The Dungeon's Worst Little Mistake

"Uhhhhhh… My fucking head…"

Susan is getting sick and tired of waking up and feeling like shit. With a splitting headache tearing through her skull, and her body feeling like… huh… Well, that's weird. Her body actually doesn't feel all that bad right now. Not like before, where she felt like a massive sack of bruises and stiff muscles. Now, it is all just, muted? The pain is still there, but it is distant enough to where it wouldn't take very much effort to just plain ignore it if she wants to.

Still, it is there, and her body shakes with effort as she starts to lift herself up and out of bed.

Wait, when did I get back in bed? Didn't she… Why am I not tied up anymore?

Susan looks down at her hands and finds black nails extended from pale fingers, the veins in her arms clearly visible against the skin of her wrists where bruise lines show where her hands used to be tightly bound together with thick rope, veins black and dark with cold blood. One of her hands immediately flies to her chest, feeling around for something that isn't there.

Wait! Didn't she stab me in the chest!? I… I died! I remember dying! Ho-How am I? … Oh, Goddess, I can't feel my heartbeat!

Susan is starting to hyperventilate, breathing faster and faster and… no, wait… She isn't breathing. Why isn't she breathing!? How is she supposed to have a panic attack if she can't choke on her own breaths?! How is she supposed to experience the panic of adrenaline crashing through her system if her heart isn't slamming in her chest like a drum?! The stimuli she is expecting just isn't there anymore. The panic: it isn't accompanied by the normal pain of living flesh. There is just… panic, floating in the void of her mind. With nothing to bounce off of and no physical reactions to intensify the emotional distress of the moment, it is just… there… Susan can sort of feel where it is coming from in her mind and if she can just…

She forces her still body to fill its empty lungs with a calming breath of air, and then just slowly exhales, just like her teacher taught her all those years ago.

Without the physical stimuli of her body freaking the fuck out, the panic is easy to isolate and smother. Almost too easy. Another breath and it is almost gone, reduced to just minor worry and unease.

With her mind finally clearing up, she can think again.

I remember. She did the ritual. She… turned me into an Undead… I'm dead now, aren't I?

She finally starts to really look at herself now. Her arms look narrower than they used to. Did she lose weight? Her skin is definitely pale as a corpse, and her nails have turned a deep black and grown into sharp looking things, almost like claws but still identifiable as human nails. She could definitely hurt someone with these; might have to keep them trimmed.

Leaving her arms and going to the rest of her body, she finds her shirt stained red and brown with dried blood. Her armor is gone, but that had been missing ever since she woke up all tied up, most likely stolen by Bug.

Pulling her shirt away from her chest, the dried blood protesting and trying to stick the cotton to her skin like a nasty glue, she peeks down her shirt.

No stab wound. Not even a scar. And thank the Goddess, I still have my tits. Hello, girls. Not liking how visible my veins are through. Has my skin always been this thin?

"Something interesting in there?" Susan hears a joking voice come from the side.

She knows that voice, obviously, and her first desire is to just ignore it outright or to curse back at its owner. But instead, her mouth moves on its own and answers.

"My tits, master. Was checking to see that they were still- Ah, wait! Why am I saying that!?"

Susan rips her gaze away from her bloodstained chest and towards the little Gremlin bitc- Oh, it's master!

Without even noticing at first, Susan finds herself smiling as she sees her beautiful master, the most beautiful and majestic person in the whole wide world, sitting there, not too far away. She is using a pillow to sit on the floor, a chessboard between her and Elaine as the two are playing a game.

"Did you just call me, master?"

…Wait. Did she?

Panic fills her mind again and Susan forcefully rips control over her own mind back into her hands. Ripping her eyes off the gorgeous creature that is her most majestic and wonderful mas- Bricks! Look at the bricks! Red bricks. Lots of bricks. Count the bricks! 1,2,3,4…

What the fuck was that!?!? Did I just call her master!? What the fuck is with these feelings?! Wait… oh no, oh fuck no!!! What if she decides that she likes being called master!? No, no, no, no! I don't want that! I don't want to turn into some slobbering toe kissing slave!

The idea of kissing those scale covered toes involuntarily enters her mind and is met with excitement. Oh, would master like to have her toes kissed? Maybe if Susan asks nicely, she could even lick them cle-

NOOOOOO! Nope, nope, fuck NOPE! What the hell is wrong with me!?

Bug is just looking at Susan as she is suffering an existential crisis, curiously observing her.

"Susan, look at me."

"Yes master!" Susan happily cheers as she snaps her head away from the bricks and looks towards her with a smile like she is looking at the love of her life.

"Wow… that is weird… freaky even. Stop doing that."

"Stop doing what, master?"

I know what I want to stop doing!!! Why do I need to be given specifics?! And oh, my goodness, her hair could use a brushing! I wonder if she will let me brush it? Oh! What if a strand falls out? I hope she will let me keep i- WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!????

Bug just narrows her eyes, her black rook still held in the air mid move, her gaze burrowing through Susan's love filled own like she is staring straight into her soul. And considering that she can see souls apparently; she might very well be doing just that.

"Hmm… Susan, I forbid you to tell lies. Do you love me?"

"No master. I hate your guts more than anything else in the world right now. In fact, given half the chance to do so, I would relish the opportunity to strangle the life out of you with your own intestines and watch the life fade from your beautiful eyes! But I am most certainly feeling love for you right now, even though I hate you, master? Can I brush your hair for you?" Susan states as she continues to gaze upon her master like she is a baby kitten in much need of cuddles and love and oh so many kisses!

"Ehhhh…" Bug's face starts to sour, clearly not liking this one bit and honestly feeling a bit disgusted.

"Maybe this was a bad idea… Ok, Susan, honest apology on my end here. Please just answer with a simply yes or no. Are you currently suffering?"

"Yes!" Susan declares with a big smile full of happiness and fulfillment! Nothing makes her happier than fulfilling her master's orders! Nothing!

Please make this stop!

"Yeah, ok… Let's start by fixing that, then. Susan, you are not to feel any false emotions that are not entirely your own."

Like an iron collar falling off her neck, the feelings of pure adoration and love that she had been forced to feel suddenly falls away, her mind finally feeling free as rose-colored emotions fade away. She wants to let out a breath of relief, to curse up at the ceiling, or preferably at her master- No, Bug!- but the previous order is still standing. Only yes and no.

"Yessssss!"

"Is that better?"

"Yes! No?" Susan replies against her will, truth being forced from her mouth.

"Yes, no? Oh, wait… The yes and no order was just a one-time thing. You can stop doing that. Now tell me, is that better, now?"

"Yes, I don't feel any false feelings of love towards you anymore. But I still have the issue of being your mindless slave that has to do whatever you say, you bitc-master! Ah!!! Master, I don't want to call you master! I thought you said I wouldn't be your slave!? That you just wanted a companion, you lying piece of shit!"

"Watch the cursing, please. There is a child here." Bug says as she finally finishes her move, nodding towards Mimmie who has been thinking very hard to try and figure out her next move.

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"Yes, master. Fudging, gosh dang it! Wait… Fudge! Poop! Why can't I curse!?"

Bug has to hold back a laugh and then raises up her hands in surrender when Susan sends her a death glare.

"Ok, ok! Hold on, I can fix this. And yes, I did promise. Don't worry."

"Ok, I'll wait and stop worrying." Susan states as all her worries suddenly just disappear.

What was I so worried about anyways, again? Meh, must not have been important~

"No! No, cancel that! That wasn't an order!"

All the worry comes crashing back.

Oh, that's right. That's what I was worrying about!!!!

Bug puts two hands before her face and takes a breath to think for a second.

"Alright… First order, and this should fix the biggest issue. Susan, you don't need to take what I say as a serious order, unless I specifically say that it is an order."

"Did… did that work, master?"

"Mmm, I don't know? Grab that pillow beside you and throw it at me."

Susan is honestly tempted to throw it at her. Hell, she would like to do a whole lot more than just throwing a pillow right now! But despite that, she doesn't move to throw it. Still tempted though…

They both let out a little breath of relief at this. Meanwhile, Mimmie is making her move and cheers as she takes one of Bug's knights with her bishop. Bug just glances over and then takes the bishop with a pawn. Mimmie fell into her obvious trap. Checkmate in three turns unless Mimmie can break out by sacrificing her rook to save the queen from Bug's next move.

"Please, master! Ah!! Please make me stop calling you that!"

"Yeah, don't worry. I don't like it either… I order you to stop calling me master. You are free to address me as you wish."

"Bug! Female dog! You're a very mean person with poop for brains! Ah, please, let me curse again! I sound like a child!"

"No cursing. Like I said, there is a child here now, and I don't want her to pick up swearing. I'm going to be cutting back on the cursing myself, as well, so I expect you to do the same."

"But I don't need the order to do that..."

"Oh, really? Can you promise me that you won't ever swear in front of Mimmie?"

"No." Susan answers truthfully, because she is still under orders to tell no lies.

"See? If you can't guarantee it, then I see no reason to lift that order. No swearing. Plus, it's funny…"

"Oh, and like you aren't going to swear in front of her?"

"I promise that I won't." Bug states matter-of-factly as she takes Mimmie's queen, much to the poor girl's shock.

"Yeah, sure you won't."

"Now then… Mhhh, I guess I need to finish this. Next order. I give you free will. Your actions do not need to be done for my happiness or whatever else, but solely because you want to do them. Next order. I forbid you to harm and/or kill myself, yourself, and Mimmie, this overrides your free will. Next order. You are free to prioritize your own life over my own, even if I am about to be killed. Next order. Any orders I give you after this, will expire after three hours, unless stated otherwise… Mmh, yeah, that should cover everything, I think. Checkmate, Mimmie."

"Ah! One more game, please Mommy!"

"Ok, we can do one more. Would like some hints?"

"No!"

"Ok, ok. Can you reset the board?"

"Mhm!"

Susan is just looking at Bug now, just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Is… is that it? No lying, no cursing, no killing myself or you? Nothing else?" She asks, not even mentioning the no harming Elaine part, because she obviously would never do that anyways.

"Yeah, duh? What other orders were you expecting?"

"I-I don't know…Like holding your bags for you? Being your meat shield?"

"I don't need you to do that. I can just store everything in my inventory or have the minions do stuff like that."

"Or, maybe dance for your amusement?"

"You are free to do that of your own volition."

"Be your sex slave and pleasure you in-"

"Woah, no! None of that! Again, Mimmie is here. Don't give her any strange ideas… And also, Susan, I'm not interested in you like that. I'm still honestly not sure what my interests are yet, and I honestly don't feel like finding out until I am out of this stupid Dungeon. So, I'm sorry, but I am going to have to respectfully decline your offer." Bug carefully lets her down.

"Wait, what? No! I wasn't offering! I'm straight! I was just saying that it was something I was worried about…"

"I'm a bit offended that you would think I would do something like that… but considering I did just turn you into a Ghoul… Fair is fair." Bug says with a shrug. "Still, don't worry. I'm not interested in your Undead body."

"Well, that is honestly a relief to… wait, is there something wrong with my body!?"

She quickly gets up and sprints for the fountain. Surprisingly, she moves much faster than she intended and nearly slams into the wall, almost tripping as she comes to a stop and nearly falls into the fountain.

Quickly looking at her reflection in the water, Susan is almost having another panic attack if her body is even capable of having those anymore.

Her first gut reaction is to freak out, but she soon calms down as she finds that she luckily isn't a rotting corpse or anything like that, yet.

Her skin is pale now, paler than Bug's and cold to the touch. Her cheeks are a bit sunken in, giving her the look of someone who hasn't had a proper meal in three days. Her crimson hair, which is in much need of a wash, has a bit of grey running through it now, and the color seems to have faded slightly. But the most obvious change is her eyes. Her sclera has turned grey, and her irises a deep black, making them look like pits into some deep, bottomless hole.

"What has happened to my body?"

"Well, you are a walking corpse now…" Bug says as she moves a pawn forward as bait. Mimmie looks up at her curiously at her words, but Bug just tells her not to worry about it.

"Am I- I don't look human anymore. Anyone who sees me will instantly know. How am I supposed to walk through a town, looking like this? How am I supposed to… Wait, can I even have kids anymore?!"

"Nope. You're a corpse. Corpses don't make babies, sorry. And also, join the club. You think either Mimmie or I can walk into a town looking like we do?"

Susan looks back at them and… yeah, she has a point…

So much for rejoining society someday. Guess I'll be living forever as an outcast. But I guess that is fine, so long as I can stay with Elaine… Just sucks that I'll probably never get to have sex again. It's already been months since the last guy. And not to mention, never getting to have kids… I was sort of looking forward to that…

Susan just lets out a tired sigh as Bug makes another move that has Mimmie moaning in defeat and scratching her head.

"Relax, Susan. I'm not entirely heartless. Remember, I did this to you out of revenge, but I'm not dumb. I could have turned you into something much worse that you would have definitely hated… No, I chose to make you a Ghoul because they have a lovely trait that makes them rather convenient compared to other Undead. Tell me, are you hungry?"

Susan gives Bug a look and… now that she thinks about it. Holy crap, she is actually starving! She hasn't been this hungry in a while! How did she not notice this until now? No, wait, that's right. Her pain response is more muted now. Even without realizing, she had been ignoring the pain in her body this entire time. Easy to do when you have other things like existential dread to worry about.

Swallowing down a mouthful of drool, all she can do is nod her head.

Holy crap I am hungry! Is it getting worse? Oh, oh this is bad. I need to eat! Now that I am thinking about it, I can't stop! I NEED TO EAT! MEAT, WHERE IS MEAT!?

Panting, drooling, eyes going wide, Susan starts to look around, her darkening eyes darting all over the room in search of food. Of meat!

Skeletons. Useless, no food! No meat! Her eyes dart back to Bug and Elaine, and she almost makes to charge them down. But her order is seared into her brain, and she stops before she can even take a step. She can't eat them! Where is food!? Her eyes go to the door. The Dungeon! Dungeon has food, no, wait, monsters. It has monsters! Monsters are made of food?... The Dungeon has food!!!!

Susan moves to bolt out the door, but a sudden smell has her stopping before she can even finish her first step.

Blood. Not her own and smelling so utterly delicious that even just a single smell is making her drool even more than she already is.

Her head snaps to the side, and she sees as a corpse pops into existence not too far from Bug's feet. A lizard man falling to the floor in a limp mess of broken limbs, its thick neck impossibly twisted in the wrong direction and it eyes rolled up into its skull.

One moment Susan is motionless, and the next she is already on the corpse, tearing into its hard scales with her teeth and tearing out chunks of fresh bloody meat! She swallows and as the meat slides down her throat, she can't help but to cry tears of pure joy and ecstasy her entire body shivering as the chunk of red flesh slides down and splashes into her empty stomach! Nothing has ever tasted this good! It is ambrosia, sweet like honey and smoother than wine!

With no regard for the mess she is making, she continues to tear into the corpse, ripping out chunks left and right with teeth and nails and cramming it all down as fast as possible. And because she doesn't need to breath? No risk of choking!

How did she not know she was starving so badly until now? How did she not realize that meat could be so succulent!?

Off to the side, Elaine is pouting and complaining.

"No fair! I want some too!"

"Yes, yes. Here you go sweetheart. Have some frog legs. But not too much, I don't want you to ruin your appetite before dinner."

"Yay! Love frog legs!"

"Try not to make a mess, please, you just had a bath."

Down on the floor, Susan is barely aware of anything else as she gorges herself with bloody meat, her dead body filling with vigor and life as her bruises fade away, and her pale skin returns to its original healthy tan. Her cheeks slowly fill back in, her muscles thicken, and her hair deepen back into not its original shade of crimson, but something more along the lines of a deep, blood-red. Her eyes, which were like pits, now return to being white, with her irises turning into a lovely pink with a red tint hidden behind them like a pair of roses looked at from above.

Covered in a fresh layer of blood, Susan sits back on her knees, arms hanging limp at her sides, eyes practically glazed over with orgasmic pleasure as she can't help but to let out a satisfied sigh and a little burp. Rather un-ladylike, but she could care less right now. That was the best fudging meal of her entire life right there!

She is human again. And if anything, she looks even more beautiful now than she ever did in life. Unnaturally so. Aside from all the gore covering her body, of course.

Her skin is smooth, with hardly a pore to be seen. Old scars have faded away, stress lines are gone, and all signs of aging have simply disappeared. She is reborn!

For now…

Bug snaps her fingers a couple of times in front of Susan's face to get her attention back.

"Hey there. Looking much better now. Probably feeling much better to now, huh?"

"Yeah~"

"Good. And this is why I decided to make you a Ghoul. Meat and blood, is now your answer to everything. So long as you can eat, you are effectively unkillable. Lose limbs, half your body, hell, even get reduced to just a head! So long as you can eat meat, you can regenerate! Your only weakness is the core inside of your heart, and your head. If you lose both, you will die and become a wandering Ghost. At least until I can anchor you into a new body again, so try to avoid that, m'kay? And you want to keep looking like a human, being able to live in a city and be around people? Then keep eating. Just be careful, because if you go too long without eating meat, you'll become weaker and weaker until even natural sunlight will start to burn you away and destroy you. Got it?"

"Kay~"

"Are you actually listening? Ehh, I'll just explain this all to you again later, after you come back down. Note to self, eating too much meat will get Susan high… Well, let's get you cleaned up. You two, get over here and help me get her in the fountain. Susan, hold still, let me take your clothes off and-"

"Heheheehe~ Bath time! Woooh~ I-I just, feeeeel sooooo… Just so gooood right now. Can I hug you?"

"What!? Wha-No! Your covered in blood! No! Don't get it on my shirt, I just washed this! NO!!! Mimmie, save Mommy! Help!"

"Buh I'hm shill ehing, though?" Says Mimmie through a mouthful of frog legs as she watches Mommy getting hugged by Sissy. She's happy to see them getting along for once. They fight too much.

"Save me! My shirt! Pull her off of me! Ahhhhhh!"