Arc 3 - I Keep Calling Out Your Name.

3 - 1. Be With Me ( Let Me Wipe Away Your Tears ).

I’m just scared.

Of people. Of hurting them.

And them.

Hurting.

Me.

・

It doesn’t rain in the desert. That should be an obvious statement, yet Nyx longs for the feel of water on her skin. The dark cave, the inside of the dungeon core, is the only place she can feel anything like raindrops on her skin. Only the smallest of clouds litter the sky, despite the horizon of water past the southern chasm. Tracking the movement of the blue moon above the sky, Nyx gives the celestial object a half-hearted salute and walks away from the side of the mountain.

After a little less than a week, a few miscellaneous purchases ( seeing Jun in sweatpants was worth every point ), they had accumulated enough points to make a few small and simple changes. Unfortunately, expanding the range of their dungeon outwards cost far too many points to do. Not to mention, if her visions of Aura were correct, doing so would probably cause an international incident. It isn’t impossible to do so, but for the moment it’s impractical. Forced to work within the constraints of the first floor, she had collaborated with Jun and Noel to come up with a few tricks.

First, they had created a small room a few shoulders wide, put a pedestal in it, and left an empty imprint on the top - as though it was supposed to hold something that is now missing. Noel’s fake cave, check. That room was made to look clearly constructed and had another room before it, with a small pitfall only as deep as Nyx’s knees. Jun’s fake dungeon, check. And underneath the pedestal, if someone were to smash it open, Nyx stashed a small orb of glass. Nyx’s fake core, check. In comparison to the far more natural cave that Nyx had been sleeping in, this gave off the impression of a dungeon when complete.

If someone decided to enter the obvious dungeon, decided to go to the pedestal room, decided to crack the empty pedestal open, and still wasn’t convinced by smashing the fake dungeon core inside that this wasn’t a dungeon and that the ‘bear cave’ further around the mountain was the actual dungeon, then they’d have gotten past the first set of tricks.

After that, they’d have to climb up above the entrance to the main cave, reach their hand into a small hole, grope sideways, and then they’d find… another fake core. Jun’s hiding spot, check. And if at the end of all of that, an intruder continued to scour the dungeon, they’d find no core there. After all, the real core ( when it wasn’t strapped to Nyx’s neck or in the living quarters ) was accessible at the bottom of a shaft several feet deep. Nyx hadn’t been able to cover the shaft with a rock, as it meant there was no open route to the core ( although she thought that was silly, as the rock could be moved ), but it was in a small thicket she had stumbled into on one of her walks. As for how the core was safely put down there, she simply teleported down there. And to make matters worse, she filled the shaft up to her thighs with bath water and dirt, making the bottom murky and hard to see through with a light. After all that, Nyx feels confident.

Although it seemed foolish at first to leave the dungeon core out, the trio had discovered one major benefit. Jun’s favorite trick, teleporting around the mountain, was really two separate actions. First, entering the living quarters from within the dungeon territory, which left behind a house key. Second, leaving the living quarters and appearing anywhere within the dungeon territory. The problem lies in where the house key ends up - in that it doesn’t end up anywhere at all. Until it’s manually collected or five minutes pass, each of their shimmering orb house keys remain on the ground - leaving each of them vulnerable. Otherwise, Jun could simply teleport infinitely and keep shifting around where his house key is, like a shell game. And by forcing each person to collect their key automatically after five minutes, it forces each of them to either stow their key somewhere and shut themselves into the home, or to accept that being outside for five minutes leaves them vulnerable. However, all three of them would need to shut themselves in, which would mean never modifying the dungeon or even taking a breath of fresh air. One person’s house key leaves everyone vulnerable.

However, with the core out in the open, inside her territory, they’re vulnerable anyway. The result? No automatic collection. They could both be outside and safely hide inside the house without putting everyone in danger. Of course, their house keys were still somewhere, but they had simply hidden them below the core. It’s not cheating because if the core is found and destroyed, they all die anyway. Probably.

[ Cheater. ]

If it was really cheating, you wouldn’t let me do it, she mentally quips back at the system’s taunting. The house is accessible. All three of them are vulnerable. There’s a path to the dungeon core. She’s fulfilled all the necessary conditions for this to be a game she can lose. She only wishes that working that out hadn’t required nearly so much tinkering, panicking, and exposition.

Nyx takes a small breath, readying herself, and reappears on the oh-so-familiar welcome mat. The living quarters are empty and the oven is no longer hiding her dungeon core, so she walks into the kitchen. There’s half a slice of cake left, chocolate, and she digs in happily. Sure, they only had three points left now, but it was a job well done. And jobs well done deserve rewards!

“ - highest cost?” Her ears prick up at the sound of Jun’s voice from inside the bedroom. He’s speaking, so Noel is probably in there with him too, right? She walks over, ready to knock and let them know she’s back, but her hand stills inches from the door.

“ - cutting scissors.” There’s a soft laugh from Noel, muffled through the door. Is that about those scissors? Nyx retracts her hand. Why is she laughing?

Jun’s muffled voice isn’t audible for a moment, perhaps because her heart is thumping in her ears. Don’t eavesdrop. Don’t eavesdrop. Her feet aren’t moving. Is this something that needs to be discussed behind closed doors? It probably just happened like that. More laughter. Nyx’s shoulders droop.

“It’s not curse -“

“ - knew?”

“Guessed, dear.” It sounds like they’re hiding something. Even though she’s been this honest. Maybe she hasn’t shared her dreams about Aura or her time in the cave of stars or what’s in the well, but everything else! Everything else…

“Then you - “

“Yes.”

“It’s… “

“ - immunity.” Noel’s voice drifts off. Nyx’s ears perk up, trying to catch the meaning, whatever it is. What immunity? What curse? That she’s doing something wrong is drowned out by this, by what comes next.

“ - too obvious.”

“Feel bad for her - “

“ - can’t let her know.” Tears begin to brim in the corner of her eyes as she hears Jun agree with Noel. She feels stupid, to be angry about something she overheard while eavesdropping, but - ! But! ...It feels like a betrayal. Like she’d be better off just handling it herself.

She feels isolated.

And after an eternity in that dark cave of stars, after befriending a wall, having people she can talk to felt like a dream. She scowls. It really was too good to be true.

“I wish she had better than us.” Noel’s voice comes through clearly this time.

She’d gotten it wrong. Gotten it all wrong. Nyx stifles an ugly sob, thick tears rolling down her scowling face, and wipes them away with the back of her sleeve as fast as she can manage. Still, don’t hide it from me... Her fingers flex and unflex as she walks back towards the welcome mat, cleaning up her face. Her eyes are a little swollen, but it’s fine, surely. It’s fine. Her chest clenches tightly as the space feels smaller than before, darker, colder… The dark-haired woman smooths out her expression and pushes all her feelings down.

Nyx hops into the air slightly, landing with an audible thump on the welcome mat. Smiling broadly, she watches the bedroom door open as Noel’s red-rimmed eyes stare back at her and Noel’s perfect, elegant, and reassuring smile greets her.

“Welcome back, Lady Nyx,” she signs, and Nyx signs her greeting back with the best smile she can manage. “You needed my help today?” Nyx stares down at Noel’s hands, forming one sign after another, and sighs softly. How pathetic can I get? Time to keep a promise and explain about the well, for better or for worse.

Gesturing, she heads back out the door with her demon and undead comrades.

・

“Something to show you,” Nyx signs, her brusque tone a result of her still learning the ins and outs of sign language. When she masters it, will she speak elegantly like Noel? Polite yet ephemeral like Aura? The consideration of it feels strange in and of itself, because she understands language so well already - yet sign language is so much about body language and she is so terribly stiff… Nyx lets out a little sigh and walks closer to the border of her territory. It’ll be whatever it’ll be. People speak differently when they use different languages, she remembers - why does she remember that? Her eyes narrow as more questions fill up her head than answers. It’s as though she’s familiar with people, with things, but when she tries to grasp for concepts like the function of government or the structure of a business, it slips away.

She knows what a piano is, but not a subsidy. She knows how languages work, but not governments. She empathizes with people, but knows barely anything about taxes. Maybe because it’s not relevant, but it’s almost as if the person she is underneath the memory loss and the cave is just… someone who didn’t care about anything except wandering around and meeting people and having fun.

She’s envious, suddenly. Envious of the person she was before this, that got to lead such a carefree life. Upset that she can’t keep enjoying it now. That she’s filled with a longing for books and a desire to feel the rain on her skin, yet all her knowledge feels so useless now. She doesn’t even know if it’s useless, only that everything she knows seems to come and go in flashes. One day, she remembers how to bake a cake, the next she can’t even crack an egg. Her expression sours as she keeps walking, thumping her head with the butt of her hand as if to knock those thoughts away.

“Hey. Don’t do that.” Noel calls out to her, lips forming a thin line, and Nyx glances at her own hand and puts it back down. Woops. She doesn’t really understand it herself, but she keeps walking until she hits the border and then stops.

“Here? Summoner, I cannot accompany you.” Jun looks out at the scenery and scratches his bonehead with one bony finger. Seeing him do that in sweatpants makes the image so much better. Trying not to grin, Nyx nods and turns her attention to Noel instead.

“I cannot either, my Lady. The region outside the dungeon drains mana away, remember?” Nyx smiles softly and shakes her head.

“Only understand if I show you. About the well,” she signs, then puts her hand out. “Need to try.” Noel stares at her hand for a moment, then draws back. Staring at the empty space between them, Nyx chews the inside of her cheek and steps forward.

“Don’t need to touch. I know you’re uncomfortable with me.”

“Lady Nyx, that isn’t…” But Nyx doesn’t wait for Noel to try and explain or to try and comfort her. She doesn’t get it. It hurts. But ultimately, that’s her own problem, not Noel’s. If neither of them want to touch her, that’s her own problem. Carefully, she grabs the hem of Noel’s coat and holds it tightly, hoping she’ll be forgiven for this invasion of personal space. Then, slowly, she steps back over the border as the heavy weight of the desert settles on her shoulders. How heavy must it be for Noel or Jun?

Tentatively, yet with a determined look, Noel steps over the border as well and flinches. With one eye closed, she waits for a moment, then blinks in surprise.

“Goodness… This isn’t like last time at all,” she breathes. She’d tried to teleport home from over the border once, hadn’t she? She’s probably talking about then. Nyx takes a steady breath as the weight on her chest grows a little heavier, but her lips curl up in a smug grin. It worked. It worked! Thank you, admin rights or whatever made this work.

With her one free hand, Nyx gestures towards the path, tightening her grip on Noel’s coat. Over her shoulder, she waves to Jun, giving him a sly wink.

“I’ll watch over the house until you get back,” he says with a chuckle, and Nyx laughs as well. Such a clever man.

・

“So this is what it looks like… What a mess this place is,” Noel whispers. Whereas she had been excitedly glancing around at first, happy to leave the mountain for a little bit, her expression cooled off when she realized that there was desert, desert, and more desert. It had been cute to see that side of her, so Nyx at least has that.

Noel clicks her tongue slightly and lets out a long, soft sigh - how she manages to sound refined while doing that, Nyx will never understand. After a rather draining walk, Nyx wipes her sleeve against her tired eyes and forehead and leads them through the nearby abandoned town. Had it always been so far away? Noel’s expression seems to have grown a little darker and morose, but her red eyes are attentively taking everything in.

“Is that the well, Lady Nyx?” Still clinging tightly to the succubus’ coat, Nyx nods and walks them past the nearby building. There’s that shovel again, still leaning against the stone wall. Forming letters with her one free hand, Nyx points out what she thinks each building is as they pass by. Noel peers this way and that, leaning forward, and brushes her fingertips over the shovel.

Pulling her along, Nyx hears a soft little thud as the shovel falls over and she tugs Noel to the well. Pointing down, she scowls.

“Oh? And what’s… U-Uh, ah- “ Noel’s tail curls up and wraps around to her front as she rests one hand on her curved horns. “Is that…” Nyx only nods. “And you’ve known since before you summoned us, so… Nyx. Oh...” Nyx nods again. Noel gets it. Both her companions know she can’t touch or move anything outside her territory.

“And you’ve been sleeping here. Watching this Alraune, this child, die?” Nyx flinches a bit, stares at the ground, and nods. It feels like she’s being scolded.

“You… ” The words die in Noel’s throat as the hand on her horn shifts over her eyes. She understands why it hadn’t come up. There had been so much going on. There wasn’t anything any of them could do. Noel and Jun couldn’t leave, Nyx couldn’t touch this creature, and… They had tried to stop Nyx. She and Jun.

“And of course, you want to save her. Even if it drains our resources, you want to save her.” Because that’s who you are, Noel thinks, glancing down at Nyx. “But then… if you can’t do anything, why do you keep coming here?” It’s something even the succubus doesn’t understand, leaning down to catch sight of Nyx’s clouded expression. Carefully, Nyx signs out what she has to say with her one free hand.

“If I cannot save her, I should watch her final moments.”

“Even though it hurts you this much?” Noel whispers, and for the briefest moment, the backs of her knuckles brush against Nyx’s shoulder blades. How does she know how much it hurts, Nyx wants to quip back, but she only lets out a long sigh and nods. What she’s feeling is too complicated for words, much less half-broken sign language with only one hand, so she only nods again.

As Noel peers over the well, keenly aware of the living presence at the bottom, she glances back towards the desert. Nyx, following her gaze, sees nothing special. Just the rotting meeting hall, the half destroyed house, the stone wall with the shovel lying on its side - wait.

When had that fallen over? When she kicked it, it hadn’t budged at all, nor had it moved even one inch every time she had come after. Nyx turns back towards the well and gestures frantically at the rope, making a tugging gesture. Noel’s slender fingers tug on the rope, causing the old mechanism to whine and shift. That isn’t supposed to happen. Nyx reaches out, harshly tugging on the rope, but it doesn’t move at all.

“Oh, this is unexpected… Well, Lady Nyx, may I be of service?” The succubus is already tying off the rope as Nyx dips her head, expression cramping and lips in a thin line. Carefully, she clings to the rope and inches downward, holding on to Noel’s jacket with all the might she can muster. If she lets go, she’s letting go of both the lives around her.

The small leafy creature is a lot less green than she remembers. There were never any blooms, but even the thick leaves seem more fragile and the roots seem smaller and fewer in number. Gingerly, Noel reaches for the unconscious creature. The roots seem to recede at the succubus’ approach and the curled up creature’s breaths grow even softer.

=======================

- | Name: -

- | Species: Alraune ( Plant Humanoid )

- | Status: Hibernation ( 2 Status Effects )

=======================

As if dying wasn’t bad enough, there was another status effect? Nyx wants to screech but instead just shifts back to the wall, giving Noel as much space to get a grip on the smaller humanoid. For the succubus, who has no strength or stamina to speak of ( if their hikes were any indication ), hauling a child up a rope while still being close enough to maintain contact with Nyx is no easy task. Yet, after ten agonizing minutes, she carefully hoists herself out of the well and groans.

Sweating buckets herself and forced to climb with only one arm, Nyx clambers out behind her and begins urgently tugging her towards the mountain. As tired as they are, the longer they spend here, the worse it’ll be for all of them.

“Well, I’m quite glad to have been on those daily hikes now,” Noel whispers, carrying the Alraune on her back.

・

The moment they cross over the boundary, both women looking haggard and drenched in sweat, Nyx lets go of Noel’s coat and grabs the nameless plant humanoid. She doesn’t have time to explain to Jun and gives Noel a teary smile, then vanishes. When she explored her mountain the first time, there was one spot in particular that she had found. The one place with a stream of flowing water and both shade and sun.

Appearing there, she sets down the plant humanoid and breathes a heavy sigh of relief as its roots snake into the water and begin to burrow. Color immediately returns to a few of its leaves, though it’s still curled up, and thick leaves form a cocoon around its body. It looks more like a shrub, coiled and hiding like that. A quick check of its status shows that it’s only hibernating now, no other status effects. Grinning weakly, Nyx teleports back to their living quarters.

“Summoner, what is… No, more importantly, are you both alright?”

“I’ll explain, Jun. Still as tactless as when we were summoned, hmm?” Jun huffs and crosses his arms as Nyx stumbles towards the couch and flops down. Maybe, if she’s lucky, she’ll see Aura in her dreams again tonight.

“Feeling tired. Gonna take a nap,” she signs, then promptly passes out.