Azaria 2 - 10

Good Evening everyone! Chapter is a bit shorter than I planned, but i feel like it ends nicely, so i decided to leave it. 

Chapter 10: Revelation

Lance

Dropping to the floor back at Luna’s place, I wanted nothing more than to take a nap. The only problem with that idea was that I just gave the woman a magical item that likely caused mind control. Even if that wasn’t the case, it still wouldn’t be wise to relax here.

I groaned before I rolled over and stared at the bottom of the wall with my arms crossed under my head. I felt like I could sleep for a week straight. I needed to borrow some money and find a hotel or something to rest up. It would just have to be a shithole, I couldn’t risk something nicer. The Highlocks might track me down.

“What do you plan to do now?” Luna asked coming back from her kitchen with a sandwich.

“I’m not sure,” I replied, but that wasn’t the truth. I had a revelation on our way back here. I was strong now. That was obvious, but where I had personal strength, I lacked allies. I needed an organization. Even Neo had his Night’s Hammer.

“Want to pay off the rest of your debt?”

I rolled back over and stared at the woman on her couch. “What do you mean?”

She pulled the flute from the bag next to her. “I’d like to hire you for an evening,” she answered.

I groaned again but if it freed me of my debt with her. It might be a good move. If she failed, I was likely going to have the rest of her organization on my ass. I’d rather that not happen. I placed a hand on my forehead and sighed. “Fine. However, I’m tired as fuck, so give me a room in a nearby hotel or something, preferably without cameras.”

“Okay! There is one right down the road that we house, our more… questionable business partners. Do you want to go now?”

I pushed myself up and put the hoodie back on. “Yes.”

“Alright. I’ll call ahead to let them know you’re coming.” She told me the name of the hotel and I nodded tiredly before letting myself out of the apartment.

Trugding down the street carefully, but fast enough not to raise any eyebrows, I was soon at a run down building. I blinked slowly when I saw that there was a hole in the roof and part of the wall to one side of the three story building. Shaking my head, I walked inside.

“My friend should have called ahead,” I said once I came to the front counter. A man that looked dead in the eyes nodded slowly before he handed me a keycard. I took it actually worried that they had employed a zombie or something. The man had only taken two breaths during the exchange.

I glanced at the card and saw it was for the third floor and grimaced, hoping it wouldn’t be the room missing the roof and wall. A quick climb of some stairs and I came to the third floor. One of the rooms had a big red X painted over its door and I breathed in relief that it wasn’t my goal.

The keycard fought with me, but on the tenth try, the lock finally clicked and I was inside. Quickly locking and bolting the door, I moved the dresser in front of it as well. An easy feat given my strength. I dropped to the bed ignoring the smell and stared at the ceiling. I wanted to laugh when I saw cracks on it from the room next to mine. Seriously, what happened?

I stayed like that for almost an hour before I sat up. I wanted to rest, but my Harvest ability would make me rest whether I wanted to or not, in a minute after I finished absorbing all the treasures I gained from the dungeon host. Before that, I needed to talk to someone. Pulling Azaria’s doll from my pocket, I tapped it a few times.

A few minutes passed with no response. I wasn’t too worried though. I had little idea how this worked, but I’m sure she couldn’t pay attention all the time. Finally, the doll started moving sluggishly before it picked up speed.

The doll stretched like a person might after just waking up. She looked around before finally turning to me. “You’re pretty far from the dungeon. Almost on the other side of the city.

“Yeah. I’m a… guest at a friend’s place,” I replied with a shrug. “Maybe business partner would be better.”

“I see.” The doll looked me up and down. “You’re pretty determined to give up your humanity, aren’t you?”

I chuckled and twisted my arm so the scythe extended then twisted it again so it came back. “Maybe. This is how my power grows, so I might as well get used to it.”

The doll clapped her hands together. “I’ve had much the same thought lately. Everyone thinks they can just walk over me. I’ll show them!” she shouted taking a fighting pose.

“Walk over you?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “You’ve killed more divers than most dungeons can claim.”

“Thank you for your assistance in that matter,” Azaria retorted doing a Japanese bow. I pursed my lips but didn’t retort. “Speaking of, why did you want to speak to me?”

“Ah. That’s right. I went into Station twenty-one earlier today. She asked me to pass on her greetings.”

“Station twenty-one. Huh,” the doll said taking a considering pose. “What was her dungeon like?”

“Lots of forests and bugs. Nothing much to write home about, but unlike yours her theme started on the first floor and didn’t change all the way down. She has six floors, but I only reached the bottom of the fourth before we made a deal and I left.”

“A deal?”

“Just a trade. I had something she wanted and she had something I wanted,” I replied waving my hand. I liked Azaria, but I wasn’t about to give away all my secrets. Though, if the dungeons could communicate which I gathered from Twenty-one knowing Azaria, then it likely wouldn’t matter in the long run.

“I understand.” The doll looked away for a second, but I could tell she was looking at something on her end. “Neo’s goons are diving the dungeon. I’ve crushed three of the four parties. I plan to go four for four but sometime tells me that it won’t be that easy.”

“Neo is diving the dungeon?!” I asked unable to hide my shock. From what I knew Neo’s organization dealt with external threats to the city. Sure, his people might dive a few dungeons to increase their level, but it was more of a private deal.

“Yes. All four parties today have been from his group.”

“What did you do…” I started but trailed off shaking my head. Azaria was the only known dungeon to take her dungeon from underground. She was clearly different and a threat. I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that Neo was so active in dealing with her. “Be careful. Neo… is a monster in human flesh. Nothing has ever hurt him before.”

The doll shook her head then did something that a doll shouldn’t be able to do. It smiled, no it grinned. “I’ve killed a god, some human that got lucky when they were handing out powers doesn’t scare me. I’ve got to go!”

I stared as the doll flopped forward in my lap lifeless. Did I hear that right!? Did she say she had killed a god?! I carefully put the doll back in my pocket with just a bit more respect. I didn’t feel like Azaria was lying, but if she was telling the truth, that meant there were beings that could be called gods walking amongst us.

“I can’t hold back anymore,” I whispered to myself as I opened my storage. If Neo wasn’t the tip of the ice, and there were monsters that were even stronger than him. I had to do everything in my means to gain power. Even if it meant throwing away my humanity. Life as a monster was still better than being dead.

First, I grabbed the cellphone from my storage and quickly powered it on. I had Luna’s number memorized. “Hello? Who is this?”

“Luna. I want to make a deal.”

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