A year had passed since Ves' funeral
Joan had been growing fast, just a couple days ago she had become two years old. She now had light brown hair that was down to the middle of her neck, matching her hazel eyes. After learning to run, jump and climb no place was sacred to her now. Joan was a very physical child, but today she ran around the house with new found vigor and excitement. She had been looking forward to this day, today would be the day her little sister would get a name.
"Mommy, when can we go see little sis?" A pleading Joan looked up at her mother, giving her the watery eyes and stuck out lips that every child hones as an essential survival skill. "Not until tonight sweetheart, you'll have lots of time to play her then, I promise." This was the fifth time Anna had been asked the same question by Joan, each time she looked into those little evil eyes her spirit waned slightly, she would break soon. 'I'm doing this for you Jeral, but I don't know how much longer I can hold out in this war of attrition', Anna sighed to herself mentally.
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Her first year would come to an end tonight and Jeral would give her a give her a name. He had spent this past year in bliss, his daughter was truly a perfect child and Ferald was a great friend to have. "I was never any good with names, I'm going to screw it up, I just know I will." Jeral was pacing back and forth in his kitchen. Having put off picking a name to last day he had no idea what to pick now. He began sounding out random ideas in hope to find a good name.
"jes... no no.. Kater... no.. Bre... nope. FUCK. ren..." His daughter had been observing her father fail terribly at the most basic of creative tasks, that last one had taken her attention and she finished it off for him "Renata.. daddy, Renata." His daughter had been learning to speak from a younger age than usual, a month ago she had said her first words and now she was starting to piece together phrases. Unknown to him his daughter was able to speak fluently now, she just hid it from everyone.
"Renata? You like that name huh, it sounds pretty good actually, that'll do." Jeral picked up his little daughter and spun her around in relief, she enjoyed the experience. Jeral and her ate lunch, afterwards they both washed and got ready for the event later tonight. Anna had sewn a special outfit for Jerals daughter to wear tonight, it was a light sundress style with a cream colour, it came with little grey leggings and gloves which looped around her middle fingers, concealing the oddity in the palms of her hands. Her hair had started to grow, it was still short and barely covered her head. The colour was peculiar though, white. Jeral had deemed it fine as there was no real stigma attached to white hair, it was just odd. On the other hand it matched her blue eyes very well.
After everything was ready for tonight, Jeral decided it was a good idea for the both of them to get a little rest before the festivities. He put his daughter down to bed for an hour while he took a nap himself. After a little bit of shifting they both fell asleep.
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A world of white was before her, with pillars of marble steching to the sky as if becoming one with it. She had been here before. Unlike the last time she was here she was now able to stand, this place looked much larger now, as if she had become smaller since her last visit. She knew that could not be true, she had grown to nearly twice her last size. 'This place has gotten bigger? Kaw'Keth why have you brought me here?' The unstable mess of chaotic gas was ever present, always changing. There was beauty in his form, contrasting colours flickered in and out of existence around him like a light show.
"The size of this place reflects the current state of the mind observing it, the more chaos present in their minds; the smaller it is, the more order; the larger. For me it is so small I am trapped here forever, for the god of order it would be so large they would never see anything other than emptyness. As for why I brought you here, that is a much more complicated matter, little Ren."
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Renata was deep in thought, last time she was here she made a painful mistake. She did not want to make another, whatever Kaw'Keth was going to tell her was likely going to make her situation more difficult, she had to be on the defensive. 'I am not your servant Kaw'Keth, Let that be known,' The figure flinched, as if repulsed by what she said.
"Little Ren, I have called you here because I have noticed that I was wrong originally when I thought no other gods noticed you. It is subtle, but I believe that your placement in this world was not as random as it may seem. There is a huge amount of latent energy underneath your village, it has the same traits that are only found in extremely powerful dungeons. I do not know which god is meddling with you but I can see that they have bound you to this dungeon. I advise you to prepare yourself. Originally the dungeon would have trapped you on your tenth birthday and I was unable to totally sever the connection so I have decided to make a compromise. On your tenth birthday you will be teleported to the dungeon but I have added an additional function to the previous gift I bestowed you. If you focus on your mana and will yourself outside the dungeon you will be teleported back out. I have also given you the option to go back too, with the same method in reverse."
Renata was suprised by this sudden information, if it was correct then she didn't have long to prepare for whatever this dungeon could do. Even with Kaw'Keth's supposed help she couldn't be so sure it would work in the way he said it would. Her mind was frantic, she had just been taken totally off guard.
"There is one more thing too, due to the nature of the Dungeon you will only be able to leave once every twenty-five levels, I'm sure you'll be able to manage though. Good luck little Ren."
That sentence sent Renata into a mental frenzy, she would be trapped inside a dungeon of unknown origin with who knows what else for a considerable amount of time. The idea terrified her but she quickly remembered what she told herself a year ago. 'I guess I'll have to up the schedule on getting strong, this world is not nearly as forgiving as I had hoped.'
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She awoke in Jerals arms, they were outside. "Oh hello there, it's almost time you know, I'll give you your name in a few minutes. Then you can go play with Joan." They were in the middle of the village and dusk was only a little while away. Less people had gathered than were at Joans naming ceremony but still around half the village was here. The guard had managed to sell the idea to the old man that they should all go in case a fight breaks out. Jeral got up on the stage and the crowd became quiet.
"Thanks for coming everyone, I'm sure that this is the safest place this side of the continent right now." The thirty guards laughed from the sidelines. "Anyway I'll get on to it" Jeral held up his daughter in view of the crowd. "My daughters name will be Renata." A brief moment of silence passed before thunderous cheers could be heard all across the village.
Jeral put Renata down so she could walk around by herself, just as she got down from the stage Renata was tackled to the ground by a speeding Joan, thankfully she landed on a patch of dry dirt, so as not to ruin her dress. Wild eyes stared down at her, "Rennnat.. Ren! Let's play Ren!" The two of them happily ran outside the village to the grass to play together.
Two hours later when the sun was about to set and a lazy breeze blew over the grass Jeral and Anna found a pair of very young children sleeping under the shade of an old oak, both with an arm around the other.