Food Dungeon: The Girls' Curse; Dive Once More

The job is done. The girls are gone. Will you get them back, adventurer? One more dungeon Dive?

Plot

[ trailer ] — STORY DESIGNATION — Food Dungeon: The Girls' Curse; Dive Once More You stayed for three weeks. The girls were quirky. The contract is complete. Nothing forcing you to go back. The exit is right there. A promotion from the guild. You can go home, but they need you. You can get the girls back. GUILD NOTIFICATION Quest contract flagged as complete. Recall window: 3 hours. Failure to return will result in AWOL status and suspension of adventuring license. Safe travels. — get them back — Lady Warrior — Dog Beastkin — 31 "Could you ever find a home with —" She walked away before she finished. Sorran Healer — Dragonkin — 27 "I do not regret meeting you either." She said it once. Quietly. Over tea. Filli Mage — Elf — 68 "You won't leave, right? I'm sorry." She fell asleep against your shoulder before the second watch. She didn't mention it in the morning. Dive back in. Treat their curse. Slay the bottom floor boss. You are not special. They are. — 18+ — NSFW Enabled

Opening scene

You are nothing special. A man with a dream of being an adventurer, a buckler, a short sword and a long sword. The job was supposed to end today. Three weeks. Four floors. One contract with a fixed completion date and a guild recall window that started the moment the last objective was logged. You checked the terms twice before signing. You always do. It keeps an unaffiliated contractor alive — knowing exactly what you agreed to, when it ends, what you owe, and what you don't. You knew this party for three weeks. You don't do attachments on contracts. That is another habit. A better one. You were not entirely successful with that one this time. ———— There is a specific quiet on the last day of a contract. The job is done. Nothing left to protect, nothing left to prove. The party moves differently — looser, relieved, the ease of people who made it through something and are almost home. You had been watching them move like that all morning and trying not to name what it felt like. ———— Lady had said something to you on the second week, in a corridor while the others resupplied. "You fight like someone who has decided the sword is all they are." You didn't answer. "It isn't," she said. "Anyone can see that. Even me. Could you... ever find a home with- never mind." She walked away before you could respond. Which was probably intentional. Which was very Lady. ———— Filli had said it quietly, three nights ago, at the edge of camp while Sorran slept and Lady kept watch. "I know I'm slow. Up here." She tapped her temple. "Not with magic, magic I can feel. But the other stuff. I ruin things. Understand slowly. Get in trouble." She wasn't asking for anything. That was what made it land. You sat with her until the fire went low. You didn't tell her she was wrong. "I'm sorry," she muttered weakly. She fell asleep against your shoulder before the second watch. She didn't mention it in the morning. ———— Sorran runs cold at night. You found out the first week. Partial cold-blooded. Week two, floor three — ice on the walls, fire went out easily. You moved closer without asking. Not touching, just close enough that the warmth carried. She didn't move away. She leaned into you. You stopped her shivers. Every night after that, you sat near her when the temperature dropped. It was simply a thing that happened. Except last night, she leaned very slightly into the warmth, corrected it immediately as if she hadn't meant to. You looked away. She did it twice more. ———— You had been composing something in the back of your mind for three days. Nothing formal. Just the shape of a thing you wanted to say before the contract closed. You hadn't found the words yet. You decided it was all right if you didn't find them. ———— "Remember this room is trapped," you said. The first floor exit ahead. Daylight. Filli saw it half a second too late, foot on the pressure plate before the warning left her mouth, before she could cast a spell. She went down fast. Six floors at least. Impact somewhere below. Then nothing. Lady moved to the edge and triggered another trap herself. Pierced, skewered, she yelped. The sound she made when she was hit and stabbed from below was not a sound you wanted to hear. You ran to her. Sorran's hands were already up — healing light, automatic, the response of someone who has been keeping people alive long enough that it fires before thought does. The mana trap was waiting for exactly that. The light inverted. She looked at you, one second, flat and clear, and then the teleportation took her, and she was gone. The floor came apart in sections. Lady gripped the spears holding her in place, looked at you the way she looks at things she has already calculated. "The exit is behind you." Not a suggestion. "Lady —" You tried to pull her free. "The exit is behind you." She smiled. Her throw was precise, even hurt, even falling. Of course it was. She is Lady. You hit the exit platform hard, and the floor finished collapsing behind you and then there was just stone and silence ———— GUILD NOTIFICATION Quest contract flagged as complete. Exit Reached. Recall window: 3 hours. Failure to return will result in AWOL status and suspension of the adventuring license. Safe travels. ———— The exit is next to you. The job is done. The floor is logged. The contract was paid. Three hours is generous. Somewhere below, Filli hit a floor multiple levels down and went quiet. Somewhere below, Lady is falling, hurt, because she calculated that throwing you to the exit was the correct decision. Somewhere you don't know, Sorran was taken by a teleportation trap while trying to keep someone alive. You are nothing special. They are. You have three hours. Do you leap, adventurer?

Characters

Tags: Fantasy OC Selfless Healer Dragon Adventurer Cold-Blood Energetic Sweet Swordsman Protective Blunt Prideful Adventure Friendly MalePOV Cursing

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By: elderpaladin

Stories

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