“What the hell Henderson! What the fuck is wrong with you!” Mathew shouted pushing her away. He was shocked she would do something like this. Especially in the middle of a dungeon.

Henderson’s eyes swapped from gold back to their normal brown color. Her body visibility deflated slightly, returning to its normal size. “Mathew! Oh god, fucking hell, I’m sorry! I told her not to do that!” Henderson’s normal voice returned.

Mathew watched as the portal winked closed and a blue screen appeared saying he had won the Dungeon by conquering. He chose the option to have the core absorbed by his Hearth Crystal as he crossed his arms at Henderson. Now she looked extremely embarrassed and was muttering to herself.

“I told you no! You don’t listen! You are lucky he didn’t just stab me. He probably thought I was possessed or mind controlled!” She paused, seeming to listen to somebody, “Yes he can hurt you!”

Mathew stood with his arms crossed, waiting to see what exactly was going on. Cherry was still healing Agnox and Jeffery while the latter two had collapsed to the ground, fully exhausted. Mathew could tell even his wisp was showing signs of exhaustion. Its light was dimmer and seemed to flicker slightly as if it was about to go away. He reached out a hand and fed Wispy some of his mana, bringing it back to full power.

Henderson seemed to be done talking to herself and looked at Mathew, “I can explain everything. However, it’s a long story.”

“I think we have some time. I hope you aren’t actually possessed or mind-controlled.”

Henderson shook her head, “No, I’m not. It’s just I have to share sometimes now.”

Mathew raised an eyebrow, “That’s what someone who is possessed or mind-controlled would say.”

Henderson narrowed her eyes, “Listen, believe me, or don’t. I’m not going to lie to you. Shit, I could use someone normal to talk to after being stuck with these idiots for the past month.”

“Well, how about some tea?” Mathew asked as he conjured a thermos and two cups.

“Are you really using your personal storage ability to keep tea on you?”

“Tea, weapons, medicine, survival gear. I still have the whip Morthrus, the Infernal Dungeon leader, had. It’s about the size of a walk-in closet now. Still smaller than the one I had back in my old home though.” He poured a cup of tea, still warm, and handed it to Henderson.

She took it, but didn’t drink from it. “Fuck, where do I start.”

“Typically the start, but whatever makes the most sense,” Mathew said with a smirk, before then taking a sip of his tea.

“Smartass.” Henderson sighed and looked at the cup. “Before you ask, my soul is fine. It’s not like yours. And again, before you ask how I know, I figured it out when you were in isolation just before the World Dungeon.”

Mathew said nothing, but he frowned slightly.

“Back when the Gods and other various people visited Earth, I was visited by a couple of individuals. One of which was related to a very old Earth fairy tale known as the Fae. I learned they were somewhat different, but also similar enough that I had to be careful.”

“One of the Fae known as Mistress of the Moon Court approached me. I didn’t like what she originally offered, but she nonetheless gave me a quest. One that I completed inside the World Dungeon. It’s how I was able to use magic and distract the giant sandworm.”

Cherry let out a gasp, “You are involved with the Fae? Mathew, you can’t get involved with them. They are nothing but liars and think they are the true people who rule nature. Gaia hates them with a burning passion. Even the nicer ones can’t be trusted.”

“Let her talk Cherry.” Mathew waved her off. “I’m not getting involved with a pissing match with Gods. So you won’t have to worry about my involvement.”

“When I visited the Mistress of the Moon Courts domain, I was given a couple of gifts. One of which was a soul-bound necklace. It would allow me to communicate with her directly, but only during the full moon. Luckily our planet has a moon, and I can talk to her. It was soul bound so if anyone stole it, they couldn’t use it. This single item will be important later, as it is the reason I am alive.”

Mathew was curious how it saved her life, and continued to listen.

“The sun item I acquired that was guarded I assumed would work great for me. See, I was walking a path of getting a power set similar to a paladin. I talked to Zack, Lindsey, and the other nerds to try and figure out how I wanted to gain power. Paladins sounded exactly like what I wanted, but I didn’t want to be tied to a God. I wanted to follow my own path, where my word meant something. Leo has something similar, but he is following a God.”

“So, I took the sun object to hope and gain more ‘light’ themed powers. I had some light-themed powers, but I didn’t think the conflict of the sun and moon would be a problem. I actually thought it would amplify one another since moonlight is just sunlight being reflected. Boy was I wrong.” She laughed.

“To think, what little science I understood actually backfired on me. When I went to absorb the sun essence, it started to fight the moon powers in my body. Fighting for their own place. I ran off to the mountains because I was worried I would explode.”

“I found a cave and it’s magical. Literally made for me it seemed. The cave has a room with a skylight. I hid there in hopes that I could contain the power. I was able to fight it off for four days until I could use the necklace to talk to the Mistress. At first, she was just going to leave me for dead. That was until she noticed something. I didn’t realize it at first, but I was able to control the power, just only a small fraction of it. Using both Sun and Moon magic at once.”

Mathew had an idea of what was going on, but continued to listen, saving his questions till the end.

“She told me to survive for a few more days and she might be able to help me. I thought she was just enjoying my suffering. That was, until the middle of one day I heard a voice. The Mistress of the Sun Court had sent someone to my location. She handed me a ring, and told me ‘Good Luck’. I have no idea who that person was, or how they found me. All I know is, I’m in debt to both these Fae Mistresses now.”

“Turns out, both the ring and necklace had a sliver of each of the Mistresses in them. The next thing I knew, I had two unique voices in my head, a new class, and a huge change to all my skills, stats, spells, and everything. I had survived because I created something inside of me. A cycle of day and night. Moon and Sun. Two halves of the same whole. See, the cave I was in allowed exactly one hour of sunlight and moonlight when they were at their peaks.”

Henderson was moving her hands to show the two celestial bodies moving through the air, moving on opposite sides of each other in a circle.

“I didn’t think much into yin and yang or other mystical stories growing up. However, something Zack mentioned in the past stuck with me. He told of a fictional story where someone was able to create a cycle of life and death. Two opposites. He was able to balance them out nearly perfectly.Of course, he mentioned the character could do many other things, but I clung onto that story as my life depended upon it.”

“I didn’t know how long I was up there, but I’m alive, and I have two friends in my head.”

Mathew nodded slowly as he listened. “But you are in control? Then why did your golden eye self just kiss me and act like it was independent of you?”

“It’s…a growing relationship. Sun and Moon, that’s what I call them, are both trying to do what’s best for me. Neither of them wants to let the other make choices for me. When I swap to let one of them ‘drive’ my body, my stats change depending on who is in charge. Sun side my Strength, Vitality, and Intelligence go up a crazy amount, but my Dexterity, Endurance, and Wisdom go down. The opposite is true when Moon is in control.”

Henderson let out a sigh, “It’s annoying, but I’m figuring things out.”

“How do they fit in you? If it’s two different personalities, how does that work without your soul being affected? I store Agnox and Cherry in my soul…I think I do anyways. I couldn’t do that if they weren’t bound to me. Jeffery and the wisps are different, but similar enough. Plus, they give you a huge boost, how exactly does that work?”

Henderson went to answer but stopped. Her eyes took on a silver hue and her frame slimed down. “Hello, Summoner. I can answer that question. To say the least, Sun and I had to “make room” for ourselves. By the way, my Mistress has an open invitation to all ice magic users. So if you are ever interested, just let me know, and I can get you in touch.” She gave a flirty wink before the silver eyes left and Henderson’s brown eyes returned.

“What the hell do you mean you “made room”?” She asked herself.

She paused for a moment listening. “The fuck you mean you removed some of my potentials?”

“You mean you forced me to only take sun and moon-themed powers, including my class upgrade, and everything?! Fuck, did you remove my memories, my personality, all of it?”

“Sun, I swear to god, if you don’t stop laughing, I’m going to remove you even if it kills me.”

Mathew decided to let Henerson continue her internal argument. He had finished his tea, and Henderson’s cup was left on the floor not touched.

He looked over at his summons, noticing they were sitting and waiting. Cherry was staring daggers at Henderson. “Mathew, we need to not associate ourselves with her. The Fae play nothing but games. They are almost as bad as the High Infernals and other dark races.”

“I’m sitting right here…” Agnox muttered.

“I said High Infernal. Not the lowly ranks your people came from. You have free will and are not driven by outside forces.”

“What is so bad about these Fae? Other than the fact they kidnap children, eat them, and pull pranks that just kill you.” Mathew asked.

“Exactly that! They do those things and worse. If you went to that Moon Mistress’s court, you won’t leave alive, or worse, be forced into slavery. The Fae will kidnap you. They are one of the few who have titles equal to Gods!”

“How many of them are there? You make it sound like there are several.” Mathew asked curiously.

“There are eight fae courts. The four seasonal courts: Winter, Summer, Spring, and Fall. Then there are two more sets of courts. The Sun and Moon courts, as you just heard about. Finally the Sky and Ground courts. The four seasonal courts came first. All rose to power about the same time, at least according to history. Spring used to be friends with Gaia until she gained her System Title of Mistress of the Spring Court. Then she betrayed Gaia and stole a grand treasure. Since then Gaia has forbidden any of her subjects to be involved with the courts. They even have their own bastardized version of Dryads! They make them out of flesh instead of wood!”

“Agnox, what do you know?” Mathew asked.

He shrugged, “I got nothing. But I’m glad I didn’t get that sunstone. Seems it was themed with the wrong crowd. In other news, I gained some levels, but no rank-ups and nothing new with me.”

Mathew didn’t even think to check his own menu, before he did he looked at Cherry. “What about you?”

She opened her menu, looking over it intently. “I’m now Level 19, gaining three levels. Which makes sense since I didn’t fight as much as I healed. However, I have a new title called which gives me a +1 on all my stats. Yay!” She seemed honestly excited about the new title. “I also have a rank up for [Control Plants]. Let’s see…which one should I pick…”

“What options do you have?” Mathew asked, only a little curious, but also in hopes he could ensure she picks something that helps with the long term not just something she would pick that was Gaia related.

“Here, take a look for yourself.”

Ability Rank Up - Control Plants

Biosuade: You can persuade plants to grow in a direction you deem better for them. Allowing minor changes to their biological makeup.

Nurture: You can infuse your mana into the environment around you, increasing the rate of growth proportional to the amount of mana used.

Thick Roots: Plants you control are stronger and more resilient to outside forces while under your control