The Fallen Argonaut
Rated; M (Blood/Gore)
Disclaimer; I do not own Danmachi or anything created by the author Fujino Ōmori, all rights go to him
Authors: Eli-er01 ViceroyChalister
Summary: The will of a hero is strong, yet unwavering but all good things must come to an end, even at the cost of one's Heroic Will. Imprisoned and blamed for a crime he hadn't committed, Bell seeks a way out of his predicament so that he can live without fear of being hunted by the people he once looked up to.
28: Journey
=Valley of Dragons=
It had been a week since Bell had entered the valley with no end in sight. In the beginning, the battles were endless. One after another, they threw themselves at him to no avail. In the end, Bell only grew frustrated at their persistence. After a week, the dragons seemed to stay clear of him. At that point, he could only see them at the end of the horizon, idly flying about.
At one point, they did try to attack him in his sleep though and managed to land one blow. Useless as it was, it was one successful attack versus countless missed ones. It only managed to piss him off though, resulting in a mountain sporting a new crater in its side proudly.
At the moment, Bell was walking down the endless fields of blackened snow, heading straight north, hoping to reach the unknown regions of the world, lost since the age of heroes.
"Man, I have no idea where to go…" Bell muttered to himself as he looked around, holding a compass in his hand "And my food is getting low"
True to his words, the last time he filled his supply was before he entered the valley. The only reason it had lasted this long was because of his ability to survive extended periods of time without food, but that only lasted for about a week, and then he had to eat a large amount to reach his peak strength again to compensate.
"Ugh… maybe I should get to a higher view point, like I should have done in the first place? Why didn't I think of that a week ago?" As Bell was grumbling at this point, he began to charge Argonaut in his legs.
After a few seconds, his legs exploded as he flew high into the sky, his eyes half closed from the wind pressure, making it hard to see.
"Woah!" He exclaimed as he noticed how high he jumped. He could almost reach the clouds! He shook his head for a split second as he began to fall. After a second, he noticed a hill, surrounded by dragons. That wasn't the strange part that interested him though. It was almost as if they were standing guard… or flying guard… anyway, it was like they were protecting it, like protecting the castle of a king.
'Interesting' Bell thought as he hit terminal velocity. Waiting for him to hit the ground
After landing Bell decided to rest up a bit, he didn't get an exact count of how many dragons there were but if he had to guess, easily 30 or more. Though he had been practically killing them all in one shot, it still wouldn't hurt to make sure he was ready for a long battle, just in case.
Bell sat down and ate some of his food just to fill up a bit before the fight. He thought back on what's been going on in the more recent times of his life, being alone out here forced him to think more, being that there was nobody here to speak to. It saddened him to think he has to leave his family so much, the thought ate at his mind like a ravenous dog in a frenzied rage of a morsel of food.
The more he thought the further he went back in his memories, failing to realize that, somehow time had passed by rapidly. When his thoughts drifted back to the times before he was sent to Kauhea Forbande, of the smiles, the laughter and adventure in the dungeon. His eyes opened as he felt something wet hit his hand on the ground. He peeked at it before noticing their origin. His finger traced his face, discovering lines of tears running at a steady flow. He shook his head before quickly swiping them away. Noticing that it was now becoming night he decided to sleep that night just to go ahead and top his energy out.
Leaning back and getting as comfortable as he could in a hole he made after landing, he felt the wind passing by and allowed himself to fall into the world of dreams.
=Anfesera=
The Loki Familia had begun their journey to return to Orario after leaving Elora's home, they left disappointed obviously, but nonetheless they proceeded outbound.
Ais and Tione had fallen to the back of the party as they were walking. Tione had taken a spot next to Ais which was unusual. She usually stood by the captain at all times. Soon after, the reason was revealed to Ais as she turned to her, opening her mouth.
"What do you think of that elven child?" Tione asked with confusion clearly on her face.
"I'm not sure, he was… eerily similar." Her eyes moved down to the ground, becoming lost in thought.
"But we should tell the Captain shouldn't we?" Tione asked as Ais thought about it.
"I think we should, but what if the child has no connection to him? Wouldn't we just end up troubling him and the others?" Ais asked Tione, a seriousness in her eyes that hadn't been there for a long time. Tione simply stood there, mouth moving like a fish before she looked down too.
The scene continued on in silence, everyone in front of them talking to each other or discussing other matters.
"True, it could cause issues for the parents if they just happen to have the same hair, not to mention Miss Elora never mentioned anything other than teaching her kids. If it ends up being a false alarm and they take it the wrong way… I don't even wanna think about it" Tione eventually said, shivering at the thought, remembering what Shakti had said.
"...But I do think we should tell him, maybe Hermes familia could help with quietly looking into it?" Tione suggested as Ais thought about it.
"No… They are too strong. Elora, Bache or The mas- Apollyon would notice them instantly" Ais reasoned, correcting herself mid-sentence. The amazoness groaned as her brain practically short circuited from trying to find an alternative.
"Even after all these years it remains unbearably complicated" Tione stated with a tinge of annoyance.
"Right…" Ais trailed off as they fell back into silence
As they were reaching the edge of the village, they came to a sudden halt catching up to the rest of the party. Curiosity rising within the two women, they looked to the cause of the hold up. Finn had stopped and was staring at the very subject they were just discussing, the young white haired elven boy who's eyes they just now noticed. Ruby red eyes looking at them in a curious stare, his body matching his eyes.
Before anyone could do or say anything, a young girl with long blond hair and elven eyes ran up at speeds even for her age shouldn't have been possible
"Mother wants us back at the house" the girl said, as she took the boy's hand and led him away roughly. She turned and looked at everyone as Ais noticed that she too, had ruby red eyes but they didn't hold anything other than a weariness to them.
Everyone stood still, staring where the two had disappeared as Ais pondered the reason for the weariness.
Eventually, Finn called for the party to move forward again. The way back leaves nothing but conflicted thoughts in Ais' head.
=Valley of Dragons=
At the base of the mountain, staring at the gaping entrance to it was Bell, his left arm covered in dragon blood and a cut on his face.
He swiped it slightly before turning around, staring at the magic stone that laid on the ground.
'God there were so many of them…' He thought with exasperation. There are few things more annoying than fighting something flying and wanting to stay back. One of them is fighting hundreds of them at the same time.
The battle, which he questioned even should be called one, had turned into a game of cat and mouse. The dragons kept their distance, shooting him constantly, never letting up the flames as he dodged and chased them while they kept trying to increase the distance.
Over time, he dwindled the numbers but god, it took so long. He started when it was morning. Right now, it was nearly 4PM.
Bell sighed as he turned back, looked up before frowning. Was that… Architecture? It was like a statue going from the base, but centuries of abuse has made it blend into the walls, making it look like a cave.
Thinking about it, it's not really weird that architecture is here. After all, the mountain probably protected it from the creation of the Valley. How the mountain survived though as the rest was just basically flat with crevices and rocks here and there was a mystery.
Bell closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. When he opened them, his face took on a serious look as he headed inside, both his almost sentient development abilities warning him.
'Am I going to regret this?' Bell mentally asked himself as it got darker and darker, his eyes slowly adjusting to the new light.
The tunnel eventually led downwards so far he couldn't even see the end of it thanks to the darkness.
Bell took one step down before being practically blinded by light as stoned in the wall lit up.
"What the-"
He shook his head before squinting his eyes, seeing that there were holes in the walls, giant luminescent crystals within them, lighting up whenever he got close enough.
"Cool…" He muttered before he kept walking, more stones lighting up.
As he got deeper, his development abilities only blared more intensely at him. It was as if they were screaming at him to run, to get as far away as possible.
Only issue… His curiosity wouldn't let him. He kept ignoring the discomfort and headed deeper into the abyss.
After a while, he got to the bottom and the moment he touched the ground an enormous area slowly lit up in lights as Bell gaped at it.
"Is… Is this…!" Bell gaped at his surroundings. It was beautiful, intricately crafted houses with a large cluster of crystals on the roof that reminded him of the 18th floor lit up the entire area, big enough to cover the entirety of Orario.
"What is a city doing down here…?" He muttered as he looked around.
'Oh… shit' Bell thought as he now noticed what surrounded him. Skeletons, skeletons everywhere, charred to the point of being stuck in perpetual motion eternally.
Every single one of them were running away from something, their mouths open as if they were screaming.
Whatever happened… It caused a mass panic… but… why would they run outside… when the dragon was destroying it?
The question plagued him as his mind went in circles trying to figure it out to no avail.
"What the hell…?" He muttered. The more he looked around, the more bizarre everything seemed.
The walls were charred, on the inside, as if the flames came from within the city, not outside…
Some of the houses seemed to have been crushed… not burned. Everything seemed to be telling a different story from the other.
If the Valley was created by the One eyed black dragon's strongest attack and the flames entered through the tunnel, why would the people run towards the tunnel and not away?
Why were the scorch marks around the tunnel entrance as if something hit it, not entered through it.
Bell groaned as his mind overloaded. It made no sense. The stairs were in perfect shape so nothing as big as the Black dragon entere through it…
At that thought, Bell got a very bad feeling. He continued onwards into the city, more and more skeletons littering the streets.
He stopped at a specific one, staring at it with wide eyes.
A woman on the ground, holding a baby outwards as a man was running in the opposite direction of everyone else, reaching out towards her and the baby.
Bell could already picture the scene. It was probably chaos, people running and trampling each other. The woman had probably been knocked to the floor with the baby before reaching it out to her husband.
In response, he had tried to help her and the baby, but the flames were faster.
A flash of blood being splattered on debris came to Bell as he remembered a seemingly similar situation. He had wanted to save Hestia, but couldn't do anything in time…
A frown took Bell's face as a tear ran down his face before his development ability activated, stopping in its tracks. There doesn't go a day he doesn't think about her. He got here because she gave him a chance.
He only wished he could have protected her… that he could give her another chance too.
Bell stood still and lowered his head, paying respect to all the people who perished here in agonizing pain from being burned alive. No one should die like that, the least he could do was to pay respects.
Once done, he kept going forward, looking around as the road turned upwards. God the chaos was even worse here because of the road's tilt.
Bell carefully moved through the mess of the dead.
"Come… On!" He complained as skeletons blocked his way. He touched it's arm which instantly turned to dust the moment he did.
"Oh… sor…ry" He trailed off as his eyes opened wide and the world slowed down. The next second, he was hiding behind a building, hiding from the creature… no monster that he saw… one everyone would recognize instantly. A growl soon echoed across the entire city as it started to sniff
'What the fuck! WHAT THE FUCK!" Bell panicked as his feet wouldn't move, his lungs wouldn't breathe. The agonizing pressure radiating off of the monster made sure of that.
"WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY" The roar caused him to nearly fall unconscious from the enormous power behind it, only catching himself on one leg in time.
'WHY IS THE ONE EYED BLACK DRAGON IN HERE!' Bell screamed in his head as he tried to move.
'MOVE. MOVE- MOVE!' He panicked before finally breaking free of his spell. He launched forward as the house he had hid behind exploded in whitish red flames, blowing apart that entire section of the city.
"FIREBOLT!" Bell screamed as he shot out his magic. It hits the dragon right in the face without even flinching.
"Nothing… Seriously?" Bell shook as he landed before running at full speed. The dragon was almost grinning at him as it prepared another shot.
"Ah, it's been a while since someone disturbed my rest. Why don't you entertain me?" A deep voice echoed loudly as Bell's eyes widened. He shot to the side as the shot missed him.
Did the dragon just… talk?
'Don't tell me…' Bell thought as the dragon spoke once again, glaring at him.
"Hah! You're more entertaining than the last batch! Those weaklings that followed Zeus and Hera didn't even scratch me. I wonder if you will, just as that man that took my eye did" The dragon said as a laugh emanated from its throat.
'It's distracted' Bell jumped at the opportunity and used both Argonaut and Scourge at full power and launched himself at the doorway.
The sudden bursts of speed surprised the dragon as it growled.
"Don't you dare, mortal! COME BACK HERE! I'LL INCINERATE YOU!" It lashed out, suddenly smashing into the doorway face first, almost biting Bell's leg off.
He shot up the stairs with everything he had, his right leg aching from the force he had exerted on it, more than it normally could handle.
'It's way above my level's power… that's going to hurt tomorrow' He thought as it continued to ache.
Bell peeked behind himself to see if the dragon followed him before his eyes widened.
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME" Bell screamed as he pushed himself harder with scourge, launching forward faster and faster as the dragon's mouth was open, flamed being prepared before-
Destruction… just pure and utter destruction headed straight for him at speeds that were scarcely believable.
As Bell reached the top, it was as if time went to a standstill as his left leg was engulfed in flames, the rest of his body escaped.
His eyes widened as he felt the flames singe his back as before he got away, the rest of the shot shooting straight through the mountain and into the sky.
"GUHHHHH" Bell groaned as his back was rapidly cooling down from the surrounding air.
'God damn it, that's gonna leave a scar. Elora's going to kill me!' Bell thought as he heard the dragon complaining down below, the voice getting quieter by the second.
At least it was leaving, probably thinking it wasn't worth it to follow him. Thank god for that. This exploration went from 0 to 1000 very fast for Bell as he panted heavily.
'Of course… The One eyed… black dragon… is a Xenos-' Those were the last thoughts Bell had before his face hit the ground and the world went dark.
=Down Bellow=
"How annoying. I'm hungry and my breakfast escaped. Oh well, it is what it is" The dragon said as it slowly walked forward, crushing anything underneath it as it headed back to it's throne, the center of the pathetic village the mortals had built down here, thinking he couldn't get in.
As it got to the top, it sat down on its haunches before inspecting the city and its 'inhabitants'.
The dragon growled before letting out a torrent of flames, engulfing half the city, rendering everything to ash.
"There… Perfect, just as everything should be, wouldn't you say?" The dragon said as he looked behind himself. There, surrounded by black winds acting like chains, a woman with long golden locks and golden eyes looked around, horrified.
"Only you could call 'this' perfection…" She muttered as the dragon laughed.
"Why wouldn't I? Destruction is the natural way of the world and as such, it is the sole purpose for my creation. I was made to be the king of the skies… and you…" He said as he trailed off, Aria frowning.
"I, will never, take your deal" Aria hissed at him, repulsed at its implication.
"Now now, a Queen can't be insubordinate to her king" It said with a maniacal grin on its snout "After all, I could do the very thing I have talked about before…" That made Aria's eyes go as wide as possible as a horrified look filled her face.
"DON'T YOU DARE! YOU ALREADY TOOK MY HUSBAND AND IF YOU TOUCH MY DAUGHTER, I WILL NEVER! I MEAN NEVER BE YOUR QUEEN! YOU HEAR ME! " She lashed out as she pulled on the wind around her to no avail.
"HAHAHA, Just like that! Chaotic, just like I like it" It exclaimed in glee as Aria glared in it's direction.
'One day… One day you will regret everything you have ever done… until then… wait for me… Ais'
"Ugh…AH!" Bell woke up, startled at the constant sting on his back. He carefully pushed himself up on one knee before reaching back, noticing the clothes burned off and the armor weirdly shaped on the left side. The moment he touched his back, he hissed and rapidly removed his hand.
He took a look at it before noticing a little blood, only a drop.
'Damn…' he thought, standing up before walking forward, frowning at the constant pain.
Once he got outside, he looked up, noticing the hole in the clouds. He couldn't help but mentally praise the power of the attack it let out.
"Ah…" bell said as the hole exposed the direction the sun was moving. The area was nearly always clouded so knowing which was north was hard, but since the sun moves to where it sets in the west and it was slightly tilted towards the north…
Bell turned in the right direction before smiling.
'Next time… I'm bringing a compass' He thought as he began jogging, not trusting himself to run in his condition.
After that, time passed fast. The weather changed from clouds to snow. The snow eventually became a snowstorm, nearly freezing him solid as he pushed forward. The only benefit of the cold being that it numbed the pain from his back.
Before he knew it, the edge of the valley was in the distance, days having passed since the encounter with the dragon.
Bell had almost screamed out in happiness from seeing the mountain line that signaled the end of this hellhole.
At this point, his wound had left a scar and he was good to run. His food had run out a long time ago so he used what energy he had left and ran forward as fast as he could. The faster he reached it, the better.
As the wind blew past his face, his feet making cracks in the ground, he couldn't help but grin at the thought of what was about to occur. He was going to be the first person, mortal or immortal to see the lands beyond this valley in over one thousand years.
As his legs blew him upwards from the mountain, making it almost look like he was running up it's side.
As he reached the top, he grabbed the edge and pushed himself up before taking in the view.
A large forest with a large lake entered his view. In the distance, birds were flying about, some boars, deers and wolves could be seen between the trees. In the distance, he could see a ruined town, abandoned long ago and now overtaken with vegetation.
'A Brand new world…' He thought with his lips parted in awe. This… This meant to be an adventurer… to explore the unknown. This… was who he was.
With that, he rushed down, happy to see life and excited to see a new world unveil before his eyes.
=Unknown=
"M'LADY! DID YOU SEE THAT?!" A male figure came flying through a door.
"I did and it would seem that somebody has made Oldurin upset, this conflict is coming to a close…" Violet eyes watched, turned, and began to shift through her papers fully intent on the documents.
"M'Lady, what would you have us do?" The male figure, still shaken up, asked.
"Prepare weapons and armor, as the plan has always been. And get any magic users to advance their courses… we'll need it" The woman not removing her eyes from her papers.
"Y-yes ma'am, it shall be done." The man said and turned away.
=Guild Headquarters, Ouranos Chamber=
"Fels" Ouranos called.
"Yes, Ouranos?" Fels returned.
"What is the status of the Xenos? It has been a while since I've heard an update." Ouranos said, his face ever unchanging.
"There are more Xenos, this itself is not entirely a bad situation" The god nodded at this "But there is one problem… the rate in which they're appearing is staggering, more and more adventurers are seeing them, though it's mostly smaller named familias, it's only a matter of time until the larger ones start taking notice of them too." Fels voice giving away his concern.
"This is troubling indeed…" Ouranos slid his hand up to chin. "What do you suggest?"
"We could increase the speed in which we involve them before misunderstanding causes needless bloodshed? Though the only issue is convincing people to trust them after centuries of hatred and death." Fels folding his hands behind his back.
"Hmm…" Ouranos hummed as he thought about it. It did make some sense, but there were difficulties too "What you say does have merit to it, but you also have to look at other factors. One such is Finn Demine" Ouranos said as Fels listened intently.
"Braver? How so?" Fels' question made Ouranos sigh before explaining.
"Finn Demine's reason for fighting is to be a pillar of hope for his people in place of Fianna and even surpass her. He will do anything to reach this goal and to do so, the public view of him is crucial. How do you think the populus would react to him protecting monsters?" At this, Fels frowned with his nonexistent eyebrows.
"That is correct… that would be troublesome. If he found out, he would most likely be hostile once the public got wind of it…" Fels responded as Ouranos corrected
"Indeed. That would give him an advantage, allowing him to know where all their villages lies and how many Xenos there are, while we are left with mystery of how he will attack as well as a constant ticking time bomb on our shoulders" Ouranos finished as Fels nodded. It did make sense, and no matter how the skeleton wanted to help the Xenos, the resources he could bring to them would always be very limited.
He still remembered the day that so many Xenos perished on the surface. Their original plan had fallen apart when Bell Cranel had been banished. They had wanted his help to get them back, instead, it was a bloodbath. Not even half of the Xenos made it back and Lyd was among those that was lost.
That had originally broken their point of contact with the Xenos as Lyd had been like a middle man… Well, Bell had become more of a middle man before but at that point, both had been lost.
Now, they had managed to restore the relationship by having Wiene being the intermediary between the Xenos and the Guild.
"I will head to the 23rd floor and let the Xenos know that we are trying to come up with a new way to keep them safe." Ouranos nodded and Fels leaving the room could hear the god sighing.
=Floor 23=
Wiene sat down in her hut. The village had come a long way in the last five years. The first 4 years were chaotic to say the least with so many lost and the remaining ones walloping in grief. It had taken them months to get back on their feet and even longer to restore their ranks.
Funny thing, she had matured over the years, both physically and mentally. Apparently, monsters age as well but at a slower rate depending on the power they have. As Xenos have more power than regular monsters, they of course age slower. The reason she aged faster than the others was for two reasons.
Firstly, she was one of the weaker Xenos, and thus, aged faster. Secondly, aging is not the same as maturing. Apparently, the body still matures at normal speed, but ages slower. Her body grew normally, but her technical lifespan is progressing slower.
She was now 162cm in height with shoulder length hair. Her eyes had sharpened and she had less fat on her cheeks. Her chest had matured to a mediocre size, Rei said something about a size B or C, but she never did care much for the human's system for chest sizes and thus doesn't know how she exactly compared.
Her hips had tightened and she looked more like a woman in general. She got a few odd glances from the other Xenos here and there but she just shrugged them off as being in charge was kind of hectic.
Rei would often tease her, saying something about "child bearing hips" but Wiene would shrug her off not knowing what it meant. She had also learned how to manifest both her wings too, allowing her to have both a protective cover, and type of robe to
She had no idea how Lyd did it all while looking so calm. At that thought, she leaned back in her chair and closed her bright amber eyes.
God, she really missed Bell. She hadn't seen him since they split apart after she had been resurrected. Of course, she knew what had happened, no matter how much it hurt her to know.
To think that Bell had been banished by his own people for protecting someone else. The other accusations she refused to believe. Bell, killing people in cold blood? No, he wouldn't do that.
She opened her eyes and reached down, grabbing ahold of the fabric surrounding her. It was the very same Salamander wool that Bell had given her when Lyd took her away. She couldn't bear to part ways with it, so it practically went with her everywhere. It was the only reminder she still had of him around.
Wiene's eyes turned as she heard the cloth to her hut open. At the doorway, Rei stood, holding the cloth up with her wing.
"Wiene, here, I thought you would like something to eat" She said in her usual angelic voice, holding a bowl of soup with different ingredients from the dungeon.
"Rei, thank you. I was getting hungry" Wiene smiled at her, to which the harpy responded in kind.
"Well… I see you aren't getting much done" Rei motioned at the papers on her desk where the pile finished ones hadn't increased all that much
"Something on your mind?" The question was rewarded with a sigh as Wiene leaned back once again.
"Just… can't help reminiscing…" She answered as Rei gave her a knowing smile.
"You're thinking of him, right?" Wiene nodded.
"I think about him as well. I loved him too, although differently. Those emotions haven't disappeared, they are still there deep down so I think about him too. It's completely natural to disappear into memories, especially for a father figure" Rei explained as Wiene nodded.
"I know… It's just that I don't know whether he's alive or not. If he's happy or sad. If he's…" She stopped as the thoughts trailed into dangerous territory. Thinking that he… no, she wasn't going to think that. 'He's alive, I know it' A smile stretching across her face.
Rei noticed this and understood where her thoughts had led her. She smiled at that, content with the knowledge that she had helped.
"Well go ahead and eat this" she placed down the food on her makeshift table "I'm going to go see what Asterius wanted, he's returned from the deeper floors and says he found something we might find interesting."
"Alright, I'll be out there too once I finish this." Rei nodded and left, she turned back as she was at the entrance and saw Wiene grinning ear to ear, stewed in her hope that her father figure was alive and well.
=Messis Storocia=
Bell was currently packing up a camp he had set. He had taken a day to hunt and restock his food. Apparently, the land wasn't infertile anymore at all. Rivers had made their way through the land, supplying water to the earth.
This in turn with the climate changing made the region flourish in vegetation and life. This had made hunting and gathering resources a breeze as the ecosystem had been stimulated since whenever it became inhabited.
"Alright… guess it's time to head out" Bell muttered as he finished up kicking dirt over the fire to put it out. He turned around and headed for the direction he knew was north. Lakrios was said to be located far north. From here, he had no idea how far, but a good distance at least. He just hoped he could be back after a year or so.
As Bell started moving, he took in the surroundings. It was early morning with the sun beautifully shining down the field he had set camp on. The small lake on the side magnifies the scene's beauty.
The atmosphere radiated a peaceful and serene air, the temperature was neither too cold nor hot, in the sun he never felt as if he was heating up, and if he walked through wooded areas it was warm, even in the large shaded trees so the open fields were no different.
Bell had been in these new lands for a day but made it a fairly long distance from the valley. It wasn't even visible over the horizon any more.
As Bell moved onwards, more and more structures were found here and there. Remnants of old farms and villages among other things.
All of it pointed to one thing, and that was that there was a city nearby. After all, if so many villages are so close by, then a central location will be nearby.
Bell continued onwards into the woods before pushing forward and running, twisting and turning in between the trees.
Just as fast as he started, it ended as he came to a halt as he came to the edge of a cliff, overlooking the area ahead and his mouth dropped.
"Oh…my… god" was all he said at the scene before him.
Right in front of him, laid before him was a city, easily twice the size of Orario, stretching as far as the eye can see. Vegetation clearly strewn across the ancient city.
He took a good minute to just stare in awe at the accomplishment the people had managed back then.
Eventually, he snapped out of it and jumped forward, scaring multiple birds and animals at the same time as he fell from the sky and landed.
Trees were surrounding the city outskirts, but there were still signs outside, although overgrown with moss and grass.
He cleaned up one of the signs, mentally thanking himself for learning ancient languages from Elora.
On the sign, the name of the city stood, announcing itself proudly as Bell smiled. Thinking about how the others would react to his discovery.
'Endaria'
=Twilight Manor=
Finn and the party had now returned to their home and were unpacking, as Tione went and helped Finn, and Gareth and Raul went to their respective rooms. Ais had been joined by a certain black haired child.
"Ais! Ais! Where does this go?" Fiona bounced at the return of one of her favorite people.
Ais had turned around to see her holding a specific knife, the Hestia Knife. "Be careful with that!" The sudden outburst startled Fiona and sent her to the ground tears forming in her eyes. Now feeling guilty Ais knelt down and patted Fiona on the head and began to pick her up.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. See, this knife is very special, a young and very impressive adventurer used this knife many years ago." Ais continued "And it was made by Hephaestus so it was super sturdy and strong" Ais flexed her arm in a very comedic way, earning a chuckle out of Fiona. "But sadly he's no longer with us…" Ais turned her head.
"Did he die?" Fiona begins to tear up at the thought of someone dying. "No, no, no. He's not dead, he left before you were born." a slightly mischievous grin swiftly came across the child's face. "Did you like him?" Ais snapped her head back to Fiona, but only had a look of surprise on her face. "I'm not sure…" but while all this was happening Fiona had somehow managed to pull the knife out of its sheath, only for it to be… 'Glowing?' Ais thought to herself now realizing that it was the knife in this child's hand.
Somehow through her dumbfounded state she didn't realize that the knife was now falling down. By the time she came to from the spectacle of the light show the knife was now embedded into the wooden floor.
"Uh.. Fiiiinnn, Tione!" Ais called out to the father and mother of this strangely unique child, who has now blown the minds of many in just her short time on Genkai.
Flashback, 3 years ago:
"Captain!" A frantic Tione rushed into the room, holding a small child in her arms, small black locks flowing down her head, now an ever changing color, like a rainbow as she seemed to sleep peacefully, undisturbed by her surroundings.
"Tione? Whaaaaa…" Finn began his question as he drifted off at the scene before him. His eyes widened in both shock and pure and utter confusion.
"What's wrong with her!" Finn called out as he shot up from his seat. Riveria had immediately rushed to Tione's side, inspecting the child that was… glowing?
"I-I don't know what's happening! One second everything was fine, the next she was… like this!" Tione was clearly panicking, which was understandable as something unknown was happening to her own daughter. Her mothers instinct was kicking into overdrive.
Everything went chaotic from there, people ran in and out of the room after Finn had called for help. Riveria couldn't find anything wrong with her. She was perfectly healthy, so much so one would believe they were not mortal.
Finn, being the more rational one, stood back, not knowing too much about medical care so he let the other take the lead there while he was trying to figure things out.
It took a minute before he noticed something strange. Loki was sitting still, and he means completely, deathly still with a pale, gobsmacked look on her face.
It was as if she had seen a ghost that wasn't supposed to exist. He walked towards her with a worried look.
"Loki… do you know what's happening?" He asked. It seemed to snap the goddess out of her state and instantly stood.
"EVERYONE! OUT! ONLY RIVERIA, FINN, GARETH AND TIONE MAY STAY!" Finn took a step back instinctually. The commanding tone from Loki's mouth was so unbecoming of her that it honestly scared him. She was still deadly pale, so this has to be serious.
Finn took a deep breath before preparing himself. Once everyone was out but him and the mentioned people, he turned to his goddess.
"Loki… what's wrong… do you know what's happening?" He asked. There was a pregnant pause, causing Tione to grow anxious.
"SPIT IT OUT WILL YA!" She screamed in frustration and worry, causing Loki to flinch slightly before nodding.
"Well… there isn't anything that's hurting her… It's just what I sensed from her…" Loki began cryptically.
"Huh? What do you mean? What could you, a goddess that gave up her a-" Riveria stopped mid sentence as she figured it out, her eyes as wide as dinner plates, mouth making a giant 'O'.
"It can't be… but that isn't- How-" Riveria fumbled with her words.
"What! What's wrong with my daughter!" Tione lashed out as Riveria gulped.
"Well… ya see…" Loki muttered as Riveria continued "What Loki is trying to say… is that she sensed Arcanum from her"
The entire room fell silent. No one talked, no one moved as everyone stared at Loki.
"Are you sure…" Finn practically whispered to her. Something like this was serious… unprecedented. It had to be kept under wraps… even from Ouranos.
Loki only nodded as everyone turned to the still glowing child.
"That's not the worst part… the arcanum takes its shape or form, from it's user. A goddess of trickery will have a different 'feel' of Arcanum to something like… Goddess of beauty" Loki explained as Gareth turned to her.
"What are ya getting at Loki?" He grunted as she gulped.
"That Arcanum… I've sensed it before, here, in Orario" Finn nodded, waiting for her to continue.
"She raised her own familia with a single member… one member who we are familiar with…" At those words, it clicked in Finn's head as his eyes widened. He slowly turned to Fiona without knowing how to feel.
"Hestia…" he muttered.
No one, not a single one of them got any good sleep that night
End Flashback
Tione being the first to arrive like some overzealous hawk of parenting, came around the corner and immediately began to inspect her daughter, practically prying her out of Ais' arms.
"What's wrong, did anything happen?" Tione asked in a slightly frantic state. "Nothing is wrong, and yes something did happen…" Ais looked down at the floor where the now, useless knife that wouldn't even cut paper without resistance, was now firmly embedded in the floor.
Finn, who arrived shortly after, took immediate notice of the knife, he simply put his hand on his head and sighed. "What's going on?" Fiona asked, wondering why everyone was not saying anything.
"Loki's gonna flip…" Finn said as he walked away, leaving everyone else to handle the confused child
Ais, now trying to pry the knife out of the floor like some sort of magical hammer of myth, only for the wooden floor snap with the knife still firmly secured within. Now looking at the occupant in the room below whose face was now consumed with confusion.
The two looked at each other back and forth before Ais sheepishly tilted her head.
"Sorry…" She muttered as the person just blinked, still unmoving.
"Eh… could you get Gareth… Or Riveria? We should report this" Still no response.
"Hello? Have I become a ghost?" Ais asked as she tilted her head, a giggle coming from the side from Fiona, who had been gawking at the hole.
Ais frowned, already knowing that this day…this was going to be a very… very long day… Why was it always her?
That's chapter 28! God, so many things are revealed in this chapter! We don't really have much to say or update apart from that Chalister finally put some work in… finally. I was thinking for a minute that I was not cowriting at all hehe.
Jokes aside, Thank you all for the wonderful feedback and I hope to you you in the next chapter!
Author's Notes:'Endaria' Is a play on the word enduring/endurance. And 'Messis Storocia' can be translated also into harvest century/centuries. Figured we'd give a little insight into part of our naming processes.