-[Act 2 * Part 8]-

“Calm down, boy,” Drum said. “You are in a lot of trouble, but if you lay down your weapon we can work something out.”

Aidan held an axe to the throat of the old dwarf. The young shadow clone was wounded, exhausted and thoroughly confused.

After escaping from their icy prison, he and his sister had fallen upon the small band of chaos dwarves that they found working in the throne room of the dungeon. Taken by surprise, the two warrior dwarves had put up a fight, but the combined efforts of Aidan’s strength and Nadia’s magic had proven enough to overpower them. But it had come at a cost.

Nadia clutched a deep axe wound on her leg. She desperately tried to quench the bleeding, but her reserves of mana were depleted to the point where she could not draw upon even the most basic of her healing spells to stabilize herself.

“I can’t…” she stammered, “I can’t stop the bleeding!”

Aidan was growing increasingly distressed at the sight of his sister slowly fading away. In his despair he turned to the dwarf, who was completely at his mercy, and tried to extort help from him.

“Do you have anything?” he demanded to know as he pushed the edge of the axe head deeper into the neck folds of his hostage. “Any health or mana potions? Any healing scrolls?”

Drum kept calm in the face of this threat to his life. The old dwarf understood his perilous situation and could do little to resist Aidan’s hold over him. He was no fighter and his advanced age did him no favors.

“I don’t have anything on me right now,” Drum said. “What I can do is get you the help you need, if you release me.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Aidan replied.

Drum smiled. “What? Do you think that you can secure your freedom with me as a hostage?” he asked.

“The others sacrificed themselves to keep me from you,” Aidan reasoned. “Your life must be worth something.”

Drum bared his teeth in a wicked grin. “There is nothing that you can do to save yourselves from whatever fate awaits you once the Master of this place returns,” he explained. “I am not even bitter about you killing my guards—if anything, you have impressed me—but this act of violence on the sovereign soil of House Doom will not be tolerated.”

The old dwarf stared deep into the darkness of the throne room and addressed a presence that only he seemed to know was lurking within it. “Come on out, Schwartz,” Drum said. “Give the boy a potion to save the life of his little sister. If they calm down a bit, I am sure that we can come to an agreement with the poor youngsters.”

Aidan searched the room, but found no one. Still, he shored up his hold over the old dwarf just in case.

“I am going to step out of the shadows now,” Schwartz announced to the twins. “Please, do not panic. I don’t want to see more blood spilled on this glorious day. But if you harm the dwarf in any way, I will make sure that your deaths are as pain filled and drawn out as possible.”

To Nadia’s and Aidan’s great surprise a tall, black figure appeared not out of some distant corner, but right in front of them. To the sound of a shifting breeze a man, clad in black leather armor, materialized before their eyes.

Schwartz raised his hands to express his desire to avoid further violence. In the right hand he extended a blood red potion in an offer to the confused twins. His hawkish eyes dug deep into Aidan’s terrified mind as he proposed an exchange.

“I am willing to trade,” Schwartz said. “The life of your sister for the life the old man—would you consider that fair?” He gestured at the dead bodies of the dwarves. “We can discuss the penance for your aggression later, but I promise that if you hand Drum over to me unharmed, I will make sure that such a time comes.”

The twins had been offered a choice, but their unfamiliar surroundings and the inevitable consequences of what they had already done weighed heavily on their confused minds. Aidan was overtaken by indecision. Nadia, on her part, was starting to feel the side effects of her blood loss, but she still endeavored to advise her brother the best she knew.

“Don’t trade both our lives away,” she told her brother. “We can’t trust this creature… this shadow man. Take the dwarf and run. I am… done for.”

“I won’t leave you,” Aidan protested. “I can’t!”

“You don’t have a choice,” Nadia said.

Schwartz raised a finger in objection. “Yes, you do.”

“I know that nothing makes sense right now,” Nadia continued. “My mind is spinning, but I feel like I need you to survive. It’s all I can think about right now.”

Aidan shook his head. “You are all that matters to me,” he told his sister. “My memories are all messed up, but I remember you. You are my sister! You are all that I care about in this world!”

Drum was growing increasingly irritated by the indecisiveness of his captor. “Oh, for the love of Nine Hells…” He rolled his eyes as if he couldn’t believe the unfolding scene. “Chronos, my old friend, would you please put an end to this farce?”

Aidan searched the room at the mention of a second hidden presence, but, once again, sighted nothing. Then he heard a loud snap of fingers and the entire scene before him shifted in the blink of an eye.

The confused warrior now found himself standing alone, absent the hostage or a weapon in his hand. What he found in his grasp instead was the healing potion that Schwartz had offered in exchange for the old dwarf’s life.

Aidan immediately delivered the blood red potion to his sister. At first, she seemed reluctant to drink from it, but her hesitation was brief in light of her mortal injury. To her relief, once she had consumed the contents of the vial, the wound on her leg began to heal. It would take much more than just a healing potion to recover completely, but at least she was no longer loosing blood.

Aidan next turned to the black clad man and found him looking down at the axe in his hand. To the hapless warrior it appeared as though they had instantly exchanged the items by some freak magic trick, but that did not explain the missing dwarf. As he further examined the scene, he found Drum standing further back, next to yet another black clad gentleman, this time wearing fine clothes instead of armor.

Drum bowed his head to the old man in the suit. “Thank you Chronos,” he said and rubbed his neck where that the edge of the axe had scratched it. “I was starting to wonder if maybe you wanted me dead for some reason.”

Chronos curled the corners of his gray mustache as he examined the angry old dwarf. “To be honest, you did leave a rather nasty scene in my halls after you were done with your tour of the Mansion,” he said. “It is hard to get engine grease out of the carpets, you know. I had to punish you somehow.”

Drum nodded. “Next time I will leave the oil stains under the carpets then.”

“You try that,” Chronos said, “and I will send them to your wife. She will love to know that you found the time to visit the Mansion, but couldn’t take her out for your wedding anniversary.”

Drum’s eyes went wide in horror. “Oblivion take me! Was that today?”

Chronos stared at him in triumphant silence.

“You’re lying,” Drum declared. “I knew it… you are lying.”

At first, Chronos shrugged, but then, as the corners of his mouth began to crest the edges of his impressive moustache, the old butler’s bluff was revealed in his smug expression.

“Hey! Don’t mess with me like that!” Drum protested. “I nearly died of a heart attack!”

“Well, as long as no one got hurt,” Schwartz commented. He stepped over the dead body of a chaos dwarf warrior on his way to the two bickering geezers. “No one that matters, that is.”

Nadia had heard enough casual conversation from her enemies. “Who the hell are you people!” she demanded to know.

“Drink your potion, little girl,” Chronos replied. “We will discuss how to punish your misbehavior later, when the Master arrives.”

Schwartz cleared his throat. “Speaking of which…”

As if on cue, Basil von Doom appeared in the throne room. He was followed by Elnora and, finally, Scarlet, who, having noticed Schwartz, elected to remain by the entrance.

Schwartz, Drum and Chronos all bowed. For their part, Aidan and Nadia deigned not to so much as speak once they saw the horrifying monstrosity that the rest of these insane creatures had elected to call their master.

Basil walked right past the cowering twins and went straight for the old dwarf. The dungeon keeper took hold of Drum and lifted him up to closer examine the injuries of his old friend.

“I’m fine,” Drum insisted as Basil noted the shallow marks on the dwarf’s neck. “Tis’ but a scratch.”

“Chronos intervened in a timely manner,” Schwartz explained. “I would have done it myself, but I didn’t want to risk unnecessary injury.”

“You made the right call by informing me about this,” Basil declared.

“Now,” he said and turned his gaze upon the twins, “I assume that these two are to blame for the deaths of Drum’s servants?” He gestured at the corpses of the chaos dwarves.

“How could it have happened?” Basil asked. “How did they escape the ice prison?”

“Perhaps the installation of the new dungeon core was to blame?” Drum suggested. “The dungeon experienced several power outages and severe fluctuations of arcane energies during the process. That could have caused the magic to falter.”

“That sounds about right,” Schwartz said. He gestured at the mana infused pillars that ran the length of the throne room. “Maybe the mana-stone somehow interfered with the [Permafrost] spell.”

“But why didn’t the other ice prison thaw then?” Drum asked. The chaos dwarf pointed to the frozen, naked body of his common kinsman at the base of the throne. “That one doesn’t seem to have been affected at all.”

It truly was a mystery. The group pondered the possibilities for a moment.

Against her better judgment, Elnora decided to speak up. “Umm… I am not entirely sure, but…”

All eyes turned to the succubus who now found herself unable to speak. She was clearly uncomfortable with what she wanted to say.

Basil emboldened her. “Go on, tell us what you think. Don’t be shy.”

It was obvious that her opinion weighted heavily on the young she-demon’s mind, but she decided to voice it regardless. “Well, umm… I seem to recall that when… When Lord Basil was fighting the twins, he didn’t cast a [Permafrost] spell on the shadow clones after freezing them.”

“That is a serious insinuation, young lady,” Chronos said.

“But not untrue,” Basil said. “I too agree that it was my forgetfulness that caused this debacle.”

The minions all looked to the dungeon keeper with surprise. It was not often that a dungeon keeper was caught willfully admitting to a mistake in his conduct. Methodical planning and due diligence were their greatest virtues; pride was their vice.

“Why didn’t you inform us sooner?” Chronos asked Elnora. “If we had known…”

Elnora bowed her head in shame. “To be honest, it had not come to my mind until Lord Basil had informed me about their escape.”

“And neither did we realize it,” Basil reminded everyone. “This mistake does not lie with her—it is mine.”

Basil placed his hand to his chest. “I accept the full responsibility. The important part is that we all learn from this mistake going forward.”

The dark lord’s minions all nodded in agreement.

“Don’t ever be afraid to speak the truth to me,” Basil told Elnora. The dungeon keeper rewarded the succubus with a pat on the head. “I will never scold you for it.”

With the cause of the problem discovered they now turned to dealing with its aftermath. The twins had wisely kept quiet throughout this conversation. Aidan had positioned himself in front of Nadia in a largely futile effort to shield his sister from whatever horrors would come next. Neither of the two seemed like they had even considered the possibility of running away. To be honest, they probably knew their odds of escaping, so they had elected to hear out the monster’s proposal instead.

“Well then,” Basil said as he approached the frightened siblings. “What shall we do with you two?”

He bid Aidan to speak first while he rummaged through his magic pouch for his dungeon keeper’s manual.

“I remember you from before the ice,” Aidan said.

Basil nodded. “Yes. I am the one who summoned you.” He flipped through the pages of his book as he searched for the information on the twins.

“Summoned us?” Nadia asked. “No… that can’t be.”

“You are mere copies of the people that once were known as Aidan and Nadia,” the dungeon keeper explained. “You were created in their image, with their sum total experience and memories, but you are not really them.”

Aidan shook his head in denial. “What you’re saying doesn’t make any sense!” he proclaimed. “I know who I am!”

“Do you now?” Basil asked. “Then, pray tell me, how old are you exactly?”

The young siblings looked to each other to try and estimate their age. They found the demon prince to be telling the truth as neither looked a year past sixteen. Their memories of themselves were of a long life and old age, but their current visage ran entirely counter to that.

“You remember a life that you never had,” Basil explained. “You were created here in this throne room, by me, for a singular purpose: to fight and die in service to the dungeon.”

The dungeon keeper showed them the page in his manual that elaborated on their identity. “See this passage here?” Basil asked. “This is the sum total of your existence. According to my manual, you are just under a day old. See? It even notes that you were summoned by… me.”

A passage describing the identity of the twins contained a line that read as such: Summoned by Basil von Doom. There were also two prominent status effects listed further down: [Unshackled], [Unbound].

“Now, it just so happened that you were defeated,” Basil explained, “but not killed. At the time of your summoning you were entirely loyal to me, but you original selves managed to exorcise my control over you—to unshackle you, in a sense. That has given you free will. And that, in turn, has opened up a rare opportunity to the two of you.”

“You mean to say that we were created as slaves?” Nadia asked.

“We were servants of darkness?” Aidan asked.

Basil closed his book. “Exactly. And I would be willing to offer you the opportunity to carry on in that capacity. Minus the slavery part, of course.”

“Or what?” Aidan asked. “What if we refuse? Are you just going to kill us like the rest of our people?”

“The kith of this world were bound to this fate,” Basil answered. “But I don’t have the time or the inclination to explain their crimes to you right now. Suffice it to say that when I told of my reasons for your demise to your emperor, the man accepted his fate with dignity. I would suggest that you do the same.

“It’s not like you have a place to return to anyway. This world no longer needs you. For all intents and purposes, you no longer exist.”

Aidan placed his hand over his heart as if to check that it was really beating. Having sensed the rhythm of his life, the young warrior shook his head in denial.

“Do you know what [Bound] and [Unbound] means?” Basil asked. “It is the line that separates those creatures born on a world that are subject to its laws and those that are free from them. To be [Bound] is to be fated to rise and fall with the cycle of a world. To carry the distinction of being [Unbound] is to know true freedom. As you two are now [Unbound], your limits are no longer entangled with the destiny of your birthplace.

“My assistant here,” Basil said and gestured at Elnora, “was [Bound] to her world before the Guild came and offered her a place among its ranks. My closest minions all became [Unbound] in their later stages of life before joining my House. And I myself was born [Unbound]. My fate has always been my own.

“The two of you are both [Unshackled] and [Unbound], giving you a degree of freedom not enjoyed by the vast majority of creatures in existence. You have been granted a chance at a life that you were never meant to have. But only if you serve me. I cannot leave you running rampant on this world. You would utterly destroy it.”

“You said that we were [Unshackled] by the actions of our old selves,” Nadia pointed out. “But you never referred to yourself in such a way. Do you serve a higher master?”

Basil was impressed by observation. “Yes,” he answered, “even I am carried along by the strings of fate. You two are at more liberty to act of your own accord, seeing as how technically you don’t even exist. I, however, have the larger picture to consider. My actions shape the universe, so they inevitably create connections.”

The sister carefully considered the meaning behind the demon’s words, but her brother remained steadfast in his defiance. “No, we will not abandon our home and our country. And for what? A monster’s promise? This is nonsense. What you’re saying is insane!”

“Aidan…” The sister looked to her brother with sorrow-stricken eyes. “We don’t exist. He is speaking the truth.”

Aidan was taken aback by her claim. “What do you mean we don’t exist? I am here and so are you. We are alive. That’s all that matters!”

“All that connects you to this world is a false premise,” Basil said. “But if you agreed to serve me, I could show you miracles beyond your wildest dreams. I can offer meaning to your existence. I have a task in mind that only the two of you can carry out…

“Tell you what,” the dungeon keeper said, “I would like to make a deal with you now. If you agree to serve me, I will try and find out if there was a way to prevent the death of your Empire Solar. Does that sound like a worthy quest? I could really use the perspective of the lesser creatures of this universe.”

Nadia grinned. “You would call us lesser creatures?” she asked. The young priestess gestured at the devastated throne room around them. “You dwell in the dark corners of the world while we build our cities in sunlight. Kith have created such splendor upon this world and all you’ve done is to bring it to ruin. Is that what you call greatness?”

“I have wrestled with [Legendary] elder dragons on floating islands in the astral sea,” Basil said with no small amount of pride in his voice. “I have conquered a hundred worlds; defeated kith in their millions. But if you truly think that vanity and expensive things make one great, then I have such sights to show you.”

The dungeon keeper turned his back on the twins and marched towards the door to his Mansion. The reluctant humans were forced to follow as Schwartz and the rest of the dark lord’s minions took it upon themselves to usher them along.

The golden gate parted and the interior of the Mansion was revealed. A row of knightly obsidian statues moved into position to salute their master as he crossed over the threshold of the gateway. A flood of servants entered the room and lined up along their master’s path, ready and eager to receive his orders. Maids and manservants bowed before the Lord of the Mansion and his entourage.

“You now walk the halls of my own pocket dimension,” Basil proclaimed. “In this place you are the uncultured, uneducated savages that you believe us to be. Within these walls resides a library that holds more knowledge than your precious civilization could accumulate in a thousand years of concentrated effort. There are arcane secrets hidden in my vaults that are beyond the bounds of your understanding; weapons and heirlooms so powerful and devastating that a single artifact from my collection could give rise to or bring low an empire like yours.

“And speaking of artifacts…” Basil pulled out the soul stone containing Maiden Solar from his pouch and passed it along to a maid. “Put it with the rest,” he ordered.

“I have a collection of elemental spirits,” he explained to the twins. “Your precious Maiden Solar will take her place next to several other would-be gods and goddesses.”

The dungeon keeper shook his head. “Honestly, why the kith races are so obsessed with worshiping the elements I will never understand.”

The twins walked the halls of the Mansion in sheer bewilderment at the sights they were shown. Not even the splendor of the capital city with its temples and the imperial palace could come close to it. Wherever they went a small army of beautiful servants followed. Warriors and mages could be seen patrolling the halls dressed in armor and clothes that even the nobility of Empire Solar would have found hard to afford. And then there was the world outside the Mansion’s walls…

Nadia’s proverbial jaw dropped the moment they entered the winter garden. Through its massive windows the deep purple sky of this pocket dimension was revealed. On the other side of the glass the world reached out far into the distance. Fields of golden wheat swayed in the breeze. Orchards and houses dotted the horizon. By her account the Mansion was surrounded by a perfectly functional countryside, complete with ponds, windmills and the occasional hamlet.

It was now clear to the twins that this was a real world in its own right. Basil had spoken true when he had promised them wonders beyond the reach of their imagination.

Basil led the two youngsters to a tea house just outside the winter garden and seated them at the table. No sooner had the guests taken their place that a pair of servants arrived to provide them with refreshments.

Given their exhausted state, the twins were initially brought two cups each. One contained a healing potion and the other a mana potion to replenish their arcane power. At first, they eyed the drinks with suspicion, but when Nadia took a sip from the mana potion and did not suffer any ill effects, her brother followed her example. After all, they were in no condition to pass on an offer like this.

“Let’s say that we were willing to serve you,” Nadia said. She looked to her brother to gage his reaction.

Aidan appeared surprised by her implied submission to the dungeon keeper’s offer.

“What could a master as rich and distinguished as you possibly need from us?” Nadia asked.

Basil grinned. “I see that I have awakened your curiosity,” he said.

The dungeon keeper held his guests in suspense for a moment longer as he gathered his thoughts.

“I have long since wondered about the state of the universe at large,” he said. “The quest that I mentioned earlier is very important to me. It has come to my attention that there is an avenue of exploration that might yield some answers to the questions I have. I wish to study the kith... in ways most unusual.

“The two of you have been an unexpected, but a potentially useful asset to come across. It is not your power, but, rather, your understanding of the kith way of life that interests me.”

“So, you want us to advise you?” Nadia asked.

“You want us to spy for you?” Aidan asked.

“To an extent,” Basil said. “I will need your perspective more than your ability to navigate or spy for me.”

The dungeon keeper gestured at his minions who were lined up a few steps away from the table. “Chronos, Schwartz and Scarlet are among the greatest of my servants, but they know not the ways of the kith because of their power. Even if I was to send them to observe a civilization, all that they could gather from their experience would be the tactical analysis on how to better destroy it. They would see only your weaknesses and flaws, whereas weaker creatures, such as yourselves, would be able to recognize the hidden potential and nobility in the lives of these lesser kith.

“I desire to study your perspective on life so that I might learn from it.”

“And why would we agree to grant you this knowledge?” Aidan asked. “All that you would do with it is destroy.”

“Ah, but that is not my intention,” Basil said.

“But it is what you are, right?” Nadia pointed out. “You are a destroyer of worlds. Why else would you desire such understanding of your enemies if not to wield it against them?”

Basil sighed. “I am seeking to carry out the dying request of your emperor,” he explained. “I have my own reasons for doing so, but suffice to say that I am searching for a better way of dealing with the issue that is civilization at its later stages of development.

“I need to learn how you function so that I might glimpse at a way to prevent the cycle of death that I serve. Not because I care for your lives—that much I will reveal to you—but because I am trying to make better use of mine.

“I have questions. I need answers. And I could use you. Does that sound reasonable to you?”

Aidan and Nadia discussed the dungeon keeper’s offer for some time before they gave their answer.

“We will agree to a deal with you,” Aidan said. “But only on the condition that we get to go free once you find that which you seek.”

“And we will not be party to your evil deeds,” Nadia said. “That is not negotiable.”

“Fair enough,” Basil said. “It was not my intention to change your karmic alignment anyway.”

“Our karmic what?” Nadia asked.

“Your overall moral disposition,” Basil explained. “It was shown in my book—the book that told of your attributes and hidden powers…”

The dungeon keeper pointed his finger to Aidan, “You are [Lawful Good].

“And you, [Lawful Neutral],” he said as he pointed to Nadia.

Aidan shook his head. “What does that mean?”

“A lot, really,” Basil said. “It means that your sister would be willing to sacrifice more people for the right cause than you would even consider. She is far more pragmatic than you and less predictable because of it.”

Aidan looked to his sister in horror. She did not outright deny the dungeon keeper’s accusation. Of all the things discussed today, that realization in particular seemed hard for him to come to terms with.

“And what does this karmic thing say about you?” Nadia asked.

“I am [Lawful Evil],” Basil answered. “It means that I would sacrifice a lot more people for the right reason. The death of your civilization is a testament to that.

“It means that I give out candy and head pats only when warranted and I don’t suffer fools lightly. But, on the flip side, you can also trust me to keep to my promises.

“But enough of this,” Basil said. “Do we have a deal or not?”

Their deepest natures revealed to each other, the twins took a moment longer to come to a final decision.

“We accept,” Aidan said. His sister backed up his words with a nod.

Basil clapped his hands once in celebration. “Well then! Let’s seal the deal.”

The twins were each brought a tall glass containing an oozing black liquid. It had no distinct odor, but the sight of its wriggling motion was enough to give them pause.

“Our agreement needs to be made binding by partaking in my blood,” Basil explained. He reached over Nadia’s glass and pricked his palm with his own claw, drawing a single drop of blood form it. The red dot ran down his palm and fell into the oozing black liquid where it was dissolved by it. He then repeated the process for Aidan.

“This is a demonic ritual of binding,” Nadia pointed out.

Basil gestured at his face and horns. “Hello? I’m a demon? From the Nine Hells? Of course, the ritual was going to be demonic. What, did you think we were just going to shake on it?”

“If it’s a blood ritual, then what’s with the black ooze?” Aidan asked.

Basil shrugged. “You are far too weak to drink my blood undiluted,” he said. “The compound is merely designed to suppress the side effects of the binding so that your bodies have time to adjust. There will be the issue of slight indigestion, but most minions tend to find that preferable to having their guts explode… out either end.”

Basil scoffed. “A messy way to go.”

Nadia slowly raised the repulsive drink to her lips, but Aidan stopped her. He gave his sister a look of concern and proceeded to drink from his glass first. He had to struggle to keep the thick black liquid down, but once the glass was empty the young man appeared no worse for having consumed it.

Once Nadia had finished her drink, Basil snapped his claws and the twins suddenly convulsed in pain. “And with that your transition into my service has begun,” he proclaimed. “Your next few hours will be painful, but you will thank me for it later.”

The dungeon keeper rose from his seat and left the twins convulsing at the table. “Have the twins taken tothe hospital wing,” he ordered Chronos. “I want guards posted and healers on standby, should their ritual of binding run into complications.”

Basil turned around for one last time to address his minions. “Assemble the staff in the auditorium, I have an announcement to make regarding our next move. Overseers and members of my inner circle only.”

The dungeon keeper looked to Elnora. “I am sorry, but you will not be permitted to attend. I hope that you understand that this is strictly a House Doom internal matter.”

The succubus nodded.

Having delivered his orders, Basil marched out of the room just as the servants arrived to tend to the convulsing twins. The rest of his minions set out to organize the gathering of Basil’s household.