Bell and Astraea walked toward the Adventurer's Guild. Their fingers intertwined, their shadows merging as they passed one street after another.
Each step beside Bell smoothed her previously uneven heartbeat. The uncertainty that had plagued her faded, their silent walk soothing her restless mind.
No words were exchanged between them. There was only a calm certainty of knowing they had each other—that they were no longer alone.
Time slipped away too quickly in that soothing tranquility. By the time Astraea surfaced from her thoughts, the Adventurer's Guild stood looming ahead of them.
It was as deserted as everywhere else along their path—a stark consequence of the ongoing war. Most adventurers had likely been conscripted into the conflict, or had already fled while they still could.
Inside, guild employees scrambled through logistics and backline duties typical of wartime. Yet, grave expressions were plastered across every face, as if Orario's situation was dire.
Through the windows, Bell spotted his old acquaintance, Ronald. That elf was scratching his head as if grappling with a problem of colossal proportions. Beside him stood Eina Tulle, her glasses crooked on her nose as she frantically shuffled through multiple documents.
Bell pulled his gaze away and glanced at Astraea. She looked back.
Indigo and red eyes met. His fingers tightened around hers in a firm, reassuring squeeze.
"Go. If you need me, just say my name and I'll be there." He said softly.
Astraea slowly unraveled her fingers from his, her reluctance palpable.
"I will." She replied, her voice gentle, before turning and walking forward.
Bell stood still, watching her back as she crossed the guild's threshold.
His lips moved.
"Don't worry. I'm always with you."
No one was there to hear him.
...
..
.
Unknown location.
Sound of calm footsteps echoed through darkness. A feminine silhouette soon emerged, illuminated by the faint embers of a nearby flame.
It was Goddess Astraea. She moved through the oppressive dark with perfect composure, her footsteps coming to a gradual halt before an elevated platform.
Ahead of her, a flight of stairs ascended to a throne that gleamed gold. Upon it sat Ouranos, his arms resting on the armrests as they had for over a millennium.
Ouranos's gaze slowly descended to rest on her.
The silence between them was broken by him first.
"Astraea... how have you been?" His voice carried a warm benevolence, like an older brother checking on his younger sister.
It did nothing to shake Astraea's composure.
"I have been well, Ouranos." She replied with a practiced smile.
Silence fell between them once more, but Ouranos did not let it linger.
"Astraea. I am pained. I am pained to watch Ares wage war against Orario while our first-class adventurers are either away on critical missions or trapped in the dungeon, besieged by Evilus." His voice grew weary toward the end.
"Neither Freya nor the Loki Familia can spare the resources to protect Orario, and those currently holding the line against Ares won't last much longer." He paused.
"So... I want. No. I request. On behalf of every single soul currently living in Orario... help us stop Ares." Ouranos took a slow breath.
"In Heaven, he listened only to Athena, and then to you. You are the only one who can talk sense into him."
Astraea took a moment to digest his words.
"Why don't you go yourself, Ouranos?" She asked, gazing into his sky-blue eyes.
"I cannot. As you can see." He tapped a finger against the armrest of his throne.
She was not naive. She could see this was an elaborate ploy by Ouranos to drag Bell into the war. Refusing to intervene would damage her identity, but intervening meant playing right into Ouranos's hands.
"I cannot give you an answer right now, Ouranos. I need time." She kept her internal struggle carefully hidden beneath a neutral mask.
"Do not take too long, Astraea. Every second means another adventurer of Orario dies in this needless war." Those words were calculated, striking exactly where it hurt.
Knowing people were dying, and having the blame for their deaths spelled out to you, carried two entirely different weights.
Astraea nodded with a distant gaze and turned away, retracing her steps down the exact same path she had come.
Light from a distant flame stretched her shadow long behind her.
Ouranos was about to avert his gaze when,
Two blood-red eyes slowly opened within that shadow. Sky-blue and blood-red eyes locked onto one another.
One was divine. Another was its anathema.
Both held absolutely no emotion.
Their stares remained fixed until Astraea's footsteps faded, her shadow vanishing with her departure.
Ouranos remained frozen in place, staring at the exact spot where those eyes had appeared.
"Fels." He called out.
"Yes, Ouranos?" Fels replied from the shadows.
"We miscalculated." Ouranos said, his voice completely flat.
"How?" Fels questioned.
"Astraea is... no longer pure."
"...What?"
...
..
.
Astraea's legs carried her back to the guild's exit. Bell stood nearby, reclining against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
She drifted toward him unconsciously, her eyes unfocused. He turned his head toward her.
"Conflicted?"
Astraea nodded without thinking.
"Bell... I-I don't know what to do. I can't bear to see you get hurt, but I can't ignore injustice either. L-let's just run—"
Mid-sentence, Bell pressed a finger gently over her lips.
"Shhh... When your heart and your mind point in different directions, you shouldn't make decisions. Every choice made under the influence of raw emotions is always... wrong." His tranquility was contagious, seeping into her anxious mind and easing it.
"You sound like an old man, Bell." Astraea murmured, her inner conflict beginning to ebb.
"Who knows? Maybe I was an old man in my past life." He joked, trying to lighten the mood.
It worked, if only a little.
Astraea let out a small chuckle at his musing.
"So... what did Ouranos say?" He asked, even though he already knew.
Astraea's expression tightened.
"Ouranos wants me to talk sense into Ares to save the adventurers of Orario who are dying for nothing. I don't know what to do, Bell. Whether I help or not, I lose a part of myself." Her internal struggle flared up again, her eyes desperately searching his gaze for an answer.
Bell's eyes remained as undisturbed as a deep, glassy lake. He didn't offer his own thoughts. Not yet.
When he remained silent, her eyes dropped. She traced his face—his lips, his cheeks, his jaw, and his sharp eyebrows.
With a sharp intake of breath, Astraea closed her eyes. Her hand rose to rest on his breastplate, feeling his heart beating beneath the platinum.
When she opened her eyes again, they were no longer dazed. Instead, those twin indigo orbs were razor-sharp and serene.
"Bell, I won't watch you get hurt because I was too weak to make a difficult choice." Her fingers curled over his breastplate.
"Let's go. We'll leave Orario and return to our home in Solingen. I don't want you to die." She wrapped her free arm around his wrist and turned to lead him away.
Yet... Bell did not budge.
"Bell?" Astraea's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Goddess... even if we run now, how long can we keep running? If we run today, and keep running tomorrow, it becomes a betrayal of everything you and I stand for." His free hand slowly settled behind her neck, gently pulling her down until their foreheads touched.
"I will protect you. From danger, and from the decisions you'll come to regret. I will protect you, your identity, your sense of self, your divinity, and your freedom. Even from yourself, if I have to." Astraea felt her heart skip a beat.
Then another.
"So... let's go. We have a war to handle." There wasn't an ounce of uncertainty in his voice; he spoke as casually as if he were planning another Dungeon dive.
"But Bell..." she trailed off.
He pulled back and lightly tapped a finger against her temple.
"Don't overthink. Just trust me." Bell said softly.
"Don't treat me like a child. I'm way older than you." Astraea chided.
Bell wisely kept his thoughts on that matter to himself.
The atmosphere between them was shattered by the sound of multiple footsteps.
Royman was marching toward them, flanked by a handful of adventurers. Bell recognized a few of them at a glance.
Raul Nord. Anakitty Autumn. Alicia Forestlight.
Royman had sweat dripping down his brow as he came to a halt a considerable distance away from them—or rather, from Bell, to be exact.
"Goddess Astraea, these are Level 4 adventurers from the Loki and Freya Familias. God Ouranos has arranged for them to escort you safely through the front lines to Ares's camp." Royman announced, his words measured as he kept shooting terrified glances in Bell's direction.
Astraea scanned those battle-ready adventurers before speaking a moment later.
"Please convey my thanks to God Ouranos for his consideration. However, I won't be needing their escort to reach Ares." The adventurers behind Royman had their expressions change at those words.
Raul's gaze turned skeptical. Anakitty's ears twitched. Alicia's eyebrow rose.
Under their bewildered and uncertain stares, Goddess Astraea looped her arm through Bell's and began to walk away with him.
Only her parting words lingered in the air after they had gone.
"After all... I already have someone to escort me there."
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***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
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[Authors Thoughts]
Another day. Another chapter.
Have a marvellous day, everyone!