No Need for a Core?

Bellona was unhappy with what had just happened in the arena. She was in fact rather angry. There were a lot of ethical issues with what Mordecai just did, even if she intellectually understood the logic behind it. His actions failed the three guidelines about bindings; there was no consent, the enforcement was strict and left their prisoner unable to even try to defy them, and there were very specific restrictions on what she could and could not do. The thing with the tentacle wolf had a clear exception, he'd been easing the creature's suffering. This situation was much more murky about the benefits for the target of the bindings.

But this was not the time to deal with it, so she set it aside in order to focus on helping both their new 'guest' and Fuyuko, who looked ill at ease herself.

She chose to start with the young teen. "Fuyuko, I know you are upset. I am too. We will talk to Mordecai later, after the invasion has been resolved. Alright?"

Fuyuko straightened up and nodded, though she didn't say anything just yet. It wasn't perfect, but nothing was, and it would do for now.

The walk to the newly created suite hadn't been long, and they were approaching the door now. "This will be your room," Bellona said softly, "Kazue will make any alterations you need within reason."

The subdued woman had been looking around with her blank expression, doing her best to take everything in. Now she focused her gaze on Bellona and inclined her head in acknowledgment, and still no trace of emotion. Bellona recognized the signs of trauma and withdrawal from her training, though she'd not seen it in person before. She needed to start small, and there was an important thing that had not been discussed yet.

Bellona asked, "What name would you like to be called by?" The phrasing gave the woman a tiny bit more control and agency.

After a moment of silence she replied, "Deidre." Then she walked through the door that Bellona had opened.

Fuyuko and Bellona followed her in and showed her the amenities and personal supplies that Kazue had arranged. Deidre simply watched and listened, and gave only the most basic replies when asked a question.

After that came an awkward silence. Fuyuko broke it by asking, "Um, so, yer walls are kind of bare. If ya'd like some art, Kazue can whip up somethin'. She's pretty good. I had no idea what ta ask her for when she made me the offer, so she asked me about places I liked looking at back home. I can't remember my parent's home well enough for that picture to be very true, but it's nice and it feels like it should be. And there were lots of pretty places I saw on my way down here. If, ya know, there's a place that makes ya happy to remember, maybe ya can tell her. Just ask for her."

Deidre's gaze focused fully on Fuyuko while she talked and there was a subtle shift in her expression as she processed the girl's appearance and accent. "You sound like some of the soldiers. You come from Cantraberg. You are a Luponi? But you must be just a child. Why are you here? What has been done to you?!" The sudden surge of emotion from Deidre made Fuyuko step back in surprise, and Bellona interposed herself.

"Easy, it's okay. She's fine," Bellona said soothingly, "Fuyuko is okay. She came here on her own. Well, Gil helped, but that was after she was already on her way."

The girl in question frowned as she recovered from her surprise and growled, "I ain't that young, I'm fourteen, and only a few months until I am fifteen. And like she said, I made the choice on my own. It was scary when I was travelin' on my own, but it was my own two feet that carried me."

Deidre slowly calmed down and sat on the edge of her bed with a vaguely confused expression as she looked between them. Bellona took it as a good sign that she still had the will to get angry on another person's behalf. "I know things are probably a little confusing right now, but your experience has been skewed. You know why you were sent here, and Mordecai acted out of a desperate hope to save lives. Including your own in the long run. Do you know the history of those invading our home?"

Her statement earned Bellona a scornful look as Deidre's emotional mask began to set itself once more, but her question caused the woman to pause. After a moment she lifted her hand to touch her chest and trace a curve below her neck, where the runes were hidden by her robes. "There's no truth compulsion."

That confirmation made Bellona feel a little better about the situation. "That fits with what Mordecai said, but he was very terse and strained. He only said that he did the minimum bindings needed to be safe. Oh, Kazue says there are so many runes because Mordecai didn't know what demonic abilities your avatar might be able to mimic, so he sealed them all."

Mentioning the binding runes made Fuyuko look ill again, and the girl turned away to go examine the table where Kazue had placed several small plates of food, giving herself an excuse to ignore the other two women.

"You, both of you trust him. But, you are mad at him. Both of you dislike what he has done to me. Why do you trust him?"

The question made Fuyuko flinch, but Bellona answered Deidre's question. "It is complicated. Part of it comes from knowing others who trust him. Part of it is having observed him and knowing what he has done." She paused to ask Kazue a question before she continued. "Kazue says it should be okay to tell you this much. For all that Mordecai leads the defense of the dungeon and is usually the face of the dungeon while Kazue's avatar travels with their wife Moriko, this territory is first and foremost hers. I will not go into the details, but the core was originally just hers, and he joined with her. And when he did, Mordecai specifically ensured that he would always have slightly less than equal control of their shared territory."

Deidre frowned thoughtfully. "I still do not understand how to make two cores merge. Even if you touched them together at a mutual boundary it does not seem like it should be possible."

Bellona ignored that comment, explaining how it had happened was more detail than either of the cores felt comfortable with here. "After all of this is done, maybe we can show you more of the dungeon. They have gone to great lengths to make their territory safe. No proper delver has died in their home." No invaders had either, at least, not permanently, but that wasn't going to be shared until the danger was in the past. "Now, we can't stay with you, we need to go eat and get some rest before the next battle we participate in. Our friend Betty is coming to stay with you for a while instead. She's been here far longer than we have, she can tell you a little about what she's seen as they grew."

When the usagisune walked into the suite Deidre practically jumped in surprise. "You're a floor boss!"

Betty inclined her head. "Perceptive. Yes, I am."

"Your dungeon is under attack, shouldn't you be fighting?"

That caused Betty to smile wryly. "I would, under other circumstances. But none of us know how safe that would be, given my current condition. Even Mordecai is not certain if my child would be restored with me if I fell in battle. So I will fight only if the dungeon is that desperate."

Deidre's face went blank again as she froze in place. When she spoke again, it was almost a whisper. "I know. The further along you are, the more chance there is of the fetus having enough of a spirit for the core to hold onto. But unless it is almost ready to be born, there is always a risk of losing it."

Betty's voice was deadly calm as she replied, "It is best that the person who caused you to know such a thing is not within my power to touch. I would have great trouble not doing things that my master and mistress would disapprove of."

Bellona and Fuyuko took their leave as the two dungeon-born entities continued their conversation, though Fuyuko looked like she might not be very hungry for once.

Deidre shook her head with confusion. "That should not be possible. If you know they would disapprove then you should not be able to consider that action."

"You have a very different idea of 'loyal' than we do I think," Betty replied. "Even were Mordecai and Kazue overly utilitarian, the ability to provide thoughts and ideas that are not in alignment with theirs would provide valuable perspectives. Though I do wonder if your thoughts on the subject are shaped by whoever holds your core enslaved."

"What makes you say that?" Deidre asked, her face tightening into a mask once more and her voice flat and toneless.

Betty tilted her head slightly as she shrugged. "I have no experience or training in such things, but those who do say you show clear signs of trauma and abuse. And Master Mordecai says that such things should be nigh impossible without first enslaving the core. Additionally, knowing that a previously unknown dungeon exists fills some holes in other areas. But hiding a dungeon's existence for as long as you must have existed requires limiting a dungeon's growth, which no dungeon would willingly do for that long a period. Or be able to do of their own free will for that matter. Mind, I have no expertise in this beyond my own instincts as a dungeon-born, but this feels correct to me."

The avatar took a moment before she responded, "If your presumption was correct, how would your master be any different from the person or people who would do that to a core?"

"I will choose to not take offense at your tone, in light of your circumstances and history." Betty's tone was cold enough to chip ice off of. "Neither he nor Mistress Kazue insists on that title, and some of us use other terms such as 'boss' or even 'lord' or 'lady'. I use these titles as terms of respect, similar to an apprentice and their master. The implication you made is unfounded. I am aware of how you were bound by his hand, but I am well aware of why he felt it needed. He has made sure everyone knows."

As she spoke, Betty's voice softened, sorrow for the circumstances filling her words. "An enslaved core's binding makes it so that you can not be properly oath sworn. Your personal strength makes you too strong for our prisons; he was only able to bind you because of your weakened state. To kill you would simply free your other self to reform their internal avatar while awaiting the opportunity to reconstruct you a year from now. And now that he knows of your existence, Mordecai plans on freeing your core, but first he must get information. Information that can only come from you. And this is the only safe way to keep you here. We are all sorry for what has been done, but most of us understand how this is best even for you in the long run."

Now she sighed and shook her head. "We did not all need to know this, but guilt tinged his every word. Publicly sharing something he is ashamed of doing was a small piece of self-penance I think. I do not think it would be so hard on him if he did not already bear guilt for other actions far in his past. When all of this is done and passed, I hope you will be understanding. Until then, we will do our best to take care of you and treat you with respect. And right now, that begins with seeing you fed. You are not in your territory, you need to eat the same as anyone else."

"And you expect me to just trust you?"

"Not at all. But now is not exactly the time to take you on a tour and show you what we have done with our home. I do not know how much of the invasion you know about, but we stole all the talismans and Mordecai deliberately triggered them as a trap to eliminate your elite force. The rest of the forces are still making their way through the sewers while under constant assault. More than half of the total forces arrayed against us have been eliminated and captured, but we are still under attack. In a day or two I will be able to show you what a healthy dungeon looks like. Now come, eat."