Bob stood awkwardly frozen on the steps for a moment. Then, he simply shrugged to himself and decided to ignore the awkward atmosphere. And, maybe even try to liven it up a bit. 

 

"It's a great morning! We didn't get eaten in the middle of the night by monsters beyond our comprehension. And, we're all together again; apart from a few scrapes and bruises, and maybe the odd change or two between all of us.

 

He glanced at Karen. She looked a lot different. Her white hair was pretty striking. And, she had lost a lot of weight since he had last seen her. Actually, it may have been a bit too much weight. She seemed a bit unhealthy somehow. 

 

"Good morning, Karen! I'm glad to see that you're still amongst the living. You look… better than the last time I saw you. I love what you did with your hair by the way."

 

Karen looked at him impassively and thanked him for the compliment on a reflex. 

 

He slid past all of them and grabbed a muffin from the cart. And, looked through all of the assorted beverages and drinks available. 

 

"Wow, you're all big breakfast people, huh? This is a really nice spread that you've got going. Must've taken quite a while to make all of this." He took a bite from his muffin and chewed it thoughtfully. His face lit up. "It's really good too."

 

He turned toward the necromancer. "Hey, Zephyra. Do you have the recipe for these muffins? I'd love to make them again sometime."

 

Zephyra looked up from her hands and shook her head. "No. The food cart was a creation of my Father. He might have written it down somewhere though."

 

"Ah, well, I'll just have to ask him for it when we meet him one day."

 

Karen deadpanned over to him. "He's dead."

 

Bob choked on his muffin. Zephyra looked away from everyone and tried not to think too hard about it. Karen stared impassively at Bob. Dawn and Phil wisely chose to stay silent. 

 

Bob cleared his throat and humbly apologized.

 

"Zephyra, I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

 

Zephyra sighed and slowly rubbed her eyes free from their emotional distress. 

 

"...I'll be alright. You didn't know."

 

They continued staring at one another in awkward silence. No one was quite sure what to say. Or, how to recover from placing their foot in their mouths. Until Karen spoke up again. 

 

"As much fun as this is… what are we doing long-term?"

 

"What do you mean?" Dawn answered.

 

"Well, we're being hunted by the Church and stalked by a monster. We seem to be safe inside this tower, unless the Guarantor gets bored."

 

Zephyra nodded in affirmation. 

 

"As long as we can access the tower, we will have food and shelter for a long time. It's not infinite, but it'll last some time still-"

 

"But, we'll need to go back outside eventually. And, we're not powerful enough to take on the Church, or whatever that other monster was either."

 

Zephyra let out a low breath and agreed with Karen. 

 

"Honestly, it's a bit of a setback that the Guarantor decided to 'help' you. You all were barely proficient with your previous abilities. And, our teamwork was awful. 

 

And, now, we suddenly have to worry about entirely new, dangerous, abilities that none of you are acclimated to using."

 

Dawn deflated at Zephyra's words, and nervously hugged her own legs. 

 

"I-i almost got all of us killed. And, now, suddenly, I have all of these things that... will make me more useful. But, I don't really know how to use them. And, if I tried, I might hurt someone again."

 

Dawn clammed up and folded in on herself and whispered. "I don't want to hurt any of you ever again…"

 

Phil leaned forward and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

 

"You won't. We'll work it out. We'll find a way." 

 

"The best way to get a handle on your newfound abilities would be to practice them." Bob quickly supplied. "Any skill can be dangerous if it is used improperly. But, so long as you learn it's uses and limitations, then you can use it as a powerful asset."

 

Dawn sniffled. And, wiped her face clean. Bob was right. It wasn't hopeless. It would require a lot of hard work and practice, but she could be better than she had been.

 

 It was still awful to think that she could hurt her friends again. But, as long as she learned and pushed forward, she could prevent that from happening again. 

 

"I'll… do my best."

 

Zephyra smiled warmly and beamed toward the downtrodden girl. "That's all I could ever ask."

 

She took a deep steadying breath and brought the conversation back onto the topic that had been derailed. 

 

"Yet, the question remains, what will we do now?"

 

"You're our leader, shouldn't you know?" Karen raised her eyebrows and spoke bluntly.

 

"A leader, not a tyrant. And, quite frankly, I'm only the leader because you're all bound to me through the contract."

 

Bob nervously cleared his throat. "About that…"

 

Zephyra snapped her attention over to him and withered underneath his gaze. His intention was clear. But, it really wasn't a conversation that she wanted to have right now. She squirmed uncomfortably in her chair.

 

"Do we have to do this?"

 

Bob stared at her blankly and crossed his arms. 

 

"Yes."

 

"Right now?"

 

"It would be better to address it sooner rather than later."

 

Zephyra sulked and shrunk further down into her seat. Dawn, Phil and Karen exchanged confused glances with one another. They had no idea what they were talking about. Dawn and Phil felt confused, out of the loop and perhaps a bit insecure that the newest member of their troop knew something about them. While Karen was simply curious and wanted to hear what would be said.

 

"I can tell them, if you aren't able to admit it." Bob offered gently.

 

Zephyra shook her head. 

 

"No. I'll do it. I just…" She glanced at three people in question. "Don't want them to hate me."

 

Dawn smiled. Their necromancer was absolutely adorable and childish in the way that she was acting. It made her want to pick her up and spoil her rotten. 

 

"I don't think that I could ever hate you."

 

"Even if we did, we'd still be bound to you." Phil didn't quite agree, but he brought up a valid point nonetheless. 

 

"I don't think I'm even capable of hatred anymore." Karen chuckled humorlessly.

 

Zephyra stared at them a while longer as she worked up the nerve to admit it. They all fell into an anticipatory silence. She opened and closed her mouth, struggling to find the right words to say. Her mouth felt dry. And, her palms felt sweaty. She closed her eyes and turned away from them. 

 

"The contract will force you to obey my command."

 

Bob gave her a warm smile and mouthed. “Good job”

 

“... Is that all?” Karen asked, completely nonplussed. 

 

“Wait, wait, what do you mean ‘Is that all’ Karen? That’s an incredibly major and important thing that she just told us!” Dawn spluttered.

 

Phil shrugged. “I actually saw that much in our bond when the Guarantor forced his knowledge onto me.” 

 

Dawn’s head swiveled toward him in shock. “Wait, you knew?”

 

“Well, I suspected as much. I found it odd that we immediately responded to your commands in the dungeon.” Karen continued.

 

Dawn swiveled back toward Karen. “Wait. You did?”

 

Karen nodded.

 

“But, it seems to have some sort of failsafe that removes, or lowers, that suspicion. The thought felt slippery and elusive. But, now that she’s mentioned it, it feels clear and obvious now.”

 

“You’re right. I remember it being odd that we blindly obeyed her. It’s easy to identify now. And, I think that it will also keep us from betraying her. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it is intentional or not.” Phil agreed.

 

“Wait. Wait. Everything is moving too fast.” Dawn placed her hand on her forehead. “This is a serious breach of our trust.”

 

Karen shrugged.

 

“I’m fine with it.”

 

“Well, you shouldn’t be!” Dawn turned to Phil and scolded him. “And, you! You should’ve told me.”

 

“I’ve had to come to terms with a lot lately. It didn’t seem all that important in the grand scheme of things.” Phil also shrugged.

 

“Argh! Am I the only one that can see that this is a major fucking problem?”

 

Phil and Karen shared a glance and agreed unanimously.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Well!” Dawn gaped and gasped. “I shouldn’t be! If the interdimensional psychopathic spook hadn’t dived into and scrambled your brains, you would understand.”

 

Dawn turned her righteous wrath toward Zephyra. “And, you! You should’ve been honest and upfront with us from the beginning.” 

 

Although it didn’t seem possible, Zephyra shrunk further into her chair. 

 

“I tried. But, I couldn’t find the right moment to-”

 

“Bullshit!”

 

“But, I tried and-”

 

“Bullshit!” Dawn raised her voice angrily over Zephyra. “If you really wanted to, you could’ve found the time to tell us. But, you didn’t, because it benefitted you.”

 

Bob cleared his throat. “It’s not really my business but-”

 

Dawn pivoted toward him and snapped. “You're right. It's not. Stay out of it.”

 

Phil and Karen backed up. They both thought that it would be best to stay out of it.

 

Bob shook his head and stood up to challenge her. “I won’t. I’m a part of this now. And, as far as I understand it, none of you even tried to read through the terms of the contract. You were too enamored with her to even ask the most basic of questions.”

 

Dawn glared at Bob. “So, you’re saying that this is all our fault? And, that its totally alright that she fucking lied to us and basically enslaved us?”

 

“No! Of course not. I was saying that-”

 

“Bob.” Zephyra cut in, stood and placed her hand on his shoulder. She looked like she would rather be anywhere else at the moment. “It’s alright. Thank you for standing up for me. But, I should handle this on my own.”

 

Bob ran his hand through his hair and nodded. “I’ve got your back. I owe you my life.”

 

He sat back down. And, Dawn turned the full force of her glare back to Zephyra.

 

“Dawn-” Zephyra started.

 

“You should’ve told us.”

 

“You’re right. I should’ve.”

 

“You lied to us.”

 

“I did.” 

 

“You made us into your slaves.”

 

Zephyra looked down at the floor uncomfortably.

 

“That wasn’t my intent.” 

 

“Oh? Then, what was your intent, necromancer?”

 

“I…” Zephyra trailed off, searching for the right thing to say.

 

“Well?”

 

“I-”

 

“Because it fucking sounds like you just needed warm bodies to do whatever twisted dark acts that your heart desires. You said so yourself that the undead were useless. So, what better option is there than living slaves that literally can’t disobey your every whim?”

 

“Would you shut up? It’s not like that!”

 

“Then, what is it like? Huh? Tell me that!”

 

“I don’t want to be alone, okay?!” Zephyr slumped and deflated onto the floor. 

 

Dawn stopped and stuttered in her thoughts from shock. And, Zephyra continued to whisper.

 

“I’ve been alone ever since… the church…” Zephyra sniffled. “And, I’ve tried to join other groups. But… as soon as they discovered that I was a necromancer-”

 

“They either tried to kill you, or turn you over to the church.” Phil cut into the conversation. He understood all too well how people would react to her.

 

Zephyra wiped her face and nodded. “...Yeah.”

 

“And, in the end, you ran out of options. And, had to rely on the contract.” Phil continued.

 

Dawn’s eyes flashed with guilt, but they were still brimming with anger.

 

“That doesn’t make it okay.” She said, her voice soft and gentle in comparison to her anger.

 

“... I know.” Zephyra whispered.

 

Dawn huffed and looked away from Zephyra. She stomped over to the cart and grabbed a handful of sweets and pastries. Then, she stomped back over to the stairs and headed up to her room. 

 

“I’m going to need time by myself. Don’t talk to me until then.”

 

“Alright.” Zephyra whispered in hoarse agreement. “And… I’m sorry.”

“Your apology doesn’t fix anything. But… I’ll get over it. Eventually. I can’t change anything about it after all. Just. Leave me alone for now.”

 

And, she stomped off the rest of the way to her room, a pile of delicious food in tow.