Chapter 23: Laid Down to Rest

Bonny was out of sight, but not out of mind.

I had no idea how to handle this abomination I had created. I was down in manpower. Tiptap was just a cat, Jimbo-no had a broken foot now, Spinemess still needed time to cook, and Jellybee was, well… Jellybee.

“Ethel, can you hear me?” Bonny called.

“Yes, I can.”

“Great. I’m going to destroy this monster.”

My instincts immediately recoiled at the idea. One of my Minions being killed didn’t sit right with me.

“Just one moment. Let me think. There must be another way.”

I frantically searched about through my menus for some way to save Lucie. A solution at all. One of my Skills? I couldn’t physically stop her whatsoever using Soul Stroll. Knowing my luck, Leyline Knitting would probably only make her stronger.

I looked at my latest status screen:

[MERRIWEATHER DUNGEON

GEOBLOOM CORE (LEVEL 3)

MANA CAPACITY: 4/20

MANA RENEWAL RATE: 2

MINIONS: 5

TRAP INTEGRITY: N/A

LOOT VALUE: 2 + ?

AVAILABLE SKILLS:

LEYLINE KNITTING (LVL 4)

GARDENCRAFT (LVL 4)

MANA DUSTING (LVL 10)

SOUL STROLL (LVL 4)

UNLOCKED POWERS:

BRITTLE BONES AURA

ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (CONNECTION)

PYREPLACE SIMMER

SCRAPBOOK SOULSTEW

TITLES:

HOMEWRECKER]

Two new things of note appeared on my stat screen. Namely, I had a new ‘Minion’ and ‘Loot’ tabs.

[MINIONS:

TIPTAP, UNDEAD SHADOW CAT (LVL 1)

SPINEMESS, UNDEAD BONE MAGE (LVL 2)

JELLYBEE, UNDEAD SKELETON SAPPER (LVL 3)

LUCILLE SQUALL, DEMONIC PLUSH GOLEM (LVL 4)

JIMBO-NO, UNDEAD SKELETON BRIGAND (LVL 6)]

[Loot:

NEVERWATCH POT

SHIVER, SNICKERSNACK SWORD

ASSORTED CANNED GOODS]

Well, that was nice to have. If useless to me at the moment.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I know! I’ll Mana Dust a pit beneath her. Or Gardencraft her a nice nest within a small home. One with thick walls and a heavy lock and…

I stopped myself.

Why?

I wasn’t attached to this beast. So far Lucille Squall had only proven that she was a danger to everyone else around her. Given enough time, she would escape from any enclosure I made for her. This was the kind of Minion that would put me on hit lists.

“Ethel. I need you to acknowledge me.”

“Okay, fine.” I sighed. “Just please. Don’t make her suffer.”

“I won’t. I’ll go for the neck.”

****

Bonny placed the scissors in her belt and took a few steps forward to meet the lumbering creature. Her eyes continued to blaze green.

She was beyond the reach of the Merriweather Dungeon. Only inches away.

"Don't set it on fire! We don’t want the whole place going up in flames."

"Again!” Added Jellybee.

"I won't."

As much as she wanted to open a Link to the FarWide and send this demon to the depths to be torn to shreds, she restrained herself. She needed a lower level of firepower. One that she could control.

One that wouldn't reveal all her secrets to this Dungeon.

Luckily, she had other tricks up her sleeves. And all the time in the world to perform the perfect ritual.

Bonny rolled up her sleeves, revealing an identical small tattoo depicting a rabbit on the back of both hands. The rabbit tattoos mirrored each other, facing inwards.

She crossed her hands before her, palms facing forward, causing the two tattoos to touch. Bonny activated her Control Copy Skill.

“What are you doing?” Ethel called. "I can't see, remember?"

“Quiet,” Bonny replied. “I’m concentrating.”

A pause.

“What’s she doing, Jellybee? Be my eyes.”

She then made a signing motion by flapping two fingers on each hand, bending them at the knuckles twice. She activated Control Paste.

Suddenly, there were several more identical copies of the tattoo across her hands. Four new rabbits had appeared across her knuckles and fingers.

She flapped her fingers twice again.

“Looks like sign language to me.”

Four more grey rabbit tattoos appeared on her hands, her wrists, and parts of her lower arms.

“Looks like she’s getting some sweet new bunny tats,” Jellybee said. “I bet Jimbo-no would love that spell.”

She repeated the motion. Over and over.

Blotchy tiny rabbits quickly inked up her arm like sleeves, all the way to her shoulders.

She pulled her hands back. She raised pointed fingers to the top of her ears.

Then the witch began to repeatedly bounce on the balls of her feet while standing in place.

Each time she bounced the rabbits, in unison, also took a singular hop down her hands and arms.

Jellybee continued to narrate. “Now she’s, uh, yup. Looks like she’s hopping like a bunny.”

She continued to bounce. Each bounce further propelled the rabbit sleeves down her hands and arms. They Shifted up her chest, her neck, her face. And finally, up into her hair.

In barely any time at all her dyed green hair turned a shade of grey.

One lone rabbit on each hand remained.

The original parents. The rest were all in her hair.

Bonny bounced one final time.

And all the grey ink hopped out of her hair and onto the ground. The splattered gray dye took shape in the dirt and soil. They rose upwards as mounds of fluffy fur made of ink, leaves, and dust. Bark and twigs formed ears. Pebbles formed eyes and noses. Shards of rock formed fangs.

Soon enough, an entire warren of gray Dust Hares surrounded her. They faced forward, all eerily silent except for the occasional ear or nose twitch.

"Bunnies! She brought bunnies! +Can I pet them, Granny?"

Bonny pointed at the Goose.

Lucille let out a deafening battle honk.

And the host of Hares surged forward as one, into the Dungeon.

A bloodbath of fluff commenced.

****

Lucille fought valiantly.

Eventually the endless Hare horde overwhelmed her.

She fell beneath one final cuddle puddle of death. A killer rabbit with sharp fangs got in a lucky strike and severed her neck clean off.

She flopped about like a puppet with only a few strings, then lay still.

My heart wrenched. This was the first time I had seen a monster die. And it was one of my own.

I stepped across the fuzzy battlefield of cotton and fabric that had erupted. The garden was a mess. I placed a hand gingerly upon Lucille's severed head. The fiery light from her button eyes died down.

The Mana that I invested into Lucille did not return to me like I expected. Instead, a portion of that Mana transmuted into something… different. It wasn’t physical. Or even spiritual. I felt it fly itself through the barrier, towards the girl’s presence.

Bonny stepped through with an exhausted expression on her face. I couldn’t read her level, but I had a hunch. The witch seemed somehow stronger now.

I realized with a start that that was experience. Or at least what the system called EXP. This was how beings besides Dungeons could level up? By killing others?

It seemed utterly barbaric. What kind of world rewards murder?

Yet, somehow, I knew this wasn’t Lucille Squall’s end. Her demonic soul still lingered. It hungered to live again. To protect. To serve.

To kill.

I confirmed this by checking my status screen again. Yes. She was still listed there. In fact, Lucie had even gone up a level from the battle.

Her torn body lingered upon the earth. A dirty matted mess of velveteen terror. One that still remained Connected to my Core. One that I knew I could easily repair when the right time arrived.

For now, she’d make for a fine bean bag cushion.

I asked Jellybee to return the sword to its rightful place.

And then in the background I began to Mana Dust and Gardencraft a more suitable nest for Lucille Squall within my Dungeon.