Bell let that silence hold for three more seconds. He even counted them in his head.
One. Two. Three.
His eyes remained fixed on those assembled gods. Dozens had their shoulders tight. Some had their jaws clenched. A few hadn't even blinked since his vortex closed.
Good. They'll remember this feeling.
He let a slow breath leave his lungs, and with it, he let something else go. His sharp eyes softened. His muscles unclenched from their coiled tension.
The monster fully retreated to some deep corner inside him.
The human returned.
"So, then... All good?" His voice was lighter than before. Less threatening and more... Bell.
Freya recovered from her daze first. She pressed a hand to her chest, startled by the uncanny familiarity of those maroon eyes that had peered out from the abyss.
Who... is that?
The next to snap into awareness was Loki, who felt her eyebrow twitch at Bell's actions. Even she had to bring a hand to clutch her forehead in exasperation.
Your guts keep getting bigger, kid. What did I expect from someone who'd dare to play around with an unsealed Ares?
Demeter's fingers dug into her thigh. Her heart hammered against her ribs, her face flashing with a mixture of conflicting emotions. Fear? Attraction? Perhaps both?
Hephaestus, however, was more intrigued than anything else. Maybe he could do something about my cursed eye?
Hermes was just... numb. Bell had shocked him so many times now that his brain had short-circuited. If he woke up tomorrow to find Bell had hung Ouranos upside down from his own throne, he wouldn't even flinch.
Hestia felt something sweet flutter in her chest, whipping her face away from Bell, refusing to look at him, or she might just melt right here. Inwardly, though: Heehee~ Bell did all of that for me.
Astraea felt a whole scoop of jealousy at Bell's actions for Hestia. Her nails dug into the stone beneath her. If her nails were sharp enough, she would've dug a huge hole through it.
No god believed Bell's relaxed facade. His mouth was smiling, yet whenever his eyes flickered toward them, it looked similar to how a mad dog gazes at pieces of delicious meat.
"Ahem. All good. In fact, we should discuss more about this Grand War game. Setting up something like this would take weeks, if not more." Loki spoke, gesturing for a nearby god to bring some elixirs and dragged Bete back, having him settle on a chair despite his protests.
She stopped mid-movement. A good look at Bete's face made her suck in a sharp breath.
"Bete, who the hell broke your nose!?" Her voice rose, quickly snatching the newly arrived elixir bottle.
"It's nothi—don't whine, Loki—" Before he could finish, Loki spilled half of that elixir straight on his face, making him sputter and choke.
Across the hall, Freya had already handed an elixir to Hogni, his injuries knitting together before her eyes.
"Tell me, who was it!? I'll bash their face in." Loki grabbed Bete's chin, forcing him to meet her gaze.
"Was it him?" She jabbed a finger toward Bell, teeth gritting with force.
Bete glanced once at Bell, then looked away, refusing to answer.
"So... It was him." Loki said.
Some gods leaned back, eyes flashing with interest. Some bent ahead, looking forward to Loki's reaction. A certain god even felt a restless itch to resume chanting.
"Kid..."
Loki marched over to Bell. Her hand reached out to—
Pat him on his shoulder.
One god rubbed his eyes. Another's jaw had fallen so low that a neighbouring god had to physically push it shut.
Under a barrage of disbelieving stares, Loki even cleaned a speck of dust from Bell's shoulder.
"Why did you only break his nose? If Bete was misbehaving, you should've broken his legs."
Bete snapped his face at Loki, eyes widening at her actions.
Hermes choked at her words, feeling Bell Cranel was becoming a cancer to female goddesses'. Any he met had good relations with him, or were on their way to have good relations with him.
Except Ishtar. No one liked that woman, well... exceptions are always there, some people were built different and had that kind of preferences.
Meanwhile, only Loki knew how she felt inside while patting Bell.
Kid... If you didn't give Ais that sword. If I didn't find you pleasing during our first meeting.
There was one more thing she didn't want to admit, even to herself. She was terrified of him. Just a little. A teeny, tiny bit.
"Loki, enough. Take your hands off my Bell, I know you're trying to cop a feel." Hestia bristled as Loki's hand continued to linger on Bell's shoulder.
Astraea said nothing, but the temperature in her surroundings seemed to drop by several degrees, making Bell's expression change.
I didn't do anything, why are you looking at me like that!?
He pulled his shoulder away from Loki, shifting closer to Astraea.
Loki's hand now hovered mid-air, feeling wronged. I was lost in thought, okay? When did I try to cop a feel?
Recovering quickly, Loki returned to her usual antics and rubbed the hand she'd touched Bell with against her own cheek, a smug, lecherous smile spreading across her face.
"Hey, Hestia... Your kid feels quite smooth."
"..."
"..."
Everyone froze. Hestia's mouth was halfway to closing when she went rigid with shock. Astraea was already glaring at Loki with eyes that seemed more terrifying than those eyes within Bell's inner world.
A moment passed. Two.
Then Hestia literally jumped up from the stair, straight at Loki's face like an enraged cat.
Just before her forehead could collide with Loki's nose, Bell wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her back.
"Let me go, Bell!"
She thrashed within his grip.
"Not even you can stop me today!"
Bell felt a headache coming on. A little rocket was flailing in his grip. While a big rocket was trying to launch from his other side.
"Goddesses, calm down. Loki was just joking." He said while holding Hestia back with one arm and preventing Astraea from getting up with his other.
Loki looked at him and smirked. Bell had a bad feeling about it, his muscles tensing involuntarily.
"I was not joking kid. If someone from my Familia wins this Grand War game of yours, I'll have them wish for you to join my Familia... You wouldn't break your own rules and reject it, right?"
Bell's face turned grave. The exact face of someone who had just been stabbed in the back. Words came out of his mouth on their own, echoing throughout the hall.
"I considered you a friend... But you want to be my Goddess?"
Hestia went limp in his arms, then erupted, thrashing twice as hard.
"Loki, the winner gets a wish from gods, not Bell." Astraea pointed out the obvious loophole within Loki's logic, her voice blank.
"Well then, I'll just have my children wish for you, Astraea to send your Bell Cranel over to my Familia." Loki rubbed her hands like a shady dealer, already imagining having Bell under her banner, a jester flag wrapped around him.
Some distance away, a similar fantasy was playing out inside Freya's mind, just that the banner Bell was wrapped within was her own Familia's.
More gods felt something long dormant stir within them.
Longing.
A longing to have someone like Bell Cranel under them, someone who was willing to even fight other gods without fear.
What better mortal was there in this world to collect... than him?
Bell felt that every eye looking at him had changed from radiating fear to glowing with want.
All that posturing from earlier?
Gone down the drain by a few calculated words from Loki.
Damn... trickster.
...
..
.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
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[Authors Thoughts]
Enjoy my friends! And have a wonderful day, everyone!