Chapter 76: Answers, and the Questions They Raise (Patreon)

Little bit shorter than the previous ones, but still right about two thousand words, I'm on the fence on this one so let me know what you think!

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The tenth floor was, simply put, a disaster. Sela emerged from the proper entrance, into the center of the room, and was very briefly stunned into silence as she took in the carnage. The pristine, delicate white was gone, the slow dance of crystalized water and the slowly swirling crust of ice at the top was gone, even huge swaths of the light, intricate coral was gone and what wasn’t was charred and chopped and rotted away and she couldn’t help but feel at least a little sad for what was easily one of Aby’s most gorgeous creations. 

But that sense of loss was fleeting as she turned to look at those responsible, concern in her gaze. The first thing she noticed, the hardest thing to miss, was the wyrm. The twenty-two meter snake was nearby, and her massive form and deep coloring was impossible to not see. She rushed over to the huge serpent, placing a hand on her forehead when she got there.

Sela was quick to question the wyrm about any potential injuries she might have; despite the lack of visible wounds Sela couldn’t help but worry about her, even if the wyrm herself was quick to dismiss the question with a curt shake of her gargantuan head. Sela wanted to make sure, but the wyrm’s stare was quickly getting hard to bare, it was amused and judgmental all at once, like the wyrm was humored by her concern but indignant to be shown it all the same. The tiny Fae thus took the wyrm for her lack of word and turned to the actual residents of the tenth floor, most prominent of which were Arctuross and his companion.

The pair of them were a good distance away from the wyrm, one eyeing her warily and the other with his eyes closed while he sat on one of the few still-thriving corals, and it seemed the serpent was staring them down in turn. Sela wasn’t sure what had gone down, but she doubted some small spat would be enough to ravage the floor so thoroughly much less shut Aby down like this, and Arctuross was in a unique position with his ability to speak and all. 

As Sela began to approach the two, the knucker’s attention shifted to her and Arctuross opened his eyes, watching her approach. Or rather, they were watching the approach of the living ribbon of mana that was lazily swirling alongside her, the infant water elemental that emerged from the entrance as she turned away from the wyrm, having consumed any nearby water crystals. The two were confused by it, to say the least, and Sela could even sense the wyrm’s puzzled gaze on her back, darting between the elemental and its obvious partner.

But as she neared Arctuross, she was relieved to find that their confusion didn’t devolve into hostility, which was likely for the best, and the two finally turned away from the little force of nature to look at Sela.

“Hello, Partner, welcome to my home once more.” Sela responded in kind, but was circling around Arctuross and his serpentine companion to check for injuries just as she would have done with the wyrm. Sela was satisfied that the knucker wasn’t hiding any maladies, but she gave a pointed look to Arctuross’ arm, the writhing, inky tendrils marring his white scales and the way he tried to ignore it. Arctuross, after noticing where her focus was, glared behind Sela, and the nereid could almost feel the wyrm’s pride radiating back. She made a promise to have a long talk with the serpent later, after what she could guess would be a long talk with Arctuross. She sighed, then asked the question she came to see answered in the first place.

“What happened here, Arctuross? Why is your home in ruins, and why did it make Aby so angry? They’ve never gotten so mad at an invader before, so what did you do?” Her tone was harsher than she’d intended, and she felt a little remorse seeing the guilt in the dragonkin’s eyes. She was about to apologize, even, but the man pushed off of the table coral he’d been sitting upon, kneeling so low to the rocky floor that his head disappeared amongst the coral and the rubble, even going so far as to use ice to hold his position. 

Sela tried to urge him off of the ground, but a thin screen of ice formed between her and him, and the man spoke before she could swim around.

“I am deeply sorry for my failures. I was injured in a petty brawl with the snake, one I allowed myself to be instigated into and one that I almost allowed my own partner to be wounded in. It was… a rash action, and this injury,” Arctuross, still looking down, lifted the arm above his head and let Sela take an even closer look. The inky marks coiled and waved, dancing across his scales and leeching the luster out of anything they crossed. “may have been what kept me from acting fast enough to see the Creator’s enemies slaughtered before they acted.

“They brought it from outside, it was a Creator, but not ours. The cowards fled, but they left one who fed it with their life and guarded it with their flesh. They insulted the Creator on my floor, and they only paid for it with a single life.” The frustration in his voice was palpable, and even when he pushed himself back upright, he seemed a little deflated. Sela, however, wasn’t paying as much attention. She wasn’t made aware of much more than the basics when she became a Dungeon Fae, Vol only imparts the most essential knowledge onto a Fae when they finally bind with their Homes or their Partners, but she was made acutely aware of how dungeons viewed each other.

Even she felt it was wrong on some deep level, not with the same amount of vitriol that Aby had shown, but still enough to find herself growing angry before she relaxed her clenched fists. She drifted to the side, falling into the incorporeal embrace of the water elemental, and just like with her undines it helped calm her a little. It was a great deal more surreal, however, never once would she have thought she’d be cuddling with an elemental of all things, they were things limited to stories and the memories of her oldest ancestor.

That disconnect proved beneficial, however. It made her problems seem a little smaller, a little less major, if she had the help of a natural disaster while her Partner was resting. It also let her think a little more, and realize that resting was what Aby was doing; if it was another dungeon then the core would be angry and stressed and quite probably lashing out when they woke up, but Aby wasn’t hurt and that was more important than anything else.

As her mind calmed, she was able to think over how best to help, not that there were many options. She’d probably be best if she returned to the core room and stayed there for however long it took for Aby to awaken. The core could use the comfort, and she would be there to provide it. Ideally, Aby would come out of this better than ever, possibly with some new creatures to play with, but it didn’t explain who would go after them like that or what they even stood to gain from it beyond cruelty for the sake of it. 

She realized that Arctuross and his companion were both watching her now, and the former must have apparently been viewing her silence for disappointment or even anger, if him continuing to shrink back was any indication. She gave the pair a weary smile, glad to at least know what happened to cause this chaos even if it did nothing to help her now, and it seemed to help.

“Thanks, Arctuross,” She waved her hand before he could interject, “You fought hard, you did your best and it was enough to keep Aby safe. They will recover, and then maybe we can help you get better, too.” She motioned to his arm, and he seemed torn between gratitude, worship, and denial. She didn’t let him sort it out, though, before she whirled around.

“And you!” She barked, the wyrm that was languidly moving over freezing in her tracks, “I don’t know why you came here, or what made you fight, but doing that was completely uncalled for! Even if you had no idea people were coming so soon, you obviously know what you were doing when you cursed him.” Sela was swimming towards the massive serpent as she berated her, and with every passing meter and sternly shouted word, the critter grew more confused. Sela knew she was wasting words, and it wasn’t like the wyrm would or even could apologize for something she felt in the right about, but the nereid wouldn’t drop the issue so easily.

“Arctuross was right, if his arm wasn’t cursed, whatever that curse even does, Aby might not be asleep right now.” That, at least, got through to her, and Sela could even see the wyrm’s hood droop. “Again, I don’t know why you two fought, or why you’re even on his floor in the first place, and I can’t stop you from doing what you want. Maybe these invaders would have gotten farther if you weren’t here in the first place, but whatever the case, no more cursing anyone you aren’t allowed to kill.”

It was an ultimatum Sela wasn’t even sure the wyrm would be forced to follow, forget doing so willingly. She wanted to hope that the wyrm would listen, however, and the wyrm looked at least suitably understanding. She sighed again, swimming up to the wyrm and placing her hand on the serpent’s forehead.

“Thank you, though. You fought for Aby, and they’ll get better. Please don’t make the next fight harder for us, okay?” The wyrm perked up and nodded, sending Sela tumbling back a little with the water that was whipped up by the motion. Whether or not the message stuck, only time would really tell. If nothing else, she could make the request to Aby when the core woke up. Regardless, Sela had said almost all she could think of saying and learned all she had set out to learn. She turned back to the entrance to the eleventh floor, this time at least a little more confident that there was no immediate threat, before leaving one final message.

“While Aby is asleep, please try and keep watch of floors that outsiders won’t be able to sneak past.” And then Sela swam downwards, hoping that the three would follow her request. If the wyrm went back to her floor, she’d feel much better. With the wyvern in his boiling domain, and the wyrm back where she normally hangs out, there’d be an alright distribution of strength to feel comfortable while waiting in the core room for any change in Aby.

Having the elemental as a last line of defense, along with her enigmatic doppelganger, would help her sleep easy, or, as easily as she could under these circumstances. As the two descended through the eleventh, Sela was deep in thought. The deep blue sand was still mesmerizing, and watching the elemental dance along through it, draining water crystals in a dazzling display distracted her. She wanted to be back in the core room when Aby awoke, but perhaps she didn’t need to rush. It might be for the best if she stopped by the more important floors, made sure the drake and wyvern, and maybe flagship if it was able to understand, knew what to expect, and knew that things would be okay.