Hesitantly, with trembling hands, the Girl accepted the doll as I released it, slowly pulling my hand away. She held the toy with extreme care, as if it would fall apart in her hands and crawled out of the cage, standing in front of me, her eyes focused on the object in her hands.
She held it in front of her face and analyzed the toy's features carefully, dragging her fingers through the doll's hair and face, then hugging it to her chest before raising her head and staring at me in silence.
Okay, that was a little scary.
Despite knowing her history; she still looked like a kid from a horror movie, with her ragged brown dress, pale skin, thin body, messy and short orange hair and piercing yellow eyes that shone in the dark. Exactly the type of ghost that would lead the protagonist into a trap.
She made an uncomfortable face; making me think that I must have been staring for some time, so I recomposed myself, trying to break the awkwardness of the situation, leaning towards her, smiling and offering my hand
"It is nice to meet you!"
My smile faded when, instead of accepting the handshake, she tilted her head in confusion.
"Do you know what a handshake is?"
She simply stared without saying a word.
"Can you even understand what I'm saying?"
Please say yes. I don't want to have to communicate through gestures.
She nodded slowly.
"Perfect! Where I come from, a handshake is a formal greeting between people, especially when they're meeting for the first time. We firmly hold each other's hands and shake them up and down. Do you think you can do it? I'm embarrassed to be holding my hand in the air."
Several expressions passed over her face, she frowned, looked away, opened and closed her mouth and slowly extended her hand. I gave myself a mental pat on the back; looking at the success of my attempt, or so I thought.
She wrapped her right hand around my left index finger and weakly wiggled it up and down. It was kind of cute, but she did it for too long, staring into my soul.
God, this Girl is weird, but I can't judge, because I am even more. Being a little introverted and with a certain degree of anxiety doesn't help much.
"You can stop now." I said with a nervous smile and sweat trickling down my forehead.
She let go of my finger, walking away with slow steps facing me again as she hugged the doll.
Damn it! This is unnecessarily weird; I have no experience caring for children, much less a traumatized possible future God.
What should I do? Hm... I need to choose my priorities first, get the Girl out of this room and give her some food, she must be starving.
Second, scout this place for more stuff. There are several important items in the area and two places where there is a chance for me to get armor and weapons without having to spend coins.
Thirdly? Do I go deeper into the dungeon? I think I'll only do that after I'm sure I'm ready. I might as well wait for Le'garde to die or for someone to save him, that way the fog around the dungeon dissipates and we can escape.
Calm down and let's start slowly!
"Hm… Listen, I know we just met and you don't trust me, but I want you to know that I'm here to help. You must be hungry, so how about I fix you something to eat? There's a kitchen nearby."
As soon as I finished speaking, a loud noise echoed through the room, it was her stomach making her grab her belly with a pained face.
Damn it! I've seen the images of starving children in war zones or in poor countries, whether on TV or the internet, but seeing this in person is a completely different story, it makes my heart sink.
"Come."
I held my hand out to the Girl, but perhaps I was too impulsive as she backed away a few steps.
"You know what? Just stay close to me."
I put on my mask and hood and walked towards the exit, hearing her slow, careful steps right behind me.
I poked my head out of the room and scanned the area, there was no one there, perfect! Looking back, the Girl was close, so I motioned for her to follow me, but as soon as I took a step outside, I felt a tug on my shirt, the child holding my clothes while looking at the floor.
"It's okay to stay like this, just don't let go of me and don't wander around, alright?"
She nodded, and with that resolved, we left the room, book and dagger in hand.
Slowly we made our way to the right, our footsteps being the only source of noise in the decrepit stone corridors. At its end there were two paths, one to the left and one to the right.
We approached the corner of the hall, our bodies pressed against the wall; I felt her grip on my shirt tightening while I poked part of my head out of hiding and looked both ways, seeing no one.
"The path is clear, we can continue."
I said, giving the Girl a quick look. She nodded and we followed the path to the right, walking past the dungeon's entrance, seeing the grass and the wall of fog outside. No sign of the dogs and Isayah, that is good news, but I noticed that the child also looked outside curiously.
"This is the outside, where I came from. Have you ever been there?"
She shook her head, keeping her eyes on the sunlit outside.
"Unfortunately, we can't leave right now, I don't know if it's safe. Maybe later I can show you around the outside."
She gave me a disappointed look and lowered her head, nodding in understanding. I felt bad for making her sad, but we can't risk running into the dogs.
We reached the end of this corridor and stopped in front of a wooden door, where I expected to get more equipment.
"Could you let go of me for a minute?"
The Girl fixed me with a hesitant look, but with a trembling hand, released me.
"Don't worry, this won't take long, but stay where I can see you."
The Girl leaned against the wall to the left of the wooden door. With that done, I approached the old, rotten wood and grabbed the metal handle with one hand, forcing it inside as I lunged at the door.
It took a few tries, but with each impact, the lock gave way, eventually creaking open, revealing a dusty storage room. To my delight, I found one of the things I was looking for, the Leather Vest, similar to the one Cahara wore, but instead of their brownish red hue, these were black in color.
I wore it over my shirt like a jacket, covering my torso but leaving my arms exposed. I needed some armguards right away. The second item I found was a Blue Vial, putting it in my backpack right after. Good, but I was hoping to get an iron mace.
"I got everything I wanted here. Thanks for waiting, now let's move on."
I smiled at the girl then we went back to what we were doing. She held my shirt and I led the way until we finally reached the place I was looking for, the kitchen. I closed the door behind us and looked around. It was a simple medieval kitchen, with wooden tables and chairs, a few boxes and barrels lying around and a stone woodstove.
"You can sit down; I'll make you something to eat."
I pulled out a chair for her to sit on, making the Girl look at me surprised by what I said, as if I was lying.
"What? I'm telling the truth."
I shrugged, and still surprised, the Girl sat down, so I pushed the chair closer to the table, letting the child swing her legs and watch what I was doing.
"Kitab, could you release my hand? Cooking with only one hand free is hard."
I spoke to the book and it answered.
"No problem."
The tentacle that wrapped around my arm returned inside the book, now laying loose in the palm of my hand. I placed it open on the wooden counter next to the stove and searched the shelves for kitchen utensils, finding a knife that wasn't covered in blood, placing it beside Kitab and preparing the food. I think a sandwich will do.
"A sandwich? I expected more."
"I don't have anything to light the fire and even if I did, I'd rather save it for something really important."
I answered while using the knife to remove the moldy parts of the bread and then split it in half.
"Like getting the armor you've been looking for?"
"Hm… It's a possibility, but there's the problem that the Penance Armor is a torture device full of spikes that once put on can't be removed, so I have second thoughts about getting it. Maybe I can use it as a bargaining chip?"
I cut up some cheese, lettuce and tomato and put them on the bread.
"It is not a bad plan."
"Moreover, I'm a skinny college student, not a warrior, there's a chance the armor is too heavy for me."
I searched the rest of the kitchen and found other interesting things, a cloth bag where I kept the leftover food and some dried meat that I put on the sandwich too.
"Pathetic."
"You better shut up before I use you as fuel for the fire."
I closed the sandwich and placed it on a wooden plate.
"I am your source of magic! You wouldn't dare!"
"Do you think so? Because there are other Gods in the dungeon willing to teach me some spells and I know exactly how to increase my affinity with them."
I picked up a metal mug and opened my water bottle, pouring a third of the water into it, filling it up, then I closed the bottle and put it back in my backpack.
"You got me there." Kitab "sighed".
I held the plate with the sandwich in one hand and the mug in the other, heading towards the table, seeing the Girl giving me a strange look, a mixture of surprise and fear, I think
"You saw me talking to the book, didn't you?" I asked embarrassed
She nodded.
"And now, do you think I'm crazy?"
She held out her hand and shook it to the sides. So, a little bit. It's not so bad. I even agree.
I put the plate with the sandwich and the mug in front of her, took Kitab from the counter and placed it on top of the table, sitting down in a chair shortly after.
"Girl, say hello to Kitab."
"Greetings!"
The child looked surprised when letters suddenly appeared on the pages, cocking her head in confusion right after.
"Do you know how to read?"
The Girl's face turned red and she shook her head.
"You don't need to be embarrassed, it is not your fault. Nevertheless, to sum up, this is Kitab, my magic book that helps me to cast spells. He communicates with words on his pages, saying hello to you. You could say I'm an amateur warlock."
She understood what I meant and waved at the book.
"Hump! At least she's polite."
"I wouldn't say it's politeness, but caution caused by fear."
"For me it works the same way."
I did not answer, it's better not to say a few colorful words next to a child. Looking at her, I noticed that she still did not eat.
Was she expecting something?
"This food is for you. You can eat now, I won't mind that."
My words seemed to be everything she'd hoped for, as the Girl placed the doll on the table and began to eat her sandwich, taking a few small bites, probably testing the flavor. After chewing, her eyes widened and she ate faster.
"Is it good?"
Shel nodded quickly.
"I'm glad for that. I'm proud of my cooking skills."
She went back to eating, alternating between the sandwich and the water, bringing a smile to my face, but halfway through, she stopped and stared, alternating between the sandwich and me before offering me the food, but I held up my hand in denial.
"No thanks, you can keep eating; I brought my food with me."
I removed the snack from my backpack and with a little bit of strength, opened the package, eating right after. For a moment I considered giving her the snacks, but stopped when I thought of the effects the chemistry of 21st century food would have on the body of a medieval person, let alone a malnourished child.
The Girl stared at me for a few seconds before shrugging and going back to eating while I enjoyed my snack.
"So, what do you plan to do now that you've freed the girl?"
"Get the Penance Armor and hide it somewhere until I decide what to do with it"
"And then?"
"Free Cahara."
"And then?"
"Hm… Find Enki or a book that teaches me necromancy, get better equipment, scavenge for items, and find Rag in the hidden backyard."
"And then?"
"And then? Good question..."
"You know you'll have the option to leave the dungeon only after the prisoner everyone came looking for dies or is saved. What will you do?"
"That's a problem, if he dies, D'arce will try to revive him and he will become the Kaiser in the future, if he lives, he will try to become something above a New God."
"So, what do you plan to do?"
"There are some options; I could prevent him from becoming a New God, but without killing him. Like, foiling his plans."
"He might try to kill you for that."
"That's why it would be nice to have Rag on our team. He could face and stop him if necessary."
"But the knight will not like it at all."
That's a problem, one of the biggest obstacles is D'arce, her passion and loyalty to Le'garde has left her blind to what's going on around her. She has completely ignored all the horrible things he has done and will do anything to save him.
"Another question. Now that you've freed the girl, what do you intend to do with her? Let her become a God? Escape the dungeon together?"
"It is a hard choice, if she doesn't become a God, humanity will continue to suffer without making progress. After all, it was the Cruel Age created by the birth of the God of Fear and Hunger and Enki's Skin Bibles that caused history to continue until the second game."
Maybe I can help her become a God, but in a different way? A positive and less painful transformation, at least outside of the dungeon.
"I need more information, Kitab. Maybe Enki can help us, finding him might be our best option at the moment."
"Well, choose what you think is best, after all I can't go walking around. Whichever you choose, I will have to follow."
"Thanks. However, I think it's better to clear something up. Girl."
She stopped eating her nearly finished sandwich and looked at me upon being called.
"I don't know how to say this lightly, so I'll be quick. I know who your parents are."
Hearing that, her eyes widened, but she looked away in shame soon after.
"The New God and Le'garde, am I right?"
She nodded.
"Do you know what your father did to be here and what his plan is?"
She shook her head with her face full of fear, probably wondering where I'm going with this.
"I won't lie to you, your father did horrible things and he hurt a lot of people to try to carry out a plan that has every chance of going wrong. He obviously didn't think this through and improvised much of it. The chances of him dying from something beyond his control are high."
She lowered her head, staring at the table and sniffing her nose, being about to cry. She must think I'm accusing her of something because she's Le'garde's daughter.
"Please don't cry, I'm not accusing you of anything and I don't blame you for your father's actions, but we can't ignore what's going on around us. Now, we have two options, we can go deeper into the dungeon and try to save him, there are other people here trying to find him so we can join them, or we could try to escape the dungeon, ignore Le'garde and just focus on living."
Wiping her runny nose with her hand, the Girl nodded, still not looking at me.
"I won't lie, if we decide to save him, we will have to go through many dangers, monsters, traps and much more. The chance of dying is extremely high, but on the other hand, if we decide to ignore Le'garde, we can wander around the dungeon, picking up items and equipment to survive until things calm down."
I couldn't see the Girl's face, her hair hid it, but I noticed her hands shaking on her lap.
"I will get you out of here, I promise you, but we need to decide what to do here."
She stiffened; slowly lifting her head and staring me in the eyes. Scaring me a little.
"Do you doubt me? I don't blame you, but I'm serious. A child shouldn't be trapped here. Wouldn't you like to see the world? What exists beyond these walls?"
We stared at each other for a long time, her piercing eyes focusing on mine. Nevertheless, I didn't flinch, returning the gesture firmly. Then, she got up from her seat, took her doll and stood next to me, holding my shirt, still staring.
"Do you believe me?"
She nodded.
"Thank you very much, I promise I won't let you down."
I smiled, trying to pet her head, but she backed away.
"Okay, no unnecessary contact, I understand, but we still haven't decided what we should do."
"Then how about I decide for you?"
A female voice sounded through the kitchen as the door opened.
I got up immediately, Kitab wrapping his tentacles around my arm. I drew my dagger and the Girl hid behind me as we looked at the source of the voice. Who I found surprised me, D'arce, there was the white-skinned orange-haired knight, wearing her full plate armor, carrying her sword and shield.
She was not in good condition, her armor, sword and face were stained with blood, she had cuts on her face and dents in her shield, her hair was disheveled and she was shaking vigorously, with eyes frantically scanning the kitchen for something that wasn't there.
"What are you talking about?" I faked being ignorant.
This only pissed her off, she stepped forward, her sword raised and face in a mixture of fear and anger.
"D-don't treat me like a fool! I heard your conversation with the Girl! Y-you will take me to Le'garde!"
"Well, this just got interesting; D'arce puts herself in your way. What will you do? Fight? Talk? Escape or die?"
END OF CHAPTER