45 - The Found Dungeon

“Bumble bee, where on earth are we going?” 

“I’ll show you when we get there.” 

“Alright but can you at least tell us why we’re going to this mysterious place?”

“Not yet.” Lexie had to be sure first. She didn’t want to raise everyone’s hopes only for her memory to be wrong. It was why she’d simply gotten up without saying anything and started in the direction where she suspected the dungeon to be. Her father had called after her and then followed her. The elders hung back though, with Frank calling out that Aiden didn't have to worry about anything because he would take care of the two 'rat bastards' that were trying to bother him. 

And then as they walked, Max came rumbling up in his bike. He'd been trailing them at that glacial pace since then. 

“Okay this ridiculous,” Max grumbled. “I look ridiculous sitting on this thing and going five kilometers an hour. I didn't even know my bike could go this slow. Can you just tell me where to go and I’ll meet you there?”

Lexie shook her head. She didn’t want Max to spend time alone there without knowing what she knew. Dungeon delver or not, it might not be safe.

“Alright then,” Max said. “Hop on and I’ll take you. Your father will meet us there.”

“My daughter is not getting on that death machine.” 

“We wouldn’t be having this problem if you would just get a vehicle like a normal person.”

"Too many vehicles like that are bad for the environment. Besides, walking promotes good health and longevity."

“Yeah, all that good health and longevity just to get almost taken out by a demonic eye anyway.”

“We’re here.” Lexie finally announced and jogged off the walking path down the same hiking trail she’d found Glinda and Terry at. 

She heard Max’s bike stop and heard her dad coming after her, but she fixed her attention forward until she got to the path. And then she stopped. Her heart raced at the discovery. She shut her eyes to feel it, to ensure that she wasn’t just imagining it. 

Nope.

It was there. The weightlessness she’d felt even before she’d activated her card, the emptiness in the air. It hadn't been from the cards themselves, but from the transient mana in the environment. More specifically, beneath her feet.

She stared at the ground, as air whistled over the glistening grass.

Something was siphoning the external mana around her, tugging at her internal mana slowly but steadily.

She turned to her dad. “Do you feel it?”

“Feel what?” he asked her.

“Underneath,” she said. “I think there's a dungeon there.”

Both Max and Aiden froze, Max in the process of taking a step. His face twisted in confusion. 

“You think a dungeon spawned underground?”

“Yeah. I mean no, I’m not sure how it spawned but I know it's underground now. It's like the opposite of a black hole, it's sucking all the mana from the atmosphere. And I think maybe that might be the dungeon the creature came out from, although I’m not sure.”

“That’s…I don’t think a dungeon can span underground,” Max said, then turned to Aiden. “Can it?”

Aiden was staring at the ground intently like he could see through the pebbles.

“The crops,” he said. 

“What?”

“Old Man Lochlan's crops. They all died suddenly overnight months ago. And then there was a widespread disease in town. Psychological and physical presenting. At the time, we assumed it was a pestilence creature causing those attacks. But it could have been an eldritch infestation.”

“Hang on. You think the eye was what was causing it?”

He nodded. “It was clearly young. Had very little experience on how to use its powers, something that it would have been taught by the Great Mother just a week after birth. The fact that it wasn’t, means that it was separated from its mother pretty early  which indicates that it has been here for at least a few months.”

“So it’s been in the underground dungeon.”

“Quite possibly. It was eating creatures underground and affecting the ecosystem which is why the plants died. And it also emitted all the compulsions of its emotions to anyone who crossed that path, causing the psychosomatic symptoms that we experienced.” He scratched his chin. “When the Saintess came and purified the land, she alleviated the effect but her powers didn’t harm the creature because he was protected by the fact that it was confined in the unstable dungeon. I am sure he stayed there for a while but then he got hungry and came above ground." He stared at the distance. "Possible came through that pond over there, which is why there's no hole in the ground."

Lexie thought Aiden's theory was correct. The pond was muddier than usual and there were no ripples underneath the surface. No signs of life.

“Shit," Max swore. "But how did the dungeon end up underground?”

Aiden shook his head. “That I do not know. But the fact that it is underground means that …there may be far more dungeons than we’re aware of.” 

Both men stared at each other, the heaviness of the implication stark in their gazes. 

"The disappearing dungeon," Max said. "Do you think it was underground too?"

Aiden shrugged. "Could be. Or could be it formed above ground and then moved underground before you could find it. After all, this underground dungeon didn't give any alert upon spawning."

“Why do you think it’s still there?” Lexie asked. "I mean unstable dungeons tend to resolve quicker than that, right?”

“Not necessarily. We don’t have any consensus on the resolution time of unstable dungeons. That’s part of why they're called unstable. It can last a few minutes or a few months. I’ve heard of a couple that lasted years and they can even recur in the same place over and over again if you're not careful.”

Lexie swallowed. The possibility of more things like that eye creature breeding underground gave her the heebie-jeebies. She probably wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight.

“Lochlan's farm is in that direction,” Max pointed. “Is that where you're feeling the dungeon core, Lexie?"

"I don't know what a dungeon core feels like."

"It's the powerhouse of the dungeon. Basically, it should be where you feel the strongest effect."

Lexie nodded and said, "Then in that case, I can check it out by walking there."

She glanced at her dad, who nodded.

"One second." Max ran back to his bike to retrieve his backpack before coming back to them. Aiden had told Lexie that Max’s backpack fit all sorts of weapons and it was a lot larger on the inside than it was on the outside. Lexie vaguely wondered what he would pull out of it next.

“Just in case,” he said when Lexie glanced at the bag. And then they began walking.

They didn't speak as they walked, giving Lexie space to concentrate. A few seconds after they passed by the tree in the middle of the field, Lexie paused.  

“I think it's there,” she said, instantly feeling the overwhelming drag of her mana.

“You sure?”

“Yup.” She said, her heartbeat pounding. She pointed. “Just where the tree is.”

Max nodded and doubled back to get a closer look.

Aiden and Lexie began walking away back to the hiking trail. Aiden talked as they walked.

“This is quite insane. Dungeon portals, even unstable ones,  don’t spawn underground; it's not how it works. The only reason they would appear there is because someone deliberately placed them there.” 

“Who would be able to do that?”

Aiden for the first time looked lost. “I truly have no clue.” 

That very fact concerned Lexie. She felt like this feeling of not knowing what was going on was new for him.  

“What do we do? Destroy it?”

Aiden sighed. “It’s complicated and it’s already spawned so it would take more than just the Max and me to destroy it.  Besides, it’s underground, and getting to it is a whole other thing.  We will need to contact the hero's association. I’ll call Stella Firebringer directly.”

“And she’ll probably ignore your calls.” Max returned with his hands in his pockets. “Isn't that what she did, when you tried to contact her for a healer for that Evan boy?”

“Maybe but I don’t even think she got the message. She’s so high profile now it’s hard to reach her.” He bit his lip. “I need to find a way to get word to her. She would help, I know. This is beyond whatever our issues are. People will get hurt if we allow that dungeon to remain and Stella won’t let that happen.”

“If you say so,” Max responded drily. He glanced around him in thought. “Say, how much do you think two acres of arable farmland costs?”

It was such a random question that Aiden paused. 

“You want to buy the farm?

“Not this one necessarily,” Max said in a harmless voice. “But maybe, I might eventually want to buy a farm. Live a nice, cozy homestead life where I don’t have to deal with all this bullshit. How much do you think it would cost for me to set up something like that?”

Lexie cocked her head at him in confusion. Where was this coming from?

Aiden of course couldn't resist answering a sincerely asked question in as much detail as possible. 

“Well, it depends,” he said. “For example, high-yield land like this would cost about thirty to forty thousand credits.  It's a remote area but there are a lot of business attachments to this land, seeing as how Lochlan produces crops for some government officials.  That'll likely drive the price higher. It's probably out of your wheelhouse right now but I’m sure with proper discipline you could save up for it in a few years if you’re frugal. Or maybe you could get it on a payment plan.”

“Right.” Max sighed. “Shame.” He started towards his bike. 

“The healer.” Lexie finally remembered. “Xena has her number. I could reach out to her and tell her what’s happening.”

“You mean the [Saintess]?” Aiden said. “We can try.”  But his facial expression noted that he doubted it would do any good. And Lexie did too.

After all, even though the title seemed glamorous, the woman had admitted she was a veritable creature kept in a cage, only released when she had something to do. Lexie didn't know how true that assessment was but she had a feeling it was closer to fact than fiction.

“Either way there’ll be a wait," Aiden said. "It will take some time to convince the government of your theory and then they’ll have to file some paperwork before they can begin investigating since it’s on private property. All that could take days to mont-”

Boom!

A loud explosion from behind rocked the earth as Aiden and Lexie spun around. The ground next to the tree had cracked open, sending dirt, crops and the tree flying. Dust rose and Lexie coughed to clear her throat. She peered through to find that a crater was now in the middle of the field, right around where Max had stood. 

Right where the dungeon was. 

Someone screeched from afar and they turned to find Mr. Lochlan running to his land.

"No!" he screamed. "What have you done?"

And finally, they all turned in unison to stare at Max who had his finger pressed against what looked like the ballpoint of a pen. 

As he lifted his finger, Aiden’s eyes widened. He repeated the question. “What have you done?”

“I just cut down on our waiting time,” he said with a very Max-like devil-may-care grin. “I give them ten minutes.”

***

The good news was that Max was right. 

The second his crime was reported, [Heroes] teleported there quickly, in under ten minutes. Probably due to the recent bombing in Arcadia, everyone was on high alert for corresponding attacks in the surrounding towns. A bombing, even one with no fatalities, would immediately be on their radar. 

So no one was surprised when three individuals in red, blue, and yellow costumes each carrying a variety of weapons instantly snapped into view, weapons in hand, ready to battle. 

Meanwhile, Max leaned against his bike, staring at them. 

“Oh no,” he sang mockingly. “They sent the primary colors after me. How terrifying.”

Yellow, a tall blonde girl with a spear in one hand and an emblem on her chest rushed to Max. “He’s the bomber?”

“Yes!” Mr. Lochlan, whose voice was hoarse from ranting slash crying about his crops, pointed a shaky hand at Max. “This asswipe bombed my land.”

“Because there’s a dungeon under there,” Max said turning around and placing his hands behind his back. The girl hesitated and then pulled out cuffs from the toolbelt around her waist.  

She hesitated again before she cuffed him, staring at him uncertainly. “A dungeon?”

"Yes," Max answered. "An unstable one buried deep in the earth. And you might want to send it up the chain of command quickly to get checked out because my goddaughter is live-streaming this entire thing.”

The woman glanced in confusion at Lexie who waved back. Uncle Max had given her a PHORB and so she was using it to visually record what was going on and streaming it over Video Alley.

"Fifty thousand viewers and counting,” Lexie said. They would have more if she’d started filming before the explosion. She’d told Max this but he’d shrugged and said, "I’ll keep that in mind for next time."

To which Aiden had said firmly there was not going to be a next time.

Anyway, their viewership was good. Max already had an account he barely used and so the video wasn't getting the boost from the algorithm that it needed.

But the fact that it was a bombing and Max had blown up the field belonging to a man who provided the corn for half of Arcadian elites, made it more notable and was steadily attracting more viewers.

“We’re taking you in,” Yellow, who seemed to be the de facto leader, said firmly. “If your compliance is some kind of trick I guarantee I can make this arrest very painful for you. Surrender quietly, or else.”

Max looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. “Sure thing, lady.”

“I’ll come with you,” Aiden said.

“I’ll be fine. You shouldn’t be anywhere near law enforcement right now. Luke will follow me. I already texted him.” Max frowned. “Although, he might be pissed enough to leave me there all night.”

Aiden shook his head. “Max this isn’t a joke. What you did was dangerous and foolhardy and could have gotten you system-marked as a [Villain].”

Max shrugged as though he didn't care. He gestured with his chin to the desecrated field. “But it got them here and that’s what matters. It’s up to you two to explain what’s going on here to them.”

To their credit, the [Heroes] weren’t being overly aggressive with their arrest. They looked a little young, like college students and they were staring at Max and each other as though they weren't quite sure what to do.

“Wait let me get this straight,” Blue said. “You blew up a cornfield because there was a dungeon underneath?”

“Yeah. My goddaughter found it," he said. “Brilliant girl, that one. She’ll make a great [Researcher]. Definitely not a [Hero] because you wouldn't catch her dead wearing something this stupid in broad moonlight.”  His eyes scanned Blue long enough for it to be insulting.

Blue clenched his teeth. 

“Where is the dungeon?” Red asked and Max gestured with his chin. 

“You can go check for yourself. I think I might have blown all the way to the earth’s core so there’s no way I didn’t unveil it.” 

Blue and Red shared a look and then Red walked along the fissures and approached the crater tentatively. And then he looked down. 

“Holy shit.”

“Told you.”

“We still have to take you in,” he said after he recovered from gaping. Although he was still staring down at the ground as he spoke. “You committed a crime after all.”

“I expected as much,” Max said. “But just so you know, I’m willing to pay for the damages if that at all changes my sentence.”

"You have no clue how much all this costs!” Lochlan snarls. 

Max shrugged. “I have some idea.” And then he winked at the older man as the two [Heroes] arranged themselves around him, and runes appeared in the air. A teleport circle began to swirl behind them as Max delivered his final line. “We’ll work out a payment plan.”

And just like that, Yellow and Blue winked away with Max leaving Red behind. He was on a call talking to a superior and so Lexie focused on the people in the comments who wanted to know what was going on and if there was really an underground dungeon down there.

Lexie answered a few of the questions, saved the live stream to Max’s account, and then disconnected from the account. Her father spoke at length to Red telling him what he needed to do to arrange a team to get rid of the dungeon. Lexie hoped that he would be done soon so they could go home. She was exhausted. 

It had been a very long day. 

***

Lexie was exhausted. But she couldn’t sleep. 

She stared at the ceiling, leftover anxiety making her shaky. It wasn’t as bad as what she’d experienced with Mouse but it still had her going through everything in her head second-guessing, imagining all the ways things could have gone different and wrong. They got lucky this time. So so lucky. 

But it could have all ended badly.

And she couldn’t stop seeing the giant eye and imagining it crying out for its mother. 

She was also seeing a bunch of giant eyes lurking beneath her. 

She sighed and turned over, trying to purge the images from her mind. It was two am. She didn’t have school tomorrow thankfully but she hated that she couldn’t sleep.

Maybe she could watch something on the NET.

She could try to distract herself with mindless matches but she’d already promised Xena that she wouldn't watch Mundane Vs Hoover without her. All the other matches were boring. 

Xena had heard from Emma what had happened and demanded the details but Lexie didn’t want to talk about it so she'd said, "Tomorrow.  I’ll tell you about it while we watch Mundane get slaughtered."

She lifted her pad and scrolled and texted Dewie instead, Are you awake?

The response was instantaneous. No, but I’m perceptive. 

She grinned. Have any visions lately you need my help with?

She’d been able to corner wart-girl in the bathroom and convince her to change her skincare routine. Lexie had no idea if that was the problem, but she wanted to see if that would have an impact on Dewie's vision of her.

I don't know, Dewie admitted. I think I saw a large bird of prey in the living room earlier, but that might just be my mother’s new dress.

Ha. Lexie turned over on the bed, nudging the pillow to find a comfortable spot. After she rested for a while, she stared at the blinking cursor.

Then she asked, Do you ever see stuff that scares you?

He responded with, Sometimes.

How do you deal with it?

He didn't say anything for a few seconds. And then he volunteered, I like to think they're just as scared to see me as I am to see them. Even though I know it’s not true.

Yeah. Lexie sighed in the air, a prickle in her chest. It’s not true.