Prytaneum
Searchlight
I led Welf to an out of the way place I'd found off West Main, near the Church Hestia and I lived in. It was one of the poorer parts of the city, so it wasn't too hard to find an empty place, especially since it's not like I ever needed it for long.
"Who are we meeting here?" Welf asked, looking around at the rundown remains of…I wasn't sure what, honestly. I think it might have been a house at some point, but there were enough holes in the roof and walls that I honestly couldn't make out what it was supposed to be anymore.
"A friend," I said, still feeling a bit awkward about all this. The Camp had adapted pretty well to the whole friendly Hellhound thing, but Mrs. O'Leary had shown up to help kick ass against Kampe and her army, which was pretty good as first impressions went. I wasn't sure how a city of monster hunters would react, by comparison. "Someone I've gone into the Dungeon with before. She watches my back and makes sure I don't get in over my head."
"Sort of like you and me?" He asked.
"Sort of," I agreed.
"Cool," He said, looking interested. "She must be pretty strong if she's who you go to. Is she a level 2?"
I scratched my head for a moment, looking Welf over carefully. If something went wrong here, it could be bad for me…but I trusted Welf.
"That's sort of the issue," I replied. "She's a monster."
Welf looked surprised at that, but not nearly as much as I thought he would.
"You've tamed a monster?" He asked.
Now it was my turn to be confused.
"Sort of?" I replied, tilting my head at him. "Not gonna lie, I didn't expect that reaction."
Welf furrowed his eyebrows at that.
"I keep forgetting you're new to Orario…" He muttered to himself before raising his voice. "Well, I'm not going to say I'm not surprised—it's not common to tame monsters or anything. But at the same time, it's far from unheard of. Usually it's done with the weaker monsters on the surface, but the Ganesha Familia has a lot of really skilled trainers and they can do it with even Monsters from the Dungeon. Once a year, there's a festival called Monsterphilia where they bring monsters up to the surface and tame them in front of the crowd."
"Really?" I asked, surprised by that.
"Mhm," He said, nodding. "I couldn't believe it the first time I heard about it, but they do. I've actually been to a few—the whole festival is a really big deal. Have you ever seen the Coliseum at the end of East Main? That's where they do it. Come to think of it…I think that festival is coming up soon. It should be a few weeks from now."
"But bringing them up to the surface…isn't that dangerous?" I asked uncertainly. I mean, on one hand, I was all for more friendly monsters in the world. But on the other, most monsters really, really weren't and bringing them up to the surface and surrounding them with people seemed unwise.
"I asked that the first time I heard about it," He replied. "But Hephaestus said that the Ganesha Familia was one of the strongest Familias in Orario."
"That's not really an answer…"
"I noticed that, too," He said, nodding. "Some of the monsters they bring up are from the twentieth floor or lower—the type of stuff that would just crush someone like me. But the Guild allows it and Ganesha has a bunch of really strong adventurers, so…"
He shrugged.
"If you want, I'll show you around this year," He said. "It's pretty cool, all things considered."
"I'll think about it," I said. "Anyway, about my friend…"
"Right," Welf replied, nodding. "She's a monster. But she's not the type to attack people, right?"
"No," I said. "Not unless I ask her to."
"Then it should be fine," He said, shrugging a shoulder. "It'll take some getting used to, but so did being an adventurer. What type is she?"
"A Hellhound," I said.
He whistled at that, looking impressed.
"That's a monster from the Middle Floors," He said. "Is that where you got her or did you find her on the surface?"
"I got her from a friend," I replied. "I've been taking care of her since he passed away…or she's been taking care of me. It's definitely one or the other. But she's…she's not like other Hellhounds. It's more like…she's probably…"
I shook my head, not sure how to put Mrs. O'Leary in words.
"It's easier to just show you," I said. "I just didn't want you to be alarmed. Brace yourself, okay?"
Having given him a heads up, I gave a cab-calling whistle—and immediately, the shadowed floor of the ruined building writhed and seemed to exploded, twisting as the previously empty space was nearly filled by yards and yards of dark flesh and fur. Mrs. O'Leary was a lot of dog, what with being the size of a garbage truck, and she had to hunch low, keep her paws to herself, and avoid wagging her tail to keep from breaking the house. That didn't stop her from giving me a big doggy grin and panting happily in my face, though, and I reached up to scratch her chin.
For his part, Welf released a startled shout, did a thing where it seemed like he was going to jump out of his own body, and then ended up falling over backwards.
"Welf, this is Mrs. O'Leary," I said, kindly ignoring the display. "Mrs. O'Leary, this is Welf."
Welf stared at her with wide eyes, mouth moving as if to say something, but for a moment no words came out.
"Holy…" He whispered at last, but even then he trailed off. "Okay, the name fits—"
One of the things I'd learned about Welf was that he had a weird naming sense, especially when it came to the stuff he made himself. Frankly, I didn't even understand what the names meant, most of the time, but when he translated them for me, they didn't make any more sense. They worked fine though and I figured he'd like Mrs. O'Leary's name.
"But…Percy, you said your friend was a Hellhoud," He continued. "This is not a Hellhound, Percy."
"She's a Hellhound," I disagreed. "Just a little bigger than most."
"A little?" He asked, looking up at her. Even lying down as best she could, her back touched the ceiling. "She's more than a little bigger, Percy. Where did your friend find her? And how the hell did he tame her?"
"I don't know where he found her," I said, though all of a sudden I did have to wonder where that dark place she'd brought me to when I first called her was. It was in the Dungeon, I was pretty sure, but I had no idea what floor. "As for the rest, all I know is that it involved many near death experiences and a lot of giant chew toys."
Mrs. O'Leary released a low whine at the mention of Daedalus and I pet her soothingly again.
"Though thinking about it, I guess our story involves that, too," I mused to her as I calmed her. "You feel like taking a trip today, girl?"
She tilted her head and then leaned over to sniff at Welf. Her nose was larger than most of his upper body and he held himself very still.
"Yeah, he's coming with us," I said. "He's a friend."
She panted in Welf's face at that and looked back towards me.
"You still up for this Welf?" I asked, schooling my face so he wouldn't see that I was nervous about his reaction. "I'll understand if you want to back out."
"You kidding?" He returned, shaking his head slightly. "I feel bad for the Orcs, but I'm still in. How are we going to get her into the Dungeon though? I mean, I think walking her through town might cause a stir."
"Yeah," I said, feeling a bit wistful as I remembered the Mist. Sure, it was a big part of why I'd always gotten the blame for weird stuff at school, but it made spending time with my dog easier. Most of the time, people just saw her and thought she was a poodle. Now that's magic. "Which is why we're going to take a shortcut. Come here."
Welf approached, doing a pretty good job of hiding how nervous he probably felt, and took my hand when I offered it.
"Tenth floor," I told Mrs. O'Leary. "Can you get us there?"
Mrs. O'Leary seemed to huff at that and then began digging. With claws like hers, I had no doubt that she could tear through wood, rock, and earth with ease—I mean, the first Hellhound I ever met had carved through my armor easily enough and he'd been a puppy compared to Mrs. O'Leary.
But she wasn't digging through dirt—she was digging into the shadows. In a matter of moments, she was up to her shoulders in the floor and I hopped onto her back with practiced ease, pulling Welf along for the ride, and then we were gone. The world went pitch-black and cold, but I could still feel Welf at my side and Mrs. O'Leary's running. We were moving fast, so much so that it felt like my face was being peeled off by the wildest roller-coaster ride of all time, and all the while there were strange noises, weird feelings, and something that sent shivers up and down my spine.
As always, I loved it, and mere moments later there was light. We came back to the normal world in the light of the Pantry, beneath one of the many trees around it, and Mrs. O'Leary immediately stalked closer to the source of the light. All it took were a few massive strides to reach the edge of the Pantry's pool, but Mrs. O'Leary only gave it a passing glance before seizing one of the startled seeming Orcs in her jaws and biting down, ripping him quickly to shreds and swallowing massive chunks. A moment later, the remains of the Orc collapsed into Dust and Mrs. O'Leary reached down to drink from the Pantry itself.
In that same moment, the entire room went mad. The Batpats in the room, clinging to either the ceiling or sides of the crystal, started to shriek, driving massive, sadistic spikes into my ears and brain, while the Orcs and Imps immediately turned and roared. Mrs. O'Leary paused in her snack to let out a sound that was half pain, half rage, and louder than an artillery gun, adding to the noise. Behind me, Welf released a hissing cry of his own, hands snapping up to cover his ears and for my part…
Well, I started killing Batpats.
With an effort of will, the Pantry waters exploded, liquid rising up in a sudden geyser that swept the Batpats off the Pantry itself and then slammed up into the ceiling, spreading over it and sweeping the monsters away. Those that touched the liquid didn't fall, however, but were instead caught in the stream, voices drowning out as the waters filled their mouths and lungs. Then, I pulled the waters away from the ceiling and slammed it—and everything inside of it—onto an approaching Orc hard enough to flatten it like a really gruesome pancake that brought a momentary silence to the room.
"Damn, I hate those things," I said, rubbing at my own ears before looking around. "You two okay?"
"Gah," Welf said, holding his head. "Ugh."
I passed him a potion I'd prepared for this occasion, just in case the sound caused actual damage, and then rubbed carefully and Mrs. O'Leary's ears.
"You okay, girl?" I asked worriedly. "This is why I didn't bring you here last time."
Her ears twitched as I rubbed them and she seemed fine—but the attack, and the pain it had caused, had brought her anger to the surface. She turned towards the abruptly hesitant army of monsters with raised hackles and began growling loud enough to echo.
"Come on," I said, putting an arm around Welf's shoulders and hopping off so I wouldn't get in the way. "You okay?"
"Fine," He said, though he wrinkled and flexed his face for a moment, as if trying to make his ears pop. "I see what you mean about the Batpats, though. Goddamn."
After a moment, however, he snapped his head up, eyes widening.
"Percy, are we in the Pantry?" He asked, voice urgent. I wasn't sure if he'd only just now noticed or if the thought had been momentarily driven out by the racket in here.
"I've never brought you here, have I?" I replied, cracking my neck. "Mostly because monsters tend to swarm me whenever I come here…but it has its advantages."
Welf didn't seem to be listening to me though, too busy looking around.
"Percy…this is big," He breathed, eyes still wide. "Traveling through the Dungeon like this…bypassing ten floors…"
"Not really the time, man," I said, watching as Mrs. O'Leary leapt about thirty yards and crashed into the ranks of a group of Orcs, snapping the room out of its stupor. At the same time, the sound of cracks filled the room as the walls and ceilings seem to break, the first of many monsters already beginning to emerge. For my part, I focused my attention on the ceiling, preparing to target any Batpats that emerged and crush them, and began to draw the Pantry waters around me. After a moment's thought, I decided against whipping up a hurricane, both out of worry for Welf and concerns about the amount of energy it took. Instead, I began by shaping a pair of massive hands that followed and mimicked my own, and reached out to grab an Orc.
And then I crushed it like a soda can.
"Magic, too?" Welf asked, still looking stunned even as his eyes shifted between the breaking walls, the monsters, Mrs. O'Leary, and me. After another moment, he heaved a long sigh and shook his head, finally reaching back to draw his huge sword. "Anyone ever told you you're kind of crazy?"
I smiled at that and shifted to match him, ready to respond to anything that approached.
"Eh," I said. "Once or twice."
"How are we gonna do this?" He mused as he took a place by my side, hesitating to attack.
"I'll handle everything in the air," I said. "How many Orcs can you handle at once?"
"Two or three," He said, rolling his shoulders. "As long as they don't surround me, at least."
"I've got your back," I said, flexing both sets of fingers. "Just stay out of the way of my hands; I'll keep you clear. Any questions before we get started?"
"About…this," Welf gestured vaguely with a finger. "It's a secret, right?"
"Yeah," I said. "There's a lot of stuff I told Lady Hestia I wouldn't say, stuff that could draw the wrongs type of attention. I don't want to break my word to her, but if she says it's okay, I don't really mind telling you about it. Mrs. O'Leary's one of the biggest ones anyway—and I trust you."
Welf exhaled slowly at the mention that Mrs. O'Leary was just one of my biggest secrets, but then shook his head.
"No, I get it," He said. "Everyone has some stuff they don't like to talk about. Even I…"
He shook his head as if trying to brush away something unpleasant.
"You don't have to tell me anything," He continued. "Like you said, you've got my back—that's all I really need to know."
I nodded to myself. I still had some stuff like that, questions I'd rather not answer—but I did trust Welf and there were a few things it was probably worth talking about. If nothing else, he knew about a lot of stuff and I thought it might be worth clearing up a few details.
It could wait, though. For now…
"Then let's kill a lot of Orcs," I said. "We've got a quest to finish."