Perfect Dark | Danmachi

Chapter 15

There is a part of me that wishes everything went back to normal. Even just back to the way it was before.

I've been recovering in my room for days, and the longer I spend in this bed the more I don't want to leave. I'm feeling better, but there are things I wish I could forget.

Hestia quietly knocked before entering, her head down as she sat on the corner of my bed. "Bell, are you feeling better today?"

"Not really." I answered her truthfully, knowing that I should get off my chest what has been the true cause of my slow recovery.

"Do you want to talk about it now?" Hestia asks, reaching for my hand.

I can feel the pain in my chest rising, a piercing pain through my heart. I'm thankful for her gentleness, and how she knows better than anyone what I had to endure. She hasn't pressed me to talk about anything, but the longer it weighs on me the worse I feel.

"They remember everything." I state the obvious, but it's the thing that hurts the most.

"Would you rather them have not been aware of what Freya did?"

Everyone that Freya charmed remembers the events that happened. I'm thankful in a way that they know who the true culprit was, but there is something I don't want them to remember and it's my actions. "I'm not proud of the things I did...." I close my eyes as the events play over in my mind.

Lili and Welf have apologized countless times for not remembering me, but what I did to them in return is still an aching wound. I acted like a child, and there is nothing I can do to take it back. Even with them forgiving me, I still wish they didn't remember.

"No one blames you for how you acted, Bell. They all agree, they would have felt the same way."

With a hollow nod, I squeeze her hand lightly. "Thank you, Hestia, for saving me."

I've wanted to thank her for days now, but truly I've been drowning in my own mind. Hestia, Ryu, and Mia somehow convinced Freya to undo her own charm. Hestia had prepared something in case their plan failed, but they didn't end up having to use it.

On her own accord, Freya didn't just release me, she released everyone.

A familia that was held to the highest regard, was now the most hated in all of Orario.

They were still the strongest, and even with the events, still revered.

As my mind drifted through the worst of possibilities, Hestia pulled me in to a hug that brought me back to reality. "I won't let anyone take you again."

With her words I let go of the small barrier I had been maintaining. Tears fell from my eyes as I buried my head into her shoulder. It didn't matter how strong I had become; at heart I was still just a boy.

After my tears dried, Hestia pulled back and held my hand in hers. "Bell, do you want me to update your status?"

I know she's been waiting to ask for the right time, and honestly, maybe that would enlighten me in a small way.

With tired eyes I nodded and turned around, letting her do the rest.

After she was done, she handed me the paper containing my new stats, and one new ability.

"Eternal flame." she said quietly as she stood, beginning to pace the room as I read. As if she were waiting to tell me something, she finally crouched near the bed unable to keep up her pacing.

"Don't you want to know what it does?"

She was dying with excitement, as I should have been to gain a new skill.

I set the paper down on the bed and turned to her, trying to force myself to feel excited like I used to. I was hesitant, and a part of me was almost scared to learn what it really does.

"I do." I finally answered after I was mentally prepared for the worst.

"Eternal Flames is a skill that engulfs your body in a raging inferno. You sacrifice the remaining stamina and mind you have, to activate the ability for five minutes. This is the first skill you've gained that has an incantation to go along with it. While active, you can use 'rend'. Rend will be a long-ranged strike, that you don't have to be in melee to use."

"A skill that guarantees mind down?" I was listening to every word, but the biggest red flag was the stipulation. It would be something I could never use alone, or if I did, it would have to kill my target otherwise I would be left vulnerable.

"That's right. I'm very glad that we got to Freya in time, or I'm not sure what would have happened with Ottar." Her eyes grew heavy with the realization.

I had lost between Ottar. It was a crippling defeat, and even if I had survived, it would be something that would haunt me. I used the skill without knowing its hidden power, I wonder what would have happened if I had used rend from a distance?

Hestia gave my hand a squeeze before she stood up and headed towards the door.

"Bell, there is one more thing." she paused in the doorway, looking back at me with a smile. "There is someone that wants to see you, when you are ready."