as Bell and Lily headed to the 10th floor, Bell noticed Lily was paying extra attention to him more than usual, Bell knew that Lily could betray him at any time, but didn't know how, as they got there, Bell saw as an Orc came and made a weapon out of the land, and he attacked, and as Bell was fighting it, an arrow was shot, letting the arrow hit to take the hit of the Orc before killing it, he reached for his armor pad and got it strapped on again, but his knife was on the ground, Lily than picked it up and said goodbye to Bell, monster lure was everywhere and ton's of Orc's were surrounding Bell.
Bell:" LILY WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME"
LIly:" no, Lily knows your strong enough to kill all the Orc's, but not fast enough to catch up to Lily... I am sorry that it has come to this, you should learn not to be so trusting, this is goodbye, we will never meet again"
Bell:" LILY WAIT, LILY"
as lily left, Bell was fighting to catch up to her, Bell knew everything about Lily's past, her parent's the familia, how she was treated, he knew everything, from the beginning to end, yet, he tried to help her, he wanted to show Lily there were good adventurer's, that way, they can continue going into the dungeon together, as a team, in the fighting after a short time, the Orc's disappeared as he went to look for Lily, he knew someone was there, but ignored it as he went after Lily. in the area as Bell left, Ais was there, hoping she could have personally apologized, the only ones who did apologize were Loki, Finn, Rivaria, and Gareth, but Ais felt she needed to apologize herself, but then she saw a head guard Bell dropped during the scuffle, she was then approached by a mysterious man in a robe as she was given a quest, one that involved working with the Zeus and Hermes familia, she accepted, but left a message for her familia.
Ais:" the Hermes and Zeus familia... what could this be"
as Bell was heading to Lily's location, Lily was tripped and assaulted by the adventurer who saw her use her magic, after he stole her valuable's and beat her some, 3 member's of the Soma familia came and dropped injured killer ant's and some came as the man panicked and dropped the stuff, he ran the corner, but got instantly killed, the other members were also in the same boat as they were surrounded, after Lily had to give them a key, they threw Lily to them to save themselves, Lily thought it was the end, how she deserved this, then thought about the Zeus familia, clearly they knew about Lily, it was only a matter of time Before Bell betrayed her, then, out of nowhere, Bell came and saved lily the last moment, just inches away from her death, the ants were drawn to Bell's bloodlust, some Zeus familia member's with the 3 soma familia member's tied up showed up and asked if Bell needed help, Bell cleaved away his enemies in the blink of an eye as the Zeus familia member's realized what a dumb question they asked. when the ants were killed and the member's brought before Bell, Lily asked why Bell saved her.
Lily:" why, why did you save me"
Anna:" that's Bell, he isn't someone who give's up on people, someone like you Lily, you were like Bell for a long time, alone with pain no one can help you with... though, it sometimes takes-"
Soma member:" but she lied to you, rob you, and manipulated you, that's why we stole from her, because-"
Bell:" because you knew this and took advantage of Lily's desperate state and inability to fight back, your scum, unlike Lily, you're more than willing to kill to get what you want"
Lily:" but-"
Clide:" Bell's got good insight on people, one look in your eye's say's it all for him, he's never been wrong about someone before, and he hasn't started now"
Lily:" why though, why didn't you abandon Lily, WHY DID YOU SAFE ME, DON'T YOU KNOW YOU WERE FOOLED, DON'T SAY YOU THOUGH SHE TOOK YOU KNIFE AS SOME JOKE, WHILE YOU WEREN'T AWARE, SHE PICHPOCKETED SOME MONEY DURING THE EXCHANGE PROCESS, WHEN WE SPLIT MONEY, IT WASN'T 50-50, MORE LIKE 60-40, SOMETIME'S 7 OUT OF 10, WHEN YOU ASKED ME TO RUN ERRANDS I CHARGED DOUBLE THE RENTAL PRICE, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW DISAPPOINTED I WAS WITH THE ITEM'S AND EQUIPMENT THAT I EITHER COULDN'T STEAL EASILY OR GET A GOOD PRICE ON"
they all saw as Lily was throwing a tantrum as Bell and the Zeus familia members were only listening, the soma familia members had blades in their mouth's so they couldn't talk, and Lily went on about how she was bad.
Lily:" do you see now, Lily is a bad girl, the worst Prum to have lied of all time, still, are you going to save me"
Bell:" yes"
Clide:" is that even a question"
Lily:" WHY, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT FOR ME"
Bell:"... well... because you are a lonely girl who looked hurt"
Anna:" not much of a reason Bell"
Bell:" I couldn't think of anything else"
Lily:" YOU WOULD SAVE LILY BECAUSE SHE'S A GIRL, IDIOT, YOU IDIOT, YOU WOULD SAVE ANY GIRL IN YOUR SIGHT'S, HORNY LECHER, PERVERT, ENEMY TO WOMEN-"
Bell then held her head and said.
Bell:" then because it's you Lily, I don't need any more reason to help you, I don't need to have a reasonable reason to help you, please Lily, I know you were hurt the moment I saw you, I knew everything from the start, and yet, I didn't give up on you despite my friend's warning's because I didn't want to abandon you Lily, I don't need any reason to save you"
Lily started to ball up a bit as Bell ask she tell him if there's something he can do to help her, he's an idiot so she needs to talk to him, Lily started to cry as she hugged Bell and started to apologize to him. as they make it back, all of Lily's belonging's were returned along with the member's being left in the 6th floor with only the clothes on their back as punishment, they made it out, but not easily, Lily would have passed out from everything and wake up in the Zeus familia home. Lily would find Bell in a chair on the other side sleeping near her as he woke up.
Bell:" morning Lily, it's a great day today"
Lily:"... what about"
Bell:" yeah, about that, you need to talk to someone"
as Lily left, she felt the bloodlust coming from the other side of the door and was scared beyond word's, in the dining hall, Mero, Zerif, Enyo, and Hestia, along with the people who help her in the dungeon yesterday had 2 seat's open as Bell was asked to get them drinks, Lily was alone with people who clearly want a word with her and are not happy with her.
Mero:" I'll start off by saying that what you did, usually end's up with a missing limb"
as a spear was stabbed through the chair just an inch away from Lily as she flinched, Lily regained her composure to listen a little more.
Mero:" what you did to Bell is unforgivable, no matter what he say's"
Zerif:" however, we know about you Miss Arde, a troubling past indeed, but that doesn't excuse your action's"
Enyo:" now... any objection's too out words"
Lily:"... no, everything you said is from both love and concern for Bell, what I did gives you more than enough reason to do whatever you please to me... and if you punish me, I can't complain one bit... but, after Bell saved me, I don't want to do something as lowly as betrayal anymore"
Zerif:"... Miss Arde, what's your opinion of adventurer's before Bell saved you, compared to after, can you tell us both sides"
Lily was hesitant a little, sitting next to adventurer's and all, but she answered him honestly, as she thought it was the least she can do
Lily:"... adventurers are all the same, all of them are only going to use and abuse people, steal and trick other's for their own interest, if they were all like that, then what's the harm in stealing back what has been stolen from me from them, at least, until I met bell, he was different, he treated Lily well, treated me with respect and dignity, and even after all I did to Bell, even when he knew everything from the beginning, he still saved me and helped me... and you all, you are still helping me even now... I don't care what you do to me, just know I won't complain"
Mero:" you also blame yourself too, it's eating away at you because you know Bell's too kind to actually punish you, well, if anything, Hestia"
Hestia:" think of this as divine judgment... look after Bell"
Everyone at the table:" Ditto"
Lily was surprised by this, she thought they would feed her then throw her out, but not this.
Mero:" listen kid, if this has taught us anything, it's that Bell was right to help you, in your situation, I myself would probably go as far as to steal, and you are right, stealing back something that's your's isn't wrong so you're not a criminal in our eye's"
Zerif:" and Bell begged us to help you despite all our warning's about you, he can be real stubborn when he wants to be"
Enyo:" but, he also said how he wanted to help you since you looked lonely, other member's say your lonely eye's, and Bell hated that, so he helped you knowing full well what you were planning to do"
Lily:" I don't know what to say"
Anna:" just make sure swindler's like you don't trick Bell again, he's not dumb, but he's too kind for his own good"
Mero:" oh, and one more thing, trick Bell again, and it will be like you never existed, got it"
Lily was now scared that the bloodlust was back as Bell returned, he asked if everything was okay, and they said that Lily can continue to accompany Bell, and the Soma familia member's lost their memories and blacked out after they reached the surface, although Bell knew they did something as they shifted the conversation immediately. in the Bable tower, Freya was admiring Bell's growing strength, however, there was a smudge that was in the way, she sent Ottar to help fix that as she couldn't just sit by.
Ottar:" and what of the Zeus familia, with Demon Caster and Slicing Wind now level 7, the Zeus familia have 3 level 7's now"
Freya:" they have grown past the point of control when they arrived, but now they might just be unstoppable... if you are given a choice to fight them or run, even if it's a low-level member, run, we can't afford a familia war with them, when they were weak, 15 years ago, we barely won, and that was by sheer luck alone, let's not have another disaster like that"
Ottar:" yes my lady"
as Ottar left to the 17th floor, he thought about how Capaneus was also involved, he remembered meeting Bell a few time's through him, and hearing about his reputation made him what a meeting with the boy, however, he had a fear of Mero, Zerif, and Enyo because of 15 year's ago, it's a fear he can bearly get over, and now he's wondering if he is the right man for Freya's side. in the dungeon at the same time, Ais is heading into a tavern to order something in the code word as she is then pointed to a secret room with Hermes and Zeus familia members, some of them are surprised to see Ais, though Merry, Zack, Clide, and some other strong member's were there, especially a Prum sized Amazon named Mare, she had only her gauntlet's and Greave's on as she as leading the mission.
Mare:" now, when we get to the 24th floor, prepare for anything, the plants are killed with slashed or from Mero's report, "hit them hard enough and they break so easily", of course from that woman, and the caterpillars have acid blood, use magic to kill them if possible, let's be better prepared than we were on the 18th floor"
as they move on, an unsuspecting eye was watching them, only waiting for them to arrive, and to set their trap.