“So?" Emma asked, leaning forward on the table. ”Are you safe? Are you okay? Is it done? What’s happening?“
Zoe blinked her eyes a few times, staring at the notifications in front of her eyes.
“Are you going to be trapped on the moon? Should we get you something? What’s going on, Zoe?" Emma asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. It gave me a feat and a skill.” Zoe answered.
“What do they do?" Joe asked.
“I’m not sure. It’s really not clear. Should I try using the skill?" Zoe asked.
“Don’t do anything crazy, just a little bit of mana, but yeah. See what it does, at least? What’s it called?" Emma asked.
“Foizo on the Moon.” Zoe laughed. “The feat is called Dungeonmaster, though. Says I’m a master of mana and a ruler of my domain, whatever that means.”
“What’s the description of the skill say, first?" Joe asked. ”Just in case it tells us something useful.“
“Right. Good point.” Zoe agreed. “I’ll check.”
[Foizo on the Moon]
“It has no description at all?” Zoe asked. “Just says Foizo on the Moon and then the description is just not there.”
“Huh.” Joe hummed. “Yeah, put a little mana into it, see if it does something. Just a little bit, though.”
Zoe nodded and pushed the slightest pulse of mana into her new skill as she could manage, an almost undetectable amount compared to her normal regeneration. The mana was whisked away as soon as it left her, but she didn’t notice anything change. Nothing felt different, nothing looked different. She felt the mana leave her body, and then vanish.
“It just vanished.” Zoe said. “Probably to the dungeon, if I had to guess.”
Emma nodded. “So it lets you control the dungeon, maybe?”
“Maybe.” Joe agreed. “You can go check it out if you want to.”
“Yeah I think I do. You two wanna come?” Zoe asked.
“Absolutely. Yes. I’m coming.” Emma said. “No way you’re checking out your own dungeon without me. And I’m gonna be the first to clear it too. If it’s a dungeon that can be cleared. Do you know what kind of dungeon it is?"
“I don’t know anything more than you at this point, really.” Zoe said.
Joe shook his head back and forth as he pursed his lips in thought. “I shouldn’t.”
“But?" Zoe asked.
“I think I will.” Joe smiled. “I just have to get a few things in order before I go. Could you drop me off at Kenzie’s?"
“Where do they live, again?” Zoe asked. “Sorry, I’ve never actually been to their place. I always just see them at your inn.”
“Near Peter and Lauren’s. Just drop me off there and I’ll be back in a bit.” Joe said.
“Could you get them to come check on the boys too, if they can? Just make sure they’re safe and fed and all that?” Emma asked. Since their renovations, keeping the boys safe was a much smaller concern than it once had been. They had space to run around and hide from each other if things got tense, ample litter boxes and even
Joe nodded.
“Alright, so Peter and Lauren’s then..” Zoe grabbed Joe’s outstretched hand and in a moment, they were on the road outside of their friend’s home. “See you in a bit?”
“Yeah, I’ll be quick. Just gotta get somebody to watch over the inn and get a few errands done. I’ll just be a bit.” Joe said. “I’ll try and be quick.”
“Thanks Joe but no rush. As exciting as it is, we’ll live if we have to wait a little bit for you. Don’t worry about it.” Zoe said.
“Thanks. I’ll be quick as I can.” Joe said as he rushed off down the street to a smaller house nearby.
Zoe Cosmic Stepped back to her home where Emma was tapping both of her feet on the ground and all of her rings on the table in a symphony of chaos and angst.
“Joe’s just got some errands to do and then we’ll be going.” Zoe said.
Emma nodded. “Yup. Yup. No rush.”
“I’m pretty excited, to be honest.” Zoe said.
“OH MY GOD ME TOO.” Emma shouted. “You have your own dungeon! YOUR OWN DUNGEON!”
“It doesn’t really feel real yet. I mean, we can’t see it. So maybe it’s just like a pit with a couple of frost elementals in it.” Zoe said.
“That would still be awesome! They’re your own frost elementals!" Emma said.
“Yeah that’s true. That would be pretty cool. It is pretty cool.” Zoe agreed.
The two waited in eager anticipation for Joe to finish his errands, fingers rapping on the table and feet tapping on the floor. Fennel got a little worked up so Emma laid down on the floor playing with him, tossing little cloth balls down the hallway for him to run after.
Joe showed up again after the better part of an hour and nearly tripped over Fennel running out in front of him around the corner as he chased after the little ball.
“You ready?” Joe asked.
“Yes!" Emma shouted. ”Let’s go. Now. Go go go. Come on. Let’s go see this dungeon.“
“Yeah. Are you ready?" Zoe asked.
“Yup.” Joe nodded.
Zoe stuck out her hands for her friends to grab and Cosmic Stepped them far above Foizo. Taking three people to the moon at the same time slowed the process down even more as everything she had to do compounded on each other. It wasn’t just more mana spent on teleporting them, but more mana spent on creating a larger pocket of air for them to breathe in, on the radiation shield to block the sun’s powerful rays and the mana spent keeping them warm when they weren’t heated by the sun.
The whole journey took over a day and a half before they landed on the surface of the moon, a day and a half of excitement and anticipation. Of three very excited people jammed together with nothing to do but relish in their imaginations.
They landed on the wrong side of the moon and had to fly around to look for the large pillar Zoe had formed to mark the pit she carved, but neither the pit nor the pillar remained at all.
In its place was a near perfect replica of Foizo in the winter. All of the buildings, the walls that surrounded it. Even the little snow covered hill that Zoe carved her home into, though not all of the hill was covered in snow. Near the top, the snow seemed to melt and give way to the normal gray stone at what Zoe assumed to be the boundary of the dungeon.
Dozens of knee high, rotund humanoids made of a translucent blue crystal paced along the walls and wandered through several of the buildings that Zoe could see.
“Holy crap. It’s Foizo.” Emma said.
“On the moon.” Joe corrected, with a laugh.
“Do we wanna go in?" Zoe asked.
“Yeah!" Emma shouted. ”Lets go see what Foizo’s like.“
Zoe brought them to the surface of the moon and they walked towards the walls. The wisps of light floated through the city, forming a cloud of snow far above that poured down, building up the already rather thick coating of snow even further.
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As she stepped into the snow that extended just a few feet out of the walls, Zoe stumbled forward under the weight of her own body suddenly jumping. Her face slammed into the ground and she felt the heat rip out of her body, leaving her nose and ears red and painful.
“You ok- woooah!” Emma tried to ask as she too stepped in to the snow and stumbled forward, catching herself on Zoe’s back.
Joe took a careful step forward and rose an eyebrow at the feeling of his weight returning. “Feels like the gravity on Abyllan.” He said.
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that at all.” Zoe rubbed her nose and ears, trying to warm them up again. “And it’s really cold. Like, really really cold.”
Emma shivered. “Yeah, it is. Do you think we can breathe here without your help too?"
Zoe stepped out of the bubble of air she was maintaining and tried to take a breath. Freezing air rushed into her lungs, leaving everything it touched with a painful stinging sensation.
“I think so. It’s really, really cold though.” Zoe answered.
Emma nodded and stepped out of the bubble with a little hesitation to take a breath of her own. She grimaced from the pain and gripped her nose with her fingers. “Ouch. That stings.”
“Is it doing much damage?" Joe asked.
Emma shook her head. “Not much. A little, but nothing scary.”
Joe nodded and stepped out of the bubble himself to take a breathe. He creased his eyebrows as the stinging cold bit into his lungs.
“You two going to be alright then or do you want me to keep the warmer bubble of air?” Zoe asked.
“I’m fine.” Emma said.
“I’ll be alright.” Joe agreed.
Zoe nodded and stopped pushing mana into her skills. “So, what do we want to check out first?"
“Try talking to one of those?" Joe pointed at the crystalline humanoids standing guard at the gate. ”Is this a productive dungeon or a ruin dungeon, anyway?"
“Well it’s not a challenge dungeon, at least.” Zoe said. “Sure, lets go have a chat then.”
The group walked up to the gate and Zoe waved to the creature on the right. A dark blue level two hundred seventy Frost’s Guard, to her identify.
“Greetings, ma’am.” The guard spoke with a crackly voice that caused Zoe’s ears to sting as though somebody had dumped a bucket of ice water in them. It bowed as it spoke, its rotund body rotating forward while both of its stubby arms bent backwards behind it.
“Uh, hello? Do you have a boss I can talk to?" Zoe asked.
“You, ma’am.” The guard responded.
“Okay, but how about a manager? Somebody above you, below me? Do I have like, a second in command here?” Zoe asked.
The guard pointed in the vague direction of where Zoe knew her home to be.
“Right. Of course, that makes sense. Thank you.” Zoe said.
The guard’s body shuddered. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“That’s where your home is. You think we’ll find you there?" Joe laughed.
“I hope not. I really, really hope not.” Zoe said.
The three of them walked along the outside wall to the edge of the hill and then Cosmic Stepped past it to outside of Zoe’s home. It looked a little different than she remembered — the garden’s lay out wasn’t quite the same, nor were the plants growing in it. The windows were made of a red tinted glass rather than the clear glass they had in Emma’s room.
It reminded Zoe of home, but in a way that made her a little uncomfortable, like somebody else had taken it and made it their own without her knowledge. Zoe looked inside with her sphere of perception and saw a much larger, much more human shaped crystalline creature sitting at a dinner table made of a pale blue wood.
Zoe Cosmic Stepped them inside, and the creature looked up from the small balls of frost rolling around on the table.
“Greetings, ma’am.” It stood and bowed. A bright red level three hundred twenty eight Cosmic Frost, to Zoe’s identify.
“Dammit, Emma.” Zoe said. “You named the boss.”
“Really?" Emma looked at the creature and laughed. ”I did. That’s hilarious.“
“Uh hi,” Zoe said to the creature. “You’re the dungeon boss, then?”
“You are, ma’am.” The creature said.
“Right, but you’re the one who stays here and does the bossy things?" Zoe asked.
“Yes, ma’am.” The creature said.
“Can I replace you with somebody, if I wanted?" Zoe asked.
“Have I displeased you, ma’am?” The creature asked.
“No. I’m just curious. If I wanted to, could I?” Zoe asked.
The creature nodded.
“Huh. Neat. What happens if I do that, then?" Zoe asked.
The creature didn’t respond.
“Do you have a name? ‘The creature’ doesn’t really work for me, and Cosmic Frost isn’t a real name.” Zoe asked.
“I do not, ma’am.” The creature answered.
“Can I name you?” Zoe asked.
The creature nodded.
“Got any ideas?" Zoe asked her friends. ”For a high level boss of Foizo on the Moon?"
“Greg?” Emma suggested. “It’d be really funny for the boss of a high level dungeon to have a boring name.”
“Hey!” Joe scolded. “Don’t make fun of boring names.”
Emma chuckled. “I like Greg, though.”
“Greg is a great name.” Joe agreed.
“Okay fine, whatever. It’s just a name. Your name’s Greg now, alright?" Zoe asked Greg.
Greg nodded.
“What kind of dungeon is this, anyway?" Zoe asked. ”A theme dungeon or, I don’t know what the other names you use are.“
Greg tilted its translucent blue head. “That’s your decision, ma’am.”
“Oh. Oh!” Zoe responded. “What do we want then? A town on the moon for people to live in, or a dungeon on the moon for people to train in?"
“Can you change it?" Emma asked.
“Can I change it?" Zoe asked Greg.
“Yes.” Greg answered. “We are yours to command, ma’am.”
“Can I command you to leave the dungeon?” Zoe asked.
“I must remain within the dungeon to maintain its integrity.” Greg answered.
“So you wouldn’t leave the dungeon no matter what I said?" Zoe asked.
“I must remain within the dungeon to maintain its integrity.” Greg answered.
“Is this what the boss of the springs was like?” Emma asked.
“Even worse. This guy’s way more open.” Zoe said.
Joe chuckled. “Looks like you can change it then, so what do you wanna do?"
“Well lets start with a productive dungeon. What types of dungeons are there, anyway?" Zoe asked.
“We do whatever you ask, ma’am.” Greg answered.
“Okay, then be a theme dungeon, for now. I’ll bring some friends out to say hi soon, I think. Eliza would love to see this.” Zoe said.
“I don’t know what a theme dungeon is, ma’am.” Greg responded.
“Huh.” Zoe hummed. “Where are you from?”
“I’m from Foizo, ma’am.” Greg answered.
Zoe smiled. “You grew up in Foizo?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Greg answered.
“Interesting. You most certainly did not, but you think you did, don’t you?" Zoe asked.
“Yes, ma’am. I grew up in Foizo.” Greg answered.