➨ "So...who's covering the bill?" You asked once the food came out to the table.

Finral said he knew a spot and brought you guys to a tavern on the edge of the capital border. He said the food was decent for a decent price. He also mentioned something about there being a really cute waitress at a certain time. From how his eyes kept skimming around the place, he didn't find her yet.

Everybody got their entrees and then just a bunch of sides to share. Well, everybody except Zora because he said he didn't want to share, so he was keeping his hands on his burger for the entire time.

Vanessa ordered two large steaks and insisted she could eat them by herself.

Finral had some grilled fish and a salad. He was also the one who shrugged off the initial question about the bill. "It'll be fine. The food isn't usually that pricey anyway. We can split it. Everybody pays for what they got."

The table started shaking while Vanessa tried to cut into her steaks. Drinks sloshing around in their glasses and the ketchup bottle toppling over. With the way she was doing it, she might cut the plate, too.

"Do you know how to do that any more obnoxiously?" Zora muttered and picked up his burger before it slid off the table.

You glanced at him and then at his mouth. Slowly, you narrowed your eyes, which he noticed and glared at you.

"Do you eat with that thing on?"

"My mouth is still accessible, is it not?" He answered and took a bite for proof. It didn't seem to cause him any issues. Nor did he act like it was out of the ordinary.

Finral took a long sip from his water. "This is actually kinda nice, though. You two are the newest recruits. It's like a little outing."

Zora's claimed multiple times that he's not new, but nobody's ever seen him because he never showed up. So that doesn't count in anybody's book.

"Do you guys have some initiation ritual we should be going through?" You asked before taking a bite of your food.

Finral leans back and thinks for a long moment. You hope that if they do have something, that it's not insane. Maybe something like going out and bringing back a branch from the woods. Something stupid like that.

"Normally, I think we'd just send you guys out on a mission together. But given the circumstances, that seems a little harsh. Especially you, Y/N. I mean... I just wouldn't feel right."

You shrugged. "I really doubt you can hurt my feelings with a mission. After all the shit I just went through, I feel indestructible right now."

Vanessa finally cuts through her steak and brings it up to her lips. "Why don't we just make up a mission? I mean, there's so many things wrong I'm sure we can find something to send you two on."

"Did fighting for our lives against elves not make a good initiation?" Zora grumbled. "I think this whole thing is past due."

Finral wipes his lips with a napkin. "No, I think your debut is past due. I mean, why did it take you so long to put on our robe?"

You doubted that he had an actual answer. From how he seems, he probably was too lazy to do it. Whatever his excuse is, Vanessa wasn't having it. "Doesn't matter. Oh hey! I just figured out what we can do. A true test to be a Black Bull."

She leans over and cups her hand around Finral's ears. At first he seems confused but then Vanessa leans back and lifts her pointer finger. She spins it in a delicate circle and a string forms afterwards. He narrows his eyes and then a lightbulb must go off in his head because he snaps his fingers.

"That's not a bad idea. Although it seems a little... torturous."

"Oh please they'll be fine." She waves it off. Vanessa turns her body back to the center of the table. "I decided to do something as your initiation and as a bonding exercise. Y/N, you get along with everybody pretty well except Zora. And Zora... hates everybody in his vicinity."

Neither of you had anything for a rebuttal.

"So, you two are going to clear a dungeon, and bring me back a stunning piece of jewelry!" She exclaims. "But there's a twist. You're going to have your hands tied together."

Oh hell no.

"What type of sadistic shit is that?" Zora deadpans.

"And suddenly my sentencing wasn't even that bad compared to that idea." You took a sip from your drink and glanced away.

"See!" Vanessa nearly leaped over the table. "That's exactly why we need to do this. If we're going to try and clear Asta, Nero, and Y/N, we need to stick together. This is the best way to do that. You guys can't possibly blow each other's heads off with one arm." She pauses and turns her head carefully. "Right?"

"Think I could manage." Zora mutters underneath his breath.

"Honestly, could probably do it with my eyes closed." You chimed in

Finral side glances at Vanessa, seemingly conveying that he knew this idea wasn't a good one. "I actually don't put that past either of them. They might actually kill each other."

"Pshh," Vanessa laughs and stabs the other part of her steak. She leans over and waves it around in a circle making everyone lean very very far back. "If you can beat up a bunch of elves you can clear a dungeon."

————————

Apparently Finral had never been to this particular dungeon, so he could only bring the group about a 15 minute walk from the location. Which you took with caution because you were making every second with both your hands count.

You were still thinking about what Dr. Owen told you. About the mysterious Spade soldier bleeding from his eyes. You don't remember your dad ever doing anything crazy enough to make his eyes bleed. However, he did tell you that he was swimming in uncharted waters when he made his surprise visit as a ghost.

Honestly, you wished you knew what the hell he was doing before he died. You were too busy with the Golden Dawn to pay attention. Didn't know something was wrong until your mom told you he was gone.

"We're here!" Vanessa's sing-song tone breaks through your thoughts.

You glanced at the dungeon in question and it looked exactly like. An empty cave. Well, you'll give it some credit. There's cobwebs hanging from the entrance like cute little decorations. You can't even see all the way inside. It appears to be pitch black.

"Alright, give me your hands." Without asking, she tugs both of your hands together and spins her finger around a few times before either of you can protest. Which only comes in after she's finished binding the two of you together.

Just to test it out, you purposely yanked your arm back which didn't go in your favor because he ended up toppling over and falling onto the ground. Which brought you down next to him.

"What part of being stuck together didn't click?" Zora groaned as he rolled over. He pulled himself up, in turn, he pulled you up with him.

The string was tight, but not enough that it was breaking off circulation. "Uh, Vanessa, is there a safety mechanism? In case we need to be let go?"

Vanessa looks at Finral and Finral looks at her. They exchange a look and then both start laughing like the question was so fucking funny. Vanessa almost fell over from how hard she was laughing. She even had the audacity to wipe a tear from her eye.

"Oh you're so funny." She started pushing both of you into the darkness. "A safety mechanism, can you believe that, Finral?"

"I'm being serious. What if–"

"Have a fun trip!" She gives you guys one final hard shove and pushes you completely inside. Except you quickly figured out why it looked so dark because the actual dungeon was down below.

In a hole.

That she just shoved you down.

You flipped your body over, and looked down to see you were rapidly approaching a body of water. It was impossible to tell if it was deep enough to not immediately die in, but maybe it would bless you and make the death swift.

Both of you splashed into the water and the rush caused a lot of it to go straight up your nose and ultimately burned your throat. Your eyes shot open and you looked to your right to see Zora silently choking and holding his neck.

A low roar rumbled through you, making you look down from where you were drifting. All you could see was a dark mass with sharp teeth rapidly approaching.

You panicked and got his attention by pulling on your wrist making him snap eyes over. It took one look before he immediately directed you to start swimming upwards. You struggled against the current, but you're not sure why because it didn't look like the water should have a current.

Or maybe it was that thing sucking you downwards.

It took every amount of strength to push yourself up, and because of his height, Zora popped onto the surface first. With a strong arm, he contributed to the last pull that ultimately dragged you up onto the ledge.

You swung your body over and watched the beast rise up, causing a geyser to explode out from the pool. Both of you were coughing up water and gasping for every molecule of oxygen while that thing was coiling its scaly body higher and higher.

Suddenly it charged, shrieking madly right for you. Zora lifted his free hand and created a magic circle and as soon as the creature hit it, it flew backwards. Giving you some extra time to rise from your feet.

"Marionette–" But you hesitated when the image of Aegis and Acro's mangled body flickered back into your mind.

Zora scoffed and looked around. "Guess we're running then. Don't know where to go though." He murmured.

Your eyes scanned the area and it was too damn dark to figure out which path was wrong, and which one was right. There's only two of them so it was 50/50. The creature roars again and goes in for a second strike.

"Doesn't matter." You take off not waiting for him which ends up slowing you down for a moment. The path to the left was closer, so that's where you were headed.

Only issue with it was the entrance was not tall enough for the both of you to go while standing. So you dropped to the ground and crawled underneath. There was absolutely no sync in your movements because you were moving much faster than he was.

"I'm not ending up in the stomach of that thing because you want to take your sweet fucking time!" You scold him.

You could tell he was biting back a response. Instead, he just picked up the pace and made it through the crawl space just as the thing had rammed its head against the rock wall. You scrambled to your feet and broke off into another sprint as an avalanche started raining down on your heads. Zora was keeping up at last and the two of you slid out of reach of the falling rocks.

Finally in a spot of safety, you catch your breaths and laid on the ground in silence. Less than 10 minutes inside and you were drenched and covered in dirt and dust. You had to let your heart settle before making the attempt to speak.

Zora pushed his soggy hair out of face. "I feel like I'm being hazed."

"This is definitely hazing." You agreed with him and squinted your eyes in the dark. The only thing that stuck out was how the swirls on the sides of his eyes stayed intact throughout all of that. "So what brand is your waterproof eyeliner? I mean it didn't even smudge."

He doesn't even entertain you and simply flips you off. "You choked back there. If you're trying to get me killed, maybe do it when you're not tied to me."

You rolled your eyes. "I wasn't thinking. I'm used to summoning one of them and I forgot that they might not be fixed yet. I'd be bringing spare parts to the battlefield."

Zora lets out a long sigh. "What's the attachment with those things anyway? I mean it's not like they're... you know, real."

Although the comment sounds insensitive, his tone sounds a little less hostile. Maybe he really wants to know or maybe you telling him a story will drown out the strange cave noises. Either way, it doesn't hurt to share since you're supposed to be... bonding or something.

"Marionette Roulette was my first spell I learned when I got my grimoire. So they've been with me for 8 years now. Since I moved around so much when I was younger I was the typical sob story of the kid who couldn't make friends. Just ended up making friends with my puppets."

For once he's quiet. Listening. Not interrupting. You take that as a sign to keep talking.

"They have human-ish traits though. Sylvania is very nurturing, like a mother. Acro has annoying little sibling traits, and Aegis is resilient with a 'never give up' attitude. None of them can talk, but I feel like I share emotions and thoughts with them. That, and I can feel pain when they get destroyed."

He still decides not to talk but his facial expression changed just a tad. It softened from the usual tough facade he throws up.

"Geez, is that pity on your face?"

Zora blinked and turned slightly. Sorry, I'll just laugh in your face next time."

Guess not. "Whatever. It's your turn to cough up a story for me now."

He makes a sound that mimics a laugh. "I don't have anything as interesting as your family of dolls. My life is depressing and it'll make you cry. Don't need that on my record."

"Your record is probably already a hot mess." You point out. "Besides I've been through shit too. Dead dad, murder trial, elf possession, nearly put on death row, half the kingdom thinks I sent zombies to seize the capital, I mean really, you can't hurt me."

The two of you enter a chamber which shimmers from a strange bioluminescence. Blue crystals poke out from crevices and there's a sound of dripping water. Other than that, it was quiet. Almost soothing.

Still, it was nothing that Vanessa would find shiny enough to wear. Or wear at all for that matter. Zora touches the wall and rubs his fingers together. "Guess I can empathize with you in one of those departments."

"Are you gonna make me play the guessing game or...?"

He drags you along behind him as he keeps walking through the chamber. "The first one you mentioned." He responds. "He was a Magic Knight."

You find it hard to believe that his dad was a knight considering Zora himself didn't act like he wanted to be one. But that was definitely better to keep as a thought.

Just as you're about to comment on it, a clicking noise enters your ears. At first it's quiet, barely audible. Then it grows louder and louder. You realize a second too late that it was coming from the pillar you were standing next to.

Some form of ugly ass mutant spider with deer antlers lunged into your leg. Piercing through your pants and taking a nice bite out of your skin.

You reached down to try and swat at it, but it had a good grip on you. Ignoring the pain, you have to forcefully pull it out of your skin. And you do and toss it to the ground before stomping on it multiple times.

"Shit," you huff as you raise your shoe to see the runny neon yellow liquid on the bottom of it. "That's nasty as hell." You cringe and look to see the damage.

Zora's eyes widened. "You shouldn't have killed that thing."

"After it bit the shit out of me?!"

He rubs a hand across his face. "My dad told me about things like that. They bite you and leave a seed in the wound. Once they die, the seed explodes and it–"

Before he finishes an excruciating pain rushes through your leg, making you stumble into him, sending you both into the wall. He grips onto you with the hand that's not tied up to hold you as you hold in an earth shattering scream.

"–Hurts like a bitch." He finishes and looks around the chamber. There's a small crevice that the two of you can fit through to go to the next chamber. Only issue is you'd need to walk on your own because you won't be able to walk side by side.

"I hope that's an exit." He mutters and pulls you along with him. Zora turns to the side and grabs your hand. The only action he can do from that tight angle. You both shimmy though and there is a limp with every step you take.

Luckily, it's only a few extra steps before you make it out on the other side. There's no exit yet, but there is a pack of what looks like possessed polar bears?

The bears waste no time before they charge forward. You bring your grimoire out and the pages flip. Puppeteer's Tempest.

A storm of puppets storm out and go head on with the pack of bears. It holds them off and Zora takes that opportunity to run. Only to get pulled back by you. He turns, ready to curse you out when he remembers you can barely walk, nevermind run.

He looks back to see that your attack is winning for the most part. But it's not going to stop them all, not when you're in this state.

Zora groans and makes a split decision. He wraps his arms around you and lifts you up and holds you bridal style. "You say something, and I'll kill you."

"You're gonna have to kill me then. I'll find something to say." You mumble as he starts to run. He takes random turns, ignoring every growl and whisper that tries to get at him. So far he's doing good with no dead ends.

Zora curses at every corner but he doesn't stop. He runs for about five minutes. Mainly taking every turn that brings him upwards. Climbing up stairs until he comes into another room that is filled to the brim with treasure. Gold litters just about every corner, something shimmers and glitters every time you turn your head.

"Wow. If only I gave a damn about anything in here." He mutters and looks around. "I'm just trying to get the hell out of here."

"Wait wait, grab something before you go. That's part of our test."

"Are you serious?"

"We're already here. Just find a necklace or something." You said.

An argument doesn't happen, and he reluctantly bends down to pick up a gorgeous golden necklace with a diamond gem right in the middle. "Pretty, I guess. Now to get out."

"I've already figured that out." You tell him. "We're making our own exit. I'm going to use my tempest attack, you're going to amplify them. Let them destroy the wall and we're free."

You bring out your grimoire and hold your hand out. Coincidentally, it was the same one Zora was about to use to cast his own spell. Before you could even cast your attack, a large golden magic circle spins out in front of you.

"I didn't do that." He mutters before it starts to spin rapidly.

A blinding light poured out into the cavern. However, you could see something emerging from it. It started out hunched over, but you could make out a body. Then it stood, slowly, unraveling itself from the light. The gold dripped off its body and took two steps forward before it gained color.

Its skin was striped pink and white. The wrists adorned with frilly white ruffles and bells that jingled with every movement. A long white dress with a gray cross in the center, cascaded past any form of legs or feet. On top of its head sat a thorny bronze laurel wreath.

The thing seemed so familiar that you almost couldn't believe it.

Without question, it barrels through the wall, making a giant hole and letting light shine through. Dust picks up making you both cover your mouths and shield your face. It takes a few moments to settle.

And when it does, the being is gone.