Chapter 2: Getting a Falna

While Astraea and the two girls were talking about Bell, and about something they should have told him before hand, they saw Bell coming with Eina right behind.

When Eina was suddenly approached by Bell to come back since they were done with the talk, and that Bell was going to be joining the Astraea Familia, she was both surprised but also happy for Bell.

Bell was working very hard just to be able to survive in the streets by himself. She had been trying to get him to join the guild so he can have a place to atleast live in, but he would refuse everytime.

Seeing Bell have such a joyfilled smile on his face made her truly happy for him. Atleast he will have people who will now care for him, and help him live a decently good life.

Once the two made it back, Bell asked Astraea when will she be giving him her blessing.

"Before I give you my blessing, I need you to wear this for me."

Astraea held out a necklace with a green gem. Bell didn't understand what she was trying to do, but didn't question her as he took the necklace and wore it around his neck.

"Good, now press the gem on it once, I'll explain why after you do it"

Bell just did as she told her, not questioning what she was making him do, but Alise's michievous smile for some didn't help at all as he pressed the gem, which surprisingly clicked like a button.

As Bell pressed the gem, suddenly white glow enveloped his body, making Eina's eyes widened. She didn't know what was happening, but suddenly the glow started to diminish as Bell came back into her view....eh? Eina's eyes widened as she saw Bell.

Once the light had diminished, Bell noticed how nothing really felt wierd, but he did for a second loose his balance as if something in his body shifted. Though when he looked around, with the first person appearing in front of him being Eina, he didn't know why but here eyes were widened as if she had seen a ghost.

'Eh? Why is she looking at me like that....wha-"

Suddenly Bell noticed some white hair on his shoulder, his white hair. Did he have such long hair? Reaching behind his shoulder, he grabbed a fistful of hair to see if he was hallucinating, which he wasn't as he could feel himself grabbing his hair. It was a lot more longer then what he remembered it being.

And that was when he realized something wrong with his body. As he looked down he noticed why— there were two small bumps on his usually flat shirt— and before he could even check anything else, he suddenly heard Ryuu saying something.

"Um Cranel-san, here look in this mirror."

Bell looked towards Ryuu to see her holding a small hand mirror, which he didn't question why she had one in her hands. But what he did question was why there was the picture of a girl on the mirror.

The girl had long straight white hair that from the look of it reached halfway through her back, ruby-red eyes with a very beautiful and feminine face, a slightly slim but beautiful figure, and small breasts.

He was about to question who that was till he noticed the picture was moving and doing the exact same movements he was.

'Wait a second...is that..."

........

.....

...

"Wa-WHAT?!? A-Astraea-sama! What i-is this?! Why am I a girl all of the sudden?!?!"

That was Bell Cranel, somehow and someway. He completely ignored the way Alise was laughing at his reaction as he begged the Goddess for answers.

"Well you see Bell, when we had decided that we will let a man join the Familia, we have decided some rules."

"1st was that the boy had to be quite young, as to not get any perverts in our Familia, since a lot of men looked at the girls in the Familia that way.

2nd was that he would be asked the question that I had asked you when he first got here, 'What is Justice?' and if the answer was unique or what we hoped for, then he would be allowed to join the Familia.

And 3rd was kind of both for public and to not make the Familia girls that comfortable."

Bell was listening to every single word with proper attentiveness, what kind of rule will need him to be turned into a girl just to join a Familia?!

"For the 3rd rule, we had gotten that necklace made by an acquaintance of ours, its main purpose was to change the gender of any boy who wore it. It was so that other men and women don't start complaining if a boy suddenly joins our Familia, and to make the girls in the Familia a little more comfortable."

"P-Please tell me that I will be able to change back again— I can't stay like this forever!"

"Don't worry, just press the gem once again and you will be back to normal, you can try it right now if you want."

Bell didn't hesitate even for a second before he pressed the gem once again.

Nothing.

.

.

.

"WHY DID IT NOT WORK?!"

Bell kept on pressing the gem again and again, but it seemed to be not working at all.

Astraea who was looking at the sight before her didn't know whether to be amused or worried about what just happend. The necklace was only a few months old, it couldn't have broken so easily could it?

"A-Astraea-sama... p-please tell me this is j-just a prank. This ha-has to be r-right?"

"I... I am sorry to tell you this Bell, but it seems like the magic item broke suddenly."

Astraea sweatdropped as Bell fell down on his knees with his hands on the ground talking about how his pride as a man is shattered, and that he would never be able to find a lover like this.

Though Alise seemed to find this hilarious as she was clutching her stomach while on the ground laughing loudly.

"S-so how is your new body B-Bell-chan? Pft- Bell-chan. Hahhh, I haven't seen something so funny in ages."

Ryuu could only sweatdrop at the sight in front of her.

"Cranel-san, please do not worry, we will try to see if we can get the necklace fixed or not. Please know that this was not on purpose."

"I-I guess, I doubt I even have the right to get angry when I am going to be joining a Familia, atleast its just a gender change and nothing more. I can handle it— I hope so."

As Alise finally got back up, she noticed how late it was and told them that they should go back now, since Bell needs to get a Falna as well.

"Eina, we will be coming back tomorrow to get Bell registered."

Eina who was frozen at the sight in front of her suddenly noticed that she hadn't said anything yet as she stumbled suddenly because the sky was slowly getting darker.

"Y-yes Astraea-sama, I will get the paper work ready tomorrow! Take care Bell, I'll see you again tomorrow!"

Eina ran back to the guild, noticing how late she was and that she wil most definitely be scolded for leaving in the middle of work.

"S-so where are we going?"

Bell, who was had finally accepted the fact that he... no she will probably be a girl now forever. Astrea noticed how fast Bell got over her sudden predicament but didn't question it.

"Well lets go back to our Familia home now, others will be happy to meet a new member."

Astrea started walking as the other three followed behind her, with Alise again and again teasing Bell and Ryuu having to try and stop her. Astraea smiled as she realized that things were going to be quite interesting in the future.

"Welcome Bell, to the Stardust Garden, hope you find yourself comfortable here from now on."

Bell couldn't help but stare at the sight in front of him. It was a huge 2 story mansion with a large garden in the entrance filled with flowers and and trees. The mansion itself had vines and flowers on it as a form of decoration.

As the four made it inside the mansion, Alise ran to open the door as she suddenly shouted to greet the others.

"Guys! We are back! We even got a new member!"

Inside the mansion, in the front living room were members of the Astrea Familia. Or atleast two of them.

Bell remembered how Astraea told her that a few members were currently on an expedition to get some drop items, and that they will be back in a day or two.

Bell was able to tell what the two people were in front of her. One was most likely from the east, due to her clothes. She was a human with long black hair and was wearing a kimono with what seemed to be some sort of flower desgined clip in her hair. 

The other was a pallum which Bell could tell due to her short height and had pink hair which was most probably dyed.

The two girls looked at Bell but instantly their sight landed on the necklace on her neck making them realize that it was a boy, not a girl— not knowing the full story of what happend.

"Alise, I know you are happy to have found someone to use that magic item on, but you do know that he doesn't have to wear all the time right?"

"U-uhm about that, the necklace apparently broke after one use."

"It broke?"

"Yeah it broke."

Bell watched as Alise and the eastern girl just talked back and forth before she looked towards Bell and approached her.

The girl just looked at Bell for a few seconds.

"Well nice to meet you I guess. I am Kaguya Gojouno, though don't be formal with me, makes me feel wierd."

The girl now identified as Kaguya greeted Bell.

"I am the vice-captain of the Familia, hope our stupid captain didn't make ruin the impression of the Familia."

"HEY!"

Bell just sweatdropped as she saw how the vice-captain spoke to their captain.

"Ah- I-I'm Bell Cranel, I hope to be someone helpful to you K-Kaguya-san— and other then her laughing at me when the necklace stopped working, she was pretty nice to me."

"Well our captain can be quite annoying sometimes— anyways! I am Lyra, nice to meet you and hope we can be good friends."

"A-ah me too."

This time it was the pink haired pallum who spoke revealing her name to be Lyra.

It wasn't as bad as Bell thought, other then the whole gender change fiasco, everything is going quite fine.

"Anyways, Bell come here, I need to give you a falna now to make you an official member."

Astraea, who was currently sitting on one of the couches gestured Bell to come to her. Bell walked towards the couch as she sat down right in front of her new Goddess.

"Please face the other way and take of your shirt now, I believe you know how it works."

"U-uh yeah I do."

Bell moved as she was now facing the opposite direction while taking of her shirt, which she had to say had gotten quite uncomfortable now. She had heard from Eina how gods and goddesses gave mortals a falna. So it was good that she had that knowledge otherwise she would be embarrassed as to why her goddess want her to be half naked all of the sudden.

Bell removed the Black shirt that she was wearing, revealing her new body, mainly the upper half. She could clearly see the changes to her body now. Small breasts, and a feminine figure. Whoever made this necklace must be both good and bad at their job because even if it did do its job— it broke after one use.

Suddenly Bell felt a soft hand behind her back as it moved her hair in front of her shoulder. Bell didn't panic because she knew who it was.

Once Astraea had moved all of Bell's hair aside, she took a pin from Kaguya as she poked her finger with it, before letting a small drop of blood fall onto Bell's back.

Suddenly a bluish-white glow enveloped Bell's back as the symbol of the Astraea Familia appeared on her back. Once the glow was gone, Astraea took a piece of paper and pressed it onto Bell's back before allowing her to wear her shirt once again.

She was quite surprised to see Bell's status.

Bell Cranel

Astraea Familia

Race: Human

Level 1

Strength: I0

Endurance: I0

Dexterity: I0

Agility: I0

Magic: I0

Magic:

Jupiter: Swift-chant magic. Coats the user in lighting which increases speed and strength.

Once activated user can say 'Bolt' to turn the lighting cloak into lighting strikes that can be fired. 

After certain amounts of Lighting Strikes, the cloak will disappear.

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Skill:

Liaris Freese: Heroic Desires results in Increased growth.

As long as the user Desires to be a hero, their growth will increase in accordance to their desires.

Gives extra excilia to fellow Familia members if they share thoughts similar to the user.

Grants immunity to all charm effects.

Mirror: Allows user to perfectly copy any fighting style as long as they focus on it.

If the strength of the owner of the fighting style is more than that of the user, fighting style won't be properly replicated.

"Oh my.... Alise where did you even find hi- I mean her." 

It was obvious that Kaguya could not refer to Bell as a boy since she is litreally a girl now and that they have to refer to her as a girl in public now as well— but that aside, Kaguya was shocked to see status-sheet. They had practically hit a jackpot with their new member.

Lyra was already thinking about ways to make Bell train, these skills are insanely overpowered and very rare, probably one of kind. Such talent could not be gone wasted.

"HAH! Told you, I only find talented membe— GAHH?! Why did you hit me?!"

"Stop acting all high and mighty, you just got lucky is all that happened Anyways. Bell Cranel, get ready because tomorrow we will be having a long day."

Once Bell saw her own status sheet, she was surprised to see the skill 'Mirror', it seemed like a very powerful skill and was even more surprised to see such a powerful magic. But what surprised but embarrassed her the most was 'Liaris Freese'. It was a skill that was there out of her desire to become a hero.

Bell was happy that she wasn't questioned about that yet. As she was thinking, her line of thoughts were cut when suddenly Astraea started speaking.

"Anyways, its quite late now so we should probably have dinner and go to sleep. Alise could you do me a favor and give Bell some of your own clothes, we will have to go for shopping tomorrow to get Bell."

"Hai! Bell follow me! I'll show the best clothes I have."

"G-Gahh wait don't drag me!"

Alise practically dragged Bell to her room without listening to her.

Once Alise and Bell were gone, Astraea broke the silence in the room as she started speaking.

"Kaguya, Lyra, there is something I have to tell you two about Bell. I know you might get slightly angry after knowing this but please do me a favor and still treat her how you would any other Familia member."

"Astraea-sama— just what is it that makes you think we will start to treat Bell differently after hearing. I doubt someone who recently came to Orario can be of problem to us."

"Well I'll just be as blunt as possible, Bell's aunt is Alfia."

Both Kaguya and Lyra were shocked when they heard that. They didn't really know what to say as Alfia was probably the greatest enemy they ever fought, so knowing that Bell was related to Alfia by blood was quite a shocker.

"Well... not that we can do anything about it, I wouldn't let that cloud my judgement on her, but if she does act suspicious, I will not hesitate to attack her."

"Eh Kaguya-chan, you are being to serious, how can someone as inoccent as Bell be like that. You should just chill out!"

Lyra spoke to Kaguya as Ryuu just kept on nodding to what Lyra said.

"Lyra is right, I doubt anyone even cares about Cranel-san's background or blood relations that much to try and hate her."

That irked Kaguya quite a bit as she shot back at Ryuu.

"Don't act like a saint you stuck up elf, I bet you were even thinking of attacking right Bell when she told you about it."

Lyra just smiled wryly as she knew that a fight might start soon, but thankfully it won't be a physical one.

"Don't make up random things you vulgar woman, atleast I am not a wolf in sheeps clothing like you. Infact you probably would have attacked her first."

"Shut it you haughty elf, I doubt you were even listening to what they were talking about half the time."

Yeah... their fight was escalating quite a bit.

Astraea just listened to them with an amused smile as she continued to make dinner. Looks like everything is going to be fine.

After about 10 minutes of Kaguya and Ryuu fighting and Astraea cooking, Alise suddenly came back with Bell right in front of her, who she seemed to holding quite tightly while presenting her like some sort of doll.

"Ta-Da! What do you guys think of my fashion!? Its the brand new and beautiful... Bell-chan!"

Bell was wearing a simple black shirt with white shorts that reached just till her knees. It would seem there was no harm in that but Bell's face said otherwise.

"Uh— Cranel-san? A-are you okay?"

Ryuu enquired who was quite scared for what exactly happened in Alise's room since Bell looked as if she had seen some sort of nightmare. Suddenly she heard Bell mutter something under her breath.

"H-how can someone have so many clothes of the same size.... and all of those in just ten minutes. Am I in hell?"

The three girls just sweatdropped as they heard Bell. but Alise seemed to not have been affected as she just kept on rambling about Bell with sparkling eyes as if she had just created a masterpiece.

Before any of them could speak, suddenly Astraea called them all.

"Enough talking now already, dinner is ready."

Once Bell saw the dinner table, she no longer felt like she was in hell, but in heaven. Astraea stared at Bell as she kept on eating a bit of everything there was. Who wouldn't after eating barely anything for so long.

While they all were eating dinner, Astraea suddenly questioned Bell something which she had already expected at some point.

"Bell, you told me that you were raised by Zues, but I doubt it. Anyone who would have been raised by him would have been a pervert or a womanizer, but you seem like anything but that."

"Ah... well, he did try to get me to listen to him. He would ramble on about how I should save girls in the dungeon and make harem as it is a 'Man's Romance', but I would just ignore him— mainly because all the things he said to me would be the reason why he would often get beat up by the women in our village."

"Atleast you aren't some sort of pervert, though if you try to even do anything, my blade will in front of your neck in the next second."

Bell just gulped as she heard Kaguya's threat while nodding her head since there was food in her mouth.

"Anyways, once you are done eating Alise will show you where you will sleep for tonight."

"Ah- okay."

After that there was just silence on the dinner table with some questions here and there. Once dinner was finished and everything was cleaned up, Alise led Bell to her new room. 

It was a simple room with a single size bed in the middle, a closet next to it and a desk with a chair in one of the corners. 

Alise told Bell that she can change the room to her liking whenever she wants, and that tomorrow they will be going to get Bell registered in the guild.

That day Bell for the first time in three weeks was able to sleep in peace after so much had happened. Looks like she will be having quite the adventure soon enough.