Azaria 2 - 1

Evening everyone! I hope the week is going well for everyone. As it is the first, I know I will be losing several people over the next couple hours. I will be sad to see everyone go, but those of you still around. Thank you as always for the continued support. I say it a lot, but i'm going to say it again. I couldn't have come this far without the help of everyone here that supports Dungeon Robotics as well as my other stories. Thank you!

Azaria

Terleza stood on the other side of the roof from me. I hadn’t seen her since I first became a dungeon. According to Starburst it was her fault in the first place that I was a dungeon. I frowned as turning to face her completely.

“What do I owe for this visit?” I asked not worrying about being respectful in the least. I hated her after all.

Terleza folded her arms over her chest and looked at me like I was a lab rat. “Hmm. I see your personality as developed quite rapidly. Was it because of the rush of people or the Aether I gave you?”

“I asked you a question!” I shouted pulling my bow across the violin’s strings. A blade of wind tore through the air between us.

Terleza gestured lazily and the wind blade vanished as soon as it touched her. “Careful. I can destroy you in a minute.”

“Then do it!” I was so angry that I realized what I said only after I said it. I ground my teeth and lowered my violin. 

Terleza eyed me with humor. “Yes. That’s it.” There was a rumble of thunder and she glanced into the distance clicking her tongue. “I guess that’s all the time we have for now. You!” She pointed at me as if I was a child. “Reach level five in two months. That’s your mission for now.” 

She snapped her fingers then vanished before I could say anything in response. I stomped my foot annoyed by the woman. Who the hell did she think she was?! While I stared at the spot she vanished from, I felt a tinge from my fingers. Glancing at them, I saw them slowly start to fade to back to their ethereal form.

I heard a commotion from the tents that made up the entrance that the humans used to get into my aura. A woman I felt I should recognize along with a man that gave me the same feeling were loading Lance into an armored truck. 

“What has she gotten herself into now?” With an exasperated sigh, I sank back into my dungeon. “Starburst!”

“Yes. Mistress?” he replied appearing next to me almost instantly.

“Mistress?” I asked. He was using my name or girl for the most part.

“I feel you deserve a bit more respect after standing up to Terleza. I never did like that woman.” 

“I see. Whatever. I’m going to upgrade you. Get ready.”

He neighed and bowed his head. I moved us down to the bottom floor since I didn’t want to risk the humans seeing anything through the windows of the manor. In the theme park area, we stood in the central plaza. Pointing my hand at Starburst, I directed all the Aether I was pulling in from the Aurora above my dungeon and channeled my thoughts of a powerful man.

The Aether took hold of his body lifting him up into the air. The horse like plush shifted until he looked like a man in his twenties. My preferences may have infused it a little as he looked like a prince charming with a handsome face. His horn grew longer from just above his forehead. Black and red armor covered his body since he would have been nude otherwise. White hair went to the small of his back, but it was done in a ponytail.

I burned through nearly half of the Aether I got from my earlier actions of pulling the energy into my dungeon through magic. I hoped that this change would be useful going forward. Starburst slowly floated down and stood in front of me. 

“I never thought I’d have the body of a man again,” he said flexing his hands in front of him. “Ah thumbs. How I’ve missed you.”

“You do look more handsome than the form you had when you tried to kill me,” I commented taking him in.

“What do you expect? This body was created with whatever image you had in mind.” He checked himself in a nearby metal surface. “Which apparently leans towards princes.”

“I did my best,” I said shrugging. I handed him a copy of the scales that Lance had. “I want you to sneak out and track down Lance. She was captured by someone.”

“Why are you helping that mortal so much?” Starburst asked but still took the earring and put it on.

“She’s done a lot for us, but I want to think of her as a friend,” I said though I wasn’t sure about that myself. The strange feeling that I got from the people that took her haunted me as well. I wanted to know why they bugged me so much. 

“If the mortals didn’t outright kill her, then she should be safe for a while. I will look into it.”

“Thank you. I plan to check if I can communicate with the mini-me that is with her a bit later. She appeared unconscious when I saw them take her.”

“Understood. I don’t need to remind you to be careful, do I?”

“No,” I replied with a chuckle. Starburst was checking the movement of his body while I bit my nail. “Hey, hold out your arms.”

“Why?” he asked but did so anyway. I pointed at him and his hard armor shifted to a more comfortable cape and cloth clothing. I dropped my ethereal form into his outstretched arms and leaned on his chest. 

“I always wanted a prince to carry me like this,” I said enjoying the ride. For some reason, Starburst had been the only thing that I could physically touch in this form. I was enjoying the ride, probably more than I should have, when I remembered that I had touched Thomas the other night while still in this form.

There was more to him than met the eye. I mean, I knew that from the beginning, but even more so apparently. “Mistress Azaria. How long do you plan to lounge in my arms?”

“Personally. I could probably stay here all day,” I replied but floated up into the air.

~~

Leaving Starburst to get acquainted with his new form, I moved back up to the manor. This recent event showed me that I could no longer sit back and let the world dictate what happened to me. I needed to know more things. For instants, with Lance captured, I likely wouldn’t get the information on the theme parks. 

This was a flaw I needed to address. I just wasn’t sure how. If I had a cellphone that would give me access to a decent amount of information on its own. I just doubt the mortals would be willing to give a dungeon a cellphone. That’s when I remembered that I had quite a few of the devices already. I swished my hand, and one of the many cellphones that had been left behind by their owners appeared floating over my hands.

Sadly, once it was absorbed by the dungeon, it no longer kept the settings needed to connect to the network. It was like a fresh from the factory device. I reabsorbed it. For now, I need information from at least the going ons of the tent right out side my aura. Thinking about it, I snapped my fingers and created a bunch of the mini-me dolls. Then realized that I needed to control them individually, making them weak as a information collector.

I picked up one of the dolls and focused on creating a doll that would link them all together. The doll in my hand grew a few inches then took a cyber punk appearance with headphones and antenna sticking from its head. Neon cloths replaced the one piece dress the doll had been wearing. 

“Yo! Yo! Yo! DJ Ria in the house!” she said once the magic was done. The dolls around her got up and started dancing as if they were at a rave.

“Hello DJ Ria. Do you know what I need of you?”

“Of course. Mother! I got this!” A see-through keyboard appeared in front of her and she started playing some techno music. As the other dolls danced, their cloths changed to dark outfits that would blend in with the asphalt and shadows of the city. “Time to party!”

The dolls began rushing towards the window and easily cleared the distance to the seal. Without pausing, they were gone. DJ Ria beat her head to her music as more screens appeared in front of her. Looking over her shoulder, I saw it was the sight from the other dolls. 

Most of the dolls were making their way out into the city from the hill behind the manor, but one was carefully making its way towards the tents at the entrance. It had plenty of cover, thanks to the cracks formed from my dungeon rising through the surface. The doll crawled forward slower as it got closer. 

The doll finally reached the cords that fed power to the computers. It followed them until it was under the prop that the computer sat on. From there we could hear everything that was being said by the people in the tent and even outside of it.

“You serious?” A man that looked like a scientist, he had the white coat and everything, said. 

“Yep. It was made official today,” a more police looking guy said. 

“Why though?”

“You got me. I’m still surprised about the criminal they caught today.” 

“What kind of psychopath do you have to be to lure that many people to their deaths?”

The police officer shrugged. “Double checking found that most of them were criminals in their own right, but murder is murder.” 

“Still.”

There was a disturbance at the entrance of the tent then the man dressed all in black I’d seen a few times around my dungeon walked in. This was the closest look I’d ever gotten of him. His face was covered, but he looked like a well built man that was easily over six feet making him quite tall. There appeared to be half a dozen swords attached to his waist that were various lengths.

“Neo! Welcome!” exclaimed the scientist who stood rapidly.

“Come to check your purchase?” the police guy asked with what I thought was a bit of fear in his voice.

“Yes. Your team is still going to be stationed here, so make sure you do a good job,” Neo replied. His tone was even and most people would have thought he was completely civil, but I swore I felt a threat in the last part of his sentence.

“Of… of course!” They replied with a stutter. Neo turned to leave, but I swore I saw him glance at the doll which should have been hidden in the shadow of the computer box above it. It must have been my imagination as he didn’t say anything.

“Neo’s the only one that could purchase a dungeon on his own. Everyone else has to have help from a guild.”

“Still, I wonder what made him buy this dungeon. He’s never sought ownership of the other dungeons in the city.” 

I leaned back with rage coloring my cheeks. That prick had bought my dungeon! Oh. Don’t think I’ll let this stand. I wasn’t an object that people can just buy. I ground my teeth as I went to grab Starburst.