Chapter Text
There are many versions of the story as Kabru has heard it, but the one he was most commonly told as a child went a little like this:
Once, there was a tallman king who ruled over a land that was diverse in its resources and capabilities. To the west, it held a swamp, to the east, a forest, to the north, a tundra, and to the south, a series of mountains.
In the middle of this compass of so many environments lay a valley rich in fruit and honey, that which the king and his people thrived off of and lived with great pleasure alongside.
That is, of course, until the dwarves arrived. They came from the north, the snow frozen to their beards, and their emperor demanded to speak to the tallman king. While the soldiers refused at first, they then allowed the emperor in to speak.
The emperor was proud, and he knew that the native tallmen gained great things from this land. He doubted that they understood in their short lifespans, however, just how truly good they had it.
Brazen and rude, the dwarven emperor told the king that he intended to take this land from him. He told the king not to worry, for the people here need not worry about leaving. They would simply work a bit harder, till the soil a bit more deeply, eat less of the fruit and honey of the valley.
Immediately, the tallman king understood what the dwarven emperor was doing. He was attempting to underscore the potential of the land.
However, rather than grow angry, the king only smiled and asked how he intended to do this.
The dwarven emperor smugly replied that his troops had already began to sneak their way through the kingdom, slowly taking it over from the inside.
“Oh,” said the king, innocent as ever, “I see. I must ask for your forgiveness, then. Won’t you grant me this for my ignorance?”
Sure of his victory, the dwarven emperor did so, and thus the king surrendered alongside his people.
When it came time for the dwarves to settle down, they found there was little room for them. The dwarven emperor demanded the tallmen abandon their valley and live in the swamps, but the king simply shook his head with a gasp.
“I must tell you, the swamps in the west are filled with ghastly soil that is far too damp and dark,” he complained, “That, and there are barely any butterflies that sweep through it like they do the valley! It is anything but beautiful, and there is far too much sunlight, not like the shade we receive from the mountains!”
The dwarven emperor recognized the potential that the king spoke of, and immediately ordered his people to move to the swamps. The short-lived king could not recognize that this place would be the perfect place for a farm. The soil, rich and dark with nutrients, would feed the plants far better than the valley’s.
However, when the dwarves arrived to set up camp, the swamps were the exact opposite. There was far too much water in the soil, and the sun was harsh and brutal against any surface. Not only that, but the bugs here were harsh and bit into every space of skin that was shown.
The dwarven emperor, far too proud to admit he could have been tricked, forced his people to stay the night in the swamp.
Knowing that the emperor would do such, the tallman king ordered his people to sneak into the dwarves’ camp and throw their supplies into the swamp.
By morning, the camp was devoid of any resources. There was no way for them to return to their land even if they wanted to, for their food and money had sunk to the bottom of the swamp.
Induced with rage, the dwarven emperor confronted the tallman king, who gasped with surprise, placing a hand over his mouth, “I told you that the soil was too dark, and that there were no butterflies. The sun is harsh there as well… yet I suppose that I should have considered the fact that your supplies would sink in the swamp. Thank goodness no one was hurt.”
It was then that the tallman king bowed his head and offered out his hands, “I must ask for your forgiveness once again, dear emperor. Won’t you grant me this for my ignorance?”
Pleased by the king’s supplication, the dwarven emperor once again agreed, taking note that, of course, this short-lived man would never be able to know that the swamps would be a bad place to farm unless it was drained. Surely work would need to be done over the next century to do so, far after the man was dead.
To further apologize for his mishap, the king then invited the emperor and his people to a feast.
The dwarves would be the only people to attend, and his own people would serve them, just as they were hoping to do in the future.
The king himself donned the clothes of a servant, and he gave a soft, apologetic smile to the dwarven emperor.
“My people do not know the correct way to cook the meals your people are accustomed to. We have spent such short lives upon this earth, and thus lack the same knowledge you do. I must ask for your forgiveness one last time, dear emperor. Won’t you grant me this for my ignorance?”
Of course, the emperor could not be angry. With a laugh, he placed a hand on the king’s shoulder and forgave him. He then ordered his people to gladly eat that which the tallmen had prepared for them, for they had worked hard despite the short time they had lived, despite the lack of knowledge they held.
Shortly thereafter, the entire army of dwarves died from the poison that had been cooked into every single dish. The tallman king and his people rejoiced, and they returned to enjoying their valley and its many riches.
The moral of the story, of course, is to never underestimate a foe despite the fact that they may appear innocent… and that approaching an enemy with patience rather than anger is far more fruitful.
It’s something that Kabru has to remind himself of rather consistently now, what with the fact that he and his party are now traveling with a potential enemy.
Falin Touden, Marcille Donato, Chilchuck Tims, Toshiro Nakamoto, and… Senshi are an interesting group. Kabru had already heard of the fact that the Touden party’s dwarf had left the group for better pay, but it’s still a surprise to see they’ve already added a new person on to the roster.
Either way, it’s not like Kabru is going to pass up on this opportunity.
He’s been meaning to talk to the male sibling — Laios, he recalls — for a while now. Falin will have to do, he supposes. This isn’t to say that Falin is useless to speak to. She’s far from that, actually. She’s just… polite. She’s polite and quiet.
Maybe that’s why Kabru is so on guard. Sure, it’s nice to meet someone who is polite, but he also notices how Falin leads her party… which is to say that she doesn’t seem to realize that she’s supposed to be the leader.
In fact, she seems to stumble about leading her group, having to convince them of what she thinks is the right idea, rather than his group, that seems to… well, trust him enough to let him lead them along on this little side mission. Sure, he knows that Mickbell and Rin have exchanged glances and rolled their eyes a few times, yet they still go along with it. His party trusts his judgment enough to not ask too many questions, which is reassuring.
However, that’s not really the point, is it? He recognizes that he’s thinking a bit too hard right now, especially while the group is all standing along one of this floor’s pathways, watching as Holm places a hand in the water.
“It’s a good thing I stopped you from pouring that water out,” Holm murmurs to Marcille, who’s watching in pure befuddlement, “because it would have likely made passage through here much harder.”
As he says this, the water ripples in the center of the room. Kabru reaches for his sword, but Falin rather suddenly places a hand on his shoulder.
He furrows his brows, looking at her, but she isn’t even looking at him. Instead, she’s watching the water.
“If it’s an undine,” she whispers to him, “then your sword wouldn’t do anything. Don’t waste your time taking out your weapon.”
When he glances towards Toshiro, the swordsman who seems to stick to Falin more often than not, he notices how the man instead seems to be poised to… grab Chilchuck, the half-foot that Mickbell keeps making faces at.
“She’s right, Kabru,” Holm agrees, giving the water a careful splash. There, in the center, the ripple turns into a coalescence, a sudden gathering of water as it begins to rise. “It’s a wild undine. As long as no one aggravates it, I can probably tame this within the next day or so.”
Marcille’s brows raise, leaning in to look over Holm’s shoulder. “You tame these? How?!”
Holm hums, giving a tired smile as he begins to draw some symbols against the stone.
“It’s a rare form of ancient magic. I know the elves aren’t the fondest of my research, but…” Holm pauses, glancing towards Marcille with a squint, “...I don’t think you would particularly care, really. You don’t seem like an elf from the West, if that makes sense.”
A choked noise escapes Kabru, reflecting the genuine surprise that most of the others here seem to share.
Marcille sputters as she tries to find some response, but, in true Holm fashion, he simply returns to his careful work. “Marillier could use a friend. Clarie was around this size when I tamed her, so it’s definitely possible to gain its trust enough for it to allow me to confine it within a day or so. It may not listen to orders for a few months, but I wouldn’t mind a new project to work on.”
Falin is the first to recover as she now crouches alongside Holm to study the symbols. The movement is expected. She’s the more magically-inclined of the Touden siblings, and she allegedly attended the Academy alongside Marcille.
However, he’s also heard that she was… not the best student.
“I’ve never seen these symbols. Is it an ancient language, then?” she asks softly, and Holm nods with a hum.
The undine shifts out of the water, a floating orb that lingers above the surface. Kabru has seen Marillier before, has watched Holm use her to shoot through walking mushrooms and big bats alike, but this undine is… different.
It doesn’t move like Marillier. It’s probably older, far older than Marillier is, by how Holm has described her developmental stages in the few times he’s asked.
In fact, its surface is covered in white caps, as though it holds an angry sea within.
Holm places his hand against the symbols, breaking the unnerved silence as he begins speaking in words that Kabru is beginning to doubt the legality of.
Then again, that’s also probably Milsiril’s teachings speaking right now. For all that she emphasized her dislike of other elves due to her time in the Canaries, there were still things that she had emphasized, including the slippery slope of ancient magics.
He shouldn’t think less of Holm for this. He can’t stand here and be judgmental of him, not when his studies have been able to protect them for so long.
Right now, he doesn’t want to think very badly of his party member. Instead, he’s focused on Falin, zeroed in on the look of curiosity on her face as she watches Holm work.
The symbols on the stone glow, and suddenly, the water ripples, bringing up tendrils of liquid as it latches on to the undine. It lets out an angry burble, the white caps beginning to come outwards, its orb shape now beginning to shift into something far more organic.
“You said this will take around a day, right?” Falin asks, tilting her head at the display, and Kabru truly wishes that his sword would be able to affect this monster, because he really, really doesn’t want to deal with it if it does suddenly lash out.
Holm gives a nod, whispering a few more words that cause the tendrils to release the undine, hearing how it almost hisses, much like cold water hitting a hot pan.
“It’s much safer to tame it than to fight it. It’s territorial, so it’ll try to kill anyone that attempts to pass through here…”
That is not ideal, and the groans from many in both parties reflects this.
“Which is why I would personally get things prepared for the next floor, or at least try to…” Holm pauses, flicking back to Falin and her group, “scavenge, I suppose.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Kabru replies, patting Holm on the shoulder, “we’ll leave you to it, then. Would you prefer if some others kept you company?”
Marcille raises her hand almost immediately, suddenly eager for whatever reason, “I wouldn’t mind staying! I’ve been studying ancient magic myself, though it’s more around how the dungeon itself works. It’s nothing dangerous, of course—”
For whatever reason, this makes Holm chuckle. He shakes his head, letting out a sigh. “I had a feeling you were like that. You studied at the Academy, after all,” Holm explains to her when she whips around to stare at him. He shrugs, his palms turned upwards. “What? You’re an elf. Not many are as interested in gnomish magic as you. Working with spirits rather than bending them to your will sounds like the perfect way to start delving into the dungeon and its ancient magic.”
Kabru keeps a pleasant expression on his face, but he is not comfortable with letting Holm be alone with the elf. She knows ancient magic herself, yes, but she also is unpredictable to him. She’s a threat, an unknown he has to ensure doesn’t become… well, known in the worst way possible.
Judging by the expressions on her party members’ faces, however, something tells Kabru that Marcille did not disclose this particular tidbit of knowledge… all except for Falin, of course, whose expression remains calm.
“Dia,” Kabru suddenly pipes up, looking her way, “Would you mind staying with these two?” Falin opens her mouth to protest, possibly even to remind him of the undine’s invulnerability to physical weapons, but Kabru shakes his head as he says, “I know that her axe won’t do anything, but we would need someone to carry these two out if the undine decides to attack.”
“It won’t,” Holm states matter-of-factly, and then adds on, “...probably.”
Dia nods with a grunt, taking her axe into both hands with a sigh.
Falin tilts her head at the interaction, shrugging. “I was actually going to offer to stay behind as well, but this is fine either way.”
Oh.
Kabru smooths over any surprise on his face with a smile, bowing his head in apology. “My mistake, then. You’re a healer, correct?” When Falin confirms this, he only finds himself pushing forward. “Then it’s for the best if you stay with the other group. Holm is our healer, so it might not be a good idea to have both healers in one group.”
Nevermind the fact that he knows how to heal, but that isn’t important. A trained cleric like Falin will be much more useful with a larger group than himself, who can barely heal a few slashes before his vision starts blacking out.
Her eyes widen and her mouth parts in an ‘o’ as she processes this.
“Oh… right! That makes sense. Are you alright without one of us, Marcille?”
He catches Holm and Dia share a glance, but Marcille doesn’t notice as she nods. “I’ll be good! Maybe you guys can look for a different way towards the fifth floor?”
It’s Chilchuck who scoffs now, motioning for Toshiro to follow as he moves back towards the room the group slept in the night before. “Highly doubt that. I know this place well, and there’s no other way down unless you want to spend another two days looking for it.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Mickbell bristles with annoyance as he crosses his arms and raises a hand to mime talking. “Meh meh meh, I’m some old fart who thinks I know what’s best for everyone,” he mocks quietly, elbowing Kuro in the side with a cheeky grin.
Kabru can only sigh. The look he gives Mickbell is disapproving, as though he’s trying to emphasize the importance of not mocking someone with as-sensitive hearing.
Indeed, he can see the way that the older half-foot sends an unimpressed, flat stare back.
“It was just a suggestion…” Marcille pouts, though she recovers when Falin crouches next to her and murmurs something to her with a gentle smile.
There it is again. She can’t seem to keep that smile off of her face, as though there’s nothing to truly worry about. She knows this dungeon, knows the dangers, and yet she seems…
…carefree? No, that can’t be it. He catches the cautious glance she sends towards the undine before she pats Marcille’s shoulder and straightens back out.
“Good luck to you all. Yell for us if you need anything,” she says as she now turns, jolting in surprise when she spots him. To be fair, both of their parties have returned to the room they slept in last night, and he can already hear the beginning of idle chatter and the stoking of a flame.
With Falin, however, she quickly relaxes her shoulders and gives him a nod. “Thank you for waiting for me. Shall we?”
She’s thankful, yes, but there is a lilt to her voice that tells him that she’s attempting to seem lighthearted rather than worried.
“We shall,” he replies, offering his own smile, fake and yet entirely convincing to most.
Falin easily keeps pace with him despite the two weapons she carries, and he immediately recognizes that she’s… actually moving a bit slower than her usual gait should allow, adjusting to how he moves with his armor.
The chain mail clinks and clicks with every step, but Falin doesn’t even seem to mind. She instead hums softly, adjusting the sword on her back.
“You never told me why you have a second weapon,” Kabru casually mentions, his tone carefully light as they walk.
Falin shrugs, patting the scabbard on her back with a sigh. “It’s not for me. I’ve had to use it a few times, but it’s actually for Laios. I was worried that the red dragon may have made his gear unusable.”
Right. The red dragon. He keeps thinking over the plan he was told, of how this group is rushing down to retrieve the body, and can’t help but think of how… optimistic it is.
No animal takes that long to digest something. It takes an entire month for this thing to digest a meal? It sounds too good to be true. However, that’s just how monsters are; they’re unnatural, disturbing, and he has to now eat them alongside this party.
It’s all for the sake of getting into their good graces. That’s all this is. After they fight the red dragon, they can return to the surface and have actual food from actual animals.
He shudders. He still cannot believe he ate all that has been offered. From the kelpie, to the mimic, to the bladefish, to the kraken, he has forced himself to eat it.
Even now, as the two of them enter, they can see Senshi preparing more of the kraken.
Just grin and bear it. Just grin and bear it. He can endure this for a day or two longer, and then his group will be going back up with new allies, and he will personally pay someone if they happen to have a return spell just to avoid having to do more of this.
To his left, Rin gives him a rather pointed, amused look. She must see the dread he’s carefully trying to mask, the awful feeling that’s sinking in his stomach as he’s reminded of gnashing teeth, the screams of his mother and family, of the glowing eyes of beasts that were not right, of rubble and dust blocking out the sun, of—
“Are you alright?”
He whips his head over to find that Falin is staring at him, yet her eyes quickly shift upward a bit, not quite looking him in the eye.
He knows the motion well, as he often does it himself. For almost everyone, it works. They believe you’re looking into their eyes, rather than staring at the bridge of their nose or even the eyebrows. The entire point is to focus on a point that isn’t the eyes.
He chooses not to comment on it. It would be rather rude, after all, to call her out on that. Instead, he simply smiles and nods. It’s a good tactic, all things considered.
The only reason he even offered their help was out of the need to not owe them. That, and for the sake of good will. It would be stupid to pass up the opportunity to grow closer to the party he had been attempting to get a good read on for so many months. Thankfully, since his party trusted him, they seemed alright with following along.
“Okay,” Falin replies calmly, looking over the group before tilting her head, “if you need something, please let me know.”
It’s with a swiftness he barely recognizes that he finally joins Rin’s side, who cannot help but give him a shit-eating grin at his clear discomfort.
“You do realize this one’s on you, right?” she tells him, watching with him as Falin joins Senshi in preparing food.
With a despondent sigh, he buries his face in his hands, “I just don’t get it,” he insists, watching the woman in question as she prepares the grill, “She’s supposed to be the leader of this group, but I don’t think she even realizes it.”
There’s nothing Rin does but sigh.
Taking this as permission to continue, Kabru mutters, “She’s quiet, but she’s also nice. She rambles about the things that interest her, but it doesn’t appear that she knows very much about monsters themselves, just some of the bugs that live here.”
His fingers tap against his lips, his brows furrowing as he finds himself delving deeper into his own thoughts. “Most frustrating of all, I feel like I would be kicking a puppy if I were to refuse the food that she and her party have been making for us.” Even if every dish is like a dark mark upon his soul, he chokes it down.
“You really will do anything to gain people’s trust,” Rin finally mutters, shaking her head.
“It’s necessary in this situation, Rin,” he insists, looking from her to now consider the others in the room. From the corner, he can see Chilchuck and Toshiro quietly discussing something, the half-foot drawing on the parchment between them with a pinched look on his face.
The most frustrating part about the other tallman was that there was barely anything that Kabru could find about him… as though he had tied up any loose ends, making his entire origin a carefully-crafted mystery. He has the rather uneasy feeling that he’ll have to keep an eye on that one.
“These people… they’re the most likely to get to the mad mage,” he finally reasons, chewing the nail of his thumb as he huffs out a sigh himself, “And I do hate saying that, but it’s true. I don’t know if they realize that, but that doesn’t matter. I need to figure out what makes her tick. She and her brother are kind to their past allies, but those allies are often terrible people. I don’t get it.”
The look that Rin gives him is absolutely withering, rolling her eyes as she now looks away. “You sound insane.”
Okay. Ow.
As he opens his mouth to shoot some clever comeback in return, Chilchuck and Mickbell suddenly jump to their feet.
“Someone’s up there… another group, around five people. By the weight of the steps, they’re armed,” Chilchuck concludes, his eyes narrowed as he attempts to catch sight of whoever it is that’s heading down, “and it seems that they’ve realized we’re here.”
He reaches for his sword immediately. It’s an extra precaution, especially considering how violent other groups have been towards them in the past. One can only do so much against those whose minds have been corrupted with greed by this demented place.
A light flickers from somewhere along the stairs above them. There. Kabru points this out to Chilchuck, who simply nods as he informs the others.
An older voice suddenly echoes down the chamber, voice carried down easily as they wait with bated breath.
“I do hope you’re not just some petty thieves hiding down here to attack unaware adventurers.”
Huh. His brows furrow, wracking his brain for who this could possibly be. By the sound of it, this person was likely an older gentleman accompanied by some others.
Possibly a research team? It wasn’t unheard of for older adventurers to venture down here, but it was also incredibly rare for an adventurer to be old.
“Not at all!” Kabru calls up, because no one else is bothering to say anything, “We’re camping down here for the time being. Please know that we have no intention of fighting!”
This is when Falin suddenly moves, joining him at his side and calling out, “Exactly! If you’d like, you can even join us!”
What?
There’s a disbelieving scoff until there’s the sound of shuffling and murmuring above.
Suddenly, a dwarven woman peers over the side of the stairs, her hands on her knees as she peers down at them. With a laugh, she nods to herself.
“I knew it! I thought I recognized that voice! Hey, Falin!”
The woman in question jolts, eyes wide as she whips around to look at Chilchuck and then Toshiro, who both are sporting equally-shocked expressions.
“Namari?!” Falin and Chilchuck shout in near-unison.
It’s almost comical, really.
In the back of his mind, he wonders if there’s something more to be discovered by this… Namari.
Yes. Maybe that should be his strategy. It may prove to be far more easy to talk to her than any of these party members…
…and Namari also lacks the bias these others may have.