Bellona was unhappy with what had just happened in the arena. She was in fact rather angry. There were a lot of ethical issues with what Mordecai just did, even if she intellectually uood the logic behind it. His as failed the three guidelines about bindings; there was no sent, the enfort was strid left their prisoner uo even try to defy them, and there were very specific restris on what she could and could not do. The thing with the tentacle wolf had a clear exception, he'd been easing the creature's suffering. This situation was muurky about the bes for the target of the bindings.

  But this was not the time to deal with it, so she set it aside in order to focus on helping both their new 'guest' and Fuyuko, who looked ill at ease herself.

  She chose to start with the young teen. "Fuyuko, I know you are upset. I am too. We will talk to Mordecai ter, after the invasion has been resolved. Alright?"

  Fuyukhtened up and hough she didn't say anything just yet. It wasn't perfect, but nothing was, and it would do for now.

  The walk to the newly created suite hadn't been long, and they were approag the door now. "This will be your room," Bellona said softly, "Kazue will make any alterations you need within reason."

  The subdued woman had been looking around with her bnk expression, doing her best to take everything in. Now she focused her gaze on Bellona and ined her head in aowledgment, and still no traotion. Bellhe signs of trauma and withdrawal from her training, though she'd not seen it in person before. She o start small, and there was an important thing that had not been discussed yet.

  Bellona asked, "What name would you like to be called by?" The phrasing gave the woman a tiny bit more trol and agency.

  After a moment of silence she replied, "Deidre." Then she walked through the door that Bellona had opened.

  Fuyuko and Bellona followed her in and showed her the amenities and personal supplies that Kazue had arranged. Deidre simply watched and listened, and gave only the most basic replies when asked a question.

  After that came an awkward silence. Fuyuko broke it by asking, "Um, so, yer walls are kind of bare. If ya'd like some art, Kazue whip up somethin'. She's pretty good. I had no idea what ta ask her for when she made me the offer, so she asked me about pces I liked looking at bae. I 't remember my parent's home well enough for that picture to be very true, but it's nid it feels like it should be. And there were lots of pretty pces I saw on my way down here. If, ya know, there's a pce that makes ya happy to remember, maybe ya tell her. Just ask for her."

  Deidre's gaze focused fully on Fuyuko while she talked and there was a subtle shift in her expression as she processed the girl's appearand at. "You sound like some of the soldiers. You e from traberg. You are a Luponi? But you must be just a child. Why are you here? What has been doo you?!" The sudden surge of emotion from Deidre made Fuyuko step ba surprise, and Bellona interposed herself.

  "Easy, it's okay. She's fine," Bellona said soothingly, "Fuyuko is okay. She came here on her own. Well, Gil helped, but that was after she was already on her way."

  The girl iion frowned as she recovered from her surprise and growled, "I ain't that young, I'm fourteen, and only a few months until I am fifteen. And like she said, I made the choiy own. It was scary when I was travelin' on my own, but it was my own two feet that carried me."

  Deidre slowly calmed down and sat on the edge of her bed with a vaguely fused expression as she looked between them. Bellona took it as a good sign that she still had the will to get angry on another person's behalf. "I know things are probably a little fusing right now, but your experience has been skewed. You know why you were sent here, and Mordecai acted out of a desperate hope to save lives. Including your own in the long run. Do you know the history of those invading our home?"

  Her statement earned Bellona a sful look as Deidre's emotional mask began to set itself once more, but her question caused the woman to pause. After a moment she lifted her hand to touch her chest and trace a curve below her neck, where the runes were hidden by her robes. "There's no truth pulsion."

  That firmation made Bellona feel a little better about the situation. "That fits with what Mordecai said, but he was very terse and strained. He only said that he did the minimum bindings o be safe. Oh, Kazue says there are so many runes because Mordecai didn't know what demonic abilities your avatar might be able to mimic, so he sealed them all."

  Mentioning the binding runes made Fuyuko look ill again, and the girl turned away to go examihe table where Kazue had pced several small ptes of food, giving herself an excuse to ighe other two women.

  "You, both of you trust him. But, you are mad at him. Both of you dislike what he has doo me. Why do you trust him?"

  The question made Fuyuko flinch, but Bellona answered Deidre's question. "It is plicated. Part of it es from knowing others who trust him. Part of it is having observed him and knowing what he has done." She paused to ask Kazue a question before she tinued. "Kazue says it should be okay to tell you this much. For all that Mordecai leads the defense of the dungeon and is usually the face of the dungeon while Kazue's avatar travels with their wife Moriko, this territory is first and foremost hers. I will not go into the details, but the core was inally just hers, and he joined with her. And when he did, Mordecai specifically ehat he would always have slightly less than equal trol of their shared territory."

  Deidre frowhoughtfully. "I still do not uand how to make two cores merge. Even if you touched them together at a mutual boundary it does not seem like it should be possible."

  Bellona ighat ent, expining how it had happened was more detail thaher of the cores felt fortable with here. "After all of this is done, maybe we show you more of the dungeon. They have goo great lengths to make their territory safe. No proper delver has died in their home." No invaders had either, at least, not permaly, but that wasn't going to be shared until the danger was in the past. "Now, we 't stay with you, we o go eat a some rest before the battle we participate in. Our friey is ing to stay with you for a while instead. She's been here far lohan we have, she tell you a little about what she's seen as they grew."

  When the usagisune walked into the suite Deidre practically jumped in surprise. "You're a floor boss!"

  Betty ined her head. "Perceptive. Yes, I am."

  "Your dungeon is utack, shouldn't you be fighting?"

  That caused Betty to smile wryly. "I would, uher circumstances. But none of us know how safe that would be, given my current dition. Even Mordecai is not certain if my child would be restored with me if I fell in battle. So I will fight only if the dungeon is that desperate."

  Deidre's face went bnk again as she froze in pce. When she spoke again, it was almost a whisper. "I know. The further along you are, the more ce there is of the fetus having enough of a spirit for the core to hold onto. But unless it is almost ready to be born, there is always a risk of losing it."

  Betty's voice was deadly calm as she replied, "It is best that the person who caused you to know such a thing is not within my power to touch. I would have great trouble not doing things that my master and mistress would disapprove of."

  Bellona and Fuyuko took their leave as the two dungeon-bories tiheir versation, though Fuyuko looked like she might not be very hungry for once.

  Deidre shook her head with fusion. "That should not be possible. If you know they would disapprove then you should not be able to sider that a."

  "You have a very different idea of 'loyal' than we do I think," Betty replied. "Even were Mordecai and Kazue overly utilitarian, the ability to provide thoughts and ideas that are not in alig with theirs would provide valuable perspectives. Though I do wonder if your thoughts on the subject are shaped by whoever holds your core ensved."

  "What makes you say that?" Deidre asked, her face tightening into a mask once more and her voice ft and toneless.

  Betty tilted her head slightly as she shrugged. "I have no experience or training in such things, but those who do say you show clear signs of trauma and abuse. And Master Mordecai says that such things should be nigh impossible without first ensving the core. Additionally, knowing that a previously unknown dungeos fills some holes in other areas. But hiding a dungeoence for as long as you must have existed requires limiting a dungeon's growth, whio dungeon would willingly do for that long a period. Or be able to do of their own free will for that matter. Mind, I have no expertise in this beyond my own instincts as a dungeon-born, but this feels corree."

  The avatar took a moment before she responded, "If your presumption was correct, how would your master be any different from the person or people who would do that to a core?"

  "I will choose to not take offe your tone, in light of your circumstances and history." Betty's tone was cold enough to chip ice off of. "her he nor Mistress Kazue insists on that title, and some of us use other terms such as 'boss' or even 'lord' or 'dy'. I use these titles as terms of respect, simir to an apprentid their master. The implication you made is unfounded. I am aware of how you were bound by his hand, but I am well aware of why he felt it needed. He has made sure everyone knows."

  As she spoke, Betty's voice softened, sorrow for the circumstances filling her words. "An ensved core's binding makes it so that you ot be properly oath sworn. Your personal strength makes you to for our prisons; he was only able to bind you because of your weakeate. To kill you would simply free your other self to reform their internal avatar while awaiting the opportunity to restruct you a year from now. And now that he knows of your existence, Mordecai pns on freeing your core, but first he must get information. Information that only e from you. And this is the only safe way to keep you here. We are all sorry for what has been done, but most of us uand how this is best even for you in the long run."

  Now she sighed and shook her head. "We did not all o know this, but guilt tinged his every word. Publicly sharing something he is ashamed of doing was a small piece of self-pehink. I do not think it would be so hard on him if he did not already bear guilt for other as far in his past. When all of this is done and passed, I hope you will be uanding. Until then, we will do our best to take care of you and treat you with respect. And right now, that begins with seeing you fed. You are not in your territory, you o eat the same as anyone else."

  "And you expect me to just trust you?"

  "Not at all. But now is ly the time to take you on a tour and show you what we have doh our home. I do not know how much of the invasion you know about, but we stole all the talismans and Mordecai deliberately triggered them as a trap to eliminate your elite force. The rest of the forces are still making their way through the sewers while under stant assault. More than half of the total forces arrayed against us have been eliminated and captured, but we are still utack. In a day or two I will be able to show you what a healthy dungeon looks like. Now e, eat."

  Zagaroth