What a fucking mess. I tutted, judging the aftermath of the battle. All three of the human knights were dead, that one boy with the shield and sword had a crossbow bolt through his neck and would probably be dead in a few seconds, and Mimi was… well.

I suppose with every downside came an upside. Even with Mimi gone, I still had the Baroness. Someone with opposable thumbs to do the jobs that required those. Though I suppose that since the Baroness could speak, the ability to hold things was probably less of a priority now. Then again, I did need someone who was able to move my core around. Still couldn’t do anything myself after all.

Oop, there goes the kid. I could feel my mana grow from his death.

“Grant?” The spear kid whispered, crawling over to his limp body.

Ah, so his name was Grant. Good to know. I asked the Baroness about the other kids name. Barry.

“What happened?” Abby asked, still unwilling to take a step over the writhing corpse of the knights blocking the exit.

I decide that my little armies have had enough. I send them back out of my dungeon, set on conquering the entirety of the upper cave system before I made my next move.

Rab shouted in anger, unable to reach the sword stuck in his eye socket. His lance didn’t have the second digit necessary to grab it, and his shield claw was simply too large. It couldn’t reach. He shook his lance in anger, slamming the corpse of the paladin against the ground until it fell off. Then he noticed Mimi’s corpse. His cries of anger silenced. He whimpered, making his way to her body.

Sorry bud. I told him. I didn’t expect the lightning.

“LUCID!” Owyn shouted angrily.

What? I asked. I’m busy.

Owyn violently ruffled through his belongings, pulling out several pouches. He shoved them into the air.

“Eighteen cores! We’ll trade eighteen cores for you to return the Baroness to us!”

All eyes were on him. I deflated a little, turning apologetically to the little Bellamy.

Isabelle. I remembered her name.

“I’m sorry.” The Baroness voiced my words. “It’s not possible.”

“Mom…” Isabelle buried her face in her mothers shoulders. She held her daughter as tight as she could, tears forming in her own eyes.

“I’m sorry…”

“What do you mean? Not possible.” Owyn growled.

Baroness? I need your voice.

Felecia. She responded silently. “Lucid would like to explain.”

She cleared her throat and raised her voice so that everyone could hear my words.

“Lucid’s already tried to free his ‘minions’, as he calls them. Each time he’s tried, they killed themselves out of desperation to be enthralled with him. As far as he knows, once a being is enthralled, there’s nothing that can break them out of it. Ownership of will can only be transferred. Never freed.”

“Bullshit!” Owyn shouted. “If the core is destroyed, the enthralled become free! It’s been proven!”

“If you had to kill yourself for someone you barely know, would you?” Felecia asked him.

Owyn grit his teeth. Abby responded for him.

“That doesn’t matter! This is wrong!”

“Wrong or not, Lucid wants to live.” Felecia said. Isabelle struggled against her, pushing her away.

The little girl propped herself up on her elbows. Clearly, she was struggling. I had Felecia gesture Abby and Owyn over to help her. They obeyed without hesitation, rushing to her side. Owyn began throwing rocks off of her while Abby held her upright. Felecia walked around the collapsed rock pile to collect my core. Barry, sitting over Grant's corpse, glared at both me and the Baroness.

“Lucid wasn’t the one that killed him.” Felecia forwarded my words for me. “Consider that for a second.”

I could feel Felecia through our touch. Although she seemed very calm outwardly, she was mentally struggling not to help her daughter out of the rubble. Her eyes locked on her as Abby and Owyn collected her with great pains. Neither of her legs were working, and one of them had a bone sticking out of the side. The fact that she was only crying through the pain showed to me exactly how much willpower she really had.

Massive respect to the little Bellamy.

Abby and Owyn glared at my core. “We’re taking her home.”

“No.” Felecia said for me. “She’s staying here. In the dungeon.”

“You can’t stop us.” Owyn said.

“He can, actually.”

Rab growled behind Felecia, ready to lunge at any sudden movement. Footsteps at the exit alerted the rest of the humans to new arrivals. The mimic crab with the four extra long legs, my bat-hobgoblin, along with my two evolved guppies. Those with hands held rocks, fully ready to bludgeon anything that approached them.

Felecia begged me to explain to the others. I let her.

“As punishment for attempting to kill Lucid, Isabelle will stay in his dungeon, feeding him mana. You will be permitted to leave and return with whatever medicines and equipment necessary for healing her. She will serve her sentence for as long as it takes her to fully heal. The rest of you are free to go.”

“You’re keeping her prisoner?” Barry growled.

“He could enthrall her.” The Baroness told him. “But he won’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I asked him to.”

I could feel Felecia’s inner conflict with that decision. It was true that she asked me to not enthrall her, but the decision seemed to come unbidden to her. More instinctual than any conscious decision. She wanted her daughter to be enthralled to me so that they could be together from here forward, but she also wanted her daughter to be free. More than her desire to protect her daughter, Felecia wanted her to be free. Or perhaps the freedom and the protection all rolled into the same thing. With her conflicting emotions, it was hard to tell.

“Oh, what?” Isabelle smirked through grit teeth. “Poor little Lucid doesn’t have a conscience unless his subordinates want him to? Is his fucking intelligence dictated by the amount of thralls he has? Is that why he enthralled so many creatures?”

Rab vibrates at the provocations, but Felecia stops him with a gesture. I tell her my argument to pass on.

“Would you stop Lucid if he attempted to enthrall a rat?”

Isabelle scoffed. “I’m trying to kill him for taking you.” Her eyes bored hard into her mothers. I could feel Felecia’s gratitude towards her daughter at the statement, but I had a point to make.

“So if Lucid had never enthralled me, would you have left him alone?”

“He’s dangerous.” Owyn says. “We couldn’t let him live, no matter what.”

“So you value my life, as Felecia Bellamy, more than Lucid’s. To the point where you’ll kill him to save me.”

“Obviously.” Owyn says. “Otherwise what’s been the point of all this!”

Felecia stands a little taller. “So whose lives do you think Lucid values?”

“He’s a dungeon.” Abby says. “He doesn’t value anyone's life.”

“He values his own.” Felecia argues. “And because he values his life, he values mine. He values Rab’s, and he valued Mimi’s. He values those that bring him value. Now isn’t that easy to understand?”

Owyn gestures with a free hand to the mass of rodent bodies atop the two knights in my doorway. They had killed a small number of them during their struggles.

“It certainly doesn’t look like he valued their lives. As soon as he wants to, he’ll throw your life away like it’s worth nothing.”

“Do you know what the mentality of a vegetarian is?”

Owyn scoffs, but humors me. “They only eat vegetables?”

“They value animal lives as much as human lives.” Felecia says. She looks around at the corpses littering my dungeon. Human, mimic crab, rodent. “Lucid is much the same, if in the opposite direction. All lives are equal. Therefore, not one matters any more than another. The only value placed upon lives is what we place on them ourselves. In life and death situations, there is no such thing as morality. Only survival.”

Her eyes met her daughters. “With only the ability to enthrall creatures, how would you expect to best ensure your survival?”

“Are you expecting us to sympathize with you!?” Barry shouted. “You killed Grant! You’re enslaving people!”

“No one life has any more value than another.” Felecia repeated. “Is it alright to enthrall fish, but not humans? Rats, but not people? Besides, Lucid did no such thing. The church killed Grant.”

“Why would they do that?” Abby asked.

“They’re feeding Lucid.” Felecia said, matter of factly. “They fed him that slave girl… sorry, their bag carrier when they first came here. Lucid also killed two of the knights before they could escape.”

“That’s bullshit!” But Owyn didn’t seem so sure.

“No…” Isabelle muttered. “It’s not. They didn’t try and stop us from entering the dungeon. They didn’t help us fight it either. It almost looked like they…”

“They tried to kill you.” Felecia confirmed. “Succeeded in one circumstance. Rab saved your life.”

Rab proudly displayed his bloody lance.

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“Why would they do that?” Abby muttered.

“Is that why you didn’t want the priests with us when you were talking to us earlier?” Owyn asked.

I nodded, a movement which Felecia mirrored. I’m still not sure why, but since you’re here, I’m open to suggestions.

Nobody had an answer.

I’m not some irrational being. I decided to tell them. Not like these other dungeons. I can be talked to. Reasoned with. Good try with the trading of the cores though Owyn, I absolutely do want to trade for them. Unfortunately, there’s just nothing I can offer that you’d want.

“Give me my mom back you son of a bitch.” Isabelle spat on the ground.

“Isabelle!” Her mother scolded. “That is not how a lady behaves!”

It’s fine. I tell Felecia. I don’t really take offense that easily. People will be people after all. And I can only control how I act to them, right?

“But you can’t really.” Felecia told me aloud. “Control how you act? I mean, you kind of… control other people.”

I didn’t tell you to tend to your daughter. I reminded her. I’m not going to stop you from doing what you want to do, as long as it doesn’t directly act against me. Same goes for really any of my minions. Life’s too boring if I’m the only personality around.

“I see.” Felecia contemplated.

“What?”

I sighed. Being unable to be heard is really stupid. I wish…

Magic is a product of will and mana.

Hm…

I concentrated on my will. My desire to be heard. I directed it to the room as a whole.

Can you hear me now?

Mana rushed out of me with every breath, deflating me like a balloon. The other humans in the room flinched, clearly having heard me.

Nope. I decided. Too tiring. It’ll just be better if you speak for me. I tell Felecia.

“What was that!?” Barry covered his ears.

“That… was Lucid.” Abby told him. “A little quieter, if you please?”

Was I too loud? I ask Felecia.

“You put too much will into it.” Felecia tells me. My connection with her tells me that she’s actually rather impressed, and just a bit proud of the feat. “It’s alright.”

“Too much will.” Isabelle mutters bitterly off to the side.

To be fair, I was still holding back. I think there was only one time when I went all out?

“Lucid says there was only one time when he went all out.” Felecia tells the room. “When?”

Back when I first came to this world, I attempted to wake myself up. It normally worked, even breaking me out of sleep paralysis if I tried hard enough. But I wouldn’t tell them that. The time I killed Faux. I thought he was being gentle, so I doubled his will in my attempt to subjugate him. And I mean, even then I could have tried harder.

“When he killed Faux.” Felecia translates. “By accident it seems.”

Speaking of which, bring me over to Mimi.

Felecia, although confused, obeyed. She touched my core to the charred corpse of Mimi. I focused my will on her body. On her entity entirely I willed it to stand again. To return to the world of the living. Not just her skeletal shell, but her body as a whole.

Her carapace twitched as mana flowed into her. It greedily sucked in the mana I had gained from two of the human deaths. I let it, happily watching as she pushed herself off the stone. Rab worriedly helped her stand, letting her use his lance for leverage. Her black, empty eyes looked at her hands, cracking from the damage.

I willed the damage to disappear. I wanted her whole. Nothing happened.

I sighed, kind of expecting it. So apparently I couldn’t heal undead. Go figures.

Welcome back Mimi.

Back? Mimi asks. I’m… back?

I snickered. I can cheat death. Only once, it seems. And you can’t heal as an undead, so be careful this time around, yeah?

Yeah… She continued staring at her hands, unbelieving.

Rab tilted a bit, touching his shell to her human half. He really missed her it seems.

I instructed Felecia to face Barry next.

“Lucid is offering to bring Grant back.” She tells him. “It’ll come with the obvious circumstances, but… but at least you’ll be able to talk to him again.”

“No.” Barry said, hard. “I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

Felecia nods. “He sort of expected as much. But he does ask your permission to honor him. In his own way.” She gestures up to the statues.

All eyes turn up to see the eight foot statue of the paladin, as well as the two human sized statues standing at their bases. Isabelle bites her tongue, glaring once again at my core.

“You’ll turn him into a statue?”

“Just his likeness.” Felecia says. “Lucid says it’s his way of honoring those that challenge his dungeon and die in the process. The swordsman statue you see crumbled over there is part of his statement. He died without having accomplished anything. The palain’s statue remains because he was the one to kill Faux.”

“So Grant’s statue will also be crumbled like that?” Isabelle’s hatred of me dripped with every word.

No. I tell her directly, even if she couldn’t hear me. Felecia translates for me. He died with great honor, unlike those two. He was trying to save someone he cared about. If I could do more to honor him, I would.

The adventurers seem taken aback by my words.

“You-” Owyn said incredulously. “A dungeon. You care about honor?”

Yes. I said humbly. I care about honor. I care about integrity, and I care about the demolition of both. I care about life, and I respect death, even if I decide to spit in its face sometimes. I care about the roles we all play, and I can only ever expect anyone to play their role to the best of their abilities. My role is that of a dungeon. Grant’s role was that of a hero. So he should be honored like one.

“You certainly don’t act like a dungeon.” Owyn challenged.

I grinned playfully. I can only ever be me. I won’t apologize for that.

“Can we ask him?” Abby asked. Not of me, but of Felecia. “If we resurrect Grant, would he tell the truth?”

Felecia nodded. “But you can’t know that. For all you know, Lucid is forcing me to say this.”

“But he’s not.” Isabelle studied her mother.

She smiled warmly at her daughter. “He’s not.”

The room sat in silence for a while. Could they really trust me? What reason did I have to tell the truth? What reason did I have to lie? Whatever answer they gave me, I was entertained either way. I smiled down at the scene playing out before me. This was fun.

“Do it.” Barry said. Before anyone could cut him off, he argued his point. “If I’m wrong, and he says something Grant wouldn’t say, I’ll take responsibility myself. It’ll be temporary at worse, and at best…”

Isabelle snorted. “Idiot. I was going to say the exact same thing.”

I nodded, pleased with his decision. I was also excited to try something new, so I cracked my knuckles in preparation. Felecia, take me over there.

Before she could kneel and touch my core to Grant’s corpse, Barry stood and placed his hand on my core, stopping Felecia. His touch felt oddly at peace. He had no conflict in his soul at all. Just the sort of peace one could only get when they’ve made up their minds. He stared hard into her eyes.

“Convert me too.”

“Barry!” Isabelle shouted, but she couldn’t move. Abby and Owyn struggled to hold her upright.

Really? I ask him. You won’t be able to fulfill your promise if I do.

Barry smiled. His resolve crumbled, and he took his hand back. Even without the connection, I could sense his heart pounding rapidly in his chest.

“No. I just wanted to be sure I could trust you.”

And so, he held a proverbial knife to his throat and passed me the handle. What a brave, stupid little boy.

I liked him.

Felecia touched my core to Grant’s corpse. I imagined something new for him. Not a skeleton, or a zombie, but something new. I wanted a vampire. And so I directed my will into the corpse, this time truly pouring my all into the effort. A sucking wind pulled in the air from every portion of my dungeon, centering on little Grant’s chest. Mana drained from me. Half a human's worth to reanimate the skeleton. A whole human's worth for the muscles. And then every single ounce left in me to pour in and strengthen my will. My desire must be fulfilled. So I decreed.

Such was my will.

Live.

Grant jolted, practically springing to an upright position. The force that launched him upright was so powerful he practically floated to his feet.

“WOAH!” He shouted, spittle of blood flying everywhere.

He quickly slapped down his body, feeling nothing until he got to his throat. His fingers brushed along the bolt sticking through his neck on both sides. With a casual flick, he jostled the bolt, jiggling it in place.

“Woah…” He said again, looking around. He saw four pairs of eyes staring back at him. He smiled at each one in turn before finally noticing Felecia kneeling behind him with the core in hand.

“Aw, nuts.” Grant’s voice struggled. “We fucked up, didn’t we?”

His voice was garbled, and with the obvious obstruction going through his windpipe, I could understand why.

Hello Grant. I greeted him. Welcome back.

“Back?” Grant looked around. “Who said that?”

Your team has something they’d like to ask you. I told him instead.

“My team?” Grant looked at Barry, confused. “What’s going on?”

Barry sniffed, sweeping him into a great bear hug. Grant coughed blood up all over his shoulder, still confused. But he returned the hug eventually.

“You’re an undead.” Isabelle explained for him. “I’ve never heard of one that can talk though.”

“They’re rare.” Owyn tells her. “It’s theorized that they cost more to reanimate than just the skeleton alone. More than a death would benefit a dungeon. They were typically either found as experiments done by young dungeons, or spies sent in to infiltrate human societies.”

Isn’t that a good idea. I mused.

“Please don’t send undead into my town.” Felecia asked. “You’ll get people sick.”

I waved away her concern. Fine, fine.

“Lucid has something he’d like to ask you.” Barry told Grant after breaking away.

“Lucid? The dungeon?”

Hey man, I just said that your team would be the one to ask, not me!

“Oh! Lucid!”

I slapped my forehead. Was he only just now getting it!?

Whatever. I was wondering if you would like your likeness to be made into a statue. To honor your death.

“Wait, I’m dead?” Grant garbled.

Barry and Isabelle both groaned, but smiled all the same. “He’s Grant.”

Apparently that was all Grant cared to think about the subject though, because he immediately rounded on a pile of rocks. “Me?! A statue!? Fuck yeah!”

It’s not going to be instant. I tell him. Or any time soon really. I’m out of mana.

“Aw, really?”

“What?” Abby asks. I can tell she’s frustrated at being out of the loop. Thankfully too, since she brought her charge to my attention.

Whoops. Isabelle’s out.

“Isabelle!” Felecia cried, rushing to her daughter. She tapped her lightly on the cheek, trying her best to get a reaction out of her.

Blood loss is my guess. I say. I mean, you HAVE been keeping her upright while a bone’s been sticking out of her leg.

Felecia stood upright, jabbing a finger for the exit. “Go get medicine! A tourniquet! Anything!”

A doctor?

No doctors in Setterton. Felecia thought. Then, her thoughts quickly went to some old lady.

Abby and Owyn had set Isabelle down and were already halfway out the door when Felecia shouted for them to bring ‘Old Jenny’ as well. I decided to leave her to her own devices. Right now, Grant was the most interesting thing to me.

“Should I take it out?” Grant asked, playing with the bolt in his throat.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Barry asks, pointedly looking away from the injury.

“Nah? I can feel it moving though.”

Do you feel any stronger? I ask him.

“Not really? I feel normal.”

“Huh?” Barry asks.

Grant points to the air. “You can’t hear that?”

“No. No, I cannot hear the dungeon.”

Grant deflates a little. “Oh wait, doesn’t this mean I gotta do what Lucid says? Aw, that sucks man. I’m sorry if I kill you.”

Barry pales a little, but I laugh.

I’m not gonna force you to kill your friends. Well, as long as they don’t plan on killing me again.

“Oh, that’s good!”

Raise your arms. I command.

Both of Grant's arms shoot into the air.

Does that make you feel anything? Can you disobey if you wanted to?

“Why would I want to do that?”

Oh. Oh, that’s a dangerous line of thought.

Still, I wasn’t going to ask him to put his arms down.

For now, I thought with a giggle. Let’s see how long he keeps them up.