Chapter 5
The dark of the chapel basement is offset by the glowing blue crystals, they seem to have spread around the hole even further than before, branching out like roots through the earth. It was beautiful… and also horrifying… this is what a dungeon is?
“Yeah this is definitely a dungeon…” I look over and Zelia has her hand against one of the ‘roots’, “Says I need permission to go in… Oh make us a party oh mooeful leader hehe wan!” I chuckle and throw Keeks and ZelAwoo party invites, their avatars appear in the corner of my screen… Wait, we didn't have those before when we did the quest with Mershi?! I ask Zel and of course she knows the answer.
“In dungeon specific areas we get extra perks like being able to see the health and stats of allies, makes it waaay easier for a support to help, that's for sure. Oh that includes like boss arena’s in open spaces wan!” Huh… Wait, did Keeks and I never join a party properly in the starter town? Surely that should have been a dungeon quest, or maybe because it's starter town like? Ugh my brain hurts! I shake my head to dispel any further thinking, I'm sure the game knows what it's doing haha… right?
“Can we go into the nightmare realm of darkness and despair now, I’m boorreeddd nyeee~” She has started fidgeting with my leg fur, tying it together and pulling on it and then looking up at me to see my reactions. I slap her hand away and she huffs. There is a person on duty to the left of the dungeon entrance, in their hands is… Horny teacher teaches a lesson she won't forget!... seriously?! They are squinting and using the blue glow of the dungeon’s entrance to see the thing, their snake-like eyes closing and opening continuously, obviously struggling, their tongue pushing in and out continuously in happiness.
“Hey, is there like, anything we need to know about the dungeon moo?” After waiting a few seconds with no response I wave my hand in front of the lizardman.
“Oh oh sorry, I get so distracted when I'm reading such a work of art! You’re uhhh… let's see here… LilMoo!” They nod to themselves before continuing, a sheet of paper being used as a bookmark is the apparent information sheet they were given. “This dungeon has been judged as a D grade dungeon, so you should be fine! Nothing at all to worry about haha!” They thump their chest and start to go back to reading.
“Waiiitt wait wait wait. That's all there is moo?” I ask, putting my hand on my waist in astonishment.
“I mean that's pretty much it… I can only trust the information that Mershi gave me! I’m pretty new to the guild, but yeah, if she says it's going to be okay then It's going to be okay, If I said otherwise she would beat me up!” They smile broadly, salute, and go back to reading their book, sliding the piece of paper into the back of its pages, glee returning to their face as they absorb every word.
“Well… nothing else we can do but go in?” We all nod to each other, pull out our weapons and walk in, the crystal hole goes down forever, lit by the pure blue, as we go deeper the blue starts to shift, from a darker blue, to a purple to a red. Fear creeps into me, panic and wanting to run filling my mind. The red of the tunnel becomes darker and darker, until finally, the crystals go black.
< Entering Dungeon - Nightmare of the past >
A flash of light stuns us all as we shy away, in front of us is a… forest? Looking back is a large rock, a path of blackish red crystals going through it, our exit blocked but we can see where we came from at least. The forest is alight with sun, flowers and the smell of spring. In the distance a deer-like creature with 6 legs alights in startlement from behind a bush.
The path is of old pure white stone, grass growing through and around each stone, many years having passed since it was put here. The tree’s are large and thick but with enough space between them to let the spots of light flutter down. If it wasn't in a nightmare dungeon I would assume we were at the perfect date spot.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Sooo… where's all the nightmarish misery I was expecting! I can't feign a scaredy Gnole holding both your hands and asses with this kind of perfect fantasy forest vibe nye!?” I bump her with my ass and Zel does the same, eliciting happy squeaks from Keeks. “That's more like it, nye!” I shake my head at the little hopeless thing.
“I mean we are here, there's gotta be some nightmares in here somewhere right moo?” I spot a sign off in the distance and point towards it, Zel and Keeks nod in understanding. We follow the trail alone, Keeks nudging us both with her hands until we relent and hold her between us. She uses the opportunity to make a swing out of us, determined to alleviate her boredom with any means necessary.
We get to the crossroads where the sign points in multiple directions. Straight ahead the sign says ‘Village of Saints’ to the left it reads, ‘Saints rise’ and to the right it reads… ‘Tomb of the blue fairy’.
“The blue fairy? Isn't that some kind of myth… like… the blue fairy will grant your wish or something? Uhhh Pinocchio! That's it wan!” Zelia looks proudly at herself then at me, I reach over and pat her head and she whines in happiness, as I let go Keeks jumps up and pulls my hand down to pat hers as well, with such cute actions I can't say no.
“What's a Pinocchio nya?”
“I'm surprised you don't know it Keeks, It's the story of the puppet that was brought to life by a blue fairy, although the original was completely different the adaptation was phenomenal, then the adaptations of that itself were incredible in their own ways, gosh the one with the robot child programmed to love was my favou… what?” Zel stops her rambling after realizing we were both looking at her strangely, I tilt my head back and she looks with us.
“What's a robot nya?” A small pure white kitten in a white dress with gold swirls around it looks at us from the trail behind us, it tilts its head in confusion.
“You must all be here for the festival! We only let outsiders in every ten years. I'm so happy to meet you all!” They approach and shake our hands, their white paws and pink beans squishing delightfully into my own. “Will you tell me about where you’re from and all your adventures and all your likes and dislikes and favorite foods oh oh! And tell me about Pinocchio and robots and all the things you said that I don't remember!”
I close my eyes and open them again, they are staring intently and their eyes are fluttering as they look back at each of us, stunlocked in place.
“Damn girl you can talk more than Zel nye!”
The white cat huffs in annoyance, “It's not girl, I am the priestess this year! I am at the ripe age of eleven! just past puberty, basically a grown-up! So excuusseee me if I’m excited since I was still weaning the last time all the guests came nya!” She is huffing and puffing, her tiny paws are against her sides, I nearly laugh and try to hold it in, swallowing it and coughing instead. Zel reaches around and slaps me on the back, her giggles timed with the smacks against me. Keeks just bursts laughing out loud without a care.
“Haha you think eleven is ripe?! Priestess girl you have no idea about the appeal of milfs! psht nye!” I try to grab Keeks before she says anything stupid but instead I just laugh harder, coughing getting worse as it pushes out of me.
“Oh! Oh! new word mil-Wait! It's not girl! Ugh. It's Anna, Anna Saintus, of the lineage of saints, if you can’t tell by the name heh nya!” At the mention of her name my body gives out and I collapse to the ground, beaten by my own laughter. Wait did she say Anna?
We all look at the ‘child’ with wide eyes. Ahh fuck, I guess we have already met the person we have to save… now we have to figure out how.