The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Survivor POV

The air is heavy with the scent of fresh blood, the sharp tang of iron settling on my tongue and making my stomach turn with unease. With my sidearm drawn I push forward further into the lobby, stepping around shattered glassware and sidestepping fallen luggage carts. I rise up from a crouched stance to take a better look at my surroundings. Outside there are more of the mad freaks rushing back and forth through the streets, chasing after the random people who were still on the streets. For whatever reason, it doesn’t seem like they’re interested in trying to get inside the hotel. As I watched the scene unfolding before me, a rasping wheeze pricks my ears; it’s a terribly sickening sound that made my throat tighten with distress out of sympathy.

Before I make my way over, I go up to the bloodied revolving doors and look at them for a moment until I find what I was searching for. It was the manual lock, a simple but sturdy locking latch to keep the door from revolving anymore. With a satisfying click, I turned my attention to the crunchy and shuddering wheezing that came from behind the bloody receptionist desk.

I carefully crossed the lobby, making my way around the receptionist’s desk as whoever was there desperately tried to draw a slow breath with a sickening amount of effort that sounded like it was barely doing enough. Coming around to look, I spot the corpse of a person… At least, there used to be enough for it to be a person. Its still breathing… Their limbs have been strewn about in a mangled mess, the splattered array of bloody chunks of meat looking almost as if a dog had grabbed a torn pillow and shook it violently. The torso was half stripped of almost all its skin and meat, the ribs cracked and one of its lungs collapsed from a puncture or rip at some point. The head lolled to the side, it’s teeth gnashing in a shuddering sort of way between breaths. Their face was featureless and splotched with sparse chunks of flesh and bloody hair which clung to it.

The next thing I knew the bile was rising up in my throat before I doubled over and emptied my guts onto the bloodied tile. No matter how much actual death I had seen until now, the methodical examination of rotted corpses and so many autopsies… Nothing… Nothing could have prepared me for this. The sour taste of vomit clung to my tongue and breath as I did my best to recover while wiping off my mouth with my free hand.

It was at that moment that I heard the living corpse start to draw a deeper, more painful, gut-wrenching wheeze. Turning to look at it, I suddenly realized that it was staring right at me with its one still intact eye, its gaze cloudy and milky-looking with a distinct green hue. Before I could even register the fact it was making eye contact, it let out an unholy screeching howl, sounding very much like the desperate death throes of a feral beast. My senses overwhelmed from the shock of the ear piercing shriek, I was almost stunned outright before I managed to snap my sidearm up to the screaming corpse and fired once; sending out its brains onto the floor in a slurry of gray slush.

With my ears still ringing and tears welling up in my eyes from when I puked, I do my best to collect myself as I search for the casing of the shot I just fired. Just trying to focus on my training and making sure to collect my brass once the encounter was over. It was only then did I hear burbling growls and snarls from what sounded like the other end of the lobby and around the corner. Heavy footsteps sounding out against the tile as they start closing whatever distance was between me and it.

With only a moment to think, I duck down behind the receptionist counter with the freshly silenced scrap of meat only inches away from me. Without realizing it, I held my breath as the disgusting stench of blood and bile assaulted my nose. The heavy thuds sounded like they were getting closer as the sounds of a sloshing, gurgling gut rumbled over the ringing that lingered in my ears. I… I’m scared… I can’t help but shut my eyes as I waited and listened more, the ringing slowly fading as the footsteps slowed to a stop. That’s when I heard it take a slow, shaky breath riddled with burps and soft gagging rumbles.

I stayed still for what felt like an eternity, but after a few seconds I forced myself to peek over the receptionist counter. For almost an instant, what I’m looking at appears to be a simple, somewhat overweight man in a vibrant pink polo and khaki cargo shorts; though in the next moment the illusion was shattered as it turned to look at the revolving doors and I got to see its profile. The poor bastard’s maw was coated in dark, chunky viscera that spilled all over their neck, chest and gut. The gut itself was engorged unnaturally like a fleshy water balloon, gurgling and sloshing with each lumbering step. This is probably the guy that ate the receptionist next to me, and probably a couple others from the looks of him.

Ducking back down behind the receptionist counter, I do my best to take as silent a breath as I could manage, steadying myself before holstering my sidearm and drawing my knife. This is so stupid… But I don’t think I can afford to make any more noise, and who knows if I’ll need the bullets later. Taking another peek out, I grab a stapler from the desk and fling it down the other end of the lobby, the metal clattering noisily against the tile and skittering along the floor for a couple feet.

The glutton whirls around scarily fast, its heavy feet thudding distinctly against the tile as a gurgling snarl bubbles up its throat. This was the moment, with his back to me I stepped out from behind the desk and quickly closed the distance. However, with my focus squarely on the big guy, I step on a clump of viscera that fell off of him, causing me to slip for a split second as my shoes make a painfully distinct and audible squeak. Even though I recover in that instant, quickly swinging my knife to plunge it into its throat and slicing clean through; the freak doesn’t go down or even flinch as it swung its meaty arms while whirling around on me. Their fists clubbed into my chest and sent me sprawling back as I collided into a pillar in the middle of the lobby.

I gasped hard, my breath completely knocked out of me as my back ached and throbbed from the impact. I only have the briefest of moments to even acknowledge the mound of psychotic flesh lunging for me, and in that split second I managed to get my arm between its outstretched maw and myself. In that instant, I’m satisfied to learn that the impromptu armor I bound around my arms held true, though that’s little consolation when the bastard starts shaking its head violently, earnestly attempting to rip my arm from its socket.

Despite myself, the panic starts to set in as I desperately reach for my sidearm, but between the fact that it’s holstered on my other hip and the blood just spewing from it’s sliced open throat, I’m unable to get a hold of anything at all.

Just then, a shot rings out from somewhere else, hitting the engorged freak in the stomach which causes it to burst like a bloated garbage bag. Blood, guts and all sorts of black and brown gunk spilling out of it. Even that didn’t put it down for good, but the sudden change in body mass was all I needed as I managed to use the now very slick floors to flip the biter onto its back while I got to my knees. Even then its maw refused to release my arm as I just started slamming its head into the floor, again and again and again until all that remained was a pulpy mess of squishy bones, meat and teeth.

I couldn’t feel my arm, the whole thing was numb and I couldn’t even do all that much with it beyond keeping my fist clenched as I managed to hold onto my knife throughout that whole ordeal. As I’m catching my breath, a flash of realization struck me as I realized that someone had shot a gun, which meant I probably wasn’t alone anymore. Turning to look, I spotted a hooded person wearing a very baggy hoodie, with very shaky hands, aiming a gun in my general direction. Looks like I should count myself lucky they didn’t actually shoot me instead. Glancing down at myself, I quickly realize I look like some sort of final girl at the end of a particularly bloody slasher flick. Dark reds, browns, and black chunks of meat and bloody viscera absolutely coated my entire body, save for most of my head and half of my neck.

Moving as slowly as I could manage, I turned to face the hooded person, raising my one hand and making an effort to unclench my other hand to drop the knife. “H-hey… Thanks for the assist.” I start with, before clearing my throat. “I know I look pretty bad… But I swear, it didn’t get me. W-will you let me show you?”

The hooded person didn’t lower the gun, and their hands didn’t stop shaking, but they nodded their consent.

With that, I reached over with my good hand, rolling up the long sleeve coated in blood to reveal the paper armor I had bound around my arms before going a step further and pulling off the tape which held it place. “S-see? N-no bites… That’s how they turn you as far as I’ve seen.”

The hooded person finally lowers their gun, but the shaking doesn’t stop as I watch their head turn to look between me and the gluttonous pool of meat next to me.

“W-we should probably get moving, I don’t know if there are any more running around the place but we’re better off getting into a room.” I suggested, though as I looked between them and the stairs I took to get down here, I got a feeling that I shouldn’t leave them alone. Even if it’s smarter to operate alone until I reunite with my folks, they saved my life and it wouldn’t sit right if I left them to fend for themselves. “You should come with me, I’ve got more equipment and goods in my room, and a crack shot like you around will help keep both of us safer.” I say as I offer them a sheepish smile, not knowing why I said a stupid line like that.

That actually managed to get a smile from them though as they nodded at my words. “O-okay… Lead the way then.” She said as she stepped closer in my general direction.

Oh, so they’re a she… Alright then. I take a moment to collect my fallen knife, grunting from the pain throughout before starting to slowly walk towards the stairs. “Damn… These are gonna suck when the adrenaline wears off.” I muse, offering a bit of a smile as I glanced back at her.

She just nodded along for her part. “Yeah, that looked pretty bad… Are you sure you’ll be okay?” She asked, striding past me and opening the door to the stairs.

I offer her a shrug with my one good shoulder as I do my best to offer a smile. “Probably not, but I’ve been through worse. As long as nothing is broken, it’s nothing a couple of narcotic grade painkillers and a good attitude won’t help me ignore.” That somehow actually got a small smile from her. “So… Uh… What’s your name?” I ask to fill the silence as we ascend the stairs.

“It’s Skylar… What about you?” She asked as she looked back at me.

Huh... She has red eyes, that’s pretty cool. I didn't realize at first, but I was actually distracted enough that I forgot to answer her right away, flashing her a sheepish smile despite myself. “O-oh right, sorry, my name is…”

Rita POV

Rita wakes with a start, cold sweat clinging to her skin as she pants heavily. She had been aware of Vitmori's memories, how close they were to her in the dreamscape, and how easily she could access them through her bond with him. It was as if he left the door wide open for her to go in and see. At first, she had ignored them, not particularly interested in seeing the memories; but after speaking with Jack, her curiosity got the better of her and she took a peek in order to try to understand the odd dungeon core.

What she did not expect were visions of another world, a world filled with humans and magic tools that weren't really magic. Before now, all she had seen of his life was him growing up, experiencing the world at large, and training to be a warrior in his family's mercenary guild. But that all changed today, the world she had seen through his eyes began to collapse, and she witnessed mass death like she could have never imagined. She could still feel where his shoulder had nearly been pulled from its socket, the throbbing tightness in her back where he crashed against the stone column, her forearm still aching from the memory of the teeth crunching down on his lightly armored arm.

After a few more minutes had passed, she managed to get herself out of bed and took a moment to fix up her hair and feathers with wind magic before making her way out of the women's communal quarters. It was only then, that she realized she had slept through the majority of the day, much to her own embarrassment as she could see the sun was already in the latter half of the sky.

"Good morning, or perhaps it's good afternoon for you." Mina called out gently, coming up behind Rita before offering a rolled-up flatbread that held some slices of smoked meat and pieces of leafy vegetables.

Rita couldn't help but offer a pleasant smile while taking up the food Mina brought for her. "How did you know to make my food so quickly?" She asked, tilting her head slightly with the question before biting into the wrap.

Mina's ears twitched at the crunch of the leafy greens, smiling up a little sheepishly at Rita. "I was checking in on you when you looked like you woke up from some kind of nightmare. I figured you would be hungry, not to mention use a little company after that."

Rita chewed on that thought and the food for a little while longer, though she flared out of one of her wings and draped it around Mina, coaxing her closer with a winged hug. "Thank you, Mina, I appreciate it." Rita said after swallowing before taking another bite.

Mina leaned into the embrace, hugging Rita in return as she enjoyed the novel experience of being embraced by a wing. The duo stood there for a time as Rita ate, though, after another couple minutes, Mina spoke up once more. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Rita didn't respond right away, swallowing down what she had in her mouth before looking at Mina. "Talk about what?"

Mina shrugged a little, still hugging and leaning into Rita. "Whatever you want... Why you came back really late last night, what your nightmare was about, or anything else you want to talk about?"

Rita considered what to say, finishing the last of her wrap in silence before finally speaking up. "I uh... Lost track of time while training last night and ended up running through most of my mana before I realized it. I had to walk back to the Haven due to how exhausted I was."

Mina nodded into Rita's side before looking up at her. "Is using magic really that fun?" She wondered curiously.

Rita scoffed at that question as if the notion that magic could be anything but fun was ridiculous. Though she figured she ought to give a proper answer. "Sure, magic can be used for cruel and terrible things... But magic at its most basic? To harness the elements and bend nature to your very will. There's nothing more exhilarating. The feeling itself is almost as liberating as flying among the clouds." She expressed before sighing with delight at the thought of magic and flight.

"I wish I could fly, it sounds rather delightful." Mina admitted, watching Rita's face and admiring just how delighted she looked at the mere thought of magic and flight.

Rita considered something before looking down at Mina and flashing a small smile. "I know of a spell that can make you as light as a feather... If you'd like, I could take you for a fly-around later?"

At that, Mina's vibrant pink eyes seemed to almost sparkle with delight, her rounded ears twitching in anticipation. Though she then became much more reserved and hesitant. "I... I wouldn't want to impose... You said you exhausted your mana earlier, I don't want you straining yourself."

Rita smirked with amusement as she flared out both her wings, giving them a weighty flap that caused the air around them to woosh and swirl, momentarily startling Mina as the ratkin let out an eep. "Flying with a thin little lady like you will hardly be an effort for a winged mage like myself. I'm confident I could fly you around even without making you lighter with magic, but it's good practice for me to fly and use magic at the same time, so don't worry about it." She expressed with exaggerated bravado, she wasn't about to let Mina stop herself from having some fun by being overly polite and deferential.

Mina seemed anxious for another moment but managed a genuine smile as she leaned into Rita again and gave her another hug. "Well, alright then. If you insist." She said softly before pulling back, her ears waggling with barely contained excitement.

Rita smiled and patted the top of the ratkin's head before pulling back. "I gotta go, cya later." With that, she made her way out of the longhouse and looked around. At first, she was hoping to spot Reyvyre and speak to her about her experiences with dreamwalking. However, she found herself rather distracted with unbridled fury as she spotted Dhalia beside the pen of chivosteids, speaking with Zasutir while surrounded by the prowler cubs. With her wings flared, she found herself launching off the ground and speeding towards Dhalia, a ball of lightning forming in her palm. Though in the next instant, she found herself engulfed in shadows and spinning uncontrollably until she landed face-first in the dirt. Her spell had been interrupted before it could properly be shaped, which caused it to plume into harmless sparks against the ground.

When Rita looked up, she was face to face with Basti, the massive prowler showing off a toothy smile as she snickered at Rita's expense. "If I had even you fooled, then I must have been more convincing than I thought." She rumbled out almost playfully as she pulled away and sat back.

"W-wha... Wait... What happened, w-where's Dhalia... Wait, you can talk?!" Question after question rushed through her mind as she pushed up off the ground, looking between the powerful prowler and the Shepherd curiously.

The Shepherd looked more concerned than startled by the display, but he managed to offer a smile before gesturing to Basti. "Basti has become able to shapeshift. Though she is currently borrowing the form of that wretched woman you know as Dhalia and will be going to the Hegemony with Diarosa." He explained as thoroughly as he could, having just had the situation explained to him by Basti herself.

At that, Basti shifted once more, engulfing herself in shadow before emerging as an exact copy of Dhalia, even standing in a relaxed pose in a way that Dhalia would often take up. The similarities were disturbing enough to cause Rita's feathers to unconsciously poof up as she looked Basti up and down. "I... I see..." She said after another moment, flaring her wings out and flapping them once to try and settle her feathers. "I wasn't aware that Diarosa was still alive... Is... Is Dhalia..?" She started to ask before trailing off.

Basti flashed a fanged smile, showing off Dhalia's pearly white teeth. "No, she's dead and gone. I ripped out her throat myself." She mused rather cheerfully. "With Vitmori's help, I absorbed all her memories and trained myself to get used to moving like a person. For all intents and purposes, I am Dhalia in every way. I even smell like her." She explained as she stepped closer, offering Rita her hand as if to let her check for herself.

Rita couldn't help but flinch as she watched Basti reach out for her with Dhalia's face, several years of trauma bubbling to the surface despite herself. She did her best to swallow her nerves and reminded herself to just be glad that Mina wasn't here to see this. She reached out, taking Basti's wrist and closing her eyes. Instead of just checking her scent, she delved deeper and tapped into the little bit of soul magic she knew to examine Basti in a way only a mage could. She pulled back, fear striking her again as she released Basti's wrist. The 'soul' she saw was almost certainly that of Dhalia, just seeing it again drove shivers down her spine. "A-are you sure that this is just shape-shifting?"

Basti seemed intrigued by the various reactions she had gotten out of Rita, her ears waggling thoughtfully as she glanced between her hand and Rita. "I'm not sure of anything at all. I'm still learning about what I can do, it's not like I've had this particular ability for long. Why do you ask?"

Rita was unsure of how to properly broach the subject, but after glancing between Zasutir and Basti, she decided to just come out and say it. "I... You... Your soul looked like Dhalia's... F-for some reason... I'm not sure how else to say it and I have no explanation for how that could be."

Basti blinked with surprise, not particularly shocked or disturbed, but curious as she looked herself over. Zasutir regarded Basti as well before looking over to Rita and speaking up. "Forgive me for my ignorance, but is that a bad thing? Would others be able to detect any abnormalities in her soul?"

Rita was silent for a moment longer, considering the question and what she saw. "I... No, I don't think so. The only reason I was even able to sense that it felt and looked like Dhalia's soul is due to the mere fact that I've had the displeasure of regularly checking her soul for curses or damage over the years." She then looked over at Basti, considering her some more. "So you shouldn't encounter any problems in the day-to-day, even then, you somehow managed to imitate the shape and feel of her soul. That alone should fool anyone who remotely knows her and decides to check your soul for any reason, not like that will ever be a common occurrence."

Before anything else could be said, Legosi emerged from the treeline with an unconscious Diarosa on his back. The massive spitter wolf came up beside the group as he regarded everyone with a wolfish grin. "One prisoner delivered for Basti. Only lightly damaged." He mused as he sat back, letting the woman roll off of him and flop to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Rita could only look on with contempt as she stared at the woman who caused most of the suffering she had gone through over the years, though she didn't say a word, watching Basti curiously to see what she was going to do.

Basti looked over at the discarded woman before turning to her cubs. "That's my cue to leave, be good and take care of each other my darlings. I promise I won't be gone long." She engulfed herself in shadows once more, shifting back into a beast before affectionately nuzzling each one. She then regarded Basmori, reaching out with a paw before gently pushing him over on his back. "Don't you even think about following me, my little shadow." She mused almost mischievously. With that she shifted back into looking like Dhalia, grabbing Diarosa by the collar of her dress and laying her across the back of a chivosteid. She then followed her up, climbing onto the mount before looking at Zasutir with a grin. "Thanks again for letting me take one, I dreaded having to deal with this brat and being forced to walk all the way back to civilization."

Zasutir bobbed his head before chuckling. "Think nothing of it, Basti, safe travels."

Basti then looked at the chivosteid and patted its neck. "Onwards, and make sure to behave yourself if you know what's good for you." She warned almost teasingly, though the chivosteid looked sufficiently intimidated as they meekly brayed and started trotting forward, making their way out of the clearing and away from the Haven.

Rita couldn't help but watch as Basti left with Diarosa, not exactly sure how she felt at this moment. Though instead of addressing her feelings, she turned to Zasutir and did her best to offer a bit of a smile. "Excuse me, Shepherd... Are you able to point me to Reyvyre? I have something I need to discuss with her."

Zasutir smiled a bit, looking a little confused by the question. Though after another moment he points towards the treeline. "She's off in that direction with Reonim, the two of them are sparring so do be mindful to announce your presence and not get caught up in the crossfire."

Rita hesitantly smiled as she glanced between the treeline and Zasutir; something about the way he looked at her just now bothered her for some reason. "Why did you look at me like that?" She decided to ask outright.

"Like what?" Zasutir asked, not sure what she was getting at as he tilted his head curiously.

"Just now. When I asked you if you knew where Reyvyre was. You looked at me like I was stupid." She accused, now feeling more than a little irritated by his act of ignorance as her feathers visibly ruffled up.

At that, a look of understanding came over Zasutir as he shook his head, holding up his hands in a placating manner. "Oh not at all, I was merely confused as to why you were asking. I was under the impression that you already knew how to locate others who share a bond with Vitmori."

Once Zasutir clarified what happened, Rita felt more than a little ashamed, her face visibly reddening in embarrassment at the imagined insult she had accused the man of. Almost immediately she lowered her head in shame. "I... I'm sorry. P-please, forgive me for the accusation... I have no excuse for my attitude just now."

Zasutir smiled kindly, reaching out and gently patting Rita's shoulder. "All is good, I'm just glad we cleared this up as quickly as we did. I hope you have a good day now." He expressed cheerfully before pulling away and leaving her to it.

Rita sighed softly from the lingering embarrassment, finding herself alone as the prowler cubs had dispersed at some point, whereas Legosi had left soon after delivering Diarosa to Basti. With nothing else to do here, Rita takes flight and starts heading off in the direction Zasutir had pointed her towards.

After a few minutes of flight, having put quite some distance between herself and the Haven. Rita couldn't help the feeling that she might've strayed from the direction Zasutir set her on, that was until she was blasted by a whirlwind of almost unbearably cold gusts of wind. The chill stunned Rita so much that it knocked her out of the air, forcing her to flare out her wings and call upon her control of the winds to try and stabilize herself and slow her descent. Despite this, the landing was still very rough as she crashed through the tree line, her vision fading to black.