The Whimsical Dungeon

It had been so long that the lich didn"t even remember more than the general direction of the map"s contents, let alone the specifics of each place.

Such was what brought about the current situation.

"All right, all those who know how to get to the mainland from here, please raise your hand," Daisy said to the residents of Stern-brig, "rewards can be offered in exchange."

After briefly murmuring to one another, of the prisoners, two raised their hands. They were, of course, Tina and Miss Trueleaf.

Daisy gave a slight nod, as if to say, "as expected."

"All right, leave your weapons and come with me... if you want to, that is," Said the lich.

The prisoners had been allowed to keep their weapons as a part of their terms of surrender. Daisy didn"t mind at the time, as they would be locked up regardless of how many weapons they had.

She, however, wouldn"t allow them out of the cell while they still possessed them.

Both individuals obliged, pa.s.sing what weapons they had through the bars. Tina handed over a cutla.s.s, and the, for some reason, handed over a bag of a few dozen wooden needles, each about three-quarters of a foot long.

Daisy then stored them with the help of Alexa. Strangely, the rules which previously prevented Crystal from using dungeon functions while in clear view of intruders, did not apply if those intruders were in the prison. Crystal a.s.sumed it was because they were no longer displayed as intruders at that point, but as prisoners.

The elf and the cat-kin were then both guided out of the prison by a small group of armed skeletons.

A moment later, after exchanging a glance and a nod with Tina, Miss Trueleaf began to speak.

"To be honest," She began, we"ve already discussed what we would want in this situation."

Crystal, surprised by that comment, raised an eyebrow. While Daisy, though likewise intrigued, remained silent.

"It"s only natural you wouldn"t know the direction of the mainland," continued the elf, "just as it"s only natural for a dungeon to seek out more people to prey upon."

"Oi," thought the two geographically-challenged dungeon ent.i.ties in response. Neither could deny either comment, however.

Alexa could be heard stifling a laugh at their reaction.

Miss Trueleaf hesitated as she considered her next words, so Tina continued speaking in her place.

"We would both like to join your dungeon as minions," she confessed. Taking both Daisy and Crystal by surprise, "there is nothing you can offer us but that."

The elf then elaborated upon what Tina had said.

"Neither of us can- No. Neither of us want to return home, even if we"re one-day freed from the dungeon," she concluded her offer, "I was given as tribute to the humans, by my own parents. And Tina will likely face a similar fate if she ever returns to her country after the loss of her fleet."

Both prisoners then bowed respectfully towards Crystal and Daisy.

"Please!" They said collectively.

Crystal hadn"t expected this turn of events. Not even a little bit.

"Uh, sorry, one sec," she said, trying to sound confident, "I need to discuss this with my colleague."

She then guided Daisy by the hand, away from the two bowing individuals.

"What do we do," she whispered, the moment they reached a distance where they would not be heard.
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Daisy thought for a moment before speaking.

"There is no downside to allowing them to join, other than temporarily losing two contracted minion positions," she said calmly, "we are already a type of dungeon meant to be killed on sight, after all."

"Huh, since when!?" Screamed the imp. She"d literally been on a deserted island ever since her rebirth into this world. She couldn"t imagine how she had already earned a death sentence.

The lich tilted her head.

"You didn"t know?" She inquired, genuinely baffled, "using undead, being a l.u.s.t dungeon, having a human farm, contracting sentient beings, having a moving dungeon. All of those are immediate death sentences for dungeons."

"I can"t believe you acquired them all without knowing that," added the lich, "to think it was just a coincidence."

Crystal slowly took in a deep breath before giving her reply.

"I don"t know enough about things to know what things I don"t know enough about, so how could I possibly know something like that!" Shouted the imp, not knowing if what she had said made sense.

"And don"t call me a l.u.s.t dungeon or I"ll make Squiggles captain instead," She whisper, motioning towards the monkey on her shoulder as she did so. It looked smugly at Daisy.

It was a bluff, and Daisy knew it, however, she made a mental note about it regardless.

Also, Squiggles was a nickname rather than an official one. Crystal, after all, still remembered what had happened when Skully acquired a name.

Crystal then returned to the two awaiting prisoners.

"You"re hired," she declared, causing two blue notification boxes to appear in front of the two individuals.

She then waited as the two prisoners willingly bound themselves to the dungeon, to her.

The dungeon core smiled upon feeling the connection establish itself between them. Tina gave off a feeling of cautiousness and envy, while the elf gave off a feeling of envy and pride.

They felt Crystal and Daisy as well, whimsy from the imp, sorrow, mostly, from the lich.

After taking it all in for a moment, Crystal embraced them both in a hug and then continued speaking.

"I"m Crystal, the dungeon core, in case I forgot to mention," she stated, "I suppose I"ll be in your care from now on."

"I look forwards to working with you both," she said with a bright smile.

... Elsewhere, Desmond, the human-wolf hybrid who had stayed behind on the island, watched as the ship sailed away.

"Fools," he scoffed, turning his back on the ship a moment later.

He then, using a single claw, made a small incision along his arm, and from the wound, pulled a small off-white stone.

After quickly bandaging his wound, he held up the stone and spoke into it.

"This is agent Desmond," he declared, "I have a level three report to make."

He then waited.

Moments later a young man"s voice replied.

"Speak, dog," it said in an arrogant tone, "however, it"ll be your head if you waste my time."

Desmond gritted his teeth at the insult, but continued speaking, regardless.

"Your highness, the mission has failed," he responded hesitantly, "the guardian is dead, the target escaped..."

"And-," he began, before pausing.

"And?" Inquired the voice impatiently.

"...She has bound herself a dungeon, the Ashen Maiden," added Desmond.

Silence followed.

Moments later, the stone gave off a flash of black light. It shot from the wolf hybrid"s hand and buried itself in his forehead.

He collapsed to the ground, motionless.