm leading him.

Many Xenos give Bell a wave as he goes by but, Bell is too focused on checking on Aiz to notice. They got to the door Bell opened it and his heart dropped. He had never seen her hurt this badly. He didn't realize how bad it would hurt to see her like this. If she felt like this when he was hurt, he was starting to understand why she was so overprotective. The worry, the guilt, the shame, the pain, it was unbearable. Bell walked up to her bedside and brushed the hair from her face and cupped her cheek as, tears started to roll down his face.

" I should have never left you like that. I'm so sorry. I wasn't there for you. Just please come back to me."

She wouldn't, not for many hours.. Bell found himself a chair and sat it close to her. He grabbed Aiz's closest hand. Aiz had often held his hand while he was knocked out and he thought that he had felt her comfort through it, he hoped he could do the same for her. The small monster girl jumped up in his lap and Wiene started telling Bell about all her adventures since the last time he had saw her, the floors she visited, the monsters she fought and just day to day life as a Xeno. Bell typically would be an interested and engaged listener for this kind of talk but, found his mind continually going over the events of the day. He decided that he could have dealt with things much better instead of leaving her in that kind of head space. He would need to apologize.

Hours and hours passed until the monster in his lap would eventually fall asleep in the middle of one of her own stories as it got late into the night. Bell decided leaving Aiz for a couple minutes to put the small monster into bed to properly rest would probably be okay. He had been waiting for hours, what are the chances she would wake up in the few minutes he was putting the small monster to bed?

Apparently the odds were higher then he had thought because when he opened the door the girl was sitting up in the cot. There was tension in the air as the pair looked at each other and an uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"I-I'm sorry." Bell eventually stutters out.

"You're sorry?" Aiz asked confused

He nods " I wasn't there for you when you needed me, not in the dungeon nor on the surface. I can see how much that hurt you. That is why I am sorry."

Aiz forced her way onto her feet. It was painful to do but she was determined.

"You shouldn't..." Bell starts to tell her not to get up but, Aiz shakes her head continuing with shaky steps to her goal. She reached her arms out and grabs the boy who returns the hug.

"That...did really hurt..." She felt tears starting to run down her face, something she hadn't felt in over a thousand years "but, I should be the one apologizing...I have caused you so much trouble...I don't know what this feeling is...but, when I see you with girls it is like someone plunged a sword through my heart... I know you wouldn't betray me but...it still hurts so bad..."

"The last thing I want is to hurt you. I will try to do better but you need to promise me something."

Aiz nods into the shoulder she is still crying years worth of tears into.

"Promise me, that you will never run off in the dungeon alone like that again. I hate seeing you hurt like this."

She nods again "Promise."

The pair both knew that things wouldn't be like before for sometime but, as they held each other they both knew the other was willing to do what it takes to get there. It was comforting to both to know they were back on the same page.

It would be a few days until Aiz was fully recovered and started heading towards the surface. Bell noticed that the closer they got to the surface the slower Aiz walked. Bell went along with it until floor 1 where the pace changed to not moving at all forcing the boy into addressing it.

"I know facing everyone is a scary thought. I am scared too but, we have to do this." He takes her hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze she nods squeezing his hand tight to signal that she wanted to keep holding it. They made their way to the surface. The moment they got to the surface Eina immediately informed them that their familia was looking for them.

They did as they were told and headed to the Manor directly. The closer they got the more Aiz clung to the boy trying to soothe her internal worry with all the comfort the boy could provide. Aiz's mind raced as she imagined the punishment they must have dreamed up. Riveria nearly drowned her for calling her old one time, she couldn't even imagine the punishment they had dreamed up for this. She was only sure of one thing though, if Bell was with her she could do it. When they arrived the gates opened as, if someone had been expecting them and everyone in eye shot stopped what they were doing as the pair made their way through the lawn and to the front door. Aiz was used to being stared at as she walked through the streets. It was part of being a high level adventurer but, these felt alot more intense like they were judging her every move. Bell felt the same except he was pretty sure, some were giving him a glare like they wanted him to die. He was pretty sure, there were many who blamed his arrival for the trouble.

The pair made it to the door where they were met by a royal green haired Elf.

"Bell, go to your room. Aiz please come with me."

Aiz was internally panicking despite keeping a strong exterior. She didn't want to have to do this alone. She felt Bell give her hand a reassuring squeeze but, it did little to calm the internal storm. She looked over at Bell before speaking up again

"I want him to..."

"He can't. " Riveria cuts off Aiz before she can even get the sentence out.

"But, I just..."

"I said no." The Royal Elf cuts her off again.

"Just trust her. It will be fine." Bell says hoping things can go smoothly

Aiz decides to comply trusting Bell's judgement and hesitantly releases the grip she had on the boy's hand. Bell does as instructed and heads to his room. When Riveria determines Bell is up the stairs and out of earshot she speaks to her daughter figure again

"Trust me this is for the best" She says beginning to walk.

"Sure." Aiz responded. Riveria noticed a slight change in Aiz's tone, a blank face and the short response. The Sword Princess was out in full force to face this challenge. This was not what Riveria was hoping for. She had hoped the more talkative and open girl that has appeared lately would be the girl who showed up.

"Drop off Desperate in your room. You won't be needing it. I will meet you in Finn's office. Be quick." Riveria says before turning to Finn's office.

Aiz goes to her room and leans Desperate next to her sword maintenance supplies. It definitely would need maintenance after that trip to the dungeon and being unable to properly clean it.

Aiz made it up to Finn's office and she was surprised by the people there or rather not there. She saw Loki, Finn, Riveria and Gareth but a Wolf man was conspicuous by his absence. That is when she saw the pair of Amazons. She wasn't sure what kind of face she expected them to have but, this was not it. She had seen this look before but, it was before they apologized. She was confused. Why would they have those faces now? Aiz wasn't sure but, she took her usual seat anyways

"Aiz we spoke to you before about your relationship effecting familia affairs" Finn begins. "You have shown yourself lacking the ability and maturity to handle your executive responsibilities due to your recent behavior we will be forced to demote you from your executive position."

This was a harsh punishment but, Aiz expected it would be something like this.

"Okay." Aiz says accepting her punishment

"Secondly," Riveria speaks up "You need to break it off with Bell..."

"Thats not happening." Aiz immediately protest before Riveria can explain herself.

Loki pops off the top of a fresh bottle of wine and starts chugging it.

The twins gave each other the side eye.

Everyone knew things were about to escalate quickly.

"The leadership of this familia have decided this is for the best." Riveria says trying to keep things civil.

Aiz's face got real intense.

"I don't care what you decided. It isn't happening" Aiz stood her ground.

"Now, Lass you're being insubordinate." Gareth speaks up for the first time.

"Your punishment isn't negotiable. If you want to live here and be a part of this familia, those are the conditions. I would also remind you that Bell is ineligible to leave for several months, and we will not allow him to see you."

A/N

Sorry for the clear lack of Yandere in this chapter. I needed a set up chapter for things to really get crazy. I hope you enjoyed it anyways. The next chapter should return to your regularly scheduled Yandere craziness.