Danmachi: The Twin Rabbits

Chapter 2 I want to get stronger...

A few hours had passed since the two brothers had left the hostess. The ridiculing and insults of Bete still linger in Bell's mind, stinging like a fresh wound. He curses himself for being so naive to think he has a chance to stand next to Ais out of all people. 

They breathe heavily after killing a hoard of frog shooters. Bell lays on the ground and stares up at the roof of the dungeon, while Leo grabs a few magic stones for emergencies. Bell's fist clenched at his sides as his red eyes hardened.

"I can't forgive myself. I wanted something to happen without doing anything myself." Bell says through gritted teeth, Leo glances over to see Bell slowly stand up on his shaky legs. The roof of the dungeon cracks open, revealing a dark purple mist as it falls onto the ground all around them.

War shadows form, their large, glowing red eye glare at the two adventurers. Bell tightly holds his knife as he looks around. Leo gets into his fighting stance since he left his greatsword at the church.

Bell is the first to make a move; he growls in frustration and charges towards a nearby group of warshadows. Leo follows suit and joins the charge; he cocks his arm back and slams his fist into one's head. 

Seven hours later.....

The sun barely peaks over the horizon, now lighting up all of Orario. Nearby stalls slowly start bringing out the items required to feed the hungry adventurers. Two people slowly exit the dungeon after spending all night and into the early morning in there; Leo has Bell's arm drapped over his shoulder but has a small smile on his face even if they are both exhausted.

"Leo, I want to get stronger." He states, his voice shaky, feeling his inner turmoil. His brother chuckles quietly and walks forward while keeping Bell up.

"We'll get stronger together; we're going to show all of Orario who we are." 

Bell doesn't respond, but a small smile graces his lips as he lets Leo's words sink in. The journey back to the church is tiring; it takes longer as both trudge slowly along. It takes them close to a half of an hour to see it down the street.

A silhouette of Hestia can be seen as she's leaning up against the wall; she has a depressed look on her face, thinking the worst.

"They didn't come back last night; maybe they're never..." She trails off when she hears the sound of faint footsteps; her eyes widen as she turns to see Leo helping Bell walk towards the church.

"Bell, Leo!" She shouts in surprise as she runs towards them. The brothers look up to see her running towards them and smile. 

If anyone other than Hestia had seen the twins, they'd have alerted some guards to get them to a hospital. Bell has cuts along his body, his clothes are torn, and fresh blood drips down, blinding him on the left side of his face. Leo is worse; his shirt and leather jacket are missing, exposing his torso; he has large cuts all over it, with blood slowly dripping down onto the street below. His face has minor brusing with scrapes, but both boys's smile tiredly at their goddess.

"Goddess. We want to get stronger." Said Bell as he slowly gives into sleep. Leo smiles as he easily picks up his now-sleeping brother and carries him towards the church. Hestia follows close behind and opens up the doors as they head downstairs.

"He's getting stronger, isn't he?" Hestia speaks to Leo for the first time in a while. Leo gently sets him down on the couch and walks off to grab a nearby bucket. "Yeah." He says this quietly as he grabs a nearby rag and soaks it in the water.

He removes it from the water and slowly begins to clean Bell from all his wounds and the blood that covers him. Hestia smiles, seeing Leo's care for his brother. She stands off to the side and watches. "Hey, Leo. I can do this for Bell if you want to rest." She says quietly, and Leo shakes his head gently as he wrings out the blood into the bucket.