Taylor winced, rubbing at her sore cheek, as she sat huddled beside a fuming Amy and waited for her ravens to report back. She'd never have imagined that a healer, one that wasn't exactly well-known for actively participating in raids at that, would pack such a powerful punch -or slap, perhaps more accurately, in this case-, but Amy most assuredly did. And she hadn't been shy about smacking her again, though it was fortunately on the shoulder the second time around, when Taylor had revealed that she'd actually had the ability to scout out the entire damn dungeon ahead of time so that they knew exactly what they were getting into.
"I'm going to kill you, Taylor, if we don't die in this fucking dungeon first." the other girl finally growled, speaking for the first time in nearly thirty minutes, glowering at Taylor in a distinctly dagger-like way. "I'm going to kill you, then fix you up again, just to make sure you know how much of a dumbass you are. Consider that a promise."
Taylor winced again, more from Amy's words than the lingering sting on her cheek. "I said I was sorry! It's not like I've had this System thing for very long. I'm still figuring it out!" she protested, and Amy rolled her eyes expressively.
"That doesn't make it better, dummy!" she scoffed, jabbing a finger through a tear in Taylor's shirt to prod freshly-restored skin. "You, what, thought that the best way to figure out what the System was and how it worked was to crawl out of your hospital bed the same day you woke up and go haring off into a solo dungeon with no preparation or practice? Not exactly a genius, fool-proof plan! Add your little mistake with your stat points, and I'm starting to doubt the story that you saved everyone by using your big brain to solve some sort of riddle, puzzle, thing!"
Taylor flinched at the verbal jab, looking away as her shoulders hunched defensively. "I wasn't exactly thinking clearly, okay? I just... I needed to do something. To prove I wasn't useless." Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper, the tone bitter and even, perhaps, a bit resentful. " You're a Talented S-rank healer, one of the best in the entire world. You have no idea…you don't know what it's like, being an E-rank! Everyone laughing at you, treating you like deadweight, not caring if you live or die. The System offered me a chance to actually matter. I couldn't ignore the opportunity."
Amy's expression softened slightly despite her determination to remain angry, though she didn't exactly fall all over herself to apologize. "Look, I get wanting to prove yourself, but there are safer ways to go about it than this death trap. And if you have to do something like this, at the very least you can make sure that you're properly prepared before coming in."
Before Taylor could respond, or even decide how she was going to respond to that, one of her raven's flitted out of the shadows to land on the stone floor in front of them. Hopping in the awkward way that birds did, it's copper-fire green eyes burning as it considered the two of them, tilting it's head from left to right before squawking softly at Taylor and tapping the floor.
"Is it…is it telling you something?" Amy asked slowly, watching with bemused fascination, and Taylor nodded in confirmation.
"Not exactly talking, not yet anyway, but yeah, something like that" Taylor replied, reaching out to stroke the raven's sleek feathers. "I can see through their eyes and hear what they hear. This one's been scouting the next floor down, and it found something it wants to show me."
"Show you? Not tell you?" Amy asked, eyeing the spectral bird as 'bemused fascination' was replaced by 'mild discomfort and wariness', and it occurred to Taylor that she'd told Amy about The System, but not about her Talent. Well, she wasn't going to do that right now, she had just gotten the girl to start softening towards her a bit, she didn't want to undue all of that progress. "That seems... ominous."
Taylor closed her eyes, her expression shifting from concentration to surprise as she connected with her familiar's memories. The raven's perspective flashed through her mind as it showed her what had caught it's interest: swooping through darkened corridors, weaving between rusted car frames, and finally coming to rest on an overturned delivery truck. A delivery truck that was surrounded by another pack of wolves, a full dozen of them at least, and she had little doubt that they weren't the only ones on the floor. What was far more interesting, however, was the fact that there was a thirteenth wolf -one that was at least twice as large as the others, with silver—streaked ink-black fur- in the middle of all of them, a large and gleaming piece of metal on a chain hung around its neck. Half of a key, maybe?
"Shit…" Taylor muttered, opening her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, even as her familiar squawked and took to the air again. "I think I found our boss, or at least a mini-boss. There's a huge wolf on the next floor down with something shiny around its neck. Part of a key, maybe."
"Of course there is. Because this nightmare couldn't possibly get any easier. What's the deal with the key? You said it was part of one?" Amy groaned unhappily, slumping down to rest her chin on her knees with an expression that could only be called a pout. Which Taylor found to be quite cute, if she was going to be honest, not that she would ever be stupid enough to say that out loud, given the circumstances.
"Yeah. If I had to guess, it's like some of the older games I've played. You need to get the pieces of the key to be able to actually enter the boss room and clear the dungeon. So, there's going to be at least one more mini-boss in addition to this one, and that one will probably have just as many friends with it as this one does."
"Friends? You didn't mention friends. How many wolves are we talking about here, Taylor?" Amy asked sharply, and Taylor grimaced.
"At least a dozen with the mini-boss." she admitted reluctantly, already anticipating Amy's reaction. "Maybe more, if there are others scattered around the floor. They're guarding it like some kind of pack alpha, from the looks of things."
Amy's expression cycled through several stages of disbelief before settling on resigned horror. "A dozen. A dozen wolves, plus a mini-boss that's twice the size of the others." She laughed, a hollow sound devoid of humor and sounding distinctly brittle. "We barely survived six of them, and that was with me having to bash their skulls in with a pipe. How exactly are we supposed to handle double that number?"
"Well, I've basically doubled all of my combat stats, and more than doubled my HP. If we're smart about it, we should be fine. Plus, I got that Health Potion from the last fight, which means I can basically restore my HP to full in the time it takes me to swallow it." was the response, which seemed to slightly reassure the healer, though it was only slightly.
"A health potion." Amy echoed, her voice flat. "One health potion, Taylor. Against a dozen wolves and their oversized leader." She rubbed her temples, leaving smudges of dirt and dried blood across her forehead. "Great. Just great."
"Yeah, but, I mean…I'm pretty close to levelling up, you know? And if this System is anything like most RPGs, when you level up you get your HP and Mana fully restored. I figure that I'll level up with one or two more wolves, and probably again after I kill the rest of them. If I keep hurting the mini-boss the whole time, I should be fine." Taylor assured her, and it was obvious that Amy found that far more reassuring than the health potion. Likely because she could do basic math and realize that Taylor had the theoretical ability to restore herself to full health three times in a row without any assistance from Amy herself.
"That's…not the best plan in the world, but it's not the worst either." she muttered, running a hand through her hair, rolling her eyes at the way Taylor perked up slightly, even as it caused a slight pang in her heart. God, was the other girl really so eager for someone to pay her compliments that she got happy about something as milquetoast as that? Way to make her feel like a cunt for getting pissed… "And you already did okay killing them before, so it should be even easier now, right?"
"Yeah, exactly! From the looks of things, the twelve regular wolves are the same exact type we already killed, so that shouldn't be a big issue. Just numbers, really. I mean, I doubt I'll be getting one-hit-kills, unless I crit, but it won't be a slogging match either." Taylor confirmed, nodding sharply and firmly. "And it will just keep getting easier the more I level up."
"Alright, fine, whatever. So we're going with that. And what, exactly, will I be doing during all of this? Because hiding in the corner trying not to get noticed didn't exactly work out so well last time." Amy moved onto the next issue, determined that there would be something resembling a plan this time around, and Taylor looked very much like she wanted to shrug, though she was wise enough not to actually do it.
"You'll be staying up here, of course. And with that club of yours in hand." Taylor's voice was light, but her words and eyes were serious. She had no intention of letting Amy get hurt in this dungeon, come Hell or high water, and she most certainly wasn't taking someone that was essentially untrained in combat into a fight where they'd be outnumbered the better part of six-to-one. For one thing, she'd not put what amounted to an innocent victim of happenstance in danger for her own sake, and for another she knew better. Inexperienced and untrained fighters were dangerous to themselves and their allies just as much -likely more, in fact- as they were to their enemies.
Far from appearing relieved or pleased about the fact that she would be getting left behind, Amy's face instead immediately flushed with indignation and frustration. "Like hell I will! I'm not sitting up here twiddling my thumbs like a princess while you go get torn to pieces!"
"Amy, be reasonable—"
"No, you be reasonable! Those things almost killed you when you had me as backup and healing you on the spot! Even with your fancy new stats, facing a dozen of them plus some super-wolf is suicide." Amy crossed her arms, her expression hardening into something that reminded Taylor of her mother when she was in a particularly immovable mood. "Besides, I've killed two of them already. The System even says I've gained a level in Improvised Weapons."
"You got lucky, Amy, and you know it." Taylor shot back, folding her own arms and taking advantage of what paltry height advantage that she had to stare down the other girl. "You got two crits out of your, what, three or four attacks? You've never fought before, you said yourself you've basically never been in or on raids before." Amy opened her mouth, only to fall silent as Taylor -quite daringly- reached out and put a finger to her lips. "You're also an S-rank Healer, Amy, a Talented one. Your life is worth way more than mine is. Even if I was willing to let you put yourself at risk, even if I could square that with my own conscience -which, to be clear, I cannot-, I couldn't possibly let you risk your life in a place like this. You're too important for that."
Amy's eyes, sharp with pain and hot with anger, narrowed, and she batted Taylor's finger away from her lips with enough force to make the other girl wince.
"Don't you dare!" she snarled, jabbing her own finger into Taylor's chest, hard enough to make her wince again. "Don't you dare use that 'you're too important' crap on me! I've heard it my entire life, and I'm fucking sick of it! Do you have any idea what it's like? Being treated like a precious commodity instead of a person? Being kept wrapped in cotton and shielded from everything because your power is too valuable to risk? Followed around by guards at all hours of the day, never having any privacy, never getting to just have fun and do whatever I want whenever I want like everybody else? I fucking hate it, Taylor, and I'm not going to fucking put up with it from you of all people."
Taylor opened her mouth to reply, or to ask why she in particular was any different, but Amy wasn't finished by any stretch of the imagination.
"And don't think I missed what you said about your own life being worth less than mine. That's bullshit, Taylor. Complete and utter bullshit." Her voice dropped to a dangerous, silken whisper. "Nobody's life is worth more or less than anyone else's. Not mine, not yours, not The Founders. And don't give me any of that bullshit about 'what we can contribute to the world' or whatever philosophical shit I'm sure you're thinking up right now. You have people who love you, just like I do, and somehow I don't think the fact that I'm a super-special healer would make them miss you any less."
Taylor flinched at the verbal body blow, her determination to refuse crumbling almost instantly in the face of Amy's raw emotion. The healer's words struck deeper than she wanted to admit, especially since she couldn't argue with the logic. Her parents would be devastated if she didn't come home. After everything they'd already been through with the Double Dungeon incident, after having her die and then be brought back to them by a miracle, losing her again -especially so quickly- would destroy them. And her sister…God, Rosie had been a mess when they'd spoken on the phone. She had tried to pretend otherwise, but thinking Taylor had died seemed to have almost killed her. Could she really do that to her again, this time for real?
No, no she couldn't. On the other hand…
"I..." Taylor's voice faltered, her shoulders slumping. "I just want to keep you safe, Amy. All I've ever wanted was to keep people safe, I dreamed my entire life about being a Hunter so I could do exactly that, and now you're asking me to help you put yourself in danger for my sake. I can't do that."
"And I appreciate that, really I do. But I'm not asking you anything, Taylor. I'm telling you what I'm going to do. Maybe when you're not constantly on the verge of death, I'll let you boss me around, but until then I'm going to take anything you tell me to do with a grain of salt, alright?" Amy said softly, tentatively reaching out to pull the other girl into a brief hug, one that both of them found themselves enjoying for as long as it lasted, before stepping away and clearing her throat with pinkened cheeks. "Alright. So. We're in this together, whether you like it or not, but I'm not dumb. I know you're the real fighter between the two of us. But I can make sure nothing attacks you from behind, I can heal you in a pinch, and even if I can't kill as quickly as you can, I can hurt them and make it easier for you to finish them off. Which will get you those levels faster, right?"
"Yeah, I guess that's true…" Taylor admitted reluctantly, the corners of her mouth turning downward even as she nodded. "Okay, so we're in this together. But you stay behind me, got it? And if I tell you to run, you run. No arguing, no hesitation, and more importantly no heroics. Understood?"
Amy seemed to recognize that this, at least, Taylor would not be compromising on, no matter what arguments or threats were made. It was a line in the sand, a firm one, and she nodded even as she frowned faintly. Huffing softly in satisfaction, Taylor flourished her blades and turned towards the ramp to the next level. It was time for the next fight.
##################################################################
Three hours, forty-eight wolves, and four minibosses later, Taylor and Amy were standing outside of the final, locked door that the garage possessed, completed key -and pin pad code- in hand. Their blood-stained clothes were in tatters, now, showing large amounts of intriguing skin to one another, with the result being some appreciative and mostly-subconscious glances going in both directions, though by some chance or miracle neither seemed to catch the other doing so. Each was also not quite the same young woman that had first entered the dungeon, either, with Taylor now sitting a full dozen levels higher than when they had entered and Amy had grown to have no small amount of skill when it came to Improvised Weapons. She was now actually capable of fighting, to a greater or lesser degree, which meant Taylor was slightly less terrified by the idea of continuing to let her be present during the fighting.
Pulling up her status window, she soaked in -not for the first time tonight, and certainly not for the last- the improvement so blatantly and starkly displayed there.
Name: Taylor Hebert
Class: Not Applicable
Level: 14
HP: 2100/2100
MP: 1650/1650
STR: 30
DEX: 30
CON: 20
INT: 19
WIS: 15
CHR: 14
LUK: 20
Available Stat Points: 0
Available Skill Points: 0
Reward Stat Points to Be Distributed: None
Grinning to herself, Taylor closed the window with a satisfied gesture and turned to Amy, who was leaning against a nearby concrete pillar with her arms folded beneath her breasts, inadvertently pushing them up and together, straining what was left of her scrubs to their very limit. Something that Taylor worked very hard to ignore, opting instead for 'cool, calm, and casual', or at least what she hoped qualified at any rate.
"Ready for the boss fight, Amy?" she asked, spinning one of her crystal blades idly in a motion that had become almost second nature over the last few hours, despite the fact that she would have been more likely to cut her own arm off if she had done it back before she'd been killed. She took a moment to marvel at how natural the twin blades had started to feel in her hands
Amy gave her a look that could only be described as withering, though Taylor now had high enough Charisma and Intelligence to recognize the glint of amusement in the other girl's eyes despite the expression on her face. "No, I thought I'd take a quick nap first. Maybe order a pizza, get my nails done." She reached out with one hand and wrapped it around the haft of her weapon -no longer a simple pipe, but a heavy piece of rebar with a chunk of concrete still attached to one end, torn from the ground in a moment of desperation when her pipe had finally given up the ghost- as she jerked her chin towards the door. "Of course I'm ready. So go ahead and open the fucking thing so we can wrap this up and head home. Preferably sometime before someone notices we're missing and turns the entire fucking city upside down in an effort to find us."
Taylor grimaced, the casual reminder that Amy had a life outside this dungeon —an important life, one where people would be frantically looking for her— sending a fresh (or, rather, renewed) pang of guilt through her chest. She'd been so caught up in their adventure, in the exhilaration of growing stronger, that she'd almost forgotten the real-world consequences waiting for them.
"Right. Let's do this then." She inserted the completed key into the lock, hearing a satisfying click as the tumblers aligned. Her fingers tapped the code they'd pieced together from various clues throughout the garage levels 3-0-3-4 and the reinforced door slid open with a groan of protesting metal.
Beyond lay shadows deeper than anything that they had encountered so far, the faint outlines of emergency generators and other machinery looming in the gloom, all surrounded by a shallow pool of water. The stench of wet fur and something rotten wafted out an instant later, making both girls recoil instinctively and cover their noses.
"Smells like dog breath mixed with roadkill and shit. Remind me why people like dogs so much?" Amy groaned, and Taylor barked out a laugh as she stepped up to the threshold.
"You can play with them, trust them with your kids, they'll love you forever, and they'll eat anyone that tries to break into your house." she recited, giving the word-for-word answer she had received as a child when she had asked Kurt and Lacey -arguably her dad's second-in-commands at the DWU- a very similar question. "Breed permitting, of course."
"Oh, yes, of course." Taylor could hear the other girl rolling her eyes behind her as she stepped into the boss room, Tanha and Gilati held at the ready.
The room was pitch black for several seconds after they entered, the door falling shut behind them with an ominous thud that echoed through the vast space. Then, one by one, emergency lights flickered to life, casting an eerie red glow across the maintenance level. The space was far larger than Taylor had expected, stretching out before them like some sort of haunted mechanical graveyard. Hulking generators, massive electrical panels, and tangles of pipes created a labyrinth of industrial equipment, all looking like they'd give someone enough tetanus in a single cut to have them drop dead in an instant.
"I don't like this, Taylor." Amy whispered, the sound echoing unnaturally loud despite how softly she was speaking, gripping her makeshift weapon tighter as she scanned the shadows. "It's too quiet, and there is way too much stuff in here for something to hide behind."
"Yeah, dark too." Taylor whispered back, her own eyes narrowed as she scanned the dark corners of the room. "Perfect ambush territory. Stay close to me, let me know the minute that you see anything."
As if in response, which it very likely was, a low, rumbling growl echoed through the chamber, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once as the echoes made pinpointing exactly where it came from completely impossible. Taylor tensed, shifting her grip on her weapons as she continued to scan the shadows carefully.
"There!" Amy hissed a handful of heartbeats later, one arm and hand jabbing into her field of view and pointing toward a massive tangle of pipes and wiring that dominated the far wall.
Taylor followed her finger just in time to see a pair of glowing silver eyes materialize in the darkness. They were easily the size of a small plate, hovering at least eight feet off the ground and surrounded by faintly shimmering blue-white spikes. The eyes blinked once, slowly, deliberately, before a massive silhouette began to emerge from the shadows.
It wasn't a wolf. Not really. Not anything like the beautiful creatures from National Geographic or at the Zoo in appearance. But then again, neither had the others been, and she couldn't help but acknowledge that this beast most certainly looked like it was their previous enemies' boss. It had the same long, lanky appearance, the same almost comically-oversized horizontal ears, the same cat-like tail and feet sporting long, talon-like claws.
[Taoquan, the Ghost Hound] the words above his head declared, and Taylor couldn't help but close her eyes briefly in despair as Amy hissed, incredulous at the baleful crimson glow of his name. Even after everything that they had done, after leveling up a full dozen times, killing every enemy that they had come across, he was still that far above her. The massive canine advanced, its paws making no sound despite the shallow water that covered parts of the floor, though at least it created wakes -too small for something of its size, but wakes all the same- with its paws and tail as it casually stalked towards them. As it moved into the dim red emergency lighting, Taylor could see it more clearly. It was easily the size of a small car, with fur that seemed to shift between solid and not. One moment matted and coarse, the next translucent and flowing like smoke. The spikes she'd glimpsed earlier were actually crystalline formations jutting from its shoulders and spine, each one glowing with the same cold blue-white light as its eyes.
"Holy shit…" Amy breathed in something very like horror, her voice barely audible even in the silence of the chamber. A sentiment that Taylor agreed with entirely, but she didn't have the time to think -never mind act- before the beast exploded into motion, charging towards them with bared teeth.
"Move!" Taylor shouted, shoving Amy aside as she dove in the opposite direction, sending the healer rolling across the water-covered floor with a squeal of surprise and disgust. The massive jaws snapped through empty air where they had been standing just moments before, the force of the beast's charge carrying it past them. Its claws skidded across the wet concrete as it wheeled around, silver eyes tracking them both with predatory, bestial intelligence.
Taylor rolled to her feet, Tanha and Gilati glinting in the dim red light as she weaved them slightly through the air, Taoquan's eyes tracking their movements with something that could only be called dim understanding. It wasn't smart, not the way a human was, not sentient. But it was intelligent enough to recognize a threat to itself, and she swallowed heavily as its health-bar flickered into view, taking in the staggering amount of 10,000. She'd known that this wouldn't be an easy fight, that had been obvious from the outset, but…God, that was a lot of HP.
"Amy, stay back and keep moving! Don't let it corner you and don't do anything to draw it's attention unless you have to!" she called over her shoulder, circling away from her companion and tapping her blades together to keep its attention. The ghostly spikes along its spine pulsed brighter, and Taylor barely had time to throw herself sideways as a bolt of spectral energy erupted from its jaws, flickering through the air to blast a small, smoldering crater in the wall behind her. A crater that burned with ethereal flames, and Taylor growled. "Great, ranged attacks with a DOT. Fucking fantastic…"
"What the hell is a DOT?" Amy shouted from behind a tangle of pipes, her voice slightly muffled as she peered around the edge to watch Taylor dodge another spectral bolt that left more ghostly flames in its wake.
"Damage Over Time!" Taylor yelled back, rolling beneath a swipe of massive claws that would have taken her head off. "Those flames will keep burning you even after the initial hit, and probably be hard to put out! Stay away from them!"
Taoquan snarled, the sound cutting through their 'conversation' like a jagged blade, and lunged at Taylor again. She barely managed to catch its teeth on her crossed blades, the impact sending her skidding back several feet through the shallow water, her arms trembling with the effort of holding those massive jaws at bay.
"Taylor!" Amy screamed in response, emerging from her cover with her makeshift maul raised high, letting loose with a wild and wordless battlecry as she barreled down on their enemy. Taoquan's head snapped around at the sound, it's eyes locking onto the new threat. A momentary distraction was all Taylor needed. She twisted her blades with a grunt of effort, forcing the beast's jaws wider and creating just enough space to roll away before those massive teeth could snap shut again.
"Amy, no!" Taylor shouted, but it was too late. The healer was already mid-swing, her concrete-tipped rebar whistling through the air toward Taoquan's flank. The makeshift weapon connected with a meaty thud, sending ripples through the ghost hound's semi-translucent fur.
The beast barely seemed to notice the blow, its attention fully locked on this new, softer target. With frightening speed, it twisted its massive body and lunged at Amy, jaws agape. Taylor's heart stopped as she saw those massive teeth about to close around the healer's midsection.
"No!" she screamed, hurling herself forward with every ounce of strength her enhanced body could muster. Tanha arced through the air, driving deep into Taoquan's shoulder just before its teeth could reach Amy. The beast howled, rearing back in pain and fury, its attack disrupted and its attention well and truly drawn back to Taylor.
"Get back!" Taylor gasped, yanking her blade free in a spray of luminescent blue-white blood that hissed and steamed where it hit the water, even as Gilati scored a deep line down the monster's flank. "I told you to stay hidden!"
Amy scrambled backward, eyes wide with terror, having perhaps grown too confident in her increased combat abilities and now been starkly reminded of her limitations. "I was trying to help!"
"Help by staying alive!" Taylor snapped, ducking under another swipe of those massive claws. The beast was faster than anything its size had any right to be, but she was starting to get a feel for the way it fought, and the tight quarters -while less than ideal for either of them- was hindering Taoquan's movements far more than it was her far-smaller self.
How long the fighting raged on from there, she didn't know, lost in the haze of violence and adrenaline, the thrill of fear and wrath, exchanging blows with something that far outclassed her. Her tattered clothing became little more than scraps, her skin littered with marks both bloody and faded, and she knew that it was only due to Amy that the former was far fewer than the latter. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, she wasn't the only one that had been injured, either. Though Amy's wounds, those few that had been received, had been negligible -and, as it turns out, her healing detriment only applied when she tried to heal Taylor, not herself, and thank God for it- she had still been wounded several times all the same.
Still, they had the beast on the ropes, had taken its measure and figured out its patterns and movements. Then Taoquan found itself reduced to a mere quarter of its total HP, and things immediately and promptly went sideways as its spine-spikes shimmered and the entire beast faded from view like a ghost.
"Fuck!" Taylor spun around wildly, blades raised defensively as she tried to locate her now-invisible enemy. The shallow water still rippled where the beast had been standing, but the disturbances quickly stilled, leaving no trace of Taoquan's position, and she swallowed heavily. This was not good. "Amy, get to higher ground! Now!"
Amy scrambled onto a nearby generator, hauling her makeshift weapon up after herself with white-knuckled hands. "Where is it? Can you see anything?"
"No, nothing—!" Taylor's words cut off as she felt a rush of displaced air behind her. She dove forward instinctively, rolling through the water as ghostly jaws snapped shut inches from her leg. A flicker of translucent fur was all she glimpsed before the beast vanished again.
"It's still here!" she called out, rising to a crouch with her back against a concrete pillar. A moment later, a flicker of blue-white flames and a scream from Amy heralded Taoquan's next attack, as it spat a bolt at the healer -standing up as she was, framed against open air, she was an easy target- and struck her directly in the back.
"AMY!" Taylor screamed, watching in horror as the healer pitched forward off of the generator, writhing as the ghostly flames clung to her body, trying desperately to put them out or escape them. She darted forward in the same instant, faster than most Olympians could get off the mark, but she was still too far away and the generator wasn't that tall.
Amy hit the water with a splash, the impact momentarily smothering some of the spectral fire but not extinguishing it completely. Instead, the blue-white flames continued to lick at her clothes and skin as she thrashed, the sound of pain and panic echoing off of the walls.
"Hold on!" Taylor reached her, frantically and fruitlessly trying to pat out the flames with her bare hands, ignoring the burning pain that was the only real result as her efforts to help Amy consumed her attention.
It wasn't working, though, and neither was the water. That didn't leave much in the way of options, and the moment that Taylor's efforts showed her that the fire was clinging to Amy's clothes, not to her skin, the solution was immediately obvious. Gripping the other girl's shirt with both hands, she promptly tore it in half and tossed it aside, leaving the mousey brunette wearing nothing more -on the upper half of her body, at any rate- than a simple black cotton bra. The wet fabric splashed into the puddle-covered floor with a splat, sending up a small spray of water, and Taylor heaved a sigh of relief as the remaining spectral flames hissed and sputtered before finally dying out.
"T-thanks…" Amy gasped softly, grimacing and breathing heavily, her pale skin reddened and angry in patches where the flames had managed to burn her through the layers of cloth, but she seemed none the worse for wear, and even as Taylor watched in relief, healing magic washed over that self-same skin and started to wipe away the damage.
Said relief vanished as she heard a low growl directly behind her. Her muscles tensed, but before she could turn, something slammed into her side, sending her flying across the maintenance room. She crashed into a tangle of pipes, metal edges cutting into her flesh as her HP dropped by nearly a quarter in a single hit, before she fell face-first into the water. She didn't even have the time, or the breath, to scream as agony erupted. A muffled scream of her name had her struggling to her knees, her vision swimming, and through the haze of pain she saw Taoquan's massive form advancing on Amy.
"S-stop…" she rasped, trying to crawl forward, fumbling blindly in the dark as she tried to find her weapons. She could feel them, somehow, singing to her from the darkness. A resonant song, crystal and water, pure and clear, so why couldn't she see them? Why couldn't she find them? A swipe had Amy tumbling back, her own HP dropping from the glancing blow, her weapon left behind from her earlier fall and her immense magical power useless to harm or protect. All she could do was heal herself, but how long before a blow knocked her unconscious? "No-no…leave her alone…!"
Taoquan didn't listen to her, of course, having dismissed her as a threat for the moment and choosing instead to focus on her companion. Her…her friend? Was Amy her friend? The closest thing she had right now, perhaps, and whatever Amy was, she was in danger because of Taylor. She had to stop him, protect her. She couldn't, she wouldn't, let him hurt her. No matter what.
Get up!
The frantic thought blazed, thundered, through Taylor's mind as she struggled to her feet, spitting out filthy water and taking a shambling step forward. Her back screamed where Taoquan had struck her, where she had hit the wall, but she couldn't give in to the pain. Not now. Not with Amy defenseless against that monster.
She could feel her swords calling to her, their crystalline song vibrating through her bones, thrumming through her veins in time with her heartbeat. Married Blades, the System had called them. Never meant to be apart. Not from each other, and God willing, not from her. She reached out with her right hand, fingers splayed, focusing on that song, that pull.
"Come back to me. Please. I need you. Amy needs you." she whispered, pleased, prayed, and a thread snapped into place from her left, a thread she tugged on sharply, firmly, hopefully.
Tanha shot through the darkness in response, hilt-first, slapping into her palm with a satisfying sound and a sudden weight. The moment her fingers closed around it, she felt Gilati's song grow stronger, more insistent. Taylor extended her other hand, and the second blade flew to her grip not so much as a heartbeat later.
{̷̼͙́Ä̸͔́̌b̶̗̰͘͘ĭ̶̡̛͍l̷̝̈́i̷̺̼̋t̵̼̼̚y̸͚̝̅͋ ̷̙̉̕Ù̸̗̆n̵͇̂̆l̸̺͂͠o̶̥͇͒c̵͚̚͘ḱ̴̞̏:̵̙͑ ̷̼̘̿D̵̫̥̕ư̴͖̋t̸̬̦̆y̷̮͂ ̴̞̠̈́̐ö̵͇͖̉f̴͚̰͌̑ ̴̺̔t̴͈͊h̴̛̝̰e̷̞̠͂̏ ̵͓́C̷͇̅r̵͙͉̂̂o̴̱͉̅̄w̷͙͊n̶̺̰̆}̸̨̓
A surge of power coursed through Taylor a moment later, the pain in her back receding to an easily ignored dull throb of displeasure as adrenaline -and perhaps something greater still- flooded her body. She could see Taoquan looming over Amy with one clawed paw raised high, the healer scrambling backward on all fours, her face twisted with terror as it went to hit her again. Then it yowled in pain as Tanha sliced across it's back. It spun to face Taylor, and yowled again as the blade returned, boomerang-like, to Taylor's hand.
"You're not going to touch her again, motherfucker. I won't let you!" she snarled, baring her teeth just as savagely as her enemy, her blood hot and singing. "So fucking come at me, because I'm going to fucking kill you!"
######################################################################
Amy had never been the sort of girl to spend much time sighing over 'knights in shining armor'. Between her lack of interest in the vast majority of men -all men, really, but she wasn't going to say it was impossible for some man somewhere in the world to catch her eye- and her long-term, well-nursed crush on her half-sister Victoria, she'd never felt the need or the desire to indulge in the same sort of oohing and aahing over 'studly heroes' like her classmates were so fond of doing.
However, watching Taylor -brutalized, mostly-naked, bloodied but unbowed Taylor- tearing the wolf that had nearly killed both of them apart with a sort of artistic savagery was certainly making her feel things. Gratitude, appreciation, worry, and no small amount of awe, of course, that certainly went without saying. But she wasn't entirely oblivious to a certain tightness in her chest, a certain warmth kindled low in her stomach as she watched the whirlwind of violence that was her knight-in-bloodied-birthday-suit, Taylor's snarled vow and threat to Taoquan on repeat in her mind.
It was as if a switch had been flipped inside of the other girl. One moment she had been down, desperate, beaten, but the next she was a force of nature. The crystalline blades whirled and danced in her hands, thrumming and humming and…and something else, a sound that she couldn't define. Like a whistle or a shriek, one that made every hair on her body stand on end, but somehow lower without losing the sharp edge only a high-pitched sound could have. Blood, Taylor's and Taoquan's alike, splattered and sprayed, but even to Amy's eyes it was obvious that Taylor was going to win. The beast simply didn't have the time to use its self-ghosting ability, and as a result it was getting carved apart like -and she couldn't believe she was using this cliche, but it seemed to apply- a Thanksgiving turkey.
Five minutes later, it finally died, slumping the ground with its health bar completely depleted, and Amy couldn't help but unconsciously nod in fervent agreement and approval as Taylor buried both her blades in its skull with a muttered comment -one Amy might not even have been meant to hear- about making sure it was actually, properly dead.
Immediately thereafter, windows started popping up.
[Congratulations! You have defeated the Dungeon Boss: Taoquan, the Ghost Hound!]
[The dungeon has been cleared!]
[Level Up! The Player has achieved Level 15!]
[All HP and MP has been restored to full!]
[Asarkam, the Hollow Blades have been used to slay a target with a Unique Talent! Taoquan, the Ghost Hound, has provided GHOST STEP!]
[Talent Acquired: Ghost Step (Passive)]
[Description: After killing an enemy or landing a Critical Strike, you become invisible for 3 seconds. During this time, you move 30% faster and your next attack will deal 50% additional damage. Current Level: 1. Current EXP: 0/100]
Taylor stared at the notification, a grin slowly spreading across her face. A stealth ability? One that activated automatically when she killed something or landed a critical hit? That was incredible! She'd always been a backline scout, always been relegated to that role because of her insect shadows, but this... this changed everything. This made her a legitimate threat in combat. Especially since she could increase her Critical Strike chance.
She'd work on training that up as best she could as soon as possible, but for now she turned her eyes to her other notifications.
[Legendary Item Dropped! The Player has receivedThe Circlet of the Fairy Queen]
Taylor's attention immediately fixed on the gleaming object that materialized from Taoquan's dissolving corpse. A delicate silver circlet hovered in midair, its metal seemingly woven from thousands of impossibly fine strands, far from the solid circle of metal its name would imply, with a central purple gemstone that seemed to pulse with an inner light. As she reached for it, the notification expanded.
[The Circlet of the Fairy Queen (Legendary Equipment - Head)]
[Description: Forged from the dreams and desires of a long-lost queen who gathered a mighty court through strength and guile, this circlet enhances the bonds of devotion between the wearer and their allies. The queen's power lives on through her crown, allowing the wearer to direct and protect those who follow them.]
[Effects: +10 to Charisma when equipped. Enhances cohesion between party members. Party members gain +15% to all stats when in close proximity to The Player. All party members gain increased responsiveness to The Player's commands. Increases the likelihood that party members will prioritize The Player's safety, wellbeing, and desires.]
[Unique Ability: Queen's Gaze (Passive) LOCKED, 30 points base for INT, WIS, and CHR required to Unlock]
[Item Synchronization! The Circlet of the Fairy Queen and Asarakam, the Hollow Blades have synchronized! Additional abilities unlocked!]
[Synchronization: Increases the likelihood that Asarakam, the Hollow Blades will successfully harvest Unique Talents from slain enemies. Allows harvested Unique Talents to be integrated directly into The Player or gifted to subordinate Party Members.]
[ALERT: Gifting Unique Talents to subordinate Party Members is not currently possible. No subordinate Party Members are Devoted. Increase Party Member Loyalty Index to Devoted to use this ability.]
[ALERT: Increasing Party Member Loyalty Index requires consistent leadership interactions and actions that build trust, loyalty, and affection. Providing protection, support, and fulfilling needs will gradually increase this metric.]
Taylor stared at the circlet hovering in the air, her mind racing with the implications. A crown that could strengthen her allies and…what was that about Loyalty Indexes? Something uncomfortable twisted in her stomach at the word "Devoted," but she pushed the feeling aside promptly, focusing on the positives. This was a powerful item that would help her get stronger, and help people who joined her Party, like Amy had.
"Taylor?" Amy's voice broke through her thoughts. "Are you okay? What is that thing?"
Taylor glanced over at the healer, who was still half-naked and soaked, her arms wrapped protectively around herself. Guilt surged through Taylor as she realized she'd been fixating on her loot while Amy stood there cold and exposed and…why weren't her injuries healing?
"Oh, it's just a special item. Something that'll help me, us, I guess." Taylor replied absently, staring at the circlet for a moment longer while worrying on her bottom lip, before taking a sharp breath and putting it on her head. Ignoring the chime informing her she had equipped the item, and swiping away the window that said she could hide it from view at her leisure, she turned fully toward Amy, finally noticing the pained expression on the healer's face and the unhealed injuries. "Hey, are you okay? Why aren't your injuries healing?"
Amy grimaced, hugging herself tighter as she shivered. "Because apparently I've been 'insubordinate,' apparently." she spat, voice tight with pain and frustration. "I got this stupid window right after I hit you for being an idiot about your stats. Now it says I need to be punished before I can be healed or get my loot." She gestured angrily at a blue notification hovering in front of her that Taylor couldn't read from her position. "It says I have to 'accept correction' from you."
"Wait, what?" Taylor gaped, her focus instantly shifting from the circlet to Amy's predicament. "That's insane! I would never—"
A new window popped into view, forcing Taylor to stop mid-sentence.
[PARTY MANAGEMENT: Party Member Amy Dallon has behaved insubordinately and requires correction before further advancement will become possible. As The Player and Party Leader, you must administer appropriate discipline to maintain party hierarchy and cohesion. Until this is resolved, Amy Dallon's healing abilities will remain suppressed and she will not receive loot or experience.]
Taylor's stomach dropped. This wasn't what she wanted. This wasn't what she'd signed up for at all. The System was pushing her to... what? Punish Amy? For what, exactly? For trying to help her? For being justifiably angry when Taylor had nearly gotten them both killed through carelessly forgetting to do her damn stats? And what the hell would qualify as a punishment, anyway?
The idea of hurting Amy sent a jolt of revulsion through Taylor. She didn't want to be anyone's jailor, and especially not to someone who'd been dragged into this mess against her will. She'd sacrificed so much, felt so much pain, just to protect her companion, and now the System wanted her to cause Amy pain?
"This is bullshit," Taylor muttered, stepping closer to Amy. "I'm not going to hurt you. That's insane."
Amy's eyebrows shot up. "What exactly is it asking you to do? Be specific." Her voice was tight with pain and indignation, arms still wrapped protectively around her torso.
"It wants me to 'administer appropriate discipline' to maintain party hierarchy and cohesion." Taylor said, making air quotes and rolling her eyes. "Which is completely ridiculous. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Well, I did slap you, and disobey you several times. I might not know shit about video games, but I know the raiding system the Guilds use is kind of based on it. You're the raid leader, I ignored your orders and got us both hurt. If you weren't…you, we'd be dead." Amy pointed out with what Taylor considered an unreasonable amount of fairness, given the circumstances.
Taylor frowned at Amy's response, entirely unexpected as it was. Still, Amy wasn't entirely off base, and she huffed softly.
"Okay, fine, but still. What am I supposed to do? Spank you?" She let out a nervous laugh that died instantly when she saw the bright flush spreading across Amy's face. "Wait, I didn't mean—"
"Just do whatever it's asking for so we can get out of here." Amy said quickly, not meeting her eyes, biting her bottom lip and shifting slightly in place in a way that really shouldn't have been as attractive as it was. "I'm freezing, I hurt all over, and I want to go home. So hurry up and punish me already, boss lady."
Taylor bit her own lip, considering her options. The circlet felt warm against her forehead, almost comforting, and she found herself instinctively knowing what was required. An instinct that reminded her of just what The System considered a part of 'leadership capabilities' per Charisma.
Seduction and Sexual Dominance.
And now, with Amy's reaction…?
"I... think I know what I'm going to have to do." she said slowly, stepping closer to Amy, delving into what little, shallow colloquial knowledge she had on this subject.
"Well?" Amy prompted, still not meeting her eyes, her shoulders hunched defensively despite her earlier bravado. "Just get it over with."
Taylor swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry. "Turn around."
Amy's head snapped up, her eyes widening slightly before she complied, turning to face away from Taylor. There was a tension to her shoulders, but it didn't feel like fear. Only…nervousness in the face of the unknown, shyness in the face of what was likely to be something as embarrassing as it was intimate.
"Put your hands on that pipe, bend over." Taylor continued, her voice coming out steadier than she expected it to be, but a whole lot huskier too. There was only the briefest moment of hesitation before her 'subordinate' obeyed, bending at the waist and wrapping her hands around the vertical piping that Taylor had pointed out.
Taylor froze instantly, paralyzed for a second by the full, surreal weight of the moment. She'd given the order, with every intention of putting Amy in a relatively comfortable situation for her 'punishment' -its not like Taylor could put the healer over her lap, given the current environment, and she certainly wasn't going to slap Amy across the face-, but now the reality of what was happening was really hitting. She had a beautiful girl, and Amy was beautiful, for all that she wasn't a heart-stopping beauty like her half-sister was, bent over in front of her. Bent over, waiting to be spanked, half-naked and with her few remaining pieces of clothing soaking wet and clinging to every contour of her body like a well-made glove. A long stretch of silence as Taylor battled between the System's demand and her own sense of decency. She didn't want to do this…no, that wasn't right. She did want to touch Amy, a part of her had found the girl attractive from the outset -fierce and sassy and taking no shit, never mind her physical traits- and she was honest enough with herself to admit that getting her hands on Amy was intriguing, but she didn't want Amy to hate this. To hate her.
She reached out with a hesitant hand and let her palm ghost over Amy's hip, thumb tracing the smooth glide of the bone through half-shredded pants. The waterlogged fabric was so thin it was half-transparent, clinging more to the shape of Amy's skin than her own palm, the dark panties underneath half-hinted, and Taylor sucked in a sharp breath as her heartbeat stuttered and then accelerated faster than it already was. She could feel the warmth radiate from Amy even through the damp clothes, the shivering transferred straight into her own fingers, and she wondered briefly just what it was that was making the other girl shiver after all. Especially with the breathy gasp that Amy gave when she felt Taylor's touch, a gasp that went straight to Taylor's belly.
"Ready?" she said, voice barely more than a whisper, and Amy gave a huff.
"Shut up and spank me already, before I smack you again and earn myself more punishments!" she growled, shifting her hips slightly underneath Taylor's hand as she squeezed the pipe tighter in nerves. Or in anticipation. Taylor wasn't quite sure why, but something told her there was more to this situation, more to Amy, than she was understanding right now. But she couldn't ask, wouldn't ask right now, because getting this done and getting Amy healed and safely back into the real world was what really mattered.
She let her palm linger for just a second longer, wanting—no, needing—Amy to know this wasn't just a chore for her, that she wasn't going to ram her through this like a machine. She locked her jaw, pulled her focus out of the tangle of fear and want, and gave a sharp smack to Amy's backside. Not hard enough to really hurt—she'd never hit anyone in anger, wasn't sure she even could—but enough to leave a sting. Her hand tingled from the impact, the sound echoing off the walls in one clean, wet-sounding slap. Amy gasped, a little breathy sound more surprised than pained, and Taylor swallowed heavily at the way it sounded.
The system chimed, as if tallying up the blow, and Taylor felt something release inside her chest, a knot of tension and shame she'd been unconsciously winding tighter all night. She raised her hand again, hesitated just a moment, then delivered a second slap, slightly lower. Softer, this time, though it left a faint red handprint on the curve of Amy's ass, which shook slightly from the impact.
"That's two for the slap, and one for not listening to me, and one for getting yourself hurt by not listening to me." Taylor said, keeping her tone as even as she could, trying to sound as much like she was delivering discipline as she could, drawing on memories of teachers and parents alike, bringing it down a third and fourth time on the other cheek and listening to the chimes that followed. The next words that came out of her mouth did so without any thought on her part, but felt disturbingly natural despite how unnaturally they came to mind. "Are you sorry, Amy? Did you learn your lesson?"
Amy shuddered, less from the cold and more from the crackle of breathless, burning tension that seemed to coil around her insides and head right for her face. Her voice, when it came, was ragged and shaky, the words slipping out in a whisper and slipping immediately into Taylor's memory as the most heart-stopping thing she'd ever heard, including being told her rank was only E all those years ago.
"…Y-yes, Taylor. I'm sorry. I'll listen from now on, I promise."
Taylor had barely caught all of it, but she wouldn't have had to; she could see the glowing blue window appear before her, bright as day, doubtlessly informing her the punishment was over. Bright enough that she almost —almost— missed the alarmingly pink hue of Amy's ears and the way she squeezed the pipe in her grip again, knuckles whitening as she breathed. She wasn't able to resist placing a hand on the other girl's back, gentle and soothing, rubbing gently along the length of her spine before stepping back and turning her eyes to the window still waiting for her attention.
[Correction sufficient for first offense. Party Member Amy Dallon's Loyalty Index has increased (Current: 8%). Bonus: Empathetic Correction: Party Member's Loyalty Index has increased (Current: 12%). Bonus: Willing Punishment: Because insubordinate Party Member submitted willingly to punishment, Loyalty Index has increased (Current: 20%). Party Member is now eligible for healing and loot acquisition. Experience gains will remain locked until Loyalty exceeds Trial Subordinate threshold.]
"That's it. It's over. You did it." Taylor said, letting the words hang between them, not sure if she was relieved or rattled or just melting inside. Maybe all three, and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from praising Amy further, not sure just how that would end and afraid to find out. She watched Amy straighten up slowly, still facing away, her back marked by water and bruises and a sunset blush. Amy's exhale was long, thin, not at all shaky, and Taylor felt…different.
The silence between them was loaded, but it didn't feel dark or heavy or in some other way negative. Lighter. They'd survived a situation neither of them had expected or really been ready for, and now they'd experienced something altogether different, but it didn't feel bad.
For Amy, the embarrassment she felt at being spanked by a girl she barely knew was…not as bad as she might have imagined it would be. In fact, if someone had told her she'd willingly -for a given value of willing, she'd been threatened by the System, after all, as it held her health hostage and promised 'Penalties' if she hadn't been punished- bend over for a stranger, a patient, and let herself be spanked while half-naked, she'd have slapped the shit out of them and then had Vicky do worse.
But after everything she and Taylor had been through together, all the injuries and all the fighting and all the relying on one another to survive, she didn't feel like Taylor was much of a stranger at all. Not anymore. The fact that Taylor had saved her life, repeatedly, and suffered an enormous amount of pain doing it only made that feeling stronger. There was a bond between them now, and…well, four spanks was hardly the worst thing she'd been through tonight. They hadn't even hurt, really…
She blinked, pulled from her thoughts, as several windows appeared or changed in front of her, blinking in rapid succession:
[Punishment Complete: All restrictions lifted.]
[All HP and MP restored to full.]
[Healing Penalty lifted.]
[Congratulations! You have received loot: Ring of the Penitent Healer.]
Amy blinked, a little stunned, as the aches in her bones faded, and the bruised flush on her ass faded down to a gentle warmth. She straightened up, feeling her body knit back together, the lingering sting in her hands and face replaced with a clean, almost exhilarating freshness. Though from the feel of things, and it just figured that this would be the case, those spank marks Taylor had left on her ass were still there.
Which made sense, she supposed. They were from a punishment the System had required take place, it wouldn't remove them quite so quickly after they had been inflicted.
A moment later, an elegant silver ring materialized around her right ring finger, the surface chased with tiny white-blue sapphires outlined in pale-gold filigree, looking for all the world like a dozen shards of frozen fire. Appropriate, given the monster that they had just fought. She just hoped that it, and the rest of this, had been worth it.