The Dungeon Fairy: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 1) by Jonathan Brooks (read novel full .txt) 📕

He sounded almost like he was pleading with her for information, which was quite possible; his mind must’ve been so confused after what he had seen that he was having trouble holding it all together.  Seeing his Bonded Dungeon Core Teleport into danger, use two Abilities that only Dungeon Assistant Fairies could use, and then let the two Raiders go free without any explanation was nowhere in the realm of “normal”.  Maybe I can convince him that it was just another strange quirk of mine, sort of like how my Core keeps cracking when I use too much Dungeon Force.

“C’mon, I saw the notification after you did something I’ve never heard of before.  What is this Bond thing you did with the two Raiders?  And what does it mean that you can now create Hill Dwarves?”

He saw that?  The thought of trying to trick him into believing that she had some more quirks was quickly dashed.  In a panic, she considered dissolving his Bond with her so that she wouldn’t have to explain herself, but she stopped when she remembered how horrible it felt when it was done to her.  It wasn’t nearly as bad as when her Bond was forcefully broken, but it had enough impact on her that she didn’t want to inflict that on him.  Am I going soft?  Is this why I didn’t want those Raiders to die?  She internally resolved to squash those feelings of empathy towards those who were invading her dungeon in the future, because that wouldn’t be good for anyone.

But she couldn’t squash her feelings towards Shale.  She had been in his position too many times to remember, with a Core that wasn’t playing by the rules; too many things were adding up concerning her behavior, which indicated that something was seriously wrong, and she was honestly tired of hiding who she was anyway.  Tacca was pretty sure that it was the stupidest decision she could make, but that day had already been full of stupid decisions…and really, what was one more?

So, she told him…almost everything.

She explained her experiences with the other Cores, how her “bad luck” seemed to follow her everywhere she went, the circumstances that led to her current state of being, and finally about the unique Bond Ability that she came to acquire.  The only thing she left out from her admission was her communication with the two Raiders, because that was “technically” the only thing that she had done that was against regulations for a Core to do.  She assumed that lying about how her former body had really died was probably against some sort of regulation as well, but since it was hers, she didn’t feel that bad about it.

Shale stayed quiet through her entire explanation, not even asking questions, and when she was done with her story he continued to be silent.  His Mood Clothes had gradually drifted towards a pure white about halfway through her monologue, which she had never actually seen before.  It continued that way even after she was done, and he just fluttered in front of her Core with his white Clothes and a blank expression on his face.  I think I broke him.

Tacca stayed quiet while Shale figured out what he wanted to say or do, which apparently wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.  In the meantime, she worked on replacing the creatures that she had taken out of her dungeon at the appearance of the two Hill Dwarves, including her entire Boss Room.  The traps that had been activated and the creatures that had been slain were already being automatically replaced – because she hadn’t messed with them – but the elements of her defense required her special attention.  It didn’t actually take that long to replace everything but the Spiked Pit Traps, which she figured she would work on over the next hour or so.

Just as she had everything else done, Shale’s mind kicked back into the present, and his Mood Clothes started changing colors.  First it was the blood red of “extreme anger” – which was understandable – and then a swirl of “fear” yellow and “despondent” black, before it switched to a dark blue of…actually, Tacca wasn’t really sure.  She thought it might be something like “resigned acceptance”, if that made sense.

“I…really don’t know how to react. Obviously, I’ve seen too much to discount what you told me as a wild tale, so I’m nearly obligated to believe you.  What I do with that knowledge, though…I’m not really sure,” he finally said, surprising Tacca.

“I thought you were set here as sort of a spy to find out what happened to Tac—me?  Are you going to go back and tell Lily what really happened?” she asked, hoping that he would say no.

He was silent for almost a minute, and his Mood Clothes shifted colors in what was likely an argument going on in his mind.  Eventually, it settled back to the dark blue it had been before.  “I…think that I’m going to have to.  I will understand if you want to dissolve the Bond with me – I won’t hold it against you.  This is certainly not your fault, though it’s possible that your ‘bad luck’ may have played a part, but this needs to be reported so that the Council knows that something like this could happen – even if it’s unlikely to happen again,” he finally said, which made Tacca a little worried.  She knew that something like this would happen, and she was a fool to think that she could’ve kept her secret long enough to get away without the Council knowing.

Shale opened and closed his mouth a couple of times as if he was trying to decide upon something.  “However—” he finally said— “I’m not going to mention these other abilities and…quirks…of yours unless I’m directly asked about them.  There are some things that should remain a