Chapter 1

Pain.

A dull, aching pain throbbed at the back of her head.

Her body felt cold. The air was damp. Something heavy pressed against her senses, as if the very air itself wanted to crush her.

Her fingers twitched.

The hard, uneven ground beneath her wasn't anything familiar. It wasn't a bed, nor a couch—just cold stone.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

"…Huh?"

A cavern stretched endlessly before her. Jagged rock walls loomed overhead, their uneven surfaces glowing faintly under the light of strange, bioluminescent fungi. The air was thick, suffocating. There was an eerie stillness to it, broken only by the distant, unsettling echoes of something… moving.

Something alive.

She sat up.

And that's when she realized—her clothes weren't hers.

Soft fur-lined fabric wrapped around her small frame, a kimono of white and blue. Her fingers traced its surface, the sensation unfamiliar yet… not entirely foreign.

Wait… this is—

A screech.

Her body tensed. Instinctively, her gaze snapped to the side—where a group of monsters lurked just beyond the faint glow of the fungi.

Their bodies were grotesque, a fusion of chitin and bone. Hollow eyes gleamed with hunger as they crawled closer, their claws clicking against the stone.

Cold sweat dripped down her back.

No way.

This wasn't Earth. This wasn't a dream.

She wasn't even herself anymore.

Sitonai.

That name surfaced in her mind like it had always been there. And with it came knowledge—power. Magic.

Her breath steadied.

The monsters screeched and lunged.

She raised a hand instinctually.

—Wooosh.

A blast of frigid air erupted from her palm. The cavern temperature plummeted in an instant. Frost crawled up the monsters' limbs, sealing them in ice before they could even touch her.

A moment later, they shattered into dust.

She blinked.

Then let out a small, amused chuckle.

"…Well. That was easy."

A sudden tremor shook the cavern.

Her amusement faded.

Something was falling—no, someone.

She turned just in time to see a figure crash into the ground with a deafening impact. The shockwave sent cracks running through the stone, dust and debris filling the air.

When the dust settled, a woman lay in the center of the wreckage.

Platinum hair. Battle-worn silver armor. Green and grey eyes filled with quiet strength—even as she bled.

A tense silence stretched between them.

Then, the woman slowly looked up, locking eyes with her.

Sitonai tilted her head.

Then smiled.

"Oh? Another lost little lamb?"

The woman scoffed. Despite her injuries, her voice carried an undeniable authority, as she clicked her tongue.

"Tch. And who the hell are you supposed to be?"

Sitonai giggled, stepping closer, her red eyes twinkling with amusement.

"My, my~ Is that any way to greet your savior to be?"

The woman didn't move right away. Whether from exhaustion or caution, Sitonai couldn't tell. But those heterochromatic eyes of hers—sharp, calculating—never left her for even a second.

It was kind of cute, actually. Like a wary stray dog, trying to decide whether to bite or run.

Sitonai took a step closer.

"So, mind telling me where we are?" she asked, her voice light, almost playful.

A beat of silence.

Then, the woman clicked her tongue, shifting slightly despite her obvious injuries.

"… The Deep Floors."

Deep Floors? That meant absolutely nothing to her.

Sitonai tilted her head, her white locks shifting with the motion. "And that is…?"

The woman's gaze darkened. "You don't know?"

"Nope! First timer here~ I might need a guidebook for this!"

The woman's frown deepened, as if she was trying to decide whether she was dealing with an idiot or something far worse. But before she could say anything, her body swayed.

Sitonai blinked.

Then sighed.

"You know, if you wanted to act tough, you should've tried not collapsing first."

The woman barely managed to stay upright, bracing herself against the cracked stone floor. Sweat beaded her forehead, her breathing shallow.

Ah. Right. That wasn't just any fall she just took—she crashed from who knows how many floors above. Sitonai hadn't been paying much attention at first, but now that she looked closer, her wounds were… bad. Really bad.

Her armor was in tatters. Blood stained the silver fabric underneath. A long, jagged gash ran down her side, still sluggishly oozing red.

Sitonai pursed her lips.

She didn't know much about this world yet, but she was pretty sure 'bleeding out in some creepy cave under the earth' wasn't a great way to go.

She crouched down in front of the woman, resting her chin in her palm as she examined her more closely. "You're gonna die if you don't do something about that, you know?"

The woman scoffed, but there was no strength behind it. "Hah… I know that…"

"Hmmm~ But you're just sitting there. Are you planning to die here?"

"…No."

Sitonai grinned. "Good answer."

Then, without warning, she reached out.

A soft, icy glow spread from her fingertips, washing over the woman's wounds. The moment it touched her skin, a sharp inhale escaped her lips—but almost immediately, the bleeding slowed. The gash on her side knitted itself together little by little, the pain in her eyes fading ever so slightly.

The woman's gaze flickered. "…You can use healing magic?"

Sitonai smiled, tilting her head playfully. "Maybe~"

The truth was, she wasn't sure how much of her abilities were geared toward healing. Most of what she knew was all about freezing things to death, but hey, she was a basically a divine spirit, right? Healing should be part of the package somewhere.

The woman studied her with narrowed eyes. Suspicious, but… not ungrateful.

Then, after a moment, she exhaled, her body relaxing just a fraction. "Alfia."

Sitonai blinked.

The woman met her gaze, her expression unreadable.

"My name," she said. "Alfia."

Ah. So the stray dog had a name.

Sitonai smiled, her red eyes twinkling.

"Sitonai," she said in turn. Then, with a teasing lilt—

"Nice to meet you~"

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A/N: This fanfic is completely original. Not a translation.

This is yuri, so if you want to leave feel free. I just wanted a danmachi fanfic where Alfia was alive and a thing, love her character design so much.

I also like Sitonai's design and her creations, and I thought it'd be pretty unique to have a plotline cause one of her thirds is Freyja.

By the way the Sitonai in this story is her Stage 3. This is for 2 reasons. I like it better, and the relationship between alfia and sitonai isn't bad at the beginning.

This is cause Alfia doesn't like Bell's eyes, which are red, but likes his hair, which are white.

And Sitonai's first two stages is basically Illya. So there it is.

Ima be honest. I've only read a few fanfics of danmachi and only watched danmachi until season 2 or 3.

I really like their characters and the world though so I just decided to suck it up and do research instead of actually watching or reading the source material.

I mean...