Bell sat on the wooden bench, motionless, as rain drenched all his clothes, but he was not in the mind to focus on the rain drenching him.
His mind was blank, his thoughts too scattered to make any sense, his mind quieter than it had been for a long time, his eyes, those red orbs which often carried flames of resolve were dull with blankness, no focus in them.
Bell looked towards the sky, as rain drenched him and his surroundings, like the world itself did not accept an anomaly like him.
He had been alone since his transmigration, with no memories except those of 'Bell' to accompany him, yet he understood, he was not that 'Bell', he was someone who had merely taken over his body.
'Bell' was innocent.....He was not.
*Click*
'Bell' was pure.....He was not.
*Click*
'Bell' belonged in this world.....He did not.
*Click*
'Bell' was the hope of this world.....He was not.
*Click*
'Bell' was a hero.....He was a faker.
*Click*
The sound of an incessantly turning wheel started to echo in Bell's ears, starting with the intensity of a bubble popping to resounding with the intensity of thunder with every sentence.
Accompanied with the wheel's sound were the incessant sounds of chains colliding against each other, brutally snapping of restraints and the blossoming of warmth from deep within him.
Bell could feel something, something that had always been with him, something that was within him, start to tear off all restraints to reveal itself.
He looked at his chest as rain roared overhead, clouds rumbling like enraged behemoths, lightning flashing within them like swimming snakes, rain soaking the world surrounding him in a curtain of falling water.
A miniature tattoo of an eight handled wheel slowly materialised in the space between his brows, shining with a golden luminance.
As Bell was focused on the warmth inside him, an abrupt voice jolted his focus.
"Child, what are you doing here in the rain? Do you not have anywhere to go?" Bell felt something shield him from the rain, and looked at the voluptuous and perfect figure standing in front of him, with a umbrella in one hand, covering them both, while her other hand carried a basket of breads.
It was Goddess Astraea from before.
At Goddess Astraea's interruption, the wheel tattoo in the space between his brows started dissolving into golden particles, while the incessant sounds of chains colliding against each other and the *Click* of a turning wheel slowly dissolved into silence.
Bell looked blankly at Goddess Astraea as water from the rain dripped down his face, his face a mixture of indifference and barely veiled irritation at her interruption.
"Goddess Astraea....Yes, I don't have anywhere to go, since the last of my valis were given to the person who brought me here to Solingen.....sorry to bother you." Bell could hear the guilt and kindness in her voice, but after being rejected before and now interrupted at such a critical moment, he was not in the mood to cater to her.
Bell got up from the wet bench as rain continued to drum across the ground with a continuous rhythm, his clothes were drenched and sticking to his body, but he ignored them and started dragging out his body outside of her offered umbrella.
As Bell started to walk in a random direction under the rain, he nearly slipped and was forcefully stopped from moving forward as a soft and graceful hand held onto his hand.
"What do you want? Goddess Astraea?" Bell spoke with a hint of confusion while looking below at their intertwined hands and turned to face her, incomprehension projecting across his face.
Goddess Astraea's eyes carried emotions to complex to name, guilt, kindness, hurt, determination, pain and a huge amount of reminiscence.
"Child, since you don't have anywhere to go, why don't you come to live with me for the moment?" Goddess Astraea spoke with her hand tightening around his cold and drenched hand.
"A-As for your request for joining my Familia, I'll think about it." She spoke with a hint of determination and seriousness as she looked straight into Bell's red and blank eyes.
It took a second for Bell to comprehend what she spoke, while feeling his head spin with a complex mix of emotions, he knew she spoke those words due to her innate kindness as a Goddess of Justice and guilt at his current state.
He knew that by accepting, he would be taking advantage of her kindness and guilt.
But, Bell was like a loan boat travelling in a word that was not his own, a body not his own, even memories that were not his, everything he had, was given by the original Bell.
Yet, he was not that Bell.
So was it too much to ask for something of his own?
Even if it was wrong?
Even if it was by taking advantage of the kindness and guilt of a Goddess?
Even if it made him feel like a bastard?
But he never said he was like the original Bell.
The original one would have declined her at this moment, not wanting to take advantage of her vulnerable emotions.
Bell tightened the hold of his hand with hers and was about to speak, but felt his head spinning for real this time.
He felt his vision failing him, his motor functions unresponsive, his mind growing sluggish, his body forcefully shutting down due to the failed awakening.
Bell fainted against her, falling directly into her arms.
Before losing consciousness, Bell felt it.
The warm embrace.
The kind and motherly touch.
The feeling of home.
In that moment, he understood.
He was not Argonaut, The Last Hero.
He did not need to be.
________________________________________________
Somewhere deep inside Bell.
A Eight Handled Wheel was shining with a golden and sacred light inside a void of infinite darkness.
Only a single chain, conjured of darkness intertwined by a divine light was sealing it now.
It had already adapted to the world of *Danmachi* .
The next adaptation was against the Divine.