Dungeon Crawl

by Drew Jager

  "So, Tay visited you when you were with your mother? Was she unevolved too? How do Spirits even have children?" She laughed at his barrage of questions, her previous worry gone.

  "She was a Herald too, Will. Just as Tay was. How do any creatures have children?" She was blushing at this, and he felt his Crawl brighten a few shades in embarrassment. "And yes, Tay visited us sometimes. He couldn't do it often, though."

  "I thought Guides couldn't leave their Dungeons?" The idea of her leaving, for any reason, made him feel very anxious.

  "For the most part, we can't. When we bond together, we do so literally. The Crawl cannot exist without the Herald and vice versa. That's why I would die if you were shattered."

  This only worried him more. "So I would shatter if you were killed?" He asked in a panic.

  She giggled again and played with the fur on Grizzly's back. "Probably? It's never happened before. Nothing in this world is able to kill a Herald so long as their Crawl is alive. Don't worry about me, Sweetie. Worry about keeping yourself alive, so I can too."

  This eased his mind a great deal. He knew he wasn't invincible, but at least his Herald wouldn't drop dead out of thin air. He had gotten off track, though, and he tried to steer the questioning back to her brother. "How did Tay visit you then?"

  "His Crawl created a pact with mom's Crawl. They had a mutually beneficial arrangement, and Mr. Blue made it so the Guides could be sent over as envoys. It's all very complicated, but the gist of it is this. One Crawl discovers the other, usually through a Bound Monster. They talk via the Monster and come to a decision for the future. Sometimes they choose to fight. Sometimes they just ignore each other. My mom's and Tay's chose to become allies." She said this with a big grin, and he felt his own mood rise at her happiness.

  She continued before he could ask another question. "Before you ask, no, you cannot make one of these pacts. You need to have a few more floors before you are strong enough, and that's many years away. That's why we don't want Sol going out and accidentally encroaching on another Dungeon's territory."

  Damn. Wait for me, Death Laser. I'll find you one day.

  "You lived with your mother, what about your father?" He asked hesitantly.

  She just shrugged. "Never met him. Mom said he was handsome and had a cute butt. She never talked much about the different Guides she had known. Not to mention his Dungeon only had a short term pact with hers. She wouldn't say much more than that, and I never asked."

  He steeled himself. "What was it like, living with your mother in a different Dungeon?"

  At this, her smile faltered. "It was strange. Mom taught me what it meant to be a Herald, but I only talked to her Crawl once. I felt like I was living in someone else's home. Which I guess I was." She let out a small shiver. "Mom said Mr. Blue made it so a Dungeon can only ever have one Herald per Crawl. My siblings and I could stay there because we weren't technically Guides yet, but it always felt off."

  This was interesting to him. He couldn't imagine living in a place, never feeling like you really belonged. It must have been very uncomfortable for his Herald, and he felt his mood drop. "That sounds awful. Did you say siblings, though?"

  She nodded. "Yeah, my mom had three children. Tay came first. Then it was me, and my younger sister Val. All three of us have different fathers, and as far as I know, Val is still unevolved. I only ever saw Tay when he visited, but he would always tease us. That little jerk thought he was so cool just because he had opposable thumbs." She was glaring at the neck of Grizzly, face scrunched in anger. It was adorable.

  He had learned a lot more about her than he had anticipated, but he knew he shouldn't waste this opportunity to learn more about his Herald. "Sweetheart, why did you say you chose me earlier? What did you mean by that?"

  Her visage of anger renewed itself, and if looks could kill, hers would. "Are you sure you want to know? It's not a very fun thing to talk about, and you might not like what you find out."

  How did she not realize that only made him want to know even more? "We are going to be together for a very long time, I don't want to find out fifty years from now that you have a long lost cousin who is going to try to shatter me. Let's be open with each other. I can take it, Sweetie."

  She cracked a smile, then replied. "Mom taught me this right before I left to find you. She said it was up to me to decide when or if I tell my Crawl." She took a deep breath. "After a Crawl and Herald bond, there is a sort of grace period. For one month after bonding, if the Herald decides to, they can shatter their Crawl."

  If he could physically gulp, he would have. He stayed quiet and waited for her to continue.

  "Not shatter literally, but it's all the same. The Herald can choose to reject the Crawl if they decide it was a poor match, and in doing so, the Crawl is destroyed. This was so Mr. Blue could create a new one for the Herald to bond with. As far as mom told me, this happens pretty often. Mom said she went through two different Cores before she found the one she wanted to bond with."

  She looked over towards his Crawl room and smiled. "You were my first Crawl, Will. As you can see, over a month has passed. I chose you because I thought we were a good match. I didn't know if I wanted to tell you all of these things, but you were right. It's important that we be honest with each other, and now I'm glad I told you."

  The idea of being one rude comment away from being shattered terrified him. Then he felt a flood of emotions at the idea she had chosen him anyway. Despite his eccentricities, and his Deer obsession. She had chosen to stay with him, and guide him. "So, what your saying is... you love me?" He said with a small chuckle.

  She giggled at him and idly played with the fur on Grizzly's back. "Only a little."

  "Do you miss your mom and the other Dungeon?" He asked.

  "Well, sometimes. I love having my own Dungeon to take care of. Having all these adorable little Monsters to look after, and having you by my side is all I ever wanted. I do miss talking to her, though. As for that Dungeon, if I never set foot in it again, it would be too soon." She said, kicking her feet in the air.

  "Maybe I could make a pact with them and-"

  "Don't you even start, Mister. I would push you off your pedestal before you ever sent them a message." She said, only slightly joking.

  He felt he had gotten her into the right mood, so he took his shot. "Bel?"

  "What is it, Rockhead?" She asked playfully.

  "Hall of Fame?"

  A loud gulping sound could be heard, and she averted her eyes. "Come on, Sweetie. A girl's got to have her secrets, you know?"

  "You know, those moss bed sheets could become a permanent addition..."

  Her eyes widened, and she put her hands up. "Don't be hasty, Will! I was just... building up to telling you."

  He stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.

  "Right. Well, if you must know. It was something mom created with a few of the other Guides who visited her Dungeon over the years. It was just to keep track of all the funny things that happened because of a Crawl being a dummy." She looked pointedly towards him at this, and he felt a twinge of nervousness.

  This was about what he had expected, though. "So, what was the best one?" He had to know what idiot Dungeon topped the Hall of Fame.

  "The dumbest thing a Crawl ever did?" She asked, smiling.

  "Yeah! Think of it as a learning lesson, so I don't do the same thing." He said, trying to push her to reveal the story.

  She just barked a laugh. "Ha! If you managed to do something this dumb, we never would have made it past the first Party of Adventurers." She flopped onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "The dumbest thing I ever heard of a Dungeon doing, was it tried to open an Antique shop. The moron thought it could build a stall on their first floor, and sell items to Adventurers. It failed horribly, and all the Two-legs just stole everything it put up for sale. The Crawl actually thought it would be a good idea! Can you imagine?" She was laughing hysterically, but Will felt his blood run cold.

&n
bsp; Dodged a fucking bullet.

  He forced a laugh. "Ha-ha, yeah. What was the name of the Crawl that did that? So I can... avoid them."

  She burst into even more laughter. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, and her tiny face was beet red. "The Herald never got the chance to name them, so the Crawl picked their own name. Do you know what they picked? Death Laser!" She yelled that last part and was practically howling with laughter.

  "YOU'VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!" He screamed.