After a much needed second shower, Oz returned to her living room. She was mildly annoyed that her furniture had been readjusted to allow room for the massive rug to be set out. That annoyance faded the moment she sat down on it, the lush fur of the pelt soothed all the aches and pains in her joints. The low coffee table was set behind the sofa, only a few baskets with snacks set out.
Both elves were waiting on the fur, Selene leaning back on her hands while Nahern used the front of the sofa to brace his back. Both quietly await her to get comfortable.
Oz sat ungracefully with her legs crossed, cuddling a pillow to her chest. "Okay to be fair, question for question. I ask, you answer. You ask, I answer. Got it?"
"Acceptable." Nahern nodded. Oz thought about what she wanted to know first, her mind reeling. But she held out for the most important first.
"How are you two completely okay with being here? Have you been here before?" She asked.
Nahern chuckled, "Yes. I have been to this world before, a few actually. Not always by my own choosing however. The Dungeons are a curse on all worlds, not only due to the monsters that live within, but the dungeons interconnect all realms."
Oz stared at him stupidly, "I'm still getting used to the dungeons opening to any world. You really mean there are others? Like other planets?!"
"Not planets." Selene offered. "More like...oh how did Grandfather explain it?" She tapped her chin before jumping up, returning seconds after holding one of the books from a shelf.
"Like pages in a book." Selene ran her fingers over the pages, "Think each page as a realm, a singular world. Stacked atop one another in one binding that makes up the universe."
Nahern took the book from his sister, closing it with a loud thump. "A dungeon is like a barb stabbed through it. Intertwining the pages until they are a tattered mess."
Oz squeezed the pillow, eyes wide at the idea. Her stomach dropped, perhaps the largest discovery since the appearance of dungeons and the big guilds were just keeping it to themselves? The Chairman knew. Hell her Aunt knew and she was just a middle level administrator for the family company.
She bit her lip, wondering just how many others were abusing this problem. There was no way that only the sibling's world was the only one having their people stolen away.
"I have personally visited a few worlds, this world a few years ago out of curiosity. It hasn't changed that much, noisier and more crowded." He huffed. "Humankind is still a parasite, like spring crickets doing nothing but fattening themselves up just to starve in the frozen night."
Oz had no comeback for that, her own kind was known for horrible cruelties. Wonderful kindness, but such a dark past made it hard to try and fight for her own kind. She let her head fall on the pillow with a loud groan.
"Okay, okay." She muttered through a faceful of pillow.
"I have a question dear Saint." Selene spoke up, "Why have you allowed yourself to be treated as such?"
Oz flinched at that, They gave no consequences for lying, but given for all that they have done for her it only felt right to be honest. "Going right for the throat aren't you?" She said and sighed.
"My mom married into the Wainscot family, who have made their fortune from working in the hunter sphere. The only problem was I was part of the deal. I was already ten by the time she married, and being baggage I was unwanted. I had to fight just to survive in that madhouse of nepotism. It only got worse because I was the oldest of the hoard of brats."
Both siblings looked at one another then back at her in confusion.
"I was expected to be their nanny, but not discipline them. Basically my aunts and uncles just wanted me to be their brat's punching bag." Oz picked at one of the loose threads of the pillow.
"Any time I made friends outside the family, they would ruin it. Aunt, the bitch you saw earlier, would make me have to watch the kids or give me some horrible chore to do."
"Why didn't your mother and father do anything?" Selene asked, concerned with filling her voice.
"Mom got pregnant fast, she was a punching bag too. But she gave up fighting, she became like those bastards." Oz nearly ripped a hole into the pillow. "She abandoned me. The only one who cared was Grandfather. He was proud of me despite us not being related."
Nahern frowned at that, "What a cowardly lot of humans."
"Not a hunter within the thirty of them." Oz chuckled darkly, "So when I became a hunter, they went mad with jealousy. I thought it was my chance to get away but I just gave up fighting. Aunt got me into the Black Lotus, and since then I've been doing courier work. Up and down from the dungeons nonstop since I woke. I hate them all so much. I was just a kid, I didn't want to be part of their family either."
There was a shift and Oz blinked when suddenly Selene hugged her. Not a half hearted touch but a true honest hug, squeezing her close. Oz couldn't help the tears that escaped, trying to hide the miserable sniffles.
"Dear Saint, I mourn for your lost childhood and young years. But still, that doesn't answer my question. Why would you allow them to hurt you so badly?" Selene gently stroked the hair back that hid the scar on Oz's face. She couldn't help but shake the hair back into place, still too used to hiding behind the fringe.
"I guess, I thought I deserved it. That I did something that meant I was bad." Oz's voice was barely louder than a whisper. "It doesn't matter anymore. They can't hurt me anymore."
Selene nodded, sitting back but not entirely releasing the hug. Oz didn't mind, it was rather nice just cuddling with a friend. It gave her the needed courage to ask.
"What did you guys put into me?"