"This is the first time I’ve seen an, uh, alive humanoid." Edgar whispered. Cass knew that he was trying to be quiet, and he was also in shock, but that was not the best thing to say right now. Lucian let out a dark chuckle.
"Yeah. Me too. My guess? We’ve really angered someone." Lucian said, then turned to smile at Cass and the others. It didn’t meet his gaze. "That’s a good thing as a group trying to stop the demon king, right?" Cass didn’t like how he sounded like he was truly questioning himself. Cass frowned.
Yeah, he unfortunately felt like he had to agree. This had to not be a coincidence. Who the hell else would put that damn table and chairs in a space like this? They stuck out like a sore thumb.
That only made Cass think of a few things. One, there was a god who didn’t fully disagree with the demon king. Two, there was somehow a spy on the gods’ side working for the demon king, or three, the demons weren’t as detached from what the gods could see as the gods thought. Whatever the true answer was among that mess of concepts, none of it spelt out anything good for Cass.
Or for the others.
It could not be a coincidence that the first dungeon that had a moving dungeon Boss was the same dungeon that had that damn table set here. Granted, they could just be showing their hand in anger at what Cass had done, and if that was the case, this was to Cass’ advantage.
While he didn’t want to work closely with the gods, he didn’t really have much of a choice. At this point, he did not want to work with people who hurt Cassian. His Mother selling his soul to make herself a demon?
That was truly the worst evil at the moment.
So, Cass sighed, shaking himself, and placed his hand on Lucian’s lower back.
"Whatever this is, we’ll get through it. Remember that they want to unsettle you." Cass reminded him. Cass couldn’t remember at the moment when the last dungeon targeting Lucian was. He did remember that everyone had gone through one thus far, outside of Cassian. That had been the case until recently, but Cass couldn’t remember if that looped.
Things were changed. Things were changing, and now they had to deal with whatever the fuck that meant. Especially since they were trapped in a damn dungeon.
Gideon took the lead, changing how they were supposed to enter the dungeon, but Lucian was in no state to go first. He tried, but Cass wouldn’t let him. Even Gideon gave him a hard look that had Lucian reluctantly holding back. Edgar wrapped up the group, with Lucian next to him and Cass in front of him. It was like a flip of how they had originally approached the dungeon, and even in the tense situation that they found themselves in, Cass smiled at that small thought.
As they crossed the stone path, overlooking the lake to the left of them as they moved, Cass swore he saw something in the depths of the lake. Cass hoped that it was the Boss monster, not the humanoid on the small stone platform. If not for anything but Lucian’s peace of mind.
As they got closer, it was clear that the woman known as Taniora was rather nervous. Cass caught them glancing around and couldn’t figure out why until they got close enough that Lucian’s feet rooted into the ground.
He stopped, several feet away from them, and Edgar halted too. Gideon noticed last, coming to a halt a few steps closer to Taniora than the others. She gave them a small smile.
"Hello, red dragon." She greeted and Lucian sucked in a deep breath. Cass swore that the man was shaking slightly, and Cass offered the small comfort of his hand on Lucian’s arm. Lucian took it, sliding his hand up so that he could grasp onto Cass’ hand proper. Edgar came around to his other side, clasping his other hand while Gideon remained in front. On alert.
Taniora, for her part, looked upon them sadly. Like she understood why they were so on guard with her, but how she also didn’t like it. Cass wasn’t sure if that was real, or just a way that she was trying to manipulate them.
"What are you?" Cass asked, surprising the others. Taniora seemed surprised to hear Cass speak, but her expression warmed.
"I am unsure. I woke up in this space, this chamber, and panicked. It took me a while to realise what was going on, and once I did, I panicked more. I think...I was at peace. I’m unsure." She sounded a little confused and Lucian, for his part, let out a shaky breath.
"You shouldn’t be here, Taniora. I carried you out." Lucian’s voice was a bit broken, and hard for Cass to listen to. He could tell that Edgar was also affected by his voice, but couldn’t see Gideon’s face. Taniora’s expression faltered slightly.
"You did?" She asked and Lucian nodded. He exhaled slowly.
"He wept a lot." Lucian told her and Cass watched as her violet eyes filled with tears. She didn’t raise her hands to wipe the tears away.
"I never meant for that to happen." She admitted. "I tried to-" She started and Lucian cut her off.
"I know." He told her. "I know." He repeated. "It was an accident. I’m just sorry that you’re back like this." Lucian’s eyes watered and Cass gave his hand a squeeze. There was a long, awkward pause between them. Taniora tried to break the awkward tension.
"I’m sorry I don’t have enough seats for everyone. I uh, don’t really have much of a choice. My magic seems to have been stripped from me. I guess...the trees and old ones don’t like that I’m back." Her smile was pained and that was an answer that Cass needed.
Right. She had been a fairy, not an elf. It was interesting to see how the fairies had shifted over the years. The longer ears shifting to be smaller, shorter. Cass shook his head.
"That wasn’t your fault." Cass told her seriously, and she turned to look at him, then did a double take. That was when Cass felt it. A moment of recognition. The problem of that was? Cass got it with both demons and fairies. Cass couldn’t tell which was which. However, Cass did not think that Taniora was a demon.
His Mother had been the first. That was made clear by Cass’ own late grandmother. Otherwise, more fairies would be turning towards the demon’s side to deal with the humans that annoyed them and killed them.
Was it more like a hope than a hard truth? Yeah, it was.
"You sound so certain." She said and Cass nodded grimly.
"Let’s just say that there are some things about this room that shouldn’t be here, outside of yourself." Taniora glanced around, trying to see what Cass was hinting at. No one would guess that it was the table and chairs. She didn’t get it either. "Were you the one moving around the room?" He asked and Taniora blinked, before her cheeks flushed.
"I’m not certain if that was what I was doing, but I was panicking, yes. Then, it seemed that I couldn’t do that anymore a while ago and...I’ve just been growing to accept my fate and realise that I have no power here." It was a rather somber admittance. Cass couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.
That didn’t mean he let his guard down.
"Are you the Boss monster?" He asked and Lucian’s hand squeezed Cass’ painfully. He knew that Lucian didn’t want to know the answer, but Cass had to. Cass had to know because if they had to kill her then Cass would do it in the most humane way possible.
If she would allow it.
"I am uncertain." She said carefully, looking rather upset. Cass thought it was because he asked the question, but it seemed to be deeper than that when she spoke again. "I am unsure of everything. I don’t have any fresh memories, I don’t know what was going on before I woke up here. All I remember is the pain and fear, then the acceptance and now...Now I am here." It was upsetting to hear. Cass understood better than most.
He nodded, accepting her words as they were.
"I understand. If it’s okay with you, can I touch you?" Cass asked. "I’m currently a hero. If you are a Boss monster, maybe that will trigger something?" Cass suggested. Her eyes widened and she blinked slowly.
"A fairy is a hero? How?" She asked and Cass gave her a bitter smile.
"Honestly, that’s the least of my concerns when it comes to the weirdness of my existence." Cass told her. "Do I have your permission? I don’t want to upset you, especially since you’re from Luc-the red dragon’s past." Cass corrected. She didn’t need to be upset that Lucian’s name had changed.
"Cass..." Lucian warned but Taniora raised a hand, halting Lucian from complaining.
"No. What he suggested is reasonable. If I am the Boss monster, the hero’s touch should stir me. Granted, I don’t think I’m alone in this room, I don’t think I have been since I arrived, but if I’m a Boss monster, I am rather weak. It would probably be what you would be fighting. Honestly, the demons who brought me here probably wanted me to be less sane." Cass had to agree with her.
Whatever had brought her here didn’t think she’d be as clear of mind as she was. Cass was pretty sure, in his incredibly biased opinion, it was because she was a fairy and technically outside of the laws of the gods and demons of this world.
Cass went to leave Lucian’s side, but Lucian’s grip on his hand tightened.
"Gideon, go with him." It seemed to pain Lucian for him to give that order, but Gideon just nodded.
"I wasn’t thinking of letting him go alone." Gideon told him, telling everyone that he had planned to go with Cass no matter what. Taniora smiled.
"You’ve found a good team this time, red dragon." Taniora said. Lucian nodded.
"I found more than that." He admitted to her and her eyes widened slightly, before a beautiful, warm smile crossed her lips. Her eyes curled at the corners, making the pale woman absolutely stunning.
"Oh red dragon, that’s wonderful." She told him happily and Lucian nodded, looking stark and afraid.
"It is." He told her, then forced himself to school his expression and smile. "So be gentle, okay?" He whispered. It was a good thing that Taniora didn’t catch on to what Lucian was implying as Lucian carefully let go of Cass’ hand and Cass and Gideon approached her.
She held out her hand, making it easier for Cass and putting as much distance as she could between them. Gideon was on Cass’ ass, protecting him, his sword out threateningly. Taniora didn’t seem to mind, but Cass could see the sadness in her gaze. This was hard for everyone, and Cass just wanted to put everyone out of their misery.
He reached out and touched her hand with his fingertips.