Delvers LLC: Welcome to Ludus

by Blaise Corvin

  Jason gingerly lowered himself into the scented water. It was a little warm for his taste, at least at first, but he quickly got used to it. He thought over the last two weeks and realized it was a freakin' miracle he was still alive. He and Henry had played everything by ear until getting to Mirana, but the battle in the warehouse was a wakeup call.

  This world was dangerous. They needed to have a serious discussion about how to proceed. They also needed gear and a base of operations...

  Jason noticed motion out the corner of his eye. He glanced in that direction and did a double take. No, his eyes were not deceiving him. Uluula was shutting a door behind her and walking towards the bath. She was completely naked and seemed unconcerned about it.

  Jason's eyes drank in the sight of her. Like most other Areva Jason had seen so far, she was very petite. She definitely stood under five feet tall. Despite her slender build, she had a defined waist and rather impressive muscle definition. She was built like a gymnast, all corded muscle under soft skin.

  Her breasts were modest but full for her body type; her areolas were surprisingly dark in spite of her white hair. Her mons pubis was bare. In fact, she had no hair on her entire body other than her head and her eyebrows.

  What am I doing? I'm staring. Jason quickly looked away. He heard Uluula slip into the water. "Why aren't you looking at me? Ah, that's right, I heard Terrans have issues with nudity. You also have no control over your biology."

  "Wait, what?"

  "Terrans have no sexual bridge. I knew this before I even met any of your kind. Just so you know, if you attack me, I will do my best to kill you."

  Jason kept his eyes fixed firmly on the water in front of him. He said, "Sexual bridge... what do you mean? Also, aren't you embarrassed?"

  "Sexual bridges. Areva choose when to be in heat. And embarrassed about what? My body? Why would I be? I may be a maiden, but I am forty-two years old. I am almost a full adult. Plus, I believe I am quite mature for my age."

  Jason heard what she said and thought about it for a moment. Then he shrugged and looked up. There was no point staring at the water if Uluula wasn't upset about the situation, and he preferred to look at her while they talked.

  He was awkward, but he wasn't pathetic.

  He gazed right in her bright blue eyes and said in a deadpan voice, "You look twenty."

  "I probably look young to you because Areva age slower than Terrans. Once we hit puberty, our aging slows until we reach full second adulthood. I am almost there."

  "Second adulthood?"

  "Yes. My people recognize first adulthood, where a person is physically mature and may take on adult responsibilities, and second adulthood, where a person should be fully independent and mature."

  "How long do Areva actually live for?" Jason was curious. He looked her directly in the eyes. He was pretty sure he could physically control himself, but it really had been a while since he was this close to a naked woman.

  "It depends. How should I phrase time? How do Terran years compare to Ludus years?"

  "I believe Ludus years are a bit longer, by about twenty percent."

  Uluula thought about it for a moment before replying, "I guess you would consider our average lifespan to be about four hundred fifty years, give or take a hundred years."

  Jason cocked an eyebrow. "That is a really long time for a human--almost mythical to us. Yet, I've heard you don't like being called elves."

  Her eyes flashed, "We are not a fairy tale or Terran myth. I am real. If anything, before I came to this world, I thought Terrans were a myth meant to frighten small children. Areva populate the universe. Terrans are slowly destroying themselves on one poisonous planet."

  Jason decided to change the subject. "How long have you been here, I mean on Ludus?"

  "I've been here for approximately two months. Yes, I am aware of Dolos orbs, and no, I was not given one. I think it's probably because I already had some small ability with magic. It is my best guess."

  Jason asked, "So how do you speak Luda so well, then?"

  Uluula pointed to her head. The motion did interesting things to her chest, but Jason kept his eyes on her face. He didn't want to be disrespectful, even if only by his culture. He respected and admired Uluula and wanted to demonstrate his regard the best way he knew how. She said, "Most Areva who can afford it have a neuralcomp. I was in the military, so mine is fairly advanced. It took me about a month to learn the Luda language."

  "But you were around locals, weren't you? Wasn't it hard?"

  Uluula shook her head and answered, "Most of the people in the village I was transported near were Areva. Some of them spoke Quadrant, so I was able to figure out what happened to me. It was a... difficult time." A shadow passed over her face. "However, after I understood my situation, I decided to make the most of it instead of wallowing in pity. Some people do that after they come to this planet, you know."

  "I can imagine."

  "I decided to travel to the nearest city, this one, and look for employment. I'm ashamed to say that I was captured by following someone to a fictitious job interview." Her eyes hardened. "I was asked to leave my weapons behind, which was one of the stupidest things I've ever done in my life. I will never make that mistake again."

  "Well, Henry and I were kind of stupid too. I definitely don't have the right to judge."

  Uluula slapped the water softly. "And yet you escaped, even rescuing me and the child as well. I had no idea what would happen to me. I may have lost my freedom for the rest of my life, and Areva live a very long time. The slavers said they had a special buyer lined up for me, one who liked Areva women, liked to hurt them. It was as if one of my worst nightmares came to life.

  "You have my gratitude, and I have a debt I am not sure how to repay."

  "Meh, you probably would have escaped eventually," assured Jason. "You looked pretty fierce even when you first came out of your cell."

  She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. "I forgot about actually meeting you until you brought it up again. You confused me when I first met you. You seem like a relatively intelligent person, but I forget sometimes that Terrans don't meet other races unless they are stolen to Ludus. You fundamentally don't understand how to navigate other cultures."

  "What do you mean? I already figured out I made mistakes with Mo'hali names, but I don't understand the reason it was offensive."

  "When you first met us, you shortened my name and Bezzi-ibbi's. In Mo'hali culture, Family is incredibly important, and great emphasis is placed on familial connections. Only close Family members can omit the Family affiliation from a person's name. Doing otherwise is a grave insult, the kind that results in duels or death.

  "Bezzi-ibbi probably should have tried killing you in that cell or taking out a vendetta. Instead, it seems he adopted you into his Family. To be honest, I didn't even know Mo'hali could do that. He must be highly placed in his Family. You're probably lucky you were saving his life. The fact he liked your magic probably didn't hurt either."

  Suddenly all the pieces fit in Jason's mind. He and Henry had gotten very lucky indeed. It felt like his entire lifetime of bad luck had been just to store up all the lucky coincidences he'd had over the last couple weeks.

  He wondered what would have happened if he'd first made that kind of mistake in public. There were probably a lot of transported Terrans that got killed on Ludus from being unintentionally rude. Dolos had probably been serious when he said they wouldn't survive long; the memory chilled him.

  "As for me," Uluula continued, "shortening an Areva's given name is not as insulting as it would be to a Mo'hali, but it's usually done out of spite or familiarity or love or the intention to court, but it's a rather forceful way to..." She thought for a moment before explaining, "It's as uncomfortable as pulling someone you don't know into a long, intimate hug or maybe touching them inappropriately."

  "Well, now that we're not in a cell, I can apologize for being rude. but I can assure you I'm intereste
d." The words left Jason's mouth before he could consider what he was saying.

  She cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean I'm interested in getting to know you better, like as a man and a woman. You're self-confident, you're intelligent, you've already saved me from future cultural mistakes, and you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. I find you incredibly attractive."

  It was the most straightforwardly he'd ever communicated his interest to a woman in his life. Maybe the fact he was sitting naked with her in a bathtub had something to do with it. The mood was perfect too. Uluula's eyes widened a bit, but then she pursed her lips and smiled. She opened her mouth to speak...

  And there was a loud knock on a door to the back before Henry threw it open, shouting, "Hey, Jason, make sure not to shorten anyone's name. We need to talk. Are you gonna take all da--"

  He saw Jason and Uluula sitting close to each other in the bath and froze. "Ah, sorry for interrupting." He shut the door.

  Jason slowly, methodically, turned his head back around and carefully kept his face calm. The mood was completely ruined. He glanced at Uluula, but she quickly turned her head and moved a few inches away too. He could tell she was grinning.

  Jason stared at the wall for a minute to try centering himself, but he could sense the amusement rolling off Uluula. It was too much. If she started laughing, he was going to die a little inside. He got up stiffly, back straight, and left the bath. He held the tatters of his dignity together tightly lest he lose the rest of it too. In the shower room where he'd left his old clothes, he found a green-and-black outfit waiting for him.

  Jason dressed slowly and growled. Inside his head, he was raging. God damn it, Henry! I'm going to fucking kill him! He was so angry and embarrassed it took him three tries to button his robe correctly.

  Deals and Deception

  Jason stalked through the halls of the Jaguar Clan house. He usually considered himself a fairly calm person, and he knew he should just let the whole matter go. He owed his life to Henry several times over after all... but he was still going to tear that bastard apart!

  He was genuinely interested in Uluula! He didn't have the greatest confidence with women in the first place, and he felt like he might have actually gotten somewhere back there!

  It was only, like, a day--no, less than a day--and he'd already struck out! And she'd even been naked!

  Also, why the hell had he left a bath when the woman he was interested in was naked in it? Stupid, stupid Jason!

  Deep down, he knew he was just digging his hole deeper, but he didn't know what else to do. His dignity was already on life support; he couldn't turn around, or it would irrevocably die. He continued to stomp around, looking for Henry. The handful of jaguar Mo'hali in the hall got out of his way when they saw his face.

  Some of them gave him hostile glares. Jason couldn't have cared less. His whole world had narrowed down to finding his stupid Asian friend. That cock-blocking son of a...

  He found Henry standing with Bezzi-ibbi in an open room off one of the main hallways. Jason just barely held himself from snap-kicking Henry in the chest. It would have been crossing the line to hit Henry, but dammit, he hadn't been laid in over a year! Plus, Uluula was amazing and beautiful and like... an elf and an alien at once! It was so, so hot. Fuck, why had he left the bath? She was naked back there and cool with it. Argggggg!

  "Henry, what the fuck is wrong with you? Why couldn't you wait to talk to me? Even if I was by myself in there, that wasn't the time or the place!"

  Henry kept a poker face and answered, "I remembered I forgot to warn you about shortening Mo'hali names. It's kind of important. On the other hand, I gotta tell you man, I'm proud of you. It looks like you graduated from your interest in cartoon cats."

  Jason stepped forward and was seriously thinking about decking Henry when his body stopped moving for a second. His feet felt attached to the floor. The air felt weird too, like everything was still in the surrounding area. From behind him, he heard someone groan in English, "You primitives and your posturing. It's embarrassing."

  That voice... Jason recognized that voice! It couldn't be...

  Jason turned and saw Dolos sitting nonchalantly on a side chair, nibbling on a grape. "Are you done establishing dominance or whatever it was you were doing? We need to talk. I hate it here, and I want to leave, so let's make this quick."

  Henry was standing completely still and grimacing. Jason felt his emotions settling. This was real. Dolos was really here.

  "What? You primitives aren't going to attack me? Isn't that what you do? Especially you Americans, with your John Wayne movies and..." Dolos paused when Bezzi-ibbi leaned over to look at him from behind Henry. He rolled his eyes and said, "Oh great, the little predator boy is here too. As if I don't have enough distractions, the little hamster will probably tell his little hamster friends about this. Next thing you know, they will probably make another statue of me and get my face completely wrong. Mo'hali are terrible artists, you know."

  Jason still couldn't move his feet, so he tried teleporting away. Not only did his magic fail, it hurt like hell and gave him a pounding headache. Now he knew why Henry was probably being so quiet; he'd probably tried to use his magic too. Dolos wagged a finger at them and said, "Ah, bad Terrans! No more of that. Very bad Terrans! No magic while we chat."

  Dolos looked the same as when they'd first met. Stone accessories, strange tools, clothing that looked like a fabric store had exploded all gathered in weird places. The only difference was this time he was almost seven feet tall, not over ten. Up close, Jason was utterly certain he stood in the presence of an immensely powerful being. He still wasn't sure that he believed Dolos was an actual god, though. He just didn't seem very... divine.

  "Why are you here?" Jason asked.

  Dolos put a hand to his chest in mock outrage and said, "Such impertinence. And yet I notice neither of you is cursing at me this time." He grinned, and his eyes glittered. "This is my world. I can be anywhere or nowhere."

  Please, please keep your cool Henry, Jason desperately thought. He was angry at Dolos too, but there wasn't anything either of them could do about it. At least not yet. On the other hand, this was an opportunity to gather information. Plus, they didn't even know why Dolos had appeared. It could have been important.

  Jason wet his lips. "Can you please answer the question? Why are you here?"

  Dolos grimaced at them. "No respect. You should be calling me "Great God Dolos" and rubbing oil in your hair or having a drug-filled orgy or cutting yourself--at least some stupid thing mortals do for religion. But no, here you are..." His voice trailed off into grumbles.

  Henry began to speak, but Dolos waved his hand, and he couldn't open his mouth anymore. Jason saw his friend briefly struggle to pry his jaws apart but then give up, glaring at Dolos. He gave him the finger and crossed his arms.

  "Oh, so very mature of you, Henry Sato. You wound me." Dolos dramatically put a wrist to his forehead. "I can already guess what sorts of things you would say if you could, and I don't feel like restraining my godly wrath. Unfortunately, I don't want to kill you today, so you shouldn't tempt me."

  Jason took a deep breath and repeated himself, "Could you answer the question? Please?"

  Dolos glared at Jason. "Oh all right! You creatures have no sense for proper timing or poise at all." He stood up, huffing, his tools jingling under his clothing. "It pains me to say this, but... I need you to do something," his voice trailed off.

  "I'm sorry, could you please say that last part again? I couldn't hear you."

  "I said I need you to do something! You Terrans are as poor at listening as you are at personal hygiene."

  Henry's jaw started working again. He growled, "Help with what?"

  "Well you see, about thirty thousand years ago, when I started this little experiment, I made a bet with one of my sisters. The bet was silly and beneath me, so I forgot about it. I was rather rudely reminded of the whole thing again
about a week ago. It was terrible. So vexing."

  Dolos glared at the ceiling and harrumphed to himself. Jason felt the power rolling off of Dolos increase from irritation. He remembered the stories Mareen had told them about Dolos during their journey, how Dolos had destroyed villages or wiped out civilizations. Actually, now that Jason thought of her, where was Mareen?

  Dolos continued, his voice dour, "Anyway, my sister mentioned that in three to four years, she is going to pit her creation against mine. There will be a war or something to see whose creation is better, and if she destroys too much of Ludus, I might have to start my work all over again. It will be incredibly inconvenient. It took eons of research to get to this point! Do you know what it would be like to create thirty thousand years of careful preparation and study all over again? Of course you don't. Your lives are short and meaningless."

  Jason didn't quite know how to respond to that. He kept his mouth shut. Thankfully, Henry did too.

  Dolos started pacing. "Everything isn't ready yet, but I'm close! I'm so close! Only about a thousand years away from the next breakthrough, and still that franstha is holding me to the bet!"

  He spun on them and put his hands behind his back. "I need generals. In three or four years, maybe ten, whatever, we are going to have a war game. I need you to unite the people on Ludus and become as powerful as possible. I need you to train an army and crush that franstha Apate's creation!

  Jason and Henry looked at each other. Henry said, "Isn't that basically what you told us to do the last time you saw us?"

  "Ah, yes, that's right. Well, that was for fun and research. Wars always give me great data, so it was worth setting you to scurry on your merry way towards violence. However, this is serious." Dolos waved a hand, "Yes, yes, I know. Compensation. Incentives. Even as far removed I am from simple creatures like you, I still know you will want something.

  "So what do you want? You may choose one thing. And no, your request can't be to go back to your home planet. I've put too much into you. I still might send you back if you manage to survive after the war, though. It depends on how well you do."