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31_days2018-11-03 02:30 pm
samuraiter) wrote in 31_days2018-11-03 02:30 pm
Entry tags:
[November 3] [Danmachi] Dioscuri
Title: Dioscuri
Day / Prompt: 03 / Made up my mind to break you this time
Fandom: Danmachi
Character(s) / Pairing(s): Bell Cranel / Syr Flova
Rating / Warning(s): Mature
Word Count: 1,615
Notes: The premise for this story comes from a fan theory about the identity of Syr. I am going from anime and mobage canon, rather than the novels, so ... purists beware.
Bell looked at his reflection in a silver mirror that he had never become used to having. He looked at the network of scars that he had earned on his body, at the marks dozens upon dozens of adventures had left upon him. He looked at his face, and it did not look like the face of the second person in all of Orario to reach Level 7. To him, it still looked like the face of a boy of fourteen years, not a man of eighteen, certainly not the Captain of a high-ranking Familia.
Not the face of a person who has the blood of Zeus in his veins, he thought, reaching for a white dress shirt that Liliruca had left for him on his bed. The blood of Zeus ... in a world where the gods are supposed to be unable to have children. He buttoned up the shirt, straightening the collar, the smell of the starch tickling his nose. And I'm not the only one, either, or that's what I'm about to go and find out. He attached the Hestia Knife to his belt and took a deep breath. Can't put this off.
He looked at the mirror again, and he forced a smile, looking more like the Captain Bell that the public of Orario had come to know. After everything I've faced, after all the floors I've survived in the Dungeon, this shouldn't be as hard as it is. But – The smile disappeared. – nothing in the Dungeon is this close to home, and this has been there since ... the beginning of it.
Bell turned his back to the mirror and reached for the door, his face set in determination as he thought, It's time to see what the truth is. I can't let the fact that it's ... her ... stop me.
* * * *
The promenade overlooked all of Orario, the lights of the city reduced to yellow sparks as small as fireflies in the distance. Only a single lantern had been lit there for lovers who wished to look down upon the city and share a private moment together.
And there stood Bell and Syr, holding hands in the silence, the chill of the night at a safe distance because of how close they stood to each other. They had enjoyed a dinner together at the Hostess of Fertility, and Bell had offered to bring her up to the promenade – not their first date, depending on how one looked at it, but it was the first time he had asked to be alone with her.
"Bell." Syr rested her head on his shoulder, and he looped one arm around her. "What's the occasion? Today's not your birthday." She did not look up at him, but her voice retained a playful tone. "I know you well enough to know when you're up to something." A short pause. "It isn't like you to lie. It just isn't in your nature."
"Syr, I –" He separated from her, but only enough to look down into her face. It seemed as serene as always, her eyes turned from gray to silver by the light of the Moon. "There's something I need to know." She nodded, tilting her head slightly to one side – a familiar signal. "I –" He did not ask the question. Instead, he leaned down and kissed her, the sweet taste of her mouth reminding him of previous dates, the soft mmm she made in her throat picking at the doubts that had been eating at him before dinner.
A little while passed before Syr surfaced for breath long enough to say, her face flushed, "Somehow, I don't think you came out here just to kiss me senseless, Bell. You're playing for time." That made him blink. "If there's something on your mind, don't put it off." The playfulness had faded from her voice. "Ask me your question."
"Syr." Bell took a deep breath and composed himself, smoothing the front of his shirt. "I need to know this: Who are you ... really?"
Syr met his gaze evenly. "I knew the day was coming, but I didn't think it'd be today." She nodded. "Well, who do you think I am?"
"I thought ... you might be Freya, at first," Bell thought aloud, "but, after I found out who my grandfather really was, I looked again, and I think ... you're like me. You're not Freya, but she's related to you, somehow. If you were her, my Goddess and the others would've figured that out a long time ago. But you're working for her, aren't you? You have been ... since the day you and I first met."
Syr did not reply immediately. Instead, she studied his face for a long moment before she said, nodding, "You're not wrong, Bell. Freya raised me. I don't know if I'm her daughter, or if I'm just an orphan she chose, but she's the reason I came to Orario. After the Zeus Familia disbanded and Zeus himself disappeared, she told me about a prophecy." A note of pain entered her eyes. "She told me about a boy with the blood of the gods in his veins, and that I'd be the one to lead him to her. That was her plan. I've been here to help you all this time, among other things." She smiled, but Bell noticed tears at the corners of her eyes. "And you've succeeded beyond all her expectations. If that means you have to hate me, I'm willing to accept that. You shine so brightly now that it's painful."
Bell bowed his head. "I can't ... hate you. Not after everything we've been through together. It can't all be part of her plan." He looked at her again. "Did she mean for us to fall in love? Or is that one thing that didn't quite fit into what she wanted?"
A pair of tears made their way down her cheeks. "I fell in love with you on my own, Bell. Even if my blood isn't all human, enough of it is for me to have my own feelings and desires. Freya wanted me to be a person who'd never give up on you, who'd always encourage you." She bowed her head. "But, when I fell in love with you, she accepted that. You could follow her plan and still be with me." Her voice softened. "Every time she hurt you, every time you bled because of something she made you do, some trial she set up for you, I wanted to scream, but ... I was a good girl. I kept all of that to myself."
"I believe you." Bell took her hands, not pausing to wipe off tears of his own. "But, if the secret's out, please tell me everything."
"All right," Syr said, laying her head on his chest. "There's more to the prophecy than just you, Bell. There's one other who's like you, and you already know who it is." He nodded, holding her close. "Ouranos wants to keep the world the way it is. As long as the Guild and the Dungeon exist, his power will be absolute. Freya wants to change that." She looked up at him. "Freya wants you to be her Champion, Bell, the one who reaches the bottom of the Dungeon and destroys it, but –" The flame crackling in the lantern behind them made a pop noise. "– Ouranos has a Champion of his own, and the two of you are fated to meet on the One Hundredth Floor."
"Ais," Bell breathed, seeing her face in his mind, "child of the Spirit Aria." He closed his eyes. "She'd be the last person I'd ever want to fight. I've spent my entire career as an adventurer just trying to catch up to her, and we're finally at a point where we can see each other as equals. We're friends." He held Syr tightly. "And you're telling me that it's our destiny to kill each other. Well, if I know Loki, she's as wise to all of this as Freya. It won't happen. Not like that. Maybe not at all. If there's one thing I've learned from living here in Orario, it's that the gods aren't perfect, and the same's true for anything they've planned."
"That's why I love you, Bell." Syr smiled despite her tears. "You've never once abandoned hope. You've overcome everything you've faced so far, and you'll keep on doing it." Quiet between them for a little while. "So ... if you don't hate me, we've already come this far together. You can throw me aside, if that's what you want, but I'm hoping, in my heart, that you won't. I'm still me, and you're still you. Whatever happens in the future, that won't change."
Bell held Syr for a long moment before he whispered, next to her ear, "If that's so, come home with me, Syr." That made her blush to the roots of her hair. "Not ... just for tonight, but always. You don't have a Familia, so come and join mine. Realize your true potential. There's no need to hide in the shadows any more."
"But ... you do want me to come home with you tonight?" Her eyes betrayed a vulnerability that he had never seen in her before.
Bell did not answer with words. Instead, he kissed her again. Below them, below the promenade, the city of Orario stretched into the distance, the horizon interrupted only by the Tower of Babel that reached up to the Heavens while also concealing the Dungeon that lay below it ... and the destiny that awaited Bell at its heart.
END.
This story has also been posted to the AO3 collection for this community.
Day / Prompt: 03 / Made up my mind to break you this time
Fandom: Danmachi
Character(s) / Pairing(s): Bell Cranel / Syr Flova
Rating / Warning(s): Mature
Word Count: 1,615
Notes: The premise for this story comes from a fan theory about the identity of Syr. I am going from anime and mobage canon, rather than the novels, so ... purists beware.
Bell looked at his reflection in a silver mirror that he had never become used to having. He looked at the network of scars that he had earned on his body, at the marks dozens upon dozens of adventures had left upon him. He looked at his face, and it did not look like the face of the second person in all of Orario to reach Level 7. To him, it still looked like the face of a boy of fourteen years, not a man of eighteen, certainly not the Captain of a high-ranking Familia.
Not the face of a person who has the blood of Zeus in his veins, he thought, reaching for a white dress shirt that Liliruca had left for him on his bed. The blood of Zeus ... in a world where the gods are supposed to be unable to have children. He buttoned up the shirt, straightening the collar, the smell of the starch tickling his nose. And I'm not the only one, either, or that's what I'm about to go and find out. He attached the Hestia Knife to his belt and took a deep breath. Can't put this off.
He looked at the mirror again, and he forced a smile, looking more like the Captain Bell that the public of Orario had come to know. After everything I've faced, after all the floors I've survived in the Dungeon, this shouldn't be as hard as it is. But – The smile disappeared. – nothing in the Dungeon is this close to home, and this has been there since ... the beginning of it.
Bell turned his back to the mirror and reached for the door, his face set in determination as he thought, It's time to see what the truth is. I can't let the fact that it's ... her ... stop me.
* * * *
The promenade overlooked all of Orario, the lights of the city reduced to yellow sparks as small as fireflies in the distance. Only a single lantern had been lit there for lovers who wished to look down upon the city and share a private moment together.
And there stood Bell and Syr, holding hands in the silence, the chill of the night at a safe distance because of how close they stood to each other. They had enjoyed a dinner together at the Hostess of Fertility, and Bell had offered to bring her up to the promenade – not their first date, depending on how one looked at it, but it was the first time he had asked to be alone with her.
"Bell." Syr rested her head on his shoulder, and he looped one arm around her. "What's the occasion? Today's not your birthday." She did not look up at him, but her voice retained a playful tone. "I know you well enough to know when you're up to something." A short pause. "It isn't like you to lie. It just isn't in your nature."
"Syr, I –" He separated from her, but only enough to look down into her face. It seemed as serene as always, her eyes turned from gray to silver by the light of the Moon. "There's something I need to know." She nodded, tilting her head slightly to one side – a familiar signal. "I –" He did not ask the question. Instead, he leaned down and kissed her, the sweet taste of her mouth reminding him of previous dates, the soft mmm she made in her throat picking at the doubts that had been eating at him before dinner.
A little while passed before Syr surfaced for breath long enough to say, her face flushed, "Somehow, I don't think you came out here just to kiss me senseless, Bell. You're playing for time." That made him blink. "If there's something on your mind, don't put it off." The playfulness had faded from her voice. "Ask me your question."
"Syr." Bell took a deep breath and composed himself, smoothing the front of his shirt. "I need to know this: Who are you ... really?"
Syr met his gaze evenly. "I knew the day was coming, but I didn't think it'd be today." She nodded. "Well, who do you think I am?"
"I thought ... you might be Freya, at first," Bell thought aloud, "but, after I found out who my grandfather really was, I looked again, and I think ... you're like me. You're not Freya, but she's related to you, somehow. If you were her, my Goddess and the others would've figured that out a long time ago. But you're working for her, aren't you? You have been ... since the day you and I first met."
Syr did not reply immediately. Instead, she studied his face for a long moment before she said, nodding, "You're not wrong, Bell. Freya raised me. I don't know if I'm her daughter, or if I'm just an orphan she chose, but she's the reason I came to Orario. After the Zeus Familia disbanded and Zeus himself disappeared, she told me about a prophecy." A note of pain entered her eyes. "She told me about a boy with the blood of the gods in his veins, and that I'd be the one to lead him to her. That was her plan. I've been here to help you all this time, among other things." She smiled, but Bell noticed tears at the corners of her eyes. "And you've succeeded beyond all her expectations. If that means you have to hate me, I'm willing to accept that. You shine so brightly now that it's painful."
Bell bowed his head. "I can't ... hate you. Not after everything we've been through together. It can't all be part of her plan." He looked at her again. "Did she mean for us to fall in love? Or is that one thing that didn't quite fit into what she wanted?"
A pair of tears made their way down her cheeks. "I fell in love with you on my own, Bell. Even if my blood isn't all human, enough of it is for me to have my own feelings and desires. Freya wanted me to be a person who'd never give up on you, who'd always encourage you." She bowed her head. "But, when I fell in love with you, she accepted that. You could follow her plan and still be with me." Her voice softened. "Every time she hurt you, every time you bled because of something she made you do, some trial she set up for you, I wanted to scream, but ... I was a good girl. I kept all of that to myself."
"I believe you." Bell took her hands, not pausing to wipe off tears of his own. "But, if the secret's out, please tell me everything."
"All right," Syr said, laying her head on his chest. "There's more to the prophecy than just you, Bell. There's one other who's like you, and you already know who it is." He nodded, holding her close. "Ouranos wants to keep the world the way it is. As long as the Guild and the Dungeon exist, his power will be absolute. Freya wants to change that." She looked up at him. "Freya wants you to be her Champion, Bell, the one who reaches the bottom of the Dungeon and destroys it, but –" The flame crackling in the lantern behind them made a pop noise. "– Ouranos has a Champion of his own, and the two of you are fated to meet on the One Hundredth Floor."
"Ais," Bell breathed, seeing her face in his mind, "child of the Spirit Aria." He closed his eyes. "She'd be the last person I'd ever want to fight. I've spent my entire career as an adventurer just trying to catch up to her, and we're finally at a point where we can see each other as equals. We're friends." He held Syr tightly. "And you're telling me that it's our destiny to kill each other. Well, if I know Loki, she's as wise to all of this as Freya. It won't happen. Not like that. Maybe not at all. If there's one thing I've learned from living here in Orario, it's that the gods aren't perfect, and the same's true for anything they've planned."
"That's why I love you, Bell." Syr smiled despite her tears. "You've never once abandoned hope. You've overcome everything you've faced so far, and you'll keep on doing it." Quiet between them for a little while. "So ... if you don't hate me, we've already come this far together. You can throw me aside, if that's what you want, but I'm hoping, in my heart, that you won't. I'm still me, and you're still you. Whatever happens in the future, that won't change."
Bell held Syr for a long moment before he whispered, next to her ear, "If that's so, come home with me, Syr." That made her blush to the roots of her hair. "Not ... just for tonight, but always. You don't have a Familia, so come and join mine. Realize your true potential. There's no need to hide in the shadows any more."
"But ... you do want me to come home with you tonight?" Her eyes betrayed a vulnerability that he had never seen in her before.
Bell did not answer with words. Instead, he kissed her again. Below them, below the promenade, the city of Orario stretched into the distance, the horizon interrupted only by the Tower of Babel that reached up to the Heavens while also concealing the Dungeon that lay below it ... and the destiny that awaited Bell at its heart.
END.
This story has also been posted to the AO3 collection for this community.