I hope you read the important message/the thing posted before this chapter. It is important.
Also, I suppose I should give a warning that this chapter and rest of the arc is one of the reasons why this is M rated. What did you expect, it is Ishtar familia and the Pleasure District.
I don't own Danmachi. I'm just as sad as you guys.
A mass amount of noise can be heard surrounding the Hearthstone mansion. This is because a notice was recently put up in the guild that the recent victors of a massive War Game had decided to try and recruit more members. All kinds of races had gathered around in the massive garden, all in hopes of joining the newly made Hestia Familia.
The members of the Familia were just as excited to have new members added to their numbers, especially the young, white-haired captain who was visibly vibrating with pure excitement. Well I say all the members, all but one that is.
"Why are they being so loud, it's annoying." Nathan grumbled. Even without his hearing being fully utilised, his regular hearing was still considered to be extremely good. While this did have its benefits, today was showing one of its downsides.
"You can go back inside if it's hurting your ears too much if you want Nathan." The goddess Hestia told the half-elf.
"And risk some dicks try to attack you, I'll live."
"First of all, watch your language, It's not nice and I don't want Bell to start picking it up either. Second, I don't think these people would want to attack me considering they want to join the Familia."
"You should never let your guard down around adventurers, Hestia-sama, they can't be trusted."
"See, Lili understands."
"No, it's just you two can't seem to be able to trust people." Hestia retorted.
"I wonder where that came from." Lili says, with a sarcastic shrug from Nathan to back her up.
"Anyway, I'll be on the roof."
"Why are you going on the roof?"
Nathan turned to see his captain walk outside to join them.
"The noise is distressing from being right in front of it, so if I'm on the roof I get a good lookout point and it might reduce the chance of my ears being deafened."
"Be careful up there, don't want you to fall and hurt yourself." Hestia said.
Her response was an eyebrow being raised at her and a pair of arms being unfolded.
"I don't care if you are almost level 5, I'm still going to worry about you."
"Thanks Hestia-sama, the sentiment is appreciated." A montone voice responded. And with that, Nathan simply jumped up, grabbed the edge of the roof with his left hand and swung himself round, landing neatly on the roof, earning a few gasps of surprise and awe from the quagmire of people down below.
Before Nathan got comfortable, he heard the door to the mansion being swung open and the smacking of bare feet on the ground.
"L-LADY HESTIA"
"What's wrong, Mikoto?"
"I-I-it fell.. fell from a box..!"
'This doesn't sound good' Nathan thought, getting ready to jump down. However, he was frozen by what he heard next.
"A two-hundred-million valis loan contract."
Not a sound is made, time frozen to a stand still.
"ahem... HEM" Hestia Cleared her throat.
With that breaking the silence, 50 pairs of boots walk out the gate, a 14-year-old collapses, a smith stands in shock, a Prum is about to boil over and a Goddess just stares at the piece paper that was thrusted in her face, with the massive number printed right in the middle.
'Of course there is. Well at least the noise has died down'
"So you're telling me, that knife there is worth 200 million valis." Nathan said while pointing at the obsidian knife in Bell's hand. Another quick shiver runs through the boy's veins as the half-elf points at the stupidly expensive object he is holding.
Nathan had just sat there, quietly listening into the conversation that had just taken place for the past 10 minutes. He watched as Lili tore into their Goddess about the stupid debt they were in, how the news had spread like wildfire meaning no new recruits, which he wasn't all that fussed about if he was being truthful. He saw Mikoto look terrible as she felt responsible for all this, as she was the one to yell out the debt in front of everyone. The half-elf looked over at Bell a few times, seeing him trying to grasp with the reality of the situation.
"It is my debt to pay, I shall pay it off even if it takes hundreds of years to do so." Hestia exclaims.
"We will pay this off together Goddess, as a Familia." Bell said, looking into Hestia's eyes.
"As your Goddess, it feels wrong to ask for help. All I ask is that you five support me."
Hestia looks at each of her children.
"I'm a Goddess with debt.. is that okay?"
"Of course." Bell immediately replies.
"Fine, can't go against our Goddesses words now can we." Welf says.
"That's true." Mikoto says with a smile and a quick laugh.
"Just don't do it again, alright." Lili states with a softer expression than before.
"I promise I won't. Thank you everyone." Hestia expresses her gratitude towards her children's acceptance of her.
She looks over at her final child, the one who has yet to respond.
"N-Nathan, c-can you accept this pitiful Goddess?" Hestia said, hesitantly walking a step towards Nathan.
Instead of talking back, Nathan stop leaning on the wall, walks over to Hestia and looks down at her. He reaches up towards his face and removes his mask. Everyone is watching intently, as they have yet to see him without a mask on, never asking after listening to Ryu's story.
He opens his eyes slowly, slightly kneels down and looks directly in Hestia's eyes. A deep jade meets a deep blue.
"Goddess Hestia, you have shown me so much kindness over these past 12 days. The last time someone showed me any form of compassion like you was a little over 7 years ago. After the death of my mother, I have always been on my own. You, for some reason, judged me worthy to be blessed by you and join this Familia. Why would something insignificant as money make me want to throw that all away. I will repeat what I said on the day you gave me your falna. Goddess Hestia, I swear to serve you until either my last breath or you wish to be rid of me. Do you understand."
Everyone was moved by what Nathan had said. He had finally opened up to them and had removed his mask covering his eyes. This showed them that he trusts them enough to not have to wear his mask around them, a privilege few people have. Hestia was brought to tears by Nathan's confession and also taking a giant leap in progress.
"Thank you, Nathan. Thank you so much. I'm the *hic* one blessed to have you as my child. I will never want to be rid of you." Hestia says, tears falling out of her eyes as she traps Nathan in a hug.
With the mood now lightened considerably, everyone left the room and got ready to prepare dinner. Most happy that Nathan had opened up and spoken a bit about his paast. Everyone noted how he spoke of the death of his Mother but none bringing it up.
'Just another question to ask for later on, I suppose' Lili thought.
"I like your eyes by the way Nathan, they suit you. You actually look quite handsome." Hestia says.
"Yeah man, you could probably be as good as Bell in getting girls." Welf stated with a brotherly grin.
"W-what do you mean by that. I-I don't." Bell stuttered, trying to hopelessly defend himself.
"Cheers. I still don't feel comfortable without my mask outside and in public. I also prefer to wear them in the dungeon as they are what I'm used to. I'll try to keep them off as much as I can in the house though."
"That's fine, whatever you are comfortable with, we will support it."
"It is also better to feel comfortable in the dungeon as well, so I won't argue about it."
Mikoto and Lili smile at Nathan, now knowing he trusts them with something he deems important enough to hide from the world. Lili also felt a little bad from being wary of the half-elf ever since he joined.
"About the dungeon, could I say something?" Nathan asked the family as everyone was sitting around the dinner table.
"What is it?" Bell responded
"Could I request to do a solo run into the dungeon sometime soon."
"You know my rule about that Nathan." Hestia quickly retorts
"Why?" Lili asking, curious about the request.
"I can give you two reasons actually. The first is that I will be able to get about a million valis, which I will be able to put towards the debt, yes Goddess I know what you said but I refuse to do nothing."
"HUH, how the hell would you manage that."
"Well, over the past year, I've been doing a lot of dungeon dives and I've been able to make quite a lot of money from it, but before you ask, most of it went to Hermes Familia."
"How much money do you have saved up?" Mikoto asked.
"Over the year, I've saved up about a mil"
"That's quite a lot!" Lili almost shouted.
"Yeah, that's pretty good." Mikoto added.
"Why don't we put that to the debt?" Welf recommended.
"I'd say we put it towards the Familia, with like taxes and other stuff like that."
"Lili agrees with that. This does make things a bit easier for a while.
"W-what floor have you been to?" Bell asked, still trying to get around that they now had another million valis to their name.
"I managed to get to floor 36. I did make it to the entrance of floor 37 but I decided never to go, got a really bad vibe from down there."
"YOU GOT TO THE DEEP LEVELS." BELL SHOUTED.
"Well technically I didn't cause I never went down there."
"But you could have done."
"Well yeah I suppose."
"Can we hear the second reason why you want to break my number one rule for the dungeon." Hestia said now glaring at the jade eyed half-elf.
"Well I would like to increase my status a bit more."
"What do you mean by that Nathan?" Welf asked.
"Well as you know, I take up the position behind Lili as rear guard in our formation. I do this because I can keep an eye on everyone in case I need to jump to help. It is also because it allows you three to not only grow more easily, as the monsters on the middle levels help you grow while they will barely give me anything."
"So is that why you haven't asked for a status update?" Hestia asked.
"Yeah because throughout these past two weeks, I probably will only grow about 10 overall. So if you would allow it, Goddess, I would appreciate going down into the dungeon on my own."
"How long do you plan on going for?"
"Only a couple of days."
"You say that like it's nothing." Mikoto said, baffled at the amount of time Nathan asked for.
"Well the Loki Familia spend at least two weeks down there; besides, I've done it plenty of times."
"I don't like you being in the dungeon for that long on your own though. Loki Familia are all together."
"Well as sad as it sounds, I'm used to being on my own. However, if I'm able to be successful in this, I could take Bell with me afterwards."
At this, Bells face lightens up a slight bit, excited that he might be able to venture below the 18th floor.
"Why would you take Master Bell with you."
"Well, he is level 3 and the monsters further down will allow him to grow quicker."
"Like that's needed." Welf chimed in.
"True, but it would also give him experience, especially since we will be going on expeditions in the future, it could do him good as well."
The others thought about what he said, Hestia more so. She looked over at her favourite child and saw he was practically pleading with his eyes to let this future come to pass.
"I'm still not sure about taking Bell with you just yet." Bell slumped a bit in his chair. "But your first request is granted, but you will not go down further than floor 25. I also want you to go Bell's dungeon advisor and get some lessons from her, that is mandatory. Do you understand."
Nathan saw that Hestia had made her verdict and wouldn't budge on the advisor thing.
"Sure, a bit of help never goes a miss."
"Good, so when do you plan on going."
"Well I've got one final thing to do with Hermes in a few days and then I will start planning for it. Thank you."
With that conversation finished, the others jumped in on Nathan, hoping now that he has taken off his mask he is willing to talk more. However, before they could ask anything, Bell immediately started to question him on the lower floors and his dungeon experiences. Everyone decided to leave it for another day, simply smiling and enjoying the family atmosphere.
A few days later, the Hestia Familia sat around the dinner table once again.
"Thank you for the meal, I've got to meet up with Hermes in a bit."
"Okay Nathan, stay safe." Bell says to the half-elf.
"And don't fall for that guy's tricks."
"Trust me Hestia-sama, I know. See you guys in a bit."
With that Nathan left the dining room to get ready for the meet up with Hermes.
'Lili clearly noticed something was off with Mikoto as well, glancing at the open back door every now and then. I'm sure she will sort it out.'
Nathan made it to his room. If someone walked into it, sparce would be a kind way to put the half-elf's room into words. The only thing in his room were a single bed nestled into the corner, jsut below the window with a nightstand next to it. A small wardrobe and couple of draws were occupying the opposite side of the room. His swords were leant next to his bed. In his side drawer was his letter from 8 years ago and half broken green necklace that he had retrieved a few weeks ago.
He went to his wardrobe and pulled out what he usually wore when put on delivery boy duty.
A few minutes later, he jumped out of his window dressed in a different but exactly the same type of black, sleeveless hoodie as he usually wears. This time though without the under skin. On the bottom of his arms he wore leather padding that reached up to his elbows, both housing a knife on top, leaving his top part of his arms bare. His usual black gloves covered his hands but this time with no underside to it, allowing more grip. He had plain black trousers covering his legs that led down to his boots that he always wears. Covering his face was the biggest different though as it was a full-face mask made out of some sort of metal. It was completely black and had tinted eye sockets, making it fully black. It had straps that rapped around the side of his face, which allowed it to slide upwards. His swords were now strapped to his back in a cross, covered by black sheaths. With his hood fully up, he was the complete image of black, only the bare top half of his arms being visible. With this, Nathan started to make his way to the Travelers Inn, home of the Hermes Familia. Little did he know that a few minutes after his departure, Mikoto could be seen sneaking out of the Hearthstone Manor, and unbeknownst to her, the remaining three members of their Familia would follow her. And none of them would know until later that they all had the same destination.
As Nathan ran on top of the houses, not making a single sound, he recalled the conversation he had with Hermes about this Job.
"Why would you ask me to give this powerful thing to Ishtar."
"Well you remember how you told me her Familia engaged in Evilus when you came to me."
"Yeah, I told you it was because she wanted to find a way to beat the Goddess Freya. Wouldn't this help in doing so. Whatever magic she wants to use this for, it can't be good."
"It is exactly why I want to do this. You remember just before the War Game; I made an alliance with Loki and Dionysus in an attempt to crack down on Evilus."
"Yeah, what of it."
"Well after the last Denatus, we all agreed to take a step forward. This was made just after Ishtar commissioned me to retrieve the Killing stone. I thought that I could use this against her so I volunteered to take her out. This is our opportunity to do it. We haven't had a chance to take on a powerful Familia and an even more powerful deity like her ever since you told me she was in an alliance with Evilus."
"How exactly do you plan to defeat an A ranked Familia and a psychotic Goddess of beauty by giving them something that could possibly increase their power?"
Hermes precedes to tell Nathan his plan and how he wants to enact it.
"You want me to do what, are you stupid. Why should I meet you there with it. You know I don't like going to the pleasure district."
"I know but this is important"
"If its important then why can't you just take it there yourself."
"Cause I want to talk to Ishtar a bit and I will waste time by going to collect it myself and taking it all the way to her."
"So let me get this straight. I go retrieve the stone, meet you at the pleasure district, give one of our enemies a powerful artifact that will only increase her strength while you try and talk with her about something that you think will help us and then afterwards, go and try to trick THE Goddess of Beauty and war all in one night."
"That's the gist of it. Come on, don't you trust me."
"I don't trust you in the slightest." Hermes slightly winces at the harsh comment.
"However, you some how seem to always have the upper hand and I can't dispute your trickery, cunning and lip service."
Nathan takes one final sigh before agreeing to his plan. And with that, the traveller God heads to the Red-light district while a shadow could be glimpsed now and then running towards the west gate of Orario.
Nathan arrived at the Pleasure District, with the package safely secured in a bag that hung over one of his shoulders. He pushes memories back and focuses on the task at hand.
He quickly jumps over the guards and sprints across the rooftops, not caring to look down at the night workers. His root should be a b-line towards Belit Babili, but to stop any unwanted emotions from rearing their ugly faces again, he swerves a bit. It only added an extra minute to his time. On this root he did hear a scream that kind of sounded like a certain rabbit looking boy he knows while jumping across a section of alleyways, but he simply put it down to some young guy losing his virginity for the first time and not knowing what to do.
He turned a bit to look ahead to spot a large group of amazons pushing open the main doors of the Castle.
'Poor bastard, that's what he gets for catching the eyes of amazons.'
Nathan knew what was happening, he had seen it a few times when he used to spy here quite a bit. Some guy has caught the attention of a group of amazons and depending on who the guy was, he was either going to have time of his life or the worst night ever.
Nathan didn't bother to think or care as it didn't affect him, as he had finally reached the base of Belit Babili. He knew where Hermes would be, most likely flirting in the Ishtar's private chamber. Nathan decided to scale the tower from the outside, not wanting people to know of his presence. With a few quick jumps and grabbing ledges, he quickly made his way up to the window ledge of the room. While he was climbing he heard the smash of a window down below him but hed didn't give it much thought. Amazons are noisy ctreatures. He found his way to Hermes after he could hear them talking when he was only about 50 metres away and headed for that direction
"When is the stone meant to arrive Hermes."
"He should be here soon, I put my full faith in the man I've sent. He has never failed me before."
"He better not. Augh why didn't you just bring it yourself."
"Because I wouldn't have been able to have this lovely conversation with such a beautiful lady."
The lip service that Nathan had apparently been impressed by did little to discard the scowl that spread across the beautiful bronze skinned face. A knock of the window brought them both out of their little talk, both turning to look at the window.
"There he is now" Hermes stated.
Hermes went over and unlocked the door leading out to the balcony. In stepped what looked like a young boy, covered head to toe in black garments and armour. However, Ishtar barely looked down and instead stared at the mask.
"Why are you wearing that, boy?"
No response came, the young man not responding in any way. This annoyed Ishtar who hated being ignored.
"I asked you a question, do not ignore me petulant child."
The black covered figure didn't even flinch.
"Now now Ishtar, he isn't the responsive type. That's why I have him as a delivery boy and not a negotiator."
Hermes' joke did little to drain the tension from the room. With nothing else happening, Nathan walked over to a nearby table and placed it down.
"Is that it?" Ishtar asked, pointing at the bag while looking at Hermes.
"I believe it is" Herme said, looking over at Nathan, who gave a slight nod.
"Child, what do you know of the contents of this bag."
"Don't be so on edge Ishtar, the code of a delivery guy has it so he is to not tell a single sole of this package or to look in it."
"I want an answer from him, not you." Ishtar quickly shot down the God, focusing her attention on the boy in front of her.
Seeing that intimidating would not work on him, she went for another approach, one she knew was very affective. She turned on a bit of her charm. She put on her most seductive voice and slowly walked towards Nathan while noticeably swaying her hips.
"Hey young man, you have some lovely muscle on those arms. I bet if you took that mask off you would be so incredibly handsome. Why don't you sit down, take off the mask and maybe a few other things, get comfortable and have a lovely chat about things. Hermes says he trusts you, I bet you have some wonderful information you could relay to me."
A scowl hidden behind a mask was her only response, though she couldn't see it.
'Deities like her really piss me off, thinking she can just abuse her power to turn me into one of her playthings.'
Hermes didn't try to intervene, knowing full well that Nathan's mental fortification and resistance skill would help him resist Ishtar's basic charm. However, he was worried about the outcome.
After feeling up the boy's arms and almost taking off the mask, Nathan stepped away from Ishtar. He quickly bowed his head to her and then to Hermes and exited from where he came from.
'That's my one last gift to you Hermes. For bringing me here and dealing with that shit.'
'NATHAN, how could you leave me after doing that. Ishtar is going to be..'
Hermes was pulled from his frantic thoughts as he saw Ishtar straighten up, turn around and look straight at Hermes.
'…pissed.' Hermes managed to finish out his last thought before he was devoured by an extremely pissed off Goddess.
"How did he resist me Hermes, tell me. Come on tell me." Ishtar said into Hermes' ear after taking off her clothes and walking over to the now frozen God.
"You will tell me why I couldn't charm him."
"I ne-need t-t-to get go-going now."
"Not this time, you will tell me everything. Why couldn't I charm him Hermes. Is it because I'm not beautiful enough. That's absurd. That bitch isn't even near me yet a boy like him can just walk away from me."
As Ishtar slowly toyed with Hermes mind as well as his body, her thoughts turned away from her initial rage to her constant source of anger.
"What else can I do Hermes, give me a weakness of hers for me to exploit."
By this point Hermes was not able to do anything but comply.
Nathan landed at the bottom of Belit Babili, only to see a complete mess taking place around him. He saw Amazons sprinting round, clearly looking for something. Nathan jumped to the nearest roof top and started to follow a group of amazons to find out what had happened. He soon got his answer.
"Find him, don't let the Little Rookie escape. I can't wait to taste him."
'WTF is Bell doing here. So that scream I heard earlier was Bell. Was he the poor bastard who was shoved in the middle of that group of amazons. FFS' Nathan thought, immediately changing his objective to that of the amazons below.
'I thought he was meant to be finding out what Mikoto was up to. Wait, could that mean he followed her here. There is know way he would come here; he probably didn't know about this place. How did Lili let him come here. Are Lili and Welf here too, plus Mikoto as well.' Nathan thoughts started to paint a picture of what might have happened after he left. He was not looking forward to the finished product.
Nathan looked and listened for about half an hour, jumping from roof to roof, trying to gather any information on Bell or any of the others where abouts. He eventually spotted a sprout of red hair reach above the crowd.
"Welf, what the fuck is going on!" Nathan opened with after dropping right behind a group of people. In the group he could see the red hair he saw that belonged to Welf. Lili and Mikoto, as well as another small girl with black hair wearing the same clothes as Mikoto were also there."
"Fucking hell, you scared the living crap out of me. Wait is that you Nathan? What the Hell are you doing here and what are you wearing"
"Hermes and Hermes, now that is cleared up I'll ask again. What the fuck is going on and also where is Bell?"
As the group quickly filled Nathan in on what had recently transpired, he had started to think of what to do.
"You guys head back to the manor. It is possible that Bell has already escaped and headed back home. If he isn't already there then he could make his way back before I find him. I'll keep searching as I'm level 4, I'm quicker than both Bell and the amazons chasing him. If I haven't found him by sunrise, I'll head back home assuming Bell is already there."
"Are you sure you will be alright; besides it was my fault for leading Bell here."
"I'll be fine Mikoto, besides, no offence, but none of you would be able to handle the Berbera. It's best if I track him down on my own. I'll use my hearing to find him. Don't worry, I won't let the amazons do anything."
"Lili has to agree, even though she doesn't like to hear it. Fine, you better find him."
With that, Nathan left in search of the white-haired boy while the others started to head back to Hearthstone manor.
Nathan searched for quite a while, trying his best to gather as much info as he could but it seemed everyone was coming short, which he was actually quite relieved about as it meant Bell hadn't been captured. Nathan had arrived near the edge of the Pleasure District, thinking that Bell would most likely stay as far away from the busy streets. He then came to a wall. A bit of sweat dropped down his face and out of his mask as he realised what was behind the wall.
'Don't tell me he has walked into Daedalus street'
Nathan went about that train of thought. He had searched everywhere in the Pleasure District and from what he had heard, no one had found him either.
'He is either at home, in an amazon or in here.' That was the conclusion Nathan came too, not knowing out of the last two options what was worse for the innocent, naive 14-year-old.
"Guess I have no other choice." He mumbled to himself.
He jumped on top of the wall with relative ease. Looking up he realised it would only be a few more hours until sunrise. He would look around the labyrinth that is Daedalus street in hopes of finding a single person with only a few hours as his time slot.
'How hard could it be.'
And with that, Nathan jumped down on to the nearest roof and began his search.
He quickly made his way over to the exit of Daedalus, in hopes of catching Bell exiting the maze. Nathan knew that wishful thinking but even he didn't know his way around Daedalus street properly, and he had travelled through it constantly for over 6 years. There was no way someone who has never been in here before could hope to have a chance of finding the exit without a heap of luck.
'It is Bell I suppose'
His search stayed around the exit and after over an hour and a half he almost decided to head into the labyrinth and try his own luck out. Just before he fully committed to this though, he heard a group of female voices coming his way. He recognised these voices as he had spied on them once or twice.
'Loki Familia, what the hell are they doing in here?' Nathan wondered.
He decided to check them out quickly in hopes that maybe they had found Bell. He landed on a roof top and looked down, to see a group of girls from the Loki Familia. This included the sword princess, the amazon twins, and Thousand Elf. He also recognised Filvis but he didn't have time to care about her, as he focused in on the white mop of hair that was standing next to Tiona Hiryute. Nathan almost collapsed in relief but steadied himself and dropped down in front of them. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best cause of action but he had chucked any rational thoughts of just waiting for Bell after he left the group of girls. Instead his own tiredness and own lack of caring about future situation overrided those thoughts. He should have probably thought of a better way to go about getting Bell than just dropping down in front of them and walking up to a group of level 6s, level 4s and the successor the Nine Hells. He also forgot that he was wearing a different mask, so Bell wouldn't probably recognise him.
"Who the hell are you." Tione Hiryute said, as all the girls assumed a fighting stance, with Bell joining them as well.
"I don't have time to deal with your crap."
"Nathan?"
'Oh shit yeah the mask, he wont recognise me like Welf' Nathan realised.
"Argonaut, do you know this person."
"Yeah he is part of my Familia."
"Is he?" Ais asked, not recognising him.
Choosing to ignore the girls, Nathan focused his attention on the person who just made his night like a dance through Hell.
"Bell, where the hell have you been." Bell noticed the rise in Nathan's usually quiet voice, making him nervous. He had yet to know Nathan raise his voice.
"Well, you see I.. I mean we and by that I mean.."
"I already know what happened before you got lost, I met up with the others. I also grasped the rest of the situation through listening to the amazons hunting you. My question was meant where the hell you went after you escaped them?"
Nathan had confirmed Bell's story to the girls at least but Bell flinched at Nathan's tone, seemingly not caring that there was first class adventurers in front of him.
"Give the human some slack, you said you know what happened to him so why are being harsh on him. Besides, I can also smell that horrible stuff on you as well." Lefiya asked, surprising Bell that she had chosen to stand up for him.
"That's because I've spent the last few hours looking for him in the Pleasure District and Daedalus."
It had Finally dawned on Bell why Nathan was pissed.
"I-I'm so sorry that I made you look for me Nathan, I really am. I didn't mean to make you and everyone else worry so much."
Bells heartfelt apology and bowing of his head was enough to make the girls look over at the masked man. Nathan sighed and put up his hand in acknowledgment.
"It doesn't matter anymore Bell. What matters is that I have found you and that you are ok." Nathan spoke in his normal quiet voice but with a notable bit of relief mixed in.
Bell looked up to see his friend walk over to him and gestured to follow him. Most of the other girls smiled at this. As Bell walked over to Nathan, Tione spoke up.
"You are the half elf from the War Game aren't you?" Tione was one of the few people to watch Nathan when he had briefly spoken in the War Game. This was because Finn had wanted to observe the mysterious person and Tione was sitting right next to him, watching the same mirror has her beloved captain. Because of this, she had recognised Nathan's voice.
"Yeah, and?" Nathan responded, taking the girls and especially Bell by surprise that someone would talk to a level 6 so bluntly. Before Tione could retort, her sister interrupted her.
"What's with the masks, mister half-elf."
Nathan just glared at the younger twin for a second before answering.
"None of your business"
With that said, Nathan turned and started walking away, leaving the girls stunned at his apparent lack of care and rudeness. Bell himself was stood in shock for a few seconds before running after Nathan. As Bell caught up to him, Nathan put up a hand as a signal of goodbye.
"Cheers for look after Bell ladies."
With that said, Nathan and Bell started to make their way out.
"Thanks for coming to look for me, Nathan."
"No problem, you probably would have been just as stupid to do the same for me."
"Probably" Bell chuckled.
"I'm just glad I didn't find you enjoying the company of many Amazonians. I didn't fancy having to wade through an orgy to rescue you, that is if you wanted to be rescued."
Bell immediately got red and embarrassed by this and tried to talk but kept stuttering. It also had a similar affect on the girls behind them, Nathan knowing they were listening in on their conversation, already knowing that most of them were getting second-hand embarrassment from this.
"What is actually with the mask."
"It was to do with Hermes, I'll tell you when we get back. I'm looking forward to what Hestia-sama has to say about tonight's events."
Bell gulped at the thought of what his Goddess was going to do after she finds out he went to the red-light District.
"He's kind of weird." Anakitty Autumn said.
"I think he has a lot more than just weird going for him, like suspicious and strange." Alicia the Elf said next to her.
"I didn't like the way he talked to us though, almost like he wasn't afraid of us."
"He seemed to care and get along with Argonaut though, so I think he is alright."
The amazon twins voiced their opinions of him.
"I don't like someone who hides behind a mask, makes them untrustworthy." Lefiya said
"He also seemed strong, like when he fought the Apollo Familia." Ais added.
"We should inform the Captain of this when we get back." Elfy finished off.
Filvis simply watched the corner where the two boys had disapeared around.
'Do I know him from somewhere. Something about him feel familiar.'
As the other girls talked about their findings of today, the meeting of the Little Rookie and the masked man part of his Familia, the two boys now out of their sights headed back to the home, scared of the punishment that was about to come to them when they arrived.
A few hours back
"So that kid, Bell Cranel. Why she is so interested in a boy like that. If that is her weakness then I shall exploit it and make him mine."
A huddled, teary-eyed Hermes could be seen next to the monologuing, naked Goddess of Beauty.
'I couldn't help it. Why did Nathan make her so mad.'
And this is the start to the pleasure district arc.
You have no idea how long it took me to write the conversation between Hermes and Nathan. I was thinkning for a ltieral hour how to make it so Nathan is in the pleasure district so he can search for Bell, which leads to the convo with the Loki girls. But I needed Hermes there as well to give away Freya's liking to Bell as it felt wrong that Nathan would do it, plus I explained how Nathan is actually able to resist the charm, but only at its base level. I did want to make it all seem like a grand plan from the start and that Nathan was actually taking the trip into the dungeon because he wanted to allow Bell to captured but I soon realised that Bell needed to know of Haruhime first and at the time, neither Nathan nor Hermes knew of Haruhime and her involvment with Ishtar Familia and Mikoto, so I got rid of that idea. I didn't really like it either as Nathan would immmediatly be back stabbing Bell, like Hermes does, which wouldn't fit his character especially after he opened up earlier, which I hoped you guys liked.
It felt right to do and was the only reason I added the debt scene at the start, which yes I did get the book out to copy a bit of dialogue and re-read what was said so i could incompass it but I feel it was justified. I feel like I used Nathan really well with Ishtar too, him now being the reason Ishtar seduced Hermes to get information from him, which leads her to know about Bell. Nathan is now responisble for Ishtar chasing Bell.
With that rant out of the way, onto the reviews.
wyatt: The necklace isn't connected to Ryu really, only because she is an Elf. It could be used for her to figure out who he is though. I never really intended for the necklace to be a mystery for the readers, like I said in the urgent message, I want to use dramatic Irony in this story with only us and Nathan knowing certain stuff at the moment. And thanks again for the nice words and support, always appreciated.
Not sure about the idea as Bell would be 7 at the time. I mean I would love to see a little Bell try and destroy Orario but I assume Erebus stays with Alfia and Zard to help raise him (I also don't know what AU means and at this point I'm to afraid to ask). Not sure but for now I'm working solely on this and I do have other ideas swirling in my head that I want to write as well. Still sounds interesting though.
wyatt(Prologue review): I feel like I had to add it in to make it easier to understand what I want the readers to know and what I want the characters to know.
Jank7457: Ryuu and Nathan's relationship is on slow burn atm, but when it turns up it will be really good (I hope). He is ex-evillus and she is the gale you know.
mistalenny: I'm glad you like the way I'm using Nathan as well and I genuinely shouted "my guy" when you showed how you understand why he is level 4.
With that, see ya next time and peace.