Phew, long week. So anyway, couple of things. We hit 800 followers, wahoo! Also, #62 ranking in updated list. Kana the dragon god once explained to me how the ranking system works. . . .needless to say it was pretty complicated. Ratings will increase rank, but only proportionately to the star amount and number of followers. That's the simplified version anyway. So, give me ratings :p

This is technically yesterday's chapter, so expect another tonight.

Right here ---> I apologize for slowness. School comes first though, but expect more chapters this week.

Last thing here--read the end comment after reading this chapter

Enjoy!

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Steel carried the sleeping Echo pack to camp princess style. Echo was going to be out of it for a while in his personal opinion, even with his healing spell and potions. He shook his head and he laid the slave onto the floor beside the fire.

"Mary, any chance you can explain to me how this happened?" He asked.

Mary, who was also recovering from her own injuries, gave him a pained look. "I'm not sure yet, but I can take a look at him and check a suspicion of mine." Wincing as he she knelled down, she put her hands out over Echo's body and closed her eyes. She stayed in that position for a moment before relaxing back into a sitting position.

"Okay, I think I understand what’s going on, or what went on anyway." She looked over at Steel, "Our favorite little slave got himself possessed."

Steel looked around in worry, "As in ghosts? I didn't expect specters would be roaming around here."

"No, different kind of possession." Mary explained, "I mean something forged a bond to his body and used it to take control of him. You saw it earlier, the black stuff that came out of the cleansing a cast on him."

"Okay, but what was it and how did someone or something form that kind of thing without us knowing about it?" Steel inquired.

Mary cocked her head and sighed, "Really, I should have foreseen this. Steel, do you know what we have been doing that no one else has been? How is our team unique in our execution of this raid?"

Steel thought a moment, "We are fighting with traps rather than attack strategies?"

"No! Though that is something no one else is doing most likely." She grudgingly admitted, "The bodies Steel, what are doing to the bodies of the monsters?"

"Skinning them and eating them; what's so strange about that?" Steel asked.

Mary through her hands up, "Think about it! Most travelers like you don't even have the option of interacting directly with dead bodies, and I guarantee no NPC will ever eat a monster body in a dungeon."

He gazed down at the sleeping slave, "So, eating monster bodies got Echo possessed? That doesn't make any sense; we've all eaten the same thing, even Shadefur." He pointed at the wolf, which was lying beside Echo in a gesture of companionship.

Mary held up a finger, "Steel, what mana type is this dungeon?"

"Darkness; I remember the black sparkles of the well."

"Correct. Now, every monster in here relies on that same source of darkness mana to live; their bodies are full of it. In our group, who is the only one who doesn't have a darkness element to their nature?"

Steel gaped, "Are you saying the three of us are immune to darkness mana?"

Mary frowned and poked Steel's head, inciting a brief singe of pain, "Idiot, no one is immune to mana. However, our natures prevent us from forming connections to darkness without our permission. Imagine it as a gate to out soul; only what we want can get it. Echo, however, doesn't have that gate and any influence can get to him."

"Doesn't that mean the world's in trouble?"

She shook her head, "Not really. Very few actually eat monster meat from dungeons, and as you saw those affected are incapable of acting at all. Mind control and other things do exist, but are much more complicated and difficult forms of magic. I think a few legendary monsters have that ability, to affect emotions and thoughts; but no one can completely control another's mind. Don't worry too much about it."

Steel sat down and crossed his arms, "Good to know, but how do we prevent it from happening again?"

Mary shook her head at him and sighed, "Haven't you understood what I've been saying? It's easy; we don't let him eat anymore meat from dungeon monsters. That's the only possible way it could happen again."

Steel had a sudden and terrifying thought, "What about the meat we gave to Mema to cook? Did we unleash a disaster?"

Mary scoffed, "Yeah right. Mema is a professional, and like any poison she gets rid of it during the cooking process. You travelers sure do like to panic over everything don't you?"

Steel blushed a little, chiding himself that the developers wouldn't make such an obvious disaster scenario. Still, hearing about things like mind control left it open-ended for future things; maybe a possible future investment. Steel savored the idea of controlling his enemies, but came back down with the thought that others could do the same to him and his friends/pawns.

'Somehow, I need to get resistances or items to deal with that in the future." He thought to himself, making a mental note for later. He turned back to Echo, "Anyway, Echo's body is in pretty bad shape. At least one broken arm and a lot of torn muscle. Well, I think anyway; I'm not experienced in medicine or diagnosis beyond the obvious."

Mary nodded, "Same here; not my field of study. That the domains of clerics, paladins, and life mages. Should we stop and end the raid to give him time to recover?"

Steel folded his arms and sighed, "I don't like this, but I guess we have to. No point ruining his future potential for short term goals. Let's head back to the surface."

Getting up, Steel picked up Echo while Mary grabbed anything still useful from the base. They walked back to the tunnel, only to find it missing from where they had just been.

"Mary, this is where the tunnel exit was right?" Steel asked slowly.

Mary, eyes wide, nodded, "It is, because the trench in front of it that you made is still there." The trench was indeed still in the floor, but it ended abruptly at the wall. The rock was as smooth as ever, betraying no sign of ever containing a tunnel.

Steel took a quick look behind him. The second tunnel entrance was also gone, leaving the sole tunnel entrance that led to where possessed Echo had tried to take Mary. Steel grit his teeth, "I don't like this, not one bit. I have no control over this situation." If there was anything that annoyed him, it was being in an uncontrollable situation.

"Let's try the. . ." Steel held out a hand to stop Mary from speaking.

"Later Mary. For now, watch what you say." His eyes shifted across the room, "These walls moved on their own, which means they might also have ears." He didn't want whatever was messing with them to know about the escape rope. It was still a new item and they hadn't talked about it inside the tunnel. He only hoped Echo hadn't had his memories read when he had been possessed. "What are our options Mary?"

She pointed to the tunnel, "We seem to have only one barring any drastic action." She had picked up on him not wanting to talk about the rope quickly, "How much longer till your trump card is back?"

Steel checked the timer and grimaced, "It still has 5 hours to go; we can't rely on it to get us out." He eyed the tunnel entrance, "Still, I am curious on why you were the target this time. Any thoughts about it?"

She shook her head, "I can think of a multitude, both intentional and circumstantial. What I can say that only the dungeon itself can change its insides permanently. Anyone can damage walls or cast illusions, but those things disappear after a while. The spirit of the dungeon is calling us would be my best guess." She glanced sideways at Steel, "And I have a feeling I know which one of us is the real target."

Steel began walking toward the tunnel, "Yeah, if it's Hunie than hopefully this will be a reunion and nothing else. Not that my luck has ever been that good before."

The two of them and Shadefur walked back into the tunnel, Echo still being carried by Steel in his arms. The damage from the battle before was gone, leaving a behind solid walls and floor that led to the staircase. They walked down the staircase, following the winding stairs down deeper into the heart of darkness.

The stairs ended abruptly into blackness; no torch lights illuminating the passage beyond. Steel turned his head to Mary and jerked it at the darkness, asking her non-verbally to do something about it. She shrugged and released Whisper into the stairwell, releasing her soft light.

"My turn again? Okay then, whatever you need." She said cheerfully, and zoomed to the front to illuminate the way. Her light revealed a short passage beyond the stairwell, and a room beyond the latter. Taking a deep breath, Steel nodded to his two companions and they entered the room.

Like the tunnel, the room was dark; only illuminated by Whisper's soft light. The room was smaller than any cave they had been through before, but it was still large enough to be the size of two inn rooms. Black crystals illuminated the walls, glittering silently all around them. Steel's eye, though, was locked onto the crystal formation at the end of the room. It was large and much blacker than he had remembered, but at the center was the familiar dark pink statue that had haunted his dreams.

"Hunie." He whispered.

At his word, the cavern began glowing all around them as if torches existed. Whisper dived back into Mary's chest when the lights came on, looking to help her with her mana again since she was no longer needed. Steel put Echo down with Mary and approached the statue.

As he got closer, he couldn't help but notice even her representation made out of crystal was beginning to turn to black. The color invaded her in tiny lines that covered her arms and legs, giving her a spider encased kind of look. He reached up and touched her face with his hand.

"(Giggle) that tickles." A voice came out from behind him. He whirled around, but found nothing amiss. Mary's eyes were wide though, indicating he wasn't the only one who had heard the voice.

He took a calming breath saying, “Who is it?"

The voice giggled again, girlish and innocent, and a figure removed itself from the wall of black crystals. It looked like Hunie, but was all black and made of crystal. There was also a strange air around her Steel did not associate with his former companion.

"Steel! I knew you'd come back to me. Knew, knew, and knew it all along." The figure sang out, "Happy, happy, so happy you finally came. Hunie happy happy bunny."

Steel bit back the tears threatening to form in his eyes. He had no desire to lose control before his suspicions were alleviated. "Is that really you Hunie? How have you been?" He said slowly.

The figure smiled and jumped across the floor to him, from 15 feet away. "Been lonely, so lonely. All alone in the dark, dark, dark places. Learned a lot, much more than before too; see I made this." She threw her arms around and danced in a circle, "This is my place now, not lonely anymore nope nope. My place, only my place. . ."

An intimidating aura began flowing from her, "You here to steal aren't you? You here to kill my friends and rob me? No, this is all mine now understand? Everything is me now!" She cackled loudly, echoing everywhere and sending shivers down the group members. Whatever had happened to Hunie, it was clear she has not the same as he once knew.

"No Hunie, I'm not here to steal from you." Steel delivered.

She frowned and pointed at him, "Liar! You killed my friends!"

"They attacked first, so I retaliated. I came here to find you, not steal."

The air disappeared and the crystalline Hunie smiled at him. "I knew that of course, yup yup. Always knew you'd come back to me, had to make everything perfect." She nodded and began pacing, "Steel always took care of Hunie, yes. Had to make a good place for him. Always wanting Steel back."

Steel gulped, "So, it's Steel now and not Master?"

Instantly, his throat was grasped and squeezed as his feet dangled above the ground. "No one is my master! No one!" The crystal roared at him, eyes wide with madness and hate. Steel gasped and choked for air, desperately trying to breathe. His breath counter appeared and began winding down, informing him of the remaining time before he lost consciousness.

With one last look, Hunie dropped Steel onto the floor. He gasped and took in deep breathes. As he recovered, cold hands picked him up and hugged him gently. "It's okay Steel. I can protect you now, forever and ever. No one will hurt you again. I am the only one who understands you."

Steel pushed the figure away with a growl, "You aren't Hunie! Where is she?"

The figure pouted, "I'm Hunie, always sweet and happy happy happy." She giggled, "Stay with me forever Steel, hard and tough and iron."

He crossed his arms, "The real Hunie, where is she?"

The figure frowned now, making fists with both hands. "Wrong, all wrong, all wrong." She began vibrating slightly, "Why isn't it right? Who broke the play?" Her eyes narrowed as they moved to Mary, who had been eyeing the exchange nervously and calculatingly. "You!"

The dark Hunie began walking toward Mary, "You took him away from Hun. . .me! He's mine, mine, min, Mine, MINe, MINE!"

Dark crystal spears appeared above the dark Hunie as she launched them at her foe. Mary yelped as she dived out of the way with Echo.

"Hunie stop!" Steel commanded, grabbing her shoulder.

Hunie gave him a dark winning smile, "Don't worry, I'll free you Steel. I'll make sure her spell is broken." She readied another volley of crystal spears. Steel couldn't let her kill Mary, so he tackled her to the ground.

"Stop it Hunie, come back to me!" He shouted as he lay on top of her.

The figure merely giggled, "Just as bold as ever! Lay with me now and forever." Steel shot back in instinct, dodging a spear that had been clearly aimed at him.

"Really now, do you want me dead too?" He asked.

The Hunie paused and frowned. "No, that's wrong. Killing is for food. Steel was nice, take care of Steel. Right? Take care . . . kill. Forever with me." She smiled at him, "Please die for me."

"I refuse." He stated bluntly, blocking a crystal with his shield, "Now stop this Hunie or no carrots for you." He said that last bit on a whim.

She flinched, however, and began crying, "Buuuu.....But I like my carrots." She sniffed and rubbed her eyes, "You big meanie!"

Steel dived out of the way as a huge volley of spears impacted where he had been standing. "Right, that wasn't a good idea." He muttered, slowly backing away, "At least some of her mannerisms are the same."

As he backed up, his foot knocked against something. He backed into the back wall under Hunie's statue, and his foot was touching something. He looked down to find the shrine to Milna he had built the last time he was here. The shrine was dusty and untouched, but looked the same as it had before.

On a thought, he reached inside and pulled the 4 pieces of heart crystal he had put in before. Each were still pink, but now had a hint of a different color to them. The dark Hunie hissed at them when she saw them.

"Put them back!" She screamed at him, "Destroy them!"

"Don't do it!" Mary called from across the room, "Just hurry with the E.R.!"

She referred to the escape rope, which the Hunie had no idea about its existence. Steel slipped his own heart crystal out and placed it with the other 4 in his palm. They seemed to glow together, inciting a hiss from the crystal.

"Now you die!" The crystal Hunie ran at him at full speed. Having nowhere else to go, Steel activated his defense combo and shielded himself. He waited, but the blow never came.

He peeked up to find the dark Hunie hesitating, eyeing the crystal behind him. "Move." She hissed at him, clearly unwilling to destroy the Hunie statue.

"Is that the source of your existence?" Steel asked carefully. His only answer was a hiss. "I don't know what's going on here, but I promise to help you okay Hunie? I won't abandon you ever."

The crystal's face glowed with happiness for a moment, before being replaced by hate and madness. "You left me here in the darkness. You left me, left me for dead!" She howled at him, picking him up and throwing him at Mary. He landed on the ground and skidded over to her and Shadefur, who had been softly growling the entire time.

"Mary." He coughed, "I think it's time to go." She pulled the escape rope out and wrapped it around each of their hands and one paw.

Steel took one last look at Hunie's statue. "I'll be back." He promised.

The dark Hunie saw the rope and screamed in fury. The dark crystals around the room began changing into more dark Hunie crystal statues, and they all charged the group. It was too late however, and as Mary called out "Escape!” the group disappeared from the room.

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So, I'm not completely sure how to continue. Couple of good options here you know? Leave and come back, journey for strength to return, clear quickly, teamup. Curing Hunie is definitely a quest, but how hard and how long should it take? Book 2 is almost done too, so this may the resolution I want. So many options, not including Echo's secret identity and Shelly's new form. Also, how is the rest of the world? The RRL story is the draft version, so everything is still up for changes. When I finally get to editing and publishing, I'll be including chapters from some of the other characters like Sarah and Hank. Look forward to it.

Thanks for reading and see you guys later!