Complicated Relations

Chapter 107

The day after the farewell feast, Andrea woke up in a bed much more comfortable than it should have been. She'd never known one so soft before, even when Stromholt had been spoiling the party just before its departure. Like most things about the dungeon, she found the incongruency intensely irritating.

Even the room Andrea and Mina had been in before had been reasonable. They'd slept in worse inns on the road more than once. The food was also good when she'd finally given in and eaten. Something she'd only done in the end because Mina gobbled a plate full down. She hadn't fancied being left alone if it was poison.

Andrea groaned as she recalled the prior evening's argument. She had a few sore spots from where Hetcha had gotten too rough trying to break her and Mina apart. The Lepusan were many things, but weak wasn't on the list, despite the weird way they'd faint sometimes.

"I'll still go back for my revenge. What does it matter if I sell my soul first?" Andrea cringed as she recalled that part. How quiet everyone had gone. It wasn't as if she were insincere, but it sounded ridiculous, and she knew it. They didn't understand. They couldn't because she hadn't told them why she wanted it so badly.

Focusing on more immediate problems, Andrea climbed out of bed and looked for but didn't find her clothes. She'd slept in a plain shift she'd found on the bed but could hardly walk around in it. Rather than panic, she took a moment to check where the doors in the room led and found a closet on the second go.

A few simple but well-made outfits were waiting, suspended on odd triangles with hooks on the top. In a further bit of strangeness, pants were included in the options. Andrea had worn hose before but still had to wear a dress. Going by the availability of tunics and shirts, it seemed 42 didn't much care about that aspect of her attire, and she was grateful for it.

Andrea picked out a tunic and pants with low-heeled boots. They were suitable for fencing, and her sword was atop the dresser where the underthings were. A new sturdy belt waited with it and a bowl of odd fabric loops and lengths of ribbon. They weren't particularly decorative looking, which she found strange.

It took Andrea a moment to realize what they were, things to put her hair up. She might not have figured it out if they hadn't been right next to a hairbrush. She was used to having to style it with a fancy braid done up like a crown. It hadn't been a choice of hers, but rather the pendant. Not unlike the fact she'd only worn clothes supplied to her by the Church of Stromholt.

Brushing then tying her hair up in a simple ponytail, Andrea felt a little calmer. She could make choices now, and 42 didn't seem interested in limiting them. For the moment, at least. That might well change if they struck a bargain.

Andrea didn't particularly care for the feeling that she'd gone from prisoner to pet and did her best to ignore it. Breakfast was waiting for her on the table in the sitting room, along with a letter written in Hetcha's blocky but legible hand. She ate before she even considered opening it, knowing it would be from Mira and likely scathing.

Andrea,

42 claims you can leave of your own will. Do so.

Mira

P.S.

Seriously dood, just come back.

Mina

Looking at the brief letter, Andrea chuckled for a moment. None of them trusted 42, from what she could tell. Even Mina, who seemed to enjoy having someone to discuss being an outsider with, had no intention of staying around. It was nice but not essential to her in any way.

Thinking about it for nearly an hour didn't get Andrea much of anything but frustration. There were supplies on the table to write a reply with, but she didn't bother. They likely wouldn't believe anything they read. 42 was powerful in ways she didn't understand. It would probably seem to be nothing more than a trick.

It was nearing noon, going by the sun slanting in the window, when something finally happened. A magic circle appeared on the floor with an inscription on the wall behind it.

"42 requests your presence," was all it said in curling but legible hand. Andrea hesitated a moment, not trusting the circle. They'd seen similar ones coming into the dungeon, and Lilly had decided against using them.

Lilly. Andrea had tried not to think about her friend more than she could help. The orphanage where the other girl had grown up was in her father's barony, so they'd known each other most of their lives. Reiner had been present but had shied away from her, wary of the baron's daughter. Or at least he had when he wasn't caught up in some scheme to try and make money to afford to marry Lilly.

The only thing that pair of idiots had wanted was to be married as soon as they had enough money to afford a bit of land and a cottage. Instead, they'd been used cruelly and ended up laid to rest in a dungeon. If her rage could have manifested like magic, then Stromholt would have been ashes already.

Andrea stepped onto the circle and found herself enveloped in cloying darkness. One deeper than night that felt as if it was a weight pressing in on her. She let out a shriek of surprise, but nothing happened. She controlled herself quickly, though her fear began to build once more.

When it felt like Andrea might be crushed by the dark or scream, dim violet lights sprang to life. They revealed something in relief, a door at the end of the cavernous room in which she stood. A room whose walls were some form of black stone as she could only tell them from the deep shadows by the faint reflection of the strangely colored lights. While she tried to think of what to do, possibly find the circle again and run, the door began to yawn silently open.

Andrea was at a loss. She was terrified of what lay at the end of the path of lights. The only thing that kept her from running was the lack of a way of retreat. The circle she'd arrived by was gone when she looked back for it.

As if sensing Andrea's indecision, the lights began to go out. Those closest to her dimmed first before vanishing. Those further ahead began to dim then as well. She ran for the door before the next set had a chance to go out. More frightened of being left alone in the impossible darkness than the doom that might lay ahead.

Still running, Andrea only stopped when she was far into the next room. It was one better lit than the last though not wholly. Here the lights of the path never reflected off any walls, suggesting the chamber beyond them was much larger than the previous one.

Ahead of Andrea, the path changed, the lights forming a circle. She slowed as she approached it, sensing 42 in the darkness. She couldn't see her, but the presence of the dungeon master was felt like the weight of the darkness itself even before the fire of 42's eyes were revealed.

Andrea stepped into the small pool of light created by the circle and found she could dimly make out a shape in the darkness. A chair covered in faintly glowing symbols was on a dais before her. They served to accentuate but not truly reveal the feminine form that accompanied 42's eyes.

Despite everything, she'd assumed a shiver rolled through Andrea from the roots of her hair to the soles of her feet. She was in the throne room of the Dungeon Master, and it turned her blood into a river of ice.

"Should I kneel?" Andrea asked. She'd tried for defiant, but it came out confused and a little scared. Not a strong stance to take at what she hoped would be the start of negotiations.

"Only if you want to make this weirder than it already is," 42 replied dryly.

"Is it strange for people to seek you to gain power?" Andrea asked.

"Oh, no, it seems to be becoming something of a trend, actually," 42 said, then sighed. "Listen, have a seat. I suspect this chat will take a little while."

Andrea was prepared to sit on the floor, having only seen the throne. When she glanced behind her to make sure it was clear, she found a black chair waiting. She did as instructed, a little annoyed to find it comfortable, if odd in design. It was far lower to the floor than she was accustomed to and plush. She could imagine the snobby nobles from the capitol fighting over it tooth, nail, and claw.

"Now, to be clear, I'm not promising you anything. I'm giving you a chance to try and convince me to make a deal. You will, however, have to face your friends again before any final decision is reached, so don't think you're off the hook there," 42 explained.

"Why? Why do I have to see them?" Andrea asked, caught entirely on the backfoot.

"So you have some time to think about what you very well might be giving up. Hetcha and Mira considered making a deal before they knew what I was. You're trying to make one despite being fully aware. This might be the last time you see them, so you should try and explain yourself, if only for your own peace of mind," 42 replied.

"That… I don't care what they think of it. I know what I want, and it's to be stronger. Strong enough to avenge myself," Andrea said quickly. She didn't want to talk about it with 42, but the creature would need to know what she wanted if they were going to make a deal. She wasn't going to beg the other girls to understand. She didn't owe them that.

"How ominous and vague," 42 muttered.

"Vague?" Andrea asked, taken aback. 42 sighed in a way that reminded her uncomfortably of her mother.

"Reiner is dead, and I doubt you want to descend into the underworld and kill him a second time. So who exactly do you need revenge against?" 42 asked. Andrea blinked, realizing the conversation would be harder than she expected. She'd thought 42 would do as she asked for a price, then leave her to her own devices.

"Why does it matter to you?" Andrea asked, tone coming out harsher than intended. She was more scared than angry now. Afraid she wouldn't get what she wanted despite it seeming nearly in her grasp.

"Let's not get into me just now. You should tell me because I won't know what to give you if you don't. Right now, if I gave you a potion to turn you into a troll, it would handily fulfill your request," 42 explained.

"You'd be far stronger, well equipped for any more brutal form of revenge, but alas, permanently a monster," 42 added. Andrea shivered. Trolls ate human flesh.

"I don't want that… You changed the boy- Elim's class. I want something like that, to be stronger as I am," Andrea said after a few moments.

"I can do that… now, who exactly do you intend to take revenge against, and why? I won't make a deal without knowing that much," 42 said.

"Stromholt… More precisely, the nobility and the church for setting this nightmare in motion and my family," Andrea admitted. She'd raze the entire country from the face of the world given a chance, but she doubted she had anything worth that kind of power to offer 42.

"Your family? Why?" 42 asked in surprise.

"Reiner didn't give me the lily pendant like the others. My father did," Andrea said flatly.