Change of Fates (rewrite)

by Ventanus

The rewrite of my Change of Fates story, since there are many things I d like to change or wished I wrote differently. Bell will have three partners here. (third one cant be taken in the pull-down menu, so I take Lefiya since she is very important even when not Bell s lover here) Rating MA again.

3. Chapter 3

"Grandpa, I want to help!"

"All right, Bell. You can dispose of all the little stones, we need a flat surface."

"Okay!"

Bell used a metal rake to clear the floor of stones and to make sure the ground got as flat as possible. After wandering around the village to get everything Alfia and Zard needed, the villagers were really surprised by Zard´s huge figure and Alfia´s beauty, they started working on the house. First, they thought about which side of the house they would add the rooms to. Next to each other? On the opposite sides? Zeus even got a glare from Alfia when he asked with a grin if they just wanted one big room.

Before she could react in any way, Zard simply chuckled. "We´re not like this, geezer. Don´t tease her too much, it´s a bad example for the boy."

"Et tu, Zard?"

Then Zeus had started staking out and clearing the area, while Zard was doing something else. Bell was really excited to help his grandfather, it was always fun to work together with him. Alfia too wanted to help...but...to her shame...she was quite the klutz. So instead of helping with the building process...which Zeus told Bell was a man´s job anyway...she started to take care of the house, do the laundry, clean, and do other things.

She felt a bit bad that she wasn´t a big help, especially since it was about her room too. But not everyone could be good at everything.

Alfia had to admit with Zard´s statement, that she wasn´t a good cook, the only thing she was capable of, was sandwiches. So when it was break time, she brought a plate outside, with a couple of sandwiches and more tea.

She was a bit taken aback when she saw Zeus. Because the work let him sweat, he had taken off his shirt. One could easily forget, that this perverted old man was a god...but not when she saw him like this. Bell didn´t have enough experience with old people or just thought his grandfather looked like that and that was all.

But Zeus...was muscular...very muscular. And over a head taller than Alfia...he was really a man among men.

That´s the king of the Olympus for you...I see why so many women got charmed by him.

Not that Alfia was interested in Zeus in any way, she had met strong men over the years, but not even once there was one of them that was appealing to her.

Zard had taken off his shirt too, otherwise, it would get sweaty. Alfia was used to see him without a shirt, so there was not much of a reaction. Zard was even more muscular than Zeus, she just hoped Bell wouldn´t turn out like this...it would ruin his cuteness.

"You three, it´s break time."

"Okay!"

Bell smiled happily, as he always did when he saw Alfia. Zeus wiped his forehead and grinned, winking at Zard.

"To get lunch served by such a beauty, we sure are lucky, Bell, Zard!"

The boy looked up at his grandfather. "Are we?"

"You bet!"

Zard just smiled wryly. "You never change, geezer."

Alfia sighed slightly, she knew that Zeus was just like that.

"Go and wash your hands you three, then we can eat lunch."

"´Kaaay!"

Zeus just grinned and followed Bell, his assumption about her reaction towards Bell seemed to be coming true. Zard and Alfia have been here for three days now and she already changed more and more in a certain direction. She spent nearly every waking minute with Bell.

He was all too eager to show her the fields around the house, to show her the various things they grew. The sturdy god wasn´t jealous of Alfia, this was what he had hoped for. In fact, it gave him more chance and time to care for Bell in another way, Zeus had more time to write the hero books that Bell loved so much. And he used the time to talk with Zard, to hear what his last child had done over the years. Alfia had looked a bit amazed at the god when Bell showed her one of his books...she knew his handwriting...but was amazed at how well he could draw, it really surprised her that he wrote most of the books for Bell on his own.

And apparently, there were many more details than the stories normally had. Not that Alfia knew many hero stories, she had heard legends of course, but not with that much detail.

When Bell went to bed on the second night, Alfia asked Zeus in a soft voice how it came that he knew so many details.

Instead of answering, he just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Zard had chuckled. "Alfia, he is "that" man."

Oh right...he is a god...THAT god...

Alfia forgot more than one time, that Zeus was THIS Zeus, the king of Olympus, who appeared in many heroic stories to guide the young heroes, like he did with Heracles, one of Bell´s favorites.

She slowly lost her shyness and relaxed more and more, Alfia just wasn't used to being in such an environment...and in such company. Her life before had consisted almost entirely of fighting, death, and destruction.

"It looks like we can start with the walls and the floor this afternoon."

"Can I help you, grandfather, Uncle Zard?"

Zard leaned forward on his seat and put his left hand around Bell´s right biceps...and grinned.

"You need to eat more meat before you can lift such heavy logs."

Alfia poured herself some tea. "And vegetables."

"Vegetables too, of course."

Zeus couldn´t help but laugh heartily in his mind.

If this continues, then she will become more motherly than Loki´s elf.

Bell looked back and forth between them.

"Will I get big and strong then?"

"Of course, but you can´t be picky with your food."

"I won´t! Except..."

"Hm?" Alfia looked curious at Bell, so far it didn´t look like that Bell had food he disliked.

Zeus whispered. "He doesn´t like sweet things."

"Oh."

Alfia was a bit perplexed...that the son of her dear sister of all people didn´t like sweet things...Meteria had been ready to die to defend her sweets and desserts.

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After lunch was over, they sat a while together and just listened to the wind in the fields. Zeus had to admit that Alfia´s new outfit fit her quite well, but he didn´t say that loud. And to see Zard without his armor, in normal clothes, was quite the sight too. It was unfamiliar to see Alfia in something else than her goth-style dress.

The people in the village only rarely used money to trade things, but instead helped each other in exchange for help or goods.

There was an old woman in the village who was really good at sewing. Alfia left her dress at the woman´s place since it looked a bit rugged here and there.

The woman asked her if she should change the dress a bit, but Alfia wanted to keep it as it was.

"Ehe, I can understand that, I was pretty wild too, in my youth."

"What...do you mean?"

Alfia wasn´t used to small talk.

The old woman smiled gently and whispered so that only Alfia could hear her.

"It surely looks very good on you, but when you walk around with your son or your husband, he might get embarrassed when he gets a bit older."

"You mean because of the cleavage? But it has a nice, airy feeling, especially when it is hot...and Bell is only eight... And the man, he isn´t my husband."

The dress was still her favorite, she never really cared how much skin she showed. But the cleavage and that there was not much cloth on her shoulders and back had also a functional reason, it stopped her body from overheating, due to the long skirt and her covered stomach.

Alfia hated to sweat.

"I mean when other men look at you, he surely wants to protect his mother."

"Hm..I will think about it."

So for now Alfia wore a long skirt, made out of dark green cloth, a white long-sleeved shirt, and a black vest. When she went to sleep that night, she eventually noticed that she had forgotten to explain to the woman that she and Bell weren´t mother and son.

But that was too late now, before the people could start to wonder why Bell´s mother was away for so long, Zeus told the villagers a heartbreaking story. It wasn´t directly a lie...it was Alfia´s story...in a way...from a certain point of view.

It wouldn´t be the last time that Zeus did something for Alfia.

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"I have to say, Mr. Zard, you are really strong!"

"Hm? Ah, that´s nothing."

Zard grinned while he walked he carried a few wooden boards on his right shoulder and a log under his left armpit, while pulling a carriage with more wood behind him, holding the handle with his left hand. The villager he spoke to led an ox cart with significantly more wood beside him, Zard carried that which didn´t fit on the carts anymore.

At first, Alfia wanted to help him carry the stuff to her room, but Zard declined, explained to her that they shouldn´t reveal that she was much stronger than a normal human, the villagers might understand it when he was such a big, buffed, muscular guy could do it. Even when Alfia was a mage and weakened due to her illness, not even Zeus was as strong as her, and the villagers had seen what Zeus could lift.

Eventually, Zeus and Zard had everything he needed for the room, as well as the furniture at the house, and could start to work. While Alfia went inside the house with Bell for a moment, the old god looked at his follower.

"Boy...makes me really happy that you´re here too."

"Getting all soft on your old days, geezer?"

Zeus looked at him with an expression that Zard wasn´t used to. "Trust me, Zard. It broke my heart...that day. Also that you..."

Zard shrugged his shoulders. "We can´t change the past, only the future. Gonna enjoy the time I have left. And build something for once."

"Then let us do that. Bell will need you too, trust me."

"As a teacher?"

"Or a father figure, only a grandfather isn´t enough."

"I´m a bit too old to be his foster father. Wouldn´t be fair towards him."

"You mean Bell or his father?"

"Both?"

"Don´t you think he would rest in peace to know that his son is in good hands?"

"Oy Oy, don´t try to make me a dad all of a sudden, geezer."

"That will be for Bell to decide, how he will see you."

"Would make things awkward, since he obviously starts to see Alfia like a mother figure."

Zeus grinned. "What? Isn´t your type?"

"Hah, you never change, geezer."

"You said you intend to enjoy the time you have left."

"Not like that, I´m twenty years older than her."

"So?"

"Why are you trying so hard in that direction, geezer?"

"Maybe I just want my last child to be happy?"

"Alfia is young enough to be my niece or daughter."

"You are aware of how half-elves come to be, yes? And the elven parent is most of the time much older than the human parent."

"It´s not like I can have kids."

"Nor does she."

Zard shook his head. "Give it up, old man. We´re not like this."

"Really? You´re telling me to give up on that? Sure, I will immediately give up once someone tells me to."

"You really never change, hm?"

"When was the last time someone like me changed?"

"True."

"And if you don´t want to listen, at least take this old man´s advice. You two want to make the best of the time you have left, so enjoy each other´s presence."

"Old man..."

"Hey, you two are basically a married couple already, with how many years you two lived together."

Zard rolled his eyes. "Let us get started already."

Inside the house, Alfia´s smile was a bit stiff when Bell showed her another picture book. Her smile for him was genuine, but she heard what Zeus said to Bell.

You will get punished for that, Zeus.

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It would take Zard and Zeus a few days to complete Alfia´s room, afterwards, they would build Zard´s, during that time...Alfia and Bell grew closer and closer.

And not once since arriving here has Alfia coughed...as if Bell's presence was helping her.

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While they were busy building Alfia´s room, furniture, and her very large bed...which they only built so big because Zeus was too lazy to cut the boards to a shorter length...things happened in Orario.

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"Objection!"

Lyra pointed her left index finger forward and yelled out...she always wanted to do that.

The Astrea Familia had convinced their captain to come back home, but that wouldn´t just be the end of the story.

At the next day, Ganesha and a big group of his familia come to the Stardust Garden. Astrea went outside to talk with him, but the guild demanded that she hand over Alise...a trial awaited her...for her crimes.

Ganesha had talked with the guild that he would go to Astrea so that things would go in peace. The Goddess of Justice thanked him and went inside to talk to Alise. Astrea´s whole Familia went with them, they refused to back down even when their goddess told them to.

"We got our good-for-nothing captain just back, no way in heaven we will let them take her away!" Lyra had a fire in her eye when she said that.

"Hey..." Alise wasn´t so happy about her "title".

The others agreed with Lyra.

Trials of mortals in Orario were normally quite short since the gods could tell if someone was lying or not. But this trial wasn´t about if Alise was guilty or not...it was about how harsh her punishment would be.

If she had just killed members of Evilus, that wouldn´t have been a problem...but some of them belonged to the guild too. So the guild had to do something or it would look like they were unable to find infiltrators in their own ranks.

The trial wasn´t made public, since Alise was the captain of one of the four big Familias of Orario. The guild had a special hall for that and as always, there were special rules. The whole Astrea Familia was present, as well as Loki and her three high executives, Freya with Ottar, and..to Alise´s surprise...Syr. Loki´s and Freya´s presence was ordered by the guild since their adventurers were stronger than Alise. Ganesha was accompanied by Shakti, the rest belonged to the guild, led by Royman Mardeel...the fat elf.

He was also the one who led the trial.

Maybe he had hoped it would be over quickly...but he didn´t think it would go like that. Since Astrea was Alise´s goddess, she was only allowed to answer questions, but not to defend her child directly. The gods should stay aside in things like this since they didn't want to dictate every aspect of their lives to them.

And so...the Astrea Familia let their smartest member off the leash...Lyra.

From the information about Alise´s rampage, that the guild had and showed, it really looked like she killed without caring who her victim was...that she had lost herself in bloodlust.

She had used explosions to make her victims suffer, that was when Lyra yelled out the first time.

Royman coughed. "You want to say something, Ms...?"

"Lyra! What you declare is wrong. Alise isn´t capable of using explosives like that."

"You want to tell us, her character forbids her that?"

Lyra rolled her eyes. "No. I said she wasn´t capable of it. I was the one that showed her how I create my bombs and explosions and I never showed her how to make ones that are meant for crippling. Also, we checked the area of these explosions afterward too, the remains didn´t speak of bombs."

"And you believe she couldn´t come up with that herself?"

Lyra looked over to Alise, who just stared forward. One by one, the Astrea Familia members grinned and shook their heads...as did Lyra.

"Alise is many things, but she is also clumsy when it comes to fine work that is necessary to build such bombs."

Astrea tried not to chuckle, her poor Alise´s ear tips started to get red. Trial or not, the Astrea familia saw a chance to tease and "bully" their captain, and they would take it! It was a form of dealing with their losses as a familia.

"That doesn´t change the fact that she killed people with bombs?"

"Magic."

"What?"

"That was magic, not bombs. Alise´s fire magic, and on a very low scale I might add. We all have seen what destruction she is capable of."

"Still, she killed people with explosions."

"Eighty-five."

"Excuse me?"

"Eighty-five, that´s the number of Evilus´ members I killed with bombs during the dark times on my own...Alise did nothing different. And many of those were about to kill innocent people. In the fight we fought, it was kill or getting killed."

The trial continued, and Astrea was very nervous. The guild continued to list the charges.

"We heard evidence that she tortured prisoners to get information, torture to the point that the prisoners would say anything..."

"Objection!"

This time it was Kaguya who jumped up and pointed forward with her remaining arm. The stump of the other wasn´t covered by bandages this time. Kaguya let her arm free on purpose, to show a strong point of what sacrifices had been necessary to defend the city. All members of the familia understood what Kaguya did here, and she only got more respected for that.

Royman sighed. "What is it this time?"

"This is nonsense, Alise isn´t capable of that!"

"Do you mean her character?"

Kaguya rolled her eyes. "No, I mean she isn´t capable of that. First things first, she is an absolute defender of Justice, while she fought and killed Evilus members, Alise was always swift about it, and she always had a problem with doing cruel things, if she wanted to admit it or not. She is not on the level of an elf in that way, but still. Second, I was the one who showed my familia how to get information out of people, but not by torture. Because I knew that their

fragile hearts wouldn´t be able to bear with that."

Maybe she was happy or embarrassed, but Alise´s ears got even more red.

Then Kaguya made a very serious and sinister face. "Besides, torturing someone needs a very talented and fine hand, Alise is too much of a musclebrain for that. Plus she doesn´t have the patience necessary, and even less in the state she was in. It requires a cool, calculating mind, a freezing form of anger. And in many ways, Alise is burning."

"So you´re telling me that the evidence about torture is wrong?"

Kaguya smirked like a cat, Astrea had often wondered if Kaguya had cat people in her clan or among her ancestors somewhere, that would explain a lot.

"Did you bring the ones that claimed that before a god?"

The trial continued. One by one, Alise´s familia members yelled out their objections whenever it was claimed that Alise did something that they didn´t teach her. Despite the trial being a serious matter, Loki and Freya were amused to no end to see how the familia teased their captain, yet defended her with all their power at the same time.

The turning point may have been when the gods decided to say something, it started with Ganesha. They were only allowed to give information or give their opinions.

Ganesha went up from his seat, Shakti at his side.

"I will just say as much. What Astrea´s child did saved the lives of many townspeople and children of mine? We all have witnessed that the battle with Evilus ended, who knows how long it would have continued without her actions...I am Ganesha."

Shakti looked at Alise. "I would also like to say this, I was there in the hospital after the incident, I led the extermination team and we...found them. Maybe it doesn´t excuse what happened, but I saw how deeply hurt and destroyed Ms. Lovell was. I often felt the same way when my fellow familia members died."

Ganesha gritted his teeth, his muscles clenched. "As did I."

Loki was the next.

"I talked with my cute children, they told me the same as Ganesha just did. And Finn saw the opportunity that Evilus was in such turmoil after Astrea´s child went berserk."

Loki winked at Astrea to show she didn´t really mean the last word. While it was good that Loki spoke in Alise´s favor, Kaguya still looked with a grim expression at Finn. His plans had cost many lives during the dark times. He had a cool and calculating mind, and had no problem with sacrificing others, as long as they didn´t belong to his familia.

And maybe even then...

"Together with Freya´s children, they broke the backbone of what remained from Evilus."

Freya just nodded without saying something. Syr next to her looked a bit uneasy, at first at Freya, then at Alise, then at Freya again, before whispering something into the ear of the goddess.

"My child would like to say something."

Alise´s eyes widened when she heard Freya saying "My child", the others were surprised too. Syr clapped her hands together, squeezed her eyes shut, and bowed in an apology to Alise, to show that she was sorry for not telling her.

But when she thought about it, Alise shouldn´t be too surprised, Anya and Mia also were Freya´s children.

"I took care of Al-..Ms. Lovell after I found her. She explained everything that happened and I asked my friends in the city about information."

Even Royman had heard the name Syr and knew how many "friends" she had. Syr explained for a while that she indeed got some information that even the guild wasn´t capable of getting their hands on.

Eventually, Royman started to ask Alise questions. She didn´t hide anything, answered every question, how she got the information, and how she identified the Evilus´ members. Royman had to gulp at some point.

"I got information from one of them, they planned to assassinate you too, guild head."

"That is a convenient excuse, b-"

"She´s speakin´ the truth, Royman." Loki sat there with her hands crossed behind her head.

"What?"

"Astrea´s child, that just now was the truth."

The fat elf went pale, looking shortly to Freya and Ganesha, both nodded. Royman started to sweat.

"H-How..."

Alise looked grim. "Poison."

As she explained further..some of the Evilus´ members had a position pretty close to him...and he absolutely didn´t like to get poisoned.

For the whole time, he had a magic item in his pocket which didn´t buzz at all, it would do so if Alise would lie.

"Ms. Lovell, why didn´t you talk to someone about your information? Why did you do everything alone?"

"I wanted to stop the fighting, the explosions in the city, and the death of innocent people, it had to happen quickly. And...I wanted to show Evilus that they can´t hide, aren´t as smart as they think they are...that we will find them, fight back, and protect our city."

Astrea and her familia noticed how Alise´s eyes wandered to Ryu while she talked. All of them knew the deeper meaning and reason why Alise went amok.

To protect Ryu, their little one.

Protecting their young one came at a cost, but Alise would gladly bear this sin.

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Alise took on Ryu´s fate willingly, but it would be a different one, not the same as when Ryu had lost her whole familia. Alise got blacklisted by the guild for seven years, was forbidden from entering the dungeon and leaving the city.

Also, the guild demanded that one of the other three big Familias keep an eye on her and keep her in check. No one knew about the strings that were pulled in the darkness, about the things that Ouranos and a certain, robed mage told Royman.

That certain mage would also visit the Astrea Familia later and told them to not talk about the Juggernaut, that this was one of the reasons why Alise´s punishment went down a bit.

The other was Ouranos´ direct order, Orario couldn´t allow itself to lose the Astrea familia, and they were nothing without their captain. Some might argue it was a favor because Astrea was basically Ouranos´ granddaughter, but the gods thought differently about these things.

Freya smiled. "My Familia will do that."

Alise looked surprised at the goddess of love, Syr who sat next to Freya, winked.

"Astrea´s child works at the pub that my sweet Mia runs, I promise she will keep her in check. Especially since she can´t go into the dungeon, she has to earn money in another way. But I would ask to let her leave the walls of Orario until a certain point, Mia sometimes sends her stuff to help at Demeter´s fields.

Of course, she will be accompanied during that time."

Astrea looked at Freya for a while before she gave her a grateful nod.

Freya´s smile and following words let Alise gulp.

"And don´t worry it will be a light punishment, I will tell my sweet Mia to work her to the ground."

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But...this wasn´t Alise´s complete punishment...her Familia would punish her too... fiercely.

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But they would wait until they were back home to tell her about that.

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"Alise, I will hereby declare my punishment over you."

"Yes, Lady Astrea."

"You are hereby demoted."

"I understand..."

The others opened their mouths to protest.

"As of now, you will serve as the familia´s maid for a period of time that I will still determine. So whenever your shift at the pub is over, you will take care of the house, make food, do other chores, so that the others can relax when they return from the dungeon."

The mouths closed, and many eyes started to glow...even Ryu´s.

"L-Lady Astrea?!"

"No buts, I´m the goddess and these are my orders."

"I...can´t..."

"Hoooo? You are defying me?"

"No...I mean..."

"Then it is settled. Also, you will sleep at my side for the next two weeks."

A joy-filled smile appeared on Alise´s lips, this wasn´t a punishment.

"I accept this punishment."

Lyra grinned. "Alise, your nose is bleeding."

"That´s nonsense."

The truth was, Astrea was really worried about Alise, as she was about all of her children and her heart nearly broke during the time that she vanished.

"So, for the next two weeks, you will sleep by my side, Alise. So I can make sure you don´t run away again."

"Lady Astrea..."

"Oh and also, Mia gave the okay that you can use your uniform at home. Syr even said that there is a black-and-white version of it."

"O-Oh...that´s good..."

Syr´s reason was simple...because she imagined Alise looking cute this way. And she would do her best to see the others wearing the uniforms too. Especially Ryu caught her eye. While having more contact with Alise in the beginning and getting along well with her, Ryu would become her best friend from the Astrea familia.

Maybe some things of Ryu´s fate couldn´t be changed? Or it was just because of Freya´s nature.

"My decision has been made."

It was the Astrea Familia´s way of punishing their captain for making them all so worried. Alise would act as the familia´s maid twice the time that she had run away.

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Even when she wasn´t allowed to enter the dungeon, Alise would still train like a madman, so she wouldn´t fall behind her familia. Not that they would enter the dungeon again soon. It would take two months before they went inside again.

And since they were lacking members, when things calmed down a bit, Astrea would need to recruit more people who were worthy of Justice. So during the next two months, most of her familia members worked many hours at the pub, getting in contact with the girls there.

Even the goddess did that, and soon she heard how a certain black-haired cat girl claimed, that children were the treasure of the world, and young boys were justice.

If Astrea ever asked Chloe what exactly she meant by that...maybe she wouldn´t have invited her later... But hearing Chloe talk about justice got Astrea´s attention and curiosity.

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"Phew, slowly it´s all coming together."

Zeus wiped his forehead and smiled, proud of their work...Alfia´s room came closer and closer to being finished...but was way bigger than planned, since they didn´t want to waste time with cutting beams and boards...well except for the closets.

And Zeus had yet to meet a woman who would complain about her room being too big or her bed...or her closets.

It was getting late, but fortunately, summer had started and it was longer before it got dark.

Dinner was already over, but Zeus wanted to continue a bit while Alfia was inside with Bell, she had promised to read one of his favorite books with him, while Zard was busy cleaning the kitchen. It was almost funny how fast he conquered the kitchen as his territory, but then again he was a cook so good, he could give Mia Grande a hard time. The book that Bell showed Alfia was unique among his hero stories, since this one had two stories in it, both about female heroes.

Due to the warmth, Bell wore a shirt and short pants, while Alfia used a dark green dress, made with light cloth. Both were sitting on the couch, their favorite spot together. A vase with some flowers was on the table, when Alfia and Bell had been out walking he had picked some for her, he had said they were almost as pretty as she was.

Zeus was really proud of his grandson when they came back.

"Can you read it for me, Aunty?"

"Don´t you want to read, Bell?"

He smiled up to her. "Yes, but I like your voice."

It wasn´t the first time that he told her that...Bell couldn´t know how much that meant to Alfia. She had hated her own voice for so long, had the feeling that she stole something from her sister, and should be as quiet as possible at all times.

"All right, then I will start."

"Hehe."

Bell snuggled up to her side, Alfia smiled warmly and opened the book. The first thing that fell to her eyes, it was Zeus´ handwriting.

"The daughter of the sun."

There was an illustration below the title, it showed mountains, a far-eastern temple in the middle between them, the sun high up in the sky, and a woman, clad in far-eastern priest clothes.

There was something special about this woman.

"And so it was long, long ago, when the world was still a dark place, monsters ran across the land and kidnapped fair maidens, it took heroes to save them. But it wasn't always mortals that had to be saved and not always from monsters. The Sun Goddess Amaterasu...or her full name, Amaterasu-ō-mi-kami, was beautiful, elegant, and lovable...yet tender-hearted."

Alfia read slowly so that Bell could look at the illustrations that Zeus had drawn. When she switched to the next side, the illustration was the same, except for the sun, there were two fine wolf ears there now.

"Amaterasu was also known as "The Sun Wolf" and it was said that her fur had indeed the color of the sun. She meant everything to the people in the Far East. But when one god got really popular, others would become jealous, as did her brother Susano-o. Both got into a heated argument, after which Amaterasu took refuge in a cave, causing the world to fall into darkness, for she was the sun. The other gods tried their best to lure her out of the cave, but she didn't want to hear anything, was too hurt and scared. So it so happened that not a god but a mortal had the idea of how to lure them out of the cave. So the other gods organized a noisy celebration in front of the entrance, they celebrated exuberantly, music was played, people ate and drank, dances were performed and songs were sung. At the height of her curiosity, Amaterasu wanted to find out how the others were enjoying themselves despite the lack of light. When she came out, the mortal placed a sacred band of straw in front of the entrance so that Amaterasu could no longer hide there."

She turned the book slightly for Bell, to show him the illustration...it might have been her imagination...but one of the gods there...looked very similar to a certain old man that was currently working outside.

"As the goddess of the sun came out, the sun appeared in the sky again and everyone cheered. Amaterasu turned to the mortal woman and looked surprised. It was a fox woman, with hair in the same color as the goddess, two long ears...and nine tails that moved behind her."

"Nine tails?"

Bell looked amazed at the illustration, Alfia had to admit that Zeus was really skilled. She continued the story, Amaterasu asked the woman why she had tricked her to come out, if she just wanted the sun back like everyone else. But the woman replied in her endless kindness, that she didn´t want the goddess to be sad anymore. Amaterasu took a liking to the fox woman and at first made her into her high priestess, later she adopted her as her daughter. She was quite strong for a mortal and defeated countless creatures that they called Oni in the Far East.

"Woah, so cool!"

Alfia didn´t know that Zeus finished this book recently, of course, it was fully intentional that he was giving them a story about mother and child right now, especially those who weren't exactly mother and child.

"Can I read the second story?"

"Of course, come here."

"Yeah!"

Bell climbed onto her lap and leaned back...Zeus would cry bloody tears if he knew that Bell was allowed to use Alfia´s bosom like a pillow...but Bell was a child. It felt so natural to do that.

"Oh, it´s the story about the hero that you are named after, Aunty."

"Huh?"

Alfia blinked...she wasn´t named after a hero.

"Aaaah! It´s one of my favorite stories, Grandpa told me the story so many times."

She held the book for him while Bell ran his finger along the page and read.

"Long ago, when titans and monsters roamed the world and the gods descended to aid mortals, there existed two groups of heroes that stood above all others. They were the bravest, the smartest, the strongest, the most handsome, and the kindest of them all.

There was something special about these two groups of heroes...they were called Familias. One consisted only of men and was led by the most handsome and humble of all male gods. The other consisted only of women, each more beautiful than the last, and they followed the Queen of Olympus."

Alfia´s eyes widened. Don´t tell me he...

"Among the group that followed the Queen of Olympus was one like no other. She wasn't the mortal leader of the group... but possibly the strongest of them. She was of incomparable beauty, but also very shy and often kept quiet...her name...was Alfia."

Bell pointed at the name.

"See? You have the same name as her!"

"Wow, I didn´t know that." Alfia smiled.

But in her mind.

Zeus...what did you do?

"There were monsters in the world and there were those who were called true titans. First and foremost the king of the land, Behemoth, and the emperor of the seas, Leviathan. Those brave heroes couldn't bear to see the people suffer, so they went out to fight the Titans. Oh and what horrible monsters these were! The ground shook under the thunderous footsteps of the Behemoth, the target of the group of male heroes."

There was another drawing, a shadowy representation of the Behemoth in the background...and in the foreground...the Zeus Familia...Zard especially caught Alfia's eye. Was this Zeus´ way to tell Bell a bit about his past? About his connection?

"And while the earth shook, the fairest and strongest women of mortals challenged the emperor of the seas to battle. From the snout to the tip of the tail, that gigantic sea dragon snake measured over a hundred meters. Waves swept over the land, the battle surged back and forth, and the leviathan was wounded but not defeated. It looked like the heroines were going to lose...until Alfia stepped into action. That woman of infinite beauty used the "Bell of Angels" to deal the death blow to Leviathan. It was largely thanks to her that the seas were freed from this terror and the people of the shores found peace again."

That description was much more heroic than the actual battle.

Alfia remembered the battle against the Leviathan...it was...apocalyptic...thankfully Zeus didn´t write how many died there...or against the Behemoth...or what happened after that. But then it wouldn´t be a story for a child.

"See? Do you think you were named after the mighty hero, Alfia...Aunty?"

Her lips curled slightly. "Who knows, maybe my parents knew this story."

"Hehe...she is my favorite, female hero."

"Eh?..."

"Aunty?"

"Nothing.."

Bell and Alfia continued to read the story...at some point, she noticed that Bell got slower and slower, and his head started to sink down.

When Zeus came in, he just had to smile. Bell had fallen asleep and his head rested on Alfia´s thighs...the first lap pillow of his life. She gently stroked his hair while she had a warm, motherly smile on her lips.

Zeus wanted to whisper something...but...

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"Mama..."

Bell mumbled in his sleep.

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Alfia stopped with her hand for a second, looking uneasy...she looked at Zeus and Zard for help, and they just nodded. Then she continued to gently stroke Bell´s hair, who smiled happily in his sleep.

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In a forest in the east of the continent, a young elven girl was about to go on a trip into the forest with her parents.

If they just went one day later on their trip, everything would be fine.

But sadly...like this...this would be the last trip that Lefiya Viridis ever did with her parents...

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Author´s Note: Hey everyone, wow so many Reviews and follows right away.

To answer things.

Comteq: Can´t answer the god question, will just say the situation will be different than in the original. Brought more thoughts into it.

Erebus13: Bell will be different than in the original, train more beforehand, have another role model, not get babied by Alfia all the time, and so on. And thanks for that with the familiar voice, forgot to delete that part in the rewrite.

lonewolf1986: Will get shown in the story.

DeI090: What I´m trying to do is a group of young heroes that Bell leads, not just like in the original story, where Bell gets all-powerful but his familia remains to be fishbait compared to him. The levels of some people will be different.

Andros: No worry, no biological siblings.

So and one thing in general, please don´t ask about adding more girls. The ones who will be Bell´s lovers are an important part of the story for me. "Simply adding another girl" would change the story a lot, and I had to think of a scenario for that. Plus it has to be worked out how the girls can bear Bell having more than one lover, and why they would do it.

Also, I don´t like to let characters all alone when Bell won´t be their lover. Their living beings, if they never fell in love with Bell, why not with someone else? You might not like my ships, but I will stay with some of them (not all).

And about Ais, while it will get built up over the course of the story, many might hate me and drop the story once it becomes obvious who her partner will be. Do I hate Ais? No, absolutely not. Does she fit as Bell´s lover in for example CoF, BloJ, or LaF? No, she doesn´t. Do I re-upload Spirit Child? Currently am.