"I can't believe I'm actually doing this. I mean, even considering it. This is insane."
Xenia shoots a smirk at Deylia, who's now downstairs in her core chamber following an hour or so of basic explanations on how the dungeon works. Xenia had stayed away from the details of her personal past so far, both to avoid overwhelming the young woman and also because the former Maid wasn't yet entirely sold on her position in the dungeon. Even so, this next step was potentially instrumental in defining exactly what that position would be, and so they were moving ahead for now. "Which part's insane, exactly? Becoming a dungeon monster? Running Floor Five? All of the above?"
"The part where you say I'm about to meet a goddess! What do I say!? What do I do!? There must be some etiquette to this, right?"
"Oh, yeah, well the good news is you're talking to an expert on divine etiquette. Always be respectful. If they ask you if you wanna party and get drunk, get drunk. But! Don't go taking off any clothes until they do. Don't make any promises unless you mean it, that shit tends to get really binding in front of a god."
Deylia's brown eyes boggle. "...What?"
Not far away, Sincere gives a tired sigh. "Xenia's relationship with the divine, especially Kahlia, is a bit more...casual than you might be used to in your dealings with various clerics and priests. But I won't deny her title of being an expert. Follow her lead and I'm sure...mostly sure you'll do just fine. Failing that, at least you'll be forewarned by her smiting."
"I...see. So how does this work? You simply send her a prayer and she summons us to her divine realm?"
Xenia waggles a hand. "Well, just me usually, I've never tried taking along a passenger before. But I think I can communicate my intent and get you an invite too...though maybe it would help if we were hugging at the time? Get us beamed up together?"
"...If you think that's necessary."
"Can't hurt." Xenia comes over and wraps her arm around the newly transformed rabbit-woman, and calls out to Guy. "Alright, Guy, open the line and send our request. Let's hope she's not too busy for her favorite dungeon, yeah?"
"Will do!" Guy bobs slightly as they send the message to Kahlia...after which passes a rather awkward five minutes as Xenia and Deylia continue to side-hug. Even Xenia's wondering if maybe it was a stupid suggestion after a while, but before she can let go, the two women vanish in a flash of light.
When the pair regain their vision, they find that they're now once again in the meadow where Xenia and Kahlia first met, this time facing the goddess herself on her throne. A large part of Xenia is disappointed that this meeting won't be happening at the hot springs, but given that Deylia's already fairly overwhelmed, perhaps it's for the best. Taking the initiative, Xenia starts off by giving Kahlia a bow which Deylia copies. "Greetings, your fertileness! Thanks so much for taking our call, I don't want you to think I'm taking our relationship for granted."
Kahlia gives the pair a shrug and a smirk in return. "True, requests to meet so often could become tiresome from most mortals - but you're hardly most mortals. And when I sensed the form of your newest companion...well, consider me intrigued as to your purpose. I have been checking up on you, and I've been glad to see you're making some progress on your tasks. Although if you're here to make a new request, I warn you that you should perhaps focus on the matters you already have outstanding."
Xenia flashes a bright smile at the divinity. "Not at all! Not a request - a proposition. But first, let me introduce the newest member of the dungeon - Deylia Niyen, formerly a Maid of Health of House Perlin."
At the mention of her name Deylia bows again, her eyes focused on the ground - and definitely not at the divine cleavage attempting to burst from the goddess' barely-there dress. "I am truly honored to be in your presence, Goddess Kahlia! I never imagined that I might one day actually meet a god!"
The goddess in question smiles, flattered by the groveling. "Few do, even after their deaths. And fewer still are glad for it by time the meeting is done. Tell me, what role do you have to play in the latest of our dear dungeon's schemes?"
The dungeon takes charge of answering that question herself. "It's about her classification, goddess. She's one of the new monster types we crossbred after following your advice in our last meeting - a Rabbit Priestess. Except...she's kind of missing something vital to the role, which maybe you can notice."
Kahlia leans forward, a literal glint in her eyes as she looks the woman over. "...I see! A priestess - but without a patron god, or even a divine concept! I'm not sure when I last saw such a thing."
"Yeah, normally Priestess training means learning rituals for a specific god or church or whatever, even if maybe that cleric doesn't really have complete faith in it all, right? But as a monster type, we can just go - bam! You're a Priestess now! Except there's a lot of like...spell slots or whatever that don't work without a relationship with a god."
"And you wish to devote her to me? An excellent idea, but this hardly needs my personal attention, reincarnator. You could have had one of my existing clerics provide her with the necessary training."
At that, Xenia shakes her head. "I was thinking something a little...bigger picture than that, if you'd be down for it. I'd like for you to train her as a High Priestess. Or a...Prophet. Or whatever titles you prefer for a high-ranking cleric."
"Now that is presumptuous. Tell me, Maid, what are your intentions for such a rank?"
Deylia gasps a little, worried about her ability to communicate the plan Xenia laid out for her. "Well, ah, you see your grace, our plan was to have me become Boss of Floor Five, the floor devoted to, ah...encouraging fertility. But we thought that perhaps we could make it more than that! Much more. A...church of fertility, within the dungeon. A place to rest, be healed or blessed, or to, ah, to hear the word of your splendor, goddess."
Kahlia still seems unconvinced, but she nods as Deylia pauses. "...Continue."
Sensing that Deylia's faltering a little, Xenia steps back in. "We thought it'd be a real draw to the place. A church, maybe associated with the Church of Bounty but not part of it, or a shrine entirely devoted towards, you know...fertility-related topics. Something that people can't find anywhere else. It would sync up real well with Deylia's current skillset. It would also really put the place on the map as being associated with your blessing, plus give you a sort of tie to dungeons that no other god's got, am I right?"
The goddess does take a moment to consider that. "...Somewhat. Some dungeons have received divine servants before, as a result of Divine Favors they have exchanged. But there is certainly something about this one...Deylia Niyen, your new body courses with divine energy, do you know this? With most mortals, even the greatest of clerics must receive their power from the god they worship. But you generate your own, even before we have made any pact! I'll admit, your form is very...tempting to me."
The unconfirmed Priestess shivers a bit at the thought of what that might mean. "...Thank you?"
"Mrmm. You know, I can read part of your soul - I can see the manner in which you died. Tell me, child. This man you took the place of, who you gave your life for...do you love him?"
Deylia pauses for a moment, but answers honestly. "...No, your grace."
A divine eyebrow rises in surprise. "No? Yet you did intentionally trade your life for his?"
"I - I didn't exactly think it through, your grace. Not that I regret it! I've always taken great pride and satisfaction in helping others. My mistress...former mistress Sansie most of all, but any others of our house as well. It always helped me feel like I was making a direct impact in the world, making it a better place."
"An admirable trait in a mortal...and doubly so in a Priestess. Hrmm...your body is that of a dungeon tier 'B', not terrible, but not as powerful as it could be, or eventually will be should things go well." She eyes the Maid for a moment, considering some of her options. "There are a great many blessings I could teach you, but only so many you would currently be capable of being a conduit for. Blessing of Increased Fertility, of course, but also the Blessings of Prodigious Progeny, of Milk, of Easy Birth, of the Divine Rod...mrmm, the Blessing of Rapid Gestation would likely still be beyond your capacity."
"The..the Divine Rod?"
Kahlia smirks. "For when a man needs the help of the gods to be able to get it up. An example of what people come to my worshipers for...is this what interests you?"
Deylia swallows. "I've never considered myself particularly devout in life - but the opportunity to help preserve and create life in a dungeon, rather than end it? To help people? That sounds like an excellent form of afterlife to me, your grace."
"Hrmph. Well, Xenia, you are indeed a wonder of a saleswoman, I daresay you have me convinced - although we will hold off on the topic of her specific title until she has proven herself. Luckily, as a semi-divine being, I can send inspirations to your newest guardian for training without the need for any dimensional travel or my personal time, however this will not be a quick process. I will begin with some of the simpler Blessings before we decide on a title to grant the woman, to give us an opportunity to see how things go, and how well-suited this new form of hers is to her task."
Xenia grins widely at the compliment. "An opportunity's all I ask! How exactly will these 'inspirations' work?"
"Well, normally they would take the form of inspired dreams, but you dungeon creations do not sleep, do you? A meditative state will also do the trick, however. Do you think yourself up to this?"
Deylia seems uncertain, but Xenia nods. "I've actually picked up a lot of meditation techniques over the years, I can probably handle teaching her a few things. Is there anything else we need to do?"
"That should be all for now. As I said, I've been noting the progress you've been making on your other goals of late. Keep the babies coming, and I'm sure we'll find our dealings in the future will continue to be...fertile." A twinkle appears in the goddess' eye, and Xenia has to resist a groan as the pair are sent back home.
Once they've returned, Xenia looks over to her new Priestess. "So! Not too bad, right? Pretty chill? How do you feel now that you've gotten the divine blessing...more or less literally...on your new job title? Still feeling up for it?"
The brown-furred rabbit-woman needs to take a seat before she can answer the question. "I still have trouble believing all of this is really happening, to be honest. I understand why you wanted to get that meeting out of the way first, but I still feel as if I'm going to go to bed tonight and wake up tomorrow back at the inn, or the manor. I don't...I'm sorry." She closes her eyes, resting her face in one palm as she leans on the table. "I'm sorry. I still don't know if I can do this. Did you seriously just ask a god to turn me into a prophet!? I'm just a maid! I think I might have made a huge mistake."
"Hey, hey!" Xenia leans forward, resting a hand on Deylia's shoulder. "Nobody is ever just an anything, Deylia. If you haven't done much yet, that just means you've still got potential left to shape! And no one's expecting anything from you tomorrow, either. It'll take me...oh, at least a week to teach you proper meditation, I bet. Then maybe weeks or months for all your Priestess training. Til then, you can take all the time you need. If you want to chill in your apartment or Floor Four or whatever, feel free. If you want to get used to hanging out on Floor Five, passing out the boosts you've already got or whatever, you can do that too. Besides!" Xenia shoots the woman a bright smile. "I think you and I definitely need to spend some time getting to know each other, too. For starters - we're throwing a party tonight and you're absolutely invited."
Deylia's eyebrows rise. "A party? To...celebrate getting a new floor boss?"
"Huh, yeah, we can definitely throw that in there too. But mostly, at midnight we're gonna be hitting a milestone day, and that means free shit! So what do you say? Ready to chill out, drink a ton of free magic booze, and make some new friends?"
It takes her a moment, but the Maid does eventually give Xenia a small smile. "I suppose that wouldn't be such a bad start to an afterlife. But if we're going to be friends, please - call me Del."
"You got it, Del. Welcome to Worthy Dungeon."
"I can't believe I'm actually doing this. I mean, even considering it. This is insane."
Xenia shoots a smirk at Deylia, who's now downstairs in her core chamber following an hour or so of basic explanations on how the dungeon works. Xenia had stayed away from the details of her personal past so far, both to avoid overwhelming the young woman and also because the former Maid wasn't yet entirely sold on her position in the dungeon. Even so, this next step was potentially instrumental in defining exactly what that position would be, and so they were moving ahead for now. "Which part's insane, exactly? Becoming a dungeon monster? Running Floor Five? All of the above?"
"The part where you say I'm about to meet a goddess! What do I say!? What do I do!? There must be some etiquette to this, right?"
"Oh, yeah, well the good news is you're talking to an expert on divine etiquette. Always be respectful. If they ask you if you wanna party and get drunk, get drunk. But! Don't go taking off any clothes until they do. Don't make any promises unless you mean it, that shit tends to get really binding in front of a god."
Deylia's brown eyes boggle. "...What?"
Not far away, Sincere gives a tired sigh. "Xenia's relationship with the divine, especially Kahlia, is a bit more...casual than you might be used to in your dealings with various clerics and priests. But I won't deny her title of being an expert. Follow her lead and I'm sure...mostly sure you'll do just fine. Failing that, at least you'll be forewarned by her smiting."
"I...see. So how does this work? You simply send her a prayer and she summons us to her divine realm?"
Xenia waggles a hand. "Well, just me usually, I've never tried taking along a passenger before. But I think I can communicate my intent and get you an invite too...though maybe it would help if we were hugging at the time? Get us beamed up together?"
"...If you think that's necessary."
"Can't hurt." Xenia comes over and wraps her arm around the newly transformed rabbit-woman, and calls out to Guy. "Alright, Guy, open the line and send our request. Let's hope she's not too busy for her favorite dungeon, yeah?"
"Will do!" Guy bobs slightly as they send the message to Kahlia...after which passes a rather awkward five minutes as Xenia and Deylia continue to side-hug. Even Xenia's wondering if maybe it was a stupid suggestion after a while, but before she can let go, the two women vanish in a flash of light.
When the pair regain their vision, they find that they're now once again in the meadow where Xenia and Kahlia first met, this time facing the goddess herself on her throne. A large part of Xenia is disappointed that this meeting won't be happening at the hot springs, but given that Deylia's already fairly overwhelmed, perhaps it's for the best. Taking the initiative, Xenia starts off by giving Kahlia a bow which Deylia copies. "Greetings, your fertileness! Thanks so much for taking our call, I don't want you to think I'm taking our relationship for granted."
Kahlia gives the pair a shrug and a smirk in return. "True, requests to meet so often could become tiresome from most mortals - but you're hardly most mortals. And when I sensed the form of your newest companion...well, consider me intrigued as to your purpose. I have been checking up on you, and I've been glad to see you're making some progress on your tasks. Although if you're here to make a new request, I warn you that you should perhaps focus on the matters you already have outstanding."
Xenia flashes a bright smile at the divinity. "Not at all! Not a request - a proposition. But first, let me introduce the newest member of the dungeon - Deylia Niyen, formerly a Maid of Health of House Perlin."
At the mention of her name Deylia bows again, her eyes focused on the ground - and definitely not at the divine cleavage attempting to burst from the goddess' barely-there dress. "I am truly honored to be in your presence, Goddess Kahlia! I never imagined that I might one day actually meet a god!"
The goddess in question smiles, flattered by the groveling. "Few do, even after their deaths. And fewer still are glad for it by time the meeting is done. Tell me, what role do you have to play in the latest of our dear dungeon's schemes?"
The dungeon takes charge of answering that question herself. "It's about her classification, goddess. She's one of the new monster types we crossbred after following your advice in our last meeting - a Rabbit Priestess. Except...she's kind of missing something vital to the role, which maybe you can notice."
Kahlia leans forward, a literal glint in her eyes as she looks the woman over. "...I see! A priestess - but without a patron god, or even a divine concept! I'm not sure when I last saw such a thing."
"Yeah, normally Priestess training means learning rituals for a specific god or church or whatever, even if maybe that cleric doesn't really have complete faith in it all, right? But as a monster type, we can just go - bam! You're a Priestess now! Except there's a lot of like...spell slots or whatever that don't work without a relationship with a god."
"And you wish to devote her to me? An excellent idea, but this hardly needs my personal attention, reincarnator. You could have had one of my existing clerics provide her with the necessary training."
At that, Xenia shakes her head. "I was thinking something a little...bigger picture than that, if you'd be down for it. I'd like for you to train her as a High Priestess. Or a...Prophet. Or whatever titles you prefer for a high-ranking cleric."
"Now that is presumptuous. Tell me, Maid, what are your intentions for such a rank?"
Deylia gasps a little, worried about her ability to communicate the plan Xenia laid out for her. "Well, ah, you see your grace, our plan was to have me become Boss of Floor Five, the floor devoted to, ah...encouraging fertility. But we thought that perhaps we could make it more than that! Much more. A...church of fertility, within the dungeon. A place to rest, be healed or blessed, or to, ah, to hear the word of your splendor, goddess."
Kahlia still seems unconvinced, but she nods as Deylia pauses. "...Continue."
Sensing that Deylia's faltering a little, Xenia steps back in. "We thought it'd be a real draw to the place. A church, maybe associated with the Church of Bounty but not part of it, or a shrine entirely devoted towards, you know...fertility-related topics. Something that people can't find anywhere else. It would sync up real well with Deylia's current skillset. It would also really put the place on the map as being associated with your blessing, plus give you a sort of tie to dungeons that no other god's got, am I right?"
The goddess does take a moment to consider that. "...Somewhat. Some dungeons have received divine servants before, as a result of Divine Favors they have exchanged. But there is certainly something about this one...Deylia Niyen, your new body courses with divine energy, do you know this? With most mortals, even the greatest of clerics must receive their power from the god they worship. But you generate your own, even before we have made any pact! I'll admit, your form is very...tempting to me."
The unconfirmed Priestess shivers a bit at the thought of what that might mean. "...Thank you?"
"Mrmm. You know, I can read part of your soul - I can see the manner in which you died. Tell me, child. This man you took the place of, who you gave your life for...do you love him?"
Deylia pauses for a moment, but answers honestly. "...No, your grace."
A divine eyebrow rises in surprise. "No? Yet you did intentionally trade your life for his?"
"I - I didn't exactly think it through, your grace. Not that I regret it! I've always taken great pride and satisfaction in helping others. My mistress...former mistress Sansie most of all, but any others of our house as well. It always helped me feel like I was making a direct impact in the world, making it a better place."
"An admirable trait in a mortal...and doubly so in a Priestess. Hrmm...your body is that of a dungeon tier 'B', not terrible, but not as powerful as it could be, or eventually will be should things go well." She eyes the Maid for a moment, considering some of her options. "There are a great many blessings I could teach you, but only so many you would currently be capable of being a conduit for. Blessing of Increased Fertility, of course, but also the Blessings of Prodigious Progeny, of Milk, of Easy Birth, of the Divine Rod...mrmm, the Blessing of Rapid Gestation would likely still be beyond your capacity."
"The..the Divine Rod?"
Kahlia smirks. "For when a man needs the help of the gods to be able to get it up. An example of what people come to my worshipers for...is this what interests you?"
Deylia swallows. "I've never considered myself particularly devout in life - but the opportunity to help preserve and create life in a dungeon, rather than end it? To help people? That sounds like an excellent form of afterlife to me, your grace."
"Hrmph. Well, Xenia, you are indeed a wonder of a saleswoman, I daresay you have me convinced - although we will hold off on the topic of her specific title until she has proven herself. Luckily, as a semi-divine being, I can send inspirations to your newest guardian for training without the need for any dimensional travel or my personal time, however this will not be a quick process. I will begin with some of the simpler Blessings before we decide on a title to grant the woman, to give us an opportunity to see how things go, and how well-suited this new form of hers is to her task."
Xenia grins widely at the compliment. "An opportunity's all I ask! How exactly will these 'inspirations' work?"
"Well, normally they would take the form of inspired dreams, but you dungeon creations do not sleep, do you? A meditative state will also do the trick, however. Do you think yourself up to this?"
Deylia seems uncertain, but Xenia nods. "I've actually picked up a lot of meditation techniques over the years, I can probably handle teaching her a few things. Is there anything else we need to do?"
"That should be all for now. As I said, I've been noting the progress you've been making on your other goals of late. Keep the babies coming, and I'm sure we'll find our dealings in the future will continue to be...fertile." A twinkle appears in the goddess' eye, and Xenia has to resist a groan as the pair are sent back home.
Once they've returned, Xenia looks over to her new Priestess. "So! Not too bad, right? Pretty chill? How do you feel now that you've gotten the divine blessing...more or less literally...on your new job title? Still feeling up for it?"
The brown-furred rabbit-woman needs to take a seat before she can answer the question. "I still have trouble believing all of this is really happening, to be honest. I understand why you wanted to get that meeting out of the way first, but I still feel as if I'm going to go to bed tonight and wake up tomorrow back at the inn, or the manor. I don't...I'm sorry." She closes her eyes, resting her face in one palm as she leans on the table. "I'm sorry. I still don't know if I can do this. Did you seriously just ask a god to turn me into a prophet!? I'm just a maid! I think I might have made a huge mistake."
"Hey, hey!" Xenia leans forward, resting a hand on Deylia's shoulder. "Nobody is ever just an anything, Deylia. If you haven't done much yet, that just means you've still got potential left to shape! And no one's expecting anything from you tomorrow, either. It'll take me...oh, at least a week to teach you proper meditation, I bet. Then maybe weeks or months for all your Priestess training. Til then, you can take all the time you need. If you want to chill in your apartment or Floor Four or whatever, feel free. If you want to get used to hanging out on Floor Five, passing out the boosts you've already got or whatever, you can do that too. Besides!" Xenia shoots the woman a bright smile. "I think you and I definitely need to spend some time getting to know each other, too. For starters - we're throwing a party tonight and you're absolutely invited."
Deylia's eyebrows rise. "A party? To...celebrate getting a new floor boss?"
"Huh, yeah, we can definitely throw that in there too. But mostly, at midnight we're gonna be hitting a milestone day, and that means free shit! So what do you say? Ready to chill out, drink a ton of free magic booze, and make some new friends?"
It takes her a moment, but the Maid does eventually give Xenia a small smile. "I suppose that wouldn't be such a bad start to an afterlife. But if we're going to be friends, please - call me Del."
"You got it, Del. Welcome to Worthy Dungeon."
