Bab 1: Chimes of Bell

Why?

[...99%]

Waaaahhhhh!!!

*Baby cry*

[...100%]

[SYSTEM BINDING HAS NOW BEEN COMPLETED]

Why..?

[CONGRATULATION HOST]

[SYSTEM HAS NOW...BE...

.....

...

Why only now...?

I can't even hear the system notifications anymore.

I thought as I absentmindedly stared at a beautiful woman on the bed in front of me, with long, striking snow white hair, and her eyes were blue like pearls in the bottom of water with a hint of tiredness on them and pale white skin, as the fatigue could be clearly seen through her as she held a newborn baby with a clear joy on her beautiful face even though she could only lay down her weak body and was seemingly about to pass out. And that's only due to the potions that her friend from the same familia left behind after helping her give birth.

The beautiful woman in front of me is Meteria, the one who brought me into this world, my biological mother. Just like mine and my mother, the baby she held also had the same striking white hair but with ruby-like eyes as it continued to cry.

Though that's not my main focus, after all, the baby is someone I know very well.

It's the protagonist of this world, Danmachi.

"Bell Cranel..." I muttered blankly as I watched my new baby brother cry and my mother's getting paler as time passed by.

"Bell...huh? Hmmm... That's a good name, Van," my mother said weakly as she looked at me, surprised as she heard my muttering and gave a thoughtful look before smiling at me weakly as she decided the name of my new brother.

"Well then, I guess from now on your name is going to be Bell Cranel." As she said that to her new baby, no to Bell.

*DING* *DONG*

Suddenly, a loud chiming sound of a bell resounded at the place they were staying at, a church.

The place seemingly brightened, and birds whistling created a beautiful scene as if the world were welcoming the newborn baby, the protagonist of this world, Bell Cranel.

While I know that I should be happy for having a new brother, I can't help but feel an enormous sadness and emptiness.

After all, knowing my mother's incurable disease and the plot of this world, I know this is already my mother's last day.

Bell being born is already a sign that mother will not last long.

Simply mustering up even a hint of joy is practically impossible knowing what will happen.

Knowing too much, after all, has its own advantages and disadvantages.

And one of those disadvantages is knowing that you already know someone important to you is about to die, but it's impossible to do anything.

You'll suffer due to your own helplessness and being powerless to do anything.

Blaming yourself due to your weakness, sometimes even blaming others and the world.

Wanting to curse everything as you drown yourself deeper in your negative thoughts.

"Sis."

As I felt myself getting deeper into my thoughts, a voice suddenly brought me slightly out of it.

A beautiful and fair-skinned woman with silver hair suddenly appeared. She had heterochromia, with her right eye being green while her left was grey.

It's the older twin sister of my mother and my aunt; though she hates to be called aunty, she's also the complete opposite of my mother, who is a pure and peaceful type.

Alfia the Silence, a famous violent figure known throughout the whole world and an executive of the Hera Familia.

And she's not alone, as a tall man with dark brown hair, gray eyes, and scars on his face appeared behind her.

He wore full-body black armor along with a dark red cape.

The famous monster eater and the one who delivered the final blow to the Behemoth, Zald the Gluttony, was also an executive to his respective familia, the Zeus Familia.

•••••

"Nee-san," Meteria said with a weak smile on her face as she looked at her sister.

*Sigh* Alfia only sighed sadly, already knowing what she wanted to say.

"I can't take care of them," Alfia said with some hesitation in her voice.

"I see, then can you please take them to Zeus-sama?" Meteria asked after giving a thoughtful look with some hint of sadness before disappearing.

"Are you seriously asking me to hand them over to that lecherous God? Meteria?" Alfia frowned, as if just hearing Zeus's name is enough to put her in the worst mood when she's already in a bad mood due to her sister's situation.

"Please, Nee-san, even though he's a pervert, he's still a trustworthy person; knowing him, he'll definitely raise the two of them into heroes," Meteria pleaded weakly to her sister.

"Indeed, he's bit trustworthy compared to others, but I also know that he'll try to turn the two of them into lecherous perverts like him," Alfia said, clearly not backing down even if it's her sister.

"But knowing you, Nee-san, you'll guide the two of them if they show some signs, right?" Meteria said without hesitation as she smiled a little with an expression that shows an unwavering trust and a bit of mischief on her sister.

*Hmph!*

"I'll thoroughly discipline the two of them if they really did show some." Alfia said with a hmph, clearly annoyed, as she crossed her arms while looking away.

"Thank you, Nee-san." Meteria smiled wider as she thanked her sister, then proceeded to kiss the forehead of the sleeping Bell, tired from crying.

She then held the tiny hand of her 3-year-old firstborn, Van, who can only stay silent and stare vacantly at an empty space with a blank face.

Looking into her son's eyes, she can only smile sadly, knowing that her smart son already figured out her condition and the pains he will surely go through after she and her husband pass away.

Though her other son may not feel the same intensity of pain as his older brother, it still pains her as she thinks about him growing without having the chance of being able to be with her and his father's side and not even getting to know his parents well.

She can only blame herself for being born with an incurable disease that weakens her body.

Thankfully, she didn't die after giving birth to her first son, and that is only due to the help of her familia, and it's already a miracle that she gave birth to her second and last child safely through her own sheer will alone.

And with her and her sister's families reduced to only a mere fraction of it, and even then, the remaining ones were getting kicked out of Orario, and even her injured husband was out there keeping them busy for her to safely give birth; they have no one else to rely on anymore except for Zeus, who at least still has some allies even if he gets kicked out, with her sister and Zald escorting them to a safe place.

So it's already inevitable that she won't last longer than a few minutes.

Just thinking of not being able to watch her children grow along with her husband made her heart wretched a bit, but all she can do is to hope so that they can grow safely and live a happy life.

"Nee-san, please," Meteria said to her sister after kissing the forehead of her first son.

Alfia, already knowing what her sister wants to ask her, quickly disappeared from her current position and appeared behind her first nephew as she knocked him out, making him fall beside his mother.

Meteria didn't comment on her sister's rough way of handling it and only proceeded to hug her first son as she brought both of her children close to her face as she shut her eyes closed.

*Humming a lullaby*

Meteria then hummed a lullaby as she closed her eyes and continuously brushed the hair of her firstborn.

Alfia closed her eyes and walked away as she simply stood by the side of Zald, who's guarding the door and only watching them quietly.

Both of them only watched in silence as Meteria spent her last moments with her two sons.

Zald brought his hand above Alfia's head as he patted her. Under normal circumstances, she would have tried to blast him away, even if he's an Uncle-like figure to him. But all she did was bow her head slightly as tears silently trailed down her cheeks.

With that, they can only wait for her beloved sister to spend her last fleeting moments with her two sons.

===============================

[I'm a complete newbie in writing a story, and English is not my native language, so please do forgive me if there's a grammatical error.

I also made some changes and added a new ones, so please don't be surprised if there's some scenarios that doesn't matched up the main canon or side stories of Danmachi.]