[Luna POV]

The same night that we went to the dungeon while we were sleeping, I constantly woke up from nightmares.  It’s a miracle that I wasn’t screaming in my sleep.

 

‘Tamamo, I keep reliving that moment in my sleep.  Why is this happening now when it never did before?  Is it because we’re close to the dungeon?’

 

{I understand Luna, the fear runs deep, but I know you can conquer it.  I know that you won’t let your fear control you.  You WILL make it through this.}

 

‘I really want to hug you right now, Tamamo.’

 

{Then how about I give you permission to make an illusion of me for tonight.  While it’ll only be a fake, it might give you some comfort.  Though I’ll have to ask you to pamper me the next time you’re here.}

 

‘That might help, and if you want me to pamper you, all you need to do is ask and I’ll do it without hesitation.’

 

{Ufufufu.  I’ll remember that.}

 

I conjured an illusory Tamamo that made it so that it would disappear when I woke up.  It lacked feeling since it was an illusion, but just the image worked wonders and a few short minutes later I fell asleep.  Just before I completely fell asleep, I thought I heard it say something about a loophole but I fell asleep before I could question it.

 

[Velvet POV]

I woke up the next morning and saw a strange scene.  Nia was awake and staring at where Luna was sleeping.  When I looked over there, I saw Luna still fast asleep, but what surprised me was the figure of the Goddess laying there with Luna in her arms.

 

Nia noticed I was awake and quietly asked if I knew what was happening right now.  I shook my head in denial when the Goddess spoke.

 

{Hello you two, you don’t need to be surprised, this is just an illusory body Luna conjured at one point last night.  I put my consciousness into it so it could have the bare minimum physical properties, but not enough to make it like I descended.  It will disappear once Luna wakes up.  Since I have this chance, I want to ask the two of you to watch out for Luna like you’ve been doing so far.  She might have seemed fine yesterday, but her mind is a mess right now.  It was especially bad last night.}

 

Since neither of us wanted to wake Luna up, we simply nodded our heads.

 

{Thank you both.  If you sit there and wait, you might get to watch something interesting.}

 

True enough, about five minutes later, Luna started to stir.

 

“Ugh.”

 

Luna picked her head up from her pillow and looked around sleepily.  When she saw the Goddess illusion next to her, a giant smile spread across her face.

 

“♪Ta-Ma-Mo.♪”

 

She started to hug the illusion and rambled unintelligibly a bit in a songlike manner.

 

“Hehehehehe.  Mine.”

 

Both me and Nia were trying to hold in our laughter at the half-asleep Luna when she looked over to us.  She just stared for a bit before turning her attention back to the illusion.  She wrapped its tails around her like a blanket and started to fully fall back asleep.

 

{Ufufufufu.  Is there anything cuter than Luna?}

 

I looked over to Nia and gestured towards the door and she nodded her head in affirmation.  We quietly left the room and went to the dining hall of the inn.

 

“That was funny, don’t you think, Velvet?”

 

“Indeed.”

 

[Luna POV]

When I woke up in the morning, I was alone in the room.  My illusory Tamamo was also gone, but I could feel some lingering warmth for some reason.

 

‘I feel more refreshed than normal, like I could conquer seven dungeons in an hour.’

 

{Do you feel better my adorable Luna?}

 

‘Very much so.  Tamamo, did you somehow take over the illusory you, because it feels like I wasn’t the only one sleeping here.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t make it a physical illusion.’

 

{Just a bit.  It was enough to make it a physical illusion, but nothing more.  I felt like I had to do more than just talk with you, though I doubt I’ll be able to do this again.}

 

‘Why?’

 

{It’s the rules, what I did last night was a small loophole in them and I don’t want to risk breaking them.  The last god that did didn’t have a pleasant time when they were caught, and I don’t want to go through that.}

 

‘What is the punishment?’

 

{One million years of being sealed in a stone.}

 

‘That doesn’t sound too bad.’

 

{Imagine yourself being forced into an object smaller than you, unable to move or see, for a million years.}

 

‘Doesn’t sound enjoyable in the slightest.’

 

{Exactly.  Not to mention that I wouldn’t be able to see you for a long time if that happened.}

 

‘I think I would go crazy if that happened, so please don’t risk breaking the rules anymore please.  I appreciate what you did last night, but I’d rather have a few nightmares over going a million years without you.’

 

I started to get upset with myself for how close I was to getting Tamamo in trouble.

 

{I understand Luna so calm down a bit.}

 

I took a few deep breaths to calm down.

 

‘Sorry about that.’

 

{It’s fine, I would react the same way if that happened to you.}

 

‘While that last bit of information cooled me down a bit, I think that I want to try my luck on the fifth floor today.  If it goes well, I’ll be able to get over this trauma of mine hopefully.’

 

{I believe you can do it.}

 

‘By the way, where did Nia and Velvet go?’

 

{They went and got breakfast.  I think they’ll be back soon since that was about an hour ago.}

 

Just as Tamamo said this, the door opened and the people in question entered.

 

“Morning you two.” (Luna)

 

““…””

 

“Um, is something wrong?” (Luna)

 

They still didn’t answer me and looked like they were holding in laughter.

 

‘Why are they like that?’

 

{You might have already almost woken up once before and been the half-asleep you.}

 

My face turned red which caused the two other people in the room to finally burst into laughter.

 

“Hahahahahahahhahaha.” (Velvet)

 

“Hehehehehhehehehehehehehe.” (Nia)

 

“Stop laughing at me!” (Luna)

 

“Haha.  Sorry Luna, it’s just that you were so unlike your usual self that I can’t help but laugh.” (Velvet)

 

“Heh.  You were very cute Luna.” (Nia)

 

“*hmph* Aside from that, I think we should go to the fifth floor today.” (Luna)

 

“Are you sure?” (Nia)

 

“I’ll never get over it if I don’t go there, and we can’t stay stuck in the very first floors of the dungeon forever.  Not to mention that the feelings I have about that floor make me feel weak, and that annoys me.” (Luna)

 

“Then eat up and get ready to go.” Velvet said as she handed me some food which I promptly ate.

 

Once I was ready, we headed out of the inn and went to the guild branch to find some things to do in the dungeon.  We picked up quests that wanted materials that monsters on the fifth and sixth floors hoarded like the poisons that goblins made.  We were also told about how, recently, some adventurers have gone missing around floors 10-15 and to be careful if we go that far.

 

As we were making our way to the entrance, I decided to ask about that last piece of information.

 

“What do the two of you think about that last thing we were told?” (Luna)

 

“Although the layout changes after someone clears the dungeon, the monsters and traps that show up don’t and there shouldn’t be any monsters that like to abduct humans without leaving a trace, so I think there might be a hunter prowling around.” (Nia)

 

“What’s a hunter?” (Velvet)

 

“An adventurer that likes hunting other adventurers.  They do that for several reasons that I know of, for example, weaker adventurers that have decent equipment will be killed and looted for their things, which is sold off later for a quick buck.” (Nia)

 

I couldn’t help but scowl, “If we run into a disgusting mongrel like that, let me take care of them.”

 

“You sure, Luna?” (Velvet)

 

“Yes, though I would normally kill them, I think for cases like hunters, Grey would probably like to handle them personally.  That doesn’t mean I won’t at least give them some trauma, but that’s all I’ll do.” (Luna)

 

{You’re right about Grey wanting to handle people like that, Luna.  I just let him know you might run into someone like that, and he sent something over to you to help.}

 

‘How did he do that?’

 

{No idea, anyway it should be in your space magic inventory.}

 

I checked and sure enough there was something.  I pulled out a pair of manacles that were connected by a chain.  They were a disgusting mix of green and purple that made them look toxic.

 

“Where did you get those Luna?” (Nia)

 

“Tamamo told Grey we might run into a hunter, and he put these in my space magic inventory somehow.  Don’t ask me how, even Tamamo doesn’t know.  My guess is that once we capture the hunter, we slap these onto them and something will happen.” (Luna)

 

I put them away and we entered the dungeon.  It only took us two hours to get to the stairs of the fifth floor due to a mix of us being too strong for the monsters on these floors and my skill that helped in mapping.  I was finishing writing down the route we took when I got a skill acquisition message.

 

<Cartography LV. 1 acquired>

 

“Oh!” (Luna)

 

“Something wrong, Luna?” (Velvet)

 

“No, I just got the cartography skill.” (Luna)

 

“*sigh* There you go again, getting a skill countries would desire.” (Nia)

 

“Shouldn’t every country have several people with this skill already?” (Luna)

 

“They do, but even then, it’s a valuable skill to have.  It’s a good thing you’re an adventurer that has a connection to the Grand Master.” (Nia)

 

“Don’t I have connections to a lot of important people though?” (Luna)

 

“Let’s see, you’re the daughter of a marquis and general of the Beast Kingdom, engaged to a Goddess and on your way to becoming one, your uncle married into royalty, you’ve met the king of a big country, and know the Grand Master of the adventurer’s guild, who just so happens to also be a god.  Am I missing anything?” (Velvet)

 

“The Goddess of Fate will be my sister-in-law.” (Luna)

 

“You also befriended the future queen of the Celestia Kingdom.” (Nia)

 

“When did I do that?  I don’t remember Zeke being engaged.” (Luna)

 

“I’m talking about Pneuma.  After that incident, Drome decided that Zeke isn’t socially adequate enough to rule the country and decided that Pneuma will succeed him in the future.” (Nia)

 

“Should I feel bad about that?” (Luna)

 

“No, Zeke was ecstatic about not becoming king.  I believe his words were, ‘Now I can focus on being a scholar.’”

 

“Huh.  I guess good for him?” (Luna)

 

“I wish he would at least interact with more people.” (Nia)

 

{Not to mention he still hasn’t apologized to Luna for being rude to her.}

 

‘I’m really fine as long as he doesn’t bother me.’

 

“While I would like to continue this discussion, shouldn’t we head down?” (Velvet)

 

“Tch.” (Luna)

 

“You were the one who wanted to do this Luna.  We’ve come this far, so I believe you can do it.” (Nia)

 

“We’ll be with you the whole way.” (Velvet)

 

“You’re right.  Let’s get this over with.” (Luna)

 

I took a deep breath and took my first step down onto the floor that killed me once.

 

Author's Note:
I enjoyed writing the half-asleep Luna part the most.  By the way, I think scribblehub should add a Fluff tag.  Thanks for reading.