Worthy Core

"Hold up, hold up, hold up." Xenia falls into a seat next to Yulia as she rubs her head. "Explain what you mean by home, exactly. I know you're not talking about Earth cause...well, there would definitely not be a dude with a sword chasing me from Earth, hell, they've probably got lightsabers or something these days. And I know you're not talking about the realm you and Brightsky come from, cause Thaddeus was just a visitor there, right?"

Yulia nods, with her frumpy, middle-aged peasant face. "Yes, he said he'd been tracking you for some time before his arrival! He wishes to take you back to the Kingdom of Seven Cities, where you can be the royalty you deserve to be!"

Xenia peers at Yulia for a bit, with a confused expression on her face. "The...Kingdom of Seven Cities? Okay, I'm pretty sure I know what realm you're talking about now, but there was no Kingdom of Seven Cities when I was there. It was seven different kingdoms, that's how I was able to rescue so many damn fuckin' princesses. And I was never royalty! Hell, I never even had a noble title or anything! A pension from some of the crowns for my work as Hero, but that's about it."

"Well, yes, the prince explained it all to us, you see. Although you were never crowned, you did add your blood to the noble line, did you not?"

Xenia pauses again, as some of the guardians at the table begin peering at her. While she'd shared the story of her time as the Hero of Seven Cities once or twice, and gossip had gotten around to some of the dungeon's newer staff members, not everyone had the full details of her exploits in her past lives. "I mean...yeah, I did kind of have a son with a princess. One princess! Of one city! I don't think he was even in line to become king, to be honest. The main reason he wasn't shoved off to some backwoods estate as a bastard is just because I was pretty popular around there."

Yulia claps her hands together, eyes raised and lips smiling as if she's remembering a dramatic moment from a romance novel. "Ah, but he did become king! King Harold Worthy, first of his name! And when the Seven Cities banded together into one nation, it was the line of Worthy that sat upon the throne!"

The dungeon master sighs, wishing she could get the story from someone who was a little less excited about it. "Okay, that's...nice to hear, actually. I'm proud of him, I suppose...Harold was always a good kid. A good man, even." She trails off in thought for a bit, remembering the last time she saw her son so many lifetimes ago. "...But how does this involve me, exactly? I'm long out of the story by this point, you know?"

This time, Yulia's fists clench up. "Treachery! Betrayal! The other six noble houses kept much of their power, you see. Worthy was always meant to be the central axis of the nation, while they were the spokes. But a generation ago, they conspired, and swung enough support to have another house named sovereign instead."

"...Okay..."

"But Prince Thaddeus knows that this is only because they've forgotten the glory that House Worthy brought to the realm! If he can bring you, return you to the nation that was founded on your blood, you could again restore power to its rightful place!"

Yulia beams at Xenia, who responds with a blank look. There's a blink, and then a second...and then Xenia gets angry. "...Hold the fuck on, here. You're telling me Thaddeus has been hunting me through realms, causing all this trouble...because he's upset he only gets to be the heir of one city instead of seven!? Am I hearing this right!?"

Yulia blinks back as her smile fades. "...I mean...if you must simplify matters...yes?"

A fist slams the table. "Are you kidding me? That's what my 'glorious house' has been reduced to? Chasing power because some, some parliament or noble chamber or something voted his family out? What if they deserved it?"

As her volume grows, the others seated at the table begin to shrink back, not wanting to get drawn up in what has suddenly become a very personal affair. Even Valkyrie Brightsky, who had been asking for Yulia to be sent to a hellish afterlife a few minutes ago, suddenly finds herself feeling sympathetic for the woman drawing the full force of Xenia's ire.

"Well...but...they're your children!"

"Are they? Thaddeus is my descendant by what, a thirty-second? A sixty-fourth? Less? It's been centuries since I lived there! And even if it was Harold himself coming here, I never raised him to be the type to try and seize power! I've been a commoner in almost every one of my lives, and that was just fine by me. I don't even like nobles!" Unable to contain her energy, Xenia climbs back to her feet and begins to pace around while her arms flail and shake. "And even if I could go back, what am I supposed to do? Go stab some kings and queens for the guy? Raise an army and start a civil war? Fuck. That."

To emphasize her last words, Xenia plants her hands down on the table to look into Yulia's eyes once again. The next time she speaks, her voice is a little quieter, but no less intense. "Besides, it's a moot point. I can't leave. Even if Thaddeus could somehow guarantee that I'd go back there the next time I die, if I die here, everyone here dies." She gestures at the assembled bosses, whose eyes suddenly widen at the realization that their existences might be at stake.

Lollyp speaks for the group. "Yeah, what? Even if you took her as she is, as a dungeon core, the dungeon still dies if the core's not there to power it! Us guardians would have like, a week or so of running on stored mana before we'd just go poof!"

Yulia swallows, suddenly looking much less certain about matters now that the plan hasn't been received as she was expecting it to. "The prince plans to...research the issue. But you are the most important part."

Xenia snorts. "Research it, sure. And what's the deal with you and your brother, then? Why are you here and not Thaddeus? Why not just come talk to me himself? Did he tell you to kill yourselves in here? Or, well...your brother, anyhow?"

"No! He wishes to prove himself to you by defeating your challenges, and showing you his strength! But Sevastion and I, we knew that would not be necessary. We are your blood! You wouldn't turn away your blood!" The fervor in Yulia's voice grows once again, before quickly fading back out. "...You...wouldn't, would you?"

"Yulia." Sincere asks the woman a question while Xenia rubs her eyes. "You understand that by binding yourself to the dungeon as you have, you now share our fate? If this prince of yours destroys the dungeon, or the core, you'll die along with the rest of us."

She nods. "That was our desire, yes!" Yulia glances back and forth, as if someone might be watching her. Aside from the entire roomful of people currently staring at her, that is. "...Not all of us are confident that Prince Thaddeus intends to reward us as he promised once our task is complete. We know he finds some of our behavior and history...distasteful. We felt it best to come to you directly, and present ourselves to you. If we can be brought along with you, then Thaddeus would have no choice but to include us!"

"Yeah, cause you're all a pack of lunatics." Yulia's ancestor sighs. "Though I guess I gotta take some blame for that. But now that you're here...what to do with you..."

Brightsky sniffs, seeing another opportunity to make her request. "If you are done questioning them, then I again ask for the two to be sent to Lord Theolif for judgment."

She frowns as Xenia shakes her head. "I'm not done with them yet. Until this whole thing is settled, having an insider source on him and his crew is too useful. I'm keeping them around at least until Thaddeus and his little quest are done." Trush grins widely and chuckles at that pronouncement.

"Well, that won't take very long, will it? They should next be attempting Floor Four, yes? The next time they arrive, we can hit them with every trick they have, and this will all be taken care of in ten minutes!" His smile is confident, at least until Xenia shakes her head.

"No. No special treatment, for better or worse. We let him and his party run the dungeon as normal."

That declaration surprises almost everyone, and Taly leans forward. "Wait, what? Did you not hear how this grandkid of yours is a potential threat to the dungeon? This is exactly the sort of thing we hold back for, so we can go all-out when we need to. Or...okay, I get that he is a relative of yours and maybe you don't want us throwing him into the abyss or something, but in that case why not just pop in with your avatar and sort this out directly that way?"

As Xenia's eyes lock on to Taly's, her gaze seems assured. "The kid wants to prove himself. And that's what dungeons are for, right? Proving themselves to the gods, technically, but if the guy wants to prove himself to me

, I'll allow it." She gestures at Yulia with one hand. "We've got part of the story here, and that's good, but even Yulia's saying she doesn't trust everything she was told. And if he'll lie to his followers, he might lie to me, too. But actions don't lie. I want to see how the kid handles himself, especially now that he's out of the tutorial zone floors. Now that I know what he's after - or at least, what Yulia thinks he's after - I can try and judge him with my own two eyes."

Parker speaks carefully - as one of the newest guardians, the man still feels a little uncertain about discussing a topic that's clearly very personal to his boss. "And if they actually clear the dungeon? We just...let them wander into the core chamber and do as they will? At that point it may be too late to decide our course."

"If they get that far and I haven't made a decision yet, I'll either step in or beef things up to keep us safe. Don't worry, I ain't gonna gamble with everything on the line. I might ask that some of you try to...provoke him, or something, in your fights." Xenia turns to look at Brightsky and Parker in particular. "Find out what kind of man he is. If he's really deceitful and power-hungry...or if maybe there is some honor to this quest of his." She raises a hand before anyone can interject. "Don't worry, even if it turns out he's got good reasons, I ain't gonna abandon you all, if that's even possible. But...who knows, maybe there's a peaceful outcome to all this."

There's not much response beyond a few hesitant nods, but eventually Yulia speaks up. "And...how might my brother and I serve you, grandfather? Ah...grandmother? Of course, we'll tell you whatever you wish to know! Our skills are at your disposal, as well - I was known as quite the spy, and my brother is a renowned mystic."

Xenia taps her fingers on the table as she considers her options. "...A spy could be useful, but I don't trust sending you outside of the dungeon right now, no offense. ...I do have a couple of boss slots open and waiting, though..."

Lollyp speaks up before Xenia can finish her thought. "Wait, really? I mean, yeah, no one's passed the Church of Bounty's filtering system lately, but boss spots are still in high demand, you know? We're gonna just give away two spots to these...not-at-all-utterly-insane siblings?"

"Insanity can work out, sometimes..." Xenia turns towards Yulia, getting her full attention. "How do you feel about becoming a giant insect lady?"

Yulia claps her hands. "It would be an honor, grandmother!"

"...We'll see how the trial period works out."