Worthy Core

Xenia had wanted to call a dungeon staff meeting right away, but unfortunately even among just her reincarnated guardians, Lollyp and Taly were both occupied with Challenger parties who were working on their floors. Thus, it isn't until later that evening that she's finally able to assemble everyone in the dungeon's conference room, an isolated add-on to Floor Five.

After everyone's seated, Lollyp speaks up first. "So, what went wrong today?"

"What, I could have been calling a meeting for good news, you know?" Xenia eyes Lollyp for a moment before snorting. "Okay, no, something weird happened today, and I wanted to talk it over before making any big decisions. First up, Valkyrie Brightsky, question for you."

If she didn't have Opal's attention before, she certainly does now. "Yes, dungeon master? What is it? Does this involve the realmwalkers?"

"Maybe. Tell me, do the names Sevastion and Yulia Bogdanov mean anything to you?"

The elf narrows her eyes for a bit while she thinks, before eventually nodding. "Not the individuals, no, but the family name is that of one of the Fallen Champions, if I'm not mistaken. Not a powerful faction but such families do have some influence."

Taly frowns. "Odd names, what culture are those from?"

"Russian." Xenia rests her hands on her hips as she begins to pace around the end of the conference table. "Wasn't a hundred percent sure, but I think Brightsky confirms it. These two gotta be descendants of Zhenya the Spiritualist...or, well, at least one of them, maybe they're a married couple or something, I dunno. Well. Were." She chuckles to herself. "Never used her last name much, if I remember right I usually called her 'my little Baba Yaga'."

That name gets her some odd looks, and Sincere raises an eyebrow. "Meaning what, exactly?"

"Well, she was tiny, for one. Also...well, realmwalker in-joke, probably wouldn't get it. But she acted a lot like a witch, or so it seemed like. Most summoned Heroes got themselves an artifact weapon or something they bonded with, but she was one of the handful that focused more on purely magical stuff."

Parker attempts to refocus the reminiscing onto the current issue at hand. "Did Sevastion and Yulia come to the dungeon today? Wait...that past tense, did they die in the dungeon today?"

"Well, that's the interesting question, Parker. Cause Sevastion, yes, did super die in the dungeon today. Walked right into the sawblade trap on Floor One. Didn't even seem upset about it."

Lollyp's face screws up in confusion. "...Has anyone ever died to the sawblade trap?"

"Not since that one orc from - well, before even your time, yeah." Xenia sighs. "It was a suicide, no doubt about it. But here's the weird thing. I never saw hide nor hair of this 'Yulia', yet somehow we got her soul along with his. As a full reincarnate, even. Which, I don't understand how that's possible without her dying here and then volunteering herself to me."

Guy bobs up and down. "Well, as to the second...if her soul was present and cognizant, it could still be capable of consenting to the, ah, process. Even we aren't capable of seeing non-dungeon monster ghosts without the use of specialized spells, so there's no telling if she was around and aware."

Xenia turns to face the guide. "Wait, ghosts are a legit thing here?"

"Well, certainly! Oh, you don't need to worry about the dungeon being haunted though, as all those who died here come under your authority."

"Well, great." Xenia stares up at the ceiling while she considers the information. "Maybe if she was bound to him somehow, killing him also released her and got her snapped up in our soul net?"

Before anyone can respond to her theory-crafting, Opal has a demand to make. "However they ended up in your custody, I would like to claim possession of them in the name of Lord Theolif."

That gets her a frown from the dungeon master. "Wait, what? Why would you want to summon a couple of warlord's kids as summoned Heroes?"

"I don't. I would like to remand them to Lord Theolif's care so that he can...transfer them on to a suitable afterlife." Her eyes narrow as she imagines their fate, as do Xenia's, although for slightly different reasons.

"Hell. You want to send them to a hell. Brightsky, you don't even know these two. Hell, we don't even know what it is they actually want to do here!"

Sincere nods along at that. "Yes, I think we should realize that what we have here is an ideal intelligence-gathering situation. If these two are servants of this Prince Thaddeus, then we can revive them and simply ask them what it is he's trying to do here. Indeed, that might even be specifically why they came, to serve as some sort of ambassadors. If...a rather permanent form of such."

"I dunno, Sin-man, the bizarre shit he was saying did not sound particularly diplomatic to me. That said, you're right. I don't think I wanna send them anywhere without knowing what it was he thought he was accomplishing, at the least."

Trush rubs his chin with his thick-fingered hand. "Not going to put them into anything powerful, I assume. Something that can talk but not threatening - a low-tier slime, perhaps?" Lollyp shakes her head at his suggestion.

"I could only talk with a slime monster body cause I know how non-monster slime bodies work. When Xenia puts me into one of your rigid bodies, I only half know what I'm doing, and I only know that half because of the natural instincts a dungeon body comes with. Put a rigid into a slime monster, and the only instincts they're gonna have is how to crawl around and digest things."

Xenia nods. "Yeah...just False Mortals will do, I think. Gonna be generic, too, cause I don't even know what Yulia's supposed to look like. ...Might start with just her, actually. Maybe she's less crazy than the other one." She pauses in thought. "Maybe I should put her in a dungeon monster ghost body, if that's what she's used to? ...Nah, don't wanna give her no ghost powers or nothin', False Mortal it is."

With that said, the dungeon master begins to go through her menus, and pulls up a largely randomized 'human woman' template from her False Mortal options. The body forms, standing on its feet at the head of the table, a brown-haired woman garbed in a simple peasant dress who looks slightly middle-aged and frumpy, if anything. Although like all False Mortals, there's still something slightly off about each of her facial details that makes the observers in the room feel rather uncomfortable looking at her. A few more menu selections and the body is implanted with Yulia's soul, and the woman's brown eyes open wide.

"Ahhh!" With a loud cry and a flailing of arms, the woman's body immediately crumples to the ground. As the meeting's attendees crane their necks to try and get a better look at her from around the table, Xenia pinches her nose.

"...Maybe I should've put her on a bed or something. Alright, be cool, on your feet." She reaches out a hand to the woman, though after a moment she needs to snap her fingers to get her focus, as it seems as if Yulia's attention is fully taken up with staring at the wooden floorboards her face is planted against. "You're in Worthy Dungeon. And yeah, you died, if that's a shock to you. We've got some questions for you, though."

After rolling around to get a good look at Xenia's face, Yulia finally accepts the offered hand and is pulled to her feet. The reincarnator is taken by surprise though when Yulia immediately transitions that into a tight hug, her face pressed against Xenia's shoulder. "Grandfather! It's truly you! We've found you!"

Not entirely sure how to react, Xenia gently pats the woman's back a few times. "Uh...maybe? Are you entirely sure about that?"

Pulling back, Yulia gazes into Xenia's eyes with an intense stare. "But of course! Baba always told us that she never loved another man after you! None were your equal!"

"...She said that, huh?"

"Oh yes! She told us about your couplings in great detail, as examples of how to properly please a lover!"

Xenia stares blankly at the wide-eyed woman, trying to ignore the roomful of guardians who are now equally staring at her. "...You know, it's coming back to me now. There's definitely a family resemblance, she used to say crazy shit like that a lot too."

Yulia nods. "Yes, I often hear that Sevastion and I take after her quite a bit!" After saying that, she begins to look around with an expression of concern. "Wait, where is Sevastion? We haven't been separated in...so long..."

"He's fine...I mean, uh, no, actually. He's dead. But his soul's fine! I thought I'd bring you out first and say hello." Gently pulling Yulia's arms away, Xenia subtly steps outside of hug range. "You're...siblings, I'm gonna guess?"

Yulia nods again. "Indeed! We both learned magic at Baba's feet, including - ah, did you know Baba spent her life trying to find you after you perished? She cast so many spells trying to find your soul, your spirit..."

"I...was probably outside of her calling range, sorry." Sighing, Xenia reaches out a hand and begins guiding her guest towards an empty chair at the table. "Look, I hope you don't mind, Yulia, but we've got a few questions for you. Why don't you take a seat? This is the gang, by the way, the dungeon bosses. Gang, meet...my granddaughter?"

There's a round of very confused and awkward-sounding 'hello's from around the table, although when Yulia's eyes find Sincere the woman squeals. "Ahhh! You have your own demon! You're so lucky!"

Sincere responds with a solemn nod. "Yes. Yes she is."

"He's not my demon - okay, yeah, technically I guess he is. You got a thing for demons, Yulia?"

"Sevastion and I, we've tried to summon and bind a demon for years, yes? Unfortunately, the strongest spirit Sevastion could ever manage to bind was, ah...my own." Her eyes turn downcast, as if the statement somehow shames her.

Xenia raises an eyebrow. "So you did die before and get bound to him, huh? How did that happen?"

"It was only a few months ago. I can project my spirit from my body, yes, use it to scout and fight?" Unfortunately..." She trails off for a moment before continuing, her shame apparently increasing. "I attempted to project during the middle of a fight with a great beast, while I was holding a blade in my hand. When my body lost consciousness, it, ah...fell and slit my own throat open."

Again unsure how to react, Xenia hesitates for a moment before reaching out and patting Yulia on the shoulder. "That's rough, kid."

Energy seems to flow back into the woman at the gesture, and a smile returns to her face. "But it worked out! Sevastion was able to bind my spirit, and we could continue to aid with the prince's search for you! And now we've found you!"

With his voice showing signs of a loss in patience, Trush interjects. "Yes, yes, apparently you have. But why? That's the mystery we all want to know! Why are all of you and this prince conspiring, across worlds, to hunt down Worthy?" He chuckles as he shoots her a glance. "She's an admirable woman, certainly, but this all seems like a little much!"

Yulia looks surprised, as if the answer was obvious. "Oh, you do not know? The prince desires to take grandfather home."