DD3 -CH2-

- Sick Out -

Everyone moved out of the the dinning room and began making their way to an adjacent study.

Benni had been busy this entire time, getting everything together for Lauren and her map meeting.

Ryker really didn’t care one way or the other how it played out at this point. He was the count of Dungeon, a wizard, and not a whole lot else. He wasn’t a tactician, strategist, or a planner.

He generally just made things explode or catch fire.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he trailed along at the end of the procession.

Heavy foot-falls padded along next to him, heralding the arrival of Meino.

Since he’d returned, she’d mostly been back to normal. There was a few odd quirks in her routine that he couldn’t quite place though.

Like that fact that she hadn’t tried to groom him. Not even once.

It was mildly disconcerting and he felt like something was terribly wrong. But in the same breath, he wasn’t going to complain about it stopping. It’d been rather awkward dealing with Meino.

She was a Minotaur after all. There was a lot of “not human” to be said for her race. Ryker couldn’t deny that she was a sentient person, but she also had… fur.

Glancing over to his side, he found Meino pacing along side next to him.

The big Minotaur’s pale blue eyes turned his way. Then she gave him her approximation of a smile.

He knew she was desperately in love with him. And it was flattering.

She’s a big ass Minotaur though!

Ryker smiled back at the giant furry non-humanoid and looked ahead again.

“Ryker.”

Looking to his right, he found Benni had appeared there. In such a short period she’d already proved herself as a much better assistant to him.

Didn’t hurt that she was a very attractive Orc and put together in a very eye appealing way.

“Benni,” Ryker said.

“Everything is laid out as Marybelle instructed me. All of it,” said the Orc.

“Oh? How’d you manage to get all the Imps to make Elven avatars? Let alone with all the requirements on their body sizes?” Ryker asked as straight as he could. “Let alone get the handkerchiefs together for them to make their tops out of?”

Benni stared at him, blinked slowly, and then coughed once into her hand.

“No Elven avatars I’m afraid. Though there’s an Orc and a Minotaur who could do their best I think,” Benni offered.

“Huh. You’re no fun,” Ryker said, then looked ahead. “Though I do think I need to have you run some messages to the rest of the Fairies and Imps. This is going to be a rather ugly little war with the Churches. It might be a good time to open the floor and hear some opinions.”

“Really?” Benni asked, sounding surprised. “What’d Wynne say?”

“Dunno, didn’t ask her,” Ryker said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“She’s nervous that you’re trying to make her run afoul of Wynne so she can’t keep trying to bed you,” Marybelle supplied.

“Ah. Thanks, Hobby-kins. Hugs and kisses, get the fuck out of my head,” Ryker said.

“Dear, I think we’re well beyond that. And if you think putting a massive amount of dirty thoughts into our shared space will deter me, it won’t. It isn’t as if we haven’t tried most of those things ourselves.

“Anyways, that’s why she sounds concerned,” Marybelle said, effectively neutering his threat before he could say it. He’d tried it once, and Marybelle hadn’t responded.

“And really, Hobby-kins? Get a real pet name or I’ll find something embarrassing and use it in front of the Humans,” Marybelle said, her voice in his mind sounding beyond amused.

“Gonna fuck her inside out,” Ryker growled.

“You’re going to what me?” Benni asked, her voice going up an octave.

“Not you,” Ryker said, looking at the Orc.

“Me then?” Meino asked, her tone sounding hopeful.

“Oh my shit,” Ryker said, pressing his hands to the sides of his head. “Look, just… ask Wynne what she thinks. She’ll probably agree. Tell her I told you to do it. Go. Do it now.”

Benni nodded her head, and winked out of existence.

“It’s because I’m a Minotaur,” Meino said.

“What? Have sex with you?” Ryker asked.

“Yes,” Meino said.

“This… this really isn’t the time and place for this is it?” Ryker asked her, trying to get this subject away from here as fast as possible. Meino was a weird spot for him. And kissing her the other day hadn’t helped at all.

“Can we talk about it later then? You’ve been avoiding me,” Meino said.

To a degree he had been avoiding her. He’d regreted encouraging her when he knew he wasn’t quite interested in her the same way she was in him.

“Alright,” Ryker said. “We can talk about it later.”

Meino nodded her head, her gaze never having left those in front of them. She was always on guard when it came to Ryker.

In her duties, none were better than she was.

Walking into a wide open room Ryker was confused. He hadn’t quite learned the layout of the Palace he’d built for Lauren with dungeon resources. He’d just really thrown everything together in the pattern Marybelle had specified for him. There wasn’t much more thought put into it then that.

Laid out in the center of the room was a large table. Pinned to that table was a large map of the entirety of Dale. From the walls of Dungeon, to the shores in the north-west. It covered everything.

“Impressive,” Lauren said, walking up to the center of the map.

“Yes. Having the dungeon our side gives us much more of an advantage than anyone would ever think,” Diane said, shaking her head as she stepped up next to Lauren.

“You ok?” Shirley asked.

She’d caught him off guard, practically materializing in his pocket.

“Yeah. I’m alright,” Ryker said, giving her a genuine smile.

“You sure? Not in pain? Nothing lingering?” Shirley asked, stepping in closer to him. Close enough that it would have made him uncomfortable if it was anyone else.

But after casting magic with her, standing practically in a hug for long stretches of time, their personal boundaries were long gone when it came to one another.

“Nah, nothing wrong. I’m just… grouchy, I guess,” Ryker said. Genuinely he did feel somewhat grouchy.

There were too many people around him at all times now. Too many things to do and not enough time to get it all done.

Not to mention he felt somewhat directionless.

“Awww, my gloomy little footstool,” Shirley said, pushing Ryker out of the room and back into the hallway they’d just come from. She eased him up to the wall, just out of sight. “Are you lacking in conviction again? Your goal was satisfied, and you need a new direction?”

Ryker blinked, staring down into his mage-partner’s eyes.

She’s right. That’s… exactly what it is.

Again.

“Yeah,” Ryker mumbled. “Sorry.”

Shirley smiled up at him and patted his shoulder.

“It’s ok. That’s why I have to take care of my foot-stool. You have all these noble ladies fussing over you, Imps bowing to the very ground for you, and Fairies who drop their drawers and bend over when you come near,” Shirley said. Sighing she shook her head, peering up at him. “We could still run away you know. Just you and me. I’d take really good care of you. Promise to only put my bare feet on you, never boots.

“Well, maybe boots, if you were especially good.”

Choking for a second on his own mirth, Ryker closed his eyes, and leaned his head against the wall. Laughing softly, he laid his arms around Shirley’s shoulders and drew her in close to himself.

“Shirley… don’t ever leave me. You seem to be the only one who can poke right through to the middle of me,” Ryker said.

“I thought it was you who poked into the middle of me,” Shirley grumbled, shifting around until she got comfortable against him.

“Hah. Guess so. And yeah, you’re… completely right. I guess I need to find my goal again. My conviction,” Ryker said.

“Well, that’s actually easy this time. Put Lauren back on the throne, then send her, Adele, and Diane back to the capital. You and I can stay here and play house. I’ll be the Countess, and you the foot-stool,” Shirley said.

“Right. That’s… right. Absolutely right,” Ryker said, nodding his head.

“Come on, let’s leave,” Shirley said. “Let’s go play with magic in the dungeon, and when we hit the fun part of casting, we take a break in your bedroom, then go play with some more magic.”

Ryker thought about it.

Thought really hard about it.

He didn’t need to be here, did he? They could handle it without him. They were all grown women who could make choices and decisions without him.

He’d just stand there and be mopey about the whole thing anyways.

“Marybelle…? Hobbykins? Baby-girl? What… what do you think?”

There was no response to his thought.

Wracking his brains he tried to think up some cutesy pet-name that he thought Marybelle would like. That he’d also never say in front of anyone.

“Uhm, Baby-Belle?” Ryker tried.

“Oh. I don’t mind that one. That’s actually rather cute,” Marybelle said. “I like it, actually. As to your thought, Dear. Yes, they’ll be fine without you. I have Benni on standby in the corner. She’ll take notes and I can feed it back into your memories later.”

“Oooh. Thank you, Baby-Belle. You’re the best house-brain-wife ever,” Ryker said. “Though… how is it you’re so easily able to communicate with Benni? I didn’t hear anything in the dungeon sense.”

“We’ll talk about that later when you visit me in my room tonight, and we work on the dungeon,” Marybelle said. That didn’t sound like it’d be a great conversation.

“Let’s go,” Ryker said, grabbing Shirley by the hand and running off down the hall with her.

***

Standing in front of the door to Marybelle’s home, Ryker felt strange. He’d literally spent the last eight hours running around with Shirley.

There weren’t any soldiers nearby to hunt with avatars, so they’d taken to simply going through part of the death dungeon tower by themselves in avatar form. Their bodies laying next to one another in Shirley’s room.

Grimacing, Ryker ran a hand through his hair. It still felt faintly damp.

Damn. I knew I should have bathed or something after we finished up.

“Why? It’s not as if I wasn’t aware of it as it happened,” Marybelle said. Then the door opened.

Standing in the doorway, was a busty and beautiful Hobgoblin. Minus almost everything that made her non-humanoid. It really only showed in her cheeks, nose, and her elongated ears.

She’d bound up her curly brown hair in her rapidly becoming trademark blue ribbons. Her dark black eyes watched him, full of mirth, and matching her wide smile.

“It’s really not fair to have you riding shotgun all day, ever day. I can’t keep a single secret from you,” Ryker groused.

“I suppose. But I’m just your happy little mind-wife. I do love seeing how often you think nasty things about me though,” Marybelle said, baring her teeth at him in a fierce grin. “I mean, goodness, Dear. I knew you liked how I looked but there must be a limit.”

Marybelle stepped to one side and gestured into her home.

“Come on in,” Marybelle said. “I already prepared a nice little late-dinner for us since everyone else has already retired for the evening, or is in the process of doing so.”

“Thanks,” Ryker said, walking into her home. He didn’t know what to say to everything she’d said. Half of it was a bit unnerving to respond to. So he went with something he knew she’d probably like. “I appreciate the though, Baby-Belle.”

“Oooh, I like the sound of it in person even more,” Marybelle said as the door closed. “I know it makes you cringe saying it, too. All the more reason I love it, because you’re saying it for me.”

The Hobgoblin swept Ryker up, slipping her arm through his and escorting him into her dinning room.

“Come, come. Let’s discuss the death dungeon, Benni, and my Fairy avatar while we eat,” Marybelle said, patting his arm.

“Right. Any uh… any particular order you want that in?” Ryker asked, letting her lead him.

“In the order I stated, actually,” Marybelle said, sitting Ryker down in a chair. “Though I think a few of those topics will be rather simple.”

Sitting down directly on his left, Marybelle began to immediately put food onto his plate. She’d somehow managed to pan-sear a steak, sliced fried potatoes, and added a small berry salad as well.

“I’ve been practicing,” Marybelle said, picking his stray thought out of his mind. “You seem to focus on food often enough that I thought it worth putting some time into.

“Now, the death dungeon. To be more specific, the Death Dungeon, as you called it,” Marybelle said, emphasizing the title.

“Yes?” Ryker asked. He’d asked her preliminarily to consider what it would take to drop the whole thing down deep into the ground. And if it would be better to simply destroy the whole thing, or bury it.

“I set up all the appropriate spells to bury the whole thing. Submerge it straight into the earth as it is. That way we can always recall it if we have a need for it,” Marybelle said, dishing up her own dinner now. “It wouldn’t even cost any mana to leave it vacant like that. Only the initial spawn would take mana.”

“Oh,” Ryker said. Picking up his knife and fork, he started to cut into the steak. “That makes it rather easy then I suppose, doesn’t it?”

Taking a bite, he was surprised to find it wasn’t just cooked well. It tasted good. Marybelle hadn’t just been putting time into learning mortal cooking here and there. This felt more like she’d been dedicating hours at a time to it.

“This is amazing,” Ryker said honestly, looking to Marybelle.

“Thanks, Dear. As your mind-wife, I do have to try,” said the Hob, pointing her fork at him after taking her food from it. Chewing with a smile, she winked at him.

“Mind-wife… so… that’s your version of house-wife then?” Ryker asked. Then he shook his head. “Nevermind. Ok, bury the dungeon. Drop it straight down into the earth and we’ll deal with it later if we ever need it back again.”

Marybelle nodded her head once, and waved a single finger at him.

There was a thump in the dungeon-sense, and the Death Dungeon appeared at the edge of the dungeon core’s control. Deep in the earth below them.

“All done,” Marybelle said, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin. “You know, I’ve often wondered if it would be easier if I shrank my canines down to a smaller size. Like a humans. What do you think?”

Marybelle leaned toward him and opened her mouth, displaying her slightly larger than normal canines at him.

“I mean… I kinda like that you’re not completely human… but do whatever is most comfortable for you,” Ryker said.

Closing her mouth, Marybelle thought for a second, then shrugged.

“Next is Benni,” Marybelle said, picking up a chunk of potato and slipping it into her mouth.

“Yeah. What’s up with her? And how she seems to be just… there. You seem to be able to reach out to her without needing the dungeon sense or anything anymore,” Ryker said. It wasn’t really a question. He’d already seen that there wasn’t something quite right with Benni.

“When you blew her up with that spell, you used part of your soul,” Marybelle said, holding her hand up in front of her mouth. Apparently she wasn’t willing to go as far as Adele did, but she was at least willing to talk with her mouth partially filled. “Right?”

“Yeah. It’s how I fueled the spell through the dungeon sense. The normal spell frames didn’t have enough power to manifest correctly,” Ryker said.

“Oh? Oh! I didn’t even think of that. I suppose you could indeed do it that way. Though the idea of tearing pieces of my soul out to few a spell seems a bit… painful, to me,” Marybelle said.

“It is. I mean, how could it not be,” Ryker said after swallowing a massive chunk of steak. “But it’s what I had to do. I couldn’t… let what was going to happen, happen.”

“Yes, I’m aware. I talked to Benni about it,” Marybelle said, then looked thoughtful. “Strangely enough I couldn’t access any of your memories of your trip here. From the point that you landed there, till you crossed the threshold of dungeon, is a blank space to me. So the soul spell component makes more sense now.”

“Ok, and? How does this relate to Benni?” Ryker asked.

“You literally impaled her soul with a fragment of your own. It wasn’t as if she were truly in that body. It was an avatar,” Marybelle said. “When you put her back into her core, she took that fragment of you with her. There is a small piece of her, that will forever and always be, a tiny little Ryker. Angry at what was about to happen to her, and spending his own soul to stop it.”

“Oh. Oh… I see. Ok. So… so I just need to go into her and pull it out?” Ryker asked. He didn’t like the way the conversation was going about that, and he really didn’t like the idea of Benni having part of himself running around in her soul.

He had a hard enough time with Robyn blending their souls every morning and evening.

“Not something you can fix anymore. Besides, Benni likes it,” Marybelle said waving her fork at Ryker. “Let’s her understand your emotions if she’s close enough. She can’t hear your thoughts though. It’ll make her a great personal assistant to you.”

“Ugh,” Ryker said, pressing his hand to his temple. “Whatever. It was worth it if that’s the price to pay for her not being gang-raped. Fucking Vicar. Wish I could kill him again.”

“Not that I’d blame you for doing it, but I’m not sure bringing someone back from the dead is the best answer in this case,” Marybelle said.

“No. Didn’t work out for my dad,” Ryker said with a chuckle. It felt strange to him though. There was a strange shrieking emotion in him at the thought that he’d fought his father who was dead, to the death.

Then cut off his head.

“You do realize we didn’t find anyone on the battlefield like what you described,” Marybelle said. “At all. There was no trace.”

“None?” Ryker asked, suddenly feeling like he’d fucked up.

Should have taken his damn head with me.

“Nothing. Though there’s no denying what happened. We all saw the spell-duel,” Marybelle said.

“Mm. Right,” Ryker said. “Alright. Last but not least, your Fairy Avatar.”

“Oh! Yes. That’s the reason I wanted you to come over tonight, really,” Marybelle said, smiling at him. “I want you to have sex with my Fairy body after all. I’m going to see if I feel anything at all from it while you do that. If I do, I’m going to consider switching back and forth more regularly. If I don’t, I’m going to bury it with everyone elses’ bodies.”

Oooookay. That’s… kinda frigging weird. But if it makes her happy, I guess.

“It would, yes. Thank you, Dear. I appreciate it,” Marybelle said, smiling at him.

Right. No privacy with you. Is there?

“Not really,” Marybelle admitted.

And if I thought a really horrible thing? Like I wanted to push you down into Wynne and ravage you from behind?

“I’d tell you I’m more likely to agree to that than Wynne is, but you’re welcome to ask her. Now, let’s talk about your outing with Shirley. That really perked up your spirits,” Marybelle said.