-[Act 3 * Part 9]-

“I want you to know that I appreciate the work you have done for me over this past year,” Basil said as he ushered Elnora through the door. “Your diligence in managing the dungeon—under my supervision, of course—has not gone unnoticed… by me.”

As Elnora stepped into Basil’s private quarters onboard the Harbinger she discovered that they were nestled inside of a pocket dimension not that dissimilar from the Doom Mansion. The main chamber was about as large as the throne room of Basil’s dungeon. It had two rows of columns running through it, ostensibly to hold up the ceiling, which was purely a design choice, since inside the pocket dimension there was no chance of it collapsing on top of someone. There was a large throne at the far end of the room; complete with white marble steps facing the entrance, but that is where the similarities with the Dungeon of Doom ended.

“I run my operations from this room while out at sea,” Basil commented as they walked down the center isle of the throne room. “While the ship outside is staffed by Guild agents, this area is only accessible to the servants of House Doom. All the minions you see here report directly to me.”

The she-demon studied the work stations of the chamber as she passed them. Plotting tables, sand maps and navigation tools took up the left part of the room, while a semi-open auditorium with space enough for a few hundred minions to attend at once took up the right. Along the way she noted several doors with name plates that read ‘S-1’ through ‘S-9’, but those remained closed in Elnora’s presence. Even as a few servants emerged from the side rooms to greet their Master, they made sure to shut the door behind them so that the succubus couldn’t sneak a quick peek inside.

By the time she and Basil had reached the steps of the throne a small army of minions had gathered in the room to welcome their master. They wore the Guild standard uniforms of red and black, but displayed no insignia or rank. Each of them, however, wore a small golden pin on their left shoulder—the icon of the clenched fist of their master—marking them as loyal servants of House Doom.

The minions all bowed in unison as Basil walked them by. The dungeon keeper replied with a nod.

“Carry on with your work,” he commanded.

As the minions dispersed, Elnora noted how similar they looked to the people serving Scarlet and Schwartz, but, oddly enough, they displayed hostility towards one another. If anything, their mutual disposition seemed amicable.

Basil took notice of her curiosity. “This is where I send my minions once they… become a problem,” he said. “Can you guess what the problem is?”

Elnora closely examined the human servants of her Master, but found no obvious issue. Pry as she might, nothing about these kith appeared to be out of the ordinary.

“There is nothing wrong with them,” Basil said. “They are perfectly perfect human beings. And that is the issue.”

Elnora tilted her head expressing confusion at his statement.

“Every single last one of them, beautiful, powerful and charismatic,” Basil said, “the servants of Schwartz and Scarlet are sworn enemies. But it is hard to enforce mindless hatred between people that fight side by side; between perfect men and perfect women…

“Do you see where I am going with this?” he asked. “The hearts of kith cannot be chained. Try as they might to repress their natural desires, every once in a while a servant will falter in their dedication to this foolish rivalry and befriend a floundering heart on the opposite side. A simple exchange of admiration in the heat of battle can lead to clandestine conversations and intimate encounters, which is why Scarlet and Schwartz go so far out of their way to keep their servants from one another.

Basil grinned. “But the forbidden fruit is the most tempting of them all,” he said. “It’s only natural that—”

“–they are liable to fall in love,” Elnora reasoned.

“Exactly,” Basil said. “And if such a thing comes to pass, they cannot remain with their brothers and sisters. Scarlet and Schwartz won’t let them stay out of fear that they might chip away at the foundations of the bastion that separates them. To those two only hatred and pride remains to give meaning to their existence. It is their service to my House that keeps them from killing one another.”

“But why is that?” Elnora asked. “From what little they have told me, I think their quarrel goes back like a century, or something.”

The dungeon keeper chucked at her estimation. “If only it was so recent,” Basil answered. “No, this goes back way further than a single century. They were bitter rivals long before my father recruited them into his service and have remained as such for the past one hundred and sixty two years.”

“They are older than Drum?” Elnora asked. She recalled the beautiful, rippling physique of Scarlet from their brief encounter in the bathhouse. “How can they look so young if they are that old? Aren’t all kith races supposed to be short lived?”

“There are… degrees to humanity,” Basil said. “Their minions all share the [Elite] distinction, but otherwise are not that different from their common kin. Their bloodlines are derived from humans, elves and dwarves, all mixed to some degree; with demonic traits sprinkled in for good measure.

“But Scarlet and Schwartz, well, some might consider the two of them to be beyond human. Then again, others might call them lesser creatures for what they have done, but that is an ignorant stance to take on the matters of magic and evolution. What cannot be denied is their power, regardless of how one might view their hidden nature.”

“So, they are actually kith?” Elnora asked. “Or are they something else, Scarlet and Schwartz, and their servants…”

Basil shrugged. “Level 50 [Legendary] kith like Scarlet and Schwartz are among the rarest of all minions that a dungeon keeper might recruit. They are on equal in power with dragons and elemental lords—monsters one and all.

“Does that make them monsters too?” he asked. “I don’t know. But I have been to worlds where such people are regarded as demi-gods instead. I suppose it depends on whom they serve. If it’s kith they fight fort then they are still heroes, but if it’s me then it is as monsters.”

“But they still can’t measure up against true monsters,” Elnora pointed out. “Kith races can’t possibly go up against dragons or elemental lords like you could.”

“Oh, but they most certainly can,” Basil said. “I told you before not to underestimate the kith races. They will surprise you. And they will find a way to kill you eventually, no matter how strong your power level is.

“You see, their strength is not measured in raw power, like the strength of monsters is. If outmatched, kith can learn and adapt. Kith will find a weakness or invent a tool to overcome their foes.”

By now they had arrived at a door on the far end of the throne room. Basil opened it and led Elnora inside his private room onboard the Harbinger of Doom. The succubus was greeted by a sizable recreational area, complete with a bar, a pool table and a corner couch large enough for a dragon to take a nap.

The dungeon keeper guided her towards a fireplace in the far right corner of the room. He then sat down in a large chair—a stolen throne, from the looks of it—and offered a more modestly sized chair next to it to his apprentice.

Basil uttered the magic command, “[Possess],” and a whiskey bottle levitated over to them followed by two glasses. He then proceeded to pout a drink for Elnora and himself before sending the bottle back into the shelf of the bar counter. He made sure to cast a weak frost spell on the whiskey glasses before offering the drink to his apprentice. She eagerly accepted it.

Basil toasted his glass. “To dungeon keeping!”

“To dungeon keeping!” Elnora answered. As the succubus placed the whiskey glass to her lips she was pleasantly surprised by the aroma.

Having emptied his glass in one swig—it was, after all, barely a shot glass for the hulking demon—Basil held it up for inspection. “This fine whiskey was pillaged from the personal reserves of an elven warlord some fifty odd years ago,” he explained. “It has been my custom to partake in it after every conquest.”

Having not yet tasted it, Elnora glanced down at the dark amber sprit in her hands. The whiskey she had so eagerly accepted now took on a greater meaning, so far so that the succubus was now hesitant to drink from it.

“I… didn’t know it was that important,” she said. “Can I really?” she asked.

Basil encouraged her. “Oh, but you shouldn’t be so modest,” he said. “You brought about the end to Empire Solar as much as I did. If nothing else, we now share a common victory…”

Elnora acquiesced and once more placed the glass to her lips. As she took a small sip from it, the succubus found a warm, dulling sensation spreading through her mouth. It was clearly no simple spirit. Whatever magic had been used in distilling the drink had left a powerful effect on its potency. A whiff of the fumes and a single sip had already left her a light headed, so the she-demon decided not to follow her Master’s example and paced herself.

Basil once more summoned the whiskey bottle and poured himself a second glass. “So, about the thing that I wished to discuss with you in private,” he said as he dismissed the bottle back into the shelf. “It has to do with your work. It is about our partnership, to be precise.”

The dungeon keeper downed his second glass like it was water. “I am going to be honest with you,” Basil said.

Elnora was strangling the whiskey glass in her hands. “Oh, please be honest with me…” she whispered.

“In our short time together, I have come to—”

The little black wings on Elnora’s lower back fluttered in excitement.

“—appreciate your company,” Basil said. The dungeon keeper placed his palm on her shoulder. “I hope that I am not being too forward with the offer I am about to make.”

The succubus was starting to blush. “Not at all, Master!”

Basil smiled as he continued. “Please, you can call me by my name.”

“Of course, Lord Basil!” Elnora answered.

She was wondering if she should just go for it and reveal her intentions to the dungeon keeper in the spur of the moment. The succubus was about to speak her mind when Basil crushed her expectations as he continued.

“—a minion such as you is a rare find,” he said. “One in a million—no, wait—a billion, really.”

“Eh?”

Elnora’s expression warped in confusion. The succubus now glared at Basil in disbelief.

“Such diligence,” Basil said, “such determination to see my plans carried through to completion! I could not possibly ask for a better companion to follow me into my life’s greatest adventure. You have proven yourself to be quite indispensible to the daily life of my dungeon… and me.

“There is so much more we could do together. I, for one, would very much like to think of us as more than just colleagues…”

A tiny glitter of hope returned in Elnora’s expression as she listened to Basil explaining his disposition towards her.

“Again, excuse me if I am being too forward with you,” Basil said. “Know that I do not mean it lightly when I say that I have come to consider you as my partner.”

“A partner?” Elnora asked.

“Yes!” Basil said and clenched his fist in a passionate display of his intent. “A friend, a comrade—a partner.”

“A friend…” Elnora repeated after him.

Basil filled his third glass of whiskey before continuing. “I have an important task ahead of me. It will require my undivided attention. So I will need someone to run the dungeon for me while I am away,” he explained.

“While you are away?” Elnora asked.

Basil nodded. “Of course, I will make sure to turn up once in a while to support and guide my replacement. But, from time to time I will need to… disappear from the dungeon completely. So, I am looking for a competent manager to take over in my absence. And, frankly, I think that job should go to you.”

Elnora shrugged dismissively. “You have Scarlet and Schwartz,” she said. “I am sure that they can do a better job than me. And why would you ask this of me, anyway? I am just an apprentice dungeon keeper.”

Elnora was obviously feeling scorned by Basil’s wanton disregard towards her advances. She placed her glass to her lips as she sought to wash down the bitterness, but nearly gagged on the whiskey as she heard Basil’s response.

“Because I trust you,” he said.

Elnora coughed. “Me?” she asked as she wiped the drops of whiskey from her lips. “Why me?”

“I will be honest with you,” Basil said. “The task ahead of me is legally gray at best. The Guild will not approve of it and neither does my… family.

“I inherited both my position and my household from my father,” he explained. “I trust them with my life, but they have their lingering loyalty towards him as much as me to consider. Dead or otherwise, he still commands more respect in their eyes than I do.”

Basil sighed. “Sometimes I feel as much a stranger in the Doom Mansion as you do. It is not a world that I crafted, but it is still an integral part of me,” Basil said as he placed a hand to his heart. “I am my own man, but I am still dwarfed by the shadow of the man that came before. And I will never be able to stand in the light so long as I shy away from my destiny. It burns bright and it burns hot, but I must embrace it, no matter the dangers involved.”

“What are you… going to do?” Elnora asked.

“What no one has done before,” Basil answered. “I will find and conquer an Alpha world.”

The dungeon keeper let his apprentice consider his proposal for a moment. It was an offer that, unlike his personal minions, she could refuse.

“I am sorry for pointing out the obvious,” Elnora said, “but you do know that searching for Alpha worlds is strictly forbidden.”

Basil nodded.

“We could face a tabula rasa for even speaking about it,” Elnora continued. “We could be hunted down and erased from existence if the Guild ever found out!”

Basil raised his finger. “If,” he said, “if they found out.”

Elnora took a quick sip from her glass and immediately recoiled from its effects. “This is crazy,” she said. “You’re crazy. This drink,” she pointed to the glass, “is crazy. It’s crazy powerful. What, did they make it with dragon tears or something?”

Basil shrugged, “Probably.”

The succubus shook her head as she further voiced her concern. “You are completely crazy. Your Mansion, your minions,” she gestured at the walls, “your ship—it’s all crazy. These are all wonders beyond the limits of most people’s imagination, and yet you seek more?”

“For me it’s not enough,” Basil said. “As you said before, you come from nothing.” He gestured at her body, “This all you have. And you desire to be more. It is unavoidable that we should seek to better ourselves. But my limits were set in the high heavens from the day I was born. For you, advancement in life means climbing a steep mountain, but for me… it means learning to fly.

“I came into this world destined for power,” he said. “I grew up to take my place among the best of dungeon keepers alive today—a position that I earned with my blood and sweat. But I never felt like I was truly deserving of that distinction. No matter how hard I tried, I never found anything that could set me apart from my father. I have purged a hundred worlds already and I could go on to purge a thousand more, but I will never overcome him. An Alpha world is my one chance at greatness.”

Having heard Basil’s reasoning, Elnora looked to be considering his offer.

“So,” Basil said and extended his hand towards her offering a handshake, “Will you accept the position of a junior dungeon keeper by my side? Will you follow me into this reckless adventure of mine? I can promise you one thing—a chance like this you will never see again.”

A frail smile dawned across Elnora’s face. The succubus sighed heavily. “You really are a man with a burning passion for his work,” she said. “For his work and work alone…”

Basil nodded. “It means everything to me.”

“Fine,” she said and took his hand, “you can count on me, boss. Damn the rules and damn the regulations of the Guild. This crazy adventure of yours sounds just too damned exciting to refuse.”

Basil shook the hand of his apprentice. “Thank you, Elnora. I promise that you won’t come to regret your decision. ”

The she-demon swallowed the last of her drink. “I’ve had nothing to regret so far,” she said. “And if my future in your service turns out half as great as this whiskey, then I will be a happy little succubus.”

Elnora examined the bottom of her empty glass. “If you don’t mind, I’m… going to sit here for a while,” she said. “I don’t think that I can walk… The room is… spinning.”

“Take your time,” Basil said. “We will arrive at the Guild HQ within the hour.”