Chapter 7 RW: Trials of Fate (Day 1)
Author's Notes(A/N): Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I'm beyond thrilled to get this chapter rewrite posted, as it means there are only TWO more rewrites before I can continue the narrative! But on the topic of new content, I plan to post an interlude sometime after this chapter.
My current idea/plan regarding interludes is for it to be a snippet of a chapter that, while important, would either not be attached to any particular chapter or detract from the pacing of a given chapter (you'll definitely see what I mean after the ending of this rewrite).
I originally didn't want to post interludes between these rewrites as it would appear as a new chapter to my Wattpad audience, similar to how opening 1 and ending 1 did (both of those will be uploaded to after this chapter goes up). That said, I feel as if the ending of this chapter will be a good enough reason why I chose to go with the interlude instead of tacking it on at the end. Naturally, if you're part of my readers, this entire point is irrelevant.
With all that said, I'm very proud of how this chapter turned out, and I think it's probably one of my best. Of course, you guys have the real say in terms of the thoughts surrounding the quality, so be sure to tell me your thoughts, negative or positive. That's all I have to say, and I hope you all enjoy!
[Start SoundTrack: "Dark Shadow" FAMILIA MYTH IV ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK]
The messenger god of the Greek pantheon lowered the lip of his signature feather cap, shielding a section of his head from the beams of light from the setting star. The sly smile synonymous with his presentation was absent, replaced by a serious expression plastered across the light and dark portions of his face.
"I'm sorry, Hestia. Even I've been unable to find him." His words and the tone they were spoken at matched the same level of earnestness his face gave.
"You as well?" she replied with much woe built up in her vocal cords.
"Trust me, it wasn't from a lack of trying. But none of my contacts could provide anything even adjacent to his whereabouts."
"I see..." her voice lost all the passion in it.
"But at least you haven't felt your number of blessings drop, have you?"
"No, but-"
"Then that means Bell-kun is still alive, so fear not! For as long as he is living, I'll continue to look for him!"
Removing his hat, he placed it on his chest, bowing with his left arm extended off to the side.
"You have my word... however much that is worth to you at this point."
Glancing back up at the short-statured goddess, his orange eyes sprung open from seeing not an ounce of change in her look; the bubbliness in her remained gone.
"I haven't seen you like this in some time. This must be really bad..."
"Thank you, Hermes. I have to go home now."
She turned and walked away without parting with a wave, let alone a goodbye, and as he watched her, he raised himself from his bow and waved.
"See ya, Hestia! I'll be sure to drop by if I discover something!"
When she disappeared from view, he returned his feather hat to his head, leaving his hand on it.
"Although she isn't the only one worried."
Removing his right hand from his head, he flicked it and made a white chess piece appear out of nowhere. He held onto the top and bottom of it, keeping it close to his face.
"The longer you stay missing Bell-kun, the more probable it becomes a detriment to our already shaken-up plan."
"Hermes-sama."
"Ahh!"
He jumped at the unexpected voice belonging to his captain, nearly dropping the chess piece, though catching it at the last second. An embarrassed look came over him when he peeked over his shoulder.
"Ah, Asfi. Please don't sneak up on me like that again..."
"Then allow me to apologize for two things today. For I was-"
"Unable to scrounge up any hints as to where Bell-kun might be?"
"...Yes, there wasn't so much as a strand of his white hair to be found. And regarding the chits you labeled as valuable... few had anything to say, fewer gave any leads, and none pointed to anything other than dead ends."
He turned around, hands shaking.
"And... for the few that still gave you something, does that include-
"Yes, it includes that one."
"Damn it..." he rubbed his forehead. "That was going to be instrumental in figuring out what familias went and collected those Evilus remnants."
He leaned against the door to Traveler's Inn, crossing his legs and arms.
"Anything else?"
"Knossos still remains an option."
"What?" he asked with his brows furrowing.
"Perhaps I should explain." She adjusted her glasses. "Falgar, Aisha, and I discovered that the entrance was barricaded with a notice from the guild warning of monster closets and traps that hadn't been set off, hence why their project has been suspended until further notice. I believe it wise to wait until we exhaust our options around the city before pushing into Knossos, perhaps with an accompaniment of Ganesha's familia."
He rubbed his eyelids.
Sigh... "You know, the timing of all this couldn't have been worse." He looked up at the sky, warm colors painted across it. "Really feels like all the effort I put into this plan is going up in a puff of smoke."
His captain pitched her head to the side and raised an eyebrow.
"What plan, Hermes-sama?"
He looked back and forth along the street before turning to her.
"Too many wandering ears", he whispered as he flicked his head to the door. "Inside."
She nodded and followed her patron deity inside their home and to his chamber, although she remained outside as he held the door open for her.
"This isn't a-"
"Look at my face, in my eyes, and ask me if I'm just being a perv."
Having answered the question without needing her to ask it, she entered his room with him shutting the door behind her. He sat his hat on its stand and rummaged through one of his dresser drawers for papers.
"This conversation doesn't leave this room, understood?"
"Understood, Hermes-sama."
He shut the drawer and set the letters down at his desk before taking a seat behind it.
"My big secret is that I've been keeping in touch with Zeus all this time."
He spun around the papers for Asfi, but she remained silent.
"Is... that all? That doesn't seem like something you'd need to keep-"
"With the intent of... maybe having him... return to Orario", muttering the last part out of the side of his mouth.
"Now I understand", she remarked while shutting her eyelids. "I take it not another soul knows?"
"As far as I'm aware. Heck, not even Zeus himself is aware!"
Her blue eyes bounced at the statement.
"Wait, so you're planning to have him return, yet he doesn't know that? Why?"
"Why doesn't he know, or why have I planned on his return?"
"Both."
The deity set the white chess piece down on the right side of the papers.
"The first part is ensuring that not even the rumor of it could spread. The second part is because of Bell-kun. He's bound to learn about who his 'Gramps' really is, so I might as well control how that info gets to him."
She removed her glasses and rubbed her eyelids, massaging out part of the headache she incurred while failing to find any hints of Bell's whereabouts.
"I can only imagine how difficult this must've been to keep from Loki, let alone Freya."
Hehe. "Tell me about it." He tugged at his shirt collar. "Every letter I sent and received made me feel that I was one wrong move from having everything go to waste."
"But..." she returned her glasses to her face. "That wouldn't explain your earlier statement of the timing of Bell Cranel's disappearance being abysmal."
He scratched the back of his head with his right hand.
"That's because everything I've told you is background information." He waved his hand over to the white piece. "See, prior to Bell-kun even reaching Orario, Zeus asked me to keep him updated on his progress. I wrote back agreeing to do so, but in his second note, he asked for something... pretty strange."
He scoured through the pile of papers until he had found the letter, pointing to a paragraph near the bottom for his captain to read.
"One last thing, if you write to tout any significant achievements made by him, send two letters, but make one of them have some flair to it."
"That's an... odd request."
"My exact thoughts at the time, doubly so considering that I didn't expect much from Bell-kun, telling Zeus just that. Of course, then Bell-kun went and managed to defeat a minotaur at level 1 and decided to become the new record-holder. But the way Zeus described his situation was that there was some vagabond staying with him for the year. He couldn't tell me much, but something he did say stuck with me."
He flicked his left hand, and a black chess piece was set down to the left of the pile of papers.
"He kept referring to that wanderer as the "key piece in this puzzle" and that I should try and help him convince that traveler to take an interest in Bell-kun. I really didn't understand what he meant, and I'm still uncertain, but given how he was right about his grandson, I had no reason to refuse. Since then, I've written about Bell-kun's achievements and added a bit of my way with words to the messages. I even had Thane deliver one of them to have Zeus's guest think that he was intercepting his mail. It was going phenomenally... until recently, that is."
"Why's that?"
He held up two fingers.
"Two words: Freya's charm, and now I've missed my courier's window twice. The first was directly because of her charm, making me forget all about our plan. The second was recently, as I was out of the cycle, it slipped my mind. By the time I finished writing both versions, my messenger was gone."
He waved his hand toward the pile.
"They're in there should you fancy a read. I wrote so much just for it to mean nothing."
"Would you like to have me deliver it, seeing as I'm the sole person who knows about this?"
"Thanks, but no. Right now, I'm in quite a pickle because there's one of two possibilities. One is that the stranger is on his way to Orario. If that is the case, then Bell-kun being missing is a problem, and we need to find him now. The second is that he is growing impatient with the lack of updates, which I would have to send you or Thane, taking away from finding Bell-kun. Hence, the predicament I'm in."
"Then I'll head back out to continue the hunt for Bell Cranel."
He shook his head.
"Don't. Get some rest. You can pick up the search tomorrow."
"As you wish, Hermes-sama."
Hehehe.
His chuckle made her display a curious look.
"Sorry, it's just... the way Thane described the nomad describes this situation as well."
"That being?"
"Dark."
[Stop SoundTrack]
[Start SoundTrack: "Cassandra's Premonition Dream" FAMILIA MYTH IV ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK]
The Black Flame
To many, it is a concept that serves as the symbolic representation of the inner demons lurking within. Its twisted flames burn brighter as ambition grows, fueling one's desire to risk everything for the sake of a goal. Wealth, fame, and power are but some of the kindling feeding the fire, and those with a passion for pursuing something along those lines tend to be congregated into one occupation: adventurers. It is only natural that the career choice where death could occur at any moment would fester with such people. But...
What if it was more than an idea? What if it became something tangible? Then, one would not have to look any further than Ais as she was part of the very few.
Despite its flame-like characteristics, it was far from a traditional blaze. Every time it encompassed her body, she felt like she was standing alone in the freezing rain, placing her already cold heart on ice. Every time she'd activate her wind, it would tug on her, pleading and begging to be unleashed without restraint. And every time she'd trigger her Avenger skill, it tainted the precious gift from her mother, transforming the pure green into black and dark purple.
Altogether, it made her consider the question: what really made her any different from the monsters she dedicated her life to slaying? Primal instincts? Acts of savagery? A disregard for personal safety? Perhaps, but when the inferno took hold, the line separating them became skewed.
Despite her resisting the charms of power the black flame offered, unlike her newfound childhood where she tossed herself at wave upon wave of monsters, the siren only grew better at singing. Each time she'd submit to its will, the more her chances of returning from the brink diminished. Not that it mattered to the dark fire, for it was a parasite unconcerned with its own survival. And as parasitic things go, it was the roach of its kind, lacking any proper way to stomp it out.
The longer it raged inside, the more challenging suppressing it became, for methods successful in the past would just diminish the flames for a brief moment. But there was one way of putting out such an inferno: a white rabbit whose purity defied all logic. There wasn't something dark fueling him and pushing him towards death; the opposite, rather. It was as if he had something rarer than the physical manifestation of her darkness. He held a white flame to her black, one of purity to her filth. Despite his lack of awareness, he became the best remedy in soothing her wounds brought on by the fire, being able to quench the flame when everything else failed.
Even when she was close to losing it all, submitting her body and mind to it to secure victory, he was there to reel her back in. And with her sanity anchored because of him, something special was triggered against Revis that day. Her wind became a color neither belonging to her mother nor tainted by the dark fire. A white wind formed, one that felt like it belonged to her, superior to the Avenger wind in every regard.
She thought that the awakening of her purified wind would spell the end of the darkness pulling at her. How wrong she was. It was never going to be that simple; things never have been. She knew that she had only scratched at a piece of what her white wind could do that day but hadn't been able to replicate its activation.
Yet a more pressing matter was the resurgence of the black fire. However, this time was different, for it came from the person she saw as the means to dispel it. No... it came from her words; his reaction was just the byproduct. And now, it waits until the chalice it is occupying overflows and consumes her.
Since yesterday, the flame has been roaring strong. Riveria's words in the morning had just dampened it, the same with every appearance of her little self. She was already growing more dependent on him to disperse the flame, and now she needed him to be at his home for her to atone and make amends, only to have that squashed. Her search was coming to a close, resulting in nothing but failure with this being the longest the flames had roasted inside her at such ferocity.
She paced down the street until she came to a rest, leaning against a magic stone lamp. The instant her legs stopped driving her, she felt the mist preluding the fire pour out of her hands, visible to her alone. It didn't take long for the blaze to light as the darkness clawed at the inside of her chest. Her vision wasn't exempt from change as her eyes of gold were being overtaken by her tarnished wind color, effectively ensnaring her in a void.
"I... have to keep looking."
She tried to move her legs, but they wouldn't budge. The black flame's grip over her had risen hands from the ground, locking her in place as the void continued to shell off more of her sight.
"I need to keep searching for him. For everyone. For... myself."
But once her hearing went, she watched helplessly as her world began turning black.
"But... I... c-"
[AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS]
In a blink, everything stemming from the darkness was forced off, and she snapped around.
"That came from the wall. The part where we..."
No time was wasted as she accelerated toward the staging ground where she conducted his training. Several months had passed since she made her most impactful decision to date.
["Shall I teach you how?"]
Only those with precognition would've been able to inform her how monumental those words would have been. Although her ulterior motives did originate from a sort of selfishness, with time, even with her original question unanswered, she grew fond of the duration they spent upon that wall.
Every time he'd improve, regardless of how minor, every time he'd smile from seeing him take even the smallest of steps forward, every time he'd thank her profusely for even the smallest departure of her knowledge, and, of course, every time he'd be knocked out and have his head placed on to her lap.
All of those were behind not just dispelling her curse but thawing out a heart once thought dead. It would be disingenuous to claim he was solely responsible, her friends playing a significant role as well, but there wasn't any doubt of him having the largest impact. It didn't take long for those same feelings to be had anytime he was near.
This was all the more reason why having her words sacrilege his purity stoked the flames in a way no other could. It didn't matter that she got her answer if it meant that was the price she had to pay. It didn't matter if it meant that all their interactions, all their time spent with one another, were for nothing.
But being beckoned forth by the wall provided the slimmest sliver of hope in her dark world. As she ascended the spiral staircase of the northwest wall, a thought bobbed to the surface.
"Who will... who will I meet now?"
The first time her thread was yanked to guide her to the wall had been after the Xenos incident, meeting and reconciling with Bell. The second time that it yearned for her was during Freya's charm, managing to overcome a god's power to have her meet with Hestia. And now, this third time, as she succumbed to her compulsion, she met...
"What?"
When she reached the top, her mind didn't want to accept what was set before her.
"No, no, no. Someone... someone has to be here! They have to!"
She looked all around herself multiple times, trying to make her vision see what she wanted to see. Someone, anyone, for her to meet with. But she couldn't manifest it, regardless of how hard she tried.
"D-Damn it!" she yelled, taking a seat atop the wall with her back to the setting sun. Near immediately, her back was engulfed in the darkened fire, outlining her falna. Without the strength to attempt to force it back in her, she waited, expecting the thin shred of hope would amount to something more than disappointment. But she should've known better, for hope was snatched away from her long ago.
"Not even she wants to show up. Not that it would've meant anything."
She sat there slumped forward, the darkness making its way to her face, and upon reaching her eyes, it displayed something worse than the pit of black she was forced into.
Over half of the city became engulfed in fire, and when she blinked, the cries of everyone raced back to her. A constant siren blared as panic filled the streets. Peering behind her, she became a spectator to her own life, watching her mother hold her as their world began collapsing around them.
[GRRAAAHHH!]
And when she heard it again, the fire reached the brim of its goblet, ensnaring her heart and waiting to overfill to stab it.
"Why have I allowed myself to deter from the path, to not give everything to getting stronger?" Her words carried hatred, with spite dripping off her tongue. "Fighting and killing are all I'm good for." her voice became deep, and her eyes started turning dark purple as she stared at her palm. "All I am is a... m̷o̴n̷-̵"
Swoosh!
From far above, a gust of wind passed over her, snapping her out of the trance and removing the dark from her being.
"Huh? Wh-What was that? It felt... familiar."
Her voice returned to normal, though she did take note of where the sun was.
"I'm late!"
Standing up, she faced the direction of Hearth Mansion and shouted.
"Awaken: Tempest!"
What surrounded her was half her typical green and half black/dark purple, a notable increase from the speckles from before. Even now, the dark flame made sure she was aware that it was still raging. But she remained unaware of the massive bird soaring above the wall, with feathers resembling her hair.
[Stop SoundTrack]
"'Hearth Mansion by sunset', or were those not your exact words?" he asked, spear resting against his shoulder and not one beat after she had landed in between the members of her familia searching for him, her wind just now deactivating.
"They... were. I had... lost track of time."
Her delivery was shallow, with her sight directed away from him and toward the ground.
Sigh...
He massaged the side of his head with his thumb.
"I'd really prefer if I didn't need to have that conversation with her... I'll let it slide this time."
"I'm sorry-" her apology was abruptly ended by him raising his hand.
"It doesn't matter now. In any case..." He walked up the steps to the front entrance. "I believe we've kept his familia waiting long enough."
The back of his fist knocked at the door and was followed by an audible "One moment, please". A few seconds later, the door was opened by the blonde fox girl.
"Her green eyes are noticeably dimmer than normal and lack any sort of glimmer to them. In fact..."
A quick glimpse back at the blonde present from his familia confirmed his suspicion.
"Bell Cranel's disappearance seems to have an equal effect on her as it does Ais. I wonder..."
"Ah, Loki Familia", she murmured and performed a small bow their way. "Please, come in."
Starting with himself and ending with Aki, they trickled into his home, following the renard to the living room. Their blacksmith stood behind the couch where Lili and the patron deity sat, adjacent to the sofa where Mikoto and Haruhime when she reclaimed her seat. And for the most recent addition to his familia, the elf stood a few feet from them, resting against the wall. The one thing common among all of them was how restless they were, contributing to the sourness in the air. But something was particular with some of them.
"Liliruca, his goddess, and their renard share the same soullessness in their eyes and hopelessness in their faces. And all three of them possess a not-so-subtle romantic interest in him, with perhaps Gale being in the mix, though it is difficult to tell given her more disciplined demeanor. Regardless, does that mean Ais is in such a category? It would explain how she reacted to my argument against searching for him."
Ahem. He cleared his throat and gathered all their attention.
"I think it is safe to assume none of you were successful in locating him?"
The pallum girl glanced over at him, slanting her head.
"Geez, Finn-san, what makes you think that?" Her sarcasm was all but trickling off her words.
"You mean aside from him not being here? Just a hunch."
He formed a sly smile.
"You've certainly gained confidence, Liliruca."
The smile dropped faster than it was formed.
"Dropping the jests, Hestia is he-"
"My number of blessings hasn't dropped. Wherever he is, he's alive."
"Well, that's-" he wasn't granted a chance to speak as Hestia shot out of her seat, tugging on her twin tails.
"AND NOT A SINGLE PERSON HAS SEEN HIM! Not Hermes, not Hephaestus, not Micah, not Take!" she shouted while counting off on her fingers. "How can someone, especially Bell-kun, disappear without a trace?!"
"Hestia-sama..." mumbled the fox maid with a worried look forming as the goddess collapsed back into her seat.
"What Hestia-sama is saying is that none of us have unearthed even a clue as to where Bell-dono might be."
He ran his hand through his blonde hair.
"I suppose it's only fitting we start with our own bad news then."
He flicked his head to the dwarf on his left, and Gareth stepped forward.
"These two lass came with me to the dungeon, and we went down to the low levels, asking damn near every person if they had seen the lad. Sure enough, not a single soul had."
"That's right! We even asked around in Rivira if they'd seen Argonaut-kun!"
"That also includes the portion of Ganesha's search party occupying the city."
"You're starting with the bad news?" interrupted the blonde elf. "Are you implying that there is some good news to be had?"
Hehe. He chuckled into a closed fist. "Observant you are, though I'm not sure I'd classify it as good, just better in relation. But to round out with the bad, I'm certain he was taken."
All of Hestia Familia's eyes flared open, with special attention being given to the three he remarked on earlier.
"As expected, the three who wish to be romantically involved with him have a drastically more worried look in comparison to the angered expression two of them have. Once again, Gale continues to be an anomaly, displaying both. As for Ais..."
A quick peer over to the sword princess left him confused more than anything.
"She's still the same as earlier? That's... strange, bizarre even."
"But as Gale pointed out, there is some levity in all this."
He flicked his head toward the tall, elven woman on his right.
"Shakti has agreed to have all her patrols keep an eye out for him, but don't expect them to go out of their way to look for him."
"On top of that, I'm almost confident those dark elves didn't take Bell Cranel."
The two animal people of his familia were the last to speak up.
"There weren't many signs of a struggle. The only bit of proof that something went down in that alley was a crater that whoever took the rabbit made with his head."
"Along with his scent not even traveling that far, proving someone had covered it up."
A glimmer of relief came back to some of them, particularly the fox girl, as she let out a long sigh with Mikoto rubbing her shoulder.
"But, Finn-san... if they didn't take Bell-sama, who did?"
'Oi, Lili's right. If there wasn't a fight, wouldn't that mean the person who took Bell would be-"
"Around our level or perhaps higher? Yes, which is why I've come up with two possible kidnappers, the second being more likely than the first."
He held up his pointer finger.
"The first theory is that he was taken by someone we don't know about. Believe it or not, I actually consider this more plausible than The Conqueror's taking him as I can't fathom a reason as to why they'd keep him alive for this long."
"And the other one?" questioned Mikoto.
"Take this one with a grain of salt, but there's a reasonable chance it was Ottar-"
"Fryea Familia again?!" yelled Lili and the goddess in unison, and the pallum started stamping her foot.
"Arghh! This is no different when he was forced to go on a date with Freya-sama!"
"This is worst! At least then, Bell-kun sent a letter! But now? Now we don't even know what they want from him-"
Thud!
Crash.
Transcending the reaction time of every first-tier adventurer present, glass from the window him and his familia stood by was sprayed onto them. Turning his face away, he soon spotted what came through the pane.
"Sniper! Get down!"
Before he even announced his command, his familia had already begun readying their weapons and removed themselves from the view of the windows, splitting up into three groups. Gareth's gathered to his left, Riveria and Ais gathered to his right, and the two animal people with him crouched underneath the pane they stood near.
For Hestia Familia, their blacksmith dragged their goddess behind the couch as Mikoto did the same with her renard friend, and Ryuu rounded a corner with her sword readied. For their strategist, the moment she hit the ground, she looked behind her while preparing her crossbow.
"Welf-san, Ryuu-san, get Hestia-sama outta here!" Her head turned over to the women from the far east. "Mikoto-san, do the same with Haruhime-san!"
"Oi Lili! What about you?!"
She finished tightening the string of her crossbow, pointing at the window.
"I'll follow. Now go!"
Having his concerns answered, he rushed Hestia around the corner Ryuu was waiting by. After Mikoto did the same with Haruhime, Lili crawled around to the same spot.
"Finn-san! You guys can take it from here!" She shouted, rounding the edge to join the rest of her familia.
A small smile sneaked up on his face as he nodded to her words.
"You really are getting better, Liliruca. But why would The Conquerors attack his home?"
"Orders, captain?"
He paused for a moment.
"Unless they don't know where he is either and believe him to be here."
His head pivoted from the left and right.
"Gareth, Riveria, Ais, and Aki, stay here and prevent anyone from forcing themselves in. The rest of you, wait for my-"
He looked back at the bolt.
"Wait, the feather used for the arrow's fletching..."
"Wait for what, damn it?!"
Instead of answering, he stood up and paced toward the front entrance, confidence sprinkling off him.
"Captain?! What are you doing?!" asked a puzzled Tione as a grin landed on his face.
"Confirming my suspicion."
He walked out the front, standing next to the fountain in a wide stance, impaling his spear into the ground as he faced the direction in which the arrow entered.
"You're not those dark elves, so why would you fire upon his familia or us, stranger? To scare? Intimidate?"
His vision focused on the tops of the buildings.
"But why haven't you bothered taking another shot either at me or their home if that was your goal?"
Lacking any sort of anxiety in his thumb, his grin grew into a proper smile as he eliminated the shortest buildings and narrowed it down to just four. All of their tops were coated in shadow thanks to the setting sun, but when a breeze against him ruffled his hair, it was also visible on three of the four buildings as one had gone in the opposing direction, vanishing off the roof.
"There!" he shouted while pointing to the tip of his golden spear. "The rest of you, after him!"
"On it!" replied Bete, Tiona, and Tione, running past their captain, ascending the building, and pursuing their target.
"Let's see you escape those three."
He returned to Hearth Mansion, and his vice-captain stood up.
"Is the coast clear, Finn?"
He nodded before announcing, "Hestia Familia! It is safe to come out now."
"What made you realize it wasn't The Conquerors?"
"Well, Riveria, this for a start."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the golden feather, holding it next to the bolt.
"Aki had found this in the alley while we were searching."
"A... feather?"
"A feather that has some sort of heat imbued into it", Aki clarified while walking over.
The feather was handed off to the elf, whose fingers and keen eyes examined it.
"You're right. There's definitely some stored magic in here. And... Ais, could you come here?"
"Yes."
When the golden-haired girl approached, the feather was placed on her head.
"It looks so similar..."
'Similar? Ha!" went the dwarf. "I don't know what you mean by similar. It looks damn near identical!"
Ais angled her head.
"Does that... mean anything?"
"I haven't the slightest clue. What do you think, Finn?"
He scratched the back of his neck.
"As much as I'd like to say it's a coincidence, that would just be foolish of me. Let's just remember this for a later date."
He returned the feather to his pocket.
"Ais had a lot more aggression on her face when that arrow was shot in here to the point where I'd expect it out of Bete. She doesn't even carry such a look when fighting monsters... most of the time, at least."
The five adventurers of Hestia Familia, including their patron goddess, returned to the living room, sheathing their weapons and lowering their nerves.
"I didn't hurt you when I dragged you down, did I?" asked Welf, standing next to the arrow protruding from the wall
"N-No. Thank you, all of you, for your swift response."
"Hmm? Where's the rest of your familia?" inquired Ryuu.
"They're hunting down the person responsible for this", his thumb pointed to the bolt. "With any luck, they'll be dragging him over here-"
"ARGH!" screeched the werewolf behind him, covering his nose with the two amazons at his side.
"Yesh, what happened to you?" asked the cat girl while backing up.
"Onions."
"Huh?"
"ONIONS! DAMN ROTTING ONIONS!"
The flatter of the two sisters caressed her head.
"I didn't think they smelled too bad."
"That's because you're not an animal person who's trying to track something, you dumb amazon!"
"Alright, alright, simmer down."
He turned to face the werewolf.
"Answer me this, though, do you think they were placed there intentionally?"
"Without a, ack, without a doubt!"
He covered his mouth.
"So, not only could he outpace the likes of Bete, he had implemented measures beforehand to keep him from being tracked? But why stay put for a good bit after firing if you wanted to avoid confrontation?"
"Oi, take a look at this."
The blacksmith pointed to a piece of paper dangling off the tip of the arrow.
"That looks like a letter! Give it here to Lili!"
"A message? You wanted to make sure we noticed that you were delivering one?"
Welf handed the paper to the pallum of his familia but kept his eyes honed in on the tip of the bolt.
"Is that..."
He grabbed one hand onto the base of the arrow, but his attempt to remove it went nowhere, the bolt refusing to budge. He gripped both hands around it, giving it another try. Despite the veins in his forearm popping and his teeth grinding against each other, the arrow didn't so much as bend.
"Hang on there, lad."
Taking a step back, he watched Gareth remove it and part of the wall with next to no effort shown.
"Oh yeah... level 6", Welf mumbled.
"That was really stuck in there. Here you are."
"Th-Thanks. I just need to confirm if this metal really is-"
He cut himself, both in his voice and on the arrowhead, as the rear-facing protrusions behind why it was firmly planted in place graced by his finger.
"It's made of Mithril?! Of all the metals to use on an arrow, why such a rare metal like Mithril?!"
"Oh, oh!" interrupted Tiona, raising her hand. "Maybe to use it to trap magic like how Argonaut-kun did when he used... uhh...that one move."
"I think he referred to it as 'Argo Vesta'?" finished her sister.
"But Bell-kun can't do that normally without one of his skills."
"Hestia's right", said Welf, holding the arrow high. "Mithril can conduct magic but isn't able to be imbued with it. Without a method to withhold the magic inside, it would just fizzle out of it."
"Forgive me, but may I see that for a moment?" Riveria held out her hand as the bolt transferred to it. "I need to see if this wood is really..."
Her eyes flashed open, causing the other elf present to raise an eyebrow.
"Riveria-sama?"
"This wood, it's... it's from one of the holy trees from my forest."
"What?! Are you certain?!"
"Yes, it feels just like my old staff."
Finn rubbed his head, hand over his eyes.
"The fletching, the shaft, and the arrowhead are all high-quality material that practically screams aristocratic. But does the wood being the same kind as Riveria's old staff mean that this stranger is-"
"Everyone! This letter is from Bell-sama!" informed Lili. All eyes swung over to her as she unfolded the paper.
"To my Familia, I wanted to let you all know that I'm alright and to explain what happened to me. After Ais-san dropped me off, a stranger, whose name I don't think he'll let me include in this, brought me to wherever here is. He claimed to have been looking for someone like me, and so he gave me a choice. Either to return home to you guys or to participate in what he referred to as 'Trials of Fate'. You can guess which option I made. I'm not entirely sure what they entail aside from the strength I'll receive at the cost of... potentially dying. I know agreeing to them and expecting a stranger to uphold his word isn't bright, but after... recent events, I need to get stronger, and something is telling me that the best way will be through him. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous or that I'm not second-guessing myself, but I made my choice, and I'll see it through. I will get stronger, and I'll be back in a week."
-Bell Cranel
"Bell..." whispered Ais, her captain catching another glimpse of her.
"Her fists are tightening, and the look in her eyes has more malice than earlier. Why?"
"Hey, there's another message around the edges in hieroglyphs!" the goddess pointed out, her finger pointing to the blue symbols surrounding Bell's, before snatching the paper from the pallum.
"Uhh..."
"What are you waiting for?!" shouted Lili. "Aren't you supposed to be able to read them?!"
"I can! But this doesn't even make sense! It's like it's in a different language. Take this part: 'Si quis forte legerit'-
"The royal tongue!" stated Ryuu and Riveria in tandem.
"The royal, what now?"
"It's a version of elvish that can be understood by all capable of speaking the common tongue but is only taught to us high elves, along with teaching hieroglyphs." The note was transferred to her, and her finger traced around the edges.
"Si quis haec legerit, te oro ut tua quaestio claudatur. Cranel operam suam requirit plenam et indivisam ut in his iudiciis intendatur. Quod si defecerit, corpus eius cum recompensatione pecuniaria ad familiam restituetur. Eius vivendum sit ei, id eum eius intellegebat. Quilibet haesitationis vel compunctionis ob iuventutis suae aetatem omisso secundo subscripsit. Si in fine septimi diei transierit, non solum validior sed evolutus domum redibit. Id est promissionem meam."
"Translated, it roughly means: To anyone who might be reading this, I implore you to halt your search. Cranel requires his full, undivided attention to be concentrated on these trials. Should he fail, his corpse will be returned to his familia along with financial compensation. His living will be entirely up to him, a fact his well aware of. Any hesitation or remorse due to his young age was abandoned the second he signed. Should he pass, at the end of the seventh day, he'll return home, not just stronger but evolved. That is my promise."
Finn began rubbing his chin.
"Well, that pretty much confirms the race of the stranger. But to think there would be another elven royal who'd reach our level of strength. Hmm... I guess it's true that an answered question breeds several more."
"What do ya say we do now, Finn?" questioned the dwarfen executive.
"This really does put us in a difficult spot. Well... I-"
"It has to be a lie!" interjected Ais. "Bell would never agree to something like that without being manipulated!". Her words sounded desperate, almost like they were meant to convince herself rather than the others.
"I ain't too sure about that", said Welf, crossing his arms. "When he was forced to go on that date with Freya, his letter sounded pretty desperate. In this, he sounds way too calm."
"That's right, and Bell-dono wouldn't phrase it like this if it wasn't out of his own free will."
"And Bell-sama's writing doesn't seem to be altered or covered in any way. This... this is all him."
"Y-You're wrong!" shouted Ais, her voice causing all of Hestia Familia to stumble back a step.
"Welp looks like there's no longer avoiding that talk."
"He-"
"Ais, that's enough!"
His voice, while normal in volume, had a sternness in the words that forced the sword princess to silence herself and nod in compliance.
"We'll be suspending our search", he stated toward Hestia. "I know that it might be difficult for you all to stomach, but I suggest you follow suit. If he's not back in a week, talk to Loki, and we'll pick up the search. That's the best thing I can offer."
The twin-tail goddess's face drooped.
"Alright..."
"I believe we're done here, and unless there are any objections, we'll be holding onto his notice and the arrow."
He turned around to face the rest of his familia.
"We're leaving."
"Ah..."
Haruhime's ears sprung up.
"Allow me to-"
"Thank you, but we'll be seeing ourselves out."
He and his familia left as they entered, though he stopped next to the fountain.
"Ais, a word, please."
The golden-haired girl came over, partially kneeling for him to whisper.
"Office."
[Start SoundTrack: Bleach Emergence Of The Haunted]
"Rahh!"
Charging forth like a bull towards red, the red of his eyes focused on one thing and one thing only: the shadowy figure standing in the center of the cave, whose mere presence made the space feel warped. His black knife was held out in front of him with his other hand on his wrist to support it. Neither the various bruises scattered across his body nor the crimson liquid that flung off him slowed, let alone stopped, his approach.
Once he stepped into the effective range of his enemy, time felt as if it slowed while a thought resonated in his mind.
"I can do this!"
Tension grew in his leg muscles as the cane's head rocketed towards him, his foe holding the weapon by its very end. However, it was telegraphed to the point that mailing it to him would be at an equivalent speed of delivery.
"That's not a faint!"
Pushing the attack out of the way with his dagger, he was allowed a counter-clockwise spin to the side, ensuring his avoidance. Amidst his twirl, the grip on his goddess knife strengthed, and when his sight reconvened to the face of his foe, hope was granted permission to enter his mind.
"This is it!-"
Swish!
PLAM!
UGH!
The cane's head returned out of nowhere to highlight his mistake in believing he had displaced it to a sufficient extent, delivering a devastating blow to the side of his face. But the punishment for his oversight had merely begun, for his entire head was knocked into the open palm of his opponent before being slammed into the ground in a similar vein to how it was performed in the alley.
THUD!
Unlike yesterday, he remained conscious while expelling blood and other fluids from his mouth as he struggled to keep one eye open. But both widened as a boot accelerated toward him. Ignoring the pain, he rolled backward...
Bang!
And avoided the hit, returning to his feet panting.
"You... You wanted me to think that I outpaced you..."
The conversation he had with himself wasn't held for long. The role of the attacker was transferred over to the robed man, holding the cane in one hand. An uppercutting swing had skimmed by his chin when he leaned his head back, but the sequence wasn't over, and a downward swipe forced him to raise his blade in response.
Shink!
Sparks flew, illuminating the man wrapped in darkness. He tried to get out of the bind of their weapons, but a chance wasn't given, and the clash ended on the accord of the other. The hook latched onto his wrist, and he was pulled forward. The next thing he saw after stumbling was the hook, which impacted the center of his face, causing a mix of blood and bits of bone to fly out of his nose.
"ACK-"
His scream was silenced when the hook wrapped around the back of his neck, and he was launched over their shoulder.
SLAM!
"Ugh..."
His whole body felt paralyzed, and after prying open an eye, he found himself indented into the metallic material lining the walls of the arena upside down, the light for the arena at the bottom and it at the top. His injuries had caused the white of his teeth and hair to be tainted a brown-red, and as the muscles in his body atrophied, a thought climbed its way up.
"This is... different from any other time."
The mixture of sweat and other fluids aided in his slipping out of the mold, and he fell, twisting himself to land on his feet. However, he would soon find himself collapsing to his knees, spitting the blood out in waves.
"The amount you're holding back... everything..."
Gritting his teeth, the veins in his neck swelled to the surface, and he stood back up, still hunched over.
"... I'm outclassed in every way, aren't I? Maybe... but..."
He straightened up his back, pointing his knife.
"I swear I'm going to land one hit!"
He leaped back to fire off the wall and blasted toward the middle of the chamber. With the air he displaced racing in from behind him and his knife in a reverse grip, he swung forward. Instead of meeting fabric or even the cane, his blade caught the wind, for his target stepped aside.
Breaking with his right leg out in front, he peered over to his kidnapper with eyes sharper than swords. The very second his body ceased sliding, the tension growing in the main stopping leg was sent toward his foe in the form of a high kick, though coming up just short.
Grr...
Not letting the two whiffs deter him, a sliding elbow joined both his onslaught and his misses.
"You can't dodge forever!"
And with the robed figure standing right in front of him, every ounce of will was driven into his arm muscles as he began a barrage.
Clank!
Clank!
Clank!
Three slashes went out, three slashes were bounced away by the cane. He twirled his knife into a standard grip.
Clank!
Clank!
Clank!
The light show made from the sparks of equivalent colors continued, and the sneer on his face became pronounced.
"Take this!" A rising slash, failing to connect as the man backstepped.
Hiya! A complement of rapid thrusts, failing to catch anything, as the person stepped into every gap in the volley.
ARGH! A leaping slash down, failing to hit anything but the ground when the figure twirled backward.
It didn't matter what he launched; it would either be redirected the instant it came close or dodged with such grace and precision that it felt like he was missing on purpose. Returning his blade to a reverse grip, he was about to send out another flurry of jabs had it not been for the advancing stick.
Whoosh!
He managed to avoid the quick jab by leaping back, and when pressure was built up in his legs, he hurled himself toward the instructor. Swinging down with the most amount of strength he could muster, having a hand on his wrist to aid him, his knife approached the shade's head... until it stopped.
"Huh?!"
The specter held him up in the air by his wrist using one arm. Try as he may, he wasn't able to punch through the grip with brute force. Thinking of an alternative, he moved the supporting hand off and tried to point his palm at their face.
Crack!
ACK!
The cane collided with his ribcage, fracturing a few, forcing out blood, and sending him flying back. But with his left hand still pointed outward and not wanting to waste this chance, he braced it.
"Firebolt!"
A few electrified fireballs fired out, but instead of being avoided, blocked, or deflected, the magic twirled alongside the spinning cane before being sent back in a diagonal slash.
"Firebolt-"
Although weakening it, he wasn't able to stop it, and a gash ran across his chest.
Uck!
He slid backward on his feet until he reached the wall of the arena once again. One hand was held over the massive cauterized cut as his eyes began to lose color.
"He can... do that with his cane? I need to-blah!"
He vomited up a variety of liquids that, together, were colored brown.
"...get his cane away from him. I can... do this. I can do this..."
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before holding out his arm, using the wall to embrace it.
"And I think I know how!"
"Firebolt!"
Another volley left his palm, this time numbering in the tens. Just like last time, they were greeted by the cane twirling around, but when the last one left him, he propelled himself toward the center. His pace was in sync with the last fireball he shot out, running right behind it.
When he got to the phantom, who was still dealing with his magic, he lowered himself to the ground, readying his move. The moment his last fireball was handled, he sent a cutting uppercut, not preparing for his tactic to be seen through, and he ended up in the sky.
He couldn't adjust prior to his foot getting hooked, and when he looked down, he saw the wraith joining him in the air from underneath. He got sent flying back to earth, slamming his back into the ground. His vision flashed dark every other second, his eyes doing the same.
Ugh...
His cries of agony grew quieter as liquid started to fill his lungs. Yet even now, a second was more than he could ask for as the base of the cane shot toward him like it was out of a ballista.
Crank!
The cane embedded itself in the ground, for he had rolled out of the way at the last possible moment. Keeping his diminishing vision on the 'person', who had landed without a sound, a sparkle returned to those crimson gems he called eyes.
"This is my chance!"
Sheathing his dagger, he broadened his stance and held out both palms.
"Firebolt!"
Without reinforcing the firing arm, it would recoil back, but as his left did just that, fire gathered in his right palm.
"Firebolt!"
He continued to alternate arms, firing far faster than he could with just one, although it did sacrifice accuracy as some steered off course. His voice resonated off the walls and back to him, echoing the name of the magic. When the start of his continuous salvo reached their target, a grin snuck up on his face.
"I... I hit him! I actually- what?!"
Instead of the explosions he anticipated, his magic circled around the extended hand of his foe as if the fire no longer belonged to him. He ceased the energy bombardment and stood there awestruck, for all the mind he committed to sending his magic out was wrapped around the arm of his kidnapper before being sucked into his palm.
"He... He absorbed it...?"
In the time he observed the stranger casually manipulate the fire, it was enough for the cane to reunite with its owner.
"Dang it!" he screamed at himself, withdrawing his knife while visibly exhausted.
"You wish for this trial to be concluded without the usage of my cane?"
The crimson-colored eyes, losing saturation from the blood loss, bounced open as it was the first time the other combatant spoke since the beginning of this trial.
"Very well."
The cane was flung into the air, being grabbed by the talons of the golden eagle waiting above.
"It won't change the outcome of this battle."
From the abyss, a bastard sword was drawn, but it had a one-handed grip, an upward curving guard, and a rounded tip. It was held out above the figure's head until the darkness started to rush towards him. Without hesitating, he sprinted in kind to meet the 'man'.
"Hiya!"
CLANK!
Sparks of different colors left their weapons, lighting both of their faces and displaying the contrast in demeanors. His sheer grit in the form of displayed teeth and focused eyes was met with a blank stare from a silver eye. His impending loss of consciousness, being brought on by both his decaying stamina and mind, was greeted by someone who hadn't even broken a sweat. In spite of everything, he still attempted to defy fate.
He pushed the blade down enough to where he tried to end the bind by front flipping over it. While it allowed him to escape the clash, he couldn't have foreseen the blade redirecting into one of his thighs, almost slicing the entirety of his left leg open, let alone the elbow to his chest, breaking his fractured ribs and fracturing the rest.
Ugh! Ack! Ack...
Somehow landing on his feet, he returned to charging forward despite the stream of blood leaking out of his leg, approaching in a zig-zag this time. The shadow held one arm behind their back while he lowered himself to the ground, trying to outmaneuver the longer blade. Yet, it came racing over to slash his knife arm mid-swing.
Stumbling back for just a moment, he deflected the oncoming slash as he ducked underneath, jabbing at the chest of the opponent. But the only poking attack connecting was the one he received, going through his left shoulder.
Acting on instinct alone, he widely thrust at their arm just for a scar to be added to the left side of his face as the sword traveled up across it, forcing his eye shut from the blood. A knife, a weapon best suited for quick cuts, grabbles, and jabs, was being outperformed by a blade over ten times the length. No, its user was surpassed countless times over.
He struggled to remain standing and watched helplessly as the boot of the trial's boss pressed against his chest and pushed him back.
[Stop SoundTrack]
He rolled across the ground, coming to a stop on his back. The pain could no longer be ignored; whatever willpower he used to numb it began to fade. He struggled to bring himself up as the shattered ribcage made it agonizing. At this point, the sole sign of his luck stat was how his lungs and heart avoided puncture. His thread was sawed as it lost strength by the second. Not one of consciousness but of his life. As he eyed the leg soaked in blood, he ran a hand along that tear.
"Firebolt."
Even though he seared the wound shut and delayed the inevitable drainage of his blood reserves, the area was scorched, and his vision faded in and out.
"I'm not-"
Tears joined the concoction of fluids leaving his system, and the grip on his knife started to loosen.
"Everyone... I'm... sorry... I'm really..."
The desire to just let death embrace grew strong, and the curtain of his eyelids grew heavy. But when he caught a glimpse of the eagle, he was reminded of... her.
"No!"
Wiping his tears away, he fought through the pain and helped him to his knees.
"You saw... saw something in me. And that same something is why you offered me this in the first place! I said I wanted to get stronger, and I meant every word!"
Challenging physiology itself, he stood up and held out his knife, his left eye remaining shut.
"And if landing one blow or at least getting close means that I'm worthy, then I will do it!"
"I'm... I'm not done yet!" he shouted at the wraith and returned to the stance he had taken at the start of this debacle.
And the response? Forcing their sword into the ground, their hand still wrapped around it.
"Huh? Did I... pass?"
Shink!
The blade ran along the ground with its owner toward him, and he tilted his head back, minimizing the cut to his jaw. But nothing dripped from the wound as the same fire he shot out earlier was now encasing the metal.
"What?!"
The sword came rushing back down, with him backing up to avoid the first swing and just managing to deflect the second one that came from a twirl. The very next instance, the fire sword slammed down, and he jumped back, avoiding the follow-up that was poised to remove his head.
Boom!
From his opponent's weapon connecting with the ground, an eruption occurred, and the robed man descended from it. Raising his arm and reinforcing his knife hand, he met the blade of an inferno, it searing his skin by the second. But instead of him forcing the bind to end, the darkness hopped back before sending a thrust. A thrust that he just avoided, a flame cloud lingering in the air. More fire joined the cloud as he blocked the rightward swipe. All the while, his eyes scanned for an opening.
"I just need one!"
The specter sheathed his blade, lowering himself to a familiar position.
"That's Mikoto's technique-"
His one functioning eye flashed when he saw the slimmest of mistakes performed by the one thought to be untouchable. They had begun falling backward by tripping on their foot. He wasted no time, his dagger closed in at the most amount of speed his weakened body could manage.
"This is it!"
But when he went through the cloud, the darkness personified remained unfazed.
[Start SoundTrack: Adrien Lozano - Wrath of the Dark God]
"This battle... is over."
Exceeding the speed at which he could feel pain, his left arm was sliced off and sent flying when the sword fired out of its scabbard. The roll for his all-or-nothing resulted in a critical failure, stopping short of the cloth coating the man. He couldn't even stumble back for a step as the still-falling thing swept his legs, breaking them and leaving him falling to the ground. However, all he did was rotate until a straight kick sent him bouncing off the wall of the cave, dagger launching out of his hand.
He wanted to scream out in agony and screech at the pain, but the luck protecting his lungs ran out, and they were pierced. Lying there, his ruby gemstone struggling to stay open, he watched the crimson liquid of his body be flicked off the sword as the blade entered back into the sheath in a way mirroring that of a far eastern swordswoman he knew. Both were returned to the center of the abyss as the dark held up his arm, and the cane returned.
A quick peer over to where his left arm should be revealed a cut so accurate that not even a stump was found.
"This is... is it for me? I made the wrong choice..."
He tried to reach out for his knife, but it was far out of reach. He tried to continue and began clawing his way over, struggling to get a grip on the floor. But all his effort was for a few feet at most, for there was only so much a body so crippled could do.
"I still hav-have some mind..."
He held up the only arm he could.
"Firebolt. Firebolt. Firebolt..."
His diminished sight prevented him from telling how many electrified fire spheres left his palm, just that they were wrapping around the shadow's hand.
"Firebolt. Fire... bolt. Fire... bolt... F-Fire..."
His mind was depleted. His stamina drained. His body was broken. His thread was unraveled. And the last thing he saw as his face became attached to the floor was the boots of... it. When his sight turned black, one sound made it to his ears.
Ding. Ding.