A Dungeon’s Survival

Connie

Two figures were fluttering about in my core room, but only one of them was familiar to me. It was Fabian, my former assistant. As for my other unexpected guest, despite being of a similar height as him, his appearance was starkly different.

Never before would I have used the word, “tall,” to describe a fairy, but in comparison to this newcomer, it suddenly seemed an apt description for my previous advisor. It was hard to tell how much exactly Fabian was taller than the other fairy by thanks to how the other one kept buzzing about in a frenzy, but a head or two taller seemed like a safe bet. Whether that was because Fabian was tall for his kind or this one was just short, I didn't have much of a frame of reference to go off of, but even so, I subconsciously found myself leaning toward this second fairy being the anomaly, if not for his height, due to everything else about him. I couldn't imaging that much muscle being packed into that small of a body being the standard for any species.

Shorter than Fabian or not, I would have under no circumstances described him as being smaller. Fabian was slender and had something of a sleek body. In contrast, the red-haired fairy, while lacking in the vertical department, was several times wider than his thin counterpart, and all of that girth seemed to come from his bulging muscles. It wouldn't have been an overstatement to say that he, compared to his size, had more muscles packed into his tiny frame than any member of the mortal races I'd seen so far. When that detail was paired with the throbbing veins on his forehead, the scowl on his face, the glare in his eyes, and the insults he was currently bellowing out at me, it made for an intimidating picture and painted him as the kind of person I didn't want to have to deal with.

“You insignificant, arrogant resource sink, you dare to make an enemy out of the council!? I should shatter your treacherous core on the spot for your transgressions! If you have any sense of self-preservation instincts, you should start groveling and begging for mercy the instant I lay my hand on that pathetic, worthless crystal heart of yours!”

Well, that's one way to say hello, I thought dryly.

I hadn't expected the fairies to leave me alone forever, not after Fabian's reaction when he found out I wasn't bound by the Fairy Council's pact and especially not after my conversation with Twelve, but I also hadn't expected my next interaction with them to start like this. I'd at least expected some degree of tact from them. When I'd wondered how they'd respond to what I'd done, I either pictured ethereal diplomats carefully constructing magical traps out of words or a tiny army armed to the teeth and storming my Dungeon. Them sending a short-tempered fay to throw out insults and threats at me as soon as they arrived, on the other hand, hadn't even been a possibility that crossed my mind. It flew in the face of everything I thought knew about fairies from my old world's stories, not that any of that information was necessarily reliable here anyway. Either way, though, it called for a reaction.

Hey, Archie, is there any chance you could negotiate with the angry fairy for me, please?

The aggressive representative of the council had outright stated that he planned on placing his hand on my core to establish mental communications. As it stood, especially considering his threats, I wasn't keen on allowing that to happen. Logically, that meant bringing in my diplomat to speak on my behalf.

Um, Archie?

I, however, received no response from the Trenti. Confused, I split off part of my focus to check on the fungal goblinoid. The state I found him in was concerning. Motionless in his laboratory, he was on his knees, trembling. Broken glass and magical liquids surrounded him.

Back in my core room, the tiny intruder shouted out another string of insults. As he did so, the room trembled slightly. As it vibrated, mere words from the fairy reverberating furiously throughout my tunnels, realization dawned on me.

I wasn't sure what was wrong with Archie himself, but as for the mess, the fairy's words had been the cause of it. As if to punctuate that thought, another potion vial tumbled from a shelf a mere second later. Perhaps I should've felt fear toward what the fairy was capable of after such a display, but instead, in that moment, seeing so much of my most reliable advisor's work shattered and gone to waste, I only felt irritation.

Hey, Fabe, I began, holding back no amount of venom with my words, I currently have an egotistical tyrant of a fairy invading my Dungeon, and my own bound fairy seems to be helping him to do so. I think that's enough to qualify as an emergency. Any change you feel like talking now?

He flinched hard at my words. Honestly, I didn't feel like talking to him right now, but I also didn't exactly have many other options. While I could hold a conversation with any of my intelligent monsters perfectly fine, Prism being the only exception, that wasn't the case for outsiders.

Almost none of my monsters could speak in actual words, most instead only capable of hissing, squeaking, or, in the case of Noctis and Loot, making disturbing groaning sounds that didn't even sound remotely natural. Normally, that wasn't a problem, but with Archie indisposed as he currently was, it limited my methods of communication. As it stood, I only had two options available to me, and sadly, Fabian seemed to be the more reliable of the two.

“She's trying to talk to me,” he reported my attempt at communication to his apparent superior in a subdued tone.

“Don't allow contact,” the red-haired fairy spat out, “It's me that she needs to deal with. You've already proven your incompetence.”

My bound fairy nodded, and with that, one of my two remaining options was eliminated. The problem with speaking to Fabian directly was that he needed to allow me to. It was a clause I'd regrettably worked into the pact I'd made with him before letting him bind his soul to mine, the same clause that had allowed him to cut off communications with me completely ever since he left. The only reason I was even able to attempt to contact him now was because he'd added an emergency exception to it, but even that required him to be willing to talk, which he didn't seem to be.

Unfortunately, that left me with only one avenue to speak with them directly that didn't involve letting them anywhere near my core. With that being the case, in a defeated tone, I reached out to the only other one of my monsters capable of proper speech. It wasn't ideal, but as a last resort, it had to work.

Hey, Stein, could you come to the core room really quick?

“Mistress?” the ghoul groaned back.

I sighed internally at that.

Yes, it's me, I clarified in spite of the fact that I really shouldn't have had to; then, I repeated, Core room, go. Now.

“Mm.”

Immediately upon hearing my order, the Mimicry Ghoul began slowly ambling in the direction I told him to. As I watched that, a surge of annoyance flooded me.

Stein.

“Yes?”

Could you please hurry it up a bit?

“Mm.”

He picked up his pace, but despite the fact that I knew he could go faster, I didn't try pushing my luck any further. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have said, “a bit,” but what was done was done, and I had a much more urgent concern in that moment anyway, namely the conversation between the fairies that I was still listening to with my split perception.

“Fabian,” the red-haired fay asserted his authority, “go pluck that core out of the water for me.”

“Um, out of the water, sir?” Fabian stammered back.

“Yes.”

“I, uh–I don't have any protections against water.”

“Do I look like I care?”

With an audible gulp, Fabian made to do as he was told. The betrayal I felt in that moment was enough to surprise even me. He'd already left and cut off communications, but something about the way he looked at the water with reluctance, seemingly more concerned about getting wet than with the fact that he was about to deliver me into the palms of someone who'd threatened my life not even a minute earlier, hurt. Apparently, none of the time we'd spent together and nothing we'd accomplished meant anything to him anymore. He was just a dog of his beloved Fairy Council, nothing more.

Pain, sadness, and betrayal, I felt all of that as I watched him take a deep breath and drop from the air into the pond that housed my core, but there was more than that. I also felt disgust. The other fairy treated him like shit and insulted him, yet he just did as he was told with little to no complaint. I didn't know how much of that was actually voluntary and how much was because of whatever magically binding contracts he was under, but it was pitiful to watch regardless, and it made one thing clear. I did not want to submit to such an organization.

Glaring, I watched as he awkwardly dove into the water and, with great effort, swam toward me. That glare did not go away quickly. His every stroke was sloppy and looked to cause him great discomfort. As a result, it took him a painfully long amount of time to reach me. All of that time, however, wasn't wasted.

With every second that passed, I felt my determination grow and the sentimental emotions in me fade into the background. I was not about to roll over and just let the fairies who'd kidnapped me from my original world do whatever they wanted at my detriment. With those emotions fueling me, I took note of the potential weakness to water Fabian was showing for later and waited for the right moment. Then, as he placed his hands on my core in an attempt to lift it and I felt our mental connection snap back into place from the contact, I acted.

Don't you dare! I snapped at him.

I pushed every last ounce of my determination and as much emotion as I could into those words. I filled them to the brim with my frustrations, my anger and betrayal from his actions, the disgust I felt at him, and every last drop of pain I'd endured in this world so far. All the while, I pulled on the ability Twelve had gifted me, not knowing exactly how it worked but willing for Protection of the Fairy Queen to lend me whatever aid it could nonetheless. The result, I could only imagine from his reaction, must have felt like the mental equivalent of a slap to the face dialed up to eleven.

He pulled back immediately, a look a pain twisting his expression and bubbles fleeing from his lips. A couple of seconds passed as he struggled to maintain control over whatever breath he still possessed and looked at me in a mixture of shock and confusion. He hesitated for only a moment. Then, he reached out again.

I prepared myself for for another counterassault in response to his touch, but it seemed that wasn't necessary. His fingers stopped just short of my core and froze. I couldn't decipher his expression as he remained in that position for a a few long moments, but whatever he was thinking aside, he eventually retreated, beginning his ascent back to the surface of the pond instead.

“What are you doing?” the other fairy demanded the moment he breached the surface without me, “Where is it?”

“I–I–I don't know,” he coughed out before scrambling for the shore and expelling water from his mouth, “I couldn't lift her up. It was like a mental attack, and afterward, it felt like I was trying to disobey a pact. There was nothing in the pact I made with her that should be able to do that, though. It–it doesn't make any sense.”

The red-haired fairy glared at him. Then, after a deep breath, he lifted his hand above his head, palm open. In that position, he spoke in the calmest tone I'd heard him use so far.

“I see. Then, it can't be helped. I'm sorry Solfus, but it seems this one cannot be recovered.”

The moment the words left his mouth, a raging fire spontaneously burst into existence at his fingertips. It was a ridiculous sight, a tiny fairy conjuring enough fire to light up the sizable room as though it were daylight underground. An instant later, in a motion that was so fast it seemed instantaneous, he thrust his arm forward. The fire moved at the same time, erupting toward my pond. Then, quicker than I could even pray that the ability gifted to me by the Custodian would work, the flames halted in place midair.

Numb from fear at the display despite my seeming safety, I could only stare at the person who'd just tried to mercilessly kill me without hesitation. I burned that image into my mind. This was the organization that'd kidnapped me, and this was the organization I'd nearly submitted to. I committed every detail of the scene to memory, from the way that the water began to steam as the fire neared it to the snarl of rage that the fairy's expression twisted into. This was the Fairy Council.

“Why can't I move?” my would-be killer slowly growled out.

Taking a moment to compose myself, I pushed down the fear that the impressive display of magic had invoked in me. The Fairy Council was dangerous and volatile. I knew that now, but that didn't change the fact that I needed to deal with them, and in doing so, I could show no weakness. Once I was done, I spoke mentally.

Stein, repeat after me. Are you done with your temper tantrum yet? Ready to actually talk?

The words were groaned out by the ghoul as I thought them, only the briefest of delays between me thinking them and their being repeated. In response to them, the vain on the council representative's forehead bulged even further. He wasted no time in redirecting his failed attack toward the entrance to the arena where Stein stood. As he did so, the flames moved, but once again, they stopped short of their mark.

“Argh!” the short-tempered fairy roared, “Why can't I release this damned spell!?”

Ha, wouldn't you like to know?

After thinking that, I waited a few long seconds before realization sank in, and I deflated. With much less enthusiasm, I started again, Stein, repeat after me …