CH48 Dancing Dungeon
Alex slept deeply after the multi-day journey through the woods and the town hall meeting. The sun was already high in the sky when he finally awoke the next day.
“Good morning sunshine.” A pink flamingo cheerfully greeted Alex.
“Ugh,” Alex groaned, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
“What are your plans for today?” Fufi prodded the still-in-bed figure.
“I don’t have any. We made an appearance in town to keep people from panicking but I didn’t think much past that.” Alex sat up in bed and stretched.
“I was thinking it might be a good time to focus on your magical girl training. Do you feel up to doing another dungeon run? I think it might be good to do things that don’t require being possibly infected humans.” The bird opened a curtain to let some light in.
“I’m still tired but you have a point. With a cold shower and some breakfast I should be good to go.” Alex attempted to psyche himself up.
Alex opted for a cold shower in the guild instead of using the communal baths due to the circumstances. The shower featured a cloudy glass valve and showerhead crafted by Merumeru. The showerhead was shaped like a flower, and the valve was a quarter-turn glass knob, a modified version of the design used in the carriage. The lack of available metal had limited their options.
Some of the tribal warriors had run the dungeon but none of them came out with a pile of pipes like Alex did. They came out of the rift with spears that were wrapped in ribbons, heart-shaped wooden shields painted pink, bows that looked like toys that when fired left a trail of sparkles behind them.
Breakfast had come a long way from the earlier fish and berries for every meal. Some tribal people whose job was to cook had taken to the kitchen like a fish to water. They switched from campfire cooking to kitchen cooking with gusto. With people spending all day preparing meals on the stove or grill, the new norm was for meals to be eaten in the common room of the guild. Things had settled into a bit of a communal lifestyle. No one paid for food and stuff gathered went into a common pool.
After eating a breakfast of eggs, fruit (not apples) and bread, Alex headed downstairs to face the rift.
Alex coughed a few times, “Bleh, sorry a bit phlegmy for some reason. I guess I better see what the next challenge will be. I hope I can get some more pipes for Merumeru.”
Fufi chided Alex, “Think about yourself too. It would be nice to get some things to help our favorite slime girl but the dungeon is to help you along your path. Remember the lessons from the first two ones and expand upon what you’ve already learned. Also, hopefully you can get some new shoes. Those wooden sandals are not enough.”
Alex approached the pillar and placed his hand on it, causing it to shatter into swirling blocks of stone that revealed a portal in the center. He took a deep breath and stepped into the swirling magic.
The other side of the portal was a unique space, a blend of a clock tower and a dance hall. Dark slits crisscrossed the ceiling, resembling a complex rail system. A large set of double doors blocked the path further into the studio at the far end of the room.
A life-sized marionette stood behind a podium near the door. She was dressed in a black sleeveless dress and a matching basque beret tilted to the side. Alex assumed the doll was female, as he considered the three dolls who had assisted him earlier as girls. The marionette had blue glass eyes and blonde hair. Numerous thin wires descended from the slits in the ceiling, attached to various points on her body. The doll nodded as Alex approached.
“Um, hello?” Alex coughed out a greeting, not sure if the marionette could even reply.
The marionette picked up a simple sign and held it before her. On it was written “Welcome to dance class. Pass the class to clear the level.”
Alex placed a hand on the door knob and opened it up. Instead of swinging outwards, the door slid into the wall. Gears turned and a tic-toc sound echoed in the large room. The door didn’t even need to be pushed open, after turning the knob it powered itself the rest of the way. The inside of the room contained floor to ceiling mirrors on all sides. Half a dozen life-sized marionettes hung from the slitted ceiling. The wires were so thin that they could barely be seen from a distance. There also was a padded bench in the corner with a brass drinking fountain next to it.
When Alex stepped inside and the door slid shut behind him.
Alex looked in the mirror. “I look exceptionally girly today.”
The reflection in the mirror revealed a slender figure with flared hips, small hands and feet, and delicate shoulders. There was no sign of an Adam's apple, leg hair, facial hair, or any other masculine feature.
Suddenly, a ticking noise and the sound of turning gears broke the silence. A ceiling panel flipped open, displaying a sign that read: 'Welcome to partner dancing class.'’
“Dance class?” Alex puzzled aloud.
A male marionette wearing a blazer, dress shirt and slacks stepped forward and spoke. “In this class we teach both leads and follows. To clear the level the student will need to demonstrate proficiency in partner dancing. We will begin with the basics. Everyone line up please.”
All of the marionettes sprung to life and lined up on both sides of Alex. There were a mix of female and male marionettes, all of them dressed formally.
“First we’ll do the basic steps, everyone please follow along.” The teacher marionette stated.
He took a step with his left foot, then a step with his right foot followed by three alternating steps.
“Step, step, triple step” He said what he was doing while making the steps.
Everyone in the room but Alex started following along doing the ‘step, step triple step’ over and over.
After the marionettes standing adjacent to Alex started giving looks, he joined in. He focused on his feet and made sure they were doing their thing right.
The instructor came up to Alex, “Your posture needs work.”
Alex kept doing the basic step alongside everyone else and mouthed a silent apology for his poor dancing form.
The dance instructor spoke loudly. “Okay, everyone don’t look down at your feet. They are not going anywhere so you don’t need to watch them. Keep a posture with your back straight, your legs bent slightly, stick your butt out and puff out your chest. Your eyes should be on your partner but we’ll get to that next. Slumping your shoulders and looking at your feet is not cute at all.”
“S sorry” Alex looked up and tried to do the correct posture while not fumbling the steps. Everyone still doing the steps helped keep him on track.
The group did the basic steps for around 15 minutes to set in the muscle memory.
“Class, please pair up. Ladies for follows and gentlemen for leads.” One of the female marionette’s joined the male instructor. “My beautiful assistant here has volunteered to dance the part of the follows. So ladies please use her as an example.”
The female marionette curtseyed gracefully.
The pair then stood facing one another and continued the basic steps.
“The only big difference is that the follow starts off on the opposite foot as the lead when facing one another. For example, I do a back step with my left foot and she will do a back step with her right foot.”
A male marionette approached and stood in front of Alex and bowed slightly.
Alex wasn’t surprised. He was in fact the shortest person in the room. This wasn’t really a battle worth fighting.
The lead couple led the group for another 15 minutes doing the basic steps mirroring each other perfectly for the partner dance practice.
“Good job everyone so far.” The instructor said, “The next step is to hold your dance partner. The important part of this is the connection. Everyone needs to be a little firm so that they can feel the give and take and know what to do from that. My lovely assistant will show a bad example first of what happens when a follow and lead don’t have a connection.”
The instructor took the female dolls hand in his. He took a step forward, she didn’t move her arm, went back and he almost walked into her. It didn’t look like they were in sync at all.
“Now keep your arm firm like you are supposed to.” He asked the other marionette.
The instructor walked forward and the space between the two remained the same. She took steps backward matching his pace.
The dance instructor continued speaking. “For partner dancing forming a connection is the most important thing. See how we are holding hands? I’m not grasping her hand, it is more like a hook. A lead’s job is to be foundational, his goal is to show off the beautiful dancer. The follow’s job is to take that foundation and use it to show off.”
The pair went back and forth side to side, not trying to do fancy steps, just walking to show the point so the rest of the class could learn.
“Next is how to hold a lady when dancing with her. There is more than one way but let's start with this one. Leads, your right hand goes behind your follow’s shoulder blade. Follows, when your lead is like this you must lean back slightly. That improves the connection. Follows, rest their hand on the top of the arm just below the shoulder. This will change slightly depending on the difference in height. The other hand, like shown earlier is like a hook. These are not steadfast rules, the importance is maintaining the connection between partners.”
To show the example, the instructor repeated the walking exercise before but instead of holding hands and keeping stiff the lady marionette leaned back into his hand and they were able to walk around easily, maintaining the distance between one another.
“Now please show us what happens if you don’t lean back and there is no connection.” The instructor asked.
Like before, he took a step forward, she stayed in the same spot and he almost walked into her.
“Now class, let's see you try.”
The marionette in front of Alex held his left hand out and Alex took it with his right hand. He gently pulled but all that happened was Alex extended his arm further.
The Marionette tilted his head.
“Ah darn, sorry I guess I wasn’t listening. Sorry I’m like a wet noodle.” Alex apparently wasn’t listening and they had to try again.
Alex and the Marionette reached out their hands again, and this time Alex held firm, establishing a connection. It was clear the Marionette was guiding Alex to move closer. As Alex stepped forward, the Marionette placed an arm behind his shoulder. Remembering his previous misstep, Alex leaned back slightly, mirroring the female marionette's posture from the dance class.
They practiced doing the basic steps facing each other and dancing slowly around the room.
The instructor motioned for everyone to stop. “The next thing would be a spin or a twirl. The concept is the same. The follow is just reacting to the connection. Leads, you have to be careful about this. You are not spinning your partner. Trying to force it is how someone gets a shoulder injury. All you are doing is just building the pressure and she reacts to it.”
He demonstrated the dance move by holding the female marionette in both hands and performing the basic step. Then, he pulled her arm across her body so that it was on the opposite side of her head. In response, she spun in a circle. He held his arm out at her shoulder height and caught her again with his right hand, placing it back on her shoulder blade.
“Okay, now you try class.” The dapper marionette said.
Alex wasn't sure if spinning would tangle the wires, but they seemed to be unaffected. Perhaps there was something strange happening with the ceiling, or maybe it was just typical dungeon weirdness.
Meanwhile, the dance class continued to follow the instructor's lead. They moved around the room, practicing the basic step and adding in occasional twirls.
“Don’t lose focus, keep your eye on your partner.” The dance instruction chided Alex. “Also, you need to watch your posture. Stick your butt out more and bend those knees. You look like a bean pole.”
Alex, despite feeling the pose was somewhat ridiculous, bent his knees and stuck out his butt, mimicking the instructor. He knew mastering the dance was crucial to succeeding in the dungeon.
The day was filled with practicing various dance moves, including send outs, ariels, and side-by-side routines.
Exhausted and drenched in sweat, Alex finally pleaded for a break. He sat on the bench, gulping down water, and longing for a shower. This was supposed to be recreational dancing. Why did it feel like going to the gym?
“Ugh, that took a whole lot out of me. I’m burning up.” Alex wiped his brow, feeling a little nauseated.
The room was completely quiet. None of the marionettes were moving. When Alex sat down it was like the whole thing was put on pause. Alex summoned the carriage and ate a sandwich, and gulped down a cloudy glass of water. Then put the carriage back into the card form. Seeing that none of them were going to complain anytime soon Alex decided to rest his eyes a bit. He closed them and sleep took him.
Opening his eyes, Alex cursed. A nap turned into falling asleep. Alex sat up and tried to run a hand through his hair but it felt surprisingly feathery.
“What the?” Alex gasped.
Arms were replaced by wings, feet were replaced by bird claws.
“Oh no.” Blinking a few times didn’t make it go away.
Looking into the mirror showed a harpy staring back. Alex had large breasts pushing against the corset. Placing a wing between [her] legs revealed that there was nothing swinging down there. The harpy’s wings were white with pink tips.
“Crap crap crap. I thought I did well practicing social distance and not spending too much time in groups. How in the world did I come down with bird flu?!” Alex complained to the very girly harpy in the mirror.