Exhausted, Jennifer slowly worked her way through the auditorium forest, zigzagging from mushroom to mushroom so she could use them to help steady her weary steps until she could climb up on the stage and sit back to back with Rebecca. “That’s all of them,” she gasped raggedly, her breath burning like hot fire in her lungs. “I’m pooped. My head’s spinning and I feel like I’m about ready to barf, even though my stomach is rumbling and whining over having not eaten since yesterday.”

“How’s those blue and green bars?” Rebecca asked, seemly just as wore down.

“What blue and green bar? They blinked for a while and now they’re completely gone,” Jennifer strained to get out. Talking was an exercise in willpower right now for her. Heck, even keeping her eyes opened took a conscious effort. “Where’s Mr. Great-n-Mighty? I didn’t see him around anywhere, letting those things beat on him.”

“He’s around somewhere,” Rebecca reassured her. “There were several times when I got clawed or bit by those damn g-things, but I’m fine now. He was close enough to heal me a couple of different times.”

“He did that?” Jennifer leaned her head back and rested it against the back of Rebecca’s shoulder. “I thought that might be some spell of yours.”

“Not me,” Rebecca assured her. “Bozo did that. He’s also the one who did whatever so we could see in here. If it wasn’t for that and the healing, I don’t think we would’ve made it.”

“You wouldn’t have,” Matthew interjected coolly as he suddenly seemed to just fade away from the shadows. “It’s nice to see you know your limits,” he laughed, pulling back his hood as he walked over and sat down beside Rebecca. Leaning up to whisper, “You did good,” in her ear, Matthew wrapped an arm around her and tugged her up into his lap. Without Rebecca to support her and lean against, Jennifer stretched down and relaxed laying on her back.

No one said anything for several long moments as Matthew gently caressed and stoked Rebecca repeatedly from knee to nape, enjoying the silence until it was broken by a light snoring rumble from Jennifer. “Let her rest,” Matthew whispered quietly. “I don’t know how much mana she has as a base starting out with her class, but I imagine she pushed herself to her absolute limits. In some ways, I’m surprised that she didn’t end up passing out in a heap like you did upstairs outside the classroom your first time.”

“I won’t wake her,” Rebecca promised, keeping her voice down to a whisper as well. “I’m too tired to wake her,” she laughed lightly, before slowly shaking her head from side to side. “Besides,” she continued wearily, “we’ve still got to find the dungeon entrance. Or the core. Or whatever the hell it is we’re supposed to be looking for.”

“The dungeon entrance,” Matthew reminded her. “The heart is always inside a dungeon, which is a special little place similar to the black hole my ring creates. You find the entrance, go through the hole, hunt the heart, and then destroy it, capture it, or claim it.”

“What’s the difference?” Rebecca asked, as she wiggled to get comfortable as she leaned back against his chest. “And thank you,” she added softly, almost as an afterthought.

“Destroying a heart is simple. Find it. Crush it. Afterwards, the dungeon will shimmer and shake a few times and then you’ll find yourself back outside wherever the entrance was, and the entrance will be gone forevermore, and you’ll usually get a shitload of experience,” Matthew explained softly as he caressed her chest and lightly tugged on her nipples. “Capturing it involves picking up the crystal heart and carrying it out with you. The dungeon starts to ‘die’ at that point and becomes nothing more than a worthless wasteland. You won’t get any experience like you do for destroying the dungeon, but you’ll get to keep the core, which you can use to power magical items and other things.”

Rebecca frowned to herself slightly a few times as a pinch or tug was hard enough to make her wince and tense up, but she said didn’t say anything to Matthew, who was seemingly oblivious to his own naturally rough nature. “Claiming it,” Matthew continued, “probably has the biggest rewards and the biggest risks. You have to put blood on the crystal and then once again it’ll shimmer and you’ll find yourself back outside. When you go back inside though, the place will have changed to become a natural haven for your species to grow and prosper. Food, water, shelter, and a lack of enemies – it’s all there!”

“Sounds about like your home in a way,” Rebecca murmured softly, trying not to wake Jennifer.

“I suppose in a lot of ways it’s similar,” Matthew agreed. “The difference being a dungeon only has one specific door, cave, opening of whatever type it has, which one can use to enter it. My home is a set place just like this school, and anyone of proper power or strength could walk up and knock on my door anytime. Dungeons don’t have that problem.”

“Then it seems like everyone would just claim a dungeon for their own,” Rebecca laughed lightly.

“That’s the problem with the damn things,” Matthew explained. “Just like you’d want one for your people to live and grow in, the gibberlings are going to want one as well. They offer protection, but they also draw various creatures which would want to claim them as their own. Think of it like a diamond mine – as long as it exists, everyone is going to want it for their own. Think of how many wars and how many people have died to own and control the different diamond mines in the world. Then think about how many would be willing to kill and die if there was a mine that didn’t produce diamonds, but instead produced whichever resource the owner desired the most.”

“So what do you think we should do with this one?” Rebecca asked, starting to chew on her bottom lip.

“Me personally, I’d probably capture it and bring it out with me,” Matthew admitted after a moment. “They can be used as a magical power source, and who knows what I might need something like that for in the future. You however,” pausing slightly, he gently pushed Rebecca’s neck back and then leaned down and kissed her rather passionately. “You, however, are kinder and worry more about other people than me,” he told her gently once he’d unlocked lips again. “I imagine you’ll probably want to claim the heart so the students here will have a suitable environment to live in.”

“Wouldn’t they have to worry about other things coming to claim the dungeon for their own?” Rebecca asked hesitantly.

“They would,” Matthew agreed. “But then again, they already have to worry about whatever might decide to come and hunt them here at the school. A low level core like this one isn’t going to draw the interest of any really dangerous creatures and all the low level creatures that would want it would probably hunt the students anyway. “They have little to lose by claiming it, since they have no safe place they can go to beyond the building here.”

“Then we’ll claim it,” Rebecca decided suddenly. “Nothing to lose in this case, so there’s only something to gain.”

“For them,” Matthew reminded her. “Not us. We don’t have to stay here.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Rebecca said firmly. “When we’re finished in here, we’re going to leave. I want to go home and look for my family. I need to know what happened to them. Jennifer will probably want to check on hers as well, and even if you don’t care at all about your family, you’ll probably want to keep hunting for Kristy. We can’t stay here; there’s too much for us to do elsewhere to think about settling down.”

Laughing lightly, Matthew again tilted her head back and kissed her passionately. “I’m glad you realize that,” he whispered, beaming a smile down upon her. “I was half worried that you’d want to stay here and play guard for them or something. It’s nice to see that’s not the case.”

“Well,” Rebecca admitted, somewhat reluctantly, “it’s like you mentioned. We can’t be responsible for everyone. If we sit here and watch over the students here, we won’t be able to go out and find or help our families elsewhere. I want to help as many people as possible,” she admitted, “but I’ve got to put myself and my family first.”

“You’ve got to put our group first,” Matthew corrected, frowning slightly. “We can’t be certain what’s happened to any of our families – or if they’re even still alive. Our first priority has to be taking care of ourselves.” Flipping her lightly on the ear, Matthew finished his lecture with a firm, “Always!”

“I know. I know.” Sighing lightly, Rebecca slowly pulled away and then stretched before getting up. “First priority must be myself. Second priority should be you. Third should be our group. It seems like there’s a whole list of things to prioritize in this new world,” Rebecca laughed ruefully, “but one thing I know for certain – my family is higher on that list than a bunch of kids trapped at a school.”

“Now,” she laughed lightly, trying to change the subject, “where do you think all the clothes and costumes might be buried at in this mess? And just where the hell is the dungeon entrance?”

“The clothes, I have no idea,” Matthew admitted. Shrugging lightly, he half whistled as he slowly looked her up and down. “Honestly, I don’t care if we find them or not,” he admitted. “I enjoy the view quite well as it is. Why mess with a good thing?”

“Why?” Rebecca snorted. “Because even if you enjoy looking, I don’t always enjoy showing. Particularly when there’s a lot of other people around like all the other boys. It makes me nervous.”

“I’d imagine so,” Matthew agreed. “Honestly, I wouldn’t want to walk around and have my junk waggling loose for the world to see either. It’d make me nervous as heck as well – at least for now.”

“For now?” Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly towards him. “Why ‘for now’?”

“I just have a feeling it’s not going to matter before long,” Matthew explained, shrugging. “Like it or not, the world’s changed. Modesty, virtue, morals – all those things are going to change with it. I don’t have a clue how many classes there are out there – probably a dozen for each of the countless gods out there – and each one has their own warped dress code. A week ago, what you’re wearing would’ve had you sent home to change, and probably a week in detention. Now, it’s just a fact of life and no one can force you to wear anything more. They might can strip that off you, but they’re not going to put one of those long dresses and bonnets on you like the Amish wear.

“Fashion has changed, and it wasn’t Hollywood or some celebrity that changed it,” Matthew laughed. “The gods reached down and said, ‘thou shall not wear underwear’ – well, at least it seems like they have for a spelldancer, according to you.”

“Well it’s true,” Rebecca pouted. “It’s something my class doesn’t get to wear, thanks to whatever perverted god came up with the dress code for a spelldancer.”

“As more people gain classes,” Matthew smirked, “we’re going to see more and more people limited by their class to what they can actually wear. An amazon warrior woman might only be able to wear some sort of magical paint or something, for all I know. The classes are going to change fashion a lot, and life itself is going to change fashion a lot.”

“I’m about afraid to ask,” Rebecca laughed lightly, starting to stretch and work the kink out of her muscles as her stamina was moving back up the bar, “but what do you mean ‘life itself’ is going to change fashion?”

“It’s simple,” Matthew smirked, sitting down and staring as Rebecca went through her range of stretches. “Take the students in the school here for example. They have the clothes they’re wearing, but anything in their lockers or in the storerooms is probably ruined by the vines, moss, and slime which has taken over everywhere. Where are they going to go for a change of clothes? You think they can take an easy walk down the road to Wal-Mart to pick out something new?

“Even without some class placing restrictions on them, they’re limited by the basic law of supply and demand. Who’s going to supply polyester now? Cotton? Silk? Denim? Think any of them know how to make denim? Or even make clothes if they did manage to find a stash of cloth somewhere? I sure as hell couldn’t, and the factories which used to aren’t running anymore. Neither are the planes, trains, and trucks which used to carry those things from one place to another.

“Life’s changed,” Matthew continued sadly, “even if most people aren’t willing to admit it yet. Today I’d be embarrassed to walk around showing off my junk to the world. Six months from now, every damn body might be walking around showing off their junk. Fashion, modesty, morals, and laws – they’ve all been tossed out the damn window now. It’s just no one wants to believe it yet.”

“Well,” Rebecca muttered gloomily, “you might be right, but it sucks. And the more you talk about, the more I think about it, the worse it sucks. A week ago we ruled the world and could have anything we wanted. Today we have basically only what we have. And tomorrow? Who the hell knows what we’ll have when the things we have today wear out. In the end, I think we’ll end up with a big case of suck.”

Holding up her right hand, Rebecca slowly made a fist and then held up the back of her middle finger towards Matthew. “And you suck too, you know that.”

Half laughing, half looking shocked, Matthew asked, “What’d I do? You asked, you know,” he tried to explain defensively.

“Yeah, well….” Turning her back on him, Rebecca half shrugged. “I might’ve asked, but you didn’t have to be such a pessimist. Now you’ve made me one as well, and that sucks. Thus, you suck.”

“It’s not pessimistic,” Matthew argued. “It’s just being realistic.”

“Whatever.” Walking away, Rebecca hopped down off the stage and began to look for anything that seemed like a door or a cave anywhere to her. “Let’s find that damn dungeon while she’s resting and get claim that core so maybe we can bring a little less suck to the students here.”

“I’ve already found it,” Matthew laughed. “It’s behind the curtains. All we have to do is go through the trapdoor in the stage.”

“Then let’s wake Jen and get this over with,” Rebecca said stoically. “The sooner we capture it, the sooner everyone here can take advantage of its bounty. Jen was saying she hadn’t ate since yesterday morning, and none of the others have either. Heck, we haven’t eaten since this morning ourselves. Having a place that makes food for people is a treasure all by itself.”

Walking over, Matthew pulled off his cloak and then draped it gently over Jennifer’s still sleeping form, letting its darkness wrap around her. “Just let her sleep for now,” he whispered gently. “She hasn’t learned the slightest about managing her magic and overdid it – not as bad as you, where she passed out from mana drain – but still enough that she could use a nice long rest to recover. As long as she’s in your group, she’ll still share equally in the experience with you, and I’ll be with you to keep you safe.”

“Will she be safe though?” Rebecca asked, concern and doubt obvious on her face.

“As long as she doesn’t snore so loud something hears her and finds her by sound alone,” Matthew chuckled. “Besides, nothing should be looking for her in particular. We’ll be causing a ruckus in the dungeon drawing attention, and the other students are still out there doing whatever the hell it is they’re doing. I think she’ll be fine here, and the gibberlings weren’t killing everyone anyway. They were taking prisoners. They’d probably just capture her instead of kill her since she's asleep and wouldn't resist.”

“And what were they doing with the captives?” Rebecca asked, still frowning uncertainly.

“No idea,” Matthew shrugged. “Let’s go in the dungeon and find out.”

“Fine,” Rebecca agreed, “But you’re going first this time.”

Not saying anything, Matthew renewed the Dark Sight on Rebecca, and then Jennifer for good measure in case she woke up before they came back. Walking past Rebecca, Matthew called upon the gift of Hel’s Sight and worked his way back around the vine covered curtain to the back of the stage again. Calling Hel’s Scythe to his hand, he pulled open the trapdoor which usually led to the small storage area under the stage.

Glancing back to make certain Rebecca was with him, he descended into the damp, slimy tunnel which went someplace much different than just under the stage.