Dungeon Core: Bugged Ascension

~Ruby.

“/It’s figment of your imagination. The voice isn’t real. And yet I continue to grow in strength even as you steal from me, you parasite!\”

The crackling grumbles from my core ring intensely as Lord Aurora Hephaestus speaks to me. How much he can see, guess, or even knows about my situation is like a siren’s call, luring me to some catastrophe. True fairy tales are full of horror and suffering, not blessings and happily ever after.

Besides, I’ve already built my own happiness. Forged in fire and tempered with time, when I look at Bond, I know I will go wherever he will go.

After Lord Aurora Hephaestus leaves the clearing, Alex has us set up watches while we take the opportunity to bathe ourselves. When it’s our turn and I’m washing Bond, Sid raises a caution sign, “Something kind of weird on approach. Shadow sense is struggling with it, and while the vibes I’m getting are an innocent, meek sort of curiosity, whatever it is leaves a heavy impression. Physically and magically.”

Bond speaks up, “Ruby and I are naked, should we rush and suit up, or try and stay relaxed?”

Before Sid gets a chance to reply, there is a deep and loud sort of groaned ‘moo’ that comes from where he was watching and Alex asks, “Sid… What makes that noise?”

“Cat. A big, fucking cat.”

“Well, that answers one question. I’m staying put. I’ve never met a cat that liked me standing or walking around. Sitting, or laying down and they have no issue, but they hate me when I’m upright,” I hug myself to his back and smile.

I whisper in his ear, “This kitty likes you standing and moving around. Though sitting or laying down is better.” My teasing and affection released some of the tension that was building up in his shoulders. Cat’s have always liked me, and I couldn’t help but notice that he always gets so nervous around them unless he’s seated, “Just relax. Check your HUD again if you need to. This is a safe zone and we’ve all still got our Blessing active. We’ll be fine.”

As I say that, Sid’s been calmly backstepping while keeping his gaze diffused instead of sharp. Meanwhile, Garn took the opportunity to sit against the raised stop outcropping of the pool. Closing his eyes and resting his axe nearby but not in hand. He takes deep breaths in through his nostrils and laces his fingers over his stomach. Though I can tell by his twitching ears and the slight movements of his head that he’s focused on our visitor.

“Holy Fuck,” Alex’s quiet exclamation draws my attention to the form now entering our clearing. ‘Holy Fuck’ is right. When Sid said it was a heavy presence, or a big fucking cat, I guess I was expecting a lion or tiger, not a grizzly bear sized black blotch that sort of hurts to look at.

Though, staring at it as I am, draws its gaze to mine. When its eyes finally dart over to me, they’re like brilliant pools of pure light, swirling and dancing in a sea of utter darkness. Twin, multi ringed moons in a night sky devoid of all else…

I gasp for breath as Bond gives me a pinch underwater, I forgot to breathe for staring at what I was seeing. Because while I’ve always been better able to identify Scions and other awoken creatures, what I’m seeing in front of me isn’t just a mere Scion. It’s impossible.

“^Who. Are. You?^” Each word, quietly spoken, uttered with the utmost care due to his great size.

I snuggle myself against Bond, trying to distract both of us from our nervousness at the situation. Being far better at hiding my own internal distress, I’m able to settle him a bit after how tense he got from me having that forgetting to breathe episode.

When I look over, I see that Alex has walked over and settled against Garn’s side, one hand covering his eyes as the other pets him soothingly.

Each of us eventually introduces ourselves and after a long moments pause, he speaks again, “^I. Am. Leo.^” It’s only with his words, that I realize just how close he’s gotten. With how silent those gargantuan paws are and how my sight doesn’t want to stay fixed on him, he’s managed to reach the pond.

He takes a few draughts of water as Bond and I sit there, very aware now that it is only his fur that has the sight-aversion effect as a mouth larger than either of our heads drinks barely more than arm length’s away. Those giant mesmerizing eyes swinging back and forth between us for a few surreal moments.

He finishes lapping up the water and draws in our scent with a big whiff before turning his head aside for a sneeze I feel in my chest, the stilled waters rippling again, “^People. Smell. Weird.^”

He turns away and leaves the clearing. His massive size devouring the distance even with his sedate pace. As he passes by the same tree that Gnat perched on, he climbs his forelegs up the trunk before sniffing and rubbing his face where she was waiting for us, “^Sister. Play,^” before his paws settle back on the ground and he suddenly lunges into a sprint deeper into the forest.

We’re all quiet for a while after Leo leaves. Though the sounds of the forest never actually faded during that encounter, I certainly didn’t notice much beyond him.

Garn is the one that breaks the silence, “Thank you, Alex. Better to finish the quest first. Play later.”

Sid starts chuckling at that, and after a moment the laughter catches all of us in its grip.

As the tension purges itself from our systems and we eventually calm down, Bond and I finish the last round of baths. As we’re all getting dressed and double checking our gear, I still as that memory washes over me again. Bond’s hand slides in mine, intertwining our fingers as he speaks softly to me, “Ruby? What’s the matter?”

I look up into his eyes, his love and concern shining clearly as he brushes some of my hair behind my ear with an easy smile. My smile blooms to match his as I pull him down for a quick kiss, “Nothing. Everything.”

I expel a cleansing breath before turning to the party and speaking up, “I learned something when we met Leo. Something I don’t think anyone is meant to know. Something impossible. So, I don’t know if I should share it with everyone or keep it a secret.”

“Father is the first of his kind in many respects. What you learned is no more a secret than any other bit of intel about a Dungeon’s Challenges, though certainly no less either. We leave it to your discretion how much and with whom you share your knowledge. We caution only that you consider the consequences that will unfold as more know what you’ve discovered.”

That voice rings through the clearing in the wake of my announcement. Louder than my words by far, and with deeper meaning. But they put my mind at ease, because while I wasn’t comfortable bearing the secret by myself, having permission to share it with my party to discuss amongst ourselves is perfect.

The others look to me for my decision after Thing’s words fade away and it’s with an easy smile and no small amount of relief that I share, “You remember how when I saw Life for the first time, I knew he was a Scion? It’s one of my Talents, being able to identify power and tiers.”

I take another deep breath as I continue, “Well, when I locked eyes with Leo, I knew he was more than a Scion. Though the way Mana and Mako floated through him, he is 100% a part of DNA… He’s also, impossibly, a {Leviathan}. Not a Lord, not a wandering Titan. He identified as {Leviathan}.”

Before the discussion can even get started, “Had she remained much longer, or you had gotten a better fix on her, Gnat would have pinged as {Swarmhost}. If you were to somehow get a fix on me, {Factory} is what you’d read. As I said, Father is the first of his kind. A Dungeon of Dungeons, a {Kingdom}. Though, those with less astute senses would likely classify him as {Irregular} and that obfuscation suits us just fine. Though as I’ve mentioned, you are free to reveal what you wish. Though, Father would like us to specifically mention a single word which he says holds all the weight he need bequeath you:”

As Thing’s longer speech reaches its climax, we learn that their voice, while pervasive, doesn’t actually originate from everywhere. Because the final pronouncement resonates with the earth beneath our feet, the very air we breathe, and even the Mana and Mako we draw from this place, “(Politics.)”

“/Ahahaha! Politics indeed. Your precious Pioneer won’t save you if the guild thinks you hold the keys to a true treasure. Not as weak as you are. So, go ahead Leech. Drink deeply of my swelling power. When my strength is finally recovered, I will revel in tearing you apart and delight in eating your mind.\”

The slight headache that comes after hearing that word is an annoyance I’ve learned to put up with. No matter what I do, it will occasionally strike at me, and I just have to push through.

We end up spending several minutes discussing it, so long in fact that it is a familiar screech of hate that draws our focus back to where we are, and what we were doing. Sid putting us back on track, “Right, we should probably finish Bond’s quest before Gnat forces us into a battle I don’t know we’d win and am also certain we’d end up losing even with a victory.”

The short hike through the woods between clearings isn’t devoid of life, but there are no further Challenges for us, just as Lord Aurora Hephaestus assured us. Though, considering what awaits us, even just making the final approach is an encounter all its own.

There is another ring of trees, much like there was when we visited Life, as well as a grand tree in its center… But the commonalities end there. Whereas Life and the aura around them was of peace, solidity, and growth. What lies before us is a mangled, mutilated facsimile of carnage and horror rendered in all of a heinous, profane glory. A canvas of cracked, blacked wood and hideous oozing tar dripping from wicked, bladed branches and thorned, leafless limbs.

One of the myriad claws starts an unnerving, contorted, yet silent series of jerking motions before smoothing out and then the familiar creaking groans of bending wood works in time to point out that there is another pond near the base of this monstrosity’s trunk.

“I take back what I said before. This. Deserves: Holy Fuck…”

The ping from a quest update pulls me out of the trance of just bearing witness to what’s in the clearing. I catch Alex’s smirk out of the corner of my eye before she thumps Bond’s back, causing him to stumble forward, “Well, go on Mister I-keep-secrets. Your ‘easy completion’ of the quest is in front of us. Though I’m sure if you don’t want to, Gnat would be willing to accommodate your hesitance and ‘tear you open’ to retrieve this Artifact you’ve brought here.”

“My gratitude for your reactions of dread. My purpose is to provide regulated access to the Crucible and its Elixir of Change. Though with Helix’s return, the Elixir will be much refined, so you have my personal thanks for that too. Now, Bond, if you would kindly sit against the stones so that I may begin the surgery. The rest of you may enter the glade or wander around at your leisure, though interfering in the operation or attempting to sample the waters will be met with retribution beyond what you might consider a commensurate response.”

I grasp hold of his hand and as he turns his attention to me, we walk side-by-side through the ring of trees and across the kaleidoscope grasses that I only now notice with my gaze specifically not focusing on what Thing created in the center.

As we reach our destination, I kneel next to him and keep his eyes locked with my own, his hand held tightly in mind as he flinches from the sensations, although I see no pain cross his face. More than once, the temptation to look towards the noises I can hear causes him to squeeze my hand in turn, keeping both of us focused on the other. The smell of blood and antiseptic fades soon after the creaking groan of bending wood signals the end to the event.

Alex’s hushed whisper, “That was astounding,” alerts me to her proximity. No longer fixed in place with his eyes, I see her reach a hand wreathed in her healing light, touching his bare stomach, “There’s not even anything to heal, to cleanse. Simply marvelous.” When I see her vision dart over and gaze at what I cannot bear to look at again, I don’t see disgust or horror, but rather there is a reverence there.

There is a screech of triumph a moment later, and that voice from before, now sufficed with joy cries out, “{Mine!}” As a wave of power crashes against the structure above us and then just as quickly retreats away.

The quest completion ding almost lost among the swirling emotions and various powers now thick in this small space. Though, the follow up from that everything voice helps me shake off the daze, “(Thank you for your service, Bond. As Thing alluded to earlier, as recompense for the… terms under which the quest was presented, I offer unto your party the ability to redeem two uniquely tailored {Boons}. Your work with Helix synchronizes quite well with Thing’s own tinkering, and the magnitude of the quest allows some of the system’s grace to extend to these procedures.)”

As I look to Bond, I see him deflate with each new phrase from the voice, his eyes snapping up to mine, watching me when the last piece of the offer is revealed, “(So, who would like their Cystal Core merged with an organ? Choices include and are currently limited to the heart, lungs, or liver. Because I’m pretty sure changing your brain with the initial procedure would utterly destroy who you are.)”

The haunting silence that stretches after that moment is broken by Alex, who in complete bewilderment, “You… You were doing Crystallization Research. No wait. Not just research, Experiments! Experiments on your own fucking body?!? Sid! You knew about this too. You. Helped. This.”

The shouting and arguing continues but all that matters is his hand in mine, and his quiet voice, so full of fear, of worry about how I will react, “Ruby?”

All he manages to say is my name. I see how the rest gets stuck in his throat as he starts shaking in my grasp, so afraid that this might be too much. Sid may know more about what happened in my past, but Bond is the one that’s helped me overcome it. So, my smile is easy to show, my reassuring grip tightening as I pull us together, my kiss on his forehead, repeating for each of the tears on his cheeks, and finishing with a chaste press on his lips.

As I lean against him, holding the back of his head in my hand, fingers and nails running through his hair, I whisper against his skin, “You aren’t getting rid of me that easily. You love me, I love you. That’s all that matters.”

As I pull back to see the relief on his face, my joy surges forth, alongside some mischievousness. I poke a finger at his nose, “But you’re not leaving me behind, Bond. Wherever you will go, that was my Vow to you.” I turn from him to look at the tree of horror, the thing that in this moment represents both change and the ultimate continuation of my journey with my love.

In a loud and clear voice, I speak, “What organ does Bond have?”

There is a quieting to the discussion the others were having at my question, and in that silence, “(He succeeded at merging his core with his heart. No doubt inspired when he saw my own back within Life’s hollow. Though, without the ties Helix before they were Helix had both to me and their own instinctive genius with the human form, Bond likely would have caused a catastrophic failure. I’ve been told that Mana Crystal especially does not like to imitate complex organics.)”

“But your {Boon} won’t have that issue will it? So, I claim one of vouchers to alter my heart.”

Aurora Hephaestus has offered you a {Boon}, to assist with the procedure of DNA’s {Organ Crystallization: Heart}.

Accept offer? Y/N

The swooping entry of the phoenix stalling out the next set of shouted arguments and denials from both Alex and Bond, “[Now, now. It is the lady’s choice if she wishes to follow in her mate’s footsteps. Perhaps that will make him apply the appropriate care to a project of this magnitude in the future. Though, whether your group ‘pioneers’ this avenue or not, this service will remain something offered to those that prove worthy. Welcome to the New Age.]”

As the {Boons} were gifted to the party as a whole, when the two No votes shift back into abstains, my vote for Yes alongside Garn’s support allow me to claim one of them for myself. Lord Aurora Hephaestus’s offer being effortless to accept as well, as any assistance a Forge Phoenix is willing to provide to deal with the {Tainted} core in my chest is something I can’t pass up.

As I’m wanting to start this before people think they can talk me out of it, “So, how do we begin?”