Soulforged Dungeoneer

When the world became more than just white space and a single notification window, I found myself standing in a very large room. In truth, it was impossible to not understand, given the notification I'd just received, and given the layout of the room and the people within it, but... saying that I could understand it, was not the same as saying I'd fully processed it.

I was seated on a small silver throne, and standing before me were a man in an ill-fitting hawaiian shirt, and a human-size sky-blue dragon. Kalamitus was no longer imposing; he could no longer dwarf me, and he didn't give off any kind of ridiculously powerful presence. Instead, it was difficult for me to see him as anything other than a flying blue worm, one with an ugly look on his face.

Beyond the Administrator and the Dungeon God was a very, very large dais--hundreds of feet across, it was at least half gold, the other half being something a lot less shiny, textured, and inlaid in patterns that were complex. On top of the dais was another dais, about half the diameter of the first and twice as tall, and another half as large and twice as tall on top of that, then more, ascending like a very short mountain until it reached a small diamond throne.

The Lord Beneath the Labyrinthine Star--for the man on that throne could be no other--chose not to be large. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he had resized everyone here to be the same height, for purely symbolic reasons. His skin was nearly as pale as the omnipresent white background, and yet it was impossible to not notice the boundary between the two. If it were left to eyes alone, he might have been almost invisible, but it could not be clearer that this was not a place that relied on mortal biology.

The Lord Beneath had a small, well-trimmed beard, as close to perfect black as his skin was to white, and his head of hair was professional, nearly boring in its execution, in the same color. He wore a black suit and tie, immaculate and perfectly cut, his hands half-interlaced in his lap, one leg crossed over the other, as he sat looking down on the proceedings. He looked... perfectly at ease, if we're honest, which seemed to be as much of a flex as everything else here. I mean, how could he not be at ease? He was the one in charge.

In front of him, closer to the base of his little dais-mountain, were seven blue-skinned people, and I could... I could convince myself that they were all wearing phantom metal collars around their necks, with phantom chains tying them to the throne of the Lord Beneath. But those collars and chains didn't exist, in the sense that I couldn't see them. I was sure that it was True, but I couldn't actually tell that it was true.

Instinctively, I wanted to reach for Merry, to get her analysis, but I quickly discovered that my head was empty--no fairy, but also, no Dungeoneer system. I frowned, reaching for any part of what I'd spent years getting used to, but there was no mistake--it was simply gone.

"Jerry Applebee." The Lord Beneath the Labyrinthine Star's voice, when he spoke, might as well have been coming from headphones--the distance meant nothing, and he spoke at normal volume. His voice itself was smooth and even, but not soothing at all; for all that his voice lacked an edge, it still held echoes of danger, just... distant ones. "I would like to welcome you to your Trial."

The man atop the diamond throne stood, and walked casually down the mountain, the height drops at the beginning as insignificant to him as the ones at the end. He arrived moments later behind the the Administrator and the God, both of whom--perhaps without having a choice in the matter--turned, bowed, and shuffled backwards for a moment to give him room. The Lord Beneath stopped when he was at the same distance from me as they had been.

"It is customary for me to ask a few questions and see how much you understand before the trial begins," he said, "in order to see how much your people have figured out. So: tell me who you believe I am."

I pursed my lips. I had no reason to lie, but also, every reason to think he would know the truth even if I did. "The Lord Beneath the Labyrinthine Star."

He nodded, looking perhaps a little bit impressed. "What is this trial?"

I frowned, and glanced at Kalamitus. "A chance for us to replace the Dungeon Administrator." I wanted to add, if I'm found worthy, but I couldn't disagree, now, with Merry's assessment that my fears on that front were unfounded. I did add, after a moment of thought, "...and unlock the Dungeon God as well, whatever that means."

The Lord Beneath chuckled, shaking his head, and glanced at the flying wyrm, but only momentarily. "And why are you here?"

I blinked, because if my previous answer was correct, the question was redundant. Still, I didn't dare take the time to think about it. "To... become the next Administrator?"

Another small headshake, and I realized that the last two answers were definitely wrong. The Lord Beneath remained poised and calm, though, and just moved to the next question. "What is the ultimate goal of the Labyrinthine Star?"

I took a deep breath. How did I summarize it? "To either empower humanity, or destroy us, if we are unworthy."

He tilted his head in what might have been an in-between, meh gesture. If there was a middle state, than my answers before were... entirely wrong? Or was I reading too much into subtle motions?

"In order to make things proceed more smoothly," the Lord Beneath said, "I will clarify for you. The nature of this trial, Jerry Applebee, is to determine who lives and who dies. You are here to act as arbiter, with full authority to determine the outcome. When you are done, one God and one Administrator will leave. The third will be destroyed, in mind, body, and soul." With that, he turned back towards his throne, the two defendants stepping back into position as soon as he got far enough away.

My breath caught in my throat. Why had they hidden this? I glanced at Kalamitus. It was clear why he would have hidden the nature of this trial--if we knew ahead of time that we could replace this stupid asshole, he'd never survive. But... how had he survived before? This wasn't his first Trial, and like Merry said, he should have known not to be an asshole to... to the person who would become his Judge. Did he really just think I was going to die? Or did he think I was going to be pushed around, somehow?

I wasn't sure what to think, as I watched the Lord Beneath smoothly move up his dais mountain and re-seat himself on his diamond throne, settling back into the same leg-crossed, fingers-interwoven position. Kalamitus... just seemed like an asshole. So how had he survived? Why had he?

"In order to facilitate your role as neutral arbiter," the Lord Beneath said, his voice no different now that he was further away than it had been when he was close, "you have my undivided attention. Any information that you request, which pertains to this trial, is yours."

I felt my entire body catch on fire with those words. I hadn't really been deeply involved in most of the quest for more information, trying to save the species by finding out any little scrap of relevant knowledge, but having brushed against it, I knew that some very important secrets ran very deep, and I was being offered a bottomless fountain of knowledge--but only if I could twist the request to make it relevant to the case. I felt...

"Jerry," Kalamitus' voice carried to me, a little less distinctly than the Lord Beneath's, and sounding far less powerful than when I'd been in his Tower, "as your friend and ally I'd like to inform you that any information you receive directly from the Lord Beneath will be restricted. You will never be able to tell anyone what you learn, and neither will your Fairy friend."

The Beanpole administrator snorted, and I glanced at him. A moment later, I understood--I'd been so wrapped up in the thoughts of how I could use this opportunity to... to protect the entire human race, I guess, that I almost took it seriously when Kalamitus called me his friend.

I closed my eyes, urging my excitement to slow, but everything felt weird, my body not responding like it had when I was a Dungeoneer, but not going back to human standard, either. Somehow, though, I was able to smooth out my emotions, to get myself back under control, to back away from being so fucking gullible that Kalamitus could manipulate me so easily.

I moved to stand up, and was a little surprised to find myself unrestricted, though... I guess I shouldn't have been. What need had the Lord Beneath to restrict my movements? I wasn't a Dungeoneer, and even if I was, he was the last boss. I stood still for a moment, then shook my head, and just walked up to the dragon.

"You are not my friend, Kalamtius," I said, accusingly.

The dragon snorted and rolled his eyes, and I realized that his attitude was the same as always, just... not nearly as intimidating as it had been before. "Please, Jerry," he said. "Save the theatrics. The question at hand here is who deserves to die. I gave you power and helped you along your way, while he has tried to kill you."

Ah. I found myself straightening a bit at that statement, and I glanced over at the beanpole, whose glasses were now entirely normal, allowing me to clearly see his eyes. There were no orbs of fire or darkness there--just common, everyday eyes, ones that looked tired and angry. He looked back at me, as if to challenge whatever he thought was in my head.

"Is that what you think?" I asked, turning back to Kalamitus. "That I am going to hate him, because he tried to kill me?"

"Surely you understand," Kalamitus said, and his hissing voice grated on my nerves. "it's his nature. He is born of nightmares and nothing more. His role was always to die and be forgotten. The fact that he was given a human form is both a practical requirement and an insult. He simply is a nightmare; it's his nature to exist in opposition to your people. Ask him--he'll tell you." Kalamitus's voice was insufferably smug, and I could feel it dripping venom. "We aren't allowed to lie here, you know."

Oh, that was a fun fact. I bet he was expecting that he had successfully turned me with that argument, but I just snorted, and turned to look at Kalamitus. As I did... I realized something, something that probably should have been obvious.

I turned suddenly, straight towards the Lord Beneath. "Clarify something for me," I said. "You said that one person would die, one person would become Administrator, and one a God. Does that mean that I must take on the role of the person who I choose to die?"

"It does not," answered the Lord Beneath.

"Which means that a former Administrator can become a Dungeon God."

"That is possible."

I turned to look at Kalamitus, who now seemed more upset. "You were one, weren't you?" I didn't wait for an answer. "Merry told me--Ethanic let it slip to us that all of the races that the Star has visited were humanoid. You aren't." I wasn't entirely sure why I said it that way. Was I also compelled to not deceive? That was a little annoying.

Kalamitus hesitated, but spoke, his voice furious. "That... is correct."

"So all of the criticisms you just laid apply to you as well. You are another race's nightmare, a race that you had to watch be destroyed. And then you continued to act as Dungeon God for other races since then, none of whom survived."

"That's correct as far as it goes, Jerry, but--"

I gestured sharply with one hand, and for some reason, I felt like I had control over Kalamitus for a moment, and he silenced. "You... don't..." I started to say something a couple times before deciding on how I wanted to phrase it. "You will address me as Judge Applebee, Kalamitus. Do not pretend that you are close to me. Do not pretend to be my friend."

I marched up to the wyrm, feeling sick just from his presence, and got up in his face like he'd gotten up in mine. I could feel the resentment pouring off of him, as I'm sure he'd felt it pouring off of me, back then. "I hate you," I said. "And all the reasons why I hate you are because of what you've done. You think I hate him?" I gestured behind me, towards the beanpole. "He punished me for my own damn mistakes. I'm not mad at him."

For some reason, the beanpole spoke up in that silence. "Not very neutral of you, Judge Applebee."

I turned to look at him, and he met my gaze, and... and I found myself measuring his eyes. They weren't...

I turned away from Kalamitus and the beanpole both for a minute, before finally deciding to return to my throne of Judgement. I marched up and sat in it, feeling like it would have been more satisfying if the seat put be above them, like the Lord Beneath was above us all, but... I could understand how that wasn't the intended message here. I was angry, but I wasn't just angry at Kalamitus, nor was I even just angry at the Lord Beneath.

"Fine," I said. "Let's play at being neutral, then. What do you have to say..." I frowned. "No offense, but I will never remember your name."

"Nor should you," the beanpole replied. "It's a joke, an insult. When we Nightmares were formed by the Lord Beneath, he asked us each to name ourselves. He started with me, perhaps knowing exactly what would happen."

"I snarled at him, and that snarl became my name. Xzyrtvwartcihz." When he pronounced his own name, it sounded exactly like it did when Herman said it, so long ago--like someone gargling a mouthful of glass. Somehow, it seemed exactly like the sort of noise that might have come out of the Slenderman's mouth; it had a strange ringing quality to it that didn't make sense unless you had heard the creature speak. "It was never intended to be a word. There is no language to it. It was a statement to us all, pure and simple: do what the Lord Beneath says, or suffer."

I stared at him for a long minute, and felt an overwhelming surge of pity.

"Don't give me that look," the beanpole snapped after a moment. "I know what you're thinking, Je--Judge Applebee." He forced his words to be clipped and professional, though I'm sure he felt disgusted. "I can tell from what you said before that you hate Kalamitus, but let me say my piece."

I blinked, and before I had a chance to reply, the beanpole took one step closer, and I felt tension ramping up, like that was something he wasn't allowed to do.

"I want to die, Jerry," he said, and I felt exhaustion and misery behind the words. "I don't want to be an Administrator, and I don't want to be a God. I just want to be done with this all. No matter how much I think about good and evil, I will never be anything else than a monster. The faces you've seen of my are my true faces; I am twisted by hatred and suffering. I hate the entire system of mores and morals. I hate how people are--and must be--punished for mistakes, and advanced for simple and accidental successes. I don't like humanity, and I don't..." he paused, and his mouth shut, and he took a step back, the tension releasing as he did.

I considered what he must have been about to say, and why he must not have said it, quietly. After a moment, my eyes drifted back to the Lord Beneath, who sat above us all, watching.

"And what about you?" I asked. "Obviously, I can't simply decide here that you are the one who dies, can I? Lord Beneath?"

"Obviously not."

"Nor any of the..." I looked at the blue skinned people. "Sovereigns? Is that what they are?"

The Lord Beneath made an interested noise. "Correct. These are the Seven Path Sovereigns, and you may not decide their life or death. The trial only involves the three of you."

"And what sort of questions can I ask you?" I looked up at him, somehow able to see him as clearly as the two much closer individuals.

"You may ask me to reveal any bit of historical record pertinent to the defendants, or any technical question necessary to understand their testimony or the historical record."

Reveal the historical record? I blinked. "Alright," I said. "I'd like to see the first Trial of Kalamitus."

The Lord Beneath raised his hands, and we were there.

I stood within the scene, watching a sort of wrinkly, aquatic-looking man standing before two people. One, I noticed, was the same pale white as the Lord Beneath--the other was another wrinkly man like the Judge, looking sad and pathetic, not unlike how the beanpole looked, but in a different way. I turned to look, and there seated on his throne, above it all, was the Lord Beneath.

Beneath him, the Seven Sovereigns were also pale white, and I realized that Kalamitus must have been from the first world the Labyrinthine Star had ever visited. Back then... the Dungeon God and the Seven Sovereigns were from his own world. How long had any of them lasted? All the Sovereigns in my time were from the same world--the last one--implying that they all got turned over after each trial. A God, though, if they were spared during the Trials, might have lasted a while.

The introduction was the same as before, and as before, I had to watch the Judge march up to the Dungeon God, fury on his face.

"I will never let any of your people guide ours," he said, his voice foreign in its tone and cadence, but the words perfectly translated, somehow. "None of you deserve to live for what you are doing to us."

"I wasn't give a choice," the Dungeon God said. He appeared to be a reasonably fit man, but he was almost exactly the same size as the Judge, which again told me the sizing was deliberate. "Believe me, my role and my intentions are to help your people--"

"I don't want to hear it," the Judge said, and with a wave, silenced the man. He turned to look at the other man, who had to have been Kalamitus, but... bound into mortal form. Hadn't Kalamitus been the one to say that was an insult, just minutes ago? I set the thought aside, since it was too late to feel clever now that it was all laid out. "And you," he said. "You will protect our people, won't you?"

Kalamitus worked his neck a little bit, his sharp teeth twisted in a grimace. "I'm not the protecting type, Saff," he said. "You know that. I'm a thief."

"The greatest thief," Judge Saff put a hand on his shoulders. "We're going to steal the Labyrinthine Star out from under these idiots' noses. We're going to win, and you're going to help us."

Kalamitus couldn't help glancing back at the Lord Beneath on his high podium. "It's not that simple," he said.

"I didn't say it was simple. I said we would do it."

Kalamitus shook his head. "You don't understand, Saff," he objected, again. "Your people don't need you as a God. They'll never trust me. This early, they need an experienced God, and an Administrator that they can trust. You must become Administrator."

Saff frowned, and looked to the Lord Beneath. "If I kill Xembran, can I still take over the Administrator position, with ...what did you say his name was, Korium, becoming the God?"

"Of course," said the Lord Beneath, his voice as even and measured as it would be... many millions of years later, it must be, right? I shivered, though I had no real body in the memory.

"Then that's it. I won't have it any other way."

"But--" Korium, who I guess renamed himself later, started to object but the Judge whipped his hand out sharply, silencing him.

"No," he said. "I will never trust these people. Never. You are one of ours. I will take over as Administrator, and you will become God."

Nothing changed for a moment, and Saff turned to look at the Lord Beneath. "That's what I've decided."

"Your role is to determine who lives and who dies," the Lord Beneath reminded him.

"Right," Saff said, and turned. And... it burned itself into my mind, although it seemed almost instantaneous. He simply whipped his hand out like he had a sword in it, and the former Dungeon god tore apart, like he was nothing more than a reflection in water, vanishing the moment it was disturbed.

"Very well. And I suppose your decision remains as it was," The Lord Beneath said, formally.

"Yes. I will be Administrator."

The Lord Beneath in the vision stood, spreading and raising his hands, and said, "Then so be it."

And then I was back.