-[Act 2 * Part 1]-

“~Fwaaah!” Elnora let off a sigh of relief as she slipped beneath the warm waters of the pool. She was tired beyond words and the rejuvenating properties of the bathhouse facilities were exactly what she needed after her brief, but fierce battle with the intruders. The succubus relaxed her body and let the magical spring waters tend to her wounds. It was a rare moment of bliss for the dungeon keeper’s young apprentice and she savored it.

When she opened her eyes, Elnora found herself surrounded by the pearl white room of the bathhouse. Hot steam lingered in the air and turned to condensation as it touched the marble tiles covering the walls. It was a luxurious facility available to only the highest ranked minions and commanders of Basil’s forces. There was even a fully stocked bar counter in the corner of the room, but there was currently no servant manning it.

Yes, life was good for the loyal minions of the dark lord. All things considered, being bad carried with it some damn good perks and pleasures.

“Well, I did not expect the place to be occupied at this late hour,” someone said.

Elnora looked to the entrance of the dressing room and found a tall, blonde woman standing in the doorway. She wasn’t a succubus like herself, but the Nine Hells be damned if the woman’s appearance didn’t give the legendary demons of seduction a run for their money.

“Lady Scarlet, I didn’t know that someone from the old guard had booked this pool,” Elnora said. “Do you want me to—”

“No, no,” the gorgeous woman said. “I believe you have earned this.”

Scarlet fixed up the white towel around her chest and stepped into the room.

Elnora felt a sudden surge of envy as she watched bath towel desperately struggle to keep itself from bursting open at the seams as the woman walked.

Scarlet climbed into the pool and sat down opposite to Elnora. There was easily room for a dozen more, but for now it would only be shared by the two of them.

“I heard that you faced off against the intruders,” Scarlet said.

“I did,” Elnora replied.

“I heard that you almost died,” Scarlet continued. It sounded somewhat like a taunt coming from her, but the fair skinned woman’s look conveyed nothing but casual interest. It was probably her best attempt at holding a conversation with someone far weaker and less experienced than her.

“I—did…” Elnora admitted.

Scarlet shrugged. “You got lucky, you know,” she said. “If our Young Master hadn’t intervened in the fight when he did… your little apprenticeship would have been well and truly over.”

Young Master, Elnora thought. Scarlet was a servant to house Doom long before Basil came to power.

Much like the dungeon keeper himself, the golden-haired woman was a creature possessing the [Legendary] distinction—a testament to her overwhelming power. Scarlet was one of the few high-level minions that had chosen to remain in service to house Doom after its old master disappeared.

Why did the others leave? Elnora wondered. Why did she stay?

During her brief tenure in service to Lord Basil, Elnora had only ever talked to the woman in passing. As far as she knew, Scarlet’s main responsibility was standing guard at the entrance of the secret part of the dungeon—the pocket dimension that housed the Doom Mansion. It was miniature world of its own and contained the arcane facilities and wonders that the inhabitants of the worlds that they pillaged were never meant to see.

She had so many questions to ask, yet none that felt justified given how little she knew of House Doom and its history. Still, Scarlet had kept quiet for a while now, so Elnora took it upon herself to dispel the awkward silence that was beginning to set in.

“Aren’t you a little disappointed?” Elnora asked.

“Why?” the woman replied. “Is there something that I should be dissatisfied with?”

Elnora was a low-level minion—almost nothing when measured against the venerated warrior sitting opposite to her—so the young succubus was starting to feel the pressure of having to live up to her temporary position of competence. Out in the dungeon, where the other minions were all in equal standing to her or subservient, Elnora had felt comfortable, but the old guard, who rarely ventured forth from Doom Mansion, all seemed so… overwhelming; so age old and outright superior to her in every way.

The succubus picked her next words carefully. “Well, unless I am mistaken, you never got to fight anything on this campaign,” she said. “We have been waging war on this world for almost a year now, but you have hardly left the Mansion in all that time.”

Scarlet shrugged. “I have seen a hundred worlds on fire,” she said. “Combat alone no longer satisfies me.” The woman raised her hand and longingly examined the shimmering water droplets as they trickled down her smooth skin. “Frankly, I didn’t think the forces of Empire Solar possessed a warrior worthy of my time and effort to begin with. And, given how the assault on the core turned out, I guess I was proven right. Even their goddess turned out to be a pushover.

“It’s been too long since I have faced a proper challenge,” Scarlet mused. She then sighed in resignation of her predicament. “But, where goes the Young Master, so does the Mansion. And I am obligated to follow.”

“Surely there must be ancient dragons or elemental lords in some distant part of this world,” Elnora suggested. “As a warrior, don’t you feel like you should have been out there, looking for a fight? I am sure that Basil—”

“Lord Basil,” Scarlet corrected her, “and no, I am not a slave to my baser instincts.” She looked down at the bubbling waters. “Not anymore.

“Besides, there are plenty of powerful creatures living in the Mansion upon whom I can take out my frustration,” she said. “And if I ever desired a proper challenge, I could just call on Schwartz for a round of friendly sparring.”

Scarlet cracked her fingers for dramatic effect. “One of these days it’s not going to be a draw. One day—”

“One of you is going to end up dead,” a man’s voice declared. “Now wouldn’t that be a shame. Would break the Young Master’s heart, it would, to lose one of his best minions over an old grudge…”

The two women looked to the bar counter in the corner of the room and found an old man in a jet-black suit standing behind it. Neither the succubus nor the veteran warrior had noticed him enter, but now that he had revealed his presence, they both made sure to better cover up their bodies.

“Oh, dear ladies,” Chronos said, “don’t mind my intrusion. I assure you that I have not come here to try and sneak a peek at your timeless beauty.”

The old geezer’s wrinkled face was partially hidden behind a set of thick, bushy eyebrows that completely covered up his eyes. An equally impressive mustache—reminiscent of a worn-out broom head—covered the lower half of his face. The top of his head was bald with a horseshoe shaped mop of a hairline running all the way around, though it never quite connected with the bushy brows of the old butler.

“Miss Scarlet, need I remind you that picking fights with Mister Schwartz is strictly forbidden within the premises of the Mansion?” Chronos asked.

“Ugh. It’s hard enough to bear his constant presence as it is,” Scarlet complained, “but the sound of you defending that smug bastard just makes my skin crawl.”

“I am defending no one,” Chronos pointed out. “I only wish to make sure that the Mansion is kept in order for our Master. We wouldn’t want to impede his work with our petty squabbles, now would we?

“And speaking of impediments,” Chronos said and looked to Elnora. “I heard that you got roughed up by those nasty intruders. Are you feeling better, my dear?”

“It is fine,” Elnora said and touched her back where Aidan’s sword had struck her. The scar was barely visible and was sure to disappear completely with time as her body slowly regenerated.

“Now, now, don’t be so modest,” Chronos said. “You risked your life in defense of the dungeon. Surely, that merits a reward.”

The old butler rummaged through the cupboards of the bar counter until he found the right ingredients for a cocktail he had in mind. “Here, I will make you something to help with the recovery,” he said and began working a drink shaker. “This mixture is a time-tested remedy for muscle aches and joint pains.”

“You do know that you are not allowed in here,” Scarlet commented. “If the old witch finds out—”

“Nah, nah, nah…” the geezer cackled. “She doesn’t need to know that I’m here.”

He turned his head towards Elnora. “You wouldn’t go around tattling on an old man simply looking for a moment of respite from his hard day’s work, now would you?”

Elnora shrugged and gave the old butler a cheeky smile.

“I merely wish to point out that it is not a good idea to hide from your jealous wife in the female bathhouse,” Scarlet said. “She is curious by nature and she knows your deviant tastes all too well.”

“And I know that I have enough time,” Chronos answered.

The geezer finished mixing the cocktail and poured it into a tall glass. He then added a tiny paper umbrella and a couple of fruit slices for decoration.

With the drink in hand, Chronos shuffled his way around the bar counter and approached the two women.

“Thank you,” Elnora said as the old butler handed her the glass.

“And nothing for me?” Scarlet asked.

“I am already on it,” Chronos said and nodded towards the bar counter.

A second Chronos blinked into existence and set about mixing a drink for Scarlet.

“How many times can you do that?” Elnora asked out of curiosity.

“All the time,” Chronos answered. “Any time, really, as long as there is enough time.

“At this very moment I am cooking, roasting and brewing in the kitchens, sowing, planting and reaping in the gardens and fields. Within this tiny pocket dimension I can make time for everything I need.

“Would be a tad bit harder outside,” he added and smiled. Granted, only the corners of his mouth could be seen as the gray moustache covered up the rest.

“I don’t suppose you came here just to entertain us,” Scarlet remarked as she was handed her drink by the second avatar of Chronos. The picture-perfect copy of the butler bowed to her before blinking out of existence.

“Indeed,” Chronos said and turned to Elnora. “Truth be told; I came to deliver a message from the Young Master. He requires your presence in his study.”

Elnora looked like she was about to jump to her feet when the old butler raised his hand to stop her.

“No need to hurry, my dear,” he said and waved for the over-eager succubus to settle down. “The Young Master is currently busy handling the after-action report to the Guild. It will take him a while.”

“Ugh! Finally,” Scarlet exclaimed and submerged herself beneath the waters up to her chin. “We have been stuck on this world for far too long. I can’t wait to see some real action. I hope that we get to travel to some apocalypse-stricken place next. At least the creatures there would be worth fighting.”

Elnora did not share in her jubilation. “So, it means that Lord Basil is looking to conclude the conquest,” she said.

“Indeed,” Chronos confirmed.

“Then the dungeon will be abandoned soon,” Elnora said.

“Not soon enough,” Scarlet remarked.

As Scarlet rose up from the bath to take a sip from her drink in celebration, Elnora wished for nothing more than to disappear below the warm embrace of the water. The news of their imminent departure filled her mind with sorrow, as she knew that it would mark the conclusion of her apprenticeship under House Doom. More than that, it spelled an end to her working relationship with Basil, which is something she couldn’t help but to feel deeply bitter about.

Chronos tried to console the disheartened succubus. “I am sure that the Guild will find you an adequate posting in the near future,” he said. “It is this old butler’s humble opinion that you did an exceptional job managing the day to day life of the dungeon. As an assistant dungeon keeper, you have shown yourself to be dependable and full of promise.

“Lord Basil will surely reflect kindly upon your work in his report to the Guild. His name should carry enough weight for you to get a nice position within the organization. Who knows, maybe in a few years you will be running your own little operation.”

“I know that I should be excited about my promotion,” Elnora said, “but I really don’t want to be doing anything else right now.

“The last seven months have been the best time of my life—running the dungeon for Lord Doom, managing the tasks that he entrusted me with…” Her gaze trailed off as she recalled the experience.

Chronos sighed. “It is time to move on,” he said.

Elnora gave him a look of utter defeat.

“Listen, sister,” Scarlet said, “I know that you like the Young Master—”

“I don’t!” Elnora quickly objected. “I mean, I do, but—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Scarlet swatted away her feeble excuses. “Listen, Lord Basil is a great dungeon keeper and I am sure that he is every young and impressionable she-demon’s dream, but you just have to accept the fact that he is not interested in you. Or anyone else, for that matter…

“When all is said and done, our Lord is a single minded and simple creature. Like any other dungeon keeper, he seeks only conquest and glory—that is their purpose in life. There can be no other distractions.”

“Hmm…” Chronos growled in a tone that conveyed mild skepticism. “Well, I can think of a certain someone who did find a new calling.”

Scarlet scoffed. “And do you remember where it got us?” she said. “If not for that damned distraction, I bet that our old master would still be with us and we would be out there, killing gods and blitzing worlds by the hundreds.”

“Enough complaining,” Chronos said. “You made your choice long ago and I expect you to abide by it. Or should I go and tell Mister Schwartz that you are giving up on your little agreement.”

Scarlet emptied her glass in response to Chonos’ suggestion, swallowing her pride and a fair bit of fire and fury along with it. “I am not leaving the Mansion first,” she declared.

“Then I expect to hear nothing more from you,” Chronos said.

Scarlet’s reply was as half-hearted as they came. “Fine,” she said through her teeth.

“Who—who was she referring to?” Elnora asked.

Chronos glanced at his wrist watch and clicked his tongue in disappointment. “Unfortunately I don’t have the time to tell you my dear.”

“The old hag is looking for you, isn’t she?” Scarlet asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Chronos admitted. “And I better not keep her waiting or there will be hell to pay.”

The butler bowed to the ladies and vanished from sight in an instant.

Now that the two of them were once more alone, Scarlet offered Elnora a piece of advice.

“You will get over your crush,” she told her. “Remember that you can aim for the sun, but you will only get burnt. As his assistant, you might have stood close to him for these past few months, but in reality you were always worlds apart.”

Scarlet rose from the pool and spoke on last time before leaving. “The Young Master is not what he seems,” she said in a tone far too cold for the hot-blooded warrior, “and this place is nothing like the other dungeons out there. This is the dungeon of Doom. We have a long history and many enemies. You do not want to get caught up in any of it. Big league dungeon keeping can get very bloody very fast.”

She looked down at the succubus, but this time her gaze had a tint of compassion in it. “You are still young,” Scarlet said, “and you have much to learn of love and war.”

The golden haired warrior scoffed. “If nothing else, you have proven yourself capable enough that I have bothered to learn your name. By now most people in the Mansion have—most that matter, anyway. That’s an accomplishment you can pin to your chest. Be proud of it, but don’t stick around looking for a pat on the head. Get out while you still can. Get out before this place swallows you up. The rabbit hole goes too deep and it only goes one way.”

Having said her piece, the woman left the bathhouse.

Scarlet’s parting words left a cold chill running down Elnora’s spine. The succubus finished her drink and dove beneath the warm waters of the pool to try and rid herself of that unpleasant sensation.