Chapter 41: 38. Team Dungeon

"That was working? Why didn't that work?" Annette asks. Though she had just been standing there, she looks like she had fought the same inner turmoil battle as Bones. Even her breathing labored. She rests her back on the slumbering dragon, who has not been bothered by this life-altering process.

"We were so close!" Bones energetically says to no one in specific. His unconquerable determination is not diminished in the slightest. "I can feel it. Gene, what do I need to do differently? Am I getting my part wrong?"

Gene is looking worse for wear and takes a long moment of silence before she responds. "I thought that was going to work. I was even sure of it." She takes another moment of silence. Judging by the inner turmoil on her face, her following words won't match Bones' attitude. "Bones, you did everything correctly. I just don't think the core will bind to you." 

Her words crush down on my heart, applying uncomfortable pressure. I can only imagine the emptiness Bones must be feeling.

Quicker than Bones and I, Annette doesn't accept the grim news. "Why wouldn't he be able to bind the core? Sure we are introducing an oddity of him being a minion. Still, that oddity is not as significant as dungeon cores themselves. If walls can become a dungeon, why can't bones?"

I'm taken aback by Annette's response for two reasons. First, she seems to have a comfortable grasp on dungeon cores. That is knowledge, according to Gene, that isn't widely known. Secondly and more unexpected is her stance to support Bones in this core binding. I misjudged the spider queen and her ambitions.

"While your words are true, there are still rules and procedures that must be followed. Perhaps minions aren't able to bind cores due to their nature. I'm not trying to be the bearer of bad news. I am only trying to preserve my people." Gene's voice isn't that of anger or frustration. Her voice is filled with wariness. The burden of her people's freedom is taking an enormous toll. Now that an end to this task is near, the toll is becoming larger.

Passionately Annette counters, "I understand there are rules and procedures. There is always a rule and procedure. That doesn't mean we have to accept them. Are the rules written? Who wrote those rules anyway? And why do they have the authority to create these rules? As far as I am concerned, there has only ever been one rule. Power takes what power can get. In that spirit, I say we get this pile of bones his heart of energy he so badly desires while relieving you of your task of keeping your people safe."

"I agree with the Spider Queen." Bones says, more emboldened than before. Then slightly less enthusiastically, he adds, "That is if you are up for taking a few more tries, Gene. This is your dungeon core, rather your people we are talking about. If you want to pursue other options, you have all my support."

"A Spider Queen with mind powers. A lich with no memories and empty cores. I am a ghost of a former Shadow Queen. Bones is a skeleton minion that gives orders to his summoner. Topping it all off is an exhausted dragon. You are right, Annette. Power is the only thing that makes sense here." Upon hearing these words, I release the tension building within. Giving Bones another chance was more than I could ask for.

"Bones," Gene shifts her focus from Annette to the skeleton in the room, "can you describe your existentialism in simple terms? The fewer words, the better."

"Sweet summer nights," I whisper to myself. I am going to for sure remember that question for a casual dinner conversation. Tell me why you are in the fewest words possible. That's brilliant.

"Simple. Damned. Incomplete. Empty. Is that too much, or do you need more?" Despite his unfavorable introspective narrative, Bones maintains his zeal. I admire that about Bones. He isn't his setbacks.

Gene takes a moment before addressing me. "T'am, can you create one more circle? We need to adjust our symbols. Wholeness needs to be added to our intent."

"Absolutely, though someone might have to drag my bleeding corpse across the ground to complete the third circle."

"I will complete the circle." Annette immediately volunteers.

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"Unless you want to forfeit your chance to be a part of the dungeon, you will not be able to use your blood for the symbols." 

The weight of Gene's words land heavily on Nette. For only a moment, she thinks about it. "Promise to keep me safe and alive, and I will do it." Her last words are directed toward Bones and me.

"Alright! Alright. Alright. T'am, cut the dramatics and start mopping the ground with your bloody corpse. We can drag you if we have to." Bones has gone full boss mode. 

Bones turns his attention toward Annette. "Nette, you are the most beautiful spider lady I ever met. I am in your debt for what you have done for me. However, you can't back out of Team Dungeon already. You might have forgotten, but without you accepting one of the core's final slots, we won't be able to complete the ritual anyway. 

"T'am, stop dragging your feet. Time is of the essence. Oh, shi—"

Bright sun and desert sands are not there to greet me when I wake up. Which is a good thing. I didn't think I would actually die creating that last circle, though it was getting very questionable. I am still in the dark comforts of a massive cave surrounded by a group of mighty misfits.

Bones and Nette did end up dragging my body to finish the symbol. More precisely, Bones carried my body while Annette did the drawing. 

"So lazy!" is the first thing I hear out of Bones' mouth. "Can't even finish a bloody circle." He's a bastard, but he has a point, and I can't help but smile at his retorts. "Also, thank you." He adds with a more serious tone. 

"All things considered, I think I did a mighty fine job drawing that last part. It isn't easy etching circles in the ground while sleeping. I should know I have first-hand experience. In fact, I am probably the only one with that experience. Well, maybe not. My limited exposure to rituals is that they are bloody and weird, so maybe dream etching is more of the norm. Still, I'd like to see you try that, Bones." Feeling well rested and renewed, I easily counter Bones' cutting remarks with self-aggrandizement. "And you're welcome."

"If you two are finished, it would be nice to return to the ritual at hand." At Gene's words, the four of us non-ghostly entities join up in the center of the circle to join in a unifying ritual.

Conveniently, power napping has restored my dark and death mana, allowing me to pump the needed energy into the core. Unlike previous times, Annette and the still slumbering dragon are wisped away into the core before the gem cracks. Their very life turns into energy before our eyes. Bones and Gene are playing it cool like this is supposed to happen, so I do the same. Now that the two participants are absorbed into the core, my mana finally breaks the gem open, allowing the energy inside to escape.

Energy is storming inside the frame of Boss. It rushes through his body, crashing into his bones. I stand by his side in case the damage is severe enough that it calls for repairs. However, I want to avoid adding more mana to the chaos, so I mostly stand here for moral support. The havoc on the inside puts enough strain on the skeleton that he is forced to his knees. Determined to contain the mana, Bones never wavers from his responsibility. 

Ever so slowly, the mana begins to calm within him. What feels like hours later, the worst of the storm has been weathered. Bones, at this point, is completely hunched over. His once thick skeletal frame looks weathered and hollow inside. Only a thin layer is keeping him together. Still, Bones never wavers in his cycling. 

Finally, as Bones obtains complete control over the mana, a dark core forms inside his chest cavity. Webs of black mana race out of the core covering his frame in a dark shell-like structure. The shell then disappears back into the heart of Bones, taking every bit of the skeleton with it until all that remains is the core. The core then dissipates and enters my body as mana.

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