Danmachi: Fated Hero or Foolish Demise?

Chapter 6: Meeting (A Fated Deal)

At the entrance of Hearth Mansion stood Ais Wallenstein of Loki Familia and Sanjouno Haruhime of Hestia Familia. They were similar in height, size, and hair color but differed in a few aspects. Ais's hair resembled gold, while Haruhime's was more yellow. The Sword Princess's eye color matched her hair, and they were sharp, mimicking her sword-like soul. The fox girl's eye color was green, and they were softer, matching her compassionate nature.

Ais's presence at Hestia Familia's home was because she sought to make amends with Bell after their conversation from last night. After a grueling night of having her mind tear itself apart, along with having one of her memories ever so slightly altered, she built up the confidence and words to be used in her apology. Now, she's just been informed by the renard girl that Bell failed to return home last night.

Ais was standing right in the doorway, with Haruhime a few steps from it after having stumbled back a bit. A hectic storm stirred inside Ais's head, all while the fox girl tried to process what she was observing.

With the exception of Bell and Hestia, she and the rest of the familia never directly interacted with Ais. Most of her knowledge came from her time under Ishtar Familia and word of mouth, particularly from Bell's. Disregarding the familia known fact of her being the one Bell is in love with, the common matter discussed was how emotionless she was.

The name used to refer to Ais when she started out was "doll princess", a name derived from how cute but emotionless she was. Despite nine years since then, few still referred to her as such. But, this brief interaction made Haruhime doubt and question all of it. Ais's face was one of despair. Her golden eyes vibrated, her body failed to remain still, and a bead of sweat rolled off her forehead. If the fox girl didn't see this with her own eyes, she wouldn't be able to believe it. Even Ais's voice matched the same level of despair.

"Please, I need to speak with all of you! It's urgent!!"

Her plea to see the rest of them was restated with even more desperation than before. Haruhime, unaware of what was happening, realized how dire of a situation it must be for Ais to tell her that Bell could be in trouble and for her to act this way. She nodded and ran back into the mansion to collect her familia members.

With Haruhime out of sight, Ais descended the stairs leading to the main entrance before starting to pace back and forth in front of the fountain in the center of the path. She placed her hands on the side of her head with more sweat forming on it. The calm, excited, and somewhat nervous girl was replaced by a full-blown panic. Every terrible possibility of what could and is happening to Bell flooded her mind.

Thoughts of the dark elf force torturing him, exacting their revenge on him before ending him. Thoughts of her words from last night pushing him to venture deep into the dungeon alone, being torn to pieces by monsters. Thoughts like this and more circled in her mind. Her joyful younger self, the one encouraging her, was gone, and Ais was left alone.

She wasn't left alone for long as a plethora of voices arose from the mansion. Among them, Hestia's "WHAT?!!" was the most dominating and drowned out the others. Ais took her hands off her head, and the moment she did, Hestia bolted out the door and approached her. Under most circumstances regarding Bell, Hestia was possessive and apprehensive when talking to Ais. But her concern for the situation outweighed her common sentiment about Ais.

"Wallenwhatsit, you said you think my Bell-kun might be in danger?!!"

The rest of Hestia Familia poured out of the home and gathered around her. They weren't told much by Haruhime since she didn't know any details about the situation, being told, "The Sword Princess is here, and she thinks Bell-sama might be in danger!". The one sentence, though, was enough for everyone to be alarmed and rush outside, all concerned about the fate of their friend.