Chapter 42: 38. Godling Dungeon (II)

Geez!

The things Jay faced when trying to date an arrogant teenage goddess were backbreaking, man-eating nightmare fuel. Jay could avoid the traps, the horrid monster chasing him with the voice of his crush, and the literal mind games of being made a player in YoAnna’s self-made dungeon of creepy-pasta designs.

He figured this would stop if he announced the end of his romantic pursuit of the godling.

But where was the fun in that?

He was scared, yeah. He had the dungeon monster breathing down his neck while inches away from snatching the skin off his back, yeah. His mind nearly jumbled through the order and positions of every trap along the way, yeah.

But he was laughing his ass off when he had some space. He threw out some trash talk every time he slipped the Haunting Siren’s grasp. Especially during moments parkouring around traps the monster had to avoid, too!

He stepped on a trigger tile and fell, sliding on his knees under the dart. The projectile struck the ribcage of the Haunting Siren before it caught Jay with a deadly hug.

The monster grunted with YoAnna’s voice, tugging at the heartstrings. But it wasn’t enough of an emotional pull to stop Jay from kicking through a tripwire trap. He spun aside while keeping his forward momentum like a sure-footed running back.

The log sailed past him and smashed the Siren hard.

He stopped doing that when the Siren ripped the log out of the ceiling and threw it at his legs. That “oh shit” moment concluded with Jay wall-running above the bounding log that fell into a pit trap.

He hit the floor with a roll. He got back to his feet a split second too slow. The Siren lunged and shredded his back with her claws.

To his surprise and discomfort, the pain feedback was dulled significantly. He imagined this was partly due to dungeon shenanigans designed by YoAnna to reduce player pain. And partly because of him retracting his sense of touch. It felt like a mild sting you’d get from getting slapped on the back.

That didn’t tell him how badly he was injured, so he felt for his Health as he kept running. He balked at the loss to his HP. It had dropped to around 60% after one strike.

Now that he was nearly halfway to death, his fear dialed up. The hilarity of running tricks on a monsterized version of YoAnna lost its luster. The end was nearing, so Jay put his nose to the grindstone.

He stepped aside a tile trap, timing it to avoid a downward swipe from the Siren. The monster missed, stepped on the trigger, and took a dart for him.

He long jumped over tripwires and pitfalls. The Siren followed his movements, avoiding them as easily as flying at his back. This time, Jay prepared a surprise for the monster.

He hit the ground, stopped on a dime using all of his Agility and Strength, then bounded backward. He twisted into a midair back kick he’d perform in his b-boy sets.

He’d never landed it on someone before. It was a surprise for them both when he struck its face flush. The kick snapped the monster’s head back and rocked the Siren.

Jay landed in a crouch while the Siren stumbled slightly. A pinprick of light appeared ahead.

The [Freak] ran full-tilt, no holds barred, every limb pumping with all he had. His right fist squeezed the backup chair leg he still had after losing the first one hundreds of feet behind him. His bare feet pounded down the long and dark straightaway of a hall.

He didn’t care for whatever trap that came.

Darts skimmed behind his back. The falling logs fell a tad too slowly. The pitfall covering held under one step before collapsing behind him. These traps had a tiny delay meant to catch the careful crawler. Whether or not the Siren struck each one in Jay’s wake didn’t matter.

The [Freak] burned through Stamina to reach his destination. He knew the Siren would burst forward with sudden speed to catch up.

Then they entered a stretch without simple traps.

Jay ran his hardest.

The Siren gained unfettered.

Jay chucked the chair leg forward.

The monster clawed his back again and stole another 40% of his Health. A bolt of horror and fear entered his heart as he wondered if he would make it. Then he clenched his jaw and jumped for it.

He entered the light and passed through unmolested.

The Siren followed and failed to pass.

The arm of DGITL came down hard and fast. The grasping trap slammed the Siren into the floor, cracking the tiles. Its fingers wriggled independently, hooking their flesh-rending nails into the Siren’s chest. It was a bloody, inescapable grip.

The Siren screeched, clawing at the tiles in futility. Then she stopped and stared at Jay.

“Jay, my love, please don’t let me be taken,” the Siren begged. “If I fail this, She will not be pleased. She’ll uncreate me. Replace me!”

Jay lay on his side while covered in sweat and blood. Between his panting breath, he said, “I’ll tell her to give you another chance. You’re a damn good dungeon monster, Siren.”

The monster looked at him with wide-eyed wonder as she was slowly lifted away. “D-do you really mean that?”

“Yeah,” Jay said wearily. “I got this thing for helping out monster girls here and there. Eventually, I’ll help out monster bros when I meet a cool one.” He sat up woozily. “Besides, that was a helluva chase scene. I give it 8.5 out of 10. Nice work.”

“Wow, I see why she likes you so much,” the Siren revealed. “You’re her type of weirdo.”

The hallways trembled. The domain’s magic strained to hold together. Somewhere beyond sight was the shouting of a flustered godling.

The [Freak] laughed. “Sure, I’m a weirdo, but YoAnna’s such a dork sometimes.”

The Siren laughed with him. Then she got yanked into the ceiling. Her last words reverberated through the hole of light. “She’s secretly hoping you’ll win, honestly! She’s still your biggest fan and–ack!”

You’ve slain Haunting Siren, Level 26!

Congrats! Lesser Freak leveled up to 15! +8 Free AP!

Congrats! Lesser Freak leveled up to 16! +8 Free AP!

“Ah, yes, gimme more,” Jay said. “More levels for the leveling god.”

Now, where were the new Skills? Did Rank 2 offer fewer Skills? More questions on top of a massive pile of things he didn’t know.

The walls shook some more. Parts of it started disappearing into motes of magic. Jay forced himself to his feet. He didn’t have to go far to find Kleo.

She appeared walking around the corner of a T-section on the opposite side of the hall. Her little form followed the wall, saving her magic instead of flying.

Jay took a seat against the wall and waited for her. Without a word, he offered his hand. She sat on his palm for the ride up to his shoulder.

“How?” Yoanna asked, appearing from thin air.

Jay figured his [Faerie] familiar should decide to speak on her cheats. Kleo offered nothing to YoAnna and waited patiently on her master’s shoulder. 

That was perhaps for the best. When you have the traits to cross boundaries that would bind mortals, they were probably best saved as cards up your sleeves. Kleo wasn’t damsel material.

YoAnna backed into the opposite wall and slid into a seat on her hip. The dungeon rumbled and shook. The breakdown process accelerated. YoAnna stared in shock at a patch of disappearing tile.

“I’ve lost,” she said.

“Yup,” Jay replied.

“How?” she asked weakly.

Jay smiled softly.

“You gotta ensure your traps are on the same magical wavelengths or whatever with the place,” he explained. “I packed a lot into Perception, so the shoddy job done on your domain made your perfectly crafted traps stand out. “

He stroked his chin. He had the urge for rum suddenly. Letting that go, he got back on topic.

“I didn’t have a time limit, by the way!” he cheered. “So, I went at my own pace and studied up on the traps. Locations. Timing. Effects. You noticed me doing that, right?”

She nodded.

“If you’re not gonna put a time clock on me or anyone, you’ll need to encourage more commitment under pressure.”

YoAnna nodded vigorously, eating up every criticism he had. “Please, tell me more.”

“The Siren was pretty awesome. Giving it your voice while hiding it in the darkness. Twisting my crush for you into a monster. Gosh darn, girl, that’s freaky.”

“Yes, twisting your crush for me into a monster was exactly my intention when I created Siren,” YoAnna said in a weirdly neutral tone. “It seemed you had a trick for my dark hall I was unaware of.”

“Yeah, I did,” Jay said with a smile. “I also had my Talents and Titles.”

“Talents and Titles can’t be suppressed,” YoAnna admitted. “Anything else?”

Jay thought about it as he looked around them.

Most of the dungeon faded into a bright white void. All that remained was the patch of the floor they sat on and the walls they rested against.

With a curl of her finger, YoAnna shrank the space between them.

It was a tight fit.

Her longer legs pressed against Jay’s patch of wall and close to his side. He caught himself watching her ankles recross before looking up at her face. He tried to ignore the heat he felt from his thigh touching her thigh.

“Don’t kill Siren, please?” Jay pleaded on the monster’s behalf. “She’s got loads of potential.”

YoAnna frowned. “It did an adequate job and brought you to near defeat. I’ll have an open dialogue with it and see where we can improve. Besides, it’s one of the first monsters I’ve created with pure unassisted magic and imagination.”

She looked away.

“I’m not so cruel that I’ll destroy my creation outright. One failure isn’t deserving of such absolute judgment.”

“But you are cruel,” Kleo said, reminding them she was there. “You misplaced your cruelty, too.”

“There’s no laughing this off and seeing it as two teens having a stupid moment?” Jay asked, covering his nervousness with humor. “Eh? Eh?”

Purple magic thrust out Kleo’s back and lifted her into the space between Jay and YoAnna. For some reason, she seemed mighty formidable right now. A thin and dense purple aura framed her little body.

“Kleo?” Jay called. “Can’t we bury the hatchet?”

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The [Fairie] held her silence. Her little eyes looked down upon the godling as if YoAnna was the bug under the microscope. The aura surrounding Kleo thickened. It became more noticeable that Kleo was siphoning power from the domain itself, taking YoAnna’s magic.

Jay could feel Kleo using her [Mana Weaver] Talent and her [Slayer of Tyranny] Title.

This wasn’t going to end well, Jay realized.

To his surprise, the godling shifted onto her knees. She didn’t prostrate herself or kowtow. But she lifted her face humbly beneath Kleo.

“I must say,” YoAnna said, “a great part of me is aghast that I’m to suffer judgment by a lowly creature.”

“It speaks well of you, little godling, that you’ll accept your punishment,” Kleo said, her voice deepening.

“Must I be called little?”

“Ah, calling you a big divine dummy is more appropriate.”

“And the hits don’t stop coming,” YoAnna said dryly.

Jay stopped himself from making a Smash Mouth reference. He refocused his energy on pushing fake bravado.

“I can command you to stop this, Kleo,” Jay grunted.

“Will you?” Kleo challenged him.

The tension between them thickened.

The [Faerie] softened her stance.

“Please don’t, Master Jay,” Kleo pleaded. “I need this. The systemic power of Chance. My divine agreement with her. I’ll taste that sweet high again. Like killing the dungeon master but many times greater.”

“It is best not to deny her,” YoAnna added. “And I am of an accord. I deserve this.”

Jay reached out to them both. As if to appease them with a double head pat. But rather than be a cringe weeaboo, he let his arms hang loose at his sides.

“Fine,” Jay said.

Kleo raised her hand. More divine magic drained into her palm, feeding her purple aura. 

Her body shook as if she was going to explode. Something was wrong.

Jay reached out instinctively.

Touching Kleo’s back opened the floodgates and poured divine magic into him. It burned like the heavens hated his geeky degeneracy and wanted to cleanse him. He didn’t let it, of course, but damn, it hurt.

“Are you fucking crazy?” Jay cussed. “You can’t hold all of that inside of you.”

“I didn’t want you involved!” Kleo shouted through gritted teeth. “I don’t want you to hurt your crush.”

As the magic swelled inside Jay, he shared a look with YoAnna. She smiled. It was almost an invitation.

“This is so fucked up,” Jay said as he felt for his familiar’s intent.

The bond between them had heightened here. The driving desire pushed by Chance and divinity solidified in his mind’s eye. He perceived more than any mortal should at his rank. He saw the makeup of YoAnna’s form and realized she was truly beyond him in all matters, great and terrifying.

Something in his mind tore from the sight. Then it ignited like a spark.

The horrid heat snaked through his head and latched onto the flesh. It burned behind his left eye, growing hotter.

Jay screamed as his left eye erupted in divine fire. The fire roasted the socket, blackening the nearest skin, and spread across his face. He was screaming blood within a few seconds.

“Blame not he who gazes into divinity, for he is truly blessed,” YoAnna incanted, her voice humming thunderously all around them, dampening the flames and Jay’s pain. “He is bold where most are weak, he is kind where most are cruel, he is foolish where fools are needed, and he is wise where most are certain. Blessed is he who looks behind the veil and is merry, Godling Blessing!”

The fire spreading over his head receded. The ash reunited with his burnt flesh. Skin, sinew, and muscle returned to normal. The damage faded back to the eye socket, returning him his eyelid even. Then no more could be done when a golden eyeball with a metallic white iris looked out from the left side of his face. 

The iris shimmered like liquid silver.

New Talent acquired! [Eye of Venerated Madness]!

Jay whimpered, wishing for this all to end. But there was no stopping this now. Both Kleo and YoAnna had committed. The would-be punisher and the one to be punished. The power of Systemic Chance and a divine promise had filled every corner of him. Both he and Kleo would explode if they didn’t see the ordeal to its conclusion.

Regretfully, Jay opened his mouth and gave his familiar a powerful, domain rippling command.

“Mark her.”

Kleo dropped her raised arm. All the magic they’d gathered together squeezed into a tiny mote of purple-gold light at the end of her little finger. It traced a small glowy line that lingered in the air.

The line flew forward.

It sliced YoAnna’s face and scarred her forever.

The domain broke down completely. A bunch of System Notifications popped up in the background.

New levels and Skills.

But that wasn’t Jay’s focus.

The imagery of YoAnna’s pain-filled face getting carved by a blade of Chance and divinity looped in his mind. It took a lot for him to refocus on the here and now. Then he lost consciousness, if only briefly.

Jay woke up to his body at full Health. He found Kleo sitting on the patio table in front of him.

Across from them, a marred godling slumped in her seat. Gold ichor dripped freely from one side of her face. A precise slice ran down the side of her forehead and eyebrow, nicked the same side eyelid, and carved down her cheek to her chin. All on the left side.

“Watch her, would you?” Jay asked Kleo.

“Yes, Master,” she replied with a big ecstasy-filled grin. She was still high after getting her tyranny-punishing rocks off.

Jay rushed into the kitchen. He grabbed the first aid kit. He nearly hesitated at the door, expecting YoAnna to disappear.

She was still sitting at the patio table, looking dazed.

He used some basic first aid he learned from a paramedic his mom had dated. The alcohol solution and cotton swabs came out first to clean the wound. The gesture was probably pointless. She had divine immunity, no doubt. He followed through anyway before pressing on the gauze.

“Huh,” Jay said. “It’s a little weird using first aid after all the magic stuff.” 

He should probably kick himself later for leaving his bag of holding in his bedroom. Ironically, the crystals in there would probably do jack-shit to help YoAnna. The good old use of gauze, however, stymied the blood flow.

The godling watched him like a scared animal.

“Aren’t you mad at me?” YoAnna asked weakly. “I’ve caused you so much trouble.”

“I’ll probably forgive you in a few minutes,” Jay said. “But what you did was hurtful. Even if you didn’t like me back, holding my stuff hostage and trying to rip away my feelings are more than being evil, YoAnna.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Jay sighed, crouching down to look into her uncovered eye. His eyes glowed in separate but brilliant colors.

“You were being a jerk to someone who wants to see you win. Someone who’ll support you through thick and thin.” He shook his head. “It’s been years, YoAnna, and we finally got to smiling and laughing together.”

This would’ve ruined things forever if he wasn’t a crazy [Freak] with an unhealthily big ego.

“But the System Admins. And the gap between a born goddess and a born mortal. And the impossibility of it all.”

Kleo dawdled forward. Her little toes hung over the table edge as she rocked on her heels in front of YoAnna. The godling looked at the little [Faerie] with apprehension and respect.

“If you can’t believe in yourself, believe in Jay,” Kleo said.

YoAnna opened and closed her mouth. There was something she wanted to say, but she kept it caged inside. When she sealed her lips, Jay sighed tiredly.

The bleeding slowed. Jay changed the gauze and sealed half her face with medical tape. He had to stop and flick Kleo’s rear when she scooped up godling blood and drank it.

“But it’s yummy!” the [Faerie] whined.

Jay gave her a look that would brook no further discussion, and Kleo scampered to the other side of the table angrily. Another notification popped up. Jay was going to shelve it like the others for a later review.

This one deserved a double-take.

New Talent acquired! [Appetite for Divinity (Familiar)]!

Jay balked at his familiar. The little menace licked her lips hungrily. Her eyes darted from her master to the remaining droplets of divine blood.

Jay wiped up YoAnna’s blood and tossed it in the trash. With that out of sight and out of mind, he suddenly realized YoAnna was a guest and should get water. He got a glass from the kitchen and filled it with water from a bottle. Everyone knew the tap was half gator piss.

She sipped her drink gently.

He waited to see if there was anything else.

She didn’t disappear for some reason.

“You wanna stay over for the night?” Jay asked.

“I find that agreeable,” YoAnna answered.

“Cool, I’ll make my room comfortable and….”

Jay froze. His brain rebooted. He remembered asking her if she wanted to stay over. Did she actually agree?

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