This is just an idea I had for a danmachi story, maybe a future will continue it or maybe not. It all depends on how my creative sense dawns.
It was a morning like any other for Bell in the village where he lived with his grandfather. As every day, his grandfather woke him up at the first light when the first rays of the sun were just appearing on the horizon. The days in the cabin with his grandfather were peaceful but not boring; in every activity they did, his grandfather always had a story of great adventures and heroes to tell. Bell was eager to one day be the protagonist of those stories, to fight monsters, make friends, and meet pretty girls.
"Bell…" his grandfather tried in vain to pull his grandson out of his daydream. "Bell… Bell!" he shouted in his ear to get his attention. "Go to the garden and bring me some vegetables for today's stew."
With dreamy sighs and his mind far from the village, Bell walked out of the cabin and headed straight to the garden where he and his grandfather cultivated various plants. As he approached, he noticed a bush moving. Clearly, something was there. Angrily, he took strides toward it, thinking a wild animal had once again attacked their crops. But to his surprise, he found a girl among the bushes dressed in elegant and extravagant dark-colored pieces that contrasted greatly with her pale skin.
Bell crouched down to almost her height and observed her face more closely. Her fine features, small nose, and lips, and her long silver hair fell messily over one side of her face. Bell was so absorbed that he didn't notice the moment the girl started waking up. Her red eyes at first showed confusion and apathy, but gradually she seemed to realice where she was—or wasn't.
"Where am I?!" was the first thing that came out of her lips as she tried to get up, bumping into Bell. As he lost his balance, he only managed to try to grab her to avoid falling but failed miserably. Both ended up on the ground. "Let go of me! I want to leave!" she started screaming as she managed to stand up.
The girl, still unknown to Bell, adjusted the black skirt of her dress while looking around, trying to identify something, but quickly realized she was not in any familiar place. Giving Bell one last look, who was still on the ground unsure of what to do, she decided not to stay and find out what this place was and simply return to where she belonged. "Gate!" she shouted loud and clear, but nothing happened.
Both the girl and Bell shared looks of confusion, but the woman's red eyes quickly turned to anger. "What have you done to me?! Why can't I use my powers?!" she demanded and quickly grabbed him by the collar.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about…" Bell said in a thin voice as his lower lip started to tremble a bit. The girl didn't let go but instead brought their faces closer, almost touching noses, to intimidate him. "I can't even use magic!"
Bell closed his eyes tightly, expecting a punch or something worse, but instead, he just felt himself being released. Still fearful, he opened his eyes slightly and was surprised to see that the girl was no longer paying attention to him but was now looking at his grandfather, standing just a few meters away from them.
"I see you're not from around here…" said the older man, who had been worried about his grandson's delay. He had asked him to pick some vegetables, not plant an entire crop, but his concern grew when his instincts started warning him that something strange was happening. The wind had changed its direction, and the birds had changed their flight path.
"You see well, old man," she replied simply. "Are you the one who is blocking my magic power?"
Bell straightened up suddenly and decided it was a good time to interrupt. "My grandfather can't use magic either. We have nothing to do with powers," he tried to explain, but the girl just laughed.
"That old man doesn't have magic? Even a novice can sense his strength."
The old man swallowed hard. Things were getting complicated. He had a possible mortal threat in his vegetable garden and a truth he thought he would take to his grave about to be completely uncovered.
"I swear it's not me preventing you from using your magic, but I think you are the one who has caused some kind of change in these lands…"
"What do you mean?" she asked, and the old man pointed upwards. Both the girl and Bell looked up and found a sort of dome over them, but not just over the cabin, but over the entire village.
"Come on, let's go into the cabin and talk inside…" the grandfather decided to speak before chaos reigned between the two young people and headed inside the cabin without waiting for a response. The other two didn't take long to follow him inside.
The three of them took a seat in what would be the cabin's living room, in front of the fireplace. Bell and his grandfather sat on the sofa, while the stranger sat in a wooden chair facing them.
"Well, first of all, who are you?" the older man decided to cut the tense silence and go straight to the point.
"Why should I answer you?"
"Because you are trapped in a place you don't know and don't know how to leave. We are your only chance." They stared at each other for a long few seconds until she sighed, tired.
"I am * a * from the * * of ," she said, puffing out her chest with pride in her title.
"The * of who?" Bell asked, scratching the back of his neck. He had never heard that name in his life.
"What?! You don't know the * conquered by the * * *?!"
"I think…" the old man interrupted *'s rage, "this is not your world. There are no people like you in these lands."
"Are you saying that * might be from the divine world?" Bell asked with admiration, believing he was in front of a goddess.
"Tsk… of course not. Goddesses have a more powerful vanguard if you understand me…" and the old man laughed heartily. * blushed with rage and sent a shockwave that hit him squarely, leaving him dazed.
"Look… it seems that even in another world I haven't completely lost my powers."
Bell's grandfather clicked his tongue and rubbed his nose, hit by that invisible shockwave. If that brat knew that with a snap of his fingers he could make her fly… but he couldn't forget that Bell was beside him. He could no longer hide the truth, especially with a being from another world threatening his entire universe. He needed to find a moment alone with Bell to talk, but he didn't dare leave this dangerous new being wandering around his house and village.
"If you are not a goddess but you are from another world, how did you get here?" Bell asked, quite overwhelmed with all the information he was receiving. His head hurt, and it wasn't even noon yet.
"No… I don't know," * confessed. She really didn't remember much of what happened before waking up there. She was investigating some strange artifacts that her master * had given her to safeguard. She remembered feeling happy about such a request when she grabbed one of the strangest objects. She didn't know what it was for or what it was. "When you found me… was I carrying something with me?"
"Mmm…" Bell took a moment to remember. "I think not, but among the bushes and undergrowth, I might not have seen well."
"Perfect!" exclaimed the old man who had remained silent all this time and stood up. "Why don't you go to the vegetable garden, look for that artifact of yours, and by the way, bring some vegetables to start cooking?"
"Cooking?" * looked at him with both eyebrows raised and a questioning look on her face.
"We think better with a full stomach."
shrugged and decided it was better to do that than nothing for now. That strange old man and his grandson were all she had. She needed to figure out how to return and hoped she wasn't wrong in trusting them to achieve her goal, no matter the cost.
"I'll go with you!" Bell said and tried to follow the girl who was taking short steps outside when his grandfather grabbed his arm, preventing him from leaving the cabin.
"You and I need to talk," his grandfather said in a low voice. "Come with me to the room."
They both went upstairs straight to the grandfather's room. They both took a seat facing each other. In that room, Bell had received a book made by his grandfather every year for his birthday, where great heroic deeds were recounted, but he knew this time he wasn't there to receive a book or to hear about adventures and legends. The air was dense, and the atmosphere was tense.
"What do we need to talk about?" the young man decided to get straight to the point. "Is it about *?"
"Yes and no," replied the old man. "She is dangerous, I don't think I need to tell you that, it's something evident. We can't trust her, at least not entirely; she is something no one in these lands has ever dealt with… that's why I think you need something to defend yourself with…" Bell looked at him expectantly, thinking he would give him some kind of weapon, an old sword, or a lance. Although if * had magical powers, it was unlikely that physical weapons would be very useful. "I will give you my falna."
"Your what?" said Bell.
"My grace, my blessing."
"But… only gods can give that, right?" Bell swallowed hard, and for the first time in his life, it seemed he didn't recognize his grandfather. The light coming in from the window outside made him seem to glow, and suddenly his whole being seemed bigger, stronger, more powerful, and wiser too.
"Only the gods can give falna, and I want to give you mine."