7.23 – Arrival


    Now that was a statement to send a chill down a girl''s spine.


    Elida liked ''hurting things'' more than most people?


    And she didn''t miss the word Vta had chosen to summarize what she''d seen of Elida. The ''connecting thread'' to Elida''s challenges: the way she reacted.


    <em>Angry</em>.


    At someone, something, maybe the world.


    Natalie had caught a glimpse of that cold-boiling fury herself, once.


    ***


    <em>"Oh, please. Dearest Elizabeth. Nobody smiles that much and means it. Nobody''s that …" Elida''s lip pulled back, and she waved her hands in an exaggerated way that, oddly, made Natalie understand what she was getting at. Liz was an energetic, sociable person, to a sometimes amusing degree. "Much less a Beaumon," Elida said. "No, she''s as much a schemer as any of us. You''d be a moron to think otherwise. Seriously. She''s a Beaumon." Elidaughed. "Not that you understand what that means. I''m almost jealous of your ignorance." </em>


    <em>Agitation appeared on Elida''s face,ing surprisingly fast—almost out of nowhere. Her words grew hot, too. </em>


    <em>"And even if it wasn''t an act," she sneered. "It''s because she''s just been handed everything. Do you know what I''ve had to do, to get where I am? To get approval from my family? That bubbly bitch is just waltzing through life. No wonder she can smile so much."</em>


    ***


    The outburst had been uncharacteristic, appearing in a sh. It had only been a single instance, so Natalie hadn''t let it influence her entire opinion of Elida—at least when it came to who her sponsor might be.


    But with Vta''s insight?


    Anger. The guiding force behind that toxic, sweet mask was anger?


    Was her sponsor Rage, then?


    Even now, she couldn''t be certain. It could just be a facet of the woman''s personality. But it had jumped to the forefront of the possibilities, as far as Natalie was concerned.


    "I see," she finally said. "Should I … be worried, about that?"


    She''d thoughting down into the dungeon with Elida would be a nuisance, but nothing truly dangerous, because of the political situation between Parda-Halt and Beaumons. She was doubting herself now.


    Vta nced at her, then blinked. "Oh, no," she said. "I don''t mean she''s … well, she might be a <em>little</em> bit of a psychopath," she admitted. "But she''s not, I don''t know, a deranged murderer. I''ve seen those sorts, too. She''s just …"


    A pause, then a dryugh.


    "Passionate," she said. "In a way most people can''t understand, maybe." She shrugged. "I respect it, honestly. The only kind of person I can''t respect, is someone who wants something badly, but does nothing about it. And if there''s anything in the world Elida is doing—she''s getting what she wants." She hummed. "She''s angry about something, and it drives her. It''s why I agreed to be her teammate, even if I don''t like her very much. I''d rather respect someone than like them."


    Natalie couldn''t say she agreed with that sentiment at all.


    The conversation dried up there. Half because it had run its course, and half because it was time to get a move on.


    She was somewhat distracted in the following fights, and a slip-up that resulted in a shoulder-blow that forced her to take one of their three healing potions brought her head back into the game: she discarded from her mind what she''d learned of Elida and focused on the dungeon with as much rity as she should''ve from the start.


    As they neared the City of Eros, Natalie''s own curiosity and apprehension grew. Just what <em>was </em>in store for them? She hadn''t given Vta any guesses half because she genuinely wasn''t sure, and half because she didn''t want to suggest something overly lewd only to discover what was awaiting them was chaste inparison. Somehow she doubted that though. Lust''s influence over the floor seemed stronger than most, seeing how the <em>entire thing </em>was themed around the City of Eros, with all monsters dropping Tokens meant to be spent there. It wouldn''t make sense for such a prominent, and thematically named ce, to be <em>chaste</em>.


    What did that mean for the delve with Elida? And Vta, for that matter? She could see Elida taking any opportunity to advance; she had propositioned Natalie, either tauntingly or genuinely, simply to smooth over their rtionship. So she doubted the woman would have many problems with casual sex for the sake of progress, should ite to that.


    Vta though? She definitely seemed more reserved. Natalie might have noticed a few stolen nces, but she was also walking around in slutty armor, and she expected even straight girls would send some curious looks her way. So Natalie was unsure where Vta stood both on orientation and promiscuity. She expected Vta wouldn''t love the City, whatever was waiting there.


    It took several hours before they were brushing up on the outskirts, and the first whole, undecayed buildings came into sight. The City, for whatever reason, had not suffered any deleterious effects from the cataclysm that had struck the rest of Elysium; it seemed as if it had been dropped into the ruins <em>after the fact, </em>with its simr architecture yet pristine condition.


    More surprising than the city was the young woman they bumped into.


    Natalie kept her weapon at the ready, wary of a trap, but when she called out and the woman turned and raised her own weapon, she was pretty sure they''d simply found another delver.


    "Oh," the girl said. "Oh, uh, hi there. Are you two neers? No, that''s silly, look at your armor, of course you aren''t."


    Natalie lowered her weapon—though certainly kept it in hand—as she approached the woman. She digested the opening words.


    "Neers?" she asked. "To what? This City? We''re new, yes. What about my armor?"


    Though Natalie already had an inkling of an idea of what she''d meant.


    "You <em>are </em>new?" the unknown girl asked. She was tall-ish for a girl, an inch or two shorter than Natalie, with wide shoulders and heavy metal armor: probably a tank. Long ck hair was tied in a ponytail, and she had dark green eyes. "Huh, I just assumed …" she gestured at Natalie''s armor and coughed. "Well, never mind. You''ll find out soon enough. Why is it just two of you?"


    "The dungeon split us up," Natalie said. "Where''s the rest of your team?"


    "In the City," she said. "It''s safe, as long as you stay within its borders. I was poking around to see what I could find. Apparently some of the others have found stashes of Tokens and whatnot. Thought I''d try my hand, while everyone else was resting." She shrugged.


    "Others," Vta said. "How many?"


    There <em>was </em>something about the way the girl was phrasing it that made Natalie suspicious.


    "You might not believe me," she replied. "But there''s hundreds of us." Jokingly, she said, "A whole city''s worth, you could call it."


    At Natalie and Vta''s astounded expressions, she coughed.


    "And that''s just the half of it," the girl mumbled. "You''re in for a ride, let me tell you. I guess I can show you around, if you want. It''s a lot to take in, your first time here, and someone else did the same for me. Time to return the favor, I guess."