Bell shivered, someone out there was going to beat the hell out of him. Ah oh well, let's just add it to the list, shall we?
As Bell wandered around looking for his dagger, he was struck with sudden thoughts. Number 1: He was relatively unknown to his dear familia
Number 2: He. Was. Shirtless... SHIRTLESS
Number 3: He was defenseless, defenseless, and vulnerable so should someone from his dear familia think the worst of him and try to attack him, he was both without armor and a weapon. Yeah, this wasn't going to end well for him.
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As Riveria was walking back from taking (read as dragged) Loki to the very important meeting that she simply could not have missed, she was struck with the sudden thought to go and check on the newest member in the Loki Familia as he had just come out of the hospital after a fight with a Minotaur. It was a test that all Loki Familia members had to take, in all honesty, she was against this for Bell as he was just a level 1. Which was a far cry from the other Familia members. However, she was outvoted and even Ais wanted to see how good he was. The result was a shock, and nobody could have expected that blizzard, nor the inferno that was produced. But if someone were to have asked Riveria Ljos Alf how a young level 1 adventurer could produce such powerful magic, the answer would be simple. Hereditary magic. Or in other words, magic that is passed down from his or her ancestors. What was interesting is that Bell has spells that more often than not, conflict with each other. Fire and Ice do not usually go well together. But it was an interesting result nonetheless. Bell was special. That was for certain. It would be a good idea to watch over him. And so she made her way to find Bell, to hopefully take him down to the dungeon to see these spells that were apparently without a chant. And thus, Riveria knew what she was going to be doing today. As she walked the halls of Twilight Manor, she found Bell in what was a hilarious situation, but one that could be rather harmful to Bell if something was not done to stop it. The scene was this: Bell, who recently came out of the hospital after defeating the Minotaur, was shirtless, with a bandage around his head that was most certainly new since the last time she saw him in the hospital. He also had his ribs bandaged due to the puncture that the Minotaur's horn left in his side. She also imagined that a few of his ribs were cracked. He was also shirtless and currently, he was in front of two guards. Who was not looking impressed?
As she came closer, the volume of the voice seemed to grow from a heated discussion to a very loud, heated discussion. Well, the two guards were heated and while their argument wasn't a shout, it was loud enough so that if you were close by then you would have no trouble making out the rather colorful words, Bell was flustered. Or at least that's what it looked like, it was rather difficult to tell how flustered he was as she was behind him. But something drew her attention to the young Level 1's back. A scar. And it looked big. She couldn't tell how big, nor if he had any more scars due to the bandages but this scar looked horrible.
" -nd I'm telling you that I am a part of this Familia"
"Yeah, sure you are kid, and I am Lady Loki's twin sister," Guard No. 1 said
"Now we'll try this again, who are you, why are you here and who the hell do you think you are walking around here half-naked?" Guard No.2 asked, and as usual, Bell had a reply. That boy seemed to have a reply to everything.
"Well, I certainly am not an ugly dumb little person with the wit of a troll, however, that seems to fit you perfectly"
The coup de graće of this was the fact that Bell said this so seriously. At this point, I had to step in.
"Is there a problem here?" I ask calmly, the look on their faces, Bell's included was rather funny but I have a reputation.
"W-W-well m-m-ma'am the-" guard 1 stammered
"That was rhetorical, I'll take over now"
"What will you do with him ma'am" guard 2 said
"I'll be taking our newest member to the dungeon to train, if you would spread the word that he has joined the familia, that would be appreciated"
I then turned to Bell, grabbed his arm, and walked off
"Thanks, Riveria"
"Don't worry about it"
And that was all the words that were said.
I took him to his room to get changed, only to realize that he had no clothes, as his only shirt had many holes. His trousers were ripped to shreds and his shoes... were actually okay. That being said, he had to go shopping. I say he, but it was the both of us.
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Bells P.o.v
Ah... my clothes were wrecked. Yeah. Shopping time!!
As I went out to tell Riveria that all my clothes were in tatters, she already seemed to know.
"Shopping trip?" She enquired
"Shopping trip" I confirmed
And thus, that's what I spent most of my day doing. Riveria gave me a cloak to cover up my bandages and off we went in my tattered jeans and cloak. The first place we went to was the clothes shop in northern Main Street, to which I got. Black long-sleeves shirt with black trousers and a white shirt with white trousers to go out in, I got a white T-shirt, black shorts, a white T-shirt and white shorts for when I'm in Twilight Manor, and I got the regular sleepwear, two shorts, two white t-shirts. It suddenly dawned on me as I was picking out my shoes, that I could just get the starter package deal. Which was what I got along with the stuff I already got. So I walked out with three bags. Next stop, Hephaistos' shop. So that's where we went. On the way there, I got struck by a thought.
"Riveria, how did you know that I needed new clothes?" I asked curiously.
"The only pair of clothes that I've seen you in the week that you've been in this familia, is those brown trousers and that black t-shirt. I also help Finn manage the Financial accounts, not once have we seen your name pop up, except for food.
"I didn't think I should use the familia accounts," I say sheepishly
"So you have bought stuff?"
"Not much, a sharpening kit for my daggers and a pair of shoes, I wasn't aware that the food that I ordered came out of the familia accounts, sorry" I went into a bow
"That's what they're there for Bell, for ALL of the familia to use, and if it's expensive, come talk to us about it"
I was rather struck by her kindness, It was unusual to me, after all, I spent about three-quarters of my time in Orario getting denied by familias. And quite a few of them were harsh about it.
At this point, we were at Hephaistos' shop. I was looking for armor. And I found it. Very cheap, only about 9,900 Valis. It was lightweight but still gave him defense without dropping his speed. Which was very much good.
"Bell, didn't your dagger break against that Minotaur?" Riveria asked
"Yep, but I have an idea. When I killed the Minotaur, it dropped his horn. Now think of the irony if I were to make it into a dagger. I was going to get a Smith to forge my dagger but, with my lack of clothes, that takes the backseat"
And that was us
It was dark and Riveria had decided that we had done enough shopping. I wholeheartedly agreed with her. As we were walking back, however, four men stepped in front of us and two-stepped in behind us. A quick evaluation showed that they had no weapons on them. The Men were tall. Taller than Riveria and she was 5'7. Their sizes varied from 6 feet to 6'5.
And that was just the men in front is us.
"Hey there" one of the men spoke, but it wasn't with the usual kindness that accompanied the statement. No, it was malicious. Pure malice. It was dripping from his tone and when it was paired with the lecherous glare, it wasn't a pretty stare. This wasn't looking good. 4 men and two people behind us, against Riveria and I, and even then, I'm still injured from the Minotaur fight. This wasn't looking good.
The man who had spoken stepped forward.
"What's a pretty thing like you doing out here in the darkness?" He said.
"Why don't you come with the boys and me I and we'll show you a better time than the Rabbit at your side ever could."
The man chuckled but as he put his hand on Riveria's face, the only expression on her face was disgust.
"I would never accompany you, not even in your dreams" the venom was practically dripping from her tone.
She then slapped his arm hard enough that the hand was removed from her face.
All of the men advanced on us, and I never felt as worried as I was now.
A fist flew to my temple and I immediately ducked.
This has escalated quickly.
Every time I ducked and slipped and dodged a punch I had to deal with even more punches and my ribs practically screaming in pain. Then as I ducked another punch a man uppercut my ribs. I felt two cracks.
And due to the pain, I wasn't aware of the punch that sailed to my head, and with that punch, I was nearly knocked out. Nearly. I looked over to Riveria to see that she had kicked three men's asses. I also saw that she had her staff. How in Hell's name she got it, I don't know. Elven magic probably.
And her face radiated one emotion, and that was fury. All of a sudden, in my delirious state, I felt pity for the men. And my pity was well placed
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Riveria's P.O.V
As the men started to move towards us, I summoned my staff using a quick Elvin chant that was taught from birth. Unfortunately, it would take a while for my staff to arrive so I ducked and dodged until it came. I don't know how many punches I dodged until I heard a cry of pain. I looked over to Bell to find him hunched over. Then I got punched. I staggered back and wiped my bloody lip. Undignified yes, fid I care at this moment? No. My staff had arrived and this was where the real fun began. I was trained in martial arts back when I was living with my father and one of the things I was taught was staff martial arts. And thus, the fun began.
My strikes were powerful, accurate and it wasn't long until I had them on the back foot. I managed to knock one out and as I did that they ran. I looked over to Bell to find him with a cut on his head and the ground.
That made me furious. I was very protective of my familia, but for him and Ais? I was even more protective. Part of that was because they were the youngest. But another part is because I have seen the real version of them. Not their masks. I was privileged to see the real Bell Cranel today, not the cocky one or the confident one, just the Bell Cranel whose laugh sounded extremely nice and his smile were infectious. And with that, I showed the men just why my nickname was called "Nine hell".
After I was done beating the hell out of them, I picked Bell up, wrapped his arm around my shoulders and half carried him to Twilight Manor. He surprisingly cuddled into me and I barely caught the thanks that he whispered. I placed a kiss on the crown of his head and whispered back.
"Your welcome"
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There we go, that's that done. My apologies for how long this took (2 MONTHS! Please don't kill me) but here's a 2000 word chapter to make up for it. This was just a chapter about the relationship growing between Bell and Riveria. Platonic as it is. Also, do we want Lili and Hestia in this? Your choice
Hopefully, everyone who has read this has had a very good Christmas and a very good new year.