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Azaria The Doll Dungeon 11
🕑 Added 2020-03-12 12:00:03 +0000 UTC
Morning everyone! I hope the week has been alright for everyone. I feel like it was just Monday and it's already Thursday. Anyhow, here is the next chapter.
Azaria: Debut
I nervously watched the guy strode forward towards the boundary of my dungeon. He stopped when he reached the old train car and seemed to take in the entrance to the mansion. I wanted to be smug and say that it was impressive, but I couldn’t be sure about that. I didn’t know what the outside world looked like after a year of what I could only call madness.
He stepped onto the marble porch and held his hand out. As if from nowhere things started to appear. A pile just about half his height eventually formed. If I wasn’t a ghost right now, I’d likely be gaging. My eyes widen as I realized what he was about to do.
Sure enough, he looked up and shouted. “I would like to trade with the core, Azaria!”
Like the first time, I felt like my body was being squeezed into a single point then back out. I quickly looked down at my body and breathed a breath of relief when I saw I was still wearing the clothes from last time. My body had formed at the top of the stairs and I felt like walking so I started making my way down.
I wobbled more than I thought I would. It appeared I was getting used to floating everywhere. Not that I minded floating, it was one of the few things I enjoyed about my new existence. I only made it down four steps before I got tired of it and floated into the air. I laughed at how I thought it was easier to fly then walk.
Coming to the landing at the bottom of the stairs, the nutcrackers pushed up the doors. Lucy had managed to summon another dozen. Apparently, she’d leveled from sparing with Stella. They both were now higher level than me at level three. I landed a few feet in front of the guy as Starburst came up next to me.
“Welcome back to the Doll Dungeon. What do you want to trade for, I don’t have much to offer?” I said being brutally honest.
“Protection. I’d say two weeks should do. I want a place I where I can live for two weeks inside. Of course, I swear not to attempt to attack or conquer the dungeon.”
“You want protection? But it looks like you could easily kill anyone that might try anything,” Starburst said after giving the guy a once over.
“And I have Miss Azaria here to thank for that. That is why I want us to be friends. In fact, I plan to help you get much stronger.” As he finished speaking his grin almost caused my skin to crawl. I wanted to back away but I remember a lesson from class that showing weakness to an animal generally caused you to be attacked. He might look human, but the large canines and claws was telling me a different message.
“I’m glad I could help. Umm. I don’t see an issue of you living here for a week or two. However, I want all this and one other thing,” I said gesturing at the pile of what I realized wasn’t just body parts but also organs.
“What is that?” I did my best not to react to the fact his hand had moved to the cleaver strapped to his waist.
“Tell me about the world,” I replied simply. I wanted information on what exactly was happening above me. Maybe even find out if my parents were still alive.
“Sure,” he said slowly. “What could a dungeon want to know about the surface?”
“Don’t worry about that,” I answered vaguely as I could feel Starburst glaring daggers into my face.
“Fine. You should also be aware that the Association is already aware of your existence. I give it another day or so that they’ll send someone in to test the first new dungeon that’s formed since the shift. To be blunt. You’re about to be very popular.”
“So much for wading in slowly…” I mumbled before reaching out with my hand. “Deal?”
He grabbed my hand and shook. “Deal.”
“Starburst will guide you to a sealed room. I should be able to make something like that easily enough. Don’t blame me if someone manages to get in,” I said flipping my hair over my shoulder before floating away. Might as well get it done and over with. I couldn’t help but pout as my form faded back to the ghostly form.
On the second floor of the mansion section. I went into one of the rooms that had a private bathroom. I created a trap that only activated if the tub was filled just right or Lance was the one standing in it. Through a tunnel I made room that was about the size of a New York apartment. Should be plenty of room for a single person. Boring maybe.
I decided to be nice and copied one of the beds over into the room. It didn’t hurt to be nice to the man that was probably the strongest person in my dungeon right now. As I floated in the middle of the room, I wondered what he was going to do about food. Well, it wasn’t part of agreement, so I’ll just ignore it.
A minute or two later Starburst led the guy to the bathroom and explained what he had to do as I told him. I was about to fly away when I realized that I didn’t remember his name. I asked Starburst to ask for me.
“Lance.”
I had Starburst thank him then flew off. First day and already had a guest.
~~~
Like Lance said, it took less than a day for people to start poking their head into the dungeon. Just in the last hour there had been ten people alone. Even some people wearing suits came all the way into the dungeon before they nodded and left. They never once said a word. Something about the two of them reminded me of Terleza, but I couldn’t detect anything, so I decided to ignore it.
I was lounging on the ceiling when I saw a party of four people come into the dungeon dressed for battle. They all wore leather and wielded a bunch of weapons. The best I could tell there was two swords, a staff, and a bow. After that, I had no idea. Starburst rushed over to the room I was in as I watched them approach the dungeon.
“Girl. I would brace yourself. When hostiles enter the dungeon, it will be quite rough on you.”
“What do you…” I started to say when the party crossed the threshold. I felt my connection to the first floor of the dungeon was greatly reduced. The closer to the party the less control.
“As you can see, when a party is in the dungeon it is nearly impossible for the host to interfere. Remember though, any of your monsters that have a soul will come back to life. Also, after a party enters no other party can enter until the first party reaches the next floor, dies, or exits.”
I knew he couldn’t see me, but I nodded along. I guess my only choice was to watch the action and take notes for next time. I was about to float over to them when something caught my eye. Floating in the air and seemingly in the same state as we was a piano. I’d always loved playing the piano. Almost unable to control myself, I moved over to the instrument.
I reached forward and found I could actually touch the instrument. I moved carefully and took a seat at the bench. Memories that seemed a lifetime ago, mainly because they really were flashed before my eyes. As I placed my fingers on the keys, the dungeon seemed to drift away, but I was still focused on the party making its way in.
“I can’t believe a new dungeon formed! This is the first since, well S-day!” A guy that had a shield and sword at the front of the party.
“Focus Conner. You don’t know what I had to do to get us this chance,” said a girl that had long red hair. She had the staff and wore robes that looked like they came from a medieval movie.
“Slept with the Association agent,” said another girl who used the bow.
“He wishes! Maybe if he was twenty years older!”
“There you go again with your elder fetish. I wonder where your parents went wrong while raising you Carol.”
“I would much rather be with someone that’d seen the world.”
“Focus Carol, Jen!” Conner parroted back to her.
They all grew quiet then moved to the double doors. From the outside it looked like a mansion that had been well maintained. There was even a well-manicured hedge around the ‘drive’ that led to the doors.
“I think this one is going to be really interesting,” Carol said looking the entrance over.
“Have any of you seen a dungeon with something like this?” Conner asked.
“Nope. Well, I read on the web there is one that has a castle in it. That was over in Europe though,” Jen said fingering the string on her bow.
Unable to hold back anymore, I started playing the piano almost falling into a trance. I could hear the haunting melody that came from the piano but couldn’t stop myself from continuing to play. Even as I thought about how this wasn’t anything like what I wanted to be playing right now, I couldn’t stop. Even as I played, I could still hear and see what the party was doing.
“Piano music. That’s different,” Conner said coming to a stop in front of the doors.
“Careful. It could be a trap to lure us to sleep or cause our emotions to change,” Carol said looking around.
Connor nodded as did the rest of the party then he moved to push the doors open. The chandelier in the entrance room burst to life illuminating the entrance parlor and the stairs leading up to the second landing. Connor was about to step inside when the man that two swords raised his hand.
Connor immediately took a step back. Stepping forward, the man slid his hand over the marble floor just past the doors without actually entering the room. He pressed down on the black tile and the two nutcrackers swung their pikes at the same time. It would have decapitated anyone at about five-foot height. After a few seconds, they pulled their pikes back and went to standing completely still.
“Well that’s just nasty,” Connor said while rubbing his neck. He was at the perfect height after all.
“Would have been an improvement,” Carol said with a chuckle. “Lead the way, Zack.”
Zack nodded and started feeling his way forward. I guess he was the rouge of the party that’s usually depicted in movies. They made it to the center of the room when the front doors slammed shut and the chandelier’s light turned from a warm yellow to a blood red.
The four nutcrackers around the room stepped down from their pedestals and brandished their pikes towards the party. The music increased in tempo but still kept the eeriness. My hair swayed around me as I bobbed my head while my fingers danced across the keyboard.
“Fuck! This is completely different from the other dungeons!” Connor cried as he backed up to the rest of his party. I couldn’t help but grin at the compliment.
The nutcrackers rushed the party, Connor moving to intercept two, while Zack took the other two. I personally didn’t know if they were skilled or not compared to my nutcrackers. Connor managed to block the two pike thrusts easily enough, and Zack deflected one pike while dodging another.
The word that came to mind was wooden. Carol was chanting something when a red globe of fire formed at the end of her staff. She gestured and the fireball launched, colliding with the nutcracker to the left of Zack. He took advantage of the moment and drove his sword into the head of the burning nutcracker.
While Zack and Carol handled their two of the nutcrackers, Jen and Connor were having a harder time of it. Jen’s arrows would stick in the nutcrackers but that was it. Connor was having a hard time not due to the nutcrackers’ skill but rather due to their strength. Made from wood and magic, they were stronger than a normal human.
With a two pronged strike, my nutcrackers managed to knock Connor to the side and bring a pike down on his side. The bladed section sank several inches into his waist and stomach spraying blood over Jen that was only a foot away. She screamed, and the other nutcracker turned his gaze on her.
Apparently unable to take it, she bolted from the spot. She ran towards the doors and hit a black tile. The white tiles around it fired ten to twenty needles laced with the poison I got from Lance. Four struck their target. She made it another ten steps before she collapsed to the ground foaming at the mouth.
Carol and Zack managed to finish off their second one and rushed to help Connor. Carol already had another fireball on her lips as Zack rushed to deflect what would have been the finishing blow. In maybe fifteen seconds they managed to deal with other two nutcrackers.
While Zack helped Connor, Carol rushed over to help Jen but a burst of energy told me it was too late. With a final rise in the notes, my piano solo came to an end and the light went back to normal. I reached up to put my face in my hands and felt that I had a grin that would likely scare someone. Whether it was the music or the first death in my dungeon, I wasn’t sure, but I felt so good right now.
I turned my attention back to the party as the doors slowly reopened. They were dragging Connor out and couldn’t afford to get Jen due to the traps. There was another surge of energy that sent a shiver down my back as my dungeon absorbed her body. I don’t know if I could go back to normal after experiencing something like that.
