In most games, you win by killing things. You win in the dungeon game by killing everything inside the dungeon. You win in the exploration game by killing all your enemies. You win in the fly swatting game by killing all the flies.
In those games, sometimes there is a thing called "diplomacy"... but it's almost impossible to actually use it to win. You can avoid a couple battles, but if you choose to be the fire lord in a conquest game, the water lord will always be your mortal enemy, and no matter how much money you send, they will always try to kill you. And there isn't even an option to send offerings or a peace treaty to the final boss of an RPG or any of his minions.
It seems to work that way in the world too. When diplomacy between nations shuts down, you eliminate the other person to get your way. In national and local politics, you eliminate your opponents so that you can make the laws the way you want them. Rarely someone actually cares, but most of the time the goal is to forcibly make your way the only way instead of finding a solution that actually works for and appeals to everyone.
Some games allow more flexibility, with spying, charming, intimidation, or intellectual bargaining. But in the end it's almost always just a power struggle. People call it "justice" or "success." But those are often just epithets to show they were right. It's survival of the fittest. The strong win over the weak. The smart dominate the stupid. The ones who feel entitled and have power today take the rights of those they loathe most, even if they were once on the receiving end of those same actions. They prioritize their own rights over the rights of anyone in their way. The one who throws more punches wins over the person who takes them.
Dungeon Quest is no exception. I have no misplaced beliefs in a game that has shown how biased it is toward death and destruction, power and weakness.
I'm going to die here.
Yes, maybe I'm fighting a war I can't win. Maybe everyone else will think I'm wrong. But that doesn't mean I can just stand aside and let it happen.
I walk outside the golden circle.
In an anime, or a fairy tale where I'm the protagonist, this is the moment where the game bestows some kind of mythical protection on me. I suddenly get the power to protect Maribel and all the kids and everyone in the city thinks I'm a hero.
Or a genie appears out of the ring on my hand and grants me wishes.
Or the princess of the castle happens by with her magic guards and whisks us all off to a tea party where we become great friends and she ironically falls in love with me.
But life isn't that simple.
And in real life you can't rely on magic powers or superpowers to get your way - to win by force. Sometimes, you lose. The people you care about die. And when you have no other options, you have to try anything you can to make things work.
I extend my hand toward Zed: "I don't want to fight you Zed. I want to talk. My name's Gabe."
Zed throws a dagger in my direction. It flies along my side, whizzing through the space where my arm had been before it was extended. I don't think he intended to miss.
I'm sure I'm sweating. I'm shaking. I've died from bugs and slimes and falling and once from getting punched in an alleyway, but I've never died from someone who meant to kill me. I probably only have moments before I am dead, and then everyone else will be dead, too. I gulp and keep talking.
Gabe: "I'm actually pretty scared right now to be honest. I don't know why you want to take Maribel, or why you call her Eliza, or why you threatened the kids from the orphanage, or why you want to hurt us."
Zed pulls out another dagger and thrusts it towards my outstretched hand. I almost close my eyes. Just before he hits, there's a golden flash of light. The dagger *clangs* against something and Zed yelps in pain.
Zed: "Zow! What was that?!?"
Zed looks around but there's nothing to be found.
I feel a {pound} in my chest. That golden light... that's the light Lucia makes. But where is she? And where has she been? I suddenly realize that I haven't seen her since I saw her earlier.
I lower my hands and show my empty hands.
Gabe: "Like I said, Zed, I don't want to fight you. I'm a pacifist. I'm not going to hurt you."
Sister Maribel behind me gasps. Did I forget to tell her I was a pacifist? It's not like I can turn back time and tell her. And if I did forget... well, now she knows.
Zed has a dagger in his left hand. He's only a few feet away from me. He's holding the dagger with a full grip and suddenly makes a full-armed swipe at eye level, faster than I can even see. The air shimmers in front of me. A flash of gold light and his arm rebounds and the dagger goes spinning.
{Pound}
Zed screams. "Aaaaaaaaggghhhh... you stupid... aaaaaggghhhhh!!"
His left hand is hanging at an angle - it looks like it is broken. A couple fingers on his right hand look broken as well.
Zed: "HEAL ME YOU IDIOT!!!!!"
One of the men next to him calmly takes Zed's hand and places his hands above and beneath it while chanting a magical spell. Green light pours from both hands and Zed's yelps die down. He does the same for Zed's other hand.
Zed: "Enough games. Kill them."
Gaol (has reappeared from the shadows): "Boss? The girl too?"
Zed: "No not the girl dummy! Take Eliza alive. Break her legs so she can't run away, but kill the rest of them!"
It looks like diplomacy just failed.
Ugh.
This is where I die.
---
Four of the five men in front of me pull out a weapon. The one who healed Zed begins casting a magic spell.
I don't know what to do. They already subdued all the guards. No one is coming to help. And I am realizing how useless my "power of the pacifist" really is when it comes to protecting people... I can protect Lucia, but I don't even have enough points to set a new person if I knew she would be safe.
The guy holding Zaza stabs her in the back. She whimpers, then her eyes go lifeless as she slumps to the ground. Maribel is protecting the children with her body, but a guy with a big mace swings it sideways along the ground and I hear a sickening *crunch* as it crushes half a dozen children and finally slams into Maribel's backside. She faints, and Igor is the only one left awake. He jumps up to protect her, charm held out in his hand. Zed throws a dagger point-blank that hits him in the chest and he slumps to the ground. The charm hits the ground and shatters, the golden glow disappearing entirely.
The mage finishes his spell and casts an inferno that spits a spout of roaring flames from his outstretched hands towards me. The air right in front of him shimmers, and the flames hit something and refract backwards in a million directions, burning his face, body, and arms, along with both men to either side of him. They all scream and fall writhing to the ground, their bodies burned and clothing singed.
{Pound}
The air shimmers to my right, and Gaol appears with a dagger in each hand, sneering: "You may have been lucky before, beggar boy, but now you die!"
He swings both arms at me, but his right arm stops after moving only an inch or two, rebounding and pushing him off balance and rolling onto the ground.
{Pound}
He jumps back up: "I'll, I'll get you! I know you're there!"
His body goes partially transparent and he starts stabbing the empty air in front of him with his left hand. On the third stab, there's a flash of gold light and the dagger shatters.
{Pound}
He suddenly whirls and sends a head-high roundhouse kick. I duck, but he somehow compensates mid-air. There's a flash of gold light, and his stops mid-air, then bends backwards. He's out cold on the ground.
{Pound}
Zed has his arms around Maribel and is lifting her up on his shoulders.
Gabe: "No! Stop! What are you doing? Don't touch Maribel!"
I reach for her and he throws a punch with his left hand to my face. The air shimmers with a golden flash, and his wrist is bent at an angle.
{Pound}
Something lands lightly on my chest and bounces off. Was that...?!?
I reach for her again, and, suddenly, he drops Maribel and, with his right hand, slashes toward my stomach with a black dagger. I see a flash of red and gold, and the dagger goes flying toward the wall, where it bounces before hitting the ground.
{Pound}
Zed's eyes go wide. And for the first time, I see him begin to tremble.
He runs to the dagger and scoops it up while screaming with a broken hand. He looks around and sees three of his comrades writhing on the ground and Gaol knocked out cold. He crouches in the middle of the group of fallen men and pulls a purple gem out of a pouch at his waist.
Zed: "You may have won this time, but Eliza can't hide forever! We know where she is now, and we'll be back to make SURE she comes home! And when we do... I'll kill you myself!"
He throws the gem to the ground and it explodes, releasing a cloud of choking purple fumes. When they clear, all five of the men are gone.
---
I rush to Sister Maribel.
I pull up my skill and status screens.
I have 41/50 HP, but only 90 points in "Oath of Pacifism."
Pacifist Heal costs 20 points per HP. I have no idea how many HP she has lost. I've never even used this skill. I don't know how it works. If there's a cooldown. I'm crying and I'm in shock and please don't die. I have no idea if any of the children are still alive. But Maribel can help heal if I can get her alive.
I activate "Pacifist Healing."
[Touch the recipient of HP]
I place my hand on Maribel's face. I don't know if I need to be touching her skin, or near her heart... so this is the simplest spot.
[Transfer 1 HP? {Yes} {No}]
Why on earth isn't there a "full heal" option? Who would only want to transfer one HP at a time?
I click {Yes} 4 times in quick succession.
Suddenly there is a ripping, tearing, crushing, burning sensation that begins at my heart and radiates throughout my body. Incredible, excruciating pain - more than anything I've ever experienced in Dungeon Quest. The pain dulls and leaves me panting for breath and covered in sweat.
I check my HP.
My HP is 36/45 and 170 points in "Oath of Pacifism."
Wait.
I click {Yes} again.
The same pain wracks my body, and for a moment my throat closes off because it hurts so much. I can't breathe. When my vision clears, I see my status screen again.
My HP is 35/44. 190 points.
I thought this skill would just take away my HP. But it's doing more than that. It's not just taking away HP. It's removing my "Max HP." It's also *giving* me points in "Oath of Pacifism" instead of taking them away.
Well... I used to only have 10 HP and I survived. If I don't use them now, everyone around me will die. And if it gives me points in "Oath of Pacifism" I can use all my HP.
I press {Yes} on Maribel as many times as I can.
The pain hits me and makes me crumble to the ground. My throat is on fire. My skin is on fire. My arms feel like they are being crushed and twisted, my back like someone is stabbing me with knives. I almost black out, but it finally stops and I am laying on the ground looking at Maribel's face.
She's breathing. She begins groaning and pushes herself upright. I lift myself slowly, to avoid the dizziness, and crawl to the children and try to heal them.
23/32 HP
[Touch the recipient of HP]
I touch Zaza. I feel a {Thump} in my chest but no pain. The screen doesn't change. The same thing happens when I touch her again. No. Not Zaza.
I touch Igor. {Thump}. For the first time in my life, I wish I were in pain. But there's no response. The next child. No response. I can activate the skill with only one child, a little girl. I can give her only one HP before passing out.
I black out as it feels like my head is being crushed, my internal organs exploding in flame.
When I wake up a few moments later, I hear sobbing.
Behind me Maribel is awake, crying and mumbling over Igor's body, her head over his chest where she has taken out the dagger.
Maribel: "If only I had... if only I could... if only I were...I would give my life for these children..."
Tears run down her face and drip, mingling with blood on Igor's shirt. The boy doesn't move. There is no miracle, no angelic messengers. Just a ragged adventurer, corpses of children, a little girl covered in blood, and a woman, who continues to cry.