DungeonFall – [A Dungeon Creation / Cultivation Story]

Angie held her breath and sniffed as tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. “Sounds rough.”

“It was certainly an experience waking up in an unfamiliar bed with a mother I barely recognized standing above me. I’ve been playing catchup ever since. There’s so much I’ve either forgotten or just never knew. It’s impossible to know which at this point. It’s not all gone or anything, but so much seems unfamiliar. I pretty much had to relearn how to cultivate from scratch again.”

She shook her head in amazement. “So, this entire time you’ve been relearning everything while also staying at the top of your classes, in a school more competitive than your old one?”

He shrugged, “Yeah, I guess? It’s not like I actually forgot everything though, just certain things mostly related to cultivation. I still know math and basic sciences.”

“Still, that’s rather impressive… The school doesn’t know, do they?”

“Why would they? It’s my business, not anyone else’s. The only reason I’m telling you is because of our current conversation. I’m not exactly hiding the information, but I see no reason to advertise it either.”

Angie walked over to the window and leaned her head against the cool glass pane. “Do you know why those families attacked you that day?”

“No, as far as I’ve ever been able to learn, they were just looking for someone to hurt and I was the lucky one they picked.”

She cracked her neck and turned to face him; her arms folded protectively across her chest. “That’s partially correct. The younger members involved were looking for someone to hurt, but normally they would have simply gone to the slums or a club and found someone like they always had in the past. The order to select someone undergoing the ceremony came from someone else.”

Nate sat up straight, suddenly finding himself hanging on her every word. “So, I was still just unlucky and not specifically targeted. Good. But why would they want to hurt someone undergoing the ceremony? What would they stand to gain from that?”

“We’re not sure yet. However, I thought you would want to know the truth.”

“I do, did. Thank you. It’s just knowing this has me curious and a little worried about what they’re planning.”

“Same,” Angie agreed readily, uncrossing her arms. “Which kind of brings us back to the mysterious cultivator they all somehow pissed off. Ever since the news showed that video, everyone has been scrambling to appear as though they cut ties with them. Few have actually done so, of course. Most just wanted to keep their image intact and not attract attention.”

“I’m sure your family has done all of that as well. However, I’m also a more guaranteed visible sign, because of what they did to me. Is that about right?” Nate quickly rehashed what they had already talked about earlier.

“That’s about the whole of it, yeah.”

“Fine, whatever. I don’t care, you’re already helping me, and George seems to like you. So, why not? I’ll go along with this insane little plan of yours.” He sighed and squinted at her as a thought occurred to him. “Wait, did your dad even want to meet with me?”

She nodded. “Yup, we just needed to have this conversation first. Now that we’re done, you’ll go and meet with him and my mother.”

Nate felt his mouth suddenly go dry. “Oh, I still have to meet with them then. Fun. Any tips?”

“Be respectful?” She said doubtfully. “I have no idea. They’re my parents.”

“Well, how does Lindsay deal with them?”

“Badly, she hates coming over to my house,” Angie answered wryly.

“Great, so even your best friend can’t handle your parents. What chance do I have?” Nate groaned, hanging his head.

She covered her mouth, doing a poor job hiding her smile. “Well, Lindsay is a special case. Her parents and mine have never actually gotten along.”

“How did the two of you become friends, then? I would have thought your parents would have done their absolute best to discourage that from happening.”

“Oh, they did. We just both happened to be going through a bit of a rebellious phase at the time.” She shrugged. “Besides, we were young, and it just made the other seem even more appealing as a friend.”

“Young, yeah, because seventeen isn’t still young or anything. How old were the two of you at the time of this little phase?”

“Four or five? We met in kindergarten.”

He chuckled. “Of course you did.”

There was a brief knock on the door, followed by it opening a moment later. “I apologize miss; however, your father and mother are ready to see him now.” A maid said, popping her head into the small opening.

“Very well. I hope you’re ready.” She nudged him toward the door, taking up step behind him.

“Me too,” Nate muttered.

They followed the maid to the back of the house and towards a large office.

Angie skipped around them and opened the door without knocking. “Mother, father, this is Nathan Holmes.”

The maid stepped smoothly to the side and vanished without another word.

Nate, who hadn’t been expecting things to progress quite so quickly, stood stiffly before them. After a second, he took in a deep breath and found his panicking mind coming back under control. He could do this. Sure, they had power and influence, but there was no reason to panic.

“Hello, Mister and Misses Chrighton. It’s a pleasure to meet you, as your lovely daughter just informed you. I’m Nathan Holmes, or Nate, if you prefer.” He smiled pleasantly at them as he stepped forward with his hand extended.

The father met his hand with a firm shake, establishing control without wasting time on pointlessly crushing his hand. Everyone there knew he was the weakest person in the room. The parents were cultivators, Angie was well on her way to becoming one, and he had destroyed meridians. It wasn’t a hard guess to make.

“Indeed, I’m Aden, and this is my wife, Trissa. Angie has told us, well truthfully, only a little about you and what led you to your current state. Why don’t you sit with us for a while and tell us the whole story?”

Trissa was currently glaring at Nate, as he dared to accept the invitation to sit down.

“I don’t mind telling you the story, but I will warn you, there really isn’t much to it.” He scratched the side of his nose and launched into what he knew.

Aden stared at the boy after he finished the short tale. “That fits into what we had managed to find out on our own. You weren’t specifically targeted for any other reason than opportunity. Unfortunately, that still leaves us with plenty of unanswered questions.”

“What are your intentions with our daughter?” Trissa demanded; her eyebrows arched regally.

“Um,” Nate shook his head. “I’m not sure what you mean. She approached me… shouldn’t I be the one asking that question?”

Angie covered her smirk with a cough and looked away. “Yes mother, what are you talking about? What intentions could he possibly have besides getting the medication? We’ve barely even exchanged words before the other day.”

“Is that true?”

Nate nodded. “I knew she existed, but I honestly don’t think we’d even done anything more than exchange greetings. Are you hoping I’ll tell you that I’m interested in your daughter or something? Because she’s right, before anything else I need to be healed before I can even think about romantic entanglements.”

Trissa’s eyes narrowed, her fists clenching tightly atop the armrests of the chair. “Let me be very clear boy, my daughter is not meant for the likes of someone like you! Is that understood?”

Nate leaned forward, a hot bubble of anger forcing him to continue on an issue he had no real stake in. “And let me be clear, I have no intentions of pursuing anything at this time. I already told you that, however, if I ever do, it will be up to Angie to decide to tell me no, not you!” He growled out angrily.

“Mother,” Angie snarled. “We’ve been through this before! You do not get to control or dictate my dating life.”

Aden closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, this discussion has turned out beautifully. I’m honestly not sure why I even expected anything else at this point.”

“I’m just trying to look out for your best interests, Angelica,” Trissa told her daughter plaintively.

“I’ve met your best interests before; he was a simpering fool! The only thing he had going for him was the money his family had. He had no interest in doing anything other than chasing after every girl he meets. Did you know he even hit on Lindsay when he met her, while she was with me!? I have no interest in being with someone who can’t even fathom what being faithful means. Not to mention he didn’t even know how to cultivate.” Angie was practically shaking in anger by that point.

Nate felt as though his brows were going to vanish into his hairline as he watched what should have been a private discussion.

Trissa suddenly stood up, her face red, with angry veins pulsing around her neck and temples. “Let me be very clear here. You do not have a choice in the matter. Is that understood? He will be your husband.”

Aden’s head snapped to his wife. “Trissa, what did you do?” He ground out, pronouncing each word carefully.

The woman seemed to deflate as she sank back onto the couch next to her husband. “I made a deal with the McFaddens years ago. We were trying to expand the family’s influence, and I thought they could help. The price was Angie’s hand in marriage to their son, Jace. I, of course, said no, but they kept pushing. Apparently, the little idiot had seen her at some party and gotten it in his head that she was meant for him.”

Angie snorted, still looking like she wanted to hit her mother.

“Anyway, eventually I decided that if he really wanted to be with her, then there was no harm to it. However, I was going to make sure of it. Our deal had certain stipulations attached to it, mainly pertaining to him, but a few regarding Angie as well.”

“Such as?” Aden prompted, seeing his daughter about to lose her cool.

“He had to be faithful to her and get to a certain cultivation realm by his eighteenth birthday. I wanted him to prove he was serious about her, while also being able to protect her. For her part, it was mainly that she could never date anyone else. It wasn’t hard. Angie hasn’t shown much interest in anyone, male or female.”

“Great, so it’s off then. He obviously hasn’t fulfilled his end of the bargain, so why are you still giving me grief over this? He’s eighteen already and is only at the beginning stages of ‘Core Refining’, not to mention he obviously hasn’t been faithful.” Angie said with a grin, relaxing slightly.

“Yeah…” Trissa drew the word out. “That would be true, except his family is very powerful, and somewhere along the line he decided you were his anyway.”

“Sweetie, why did you ever decide to do something like this?” Aden asked softly, pulling away from her. “We’re not part of the main branch of the family. It’s not our job to help its influence grow. It’s enough that we can grow our own business.”

“That’s what I was trying to help with. I don’t care about the main family. I care about us, and the business your grandfather started. That is what I was trying to expand the influence of.”

“Where does this leave me, then?” Angie asked softly, confused and more than a little lost. “I’m not going to marry someone just because of a deal mom made in a fit of mad stupidity. Not to mention you’re all forgetting one key thing; Nate and I aren’t dating. We barely know each other.”

The three stilled and turned to look at the boy they had unintentionally forgotten was still there.

“Hi,” Nate waved with a grim smile.