7 Confrontations

Achilles marched through the streets breathing heavily. His meeting with Loki had gone far worse than he had expected, due, in no small part, to his temper.

"Threaten to destroy the people you're trying to ally with, brilliant Achilles. Brilliant."

He knew he was in the wrong with what happened, and that he'd jeopardized something that would help protect the Hestia familia, but, as much as he now hated to admit it, a part of him felt a kind of elation. He had never been shy about his disdain for those he once called friends and allies, but to finally throw out everything that had been boiling inside him for fifteen years had felt good. Great even.

He stopped in the middle of the road and placed his hands on his waist. He sighed.

"I have to calm down. Whatever happened in the past, I cannot change now. What I can do is protect what I have now. So no more stupid mistakes."

Taking a deep breath, he let the tension and anger drop from his body. Now unburdened, he put on a smile and continued walking, heading for the Guild where the Hestia familia now waited for him.

Arriving inside, he found the familia chatting away as they awaited his arrival.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting," he said.

"It's no problem," Bell said, getting a few words of agreement from the others. "How'd things go with Loki?"

"Well, she agreed to the alliance, but I think it's best if you handle inter-familia relations from now on, Bell."

They all gave him a confused look, not sure what to make of that, but none of them decided to push him for more information.

"Alright, well, we're all ready to go," Bell said.

"Excellent. I can't wait to see what you all are capable of," Achilles said with honest excitement.

With that, they all got up and made their way out of the Guild and towards the Dungeon.

Aiz was unnaturally silent. The girl had always been quiet, but now the silence suffocated all around them, and none of them could blame her.

"Aiz, things will be alright," Tiona said, trying to coax her out of her current state. It didn't work as she continued to stare off into space.

Tiona turned to her sister who gave her a sympathetic look, but shook her head. There was nothing they could do. Bete, however, growled and walked over to Aiz and stood before her.

"What's your deal? The guy's a prick who threatened your familia, and you're sad because Loki told us to get rid of him? You should be thrilled! That guy attacked you! Degraded us all again and again, and has now stated that he wants to destroy us! Why do you look like someone kicked your pet rabbit?"

"Bete!" Tione called. "Shut up! It's not the simple and you know it!"

"What's not simple about it? This guy barges into our home and threatens us. Seems pretty simple to me."

"He's the only person to ever survive fighting the One-Eyed Black Dragon, which means he has valuable information and experience, which could help her in the future."

"Who cares about that monster? No one's seen the thing for years. And besides, he said himself that she should abandon her quest and you and I both know he isn't gonna tell her shit about how to fight it, so what's the problem?" he turned back to Aiz. "What, are you afraid of upsetting your little bunny rabbit?"

Aiz shot to her feet and placed herself inches from Bete, glaring at him. The move shocked the three, but Bete was quick to get over his surprise and return her glare.

"Hit a nerve did I? Don't tell me you actually like the white rabbit?" he growled.

Aiz was never given the chance to answer as Finn and the others arrived.

"What's going on here?" he demanded.

"Bete's being an ass!" Tiona said, glaring at the wolfman.

"Well lock it up," Finn demanded. "We cannot be at each other's throats right now. Things in Orario are getting tenser by the day and we need to all be on the same team for when, not if, things go down. Is that understood?" he finished, his eyes focusing on Bete and Aiz.

Bete growled.

"Yeah, I got you."

Aiz did not reply, instead she continued to glare at her fellow familia member.

"Aiz!" Finn called. "Do you understand?"

Finally, she turned to him.

"I understand," her eyes turned back to Bete. "Don't ever assume to speak on the Dragon again," she warned. "And don't insult my friends."

With that, she stormed off to retrieve her gear, leaving the rest of her familia to clean up the mess."

Finn sighed.

"This has to stop," he said addressing everyone. "I know there are some who disagree with this order, and there are those who are happy to fulfill it, but whatever the case, we have to work together," he said, looking at each one of the familia present. "You all are the best of this familia. Its pride and joy, and its protectors. Right now you've been assigned one the most difficult mission you've ever received and you need to treat it as such. That means no fighting of any kind, especially not personal attacks," his eyes fell to Bete. "Am I understood?"

Everyone but Bete nodded, as he knew he was being singled out.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Shit. I just don't get why she seems okay with the guy who threatened her familia. Aren't we her family?"

"We are," Riveria said. "But this situation is complicated. There are things in play that don't make this easy for any of us, including Achilles," she admitted. "He was once a friend of ours, but the situation fifteen years ago changed everything. The three of us honestly were prepared to deny Loki on this matter." This gained a few looks of surprise. "But in the end, we decided to follow her order. Not because we want to, but because you all mean far too much to us to let the threat of Achilles hanging over our heads remain."

"So we have to kill him?" Tiona asked. She was in a similar boat to Aiz, her joy at meeting a legendary figured, mixed up with her anger at his threat, creating a terrible concoction that sat very poorly in her stomach.

"Or incapacitate him. The goal is simply to remove the threat to our familia," Finn said.

"So, if he pulled back on his threat, would that be enough?" Tiona asked.

A few sighs passed amongst the group at the question. Level six though she was, there was still an innocence to her heart.

"Achilles doesn't make threats like that idly," Finn said, crushing her hope. "But, I suppose, if we honestly knew he had no intention of fulfilling his threat, we could ask that the order be cancelled."

That brought a little light to Tiona's eyes.

"Then that's the goal." Everyone turned to see Aiz in full armor. "To force him to retract his threat."

Finn stared at her for a moment, taking in her resolve before nodding.

"Then we're going to need to be stronger. And there's only one place in Orario that will ensure we do that."

Aiz nodded.

"The Dungeon."

Hestia familia had progressed to the middle floors, and were currently dealing with a horde of ax-wielding white rabbits.

"I'm guessing your friends have made unfavorable comparisons between you and these monsters, Bell," Achilles said with a smile.

"Achilles! Please don't remind me!" the rabbit-like adventurer cried.

The ex-captain laughed as he watched the level four easily deal with a handful of the monsters.

The rest of the familia smiled, but kept quiet, focusing their attention on their own monsters, which they dealt with skillfully, if not as quickly as their captain.

Finally, the last of the monsters were dealt with, allowing Bell to turn to Achilles.

"Done," he said, showing no signs of fatigue.

"Not quite," Achilles replied, reaching his hand up just in time to catch a furry assailant by the head. Wasting no time, he crushed its skull, destroying it and allowing a magic stone to drop. "Now we're done."

"How's everyone holding up?" Achilles asked, walking up to the rest of the group.

"Pretty well. Having a level four and seven here has a way of making things easier," Welf answered.

"I barely did anything, and having a level four wouldn't necessarily make things better if you didn't have proper teamwork, which, I'm glad to say, you do appear to have."

They all smiled.

"So is there anything we need to improve on?" Bell asked.

"We'll talk about that later when we begin the actual training, but be sure, I am taking notes and while I am pleased with what I'm seeing, there are certainly things that I can help improve."

Everyone nodded at that. They weren't fools. They knew that, compared to the level seven, former captain, there was a great deal they still needed to learn, but they took solace in the fact that they not only earned his praise, but had not required his intervention thus far.

"So, how much farther do you want to go?" Lili inquired.

"Hm," Achilles thought. "Well, it depends on the goal I suppose. I did tell Hestia I was willing to help pay off the debt of Bell's knife, which means going down further would be a good idea. However, the point of today was to see your skills and where you needed to improve. As such we only really need maybe one more good fight and I'll have all the information I'll need to formulate a training regimen. So I'll leave it up all of you."

The group turned to each other and began discussing it, coming to a conclusion after a minute or so.

"How about one more level? That should give you a little more information and we'll get a better reward by the end of today," Bell suggested.

"Sounds good," Achilles answered with a smile.

And so, Hestia familia continued down into the dungeon, dealing with the monsters that attacked along the way and collecting their bounty until they reached their destination, level fifteen.

"Whew, we got a pretty good haul today, didn't we?" Welf said with a smile.

"We did," Lili admitted. "This should cover our expenses for the next month, if we budget correctly."

"Oh come on Lil' Lily, can you not talk about budgeting and just be excited?"

"I'm the only one who cares about our finances, unless you'd like to be in charge of our accounts!" Lily countered.

This began a back and forth that only caused Achilles's smile to grow.

"Quite the family you've got here," he said to Bell.

Bell smiled fondly and nodded.

"They really are something."

The joyous sight before him made Achilles's heart swell, but he was not able to enjoy it for long as he felt something approaching.

"We've got company."

Everyone's attention snapped to the sound of feet stomping towards them. Not long after a group of five minotaurs appeared, wielding improvised weapons.

"Everyone," Bell called. Instantly everyone took up their positions, only for Achilles to hold up his hand.

"Mind if I take these guys Bell? I need to get back in the groove of things."

"It'll take you a single swing of your sword to deal with these guys," Lily said.

"That's why I'm going to make it a wee bit more interesting," Achilles said, taking out his sword and plunging it into the ground. "It's been a while since I've practiced my hand-to-hand skills."

The Hestia familia watched as Achilles approached the minotaurs, cracking his knuckles.

"Hey guys, how's your health plan?"

Enraged, one of the minotaurs launched at him, trying to cleave him with their weapon. This didn't go to plan as Achilles caught the weapon before proceeding to crush it.

"Apparently it's great!" he cried before punching the monster, the force of which caused it to instantly burst into dust.

The minotaurs, now understanding the danger of the situation, backed up, and looked ready to retreat, but Achilles wasn't going to allow that. He quickly attacked the second minotaur, punching it so hard in the stomach that its back exploded before it burst into dust. Then he jumped up and kicked another minotaur, decapitating it with the force of the blow. He then flipped over the fourth, grabbed it by its horns and threw it on the ground with enough force to create a crater. Finally, the fifth he thrust his hand like a spear through the creature's chest, piercing its heart before it finally disappeared into nothingness.

"Well that was fun," he said, wiping his hands. He turned back to Hestia familia who were looking at him with wide-eyes and open mouths. He laughed.

"Come on guys, let's go home."

After awakening from their stupors and collecting the magic stones, the familia eagerly followed after him, questions popping out of them one after the other, all of which, Achilles was happy to answer.

They finally returned to level ten some time later, the wasteland of white sand and barren trees greeting them with as much enthusiasm as a graveyard.

"I hate this level," Lily said. Achilles noticed her tone suggested there was something more to her words than one would normally think. Seeing Bell go up and rub her head only heightened that thought. But, he decided to leave it be. If she wanted to share, he'd listen. If not, it was her business.

Suddenly, he sensed something behind them and stopped, a small smile growing on his face.

"Achilles?" Bell turned to him. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing it's just…" he thought for a moment. "Would you guys mind giving me a little more time in the Dungeon? It has been so many years since I was here and I want to make sure that all the kinks are worked out."

"Do you want us to stay with you?" the young man asked.

"No, that's alright. You can continue on ahead, I'll catch up in a little while. If I'm not back by the time you reach the surface, just head to the Guild and I'll meet you there. Afterwards we can get something to eat. My treat."

The familia shared a look, but quickly shrugged. They could understand where he was coming from.

"Alright, but please don't be too long," Bell asked.

"I'll be done before you know it," Achilles said with a smile.

Leaving their guardian behind, the Hestia familia continued on, leaving Achilles to turn his full attention to the matter at hand.

"Hello Ottar," he greeted, turning to face his fellow level seven.

The Freya captain made no reply.

"You're quite decked out today," Achilles continued, undisturbed. And Ottar was. His normal attire was set aside for dark armor that covered his shoulders, arms, and legs, but left his chest uncovered, a testament to his power, not an arrogant statement. On his face was a Freya familia style visor, a band of black metal that hid his eyes, and created an intimidating aura. On his back was his sword, but not his usual mass of crude metal. No, this was refined adamantine, forged into a great black blade that looked like it could cleave a mountain in two. This was Ottar's true battle attire. What he wore when he faced an opponent truly worthy of his skill and might.

"I'm guessing this has something to do with my meeting with Freya."

"You burned off some of her hair," the boaz growled.

"Did I? Hm. And what do you want me to do about it? Pay for her haircut? I guess I can spare some valis."

"Enough of your games, Achilles," Ottar growled.

"What is this if not a game, Ottar," Achilles countered. "You can't kill me. Freya would be furious. She still might be for this transgression. So, the worst you can do is an unfriendly spar, like we used to do when I trained you all those years ago."

"I'm no longer your student," Ottar said, grabbing his sword.

"Oh, so this is your official challenge to show that the student has become the master, is it?" Ottar made no reply. "Very well, I suppose I can comply. It'll be good to see how far you've come. And to give you a lesson in modesty."

"You think you we will win this?"

"I'd say I have a fair shot. Especially since I didn't teach you all my moves," Achilles replied, taking out his own sword. "And besides, you're not the worse thing I've faced."

"I'm bad enough. And I've also learned a few tricks of my own these last fifteen years."

"Good. Show me."

Ottar was happy to oblige.

"Annihilate my enemies with a blow that shakes the earth. Strike of Extermination!"

A slash of red energy launched at Achilles.

"I call forth the power of Olympus to defeat all my foes. Blade of Light!"

Achilles's blade was covered in blue light, the sound of crackling lightning filling the air.

Moving quicker than any normal mortal being could see, Achilles blocked the strike and battered it away. He didn't have long to regather himself as Ottar was before him, his sword swinging straight for his head.

"Terror Fang!"

The blades crashed together sending blue and red light flying through the air and sending Achilles back.

"You've gotten faster, Ottar," Achilles commented.

Again, the boaz made no reply, striking at the former captain.

Achilles's brow scrunched as his body reacted more slowly than normal to the strike.

"Ah, I see. That attack slowed me down. In that case. Make me faster than even the gods. Lightning Steps!"

Ottar quickly retreated and prepared for the onslaught to come. He did not have to wait long.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Achilles's sword swinging for his neck. He quickly dodged, a few strands of hair being cut before the next strike came. Again and again the two clashed, the power of their strikes sending shock waves through the area, blowing away mountains of sand and uprooting the withered trees.

Having enough of being on the defensive, Ottar countered a blow towards his side and grabbed Achilles before throwing him to the ground, creating a crater. He then aimed a downward strike at Achilles, only for the man to bring a hand up.

"Flash," he said, snapping his fingers.

Blinding light appeared before Ottar, slowing his strike, giving Achilles just enough time to dodge and counter with a kick to the face.

Achilles, not allowing the chance to slip from him, struck out, attacking his former pupil again and again.

One cut, then two, then another, appeared on Ottar as Achilles attacked him relentlessly. Finally, his patience gone, Ottar cried out.

"Enough!"

An explosion of red power erupted forcing Achilles back. He watched as the red, flaming energy surrounded Ottar, bathing him its terrible light. He whistled.

"You couldn't do that fifteen years ago."

"Play time is over, Achilles," Ottar said. "Come at me like you mean it."

"If you insist."

Blue energy burst forth from Achilles to match Ottar, only unlike Ottar's which appeared as flames dancing over his body, Achilles's was naturally lightning, surrounding him in an armor of terrible light.

"Don't complain if this turns out differently than you expected," Achilles said seriously.

Ottar's grip on his sword tightened.

"I call forth the rage of battle to help me destroy my enemies and steal away their lives," Ottar chanted..

"I summon the rage of all the gods on high to me so that I may lay low my foes," Achilles responded.

"Let them tremble under the might of my sword. Let them fear the sound of my coming."

"May their skies darkened and fill them with dread. May they know their end has come."

The two glared at each other.

"Fierce Charge of Mortality!" Ottar cried.

"Storm of the Divine!" Achilles screamed.

Loki familia was making its way down the Dungeon when the ground began to shake beneath them and a resounding boom echoed through the halls.

"What the Hell was that?" Bete demanded.

No one had an answer, which did nothing to ease their minds.

"Everyone be on your guard. It could be anything," Finn stated.

They continued their trek down the path, everyone tense with their hands on their weapons, when suddenly a pair of adventurers came running towards them, clearly terrified.

"Hey, hey. What happened?" Finn asked, upon stopping the adventurers.

"T-The King, h-he's fighting someone. I-I don't know who," the first began.

"Didn't you hear? The former Zeus captain returned to Orario. That had to be him!" the second cried.

This news shocked and alarmed everyone Loki familia.

"You're sure?" Finn asked. The second nodded.

"Yeah. The King was in this scary black armor, with a sword like I've never seen before in his hand. He looked like a monster."

"He only wears that when he's being completely serious. Achilles would certainly qualify for that."

"And the second adventurer? Are you sure it was the Olympian?" he continued to press them.

"I can't be completely sure, I've never seen the guy. But he was surrounded by blue lightning and the two were evenly matched. Not that I could really see much. The two were so fast and kept blowing away everything when they clashed."

"That's Achilles alright," Finn thought.

"Can you guys make it back to the surface?"

"I think so. Anything's better than staying near those two monsters."

The two adventurers fled, allowing the Loki familia to turn to each other.

"Prepare yourselves everyone," Finn said as another quake shook the Dungeon. "This presents us with perhaps the rarest opportunity we'll ever have. With the Olympian fighting the King, we have a chance to fulfill Loki's orders and take out two powerful enemies in one blow and do so in a manner that can easily be portrayed as their fight going too far. If we're very lucky, they may have already dealt each other serious blows and all of us will make it out in one piece. But be ready. Even wounded these two are extremely dangerous."

Everyone nodded, even Aiz, who still hoped that there was a chance to save the one person who could help her defeat the Dragon. This did not go unnoticed by Finn.

"Aiz," he said, catching her attention. "This may not go how you want it to. We may find ourselves in a situation where it's either their lives or ours. If that happens, I need you to be on our side."

A shattered look came upon Aiz. She wanted so badly for things to work out where death could be avoided. But she knew Finn spoke the truth, as much as she hated it.

She could not muster any words in reply and simply nodded solemnly.

"I'm sorry Aiz," Finn thought.

The Loki familia entered the tenth level and found it a war zone. Craters littered the ground. Areas that were formerly sand had now turned to glass courtesy of the heat and power of Ottar's flames and Achilles's lightning. Every tree had either been knocked down or was on fire. There was no sight of any monsters, likely because they were either annihilated as unintentional casualties in the two level sevens' battle, or they had fled in terror as these two, more terrible, monsters, rampaged through the level. Likely it was a bit of both.

"Everyone be ready for anything," Finn ordered before they all made their way down.

They approached the battle carefully, readying themselves for what was to come. Finally, they saw them.

Ottar, half his eye piece now destroyed, glared at Achilles with a fury that would have loosened the bowls of weaker beings. His breath was ragged, but he didn't look near ready to end this fight, which was just fine with Achilles, especially since he did not have the same limitations as Ottar. He wasn't going to kill him, this was his old pupil and friend after all, but putting the King even temporarily out of commission would place Hestia familia in a much better position. As such, he made ready to go on the offensive when he saw Ottar's eyes shift.

Taking a quick peek he saw that Loki familia had arrived while they were fighting and were now staring at the pair anxiously.

"Well, looks like we should put our spar on hold for now, Ottar," he said, making sure to smile to annoy his former student.

It was all too clear that Ottar was not pleased with the turn of events, but with the arrival of his rival familia, he didn't dare put himself in a situation that could see him destroyed.

"Very well," he conceded, returning his sword to his back.

Satisfied, Achilles turned to leave.

"Afternoon Finn," he said as courteously as possible. Naturally he couldn't simply put what happened that morning behind him, but he could at least indicate that he meant no harm at the moment.

Finn said nothing, which Achilles didn't find too surprising. What did surprise him was when Bete stepped in front of him, his eyes clearly stating a threat.

"Can I help you, puppy dog?" Achilles said, earning a growl, but no other response.

When nothing else happened and the area went deadly silent, Achilles decided to turn back to Finn.

"Finn, would you mind telling your pet to stand aside?"

It was then that he noticed that Finn's grip on his spear was unusually tight. He wasn't the only one looking nervous either. Riveria and Gareth looked like a stone had settled in their stomachs, the Amazon sisters were twitchy, Bete was clearly eager for something, the two lower leveled adventurers looked ready to throw-up, and finally, Aiz looked concerned with a hint of heart-brokenness hidden deep in her eyes.

Achilles apparently wasn't the only one to notice this as Ottar's eyes lowered and he took a step forward, his hand finding the hilt of his sword.

"Finn," Achilles said. "Care to explain what's going on?" he finished, turning his attention back to the prum captain.

Nervous eyes met his and, after a moment, a bead of sweat drop down Finn's temple. That was all Achilles needed.

"I see," he said. He turned away from the Loki captain towards the Freya captain. "Hey Ottar, I know we were just fighting, but for the sake of old times, I'd like to make you an offer." The boaz turned to him, the faintest hint of curiosity in his eyes. "Here's the deal. I'll apologize to Freya, in person, for the hair. I'll even bow. In exchange, you help me deal with this lot."

Finn's eyes shot open. He wasn't the only one shocked or outright horrified by the sudden offer as each of the Loki familia back away, with Bete, Gareth, and the Amazon sisters preparing for combat. Of course they had understood that they were about to face both Achilles and Ottar, but they had anticipated them to be on opposing sides, which would work to their advantage. Allied together, the two posed an obstacle unlike anything they had faced in a long time, if ever. The idea was even worse for Finn, Riveria, and Gareth, as they were aware that they were former teacher and student, meaning they knew how to fight together.

The offer surprised Ottar, especially given that, merely moments ago, they were engaged in a heated battle. Yet, he quickly saw the benefit of the chance presented to him. He could remove a significant challenge to his familia, and please his goddess. All in all, a win-win.

"I can agree to those terms. Though, I thought they were your allies," he questioned.

"Can't be allies with people here to kill me. Though I suppose I should add that killing them is to be avoided, if possible," Achilles said calmly.

The two took their place before the Loki familia, side-by-side, swords in hand, ready for what came next.

"So," Achilles said. "Would you like to start, or should we?"

Finn's hands were shaking now. He had not been lying when he said that taking down Achilles would be a momentous task; that was why he had brought the highest level members of his familia to the Dungeon to train and grow stronger. It was by chance that they came across Achilles, and in the situation he was in. It was a rare chance to take down two powerful rivals in one moment, and do so in such a way that could easily have been said was caused by their own hands. Some wouldn't believe them. Freya, for one, was sure to suspect them, but without Ottar, she would not be able to make a full-fledged attack on Loki familia without severe risk of losing the battle. But now, not only had the two stopped fighting, they were teaming up. The only two level sevens in Orario's history. Former master and pupil. Tired and wounded though they may be, he honestly wasn't sure if any of them would come out of the exchange alive. However, it appeared that a certain adventurer's Luck was on his side for today.

"Achilles!"

Everyone turned and were met with the sight of Bell running towards them.

"Bell," Achilles greeted, returning his sword to its scabbard. "What are you doing here?"

"You were taking so long, I and the others got worried. Then I heard an explosion on the way back so I ran back as fast as possible," the young man explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Ottar and I were just catching up on old times," Achilles said with a smile.

Bell, of course, wasn't stupid, nor was he blind. He saw the wounds Achilles now possessed and, shifting his eyes to the King, he saw that, he too, had wounds covering his body. Nothing mortal, of course, but clearly there. He then noticed the King's sword was unsheathed and he was turned towards the Loki familia. Now shifting his focus to them, he saw that all of them looked extremely tense. His eyes passed each of them, getting a few very different reactions. Most of them: Finn, Riveria, Gareth, Tione, Tiona, and Lefiya looked guilt-ridden. Raul refused to meet his eyes. Bete glared at him, looking furious, but restrained. Finally, his eyes fell on Aiz, and her reaction was the most startling of all. There was guilt there, but more than that, she looked utterly devastated. Like something she wanted deep down in her soul was being denied to her. She looked ready to cry, and that hurt Bell more than he could say.

"What's going on here?"

No one wanted to answer. Not Achilles, who understood his part in creating the situation. Not Ottar for fear of portraying his goddess in a negative light to the object of her affections. And none of Loki familia, who couldn't dare admit that they were planning to kill his mentor. Well, none but one of the Loki familia.

"We were ordered to kill Achilles."

Everyones' eyes shot to the speaker revealing it to be Aiz Wallenstein.

"Aiz!" Finn cried, alarmed and shocked to his core.

The Sword Princess seemed surprised herself. This was amplified by all the eyes suddenly upon her. Yet, after a moment, her eyes hardened and she looked at Bell, who now looked at her with shocked, disbelieving eyes.

"What?" was all he could manage.

Now steeled in her decision, and resolved to accept any punishment that came next, Aiz pushed forward.

"This morning, Achilles threatened our familia. In response, Loki ordered us to destroy him at the nearest opportunity that offered us a way so that neither your familia, nor Freya knew."

Achilles was legitimately surprised. He expected everyone in Loki familia to deny any such plans to their graves, but here was one of them, and one he admittedly had not cared much for, doing the exact opposite of her own free will.

"Perhaps I will have to rethink my position on her," he thought.

Bell's mind was spinning. Achilles's words that morning had suggested that things hadn't gone particularly well with Loki, but he hadn't made any indication that the two sides were prepared to kill each other.

"Achilles...is this true?" he said, turning to the former captain.

Achilles sighed. He didn't want to admit it, but not only was it pointless to try and lie at this stage, but he didn't have the heart to be false to Bell when he asked like that.

"It is. I let my rage over past events get the better of me and said some things I shouldn't have. I'm sorry Bell."

Bell's eyes screamed out their shock and horror at his mentor's actions, causing a knife to enter the older man's heart as the weight of his mistake fell upon him.

Bell turned from him, his eyes falling to the ground as his fists clenched at his side and his body began to shake.

No one knew what was about to happen, but none dared intervene. There were so many ways things could go. He could side with Achilles against Loki familia, ending their alliance. He could do the reverse and banish the ex-captain for his actions. He could just run, the weight of the actions of his fellow adventurers being too much for him, causing him to make a rapid retreat. But this is not what happened. Instead, after a tense minute or so had passed, the shaking stopped and he looked up, his eyes adamantine and his heart a raging inferno.

"Achilles," he said, his voice unwavering and powerful.

"Yes?" the elder man said, startled by the force behind Bell's voice.

"You will apologize to Loki familia and rescind any threat you made against them."

Everyone blinked. How could they not? Bell Cranel, level four, captain of Hestia familia, a new, still relatively small familia, had just given the level seven, former captain of Zeus familia, an order. One that he was not inclined to ignore.

"This is an interesting turn of events," Achilles thought.

"Of course," he said, bowing his head. "Finn." The prum snapped his attention to him. "I apologize for my actions this morning and rescind my threat against your familia. I hope we can better get along in the future."

The apology itself was surprising, but the fact that it sounded so genuine made it more so. For all intents and purposes, it appeared that Achilles meant every word. And, in fact, he did. This was an order from the boy he hoped to earn the title of 'father' from. As such, he could not deny him.

"Good," Bell said. "Now Finn." The Loki captain shot his attention to Bell. "You will tell Loki-sama that if she wishes for this alliance to go forth, she will immediately rescind her order to kill Achilles and make no more moves against him. Will you tell her that?"

"O-Of course," Finn said, bowing his head just like Achilles. "I will inform her immediately."

"Good."

The whole thing was perhaps the single most surprising thing that any of them had seen in a long time, but things only got more so when Bell suddenly turned and walked straight up to Ottar.

Achilles hand fell to his sword, but he made no move to intervene.

"Hello, Ottar-san. I don't think we've officially met," he began.

"No, we haven't," the King stated.

"I'm Bell Cranel, though I suppose you already know that."

Ottar nodded.

"I do."

"Would you mind giving, Freya-sama a message for me?"

No one knew quite how to react to that, least of all Achilles who was a mixture of concerned, confused, and curious.

"Of course," Ottar readily agreed. "What would you like me to tell her?"

"Please tell her that, while I'm honored she thinks so highly of me, I am in love with someone else and thus can't return her feelings."

Numerous jaws dropped. Achilles's hand fell from his sword as he stared at his ward in disbelief.

"Did he just…" everyone thought.

"...reject Freya?" Achilles finished.

Ottar's face showed no emotion, and no one knew how he would react. It was quite possible that he would take personal offense at the statement, viewing it as an insult to his goddess, but it's not like he could actually hurt Bell, so everyone simply waited for his response.

"She is aware," he finally said.

Achilles's eyes shot over to Aiz. His were not the only one as Riveria, Gareth, and Finn all looked at her from the corner of their eyes, though the girl herself seemed oblivious to their eyes. That was not the case for the rest of Loki familia who noticed the sudden focus on their Sword Princess and it did not take any of them long to figure out what those eyes meant.

"However," Ottar continued. "This is of little consequence. Freya always gets what she wants. Your infatuation means little."

Achilles, again, prepared to intervene as he suspected Bell would not take too kindly to having his feelings so degraded. These were the feelings that had created Liaris Freese after all, they weren't exactly something to be brushed aside. However, Bell did not become enraged. He barely even moved at the statement.

"If that's true then I ask that she proves it."

Ottar finally showed his confusion.

"Prove, what?"

"That she loves me. If she truly thinks so highly of me then she won't find winning my love the old-fashioned way unappealing or difficult. However she is not allowed to use Charm or tricks. She must honestly earn my affection. She'll also do the same with Achilles."

Said man watched the exchange with increasing confusion.

"What the Hell's going on?"

Ottar stared down at Bell.

"I was informed that you are immune to Charm."

The eyes of Loki familia looked ready to burst out of their skulls at hearing this and they turned to Achilles who, getting over his confusion for the moment, turned to them and gave them a shrug that simply indicated, 'yeah, he's not lying'.

"Even more reason for her to do things the right way," Bell replied.

Ottar stared at the young man again, this time for longer, trying to garner what was passing through Bell's mind.

"So, to be clear. You wish for Freya-sama to earn your affections as a normal woman would?"

Bell nodded.

"Yes. Otherwise you can tell her that, no matter what she does; no matter what she threatens, what she promises, or who she hurts, I won't love her. If she wants me to give her my heart, she has to earn, just like the one who I love now, earned it."

"I see," Ottar said, after a moment.

"So, will you tell her?"

"Yes. I will inform her of your request, Bell Cranel."

"Thank you, Ottar-san," Bell said, bowing. "I look forward to her response," he turned to Achilles. "Let's go, Achilles."

"Yes sir," he replied, watching as Bell strode off, not sparing anyone a final glance.

Achilles turned to everyone and gave them a look that said a mixture of, 'that just happened' and 'hell of a kid, isn't he?', before turning to follow after Bell.

"He's the one isn't he?"

Achilles stopped. He turned to Finn.

"The one you think can kill the One-Eyed Black Dragon," the Loki captain finished.

Achilles's smile dropped and he quickly checked on Bell. Finding that he was still walking away and showed no indication of having heard Finn, he turned back to the prum.

"Thank you, Finn. Thank you for saying that in front of the captain of the woman who's obsessed with him, and," he pointed at Aiz who was now staring off at the disappearing form of Bell with wide eyes. "The girl who's life goal is to kill that creature. I really appreciate that."

If Finn felt remorse for his statement, he didn't show it. He simply kept staring at Achilles.

"But, alright. Fine. You got me. It's not like it was a hard guess given how I'm gushing over the boy. So, yeah. He's the one. The only person in the world I think has the potential of killing the Dragon. Not me. Not you. Not Ottar. And not your precious Sword Princess. His exponential growth makes it a possibility. Hell, he might be the only person who could fulfill the Level Ten Theory." Finn's eyes did widen at this, but Achilles wasn't done. "But there's a difference between me thinking that he has the chance and me actually wanting him to confront that thing. Even if he gets strong enough to defeat it, it'll be the hardest fight of his life and he still might die. I. Don't. Want. That. So, I won't push him towards that end. In fact, I'll pull him from it. And if anyone tries to push him towards that end," his eyes turned towards Aiz. "Let's just say the Dragon will be the least of their worries."

His threat made, Achilles left without another word, following to catch up with Bell and pretend the entire conversation hadn't happened.

Unbeknown to both Achilles and the whole Loki familia, a certain boaz grew a subtle, but clear smile.

Ottar made his way through the Tower of Babel until he reached the floor where his goddess resided.

Opening the door, he found the room filled the other high-level members of his familia, all of whom turned to him with expressions that showed clear displeasure.

"Our goddess wishes to speak with you," Allen said, his voice menacing.

Ottar simply nodded and walked by him.

"She's upset with you," the catman continued.

Ottar paused for a moment at the door that led to Freya's room. He turned his head to the level six.

"Not for long."

With that he turned back to the door and entered, leaving Allen and the others to ponder and fume at his words.

Freya stood by the window, a glass of wine in her hand, staring at the city now bathed in orange light.

"Welcome back, Ottar," she greeted, her voice just as sweet and lovely as ever.

"My lady," Ottar said, taking a knee behind her.

"You've been naughty, O-ttar," she said, finally turning to him.

"I apologize for my behavior, my lady," he replied, his head falling.

He suddenly found his head being lifted so that he was looking directly into his goddess's eyes.

"It's going to take a lot more than an apology to make up for what you did, Ottar," she said. The tone she used would have sent shivers up anyone's spine. The sweetness was still there, but mixed in was a deluge of venom that showed, not only her extreme displeasure, but her power. "You attacked one of my beloveds. A man I have been after for years. Why would you do such a thing?"

"I-," even Ottar could not face his goddess when she was like this. "I could not let the injury he inflicted upon you stand."

Freya let go of his chin as she laughed.

"Injury? He burned some hair. It was about time for my haircut anyway."

"Even so. It was clearly an act of aggression and I could not allow such a thing to go unpunished. My intention was never to kill him, only injure and force him to apologize."

"And did you get an apology?" she asked.

"In a way."

"In a way?" she gave him a look. "Explain."

"While we were fighting, Loki familia arrived and he called off our battle. Seeing the situation, I submitted. However, he quickly discovered that Loki familia had hostile intentions towards him."

"Oh?" Freya's grip on her glass tightened. "What happened?"

"Achilles offered a temporary alliance with me in exchange for dealing with the Loki familia. He offered up a personal apology to you, even saying he would bow in exchange for my help."

"Did he now?" she looked around. "I don't see him though."

"No. No fight occurred. It was prevented by the appearance of Bell Cranel."

"Bell-kun?"

The tone shift was not missed by Ottar.

"Yes. The boy arrived to check in on Achilles and found the situation I described. Aiz Wallenstein then revealed that Loki had ordered them to kill Achilles at the best opportunity."

"Did she now?" cracks appeared in Freya's glass as she now glared down at her captain. "And your fight with him would have proved the perfect cover."

Ottar's head fell.

"Indeed. However," he looked back up at his goddess. "What happened next was extraordinary."

Some of Freya's anger dissipated in favor of curiosity.

"And what happened?"

"Bell Cranel ordered Achilles to apologize to the Loki familia and rescind his threat against them. He then ordered Finn to inform Loki that, if she wished to keep her alliance with Hestia, she must also rescind her order against Achilles."

All the anger Freya had felt had gone up in smoke as delight filled her being and a smile burst on her lips.

"He did that?"

Ottar nodded.

"You should have seen it, my lady. His eyes held a strength that I've seen in few adventurers or gods."

Euphoria rushed through Freya's veins at that. The idea of her Bell standing before the strongest adventurers in the world, challenging them and giving orders wracked her body with pleasure.

"There's more, my lady."

She turned to him, a blissful smile on her lips.

"More?" she all but gasped, as if the news threatened to drown her.

He nodded again.

"Bell Cranel asked me to give you a message."

"A message? For me? From Bell?" now she was gasping. The thought alone sent shock waves through her. "Tell me."

"He wanted me to tell you that he is already in love with someone else," he began, but quickly continued seeing her smile waver. "However, he did present you with a sort of...challenge."

"Oh?" Freya's eyes screamed for answers.

"He asked that, if you truly loved him, that you prove it. The old-fashioned way, I believe were the words he used. He went so far as to not only include Achilles in his statement, but also to say that, no matter what tricks or threats you use, he will never fall for you unless you win him as a normal woman would."

The glass slipped from Freya's hand as her body shook in rapture. Gasps filled the room as she threw herself against the window, the glass cooling her now burning body.

"H-He's...offering me a challenge," she turned to Ottar. "He's making demands of me. Confronting me," drool slipped down her chin. "No one has ever done that before. No one has ever," she gasped. "No one has ever challenged me to prove my love before. And to prove it as any other woman would. Oooh," her knees nearly gave out beneath her. "Oh, Bell. It's so cruel of you to tease me like this," she said, her hand touching the window. "But it's such a delightful torture, I fear I'm now addicted to it."

Seeing how delighted his goddess now was, Ottar allowed himself a smile. However, he had one more tidbit that he knew she would enjoy.

"There is one more thing I'd like to report, my lady."

"Tell me!" she cried, her head flying to her captain. "Tell me! Tell me!"

"After Bell left, Finn asked Achilles a question. That question was, 'he's the one you think can kill the One-Eyed Black Dragon, isn't he?'"

Freya's knees finally gave out as her eyes widened to an impossible size.

"And what did he say?" she asked, crawling towards Ottar. "What did my Achilles say?!" she begged.

"Not only did he admit that this was indeed what he thought, but he also admitted that he believes Bell is the only one capable of fulfilling the Level Ten Theory."

That was it. That was all Freya could take. Bliss, euphoria, and pleasure overrode her senses and mind, wracking her body with sinful delight until she finally collapsed on the floor.

Ottar decided now was the time to get up and went over to his goddess, gently raising her up.

"Oh. Oh, Ottar. Those two are too much for me," she said, her breath ragged and labored. "They pretend so much that they do not want me, but say and do things like that. How can they not want me to claim them when they make themselves into such delightful morsels?"

"I do not know, my lady. Perhaps they do not fully understand their feelings towards you themselves. Or perhaps they want you to chase after them. Perhaps they know how much it delights you."

"Do you think so? Do you really think that could be true?" she asked, her voice frantic as the idea brought her even further joy.

"Anything is possible, my lady. The two of them are known for surprises."

"Yes they are," she said, turning her head towards the window. "Yes they are."

Things were silent for a moment, the two content to simply bask in their joy. Finally, a new, sly smile came to Freya's lips and she turned to Ottar.

"I think it's about time we had a party. Don't you?"

Ottar didn't even miss a beat.

"I agree, full-heartedly, my lady."

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