Chapter Text
As Bell Cramel walked through the streets of Orario, he pondered what to do. He had been turned away by every familia he had applied to, but he still had hope. Suddenly, a commotion up ahead started to block all traffic, and Bell had to squeeze through the crowd to see what was going on. A girl with a double-sided sword was facing off against a dwarf, who wielded a massive hammer. The dwarf was obviously drunk, as he kept saying things about her body while tripping over himself. All of a sudden, he swung his massive hammer and it was seconds from connecting with her head when everything slowed down. Bell saw the hammer moving, and all of a sudden he was right on top of the dwarf with a knife to his throat and his mouth to his ear.
"Drop the hammer if you want to live". The dwarf's face when pale as he dropped his hammer and sprinted off into the distance, all the while screaming curses and tripping. Bell was about to look over at the girl when he blacked out.
When Bell opened his eyes, he was on a cot in someone's room. Suddenly, someone jumped from behind him.
"You're ok! I was getting worried that you died right after you scared that dwarf away. Now I can kill you for ruining my fun!" Bell's eyes started to bulge and he quickly scrambled out of bed. Only to find that find legs hardly worked and tripped over himself. The Amazonian girl laughed at him and helped him up.
"I'm just kidding! Relax a little. My name is Tiona, and I'm an executive for the Loki Familia. What familia are you from?" Bell's heart was practically about to stop. He had interfered with an executive of the Loki Familia! He was just asking to get killed. Bell stuttered out,
"I actually don't have a familia, so you can just show me to the exit and I'll be on my way. Tiona raised her eyebrows and said,
"How have you not been scooped up yet? Shadow magic like yours is highly sought after". Bell tilted his head in confusion and said,
"Shadow magic? You mean that weird teleport thing I did back at the main road? I had no idea I could even do that. I haven't even gone into the Dungeon yet". Now it was Tiona's turn for her eyes to bulge. An adventurer never entering the dungeon with that type of magic was unheard of. Put that with the fact he wasn't associated with a familia yet, he was the definition of a diamond in the rough. Tiona had to capitalize.
"Because you're not with a familia yet, would you like to apply here?" Bell just laughed at that.
"I was denied by literally every other familia. What makes you think I'll get accepted here, at one of the most prominent familias in all of Orario?" Tiona just smiled and said,
"Just apply. I'm sure something nice will happen". Bell just shrugged and took out his resumé and handed it to her. Tiona smiled and told Bell,
"Wait in the line outside, and we'll get to you as soon as possible". Bell peaked out the window and gulped. The line was practically the size of Orario. But since he had nothing to do anyway, Bell started his journey to the back of the line.
8 HOURS LATER
Bell was about halfway through the line when night fell. It was extremely cold and Bell thought that this was what hell felt like.
16 HOURS LATER
Bell was 3/4 of the way through the line and it was approaching noon. The sun was scorching and now he thought he knew for sure what the depths of Hell felt like.
1 DAY LATER
Bell had finally reached the front of the line and the first thing he heard was,
"Get out of the line. We don't have a need for newbies". Bell's face fell. He knew it had been too good to be true. Tiona was probably laughing at him from her bedroom. Bell left the line and went back to the inn he had been staying at. He collapsed on his bed and fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke, he was once again back in Tiona's bedroom. Bell shot up off of his cot and looked around. How the hell had he gotten here? He was sure that he had gone back to the inn yesterday. He ground his teeth. Was this Tiona's version of a joke? Suddenly, everything had once again slowed down, and he could see the dust particles moving. All of a sudden, he was on the other side of the room where he saw Tiona fall over. She had been about to grab him and he moved away at the last moment. Tiona whirled around and it looked as if she had been crying.
"Why did you leave the line! I told you to apply here and I was gonna let you in!" Bell's anger increased tenfold. He shouted,
"Really! Are you still dragging this stupid joke out! I waited an entire day in that line just for my application to be shredded in front of me! I was denied in less than a second!" Tiona made a confused face and tilted her head. "What do you mean? Bete told me that you left after the first hour of waiting". Once again Bell's anger flared back up.
"Is Bete the wolf boy who ran the desk?" Tiona nodded. Bell pushed his anger back down and gathered his things.
"It was nice meeting you Tiona. I'm almost out of money so I have to go find work now. I wish you well". Bell opened the door and was about to step out when Tiona crashed into him.
"What the hell are you doing? I've got bills to play Tiona. I don't suppose you know what it's like to not have a familia?" Tiona, still not letting go of him, said
"But I just told you that you could join our familia! Why won't you accept?" Bell thought about it and said,
"If I get in because of you, then I'll have no respect from anyone here. Why would I want to join a familia where I would get bullied by everyone?" Suddenly, Bete rounded the corner and saw the strange sight of Tiona holding Bell back from leaving her room.
"What the hell is going on here? Why is that runt here?" Tiona spun around and gave Bete a look that could kill. He visibly paled, but still didn't back down.
"Is he giving you a problem Tiona? Was he looking through your panties or something?" Bete looked between Bell and Tiona as if he was trying to figure out the dynamic. Tiona's face suddenly lit up and she said, "Why don't you and Bell fight! That way Bell gains respect and Bete shuts up!"