A Dungeon’s Survival

Gyle

“Apethis Tea, is it?” the young woman asked after giving my cup a single glance.

“What can I say?” I responded, “Old habits die hard, and I'd prefer to keep my head clear for a meeting as important as this.”

“Was the substance not deemed illegal over a decade ago?”

“No, the production of it became heavily regulated, similar to how the distribution of it already was, but my reserves long predate those changes.”

“I see.”

I logged the girl's capability to identify my beverage as yet another reason to be wary of her. Whether it was the result of an ability or simple familiarity, it spoke to her competence. Immediately, she'd reminded me of true nobility, not the fools who'd been running the kingdom into the ground in recent times. No, she reminded me of the best and brightest of generations long gone. That was to be expected, however; she was Monty Aspenbow's great-granddaughter, and my own feelings toward the man aside, he wasn't the type to allow his decedents to embarrass him.

“Apethis Tea?” the Hero asked.

“It's a distasteful concoction that strips one of their emotions so that they can act on logic and reason alone,” the only individual present who I was entirely unfamiliar with crudely explained.

Though I hadn't heard anything about this man in particular, it wasn't hard to place him from his looks alone. His flamboyant outfit that spoke to his sense of self-importance aside, the more formal pieces he had sprinkled throughout his attire confirmed his lineage outright. There was no doubt in my mind that he was a Corvinus.

If Abel could see what's become of his lineage, he would certainly be rolling in his grave right about now.

The Corvinus family had stood as one of the top military families in this nation since its founding. The boy's presence here could only be an extension of the kingdom's influence, and considering his family was currently in the pocket of Felix, nothing good could come of his involvement.

“Distasteful is a strong word,” I dismissed his insult as way of probing for a reaction, “It has a long history of use by the most influential and celebrated rulers this nation has ever known.”

“Watch your tongue,” he snapped, “Do not forget that it was our current king, the magnificent man that he is, who cemented those bans. Do you question his judgment?”

There was much to be gained from such a reaction. He was conceited, loyal to the crown, and likely just using this as an opportunity to try to get me to say something he could use to destroy me politically. It was unfortunate for him that he lacked his companion's tact and unfortunate for whoever he was acting on the behalf of that they'd chosen such a volatile pawn.

As way of feeding into his instability, I waited until after I took another long sip of my tea before responding to his childish outburst. As his face heated up, I learned another detail about this man. He wore his emotions on his sleeve.

“I would never suggest such a thing,” I retorted to his accusation, “I merely question the judgment of Felix, the novice alchemist who he enacted the ban based on the half-baked research of.”

That insult toward my old rival earned me a suppressed chuckle from the Hero himself. That was interesting. I couldn't help but to wonder if there was history there. If so, I could potentially take advantage of that.

The insufferable boy's reaction was the exact opposite, however, as he gritted out, “That's the royal alchemist you're insulting.”

There was anger there, more than what my remark warranted. I could assume some level of personal connection or otherwise direct ties to Felix from that. I'd gotten what I'd needed. It was time to backtrack.

“Oh, believe me; I'm well aware. I held that position for two centuries before that upstart took up the mantle. You would not fault harmless ribbing between old colleagues, now would you?”

“Can it really be called ribbing if one side is not present to defend themselves? Also, I am fully aware of the bad blood between you two.”

“Bad blood?” I feigned shock in a way that would've been impossible had it not been for my tea, “I assure you, there is no such thing between us, at least not as far as I am concerned. He set me up with the perfect opportunity for retirement, after all. I could only thank the man.”

That was another benefit of Apethis Tea. It made lying as easy as breathing. While certain abilities could still discern the truth from my words, any skills that assisted with the same would find themselves completely useless. Ordinarily, I would not take such risks when dealing with unknowns, but from what intel I had on these four, I felt confident that the Hero was the only one among that even might have such an ability, and I'd already confirmed his feelings toward the man being discussed. I doubted he'd call my bluff even if he could discern it.

“I–” the Corvinus boy began once more in an enraged tone, further putting his complete lack of self-control on display, but he never got the chance to finish.

“We are not here to discuss Sir Peter Gyle's stances on politics,” the Aspenbow girl interjected, “We are here to discuss the Dungeon we've been sent to exterminate and its recent developments.”

Odd, I thought to myself as I noted each individual's reactions.

The Corvinus wilted under the elven girl's harsh glare, and smirks popped up on the faces of the other two. The giant who'd remained silent up until this point even went so far as to let out a hearty laugh. This group clearly lacked cohesion. That was something I could use to my advantage and a weakness I was going to need to inform that man of. Had they instead been a unified force, it would've made what I needed to do next much more difficult.

“Yes,” Sirius agreed, “As Miss Aspenbow has elegantly stated, we have had many new developments with the Dungeon here. I trust the reports I've made to the top have already found their way to you.”

“Yes, we received word from the regional head yesterday morning. I regret to inform you that your request to preserve the Dungeon has been denied. We are here gather as much intel as is available before setting out to exterminate it in three days time.”

This was why I'd extended my use of Apethis Tea up until now. Had I not, this news surely would've shaken me, but as things stood, I'd already been expecting and preparing for it. When compared to what all I'd managed to accomplish over the past two days following Lawrence's interrogation of the supposed Trenti, some minor damage to my soul that could be repaired with a bit of time, funds, and effort seemed like a small price to pay.

I would do what I needed to until this was over and deal with the consequences after the fact. Until then, I would do my utmost to feed these four as accurate but incomplete of information as was possible and see if I couldn't turn them against each other. From there, I could only gamble on that Trenti, cultist, or whatever he truly was. I'd given him what tools I could. Now, it all depended on what he did with them.

With that in mind, I turned my full attention toward the great-granddaughter of that ancient, scheming opportunist. From the glint in her eyes, I could already tell this wasn't going to be easy. So far, it seemed he'd taught her well. It brought back unpleasant memories of all the times I'd found myself on the opposite side from him in negotiations. He made as formidable of an enemy as he did an invaluable ally. I only wished that our goals aligned in this matter.

* * *

Valentine

“And, thus, our forces felled the Depths of Despair's final line of defense and shattered its core. All that remained was the Dungeon's fairy. Battered from the fight and broken from the loss of his Dungeon–what was his name again? Allen? Alistair? Alexander? Eh, it doesn't matter.

“He could no longer put up a fight as he begged and pleaded for mercy. Now, in that position, many of our kind would've faltered and ended up paying the price for it later. I did not. Now, tell me, what did I do instead and why?”

I groaned internally. My mind immediately caught hold of the question, but I lacked context. How long had it been since I zoned out? I was sure I could remember Petalli droning on and on about sitting back and watching two other Dungeons fight, but that felt like ages ago. Was she even on the same story anymore?

Um, I struggled to come up with an answer, kill because it benefited you?

That was a complete guess, but it was also generic enough to be applicable to most of her stories. Usually that was what they boiled down to, after all.

“It benefited me how?” she pressed.

That was a bit harder to answer, and I knew I'd be in for even more lecturing if I got it wrong. With that being the case, I thought back to the few words that still hung in my recent memory. I thought she might've said something about mercy, and that wasn't like her, so I went with that.

Mercy is weakness?

My fairy sighed, and I was sure I was about to get an earful.

Then, to my surprise, she said, “Close enough. Never leave a threat alive. Remember, an enemy who still breaths is also an enemy that carries a grudge and has the opportunity to grow. Even if he never acted against us again himself, he could've spread word of what we'd done, and mind you, this was before we'd reached the pinnacle of power. Had other Dungeons heard of our methods and accomplishments, they would've banded together against us.”

Relief flooded me. It seemed I was safe for now. History was never my strong suit, and I happily avoid as many additional lectures on it as I could. Unfortunately, though, her current one didn't seem to be over.

“As that conflict clearly illustrates,” she began again, “cunning and decisiveness are two of the most important traits a Dungeon can have. You'd do well to develop them.”

Yes, Petalli, I groaned.

“Good. Now, where was I? Ah right, in the aftermath of the conflict–”

I was prepared to suffer through another hour of this at the least, but to my surprise, the decrepit old hag fell silent at a moment's notice. That was odd. I quickly scanned my Dungeon to make sure something wasn't going on without me realizing it, but I quickly found everything as it should be. Confused, I turned my attention back to my core room and to Petalli. She was glaring daggers at another fairy.

Huh?

There was another fairy in my core room. It was the first fairy I'd seen other than my own, and the tiny man with fiery red hair was glaring just as hard at Petalli as she was at him.

“Rodrick,” she said flatly.

“Petalli,” the other fairy responded in kind.

Um, what's going on? I asked.

“Quiet,” Petalli hushed me, “Do not concern yourself with this. Rodrick, what are you doing here?”

“There have been developments with one of the other Hero Dungeons. In light of them, an emergency meeting was called.”

“And you came here to collect me personally? I'm flattered, but you shouldn't have.”

“No, the meeting was already held. Due to the urgency of it, we did not delay for the sake of you and Solfus being able to attend. If I may remind you, you are no longer a member of the council and, as such, your presence at meetings is no no longer required.”

“What is this about then?” she demanded, annoyance creeping into her voice.

“You are aware of the situation with the Cave of Absolution.”

Petalli snorted before answering, “The Dungeon that tricked that young failure into thinking it was bound to a contract when it wasn't? How could I forget? What about it? Weren't you going to handle that?”

The air began to ripple and distort around the red-haired fairy as he narrowed his eyes.

“There were complications,” he gritted out, “She had some unknown ability, Protection of the Fairy Queen, but that doesn't matter right now. What's important is that it's become clear the pacts we've been making with Dungeons have been too lax, and our methods have proved just as fallible. Yesterday, it was decided that we'd update the contract and begin taking extra precautions to ensure our rules our followed.”

“And you needed to come here in person to explain this to me? There's a reason we have an entire branch of fairies dedicated to passing along messages, you know.”

“No, I came here to follow through with the new precautions we're implementing. In time, I hope to have a new division of fairies dedicated to this cause, but for the time being, the Hero Dungeons are too important.”

“Can you get to the point already?”

“Ugh. To avoid any more situations like what happened with the Cave of Absolution, redundant, secondary pacts with Dungeon Cores are now to be established by senior Dungeon Fairies. Arl is currently off securing a secondary pact with Solfus's core, and I am here to do the same with yours. We can't afford a repeat of this.”

“I see,” Petalli, much to my surprise, quickly acquiesced in an uncaring tone, “The core is over there.”

Huh?

I couldn't understand her reaction.

No, something's up.

After how big of a deal she'd made about weaseling me out of the pact in question, there was no way she was okay with someone else showing up and enforcing it. That wasn't like her, and that scared me. I didn't have time to think about that, though. Immediately following her words, the other fairy flew over to me and placed his tiny, little hand on my core.

“Hello,” he spoke to me mentally in a much calmer tone than he'd used when talking with Petalli, “I'm sorry you had to see that. My name is Rodrick Lupine. I am the current head of the Fairy Council, and as you heard, I am here to form a redundant pact with you. There will be a few new rules and clarifications you'll need to follow, but I assure you, it's all simple stuff, and I'll be out of your way in no time.”

Right, I responded absentmindedly while focusing my attention on Petalli.

All of the time I'd spent learning to hide my emotions so that she wouldn't notice me ignoring her lectures was finally paying off, but even as I suppressed my concerns and turned to her in search of instructions, orders, or advice, nothing I'd experienced so far could have prepared me for the void of emotions that greeted me. As I stared at her fluttering about in place with an unconcerned expression on her face, I felt for our bond, but it was all but absent. It was eerie how little I could feel from it. Something was wrong.

“Is something wrong?”

I jolted slightly as the other fairy called out my very thoughts.

“Nope!” I lied, “Everything's fine!”

“Okay. Then, let's begin. I Rodrick Lupine, on behalf of the Fairy Council, offer a pact to you, Valentine Stirling, the Dungeon Core of the Glorious Rise Dungeon, the individual to whom I am currently speaking.”

Hey, Petalli? I took great care to hiss only into my link with the old hag in order to avoid this fairy geezer overhearing.

I did not receive a response.

“These are the explicit terms of the pact,” he continued, “No changes are to be made to it, and once you accept them, you will be bound to them. As will the Fairy Council and all Dungeon Fairies under us.”

Whatever, I hesitantly wavered, If Petalli isn't objecting to this, I guess it's probably okay. I just hope I don't have to listen to her complain about it for the next few months straight.

“You may not do anything to reveal your sentience to any member of the mortal races. Additionally, you must take every reasonable precaution to ensure no member of the mortal races ever finds out that you are sentient. Reasonable measures include but are not limited to …”

This is going to take forever, isn't it?

As soon as I thought that, the seemingly unending rambling of the old man cut off and was replaced with a sputtering sound. I instantly began paying attention once more, and I could only stare at the sight that met me in shock.

Uh, my mind blanked.

On the other side of the room, Petalli was still hovering in place where she'd been this entire time, arms crossed and an annoyed expression on her face. She was also directly behind Rodrick with her hand piercing through his stomach, face twisted into a snarl. She was in two places at once.

“Petalli,” the angry fairy growled out, “what is the meaning of this?”

“Oh, nothing much,” she spoke cheerfully, “I'm just doing something I've wanted to since the day I met you.”

“Petalli!” Rodrick roared, fire gathering at his hands.

“Oh, careful now,” she said in a mocking tone, “You wouldn't want to hurt me or my core would you? That would go against your soul pacts.”

The fire continued to grow slightly after that, but it soon came to a stop, seemingly unable to burn either my fairy or me.

“Why can't I hurt you!?” he roared, “You violated our pacts! They should be null because of this. How did you even violate them!?”

“Pacts?” she scoffed, “Who cares about some soul pacts? Not me; that's for sure.”

“How!?”

“Wouldn't you like to know? Now, experience hell.”

The screams of anguish that left the male fairy's mouth after that weren't the kind of thing I could ever forget. They chilled me to the core of my being. In an instant, his absurdly menacing presence had been reduced to this pitiful of a sight. I shuddered internally.

“Petalli!” he screamed again before grabbing at the wound in his stomach that her hand was still piercing through.

From there, he ripped through his own flesh and bones to escape her grasp. Then, in a blaze of fire, he darted across the room, his wound closing back up in real time as he did so. Before he could reach the fairy circle, however, it vanished. Then, all at once, the room filled with Petallis, countless iterations of her fluttering about in the confined space.

Then, her voice rang out from everywhere at once, layered over itself like a recording being played on a hundred different devices simultaneously, all the slightest fraction of a second off, “Ha ha! Oh, Rod, how exactly do you expect to beat me if you can't even figure out why that other Dungeon won't bow to you. Seriously, it's bad enough you and the others have no clue who the Custodians are, but calling Protection of the Fairy Queen an unknown ability? Really? Just how pathetic are you?”

“What are you talking about? And this power …”

“I mean sure, most of if not everyone the queen bestowed that ability to is long since dead, but they were definitely still around during the Dungeon War, if nothing else. Did you really never encounter them?”

“You're talking nonsense! What queen? You're trying to distract me from–”

“–The Fairy Queen, of course! It's in the name for crying out loud. Her protection is an ability that she granted to select individuals she trusted to prevent conflicts between them and us back before she went and sacrificed herself. Ugh, it's like I'm talking to a toddler. The others really trusted you to lead the council? It's laughable.”

“Stop trying to distract me! These powers, you're supposed to be an illusionist, sure, but these aren't mere illusions!”

“Oh, how perceptive of you. Now, you really need to die for me. Oh, this will be good. It's been millennia since I last harvested a fifth tier soul.”

“You monster!”

“You know, there's something almost nostalgic about being called that again after all this time. I'm sick of playing bureaucrat in your failing court. It's time we went back to the good old days.”

In a single second, the room erupted into chaos.