Yulia was in trouble. Xenia hadn't explicitly said as much to her, but there were a few hints. For one, the Floor Nine guardian was currently standing in Xenia's personal office space, having been rather literally summoned there. For another, she was no longer in her usual Arachne queen body, but had been ripped out of it and stuffed into a False Mortal form instead. Once again wearing the form of a middle-aged peasant woman, Yulia finds herself to be a little out of sorts after having finally gotten used to having so many limbs.

And thirdly, Xenia's been sitting on the opposite side of the desk, staring daggers at her for a good solid minute by now. Generally not a sign that someone is about to heap praise on you, in Yulia's limited experience of such things. For her part Yulia's been left to stand, and her hands keep drifting from her center to her sides, uncertain just what sort of stance she ought to be assuming. Eventually her anxiety hits maximum however, and she decides to break the silence. "Grandmother, I - "

"Don't give me that. 'Grandmother' this, 'grandfather' that. You act like I'm supposed to be some sort of family authority figure for you, that you came here because you love me just oh-so-much. Then what do you do? ...That's not a rhetorical question by the way, I'm actually confused as fuck about what the hell it is you actually did. But I do know you did it without telling me, made plans of your own for dealing with Thaddeus. That's not your role here, understand?"

Yulia swallows her first two responses, and decides to go with immediate acceptance instead. "I understand, grand - dungeon master...Xenia."

"We'll see." Xenia sighs and rubs her face with both hands for a moment before looking back up at Yulia once again. "So walk me through this step by step. Pulg, that orc shaman, was apparently you? How, how long, and why, exactly?"

"A few days, grandmother, perhaps a week? The shaman attempted to summon my brother's spirit to the forests outside Grassbrook, to question him, and got me instead. My brother bound my soul to his protection, and it seems that binding yet remains true. Unfortunately for Pulg, I have quite a bit of experience as a spirit, and having this dungeon monster form seems to have strengthened me still. Even outside of my body, my magical reserves are still mine to command, yes? Possessing the foolish magician was child's play, to tell the truth. And from there I, ah...played it by ear, hrmm? Decided to wait until the opportune moment to reveal myself. Today's battle seemed to me to be that moment."

"You've been walking around as an orc, in Grassbrook, for a week? And being a floor guardian here at the same time? Okay, taking advantage of the opportunity in the moment, I can get that. But why didn't you tell me after the fact?" The reincarnator frowns. "This smells like a scheme, Yulia. And I don't like schemes. Was your brother in on this?"

"No! I wanted it to be a surprise, please don't punish poor Sevastion! I thought...I was worried that if I told you, you would tell me to stop. And that I would lose the chance to strike at them. Obviously, I never meant to harm you, grandmother - I couldn't even if I had a dozen bodies!"

"Maybe." Something in Yulia's tone makes Xenia's eyes narrow. "You...do have some sort of limit on how many bodies you can possess, right? ...If you have any more copies of yourself wandering around out there, tell me now, or so help me I'll put you in storage and you'll be down to zero."

Yulia gulps before quickly answering. "One! I have one more! I was considering perhaps, ah, slowly whittling them down from the inside? One by one? But I did not have any further opportunities to isolate them."

"Okay...we can deal with this. Which one's the other one? Not the one you stabbed, right? The fake goblin, then?"

Yulia shakes her head. "One of the others of the second wave. Liani, a vampire. Her body is...very well suited to necromantic manipulation."

Xenia leans back in her chair, surprised. "A vampire? I don't remember you telling me about that! ...Don't think I ever had a kid with a vampire, though we did have a small division of em in the army, back when. Maybe...well, doesn't matter. Yulia, tell me what you're doing with this vampire."

"At the moment? Sleeping. It's still daytime, of course."

"Oh, of course. Just tell me you're not killing people in Grassbrook with her, please?"

"Not at all! She'd just fed right before I claimed her, and even if she had not, my magical reserves could keep her body going...well, ah. Actually, I suppose I do not have those reserves, in this weak human form. But she'll be fine for a while, regardless!"

The dungeon master looks at Yulia for a short while, lost in thought, before sighing. "This Pulg...was he one of mine? Grandkids, that is. And this Liani?"

Yulia half-nods. "Pulg was, yes. I do not believe Liani has ever claimed such. Lei also was of your blood, for that matter."

"...God. Two grandsons dead, and I never even knew them. Did...are you certain you had to possess the guy, Yulia? Handing out death to strangers is one thing, but family...I hope it was necessary."

Rather than answer directly, Yulia poses a question of her own. "Forgive me for asking, grandmother, but...is this why you allowed Thaddeus and the others to leave the dungeon without further combat? You could have forced them to fight their way out, is it not so?"

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Allowing the redirection, Xenia answers. "A couple reasons. You're right, making two tired-out Challengers and a half-crippled mage fight their way out of the dungeon in either direction would've almost certainly been a death sentence, even if I didn't put the screws to them, which I could've. I'm...maybe being optimistic, but part of my hope was that knocking the boy around a bit might convince him to change his plans. I mean, if he can't get to me, to my core, then anything else he's planning is pointless. For another, he's not fully committed yet. He's still got all of those B-teamers sitting back in Grassbrook, and there's no telling what they might do if their boss vanishes in the dungeon. Especially if they're as bad as Brightsky thinks they are. I'd like to draw that lot in a bit more, see what they're about...thin their numbers if I have to. But then I didn't know I apparently had an inside agent in their midst, now did I?"

The statement ends with a glare in Yulia's direction, and the mystic takes that as her cue to answer the original question. "Ah, yes! I don't...forgive me, grandmother, but you must understand...as Sevastion and I were raised, conflict with distant family members was commonplace. The Seafall Kingdom was a victim of your own success, some say - too many powerful captains holding too much territory for it to remain united once you were no longer there to hold the reins. Pulg was...not the first cousin I've slain, I shall admit. I do believe I acted in your best interests! At the least, as you say, his confidence will be shaken. He will not be able to simply consider your own opinion as a secondary concern, hrmm? I do not believe this ever would have been done without blood."

"Maybe. But let's dial the blood back for a little while, okay? This is an order from me, if you actually care about my opinion. No more killing them outside the dungeon, and no more killing them inside the dungeon either, unless I say so. Just keep operations at an intel-gathering level for now, yeah? And no more possessions! God, if the Association finds out about this..."

"Oh, the Association already knows, grandmother. Well, about Pulg, at least."

Xenia blinks at Yulia once, then twice. "...They fuckin' what."

----------------------------------------

"No, no, they don't grow the gems, you see, we've had to buy them - or loot them from the dungeon, of course. That's why we're on the lookout for paying jobs, yes? Have to, aha, fund our crystal habit, you know?" Grizza grins at the two men sitting across from him at the Lucky Bastard's tavern table, a pair of tall, broad-shouldered brothers with odd accents. It'd be nice if Roxxy could provide him with a bit of backup in this particular aspect of his charm offensive, but the elemental's stony face remains as expressionless as ever as she sits by his side.

"But why us, eh? You say you've been running the dungeon for months, you have a whole party of...rocks and things fighting by your side?" The first man, a fellow named Fletcher, eyes Roxxy as he speaks. "We've barely begun the dungeon. Shouldn't you...mercenary Challengers be looking for tougher groups that'd spend more money, delve deeper floors?"

Despite her lack of an obvious mouth, Roxxy answers the man's question. "Ah, but you and your group seemed interesting! From what we've heard, that is."

Grizza does his best not to glare at his companion for her statement, even as the two brothers narrow their eyes. The younger brother, Jason, speaks up. "Heard we were interesting, huh? What exactly have you been hearing?"

"That...you have a lot of money?"

Grizza isn't sure whether to be relieved or exasperated at Roxxy's explanation, but the brothers turn their looks on each other instead of her. "Damn. Someone's been flashing gold, huh? And here the two of us have been playing by the rules all this time."

"The...rules?" As Jason turns his head back towards the drider, Grizza quickly verbally retreats. "I mean, how you spend your money is your business, of course! Unless we can get you to spend it on us, which is why we're here, after all."

For his part, Fletcher seems amused by Grizza's nervous stammering. "You're not much a salesman, are you, kid? Hells, you look young to even be leading a team, let alone be as good as you say you are."

"Well, I admit, my training has been in arcane matters, rather than, ah, running a business. If you hire us on to join you in Worthy Dungeon, you'll see our talents for yourselves!"

Jason purses his lips before shaking his head. "Forget it, Fletch. We've got enough people for more than a full party of our own, and besides, the...boss wouldn't like us bringing in another party, would he?"

"I don't know, the uh...our scout spent some time freelancing, didn't she?" Fletcher returns his gaze to Roxxy. "...Still, ain't sure about this whole 'fighting with rocks' thing, no matter how many magic gems they've stuck up their ass. Eh, we'll think on it, kid, but for now - "

As Fletcher begins to rise from the table, he's interrupted by a statement from the elemental herself. "I didn't want to do this, but I'm afraid you leave me no choice." All three non-elementals at the table suddenly turn rigid at Roxxy's statement, and even more so as she begins to reach into a bag of belongings sitting by her chair on the floor. The brothers start to reach for their knives, but it's Grizza who soon grows the most worried out of the bunch.

"Where - why do you have that, Roxxy? Here!?"

"Sometimes in the line of duty we have to do distasteful things, Grizza - our tenants have taught me that." With that said the elemental reaches up, and plants a ragged-looking set of leather rabbit ears on her head. Fletcher and Jason are about to question the act, but their jaws hang loose as the enchanted item's magic takes hold. As if her stony form had turned into liquid, Roxxy's jagged, hard edges melt away, and her dark brown coloring is replaced by smooth marble. It's an astounding transformation, but the brothers are largely transfixed by the bare, anatomically-correct tits that suddenly appear on Roxxy's chest.

"I...ah...that is, I mean..." Now it's Fletcher's turn to stammer for a while, until he can finally snap his eyes up to Roxxy's - who now has eyes, if pupil-less ones, carved into her marble face. "What exactly is this about, miss?"

"If you hire us on, I'll wear the ears while we delve."

The brothers share another look, and Fletcher quickly turns back to respond. "In consideration of the full facts, I think we may be interested in, ah, at least a trial run of hiring on the Rough Gems. Does the rest of the team also have..." Again the man is interrupted, but this time by something beyond the bounds of the table. Over at the Bastard's entrance a heavily-armored man and a goblin make their way inside, both of them doing their best to help an injured-looking mage make her way up the tavern stairs. Grizza glances over at the sight, before turning back towards the pair.

"Something wrong, friends?"

Jason frowns for a moment before answering. "We'll see, we'll see..."