What Do You Mean All Dungeons Are Girls!!!?

As Misaki was about to step out into the guildhall’s main room to greet the dragon that had come to her town, she received a notification. Based on the pause in her partner’s steps, her partner had also received one. Neither of them had time to stop and read it though. The dragon took precedence over a system notification, especially one not marked urgent. So she ignored it and stepped into the main room of the guildhall. The dragon she came out to meet was approaching the counter.  The two of them approached the counter, and conferred briefly with Sarah. Before turning around to greet their guest.

Misaki stepped forward, and began, “If you would follow us, we can speak in private.”

Zemoria smiled in response, “You’re a polite one, aren’t you? I like you. Lead the way. I do have a few things I want to talk with you two about. The aura around the town and the dungeon both come to mind.”

The young one with her gave the dragon a questioning look. Phyllis shifted awkwardly and Misaki led the way. All the while Misaki wondered what the dragon wanted to know about that Aura. Although, now that she thought about it, she didn’t know all that much about the aura in the first place. Beyond what it did, she knew nothing. Phyllis might know more, but she had never really focused on it. Too many other things occupying her time. This conversation might prove more interesting than she first thought, and she had already been curious about what the dragon wanted.

She remained silent during the brief walk to the private room the two of them picked out earlier. As she settled into a chair next to Phyllis, she started the introductions. Introducing first Phyllis, and then herself. The dragon smiled, and introduced herself then she indicated her young companion, “... and this young lady here is Eris. I am looking for a suitable caretaker for her. She has been a very naughty girl.”

Eris looked away, her face clearly flushed. Misaki didn’t blame her for being embarrassed, but she could sense something else in there too. She sighed, “That is going to cause some confusion around here. There is another young lady who goes by the name Eris in my halls.”

The dragon chuckled, “I imagine so, but that’s what nicknames are for. That and second names for those that have them. Anyway being a dungeon, I am sure you have no shortage of potential caretakers for a young girl.”

Misaki nodded. She did have quite a few, and while she did not have too many yet it occurred to her that she needed a more centralized infrastructure. A nice school, and an orphanage. Maybe not one that was managed by her demons. Although it wasn’t the first time she thought about it, but once again, she had always been busy when it occurred to her. As for why she did not want a demon to manage it, well she wanted it to interact with the outside world, and not everyone would trust a demon, especially a lust demon with their kid. Perhaps she should look at Melisa, sure she was busy as an aide, but if she was distracted with something else it would give Phyllis and her more time together.

Zemoria smiled, “That’s good. Introduce me to a few of these candidates later. I’ll need to tell them a few things. I would also like to judge them for myself.”

Misaki shifted in her seat, and said, “Entirely reasonable.”

Then Phyllis interjected, “You said something about needing to talk about the aura around the town? What did you want to know?”

Darious stirred slowly, and then stretched. Something wasn’t right, and it was not just her surroundings. Wait, her? It was at that moment her memories came crashing back. Memories of the night before, and how he, now she, had failed. She remembered seeing her new body in the mirror. So small, so cute, and nothing at all like how she used to be.

She pushed the covers aside, and shivered slightly as the cool air touched her bare skin. The young girl sighed, and glanced at the unread notification. She was not sure she even wanted to read its contents. Although she knew what it was from. Her quest, her divine quest. A quest she knew she had failed, and was now being punished for. 

Darious glanced down at her body, and sighed. For some reason, the gods had seen fit to reshape her into a succubus, and not just any succubus. She had been changed into a succubus child, which honestly made this worse. The young girl did not even know the first thing about being a succubus, but being made a child was worse. Her tongue darted over her gums, and she sighed again. Young succubi did not have teeth, and she was no exception. Last night already painted a good picture of her future, a diet of soft foods that didn’t require chewing. A fact she was not looking forward to.

Then she thought back to that adventurer woman, she had met alone in a tavern. The young lady that had told her while she was still a he to turn back. If only she had listened, but she had to see for herself. She slumped as she remembered the trap they had triggered, and then that demon a certain moron had brought betrayed them. Then again so did the moron. She cursed herself for not noticing that a member of her party had been enthralled. She squashed the memory, and pushed it aside. The young girl had no desire to think on those events, but she could not help but dwell on those events. 

Before she knew it, she grew warm at the memories, and her body flushed red. Her bodily reactions mercifully distracted her from the memories, and she glanced down. She slumped, “I guess that answers one question.” Not that she had particularly been interested in the answer. 

The notification in the corner of her vision caught her eye again, and she finally decided to bite the bolt. She mentally opened the notification, and a blue window dominated her vision. One that confirmed quite a bit of what she already suspected or figured out, but it was not without surprises.

She dismissed the notification, and then glanced blankly at a wall. She had no idea what to think about the consequences of failure. She had been changed, which she had already figured out, but apparently she had also been cursed and bound. In her wildest dreams she had not even considered the possibility that her patron had changed. Then again, it was not often that someone died in a false death dungeon with a dead god as their patron. It was so rare in fact that she had no idea it would open the door for this. Being disfavored was certainly not a good thing, but that could be fixed. All she had to do was redeem herself before her patron. Not that it was going to be easy. Pleasing a god was hard at the best of times, doing it while disfavored was a quest in and of itself.

With a sigh, she resolved herself to visit Dewari’s shrine. If she wanted to get rid of that curse, she would need to redeem herself. At the very least she would want to know what that would involve. That meant visiting the shrine, and offering a prayer. A fact that rankled her, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. If she did, she would never have gotten where she had been in the first place. Sometimes getting ahead meant doing what you found distasteful, and it had been worth it. She had enjoyed a wide array of luxuries, even if she did have to occasionally deal with the distasteful. Not that she knew what getting ahead meant anymore.

She pushed herself out of the bed, and stretched. That was something else, she was going to have to figure out. Darious very much doubted that she could convince a goddess to just give her her old body back. There was no easy way for that to happen. That meant, at least for now, she was going to have to learn to live as a young girl. Problem was, she did not exactly have any goals, either. Perhaps, a redemption quest would give her some direction. At least until she figured out what she wanted out of life again. Any plans she might have made earlier, were thrown out the window now. Especially given she was stuck in this town. A town she barely knew, but now she would have to call... home. Something she did not really want to do, but what she really wanted right now was barred to her. Leaving her here aimless with nothing to look forward to, but she had been taught there was no value in throwing life away. 

Pushing her thoughts aside, she headed for the door. It occurred to her that she might have to deal with a few curious priestesses and their acolytes, but she knew she could not hide in here forever. Besides she did need to visit the shrine. She very much wanted to know what her new patron expected of her. Especially given she was stuck with her. Strangely it was easier to change patrons when you were favored. Gods and goddesses do not easily let go of those they disapprove of. Not that they easily let go those they favor easily either, but they will. Assuming you can prove to them that the change would be to your benefit.

She however, found herself in a very awkward position. Given how she ended up in the patronage of a dark goddess, she could only assume that the goddess had plans for her. Not that she could do anything about that. Not to mention she had a number of more pressing worries to deal with at the moment. She had no coin, no clothes, and what few possessions she had in town were lost to her. Not that they were worth much to begin with, she had left the truly important stuff in her home in White Rock. Stuff that was also lost to her. This put her in an awkward position that was only made worse, by the fact that she had been transformed into an immature succubus with a curse. One that she did not know the full details of, judging by the two sets of question marks on two of the three auras she gained. At least the aura of cuteness seemed innocent enough. She still needed to read it to be certain.

The worst part about her current state was the fact that she was technically an orphaned child. The fact that she was stuck in Bordertown was the part that worried her the most. One wrong move on her part, and she could very well find herself adopted by the dungeon. She did not want to be adopted by a dungeon. Logically she knew the dungeon would be best able to help her, but emotionally she wanted to avoid the dungeon. Reaching the door she sighed, it also seemed that thanks to her being bound here she will have a harder time with that other quest of hers. A part of her deflated when she thought about the difficulties. As much as she loved her brother, she had a feeling she would not be able to help him. Although she did wish she would have one last chance with him before the gods found him. Why they were after him was beyond her, but that did remind her of one more thing to ask her patron. Chances were she would not be answered, but it never hurt to ask.

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