“I’m so sorry, Lucy!” Chloe said, driven close to tears while I tried to get the worst off my skin with a simple wet cloth.
“It’s fine Chloe. Why didn’t you tell ur right away you were feeling unwell?” I asked nicely, barely able to control my twitching right eyelid.
“I … I didn’t want to be a burden.” She admitted, looking straight towards the ground embarrassed.
“You are more of a burden like this …” Ellie said quietly, rubbing a bit of puke off my leather armour.
“I didn’t want to leave snuggles …” Chloe’s said, looking over towards the boys from the rock we were hiding behind.
“Snuggles? You call Schwarz snuggles?” Ellie said, laughing quietly. While Chloe looked at her angrily, Ellie handed me my attire back which I promptly wore disgusted.
“It’s alright Chloe. Don’t worry about it.” I said, placing my gloved hand on her shoulder and smiled as nicely as I could. She seemed to calm down somewhat right away, but even more so as we went back and Schwarz ran up to her like a puppy.
“Are you alright, my angel?” Snuggles and angel … I was so close to puking on both of them.
“Yeah, I’m fine now. Don’t worry about it … I don’t know what happened to me either.” She said which made Sofie blink a few times in confusion. Even I couldn’t help but look at her dumbly, but I didn’t say anything.
“As long as you are fine now.” Schwarz said, hugging her tightly which made Mrs. Angel smile brilliantly.
A bit weirded out, I strolled over to Louis right away.
“At least we don’t have to go through half the floor like this.” He said and pointed over to the door in the wall which had magically appeared sometime after the boss had been dealt with.
“Lucky me …” I said, holding my distance from him as I smelled really badly. “Shall we go then?”
“Sure.” He said and opened the door, waiting for all the others to pass through before he entered the circular room himself. It was illuminated by the same glowing moss that grew on the whole ceiling inside the dungeon.
In the middle, there was one of these black obelisks we directly walked towards while grabbing our hands, forming a human chain in the process.
“Back to the surface.” And once more, we were instantly teleported back into the mysterious large crypt which had destroyed a few buildings in the past.
The room was filled with adventurers but somehow, we had managed to land in a quiet corner which was why we didn’t appear in someone else’s way suddenly, which apparently happened more than one might think.
A few humans looked at us strangely as we walked out of the crypt and only stopped outside in a rather deserted place.
“Hey, Lucy. Do you want one of my dresses? We are about the same size so …” Ellie asked to which I could only nod eagerly.
“Thanks … I’ll keep a bit of distance on the way back though. I don’t want to bother you.” I said, smiling a bit bitterly.
“No, it’s fine!” Louis said right away, but I could only shake my head.
“I insist.” I said, and shooed them in front of me. With a bit of distance, I followed them right away, the goddess of life right by my side.
“And? Have you though about ending her life already?” Irminsul asked, clearly wondering what went on in my mind.
“You know very well I didn’t.” I mumbled quietly, looking over towards her with so many questions floating around my head. “… why are you really here, Irminsul? It’s nice to be visited by you, but I don’t believe that’s everything.”
“Right … I didn’t know from the very beginning, but that is a rather special dungeon you were in. The twentieth floor is basically a death trap.”
“I’ll tell them that. I’m sure they won’t die that easily then.”
“No … you don’t understand. After the fifteenth floor, there aren’t any more obelisk crystals but rather teleportation gateways. And the nineteenth one leads to a place not on this world.”
“Now I’m interested.”
“It leads to purgatory.”
“What? Is this the way out of purgatory for Aska?”
“It’s always active … so I don’t think so.”
“… shit. But why purgatory? There isn’t anything happening in there.”
“You might think that way. But since Aska hasn’t been interested in maintaining the prison lately, a whole lot managed to escape.”
“No … I don’t accept that as an answer. What is going on here?” I asked, stopping in my tracks and staring right at her. “Irminsul, it is time to tell me the truth.”
“I can’t. I would like to, but I can’t. I promised that I wouldn’t say anything and I intend to hold that promise. I don’t want to start another war … but Aska might tell you … once he got here that is.” She explained and looked away from me a bit saddened while I thought about what Aska would start a war over. Which was – sadly - basically everything.
“You know what? I’m going to purgatory then. And I’m taking what’s mine.” I said, stomping the ground and walking after the others shortly afterwards.
“Lucinda, it’s dangerous. Even for you.” She said, following me right by my side. I knew for sure I was way more powerful in purgatory than on Solaris, which made me wonder why she looked at me concerned.
“Not if I make sure the necromancer knows about this secret in a bit.” I explained, grinning wryly in the process.
“He? You want to take him with you?” She asked astonished even though it should be obvious that I wanted to get rid of him in there.
“Amongst others, yes.” I told her quietly, already thinking if I should take the idiots with me.
“I hope you know what you are doing.” So did I … but I wasn’t so sure about that.
“I have no clue what I am supposed to do! I know I have to kill the demon king, but I don’t know if Aska doesn’t want me to do exactly that! What if I accidentally open the way for Aska? I don’t know shit and you are part of the reason for that. The only certainty I have is that there is something down there which is mine and I will get it, no matter what.” I said rather angrily and squinted my eyes.
“I’m sorry.” She said, sadly still unwilling to tell me the truth. Sighing quietly, I realised that I had a hard time being angry with her and scratched my cheek.
“Yeah … and that’s why we are playing monopoly tomorrow.” I said, dashing towards the others as they had arrived at their inn. As I turned my head around, I noticed that she wasn’t there anymore and shrugged my shoulders.
Going inside, I noticed Sofie tapping on Chloe’s shoulder while Ellie guided me into her room. Thankfully, she really did have a dress I could wear which I promptly took and excused myself into the bathroom.
It took me around ten minutes to clean myself properly, but after I did so, I left the room refreshed and dumped all my stuff into a bag Ellie gave me. Strolling back downstairs, I met a very exited Chloe halfway down and a rather stunned Sofie on one of the tables.
“So? About what did you talk with her?” I asked, even though I could guess the answer very well.
“I’m sure she will tell you on her own.” She said, clearly not in the mood to tell me that.
“Chloe can’t hide it forever after all.” I said and winked at her right away.
“You noticed?” She asked taken by surprise even though she should know I lived far longer than they did and could very well discern the symptoms of a new life being made.
“I was puked upon, she looked less than healthy and … well, you told me what these two were doing already.” I said quietly and took the seat opposite of her.
“I just hope Schwarz takes it well …” She said, holding her head in desperation.
“I doubt it. He dreams of heroic feats, travelling through the world and defeating the demon king.” I answered truthfully. And honestly, that development got on my nerves quite a bit. I didn’t care at all who Schwarz made love with, but as soon as it turned into a problem, I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
“And a kid is in the way of all of that.” Sofie admitted, resting her forehead on the table.
“I can only hope they marry right away … otherwise Chloe and her kid will be in limbo for quite some time.” I said, hoping he would take responsibility and actually solve the problem right away.
“Well … it’s hard to imagine that.” She said, looking at me as if I was the source of all their problems. “He wants to marry you … and since you don’t seem too bothered by Louis’ and Schwarz’s feelings, they will continue to love you into all eternity.”
“Then what do you suggest? Crush their heart a month before they fight the demon king? Sofie, we are closer to all out war than you think and two demotivated boys and one girl who hates me because I crushed her beloved’s feelings is exactly not what this world needs.” I hissed a bit angrily, still keeping my voice down so that the other visitors wouldn’t hear me. That Sofie blamed me for Schwarz actions was the epitome of over reliance on me … and I hated it. It was like keeping check on four kids I didn’t want to have but needed.
“But it can’t continue on like this either.” She said, a bit taken off guard by my sudden anger.
“I don’t have all the answers! You all keep looking at me as if I knew everything. But I don’t. And I certainly didn’t expect Schwarz to make so much trouble when I leave him alone for a little more than a month.” I said, gripping the table hard. I should have disbanded that group long ago, that much was clear at this point. And luckily, I did chose to let the best of humanity lead the charge against the demon king which didn’t necessarily mean they would have to do it.
“Lucy, I know you want us to solve these kinds of problems on our own … but this time, it is not possible. Louis and Schwarz barely get along these days and Ellie is always on Louis side. This group will break up if you don’t do anything. And I know you need us. Otherwise you wouldn’t invest so much time in us.” But my friend still kept on asking for help. Sighing quietly, I put together a plan in a mere second and nodded a bit.
“… you are going to help me if you like it or not. Just so that you can see what kind of decisions I have to make because of you. And I swear if you complain even once I won’t help you out anymore.” I said and stood up from the chair.
“Thank you.” She said and lowered her head a little.
“Bring her to the cathedral tomorrow.” I said and nodded towards Ellie who was approaching us fast.
“Did you know that Chloe is pregnant?” She asked Sofie, squinting her eyes in the process.
“I didn’t know for sure.” Sofie admitted right away in a calm voice.
“What the fuck is that idiot doing? He is sixteen for heavens sake!” Ellie said, sitting right down on the place I just vacated. She was more than angry at Schwarz for ruining their future as a group. “How are we supposed to defeat the demon king now? Travel with a pregnant woman, or leave her behind so that they can pressure him with her?” That was … a surprisingly accurate question. If I were to fight them, I would target Chloe right away and break Schwarz’s spirit with that.
“Calm down Ellie … Sofie and I have a plan already.” I said nodded towards her and left her behind, even though she was inquiring about our plan through the whole room.
Finally stepping outside into the bright sunlight once more, I noticed the wooden carriage on the other side of the road and strolled over towards it. After opening the door wide, I jumped into it and took the seat right next towards Hannah.
“And? How did it go?” I asked, hoping they had made some progress.
“We are getting there. Slowly, but we are getting there.” Hannah said, closing the door to my left with her wind magic right away.
“And you? How did it go?” Luna asked, exited to hear the story of the day.
“Nicely … Schwarz has a girlfriend who is pregnant, Ellie blames him for endangering all their group efforts and I need to make sure to separate the two lovers as early as tomorrow … my life is so great.”
“I’m so sorry, Lucy!” Chloe said, driven close to tears while I tried to get the worst off my skin with a simple wet cloth.
“It’s fine Chloe. Why didn’t you tell ur right away you were feeling unwell?” I asked nicely, barely able to control my twitching right eyelid.
“I … I didn’t want to be a burden.” She admitted, looking straight towards the ground embarrassed.
“You are more of a burden like this …” Ellie said quietly, rubbing a bit of puke off my leather armour.
“I didn’t want to leave snuggles …” Chloe’s said, looking over towards the boys from the rock we were hiding behind.
“Snuggles? You call Schwarz snuggles?” Ellie said, laughing quietly. While Chloe looked at her angrily, Ellie handed me my attire back which I promptly wore disgusted.
“It’s alright Chloe. Don’t worry about it.” I said, placing my gloved hand on her shoulder and smiled as nicely as I could. She seemed to calm down somewhat right away, but even more so as we went back and Schwarz ran up to her like a puppy.
“Are you alright, my angel?” Snuggles and angel … I was so close to puking on both of them.
“Yeah, I’m fine now. Don’t worry about it … I don’t know what happened to me either.” She said which made Sofie blink a few times in confusion. Even I couldn’t help but look at her dumbly, but I didn’t say anything.
“As long as you are fine now.” Schwarz said, hugging her tightly which made Mrs. Angel smile brilliantly.
A bit weirded out, I strolled over to Louis right away.
“At least we don’t have to go through half the floor like this.” He said and pointed over to the door in the wall which had magically appeared sometime after the boss had been dealt with.
“Lucky me …” I said, holding my distance from him as I smelled really badly. “Shall we go then?”
“Sure.” He said and opened the door, waiting for all the others to pass through before he entered the circular room himself. It was illuminated by the same glowing moss that grew on the whole ceiling inside the dungeon.
In the middle, there was one of these black obelisks we directly walked towards while grabbing our hands, forming a human chain in the process.
“Back to the surface.” And once more, we were instantly teleported back into the mysterious large crypt which had destroyed a few buildings in the past.
The room was filled with adventurers but somehow, we had managed to land in a quiet corner which was why we didn’t appear in someone else’s way suddenly, which apparently happened more than one might think.
A few humans looked at us strangely as we walked out of the crypt and only stopped outside in a rather deserted place.
“Hey, Lucy. Do you want one of my dresses? We are about the same size so …” Ellie asked to which I could only nod eagerly.
“Thanks … I’ll keep a bit of distance on the way back though. I don’t want to bother you.” I said, smiling a bit bitterly.
“No, it’s fine!” Louis said right away, but I could only shake my head.
“I insist.” I said, and shooed them in front of me. With a bit of distance, I followed them right away, the goddess of life right by my side.
“And? Have you though about ending her life already?” Irminsul asked, clearly wondering what went on in my mind.
“You know very well I didn’t.” I mumbled quietly, looking over towards her with so many questions floating around my head. “… why are you really here, Irminsul? It’s nice to be visited by you, but I don’t believe that’s everything.”
“Right … I didn’t know from the very beginning, but that is a rather special dungeon you were in. The twentieth floor is basically a death trap.”
“I’ll tell them that. I’m sure they won’t die that easily then.”
“No … you don’t understand. After the fifteenth floor, there aren’t any more obelisk crystals but rather teleportation gateways. And the nineteenth one leads to a place not on this world.”
“Now I’m interested.”
“It leads to purgatory.”
“What? Is this the way out of purgatory for Aska?”
“It’s always active … so I don’t think so.”
“… shit. But why purgatory? There isn’t anything happening in there.”
“You might think that way. But since Aska hasn’t been interested in maintaining the prison lately, a whole lot managed to escape.”
“No … I don’t accept that as an answer. What is going on here?” I asked, stopping in my tracks and staring right at her. “Irminsul, it is time to tell me the truth.”
“I can’t. I would like to, but I can’t. I promised that I wouldn’t say anything and I intend to hold that promise. I don’t want to start another war … but Aska might tell you … once he got here that is.” She explained and looked away from me a bit saddened while I thought about what Aska would start a war over. Which was – sadly - basically everything.
“You know what? I’m going to purgatory then. And I’m taking what’s mine.” I said, stomping the ground and walking after the others shortly afterwards.
“Lucinda, it’s dangerous. Even for you.” She said, following me right by my side. I knew for sure I was way more powerful in purgatory than on Solaris, which made me wonder why she looked at me concerned.
“Not if I make sure the necromancer knows about this secret in a bit.” I explained, grinning wryly in the process.
“He? You want to take him with you?” She asked astonished even though it should be obvious that I wanted to get rid of him in there.
“Amongst others, yes.” I told her quietly, already thinking if I should take the idiots with me.
“I hope you know what you are doing.” So did I … but I wasn’t so sure about that.
“I have no clue what I am supposed to do! I know I have to kill the demon king, but I don’t know if Aska doesn’t want me to do exactly that! What if I accidentally open the way for Aska? I don’t know shit and you are part of the reason for that. The only certainty I have is that there is something down there which is mine and I will get it, no matter what.” I said rather angrily and squinted my eyes.
“I’m sorry.” She said, sadly still unwilling to tell me the truth. Sighing quietly, I realised that I had a hard time being angry with her and scratched my cheek.
“Yeah … and that’s why we are playing monopoly tomorrow.” I said, dashing towards the others as they had arrived at their inn. As I turned my head around, I noticed that she wasn’t there anymore and shrugged my shoulders.
Going inside, I noticed Sofie tapping on Chloe’s shoulder while Ellie guided me into her room. Thankfully, she really did have a dress I could wear which I promptly took and excused myself into the bathroom.
It took me around ten minutes to clean myself properly, but after I did so, I left the room refreshed and dumped all my stuff into a bag Ellie gave me. Strolling back downstairs, I met a very exited Chloe halfway down and a rather stunned Sofie on one of the tables.
“So? About what did you talk with her?” I asked, even though I could guess the answer very well.
“I’m sure she will tell you on her own.” She said, clearly not in the mood to tell me that.
“Chloe can’t hide it forever after all.” I said and winked at her right away.
“You noticed?” She asked taken by surprise even though she should know I lived far longer than they did and could very well discern the symptoms of a new life being made.
“I was puked upon, she looked less than healthy and … well, you told me what these two were doing already.” I said quietly and took the seat opposite of her.
“I just hope Schwarz takes it well …” She said, holding her head in desperation.
“I doubt it. He dreams of heroic feats, travelling through the world and defeating the demon king.” I answered truthfully. And honestly, that development got on my nerves quite a bit. I didn’t care at all who Schwarz made love with, but as soon as it turned into a problem, I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
“And a kid is in the way of all of that.” Sofie admitted, resting her forehead on the table.
“I can only hope they marry right away … otherwise Chloe and her kid will be in limbo for quite some time.” I said, hoping he would take responsibility and actually solve the problem right away.
“Well … it’s hard to imagine that.” She said, looking at me as if I was the source of all their problems. “He wants to marry you … and since you don’t seem too bothered by Louis’ and Schwarz’s feelings, they will continue to love you into all eternity.”
“Then what do you suggest? Crush their heart a month before they fight the demon king? Sofie, we are closer to all out war than you think and two demotivated boys and one girl who hates me because I crushed her beloved’s feelings is exactly not what this world needs.” I hissed a bit angrily, still keeping my voice down so that the other visitors wouldn’t hear me. That Sofie blamed me for Schwarz actions was the epitome of over reliance on me … and I hated it. It was like keeping check on four kids I didn’t want to have but needed.
“But it can’t continue on like this either.” She said, a bit taken off guard by my sudden anger.
“I don’t have all the answers! You all keep looking at me as if I knew everything. But I don’t. And I certainly didn’t expect Schwarz to make so much trouble when I leave him alone for a little more than a month.” I said, gripping the table hard. I should have disbanded that group long ago, that much was clear at this point. And luckily, I did chose to let the best of humanity lead the charge against the demon king which didn’t necessarily mean they would have to do it.
“Lucy, I know you want us to solve these kinds of problems on our own … but this time, it is not possible. Louis and Schwarz barely get along these days and Ellie is always on Louis side. This group will break up if you don’t do anything. And I know you need us. Otherwise you wouldn’t invest so much time in us.” But my friend still kept on asking for help. Sighing quietly, I put together a plan in a mere second and nodded a bit.
“… you are going to help me if you like it or not. Just so that you can see what kind of decisions I have to make because of you. And I swear if you complain even once I won’t help you out anymore.” I said and stood up from the chair.
“Thank you.” She said and lowered her head a little.
“Bring her to the cathedral tomorrow.” I said and nodded towards Ellie who was approaching us fast.
“Did you know that Chloe is pregnant?” She asked Sofie, squinting her eyes in the process.
“I didn’t know for sure.” Sofie admitted right away in a calm voice.
“What the fuck is that idiot doing? He is sixteen for heavens sake!” Ellie said, sitting right down on the place I just vacated. She was more than angry at Schwarz for ruining their future as a group. “How are we supposed to defeat the demon king now? Travel with a pregnant woman, or leave her behind so that they can pressure him with her?” That was … a surprisingly accurate question. If I were to fight them, I would target Chloe right away and break Schwarz’s spirit with that.
“Calm down Ellie … Sofie and I have a plan already.” I said nodded towards her and left her behind, even though she was inquiring about our plan through the whole room.
Finally stepping outside into the bright sunlight once more, I noticed the wooden carriage on the other side of the road and strolled over towards it. After opening the door wide, I jumped into it and took the seat right next towards Hannah.
“And? How did it go?” I asked, hoping they had made some progress.
“We are getting there. Slowly, but we are getting there.” Hannah said, closing the door to my left with her wind magic right away.
“And you? How did it go?” Luna asked, exited to hear the story of the day.
“Nicely … Schwarz has a girlfriend who is pregnant, Ellie blames him for endangering all their group efforts and I need to make sure to separate the two lovers as early as tomorrow … my life is so great.”
