The echo replays upon my ears, a call, and a challenge.
A chill runs down my spine.
Incalculable power lies beyond the obvious stone barrier and within the depths; the overbearing scent is different yet as wilful as Azizos. My original form returns without thought, bereft of my control, how, I am uncertain. My skin is night-black ebony, my body in the hairless female image of my creator and without pause, I undress. My weapons shortly after lay atop discarded pieces of clothing, such as they are.
I return to my beginnings.
The cool sea breeze upon my skin encouraging as I climb, hands and feet over the rubble, irresistibly drawn to discover and yet a knot within my stomach germinates and grows. An uncomfortable development urging me to slow and once slow; stop and then without hesitation retreat to relieve the ill-feeling. My will and reason override this new instinct, this Sentient Dominate impulse discovery. A revelation then; my previous evolutions responsible for my utter foolhardy bravery and confidence, never me, the true human me. Yet I am as powerful as before I am certain … now though I calculate and consider, try to measure the unknown and imagine my destruction at every turn. I unreasonably fear for my life, beyond the shame of respawning, I am alive and don’t wish to be slain.
I am powerful!
I AM powerful!
I AM Powerful!
I AM POWERFUL!
The knot in my stomach untangles a little more after each affirmation, while my mind nevertheless discovers and retains a new paradigm “flight, fight or freeze”.
“Goddess are you certain of this path …”
I guard my thoughts against Alba, bury them deep. To be human is to live with fear and I fail to comprehend the benefit and in fact, I feel a prick of doubt; did I successfully deceive Alba?
“I am certain,” I reply. With effort, I suppress my lack of confidence in voicing the expected response.
She doesn’t reply. Did she believe me? Did she not? If not, why refrain from challenging me for the truth? My mind runs in circles, why pretend? Hide the truth behind a false mask. Is this what humans do? Wear a mask of falseness to conceal their terrible truths? Is this what Beast Kin do? I crave the raw honesty of my monster forms …
I fear the Dungeon Master Arsu. This is the truth. Why do I need to mask this truth from Alba? For my benefit? For hers? Will she think less of me? Does her opinion weaken me? I am what I am, no other opinion except my own should be able to change my view of myself and my capabilities. My self-esteem. I decide my self-worth, only me. My hands form into tight fists.
I acknowledge my fear and I am on edge, alert and ready to act, yes, I see … flight or fight awareness, possibly acceptance of the reason for my fear has eliminated freeze. My hands relax. When confronted by Arsu I will fight, or I will leave and resting upon the stone roof of the Dungeon will accomplish either. Previous to fear, I would enact tactics purely based on the evaluation of the available information. Exercising my capabilities to either succeed or not and not attempting any action unless I calculated a high chance of success. Cold calculating analysis. Why do I now say cold? What makes the previous analysis cold?
{Comprehend Primary Emotion - Fear: +2% Sentient Dominate. Sentient Dominate 77%}
{Do you wish to Lockout Monster Dominate (57%) due to Soul being Dungeon Dominate (77%)? Y/N}
I respond by willing N.
{Do you wish to Lockout Sentient Dominate (77%) due to Soul being Dungeon Dominate (77%)? Y/N}
I respond by willing N, although wonder, given they are even.
“Goddess?”
Alba … empathy, I sense her concern. I don’t wish her to be concerned, I need to assuage her ill-feeling. Why? Polite acknowledgement previously adequate, a learnt response and more than satisfactory. No, I am mistaken, a cold learnt response. My awareness awakens. Sentient Dominate is greater than Monster Dominate, although more complete than the previous time. When as Harpy, my memory returns in a flood. My hands cup my breasts, suckling providing milk, life-giving. Mothering and wild emotions. Now a hollowness. My fingers interlace upon my womb, the location instinctive. I stray from my purpose, the trunk of magic books to teach Alba. She needs to be an Adept Sorcerer and yet ...
I bend over, floating lower until I topple upon the jumble of stone. I draw up my knees until my arms can wrap around them and lower my head upon my kneecaps. The position is a beginning. A beginning of what? There is an implied safety in this position and a connection to motherhood, I am certain. My empty womb aches to fulfil its sacred purpose, to grow a life within. All need to become mothers if they desire, none are to suffer my pain.
{Realm Magic aligned to Fertility Rune manifests: Bless Wife}
Tears stream down my cheeks. I attempt to stem the flow, no, the truth is I don’t wish to. I need to mourn my inability to procreate, never to mother. A Goddess in command of the Fertility Rune and yet unable … tears flow anew.
“Goddess?”
“Alba I wish to confess I am afraid of confronting Dungeon Master Arsu.” I blurt out my confession. “I have doubts about my path towards Sentient Dominate, embracing my Creator’s humanity.”
An awkward silence between us stretches out, my tears cease to flow and standing I wipe my cheeks. Keeping busy while I await her verdict ... I am unsure why her opinion matters and yet it does.
“Goddess I am overwhelmed. Your trust isn’t misplaced, and I am honoured. I sense you still intend to go forward though as a true Goddess should, acknowledgement without paralysis.”
She radiates admiration and unconditional support.
I march across the rubble, pause but a moment before stepping barefoot upon the roof of another Dungeon. Cool stone underfoot and yet no contact. I lay down, deliberately near an edge … a quick roll and I will be free.
[You have entered the Gateway Dungeon of Arsu.]
A presence, no, her mind probes mine. I am helpless. My stomach churns and I try to command my arm and yet fail.
“You are a Goddess, exercise your will and fortify your mind,” whispers Alba, her thoughts “outside” somehow.
Arsu and Azizos, are different and yet the same. I begin by locking away my memories. Arsu senses my actions and yet I deflect her attempts to prevent me. Next, I command my body to move by dispelling the false authority this Dungeon Master exhales, I recall Azizos commanding me to run, sprint to the top levels of his Dungeon, absolute obedience, this familiar oppression I now negate. Finally, my thoughts, she knows only my previous two actions before she is rejected.
“You are a delicious mix of impossibility and improbability, claimed by Azizos and yet his leash is loose.”
Her mind voice is youthful, like water tinkling. Playful?
“What do you know of Dungeon Master Azizos?”
A light happy laughter. “Only what I found in your memory before you rudely rejected me. Such a spoilsport.”
Her laughter irritates. “What right do you have to invade my mind?”
Her reply is a shout. “You who are Dungeon made knock on my door and yet don’t introduce yourself!” Her voice subsides. “Why should I tolerate such rudeness?”
“I apologise …” I decide I will gain more by staying and acting contrite.
“Better, I appreciate an apology.”
“My name is Aphrodite and I am cast in the image of my Creator from a Planet called Earth. I originally planned to champion the being who banished me in the hope of returning to my Creator and now I only know his betrayal. With little choice, I have reaffirmed my allegiance to Dungeon Master Azizos. I plan to thwart the God Zeus the betrayer if within my power.”
Alba gasps over our connection, “Why reveal your aims, Goddess?”
“Honesty will do no harm, the Dungeon Master Arsu isn’t aware of Azizos and if she ever does become aware and they share memories, he will appreciate an affirmation of my loyalty and my purpose will make no difference to him as long as I send Questor Groups.”
I imagine Arsu pacing, considering my confession and trying to fish for lies, which is the value of truth. Truth breeds trust.
“What of your soul, only special Dungeon minions are gifted a soul and yet yours is incomplete, somewhat undecided. What does that mean?”
Time for me to ask a question. “What can you reveal of yourself?”
The lightness returns to her mind voice. “Perhaps I should return something … the food you gifted me, woke a starving beast and I admit I behaved with greedy haste. What is a Dungeon to do when abandoned?”
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I wonder how she knew …
Arsu continues, “They call themselves humans and they are the perfect gift … I wouldn’t be averse to devouring more.”
A shy askance, most unlike Azizos.
“With my assistance, Azizos has grown prodigiously.” I exaggerate a little. “His purpose was lost until I ‘fed’ him and now he demands his perfect food. He is a Quest Dungeon. What does it mean to be a Gateway Dungeon?”
Her mind voice cosies up to me. “My purpose is to guard the way, devour and impede although I am unable to block.”
Unable to show restraint I jump in with my theory. “You devour and impede humans, while Azizos trains Beast Kin and somewhere under the Mountain you two will meet.” My voice weakens. “For what purpose?”
“I know not. I am yet to meet Azizos and I am still growing …”
I pause in thought. Each has an entrance underneath a mountain tall and wide. The mountain is one part of a huge range that, at least hereabouts separates the Beast Kin from the shore. Protection for the Beast Kin? One human the Griffin consumed contained Sorcery magic skill only found within them, the Snake Kin’s mastery is narrow and well defined Elemental Sorcery. The magic of the Lamia is different again while Divine Magic is unique to this world I am certain. Zeus’ invasion with my assistance changed this once and for all and now he calls in Hera and Athena at least. I need to strengthen Arsu.
“Can you touch my Soul, especially the Dungeon Dominate?”
Tentative probing. “Your Soul is incomplete, fractured and yet Dungeon Dominate shines and welcomes me …”
I shudder, she descends into my Soul like water being sucked into a hole, no other path available. My soul bloats with her eagerness.
“Arsu!” I call to her several times. She is small. Whatever power she has is a grant from her synergy and purpose within the Dungeon proper. Leaving that base … she begins to complete me.
{Assimilate Dungeon Core Arsu +5% Dungeon Dominate. Dungeon Dominate 82%}
“Arsu!” I resist her greed with all my will.
{Assimilate Dungeon Core Arsu +5% Dungeon Dominate. Dungeon Dominate 87%}
“Arsu!” I try to repel her joy. The Dungeon Master is fading, like a moth, to a flame, her diminishing soul drowns in mine. Could the Divine Dominate be a factor?
{Assimilate Dungeon Core Arsu +5% Dungeon Dominate. Dungeon Dominate 92%}
“Arsu!” My reveal of Dungeon Dominate is an ill-considered invitation and now desperate I welcome Alba who bulwarks my mind, in the process revealing her presence which can’t be helped.
{Assimilate Dungeon Core Arsu +5% Dungeon Dominate. Dungeon Dominate 97%}
“Arsu!” Shock, betrayal, fear, each of her emotions raw, no restraint. Alba is the reason, the sole reason. Arsu flees. Her presence in an instant is gone. Cold sweat trickles down my brow and I gasp. The rise and fall of my chest is a welcome sight, my eyes finally able to open.
“She wanted, no needed to nest within your soul Goddess, an insatiable urge to complete you.”
“And your interference startled her allowing a respite and the opportunity for me to eject her … I am grateful.”
A glowing warmth emanates from my true spirit companion and I appreciate every morsel.
{Dungeon Core Arsu absent -10% Dungeon Dominate. Dungeon Dominate 87%}
{Living Construct is currently 87% Dungeon Dominate and will need to return to the Dungeon in 13 Days or suffer automatic respawning.}
A contrite mind voice returns. “I apologise, initially out of control and yet when I knew, I … I continued. There is a Geas upon you to complete one of your Dominates …” She then screams into my mind … between screams she voices her agony with each passing metamorphosis.
“Dungeon Core Feature Unlocked: Contract Offer – Intruders.”
A moment later.
“Dungeon Core Feature Unlocked: Respawn Named Intruders.”
From her visit she is acquiring Azizos’ Dungeon Core Features, would he sense this? If he does or doesn’t, the change is made and a creeping dread oozes across my soul. I didn’t mean for this kind of help did I.
“Dungeon Core Feature Unlocked: Enhance Named Intruders Characteristics.”
If he doesn’t know now, what about when I return? Will he sense her touch upon my soul?
“Dungeon Core Feature Unlocked: Respawn Intruders.”
The Dungeon Dominate hasn’t reduced to seventy-seven per cent, is this her permanent mark upon my soul? If so, how could Azizos not sense her stink?
“Dungeon Core Feature Unlocked: Evolve Intruders.”
If this is her mark, surely Azizos will know once I am again within his Dungeon if not before!
“Dungeon Core Feature Unlocked: Set Dungeon Roaming Range for Intruders.”
That is my privilege … Azizos can now send monsters into the Beast Kin lands. My hands reach for my head, my smooth hairless skull a sheen of sweat, the Beast Kin camp!
“Dungeon Core Feature Unlocked: Gift Named Intruders Skills.”
Will Arsu reveal the purpose of this feature to me? I need to know if my skills are in danger as everything needs to be created from something. Does he take from his denizens to gift to others? Does he use his power to duplicate from a denizen to gift to another?
Her mind screams stop. A heady satisfaction replaces her misery and her mind voice purrs with pleasure. “I see now why your boast isn’t hollow, previously my choices lay in traps and deceptions like false floors, dead-ends, and mazes the petty conversion of the living into mindless undead constructs … now I am much more, could be much more especially if you feed me!”
Her playful mind voice is no more, the promise of power until then unknown locking her into a new single-minded purpose, one which, I believe she will forever pursue. A mind voice full of avarice, clear and unrepentant.
Do I feed her? Do I influence her purpose any further and if I do what of the future?
{Realm Unlocked and Assigned: Disorder, +5% Divine Dominate, Total Divine Dominate 11%. Your influence has changed the planned future of this world. Corrupting the purpose of the Gateway Dungeon, indiscriminate destruction of Beast Kin and an actor as an insidious agent of the Olympian Gods. Your Gift [Wisdom] from Greek Goddess Athena extinguished: Incompatible with Disorder Realm}
{Faith Magic aligned to Disorder Rune manifests: [Confuse], [Dishearten], [Enrage]}
{Faith Magic tricked from Greek God Zeus manifests: [Beauty]}
{Faith Magic tricked from Greek Goddess Hera manifests: [Sooth Birthing]}
{Faith Magic tricked from Greek Goddess Athena manifests: [Enhance Weapon], [Faith Armour]}
{Divine Magic claimed from Greek Goddess Aphrodite manifests: [One Mind], [One Pleasure], [One Love], [Abundance]}
{Bereft of Realm Divine Magic, the Greek Goddess Aphrodite is unable to harvest worship from this world, her influence forever extinguished while the Neophyte Goddess Aphrodite exits.}
{Realm Magic aligned to Disorder Rune manifests: [Reflect Magic]}
{Divine Magic accessible at Divine Dominate 11%: [Magiclink]}
I close my eyes and contemplate the stark truth. Disorder … I have and it seems I will continue to disrupt some preordained future. I am about self and my goals. Has my pursuit been so reckless? Should I mourn the Beast Kin murdered anew? The other; the Gateway Dungeon and Zeus I cannot undo now, although I intend to oppose the betrayer and what of my namesake, an unintended banishing, although I suspect I am now a target of all the Greek Gods and Goddesses, not solely Zeus.
“You have been one to change things …”
An undercurrent of snickering is clear in Alba’s assessment and with reluctance I must agree because I needed to change to reach for my humanity, my Sentient Dominate and yet as my soul now stands I am more likely to embrace my Dungeon Dominate and become Azizos’ slave.
Petulant mind speech interrupts my deliberations. “Well that is inconvenient, I am unable to offer you a contract. You must find me others, that is all there is to it … at once!”
I chuckle to Alba before I reply. “At once, mighty Arsu!”
Her hesitation due to my response is delightful. “Yes … be off with you.”
Rolling from the stone roof to my feet and then light stepping over the pile of boulders I am full of mischief and determine to wring more change out of this world, especially if the difference I make interferes with the plans of Zeus in particular.
My Lamia form returns to me in good time and I dress. “My Prophet …”
“I am ready to be of service my Goddess.”
The emphatic meaning in her reply is heartening, causing me to pause and savour her adulation.
“Break camp and retreat to the forest edge and post a watch on the Dungeon. Prepare for the possibility of an assault.”
I can almost hear the rapid thumping of her heart, nervous thoughts betraying her previous calm upon learning of this new threat.
“A precaution my Prophet, not a certainty,” I purr, trying to calm her.
“Yes, we have sufficient Lion Kin. In fact, even the depths of the forest should be watched, although in the form of hunting trips in their groupings. A more active form of bonding …”
In my final piece of preparation, I sling the long spear upon my back. “I commend you and know I have chosen my Prophet wisely indeed.”
Our link remains, hanging in silence, my Prophet has more to say I suspect, while I am content to stroll along the rough trail from the Dungeon door to the ramshackle hamlet of the former slaves. My thoughts trying to evaluate the loss of Athena’s Gift. To date, the innate wisdom to choose the better path at the very least, although given the reasons I have obtained the Disorder Rune I wonder, chuckling to myself. Does wisdom mean treading a path of no change, the safest way or something else? From now on I won’t know and somewhat berate myself for not studying something I took too easily for granted. This self-examination! Do I blame my Sentient Dominate? What other reason do I have … Divine Dominate? I must accept myself as I now am, there is no return and no room for regret as I scrape towards full Sentient Dominate.
Upon reaching the first lean-to, my Prophet speaks.
“Another Rune Goddess, Disorder I am uncertain of how such a thing will benefit us … I believe in planning and setup and I fear the blindness of impulse … please I beg explanation, to understand your great purpose … to learn.”
Her hesitation is warranted, and I am at first inclined to be condescending and yet her devotion and now bravery in even questioning is to be admired, and I do.
“Disorder can be disruption on a smaller scale as exhibited by the Faith Magic granted, a simple interpretation I assure you. What if Disorder led to the downfall of those currently in power, disruption of the status quo and we are the harbingers through clandestine actions, well-planned or manipulators of lessor beings’ base motivations. Think on a grand scale my Prophet, I seek disorder on a huge scale, I plan to change this world.”
Communicating my objective to another solidifies, until then, my frail inner whisperings, washing away doubt, the declaration of intent somehow granting me the freedom to act, my body shaking with determination and purpose.
“… mmm …”
I inadvertently share my revelation, sensing my Prophet prostrate in throws of ecstasy.
“Yessss, my Goddess this one fully comprehends the majesty of Disorder according to your vision, the obvious and the not so obvious. Let those currently in power tremble, a new world order is about to wash them away …”
Bursting with energy, I take flight, the effort meaningless as I lift and then glide over the treetops, not bothering with invisibility, I am free and wish for all to gaze upon my glory. Throwing my head back in exaltation I recall an anomaly.
“Why Lion Kin and not Lion Beast Kin?”
“We are Kin first and foremost, Beast is a description for those who aren’t us and if they aren’t us, they are to be destroyed, enslaved or manipulated.”
My Prophet doesn’t hesitate to reply, no fear in my questioning as I am certain my confidence infuses into her being, her core beliefs. She casts away any doubts, content to play her role while plotting to disrupt the current order and finally certain of our bond.
“A new enemy approaches the Kin, although we have time to prepare and I believe my plan will extend the available time even further. Once done I will return, we need now more than ever to consecrate my Temple.”
“I believe.”
The new revelation of threat a nothing to my Prophet, no concern, no questioning … so refreshing.
“Go my Prophet, leverage the Disorder Rune and reap the benefits of change through disruption.”
My Prophet severs our link. A broad smile graces my lips, our relationship master-slave no more, maturing into mentor-mentored I think.
By late afternoon the treetops are behind me and nestling within the rolling hills ahead I spy the rooftops of a village, the masters of the slaves more organised and productive, and therefore more dangerous and yet I welcome the challenge, laughing aloud, the wind whipping my dirty grey-black hair behind me as I swoop upon my prey.